NIGHT OF A THOUSAND MASKS - Legends tells of woman who was unquestionably the most beautiful creature to ever walk among men. Said to have hair like spun gold and eyes of the clearest skies, her incomparable loveliness was heralded from the day of her birth. Nary was there a suitor who did not seek her hand nor a day where tributes from those who held her fondly did not pile her doorstep. Yes, she was a gem. But she was also very human. Such constant attention from the fawning masses made the woman’s soul of unequaled allure ugly. She thrived on the attention, would swindle a man of his last coin and humiliate any wench to dared to even attempt to rival her. But finally she found a man, noble and kind of heart, which caught her fancy. However he was betrothed, soon to marry a humbler woman of plain features and plainer background. Attempts to woo him were met with failure and it deeply upset the beauty who was so accustomed to getting what she desired. She confronted the man and his woman, tried to tear them apart to no avail until finally, in utter frustration, she attacked the woman and took her face, leaving her with only a mask. She masqueraded as the poor girl she had accosted but the stolen visage began to rot a year later on the very day she had taken the girls face. When she tore it off her own beauty had been replaced by the profile of a wrinkled crone. Horrified, she began an endless string of attacks. For nearly a decade she went on, cornering women for their fair features to replace one rotted face for another, leaving them with only a mask. But as she went to steal the face of yet another unsuspecting woman, the once beautiful lady found that her prey wore masks. Confused she went for another target and again, she was masked. The girls she had assaulted had conveyed a message to those who had yet to be victimized, urging them to don a mask at night to fool the wicked woman into thinking she had already taken their face. And so began the tradition, once a year on the very day where the beauty t