Dazed and confused, blood running profusely from his nose, Mason arose on wobbling legs. In that instant Kiph and Riv strode past him, one on each side, scooping him up in their arms. "We accept your mission, mr. Mason", Riv said as the agent tried to clear his eyes.
*******************************************************************
A few days laterHidden behind their masks, in their silken party togas, the party stepped up the fifty marble steps of the broad stairs leading to the entrance of the docked gargantuan vessel. On every tenth step stood a semi-naked steroid bouncer with but a silvery silken loincloth and a bull skull mask of steel, with curving horns.

The "Truth of Steel" was a marvel to behold, a technological wonder - "the renewed triumph of mankind", as a young female carnivale beauty had said, nipple tassels jingling from perfectly molded breasts.
People had been waiting in a throng, and when a fat, toadlike man with a satyr mask slammed his iron staff in the marble at the top of the stairs, declaring the carnivale for opened, they had rushed forward as one, bringing the PCs along like bits of bark caught in the current of a river.
Perfume and sweat everywhere, strobe lights greeting them as they entered, a feminine young man approaching with a silver platter filled with grapes.
"Divine grapes, provided by mister Steel for your pleasure", he said with a surprisingly deep voice.
Old and young, fat and athletic, every member of the social elite was here with their friends and business acquaintances. Some wealthy tycoon, unknown exactly who he was, morbidly obese stood at the center of a huge following, young girls and boys all around him. Elderly ladies with young men, middle aged friends already dancing madly with reckless abandon. The strobe lights made the world seem dipped in syrup, everything unnaturally slow, every face covered by a mask.
"When will he make an appearance?", a young woman whispered. "When it is time to announce his big secret, the surprise everyone keep talking about", another woman replied, her kitten mask in the silver and black of the more regular Venetian masks.
Another man in a steel bull skull mask approached them. "Names please", and once he had their names they were directed to their cabins and their breath sampled. The doors would now abide by their breath.
[ooc]Okay, we have somehow managed to arrive at the "Truth of Steel". My post covers a bit of time, remember that you can interact with anyone in my post. No strict timelines when not engaged in critical activities.
Note that Steel has not shown himself yet (he might be hidden anonymously behind a mask, but that is impossible to tell)
Also note that the grapes have been laced with party narcotics, Ecstasy style
And finally, note that initially the reek of perfume reigns supreme. It is after a while of dancing that the stench of sweat and booze is thrown into the reek of perfume[/ooc]