The story is told of how nine little gods came to be honored at a feast where they dared not show their faces. Genre: Mythology

Excerpt:The new mortal-made masks were so fantastical and magical that they could not easily be distinguished from the masks of the gods. A few called it blasphemy. (For we humans can be fools this way, don't you agree? Seeking and seeking for wonder, and fearing it when we find it.)

The Wheel of Fiction Turns. What did it land on this time?Each Season 9 story follows a theme chosen by the Wheel of Fiction. Thirteen spokes. Eight are the themes from previous seasons. One is "Turn Again." One is a wild card. And three are covered in question marks and will be revealed when the wheel lands on them. See a story trailer and a (satisfying) video of the wheel turning here: Nine Gods in Masquerade This episode landed on a mystery spoke that was revealed to be MUSIC. I rambled through my music and found a track that inspired this story.

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MY FIRST BOOK (yay)Ever wonder how I've gotten all these hundreds of stories written? I have a method. You can learn it in my book called Fictioneer's Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories. It's now available from Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. You can also get there from my Store page: STORYFEATHER STORE

CREDITSStory: "Nine Gods in Masquerade" Copyright © 2022 by Nila L. PatelNarration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production: Nila L. Patel

Music:"Medieval fiesta" by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Intro)"Donjon keeper (bonus track)" by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Outro)"Haven" by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Outro)"Abstract Vision #5" by ANDREW SITKOV (Outro)

Music by NICHOLAS JEUDY (Dark Fantasy Studio)"Oinions""Oinions (second part)""Sand of time (bonus track)""City of magic""Joy""Dragon style""Donjon monster""Donjon keeper (bonus track)""The harbor""Snake charmer""Jesters dance""In the shadows""Shadows and flames""Haven""Medieval fiesta"

All tracks are part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

Music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov is licensed from GameDev MarketChanges made to the musical tracks? Just cropping of some to align with my narration.

Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com

Episode Art Description:Digital drawing. An empty masquerade mask facing forward with several asymmetrical elements. At center bridge of nose, a seashell motif. At left of image the top corner of the mask appears to be burning in a sparkling flame, and part of the mask appears to be vaporizing. At bottom is a small chainmail section from which there hangs a row of teardrop pieces dangling from thin strings. Within each eye hole is a star-filled sky motif. The right eye hole is framed with a tiled or scaled border. The left eye is surrounded by a vine motif. At right of image a feather and wing motif drops from the bottom of the mask. Along the side and extending up in a branching tree. A few leaves sprout from a few branches. Two flowers are set beside the tree and above the left eye. A dragonfly-like insect is perched at the base of the tree with two insect wings extending out and two feathers emerging from the bottom. Watermark of "Storyfeather" along bottom edge below right eyehole.