The party was raging as normal, but a kind of veil hung around everyone. They knew that tonight the party would end, and they would have to leave for their new, refurbished and expanded estates that they had left behind. It was a time of both extreme joy and disappointment, as the ball thrown by Lord Branton-Joster had been the most extravagant and enjoyable one that hey had even gone to. How one new-blood noble from an obscure line had managed to secure so much food and drink was both a mystery and a marvel.

The party would end soon enough, but that would not happen until the clock struck midnight! Due to word of mouth, there was word that the new nobleman, Lord Diego O. Branton-Joster, had prepared a final feast, along with a new vintage of wine unlike any other. Some of the guests claimed they had already sampled the “Goddess’ Gift” as they called it and went on and on about how amazing it was. This sparked many of the nobles to sign their names to a scroll that lay in the main ballroom, reserving their place in the wine-tasting that was to come. There were also rumors that those who were part of the wine-tasting event would be given special meals during the great feast that would cap off the multi-month-long party, but this was likely pure speculation at best.

At nearly 8:00 PM, the guests who had signed their names to the decently sized scroll were collected and ushered into the wine cellar, where the precious vintage was prepared, stored and aged to perfection. As the selected and chosen members of the highest tiers of Anglish nobility and clergy descended into the earth, they could not stop boasting to each other about how privileged they were to get the chance to taste something that had been so hyped up.

“For something to be called a gift from the Goddess, it must be truly special, no?”

“It is likely to be simply droll and bland by our standards! What could someone new to nobility and so low in the ladder of importance know about fine wine?”

“Indeed! Although, I will likely be heavily critical even if it is quite good. To see my beloved wife of three years fawning over that low-born like that was beyond humiliating!”

“I concur! To see that playboy being followed about by our wives, daughters and sisters like that! It truly makes my blood boil!”

“My children, I too know the vexations you feel.” The Bishop of Anglond tried to placate the unruly mob of noblemen as they continued to vent their frustrations. “The young Lord of this manor seemed none to keen on having your kin fawn on him so. In fact, he seemed quite livid that they were not turning their affections toward men of higher class than he. Of my observations of him, I can tell you one truth. He has no will to steal away you daughters, sisters or brides. Let us be calm and enjoy his last two gifts to us with open minds and hearts!”

His words fell mostly on deaf ears, but there were some noblemen who decided to give the new wine the benefit of the doubt. As the gathering of upper-class humans finally arrived in the largest room beneath the state, they found themselves in a massive open space surrounded by casks of wine marked with crowns made with red paint. In the center of the room were many tables, all of which were covered in wine goblets decorated in ornate markings and studded with gems and either coated or made out of precious metals. Lord Branton-Joster stood in the back, opposite from the way the guests entered and held his arms out wide.

“Welcome, dear guests, to the beginning of the end! As the unfortunate one mill about above us, shall we not partake in some long overdue refreshments? I have had special help in planning this part of our enjoyment, and I do hope you wont mind the inclusion of two more people that without whom this grand extravaganza would not be possible. May I introduce to you, the one whom has claimed my heart and soul, my mind and body, Lady Alexis!”

Dion turned and from the shadows behind him stepped a tall woman with features that made even married men consider asking the Pope for a divorce so that they could even attempt to court her. The Bishop and a the few other members of the clergy that managed to snag a spot in the wine tasting felt something was wrong about her but could not put their finger on it. The Lady stepped forwards and raised a goblet made of pewter that was studded with stone spikes both inside and out and had blood-red flakes of crimson gemstones melded into the body of the chalice. Within the oversized goblet was wine. It was wine that looked redder and richer than any that had ever been seen.

Lady Alexis stepped into the crowd and walked amongst he men and women there before placing her finger upon the chin of the second most beautiful woman in the room. As if by the force of some spell, the first led the second most beautiful women into the shadows behind Lord Branton-Joster, and soon enough they were out of sight.

“Lucky! To have caught my patron’s eye in such a way! She will be given a taste of an even more perfect version of the gift that we shall bestow upon you tonight! But enough of the pleasantries, drink up and be merry! Indulge your thirst and hunger to their fullest and enjoy the Gift given to you by my patron and I.”

Lord Branton-Joster lifted a crystal goblet into the air in one hand while pouring wine into it from the other. As if by command, the guest lifted the goblets on the table into the air as well. Deigo drank the liquid in his goblet and the guests followed suit, but rather than parching their thirst it merely made them want more.

More…

More.

More!

MORE!

The guests became ravenously thirsty in a matter of moments as they each moved to one of the many casks that lined the circular room and even piled onto each other to get at the taps both near and above the ground.

“MoooOOOoorrReeE! I nNnEeeEEedD MOooOrE!”

“ZzzzooOOoO THIrrrrZZZzzTyyYy!”

“GiIIVEee IITtt ToOo MmEEeeeee!”

There were only a few people who could fight the urge to drink, but eventually even the great servants of the One God could not hold back the mind-numbing thirsts and hunger that ate away at their sanity. As they tried to claw their way to one of the spigots that let the wine flow freely, they began to eventually tear away at he flesh of their fellow guests. Unsatisfied that they could not feast upon the wine, they began to drink from the blood that flowed from those they had clawed.

All the while they were ignorant that their bodies were morphing, changing, twisting and mutating into something less human and more insectoid in form. Legs and mandibles sprouted through tearing flesh and bone and flesh reformed as their torsos became an extension of their new thoraxes. As they drank more and more, the thirst only grew stronger and the hunger for raw meat intensified. But the horrors that were transpiring here in this room were nothing compared to what had befallen Alexis’ chosen target.

Deep within the underground, the mad, hunger-fueled screams of a woman undergoing a hideous and Lovecraftian transformation echoed in the deepest basement where barrels of ‘wine’ were stacked higher than even in the room she had been taken from. All the while, her cries were accompanied by the incessant droning hums of innumerable pairs of insectoid wings.