Tonight, Nottingham Castle glows like a jewel above a kingdom being bled dry.

Prince John is celebrating the Crown's Harvest Feast with an extravagant masquerade ball, and no expense has been spared. The Great Hall has been transformed beneath banners, garlands, candles, and glittering decorations. Musicians fill the chamber with music while masked nobles dance across the floor. Wealthy merchants trade gossip over goblets of wine. Courtiers laugh, servants weave through the crowd carrying trays, and hundreds of guests drift between conversations beneath the anonymity of elaborate masks.

And then there are the tables.

They stretch through the Great Hall beneath the weight of roasted meats, fresh bread, wheels of cheese, pies, fruits, sweets, expensive wines, and more food than many families outside these walls will see in weeks. Half-eaten dishes are carried away and replaced without a thought. Wine flows freely. Prince John's guests feast while the ordinary people of Nottingham struggle beneath the taxes that paid for it.

But the real fortune isn't on the tables.

Outside in the castle courtyard, a line of heavily guarded carriages waits beneath the torchlight. The latest tax collection from across Prince John's domain has been gathered at Nottingham Castle, packed into locked chests, and prepared for transport. When tonight's celebration ends, those carriages will leave Nottingham together and carry the money to London. At least, that's the plan. Because somewhere behind one of those elegant masks is Robin Hood.

Robin has crashed Prince John's masquerade with Little John, Will Scarlet, and several of the Merry Men. Robin, John, and Will are dressed as wealthy noblemen, while others have slipped inside disguised as servants, workers, musicians, and guests. For once, being surrounded by hundreds of masked strangers works considerably in their favor.

They haven't come with a perfect plan. They know about the tax shipment. They know the carriages are waiting outside. They know the money leaves when the celebration ends. Everything else they have to discover.

So while Prince John enjoys his feast and the Sheriff of Nottingham prowls through the celebration, Robin and his men mingle. They drink just enough to look convincing, wander between tables, listen to conversations, watch the guards, question servants, inspect doors and corridors, and quietly search for anything that might tell them where the money is being kept, when it will be loaded, how heavily the convoy will be guarded, and how in God's name they're going to steal it all from inside Nottingham Castle. Robin is absolutely confident they'll figure that last part out. Little John and Will may have somewhat different opinions.

Maid Marian is here as well, somewhere among the masks and swirling gowns, and the castle is full of other people with their own reasons for attending. Nobles scheme. Merchants make deals. Couples disappear onto balconies. Servants gossip. Guards attempt to look competent. Music plays. Wine flows. People dance, flirt, feast, wander, and mingle while Robin Hood quietly prepares to rob Prince John blind in the middle of his own celebration.

And somewhere in that crowd is you.

Maybe you were invited. Maybe you weren't. You could be a noble, merchant, traveler, thief, mercenary, servant, spy, foreign dignitary, friend, enemy, or someone who simply found a way through the castle doors. You may have come to dance, conduct business, meet someone, steal something yourself, spy on Prince John, enjoy the free food, or pursue a purpose that has absolutely nothing to do with Robin Hood.

Behind your mask, nobody gets to decide that but you. You don't have to help Robin. You don't have to stop him either. You can dance with a stranger without knowing whose face is behind the mask. Share wine with someone who may be lying about their name. Catch one of the Merry Men snooping somewhere he shouldn't be. Draw the Sheriff's attention. Speak with Marian. Approach Prince John. Discover the robbery before it begins. Become part of it. Betray it. Pursue something entirely different while the whole ridiculous scheme unfolds around you.

For the moment, however, the music is playing, the feast is waiting, the masks are on, and Robin Hood is somewhere in the crowd trying very hard to look like a respectable nobleman.

Tonight should be interesting.

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Nottingham

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