Changelings Part II: A Holiday In The Sun

[BigBadQDaddy]

Helfried maintains his silence, doing his best to do as Saradon suggests, keeping an eye out for exits and being mindful of the buildings layout.

[kintire]

The servant nods

"Well I am sure everything will be resolved today. they are all here, and I am sure the negotiations will go smoothly."

He ushers the group into a large hall, laid with many couches, low tables and bright rugs. It is already quite crowded, but not as loud as one might expect. there are many conversations but all are being held in low voices. The walls a rebrightly decorated, with three great crved scenes of merrymaking especially prominent on the left wall, quite high up.

Helfierd is uneasy about the situation. The stairs have taken them noticeably underground. That makes the room pleasantly cool, but exits are few..

[alhoon]

Seradon whispers to Helfried in Falkovnian:
F: "I hope you're right in your previous assessment. We have already seen what happened to the rebels. The drowing power of the undead rebels makes me suspect that we will be hit by the river. Let's stay close to the exit and hope our lack of need for sustenance, also goes to a lack of need for air"

[BigBadQDaddy]

Helfried nods, and in Falkovnian replies;

"I agree. Bare in mind our options for escape are few. If dangers present themselves we will definitely have to fight our way out."

[kintire]

They take their seats in the massive chamber. The woman they spoke with overnight, apparently alive and well, is enthroned on the far side of the room. She gives them a regal nod as they enter, but the other guests largely ignore them.

The feast has all the trappings of a successful event, but something is not quite clicking. The servants load the guests with fine food and drink, the musicians, dancers and especially the acrobats are magnificent, but the atmosphere is poor. Perhaps it is down to the fact that this is clearly as much a negotiation as a feast, with the richly dressed nobles at the head taable deep in conversation with the Queen, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the negotiations are not going entirely smoothly.

Voices rise a little, and the group can hear the end of the discussion. The queen speaks.

"Well apart from the nature of your... requests, how can I be expected to accept them if you can't even agree what they are? Nomarchs and Priests the hour has come for the ceremony of Horus. i will be away about twenty minutes, and you can use my absence to discuss among yourselves just what you actually want!"

The nobles seem to agree, and she rises and sweeps out of a heavy door at the far end, with her handmaidens in tow

[alhoon]

Seradon watches the priestess leave and turns to the others.
"Since our most gracious host is going to do a ritual soon and we have about 20 minutes before the negotiations continue, how about we take a walk to clean our heads? Some fresh air would do us good." He adds in a whisper "Supposing the guards even allow us to leave that is."

[VAN]

Catherine studies the nobles and their reaction when the Queen leaves the room.

"If we leave we will never find out what is going on here, I suggest we mingle and try to eavesdrop their conversation maybe we learn something useful, more we know about them and their demands merer we can play our cards, if we have any..."

[alhoon]

Seradon looks at Catherine and smiles as he says softly, pretending he's making small talk
"We kinda know what will happen though. And I don't want to be around when it does. Remember what our acquaintance in the big room called those... let's say "guys" banging at the door? She called them "Rebels" if you recall. We're below ground, there is river nearby and the enemies we faced showed remarkable signs of having been drown. On the other hand, the room our acquaintance was, the one we met her while fighting our way through, had noxious fumes. I don't want to be around that either.
I also clearly remember her expression before she died, it was full of hate. Such hints and leads make me uneasy."

[VAN]

Catherine thinks for a moment Seradon words. The wizard was right was too risky to wait especially after what they have witnessed earlier.

"You do have a point, so be it. But how will we sneak out? I can probably pass unnoticed, but what about you and Helfierd?"

[kintire]

Seradon glances meaningfully at the door they entered by, which, he observes, has a large stone slab sliding down across it

[alhoon]

"Move!" He says and rushes to the door before it's sealed, not really mindful if he causes a commotion or not.

[VAN]

"That's not good..."

Says Catherine as she runs behind the wizard.

[BigBadQDaddy]

"Well, I..."
Helfried, about to answer Catherine's question, suddenly springs up along with Saradons motion to make for the doors

[kintire]

Seradon is as tense as a coiled spring and the instant he sees the slab sliding downwards, he is leaping towards it. Shouldering their helpful guide out of the way he hurls himself forwards, sliding under the descending slab. For an instant he has visions of being crushed, but in fact she stone slab is only a couple of inches thick, and he makes it under with nanometers to spare.

Catherine is leaping after him when Seradon's shouldering of the guide sends him staggering into her path and they tangle in a direct collision. Recovering quickly, she is in time to see the wizard's hem whip out from under the slab as it hits the floor with a dull thump.

Helfierd has been eying the surrounding servants while talking. He narrows his eyes as he spots that several of the male servants of the visiting nobles are unusually burly and have bulges in their tunics that look a lot like hidden daggers. So focussed on this discovery is he that he has barely left his seat when the slab lands.

There is a short pause. for a moment, the joy and scintillating bustle of the feast continues, gleaming jewels, bright gold, pure white linen and sleek skin where ever the eye falls.

Then the cheerful hunting scenes high on the walls begin to slide upwards, and cold dark water floods into the hall

[BigBadQDaddy]

Helfried pauses for a moment, unsure what to do, unsure he can even do anything, before he quickly unslings his pack. Rummaging through the contents he produces his crowbar. Reslinging his pack he runs towards Catherine.
"Quickly!" He says with urgency. "We may be able to pry the slab."