PASSING OF THE CROWN, Part I: the coronation

[Sodalis]

Khadyan:
As you wander the streets, pondering Raynorm's next move, you are struck with the quietness of the streets. People have closed shop and have retired for the evening. The winds have picked up and is blowing the leaves about the barren pathways. You hear nothing but the celebration from inside the palace.

But off in the distance, you see a strange figure, banging on the doors of local shop owners. He screams and yelps as he forces people to open their doors, and do business with him.

From your standpoint, you cannot make out the details, but the man stands some seven feet tall- and shroud in green clothes- completely covering his entire figure. His voice is coarse and and broken.

The door slowly opens, and they exchange words. After a short exchange, the large man gets what he wants (wrapped as a package) and moves to next shop.

Vriseya:
The mystics do not look at you, but cotinue at what they are doing. As they hold up the "venerable one", you notice immediately the blank expression on their faces. Their eyes, glassy and emotionless. Their breathing is uniform, and their actions are not very fluid.

They pass right by you and over to the king. In a soft, lazy voice, they speak, "We are extremely tired, and we have a long trip ahead of us. We will retire to our quarters." The king beggs them to stay for the celebration, but they turn him down. He shrugs it off and has two guards escort them to their rooms. Still smiling, he turns to his two favorite sons- "My boys... " as he gives them a big bear hug, "tomorrow will be a great day for you both..."

Then he walks over to Vriseya, "your presence here was greatly appreciated, but no longer necessary. If you wish, you may stay for the late night festivities. I have a room that may suit your fancy. I must apologize for being such an ungraceous host, but thi sis such a joyous occsion that i cannot be bogged down with such duties. Please, you are welcome to do as you please... I trust in your fair judgement."

He turns to the court, and yells out... and the court reciprocates with its own roar of congratulation...

 

[wolff96]

Niro calls the weasel over to him and retreats to a dark corner. Making use of a silenced invisibility, he sends the weasel to keep an eye on the Mystics as best he can.

Feeling like he's accomplished something, Niro strolls over to the nearest platter of food and begins to snack.

Realizing the whole group is going to degenerate into a wild party (by royal standards), he loads up a plate for his unseen servant to carry, makes his apologies to the king by claiming an upset stomach, and retreats to Vriseya's library to eat and meditate.

 

[Sodalis]

Niro:
As you leave the main hall, you are immediately stopped by the guards. They wquestion you for a minute, and then let you pass. An escort is called out to see that you head straight for the main gates, and not stray. As you leave, a platter of food follows close behind, and the guards, shocked and dumbfounded, watch as you grab food from the plate. Their jaws drop a bit, but shake their heads to regain consciousness as they Slam the gates shut after you have left the palace walls.

The walk back to the library is uneventful, but you can hear a distant man screaming. He is too far for you to hear exactly what is goign on. Every now and again, pounding echoes in the silent streets, and the shouting ceases.

The weasel chases the mystics down to their quarters, a beautifully decorated room made of exotic woods and rare fabric. They walk straight up to the door, unaware of their surroundings, and the guards open the door for them. without a word, they slip into the room, and the door closes behind them. The weasel slips in unnoticed by the guards, and finds a secluded place to hide as he watches what is happening.

Almost immediately, he notices a dark figure, shrouded in shadows sitting at the table at the far side of the room. (room has four beds placed at one end, with nightstands at each end of thebed. The center is a table, and the far side of the room is a closet/dressing area) The figure, gets up from his seated position, and walks over to the four mystics, and pats themon the shoulder. His eyes glowing green. the mystics have a blank expression on their faces. The shadow then chants a few mumbling words and the mystics vanishes in a blinding flash of light. Immediately afterwards, the same mystics reappear in their perspective beds- in deep slumber.

[OOC- the weasel is able to understand his words, but is unable to identify the spell. It is nothing it ever heard of- or saw before. Chant was "From the shadows whence you came, now return"[/OOC]

 

[wolff96]

Niro sits forward with a frown on his face as his familiar relates this to him.

"Hmm... Something odd going on there," he thinks to himself. Pondering what to do for a minute, he is suddenly struck by an inspiration. Foist it off on Vriseya, and let HER deal with it. Heh.

After spending a few minutes reviewing his spellbook for a spell he hadn't memorized that day, Niro sends his familiar scampering through the halls once more, with instructions to find Vriseya and keep her from leaving whatever place she has chosen.

Then, Niro casts a Whispering Wind spell and imbues it with the following words: "Man waited for Mystics in room, cast spell 'From the shadows whence you came, now return'. Mystics vanished in light flash and reappeared in beds."

Satisfied that he had done his part, Niro settled back in his chair, lit a candle, and began to focus on its flame.

 

[Sodalis]

OOC: Niro- do you have a telepathic link with your weasel? I thought you did, so assumed that you know what it knows. If not, then it is still inside the castle and you do not know this information yet- getting ina nd out of the castle is not easy... even for a weasel OOC: Niro sits back and enjoys his leftovers of milkweed, Cralion and Jamba Juice. And at the very same time, the mysterious man draws closer to Kadiyan. He eventually sees that it is no man, but a troll. He is shrouded in green, with a black hooded cape. He has in his claws six or seven packages that were hastily wrapped. He turns away from his business when he notices Kadiyan just standing there ,and immediately drops to his knees: "Master, what are you doing out in the open? I have not gathered the proper ingredients yet, but I have most of them. Please forgive my slow progress, but the kingdom is at a standstill today." He peaks upward to see if Kadiyan is responding, and then pulls his face downward again as he catches Kadiyan's eyes.. "Master?"

 

[wolff96]

[OOC: From the SRD: "Empathic Link: The master has an empathic link with the familiar out to a distance of up to one mile. The master cannot see through the familiar's eyes, but the two of them can communicate telepathically. This is a supernatural ability. " Since I'm over 2nd level, I have that connection to my familiar.

I'm assuming the castle and library are within a mile.

If so, then everything that has gone before is fine. /OOC]

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Kadiyan pauses for a second, then replies, "Do not be distressed my servant...I have come to tell you that my plan has been...interrupted...for the moment at least. Give me the ingredients that you have now, and what are we missing still?" The sorceror eyes the packages.

Hrm, what can I do to make this servant believe that I am my creator...he might suspect something...

Kadiyan remembers one of the behaviors that he and his creator share, and begins tapping his left foot, seemingly waiting impatiently for the servant to respond, "Well?" He does this trying to be as calm and convincing as he can...all the while ready to cast a hold person spell on the servant should he seem to suspect anything.

 

[Semirhage]

[ooc: sorry for my absence. been moving]
Semirhage smiles at the king, "I understand, your Majesty. Enjoy the celebration. I'll be heading back to my office."

And with that, she heads back to her office to meditate on what has happened. Something doesn't feel right. The mystics, by all accounts, should have pronounced a different end to this and the way in which they were acting afterwards was... unusual to say the least.

 

[Sodalis]

Kadiyan:
the troll does not look up, He quickly hands you the components, which you see and recognise immediately as spell compoenets, and from the portions of each, a spell either cast on large amounts of people, or one of potent powers. One that catches you eye immediately is Zefron, a potent substitute for mind control spell components that only few know about.

The troll continues, "The remaining components cannot be bought within the palce walls, because Vriseya had them banned twenty years ago. The only place that they can be gathered is the dense forests just outside the kingdom walls."

He cowers even more so when he hears that you start to tap your feet, visibly shaking. He dare not look up.

Niro
The weasel quickly maneuvers out of the room and through the palace courtyard. The guards pay little attention to him because of ceelebrating that has erupted. They merely look and yearn to be a part of it...

Vriseya
A thought a second run through your mind. You know that Mandar's baby is not a dragon, but why did themystics say so? That blank expression on their faces? The shadowy figure that urged your leaving? And what of BOB? What is the next move for Underwood? And then there is the crowning- will it be Mandar or Dryka? All these question have no answer as of yet. you take your leave and head back to the library to think these through.

As you step out of the palace, you see that people are peaking out of their homes and shops at the celebration that has begun inside the palace walls. A king has been chosen.

Back in your office in the library, you see that Niro has already made himself at home, and has been feasting all night thus far. (OOC- the weasel was not able to get to her when she left the palace, he is still inside)

 

[Semirhage]

Vriseya, deep in her thoughts, waves to Niro as she walks in and straight to her rooms to change clothing.