No sooner had Danton offered his help, Xera stomped out the
ruins of his lab and straight towards the Oraea. There was only one possibility
of what could have happened in his mind, the Oraea had broken into his lab and
stolen from him and he needed answers. His ferocity however was soon quashed as
he entered the Oraea itself and caught sight of the fourteen or so members
milling around. The building was far older than the houses around and was made
from the grey stone quarried from the mines. The floors had been made out of a
lighter granite and were tiled in geometric fashion on the floor, creating a
mesmerising pattern. To the left and right were open alter rooms in the small entrance
hall, beyond was the main chamber, housing a plinth and a large Amethyst Vase. The
sculpture was the exact same colour as the
dust found in the laboratory. To either side of statue, were two solid wooden
doors followed by a matching pair beyond before the main chamber met the end room which
contained a large dining table in the process of being laid for a banquet .
Xera could see that not only were they outnumbered, but some
of the members seemed, at least visually, threatening. All walks of life could
join the Purple Order and he was doubtful of their safety if things were to
turn sour. At the very back of the Oraea was a small terrace with a fountain and beside it was a man in
garish robes and he presumed the man was in charge. it was Danton however who
approached the man. He had a friendly demeanour under his furrowed brow and
grey hair but it soon turned against Xera, when he compared the order to the
other Purple Monks. Within a few short shouts, he was piled high with books on
the history of the Oraea, with the first penned by Silas.
Danton had tried to
move the conversation towards the subject of Eryn by offering a conversation
over the banquet table to which he was refused. The food that had been laid on
the table was for the monks only but Raneaux hadn't heard what he had said. She
was desperately stuffing her face with meats, breads and other delicacies, all washed
down with wine. With the last sip of the bottle gone, she realised that she had
seen the bottles before. These had been brought by Eryn.
Danton glanced over at Raneaux, and seeing the bottle in her
hand, tried to distract the Grand Orator as he was referred to by the other
monks. He tried to talk philosophy, about the futility of existence but was
scoffed at by the Orator. He told Danton in no uncertain terms, that regardless of the threat the Great Devourer
posed, they had to survive and in doing so, had to first vanquish the Herald's
Army. Danton turned to Xera for any information, only to see him use his
abilities from across the room to swipe an unopened wine bottle from Raneaux
grasp. The Orator caught sight of her
and started to shout for her removal. Danton tried to reason with him, by
getting Jarvan to look after Raneaux. She had now been shooed away from the
banquet and was now drunkenly spinning around the vase statue and giggling to
herself. Soon Danton's mask of innocence was questioned by the Orator, who
asked for his real reason for bothering him and his followers. Danton sighed
and told him about Eryn and disappearance. The Orator shifted uncomfortably on
his feet before telling him to speak to a woman named Odessa, who he had seen
last speak to Eryn.
Odessa had been
praying in one of the front rooms, muttering words under her breath when she
was interrupted. She remained hooded, although from her body language she was
either tired or upset. Danton asked her what she had needed to speak to Eryn
about, to which she gave little information. She revealed only the fact that
she had talked to Eryn before he left about the festivities for the night
ahead. Xera believed he saw something in her that told him she was lying and
attempted to coerce her into cooperating. She quickly broke down at his
request, her hands covering her face, now dripping with tears. She told them
that she had sent Eryn to the north side of the village, on the way to the
mines. She had been threatened by the Orators betrothed, a beautiful young
woman who had only been in the Orator's eye for just under a week. She had been
told to send Eryn there with no questions asked, otherwise she was threatened
with not living to see the festivities in the evening. She showed them a deep
purple bruise on her arm where the woman had grabbed her. Odessa told them that
the woman had incredible strength and she feared not only for her life, but the
Orator and the Oraea.
The description of the woman sparked a memory within
Raneaux. There had been a woman who had arrived from Qi with the builders,
along with an art dealer, a brutish looking woman, and a foppish musician. She had seen the woman demonstrate her
strength in front of the builders. They had scoffed at her lithe build but soon
she was consistently out-performing them
with ease. Some of the men soon showed noticeable signs of being scared. She
relayed that as much as she could before her stomach churned on the wine and
her cheeks filled out before she ran out of the Oraea followed by Jarvan.
Jarvan told Danton to go on without him as he attempted to
bring Raneaux to Drunken Talon and to bed. When they arrived, Mavis was not too
pleased with Raneaux's state, muttering the bad influence of Ethis but knew
that Jarvan was a capable man after helping to look after Lina. She had still
not awoken from her illness and so after Raneaux was tucked into bed, Jarvan
spent the rest of his time with her.
As Raneaux's head hit
the pillow she fell instantly to sleep. The ink of her imagination formed into
a young girl she had never seen before, a girl made of amethyst. She was
accompanied by a chiming voice calling for war. Shards of crystal pierced the
girl causing her to scream out in pain over and over again until she shattered
wit the voice echoing laughter. Raneaux bolted upright. She was instantly
awake, covered in sweat and she could
feel tears had run down her face while
she had slept.
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