Danton was confused. He had no point of reference to any of
this but from the reaction of Xera to
this news, he knew that there was more to it. There was fear in his eyes, a
fear Danton knew well in the eyes of those about to die. Valma was now in shock
and its words looped over and over, unable to break its cycle. The only word
that Danton could pick up on was the word 'Herald' and that immediately pointed
back towards the Oraea. Not only had there been mention of a Herald figure and
in the books which Xera had 'borrowed' from the Oraea, it's true title was the
Herald of War. From what Odessa had said, the Grand Orator like Lord Rossley,
had fallen dramatically in love with a woman he had only just met, the two
could not have been a coincidence.
In the meantime; Raneaux, too scared to close her eyes
again, decided to escape the confines of the Drunken Talon without being
seen. She had been in worse positions
than this on her expeditions for House Narrkonis but never inebriated. This
lead to a few foolhardy decisions, which saw her fall out of her bedroom window
and twisting her ankle as she landed. Embarrassed and needing comfort and security,
she headed towards her shack which she had commandeered at the edge of the
village, away from prying eyes. She tended to her injury with what little she
had stored away before trying to find the group again. Raneaux was soon in awe
of what the Oraea had done, transforming the near lifeless village into a
dazzling array of colour, smells and new faces. The lights reminded her of
Eryns flames and soon the party was tinged with sadness for her. In the crowds,
she spotted Danton and Xera and an upturned metallic pyramid twirling and
floating behind them and she ran up to them as they approached the Oraea.
Danton had tried to convince Xera to question the Grand
Orator himself, given his apparent new found knowledge of their religion and
his own history with Valma and what it knew. Xera's timid nature however saw
him withdraw back into the texts he had been given, leaving Danton to fend for
himself. He had managed to bring the Orator into one of the two prayer rooms
away from other monks. He presented Valma and told him to listen to its words
about the Herald and offered a small amount of purple dust to him. He rubbed
the dust through his finger tips and soon his jovial demeanour changed to that
of concern. He questioned Danton as to where he had found the dust and the
creature, which Danton deftly avoided. The Orator pursued further, asking why
Danton had become involved with the affairs of the Purple Order while still
maintaining he was a non believer. All Danton could say was that it was in
connection with Eryn and they needed to know what the Orator had not told them.
The Orator quickly interrupted Danton, responding to a shout which Danton could
not hear. He abruptly excused himself from the conversation, saying he needed
to attend to his betrothed and darted out of the room.
As the Orator left, he was watched by Xera and Raneaux, who
had been keeping to the sides of the main hall in case of trouble. They saw the
Grand Orator hurrying into another room. He was followed out by Danton who
asked them both if they had seen the woman the Orator had implied to be
attending to, to which they shook their heads and pointed to the door. With the
festivities now in full swing, they were able to slip past the monks and into
the chamber. It seemed to be the Orator's office and living quarters, with
nothing out of the ordinary. That was apart from a bookshelf that had been moved to the side, revealing a
opening in the wall and a carved stone staircase
leading down into the dark. They could
hear the Orator speak to someone and immediately chased after him.
The room they suddenly found themselves in was a library of
sorts with heavy burdened shelves, full of
tomes, dusty and disorganised. A
single light hung over what could only be described as work bench or operating
table. There again were spots of blood on the metal framework of the counter,
scorch marks upon the metal and the straps attached to it. There were four
large manacles that seemed to be used to restrain hands and feet what had been
warped by heat. Caught completely off guard, a pulse of red energy washed over
them. Any device they had been carry that could display its active state dimmed
into darkness. The sounds of air escaping from valves, and heavy metallic
footsteps echoed in chamber. They were soon attributed to an eight foot
mechanical monstrosity of synth and metal, with what appeared to be a cannon
for an arm, now aimed squarely at the group. From inside the metallic suit came
the synthesised voice of the Grand Orator,
demanding that they leave him and his betrothed alone. He told them they would
never take her away from him, and he would rather die than for her to fall into
their clutches. His aim was imprecise, as if he was fighting aim. Blasts of
energy careered to the sides of the group, although some managed to at least
graze his intended targets.
Raneaux summoned her strength and from her golden veined
shadow, darkness spread across the room which swallowed light above the table.
The Orator could be heard arguing with himself, demanding the lights on the
suit to turn themselves on. Raneaux
herself was soon overcome with the a sense of guilt and confusion, a frustration
she could not explain. In the darkness, she tried to reason with the Orator,
saying that he knew he wasn't engaged and that there was no woman he was in
love with. Xera followed by implanting a suggestion in the Orators weakening
resolve, trying to compound the fact that he and the woman he was defending
were never together. Soon Raneaux's words broke through, and they could hear
the Grand Orator bursting into tears. The suit of armour seemed to eject the
Orator as he collapsed in front of it to his knees and continued to sob.
Between the bawling, he tried to apologise to Raneaux, saying he never meant to
cause him harm, and for things to go that far. He wished to suffer as much as
Eryn had when he was brought down here to be tortured for he knew. Raneaux's
only reply was slapping him with every ounce of her being.
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