B2 Ch. 39 Court Crashers

The Lady in Waiting considered the group for a moment, processing Hilbert’s words.

“- Can you do it?” she asked simply.

“Yes, Ma’am.  I can clear up anything but the worst cases.  If they are too far gone for me, then it is probably too late for them anyway.”  Tilly answered solemnly. Kindle took the opportunity to fluff up her feathers sitting on my pack, drawing the Lady’s eyes for a brief moment.

“Well,”- She said, turning back to Hillbert and Sir Micheal before lowering her voice even further,- “ The shortage has gotten even worse since you left, and with the new levies, we are coming perilously close to our emergency reserves.”  She whispered, leaning closer to Hilbert so that Tilly was barely able to hear what she was saying.

“I thought the entry tax was higher than I remembered,” Hilbert muttered.

“She has already raised taxes twice, but with many of our trading partners turtling up against the rising threat and the residents hitting their Life Energy Limit we are at our lowest levels in decades”

“I thought we carefully monitored the residential Life Energy Limit!”

“We do!  But what other options do we have?  The weasel somehow heard about our predicament, and it is a sign of the times that the Queen has even given him an audience.”

“I wondered about the shoddy blood magic I saw coming in.  She can’t be considering it!  The last time he-”

Tilly had been so focused on listening to the whispered conversation that he had missed the entry of another group to the main hall.  But as they approached the base of the large stairway, the clamor of their footfalls made the rest of the exchange impossible for him to hear.  Tilly turned and saw another group of Guards escorting some of those Cycloptic Brawlers from the strange caravan.  There were four of the One-Eyed Brawlers forming two pairs that bore a stave running through the handle of the large clay urn, covered in angry red symbols.

The Cycloptic Brawlers must have been Strength based in their build because they had no trouble carrying the urn, which looked like it could hold over four hundred gallons of liquid.  They marched along with their Dhampire escort, not hesitating as they reached the stairs and started climbing.

Tilly once again got a sickly feeling at the sight of the urn, and as the guards approached holding it, his gut churned.  The lingering nausea from the blood loss and the heady feeling emanating from the vessel and the four Brawlers combined to make his vision swim for just a moment as they passed him, reaching the top of the stairs.

To his left, the large double doors swung open and a rich velvety voice echoed from within,

“There they are now Your Majesty.  Once you see my product, you will understand that this opportunity is exactly what your Order needs in such… Trying times.”

Then the door swung shut, and Tilly’s vision refocused, Mallytza, Ichiro, and Hilbert were now whispering furiously behind him, but their words were lost in the background as he clutched his stomach. Amelia approached him, her eyes following the path of the urn with as much concern as he felt.

“I don’t like the feeling of that magic.  It’s too close to the Naga’s with a similar… Taint.”  She muttered, turning towards him and noticing his discomfort for the first time. Kindle chirped in agreement, watching the closing door with a predatory gleam in her eye.

As the doors finished closing, Tilly straightened, pulling his arms away from his center, and coming fully back to himself, his mind finally parsing the different sensations that had rolled through his body.  Some were new, but the sudden writhing he had felt reverberating up his side was not.  An awful clarity washed over him, and he looked over at his companions in momentary shock.

“They are Corrupted…  And whatever they say is in that urn is a lie.  Its holding back something terrible.

Amelia’s eyes narrowed considerably, “Are you sure, I felt something from my infection, but it is faint and has accompanied many other internal conflicts for me in the last month...”  She asked, her intensity trailing off as her own struggle with Corruption came to mind.

The wriggling emanating through Tilly’s Torso was just beginning to subside, a more intense version of what he had felt around Titus, like calling to like.

“No, I’m sure. We have to do something about this now… before its too late.”  He growled, the reality of the situation settling on him with its full force. He turned and rushed to the trio behind him and Amelia followed, mirroring his urgency.   The three looked up at his approach.

“We have a serious problem.  Whatever is in those Urns is Corrupted.”  Tilly announced in a heavy whisper. Ichiro’s eyes sharpened immediately and then glazed over as he looked through the door at the hall beyond with his sight ability.  The Lady in Waiting didn’t register the meaning of his words, but Hilbert’s face fell at the announcement.

“Corrupted, that is how you refer to the sickness, isn’t it… You mean to say that it's some sort of trap?”  He answered anxiously.

“Absolutely-” Tilly's answer was cut off by a sudden breeze to his right, marking Sir. Micheal’s arrival. “-We need to get in there and stop whatever is about to happen.” He finished urgently.

Hilbert's face fell even further, if it could have gotten any paler, it would have. “Gods above, I hope you are right… wait, no I-”

“Hilbert, what is happening?”  Mallytze demanded

“Darling, whatever the Weasle just brought into the High Chamber will be disastrous for our Order if it is not contained.”

At that, her confusion melted away to deadly focus, and Ichiro’s distant gaze focused back on the group, “A very large shift is coming. Threads are already starting to break.” He added.

“Alright,  alright!”- Hilbert waved in frustration- “We need to get in, and I am afraid these guards will not allow that on a simple hunch… I have a fairly illegal Mind magic spell I can use, but have to be completely outside of their attention to use it.”

“Distraction, got it,”  Tilly answered resolutely, by this time their huddle had been joined by Franklin and Gorock, the latter of whom was now smiling manically at the break in the boredom.

“I will return to the Queen's side as quickly as possible, she must know,”  Mallytze said, producing a pair of daggers from nowhere and laying them against the flat of her forearms as she glided back to the servant door with a sudden feline grace.

“I will stay here, the rest of you move over to the doors, and be ready to move as soon as they are down,  the spell will only last for ten breaths. “  Hilbert muttered, already forming arcane gestures with his hands.

The group quickly moved to the space before the double doors, having already attracted the attention of the majority of the guards with their furious whispering.  Tilly immediately began belligerently shouting, not wanting any of them to glance over at Hilbert, who had remained in the shadow of the closing servant's door.

“Listen, you hose-wearing idiots!  I am tired of waiting, we have something very important to share with your Queen.  I won't be kept out here like an Errand Boy!”  Tilly yelled, putting on his best impression of a drunk looking for trouble… He didn’t know why that was what came to him at that moment, but all the guards ate it up, moving toward him with Polarms at the ready.

“Sir, you will await the Queen's pleasure!”  One of the guards shouted back, as they approached from their positions around the top of the hall. As soon as the last guard passed Hilbert's position, the Wizard’s Assistant raised his hands,

“I honestly don't give a Shit-” Tilly said, dropping his pack, as Kindle took to the air above the group. - “about your Queen’s pleasure.”   Then he drew his hatchets and painted a manic grin on his face at the cautious approach of the guards

At that insult, the group of Guards pulled back their lips in snarls showing fangs and giving voice to their outrage.  Just before they could charge, Hilbert completed the spell, and a pink flash ripped through the hall.  Tilly’s vision cleared and he found the Guards frozen in a tight half-circle around him, having begun a charge, but now wearing a vague expression of confusion on their slack faces.

“Move!  Ten Breaths!”  Hilbert shouted, rushing toward the doors. The group had all drawn weapons, and Gorock and Sir Micheal flung open the doors releasing the last sentence of the conversation that had been going on within.

“Inspect this sample for yourself, Your Majesty, it will more than assuage your concerns.”  The velvety voice promised.

Time seemed to freeze as everyone within the large chamber looked to the unexpected interruption at the opening of the main entrance doors.  In that momentary confusion, both groups seized up each other.

The chamber was large and circular, the outer edge taken up by large stone columns, and a table that sat just in front of the pillars, wrapping around the whole space in a circular strip of elaborately carved wood.   There must have been over a hundred seats around the table, but about four-fifths sat empty. Three seats directly across from the opening were more ornate than any of the others.  The center and largest seat in the chamber was empty, as was the one to its.  But the one to its left held a hauntingly beautiful pale Vampire in a rich red dress.  Her eyes were two ruby orbs, that shifted their narrow suspicious gaze from the center of the chamber to the entrance.

Level ??? Sanguine Soceress Superior.

The center of the chamber was opened and currently held the four Brawlers, who had dropped their burden, and a hooked-nosed man who must have been the owner of the velvety voice.  He had just passed off a goblet of something to one of the two Knights standing guard before the Queen and at their interruption, his face had screwed up into a rictus of rage.

Level 59 Black Market Trafficker.

Tilly was shocked to see his third human in his time on Nephesh.

“You dare enter this Chamber unannounced!”  The queen shouted, rising to her feet.

“Your Majesty, If you could give us a moment to explain!”  Hilbert shouted, rushing in behind Tilly, with the sound of outraged guards coming to their senses echoing from outside.

Tilly’s eyes had become hyper-focused on the other Human in the room, whose face had immediately school to calm.  He started walking toward the Urn at the center of the room, as if nothing was amiss. Tilly’s gut twisted in on itself, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt he had to stop this man.

“Hilbert-” The Queen started before being interrupted by Tilly’s shout ringing through the chamber.

“Don't let him back to the urn!”  As if his words broke the fragile glass of stillness in the room, everyone started moving at once.

One of the two Knights protecting the Queen drew his weapon and rushed forward, passing the Trafficker and charging Tilly’s group, the other remained motionless, looking down at the cup in his hands. The rest of the Knights surrounding the chamber exploded to their feet, but few had weapons in hand, and even fewer still were wearing their armor. Tilly's whole group charged forward toward the urn and the Brawlers, while the Trafficker dropped his pretense of calm and sprinted toward the center of the room.

“I demand to know the mean-”  The Queen shouted, her voice carrying through the hall, before collapsing as the Knight in front of her, holding the cup groaned, and dropped it, looking down at his arm in horror.   The arm that had been holding the cup bulged and deforming under his armor.

“What-” Her voice fell, just as Mallytza arrived at her side, weapons drawn.