Tilly experienced a strange combination of nausea and sleepiness before he managed to fully steady himself against the checkpoint table. Losing that much blood without a wound was a surreal experience and it took a moment for him to get his bearings.
The official was busy turning back and forth between the device and the vessel behind him, repeatedly muttering under his breath. The dark-eyed Knight cleared his voice noisily from the shadow of the gate, and the official jumped, startled by the interruption to his musings.
“Ah. Very sorry... Sir, this is quite irregular, I do apologize. I don't think the device was calibrated to be able to factor what could be, do pardon me for saying this, an unforeseeable ratio between Endurance and Constitution. Nonetheless, the error is ours and while we can not issue you your blood back,” he said, pulling out a special sheet of paper with gilded edges and starting to fill it out. “ I can issue you this notice of refund along with a small damage payment from the Commerce Guild. Their backing comes with an insurance policy of sorts. Turn it in, and they will issue you a payment in either Standard or local currency.” He finished, signing the paper with a flourish and handing it over to Tilly.
Notice of Refund - {This document can no longer be altered} It has been sealed with an official Skill. This notice of device failure must be turned in by Jonathan Tillman to be exchanged for fiat currency at any Commerce Guild location. Item cannot be lost or stolen.
“Thanks…” Tilly smiled weakly, rolling up the sheet and stuffing it in his pack.
“Villers! If you take any longer, I will leave them here to find their own way to the keep and I will give the Queen your name when she demands why!” Sir Accolon shouted in impatience.
The official fumbled with the original Extractor and laid it against Amelia’s arm as she stepped up smoothly behind Tilly.
“It’s never easy with you is it?” She whispered conspiratorially to him, as the device lit up along with the vessel. She didn’t flinch as the blood extraction finished and moved past to join the others. Tilly didn't bother to restrain a woozy smile at her antics. It was kind of nice to be able to joke around a little bit, even if it only seemed to be possible in the middle of a life-or-death mission.
The last members of their group made it through without a hitch and they all moved past the checkpoint. They passed under the foreboding portcullises and murder holes as Accolon stepped in front of them sneering for all he was worth.
“Gods, I can already tell you are going to be a chore. Come, Her Majesty waits for no one.” He declared curtly before turning on his heels and moving through to the light on the other side of the gate passage. The group hurried after and found a small escort of six Dhampire Guardsmen waiting for them. They were each dressed in fine livery, and carried polearms.
Level 42 Dhampire Guardsmen.
At the arrival of their leader, the group of guardsmen spread out to encompass the group, and began their march through the city with Sir Accolon at the head, followed by a slightly discordant Hilbert and a silent Sir Michael.
The escort moved through the city at a quick walk and Tilly was struck by the differences between it and the empire’s capital, the only other city he had encountered so far on Nephesh. The streets were cobbled and the outer district held large medieval-style buildings. This was completely different from the sandstone-paved streets and heavily Roman-influenced architecture of the empire. Both had felt established, but Tilly thought that there was a good chance that this Faction was younger by a significant margin, despite its higher Tier of power. He couldn’t begin to guess the ages of some of the vampiric figures Hilbert had told them about in his short recount of their faction’s history, but he doubted the faction as a whole was more than five hundred years old.
Tilly mulled over the nature of the rising and falling of power on Nephesh as they passed a side street leading to the arena, several large inns, and a theater. He did note that there were no beggars on the streets, or any signs of poverty for that matter. In fact, on the whole, the streets were far less crowded than either the Alliance's new capital or the Empire’s before it.
That is not to say that there wasn’t a constant buzz of activity thrumming through the city. It's just that while there was traffic, there were no choke points on the roads, and while there was the murmur and chatter that accompanied any population center, Tilly didn't catch any of the shouting that he would expect from hawkers.
A variety of peoples and races could be seen on the main road, but everyone seemed subdued, not cowed per se but something indefinable was missing… Soon enough they were through the first section of the city and had passed another gate, this one manned by guards who seemed much less impressed by the Knights in their company. Both Knights and Hilbert had to present their arms again, and a writ was requested from Sir Accolon to prove permission for “outsiders” to gain admittance to the inner city.
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Once they were through to the inner city, any hint of outside architectural influence disappeared. The population was reduced again by a significant factor, and they were almost all of the Aos Si race. A pale, beautiful people who all carried the same air of aloofness. There were some businesses in this section of the city, but most of the buildings were residential in nature.
The trip through this area was much shorter than the last and with only a few looks of interest from the residents. The escort proceeded to the main gate of the Keep, a solid intimidating structure that looked like it was about to be swallowed whole by the giant barrow that engulfed it. The stone fortifications jutted from the manicured grass and landscaping of the hill it was built into and its opening yawned wide, leading into the significantly darker interior of the keep.
This checkpoint was manned by two Knights who wore their entire plate, and while their armor didn't obscure their faces like Sir Michael’s, they seemed just as uninterested in talking. Both hardly moved as they watched the procession pass through the security checks and gain admittance to the Keep. Sir Accolon fought fire with fire, leaning into ignoring their presence as fully as possible as he passed by. Sir Michael, on the other hand, offered them a formal salute before continuing into the keep.
Once inside the structure, strange pinkish lights began to illuminate the cavernous hallway and numerous servants became visible, moving about the passage busily attending to whatever duties their stations demanded. All of them were Aos Si. As Sir Accolon continued to lead them forward confidently, Hilbert looked around and slowed his pace, allowing him to fall in with their group. He flicked his hands subtly casting something that muted the air around them.
Without looking at them he muttered, “This is both going better and worse than I thought. As long as you are able to clear the infection, everything should be fine. I am afraid that due to the way we have… gained Her Majesty’s attention, your welcome will not be very warm. Whatever happens to Sir Michael and I, do not get involved. Maintain your positions as emissaries, and be insistent that you be allowed a demonstration of your claims."
At this point, most of the group seemed unsurprised by the complicated nature of their reception but they all nodded along with the explanation. Except for Gorock, Tilly wasn’t even sure he had heard. The giant had found a piece of jerky from somewhere and was noisily chewing it with eyes glazed over in pleasure.
Hilberts dismissed his small spell and picked up his pace to rejoin Michael’s side, a small popping sound accompanying his movement away from the group. Tilly cast a side eye at the guards, who appeared not to have noticed anything, and found himself impressed by the Apprentice's sneakiness. They had entered a huge underground hall, floored by a beautiful mosaic that was too large for Tilly to gain an understanding of what it depicted while walking on it. At the end of the hall was a giant staircase leading up to a set of double doors flanked by numerous smaller entrances.
In the distance, Tilly saw a group being let into the double doors and faintly heard a crier announcing the group to whatever was on the other side. He had difficulty making it out over the clattering of their footfalls on the mosaic. Sir Accolon reached the base of the stairs and leapt up them two at a time, obviously ready to be done with his fetching duty, and the rest of them had to jog to keep up.
As they topped the stairway, a servant in an ornate uniform moved forward from one of the side doors and stepped in close to speak with Sir Accolon. The Knight nodded along in annoyance at whatever he heard and as soon as the servant stepped away Sir Accolon turned and smiled at them, showing the full length of his fangs.
“And so, my duty is fulfilled. Stable boy, you and this hulking imposter are to be tried before the High Table for disobeying orders and dereliction of duty. As for your friends” - He said, turning his toothy smile on them- “They will receive their chance to beg of the queen’s mercy. But know this, she is much less patient with fools than she once was. So do not waste the Table's time. Be quick about your business. You will be called in as soon as the current filth is shown out. Apparently, it is a day of vagrants and swindlers...” He finished, smile curling down into its typical sneer before turning and walking down the hallway to another much nicer side entrance and entering.
At his apparent dismissal, the Guards backed away to the tops of the stars, keeping watch on the group, but labeling them as no threat. Hilbert moved to the benches flanking the large door and collapsed into one of them looking exhausted, leaving Sir Michael to remain stoically standing watch in front of the large doors.
Tilly moved toward the slouching Apprentice to try and get as much information as possible about what they were going to face in the chamber, when another side door, opposite of the one Sir Acollon had moved through, opened. A lady in an ornate dress rushed out of it, closing the door behind her carefully to reduce any noise.
Level 32 Lady in Waiting
She wore a beautiful dress cinched tight around the bodice but flowing outward at the hips, and her hair was piled atop her head in a complex configuration of braids and ribbons. As soon as she turned from the door, her pale beautiful face took on a look of such exasperated disbelief that Tilly couldn’t help but feel ashamed by association, even though the look was entirely directed at Hilbert.
“How could you!?!” She sputtered at the Apprentice who opened his eyes wearily before registering the owner of the voice. As soon as he saw her, he sprang up, ramrod straight.
“Mallytza! My dearest! What news of the court?”
“Don’t ‘what news of the Court’ me!”- she almost ranted, before looking around and schooling her voice.- ”After your display in front of the High Table, you were expressly forbidden from pursuing your plan. Not only did you ignore a command from the Queen, you pulled away one of those called to stand vigil!” She whisper-shouted, before turning to the statuesque Sir Michael who somehow managed to look chagrined without moving a muscle.
“And you! You know full well your standing at the table! Half think you should have never been admitted in the first place. With this, you will lose your seat for certain, if not worse! What have you to say for yourselves?”
Hilbert stood, shooting a quick look at Sir Michael, before holding up pleading hands, “Mallytza, my moon and stars. We did it! We have found a cure to the Blood Darkness.” He said, gesturing vaguely in Tilly’s direction like he was some sort of commodity.
“It will be a simple matter to negotiate terms, and see all those who are laid low restored!”
At his words, the Lady in Waiting turned to consider the outsiders for the first time.