((Note: The following story has been pieced together from the in-game emotes of several players and, therefore, each person should receive credit for the words and actions attached to their characters. Also of note, the player of Eduwiges wrote for various npcs (the barkeep and the guards) and I wrote for the Arthur.))
( Continued from The Great Horse Rescue: Part 1)
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Annabette and Masin stayed behind in Snowbourn to keep watch on Lady Addwyn’s property in case she decided to reclaim the horse and bring her back there. The rest of the company had set off for the Capital city of Rohan to meet with the one that had supposedly purchased Addie’s horse from Addwyn. Getting the horse back now would be tricky, for the man that had bought it was also suspected to be connected with the murder of Eduwiges’ father. They would have to tread carefully and bide their time for revenge.
The company now stood just inside the gate of Edoras and looked toward the tavern. Addie and Neth had both warned them about what had happened the last time they were here- the owner of the place had aided Wormtongue in his attempt to poison and dispose of Addie and was responsible for turning Neth over to the authorities to be thrown in jail. Yet, this was the place that had been agreed upon to discuss negotiations over the horse. Until Lily was safe and secured, they would have to pretend as though they knew no other information on the family or of the murder. They had no choice for now, but to play by Thunar’s rules.
(switching to emotes)
Eduwiges leads the way into the tavern and looks around suspiciously once through the door. Addiela pulls her hood down as she enters and keeps her face angled toward the ground, purposefully avoiding eye contact with the barkeep since she knows that he would recognize her. Nethrida likewise kept her head very much down and tries to remain hidden behind the others. Calidis follows closely behind Xanderian and Hawke as they both slipped through the door and cautiously looked around; she keeps her eyes down, trying very hard not to walk as gracefully as she usually does. Rhavanielle is the only one that does not appear to be wary of this place; she portrays a regal mien as she enters the rooms and makes direct eye contact with the barkeep while Eduwiges walks over to him.
She taps on the counter to get his attention, “Is Arthur around? We are supposed to meet with him.” The barkeep gestures up the stairs with a scarce glance and continues polishing mugs. Eduwiges shrugs at him and turns to walk up the stairs. Addiela glances over her shoulder for a moment to look around at the other customers and then follows up the stairs. Calidis follows the other two up and makes a point to make some noise on the ground as she goes. Rhavanielle steps light as a feather as she walks up the stairs and wonders what everyone is acting so peculiarly over.
Once upstairs, everyone looks to a slight man that is standing in the middle of the room. Eduwiges quirks a brow, “Arthur?” Arthur smiles warmly as he looks around to each in group, "Aye. You must be the ones I was told to meet. Come my friends, come. Please join me won't you. My father should be here any moment to meet with you. He is quite interested in what business you would have with him as this was a most unexpected surprise." He motions for everyone to join him at the table and signals for the serving wench to bring up a feast and several rounds of mead.
Eduwiges walks over to the table and sits down with her back next to the wall. Addie, Neth and Rhavanielle all follow her over to the table; Addiela sits down on the far side of the table where she can keep an eye on the stairs, Nethrida sits across from Addie, but keeps her body turned in a way so she could also keep an eye on the stairs and even opts to not have any of the mead- flashbacks of what happened last time clear in her mind, and Rhavanielle sits down right next to Arthur. Xanderian slips back into a corner and just watches, Hawke right next to her, and Calidis stands close to both of them where she feels a little safer.
Once seated, Eduwiges continues the conversation, “I thought we were meeting with you, Arthur.” Arthur shakes his head and beckons with his hands for the others that are standing to come sit down. "Nay, I don't have anything to do with my father's business. I'm just here to greet you and let you know that he's running a little late while sealing another deal. Did you have something to sell him?" As Arthur speaks, the servers begin bringing up many trays of roasted boar, roasted potatoes and carrots, venison, stews, capons, cheese and bread and enough wine and mead for all. "Please, friends, help yourselves while we wait, the bill is on me."
Calidis visibly hesitates but then makes her way towards the table, not at all wanting to appear rude. Xanderian, however, gives not two damns about appearing rude and stays where she is near the stairs, one hand on the hilt of Lovelorn; she clearly likes this not at all and meets Hawke's eyes noting that he, too, seems to share her suspicion. Normally Hawke would accept a free meal and ale, but something strikes him as odd at all the hospitality. Was the fare poisoned? What did the man expect for such a feast?
Rhavanielle is quite pleased to accept hospitality and uses a boot knife to skewer strips of roast. “How very gracious of you.” She taps a little bit of powder into her ale cup before drinking deep. Eduwiges’ stomach churns from not having food all day; she takes bread and breaks it, passing it around. Calidis takes a small bit of bread and breaks it into small pieces, which she eats a few pieces of. She is not particularly hungry (maybe it was the nerves) but doesn't want to put whatever deal this might be in jeopardy by offending anyone. Likewise, Addiela’s hunger gets the best of her and she takes a piece of bread as well and also reaches for some roasted vegetables. Nethrida frowned a bit; her stomach growled too. She helped herself to a meager serving of the roast and potatoes and bread, but still no mead.
Eduwiges takes a wheel of cheese and cuts it to have some with her bread. As she munches on it, she asks, “What kind of deals does your father make Arthur?”
Arthur reaches out for the roasted boar leg right in front of him and takes a huge bite, his eyes twinkle merrily as he speaks with his mouth full, "He doesn’t really discuss his deals with me, thinks I’m unfit to help him so, it's not often that I get to meet with his business partners.” He looks around to all of them. “And it seems that he has chosen some interesting ones in you lot. Where do all of you hail from?"
The room falls silent for a moment as most have no intention of answering his question. Addie turns her gaze from him and asks the server to bring a pot of tea to the table. Hearing the silence, Rhavanielle chirps up, “The east...”
Calidis eats another bit of bread and nods to Rhavanielle's explanation. Eduwiges chuckles at it, 'East is right!'
Arthur nods and shakes the boar leg in his hand toward Rhavi as he chuckles, also amused by her response. "The east, eh? That's rather vague, lass. I'm from here myself, a born and raised proud Eorlingas." He laughs heartily. “And what about the rest of you?”
There’s another moment of silence which is broken by the server coming back up the stairs with a pot of tea; she pours a cup for Addie and then leaves the pot on the table for anyone else that wants it. Calidis eyes the pot while Arthur waits in anticipation for someone else to answer his question. Nethrida pondered for a moment and then finally murmured "From the North... Bree-land."
Arthur turns his attention to Neth, pointing the boar leg at her now to indicate that he is speaking to her, "Bree-land, eh? I’ve heard.." but he stops in the middle of his thought, distracted by Rhavanielle as she pulls her hat off, not wanting to be rude at table. He notices the ears and stares at her, "By the stars, an elf."
Eduwiges looks at Arthur, 'Problem?'
Arthur shakes his head, "Nay, not at all lass; I've just never seen one before. I should greet my father's guests more often. How old are ye, elf?"
Rhavanielle continued to enjoy her meal and the chance for pleasant conversation, “I was born before the sun was made; so...old. In fact, I was not born at all; seems I was made.”
Arthur's eyes go wide. "What did it look like before the sun?"
“Imagine a dark night with no moon, the stars brighter than you've ever seen; and off to the western horizon a distant glow. Twas like that.”
Eduwiges giggles once the elf gets going and relaxes to have another sip of mead thinking Rhavi can handle herself. Addie, however, continues to keep an eye on Arthur while she eats, still suspicious of the man. Calidis finally reaches for the pot of tea to pour herself a cup and then seats herself; she keeps her hood on so, hopefully, she won’t have to answer as many questions as Rhavanielle does. Eduwiges takes a large swig of mead and smacks her lips. “I missed this stuff so much.” She looks at Xan and smiles.
Over by the stairs, Xanderian watches Eduwiges for a moment, face impassive, before turning her gaze back to keep an eye on things below. She frowns to herself, gently letting her nails caress the hilt of Lovelorn. Hawke shares a glance with Xanderian, thinking to himself that at least the man wasn't rude about Elves, but that all the questioning was odd. He wondered why the man wouldn’t just get on with the business at hand. Sensing his thoughts, Xanderian whispers to Hawke, low enough only he and the other elves would hear, "We are being kept here... stalled.” Hawke nods and reaches for the Elven dagger tucked beneath his tunic at the small of his back.
Back at the table, Calidis visibly startles when she hears what Xanderian whispers and her hands clench about her tea cup ever so slightly; she carefully sets it back on the table, having lost her appetite for it. Arthur nods along while listening to Rhavanielle, clearly intrigued by the tale. "It's not often that you hear tales of old here." He looks around to everyone else, smiling happily as he takes another big bite out of the boar leg. "I don't know what's keeping my father, he must have had some trouble with his last business deal. He should be here any moment though."
Rhavanielle senses a tense air from the others but goes drolly on, “A pity he may not share this repast with us. Do traders come to Edoras from Gondor often as they once did?”
Arthur shakes his head, "Sadly they have not in some time. We think that Gondor is having its own troubles as of late."
Rhavanielle frowns, 'I hear the most dire tales from that direction. I have it in mind to visit Dol “Amroth again soon. In fact, I had considered travelling to Minas Tirith.”
While the two speak, Xanderian quietly surveys the room again from her position near the stairs- no windows, only one stair, no obvious hidden entries. She quietly moves a chair so it can easily be kicked down the stairs to slow someone running up. Hawke stands at the railing, ready to leap from the balcony onto one or more of the new arrivals, his dagger at the ready.
The effects of the drugged food and drink are now beginning to be felt by all that partook of the “feast.” Nethrida, Addie, Eduwidges and Calidis all begin to feel their muscles get heavy and their breathing slow; their senses seem to dull along with their vision. They still seem to be able to move, but it takes great effort and their actions appear very sluggish, almost as though they’re moving through water. Rhavanielle also seems to be somewhat affected, but not to the extent of the others since she had the foresight to put a powdered antidote in her mead.
Suddenly, the door swings open downstairs and a troop of soldiers begin to filter inside. Xanderian draws Lovelorn smoothly, and pivots to face whatever comes up the stairs
Rhavanielle hears the commotion and looks to Arthur to observe the host's reaction. Arthur continues with the conversation and seems unfazed by what is going on downstairs- he also doesn’t seem to be affected by any drug though he’s clearly eating. He nods along, happy to be in Rhavi’s company. “And what is that Dol Amroth place like?"
The soldiers start marching up the stairs, bashing and clanging as they go, seeming clear in their objective.
Rhavanielle quirks a brow to Arthur, “There is some commotion. Do they fight here often when in their cups?”
Arthur continues to gnaw at the boar leg, but glances toward the stairs for a moment. He nods, "Aye, there are brawls in here all the time, lass, but if we continue mindin’ our manners good enough, no one should bother us."
Rhavanielle follows his glance over, 'I do hope someone has not taken it in their heads to try to rob our host!'
As Xanderian and Hawke look down at the approaching guards, they see what looks to be an officer of rank nearing the top. Behind him, are about fourteen other guards- they are having to come up the stairs two at a time due to its width- and there are a few bowmen are at the bottom aiming up. The officer looks to the chair that is blocking his path from reaching the upper floor and then looks to Xanderian. He points his sword to her and Hawke and then motions it to the others at the table, “HALT AND DO NOT MOVE! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!”
Seeing the officer, Addiela ducks her head and looks down to the table, hoping that he did not recognize her. She whispers across to Neth, "This is not good, What if my mother sent them? Perhaps if they don’t find me, they’ll let all of you go." Nethrida leans back and whispers "Hide behind the table." Addiela tries to move her body and legs in order to flee, but they feel too heavy due to the drug. She allows for herself to give into to the feeling of heaviness and her body just... slides under the table.
Calidis makes to stand from her chair and back into the corner, only she stumbles and lands on her backside against the wall. Once Addie is under the table, Nethrida pushes herself up, sluggish and dull; she bares her teeth as she looks over to their supposed ally, Arthur. Eduwiges also stands slowly, reaching for her sword and missing the hilt due to her drugged state. Her words are slurred as she calls out, “Rhavi, we are betrayed! Guard *hic* hourshefl.”
Determined to remain as unperturbed as ever, Rhavanielle uses the sudden fatigue she feels to help remain blasé. She looks over to Arthur "I say Arthur. Do you require our help?" Arthur doesn’t respond; he seems just as surprised as everyone else after hearing the officer’s words and just sits there, frozen with his mouth agape, boar leg still in hand, looking toward the guard on the stairs.
Over that way, Xanderian smirks at the officer and responds to his “command” by kicking the chair toward him, causing him to fall back and trigger a domino effect with some of the other guards. Happy with the distance now, Xan drives Lovelorn point first into the floor and draws Heartbreaker, which seems to be...laughing? She calls over to Hawke, “My urchin… we must clear a path.”
Hawke decides to leave his dagger sheathed and draws his sword instead, joining Xan at the top of the stairs in readiness for the guards. He stays in front, but to the side so that Xan can shoot over him. Xanderian smiles, feeling Hawke by her side, and nicks an arrow from her second quiver, readying it to fire; however, one of the bowmen on the ground floor fires first and an arrow sails up the stairs. Hawke ducks as the arrow whizzes past his head; it ricochets off the guardrail and sends splinters towards Xan’s face causing her to wince.
Back at the table, Nethrida adopts a defensive posture as best she could, opting not to attack for now so that she can stand guard over Addie and Calidis, who both seem rather helpless at the moment- Addie is still under the table, staring up at it as she tries to will her body to move, and Calidis is desperately trying to pull herself into a standing position by digging her fingers into the edges off the wood boards that make up the wall. While they struggle, Eduwiges sluggishly reaches over and grabs Arthur by his shirt front and pulls him to her. In one swift show of strength, she manages to hurl him across the upper floor into the railing, stunning him; though, surprisingly, his grip on the boar leg still remains strong.
As Arthur’s body slumps against the railing, the guards that fell on the stairs quickly clamber to their feet; however, they’re shoved aside by the officer as he makes a path for himself to ascend again, his sight focused on getting to Xanderian. Hawke stands at the top, two steps down from her, poised with his sword drawn and at the ready to take him on. The officer sneers at the young lad in his way and reaches for him to fling him down to the bottom. Hawke swings hard at the man with his sword and the officer barely manages to block the strike; though it was blocked, the hit was hard enough to cause the man to get pushed back enough to where his foot slipped off the step, sending him tumbling down to hit his head hard, stunning him.
Xanderian whispers to Hawke as the guard lands, "Brace, then, when the way is clear, move for moonlight.” Hawke braces himself and Xanderian aims an explosive arrow at the fireplace; she releases, breathing out. The arrow strikes the fireplace dead on and explodes, filling the tavern with heavy acrid smoke and sending brick and rocks flying outward in a cloud of shrapnel which takes out part of the wall and maims several guards, rendering them inert. Xanderian cries out to Hawke, “GO, NOW!” Hawke jumps over the railing to avoid having to go down the steps through the guards and hits the bottom, rolling to break his fall. His bad leg twitches a little, but holds and he manages to run out through the hole by the fireplace and escape.
Upstairs, Rhavanielle sits serenely in the middle of the chaos, taking stock and blinking a bit as though tipsy. She burps a queasy burp and then hauls herself to standing. Once on her feet, she makes her way to the guardrail and looks down to poor Arthur; she had intended to help him up onto a chair, but due to the effects of the drug still in her system, she tires and sits in his lap instead. She pats him on the head and then takes the boar leg from him to start gnawing on it while she observes her surroundings. Eduwiges see this and hisses toward her, “Rhavi! He is not on our side!”
After seeing Hawke safely escape, Xanderian shifts to where she can target the guards between the party and the smashed wall. Across the room, Calidis finally pulls herself upright and stares wide-eyed at the effects of the explosion. She looks over to Xanderian and tilts her head a bit, thinking that she heard something, but then decides that's a very bad idea since it makes her want to fall over again. She closes her eyes for a moment, trying to clear the effects of the drug so that she can move.
Back at the table, Nethrida also took a moment to register the explosion. Once realizing that this could provide a perfect opportunity for escape, she turns herself around and reaches down under the table to hold her hand out to Addie. "Come... There is... An opening", her words stammered and her hand was swaying as she shook her head to try to shake off the effect of the drugs. Addiela looks up and reaches out a weak hand for Neth's as she tries to scramble her way out from under the table.
Calidis shakes the effects of the drug enough to slowly make her way over to join Xan near the stairs; as she nears the elf, she is intercepted and grabbed by a guard that has managed to finally make his way up through the smoke to the top floor. Calidis struggles a little in the guards' grasp and attempts to kick him really hard in his family jewel; she looks absolutely terrified and the jewel hidden under her clothing is shining so brightly that it can almost be seen under the dark fabric. The guard loosens his grip on her after being kicked, which gives Xanderian a clear shot; she turns and aims point blank at his face, dropping him instantly.
However, that victory is short-lived as more guards pile in through the door and charge up the stairs; it is obvious that overwhelming force is surrounding the building. Another officer reaches the top floor and directs his soldiers to fan out across the room, instructing them to capture the group. One easily grabs Calidis and puts his sword to her throat. Eduwiges finally manages to make her way over to the stairs and get her sword out, but fumbles it as a guard approaches her; while she bends down to reach for her sword, he knocks her unconscious and then slings her over his shoulder.
Addie emerges halfway from underneath the table in enough time to see a guard approaching Neth; her eyes go wide and she tries to warn Neth, but it is too late, he grabs her from behind and tackles her down to the ground. Nethrida struggles weakly under the grasp of the guard and tries to reach for her sword which is laying just a few inches from her, but he is too strong for her to overcome in this weakened state. Another guard approaches Addie and yanks her out from her hiding spot. She yelps and kicks against him, weakly, but it is of no use it seems.
On the opposite side of the room, Rhavanielle still sits calmly amidst the melee, shrouded somewhat by the smoke. After watching for a moment, she looks into Arthur's greasy face, "I’m afraid my friends have decided it's time to leave. I do thank you and should you appear in Rivendell I'll be sure you are treated to a theatrical at least as exciting as what you've staged for us. Well done!” She grasps her ring and in a sudden flash, disappears from sight. Cloaked in invisibility, she strolls over to Calidis and slips something into her pocket before leaving the building to take in more sights of the city.
With everyone in the room now captured, but Xanderian, the officer turns to her and demands, “Put the weapons down, dwimordene, or they are all dead!” Xan looks to the overwhelming force and then back to her friends to see that they now have daggers at all of their throats. She considers for a moment and knows that whatever trick she could pull, everyone is still mostly drugged. She lowers Heartbreaker...which disappears. The officer blinks a few times after seeing the weapon just disappear, but then quickly moves to cuff her while other guards collect everyone else’s weapons. Once they are all secured, the group is led down the stairs, out the tavern, and toward the jail.
In the distance, a lone figure follows the group from the cover of shadows, keeping a careful eye on them to see where they’re being taken to. It is up to Hawke now to free the party.
(To be continued in The Great Horse Rescue: Part 3)
