Editing Journal - A Beautiful Death (section)

==An Audience With Queen Dalryssia==

We approached the throne room, which I recognised from earlier, and the guards outside rapped their pikes on the floor. The doors swung smoothly open into the throne room itself. Eight guards lined either side of the room, and the Queen sat on the throne at the far end. The King was nowhere to be seen, though. The Chamberlain announced &quot;Lord Dracor&quot; in a loud voice as we entered and then stepped to the side. I did the same, on the other side, as I wasn't sure I wanted to risk walking past a royal bodyguard, invisible or not they might well notice. Two guards moved forward so that they were either side of Falcor as he reached the front, and he bowed formally. The Queen welcomed him, although she did not know of him, and said that whilst he was plain of visage she understood that he was beautiful of dweomer. She then started to talk about the creature we had fought, suggesting that he might undertake a quest to kill the beast and bring its head back for her so she could hold a ball.

Whilst she was doing this, Falcor urged me to give him his sword. This surprised me, to be honest. Was his plan really to just straight up murder her in cold blood? How did we know she was the real Queen, and what defences might she have for such an attack? If she wasn't the real Queen then he'd be standing over a nation's dead Queen, blood dripping from his sword, in the middle of a fortress full of guards and surrounded by the royal guard itself. If she was, the whole place would be falling apart and everything from the last scenario would still apply. I wasn't even sure that the whole place wasn't some kind of giant illusion or mass hypnosis. Surely we should learn more first? We could return with the head and see her again, after all. Falcor was becoming increasingly insistent though.

I reached out with my mind, trying to get a feel of the psychic impressions within the throne room. At first it seemed like just a blank canvas, but there was a much older place behind it, from history, that was soaked in fear and death... blood violently spilled. It was a different incarnation of this room, long since past, but fear most of all was the main feature. We started to agree that the original Dalryssia had left this place, although she still had much influence here, and was not the Queen we saw before us. Falcor agreed to the quest to hunt the creature we had encountered earlier, and said that he looked forward to the ball when we returned successfully, asking if that would mean he could see the Queen in her most regal attire. The Queen agreed readily that it would, and asked the Chamberlain to see to his needs in preparation for his quest. She also suggested a tourney where his prowess in battle could be shown off.

Falcor then spoke of how his request on arriving for access to an area to train had been denied, and that the Chamberlain had been quite rude and dismissive of him. The Queen was certainly not amused, and the Chamberlain's stammering attempt to defend himself did not help at all. She decided that he should fight Falcor to prove his worth, which was basically a death sentence. Thankfully Falcor was able to diplomatically delay the fight at least until we returned, getting the Queen to agree that such a fight as an opener to the victory ball would make it a much more beautiful death. The ex-Chamberlain was quickly escorted out and one of the Queen's guard was asked to see to Falcor's needs until a new Chamberlain was appointed. I waited after he left to see what would happen, and the Queen walked behind the throne where a doorway (well concealed) opened to let her pass. Most of the guards left once this door had closed behind her, with only four remaining in the room.

Falcor was escorted to a different room, much grander suite of rooms, receiving many apologies on the way. The new Lord Verrel (the new Chamberlain) made himself known; it seemed that the name came with the title, which would also explain why the Queen was called Dalryssia. Falcor was now three flights of stairs above his previous accommodation, and these rooms were much grander, gilt encrusted, and included six rooms and a hot, steaming bath. There was also a feast laid out for him that even he could not finish! A gold and crystal flagon of fine wine accompanied it. This was luxury beyond anything he had ever seen, even from his courtly days.

Meanwhile I was standing around waiting and trying not to get bored or cramped! After at least a couple of hours the other guards left as well, so I could finally move. There were still a shadowy balcony on each side of the throne room above me, so I listened carefully and moved in small bursts to approach the throne along one side. I could sense an echo of a link to another place directly from the throne, and it repulsed me on a primal level in a fear for my very existence. It could only be linked to a place of pure radiant energy utterly opposed to the land of my Father. As I resisted the urge to move away, I realised that it was life-giving in nature, but overwhelmingly so and, as I thought, opposed to my very essence. I fought against the dread and tried to calm my mind, trying to focus my mind. I had an instant connection to an overpowering radiance from the throne itself, even though it was just an echo of the power linked to it. A lot of power had flowed through the throne, though, and recently. I tried to get closer to investigate the door behind the throne, but the radiance was too strong and I was forced back. I used dweomer to transport myself back towards the entrance, hoping to link up with Falcor again.

Meanwhile Falcor had tried to call me with his mind, and surprisingly someone else had answered; it was an Elvramer named Arak, that Falcor had met before on his adventures. Arak was somewhat surprised that &quot;The Guardian&quot; was there at the same time. He confirmed that he was within the fortress of the humans, so close, he was seeking alliances in difficult times. He was also trying to understand where the humans would (and would not) be, as his people were weakened and could be vulnerable. He had heard tales that suggested there might be Elvradhil in the mountains here, but he had not been able to explore so he couldn't confirm this. There were several bodies of water here on the island that connected to the sea, although the humans didn't seem to realise their significance. Falcor suggested that he might want to leave in order to ensure his safety, as the whole place was at risk if our quest was successful.

I had tried to get back to where Falcor had been, not realising that he had moved, but got lost in the maze of the fortress anyway. I shouted mentally, and thankfully got a response from Falcor. He wasn't sure where he was exactly, although he knew that he was several floor up. He resolved to attempt to reach me, asking his host if he could be taken on a short tour. As they walked he learned that all names were indeed tied to specific posts, and that the Queen was always Dalryssia but was named after the divine lady that watched over this place. This &quot;divine lady&quot; brought the sun to shine over the land every day. Previously it had been a land of darkness and despair, where humans were little more than slaves and Saloroc scratched a meager existence from the earth. Dalryssia, the goddess, had brought salvation and bestowed upon the Queen the gifts of beauty, allowing the Queen to bear her name. As long as the Queen honoured the goddess, then prosperity would always come to the land. It was said that the Queen had her own chapel where she worshiped Dalryssia, the Goddess. There had been eighteen Queen Dalryssias since the original ascended.

Thankfully I could hear the end of this discussion as Falcor had been descending towards me on the nearest stairwell. He made sure to be especially noisy on his return so that I could get back to his room with him. Once there we swapped notes on what we had seen and experienced. It was clear that Dalryssia (the Sarn) had already ascended in some way and we we had any hope of defeating her we would have to draw them out; there was no way I could hope to enter her realm without being destroyed by it. I wondered whether, although I hated the idea the moment I aired it, I might draw her out if I let my true self be seen and call Dalryssia out as a false goddess.

Picking up on this idea, Falcor asked whether a duplicate of the Queen's clothes could be made, so that he might match his dress to hers for the ball, adding of course that it would have to be destroyed afterwards. This, of course, was wonderfully received as a beautiful idea, helped by the large sapphire he offered in payment. Perhaps I could challenge the Queen's faith if given enough time? I was nervous, and it would take a week of allowing my detestable beauty to return; I took great care to hide it normally, so this was no easy change to make. If Falcor could keep me invisible it would help, as much for my sake as for others.