[center][h3][color=fffc96]Vodilic[/color][/h3][/center]

[i]Interesting...[/i] was a not even remotely adequate judgement for the situation at hand, at least not in Vodilic's thoughts as he was guided into the very throne room of not only this great but miserable city, but the entiry continent so to speak. Since when exactly was it common practice to take a bunch of seemingly random prisoners from the dungeons and to allow their dirty feet to touch the noble ground here ? Normally the first and last time those saw the king was when the latter wanted to surveil the proceeding of his executioners or when he wanted to demonstrate something to those he ruled over. Weren't things supposed to be that way ?

The very feeling of the cold stone beneath his still naked feet gave Vodilic a weird impression. Yes, the stone in the dungeons was cold as well, but the ground here wasn't [i]wet[/i]. It was a comfortable, refreshing coolness that this building emitted -- probably caused by its sheer size and massivity. One successful heist in any of those rooms here probably could end any thief's career, simply because there was no need to steal anymore if one already had anything. To make things even more weird it did not slip the man's attention that a set of tables with an obscene amount of food on them had been arranged for them and that exactly the same guards that usually would have been all to happy to use their halberds now apparently had been temporarily demoted to humble servants having to get some chairs...

Still, as the king started speaking, the first thing that came to Vodilic's mind was to pick up the equipment that had been laid out so neatly for him. Even the amount of cleaning that obviously had taken place could not cover up the fact that the leather had seen its best days already, but without it Vodilic simply felt somewhat naked. Even in the most desperate of situations it could make a difference he simply thought, so Vodilic was quick to put it on no matter what. And now to the grand meal...

The chair groaned in protest as a giant's amount of weight was put onto it, but at least it didn't break in front of everyone's eyes as Vodilic sat down and arranged himself properly. He reached for the wine, but the moment the fluid had almost reached the point of no return into the bottle Vodilic abruptly stopped his movements.

[color=fffc96][i]What if this is some sick kind of test for a new kind of poison they've cooked up recently ? I could be dead, lying on the floor with cramps with everyone watching with a sadistic grin...[/i][/color]

The thought lastest for a mere few seconds. If this was some kind of test intended to result in their death it was pretty much unavoidable anyway. And speaking of theirs... As Vodilic continued to pour the contents of the bottle into the goblet he turned his head to take a look at those who had come with him. Just a few minutes ago he hardly could have cared less about those others who had been condemned to rot in the same dungeon, but now it seemed they were bound to form some kind of bond. For a reason unknown to them that was, at least so far...

Starting to chew away at the hen, Vodilic greedily waited for more information to come. That king better started to continue talking soon... And that woman with the green scarf next to him hopefully would start keeping her loose mouth shut before she'd completely screw up. He really was no friend of their 'host', but she talked as if she was the landlady here.

[color=fffc96]"Get your feet off... Now!"[/color] Vodilic had taken the time to swallow before speaking so his words would be as clear as possible -- and [i]slightly[/i] threatening. Yes, he would probably not admit it, but while internally criticizing her for her behavior he too was on the verge of drifting into the very habits that had got him here in the first place.