Felix and Theresa will definitely accompany Dolamnt, Vanire, and Ortzel.

It's been thousands of years since Arkady's pulled an all-nighter, but having been in combat he's entirely certain that if things go south then Comrade Adrenaline will make it seem like he just got up from a long winter's nap. After all, it's only one night so far. So he's going. But because he is uncertain just how things will go, he's bringing his friend the Sergeant with him...under a cloak or cape, to be respectful. And maybe a grenade or two. Smoke can be a lovely thing sometimes.

And if absolutely nothing happens, well, it won't be the first time he's cat napped in a chair while in hostile territory.

It turns out, to the surprise of no-one, that there are a few rules to be observed in the Basilica. Dolmant gives you a brief run-down as you prepare to leave.

First and most importantly; no weapons are permitted. Not for you, not for Raven and his men. (You should be able to smuggle in a pistol or a few grenades without being spotted, but Arkady's rifle is probably going to be spotted at the door). The only people allowed to bring weapons into the Basilica are the Church Knights (so Sir Ulath can bring his axe, and Vanire his sword) and the Arch-Prelate's personal guard. Actually fighting in the Basilica is extremely thoroughly disallowed.

Since there currently is no Arch-Prelate, the Arch-Prelate's personal guard observe a policy of extremely strict neutrality in the current deliberations. There will be a lot of them in the Basilica, and some of them will be armed (mostly with halberds). They more or less police the area and ensure that the rules are followed.

Since Raven is not a Church Knight (and neither are his soldiers), this means that he and his men are legally required to be unarmed inside the Basilica. This makes it unlikely that he'd be willing to start trouble, especially in the face of the fact that if someone does start any sort of physical trouble in the Basilica, both Sir Ulath (and any Church Knight) and the Arch-Prelate's Guard are legally empowered and required to end said trouble as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The rest of the rules mainly pertain to the idea that the debates of the Patriarchs must not be interrupted. As members of Dolmant's entourage, you'll be permitted onto the guest benches overlooking the debate floor. You can pretty much do what you want there, as long as you do so quietly and respectfully and without starting violence. If you are not quiet and respectful, you may find yourself thrown out by the Arch-Prelate's Guard and not permitted back in. At any time, you may send messages (written on paper) down to a given Patriarch, who may then read it if he wishes; this is the only way in which you (or any other non-Patriarch) may communicate with any Patriarch on the debate floor.

Any Patriarch may leave the debate floor to go to the guest benches any time he wishes to do so (so if you have urgent need to call Dolmant up for a personal chat, it can be done). Should a vote be called for, Patriarchs in the guest benches may still vote; however, they must be on the debate floor in order to address the assembly.

Since Raven is also not a Patriarch, he can be expected to be present in the guest benches (if present at all) and suffering under exactly the same constraints as you do.

Felix agrees to the terms without question. On the way in to the Basilica he will try and gauge the social atmosphere and see which way it is leaning.

When going to sit down in the guest benches he will try to find a spot that allows him view of Raven and his entourage.

Deciding against spending the foreseeable future in prison, Roger stops putting up posters and accompanies the group to the Basilica.

Arkady leaves the Sergeant behind, but does bring along a pistol, some smoke grenades and his priestly gear. One never knows, he might need to contemplate a few psalms.

Nate stays back at the compound to run the printing press and lay out the next edition of the paper, but stays in touch via text message.

Frankly, it's a source of wonder that this rickety little press has stayed together through a night of hard printing. It can certainly do with a bit of adjustment here, a touch of reinforcement there, maybe a little twiddle in that spot there...

The major limitation on future printings will be the supplies of paper; but there's enough maintenance that can be done on the press to keep Nate busy for a while.

Felix tries to take the measure of the town as he passes through it...

Felix: Empathy: +3 Roll: +0 Sidekick: +4 Total: +7

Felix is not the only one with eyes and ears.

Arkady: Empathy: +5 Roll: -1 Total: +4
Roger: Empathy: +3 Roll: +2 Total: +5

There's a whole lot more soldiers on the street now than there were last night, and they seem to be pretty upset about something (and are taking this out on anyone they can get away with yelling at). On multiple occasions, only the fact that you're accompanying a whole group of Patriarchs lets you continue unimpeded; it seems that the soldiers are really cracking down on just about anyone moving just about anywhere. On at least three separate occasions, a patrol wants to search you to look for evidence of 'fomenting discord' - which presumably means they're looking for posters. On every occasion, Dolmant points out, perfectly reasonably, that such a search would constitute hindering a Patriarch about Patriarchal business and is thus legally disallowed; on every occasion, the soldier insists until someone (Vanire the first time, then Dolmant after that) points out that if he insists on an illegal search, the Church Knights in the group can have him arrested and "suitably chastised". At this point in the conversation Sir Ulath draws his axe and looks contemplatively at the soldier's neck... this is generally very effective in convincing the soldier to back off.

You therefore don't see much of the common citizen about his business; but the atmosphere over the city feels watchful, resentful. The soldiers have taken control of the streets and clamped down; but the streets do not like it and there are a number of insults (and, in at least one case, a rotten egg) hurled at the soldiers from upper windows.

--------------

At the entrance to the Basilica you are met by a detachment of the Arch-Prelate's Guard, who take the time to give you a brief run-down of the rules (it's exactly as Dolmant warned you it would be) and offers you all the opportunity to leave any weapons you might be carrying with them, with the promise that said weapons will be returned to you when you leave. They make very sure that you understand that if you cause trouble, you will be ejected from the halls. Once you have either left any weapons with them or not, they let you in.

The Basilica's debate room, as it turns out, is laid out very much like a sports stadium; with the debate floor in the middle, and tiers of guest seating rising up around it. Several Patriarchs are already in attendance; it's still a minute or so before dawn, so some are still arriving. Raven can be seen, seated in the guest area - the way the guest area is set out, he's visible from just about anywhere in said guest area. He doesn't have much of an entourage with him - if you really want to annoy him personally, the seats directly behind him are empty at the moment. (There's empty seats all over the place, and you can sit basically anywhere in the guest seating that you want to). Raven spots your group coming in, and gives you a very sour glare.

"I'm having Model UN flashbacks, down to the asshole who thinks that they're always the smartest in the room." Sam doesn't seem to be bothered to be underdressed as she got a full night of sleep, and she sits down in the viewing seats, pulling Piper up into her lap if the small child came along.

Felix moves to sit in the guest seating. He stays clear of Raven. Best not to antagonize the man further.

Arkady looks across the hall at Raven then turns to the rest of the peanut gallery. "Should I go ask our friend the Primate for a suggestion about who to discuss our tithe with, since we are in town and all?"

Oddly enough, for once Piper is not with the group, having elected to stay back at Dolmant's estate with Nate. (And for some reason, she's not bilocating either, not this time).

Raven writes a note and sends it down to one of the Patriarchs; a stranger to the Terrans. The man reads the note, stands up, and addresses the assembled Patriarchs.

"Gentlemen. Since we all appear to be here, and there is urgent business to discuss -"

"Shut it, Makova!" yells another Patriarch. "It's still a good two minutes to dawn!"

Makova glares daggers at the interrupter. "As I was saying -"

The interrupter throws a scrunched-up ball of paper at Makova, who twitches in annoyance as it bounces off his head. "Shut it! If you're going to drag us all out of bed at this unearthly hour, then you can at least wait for dawn to say what you've been paid to say!"

--------------

"Might as well," says Sir Ulath. "Want me to come along and loom a bit?"

Arkady grins. "It would be such a shame if Raven or his friends started trouble, wouldn't it? No, just stay alert." He tells the other Terrans "I'm going to have my radio on, just in case he says anything interesting." So setting it to broadcast and record, he strolls over and sits down behind Primate Raven. To all appearances he's perfectly respectful and waiting to be noticed. He's also looking to get a read on Raven and his entourage.

Oddly enough, Raven doesn't seem to have much of an entourage - or, at least, not one that's seated with him. Quite a few of the young lads of the Junior branch of the Arch-Prelates's guard are hanging about, presumably in order to carry notes down to the debate floor.

Raven himself looks to be in a stormy mood, and does not initiate conversation;electing to completely ignore Arkady instead.

--------------

A couple of late-minute Patriarchs arrive, yawning; and some kind of clock mechanism at the end of the hall goes 'ding'.

"Gentlemen," says Makova, "if I may now speak without interruption? Thank you. There are a number of urgent matters that must be addressed. Let us begin with this."

He holds up a poster. Arkady can't see the front of it, but Arkady doesn't need to - he spent last night helping to print them. Everyone else can see that Makova has managed to get hold of one of the illustrated ones.

"This," says Makova, "is a scurrilous and cowardly attack on an upstanding member of the Church, and must be righteously condemned as such. I propose that this Council finds that the perpetrators, whomsoever they might be, be bought before this body to explain themselves!"

"That's not our business," objects Dolmant. "Such actions are rightfully the responsibility of the office of the Arch-Prelate."

"And in the absence of an Arch-Prelate -" begins Makova.

"In the absence of an Arch-Prelate," says Dolmant, "it falls to this body to elect one. I nominate the Patriarch Ortzel."

"You are out of order!" calls Makova. "Nominations have not yet been called for!"

Felix steeples his fingers, as any good villain does, and observes as the chaos begins to unfold. Hopefully this works out in the group's favor.