A Large Delegation (Open)

The streets of Magnolia seemed so much more busy than usual as Valliard walked out of the Fairy Tale gates. There was a continuous hum of voices. Even though he was not intending to listen, Valliard felt the hum vibrating all around him. Through the paving beneath his feet, the walls of alleyways, the brickwork of houses came the sound of an overexcited crowd. He wondered, briefly, what the commotion was about, before giving in to the speck of curiosity that had arisen inside him. Following the noise was not hard - it grew exponentially louder with each few metres, until it was nearly deafening. Others may not have been bothered overly much, but Valliard was sensitive to these things...

What could have drawn such a large crowd to the middle of the city so early in the morning? he thought as he hit a solid wall of bodies rounding a corner. Only half visible over the throng was the intricate Kardia Cathedral.
"Surely the morning service isn't this popular..." he muttered to himself louder than intended. He registered how loud he had spoken at the same time as half a dozen heads turned towards him.

"Surely you would know, mage," one of the onlookers jeered. Valliard merely ignored the utterly rude tone and shrugged, not waning to deal with these sort of people so early in the morning. Several of them turned away, losing interest now that Valliard hadn't risen to the bait. One of them wormed his way through what seemed like an impossibly small gap, purposefully avoided any sort of gaze in Valliard's direction, afraid. Valliard sighed and shook his head, waiting to see if anyone else would respond with at least a semi-informative reply. When none came, Valliard shrugged once more and looked around for a better vantage point. Seeing a low-set house around the corner, Valliard did not even attempt to push through the crowd. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked back the way he came.

Down the side streets he walked, not concerned about missing anything. The buzzing hum of the crowd was still ringing in his ear. It was clear nobody had their undivided attention yet. Finally making his way through a maze of streets, Valliard arrived at the rear of the house he had spotted during his scan earlier. With a glance around the street to make sure nobody was watching, he dragged himself up onto the roof in a series of jumps, shimmies and pull-ups. Now that he could see over the crowd, he noticed a space in front of the Cathedral doors. That was obviously where something was about to happen...

"But where is the..." he began, before noticing a moving partition in the crowd. It was not hard to spot. Partially from the level of elevation, and partially because the crowd was parting for at least two dozen Rune Knights, the soldiers and guard of the Magic Council. The crowd knew that they meant business, darting out of the way at almost inhuman speeds. Valliard tried to look between the closely bunched delegation of Rune knights, but it was futile. They were too closely packed.
"There must be at least four Council members down there. But why are they here?" he pondered as he waited for them to reach Kardia Cathedral.