Today's blood feast was brought into the hall.
Beneath the high platform, Richard stood next to the "Skull of Dreams," watching the gray-robed faithful push two Elves forward. Like everyone else, his expression was calm with an underlying hint of anticipation.
The two Elves, a man and a woman, were dressed in tattered clothes, revealing scars from repeated torture beneath the torn fabric—not only from the "sacrifice" wounds but also the scars left from "research" and "tests" on the Skull of Dreams.
When they were first brought into the hall, their expressions were numb, but upon seeing "The Saint" and the "Skull of Dreams" below the platform, a look of terror spread from their eyes. They struggled faintly, but The Saint on the platform merely shifted his eyestalks slightly and the Elves became paralyzed under his gaze, losing their will to resist—then a gray-robed Heretic wielding a sharp dagger stepped forward.
