Lia is startled awake by a strange light.  Rolling over she hears some sort of humming sound.  She calls out to Velon in alarm but doesn't see him.  Has he been reborn as a dragon? Terror grips her.  What if he is lost to her? 

   She opens the door to her room and yells for Perry and Lawrance.  " Perry, Lawrance, help.  Help me!! Please help me. Velon...."  She moves closer and studies the egg more.  

 Hearing the frantic calls for help, Lawrence brushes from his drums across the courtyard and into Lia and Velons apartment.  Coming into the room, staff and one at the ready, he stops just inside the door way looking at the concerned Priestess. “ what’s going on? What’s wrong?“ Seeing the egg shape in the room, he adds “where did this come from? “ 

  She looks at him in a near panic. " Velon and i went to sleep.  A bright light woke me up and then I heard a humming noise of sorts. I saw the egg in the floor and Velon is gone......" Her normal composure is breaking as she is worried about Velon.  " Do you think....?" She leaves the question hanging.  

Hearing the commotion, Sinturnal pokes her head into the room, seeing the egg, she rushes over to it, sniffing and nuzzling the surface. She makes a low purring sound.

After a few moments, she looks at lia, seeming to notice her state for the first time, "What's wrong?"

Perry flollops out of bed and grabs the first "weapon" he can get his hands on, his mandolin. He flies out the back window and crashes down shoulder first in front of the door to Lia's room. Hastily standing up and bursting through the door, Lawrance and Lia both see Perry in fine purple silk pajamas and a triangular silken hat with a fuzzy purple ball at the end. He is barefoot and wielding his mandolin from it's neck like a baseball bat, "WHAT!? What is happening?! Are we in danger!? Lia, Lawrance...Sinternal?" 

He begins calming down as he looks to everyone. He notices the golden egg and hears Lia's brief explanation. "You're saying that gold egg might...be Velon? How do you know this Lia?Did he say something to you? Lawrance do you think this might be some sort of evil magic?"

Carefully working around Sinternal, Lawrance moves around the golden egg, examining it from all sides. "It doesn't seem big enough to contain Velon, unless he's really crouched up tight. Sinternal, do you know something of this? What's it for? "  Still inspecting the unusual oval, he taps it lightly, sniffs it's surface and uses his other, magical senses on it. "This is more than some kind of spell, I think. And this isn't a normal dragon egg, from my meager experience. "

 Lia just stares at the egg.  " Before we went to bed...he... said he had been having visions about Bahamat offering him a gift.  Something that might change him.  We talked and agreed that he should accept it.  I never imagined this though..." Her voice trembled. 

 Cratol hear some commotion and Lia calling for help.  He jumps out of bed and heads to see what all the commotion is about.  He is just wearing pants and has his staff at the ready,  Seeing no immediate danger he relaxes some and looks about the room in case something does attack the blaze.

Sinternal looks around at you all, "Evil magic? Can't you feel the Father's love here?" She declares with the certainty of strong faith, "This can't be anything other than something good for him and those he cares for."

She rubs her cheek lovingly on the egg, "Listen, you can hear him, it won't be long."

"Sinternal, with all due respect, the only thing I feel in here right now is the heartbreak of my friend whose boyfriend just got turned into a giant gold egg. Now I'm no expert on dragon faith, but I know a bit about eggs. And this egg here needs proper incubation and warmth."

Perry begins grabbing pillows and blankets and places them all around the egg to warm the egg. He then turns to Lia, "Alright Lia, I think you should touch the egg. Let the egg feel your love."

  Lia is still reeling from  shock.  Tears begin running down her face.  " I don't know what to do.    This wasn't what I had in mind.  Oh Velon....'" Listening to Perry she moves close to the egg and kneels down. " Sune guide me.. " She puts her hand firmly on the egg and prays silently to Sune for her help.  

  Mari comes racing into the room immediately afterwards. " I heard the commotion.  What is?" She stops short seeing Lia  by the strange egg. 

The egg is very warm to the touch, Lia can sense something shifting within. Sinternal resumes purring in encouragement.

  Lia smiles as she hears her goddess speak to her. " Sune says that I haven't lost him. There is that at least.  " She continues holding the egg and thinks of Velon.   

  " This egg isn't ready yet.  We must ....carry on our mission. He would want us to...Finish what we started.  Poppo, can you and some of the staff keep a constant watch on  this egg? I think that Velon is being reborn.  For the rest of us, we need to prepare to head below.  Dawn should be close.  It seems that Velon will not be available for this mission.  How should we handle leadership in the meantime? Until we can discover what this all means? " 

She looks again. at Sinternal.  " Sinternal, any idea how close this egg is to hatching? Hours? Days?" 

Lawrance ponders all the new information, divinely sent. "This direct involvement of the Gods and Goddesses is heartening. While they are not normally permitted to act directly in our Realm, the fact they have chosen to intercede with Velon's transformation implies a serious interest in our task. While we can't necessarily lean on their support as we take care of obstacles in our route to prevent Tiamat's return, we can certainly fall back on the possibility of their intercession if things get troubled. " 

Aiding how he can, Lawrance magically warms the blankets surrounding the Poached Paladin, going with Perry's and his own knowledge of how eggs normally are handled, when not being consumed. "If all we need do now is wait, I will go and prepare my spells for the day. If we are looking at hours or more, Perry, perhaps you and I can get to taking care of Sinternal's comfort issue? We can discuss and show her examples here. Velon is in the capable claws of his God, now. "

Sinternal looks uncertain, "I don't know. If it was a regular egg, I'd say anytime within a day or two, it might even start a few minutes from now. I've never seen something like this before, though my mother once told me that The Father sometimes bestows gifts like this on his trusted servants."

Cratol  looks at Lia.  "You were once our leader and if velon is not able to be the leader currently then I say that task is once again yours.  Tell us what you wish for us to do."

Poljen enters the dining hall and is surprised to see only a few of the staff and guards there.  He shrugs and grabs a tray of food, plus a pitcher of water.  He also readies a plate for Morgaine who should be along shortly.

By now, Perry has created what can only be described as a pillow fort around the egg as Lawrance warms it with magic. "Well, I have to say that I've done all I can do. As a Senior Dragon Egg Hatching Expert, I can safely say that he will definitely hatch sometime between now and three weeks from now." Perry nods to himself, as if he is correct.

"I say we hold off on Sinternal's onesie for now. After all, we will need your magic at full strength Lawrance. And sorry Sinternal, I have an idea for a game we can play when we get back to improve your combat ability, okay? In the meantime, can you watch over this egg for us and let the Captain or Poppo know when something happens? This is a really important mission for you, Sinternal. You are the secondary dragon egg hatching expert after all." 

  Lia paces back and forth in agitation.  She continually prays to Sune for guidance on this matter. " Let's delay for a little while.  No-one is sure when this egg will hatch.  It could be any minute. Perry , can you take Shadowsnacks for a flight and look for our target below? Don't land or draw attention to yourself.  That will save us time later. I know you are the resident dragon egg hatcher  but you are best suited to do a little scouting also.  Sinternal can fill in for you temporarily. "