in eddie 's mind a vision ( partly cribbed from movies like the last starfighter and the dark crystal ) gleamed brightly : a council of gnarled but dignified city elders who would serve them a whopping meal drawn from the unspoiled stores of the city ( or perhaps from special gardens cradled within environmental bubbles ) and who would , as he and roland and susannah ate themselves silly , explain exactly what lay ahead and what it all meant .