The Eye of Anubis: Book One

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Charles, on the other hand," Lord Ramsey continued musingly, "Is a young spider, still learning to spin his webs. Watch that he doesn't snare you, my dear. Young men's webs can be devilishly tricky to escape."

A spider, am I? Professor Ramsey sees deeper and says more than I would have expected...is he deeply involved here?

"I thank you for the compliment, Professor," Charles says aloud, half-bowing. "Arachne was renowned both for her diligence and for the beauty--and efficacy--of her creations; and, of course, the patterns of her web shamed all human geometers. A mathematician could do worse than to aspire to her standard; I will endeavor to learn from her, and from you. I know the Marquis de Penible is not the only butterfly pinioned in your webs of logic!"

"My esteemed colleague M. de Penible is a cricket, all sound and no sense. Or perhaps a locust, I'll need to consider that. Myself, I am an old praying mantis, born down by prey and prayers alike."

"A better simile, perhaps," Martel allows. "But let us hope, Miss Mourneswaith, your company is not so rapacious as the present conversation would suggest!"

"An intriguing question, Charles, intriguing indeed. The Ancient Akiri had, and their descendants have, an unusual fascination with immortality and eternity. Their God-Kings supposedly lived for centuries, and of course there are the Ancients to consider as well. How did they do this? No one knows, it was a secret of the priesthood, particularly the priests of Osiris and Anubis."

Ramsey's eyes went distant, and you realized that he was, whatever else, a very old man.

"Immortality, Charles, that is the greatest mystery of Har'Akir."

Bull's-eye. Can the old man possibly have told a simple truth? If so, it must be the first time in years.

Raising his glass, with an intrigued and startled expression, Charles lowers his voice and asks, "Do you think, Professor, that such a thing could really be found in Har'Akir? Some secret which allows defiance of Time itself?"

[DocBeard]

"Fine, fine!" Tomas says weakly, which isn't /exactly/ a lie. He's fine /now/ after all. Well, except for the faintly throbbing spot on his face where he managed to burn himself, but that goes without saying. "Just a sudden headache, I assure you, thank you fror the concern! I, hah, have been a little under der weather, as they say, and probably shouldn't have eaten so quickly. Entierly my fault."

Coughing once, Tomas attempts to redirect the conversation. "So, ah, is not that young woman one of the guard? Are you two aquainted?"

[yalenusveler]

"An eminently practical attitude, almost Falkovnian." The Ambassador nodded approvingly. "And certainly, a priest will be very useful in understanding the deities and demiurges of the Akiri, wouldn't you say, Prof. Theroux?"

Andre shrugged dismissively. "No moreso than any other tourist. He just happens to be paying his way with healing instead of coin. Har'Akir is my specialty. I doubt we'll have need of anyone else's opinion." He smiled saccharinely towards Kuzan "No offense intended, of course"

[steveflam]

Ulsaon made her way through the crowd. I feel sorry for Sarari. I still don't understand this land and it's misconceptions about non humans. Oh well, Allikhain and I are better off in our way of thinking. She made it to Allikhain and Devereux.

Allikhain was about to respond to Devereux' comment on ghosts when she saw Ulsaon make eye contact with her. The elf with Ulsoan seemed to have been offended and parted hastily. What did she say now? she sighing inwardly. Sometimes that thief can really grind my gears. Oh well. You win some you lose some, I could be stuck with this fop all the time. Educator, meh.

She waits for Ulsaon to arrive before presenting her to Devereux. "This is my traveling companion and fellow guard Ulsaon. Ulsaon this is Mr Devereux. He'll be chronicling the expedition. You didn't happen to have an odd feeling before did you?"

Ulsaon smiled politely at Devereux. "Well met. I guess we'll be spending an insane amount of time together in the next few months, hmmm?" She paused before addressing Allikhain's question.

"An odd sensation? No not I. That elf woman is rude and from a place called Sithicus. According to her... Elves are high and mighty and not humans, elves,dwarves or any other race are equals. Talk about your closed mind. Excuse me for rambling, both of you."

"So what is the topic of conversation here?" Ulsaon asked.

[NeoTiamat]

Charles & Lia--------------------------------------------------------------

"A better simile, perhaps," Martel allows. "But let us hope, Miss Mourneswaith, your company is not so rapacious as the present conversation would suggest!"

"Oh, I don't know, I think Miss Mournswaithe is eminently capable of taking care of herself, in this company or any other." Lord Ramsey waved a hand airily. "I recall there is a variety of moth that has enough poison within it to slay a horse."

Bull's-eye. Can the old man possibly have told a simple truth? If so, it must be the first time in years.

Raising his glass, with an intrigued and startled expression, Charles lowers his voice and asks, "Do you think, Professor, that such a thing could really be found in Har'Akir? Some secret which allows defiance of Time itself?"

"My dear Charles, there is a first time for everything. Mortality is an option, one we need not accept have we but the will and wit to deny it. There are always rumors of immortals or ageless beings. I believe the king of Darkon has ruled for some centuries now, and if one is observant one may find select nobles who have failed to age for decades. I met such an ageless one myself, in Zherisia in my youth."

The old philosopher sipped his wine as he spoke, his voice falling into a lecturing tone, his eyes gazing musingly at the patterns on the ceiling.

"The Akiri were very interested in life and death, as much as the Darkonians, if not more. And they were artificers of skill. If Old Man Time can forestalled, then the secret surely lies in some ancient, dusty tomb within Har'Akir."

Tomas----------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you say so..." Dieter didn't really look convinced, but if his new friend and countryman didn't want to talk about it, he had enough Lamordian respect for privacy not to push. "Yeah, Alli and Ulsaon, they signed up a couple of months ago. Good gals, kinda odd though. Come on, I'll introduce you."

Tomas, Allikhain, & Ulsaon-----------------------------------------------

Devereux was a little flustered to have not just one, but two people paying attention to him now, and people of the opposite gender at that. One could tell this didn't happen nearly enough. Still, he recovered nicely.

"It's Prof. Devereux actually." He said to Ulsaon. "We were actually discussing the possibility that a ghost was trying to haunt Miss Gellantra just now."

At that point the two Lamordians arrived on the scene, Dieter waving hello and making introductions all around. "Hello Prof. Hello Alli, Hello Ulsaon. This is Tomas. What's going on?"

"We are looking into supernatural phenomenon here. We think there's a ghost involved." Devereux took heart from the actual audience here.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan admirably held back both a wince and a sharp retort. He did, however, display a fair amount of disappointment on his features. The priest supposed he should've figured that the nobles, even self-styled nobles, would generally be a stuck up, snide bunch when faced with someone who might so much as appear to challenge their position or standing. A lot of Sri Rajian nobility wasn't too different when you weren't talking strictly business.

Fortunately, Kuzan and the other sailors didn't see that much. If they had, there'd undeniably be a lot more nobles with black eyes and broken noses.

He'd hoped that the members of the expedition would come to the mission with a sense of camaraderie like he could expect from the sailors he traveled with. Instead, if this guy was any indication, the professors were all here for their own self-righteous reasons. It really was disappointing.

"None taken," Kuzan replied promptly, "I have never been to Har'Akir. I really don't know much about what to expect."

[DocBeard]

"'allo, Professor!" Dieter may notice that Tomas's accent thickens a little as he meets the dreaded New People. If he were a sneaky person, this might be because he wants people to underestimate the big, dull, close minded Lamordian. But he's not, so Tomas is probably still embarrased from his little incident. "Ladies! I am meeting you pleased to be!"

He offers a hand, presumably for shaking, and looks with interest at the Professor's words. "A haunting, Herr Professor? Golly! What makes you think that, if I may be asking?"

[yalenusveler]

.

"None taken," Kuzan replied promptly, "I have never been to Har'Akir. I really don't know much about what to expect."

"Deserts...obnoxiously cold nights, appallingly hot days. A lack of water being a dreadful issue...not exactly the most picturesque place in the world to be traveling to...but the tomb itself.." Andre smiled with what some might actually think was a hint of real warmth or affection "The Tomb itself, I expect to be marvelous. Considering we'll hopefully reach it before robbers do." He spoke that final bit with conviction, and said the word robbers with the same sort of verbal disgust one would usually reserve only for the basest of fiends. "There, Kuzan, you will see things that will most assuredly make your entire trip worthwhile, saying of course, we don't all fall victim to some horrible ancient curse"

[NeoTiamat]

Tomas, Allikhain & Ulsaon------------------------------------------------

"Well, Miss Gellantra has apparently has a paranormal experience, a frisson of cold down the nape of the neck, which I believe to be linked to the passing of a spectral entity."

Devereux was getting into things. There was real interest in his voice as he asked "Have either of you experienced anything peculiar tonight?"

"Well..." Dieter pondered. "I had two helpings at the buffet and I'm still hungry. Does that count?"

Kuzan & Andre-------------------------------------------------------------

"An unkind man would consider that to the Akiri, there may be few differences between robbers and archeologists. One way or another, their burial goods are taken away, never to be returned." Vedarrak murmurred. Suddenly, he looked over the shoulders of the group to a Falkovnian attache who was attempting to wave without actually being seen waving.

"I am afraid duty calls, albeit duty in the form of Major Stulzstaffel." The Falkovnian Ambassador let out a somewhat theatrical sigh. "Well, I must go. I shall look forward to reading your monographs, Prof. Theroux, and I wish all of you well on the road to Muhar."

The Falkovnian gave a crisp bow, then disappeared into the crowd, leaving the building not long afterward.

Samael watched him go, then turned to Andre. "You know," he said quietly, "You could be a bit nicer to Kuzan, I'm pretty sure he didn't come all the way from Sri Raji to listen to you be snarky."

The Borcan grinned as his eyes flicked from Andre to Kuzan and back. "Unless you look forward to having mysterious 'illnesses' all the time."

[yalenusveler]

Kuzan & Andre-------------------------------------------------------------


Samael watched him go, then turned to Andre. "You know," he said quietly, "You could be a bit nicer to Kuzan, I'm pretty sure he didn't come all the way from Sri Raji to listen to you be snarky."

The Borcan grinned as his eyes flicked from Andre to Kuzan and back. "Unless you look forward to having mysterious 'illnesses' all the time."

"Do have a pleasant evening, Ambassador. I shall see to it that you receive one of the first copies of any work I pen following the expedition" the scholar stated, nodding politely as the ambassador left.

Andre nodded suddenly, as if overtaken by some sort of fear. "You...do raise an excellent point, Samael. Ajad being a deity of travel, I'm sure Mr.Kuzan here has seen many an illness to beguile me with for my unkind barbs." The scholar smiled a bit "Forgive me, Kuzan. I'm not usually such a horrid individual, but the waste of time on this social exercise when we could be departing...and being pushed into conversation with the dear ambassador put me in a foul mood. I actually..know only a small amount about the Rajian pantheon, and would be delighted to hear more."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Ah, but my dear, we are all insects." Ramsey chuckled again. He paused again, looking at Lia, lost in thoughts. "You are a moth, I think. Not a conventional damsel, but compelling nevertheless. You need but spread your wings."

"Charles, on the other hand," Lord Ramsey continued musingly, "Is a young spider, still learning to spin his webs. Watch that he doesn't snare you, my dear. Young men's webs can be devilishly tricky to escape." Ramsey quirked an eyebrow upward as he watched Lia and Charles.

"A spider can be quite a useful creature," Lia muses. "They do keep down the vermin that foolishly fly into their webs.

"I thank you for the compliment, Professor," Charles says aloud, half-bowing. "Arachne was renowned both for her diligence and for the beauty--and efficacy--of her creations; and, of course, the patterns of her web shamed all human geometers. A mathematician could do worse than to aspire to her standard; I will endeavor to learn from her, and from you. I know the Marquis de Penible is not the only butterfly pinioned in your webs of logic!"

"Oh, do be careful, however," Lia murmurs, "that you do not learn Arachne's folly and her flaw. Pride has been the downfall of many things ... including the first spider."

Lia raises her glass as if toasting Ramsey and Martel. "One learns such interesting things when studying history," she says lightly, "and comparing academic notes from various locations."

At this point Ramsey didn't just chuckle, he laughed. "Oh Miss Mournswaithe, if you only knew. I shall look forward to your return from the Expedition, you've more wit then a raft of my colleagues. You really must do me the honor of calling upon me at Harrow House upon your return."
The philosopher paused for a moment. "Provided you return with sense and safety intact, of course. Har'Akir is not for the faint of heart."

Lia gives the philosopher a small bow. "The future is uncertain, sir," she replies. "But if I do return unscathed, perhaps another meeting might be arranged."

Tell me, Professor, what do you hope to see as the result of our expedition? Of the many mysteries of the Akiris, which would you have revealed?"

"An intriguing question, Charles, intriguing indeed. The Ancient Akiri had, and their descendants have, an unusual fascination with immortality and eternity. Their God-Kings supposedly lived for centuries, and of course there are the Ancients to consider as well. How did they do this? No one knows, it was a secret of the priesthood, particularly the priests of Osiris and Anubis."
Ramsey's eyes went distant, and you realized that he was, whatever else, a very old man.
"Immortality, Charles, that is the greatest mystery of Har'Akir."

Raising his glass, with an intrigued and startled expression, Charles lowers his voice and asks, "Do you think, Professor, that such a thing could really be found in Har'Akir? Some secret which allows defiance of Time itself?"

"The Akiri were very interested in life and death, as much as the Darkonians, if not more. And they were artificers of skill. If Old Man Time can forestalled, then the secret surely lies in some ancient, dusty tomb within Har'Akir."

"In order to defy time, one need only visit Mordent and breach the Mists," Lia remarks quietly. "There are a plethora of tales of people who have somehow escaped time's grasp by immersion into those ... vapors. Of course, one also has to be completely bereft of good sense and extremely, unlikely lucky." She shudders and briefly turns away from the two men to take a sip of her wine without exposing her face. "Excuse me," she says on turning back, her face again fully covered. "Immortality in the flesh seems like a cruel joke to me. Either one falls into the state of undeath, or one has to drag one's body on for ever and ever, seeing every cherished person and thing fall into dust, always subject to disease and injury which the human body might not be able to heal of its own accord." Lia shakes her head. "No. Immortality of the flesh would require an absolute absence of capacity to form emotional attachments and a grand fortune to sustain oneself, I think. Better to have spiritual immortality, and to be above such concerns as hunger, pain and sorrow."

[steveflam]

Allikhain's eyes narrowed at the name Alli. She also didn't appreciate the Professor telling these two about her experience. It didn't sound like Dieter took things too seriously. Even worse than Ulsaon did at times.

She spoke in an icy voice, eyes looking right through Deiter's. "The name is Allikhain do try to remember that. And yes I had a bizarre experience of which had nothing to do with food. We are having a serious conversation here. If you care to join us, please do but a little respect for us, thank you."

Allikhain's hands gripped her quarterstaff tightly, but she controlled herself. This was going to be a taxing expedition, needless to say.

Allikhain and Ulsaon spoke in a foreign tongue for a moment, then Ulsaon excused herself and exitted the hall. She returned two minutes later.

[DocBeard]

"Herr Professor, perhaps...?" Too late. Tomas shoots Alli a sympathetic look as Deveraux's enthusiasm overtakes his manners again.

And then she, well.

"I see." Tomas rubs the back of his head, as if he was having difficulty processing something. "Well, I was going to tell the Professor that I had a sudden headache and was burning myself on my own soup, but I have apperently been poorly instructued on the current standards of etiquette."

Taking a bit of an exagerated 'aside', as though he were a theater character sharing a secret with Dieter and an audience of eager listeners, Tomas speaks in Lamordian, "[I hope neither of the ladies speak the language, or I will look pretty silly telling you a lousy secret like this.]"

Turning back to the others, Tomas smiles his best eager-yet-dim smile, "That is the current fashionable, yes? I apologize, Herr Professor, here I have been embarrasing you with my careless speaking a language everyone else in the room spoke." He looks sincerely concerned about damaging his mentor's career. "I know a little Dwarfish, should I use that?"

[lostboy]

--if it is not too much trouble, I would very much enjoy hearing of the lands you have visited as we journey together.”
.

"Perhaps Affandi, the road will be long and hard, but if there is opportunity it shall be so."

Khallil pauses, eyes narrowing over Otto's shoulder as he watches the Falkovian Ambassador leave. He quickly scans the room and notes the other members of the expedition appear to all be engaged in deep conversation with one another So many words, it will be interesting to see how they fare once out of this pampered setting he muses. Still this event was an opportunity to make allies and gauge the potential of the other members, and Otto appeared to be already in the bag...

Smiling gently, Khalil looks back at the shorter man in front of him. "It appears Milady D'anvers will be occupied for some time, perhaps we should make the acquaintance of some of our fellow travellers, yes? I must speak with the one known as Samael, who appears to be conversing with a fellow stranger to these parts."

With a quick glance to see if the Lamordian was following, Khalil smoothly turns and moves deftly across the room.

Arriving at the group he bows slightly to each of three. "Forgive my intrusion, I am Khallil, hired as a desert guide for this most fortuitous expedition, which I note you are all members of. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

[The Whistler]

"Perhaps Affandi, the road will be long and hard, but if there is opportunity it shall be so."

Excellent. A good man *with* useful information...Nice work, Herr Schultheiss.

"It appears Milady D'anvers will be occupied for some time, perhaps we should make the acquaintance of some of our fellow travellers, yes? I must speak with the one known as Samael, who appears to be conversing with a fellow stranger to these parts."

Otto looked across the crowd toward the group, his eyes momentarily tracking over... Yes, that was the engineering student he had been looking for earlier--and the other Lamordian with him. Let's see...do I choose the friendly countrymen or the complete social unkown...?

He pursed his lips unconsciously. Well, if I can't a handle a challenge in someplace this toney, fate help me when the bullets start flying...

Smiling again, he nodded to the guide. "Well, any stranger to these parts is a friend of mine...the more fish out of water I can surround myself with, the less it will seem that I am drowning. Lead on, Khalil!"

Making a mental note of Tomas' and Dieter's location (Have to talk to them later in the night...), he followed the desert guide to Samael's group.

Arriving at the group he bows slightly to each of three. "Forgive my intrusion, I am Khallil, hired as a desert guide for this most fortuitous expedition, which I note you are all members of.

Seeing too many hands to shake without being awkward, Otto waved a jovial "hi" at the crowd in general. "Otto Schultheiss, Arcane Sciences student and sometime gunsmith--I am also along for the ride. Hello!"