The Eye of Anubis: Book Five

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"All Hail the Queen of Sebua!" Maleagant intoned in formal, ringing tones, bowing from the waist to Lia. "Fear her awesome power, and cower before her strident wrath!" The Borcan straightened, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Looks a little like you're preparing to go to one of the more unusual masques in Dementlieu."

"You do go on, Maleagant," Lia says, her tone indicating no offense whatsoever. "Why would I ever wish to be the queen of an arid wasteland of sand and stone? Then again, there probably would not be much in the way of political, military or economic trouble if my kingdom were so undesirable ... Hmm. Sebua might have some merit after all, should I ever desire to claim a land for myself."

Andre offered a weak smile. "If anyone would be so kind as to figure out what's the abjuration present on the scrolls, and then perhaps say remove said abjuration so I can read them without risk of horrible demise , I'd like to catalog them."

"The only auras on these scroll are of the Abjuration school," Lia reports, suddenly businesslike, "all of them faint. As Charles theorized, these are probably simple charms of preservation and cleanliness. The kind of spells people put up around the house to preserve perishable items and keep the place free of dust."

Andre then turned to Samael "Oh, now you've started. When we're halfway across Sebua we'll run into some ancient bas relief of a queen that looks just like her, and things will be just horribly confusing. Can you imagine how insufferable her ego will get?" A quick smile to Lia made clear the ribbing was all in fun.

Lia shudders visibly. "You would not wish to see a bas-relief of a queen with a face like mine," she says, her voice suddenly serious. "You would not want to see that at all. Nor would I. If there is a bas-relief of a woman with my face, it is either a cruel joke at her expense, or ... Never mind."

When Charles turns around again at the mention of Dementlieuse masques he starts visibly. "Well, m'selle," he says drily. "Are you forming a committee of the Cult of Anubis, Junior League?" His joke does not quite hide the fact that he's a little disturbed to see Lia in the mask.

"I had not planned on it, no," Lia replies, equally drily. Slowly, carefully, she removes the headdress, slipping her hood back on in almost the same movement. "Jackals are not really my favourite animals in the world," she continues as she returns the headdress to the place she took it from, with slightly more respect than she showed in picking it up and donning it. "Give me a nice fox any day. Or a moth."

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan riposted with a look reminding Dieter that this was his idea in the first place. Some fun. Watching Devereux jump around shadows and all but pee his pants had its charm, but became very humdrum after the first few minutes. Small wonder I'm not seeing things, the priest thought, Tonight can't come quickly enough.

The priest milled about the chapel, taking in the entire sight and trying to reconstruct what it must've looked like before. He stared at the dirty, collapsed mosaics on the walls, imagining the colorful patterns in their once-full glory. It must've looked fantastic back then, he thought, his eyes following the archways down to the sanctuary.

Then he saw the skeletal cleric. It was odd just finding a skeleton in a chapel of any sort. Something big must have happened in this keep for the minister to have died and just been left in the chapel to rot. Curiously, Kuzan moved closer and crouched by the skeleton, looking it over. When he noticed the old, dried blood, he nodded to himself and began gingerly laying out the body in a more reposed fashion. It wasn't right to leave the dead sprawled like that. "This keep must've been attacked, maybe in a war with Sebua," he murmured, "Either of you see a sheet nearby?"

The shiny deva symbol and the brass key intrigued the priest, too. He gently pulled the two neck-pieces off of the skeleton, holding them up to the light.

"What do you suppose this key is for?" he asked, turning back to his companions. With any luck, he could distract Devereux from the invisible shadows the man seemed to find all over.

Heal check of 28 to see if I can learn anything more about the priest's death -- what killed him, what struck him, etc.

[yalenusveler]

"Lia, there are still faint abjuration effects that can end up with terrible things happening to those who cause them to go off. Glyph of Warding for example. I'd rather they were dealt with now, instead of having it go off in my face, and potentially destroying what's on the scroll." Andre said, as if he was explaining something really, she should already know.

"Need i remind you Cavendish' little surprise on that book would've classified as faint abjuration?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Indeed not," Lia replies, her voice still calm. Her hand involuntarily rises to her chest, however. "I have studied only one Dispel Magic today, though. Unless you or Kuzan have more, or Pelletier makes a miraculous recovery, one attempt is all you shall have. I can set it off now, if you all like."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Give me a nice fox any day. Or a moth."

"Not bats?" Charles says idly. "Grimmric's feelings will be hurt. I can't confess to be so terribly fond of jackals, myself. Certainly this journey's events have done nothing to make me think fondly of them."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Not bats?" Charles says idly. "Grimmric's feelings will be hurt. I can't confess to be so terribly fond of jackals, myself. Certainly this journey's events have done nothing to make me think fondly of them."

"Not hardly," Lia laughs. Grimmric suddenly peeks his head out of her collar and chitters indignantly at Charles. "I prefer foxes and moths for masks, I should have said. Or as simple animals go. Bats are ... special to me." Lia carefully strokes Grimmric's head with a fingertip; the little bat closes his eyes, chitters sleepily and retreats.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"At any rate," Lia says, raising her hands to the scrolls, "I believe it is time I tried my hand at this ..." Arcane energy suddenly crackles on the air, and a cool breeze seems to sweep through the laboratory. Not a physical breeze, but perhaps one of the spirit.

'Araneum arcanorum rescindo!' Lia declaims, sweeping her hand at the gathered scrolls. There is a tangible tension in the air as two forces seem to meet. They push at each other, push ... push ... And one of them gives, the sensation being like a wall tumbling down.

Lia calmly strides forward and pulls a single scroll out of its resting-place. "This is for you now, Andre," the Mordentishwoman calmly tells the professor. "See you take good care of it. It is entirely possible that I just broke the only thing keeping it in this condition for however long it has been waiting here."

[yalenusveler]

Andre sighed, and began to carefully open the scroll, now that he wasn't AS concerned about it doing that whole explosion thing in his face. Or trying to rip his heart out...or really, any of a number of things that magically enchanted paper can do to really ruin your day if you aren't careful.

Setting the piece of magicked paper down carefully, Andre began to pour over it, with all the intensity of a surgeon trying to perform a delicate operation. There was no sarcasm..just..someone who rather loves...and is RATHER good at their work.

"Well, it's not the secrets of the ages, but a Scroll of Cure serious wounds is still a spell I didn't have, so there's one of hundreds down." He grinned a bit, and carefully re-rolled the scroll. "If the others hold true, I'd rather like to lay claim to the lot, so I can add them to my book...of course, there will be the matter of funding...but I'm certain that no one would object to loaning an upstanding sort like myself a quantity of money to ensure that there's another healer about." He smiled, almost impish.

"Now, if one of our more...physical removers of mystical traps would like to have a crack at the other ones?" He smiled at Tomas and Otto "I'd be much obliged."

OOC:And that's a 30 on a Spellcraft Check...unless we've somehow got an Epic Scroll, which i don't think is technically possible...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"If you can stand to wait until tomorrow, I can aid in cracking the more strongly warded ones," Lia offers. "Provided, of course, that no one minds my not having a Fireball available for the occasion -- as now."

[DocBeard]

"I'm not headbutting the scrolls." Tomas maintains, "Graduate student or no."

He resumes looking about the area, a bit nervously...

(OOC: Haven't had a chance to catch Neo to check on a Sight check, but a quick post so y'all know I'm still here.)

[The Whistler]

"Nor I, unfortunately..." Otto appears to have completed his circuit of the room by this point. "Theory aside, I am not as experienced as I should be with the dismantling of scroll-based arcane protections; what little expertise I am having is on larger scale device work. Best not to risk when we are here for a day or more yet, for better or for worse...I would rather have a fireball *not* occurring tomorrow than a fireball *accidentally* occurring today, if I am being understood."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Well then," Lia says. "Shall we lock this place behind us and try to find access to the roof, as we had originally planned to do? I was serious when I said I wished to know whether we were being followed ... and whether that unnatural sandstorm was maintaining its position." With casual movements, Lia picks up the headdress from the desk and puts it under her arm.

[yalenusveler]

"I'm sorry Tomas, I meant Charles. You're our physical remover of the unrighteous opposition. Very distinctly different job." Andre said with a bit of a chuckle, taking the scroll...and it's fellows. "No, this shouldn't make me explode, unless i try to open them." He said as a means of mollifying those who probably thought him about to erupt in arcane fire...and hoping he was right.

"And Lia, why in the world are you taking the headpiece?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"It seems to me to be a piece of religious regalia of the worship of Anubis," Lia explains. "I intended to give it to Khalil. If he does not know how to properly deal with it, I at least assume he knows clerics of Anubis who will. And it ... displeases me to just leave it in a room which is no longer a sanctuary. Charles defeated the lock on the door, I have dispelled at least one ward ... It seems wrong to just leave an item that might be important lying around that way."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"I'm sorry Tomas, I meant Charles."

"H'm?" Charles says. "Oh, if M'sieur Schultheiss feels it's above his capabilities I doubt I can do much with them. I'd be happy to help tomorrow, of course."

He raises one eyebrow at Lia's taking the jackal mask. "Careful with that," he says quietly. "We have at least one hanger-on who might not be terribly thrilled to see her 'religious regalia' in the hands of one not of the faith."