The Eye of Anubis: Book Five

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I am looking," Lia assures Charles, and indeed she is turning around, watching in all directions in a random pattern. "Heart-fire, I know not ... But the tears of an innocent ...? Tell me, would any of us consider Farideh to be innocent? Ishmael believed her spirit still haunted these halls. She might be able to provide us with more knowledge. And there is the Bey's storehouse of divine and arcane supplies, which Ishmael told me about, somewhere in the keep. It may contain some of the things we need, not to mention magic of" -- Lia's voice drops to a whisper -- "water breathing. The book is in the cistern. Removing it and slaying the guardian may well be our desert born's comrade important first step, perhaps even his only step, in cleansing the waters!"

[lostboy]

"Yes it would appear the threads of my fate are bound to this place." Khalil whispers with a shiver as Ishmael vanishes.

Gathering the remains fo his resolve he squats next to Charles and listens to the others theories. "Do not forget the keys either, we still do not know what they unlock, perhaps that is where the Bey's arcane hoard is hidden."

Removing it and slaying the guardian may well be our desert born's comrade important first step, perhaps even his only step, in cleansing the waters!"

Khalil looks thoughtful and then nods. "If we can find some way of allowing me to breathe underwater I will go after the book, I owe a debt to the old powers which I would see stricken off. However I think we will need to attend to the guardian you spoke of first..."

[lostboy]

Suddnely a thought strikes Khalil. "Heart fire, heart fire.... Wait, have we discovered the Bey's body anywhere? All of these events began over a matter of his heart, perhaps the heart is still there preserved somehow to be found?"

Without waiting for an answer he pushes on as a further idea hits him, turnign to Lia he asks "Milady you asked if we considered Faridah innocent yes? But she commited adultery so cannot be truley innocent, neither can the Bey or Ishmael be deemed innocent, Idris may be different if he was possessed but we cannot tell."

"However thiking on our friend belows words, would you consider a book as innocent as a gold coin? If so then perhaps the water of the cistern is itself the tears of innocnece, it certianly appears to keep the book safe for now..."

[yalenusveler]

"Or there's always Tomas or Devereux" Andre said, rejoining the conversation after a brief moment of staring off into space, doing that "I'm thinking, really!" thing he sometimes did. "Out of the lot of us, they're the only ones I can think of who count as innocent..unless you count blowing up an inn as a criminal act in Devereux's case. And the ghost DID go away then..." He smiles wryly, then considered a moment.

"The issue is, the fiend has us on a timetable..I fear we'll need to get moving before too long. I've some scrolls taken from those in the lab..but none of them allow the user to breathe water. Some rather potent ones otherwise, and if anyone would mind loaning a poor professor some coin, that i'd LOVE to scribe..but if worst comes to worst, I'll use them and be done with it."

[DocBeard]

Tomas rolls his eyes at this, because 'innocent' and 'nice' aren't the same thing.

"Right. Did your friend give you any impression of where the Bey's treasure was, Lia? Or are we going out blind?"

[yalenusveler]

"Knowing our luck, Blind. Unless of course, some mystical map to the treasures of the Bey shows up out of thin air within the next few moments." Andre looked about, as if expecting a rolled up parchment to somehow manifest out of thin air.

"Yep, I'm assuming blind."

[Kaitou Kage]

"I can let us breathe water," Kuzan piped up suddenly. After Ishmael arrived, the priest had become utterly silent, even turning slightly pale. When the dead man vanished, he relaxed somewhat. "My temple uses that magic frequently when we make our salvage expeditions. I can also let a small number of us move freely in water as if it were air."

Sorry for the short post. Just letting everyone know I am back and involved again, but tired from jetlag

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Ishmael only told me that he found the storehouse of the Bey's magic," Lia replies to Tomas's question, shaking her head, "not where it was. But he can move freely through the walls of this blighted keep. Still, we might spend a little time scavenging through the Anubis priest's quarters and seeing if there is anything useful there. I must warn you that the best spells I can offer for a battle underwater would have to be in the areas of protection; my fire spells would be ineffective down there."

While she speaks, Lia keeps looking around and around, constantly watching for any sign of sensors above, below, right, left, up, down, her body turning and turning.

When Kuzan makes his statement about being able to provide water breathing, she claps him on the shoulder, nodding appreciatively. "Excellent! As for the waters of the cistern being innocent ... Hmm. What were the tears of the innocent supposed to do to it again? But the book can not be innocent; it is the receptacle for the soul of a fiend, and a particularly malicious one, as we have all seen in this place.

And Khalil ... the Bey's body should be near or in the cistern. That is where Ishmael killed him in the end. Unless it's been moved since ..."

[yalenusveler]

"Looks like my sonic spells will be providing most of the artillery...just have to make my shots count, I suppose. Lia, do you have anything that isn't fire, perhaps force or Sound?" Andre asked. He of course, had other spells he could provide beyond an auditory assault on the guardian of the Sefer, but being willing to use said spells was another matter entirely.

[Nathan of the FoS]

=And Khalil ... the Bey's body should be near or in the cistern. That is where Ishmael killed him in the end. Unless it's been moved since ..."

"He's got one arm in," Charles notes distantly. "That's right, you haven't been down there in...er...under normal circumstances. We found a skeleton, richly dressed, which I presume must be the Bey's body, on our first trip down--that's actually where I found the key we brought back. I suppose the book fell near there...no telling where it might have got to in the time since, though."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Looks like my sonic spells will be providing most of the artillery...just have to make my shots count, I suppose. Lia, do you have anything that isn't fire, perhaps force or Sound?" Andre asked.

"Magic Missile is usually good for anything not protected by a Shield spell or some form of resistance to arcane damage," Lia muses. "Other than that ... not really. And I would need to be able to see what I was aiming at, which means I might have to be underwater ... where I would not be able to speak to cast the spells. Never mind the fact that I am a rather poor swimmer. But I can place Mage Armor and Cat's Grace on people who have to enter the fray -- save I should like to save some protection for myself, of course."

Coughing with slight embarrassment before resuming her turning and scanning, Lia continues: "If you can get this guardian out of the water, however, it should be as vulnerable to fire as anything else -- I hope. Snakes are not commonly known to be resistant to Fireballs or Scorching Rays, are they now?"

"That's right, you haven't been down there in...er...under normal circumstances. We found a skeleton, richly dressed, which I presume must be the Bey's body, on our first trip down--that's actually where I found the key we brought back. I suppose the book fell near there...no telling where it might have got to in the time since, though."

"Provided the guardian has not moved it, the location of the Bey's body should give us a solid clue to the place where we might find the Sefer Razial HaMalakh!" Lia enthuses. "But it would seem his heart is not likely to be providing much fire now, if all that is left of him is a skeleton. A thought occurs -- the song in the armory may have been provided by Farideh, although its purpose somewhat escapes me.

Tsk ... We really know and have only one of the four tools we need to deal with 'Fiendy McBirddog'. We require more knowledge. I wonder whether it might not be wiser to seek out the tools before going for the book ... I am open to counter-arguments, however."

[NeoTiamat]

The Cistern, Sub-Level One, Dežbār Keep
May 29th, 761, 5:24 AM; Day 73 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The rest of the day passed in a dreary pall of mixed boredom and terrified anticipation. No one felt like leaving anywhere for exploration, not when heavens alone knew what more prowled the halls of Dezbar Keep. Both of the 'factions', as it were, of the Keep were at peace with you at the moment, with the fiend locked in a deal and the revenant Ishmael providing assistance, but you weren't sure just how long those little truces would hold.

Yes... the fiend had struck a bargain with you. But you were planning to betray the devil, after all.

Yes... Ishmael had offered aid. But he'd also nearly killed several of you earlier.

It was with a number of rather uncomfortable thoughts that you made your way down to the cistern the morning after. The water-filled cavern was as before, dank, cold even in the desert, and pitch-dark, with only the light of your torches creating a ghostly radiance across the surface of the water.

The causeway terminated at about halfway across the cavern, and the stone of the bridge was already sagging precipitously. It had been built well, but without the additional support of the connection.... it would not be too much time before the rest of the bridge collapsed into the water, leaving the dungeons and torture chamber utterly inaccessible. As it was, the water lapped almost at your feet at the end of the causeway.

[OOC: Alrighty, do you....

1. Cross the gap and proceed down into the dungeons to test Otto's theory regarding the keys leading to a cell with the Bey's magical stash? It's a 20 foot gap or so between the ends of the bridge. Water is dead calm, so its a DC 10 Swim Check. If you dare.

2. Do the buffing routine and dive into the water?

3. Do something else altogether?

[The Whistler]

Otto peered at the gap in the bridge with mild concern, before realizing that--compared with being threatened with soul-rending, unholy peril every twelve minutes--a twenty-foot-wide swath of structural damage was really nothing to be concerned about.

"Tch...I am concerned for this passage." Turning to face the group: "If the...guardian that is living here is strong enough to make such damage when roused, then who knows what may be done to this cavern when he is truly threatened... So. Perhaps I vote first for the search within the dungeons for the Bey's locked-box, then? If it truly is holding his magical supplies, then these may provide us with aid when we are...extracting the book, perhaps."

He turned back to the gap, exhaling heavily through his teeth.

"Of course, all this is presuming that we have a rather large *plank*..."

"Now...

[Rock of the Fraternity]

The night before the expedition sets out for the dungeons, Lia says one more thing to the others before her spell of detection runs out: "I may be pedantic in telling you this, but I feel I must: whatever we choose to do, it is essential we not say anything about our full and actual plans unless at least one of us has cast Detect Magic and is keeping a lookout for magical sensors. I do not know what kind of tricks the fiend can pull, but according to Ishmael he was capable of killing people, even where he was. If he finds out we have rejected his offer, he will move against us, either to coerce us into obedience or simply to be rid of us. Caution is of the essence."

The next morning, Lia spends considerable time pouring over her spellbook, and finishes by performing an odd kind of meditation none of the others has seen before. If asked about it, she will only reply it is 'a precaution' and tap her temple.

When the group arrives at the cistern and Otto mentions the need for a plank, she shrugs, replying: "We could always nip back to the barracks or up to Farideh's bedroom for some wood," Lia replies with a shrug. "Her bed still looked rather sturdy. And I, for one, recommend we explore the dungeons a bit first. Our appointment can wait, lest it cause this entire place to gather more bad memories."

[Kaitou Kage]

Before the group headed into the cavernous darkness, Kuzan approached Lia. "Mind if I talk to Grimmric for a second?" he asked.

Unless Lia says no, Kuzan is going to cast Imbue with Spell Ability on Grimmric and grant him three spells:

bless, remove fear, and divine protection

If Lia asks, Kuzan will explain what he's doing and what he is giving to Grimmric. If Lia objects, I'll find someone else to approach with it. Secondary target pending based on Rock's reply

Then, down in the cave...

"Wait," Kuzan interjected, "I can help." The priest's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment as he murmured the prayer. He reached out, grasping at the air around him, and then flung some unseen object forward. A long, sinuous ribbon of shadowstuff stretched out from the close edge of the cistern, shooting above the water to the opposite end. The priest stepped gingerly out onto the eerie walkway as if testing it, then nodded.

"I've never done this before," he said sheepishly, flashing an almost childlike grin back at the group, "but it should carry most of us. It won't last long, so let's hurry. I can make a couple more when we need to cross back."

Casting a dark way across the cistern. Instant bridge in a prayer!