The Eye of Anubis: Book Five

[lostboy]

Khalil looks at the shadowy bridge apprehensively then looks down at the dark water, rippling placidly. Then deciding which option he prefered at this very moment in time follows Kuzan quickly. On his shoulder Karsh ruffles his feathers, and Khalil soothes the bird with a touch as they wait for the others to join them.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"An interesting idea," Lia muses when Kuzan makes his suggestion. "A moment ..." Lia lowers her head, and an odd sound, half chatter and half chittering, comes from her hood. After a moment, Lia looks Kuzan in the eye again. "Grimmric is amenable to the notion," she informs him, and holds out the little bat to receive the spells. "But we may require some ... guidance, as to whom to deliver these spells to, when the time comes. I shall remain at your side, Kuzan, if you do not object."

When Kuzan casts the Dark Way, Lia whistles, clearly impressed. "I could have flown over that, maybe airlifted a few people," she says, "but I have no spell that can do this. Most impressive! Almost makes me wish I had studied as a cleric, myself. Then again ... maybe not."

[Nathan of the FoS]

" It won't last long, so let's hurry. I can make a couple more when we need to cross back."

"I knew there was a reason we asked you along," Charles says, grinning. "Marvelous. Er...is it susceptible to being smashed by ravening cistern-leviathans, or is it made of something more resilient than mere stones?"

[Kaitou Kage]

"Well, the gods of my homeland are very welcoming," Kuzan offered playfully to Lia as he hurried across the magic walkway.

"It can't be broken," he called back to Charles, "It's made of shadows, not of anything solid. Anything too heavy for it should just pass through as if it weren't there."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Well, the gods of my homeland are very welcoming," Kuzan offered playfully to Lia as he hurried across the magic walkway.

"I rather doubt they'd welcome me," Lia replies drily, "seeing as I'm capable of pissing people off so utterly, even when I do not intend to. And annoying deities is probably a sight more hazardous than irritating their clerics -- no offense intended here."

[NeoTiamat]

The Dungeons, Sub-Level Two, Dežbār Keep
May 29th, 761, 5:42 AM; Day 73 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Scurrying across the bridge of shadow ribbons, you detected not the slightest hint of movement in the water. Now if only you knew whether this meant you should worry more or less...

The entrance to the dungeons was more or less as it was before, a claustrophobic, miserable hallway of slightly damp stones and pitch-black darkness, without any of the otherworldy half-light of the Plane Ethereal. Up on the wall, you noticed that the dark half-poem was still there, though somewhat faded.

• Innocent's tears to cleanse it.
  Adamant knife to cut it.
  Breath of the twice-traitor to silence it.
  Heart-fire to burn it forever.

But somewhat more relevantly, a few minutes of searching revealed a set of directions carved into the wall beside the guard room. With relatively clear arrows, they stated the directions to:

• Block 1
  Block 2
  Block 3
  Block 4.

[Where to, gentlemen? As a reminder, the keys were:

• The Priest's Key: O...4...L
  The Bey's Key: B...C...C...L
  The Baanou's Key: L...K...E...9

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Hum. I would guess we should start with block 4, then," Charles notes, nodding to Otto. "Cell 9, to be specific. Keep a sharp lookout for Mordentish specters with abysmal fashion sense. Or specters of any other kind, really."

[lostboy]

Keep a sharp lookout for Mordentish specters with abysmal fashion sense. Or specters of any other kind, really."

Khalil grimaces having seen too many dead people walking and talking recently. Drawing a blade he nods to Charles "Then let us go swiftly and be prepared for what awaits Affendi."

[DocBeard]

Tomas draws his sword, keeping close to the front of the party in order to intercept any sort of horrible trap-related peril. It's hard out there for a tank.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Thankfully, today's selection of spells contains several attack spells which should work admirably on the incorporeal," Lia sighs, "though I'd rather save them for the serpent, should it rise. Kuzan, Tomas, how do you feel about banishing such creatures?"

[Kaitou Kage]

"I don't know if I can in this place," Kuzan admitted, "I tried to send Ishmael away when I first met him, but it was as if the gods could not hear my call."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Alright," Lia says, "then that's out. Let's just try to hurry. Can you scan for the presence of undead today, or is it up to me? I warn you all: if it is, I can only do it once, and it is not guaranteed to work if the undead in question has any willpower at all."

[yalenusveler]

Andre was needless to say, impressed by the solid nature of a bridge of shadows. But now, when discussing the possibility of undead he piped up. "If we do run into the animate unliving, I can probably do my usual. I've a Holy Storm which can quite ruin their day, and some Sound Lances...but I'd like to save them for the Serpent."

Andre turned to Kuzan "Your inability to focus positive energy against Ishmael might be due to his connection to this place. It's relatively rare, but I know certain undead who don't arise from the usual methods are immune..and there's quite frankly nothing usual about this place."

[steveflam]

Ishaq follows Tomas closely. He unsheathes his two handed blade and his eyes dart from right to left, alert to the first sign of trouble. He also looks up at the ceiling to make sure he doesn't miss anything. He listens as well.

[NeoTiamat]

The Dungeons, Sub-Level Two, Dežbār Keep
May 29th, 761, 5:57 AM; Day 73 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Counting off and following the directions nearly destroyed by time and wear, you trodded through the dismal dungons of Dezbar Keep, ever alert for something with or without life to transfer you from the with category to the without category.

For all that, you managed to reach the ninth cell. It was like any other of the cells, a small room not more than five by five feet, walled in by stone on three sides and iron bars on the forth. Unlike the others, however, it was unoccupied. No skeletons of the distantly deceased littered the ground, though the cold stones of the floor were dusted with dirt. A cobweb hung across the top of the bars, though you couldn't tell if it was there for the last hour or the last year.

scritch scritch

From somewhere in the shadowed corner of the cell, a scratching sound came.

scritch scritch