The Eye of Anubis: Book Six

[NeoTiamat]

Bahadur's Yurt, Kermanshah, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 23rd, 761, 11:58 AM; Day 98 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"My prices are twenty gold for each of these maps, for they are my best." Bahadur said simply. "As for the old general... I do not know precisely, but I would think he is laid to rest in the little valley of the dead."

"The faceless statue I have seen from time to time, but it is rather the lesser than its name. It is a statue of a spinx, rather large, carved from the rock around here. I believe its name comes from the fact that it faces up and the face has long since worn away."

"Fascinating work..." Otto mused, leaning over the maps, only a slight quaver in his voice betraying his unease. "Such detail...I imagine that such craftsmanship must be of high demand in such an area, with the grand variety of travelers you must see, yes? I must admit my curiosity, having only been a traveler of the desert for a short time as yet...what manner of folk have patronized Kermanshah of late?"

"Nomads, mostly. A few other foolhardy souls that trade from Har'Akir to Pharazia. Many mages pass by here actually, for Har'Akir is a land of old magic, and magic is valuable enough to be worth taking across the desert where few other things are."

"Oh, and a Core-lander woman arrived not long ago."

Temple of Osiris, Kermanshah, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 23rd, 761, 11:58 AM; Day 98 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Finding Miss Collins turned out to be not terribly difficult, though it did mean yet another trip across the rather dubious looking bridge over the Kermanevar river. One thing had to be noted. Kerman was fond of naming things after himself.

The Mordentishwoman was seated in one of the corners of the Temple, while the Priest of Osiris busied himself around the altar, cleaning and setting things and what-not. Mary had a small book in her hand and had been reading when the six people of the Expedition entered.

"Oh, hullo!" She laughed a little self-consciously, picking out Khalil and Ishaq in the crowd. "Sorry I slipped away earlier, but you seemed to suddenly be so very busy, I didn't want to intrude."

"Is one of you the reporter?" Mary seemed to get the idea suddenly. "Mr. Martel mentioned that there was one who could help me send a message back home."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia hangs back for a moment, hands stuffed up the opposite sleeves, head lowered. Very quietly, she mutters two words, then fixes Mary Collins and the priest of Osiris both with an intense glare. If anyone listens very closely and stands near her, they might understand her whisper: 'Occultum video!'

OOC: Casting Detect Magic. Sleight of hand roll to obscure the casting: 16.

[lostboy]

"Is one of you the reporter?" Mary seemed to get the idea suddenly. "Mr. Martel mentioned that there was one who could help me send a message back home."

Khalil offers a short bow to the woman in acknowledgement of the greeting. "I am afraid not milady, however Msieur Martel and I will try to arrange a meeting for you at the earliest opportunity. These acquaintaince of mine were simply keen to meet you."

Having said his piece Khalil offers antoher short bow, more a nod this time and wanders over to the altar and the priest.

[Akiri] " Well met honoured son of Osiris. Would you impart some wisdom to a curious traveller?"

[Kaitou Kage]

"Hi, no, sorry," Kuzan had to take a moment to recover from the question he didn't expect. "My name's Kuzan. I'm from Sri Raji, a priest of Varuna, god of the oceans. I have a question for you."

He lowered his voice a bit in hopes that nobody beyond their little group would hear.

"Have you noticed how tired almost everyone seems to be?" he asked, "The priest, the mage, even the tailor woman? Were they like this when you arrived?"

Sense Motive 12. Ah well.

[DocBeard]

Tomas takes a moment to mentally slap himself upside the head. They were going to terrify this woman, and they just admitted they didn't have anything she needed!

"I'm sorry about...my wife." Tomas's smile becomes waxen, "Snigglefritz here just gets so nervous around new people. She's really such a shy, demure thing...brilliant translator, though, if a little bit of a..." Tomas gestures at Lia's outfit, moving forward to stage whisper at the woman, "Method actress."

"Or, at least, a similar principle applies." Tomas leans on Kuzan's shoulder, perhaps discretely trying to tell him to give the interview-fu a rest, "But as it so happens our friend Ku-zan here...again, I apologize about the bluntness, he learned Mordentish from the back of cereal boxes and tawdry novels about those adventurers and their dog who go around solving mysteries...forgets that I, I, Don Tomas du Forrest!" Tomas puts his hat over his heart, closing his eyes and looking slightly up at the sky, "Professional writer..."

"...am, in fact, in a position to help you!" This is not a lie so much as a deliberate exaggeration to both comfort the woman with a little comedy and see how she reacts: Tomas does, in fact, have a publisher who could probably get in contact with the woman's parents. "So why don't we get a drink of something cool and bad for our health, ja?, and we can talk about your story."

(OOC: Sense Motive: Natural 20, and 25 total. Diplomacy: 20. Ah-boo. Ah-yeah.)

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan frowned. And then frowned more. Why did Tomas, who was normally much quieter, suddenly decide to make a show of things and both undermine him and try to accomplish the exact opposite of what the priest came here to do. He shot the Lamordian a fiery glare as if to say, "Do you mind?" and debated between slugging Tomas one in the jaw or storming out of the tent. He settled on just brooding quietly and waiting for Tomas to finish his little act.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia very gently reaches out -- and seizes Tomas by the ear, twisting it slightly as she pulls him back to her side. "Now, now, darling," she says in a serene tone of voice, "you know the doctor said too much drink is bad for your liver. He's a martyr to his liver, you know," she mentions to Mary Collins. "As well as an outrageous womanizer. If I didn't keep an eye on him, I'm sure he'd have made himself a polygamist by now."

Lia sighs in an exaggerated fashion. "The man's martyred to his liver, and I am martyred to my man. I suppose it must be the great wheel of life, balancing itself out. All that being said, he can help you -- but if at all possible, let us talk here. I find that the atmosphere of holy ground is good for the soul. Perhaps there is a side room where we might all go?"

[DocBeard]

"W-waugh!" Tomas exclaims, firmly sized by said ear. He catches Kuzan's glare, and shrugs at him, not exactly in a position to convey anything other than 'damn, woman, my ear!' with body language. "Vat ist womanizing about being willing to send a letter home to the girl's parents or husband or boyfriend or sister or whomever?!"

[yalenusveler]

Andre's reaction to all the shenanigans was to look slightly aghast, and then give a slightly exasperated sigh. "Forgive them, they're always like this." He said, with more than a little exasperated embarrassment sneaking into his voice.

"I'm Professor Andre Theroux. Beyond the rather inane babbling of my compatriots, I'm afraid there are a few questions of some importance that we'd like to ask you, after which I'm certain we can look into getting word sent home for you." Andre looked about for a moment, then back to Mary "A side room however, might not be such a poor idea."

[NeoTiamat]

Temple of Osiris, Kermanshah, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 23rd, 761, 12:05 PM; Day 98 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Mary watched the performance of Lia and Tomas with the air of one who has trouble not laughing at the situation, but is trying very, very hard to stay polite.

"Um, side-room, certainly." Ms. Collins picked up her book, a small, traveler's copy of The Dead Travel Fast: A Romance from Beyond the Grave. Bad literature, it seemed, knew no borders. "Javed loaned me a room that used to belong to a sub-priest, we can talk there if you want."

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Miss Collin's room was small, a little dusty, and barely lived in. There were a few books, a mixture of penny dreadfuls and local literature, a small, clean set of flatware, and a hard cot. All in all, a rather spartan arrangement, but probably not much worse than a girl's finishing school.

"So what's the matter?" Mary asked, her eyes focused first on Kuzan and then on Andre. "Why all the cloak and dagger stuff and the ominous tones?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Nomads, mostly. A few other foolhardy souls that trade from Har'Akir to Pharazia. Many mages pass by here actually, for Har'Akir is a land of old magic, and magic is valuable enough to be worth taking across the desert where few other things are."

"True enough," Charles says, smiling. "You've chosen your business wisely, m'sieur. How has business been? Any visitors in the last few weeks?"

[Kaitou Kage]

"Sorry about them," Kuzan sighed, "I'm the Expedition medic and I don't know what's wrong with them sometimes. I think the heat might be getting to them a little too much." He shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Anyway, sorry to bother you, but have you noticed anything peculiar about the mage and the priest here? They both seem really lethargic and unmotivated to me. When I spoke to Javed earlier, it seemed like it took him tremendous effort to speak a full sentence, let alone say anything at all."

He waited, looking a little agitated about it, but that was probably just a doctor's concern over others' health, right?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Yes indeed, do not mind us," Lia says placidly, as she reaches up to pat the top of Tomas's head. "We do go on sometimes, don't we? But do please answer the questions of our perfectly eloquent priestly friend. I have noticed he does not tend to chatter away just for the sake of hearing his own voice."

[yalenusveler]

"Ordinarily...one could chalk it up to being in the middle of nowhere. But something about it seems..odd. With an outsider's perspective, we're hoping you might be able to shed light on things." Andre said, giving her what was either a charming smile, or him wondering if he had legumes stuck in his teeth, depending on the light.

"Also...and I don't mean to be a bother about this, but we heard you had been suffering nightmares. While you've no doubt been through a horrible ordeal which would produce nightmares in anyone...has there been anything about them that seems odd?" Andre asked, a Mordentshire accent slipping through in his speech. For all he was raised in Dementlieu, his father was still a son of Mordent, and sometimes it showed.

Usually when Andre was theorizing a spectral cause behind every little thing, but sometimes, without ghost panic.

[The Whistler]

"True enough," Charles says, smiling. "You've chosen your business wisely, m'sieur. How has business been? Any visitors in the last few weeks?"

The worried look was still in Otto's eyes.

Good to know that the two of can build off each other fine, but let's just hope leading questions still *work* on this guy...

Not even *haggling!*