The Eye of Anubis: Book One

[lostboy]

Khalil's head whips up as he hears his name spoken. Listening to Charles he nods once before recommencing his search of the roof.

OOC: Search - 22

[steveflam]

Spot Allikhain 18 Ulsaon 22

Allikhain turns to Kuzan and nods her thanks for the prayer and healing. Speaking to noone in particular "So what happened here?"

_____________________________________________________________

Ulsaon sighs with relief when she sees Allikhain being healed. Looking around she says "Why don't we get off the roof here, it's much safer on the ground."

Turning she heads for the stairs and descends into the building.

[NeoTiamat]

On the Roof

It was a few minutes before the elderly Prof. Pelletier could be brought up to the tall roof, and a further minute before the Professor could climb over to the place where jackal-headed figure had disappeared from.

Khalil had moved over, and the Professor of History and the Arcane Sciences did a few basic passes over the mask and robe and sand.

"Nothing, I see nothing. Whatever was there, its dissipated." Pelletier looked over to Andre. "What was it that you saw?"

Samael looked quite interested in the answer as well.

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On the Ground

Carter took the little chunk of wood and silver and examined it with an eye used to winkling out elaborate meanings on life and culture from broken bits of pottery.

"Hmm...." Prof. Carter turned the piece of wood around. "It's a sliver, see? It has a bit of silver facing on this side, but the other side is splintered wood. Broken off I'd say, not too long ago, the wood isn't weathered. As to what it is, haven't a clue. A bit of a box, a jewelry box, is the best bet. Or maybe part of a picture frame. Do you want me to hold on to it till I can get Prof. Pelletier to take a look at it?"

Meanwhile, Guy Benoit had returned to the garden with Loup. He seemed not much worse for wear for his airborne escapade. The big Alsatian seemed cheery enough, although he limped on his paw a bit.

"Something wrong?" the laconic ex-militiaman asked. He turned briefly to Kuzan, jerking his chin towards Loup. "Could you heal him?"

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Inside

Lily followed the near-fleeing Mournswaithe girl with an amused look, but shrugged and took a sip from her brandy. Then, with a slightly martyred expression, the reporter took out her notebook and began to take down her memories while they were still fresh.

The gendarmes had all but finished wrapping the dead body in a cloth when Lia came up. The leading officer, a young man scarcely older than Lia but with a truly impressive set of bristling red muttonchops, acknowledged her. "Yes Miss? Inspector Phillipe Sautet, at your service. You're with the Menetnashte Expedition, yes?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I am," Lia replies to the Inspector's question. "Please excuse me, this should not take long, but I want it done with before you move the body anywhere else."
Lia composes herself briefly near the head of the corpse, first teasing a silver holy symbol from her collar, then folding her hands and lowering them, as well as her head. The next moment, she starts to murmur:

"The River flows and Life follows its course
though the waters runs to places no one knows,
we all must travel, we all must flow.

A Light now beckons to you, from the distant shores,
where the River runs to ground and Time loses hold.
Go to the Light and be at rest for evermore.
Slumber there, be at peace.

And return to this place, this unhappy time
Nevermore."

Lia makes a few passes over the body with the holy symbol, then tucks it away. "I do not know this person's name," she whispers, "but it is worse than inappropriate that he should be in this state without even a prayer to help him on his way. No one deserves to be defiled and left alone like this. No one."
Lia shakes herself and addresses the Inspector: "Pardon my intrusion, Inspector. And thank all you gentlemen for your patience. Please feel free to chalk my ... excentricities up to the morbid customs of Mordent." She nimbly tucks the holy symbol away again and bows, backing away.

[DocBeard]

Tomas blinks, wonders if he should....

He crosses his arms, hoping it looks manly and decisive instead of like he has no idea what to do.

[lostboy]

Khalil watches the elderly professor out of the corner of his eye as he scans the last few feet of roof. Nothing here, and it seems nothing from the remians of our foe, either he was more powerful than we thought or someone is cleaning up rather well. Still that Ankh must be found! He thinks as he wtches the others.

Taking a last glance around the roof, Khalil decides to join the search of the garden. Moving swiftly to the rope he swings himself out over the edge of the roof and drops quickly down the rope. [OOC: Climb: 21]

Reaching the ground he approaches Charles, who can see close up that the desert guide is limping slightly. "No sign Affandi, all that he left behind is where it fell, if anything is missing it must be down here. Perhaps I can help to look..."

Khalil glances out into the rainy night and catches a flash of movement high on the one of the roofs above him. He whistles three notes in a tuneful way and a dark shape detaches itself from the roof and glides down to his arm. He gently strokes the Hawks feathered head in an affectionate way, "I have need of your help my friend" he whispers, feeding it a piece of partly dried meat form a pouch on his belt. He then drops his voice and appears to be whispering to the Hawk, which then spreads its wings and vanishes into the darkness once again.

Turning back to Charles, he asks "Did you find anything further Affandi?"

[OOC : cast speak with animals - "Karsh, my firend I wish to know if there is any living animate creature in the immediate area and if there are any shiny objects we have not found. PLease rteurn quickly my friend" Handle Animal roll: 24]

[The Whistler]

"That should do it," Kuzan smiled and gave Otto a pat on the shoulder, "Probably more than needed, but it'll work."

The gunsmith blinked a few times, stretching his back experimentally. Hm...he's right.

"And work it certainly did, my friend." Otto smiled appreciatively, adjusting his spectacles--Can't believe they actually stayed on--with his newly painless right hand. "Thank you. I may not yet understand the workings behind what you have just done, but I recognize one who takes pride in his craftsmanship; and you, sir, are one of those."

Prof. Devereux had shown himself a marvel of foresight, or at least a marvel of following directions, and had arrived with a brandy bottle and shot glasses.

"Er, I think someone wanted these, hope I'm not too late."

The Lamordian glanced briefly around, then, seeing that Charles had gone off to search the area, called Devereux over. Think I remember that guy from the ceremony earlier...

"It was not my request, Professor, but it is one that I am happy to co-opt. Come! I think that all of us could use something to quiet our nerves after these past minutes."

"So what happened here?"

"You would know as well as me, Miss...Allikhain, is it? I was as...late to arrive as you were." A brief rueful look flashed across his face--he was still a *little* disappointed--though he quickly recovered. "I reach the roof, only to see a man disappear, enough magic whizzing about for me to write a thesis upon, and myself"--he chuckled slightly--"Myself falling to earth from ten yards above."

He gestures to Kuzan: "Now, it is this man--Sir Windstorm, here--who you should in truth be asking."

[Nathan of the FoS]

Do you want me to hold on to it till I can get Prof. Pelletier to take a look at it?"

"I think that's an excellent idea, Professor. I don't know if it's significant, but it's certainly unusual; so I think it deserves a closer look."

"No sign Affandi, all that he left behind is where it fell, if anything is missing it must be down here. Perhaps I can help to look..."

"Nothing down here," Charles shouts. "Certainly, come down and have a look...the night is yet young, after all!"

"Something wrong?" the laconic ex-militiaman asked. He turned briefly to Kuzan, jerking his chin towards Loup. "Could you heal him?"

"Yes, that would be good," Charles says. "We may have need of his services, Guy. We're missing two objects of interest, and have turned up several new items. The thing on the roof had a black ankh, and I was carrying two daggers, but I've only found one of the daggers and there's no sign of the ankh down here. I think it's very possible the priest up on the roof had a confederate here in the garden who took them. I've found signs that someone waited here for a considerable time, smoking a cigar; also a rather peculiar splinter, perhaps from a box..."

Here Charles pauses and turns out his pockets. "A few coins--actually, a surprising number of coins...and a piece of paper. Heaven knows if that means anything. But it might be possible to track the person who took the knife and the ankh if we start immediately. Do you think Loup is up to it?"

Pausing in his torrent of speech, as if struck by an idea, Charles continues, "Actually, it might be possible to trace the ankh, or the dagger, too...is that something you would be able to do, M'sieur...er...M'sieur Kuzan?"

It might also be possible to track me with that dagger...Ezra forfend...

[Kaitou Kage]

After taking care of Allikhain, Kuzan smiled warmly and extended glowing hands toward Loup. His prayer magic suffused the canine, healing his wounds. Kuzan stood up and unfastened his sash. The darn thing was soaked and tattered from the lightning blast, and it was just in the way now anyway. He wiped some water off his face and brushed his hair out of his eyes, then scritched Loup affectionately behind the ears.

"Nothing I can do right now, sir," he replied to Charles, shaking his head, "But after my morning prayers, I can certainly ask Ajad to help. I've done so before."

I suppose I should add what I did to heal people.

Cure light wounds on Allikhain: (1 + 5 + 2) = 8 hp

Cure serious wounds on Loup: ((4 + 2 + 4) + 5 + 6) = 21 hp

[yalenusveler]

"Nothing, I see nothing. Whatever was there, its dissipated." Pelletier looked over to Andre. "What was it that you saw?"

Samael looked quite interested in the answer as well.

"Illusion magic radiating from the sand and mask, robes and gloves as well...makes me worried the exodus from the roof wasn't some sort of teleport. Or our foe was being particularly dramatic and threw in an illusion for good measure." Andre said, starting to relax as he became fairly certain the roof wasn't going to start pitching about again. "Considering everyone was for the most part, lightly armed, fighting a spell casting foe who was assuredly far more potent than who we had present, I'd say we did fairly well. I'd prefer a kill, or better still, a capture...but considering the branch of the Anubis cult i fear they represented, as odd as it would be...holding them would be tricky."

[NeoTiamat]

On the Roof

Professor Pelletier, the Borcan organizer Maleagant, and Andre peered over the remains of the Anubite. Samael lifted his head, grey eyes unreadable, then spoke.

"Illusion, eh? Will that's odd." The Borcan thought for another second. "But it's safe to touch now?"

When Prof. Pelletier nodded, the Borcan took a black sack from somewhere in his dark outfit and quickly put the mask and the other accoutrements, and as much of the sand as could fit into it.

"Lets go downstairs. We need to talk this out."

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In the Garden

Meanwhile, a search party was being organized in the garden, with Charles Martel, Kuzan, Allikhain, Otto, Khalil, and Guy, led by the intrepid Alsatian.

Carter accepted the sliver of wood from Charles. "Alright, I'll give this to Prof. Pelletier next time I see him. I'm going to circle around the Hall once or twice, then search inside, alright?" Prof. Carter drew his pistol and then looked at Prof. Devereux. "Care to come with me?"

"Er, could I?" Devereux's eyes lit up. "Certainly!"

The two academics departed, Carter with an amused look in his eyes and Devereux with a certain spring in his step.

Benoit watched them leave. Loup was taking the opportunity to get a good ear-scratching from Kuzan. Turning to the others, Benoit spoke.

"Loup is a good tracker, but I need a scent, and with all the rain, it'd be tricky. What exactly do you want me to set him on? The cigar ash?"

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Inside

The Inspector nodded to Lia's brief prayer, a bit confused, but decided to chalk it up to Mordentish traditions, as the veiled young woman had suggested.

The members of the Menetnashte Expedition had congregated around on of the few tables still standing in the deserted Reception Hall when Samael, Andre, and Prof. Pelletier arrive, as water-soaked as the rest.

"Gather up everyone, the fun's not over yet." Samael called out in his usual flippant manner as he confiscated the small table for his own use. You recognized it as the same table de Angelis and the others had used for playing cards. Drawn by curiosity, you noticed Lily also arrive, notebook and pencil in hand.

Carefully, Samael placed the following items on the table.

• -One bloodstained dagger, an Akiri Jambiya, which had attached the note to the dead body.
  
  -One note, on good parchment, if slightly wet, signed with the cartouche of the Cult of Anubis, which read:
  
  • I, too, sought Anubis's Eye
    And for that crime I must die.
    Turn back now, before it's too late,
    Or you shall share my sorry fate.
  -One set of tattered black robes.
  
  -One pair of black gloves, one of which was badly burned.
  
  -One leather-mask, shaped like a black jackal's head.
  
  -A pile of sand.

Samael put the last of the items on the table, then motioned for everyone to gather around.

"Alright, now, does anyone have any bright ideas on just what in blazes has been going on tonight?" Samael's cheeky grin didn't quite reach his grey eyes.

[yalenusveler]

"Quite frankly, we have a situation which doesn't make sense. " Andre said, starting to pace around the table. "On one hand, you would think that everything made a good bit of sense. We're going to be mucking about in an Akiri tomb, so certainly the mortuary cult of Anubis would be rather cross with us."


Andre gave that a moment to set in "But...this doesn't fit. They're not exactly the cause an earthquake, put others at risk sorts. Anubis is a fairly peaceful psychopomp sort. Never mind Muhar isn't nearly large enough to support a proper cult to the point where they could send an agent across the mists, across the country from wherever it dumped them out, to HERE, only to launch an attack that failed."


He pondered a bit "Now, there's a rumored co-opted cult...of a more sinister bent...but still..why not carry out the attack to the fullest? considering the magic being tossed about, if they wanted us dead, we would be dead." Andre looked out at those assembled "This...was a ploy to put us off our game, scare us off the track. And entirely likely not by the cult of Anubis at all. As the sort of magic I detected on the paraphernalia from our masked assailant was of an illusionary bent, including on the sand."


He then looked up, and smiled thinly "Now, who else has something to add?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia slowly shakes her head.
"There are too many unknowns, yet," she whispers. "Perhaps whoever set this up is incompetent and was surprised by the amount of resistance we managed to put up, or ... Chances are good that this was an act of intimidation, I agree. But it could also be an act to galvanize us, draw us on by arousing our anger and setting us in our tracks, so we will come on regardless of any resistance."
Lia visibly shrugs. "The spells cast up on the roof were real and they were the act of a cleric." She briefly raises an arm to display the scorch marks from the Anubite's electrical attack on her robes. "Until this foe returns or we find more compelling evidence, I do not think we can say anything with great certainty."

[steveflam]

Ulsaon looked at the others and bit her lip. Should I tell them? Allikhain will be very upset but if I can help then I shall

Ulsaon clears her throat to get the gathered congregations attention. "I might be able to shed some light. Earlier this evening, Allikhain and I stepped outside for fresh air, so we said. But apparently Allikhain got a note from some man who bumped into her. Said to meet them in the garden in fifteen minutes." She paused, trying to remember.

"Well it was raining out. We got there early and this man showed up at the appointed time. Very spooky indeed. Allikhain talked about this Lancaster. Sunglasses, sharp pointy teeth, claws. Not been alive for fifty years. He wanted us to steal this Eye thing for 20,000 shades." Her eyes go big at the mention of the shades. She seems to regret not having taken the money.

"And he wanted us to bring it back to him. Allkhain refused because for some weird reason I have as yet to discern, she doesn't like gold. Information is more important to her" she shrugs "Well perhaps this can help in your investigation?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"It gives us a name to work with, certainly," Lia replies after looking at Ulsaon for a few minutes. "Could you sketch this 'Lancaster' person's face?"