The Eye of Anubis: Book One

[NeoTiamat]

The Ezran Chapel

Loup gazed balefully at Ulsaon, but then he noticed the meat. It was very clear the dog was having a crisis of conscience. Elf! But meat... But Elf! But meat... But Elf! But meeeeeeeat...

Cautiously, the Alsatian-Wolf hybrid rose up from his haunches and padded towards the half-elf. Loup sniffed the meat from a few feet away, lifting his head up to peer at Ulsaon. Then, like a lightning bolt, he moved.

Before anyone could react, Loup lunged forward and closed his jaws around the meat, then twisted away and trotted back to Benoit, where he sat down for his feast.

Guy sent an approving nod in Ulsaon's direction. "He's going to get fat on this Expedition."

Meanwhile, Edmund was listening to the others talk, having explained the situation to the Ezran Anchorite. Finally, he nodded to Lia. "The Miss is right, we ought to get to the inn, and all together, if the Toret thinks its safe for the Professors to move."

The Toret raised his head from where he had been examining Devereux. "Ah, yes, I quite agree with the honored Professor Theroux's diagnosis. No supernatural act involved."

"Alright then, we ought to be off. We're supposed to be leaving in the morning..." Edmund unsheathed his sword. "Let's go."

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At the Inn

As you progressed through the night-time streets of Port-a-Lucine, Professor Devereux regaled the group with what little he could recall about the Eye of Anubis off-hand.

"Er...as the legend goes, it was a gift, from Anubis himself. It was a long time ago, and the priesthood had grown very corrupt and self-serving."

Devereux's usually thin, reedy voice strengthened as he spoke.

"And this young priest, er... he recieved a vision from Anubis himself. 'Go forth and cleanse my temple.' And in a few years, this priest did that. The Eye of Anubis was a gift to the priest. Supposedly Anubis plucked the eye out of his own shadow upon the grass, and gave it form, and purpose."

"I don't remember what it actually did though..." Devereux was embarassed.

At this point you reached the inn. It was quiet, and the rain had finally died down to a modest drizzle. As you entered the common room of the inn, you could hear the snoring of the innkeeper at the back.

"I'll get my book!" Devereux took the stairs two at a time, his lanky form moving quickly.

"I'll go with him, just in case." Benoit gave a martyred sigh. "Hier Loup, Fuss!"

The dog followed him up the stairs, still chewing a bit of the meat Ulsaon had given him.

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At the Inn

A few minutes later, as you heard the rummaging above as Devereux presumably unpacked hurriedly to find his notes, there was a knock on the door.

A small, rather tousle-headed blond boy of fifteen entered, a raincoat drawn over his head and a small package under one arm. He grinned as he looked at the group, and lowered the coat.

"Excuse me, is one of you Miss Liability Mournswaithe?" The boy drew out the package and a rather bedraggled looking piece of paper. "Jus' I got a package here she needs to sign for."

[yalenusveler]

It was ever so hard for Andre to avoid trying to sic the dog somehow on Devereux, because the man seemed to be the smartest idiot ever. Andre had just managed to acquire himself something to drink when the young lad came in, and upon hearing who the lad asked for, Andre very nearly lost his drink. The laugh that his mangling of Lia's name brought about almost making the young professor swallow his drink . She's so going to be cross with me for laughing... he thought, trying to suppress a chuckle and failing magnificently

[DocBeard]

"I can see why you go by Lia." Tomas says innocently, as if 'Liability' was a perfectly normal name.

He'd long ago mastered the art of mentally biting his tounge at a ridiclous-sounding name, no matter how funny it was, because embarrased dwarves are /angry/ dwarves.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia freezes visibly at the mention of the name, then mutters something beneath her breath. (Anyone making a particularly good Listen check can hear that what she says is a word that well-bred young ladies aren't even supposed to know ...) The next moment, she bears down on the boy, her posture betraying considerable displeasure. She is definitely not looking at the others right now.
"Who sent this?" she asks coldly as she signs for the package. "Just ... put it on a table. No, I'm not accepting it out of your hands."

[NeoTiamat]

At the Inn

The boy wilted under Lia's veiled gaze. He didn't seem to have a clue what he'd done wrong, though he was probably making some shrewd guesses. His ears blushed as he put the package on the table. He'd apparently heard Lia's comment.

"It's private, miss, there's a note on the package." The boy looked around the room. "His Lordship told me to see if there was a return message."

The kid looked like he wanted to bolt under Lia's basilisk gaze, but stood his ground.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"No fear, lad," Charles says; if he's surprised to hear Lia's full name, or her displeasure at having it revealed, he hides it very well indeed. "We've had an exciting night, and the lady is quite right to distrust any package arriving tonight! If you'll allow me, M'selle Mourneswaith?" Glancing at the package quickly, he steps forward and offers a silver coin and a conspiratorial half-smile for the message-boy. "A lune for your trouble, boyo. Er...Do you need something to write with, M'selle?"

Taking a small notebook and a lead pencil in hand, he offers them to Lia, while glancing at Khalil and Ulsaon and making a small but significant motion of his head toward the door.

Bluff 15, which is exactly enough to convey the message, "Follow the kid" to Khalil and Ulsaon.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia breathes in deeply, then snatches up the package and retreats to the corner of the room, where she opens it. Those watching her only get to see her unfold the wrapping, not the contents. For a moment, the Mordentish girl reads the note attached -- then relaxes. And starts to chuckle.
The chuckle quickly builds into giggles, which turn into full-fledged laughter; soon, Lia Mourneswaithe is shaking with mirth, one hand holding her stomach, the other closed around the package and note.
"A ... a spoken message for you, child," she says once she's managed to breathe enough to speak again. "Thank the gentleman for his gift ... and tell him I won't mind seeing him again at some later date ... perhaps at a public tea house ... Here, here."
Lia tosses the boy a copper piece, then collapses into laughter again.

'Good grief!' she thinks to herself as she struggles to stay upright and stop laughing. 'I thought maybe father ... Ermenglot ... granny? This one's dangerous enough, true, but ... but at least it's not family!'
Lia howls with laughter.
'I'd best check this thing for nasty surprises with some spells, once I've had time to study,' is Lia's last coherent thought before she staggers over to a chair and collapses into it, still laughing out loud.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"A ... a spoken message for you, child," she says once she's managed to breathe enough to speak again. "Thank the gentleman for his gift ... and tell him I won't mind seeing him again at some later date ... perhaps at a public tea house ... Here, here."
Lia tosses the boy a copper piece, then collapses into laughter again.

Charles shrugs expressively at the boy and makes a shooing motion with his hand, urging him on his way. Looking over at the Mordentishwoman doubled over in her chair, he says, "No need for worry, then, m'selle? We do not need to wonder if yet another antagonist has found his way into this imbroglio?"

Bizarre...what on earth could inspire...h'm. Yes, it might be him. Of course, if it is, it is another antagonist. Or perhaps a protagonist? Or better, an ally of convenience? A bit player? Or just a red herring?

Looking around the room, he considers the company. All of them, presumably, have their own set of motives; all, almost certainly, have unsuspected depths; a few may have agendas which run counter to one another's purposes; one man at least is dead, and some Akiri warlock may even now be trying to use his powers to curse me. And we haven't even left Port-a-Lucine. I work out puzzles and ciphers for a living, of course, but this is ridiculous.

Suddenly, Charles is very, very tired. It's been a long, strange day, and he has the distinct impression it will be only the first of many.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Fine," Lia wheezes, waving her hand erratically at Charles. "It's fine. Oh, my stomach hurts!" She laughs a bit longer, then finally manages to control her mirth. "Just," she hiccoughs, "a gift from a gentleman. It was unexpected, that is all." Lia clears her throat, seeming slightly embarrassed at her loss of control.

[lostboy]

Khalil watches the drama unfold about the package with barely a raised eyebrow. He does catch Charles nod and despite the change in mood slips quietly out the door after the boy.

[steveflam]

Ulsaon does catch Charles' words. Nodding to him she waits for the boy to leave. Looking at Khalil she coughs subtly then looks at the boy, then outside, nodding.

Allikhain noted all this and approved. If anything happened to Ulsaon she'd be sorely disappointed.

Once the boy leaves, if Khalil hasn't already made any move to follow, Ulsaon will move up to him and take him by the arm and mouth "let's go follow the lad." If he follows she'll exit the church and they'll follow the boy. On her way out she passes by Loup and grins as she tosses him another morcel of meat. "See ya later Loup" she whispers.

Whispering to Khalil "When we catch up to the boy, let's try to get some information shall we? A boy shouldn't be too hard to get info from and is easily scared. Allikhain is so much beter at intimidating than I am though."

[lostboy]

Outside the door Khalil watches the boy amble off down the darkened street. He is just about to move himself when a voice speaks from somewhere right behind him.

[OOC: Continued by PM]

[NeoTiamat]

The Inn

The kid snagged the coins in mid-air, then bowed deeply, first to Lia and then to Charles. "Thank you Miss! And thank you, Guv!"

"I'll give his lordship the message. Night Miss, Night Guv." The boy bowed again, started to head out, then recalled himself and grabbed the paper Lia had signed. He pulled up his coat again, and with a martyred sigh, headed out into the rain.

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On the Streets of Port-a-Lucine

As Khalil and Ulsaon left the inn, the kid was moving already. The boy wasn't terribly happy with the idea of being stuck in the rain, so he began to jog down the street, turning to a side street shortly. Whatever else could be said, those fifteen-year-old legs moved fast.

Some five, ten minutes later, the kid ducked into a tavern.

[OOC: Two Spot Checks please]

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The Inn

Not too long after the messenger kid departed the inn, Professor Devereux finally returned to common room, holding a large, leather tome and flanked by an exasperated-looking Benoit and a lazy-looking Loup.

"I found it!" Almost all of Devereux's habitual meekness was gone as he was consumed by the scholarly search. "It was in the book of traveler's tales I was given a few months ago."

Prof. Charles Devereux opened the book, the sound of its crinkling parchment filling the suddenly-silent room.

"Ahem... yes, here it is! I was right! The Eye of Anubis was a gift from the god himself, so the legend goes, eleven hundred years ago. A great priest, a crusader against corruption and villainy, was given the Eye as a gift. The Eye was a grant of safe-passage from Anubis himself, a promise symbolized in stone."

Devereux turned the page, a strange, intent light in his eye.

"There's a bit of doggerel that goes along with it, translated a few times but I think the gist of it is clear."

• " 'He who has Anubis's Eye,
  Can never falter, never die.
  Never sicken, never age,
  Need never leave the mortal cage.' "

"The Eye of Anubis is a god's promise writ in unbreakable stone, that so long as one posesses the Eye, he can live forever, untouched by the Weigher of Souls."

Suddenly, Devereux seemed to realize just what was going on, with every eye on him. He sagged as if punctured.

"Er... that's what the book says at least."

[lostboy]

Khalil sighs deeply and follows the retreating half-elf donw the darkened street in pursuit of the boy.

[OOC:

Spot 1:30

Spot 2:13 ]

[Rock of the Fraternity]

• " 'He who has Anubis's Eye,
  Can never falter, never die.
  Never sicken, never age,
  Need never leave the mortal cage.' "

"The Eye of Anubis is a god's promise writ in unbreakable stone, that so long as one posesses the Eye, he can live forever, untouched by the Weigher of Souls."

Suddenly, Devereux seemed to realize just what was going on, with every eye on him. He sagged as if punctured.

"Er... that's what the book says at least."

"What a horrible thing," is Lia's first response. Her voice has dropped to the volume of a whisper again, but the disgust in her tone is unmistakable. "That rhyme guarantees against age and sickness, but what about injury? And does it grant life, or undeath? The story seems a little ambiguous, to me."