The Eye of Anubis: Book Three

[NeoTiamat]

Western Elazig District, Hazlan
May 12th, 761, 8:32 PM; Day 56 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The constant spring rains had finally broken as the Menetnashte Expedition slogged through the mountains and forests of Barovia and entered the flatlands of Hazlan. Nowadays you actually managed to see the sun on a regular basis, although it still managed to rain on you quite regularly. Loup still smelled of wet dog on a regular basis, something that simply drove Charles and Guy into paroxysms of joy...

On the bright side, however, it was finally getting warmer. Spring was firmly in the air, and now that you had left Barovia behind, the land became flatter, drier, and warmer. There was always the hint of something in the air in Hazlan, just a bit of spice that made life more unusual, stranger than the simple world of Barovian peasants.

After the encounter with Cavendish in Ravnika, it had generally been a quiet trip, with a few exceptions. Several times during the nearly two week journey you found yourselves shadowed by wolves, though they never moved in, and on one notable occasion, managed to find yourself stuck in the midst of a freak snowstorm while traveling along the west side of Mount Ghakis.

That turned out rather enjoyable, oddly enough. You'd managed to locate an old bear cave, thankfully uninhabited, and somehow succeeded in getting all of the Expeditions animals inside. Somewhat warm, if odorous, and Michel serenaded the lot of you with his violin for hours.

Immol turned out to be both interesting and somewhat quiet, a bustling trading town that nevertheless was distinctly devoid of adventures for the Expedition as a whole. Thereafter you crossed into Hazlan, and avoided Ramulai, heading south for Toyalis.

You were planning to stop for a day in the Elazig District of Hazlan, a swab of foothills with the imposing name of den Forhenvaerendman, where it turned out that Maleagant, inveterate world traveler that he was, had a friend who would be willing to put up the entire Expedition for a day or two.

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"Only thing that's been keeping me going these last few days," Samael grumbled as you rode past a village, "Is the prospect of nice hot bath when we reach Basler's estate. Also actual good food, and a bed not infested with bugs. But most importantly, a bath."

"Believe me, mon ami, that is the same with all of us." Michel scratched lightly at his neck. "I do believe that hostler in Immol could catch his bedbugs and train them to be a travelling circus. It would gain him a great amount of prestige and prevent him from inflicting those monstrosities on hapless travelers."

"What would he call them..?" Samael raised an eyebrow, "The Bolting Stag Flea Circus? Still, at least he served good whiskey. Probably drunk patrons are easier for the bedbugs to eat."

"Ungh..." Guy grunted. He'd had an unfortunate encounter with the whiskey, and still had slight trouble speaking.

"Your fault for not checking what he poured before you swallowed a full glass." Samael rejoined, Guy favoring him with a slightly wounded look.

"....Anyways," Maleagant called back down the order of travel to Lia and Andre, "I think you'll find Basler interesting. He's a bit stiff, but a master wizard. Red robes, tattoos, trained owl, full dress kit. Evoker, as I recall."

"Well, what have we here?"

Suddenly Maleagant's horse pulled up, and there was a slight pile-up as the Expedition ground to a halt. You were passing through a small village, a poor, squalid place with homes much less handsome than those of the house-proud Barovians. Siruc, you vaguely recalled Samael mentioning earlier.

There appeared to be a funeral going on in the center square. Some forty or so of the Rashemani were mourning, short, stocky folk with dark complexions and tired faces, while a richly dressed priest of the Lawgiver intoned a prayer in a bored tone of voice. There seemed to be a great many mourners for such a small village, at least half of the population of Siruc must have turned out for this.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'A master wizard,' Lia thinks when she hears the description of this 'Basler'. 'That might be interesting, depending on how free he is with his spells -- oh, what now?'

Lia's shoulders visibly sag when she registers the funeral and the huge turnout.

'Grand,' she thinks as she reins in Dapplewort and her cart trundles to a halt. 'We've only just gotten here and people are already falling like flies ...'

"Can anyone tell who is being buried?" she calls quietly to the front. "Should we show respect by keeping back, or by ... well, showing our respects at the occasion?"

[steveflam]

Ulsaon moved up beside Lia asking "Did you hear anything? Why have we stopped? Oh..." She stopped when she saw the funeral procession. "It seems we are amidst yet another funeral." Ulsaon appears to be botherd by something then decides if she doesn't ask, she won't know.

"Lia, pardon me. I study magic as well" she says in a low voice "Though by the spells I've seen you cast, you're more accomplished that I. Might we perhaps discuss or maybe you could ,,,well" Ulsaon blushes, appearing shy now. "Well.. er ,,,, I was wondering,,, well,,,," she stops then stammers "If you could teach me!" she hisses, her face now a beet red. Ulsaon looks at the ground, the sky, even her hands. She hopes she hadn't been too forward with Lia.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan trotted his horse up to stand just in front of the expedition and craned his neck to try and get a better view of what's going on. He'd heard the Hazlani were a bit xenophobic -- not too unlike the Barovians -- and didn't want to get into a bad situation by himself. But the religious procession had him curious.

"What is the main religion here again?" he asked, nearly standing on his stirrups to try and see what the Rashemi were doing.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Lia, pardon me. I study magic as well" she says in a low voice "Though by the spells I've seen you cast, you're more accomplished that I. Might we perhaps discuss or maybe you could ... Well.. er .... I was wondering... well.... If you could teach me!" she hisses, her face now a beet red.

Lia startles, stiffens ... then blinks slowly. "Perhaps," she replies slowly, her voice pitched for Ulsaon's ears alone. "But I am hardly the only arcane spellcaster of the Expedition. Professor Pelletier is one such, and our next host is apparently an accomplished wizard. Speak to them first, and if you find them unsatisfactory, come see me again. I am myself still learning a great deal. Understand that I am not opposed to the concept, but there are more knowledgeable teachers. If you decide on me in the end, I will try to teach you what I can. And I am definitely open to some spell-swapping, when we have more time. Right now, however, I suggest we keep our voices down and our gazes respectful, for the funeral."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"What is the main religion here again?" he asked, nearly standing on his stirrups to try and see what the Rashemi were doing.

"The Iron Faith," Charles supplies. "Very strict, very hierarchal...you'd have to ask Professor Theroux for theological details."

[Kaitou Kage]

"Why are all the core religions so...narrowly-focused, I guess?" Kuzan replied in consternation.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Why are all the core religions so...narrowly-focused, I guess?" Kuzan replied in consternation.

Charles looks blank at this. "Narrowly-focused...er, how? I'm not sure I understand the question...do you mean that they're mostly henotheistic?"

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan gave Charles a weird look. "Henowhat?" he asked intelligently.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles looks over at Andre to see if he's getting this right as he says, "Henotheism. That there are many gods, but only one god whom the religion acknowledges as worthy of worship. That's the Ezran belief, and the Iron Faith's as well. I don't know about the Morninglord or Hala, or the Darkonese sects."

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan's eyebrows rose in understanding, and he made a little "Oh" sound. He considered this for a moment.

"Something like that," he agreed finally, "Priests out here in the Core seem to do a lot of talking and preaching. It's weird. Back home, we have a temple on every corner and a god for everything you want. Around here, it seems like you have to worship one particular god or you're a heathen."

He pondered the weight of that for a moment. A heathen priest traveling with a Core-based expedition as the group's healer and chaplain. The irony made him smirk to himself.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Around here, it seems like you have to worship one particular god or you're a heathen."

"More or less," Charles agrees. "Which means that for the rest of our journey we'll all be heathens--at least until we get to Har'Akir, at which point M'sieur Khalil and M'sieur Fassadh will be transmuted, by the miracle of propinquity, into orthodox believers." Shrugging and nudging Kejser forward he begins to wend his way downward toward the village.

[Kaitou Kage]

"So what's that make me?" Kuzan's smirk broke into a grin as he gave Charles the friendly taunt.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"So what's that make me?" Kuzan's smirk broke into a grin as he gave Charles the friendly taunt.

"Heathen, heathen, heathen!" Charles sings, nudging his horse to a canter. "And likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Try not to let it bother you, old fellow. As I said before, we're all heathens here."

Knowledge (local) to know how to handle the funeral situation: 15. Die roll sent to you, NT. I accidentally did seven rolls, so I guess you have them saved up for a while (yeesh).

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan laughed and kicked his horse into a trot, following after Charles.