The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[Isabella]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 8:04 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"An ill day. A cursed day." Kheldun bared his teeth beneath his bushy mustache. "Many lives lost, many souls as well. A bad business. When you find this madman you seek, may you give him the fate he deserves."

The old man looked up at the wall, stroking his beard pensively. "And what of these hawk-men, here? What is to be done of them? I wish to speak with them, but you know far more of them than I."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I suppose that all depends on what you have to say," Lia replies with a shrug. "If your news is urgent and of interest, we might be able to provide you with an officer's attention."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Indeed...they owe us that much. And they owe you that much, for that matter," Charles says. "If you care to enter with us...I'm sure the Kommandant will want to see us soon, and you can speak with him then."

[Isabella]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 8:21 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Why don't you return to your quarters and relax for a bit?" Lebrecht said, dismounting. He patted his massive steed on the nose, leading it back toward the stables. "I'll tell the Kommandant that everyone's here."

Several of the Falkovnian guards gave Kheldun looks as he entered alongside of you, but they were trained well enough not to comment.
===========

The sounds of breakfast were livelier than usual, reaching your ears even before you entered the building. Ever since Kamarn-Quse, meals had been somewhat quiet affairs, and so the general chatter seemed strange to hear now. Nonetheless, the Expedition seemed to be in higher spirits, in the way that only a hot meal and a bit of relaxation could do.

"And what are you having for breakfast, Professor Carter?" Dieter asked, looking entirely too innocent to actually be so. "Some kind of horrible sticky tuber vegetable? Wouldn't you prefer something more interesting?"

"You took the sheep brains, Dieter. You will eat them," Carter said, popping a white, potato-like wedge into his mouth. The professor was looking at the plate with an expression like curdled milk.

"Hey, c'mon, prof. This isn't even nearly as bad as half the stuff you told me about eating," Dieter protested. "Whatever happened to the spirit of exploration and all that?" He waved at you all as he saw you enter, giving Kheldun a bit of an odd look. "Morning!"

"Good morning," Remy replied, walking over to sit near Marchand-Renier. The student suddenly started when Sebastian looked at him, but Marchand-Renier quickly pushed his glasses back up to his eyes and attempted a smile.

"Dieter, I have been entirely too close to becoming a zombie today for me to pick up eating brains," Carter said, rather irritably. Dieter immediately backed off.

"Hey, sorry prof," he said, looking a little chastised. A moment later, he picked up his plate again, looking around for a new victim. "Charles! Friend! Ah... hi, Sarari." The mercenary started backing away from the elf, who had abruptly stood up and was staring at him.

"Mists..." Carter covered his mouth with his hand, shoving his plate of tubers away.

===========

A short while later, your breakfast table was joined by one more person.

"My office is currently somewhat of a mess," Veddarrak explained. "So I thought I might join you out here." The Kommandant was looking much more together at the moment, having changed into his uniform, cleaned all the blood off, and gotten a chance to shave. "And it seems you have accompaniment," he said, switching effortlessly to Akiri. "Good day. May I ask why you have come?"

"To ask you to leave," Kheldun replied. Veddarrak raised his eyebrows slightly.

"I have heard there is something that you seek," Kheldun continued, unconcerned. "I ask you now to leave without it. You must know, He-of-the-Hawk, that Muhar cannot support your army for much longer. You must know that the people of this village will return to you again with swords. Muhar has tasted blood, and now they will not rest until sated. And even should your soldiers destroy all who rise against you, what then? The desert is stronger than both sides, here. Muhar shall die, and you shall die with it. Leave. Go home. Surely whatever prize awaits you is not worth the loss of your men."

The Kommandant listened to his words impassively, spreading his arms in a gesture of helplessness. "You are observant, old one. But we seem to have reached an impasse. I myself would prefer to leave you in peace, but the choice to be here is not mine."

Vedarrak gestured to the west, out across the desert sands. "My superiors will not accept failure on my part, nor on the part of any of my men," he said. "Should we return empty handed, the fate that awaits us will be far less pleasant than death by the desert's heat. The danger of Muhar is a real one, and the difficulties we have caused are regrettable ones. But I cannot ask my men to turn back toward certain death when we may still push forward."

There was silence for a moment as black eyes coolly regarded blue. Kheldun looked displeased with Veddarak, but he bowed slightly regardless. "Then it must be so," he said, quietly.

"I am Kheldun, formerly first of the servants of Anubis," the old man said, straightening up and speaking his words with a sudden power. "I know the place that you seek. Take your men with me to the Tomb of Menetnashte, and be gone from Muhar forever."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'And so it ends,' a voice whispers in the back of Lia's mind. 'This is the last lap.'

[Nathan of the FoS]

The little voice in Charles' head, on the other hand, says If I had known he was going to say that, I wouldn't have invited him in!

[yalenusveler]

This is going to be a grand comedy of errors Andre thought to himself, the revelation of just who would be accompanying them to the Tomb almost enough to put him off his sheep brains. Falkovnians, Cavendish, Samael and company if they weren't already dead. All they would need is a manifestation of Ezra, Azalin Rex, and a fishwife at this rate.

"Cavendish is likely already on his way. If we're lucky, some trap will do him in and save us the trouble, but luck hasn't exactly been our most stalwart of allies." Andre said, consuming another mouthful of brain matter, then giving Dieter a look which suggested that if he was familiar with Darkonese cooking, then perhaps he'd understand.

[lostboy]

Sascha suprisingly looks rather upbeat at the outcome of the conversation. No swords drawn, no threats or insults hurled, no curses or promises of war or vengance laid. In fact the old man had provided a simple solution to the problem, a solution that would leave Muhar free of Falkovnian tyranny.

True it certainly raises the stakes for the next step of this journey, but all who are going to the tomb at least go under their own volition. Sascha muses convincing himself of the bright side of walking into the jaws of death.

"Cavendish is likely already on his way."

"We must also assume that your old travelling companions will certainly be there as well, at least some of them."

[DocBeard]

Deep hurting... Tomas thinks, for obvious reasons.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

'For what it's worth, at least I doubt Cavendish is on his way,' Lia thinks to herself. 'Unless he managed to steal the location of the cenotaph from the mind of Kheldun, his sandrat of a grandson or Menetnashte. It is protected from divination magic, after all. ... But that means he will be following us. And the Falkovnians have not received the Orale's 'blessing' as we have ... Oh, what fun.'

[Kaitou Kage]

"If they're not half bad," Kuzan challenged Dieter around a mouthful of tuber, "You should eat 'em all." The priest managed to look somewhat authoritative as he took a bite of tuber.

"Every." He took another bite. "Last." And another bite. "One." He finished off the tuber and slid his plate back, then patted his stomach. "Well, my breakfast was delicious. How was yours?" he asked of the nearest person that looked like they might play along.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"In Dementlieu, they eat frogs and snails and call them delicacies," Lia notes in a very ... precise ... tone of voice. "Every time I eat Dementlieuse food, I check my plate's contents twice and think of Mordent."

[DocBeard]

"Stands to reason." Tomas argues mildly, still sounding much more restrained than usual, but a bit more like himself. "A piece of meat's a piece of meat, there's only so much you need to do with it. But a frog's leg or a snail is something else, ja? And need causes excellence."

[Isabella]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 8:24 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Every time I think of Mordentish cooking, it gives me the strength to eat anything else," Carter murmured under his breath. He sighed, putting his head in his hands as the knowledge of what happened fully sunk in.

All around the breakfast table the rest of the expedition reacted to the news. Remy looked coldly furious. Marchand-Renier seemed resigned. Sarari betrayed no emotion, but the look in her eyes was far from pleased. Harris simply folded his arms. Dieter, on the other hand, paid it little mind, finding more horror in a bowl of tubers than in the current Falkovnian company. Professor Devereux didn't react one way or another, looking more curious at how events had unfolded than anything else.

Vedarrak himself actually seemed surprised at how events had turned out, though he didn't say anything immediately. Already the wheels in his mind were turning, and he regarded Kheldun with a cautious eye, searching for any trap the old man might be luring him into. But nothing about Kheldun's manner yielded anything to confirm the Kommandant's suspicions. Eventually, Vedarrak smiled at the priest, folding his hands upon the table. "Excellent," he said.

"Tell the men to get well rested," Vedarrak commanded the guard at the door. "And find our new guide suitable guest quarters. We leave at dawn."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Every time I think of Mordentish cooking, it gives me the strength to eat anything else," Carter murmured under his breath.

"Exactly," Lia agrees calmly. She neatly folds her napkin and drops it onto her plate, signifying that or her, at least, the meal has ended. And she only had a couple of tubers.