The Eye of Anubis: Book Eight

[lostboy]

Khalil winces upon entering the room, not from the body itself, afterall death is death and blood is blood, but rather from the memory of another body found in all too similar circumstances not too long ago.

He moves forward and quickly takes a look at the professors back, then with a sigh of relief that no-one appears to have carved a cartouche there, he mutters a short prayer under his breath.

"I left Small-Star behind." Guy added when he noticed Khalil.

"As you wish" the desert guide adds with a nod.

Feeling as if the others eyes are on hm (whetehr they are or not), he continues in a subdued voice. "I can certainly claim to have no knowledge of this crime. No dreams of foreboding, and whilst perhaps I could have the strength to do this, if your estimate of time of death is accurate we were all asleep in an alarm-warded room." He adds nodding to Kuzan.

"I agree that the nature of the entry probabley means there will be little in the way of a trail, but heads are not removed for no reason, neither are they an easy thing to transport cleanly.." He finsihes thoughtfully before crouching a short distance away and casting his eye over the the body and the surrounding room.

[OOC:
Spot looking for anyhting unusual (like blood in odd places): 19
Survival looking for any tracks or relevant marks that coudl have been left: 34]

[lostboy]

Khalil's eyes narrow as he spots something on the floor, moving closer he follows a line of sight away from the body.

After a moment he sits back on his heels and looks around at the others "It would appear Lia is correct, our killer was not as clean and tidy as first appeared." Khalil says pointing at a minute drop of blood a few feet from the body.

"Guy did you see this?" He asks pointing the trail out. "Look here and.... yes there, further over towards the door is a small trail of blood, you see?"

The desert guide stands back musing for a moment. "Hmm it seems our quarry was a rather cool customer and simply wandered out of the door carrying something rather messy. Although I cannot tell if it was the head, the wepaon used or perhaps an injury that he carried away."

"So let us see where this goes eh?" he asks allowing Guy and Loup to head through the door first.

Although Khalil didnt have Loup's sense of smell, the desert guide was quite capable of following a blood trail no matter how minute. Still having the dog around made life easier particularly at a few intersections when the blood hadnt dropped as regularly.

Eventually the trail led out into the Cloister, where Loup suddently became rather agitated whimpering and snuffling in various directions. Observing this behaviour Khalil looks closer at the blood trail, it clearly runs into the cloister and then abruptly ends with a few clustered drops of blood. "Intriguing" Khalil mutters rubbing his beard thoughtfully, before commencing a search of the imeediate area.

"Nothing" he says returning to the others "the trail dies here, I can find no other traces of blood or tracks of any kind."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Could there be a hidden doorway?" Lia suggests, making no move to enter the Cloister. "The other alternative is, of course, that the murderer used magic or something similar to depart from this locale. If that is so, then perhaps ... 'Occultum video'." Lia mutters the words of magic and makes an arcane gesture, then scans the Cloister for any magical residue that might shed more light on the situation.

(OOC: Casting Detect Magic. Maintaining concentration on the spell for maximum duration.)

[lostboy]

"Could there be a hidden doorway?" Lia suggests,

Khalil sighs and rolls his eyes at Lia, "its possible, but it makes little sense that not only the blood dissapears but also that the scent vanishes completely."

"Still I will check" the desert guide says reexaminining the immediate area, paying particular attention to the ground and ceilings.

[OOC: search 25 looking for secret doors or other ways to exit the area]

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"You needn't sneer at me, sir," Lia replies, just a little coldly. "I will admit that I am no expert in hidden doorways and tracking down murderers. So I ask questions. In any case, there are no lingering auras of magic. Be grateful for that."

[lostboy]

there are no lingering auras of magic.

"And no hidden doorways, at least none I can find" Khalil announces stepping out from behind a column, pointedly ignoring the rest of Lia's comment as if it never existed.

"Wherever he went, he had ways and means beyond our ability to find him." He adds thoughtfully turnign slowly in a circle his fingers drumming the pommel of a scimitar.

[Kaitou Kage]

If the circumstances weren't so dire, Kuzan might privately be amused by the little mini-spat between Lia and Khalil. As it was, though, both priests in his head were busy thinking of other things.

Standing around isn't going to find the killer.

I know that. We're doing the best we can.

No we're not. We are dealing with a heretic and all we can do is tell these people the old man was stabbed with a knife? We can do so much more than that.

I can't really challenge someone if I don't know who did it.

Yes we can. We have plenty of opportunities and plenty of people to interrogate. All they need is the fear of the Black Mother instilled in them.

I'm not about to go that far.

Really? Because someone has been murdered unfairly and we have too many suspects and not enough leads right now. We need to take action.

Why are you so concerned about murder anyway? That's what your kind does.

We've been over this. We don't murder wantonly. The sacrifices we make die with respect and honor. It is a great thing to be an offering to the Black Mother.

It's the same picture with a different color painted onto it.

Not at all. We already know that it's true, but only one of us actually admits it. Now, we need to make a move. Or are we going to let someone else get killed?

"Shut up," the priest muttered quietly. The inner monologue didn't spur the tanned Rajian into action. Quite the oppsite. Instead, he simply withdrew into himself and focused on shutting the voice in his head back into his subconscious.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"You know," Lia muses, "perhaps I was thinking too far. Maybe all it took for the murderer to escape was a grapple and rope ..." She eyes the walls speculatively.

[lostboy]

"Or perhaps this was not the escape route, and instead he intended to lead us to this point for some other reason as a red herring?" Khalil muses . "That perhaps would explain the lack of scent or an onward trail, as he just retraced his steps."

Looking thoughtful for a minute he then throws his hands in the air "bah there is nothing here, whatever the point of this exercise was it remains beyond us for now. I think I wish to take another look at that room."

So saying he desert guide abruptedly turns on his heel and stalks back they way they came. Upon reaching the scene of the crime he pauses in the doorway peering at the rooms contents and trying to avoid his gaze lingering on its inhabitant. He had looked already but that search had been preoccupied with finding blood, this time Khalil is more thorough, moving slowly scanning the room for anything out of place or noteworthy.

[OOC: Search: 29 Spot: 22

As a side note Khali reacts the way he does as he's sure his search or track skills would have revelaed any signs of grappling hooks, or other climbing exits if they were there. Alhtough someone else feel free to repeat them if you want. Good idea Rock though]

[Kaitou Kage]

We know who did it, don't we? We suspect, at least, and the evidence is good.

That's not possible. How did he just disappear?

Still not convinced? We can ask someone who knows better.

I'd rather not have to split this ship up more than it already is.

Why do you insist on keeping us in such a position of naivete. Being the expedition doctor only gets you so far.

The priest sighed audibly. A tiny little part of his mind suggested that this was karmic revenge for dressing Lia down so many times.

I know that.

Then start taking some action. We know someone we can ask. Get to it.

All right, all right.

You should really let me out one of these days. It gets stifling being stuck up here all day long.

Kuzan pointedly ignored that remark, snapped out of his daze and fairly dragged Dieter over to Otto. Well, really, he tugged on the young man's sleeve for a moment, then beckoned him to follow.

"Hey," he said quietly to the gunsmith, "We...um, we were planning to go investigate the door that Tomas found yesterday. Would you care to come with us?"

There was a certain look in his eyes that made the request a little more urgent than just polite inquiry.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles follows Khalil out, observing the guide's muttered commentary and gestures with interest. He's not a tracker himself, but it's certainly a useful skill...

"Isn't it possible to break a trail with magic?" he asks. "I thought I heard of something like that. Just..." he gestures vaguely in imitation of a spellcaster's signs, "and the trail stops. Could the murderer have done something like that?"

[lostboy]

There certianly was something, something Khalil had missed the first time, something that looked like nothing, but something that was unidentifiable to the desert guide. Staring at it for a moment in confusion Khalil wonders who best to ask, sighing softly as he his eyes alight on Lia.

He returns to where the others are and beckons them back to the room. When everyone is assembled he continues. "I have noticed something that I believe is out of place, look here." He points to the walls around the door.

"Do you see these stains?" He points at several clusters of tiny brownish stains littering the walls around the door. "And more here on the floor in the doorway. There's also spots on the door itself , but only here on the edge closest to the room."

Khalil pulls a thoughful expression and then turns to the others with open palms held up. "I cannot idenitfy what this substance was, perhaps some form of chemical, but judging by the pattern I am guessing that the door was open when whatever this was, was deposited there."

"Any ideas?" He asks looking around the others.

[NeoTiamat]

The Late Professor Pelletier's Room, The Monastery of Stilled Nightmares, Sebua
July 17th, 761, 11:04 AM; Day 122 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Do you see these stains?" He points at several clusters of tiny brownish stains littering the walls around the door. "And more here on the floor in the doorway. There's also spots on the door itself , but only here on the edge closest to the room."

They were... somewhat odd stains. A darker brown than most of the surrounding wood, they weren't atop the wooden doors or walls. Rather, they were burned into the wood, tiny droplets that were a quarter-inch deep in some places. [OOC: Spellcraft DC 24]

"Well, now what?" Samael asked, looking at the little stains curiously, then shrugged. The Borcan adopted a fairly nonchalant exterior, but one could notice he seemed to avoid looking at Pelletier more than was necessary. Which was a reasonable action, seeing as the good professor was currently a headless corpse. "Even if there's a murderer out and about, we still need to give the Professor last rites. Cremation, I think, given the circumstances. Kuzan, could you...? Someone ought to also go and talk to the Abbot, or whoever would be in charge."

Jervis, for his part, leaned against the wall of the room, unfazed by the blood and gore about him. He would be. Seeing that Kuzan had finished his autopsy of sorts, the grim-faced mercenary moved towards the late Professor. He lifted the body up gently, and withdrew the blood-stained spellbook, looking at it for a moment.

Then he threw it roughly at Lia.

"Catch." The mercenary grunted. And with that returned to his place by the door.

[OOC:Lastly, a quick lesson on Alarm Spells: All an alarm spell does is tell you someone entered the room. It is not nearly as powerful as some of you seem to think it is. Just because the alarm has gone off (and bear in mind that it may be a mental alarm, such as the late professors), doesn't stop anything from entering. I also assume that Alarms are not triggered by inanimate objects, and that you exclude fellow PCs from alarms automatically. Fair enough?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia snatches the book out of thin air and starts to wrap it in a strip of protective cloth, but refrains from commenting on its maltreatment. Instead, she stalks towards the tiny stains and scrutinizes them for a few moments, until ... "This is the result of an Acid Breath spell," she says grimly. "The professor managed to get one last shot off before he was murdered, it would seem. Are we certain there are no ... traces of physical damage left at this spot, other than these holes? If that is the case, then our murderer is exceptionally agile; the professor was an extremely proficient spellcaster."

She turns to Maleagant. "Do not be too hasty to burn the body. With the right components, if we find the head, the professor could be restored."

[The Whistler]

"Hey," he said quietly to the gunsmith, "We...um, we were planning to go investigate the door that Tomas found yesterday. Would you care to come with us?"

Otto, for his part, had been trailing behind the tracking party in absolute silence for the past several minutes, facial expression an uncomfortable mix of focus, disquiet, and nausea. You'd seen him do the "lost in his own head" bit before, but now...well, thankfully, he'd retained enough self-awareness to avoid walking into walls, but you got the impression that even that was a close thing at the moment.

The gunsmith didn't reply for several seconds after Kuzan approached him--then blinked, startled. "Erm...yes. Yes, I would care to."