The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[Rock of the Fraternity]

At the display of the letter from the University, Lia makes an audible noise; something between gagging and a cough. She nods at Tomas' and Charles' suggestions of retiring, and continues to clutch at the Lamordian as if for dear life. For the briefest of moments, her eyes flick to the girl - Mandisa? - and then to the floor again.

[lostboy]

Sascha's face softens as he give a gentle smile (well as gentle as a grizzled old warrior can) and a polite shake of his head to the young girl. "Thanking you but no, one of little" he adds in broken akiri. Although his gaze lingers on her for a moment as she turns to the next party member, as if an idea has struck him.

Sensing a lull in the narrative, Sascha forces down his anger and steps up although even talking to this man is anathema to him, the less they can tell him and the sooner they get out of this place the better. With that thought in mind he casts a concerned look over at Lia, moving a step closer to the desk and positioning himself protectively between her and Vedarrak.

"It was shortly after the incident with the second fiend in the Jackals Ruse that my path crossed that of the expedition or what was left of it after the betrayers left." Saschas's face turns even grimmer as he remembers a specific betrayer he wishes to encounter again, someone else on his "need for redemption" list. "I accompany them for now as our paths lie in the same direction."

[DocBeard]

Tomas looks grateful at Charles for the save. His heart breaks a little every time he sees the Akari girl, but what can he do? If he tries to interfere, it'll end poorly for everyone.

Still, he promises himself, I'm going to cut the head off of at least one man in this room. He takes a moment to memorize the faces. "Want I should walk you two, Herr Martel?" The doe eyed innocent asks.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Still, he promises himself, I'm going to cut the head off of at least one man in this room. He takes a moment to memorize the faces. "Want I should walk you two, Herr Martel?" The doe eyed innocent asks.

"Oh, by all means," Charles replies. The out-of-body sensation of pure hatred, smashed by the revelation of Vedarrak's little letter, is beginning to coalesce again. Glancing at Sarari, Charles gestures slightly with his head toward the door, an inquiring expression on his face. Do you want to come too? After a moment's thought he glances at the others not already engaged in conversation, to see if any are inclined to make their exit at this point.

Now, of course, the question is where they will stay--here, in the belly of the beast? Can they possibly find lodgings elsewhere, now that the locals will be inclined to believe them (and not without reason, Mists take Vedarrak and his whole country with him) friends and allies of these unspeakable villains?

Well, they can worry about that once they are out the door. Making a reflexive bow, Charles says, "Shall we, then?" and makes for the door.

[NeoTiamat]

Vedarrak's Office, Falkovnian Headquarters, Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 3:52 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The elf had been watching the Falkovnian ambassador with much the same expression a hawk reserves for a rabbit, a glare that bothered Vedarrak not a wit. Still, Sarari caught Charles's unvoiced invitation, and without a word, rose from her chair to depart the room.

"Marchosias and Ronoph..." Marcos Vedarrak leaned back in his chair, watching Sarari leave the room with half-lidded eyes. If the elf had been a hawk, then Vedarrak was a great cat, a dangerous, lazy, immensely confident tiger. The Falkovnian returned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Isn't Marchosias the Darkonian transliteration of an Akiri demon's name? Mercas? Ronoph doesn't ring any bells, I fear."

"May we see these, er, incident reports, too?" Kuzan asked, "We have experience with Cavendish. We might recognize something that reeks of his work."

"Let me collect and have the reports copied, and I'll send them over to you." Vedarrak acceded easily. Mandisa came by to refill the Falkovnian's tea cup. The Ambassador took another sip and nodded to himself. "Thank you Mandisa, that'll be all. You can leave the kettle."

The girl put down the tray on the corner of Vedarrak's desk, taking extreme care not to displace any of the papers. With a last, shy glance at the rest of you, the girl near fled from the room.

"It was shortly after the incident with the second fiend in the Jackals Ruse that my path crossed that of the expedition or what was left of it after the betrayers left." Saschas's face turns even grimmer as he remembers a specific betrayer he wishes to encounter again, someone else on his "need for redemption" list. "I accompany them for now as our paths lie in the same direction."

"Your name being...? I'm afraid you weren't expected to be part of the Expedition, so it wasn't in my dossiers." Vedarrak said apologetically. He turned to Andre, frowning slightly as he did a mental count. "Well, shall we continue, Andre? You found an abandoned keep on the Pharazian border, occupied by an Akiri daemon, Marchosias? And later discovered a second fiend, Ronoph? Before or after this 'betrayal' you and Martel have mentioned?"

Courtyard, Falkovnian Headquarters, Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 3:52 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The air in the courtyard of the Falkovnian compound was hot and dull, the presence of the nearby stream doing more to leach out the taste from the air than anything else. The sky was a pale, washed out blue, though you saw little of it. Mostly you saw the walled compound, the half-dozen buildings inside it and the crossbow-wielding guards atop the walls.

Not too far from you, Lieutenant Lebrecht leaned against a wall and supervised his men stabling the horses. He looked ever so vaguely out of place amongst the rest of the Falkovnians, a more slender man with the sharp scar along his forehead, and a perpetual sneer at the world. If the Falkovnians were wolves and Vedarrak a tiger, then Lebrecht was a rather vicious weasel.

Not long after you came out, you noticed someone else leave the main headquarters building. It was Mandisa, the Akiri girl who had been serving tea a short while earlier. She blinked a little as she exited, taking a few moments to simply breathe slowly, then began to take the long way around the courtyard for the exit, staying as far away from Lebrecht and his crew as she could manage.

[OOC: Three options: You can talk amongst yourselves in relative privacy, you can chat up Lebrecht, or you can intercept Mandisa and talk with her.]

[yalenusveler]

"Marchosias and Ronoph..." Marcos Vedarrak leaned back in his chair, watching Sarari leave the room with half-lidded eyes. If the elf had been a hawk, then Vedarrak was a great cat, a dangerous, lazy, immensely confident tiger. The Falkovnian returned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Isn't Marchosias the Darkonian transliteration of an Akiri demon's name? Mercas? Ronoph doesn't ring any bells, I fear."

"That would be correct." Andre said, returning to academic mode. "The betrayal happened a bit afterwards, when we ran into Ronoph, as well as a denizen of the Onieric plane proper. Who wanted to trigger an irruption of Dream into the waking world. Killing Ronoph put a stop to that." Andre said, with a smile that was oh most certianly smug. "The murder happened just before Ronoph was slain, and the betrayal proper right afterwards."

[lostboy]

"Your name being...? I'm afraid you weren't expected to be part of the Expedition, so it wasn't in my dossiers." Vedarrak said apologetically.

There is a seconds pause before he answers, almost as if he is weighing up whether to conceal his identity or not, but then honour is hard burden to bear, even if it means telling the truth to a man you'd like to skewer slowly on one of those stakes outside.

"Sascha...... I am Sascha, and although I seem be missing from the dossiers you hold, rest assured I bring what I have to the cause of this expedition. Danger and hatred abound in these lands, I do what I can to redress the balance."

He finishes the last with a confident expression of his own, the expression of a simple man facing the ravenous jaws of a tiger, yet a man who will gladly lay aside his life to ensure that tiger never troubled the herds again.

[Kaitou Kage]

"They meant to abandon us at the monastery where Ronoph was slain," Kuzan elaborated a little. "We suspect they plan to loot the tomb, probably to make as much money off of it as possible instead of actually completing the task we were hired to do."

[The Whistler]

Otto exhales for the first time in five minutes--from just behind Tomas. Being wound tighter than a pocketwatch on amphetamines obviously hasn't affected his ability to be *right there* without explanation. However oppressive the atmosphere is, though, simply being out in the open air of the courtyard seems to be helping him a bit. The gunsmith rolls his shoulders a few times to get the tension out, then drops his voice to a murmur--still not a good idea to be easily heard, in these circumstances.

"So...what now? If we are to take him *with* us...there must need to be a great deal more of explaining done. Not all of which I would be comfortable with."

Otto looks quite uncomfortable right now, for that matter. The idea of getting out from under Vendarrak's thumb is a great one taken out of context, but the devil's always in the specifics.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles would love to call the young girl (Mandisa, wasn't it?) and ask her a little bit about what has happened, but it would be a shame to involve her in anything that will get her questioned--possibly questioned quite harshly--after the fact. Add to which, Charles' grasp of Akiri is not necessarily that strong, Vedarrak is already suspicious of him (and by extention, anyone he shows an interest in) and Lia...is wearing a jackal mask and looking positively unearthly, and he's not that sure who among those who have exited speaks Akiri. She obviously has some Mordentish, but how much?

"Nothing more dangerous than apologies and explanations," Charles agrees, nodding at Otto's remark. "Making friends is a better tactic, don't you think?" He nods toward Mandisa. "I'm afraid Vedarrak is already a bit suspicious of me, perhaps someone else should address her...I'll see about this Lebrecht, myself."

Moving over to where the lieutenant is supervising his men, Charles gives him what would be, to all appearances, a friendly nod. "A bad country for horses," he notes offhandedly. "How do you keep them watered in a place like this?"

[NeoTiamat]

Vedarrak's Office, Falkovnian Headquarters, Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 4:01 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Murders and betrayals." Vedarrak shook his head quietly. "What is the world coming to. Well, here we get to the important elements. You say Samael was responsible for all this? What exactly happened?"

Courtyard, Falkovnian Headquarters, Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 4:01 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"A bad country for horses," Charles notes offhandedly. "How do you keep them watered in a place like this?"

"Ah, guten tag once more. The Kommandant let you out in one piece, I see?" Lieutenant Lebrecht said with a quick, cynical smile. "I hope your luck continues."

Gesturing to the horses, the lieutenant continued. "There is a water wagon that comes from the river every day, so it is not too bad. We try to bring them down to the river at least once each patrol as well."

"Still, I cannot argue. A dismal land for horses. A dismal land in general." Lebrecht gave that quicksilver smile once more. "Since you seem to be of the survivors, let me introduce myself more properly. Cavalry Lieutenant Lebrecht Schiffer, of the Kingfuhrer's First Dragoons. You are a horseman as well, I think."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia revives slightly once outside the building; she ceases to tremble, though she does continue to lean heavily on Tomas.

"When we leave Muhar," she mutters to the two Lamordians, "whatever happens, we need to make sure all the Falkovnians come away with us. And none of the Akiri. Mercy from above, but this is a mess!"

[DocBeard]

"Mmm." Tomas plays the heavy wall, kind of trying not to be worried about the Jackal mask Lia has yet to take off. It'd better give her...super vision or something, at least, that's all he can say.

Considering the last time he tried to ride a horse, he ended up in bed for a week with a broken leg, Tomas decides to leave the talk of horsemanship to Charles.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan glanced expectantly to Andre. As much as the professor made him edgy, he had to admit that Andre was probably better qualified to explain. Simply put, Andre knew way more going on behind the scenes than Kuzan did. So he waited, willing to pipe up where needed.

Quick translation: You answer, Andre, and Kuzan will fill in any holes he sees.

[yalenusveler]

"From the start, there had been a divide between Dr.Pelletier and Samael. It was all fairly petty.Then we find out that Dr.Pelletier had been dosed with a slow acting poison, possibly since before we left Dementlieu, and it had ravaged his already none too stable health." Andre said, sipping his own tea, and trying to think. Even though in the grant scheme of things, it wasn't too long ago, it still felt as if aeons had passed since the start of this whole strange journey.

"Of course, Pelletier starts to blame Samael, who of course professes innocence. It makes the bickering and dithering get even worse. Rather like traveling with an old married couple. Then, when we reach the monastery, our first night there, Pelletier is killed. Samael lacked the physical strength necessary, it wasn't the style of Night Terror, leaving Jervis as the only real candidate. Jervis is also the other Dilisnya present, possessing a hair trigger temper, and a propensity for violence which is quite frankly, terrifying."
Andre shuddered, and sucked in his breath before exhaling slowly "I saw him kill and skin a Bodak. The look of glee on his face was..inhuman."

Andre let his head clear a moment, then turned back to the ambassador. "Of course, we had a fiend to put down, and no solid leads for an investigation. Samael honestly seemed as in the dark about things as we were, so if it was Jervis, he likely did it without proper sanction. We dealt with the fiend in a terminal fashion, then proceeded to have a well deserved grand dinner...which was dosed with a soporific by Samael, drugging us into a long slumber while he and his co-conspirators made their escape."