The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Thank you, my dear." Kheldun said amiably enough, taking the bottle and uncorking it for a moment to sniff at the wine inside. "Thank you indeed."

"Though your friend there said..." The old man tilted his head towards Tomas. "That you were under a vow of silence."

"My friend says many things,"Lia replies with a shrug. "He is a good, decent and honest man, but he has a unique sense of humour. Please do not pay it any mind; he is a good person to know. And alas, I am certain many would prefer if I really had taken such vows. I have a rough tongue, and it runs away with me frequently."

[NeoTiamat]

The Cave of Kheldun, Har'Akir
August 27th, 761, 7:52 PM; Day 163 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"I have a rough tongue, and it runs away with me frequently."

"I'd prefer it if your tongue ran away from you." Kheldun said with a quirk of the lip, though it was hard to tell through the gorse bush he used for a beard. "I'm an old man, I might die before you lot get to the point if you don't speed up."

The old hermit threw a few things of indeterminate size and shape into the cookpot, then his eyes fell on Menetnashte. With a heaving sigh, Kheldun rose, then walked over to a little niche in the wall were a few small clay pots were organized. He put a hand on one of the pots, then looked back at the Anubite.

"Cedarwood?" The old man asked. The Anubite shook her head, and Kheldun shrugged and put his hand on another jar. "Frankincense?"

Menetnashte nodded, and Kheldun grunted something under his breath (it sounded like 'figured') and withdrew the jar. Walking over to a brazier, the old man spoke softly under his breath in an old, liturgical form of Akiri, then withdrew a small lump of pale resin from the jar before throwing it on the brazier. An aromatic scent rose up from the fire, and Kheldun wafted the sweet-smelling smoke about.

The Anubite breathed the smoke in, and a tinge of a smile crossed her face.

"Need to get some more frankincense when the trader comes by." Kheldun grumbled softly, then went back to the cookpot. He stirred it around a few times, then looked up at Menetnashte. "You know about this?"

Menetnashte interrupted herself from the enjoyment of the incense to look up at the old man. The thousand-year-old Demon Pharoah nodded once. Kheldun glanced at the rest of you, then back to Menetnashte. "Then what's this group have to do with anything?"

As was rather traditional, the Anubite gave no answer. After a few moments, Kheldun gave up and turned to you.

"Well then, you'd best tell me the details. What do you mean by bad company? How are you involved exactly?" Kheldun paused, and added. "Does this have anything to do with the ear-splitting crash I heard from Muhar this morning?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

So. Kheldun has Menetnashte's seal of approval. Which means they might as well tell him the whole thing, since Menetnashte obviously won't, but seems to expect All Will Be Revealed at this point.

"The crash is tangential," Charles says, rubbing his hands and holding them to the fire for a moment. "If we begin at the beginning and touch on every point along the way, I fear you might be dead in earnest, grandfather, from impatience if not the ravages of age. So."

"Your grandson came to our land about six months ago and told someone a very impressive story, probably involving the Eye of Menetnashte, certainly involving her tomb. Or cenotaph, or monument, as the case may be." Charles nods politely to Menetnashte here. "The leader of this school I mentioned organized an expedition to visit the Tomb. We are what remains of that expedition--together with some friends held in Muhar, and the other group I mentioned. We were told the expedition was to be...for learning. To get knowledge of the past. It soon became apparent that some of us had come for other reasons--seeking the Eye, and unending life, or the power it offers. Your grandson..."

Charles falls silent, then says, "I don't know if he wants the Eye, or intends to loose the creature it holds imprisoned, or to rob the Tomb...but as best we can tell he is guiding a group of unusually greedy and capable would-be tomb robbers to the Tomb of Menetnashte. I did not know him very well, I confess; can anyone give more insight into what he wants to do at the Tomb?"

[lostboy]

"Ah" Sascha says removing his gauntlets and cracking his knuckles "now somewhat was that our part in this, it seems Muhar harbours a restless spirit, one who enjoys collpasing temples for her own amusement. The sound you heard this morning was the temple of Osiris being brought down around our very ears."

"You will forgive me but I do not know your grandson personally, I encountered these at a monastry in the Sebuan wastes, shortly after their betrayal by the dogs Fassahd now travels with," He pauses to rub a long healed scar on his temple, and blink away a dark memory.

[The Whistler]

Otto sips his wine discreetly. "Nor did I, unfortunately...which is meaning it is impossible for me to judge of his motives in one respect or another. Regardless, it has become rather our purpose to reach this splintered group, or to reach the Tomb before they are doing so, in order to determine their purpose, and to dissuade them if possible."

The gunsmith tried his utmost to look sincere despite the awkwardness of the subject matter: it was very difficult to summarize his party's motives straight-on without having it sound like 'We're going to bring your grandson to justice,' but he honestly didn't mean it. Rather:

"From whatever bad influences that Fassahd has been exposed to, we aim to rescue him. Nobody is deserving to be subject to those such as our previous compatriots."

[NeoTiamat]

The Cave of Kheldun, Har'Akir
August 27th, 761, 8:06 PM; Day 163 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Mmm.... tricky business." Kheldun said quietly, stirring the soup. "Though perhaps it is not Fassahd cor---"

The old man fell silent as he saw Menetnashte's eyes. There was something in those slate-grey orbs that dissuaded Kheldun from pushing his line of thought any further.

For a few minutes, Kheldun tended his stew, then withdrew some bowls and cups and started dipping the assortment of flatwear into the pot, passing you vessels full of the thick, meaty broth.

"Enjoy." Kheldun said, getting some for himself, and then pouring about half the remainder into a large basin for the jackals. The small animals fell into it with a will, and Kheldun smiled briefly. He took a spoon and began to help himself. A few minutes later, the old man asked, "So how did Snefru take the temple collapse?"

[yalenusveler]

"Snefru was the restless spirit in question" Andre said, glad to be able to avoid the tomb robbing issue for the moment. "She perished shortly before we arrived in Muhar. It also turns out that she was apparently worshiping Set at a secret temple underneath the temple of Osiris."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"As for Fassahd," Lia notes, "there exists a possibility he is being ... demon-ridden, for lack of a better term."

[lostboy]

"Snefru was the restless spirit in question"

"Indeed, and she was the one who melted away the structural supports, once the tide of battle turned against her and her dead minions." Sascha intones, a spark of anger flaring in his eyes.

Now is not the time for raw emotions, he mentally chastises himself and pushes the anger away with another swallow of the stew, which regardless of the origin of its constituent meat, was excellent.

[DocBeard]

Tomas's general opinion on Snefru was that she was 'kind of a jerk' only instead of jerk the word starts with a b, and that it is a pain to hit invisible things.

Fortunately, stew keeps him out of the conversation for now. Mmm, stew.

[NeoTiamat]

The Cave of Kheldun, Har'Akir
August 27th, 761, 8:21 PM; Day 163 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Snefru's dead? And she was a Set-worshipper?" The old man chortled under his breath. Lia's assertion he answered with a quick glance to Menetnashte. "Well, now the old hag can enjoy being a ghost for her troubles. Nothing less than she deserved."

"Who's in charge of the town now?" Kheldun asked. "Is Khait now the high priestess, or did Badri try and seize control?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Neither," Lia replies in a neutral tone of voice, her red eyes locked on Kheldun, the bowl of stew cooling in her hands - in as far as anything can truly cool in this blasted desert wasteland. "Snefru's acolytes are in hiding. The town has been overrun by invaders from the Core. Have you ever heard of Falkovnians?"

[NeoTiamat]

The Cave of Kheldun, Har'Akir
August 27th, 761, 8:24 PM; Day 163 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Don't believe I have." Kheldun frowned. "Who are they?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Thugs," Charles replies succinctly. "The man who organized our group began to worry about the success of his effort, apparently, and he sent out another group headed by a colleague of his. They have imposed their authority by the sword. Their leader expects us to lead him to the Tomb of Menetnashte."

Charles watches Menetnashte, rather than Kheldun, as he says this last.

[DocBeard]

"Angry fellows in heavy armor, fanatical loyalty to their tyrant-king, call themselves things like 'iron hawks' or 'steel falcons' which tells you most of what you need to know about their way of thinking." Tomas finally adds, Falkovnia being a subject he's a bit more comfortable with.