The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[yalenusveler]

Andre regarded the one eyed merchant the way one would think a snake charmer in Sri Raji would regard the cobra they have in their act. If the snake charmer can avoid the strike, then the dance is beautiful, and the crowd is awed. If the charmer cannot, well..death by snakebite was not a pleasant way to go.

Nor was potentially being out 11,000 gold.

"Faruq, your tale of woe pains me as if such misfortune had occurred to one of my blood. That you would endure such for our sakes makes me wish to clasp your hand and call you brother. But I look at this box you offer, and I fear I am torn." Andre said, looking for all the world like his heart was breaking at the injustice of the world in general.

"Although I know you are a man who can be trusted as the sun can be trusted to rise over the desert, I also know we live in a world of men with dark hearts and deceitful tongues who would see no fault in taking advantage of a man of virtue like yourself. Though it pains me to do so, may I examine this box of wonders, to ensure that some foul hearted jackal has not beguiled you into accepting a worthless trinket?"

Andre extended a hand to take the box if the answer was affirmative, already reading the Detect Magic. It wasn't that he didn't trust Faruq, however Caveat Emptor was rather sensible advice.

" And if I find that he has, we shall join in cursing this wicked hearted one till the hand of fate cannot help but fall upon him and judge him harshly for his misdeeds, for he will not only have lied to you which is a great crime in and of itself, for what merchant does not live by the truth of his wares? , but does so invoking the name of the gods for which he shall suffer a thousandfold more."

[The Whistler]

"Effendi." Faruq grinned broadly, showing pearly-white teeth that shone in his brown, weathered skin. "I congratulate you on the crossing of the mighty desert of Sebua."

"Good sir, had I known that such a grand repository of product was awaiting of me upon the other side, I would have traveled yet faster."

And warned the village against you before you showed up, and bought a storefront in a better location, and undercut you with every sale I made. And thought up a better gimmick than pasting a discount reptile to the ceiling.

"Sadly, it is seeming that my needs remain few as of late--aside from my continued desire for accuracy."

You are cussedly lucky that I need to shoot at things in the near future.

"You see, while the pistol with which you favored me upon our last meeting has served me...well, these past months--"

It was a hinky, maladjusted piece of gilt-frosted yard sale bait, and I'm pretty sure that you spat in the firing pan before you sold it to me.

"I am more interested in the improvement of...how are you saying...my *primary* means of defense." The gunsmith patted Donnenschlag, still grinning.

There is no conceivable way for you to screw up a simple augmentation enchantment. However, it is theoretically possible that you will conceive of one anyway: thus, by way of insurance, you are going to sell the enchantment to me at cost.

"...Within reason, of course."

Scratch that: below cost.

Otto paused, thinking. Still grinning.

"Of course, there is a possibility of my necessitating a somewhat *larger,* more *abrupt* force at my disposing-of. Archaeology--how are you saying--is a profession that is tending to put one in *situations.* You are understanding me."

Alternately, if I am in a whimsical mood today, I might enjoy an explosive capable of leveling a city block. This city block might well be the one with your shop on it. Surprise me.

Otto grinned. Well--*continued* to grin.

"So nice it is being, to find a supplier who is understanding the needs of a customer! I am sure that we can be coming to some agreement, yes?"

I am much, *much* better at this than you, and look forward to proving it. Your move!

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 5:44 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Though it pains me to do so, may I examine this box of wonders, to ensure that some foul hearted jackal has not beguiled you into accepting a worthless trinket?"

"Effendi, you wound me!" Faruq exclaimed, clasping his hands to his heart. "That you would have so little faith in One-Eyed Faruq to think that I would sell anything but the greatest, most genuine products. Here, take it!"

With a flourish, Faruq presented the blue-and-gold box for Andre's discernment. A bit more of the paint peeled off, and Andre had a suspicion that he could make out a Darkonian toymaker's mark engraved on one of the side panels.

"Should you find it flawed, then any one object from Faruq's shop is yours." The Pharazian merchant declaimed. "But should you damage it, then you must buy it."

"I am more interested in the improvement of...how are you saying...my *primary* means of defense." The gunsmith patted Donnenschlag, still grinning.

"Of course, there is a possibility of my necessitating a somewhat *larger,* more *abrupt* force at my disposing-of. Archaeology--how are you saying--is a profession that is tending to put one in *situations.* You are understanding me."

Faruq wheeled on his new customer, a broad grin of his own.

"Ah, Effendi, that can be arranged. For the gun, it merely needs a replacement of the barrel, for this I have something that may be able to help with, for a small price, as it were." Faruq smiled pleasantly to Otto. "But for your other desire..."

The Akiri merchant wheeled and pulled out a large globe from a box, and then a stack of dusty discs that he had been using to prop up the leg of a table. He held them up with a flourish.

"I present these to you! These are marvelous devices, a miraculous combination of science and magecraft. I found them on the street." Faruq seemed to realize that this last bit lacked a certain... panache... and hurried onward. "A street in the forgotten city of Karabum! There in that fell place, I found these artifacts from a bygone age!"

"The globe, you command but once, and it charges at your foe to devour him in an explosion of light and sound and fury, then returns to your hand. Only nine thousand and six hundred gold. The disc, you place upon the ground, and when the time has elapsed or a creature comes near, they explode most fiercely. Only a thousand and eighty gold each."

"Only for you, Effendi, would I sell these marvelous treasures of the Forgotten City of Karakum, ah, Karabum!"

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles has made a friendly salutation to Faruq, and cheerfully poked the crocodile in the stomach. "Fancy meeting you here," he says. "I wonder that m'sieur should go to the trouble of carting you across the sandy waste--you must be more useful than you look." He seems to have recovered his good cheer rather well after the afternoon's vicissitudes, and is soon engaged in turning things over, looking under things, getting wedged in odd corners and freeing himself, creating a "Still Life with Jackalope" featuring a mummified orange and some rather sad-looking wax grapes in addition to the title character, and generally employing various ways of burning off nervous energy which a more fastidious shopkeeper would probably abominate. At one point he and Lia page through a bizarre grimoire together for a few moments before going their separate ways again.

At last, having wandered well into the back of the shop space, he is heard to give an exclamation of delight. Returning, he allows Otto to finish his little fencing match before stepping up to the mark himself and presenting a handsome dark-blue silk coat, embroidered at wrists and neck with a tasteful amount of gold thread. Although by no means extravagant, something in its cut and the general quality of the workmanship tell clearly that it is no ordinary garment. "Rather fine, isn't it?" Charles says, holding it up and shaking it. "Er...I suppose you would like to tell me of its wonderful qualities and miraculous provenance at this point?"

[DocBeard]

"It is perfect, Effendi." Faruq assured the Lamordian. "It once came from the treasure trove of a pharoah! Amentit the Erratic, he who reigned from the thousand and twenty fifth year before the Prophet to the thousand and twenty fourth year before the Prophet."

"Ist that why it is saying, 'Made in Valachan'?" Tomas nods as though this were sage wisdom. "Of course, it must have been a gift from one of the Dons."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Though I imagine it would strain the capacities of an owner of such vast and mystical treasures," Lia says, "and though I have no wish to insult a merchant who specializes in wares of impeccable quality ... I should like to buy an ordinary flute. I require no instrument of particular lineage, no masterpiece from the hands of a master Bard. Just an ordinary flute that the woodworm and damp have not gotten into. Can you provide me with such a thing, sir Faruq?"

[yalenusveler]

"Faruq, If it is you that I wound, then I must beg your pardons a thousandfold, for it is the liars and cheats of this world I would strike, not one such as yourself who is a paragon of honesty in a world of falsehood." Andre said, a look of self deprecating contrition spread across his face.

"Your price for this wonder is fair and just, and I pay it gladly. Now..have you any more wonders that you think one such as I should find interesting, or do you suggest I browse and let the whims of fate find what treasures should make their way to my hands?" Andre smiled. Yes, he was out his credit..but the box WAS useful. Even if he was sure he had some childhood toys bearing the same stamp somewhere.

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 5:44 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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At last, having wandered well into the back of the shop space, he is heard to give an exclamation of delight. Returning, he allows Otto to finish his little fencing match before stepping up to the mark himself and presenting a handsome dark-blue silk coat, embroidered at wrists and neck with a tasteful amount of gold thread. Although by no means extravagant, something in its cut and the general quality of the workmanship tell clearly that it is no ordinary garment. "Rather fine, isn't it?" Charles says, holding it up and shaking it. "Er...I suppose you would like to tell me of its wonderful qualities and miraculous provenance at this point?"

"Would you like me to?" Faruq grinned. "It was once the coat of a famed Mordentish doctor, a slayer of monsters. A humble cost is all I ask."

"He had come to Phiraz once to slay a dire monstrosity, a creature who was able to drink the water out of yoru skin through your fingers." The Pharazian merchant said. "But in the process, he fell ill, and was taken to the great hospital of Phiraz. In time, however, an orderly stole the doctor's magical coat, and in time it has come to me. Alas, the doctor was gone, and so I could not return it to him. But for you, Effendi... it would be an honorable service."

"Ist that why it is saying, 'Made in Valachan'?" Tomas nods as though this were sage wisdom. "Of course, it must have been a gift from one of the Dons."

"From Don Caravaggio de Belacour." One-Eyed Faruq said wisely, nodding. "A travelling explorer and scholar, may the Prophet have mercy on his soul."

"Though I imagine it would strain the capacities of an owner of such vast and mystical treasures," Lia says, "and though I have no wish to insult a merchant who specializes in wares of impeccable quality ... I should like to buy an ordinary flute. I require no instrument of particular lineage, no masterpiece from the hands of a master Bard. Just an ordinary flute that the woodworm and damp have not gotten into. Can you provide me with such a thing, sir Faruq?"

"Ah, Effendi, that can be arranged with the greatest of ease." Faruq reached into the folds of his great, black robes and withdrew a length of wood. "A flute that is all that you can require, and more. And only a dozen gold coins."

"Your price for this wonder is fair and just, and I pay it gladly. Now..have you any more wonders that you think one such as I should find interesting, or do you suggest I browse and let the whims of fate find what treasures should make their way to my hands?" Andre smiled. Yes, he was out his credit..but the box WAS useful. Even if he was sure he had some childhood toys bearing the same stamp somewhere.

"I am your servant, Effendi." Faruq took the coins and bowed deeply, again nearly touching the ground with his forehead. He gestured towards the tables. "Anything you desire, Effendi, I can find within my shop. But ask."

Alright! Start to wrap up! Next post (sometime tomorrow), will close down the Faruq scene and move on to the next scene of the little tour.

As before, you can keep buying stuff from Faruq when you get around to it, up until the end of the Book. After I close down Book Ten, shopping opportunities end, fair warning.]

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"From the hands of Faruq, with such kind assurances," Lia says as she accepts the musical instrument with a sweeping bow, "this can only be the greatest of bargains, the kind of which one should expect to find but once in a lifetime. I thank you." As soon as the Mage has crossed Faruq's palm with gold - twelve pieces thereof, of course - she inserts the flute into the muzzle of her mask and tries to bring forth a basic set of notes. It really doesn't sound too good, but Lia seems satisfied anyway ...

(OOC: Perform (wind instruments): 9. Oh, well.)

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar, Har'Akir
August 26th, 761, 5:44 PM; Day 162 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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It took Lieutenant Lebrecht something resembling main force to get the Expedition to depart Faruq's shop, although not before the Falkovnian ended up buying the old, gilt sword for entirely too much money. There is something to be said for the bizarre merchant. He could sell.

"Come back any time! Mustali the Dragon and I are always happy to see you, Effendi!" Faruq yelled as you rode away. "I shall make tea next time!"

"Well..." Lebrecht glanced at the cheap sword in his hand in slight bemusement. It looked rather like it might break if you stared at it hard enough. "How did this happen again?"

===============================================

Lieutenant Schiffer kept up his desultory commentary on Muhar and the environs. Admittedly, there was a limit to how much the Falkovnian could say about what would be, in any other place, a three-horse-town.

"Temple of Isis should be around here somewhere." Lebrecht said. "They were the only priests to not go berserk when we showed up, so while the Temple of Osiris is shut down and the Temple of Horus is under watch, but the Temple of Isis is still going strong. Services every morning and every afternoon, though with curfew they've canceled evening services."

Suddenly the lieutenant was interrupted in his speech as a Falkovnian guard rode up to the rest of the group, coming at a full gallop before pulling his horse to a stop. He... did not look good. The Falkovnian was wounded, with a bandage crudely wrapped around one arm, a bit of blood oozing from the wound.

"Hermann, what is happening?" Lebrecht said sharply, concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Jawohl... I'm fine." The soldier, Hermann, said. "Something is happening, riot at the farmlands. Kommandant says all soldiers to farmlands, immediately. Guests back to headquarters."

Lieutenant Schiffer stared back at the other man with a bleak look, then swore sulferously in Falkovnian. His was not the expression of a happy man. He turned to you. "Tour is cut short. Make your way back to the headquarters building, and stay out of sight. If the Akiri are in riot, things could be dangerous. Get back to HQ and get safe."

"For your sake." Lebrecht said more softly. "The Akiri are unkind to those whom they catch."

Turning back to Hermann, Lieutenant Schiffer nodded, and in short order the Falkovnians rode off to the west, to put down the riot at the farmlands. Leaving you, however briefly, at liberty.

[DocBeard]

A Falkovnian, admitting an army's crueler than them? That worries Tomas(Now armed with a new jacket lining, scarf, and heavy armored bracers) more than anything, honestly. Cocky Falkovnians, he can handle. But frightened ones?

Still, he looks to Charles for the call on if they're going back, or snooping around.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"The other professors are still at the Falkovnians' headquarters," Lia notes in a carefully neutral tone of voice. "So what do we do?"

[lostboy]

"So what do we do?"

"We take adavantage of our momentary freedom to learn more. Perhaps these Falkovninan dogs are right and it is dangerous, but we have heard but one side of the tale, and propaganda as it is I would like the whole picture."

"So let us take a reconnaissance and see what can be learned from the Akiri, perhaps the temple of Isis might be a place to start?"

Taking a look down the narrow street, Sascha adds "Of course we keep our guard up".

[Kaitou Kage]

"That...sounds like a plan," Kuzan agreed with Sascha. "Should I talk to them? I...am supposed to be one of these people. Or I was at one time."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"We'll, shall we say, take the long way back," Charles agrees. "Since we are Kommandant Vedarrak's colleagues he can hardly complain if we are not quick as alacritous in our response to his...edicts...as his soldiers are."