The Eye of Anubis: Book Eight

[yalenusveler]

"Night Terror" Andre said, relaxing on the pallet he claimed for his own. "As for what's bound here, he wasn't specific. Just referred to it as the Chained Lord. Apparently, it was bound here by ancient magics, and Cavendish's little exercise in denying the laws of reality started the process of awakening it."

It was fairly obvious from the look on Andre's face that this was likely NOT a good thing. "If the spells holding it snap fully, Nightmare will irrupt fully into the waking world, and those delightful little suggestions we call natural laws will become a moot point, and he and his will define what is and what should be."

Andre sighed "Night Terror wants us gone, and will brook no interference in the awakening of whatever it is that's bound within this place. It's only out of respect for the Oracle, and his being..well, I think a bit embarrassed at the social gaffe of trying to feed upon us all when I had laid claim that's causing him to even give us a chance to leave intact."

Andre looked at the group. It didn't take a genius in the human condition to realize that no, they probably weren't leaving, and they'd probably be soon in greater conflict with Night Terror. Because irruptions of the land of nightmare into the waking world were the kind of things that roving meddlers tended to intervene in, and the Expedition was nothing if not a group of roving meddlers.

"The question now is...what do we do? I know I plan on speaking to the abbot, and investigating the Library here. We've got about a day before things will get truly unpleasant, never mind that they can probably strike in the darker corridors. Or do I and my.." Andre actually cracked a bit of a smile "Murder touched minions simply pick up and leave?"

Right.

Like it was ever THAT bloody easy.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I can not, will not leave," Lia replies flatly, "and Dreamspawn be damned. Even were I not bound by my oath to the BloodThorn, I refuse to allow the laws of nature we know and accept to be overthrown to such an extent that dream and nightmare become reality. But I do not speak for all of us, of course.

As for what we should do ... those of us who choose to remain, at any rate ... The library sounds like a good place to start, to me. But I also wish to question the oldest monks in residence here. They might know something. Other than that ... I fear we need to explore every nook and cranny of this building. If the great heartbeat I heard in the wall belongs to this 'dreaming lord', then it may be in contact with the woodwork somehow."

Lia draws a deep breath, then exhales angrily. "And we should talk to our fellow travellers. Let them make their own decisions."

[Kaitou Kage]

"What's this about minions, now?" Kuzan piped in suddenly, sounding a touch confused.

[yalenusveler]

"To get Night Terror to leave and not make a rather good attempt at killing us all, I basically claimed you were all my minions and or playthings. Apparently when push comes to shove, I can be rather convincing" Andre said, still finding the concept rather amusing. But then again, it HAD worked.

[Kaitou Kage]

Kuzan frowned deeply. On the one hand, it was brilliantly executed. On the other, the fact that Andre played that card, and then was making jokes about it like it was nothing made Kuzan wonder exactly what kinds of megalomania had begun slipping into the professor's breakfast. Never mind that this was the same faithless man who suddenly apparently found faith when he sold his services to a blood goddess virtually on a whim. Kuzan doubted Andre's integrity and earnestness on the matter for anything other than gaining more power. And whatever the professor found humorous about calling everyone else his 'minions,' Kuzan simply didn't see. It was actually a little annoying, a joke that was bad before it started. The priest didn't forsee any good coming from Andre being in the group if the professor continued this sort of behavior.

But that wasn't Kuzan's sole decision to make. So for now, he turned his thoughts toward other, more imminent matters. Rather than making a snide remark toward Andre's little joke, he turned his attention toward Lia.

"In contact with the walls?" he asked, "What do you mean? And do you want to tell them all about the meditation? Whatever it was you witnessed I didn't recognize."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"A psychic ritual," Lia explains. "The monks were engaged in a ritual that generates psychic energy, which can then be used and given form in whatever manner the leader of the ceremony wishes. Anything could be done with it. I assumed it was somehow related to keeping the nightmares down, but I am not certain. And there is a fountain in this place, which contains more magical power than any other item I have ever been privileged to see, drawing on various schools of magic to do whatever it does.

And as for the thing being in contact with the walls ... My Grimmric heard a heartbeat inside of them. Usually, for a heartbeat to resonate through something, the heart has to be fairly close to it. That is what I meant."

[yalenusveler]

"Lia, did you utilize a Detect Magic on the arch back in Hazlan?" Andre asked, turning his eyes towards her. "I'm wondering if it's on the same scale. As the arch did work on a mental level, I'm wondering if it might be a focus using the same principles."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I did not, as far as I can recall," Lia replies. "It is ... not entirely impossible that the fountain itself is a construct of psychic energy, used to generate arcane power."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"To get Night Terror to leave and not make a rather good attempt at killing us all, I basically claimed you were all my minions and or playthings." Andre said.

"Fascinating. And what did you tell him about yourself to convince him that you're the sort of fellow whose opinions--and minions--he ought to respect?" Charles asks, in a tone of mild interest. "Other than speaking to him in his own tongue, which I admit is impressive. Certainly it impressed me."

[DocBeard]

Tomas's guff is railed up a little by the 'minion'ing, as well as the thing assuming it could kill him. Tomas takes something of a bizarre pride in being able to stare unfathomable horrors in the eye and make the other fellow flinch half the time; but, since this is sort of his fault, Tomas bites his tongue, crossing his arms and scowling.

"We've already risked our lives for these people." Tomas reasons after others have spoken, "It'd feel like sort of a waste to let the whole place go up in flames after the fact, even if we could get the monks out in time."

"Besides." And there's that cocky grin again, "I'll be rotting in the ground before I let Herr Cavendish win without a fight, nicht war? And it gives us an excuse to snoop around this place-I've never met a secret door I didn't like."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"This," Lia says flatly as she eyes Tomas, "is not a merry exploration game. If the barrier between reality and nightmare is sundered in this locale, what is to stop it from spreading? Especially if this 'dreaming lord' is mobile and decides Sebua - or whatever it makes of Sebua - isn't to its liking."

(OOC: This is purely IC, it is not personal!)

[The Whistler]

"If the barrier between reality and nightmare is sundered in this locale, what is to stop it from spreading?"

"We are." Otto looked up from cleaning his pistol. "Or, rather, we are to be preventing of it. Regardless of how we are framing this preventing, it is clear that we do so: semantics are the rest, yes?"

"It is a comfort, if none else, that this place has built itself around the *prevention* of nightmare--such a place must know what is to do when a nightmare threatens breaking-through. So, I am with Andre: a discreet inquiry of senior staff, without intent to cause panic, should show us of the steps we must take."

[yalenusveler]

"Fascinating. And what did you tell him about yourself to convince him that you're the sort of fellow whose opinions--and minions--he ought to respect?" Charles asks, in a tone of mild interest. "Other than speaking to him in his own tongue, which I admit is impressive. Certainly it impressed me."

"Honestly..I think that might have been a lot of it. It also knew what I was, and when I told it that I served the Oracle, respect for her was also a factor. I'm honestly still pretty amazed it worked." Andre shrugged, and then looked around. "I think it credits me with more power than I have. It asked me if I could feel the land growing more malleable, and shape it on my own. I used a rather unusual allegory involving new shoes to explain away my not treating reality as clay to mold and shape."

[DocBeard]

"The key to happiness is to find joy in what you do every day, my mother used to say." Tomas reasons towards Lia, considers his options, and grows serious, speaking clearly enough to imply that the group can listen if it wants."-fine, I'll cut the crap. Look, I knew it was dangerous, but I thought the thing might be using Guy and Loup through, how you say, possession, and had decided to bleed them as a lure when just speech did not work. When I saw all of the blood, I had to do something, even if it was running into the face of danger."

"Ja, I'm kind of a flake, and sometimes I get us more trouble than we would have had otherwise." Tomas pauses again, in order to check his sword for blood or other waste and conveniently avoiding the group's collective gaze for a moment, before pulling himself together and continuing. "But it was the right thing to do, even if it was a little stupid, and I'm not going to apologize for that any more than I'm going to apologize for smiling instead of scowling when I'm stressed. And the only reason I'm being this long winded is so that we're absolutely clear about the fact that my being a little goofy doesn't mean I am trying to get anyone killed."

Tomas waits a moment for any replies or reprimands, and heads back into the room to grab his shield. "Professor." Tomas looks under the covers at Devereaux, seemingly apathetic towards the man's cowardice. "If you know anything about Herr Geisten that Professor Andre might not, now would be the opportune time to contribute, I am thinking, as we are busing ourselves with theorizing, reeling at the horror of the given threat, and hyperventilating. I believe the Van Richten calls it 'Step 3', but I may be confusing it with Step 2."

(OOC: No worries, Rock, I figured it was. And honestly as far as Lia's reprimands go, Tomas got off pretty darn light. Only reason he didn't shrug it off entirely was because he doesn't want the group to think that he's going to flake on them in a rough patch.)

[Nathan of the FoS]

"But it was the right thing to do, even if it was a little stupid, and I'm not going to apologize for that any more than I'm going to apologize for smiling instead of scowling when I'm stressed. And the only reason I'm being this long winded is so that we're absolutely clear about the fact that my being a little goofy doesn't mean I am trying to get anyone killed."

"Well, we assume that much," Charles says. "I dare say none of us doubt your intentions, Tomas. But stupid kills. Even a little stupid. With good intentions."

He pauses, as if debating with himself whether or not to continue, then shrugs very slightly. "We were warned against unexpected visitors and strictly instructed not to leave our rooms. When "Guy" and "Loup" made their appearance, we checked with Samael, who told us all was well, which he would never have done if something bad enough to get Guy and Loup in the hallway had happened. Everyone else had concluded, correctly, that our visitors were not Guy and Loup, but deceivers wanting to lure us into the hallway and attack us. You then took it on yourself to act without even consulting us about why we weren't rushing to aid our friend."

"And then, of course, we did have to rush to defend our friend. You've spilled a lot of blood for the rest of us, Tomas. Last night you took a pretty severe beating, and because you did I didn't. We owe you a great deal, and no one doubts your courage or your good will. But you seem to doubt ours, and, frankly, I think you do owe us an apology for that, and for leaping before you look and pulling the rest of us in after you."