The Eye of Anubis: Book Eleven

[DocBeard]

....golly.

Tomas resists the urge to bow, blaming natural memory, hefts his shield back onto his arm, and takes a moment to pat Sascha's shoulder. He hopes the haunted man's burden is somehow lessened by this catharsis.

And then, Eisenwald waves at the shadowy forms in the mist, almost happily, before heading to the door.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Well.

That seems to have gone well enough.

Charles just hopes that what he said wasn't true. Because, if it is true...

Well, then it's a good thing they have Sascha along, at least!

With this consolatory thought, Charles claps Sascha on the shoulder and turns to follow Tomas into what, it may be presumed, is the Lamordian hero's test. Charles is looking forward to this with a great deal of interest.

Of course (as he thinks back to his patroness) curiosity did kill the cat...

Shrugging mentally, he steps through the door.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia heaves a small sigh -- and moves forward to pass through the door. 'How much more?' she wonders. 'Tomas, Harris, Devereux ... That is certainly not going to be fun.' The mage takes a last look at the landscape of snow, ashes, coffins and deities, and shudders delicately before firmly stepping through the door.

[NeoTiamat]

The Tomb of Menetnashte
August 30th, 761, 3:52 AM; Day 165 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Once more into the darkness, into the cold blackness between...

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Unlike the rest of the tomb, the place you now entered showed no trace of Akiri architecture. It was a tall stone chapel, plain and unornamented, but possessing a power and grandeur from the sheer magnitude of the stone. The floor glittered and clicked as you set foot upon it, a mosaic of thousands of bolts and gears, bronze and steel. Granite pillars lined the walls, flying upwards to form the high-domed ceiling, the simplicity of their shape belying the skill that had been put into crafting them. From each pillar hung a small glass globe, suspended from copper tubing, and with wire glowing faintly within.

The lower halves of the chapel walls were mantled in burnished copper, each side holding four simple alcoves, each alcove completely empty. Beyond, a short set of stone steps led to a black iron altar, looking more like a square anvil than a place of worship. Behind it was another alcove, this one of plain stone like the wall around it; as with the others, nothing was within. The air was charged with anticipation.

Six Dwarvish runes were upon the altar, engraved on the iron:



Professor Devereux stumbled slightly as he entered the room - you might not even have noticed, had Edmund not reached out to steady the smaller man.

“Professor?” Edmund softly asked, not wanting to alarm anyone, but obviously concerned.

Devereux didn’t answer immediately. The professor craned his neck slightly to look up at Tomas. “Are you going to be alright?” he asked, somewhat paradoxically. Devereux’s face was so pale he looked almost translucent.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia goes to stand next to Tomas as she looks around the temple. Ever the linguist, her eyes come to rest on the runic inscription for a moment.

"I am, unfortunately, not trained in reading these runes," she says, "but I count six of them. Tomas, does that inscription perhaps translate as 'Loturr'? It is what the BloodThorn named you when we spoke. If my translation is correct, then ... this place is dedicated to you."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"L-O-T-H-U-R-R," Charles reads off. "Um. Doesn't ring a bell."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I just said," Lia notes. "The faerie lord, the BloodThorn, called Tomas by that name."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"I just said," Lia notes. "The faerie lord, the BloodThorn, called Tomas by that name."

"Oh, did you? Sorry." Charles looks up at the inscription blankly and then asks, "He's a Lamordian god, isn't he? I mean...worshipped in Lamordia, odd as that sounds. Up in the mountains somewhere. A dying religion, or at least one with a very small following."

decipher script for the name 25, bardic knowledge 21 for info on Lothurr.

[yalenusveler]

"Obscure deity." Andre said, with the sort of tone suggesting that he was about to go into a lecture, and there may or may not be a quiz at the end involving deathtraps. "Believe that lightning is the source of the spark of life and the divine. Rather small, with only one rather tiny monastery." He paused, looking at Devereux with a hint of curiosity, before going back to his little lecture. "Uncompetitive with other faiths, and tend to incorporate elements of dogma. Very rational minded too, with keen interest in the sciences."

Andre sighed "I always wanted to do more research, however asking for funding to study native Lamordian religion..well, rather like asking for funding to study the elusive Pharazian Polar bear to most folks minds."

Finally, going out of lecturer mode, Andre asked three questions, the first two aimed at Devereux "Why would you be concerned for Tomas? What do you see that we cannot?" And the third was directed to Tomas himself "So, how long have you been an obscure deity of the northwestern core?"

It was certainly one of those days where you got to ask a question that had likely never been uttered before.

[NeoTiamat]

The Tomb of Menetnashte
August 30th, 761, 3:57 AM; Day 165 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Finally, going out of lecturer mode, Andre asked three questions, the first two aimed at Devereux "Why would you be concerned for Tomas? What do you see that we cannot?"

Devereux's eyes went cold, his face a blank mask as he looked over at Andre. "Nothing," he said, sharply, as if daring Andre to press the matter further.

The professor looked back over at Tomas for an instant, nervously licking his lips, before catching the knight's gaze by accident and darting his eyes away once more. Devereux scuffled slightly, beginning to fidget with the embroidery on his sleeve cuffs. "T-this place... hasn't been easy on anyone... is all," he added, in a softer, shaky voice.

[lostboy]

Sascha stumbles out of the ashen cemetery with a scowl on his lips, even the gods were contemptuous of him it seemed.

But the scowl doesnt last, as Tomas and then Charles clap him on the shoulder. Many things, not least the faith others have in him have given him renewed vigor, perhaps not catharsis, but have certainly focussed his purpose.

And right now that purpose was assisting young Eisenwald in anyway he could, although how one can assist a god isnt that obvious to Sascha.

"Tomas does this mean anything to you?"

He asks in a suprisingly gentle voice. Regardless of how the Lamordian had felt about him, Sascha had always felt a certain protective instinct or kinship towards Tomas, perhaps he is what you wish you could have been a whispering voice chides in his head.

[DocBeard]

"Hrm?" Tomas is...distracted, to say the least. The smell in the air, the pulsing of energy, it's all...so familiar, and so alien at the same time. "Of course I'll be alright, Professor. I'm with you."

This simple statement of trust towards his mentor, despite their not quite resolved falling out at the hidden city, is made with all of Tomas's simple honesty-perhaps more so, as Tomas seems distracted from the conversation flying around him. His ears prick a little, and he turns half around. "Uh? No, Sascha, why would it mean anything to me? I mean, I saw the name in the City, and Lia's blood imp friend apparently called me that, but-don't be silly, Charles. I'm as much a man as you are."

"I cannot recognize the architecture...the proportions are too broad for it to be real dwarf work, but whoever made this place is not a bad forger. Kuzan, can you feel that?" Tomas smiles a little, enjoying the strange weight of the electrified air. "The Berith's taint has...reduced. Maybe we turned a corner or something. Might not be a bad time to get a quick nap in, ja?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

In the flurry of reactions following Andre's questions Tomas seems to have taken Professor Theroux's last question as coming from Charles himself, which is too bad, because Tomas' assertion "I'm as much a man as you are" would be rather pleasingly ironic when applied to the professor. Theroux is, after all, not quite as human as he used to be.

"Of course," Charles says politely. "I must say, it doesn't really strike me as a very restful place, but it is at least mercifully free of things wanting to kill us, or judge our immortal souls, or what-have-you. For the present. The nature of the...test...here isn't really very apparent either."

[Kaitou Kage]

Once satisfied he wasn't about to freeze, Kuzan slid the cloak off. He took a moment to test the air, then handed the garment back to Lia with a nod of thanks. He inhaled deeply through his nose, then exhaled through his mouth. Tomas was right about the air. It was charged. It felt alive.

"It feels like a storm is coming," the priest said, "There's that energy running through the air just before a great squall hits."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Lothurr the lightning god," Lia muses as she accepts her cloak back from Kuzan and puts it on. "Hm. And I see there is a lot of metal underfoot, too ... Everyone please stay close for now, so I can grant us all flight if that should become necessary, alright?"