The Eye of Anubis: Book Ten

[Kaitou Kage]

"I don't understand," Kuzan said, "Do you think he's bad? I figured we can catch him and let him know we're here to help so he doesn't...Do something crazy. Is it too late to keep him from doing something crazy?"

[yalenusveler]

"He could be under some sort of mental control. There are spells that can do that, unfortunately. If he engages on Cavendish' side, we incapacitate." Andre said, then began a prayer of his own, in that odd language he reserved for conversations involving his patroness, though the sensation of strengthened conviction that flowed out over all and sundry was certainly familiar to all.

What came next however, wasn't. Andre took out the puzzle box he had purchased from a certain one eyed merchant of everyone's acquaintance, and began to manipulate the sides, opening the puzzle box. But instead of revealing some sort of petty trinket or secret correspondence, the box revealed something far more useful at the moment. Namely, a rush of endurance and durability that would likely be useful to all and sundry.

"Now then...I've two protections from evil, and if Cavendish doesn't count as evil, then the morality of the world is certainly skewed in a way I dislike immensely. Suggestions as to who gets them?"

OOC:Mass Conviction is up, for a +3 Morale bonus to all saves, and Mass Bear's Endurance is up, for a +4 to Constitution. Mass Conviction lasts 80 minutes, Mass Bear's Endurance lasts 11 minutes.

[NeoTiamat]

Southern Muhar, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:29 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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b

Vedarrak simply stared at Charles for a few moments. Sarari, for her part, gave the Falkovnian a last, venom-filled glare, then turned to follow her paramour. They hadn't gone too far when Vedarrak called out.

"Wait, hold for a minute." The Falkovnian had lowered his sword and was limping along towards the square as well. He favored Charles with an amused look. "You are either the most cunning diplomat I've met, or a complete and utter idiot. Either way I doubt an agent of the doppelganger would be quite so willing to turn back."

"Also, please don't threaten me again."The Falkovnian smiled with a kind of eerily calm cheer. "It rarely ends well."

"Now then." Vedarrak sheathed his blade and clapped a hand on Charles's shoulder, as much a gesture of peace as one was liable to get. Sarari still glared at the man as if wondering if she could skin him. "Fill me in on what's happened. I've spent the last few hours dodging stone cats, so my information is out of date."

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles can do eerily calm cheer rather well himself, if it comes to that. "Quite," he says. (What he is assenting to is not exactly clear.) "We spent some time outside of town this afternoon and happened across Mandisa. Which made one Mandisa too many. Realizing that Cavendish must have been impersonating her, we returned at once. Using various arcane sources of information we learned that there was one "Vedarrak" in the square arranging an execution, while another fought off a sandstorm cat. Knowing, as we did, that the cat was one of Cavendish's...pets...it became apparent what was transpiring. Cavendish is preparing to execute Professor Marchand-Renier, after which he will probably orchestrate some sort of riot, kill as many people as possible, and depart the scene. We would prefer to prevent all these eventualities, and determined that securing your assistance would be invaluable, since otherwise your soldiers will be acting under Cavendish's orders, which will complicate matters greatly. Have you given any thought to how you might convince your soldiers of your identity? Can we assist you in that? What arcana will you be able to bring to bear against him?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"I for one will not be going into close combat with Cavendish," Lia replies to Andre's question, "so it should not be I, whoever it does turn out to be. I think my energies would be best deployed manipulating the field of battle. I can place a nigh-unbreakable barrier of force, and summon a field of ... shall we say, impediment? I just need to work out the proper angles ..."

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:31 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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Though the Akiri desert was still deathly cold, the horizon was growing ever lighter. Far to the east, the first rays of light peaked over the cliffs and canyons of northern Har'Akir, painting the sky with a multitude of oranges and yellows and purples. It was going to be a beautiful sunrise.

Up in the square, Marcos Vedarrak checked the small, Chateaufaux pocket watch in his hand for the fifth time in as many minutes. "Assuming my almanac doesn't lie, full sunrise around here begins at 6:36 in the morning. So, eight minutes from now. There's something beautiful about a dawn execution, don't you agree Sebastian?"

"Pardon me for not sharing your enthusiasm." Marchand-Renier retorted, struggling against his bonds. They had no give in them whatsoever, though had been tied so that no circulation was cut off. What was the point of burning to death if you couldn't feel it, was Cavendish's view. The two soldiers who had tied them stood nearby, calmly ignoring the conversation.

"Perfectly understandable." Vedarrak said easily. The necromancer reached into his thoughts and tugged at one of the myriad strings of enchantments that spun out from his mind, a spiderweb of magic and necromancy with Cavendish sitting at the center like a self-satisfied spider. Badri, Khait, it's time.

"Care for a last cigar?" Vedarrak offered, withdrawing a chaised silver case from his jacket and a Lamordian Dobereiner's lamp-lighter.

"I don't smoke." Marchand-Renier said shortly.

"Me neither. My body is my temple, after all." Vedarrak favored the bound linguist with a flash of a smile. "But I thought I should offer."

"If your body were a temple," Sebastian said. "It would be of the sort that had human sacrifices going on in the basement."

"I prefer the label 'Alternative Religions', thank you."

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

Just beyond the limits of the Falkovnian scouting, though not beyond the scouting of numerous bats, a mob was brewing. It was an ugly mob, one with a long list of grievances, quite real and quite painful.

"They have killed my brother!" "My son is dead!" "They looted my store!" "They slew Lady Snefru!" "They have destroyed our temples!"

One voice aired a quite recent complaint. "They have taken my daughter!"

Up in front of the crowd stood the two remaining priests of Osiris, the warrior Badri and the priestess Khait. Badri was a large man, with well-oiled muscles and a shaved scalp, currently overseeing the last distribution of weaponry to the crowd with the help of two youths who managed to stay calm despite the unruly emotions of the mob. Khait, on the other hand, was a woman of medium height, with short-cut black hair and handsome features. Had any of the Expedition been there, they may have recognized her as the first 'Banafrit'.

"The gods hear our cries!" She called out to the crowd. "And they have spoken, but they will not act if we are not worthy of them. We have let the foreigners come, and what have done to remove this infestation?"

"Then kill them all!" One man yelled, waving a torch into the sky. A very calm man, despite his words. "Burn them out!"

"Yes!" Badri growled, his voice a rumbling bass. "Burn them out... For our sons and for our daughters, for brothers and sisters and wives and husbands and parents, kill the foreigners!"

"Then go." Khait commanded, raising a hand to the sky. "And if we are worthy, the gods will send a sign. We will not fight alone."

"We go!" "Burn them!" "Avenge my son!" "For the gods!" "Justice!" "Kill the foreigners!" "Burn them!" "Rescue my daughter!" "The gods shall aid us!"

The mob surged forward towards Muhar's town square, armed with old swords, with torches, with scythes and sickles and spears. But more than that, armed with rage, and seething hatred, at all the injustices of the foreign occupiers. Badri, who had likely perpetrated a good third of these injustices, unlimbered his great-axe and with shouted orders, led the mob to the square. Soon, there would be blood, much, much, glorious blood.

Few noticed that Khait and the two youths were not with the mob when it left. Those three had a different task in the coming battle, and they took a different path.

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

Have you given any thought to how you might convince your soldiers of your identity? Can we assist you in that?

"Hells if I know." Vedarrak said as the quartet moved into position south of the main square. "Lebrecht and I had a password and call-sign system worked out, but if the necromancer's replaced me then he must know about it already. I'm currently open to any brilliant suggestions anyone has."

What arcana will you be able to bring to bear against him?"

"Fewer than I would like." Vedarrak said, getting into position behind a couple of small buildings near the square. "I've used up most of my heavy artillery on that cat, as well as about half of my defensive spells. I've still most of the essentials up, but I wouldn't be able to take out another one of those things."

"He looks just like me." Vedarrak said in amusement, glancing out into the busy square. Intellectually being aware that you had been replaced was one thing entirely, but to see your own doppelganger was something quite different. "I wonder how he does it..."

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Grimmric came chirping back to Lia, fluttering quickly but staying low. It would hardly do if Cavendish realized there was a small bat colony just behind the next building, after all.

Crowd of many people are moving. The little bat said to her. They will be here when the sun rises, and there are a lot of them. Twice as many as the soldiers here.

Charles and Sarari and Otto and another man are on the other side of the square as well. They are hiding.

At sunrise, it seemed, all hell would break loose. You took a glance to the east, where the first tendrils of light were already stretching out over the horizon. You had five minutes.



PCs:
A - Andre Theroux:
L - Lia Mournswaithe:
T - Tomas Eisenwald:
K - Kuzan:
S - Sascha Dzemianovitch:
C - Charles Martel:
O - Otto Schultheiss:

Expedition NPCs:
D - Dieter Haulfstead:
C - Thomas Carter:
Mr - Sebastian Marchand-Renier:
H - Edmund Harris:
Sr - Sarari:

Falkovnians:
V - Marcos Vedarrak (False):
V - Marcos Vedarrak (True):
L - Lebrecht Schiffer:
N - Niklas:
Lu - Luther:

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"The Akiri are on the move!" Lia hisses in a low voice. "They come from the west, twice as many as there are Falkovnians ... And they should reach us around dawn. It'll be carnage!"

Quivering with some terrible feeling, Lia adds: "Charles, Sarari and Otto are on the other side of the square. They have Vedarrak. Curses, how are we going to fix this? I could probably put the wall between the square and the Akiri, but that leaves Cavendish free to act!"

The wizard seems to agonize for a few moments - precious, fleeting moments! - before coming to a decision. "I cannot wall off the whole western passage, but I can make it look as if it is walled off. I will go, the instant you all ... do whatever you decide to do. If I succeed, I shall rejoin you. If I do not succeed, I will either be fleeing for my life or trying to run interference some other way."

Lia turns to look each of the others in the eye, and nods at them solemnly. "Good luck to all of us," she says, holding out a balled fist, "and misfortune to our enemies!"

Regardless whether anyone taps her fist or not, Lia turns back to the area she needs to guard, spells wheeling through her thoughts while she mutters the opening words for the first enchantment, preparing herself for a considerable expenditure of arcane force. "Hoplon," she growls in a low voice, moving her hands in the required gestures. "Hoc quod est invisibilis, per iussu meu, video." And in her thoughts only, Lia rehearses the words to the first barrier spell she must cast: 'Signum radiatum victoriae expletae tenebrae - signum radiatum victoriae expletae tenebrae - signum radiatum victoriae expletae tenebrae-!'

With a rustle and whoosh of pinions, Lia's wings unfurl from beneath her cloak and spread as wide as she dares in these surroundings. "Ready when you all are," she states, red eyes narrowing as she tenses.

(OOC: Casting Shield and See Invisibility on Lia. Preparing to cast Blacklight as soon as I get at my destination. Wings unfurled for maximum speed in getting at my destination. Greater Mage Armor and False Life should still be active.)

[The Whistler]

"Lebrecht and I had a password and call-sign system worked out, but if the necromancer's replaced me then he must know about it already. I'm currently open to any brilliant suggestions anyone has."

"Hopefully, the mere presence of...erm...'two' of you shall cause a degree of *uncertainty* among the troops we are displayed to...likely not an unbridled changing of loyalties to the true party, however." Otto frowned pensively at the courtyard, trying unsuccessfully to find a positive angle on the current situation.

"I am nearly as concerned regarding the possibility of *other* doppelgangers in the area. Cavendish is capable of creating walking-dead that are mistakable for true humans...if your forces are infiltrated by such, then convincing the bulk of them to follow yourself shall be considerably more of a challenge."

"He looks just like me." Vedarrak said in amusement, glancing out into the busy square. Intellectually being aware that you had been replaced was one thing entirely, but to see your own doppelganger was something quite different. "I wonder how he does it..."

"Now *there* may exist an angle..." The gunsmith narrowed his eyes. "We have on occasion considered the precise nature of his shapechanging ability...but I am not remembering if we have ever considered how to *forestall* it. If it is based upon magical as opposed to physical principles...is there a similarly magical manner by which his true form may be revealed? A dispelling of some sort..."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Or, if not, a manner to make him appear as he *should* truly be, through some manner of illusion...?"

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:33 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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He quirked an eyebrow. "Or, if not, a manner to make him appear as he *should* truly be, through some manner of illusion...?"

"I've some dispelling enchantments we can use." Vedarrak confirmed. "But I'm fresh out of illusions, unless one of you can provide."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"I don't think he's using spells," Charles says, peeping around a corner to observe the scene. "At least, not to shift his form. I wouldn't be surprised if he's magicked up to the gills with protective folderols. If you could dispel some or any of those that would be extremely convenient. It seems to me that if we can get the lieutenant on our side--by which I mean, convince him the genuine Kommandant is not the fellow orchestrating this execution--the rest of the troops will fall in line. I doubt Cavendish will try to brazen it out at that point. Ah! There he is. If you care to stand just here, Kommandant...I'll let him know you're here, you step out so he can see you, and we arrange the surprise. How say you?"

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:34 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Do so. The password of the hour is Zeit, if memory serves." Vedarrak nodded. "Lebrecht's served with me for some time, he'll have noticed something was wrong with the imposter."

For all the confident words, however, the Falkovnian did draw his sword and whisper the words to a protective enchantment of his own.

[Nathan of the FoS]

Charles nods and begins to mutter under his breath, pointing to Vedarrak, Sarari and Otto in turn, then to Lebrecht, across the square on Flea. He then begins to whisper.

"Lieutenant Schiffer, this is Charles Martel. The doppelganger is impersonating Vedarrak. I repeat, the doppelganger is impersonating Vedarrak. We have the Kommandant with us. Code word for the hour is 'Zeit'. Please acknowledge and we will show ourselves so you can verify Vedarrak's presence with us visually."

[NeoTiamat]

Muhar Town Square, Har'Akir
August 28th, 761, 6:34 AM; Day 164 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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"Lieutenant Schiffer, this is Charles Martel. The doppelganger is impersonating Vedarrak. I repeat, the doppelganger is impersonating Vedarrak. We have the Kommandant with us. Code word for the hour is 'Zeit'. Please acknowledge and we will show ourselves so you can verify Vedarrak's presence with us visually."

Far in the distance, you could see Schiffer jerk suddenly, causing Flea to pull up and twist his head back a little to see what had happened to his rider. The Falkovnian cavalryman recovered fairly quickly though, before the false Vedarrak looked his way.

"This is Schiffer, I hear you. Not certain how, but I hear you."

[The Whistler]

Otto looks speculatively at the courtyard--then up and to the side, near the top floor of one of the neighboring buildings.

"Distance enchantment on my primary pistol and a directable explosive in case of massed aggressors...I am best served with the providing of sniper coverage from above. Sarari: you are welcome to join me, if you wish."

The gunsmith looks vaguely uncomfortable. To Charles: "For increased visual range and accuracy, I shall likely be transmuted once I am in position. Please...ensure that our allies are aware that I am on *their* side."

With that, the gunsmith sets about finding a reliable way to scale the building in front of him.

OOC: Getting on the leftmost of those two squarish buildings near me, and casting Bite of the Werewolf just before the interesting stuff starts...my Climb bonus sucks, but I have a rope/grappling hook combo, a +10 in Use Rope and a +15 in Move Silently; provided there's no external staircase, is there some way to get up there via grappling hook without making too much noise? Probably roll a Hide check once I'm up there, if that's necessary at all.

[Nathan of the FoS]

"This is Schiffer, I hear you. Not certain how, but I hear you."

"Communication cantrip. Move a bit to the west and look due southwest. We are in line with the stake from your present position, on the far side of the square."

At Charles' signal, he and Vedarrak appear together briefly before stepping back behind the building. "When we make our move, be ready to shout doppelganger and go after the thing hammer and tongs; make sure the men know which is the impostor."

"Anything else?" he asks Vedarrak. "Other men who we should inform?"

Moving to AE42, which seems to be the point at which we will have maximum visibility to Schiffer with minimum visibility to Cavendish.