The Eye of Anubis: Book Six

[Nathan of the FoS]

Exhaling, Charles runs both hands through his hair, then looks down at the rapidly descending Kuzan and shakes his head. Another look confirms that Tomas is still alive--not very well situated, and bleeding, but it's better than it might be. Once they get away from these fey and the prospect of imminent death it will be easier to manage tempers.

"Right. Who's injured yet? M'sieur al-Atim? M'sieur Rafiq? Let's not strain our host's patience any more than we have to before proceeding."

[yalenusveler]

Andre sighed, and nodded to Ishaq, ignoring Kuzan's retort. Right now, he had something more to be concerned about. "It appears our spectacle has become more entertaining" he muttered, hoping not loud enough for the fey to hear, but loud enough to reach the ears of his compatriots.

The great players at this warped pageant...their actions were inscrutable as would be expected. But the hobs and boggles and commonfey milling about?

Their smiles he could only equate with hunger.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lia ... says nothing at first. She does not reply to Kuzan's accusations, just stares at him unblinkingly. The only thing that moves about her is her hair, which weaves and snakes around, attempting to cover her face as the priest vents what must be months' worth of bottled-up anger. When he actually spits, Lia just recoils -- but still does not speak. At times during the beratement, her eyes seethe. At others, they dim alarmingly. But her slitted pupils narrow during the whole wave of fury, until they are like thin pencil-lines.

As Kuzan climbs over the edge of the cliff, the first, muttered words escape her lips: "Leave him be. If he does not want to join us for the final test ... that is his choice. He has the right to choose his own way. I never intended these trials to include all of you, but ... this is how it turned out. This is how it turned out."

Head hung low, hair again snaking around and around to hide her face, Lia approaches Andre. She reaches out at first, but then draws her hands back and stuffs them up the opposite sleeve. "You are not a coward. I know you better than that. You are not a coward. You are a courage just emerging into the world, and your deeds will be glorious yet. They will, yes."

Having spoken, Lia totters over to the statue and abruptly sits down. Head in hands, the Wizard just sits there, ignoring the milling, tittering Fey as if they were no more than grains of sand or gusts of wind. She breathes heavily a few times, but says no more to any of the others. If anyone comes close enough, however, they might hear whispers, snatches of sound like prayer: "Kill ... destroy ... no, free to ... fire ... shadows and fire ... has to choose ... undo ... chose for myself ... fire ... destruction ... wash away ... yes, but ... not them ... never the ones who are not ... fire ..."

[lostboy]

Khalils eyes flick open wide at Kuzan's touch, looking around wildly. He spends a few minutes in silence looking rather confused as the outbursts rage around him. As the arguement subsides and Kuzan descends to get Tomas, Khalil sighs and pulls himself to a sitting position the moevemnt forcing him to cough up a rather unpleasntly large mouthful of blood .

"Right. Who's injured yet? M'sieur al-Atim? M'sieur Rafiq? Let's not strain our host's patience any more than we have to before proceeding."

Wiping his mouth, Khalil gingerly gets to his feet, "I'll live, although thats closer to the sacred land than I'd like to get again anytime soon." He mutters with a self-deprecating smile.

Suddenly hit with another bout of coughing, he doubles over as the spasms rack his body. As they subside he looks around and noting the expressions of the others throws a quizzical look at Charles " Everyone else is alright yes?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

" Everyone else is alright yes?"

"More or less," Charles says grimly. "Except possibly M'sieur Eisenwald, but Kuzan will be able to take care of that, I think. Unfortunately, we've one more test yet to go...let's hope we can get through that with as little excitement as possible."

[yalenusveler]

Seeing the drama had subsided, at least for a moment, Andre walked over to Lia, offering her a hand up. "Although I understand fully if you want some time alone to process, might I suggest not having it next to the creepy statue that radiates wickedness?" The smile he was offering Lia was both warm, and concerned.

"He gets like this. You know this, I know this. After this is all over, Charles or Tomas or someone else with a cooler head will suss things out with him, and hopefully we can put the unpleasantness behind us. The stress gets to all of us in different ways." It sounded like Andre truly wanted to believe that on an emotional level, but on a rational one it was never that easy.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"It is a comfort," Lia replies to Andre's statement about the statue without looking up. "This is simple. It is evil. I should be smashing it into rubble, it is so evil. The only reason I do not, is because of our ... hosts. That is ... simple. Simpler than dealing with Kuzan and his mix of painful truths and miscomprehensions right now. Do you understand?"

Lia abruptly shudders. "I want my mask," she mumbles, voice distant and dreamy. "Breaking ... I want my mask. No. One more trial. Just one more." Again, Lia's shoulders jerk. "I'll be alright," she says tonelessly. "Just ... I do not want to accidentally scratch you if I take your hand, my nails are ... sharp."

Slowly, the Wizard draws her cane from under the straps of her pack, and levers herself to her feet. "I will be alright," she says, voice still toneless. "But he must not attack me. If he attacks me, one of us will surely die. I do not want that to happen."

If Andre looks into Lia's eyes, he may see ... a wasteland, where fury wages war with battered control and intense self-loathing. Just for a moment, then Lia blinks and her eyes are normal again. Or as normal as red, slit-pupilled eyes can get. The Wizard turns her head, eyes half-closed, and her locks spin a flimsy veil around her face once more. "Let's go," Lia mutters. "Let's see this through to the end, Andre ... brother."

[yalenusveler]

"I doubt it'll come to physical conflict. If it does...well, Cavendish will gloat, and then I'll be forced to do something utterly horrible. It'll be bad times for everyone." Andre said, a touch more flippant than the situation warranted, but it was out of trying to defuse the situation. As was his taking Lia's hand "So your fingernails are sharp. If I kept away from everything that might have the slightest chance of injury, I'd lead a terribly boring life. But you're right...let's go, and see this whole mess through."

He smiled a bit lopsidedly "So..Malice and myself...you see a future there, or should I not get my hopes up?" It was up to Lia how serious he was being, his vocal tone indicating it was either comedy..or a serious question. And he DID owe her a favor.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"You set no limits, there," Lia mumbles in reply, voice worried, head hanging low, hand limp in Andre's grip at first. Then, a little squeeze. "I will ... protect you, if I can. If I can. You are in danger, true, but do not fall into the dark, Andre. I will do what I can for you. I will be alright, I just ... I am tired. Yes?"

[Kaitou Kage]

It is probably a good thing Charles already sent Kuzan over the physical edge before Lia had a chance to speak because her words would've incited further fury from him. The priest that resurfaced looked different. He looked smaller, more drained than the others had ever seen him. Embers still smoldered in his eyes, but they were just embers. The wrong spark might still set the blaze burning again, but it was cooling for now.

He set Tomas down and after making sure the Lamordian was stable, he walked to the middle of the small mesa.

"Please gather around me in a circle," he said quietly. After the others assembled, he fell to his knees and bowed his head low enough for his chin to touch his chest. Hands clasped in his lap, he began muttering in a language few, if any here understood.

"Lord Varuna, mighty judge, I beg you overlook my sins and heal these around me. Guide and protect them as you do me."

A wave of healing energy erupted from Kuzan and spread out in all directions from him, encompassing each member of the group, whether he or she needed it or not. Even Lia felt the life's caress flow over her.

"Offer them your wisdom, Lord of All Oceans. Teach them to stay on the true course. Help them. No, help us survive this, help us endure. Help us see through the lies like the stars in your night sky, and help us understand what is true."

More divine energy washed out over the party, power that bolstered, but didn't heal.

"And finally, please forgive me. Please help me, I beg you. Guide me and help me stay on the proper path. I am brahmin, I should not act like this. I need to be an example to follow, not a fool to ridicule. Give me a bit of your temperance, help me learn to keep myself in control, and show me the wisdom of when to act."

No wave of holy power flowed from Kuzan this time. This time, he simply stood and, in a small voice, asked, "Who else needs healing? Come to me. And when do we start the next trial?"

So, here it is.

First, Mass Cure Light Wounds

3 (dice) + 10 (caster level) + 10 (augment) = 23 hp healed to everyone.

You folks'll have to tell me who is still hurt and needs patched up because I don't keep track of this stuff during the downtime.

Second, these two buffs are things Kuzan would normally cast shortly before the next challenge starts. I am only including them in this post in case I don't get a chance to post before the challenge starts. So please consider that for the durations, boss.

We have a Mass Aid, which gives everyone 1d8+9 temporary hp and a +1 morale bonus to all attack rolls and saves vs. fear. I don't know if the DM wants temporary hp rolled individually or just one lump sum, but I rolled a 7, which means everyone gets 16 temporary hp.

And a Divine Protection, which grants a +1 morale bonus to AC and a +1 morale bonus to saves. Doesn't stack with Conviction, so if Conviction runs out before DP does, then you still have a bonus to saves. The AC bonus is still there regardless since we don't have any running morale bonuses to AC. Also, it helps those of us that lost our Conviction in that last fight

That last prayer was just a little personal blessing, no magic.

[DocBeard]

Tomas has managed to get, for the record, about halfway up the cliffside's surface before Kuzan gets himself down to help Eisenwald back up. While flying, Tomas frowns a little, an awkward silence descending on the trip up.

"...it's fine." Tomas says after a long minute, "I assumed you were making sure Khalil didn't die, that's a little more important." Another pause. "You want to talk about it before we're back up there? I couldn't hear what you were all yelling about, but the yelling was kind of hard to miss. It's how I knew everyone was allright."

(OOC: Thanks, Kuzan. I rolled a 15, fiiinally, so I figured I'd use it.)

[lostboy]

Whatever that was Kuzan had just done, made Khalil feel a whole lot better, in fact better than he'd felt in at any point in the last few weeks. Ironic that he'd been contemplating a journey into the lands beyond not so long ago.

Wandering over to where Kuzan is sitting, Khalil places a hand firmly on his shoulder "it appears I am in your debt. I thank you for your most timely intervention, let us hope I do not make a habit of requiring such aid." The last is said with a slight smile and a wink.

Standing up he looks around at the gathered fey. "So, what task are we oblidged to undertake next for the amusement of this gathering?"

[NeoTiamat]

Statue of Beyrath, The Mazes, The Kermanevar, Sebua
June 24th, 761, 12:00 AM; Day 99 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The great players at this warped pageant...their actions were inscrutable as would be expected. But the hobs and boggles and commonfey milling about?

Their smiles he could only equate with hunger.

The glittering eyes of the Fey sparkled in the moonlight, a twice-hundred gems that shone with an unholy light. The Court of the Featherflute was beautiful, in its own way, eternal and unchanging, but there was something about the gathered courtiers of Faerie that set the hair on end. They never moved, they never blinked, nor made a single sound. They merely watched and smiled, watched....and smiled.

Standing up Khalil looks around at the gathered fey. "So, what task are we obliged to undertake next for the amusement of this gathering?"

"My principle has set a simple task for the Trial of the Soul." The great wolf at the Featherflute's feet growled. Pony-sized, the monstrosity was still somehow less eerie than its master, who sat and played the world's cares away. "You shall be bound to remain upon this outcropping of stone until the sun's rays crest the horizon. That is all."

"Should ever your feet leave the stones of this mesa for more than a heartbeat, prior to dawn, then you shall have forfeited the Trial, and the trapped souls shall remain as servants of our Court till the day the sun grows cold. However, the eight of you shall not be restrained, and may go upon your way unhindered by any denizen of Faerie. One of the Faerie shall be tasked with tempting your resolve, thrice before the night is done. I trust this is clear enough."

You weren't sure you liked the look in Atheling's eyes, though the great, yellow-green, insect-like orbs of the Featherflute betrayed not an emotion. They couldn't, really.

"My principle calls upon the eldest of us all, upon the nameless one, upon oracle and priestess and goddess alike. My principle calls upon she who has first claim to this land and its people. Let the Lorelei be the Champion of the Soul!"

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

"My principle declares these festivities to be concluded!"

Suddenly and without warning, the assembled Courtiers of Faerie raised their heads to the sky, gazing upon the brilliant, orb-shaped moon. It was as full as you had ever seen it, a fat, silver disc hanging low in the sky. And as you watched, something happened. First a single drop of blood appeared to stain the celestial sphere, bubbling up from beneath its surface. Then another, a scarlet mote upon a silver plate. And another, and another, and yet another.

The moon was bleeding.

Glistening drops of blood boiled forth, spreading over the lunar surface, engulfing it in a sea of crimson. The bloated, blood-red moon cast down its red light upon the gathering of Faerie. First from one throat, and then from the entire multitude, a sound arose, half-laughter and half-howling, a mad, shrieking, hungry sound, laden with violence and insanity and all the eternal power of the Fae. A beautiful sound and a terrible one.

All around you, the Faerie turned upon one another, with claw-like nails and silver swords. With a maddened bellow, a Faerie with bulging muscles and no eyes grappled with an eyeless worm the size of a crocodile. One beautiful, eternal courtier, a long-haired elf with eyes like golden orbs, ran through a dark-clad woman before him with a rapier of moonbeams. Andre caught a glimpse of Malice, the slim young woman bathed to the elbows in crimson, gouging out the eyes of a small, winged creature with a scarlet cap upon it's head. Catching sight of Andre, the Wind-Fey cast the scholar a charming smile, before popping the eyeball into her mouth like a grape and returning to the fray. Rabid beasts, the beautiful, eternal Fey cavorted in an orgy of blood and gore under the light of a bloated, bloody moon, under the gaze of a statue of a darkling god.

Only two islands of sanity remained in this blood-strewn madness. No one approached the mortals, not even the most battle-maddened Faerie. Even in their blood-frenzy, they were not so far gone as to forget their master's prohibition.

And then there was the Lorelei. Beautiful as ice, slightly tragic, more than slightly mad, the Ancient gave no sign of noticing the melee, of the rivers of gore. She merely watched the eight of you with unflinching eyes, a small, sad smile upon her lips.

Above this all, the Featherflute danced in the sky, playing a song that set the pulse racing, that made the breath come fast and shallow, that filled you with the desire to fight, to kill and rend and maim and slaughter and feast and die. It was a frenzied song, with notes that played just at the edge of your consciousness. But the Court of the Featherflute answered in full.

This mad song continued, even as the ranks of the Faerie began to thin, the stones of the canyon growing slick with the blood and entrails of the Fey. Then, with a single, inhuman note, the song reached a crescendo and all.... ended.



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

The valley, the rocky canyon where stood the Statue of Beyrath was empty. Not a soul, not a sound, not a living thing but the eight of you and one other. A simple, luminous-white moon hung in the sky above you, casting a benign light upon the gathering.

There was no blood.

Even the basin of the Statue of Beyrath was empty, and of the ill-fated bird that had started this mad day and night there was no sign. Somehow, even the Statue of the Faceless seemed less malevolent under this kindly moon. Alien, undoubtedly, but somehow not evil.

Only one sign convinced you that this was not some kind of fever-dream, that you had not gone mad in the Realms of Faerie. For the Lorelei still stood upon the cold stones, the sad little smile upon her lips, the crystal glass of crimson liquid held in her pale hand. Understanding, kindly eyes looked at you, pools of dark brown that seemed so very, very tragic. And so very, very mad.

[Kaitou Kage]

After healing the others, Kuzan sat opposite the statue of Beyrath, back turned toward it, staring out into the chasm beyond. He had his knees drawn up, and he rested his chin on them. His gold eyes betrayed the bitterness and self-loathing, but the fires had cooled and gone out completely. The tulpa remained quiet, hidden, a blissful silence to the priest. His conscious thought, however, wrestled with what he'd just done, and the fighting came punctuated with periods of cold, unfeeling numbness.

He took a breath, and another, closing his eyes. Maybe the night would just be over and behind him if he let himself rest.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"All things considered," Lia sighs, "this has been a very bad day." Following Kuzan's example, Lia sinks to the ground and folds her legs. "If no one minds," she says without looking up, "I am just ... going to sit here for a while. Temptation can come to me, if it insists on dealing with me at all. ... I note we were not told that we could not support one another against temptation. I humbly request that our more empathic members support those of us who threaten to falter. We are so close ...." With a weary sigh, Lia hangs her head and stuffs her hands up the opposite sleeves. "So tired," she whispers.