The Eye of Anubis: Book One

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"So that's a no on the tea then?"

"Indeed, that is 'a no on the tea'," Lia says, her voice slightly sarcastic.

"Seems kind of a strange attitude towards religion, though. Damned by one god, hop to the next? Wouldn't they keep in touch or something?"

"Not all deities who are part of the same pantheon are on the same side," Lia replies. "And there are plenty who are opposed to each other among various ... groups. One suspects the only thing a rival to the Akiri pantheon would say would be along the lines of a deific 'neener neener'. Monsieur al-Muharin has plenty of options to choose from if he wants to be safe from the wrath of Anubis ... which I do not believe we have incurred. I repeat: that thing on the roof was no avatar."

[DocBeard]

"Well I am ignorant of weightly spiritual matters." Tomas continues, relentlessly cheerful in the face of the veiled woman's sarcasm, sipping his tea, "I do know not to do busniess with a man who is stealing from the shop next door, even if the owner is a skinflint who lied about the quality of my blacksmithing in order to get a few of my coustomers, because no matter how much I hate my neighbor, what will hurt him will hurt me."

"That metaphore was less clever than it sounded in my head." Tomas puts on a look of false guile, resting his chin between his thumb and outstreched pointer finger, taking a moment to wink at Fassahd, "I am supposing it comes down to linguistic differences. I am very clever in Lamordian, my assurances."

"I think we can safely say, though, without scoffing at anyone, a sort of least common denominator of terror if you two will indulging me be, someone with an intimate familiarity with Anubis's religious practices does not wish us to take this trip." Tomas finishes his cup of tea, and looks a little dissapointed. "Needed more sugar. Also, they believe that we, or at least our leaders, are aware of more about this trip than they claim to be, and have shown a preference for using Anubian...paraphinalia to enforce their wishes. So, I'd say that Herr Fassahd's knowledge of the religious practice would be, at least, useful in knowing how our enemy will try to kill us: if someone makes it look like a terrible curse destroyed the expadition then it does not matter if men put it into motion, because it shall look like Anubis took his due, no?"

[NeoTiamat]

Fassahd sent Lia a sickly smile. "I am sorry, Effendi, but to leave Anubis I cannot. The fate of the apostate is such to dwarf the torments of an honest robber, and Anubis always collects his due, for he weighs the soul upon death."

The Akiri chuckled a bit morbidly. "Would that I considered this earlier, but the will of the divine means little when one's belly is empty and one's prospects scant."

It was at this point that the rest of the Expedition returned. Samael stopped pacing long enough to greet them with a flamboyant bow.

"Ah, the conquering heroes return! Find out anything useful? We were just trying to figure out what was attacking us. So far we've got sand construct, werejackal, Avatar of Anubis, or people imitating any of the above." Samael grinned unabashedly.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"And Anubis is considered to be fair and evenhanded, yes?" Lia says, placing one gloved, soot- and wine-stained hand on Fassahd's shoulder. "Not the type, for instance, to kill a man just to warn others. I repeat again: that was not an avatar of the weigher of the hearts of the dead. If anyone is in danger of incurring Anubis' wrath, I would expect it to be the ones who defiled his image and used it to instil terror in others. Think about that."

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Ah, the conquering heroes return! Find out anything useful? We were just trying to figure out what was attacking us. So far we've got sand construct, werejackal, Avatar of Anubis, or people imitating any of the above." Samael grinned unabashedly.

"All sound reasonable to me, and, in fact, I think none are mutually exclusive," Charles replies. "It could, after all, be a were-jackal representing Anubis and controlling a sand-puppet." Charles pauses briefly, as if to reflect on how truly awful this semi-inadvertant pun really is, then continues, "We've conquered nothing, I'm afraid, and learned only a little. Although perhaps I should speak only for myself; my companions may have seen further into this mare's nest than I have myself. I would like to suggest that this is too public a place, and too full of persons of potentially conflicting interests, to make a good place for us to discuss this matter in the depth it deserves; if we have further examinations of the victim or the scene to make, let us make them now and then retire to some more private place to consider what we have learned, and leave the gendarmerie to their business. Does that seem advisable to the company?" His mild blue eyes scan the group, looking for signs of dissent.

[steveflam]

Allikhain ran a hand through her long black hair. Charles does have a point. We should be discussing this at the Inn privately.

Nodding to Charles she spoke "Yes. I'm agreeable to retiring to the Inn as well. Let's leave the Gendarmes" she spit "go about their investigation."

Let those incompetent baboons bumble along and step over their own feet, I might add. In my experience most are either paid off or morons anyways


Ulsaon listened to everyone speak then hid a smile at Allikhain's attitude towards the Gendarmes. That one will never change. I had better better get her mind from there.

"So, Allikhain find anything out?"

"Hmmm?... Oh just what everyone has said mostly" Allikhain replied. She realised what Ulsaon was doing and narrowed her eyes slightly. One of these days. It might be better I change my attitude for now lest i get in trouble.

"Oh I just told everyone in the room what happened so I wouldn't have to repeat myself thirty times give or take. Charles is right. We need to get out of here. I'm positive with most of our party being Professors and intellectuals we'll solve this much quicker than the Gendarmes will."

Ulsaon merely nods at Allikhain then to Charles in agreement.

[The Whistler]

"Shall we, gentlemen?" he says, stepping toward the others.

"Certainly."

Otto rejoined the rest of the group with the others, listening intently through Allikhain's account of her encounter with Lancaster and Samael's and Charles' discourses on were-avatars and sand-jackals--and biting back the phrase "There has to be a reasonable explanation for all this" at least five times:

There's anything you've learned for certain, it's that there *isn't* always a reasonable explanation for things; that's why you're here. Learn what you can, and help out to the best of your ablility--that's all you can do, and it's all you need to do.

"...if we have further examinations of the victim or the scene to make, let us make them now and then retire to some more private place to consider what we have learned, and leave the gendarmerie to their business. Does that seem advisable to the company?"

"I am for seconding that idea." The gunsmith stepped forward, half-raising a hand. "At this point, I am simply all for sitting down and putting all of our information in one place; it is not until then that we can piece it together, after all. What happened this night was tragic, true, and I have no desire for a repetition of anything like it, but we are good people, and I am sure that if we put our heads together we can make some sense of it at least."

His smile had returned, at least a little, by the end of the speech. Y'know, that's pretty legitimate--some of these guys may be a little shady, but they do seem like solid company overall. Think we can make some headway on this mess, in any case.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Studying the body may not be an option," Lia remarks. "The gendarmerie just took it away. Unless you can persuade them to give you access to it, that avenue of investigation seems to be closed."
She pauses briefly, seeming to consider. "I believe it might be prudent to come to an agreement amongst ourselves," she says, "before we set off on our journey into what is proving to be peril. I assume most of us are unfamiliar with the others, so we should, perhaps, bind ourselves together more closely, so as to prevent others from ripping us apart one by one."

[DocBeard]

"Should I blush?" Tomas asides, in the traditional manner of men the multiverse over.

"What did you have in mind?" He then adds, standing up when the new faces enter the room. "Some sort of contract?"

[NeoTiamat]

"All well and good, but our meek mathematician has a good idea." Samael stopped his pacing. "Edmund, would you see to it the group gets back to the inn in one place?"

"You're the boss." Harris still had his greatsword strapped to his back, an odd sight with his reasonably stylish reception clothing.

"Wonderful. I've a few people I want to talk to, see if I can finagle the gendarmerie's preliminary report. And has anyone seen Carter or Devereux?"

"They decided to patrol the outside of the building for a bit." Guy volunteered. Loup was sitting by his side, looking all in all quite satisfied with the night. There had been excitement, lots of new smells and people, a chance to show off how well-trained he was, and even, (Loup's mouth watered at the memory) sausages-in-a-croissants. A few bruised ribs notwithstanding, a successful night.

"Will you be alright coming back alone?" Lily's pen stopped its scritch-scritching as she looked at Samael.

"I'll be fine." The Borcan flashed a quick grin. "And someone corral the wayward academics before you leave, alright?"

At this point the party broke up.

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


You found Carter and Devereux just outside the Guignol Reception Hall.

Asleep.

Dragged under some bushes.

You probably would've passed them entirely if not for Loup, who started snuffling around a bush and refused Guy's increasingly imperious Hiers. Finally the ex-militiaman went to drag his overgrown wolfhound back, and it was at that point the slumbering academics were discovered.

In short order, Professors Carter and Devereux were dragged from beneath their shrubbery canopy, and a brief application of smelling salts by Lily woke them up.

"We were walking" Carter started to speak, a little muzzily, after about five people asked him what happened. "Ready to head back, when suddenly everything went dark."

"Do you remember anything else?" Harris asked.

"Er... I could've sworn I saw a yellow eyes for a moment." Devereux tried in vain to brush himself off after his close encounter with the soil. Carter nodded in agreement. "In the flowerbeds, er...maybe three feet off the ground?"

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Er... I could've sworn I saw a yellow eyes for a moment." Devereux tried in vain to brush himself off after his close encounter with the soil. Carter nodded in agreement. "In the flowerbeds, er...maybe three feet off the ground?"

"Was anything of yours taken?" Charles asks immediately. "Watch, weapons...what about that wood sliver you had, Professor Carter, that we found in the garden?" Offering a large white hankerchief to the two academics as they attempt to remove some of the dirt from their clothes, he continues, "This night is becoming stranger by the minute; our assailant on the roof certainly showed every sign of lethal intent, and yet the two of you were merely deposited beneath a bush when you were helpless. Does it mean they were not associated with each other? That seems almost past belief, really."

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"What did you have in mind?" He then adds, standing up when the new faces enter the room. "Some sort of contract?"

"Why not?" Lia calmly replies to the question as the group exits Guignol Hall. "An agreement to stand together and not take suggestions from outsiders that we undermine one another. An agreement to look out for each other's wellbeing for the duration of this expedition. It does not seem like a bad idea to me."

Lia is clearly taken aback at the discovery of professors Carter and Devereux, but stays silent initially and keeps her distance from the two of them.

"This night is becoming stranger by the minute; our assailant on the roof certainly showed every sign of lethal intent, and yet the two of you were merely deposited beneath a bush when you were helpless. Does it mean they were not associated with each other? That seems almost past belief, really."

"Perhaps ..." Lia slowly starts to say, "the unthinkable is the truth, and there were various people, representing different interests, hiding in the shrubbery tonight. Or else the professors were never the target of the mysterious warnings and the violence ... and the rest of us were.
Assaulting two well-known academics could hurt the position of various people, after all, if word got out. Doing in a group of grad students and -- forgive me -- hirelings? That would go practically unnoticed in high society." The last two words come out with considerable venom.

[NeoTiamat]

"Thank you Charles." Carter took the handkerchief to wipe his face. Turning to Lia he spoke. "I don't think it would go as unnoticed as all that, Lia, not after you've just been feted by the University."

"As for anything stolen..." Professor Carter checked his pockets. "Watch here, pistol too... Damnation!... The wood sliver is gone. Nothing else, far as I can tell."

"Er... excuse me." Devereux tried to get the gathering's attention. Gingerly, he rolled up his right sleeve. About halfway up his forearm was a small, bleeding wound. Someone had very precisely punctured a vein in his arm.

Slowly, Carter rolled up his sleeve also. On his right arm was an identical wound.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"The university's Ezran chapel," Lia says in a tone that brooks no argument. "Now. Even if this was done with an injection needle, those wounds need to be checked for infection by a healer, and the clerics qualify. And I am sure I need not mention what else could have punctured human flesh in search of blood."

[DocBeard]

"Herr Professor!" Tomas looks horrified at the wounds, looking back to Lia and giving the Mordenter a nod, trying to keep the sudden welling up of guilt and shame down. He's supposed to be /protecting/ this man...it's in, you know, the graduate student code of honor or something.

"Let me escourt you two, please." Tomas adds, gently taking both men by their good arms. "I'm so sorry, Professor, with the ruccus and all I was distracted, I should have been keeping a better eye on you..."