Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 11, 2016 0:57:02 GMT -6
The battle was reaching it's end stage, with the male mummy being finished off by the assault rifle, and the female one one soon followed after getting hit by Kate's support fire. The male mummy was shredded up by the assault rifle, the bullets forcing it away as it futilely attempts to charge at the German, before its body suffered too much damage and collapses. The female one was hit right on the skull by the sniper shot, knocking it down for Dieter to finish up. Now that the two undead are gone, only the Ammit and the Jackal remains.
Now the biggest problem is the Ammit, it was great that Gedeon managed to pull off a powerful attack, but unfortunately they were underground and the lightning bolt did not do nearly as much damage as he would have hoped. It did however killed the weaker Jackal, making the Ammit the only target left. Injured, but still alive, she charges forward and pins down the unarmed mage, and began to punch and claw at his face similar to a regular street fight. Now the intense weight difference would make it extremely difficult if not impossible to get free, and the force coming down at his face would be at the level of a sledgehammer. It's a good thing he's still got his stoneskin activated, or else it would definitely do more than just hurting.
Though before she could get him killed, she was filled with lead from both front and back as a result from the two members in the group with firearms, and finally ending the beast's life in a burst of particles. Finally, after what seemed forever, the battle has ended with them as the victor. Not only that, none of them have died, yet, so it was a job well done indeed.
After witnessing the death of the last monster, Kate drops the rifle and sits down in exhaustion, couldn't believe that they have survived such a tough battle. After a few moments she pulls herself back up, and heads over to Gedeon to check how he's doing after getting mounted by the goddess. There's also the problem of Tamara, Dieter, and her own injuries to deal with, and they don't really have much(if any) medical supplies here. At most Kate can do right now is use her water bottle to wash the wounds, and try to patch them up with cloth.
The two girls were lacking quite a bit of the clothes they came in, being forced to use much of their clothes for medical purpose. She will of course, slap the men if they were caught staring at either one of them, hopefully they're enough of a gentleman to not have to resort to that.
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With the monsters defeated, the blocked passages now opens up, allowing the group to advance when they are ready. The next room seems quite different from the others, for one it looks like a resting room, at least there's nothing that seems dangerous here. There is a flowing water fountain on the side, with clear water that suggests it's a clean source. There's no beds or sofas here, but a few stone stools seems to exist for people to rest on. Plant pots are hanged over the room, somehow alive even though there are no natural sunlight in the room.
There's a sign on the side that Kate could read, explaining that it is a room for the victors of the trials to rest, and wait for the sacred priests to meet them. That said, with the ruin being as old as it is, it's highly, highly unlikely you'll meet any priests here, but at least it seems to be a safer location to rest at than in the trial rooms.
However there is a few things that's not normal in the room, not even a bit... and that is the dozens of corpses laying around the room, or more like being piled up on the side. Bullet holes are all over the place, suggesting a fierce fire fight has been carried out here, there are even marks of a small explosion near a closed door in the back of the room. The door itself is seat tight, without any signs of special methods to open it, at least nothing is spotted on first sight. There are blood in different places around the room, suggesting that the bodies had been moved from their original place and got piled up at one place.
On closer inspection the pile of bodies seems to be shaking a bit, it could be something dangerous to leave alone, or it could be of some other reasons. If they would look at the corpses, they would find the cause of death to mostly be them being hit by some sort of object and have their bones crushed, or are slashed by sharp claws of some sort. Some also turned purple, suggesting the possibility of poison being involved in some of their deaths. It'll be up to the group to decide what they want to do here, to deal with the problem before it happens, or to check it out themselves.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 11, 2016 1:49:07 GMT -6
Half the clip down, for over half of the enemy's forces. Not a bad trade. The ammit was still going though, and that was a huge problem. It kept getting more troubling. His eyes went wide as the two IM natives worked in tandem with their spells, this dual-casting ending with Gedeon hurling his spear at the goddess to summon down lightning on top of it. When the light show had ended, to his chagrin, the beast was still alive. Worse, the mage was now unarmed. Worst, the angry chimera tackled him and started to rip into him like a dog into a steak.
"Gedeon!" He called out in belated warning. Without a moment's hesitation, he poured the rest of his bullets into the creature's head and neck. The wall behind quickly found itself painted with splots of red and pink from the bullets punching into the avatar's leathery hide. Around him his allies must have been doing the same, but he couldn't tell, tunnel vision had taken him. By the time the gun clicked on an empty magazine, the critter collapsed into a cloud of particles. Just like that, it was over, and they stood in an empty hallway.
Dieter tore the bloodied cloth from his mouth and threw it aside, taking a breath of fresh air once the toxic vapors had cleared. Before doing anything else, he reloaded in preparation for more unexpected encounters. From there, he unclipped the first aid kit from the back of his harness and tossed it underhand to Kate.
"There, use that and see to the wounded. If anything remains, I'll use it on myself. Otherwise, I think the rest of you need it more." The spear bearer told her. He was a pretty good medic himself, but as the only fighter left in decent shape, it'd be better for him to provide cover while someone else patched up their various aches and pains. So he did that, guarding the way deeper into the tomb while James's secretary got to work. The medkit was a standard issue type for a soldier. It wasn't extremely well stocked, but it'd have enough to see to the group if she stretched things out a little. If nothing else, they'd be able to patch themselves up with something better than rags, and clean wounds with something that actually had antiseptic properties. Some painkillers were kept in there as well, but nothing that'd really be up to the level of beating Tamara took. They'd definitely want to see a real doctor when they got out of here, but that would hold them for the time being.
"We should keep moving. Let us hope that was the end of the trials. I don't think that we have very much more in us to tackle another."
Saying that, once they had caught their breath, he would lead them on again.
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The 'rest room' made the German wary despite the serenity of the chamber. If the plants weren't enough cause for concern, the dead bodies and other remnants of battle would certainly pique anyone's interest. Dieter pointed both out immediately upon entering. The fact that the corpses seemed to be quivering made the concern even greater.
"I don't like it." The man said. It was clear he was thinking that even before voicing it, but he did so regardless. Once again he was using his spear, having taken that back out as his leading weapon when they started through the scale room post-battle.
"Something intelligent came through here, or at least something with a hoarder's instincts. Look how these bodies are arranged, this was purposefully done. Judging from the damage here, whatever did this must be strong, that or these men were all poor shots." The occultist motioned to the sealed door. "At a glance, I would venture that it came from there, or a hidden wall somewhere else in the room. It looks like our predecessors didn't have much luck in finding a way to move forward. If this is the way we must go, let us hope we have more success."
The door drew his eye as was stated earlier, so did the fact there appeared to be no way to open it. He ran his fingers along it and the wall nearby in hopes of finding a catch. No luck during his initial search, but it was hardly all-inclusive. He turned back to the group. Along the way he stopped at the water, gazing at its clear surface. He didn't risk drinking it, but he did rip another strip of cloth from his baggy shirt and wet it with the substance before bringing it to his nose to gingerly sniff. If it didn't smell like poison or chemicals, this would be tied around his face to act as a fresh barrier against airborne poisons. Considering several of those bodies looked like they suffocated or died from something they inhaled, this was still a real concern. "We should search the room and try to find a way to open this door. Stay close and watch each others' backs. And be careful around those bodies, they seem to move more as we approach them."
Consequently, the bodies were what he checked first. They looked suspicious, so better than they figure out what the story here was ahead of time. He didn't touch them by hand of course, instead he used his spear to move them around and see what was beneath them. In doing so, he tried to have at least some respect for the dead while still being safe. His initial concerns were that they'd either come to life, or that something was hiding in or amongst the carcasses, so hopefully some poking would draw any assailants out. While searching he found another first aid kit much like his own on one of the dead robbers. With a surprising amount of finesse, he cut the strap holding it to the dead man's belt, balanced it on his spear, and lightly tossed it to Kate with a flick of the arm.
Also of great interest amongst the dead were a pair of grenades, which he tugged out with his weapon much more carefully. "Something with a little spice to it. This could be useful. I think these must be what they used to try and break open the door. Good to note for when we have to leave, these raiders possess some heavy equipment. Yet, not heavy enough to break down that barrier."
Whatever else he found, he stayed well back from the pile and kept his eyes upon it. For that reason, he let the other three do the real heavy duty hunting on how to proceed. Maybe Kate would know. Meanwhile, he asked to use the talents of one of the others.
"Tamara, can you sense much magic in this room? I suspect that the plants are kept alive by supernatural means, but what I'm more curious to is the door and the bodies. Perhaps you could pinpoint what exactly is the matter with both?" Gerhardt inquired.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 12, 2016 0:47:40 GMT -6
Gedeon soon felt that one as the force of the attack hit him regardless as he used his judgment bolt. As the beast slowly went down he felt being pushed back hard as he felt the Ammit begin to claw him. His Stone skin cracks began to grow and slowly his armor was coming off again and again. Once his armor was gone the bitch of a goddess was able to finish him off, now his whole body was exposed and ready to out right kill him. Gedeon saw as the bullets began to pound the Ammit full of holes and would soon kill the beast.
As the battle came to an end Gedeon who was still on the floor breathing heavily, finally was able to relax as he soon asks everyone, "Everyone alive?"
Of course that was going to be obvious but he just wanted to make sure everyone was still conscious and still able to move about.
"No we all died, this is heaven, yes Gedeon we are alive. You almost got crushed right now....", Tamara soon stated in a sarcastic way from her own spot still leaning on the wall.
Gedeon soon responds, "Right... right..."
Getting slowly up he finally got himself stabilized as he looked around the room first to Dieter which he nodded toward, then when he was moving toward Tamara his mouth almost fell to the floor figuratively.
"Where is your shirt?!", Gedeon soon shouted but as he turned his head away from her he soon saw Kate and notice even less on her which he soon adds, "You know I don't want to know."
Gedeon prompted to turn his head quickly on what he just saw, being still young his reaction was quite natural. Regardless now was not the time and soon headed toward Tamara which he soon helped her up from her spot.
"You better not touch me in any dangerous spots.", Tamara whispered into Gedeon's ear which he responds, "I wouldn't think of it."
As he helped Tamara through the next set of the room at first they both would give off a relieving sigh thinking they made it somewhere, but as they moved in Gedeon began to take note the stains and the large group of bodies piled in a single area.
"Great... just great..", Gedeon soon commented as Dieter made a note on what they were seeing.
Gedeon helped Tamara near a Stone stool as he laid her down slowly as he now began to take a good look at the area near here. As He took a look he soon turned to the water as he went to his own bag he still had and opened it to reveal a canteen. With Dieter looking around and Kate helping he now made his full attention on Tamara.
"Next time, don't pass out again.", Gedeon reprimanded his younger charge as he soon took the canteen and fill it with the water.
Tamara was quiet the entire time as she didn't reply and only left silence which made Gedeon's eye brow raise at this.
"Your not complaining? Well this is a first.", Gedeon soon stated as he soon took a cloth and put water on it to begin cleaning his own wounds with the water in hopes to stop an infection.
He may be from another world but infection was still possible with anyone in the world regardless who they were. After he was done he soon turns to Tamara again as she was silent who didn't talk, she didn't even bother to cover herself in shame in front of him which was out of character with her.
"Hey what is wrong?", Gedeon then asked as Tamara simply replies, "Its... its nothing..."
Gedeon was about to say more only for Dieter's own question about the mana which Tamara soon nods and began to sense the area around them. Of course if she picked it up it would come to her as she suddenly felt it.
"Yes, under the corpses its coming from under them.", Tamara soon stated as she pointed toward it.
That alone didn't sound good, Gedeon soon got up and soon saw an assault rifle on the ground and soon he grabs it. Though he prefers his spear he was already exhausted and a gun would be easier to use now. As he did so he soon checked it and then soon saw it was ready. Gedeon's head went up to Dieter and then asks, "Want to check or we shouldn't?"
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Rabite
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Hey, look over here.
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Post by Rabite on Mar 12, 2016 2:58:59 GMT -6
The door itself seems pretty durable, even the explosions that managed to hit it did not do much more than chipping off the surface. That said, frag grenades aren't exactly C4, their explosive power is not enough to break down a fortified wall anyways.
The pile of corpses continues to shake, more so as Dieter pushes away some of the body, and suddenly he could see a pair of green glowing eyes in the pile staring upwards. Pushing away a few more corpses would reveal that it was actually not an enemy, but James' Jiangshi that he had summoned in their last journey.
"Mei Mei! You're ok!"
It looks like that Kate knew about Mei Mei, and proceed to help pull her out of the pile of corpses. Though the group might not know right now, but the pile of corpses was actually an attempt to weight down the Jiangshi, something done by the surviving grave diggers. The damages in the room was actually caused by their battle with Mei Mei, who has the power to actually punch through their flesh bodies and kill them with a short amount of time. The poison, is explained if you look at her claws, which have an eerie purplish glow, showing that she have the ability to relay poisonous agent into enemies that she hit. Surprisingly, even though she had fought those men, there's no bullet holes on her body, there are however bullets that pierced through the clothes and hat that she wears, but are stuck on her when they fail to pierce through the tough undead.
She had evolved quite a bit since they have left met her, gaining more abilities to both attack and defend. She seems less stiffed as before, but it seems it's still not enough for her to walk or stand up, considering she's still laying there on the ground staring at the ceiling.
"Kate."
"What happened to you? Are you hurt? Where's James?"
Looks like the Chinese Vampire had gained vocal abilities, if only at a simple level. However this is still a great improvement over your normal undead that just moans and grunts when you attempt to talk to them.
"Master. Inside. Enemies. Fight. Mei. Mei."
Well, looks like James would be in the next room, but the door is blocked, how are they going to open it? They'll need a lot more physical strength to crack open something like that. Their answer is received when Kate lifts Mei Mei back up to her feet, and she begins to hop over to the door.
"Punch. Grenade. Break."
".....? Punch grenades to break the wall...?"
Whatever she meant, it's not something the rest of them could do, so Kate digs up some frag grenades just like Dieter did and hands one to Mei Mei. The Jiangshi proceeds to throw the grenade forward without pulling the pin, and punch it right into the stone gate, creating a small hole with the grenade inside. The act causes the grenade to explode, but it does so inside the wall, cracking the door at the location that she had punched the explosives into. The explosion, surprisingly did not do damage to her, in fact it was what knocked her on the floor in the first place with little damage to her.
While Kate just stares at her in surprise, Mei Mei repeats the attack several times until the entire gate is filled with cracks. She then jumps back a bit, moving herself into a preparation stance, before delivering a straight punch that crushes the damaged parts of the gate. The now destroyed gate crumbles into small stones and dust, probably getting everyone covered in ancient era sand too, but at least their path is cleared.
"Master."
"Wait, Mei Mei!"
Without waiting for the rest of the group, Mei Mei begins to jump her way through the entrance, and Kate was forced to follow her before they lose sight of her.
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After heading through the hall, they finally arrive at the last room of this ruins. It is the largest, most well decorated room so far, with a series of dishes with burning ashes along the path upwards to short flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs is a golden casket, similar to the ones that the mummies came out from, but this one is opened already. On closer inspection the group would find their target, James is laying inside the casket, not moving. In his hands is a large, golden cover tome, and a giant gem the size of a palm, and could be the heirloom that Rashidi had mentioned. Standing beside him is a man that is pitch black, unlike anything that a human would have, darker in tone than even the most dark skinned race.
The man was not wearing any upper clothing, with only a skirt like item known as the "shendyt" on his lower body, and a disk like necklace jewelry known as the "gorgerine" around his neck. He holds a long staff that branches out slightly at the bottom, with a pick like top. On his other hand is an Ankh, black in color just like its owner. The man stares at the group with interest, it's been so long since someone had successfully finish the trials... save for the man beside him.
"I congratulate all of you for successfully passing the three trials. You may have a lot of questions for me, but I'm believe you are here for this wise man... are you not?"
"James!"
With a wave of his staff, the casket that was formerly on top of the stairs, suddenly appears at the bottom. Kate and Mei Mei runs(jumps) over to him to examine his conditions. It looks like the professor don't have any noticeable wounds, however he's clearly in a state of dehydration, haven't been able to get any water or food since he used up his supplies. Kate takes her water bottle and try to get her employer to have some fluid down his throat, it seems to work and got him to cough a bit, but he's not awake yet. It'll take sometime before he recovers to the point where he regains consciousness, so they won't be able to leave yet unless they lift him out.
Kate was quite relieved to see the professor still alive, and hopefully they would all get to stay that way by the time they return. That said he's not awake yet, so she looks at him in worry. Mei Mei just stood there, not saying anything, but she does share a somewhat similar worried look.
"Now that is done, let us introduce ourselves. I am Anubis, known to you mortals as the God of Funerals and Death, and you are standing in one of my shrines."
Strangely, Anubis looks human rather than the jackal head that he tends to be pictured as. However this is still possible, there are a few rare founding where he is portrayed as completely human.
"Brave warriors that succeeded in my trials, I shall reward you. What is it that you seek? Wealth? Knowledge? Strength? Or perhaps you want some answers to how your souls had been weighted? Let me hear what you have to say, it is only fair of me to hear you out after such journey."
The dark man then sits down on a throne that appears right where the casket was placed at, looking down at the group and waiting for their wishes and questions. Of course, it would be great if they show respect to the God, this IS his shrine and he could easily kill everyone with a blink of an eye.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 12, 2016 3:21:06 GMT -6
Green eyes appearing in the corpse pile caused the explorer to jump from his semi-relaxed state into a battle stance with his spear held in his hands. This turned out to be unnecessary, because he recognized what it was that appeared from the carcases once more than just the eyes were exposed.
"Ah, the doctor's vampire servant. Interesting." He mused, standing at ease once again.
He watched the exchange between it and Kate, only mildly surprised that they knew each other. More surprising was the fact James had kept it at all. Don't those eat qi? He thought that was what he recalled. A troubling habit to have for a servant, but it seemed he made it work. What's more, it also had a way to open the door. Well, sort of. Dieter took cover behind the fountain when that thing started to handle grenades, and he didn't poke back up until after the explosion and subsequent racket of stone being broken had ended.
"I'm very glad that is on our side," was said to Gedeon while James's pair of assistants ran through the busted-open doorway. He nudged the man beside him before breaking into a brisk stride to put him on their heels. "Let's go, there might be more trouble ahead."
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His sprint slowly tapered off as they began to pass lit fires and other forms of adornment. He glanced upwards at the short flight of stairs, eying first the gilded casket and second the dark-skinned man beside it. Gerhardt had met very many types of people, yet this one looked wholly unique. Considering the nature of this temple and the things they had seen prior, guessing that this being wasn't human wasn't a foreign idea. It was also one that happened out to be correct, as the man turned and introduced himself a moment later.
The sarcophagus teleporting to the bottom of the stairs made him flinch just a little, but he quickly composed himself and moved to stand beside the box so that he could look inside. The doctor appeared to be alive, and Miss Casimir was seeing to getting him back into shape. What put him down in the first place was a question still on his mind, but likely it was also one that she would ask.
"You have a fine temple here, a true work of great masons. Magicians too, I think." Dieter bowed to the deity while saying this. His own introduction came after, "I am Dieter Gerhardt. It is an honor, truly."
He would let the rest introduce themselves, though he did once again nudge Mr. Salvator to clue him in that this was one of those times where they don't want to do anything dumb. Particularly when he already had one god mad at him, they didn't need another. Instead he sought to take this man up on his offer in hopes of finally getting to the bottom of what caused this curse.
"I would like knowledge, yes. An answer to a question more specifically. There is a town not far from here, El-Rashda. Followers of yours, as I understand it, live there. They've been suffering under a curse, the man in this coffin here had came to help solve it, as have we once he did not return. It threatens their future existence, so it is quite a grave affliction as you can imagine. My question would be this: What is the story behind this curse, who is responsible for it, and how can we break it?"
Of course, he noticed the gem in the professor's hand. That might be the key they were told to look out for, but he didn't move to take it just yet. For one it might be rude to do, making it seem like they cared more about the loot than the man's life. That wasn't true, naturally. Second, there might be more to the story they didn't know about yet. Safer to ask and wait and see what they got back for it. Alas, a chance like this to receive a god's rewards and it was being spent on work. Perhaps he really had changed from the man in those memories? At a glance one would surely think him the type to ask for power or something of the sort.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 13, 2016 1:26:59 GMT -6
Gedeon prepared himself for a fight as he raised his assault rifle which looked to be in russian origin up. As Dieter moved one body after another he was feeling like a silent danger could be felt as he awaited on what was under the bodies. As the final body part was moved Gedeon was ready to fire only to finally see that was under and first thing Gedeon manage to say, "What? James' familiar?"
Of course as it was soon confirmed the vampire coming up he notice was the same as before during the cruise ship which he soon put down his rifle. As soon as he heard Mei Mei speak Tamara from afar soon says, "Wait she can now talk? Intriguing and some progress as well."
Gedeon soon as he relaxed went back toward Tamara, with the danger now gone he was soon looked around and now figured out what occurred. It made sense now why there was a fire fight here in a area of so called rest. It seemed the gravediggers ran into James and Mei Mei on whatever they were doing possibly even followed him or even forced him to do this trial. Then it makes sense maybe James had a plan to turn this against them which made him soon nod. The only issue on the amount of time that passed which made no sense at all which made Gedeon ponder why. As soon as he turned to hear about Grenade Punch Gedeon somewhat understood in a way which he soon comments, "Oh, this is going to b-"
Soon as Mei Mei made a hole and Kate followed Gedeon only sighs at the result as he saw Tamara half agape at the result before her.
"Wh, wha, what just happened?", Tamara soon mutters in front of him.
"Trouble? More like I would be afraid if the Vampire starts thinking for her self. Then we would be totally screwed.", Gedeon soon stated as he helped Tamara up to follow the Vampire and Kate to the other side where supposedly James was.
When arriving Gedeon and Tamara were greeted with a room so decorated it only gave Gedeon a cold feeling on what to expect next which itself made him dread it further. As they continued forward they would notice a golden casket and a man so dark it only meant one thing and first thing out of Gedeon mouth was. "I knew it."
Of course with this being a Temple toward honoring Anubis it explained why it would suddenly come to life. It was looking it was no portal this time which made it look like it had to be a god themselves. It was only explanation of everything was working. If not a portal it must of been something else which the prospect low it meant something must of happened here to force a god to appear before us.
"Your trial? Anubis?", Tamara soon spoke out in awe and with a Gedeon soon telling her, "Tamara its just a god, though normally they would just grab you if they wished to talk to you but now makes me wonder about everything."
Tamara soon soon turned her head away from Gedeon on she was not used to this kind of thing just yet. As for Gedeon he knew a few gods and goddesses since he started on the Path of a Mage Knight though this situation Gedeon didn't hope Anubis knew of how much Hathor disliked him. After all she was the nice goddess, Anubis not so much. As now Kate with Mei Mei Gedeon had his own question on that tome which was stated to be the thing that belonged to the town. He held his tongue on sole fact they needed answers about this entire situation but in Gedeon's mind something truly must be up behind the scenes. He had already suspicions since the grave robbers didn't exactly attack them and stated they were guests. If they truly were grave robbers and plundering the ruins without much sway they could of easily taken over the town on how well they were armed and how well they worked. In His own head he needed confirmations and more information to confirm a few of his own thoughts. Letting Dieter do all the talking was the best option so he awaited Anubis' answer.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 13, 2016 1:52:36 GMT -6
"I must say it is good that there are still mortals that appreciate such work, this shrine took the efforts of thousands to be built. Although I have not ordered them to do so, it would be unrighteous for myself or anyone else to disrespect it like those men that attempts to rob it. I was a bit unhappy at what the lifeless being over there did to the door to this room, but it was necessary so I will not say anymore."
He did however, with a wave of his staff, repaired the broken door back as if nothing had happened to it. The door then opens up automatically, so that the group won't think that they are trapped in here. It was actually an emergency door that James managed to activate while he was inside, designed to keep out intruders from entering the sacred room. Humans of the ancient time obviously did not have the power to destroy a wall like that, so it had been an effective defense mechanic at protecting the room for thousands of years.
"If it is knowledge that you ask, then it shall be knowledge that I grant. El-Rashda is indeed a town built by my followers, and I know plenty of their conditions. However in modern times it will be out of place for me or any other powerful divine beings to appear, humans have already taken the necessary steps forward, all grown up so to say. They no longer have to rely on us as their guardians to watch over them, however it does not necessary mean we have abandoned them. We still give them our blessings from time to time, and along with that, judgement to those that are deem unworthy. The people in El-Rashda are one of them, they have angered another divine being, and as such are receiving punishment for it."
He points at the gem in James' hand, which looks exactly like the gem that Rashidi have shown them, a large cats eye stone that is greenish in color.
"They are facing the punishment of Bastet, the daughter of Ra, and my great-grandaunt."
Bastet is the Goddess of Warfare, cats, family, and love along with several other subjects. The sister of Sekhmet and Hathor, she is perceived as a woman with the head of a cat, and had strong roots in the Egyptian culture. If she is the one responsible then it does explain the claw marks, but what about the holes? Anubis did not make any mention of that, and does not seem to do so, perhaps it is related to some private issues?
"And yes young mage, in a way something did happen that caused me to come and take a look at the shrine."
Although Gedeon did not speak about the issue, the god seems to have read his mind, and could give him an answer even though he did not ask of it.
"This shrine, used to be in the world that your people call the Imaginary Macrosm, and had shifted over to this world. It was a rare happening, but I cannot just leave it here abandoned and unclaimed, so I have came to regain control of it. I did encounter a bit of problem in forms of those other mortals with those lead firing weapons, but my loyal followers and well designed shrine were able to deal with them just fine."
Which could explain why some of the gravediggers had died, they fell victims to the traps and monsters that are in the shrine, and not all of them died fighting James and Mei Mei.
"Any other questions? The wise mortal here will wake up soon, so I'll give you one more opportunity to find your answers, before I send you off with a small parting gift."
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 13, 2016 2:31:55 GMT -6
Dieter nodded, and wrote down this new information in his notebook as well. Luckily it had managed to not get destroyed by the multitide of trials they had to go through to get here. So it was a god, but not theirs. Interesting. Not one he expected out of hand, but it made him think his initial suspicion of an animal wasn't too far from the correct answer. Also worthy of note was the god's insight onto how they viewed humanity and this world, along with the fact they were evidently cognizant of the fact there were two marcosm. That really raised some questions. None of them were particularly related to the task at hand, so he didn't voice them until he was sure he had everything needed to solve the mystery. There was no way to tell how long the god here would want to chat for. Doubtlessly, he had other things to do. Gerhardt could only guess at what.
His eyes followed Anubis's finger to the gem, and he nodded. "I trust that this gem has something to do with the curse, then? I was told by their leader that this was an heirloom of theirs that they were told to guard. The suspicion was that losing it is what brought on their affliction. How is that this connects to Bastet's displeasure; were we mislead, or were they similarly charged by her with guarding it? Societies these days tend to only follow one god, so the intricacies of their culture is a little different for us, you must understand." It was possible, old cultures like theirs were pantheistic. They very well could have had ties to both, especially with the gods themselves being related. Of course, he was thinking the same thing as Gedeon, that they might have been mislead purposefully. However, he wasn't jumping to any conclusions. After all, Anubis did just confirm they were his worshippers...though that didn't mean they were all so faithful.
"As well, how can we help them now? Will bringing this gem back be enough, or is there more to it? I'd also like to ask if there is another way out of this tomb, or if you could get us out of it with your aid. There are a great many of those tomb robbers positioned overtop of your temple, and sneaking or fighting by them with ourselves wounded, and the doctor here asleep, will not be an easy task. Not after the trails we have faced."
Those were the last two things on his mind. How to end the curse, and then how to survive to get out of here. 60 tomb robberies was bad enough while they were in top shape, but now they were hurt, Gedeon couldn't use his best spell, and they had a lot of dead weight to carry in the professor. Granted, Anubis said the man would wake up 'soon', but it was likely that deities reckoned time a lot differently than mortals did. It might also be daytime now for all they knew, the German had lost track of time while they were down here. He didn't even want to think about how much more difficult that would make things. The look of that door had him hopeful that there was an alternative route, Egyptians were famous for their many secret passages and hidden exits. If they were lucky, this temple would hold to those same construction principles.
"By the way, those lead weapons you speak of are referred to as 'guns' or 'firearms' in the language we are speaking now. English." The least that he could do is share some knowledge in turn, fair was fair after all.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 13, 2016 2:56:52 GMT -6
Gedeon almost heart dropped as the god practically read his mind as he almost felt a cold shiver down his back when he heard him reply. Tamara was still at a loss Gedeon ignored her stares as he fixed himself up. Alright that leaves a lot open but now Gedeon soon hears of the ruins and where they came from it all began to connect in his head.
"Temple comes to this world and from our own huh. If that is the case then the temple is acting like a bridge between Macrosms like the Tower of Babel?", Gedeon soon pondered as Tamara listened to him.
Though it did explain much it wasn't explaining why the sudden strange happenings as of late. Maybe its all a coincidence but Gedeon didn't believe in those. Usually something is done on purpose and that purpose of of unknown origin.
"You say its a rare occurrence for the macrosm's to intersect like this, how often does it occur exactly?", Gedeon needed this to begin his own theory on something else of course they needed to figure out to end the curse and get out.
Dieter asked those questions which made sense why he would, that is why he left it to those who could think that. Though Gedeon could think on his own pretty well he was not bookish in nature, and prefers to deal with the situation himself. Which is why he was such a problem student when he was within the Knightly Order of Conjurers, he simply not not the kind of guy. When hearing of the whole situation now he was wondering who would mislead these people and why? There was simply too much to question and wonder was there someone back this.
"Hrmm maybe James could enlighten us then.", Gedeon then suggested as Anubis told that he was about to wake up.
This would of been the best course of action as James possibly knew more as he was here far earlier then the rest. Too many holes but the holes possibly be plugged by their companion they came for.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 13, 2016 3:55:54 GMT -6
Before Anubis could answer the second wave of questions, they could hear another voice, or more specifically James who just woke up. His voice sounded a bit crackled and dry due to dehydration, but he's recovering and could speak with some efforts.
"That's because... cough cough... that you're talking, cough, to the wrong group of... people."
"Watch yourself, you just recovered, your body is still weak and tired."
With a bit of help from Kate and Mei Mei he was able to get out of the casket. After some more coughing and sips of water to quench his thirst, he started to answer some of the questions the group had.
"Let me thank you all for coming here to rescue me. When I open my eyes and see Kate here half naked, I thought I finally bite the dust and join the spirits. Now where was I... oh right, the village, the man you probably talked to is not the one that asked for my help."
Which might seem to be a surprise to everyone, but if Rashidi is not the one that asked for James to come, who is?
"When I arrived at the village, an old man was in charge of the place, asking me for help against a group of grave robbers. Due to their rules they are not allowed to enter the place, in fact they did not even know about the place's existence and were simply told by their ancestors to not try to make any contact with their Goddess. They even sent out a few of their best warriors to come with me, but none of them managed to survive, they got killed by those thieves. The man you guys talked to won't happened to be like this would he?"
He briefly explained the appearance of another man, which seems to match Rashidi's general look with the exception of a few minor details.
"That's their boss, probably took over the place and put up an act to fool you guys. He wanted this gem here from the village, you guys might have known it as otherwise, but the deity they worship is actually Bastet, not Anubis here. This shrine had nothing to do with the village, not until it warped here at least. But I grabbed one of the gems before they could get away with it, and ran into this shrine so they had set up camp around it. They couldn't force me to hand it over after I closed the gate on them, so they decided to wait it out and see how it goes."
The gems, cats eye stones, were suppose to be placed on the statues of the village. The grave robbers managed to snatch it, thus causing the curses. They hoped by luring those that James knows over, it could have helped in solving the curse.
"The curse will likely stop after all of them has been cursed to death, however that would take time, and we won't be able to stay here for long without supplies. If we just try to hand over the gem they wouldn't let us go, since they still need someone to deal with the curse... what am I suppose to tell them? Drop the gem or they would all die? As if they would believe us now after how many times I told them before hand."
He stretched himself a bit, being a bit stiff from stuck in that coffin. He didn't mind being indoors, but that doesn't mean he like being stuck in the same place for days.
"I also formed a theory during my research after our last encounter, and that is the more mythical happenings occur, the more the area would have the mix up between the two worlds. This shrine did not appear when I first arrived at the village, it was after the curse began to happen did it sudden appear overnight. If we leave those men to die to the curse, there might be the chance that more problem will happen to this area. In other words, we'll have to kill them, all of them before something like that happens. It would also calm Bastet... and Artemis."
Now that's a name that they would never have expected, Artemis is the Greek goddess of the moon, hunting, and archery, what does she have to do with Bastet? The two should have little to no relation to each other, right?
"Bastet was loosely associated with Artemis by the Ptolemys, who tends to look at local culture with those of their own, which is the Greek culture. They seems to have saw Bastet as someone similar to Artemis, and thus giving Bastet the trait of the moon and hunt goddess. Which is why despite being a sun goddess, could also attack during nighttime, and with arrows too. Deities, have multiple forms, I mean look at Anubis here, you'd expect him to have a Jackal head."
"It is often inconvenient to maintain a single form, food tastes funny when I take the form of a jackal."
Anubis decided to give his own comment in, but otherwise he allowed James to speak, the mortal had interesting theories despite the lack of age to fortify his wisdoms.
"Anyways, interaction between the world does not happen often, because this world lacks practice in magic, especially in modern times. Going by the same theory, without anyone to practice magic, there should be no means of connecting the worlds other than random happenings where mana in the area gathers due to natural reasons, creating small space that creatures of the other world could enter from. But as I said, if they have the means to use magical powers, it could eventually cause a larger rip in space just like what happened on the cruise ship. To stop that, we got to stop the curse as soon as possible, either by convincing Bastet to stop, or to kill off the robbers. I don't recommend the first one, she's a war goddess, we'll surely die if she refuses and attacks us."
If they kill those people in her name, it is likely that the cat goddess would calm down. After all it's unlikely that she would stay in this world for a prolong period of time without reason, so if they get rid of the source of her anger, she won't have to stay here any longer. If not, even her powerful existence could have cause parts of the world to fuse. But it'll be up to everyone to decide what to do, after all most of them are injured, it would be difficult to wipe out all the enemies.
"And I do have this, my reward for finishing the trial. The Book of Coming Forth by Day, it should give me the ability to summon all sorts creatures to assist us in battle, and contains magic that could help us. There's no spells that could deal with our health and injuries though, mostly spells that affect the undead. Another choice is to retreat for now, so we can prepare ourselves before returning to finish the deed. But I'm not sure how long would we have until the curse start causing problems, after all it was just a theory."
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Mar 13, 2016 4:37:28 GMT -6
Dieter took a few steps back to make room for James to exit the coffin. They were lucky that he woke up so soon, this made things much, much easier on them. Along with the other supplies laden around on his harness, there was some food. Trail rations, but it was better than nothing. He handed it over to the doctor so he'd have something to fill his stomach alongside the water. It was jerky, so not the best choice in a desert, but it was high in energy. Probably what he needed right now, and they had plenty of water back in the rest area now that they knew it was (hopefully) safe to drink.
In addition to that, the man also had a lot to say. Even more fortunate he was back awake.
"You say that the robbers are running the village now? Curious. Are the people living there still the actual civilians, or are they also part of the grave robber band? It would be a shame to have an ancient culture like that wiped out by avaricious fools such as this, but I suspect, you mirror that sentiment as well as I do," the explorer said first. This was also crucial to know for their plans in the future. Namely if they'd have to wipe out all of the village, or attack it in a more tactical sense to try and keep down collateral supposing that friendly parties did still exist within its perimeter. "One thing is for certain, I don't like being duped, and I don't like people being exploited. These thieves will get theirs, one way or another."
The theory on worlds merging was similarly intriguing, and he listened to that as it was relayed. Some of it correlated with things his group had begun to find. The world was changing, and it wasn't entirely a good thing. His followup remarks included his own data, as well as new conjectures.
"More places than just this one are suffering this effect across the globe. I have begun to refer to it as an 'overlap', rather than Mr. Salvator's portals; those being another phenomena I find. These are more stable, less of a tunnel and more two layers of paper being placed on top of one another - though which characteristics of either one stick, is hard to say. Here, clearly, magic came over more strongly. Yet also notice that despite that, our technology still works. This was not so on the ship if you recall, where the physics of the other side began to negatively affect ours. I'd guess that this is the first true phase of the marcosms merging, places like this being the metaphorical canaries in the goldmine. I suspect that the other dimension is experiencing an inverse phenomena. It makes me wonder what triggers it on their side, if buildup of magic is what enacts it on ours?" The biggest problem they had with this entire situation was that they only had one side of the story. They could only see and postulate from their own perspective, what was happening in the IM was made of educated guesses at best. If they wanted to have a hope of solving the problem, they'd need to fill in that blank space and approach it from both sides. But how, short of going there? Perhaps that was the answer, but as they saw at the Tower, it was not so easy to do.
"I suspect it has something to do with that Sea of Aether, but again, this is all theory. Perhaps we can compare notes later on."
At the moment he didn't have a lot to say regarding the deity swapping, as he told the group before, he was familiar with the Ptolemaic era. So mixing gods together and making them more humanlike was something he was very well schooled in. All of this wasn't shocking to him, though it was worth noting that no one true form of any deity was 'right' if James was to be correct. So then, were they all shards composing one larger being? Perhaps that would explain the pair of Ammits they encountered. It certainly raised a lot of questions on religion, if it were the case. Modern ones in particular.
More up his alley was the mention of ending the curse, via diplomacy or violence. Dieter liked to think he was no slouch at either...but the point about convincing a war goddess to not make war, was one very well made. Especially because, by all rights, those thieves did deserve the punishment. The fact that the civilians in the crossfire failed to protect her heirlooms probably wouldn't make her more sympathetic, and likely, Bastet had little reason to care about their marcosm when it had mostly forgotten her entire pantheon and culture. If anything, he suspected a show of arms might be in their best interest. Both in that it may impress the deity, and in that it would also end the threat of the villains to any other communities in the region.
"I'm doubtful that we could convince her to stop the curse. The situation isn't exactly a morally grey one, though I could probably make a decent case if we wanted to go that route. Still, fighting would likely be the better route for a number of reasons. I trust we will only have to slay the robbers, and any villagers that remain will be spared the curse when their gems are returned?" For clarity this question was posed. As was said before, he definitely didn't want to slaughter any innocent people. Even if they did let the gems get stolen, there's only so much they could do against the small army that came knocking. Surely even she would show some compassion if they remove the blight and give back what was taken? It was his hope, anyway.
"It happens that I have soldiers in the region, they could be rallied and called upon. In this region my group has many allies and we have officials in the government that could be paid to ignore the gunfight in the deep desert, should it come to it. How soon they could get here, is the question. The community is hardly easy to find, and as we know now, they're watching the village. The one good stopping-off point between civilization and this temple. I suspect they'd see us assembling a force and dig in all the harder if we took that route. Unless you know whom in that town is a spy, so that we can root them out first?" Lucky for them, Gerhardt was never a man to disappoint when it came to resources and connections. It raised even more questions as to who he was and what he did, but by now, they'd been through enough hardship to warrant some level of transparency. Supposing they wanted to risk waiting and take that route. "I would prefer that idea, if only so that then they can't come up behind us. On top of all of this recall, however, that larger forces sacrifice flexibility. On the opposite side, I'll tell you that after questioning one of those robbers, there are around 60 of them up there. That book had better be powerful if 5 men are to stand against 6-times their number."
"I have no magic to heal anyone save for myself, I don't think the others do either. We found some more medical supplies, but bandages are little good without the time for the wounds they cover to heal. I believe that I can recharge my numen from this place's ambient energies, though again, that won't solve our health issue." In truth his spells mostly revolved around combat and protection. In that regard, he was similar to Gedeon. A magical warrior. Maybe someone else would have an idea.
A final line of thought that he asked the doctor about, was the same one he asked the god: "Again, do you know of a secondary exit? The point is rather moot if we'll have to move through that entire camp. In our state, I don't think we could sneak out very efficiently."
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Post by Pitman on Mar 13, 2016 5:50:24 GMT -6
Oh Gedeon expected much but as more came the more he started to get the funny feeling he is being toyed with. Well more precisely this entire adventure into this world just keeps getting better and better. If only the others were here to see this now, Mage Knight caught up in petty squabbles between thieves and a goddess. Well the moment he hears James talk about how the elder wasn't the elder but in fact apart of the group Gedeon simply soon says, "I fucking knew it."
His theory was completely on the mark and the moment hearing it out of the mouth of James only confirmed his suspicions since he got here. Why in the world doesn't just stop fucking around with things they don't understand. Then again this is a world without magic or was until not long ago and none know the extend of better not touch or you will be cursed.
"So wait your telling us we been tricked to come here to open the place up for a fake elder who is likely the boss the the thieves?", Tamara soon asked as she continued to be held up by Gedeon.
Of course that was the issue at hand, with not much to go on they had to solve this delicately without hurting the civilians, maybe take the boss hostage to buy time? Gedeon was going through several ideas but all of them ended up with them dead before any help could arrive. Not to mention if they take too long it would only lead to more problems then anything. Though his thoughts were taken out as Anubis soon answered his earlier question which made him pause more.
"A switch without a portal... and affecting every place. If a merge of worlds is occurring it must be subtle enough only a few have noticed. Could it with the Tower of Babel sealed within the Sea of Aether or something else entirely? Good theory on it but I am getting weird feeling we are missing something and a ton of it. Was it a truly just a coincidence or something else entirely?", Gedeon soon mentioned as more questions then answers are solved but left more.
Gedeon was not sure if he had asked his own master and mentor Viscount Ven then they could request a audience with the World Congress of Mages. The largest gathering of mages where the many nations and other mage circles meet in times of crisis or simply a basic meeting. In fact similar to the UN in a way except more on a mage scale then a nation. Things simply were turning fast and without them knowing Gedeon knew he had to figure this out before they return home. Or even possible to return home to begin with. With Dieter and James giving their all in how to deal with the situation Gedeon heard both plans and soon adds, "There is a problem with your plan Dieter, even if you gather everyone it will only cause them to escape or anything. In fact I think it might be best to move against the Elder as quickly as possible. If he is their boss its best to take the head off the Dragon before it is allowed to damage us more. We have one advantage that we can use, the Elder doesn't know we know about him yet and wouldn't expect us to come back before the night is over. If there is a way I can try to grab him with my Lightning Step the entire way back, the only issue is his men. If we capture him his men could use the town as a hostage.."
With Gedeon giving his suggestion Tamara who was silent well Gedeon thought this manage to give her own idea. An idea which could be good or bad depending on how its done as well crazy.
"Why not I just burn the entire camp down in one go? I mean if the Goddess wants them dead why not burn them all alive in one shot?", Tamara soon suggested which Gedeon's head turned to Tamara in both shock and awe.
The shocking of she having such a heartless plan and the awe of why he didn't think of it. Of course it was a far more violent way of doing things and it would rely solely on Tamara into doing it. It would also possibly affect her future from now on which Gedeon didn't wish she stain her hands with so much blood. He was a soldier a knight who should be doing the bad deed and leaving it to Tamara well it was against Gedeon completely.
"I will not give you permission to do that.", Gedeon soon stated as an order not a request to Tamara.
"I am doing it to do something. The entire time I been here I only been a burden in this... let me do something and even if my hands are stained with blood... well they ar- I mean just let me do it Gedeon!! Do you know anyone else who can use such a high level spell among us at this moment? I can do it... I must do it!! So Please Gedeon...", Tamara soon begged even as her own emotions were almost getting the better of her.
Gedeon simply bit his lip unable to answer her right away, he made a promise a promise he must keep. He remember it completely the promise he made to Tamara's father the promise to not let her do this sort of thing. A dying man's wish sometimes can be considered a curse a very heavy curse on another. He understood as a soldier her idea could save a ton of lives by killing the enemy base camp. If most of the enemy is wiped out here it will only allow a few remaining in the town to be outnumbered by even the villagers. If they can capture the boss to and force the rest to surrender then they could get the authorities here to handle the rest. The only thing holding him back was the promise as well his own will, the will of stating Tamara will not stain her hands in blood of others and allow her a bit of happiness from the hell of losing her entire family. Line of Asheborne were called a Hero's family, a line of great leaders and heroes talked to all across Imaginary Macrosm. Yet those heroes are at the same time forgotten, their just human and sometimes its best to let them have a normal life. Gedeon continued internally struggled with his decision, this alone was something he wished he didn't have to choose. 'Damn it Tamara why force such a thing and why now? Why must you keep doing this to me?! Damn damn.. grrr..'
"Please Gedeon it will allow our chances to be able to end this!! Didn't you always say sometimes your forced to do things do you not?! To end something sometimes you need to do the unspeakable? If that is a lie tell me now!! Let me do this!! Just allow me to help because I am completely useless as I am now!!", Tamara then added which was like a dagger into Gedeon.
'No choice, I see now what you mean... uncle... I understand now why you died for me...', Gedeon soon remembered Victor from his past and soon closed his eyes into a decision. The Decision that would altar Tamara's future and even might weigh heavy on his mind for the rest of his life.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Mar 13, 2016 14:53:22 GMT -6
Although James was the one that suggested wiping out the robbers, he was not exactly enthusiastic to do so, after all that's several dozen men out there that they plan to kill off. Anyone that would happily slaughter a bunch of people are certainly a madman that should not be allowed to run around freely. He tries to eat the dry jerky and drink more water to recover himself, along with rebuilding his mana supplies around him to increase his recovery speed before giving his answers.
"Yes Ms. Ashborne, that's exactly what I'm saying. As for the villagers... I'm not sure, after all I didn't see them myself. But I think they only took over the village, not killed everyone. Was there an old man in the village? That would likely be the elder that I talked to. We still have the problem of identifying them though, that I don't have much ideas for. But we must save them, they already lost enough people, we can't just watch a group of loyal guardians with important history behind them have a pointless death before greed."
He agrees with what Dieter say, by both academic reasons and ethical reasons there are no reason to abandon the remaining villagers. If possible he would like to save them somehow, at least free the remaining villagers from the hands of those cursed thieves. Next came the topic of the worlds merging, and Dieter's theory of the cause being related to the Sea of Aether.
"Going by what we seen so far that could be a reasonable explanation, perhaps for the other world it would be caused by technology? That said we don't exactly have solid evidence to claim there are only two worlds either, or even if the other world that are merging into this world is the same world as Mr. Salvator and Ms. Ashborne came from."
James have some philosophy background, which makes him feel skeptical that their knowledge of the two worlds are completely correct, after all there are no evidence to support these claims. By inductive reasoning it would make some sense, so for now he'll accept the idea and see how it goes.
"That I cannot answer, as the gods have little interest in the possibility of the worlds fusing. After all, to us they are just like reforming a house to have one larger room rather than two smaller ones."
Again Anubis read Gedeon's mind, but did not give him a clear answer. From what the God says, powerful deity seems to have the ability to freely travel between the worlds, just that they see no reason to do it often. Perhaps they actually live in another world with different laws as the known ones?
"Mr. Salvator is right about that, if we gather a large force then the robbers would surely notice. If that happens then there are nothing that would ensure their safety. And Ms. Ashborne we can't burn the camp in one go, not all the enemies are staying in that camp as you may notice on the way here. If we make a commotion like that, they would run away before we could finish them off. And I do not believe you are in any condition to use a powerful spell, and I can't allow someone like that to throw away their lives when we clearly have other methods to do this. You may have your honor or history or feel that you have responsibility to fulfill here, but I call that unjustified suicide."
To him, it's unreasonable to throw away one's lives, after all you gain nothing from it and you lose everything from it. Though he is trying to consider if their magic would help them out in some ways.
"With the The Book of Coming Forth by Day, being in this are that is perfect for summoning Egyptian mythical beings, I can possible summon an army of mummies that could help us in battle. Mr. Gerhardt, perhaps you men can simply move in place to cut them off? Surround the village and the camp so they won't escape. Mr. Salvator you can join the rest of us in exterminating the bandits, while Ms. Ashborne can simply pick out those that are trying to escape. Catherine, you should go back and get some help, your father will have me launched from a torpedo tube if anything happens to you..."
"Hm? You're not worried about me yourself? I'm a bit hurt... after all this that I have done for you."
"Oh ah... haha, sorry sorry. I'm very grateful to you for helping me out, I'll surely make it up to you, I promise."
Kate pretends to be angry and have a pouting look for a moment, turning away from him. But she wave it off with a smile back on her face with James' promise. Now that they are temporary out of danger, Kate could be more like her usual attitude, something that she was keeping from the group since she needed to be serious during their adventurer. It seems she was not exactly the strict secretary that one might believe, which is understandable considering that she is still fairly young for an adult.
"If it's sixty men then... I think I can call out roughly 20 mummies within a short amount of time, and maintain them just fine in Egypt. If they suddenly appear it would surely cause a panic among them too, perhaps we can work out something with that, Mr. Gerhardt."
As they continue to discuss, Anubis decides it's about time for him to finish off the loose ends, so he spoke up to get the group's attention.
"I suppose you have made your decision, so let me finish up everything by granting you a few gifts for your visit."
With another wave of his staff, several items appear before each member of the group, showing that it is the gift for them. James had already received his reward so nothing appears before him. For Dieter, his prize would be a golden scale with all sorts of Egyptian designs on it, it seems to be something similar to the one they saw during the trial to weight their souls, but is small enough to be held with a single hand. While the mage knight receives a gold bar, not exactly what he might be expecting. Tamara would be receiving a small empty pot, equality as decorated as the scale that Dieter is receiving. Lastly, Kate receives an gold ring, with a snake like design on the surface.
"For you, patriot of Deutschland, I grant you the powers of measurement. With this scale you are able to measure anything as long as you have an understanding on the concept you hope to measure, be it a number, or a more vague idea. My power of judgement shall guide you in your future."
Next he began to give some answers that might linger in the back of the German's mind, the result of the earlier trials.
"You may wonder if I decided your cause was a mistake when I had Ammit attack you, but that is not necessary true. I have done so not because of your total action, but your failure to consider a decision that would result in less losses of life. Perhaps it was unnecessary to carry out such reckless attack? I'm sure that is a question that floats into your mind at times. Perhaps if you fall into the same situation again, you would like to look around you more often, and make choices that others would agree with you. You might notice that others also share the same goal as you, simply with different, and possibly better methods. Seek allies of the same cause, not enemies against it, it will surely bring the better result than you have experienced. However do not feel burdened by your past memories, you have already received and overcame my judgement to you. Continue to feel proud of your deeds, do what you believe is the best for your people, and that is all that is necessary."
Next he turns to Gedeon and that piece of gold in front of him.
"For you, foreigner mage, I grant you the powers of the Sun. Gold is considered to contain the might and guidance of the mighty Ra, infused with the power of the sun. As such the beliefs of the Egyptian people have gave this rare metal much more capacity in containing powers, such as the mana that the wise scholar here had mentioned. Use it for whatever purpose you see fit, weapons, armors, amulets, it would surely help you in the future."
Next comes his prep talk with Gedeon, something different from what he had said to the older man a few moments ago.
"You have a different problem from your friend, while he thinks too much to himself in achieving his goal, you did not give it enough thoughts before you put it to action. You are right, there are many choices in one's life, however you should not take your choices before you fully consider many of them. Your recklessness have caused you many problems in your life so far, and it will continue to do so in the future if you are unable to solve this problem. You do remember have you not? In your childhood, as your grow up, and even in my shrine it did not do you much good. Perhaps it is time to look at your past and resolve this problem. Otherwise next time you might anger someone that is less forgiving than my Great-Grand Aunt Hathor, which by the way, I believe Bastet will not be too happy with you either."
He had lighter tone towards the young man, as his deeds and crimes are both much weaker than those of the German, and it felt more like a teacher than a God speaking to him. Next he presents the pot to Tamara.
"For you, Cavalier-in-training, I grant you the power of gathering. This pot has similar abilities to those of the wise man over here, in that it can gather magical powers within it, and be used for different purposes including consumption. It should help you when you need to call upon your life force, and refill the Ka that you have spent."
Ka is one of the Egyptian concepts of one's soul, one of the five parts of the soul that makes up the required parts of a living human. It is somewhat similar to vitality, as it is the life force of a person.
"You have taken my trial in a different way from normal, you chosen to be burden by guilt, rather than accept your past experience as a part of your life. That is a very poor choice to make. No matter how difficult it had been, experience is not something one could cut out from their life, what is important is that one must learn how to overcome it for the future. If you are unable to do that, one day you would simply drown in your sorrow, and become a fragment of your Sheut(One's Shadow)."
Like his tone towards Tamara, it was a light tone that felt more like a councilor, trying to talk her out of her problems. But it is something that she herself must do, so he did not say anymore after that. Lastly he turned to Kate.
"For you, alluring priestess, I grant you the power of the snake. This ring that symbolizes the snake will grant you the ability to see through lies, and make you as unexpected as one. As for the trial.... I have little to say to you, you are able to keep yourself right by the middle with choices and deeds equal to your crime. A highly rare situation, so I will only tell you one bit of advice. Be more careful of the way you act, at times, the world could be a lot more aggressive than you might think and you may not be able to balance it out as well as you had been before."
"Aggressive? You mean the thoughts of people towards others?"
Although Kate had a question towards it, Anubis did not say anymore. As long as she could keep her actions under watch, there is little he would need to say about it. After everyone go their prize, Anubis turns back to Dieter about his last question.
"There are no other exits, however I can warp you out of here if you want. Perhaps to the outskirt of the village, or to a location that is a distance away from the camp above us. Tell me where you want to be and I'll have it done, simple as that."
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Richter
Veteran Member
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Richter on Mar 13, 2016 16:38:35 GMT -6
"You are both correct, of course. As was said, bringing forth outside aid comes with its drawbacks. Still, those numbers of theirs worry me. Some equalization is in order." The man said, agreeing with their points. Acting as a support element sounded like a good compromise, though he was still worried on their morale. Ideally all of them wouldn't stay and fight to the death, but greed was a strong motivator. "Cutting them off, that I can do. They have at least one vehicle if you were not aware, probably more, so it is a good idea to have our own to keep pace. They will surely try to flee in them while we are busy in the camp."
For the time being he didn't say anything more about the situation with the various planes of dimension. That concern could wait until later, chatting over it now wouldn't do very much for them.
Instead he said, "I'm afraid that I also have to agree with the other gentlemen here, Tamara. What you wish to do is not only dangerous, it is also extremely overt. Fireballs falling from the sky is a far cry different from some automatic fire, that will draw significant suspicions if anyone were to witness it. At best they think it some kind of military-grade ordnance, at worst, they realize it for what it actually is, or something close to it. At any rate we can't afford that risk, and this is saying nothing of your health. I understand why you wish to help, and I'll allow that, but your role must be more conservative."
Considering that the last time she used a high powered fire spell it ended up with her passing out and bleeding from her face, at full health mind you, Dieter wasn't exactly enthused about her doing it again after being hurt and fatigued. Everything about this sounded like a recipe for disaster that he did not want to be party to. The young mage had to learn her limits, but it was Gedeon's place to teach her that. This was something that he did not envy the man for, Tamara was nothing if not a handful. She was probably even worse at home.
"Your assistant here was a great help, as well, doctor. Both in traversing this temple, and in bringing us all together. It was her that called together this rescue party, as it were," he also said, accrediting the woman who seemed to feel a little short changed.
"20 mummies should suffice, I think, provided that we can get close enough to reach the camp and summon them. The village should be our first priority, however. We can't be certain that the bandits do not have radios, and they'll probably call their leader when we attack. From there, he and any men with him can take the town hostage and complicate things considerably. We cannot afford that risk, as was said. From there, this would be my plan for the camp: Once more place the girls on overwatch. Perhaps have Miss Ashborne use a lesser version of her spell to cause some havoc. Then, we approach the camp with our vehicle and begin the assault. Supposing that you can summon those monsters within visual range, James, they should provide a fine covering force while we close the gap. For the same reasons Tamara can't bring out her own heavy guns, nor can I; but I think I can provide something heavy enough to level the guard towers. That will panic them if we are lucky, and even if not, shave down about eight of their number before we have to face them directly."
This was his initial plan, they could offer advice as they wished. Notably, he wanted to include Tamara so that she could feel useful. Not that she wasn't, but the man knew how that kind of self-doubt could eat at you. Just the same, they'd need something to stir up the camp to make sure that they could actually get to it unharmed. Her original plan was too dangerous, and might anger the deity right next to them if she damages the temple. If she was more careful in casting, however, it might be just what they needed. Hopefully she also deployed it in a less eye-opening manner than the burning rain way arrangement they had used back on the boat.
Regarding the god, he accepted the gift and his words with a deeper bow of respect this time. Even if he didn't follow this particular religion, it was an honor to have an audience with Anubis to begin with, let alone receive his favor. Definitely not an event to forget, nor one to accept without due appreciation.
"You are correct, of course, and that is something I realize now. Being quick to draw blood is, unfortunately, a flaw that many men have fallen to well before I came to be. I am simply fortunate enough to have lived long enough to see that there are other ways. It has been a time of harrow and great learning, since then. I am still not sure which is the greater, but I persist, as mortals are wont to do. Don't you think?" Gerhardt mused. He took the scale and stowed it carefully. They could use it soon, if he was correct. "I thank you for your wisdom and gift, and wish you good luck."
Did gods need it? Not likely, but it was the sentiment that counted. Dieter also wasn't sure what else to say to a being of that much power. In any event he was silent while the god gave more wisdom and rewards to the rest. It took awhile but he wasn't in any hurry, the explorer spent that time trying to attune himself to the scale. After a few tests he put that back and moved to sit on one of the stairs. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, entering an almost meditative trance that would allow him to sense things a little more perceptively than in a normal state. This was how he scouted for numen, it wasn't as natural to him as it was to Tamara, with this marcosm as it was. His initial theory was correct and this chamber was positively oozing mana, being that a god was right here next to them. The German pulled some of this excess power into himself, drawing it in as breath to reinforce that which already existed within him. Very similar once again to how the Orients thought it to work. This wasn't wholly coincidental, his group acquired a lot of knowledge from that part of the world. Tibet in particular.
He slowly rose to his feet and opened his eyes again when Anubis addressed him a final time. Supposing no one else had anything to say that would change their plan, this was what he said: "Please send us back to our vehicle, it should be somewhere between here and the village."
To test the scale, Dieter used that to judge the distance from this temple to the kubelwagon. He then gave Anubis that estimate and in what direction they needed to go to land there. The god could probably find it easily on his own, but it was a good way to see if he had a handle on how this item worked before using it for real.
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Post by Pitman on Mar 15, 2016 16:04:03 GMT -6
That was that, at least to Gedeon the others made the decision and even he knew Tamara would have her limits. With the group deciding that it was not in her best interest he soon spoke to Tamara with a firm answer now.
"Tamara as the others stated too risky, I know you may feel unable to do much however... your still learning. You are not ready and far from being ready yet to even do something like that. So no we cannot and I will not allow you to try especially in your current condition.", Gedeon finally found his answer.
Whatever the case Tamara herself stopped herself from speaking more, it seemed the group decided for her and without her input on this. Of course the group had the best intentions for Tamara, not to mention there simply too many enemies to fight. Here is where Gedeon completely wished he had a squadron of Mage Knights, that alone would possibly give them so much a better chance. Alas with that done the question was, what to do next? As well with the world's merging with no explanation as of yet Gedeon simply left this for the others to figure out for now. Right now he had to deal with the now and not the future. With that done what would be their next course of action against the grave robbers? They were outnumbered, outgunned, and even if they capture the leader they had to deal with at least 60 of them. There was of course allow the entire village to die off, which of course brought issue of morality into this.
With James and Dieter plans Gedeon soon puts his own input, "Even if we managed with twenty mummies and even if Dieter can get some men to help. The biggest issue here is will they even try to give up? We should concentrate capturing their leader first and foremost. Without a leadership it will be much easier to deal with the others. The biggest question is are they superstitious? Of course they might not being grave robbers but if we can use the summoned mummies and even use their leader as a hostage, it might gives us a better fighting chance."
Adding to the plan they were coming up with would help it somewhat even if its only can work so much. Though the biggest negative is how much damage they as a group received since arrived here. In truth they were already too exhausted to even contend with the robbers. Gedeon used up most of his mana and if he fought again it would push himself harder then he already had. Though one would think all the blood loss he received already would possibly drop a normal human Gedeon was still standing even though his own foot was injured and he should of had bones crushed. Gedeon is specifically not normal in fact he can take a much more harder beating then everyone in this entire macrosm on sole fact he is not even 'human'. No due to his origin he would not only have better resistances and take more beatings but also will live longer then what a human definition of a life time. Though not like Gedeon truly knows his full origin only in passing which makes it a bit problematic to not know his true limits. Regardless he is unwilling to push it as it might come at a complete cost namely his untimely demise. Though the god earlier gave him another vague answer it meant they just don't truly care if the world's fuse it just means they will gain more followers. Not much can come up with that with the usual godly figure it out yourself answer which annoyed him the most. Why do gods always give them this answer that simply makes him just want to put a gun to their face? No Anubis probably heard that which meant he was in deep shit oh well his luck simply continues to be shitty.
When the group finally finished their discussion Tamara simply stopped talking and went into her own thoughts on the matter. Gedeon knew he made the right choice even if she didn't, whatever she saw in that trial it affected her obviously. He left her to her own devices since she needed to find her answer on this alone, for Gedeon he understood what he saw and why it was shown. From what his first time with his uncle to the time much later, he was still young and still had to make choices. Now that the trial was over Anubis was to give them a reward for what they had managed to do, which came as expected. When his turn came he simply raised an eye brow on his own gift and not because he didn't like it no. The issue here is this world doesn't have the proper smiths that his world had to make use of it. In fact it could be considered a lost art in this world possibly on things he would want or simply don't exist? Back in his own world he could get a relic smith to work on it, possibly part of the shaft or even pommel for a sword, hell the most basic things are out of reach here. For now he would simply have to hold on to this until such time where he could use it properly.
"Recklessness... oh I know my problem sadly sometimes it is both my weakness and strength. My own master once stated I was the most stubborn person he ever known and I always take risks. True it may bite me back one day and possibly kill me. I simply cannot stand by though, its just in a nature, I guess it runs somewhere in my family then.", Gedeon admitted to the god.
Of course his own weakness was apparent but at the same time it also is what pushed him to where he is now. If it one days curses him or saves him he doesn't know, maybe he will change as he grows older? When it came to Tamara's turn Gedeon saw her raise her head toward the God as he presented her with a pot. It looked like she got something that he seen before used by the normal mages. Difference between her and him of course was she had much more natural magical energy then he will ever get. As such it would mean she would require the pot even more so now which was itself a good gift. Looking at Tamara once more she soon accepted the gift then hears the next on what the god stated. The face of Tamara saw both realization but at the same time Gedeon wondered what was going through her mind.
Tamara saw the god talk to her directly and receiving a gift for going through the trial. Of course the god knew of her trouble about guilt and how its been driving her. The biggest problem in her ind it was simply too hard not be driven by it. Its slowly become apart of her she realizes now and why the way she is now. Her shadow could one day break her but at the same time it might be better that way. These were thoughts she simply couldn't resist that temptation. Regardless she stated nothing after hearing his advice, if she takes it or not. Without her knowing it would become a issue in the future and what her future holds is far more complicated then she or the others realize.
With nothing left as the rest were done it was now time for the group to head back towards the vehicle. Gedeon though had one more thing to say before they had to depart it was quite important and it had to be sent now or never.
"Say Anubis, before you send us back I do have to ask a favor.", Gedeon soon asked before anything else to be done if he accepted it Gedeon would state the next thing.
"Please give a message to my mentor as quickly as possible, Viscount Ven Avenor. The Message is that I am alive and Tamara is with me. The unknown assailants knew how to break all the advance wards with ease and were highly trained in the art of the darker magicks.", Gedeon soon stated which itself would give his mentor Ven a massive information he would need.
Not to mention its been over a year and a month since they disappeared which would make Gedeon wonder what exactly was going on back in Imaginary Macrosm. For now this information could help him in whatever he was doing even if its old news, the news he is alive with Tamara would help. With that done Gedeon would soon turn to the others as he was ready to go and head back to the vehicle. When they arrived back to the vehicle Gedeon would help Tamara to a seat nearby and then go to the truck area to see if any first aide and extra pair of clothing could be seen for her. When He is done he would come back to her as he would hand her the extra shirt as well take a look at her wound. This was best time to regain their strength and plan their next step to deal with the fake elder.
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