Mark Chance
Boingy! Boingy!
Re-Khenemetsi, the Son of Ra, stands in the rooftop garden of the boarding house where he's been staying. The sun burns low on the western horizon, casting long shadows across the city. Soon it will be dark, and the souk in the streets below will close up for the night. In fact, most everything closes after sunset, for martial law rules Cairo. Few people will be out and about: Dr. Mobius's soldiers, the police, those individuals with papers permitting them to violate the curfew, and, of course, Cairo's criminal element.
In recent weeks, "criminal" has become a fluid concept in Egypt. There remains actual criminals, human predators that flaunt right for personal gain. Also, there are those who resist Dr. Mobius's rule in ways small and big. For example, any one out after curfew without proper authorization is a criminal, no matter what the reason. Even a father rushing a sick child to the doctor after sunset is subject to arrest.
In a few hours, Re-Khenemetsi will be one of these criminals. He has a post-curfew meeting with another criminal, one Suleiman Hassan, once a member of Cairo's upper class, but now the editor of The Clarion, an anti-Mobius underground newspaper. The meeting is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. at the Canopic Club, one of Cairo's mob-run gin joints.
Shakir Nkuku is in trouble, even moreso than usual. Sitting on his cot in the common room of the Horus House, a sort of charitable shelter, he checks the bandage around his thigh. Khonsu's Path leads away from danger, but not always in time. A soldier's bullet caught Shakir's leg just before he could teleport away.
Nevertheless, Shakir did get away, and with what he'd been looking for in the city registry office. The rumors are true. Under the guise of land reclamation, Dr. Mobius has ordered mass exhumations at cemetaries throughout Egypt. The official word is that exhumed bodies are being re-interred in a grand new necropolis in Khartoum, but Shakir now knows that's not true. For some reason, the bodies are being reburied in mass graves outside Cairo. Meanwhile, new government buildings in the new Egyptian style are going up on land once used as cemetaries.
"There is no one here matching that description," says Linda Temple, the Horus House administrator, in a voice loud enough to carry back to the common room.
The five other men in the common room exchange nervous glances. More than one glance settles on Shakir's bandaged thigh.
"Then you won't mind if we look for ourselves. Sergeant, search the premises."
Shakir hears Linda raise a voice of protest, but he knows there's little she can do without being arrested or worse. In a matter of seconds, police, soldiers, or both will be in the common room. Even if they're not looking for Shakir, a man with a bullet wound attracts attention.
OOC: Have a Hero Point for the injury and the sudden danger.
Jean Firman Le Pain stands in front of a heavy wooden door that has been painted dark red. Behind the door are the offices of Donald "Doc" Dunfy, a physician and criminal. Jean knows Donald by reputation only, and most of what he knows isn't good. Donald makes his living primarily as attending physician to Cairo's active mob element. He removes bullets, stitches knife wounds, and provides illicit drugs for nefarious purposes.
It is this latter activity that brings Jean to Donald's door. If the doctor can provide narcotics to keep prostitutes compliant and addicts coming back for more, surely he can provide medicines for a more worthwhile cause. Unfortunately, getting medicines at sites other than state-controlled hospitals isn't easy. And, depending on the nature of one's infirmity, reporting to one those institutions proves less a cure and more a way of being arrested.
With the revival of the slave trade in Egypt under Mobius's rule, certain elements of society have become increasingly threatened. One of these elements are orphans, particularly teenagers, who are judged fit enough to be put into forced labor camps. Conditions in these camps tend to be horrible, and an active medical underground exists to provide whatever care can be made available both in the camps and to orphans living in hiding.
Which brings us full circle. Jean needs to fill an order for antibiotics. Donald likely has a supply or else knows how to get his hands on the valuable medicine. The trick is this: convincing Donald to help.
Alaricus Schwarz found his way into the Ur Guild Chapter House yesterday. The Ur Guild is the science branch of Dr. Mobius's war machine. Rumors of top secret archaeological dig near the Qattara Depression have been circulating for several days, and Alaricus had to find out if these rumors were true. The concealed entrance was difficult to locate, but persistence paid off. Alaricus got into the building, and he found what he was looking for.
The dig is real, and it's not too far south of Siwah near the Libyan Desert on the western edge of the Qattara Depression. The information Alaricus has uncovered is vague. Sesetek, the Overgovernor of the part of Mobius's empire in which Siwah falls, requested "100 mummies" from Wu Han, the Overgovernor of the Nile Delta region. The report also mentioned that "a second tablet" has been excavated.
Unfortunately, Siwah is a long way from Cairo, and free travel in Dr. Mobius's realm is prohibited. This is especially true as one nears the frontiers, such as Libyan Desert. The reality storms aren't the only border security. Mobius's best troops patrol as well, including his feared Nile Shocktroopers.
But still, this is a mystery worth investigating. What archaeological find could merit the attention of two Overgovernors?
In recent weeks, "criminal" has become a fluid concept in Egypt. There remains actual criminals, human predators that flaunt right for personal gain. Also, there are those who resist Dr. Mobius's rule in ways small and big. For example, any one out after curfew without proper authorization is a criminal, no matter what the reason. Even a father rushing a sick child to the doctor after sunset is subject to arrest.
In a few hours, Re-Khenemetsi will be one of these criminals. He has a post-curfew meeting with another criminal, one Suleiman Hassan, once a member of Cairo's upper class, but now the editor of The Clarion, an anti-Mobius underground newspaper. The meeting is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. at the Canopic Club, one of Cairo's mob-run gin joints.
Shakir Nkuku is in trouble, even moreso than usual. Sitting on his cot in the common room of the Horus House, a sort of charitable shelter, he checks the bandage around his thigh. Khonsu's Path leads away from danger, but not always in time. A soldier's bullet caught Shakir's leg just before he could teleport away.
Nevertheless, Shakir did get away, and with what he'd been looking for in the city registry office. The rumors are true. Under the guise of land reclamation, Dr. Mobius has ordered mass exhumations at cemetaries throughout Egypt. The official word is that exhumed bodies are being re-interred in a grand new necropolis in Khartoum, but Shakir now knows that's not true. For some reason, the bodies are being reburied in mass graves outside Cairo. Meanwhile, new government buildings in the new Egyptian style are going up on land once used as cemetaries.
"There is no one here matching that description," says Linda Temple, the Horus House administrator, in a voice loud enough to carry back to the common room.
The five other men in the common room exchange nervous glances. More than one glance settles on Shakir's bandaged thigh.
"Then you won't mind if we look for ourselves. Sergeant, search the premises."
Shakir hears Linda raise a voice of protest, but he knows there's little she can do without being arrested or worse. In a matter of seconds, police, soldiers, or both will be in the common room. Even if they're not looking for Shakir, a man with a bullet wound attracts attention.
OOC: Have a Hero Point for the injury and the sudden danger.
Jean Firman Le Pain stands in front of a heavy wooden door that has been painted dark red. Behind the door are the offices of Donald "Doc" Dunfy, a physician and criminal. Jean knows Donald by reputation only, and most of what he knows isn't good. Donald makes his living primarily as attending physician to Cairo's active mob element. He removes bullets, stitches knife wounds, and provides illicit drugs for nefarious purposes.
It is this latter activity that brings Jean to Donald's door. If the doctor can provide narcotics to keep prostitutes compliant and addicts coming back for more, surely he can provide medicines for a more worthwhile cause. Unfortunately, getting medicines at sites other than state-controlled hospitals isn't easy. And, depending on the nature of one's infirmity, reporting to one those institutions proves less a cure and more a way of being arrested.
With the revival of the slave trade in Egypt under Mobius's rule, certain elements of society have become increasingly threatened. One of these elements are orphans, particularly teenagers, who are judged fit enough to be put into forced labor camps. Conditions in these camps tend to be horrible, and an active medical underground exists to provide whatever care can be made available both in the camps and to orphans living in hiding.
Which brings us full circle. Jean needs to fill an order for antibiotics. Donald likely has a supply or else knows how to get his hands on the valuable medicine. The trick is this: convincing Donald to help.
Alaricus Schwarz found his way into the Ur Guild Chapter House yesterday. The Ur Guild is the science branch of Dr. Mobius's war machine. Rumors of top secret archaeological dig near the Qattara Depression have been circulating for several days, and Alaricus had to find out if these rumors were true. The concealed entrance was difficult to locate, but persistence paid off. Alaricus got into the building, and he found what he was looking for.
The dig is real, and it's not too far south of Siwah near the Libyan Desert on the western edge of the Qattara Depression. The information Alaricus has uncovered is vague. Sesetek, the Overgovernor of the part of Mobius's empire in which Siwah falls, requested "100 mummies" from Wu Han, the Overgovernor of the Nile Delta region. The report also mentioned that "a second tablet" has been excavated.
Unfortunately, Siwah is a long way from Cairo, and free travel in Dr. Mobius's realm is prohibited. This is especially true as one nears the frontiers, such as Libyan Desert. The reality storms aren't the only border security. Mobius's best troops patrol as well, including his feared Nile Shocktroopers.
But still, this is a mystery worth investigating. What archaeological find could merit the attention of two Overgovernors?
