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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 6309872" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 77, “What are we up against?” September 11, 1882, 11:45 AM. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>The past two weeks, and past two hours in particular, have been busy for Lawrence Cantrell. This level of activity should be expected whenever you get involved in the operations of James A. Parker. From their very first meeting in Missouri in August of 1861, in the days surrounding the American Civil War’s Battle of Wilson’s Creek, it has been an interesting partnership between him and James. The current work of the AGELESS corporation promises to be more of the same. </p><p></p><p>So the acquisitionist expert found himself on a southbound train, approaching the city of Cairo, Egypt, in the company of three very diverse individuals. Lawrence had spent the past several days doing surveillance and spying in the city of Zakazik, Egypt. The previous morning allies Alsoomse, Abigail Marsters, Benjamin ‘Fish’ Trout and Cetan headed south to the community of Heliopolis to help thwart an assassination plot. </p><p></p><p>By late evening Cantrell and his companion, the famed American gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, still had not heard from their other three companions, the team’s leader Willamina Parker (James’s wife), Mr. George Eastman, and George’s fiancé Ruby West. They had last been seen at the Zakazik Grand Hotel, where Lawrence snuck back in disguised as an Egyptian hotel worker. While there he discovered that the three of them had been transported to the King’s palace Cairo by a powerful Egyptian wizard. </p><p></p><p>Lawrence discretely exits the hotel from its back entrance. He takes just a few steps when he sees a trio of men turn off of the main street into the alleyway with the hotel's back door. The leader of these men is a well-dressed Egyptian man wearing robes with gold embroidery and with a shiny shortsword on his belt. One of the men beside him is of average height, wearing plain cotton clothing, with a leather cape on his back and a revolver in his belt. He is also carrying a small silver chest with both hands. The third man is tall and burly, apparently a bodyguard, wearing dark leather clothing and with a massive scimitar strapped to his back. </p><p></p><p>They do not appear to have seen Lawrence yet. He looks around quickly for a place to hide. He ducks behind some amphora standing by the door. Carefully he peeks over the top to see what the men are doing and what that box is. The men do not see Lawrence and continue past where he is standing. When they were closest he sees that the box is solid silver with two separate locking mechanisms on them. </p><p></p><p>The men travel for another ten feet when a trio of ruffians suddenly appear at the end of the alley coming off from the next main street. The leader of these ruffians says in Arabic "Ah, people wishing to use our road need to pay the toll." The bodyguard reaches a hand up over his shoulder to grab the hilt of the scimitar that is on his back. Lawrence slowly draws his revolver. He slows his breathing and waits for the right moment to act. He doesn't want to reveal himself unnecessarily.</p><p></p><p>The scimitar is drawn and the large bodyguards steps forward, clearly trying to intimidate the three. It works on one, who turns and runs, but another draws his own sword (that is letting off a slight glow) and moves forward. All but ignoring the guard, he looks to the better dressed man and says, "Nice try Ahmed, but your boy here is no threat to me." Lawrence takes a deep breath and steps out from his hiding place. He levels the revolver at the man with the glowing scimitar. "Maybe not. But I may be. What are you doing here?" </p><p></p><p>The man with the sword stops and looks at Lawrence, who is still dressed as an Egyptian hotel worker. He says, "Well done Ahmed, a second guard. So you now appear to have us outnumbered, except that I know that Chaya will not take his hands off that box, so is essentially out of this. So we're evenly matched, three against three. Care to dance?" The well dressed gentleman replies, "You're a fool Hisham, you cannot win. And since you initiated this as a robbery we're within out rights to kill you all where you stand. But I will be generous, you may leave now with your lives."</p><p></p><p>The man with the sword replies, "A valiant attempt, but you made the mistake of letting me distract you with my sword. My associates now have guns upon both of your guards. It is you who cannot win." Lawrence says, "My dear fellow. How far do you expect to get? Do you think I was hiding here alone?"</p><p></p><p>The man with the sword exchanges glances between the well dressed man and Lawrence. The man says, "It seems that one of your men believes that, he just left." The man with the sword turns his head to look back, and as soon as he turns the better dressed man reaches over and grabs the box. This frees the other man to reach for the gun on his belt. Lawrence says, "The tables have turned. What say you leave now before someone gets hurt?"</p><p></p><p>The man places the sword back in its sheathe. He and his companions then silently walk away, keeping their guns on the others as they go. Once around the corner they apparently run based upon the sounds of their footfalls. </p><p></p><p>The well dressed man turns towards Lawrence and says, "Thank you sir. Did Sheik Antuf el-Heru send you?" Lawrence pockets his gun. "You're welcome there. No, he didn't send me. I just don't like thugs. I'm glad I was here to help. Did you know who those men were? They seemed to know you."</p><p></p><p>The man replies, "Unfortunatley yes, his name is Hisham and he is the son of a former business associate of mine. My name is Ahmed el Quatil. I apparently made the mistake of underestimating the number of guards I would need. That could still be the case. I am already indebted to you, but I will ask another favor of you. If you would be so kind as to accompany us back to my hotel I will see that you are handsomely rewarded for your time and efforts."</p><p></p><p>"Business can be a cutthroat game." Lawrence extends his hand. "My name is Lawrence. I'm glad to be of service." He taps his chin with his finger and says, "I have time to come along. In any case, Hisham may come back. We'd best leave now. Where are you staying?" The man replies, "I am staying at the Arabian Nights Inn, around a quarter mile from here." Coincidentally, that is also the four-story inn where Lawrence currently rooms. Lawrence says, "Excellent, sir. Lead on. </p><p></p><p>Lawrence asks, "Mr. el Quatil, what's in that box? It's got to be something for those guys to try a robbery like that. If I'm too forward, I apologize." He replies, "I will tell you once we are back at the hotel. No point in attracting more unwanted attention." Lawrence nods in agreement. "A wise precaution. Lead on." </p><p></p><p>The remainder of the walk tends to be uneventful. They head upstairs to the top floor, one floor higher than Lawrence's room. Once behind closed doors in a suite of rooms, the man has his friend carefully place the box on the dresser in the room. He turns to Lawrence and says, "A Sheik at the Zakazik Grand Hotel was selling various magical items. He mistakenly through the object in the box to be one that bestows magical protections from spells. It does do that, but that is but one power of the object, it is an artifact. The Sheik was less familiar with that, as he knows primarily Egyptian objects, and this is a powerful item that was made centuries ago by Russian priests for the Tsar."</p><p></p><p>Lawrence lets out a low whistle. "That's a Russian icon? I know plenty of people who would pay big bucks for a thing like that. How did you find out about it?" He replies, "I run an import and export business. Hashim's father does is well, which is probably why they recognized it for what it was too. Now, on to your reward."</p><p></p><p>He heads over to a locked truck at the foot of the bed while saying, "We visited the magic sale twice. I picked up some minor magical items the first time, when I first spotted the box and contacted my friend to verifty it. I'll let you have the choice of these baubbles that I brought back earlier."</p><p></p><p>He places on the bed a metal bracelet with a small blue stone, a small leatherbound book, a 12-inch diameter buckler-type shield and a quartet of horsehoes. He says, "The bracelet will allow a female wearer to control her emotions. The book provides enchanced prayers to Greek priests. The shield affords a one-tenth improvement in personal protection to fighting men. The horseshoes will allow the animal to take flight for a limited period of time. Make your choice."</p><p></p><p>Lawrence says, "Those horseshoes would come in very handy. Thank you, Mr. el Quatil. Now, if I may ask, what kind of icon did you find?" He replies, "That, my friend, is part of the question. This box contains an artifact that is but one of six in a set made for the Czar. What the specific powers of this particular one is remains to be discovered." Lawrence takes the horseshoes, says goodbye, had returns to his own room to fill in Hardin about what has transpired. </p><p></p><p>Lawrence and Hardin do not hear anything for another 12 hours, until receiving a series of emergency telegrams from Eastman from Cairo. The telegrams indicated that the trio escaped from the King’s Palace, which is currently surrounded by three-thousand rebels and anarchists seeking the King’s overthrow. The team had learned that fanatical leader of this group has been manipulated by a rogue team of French wizards into mounting this insurrection, in order to frame the fanatic in an assassination plot against the royal family. George is hoping that Hardin’s reputation might be able to intimidate this fanatic into disbursing his followers.</p><p></p><p>Hardin and Cantrell were also instructed to bring a Bast Priestess named Sabah with them. They found her with her bodyguard, who insisted on coming along, namely a charismatic Scottish nobleman named Callum Stuart. Stuart is a past associate of Hardin and Cantrell’s ally Abigail Marsters. A few days earlier Stuart, Abigail, Benjamin “Fish” Trout and Sabah’s cousin Hakar had worked together to rescue some British archaeologists that had been kept prisoner by the French in Tanis, Egypt. </p><p></p><p>The four boarded a jury-rigged hastily-repaired train in Zakazik, loading the party’s eight mounts in an attached cattle car. The train took them as far as Heliopolis, where the rebels had damaged the railroad bridge. They then crossed the river on a ferry and boarded a second train to take them the remaining five miles to Cairo. The train has barely stopped when a platoon of Egyptian Army soldiers help the quartet and their animals exit the vehicle, stating that they are needed at the Telegraph Office as quickly as possible. </p><p></p><p>Stuart indicates that he knows where it is located as he mounts up upon Ahote, a painted stallion whose names translates as ‘Restless One’. Hardin falls in line behind him upon Trooper, a massive black Percheron stallion, with Cantrell alongside on Moonbean, a large gray mare that served in the Confederate Cavalry in her earlier days. Sabah takes up the rear on Flurry, a light brown mustang. Tied on lead lines to her horse are the party’s four remaining mounts, the white Icelandic pony named Cave Dweller, the golden Appaloosa named Peta, the dark brown Thoroughbred named Nizohni and the silver Quarter horse named Sooleawa. They ride off through the crowded city.</p><p></p><p>Lawrence rubs his back. He says, "Oof. There's not much comfort to be had on those trains. Plus that smoke. I'll be coughing that up for weeks." He turns to Stuart. "Mr. Stuart. Are you sure this route is clear of rebels? We're not exactly traveling secretly." Hardin interjects, "That's why we brought the horses, the others will be on foot and most of them are just regular folk. They'll move out of the way of us."</p><p></p><p>Those inside the telegraph office hear the sound of approaching horses. Looking out the windows and down the street they see a quartet of riders comprised of Callum Stuart, John Wesley Hardin, Lawrence Cantrell and Sabah, with the party's four other mounts following up behind. Army soldiers move forward to take the mounts and the quartet dismount and enter the building.</p><p></p><p>Abby says, "Well Ruby, you wanted to know about Cal? There he is, the ass." Abby hurried to the door but then hesitated. Never before had she been discomfited by a man. Instead of choosing where to go, she stepped out of the door and then to the side and smiled at them all. Ruby claps excitedly. "Our friends! Just in time to be part of the revolution! I am so glad to see you all here, just to see you safe."</p><p></p><p>Abby says, "Well, it's about time you got here; things are moving fast. Glad you made it through safe. Sabah, have we got some things to show you." Lawrence bows slightly. "And hello to you too, Abby." He wipes his brow with a handkerchief. "That was some trip. But that story will have to wait. What are we up against?"</p><p></p><p>Abby replies, "A religious fanatic who has a lot of citizens worked up and following him. We're hoping to get the less committed to abandon him before the soldiers arrive. But considering I was told I was a genius just before you got here, I think Mr. Eastman might have a better idea than the one we were going with." Lawrence, "And "Well, we should go with both plans. As I learned in the war, you always need a backup plan. The fewer people that face that army, the fewer get killed. Heck, if we pull enough of his support away, the whole thing just might crumble." She turned to Sabah. “Before we finalize any plans, we need to show Sabah the items we brought from the Palace." </p><p></p><p>Ruby approaches Hardin and briefly explains that someone needs shooting. "I am very familiar with this gun and not a bad shot, however I'm certain I am not as good as you. Would you rather be the one taking aim?" He says, "Miss West, I'm now an attorney, no longer a gunslinger and certainly not an assassin. I am willing to confront this man and try to talk him down, but will plan to only use my sidearm for self-defense." "Think of it as character assassination, which I know lawyers are quite adept at." quips George.</p><p></p><p>Ruby exclaims, "Hey, I'm not as assassin either! Is it better to let hundreds of innocent people die in a war they really know nothing about? I'm not, so I'll do it, it's okay." "We'd better get going soon because we're going to have to figure out where this guy is." "George, did you say you had another plan of some sort?"</p><p></p><p>Mina has George send the soldiers and telegraph workers out of the building to give the group privacy (and keep outsiders from spreading word of what they found). Once the workers leave George presents his plan. "Ok, here is what I was thinking. Religious fanatics are the majority of the crowd, certainly the part that won't disperse. So let's give them a god! I will have Mina create a projection of Bast over the gates, perhaps I can rig up sound as well. At the least the sign of Bast should symbolism that the palace is under her protection and drive many away. if we can rig up either sound through a spell or some mechanical contraption, we should be able to have Bast tell the crowd to leave. Remember all we really need is to buy a good hour of these folks going away, if they come back, well hopefully we will have things all fixed up by then." explains George</p><p></p><p>Sahah states "Bast is the wrong deity, She would not have the effect on the crowds that you are seeking. She is no longer actively worshiped in this city, and most of the people are unfamiliar with her. Her closest temple is a full ten miles west of here, in Gizah." Meren interjects "You should not use the god Horus either. Abdullah's second-in-command is an elder priest of Horus. He would recognize a false projection of Horus and declare it as such." Lawrence taps his chin with his finger. "Hmm. Is Horus the patron god of this city? If not, we can use him. That should make our illusion strike closer to home."</p><p></p><p>"Osiris? Thoth? Ra! I Think we need to use Ra. Most powerful of gods, symbolic of the monarchy and hell we could use a sun. Oh better yet have a phoenix appear and then the eye turns into the all seeing eye of Ra as a burning sun." exclaims George. Sabah says, "Yes, that should work."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 6309872, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 77, “What are we up against?” September 11, 1882, 11:45 AM. [/B] The past two weeks, and past two hours in particular, have been busy for Lawrence Cantrell. This level of activity should be expected whenever you get involved in the operations of James A. Parker. From their very first meeting in Missouri in August of 1861, in the days surrounding the American Civil War’s Battle of Wilson’s Creek, it has been an interesting partnership between him and James. The current work of the AGELESS corporation promises to be more of the same. So the acquisitionist expert found himself on a southbound train, approaching the city of Cairo, Egypt, in the company of three very diverse individuals. Lawrence had spent the past several days doing surveillance and spying in the city of Zakazik, Egypt. The previous morning allies Alsoomse, Abigail Marsters, Benjamin ‘Fish’ Trout and Cetan headed south to the community of Heliopolis to help thwart an assassination plot. By late evening Cantrell and his companion, the famed American gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, still had not heard from their other three companions, the team’s leader Willamina Parker (James’s wife), Mr. George Eastman, and George’s fiancé Ruby West. They had last been seen at the Zakazik Grand Hotel, where Lawrence snuck back in disguised as an Egyptian hotel worker. While there he discovered that the three of them had been transported to the King’s palace Cairo by a powerful Egyptian wizard. Lawrence discretely exits the hotel from its back entrance. He takes just a few steps when he sees a trio of men turn off of the main street into the alleyway with the hotel's back door. The leader of these men is a well-dressed Egyptian man wearing robes with gold embroidery and with a shiny shortsword on his belt. One of the men beside him is of average height, wearing plain cotton clothing, with a leather cape on his back and a revolver in his belt. He is also carrying a small silver chest with both hands. The third man is tall and burly, apparently a bodyguard, wearing dark leather clothing and with a massive scimitar strapped to his back. They do not appear to have seen Lawrence yet. He looks around quickly for a place to hide. He ducks behind some amphora standing by the door. Carefully he peeks over the top to see what the men are doing and what that box is. The men do not see Lawrence and continue past where he is standing. When they were closest he sees that the box is solid silver with two separate locking mechanisms on them. The men travel for another ten feet when a trio of ruffians suddenly appear at the end of the alley coming off from the next main street. The leader of these ruffians says in Arabic "Ah, people wishing to use our road need to pay the toll." The bodyguard reaches a hand up over his shoulder to grab the hilt of the scimitar that is on his back. Lawrence slowly draws his revolver. He slows his breathing and waits for the right moment to act. He doesn't want to reveal himself unnecessarily. The scimitar is drawn and the large bodyguards steps forward, clearly trying to intimidate the three. It works on one, who turns and runs, but another draws his own sword (that is letting off a slight glow) and moves forward. All but ignoring the guard, he looks to the better dressed man and says, "Nice try Ahmed, but your boy here is no threat to me." Lawrence takes a deep breath and steps out from his hiding place. He levels the revolver at the man with the glowing scimitar. "Maybe not. But I may be. What are you doing here?" The man with the sword stops and looks at Lawrence, who is still dressed as an Egyptian hotel worker. He says, "Well done Ahmed, a second guard. So you now appear to have us outnumbered, except that I know that Chaya will not take his hands off that box, so is essentially out of this. So we're evenly matched, three against three. Care to dance?" The well dressed gentleman replies, "You're a fool Hisham, you cannot win. And since you initiated this as a robbery we're within out rights to kill you all where you stand. But I will be generous, you may leave now with your lives." The man with the sword replies, "A valiant attempt, but you made the mistake of letting me distract you with my sword. My associates now have guns upon both of your guards. It is you who cannot win." Lawrence says, "My dear fellow. How far do you expect to get? Do you think I was hiding here alone?" The man with the sword exchanges glances between the well dressed man and Lawrence. The man says, "It seems that one of your men believes that, he just left." The man with the sword turns his head to look back, and as soon as he turns the better dressed man reaches over and grabs the box. This frees the other man to reach for the gun on his belt. Lawrence says, "The tables have turned. What say you leave now before someone gets hurt?" The man places the sword back in its sheathe. He and his companions then silently walk away, keeping their guns on the others as they go. Once around the corner they apparently run based upon the sounds of their footfalls. The well dressed man turns towards Lawrence and says, "Thank you sir. Did Sheik Antuf el-Heru send you?" Lawrence pockets his gun. "You're welcome there. No, he didn't send me. I just don't like thugs. I'm glad I was here to help. Did you know who those men were? They seemed to know you." The man replies, "Unfortunatley yes, his name is Hisham and he is the son of a former business associate of mine. My name is Ahmed el Quatil. I apparently made the mistake of underestimating the number of guards I would need. That could still be the case. I am already indebted to you, but I will ask another favor of you. If you would be so kind as to accompany us back to my hotel I will see that you are handsomely rewarded for your time and efforts." "Business can be a cutthroat game." Lawrence extends his hand. "My name is Lawrence. I'm glad to be of service." He taps his chin with his finger and says, "I have time to come along. In any case, Hisham may come back. We'd best leave now. Where are you staying?" The man replies, "I am staying at the Arabian Nights Inn, around a quarter mile from here." Coincidentally, that is also the four-story inn where Lawrence currently rooms. Lawrence says, "Excellent, sir. Lead on. Lawrence asks, "Mr. el Quatil, what's in that box? It's got to be something for those guys to try a robbery like that. If I'm too forward, I apologize." He replies, "I will tell you once we are back at the hotel. No point in attracting more unwanted attention." Lawrence nods in agreement. "A wise precaution. Lead on." The remainder of the walk tends to be uneventful. They head upstairs to the top floor, one floor higher than Lawrence's room. Once behind closed doors in a suite of rooms, the man has his friend carefully place the box on the dresser in the room. He turns to Lawrence and says, "A Sheik at the Zakazik Grand Hotel was selling various magical items. He mistakenly through the object in the box to be one that bestows magical protections from spells. It does do that, but that is but one power of the object, it is an artifact. The Sheik was less familiar with that, as he knows primarily Egyptian objects, and this is a powerful item that was made centuries ago by Russian priests for the Tsar." Lawrence lets out a low whistle. "That's a Russian icon? I know plenty of people who would pay big bucks for a thing like that. How did you find out about it?" He replies, "I run an import and export business. Hashim's father does is well, which is probably why they recognized it for what it was too. Now, on to your reward." He heads over to a locked truck at the foot of the bed while saying, "We visited the magic sale twice. I picked up some minor magical items the first time, when I first spotted the box and contacted my friend to verifty it. I'll let you have the choice of these baubbles that I brought back earlier." He places on the bed a metal bracelet with a small blue stone, a small leatherbound book, a 12-inch diameter buckler-type shield and a quartet of horsehoes. He says, "The bracelet will allow a female wearer to control her emotions. The book provides enchanced prayers to Greek priests. The shield affords a one-tenth improvement in personal protection to fighting men. The horseshoes will allow the animal to take flight for a limited period of time. Make your choice." Lawrence says, "Those horseshoes would come in very handy. Thank you, Mr. el Quatil. Now, if I may ask, what kind of icon did you find?" He replies, "That, my friend, is part of the question. This box contains an artifact that is but one of six in a set made for the Czar. What the specific powers of this particular one is remains to be discovered." Lawrence takes the horseshoes, says goodbye, had returns to his own room to fill in Hardin about what has transpired. Lawrence and Hardin do not hear anything for another 12 hours, until receiving a series of emergency telegrams from Eastman from Cairo. The telegrams indicated that the trio escaped from the King’s Palace, which is currently surrounded by three-thousand rebels and anarchists seeking the King’s overthrow. The team had learned that fanatical leader of this group has been manipulated by a rogue team of French wizards into mounting this insurrection, in order to frame the fanatic in an assassination plot against the royal family. George is hoping that Hardin’s reputation might be able to intimidate this fanatic into disbursing his followers. Hardin and Cantrell were also instructed to bring a Bast Priestess named Sabah with them. They found her with her bodyguard, who insisted on coming along, namely a charismatic Scottish nobleman named Callum Stuart. Stuart is a past associate of Hardin and Cantrell’s ally Abigail Marsters. A few days earlier Stuart, Abigail, Benjamin “Fish” Trout and Sabah’s cousin Hakar had worked together to rescue some British archaeologists that had been kept prisoner by the French in Tanis, Egypt. The four boarded a jury-rigged hastily-repaired train in Zakazik, loading the party’s eight mounts in an attached cattle car. The train took them as far as Heliopolis, where the rebels had damaged the railroad bridge. They then crossed the river on a ferry and boarded a second train to take them the remaining five miles to Cairo. The train has barely stopped when a platoon of Egyptian Army soldiers help the quartet and their animals exit the vehicle, stating that they are needed at the Telegraph Office as quickly as possible. Stuart indicates that he knows where it is located as he mounts up upon Ahote, a painted stallion whose names translates as ‘Restless One’. Hardin falls in line behind him upon Trooper, a massive black Percheron stallion, with Cantrell alongside on Moonbean, a large gray mare that served in the Confederate Cavalry in her earlier days. Sabah takes up the rear on Flurry, a light brown mustang. Tied on lead lines to her horse are the party’s four remaining mounts, the white Icelandic pony named Cave Dweller, the golden Appaloosa named Peta, the dark brown Thoroughbred named Nizohni and the silver Quarter horse named Sooleawa. They ride off through the crowded city. Lawrence rubs his back. He says, "Oof. There's not much comfort to be had on those trains. Plus that smoke. I'll be coughing that up for weeks." He turns to Stuart. "Mr. Stuart. Are you sure this route is clear of rebels? We're not exactly traveling secretly." Hardin interjects, "That's why we brought the horses, the others will be on foot and most of them are just regular folk. They'll move out of the way of us." Those inside the telegraph office hear the sound of approaching horses. Looking out the windows and down the street they see a quartet of riders comprised of Callum Stuart, John Wesley Hardin, Lawrence Cantrell and Sabah, with the party's four other mounts following up behind. Army soldiers move forward to take the mounts and the quartet dismount and enter the building. Abby says, "Well Ruby, you wanted to know about Cal? There he is, the ass." Abby hurried to the door but then hesitated. Never before had she been discomfited by a man. Instead of choosing where to go, she stepped out of the door and then to the side and smiled at them all. Ruby claps excitedly. "Our friends! Just in time to be part of the revolution! I am so glad to see you all here, just to see you safe." Abby says, "Well, it's about time you got here; things are moving fast. Glad you made it through safe. Sabah, have we got some things to show you." Lawrence bows slightly. "And hello to you too, Abby." He wipes his brow with a handkerchief. "That was some trip. But that story will have to wait. What are we up against?" Abby replies, "A religious fanatic who has a lot of citizens worked up and following him. We're hoping to get the less committed to abandon him before the soldiers arrive. But considering I was told I was a genius just before you got here, I think Mr. Eastman might have a better idea than the one we were going with." Lawrence, "And "Well, we should go with both plans. As I learned in the war, you always need a backup plan. The fewer people that face that army, the fewer get killed. Heck, if we pull enough of his support away, the whole thing just might crumble." She turned to Sabah. “Before we finalize any plans, we need to show Sabah the items we brought from the Palace." Ruby approaches Hardin and briefly explains that someone needs shooting. "I am very familiar with this gun and not a bad shot, however I'm certain I am not as good as you. Would you rather be the one taking aim?" He says, "Miss West, I'm now an attorney, no longer a gunslinger and certainly not an assassin. I am willing to confront this man and try to talk him down, but will plan to only use my sidearm for self-defense." "Think of it as character assassination, which I know lawyers are quite adept at." quips George. Ruby exclaims, "Hey, I'm not as assassin either! Is it better to let hundreds of innocent people die in a war they really know nothing about? I'm not, so I'll do it, it's okay." "We'd better get going soon because we're going to have to figure out where this guy is." "George, did you say you had another plan of some sort?" Mina has George send the soldiers and telegraph workers out of the building to give the group privacy (and keep outsiders from spreading word of what they found). Once the workers leave George presents his plan. "Ok, here is what I was thinking. Religious fanatics are the majority of the crowd, certainly the part that won't disperse. So let's give them a god! I will have Mina create a projection of Bast over the gates, perhaps I can rig up sound as well. At the least the sign of Bast should symbolism that the palace is under her protection and drive many away. if we can rig up either sound through a spell or some mechanical contraption, we should be able to have Bast tell the crowd to leave. Remember all we really need is to buy a good hour of these folks going away, if they come back, well hopefully we will have things all fixed up by then." explains George Sahah states "Bast is the wrong deity, She would not have the effect on the crowds that you are seeking. She is no longer actively worshiped in this city, and most of the people are unfamiliar with her. Her closest temple is a full ten miles west of here, in Gizah." Meren interjects "You should not use the god Horus either. Abdullah's second-in-command is an elder priest of Horus. He would recognize a false projection of Horus and declare it as such." Lawrence taps his chin with his finger. "Hmm. Is Horus the patron god of this city? If not, we can use him. That should make our illusion strike closer to home." "Osiris? Thoth? Ra! I Think we need to use Ra. Most powerful of gods, symbolic of the monarchy and hell we could use a sun. Oh better yet have a phoenix appear and then the eye turns into the all seeing eye of Ra as a burning sun." exclaims George. Sabah says, "Yes, that should work." [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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