Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 6888931" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 88, “The Flying Ogre”, September 11, 1882, 4:00 P.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>As the last Frenchmen depart George signals Freya to fly down again. George rallies the group. Freya is to carry the gondola out to the USS Franklin Pierce with a letter from Mina to stow in under tarps and heavy guard. Freya will then meet back with the group at the Telegraph Office where the group will go to seek healing after a hard fought day. From there they will hopefully get a better idea of the status of the rebellion.</p><p></p><p>Freya lands and after stripping off the balloon remnants manages to carry the gondola aloft. George, Mina, Ruby, Abby and Lawrence return to the telegraph office for the others. Telegraphs that have come in during the last hour indicate that Orabi's army is continuing to mobilize by the town of Tel El-Kabir, 30 miles southeast of Zakazik. No telegrams regarding the British forces have arrived.</p><p></p><p>Abby asked quickly, "Have you heard from Cal or Boujoulais? Anyone who went with us to the Palace? Do we know anything about the location of the General, the King, or the Princess?" Hardin has returned from the palace with the rest of the party's horses, with two horses on loan from the Egyptian army as replacements for Abby and Ruby’s. There is no knowledge of what happened with the British spies. Similarly, there is no knowledge or any telegrams regarding the General or Princess.</p><p></p><p>As for the King, witnesses claim that his Grand Vizier and the French Wizards teleported the entire Royal Family away to an unknown location once the rebels with the fireball wands stormed the palace. Abby kept her personal fears about Cal to herself. She stated "So as far as we know the royal family could already be dead. We have no idea what faction the French wizards who were with them belonged to. Or if Belloq is some kind of traitor or double agent, or just knows the real French plan."</p><p></p><p>"How convenient" murmurs George "Okay, so the French could conceivably have the Entire Royal family AND the Princess essentially kidnapped. I am sure there is a French "Advisor" to General Orabi. I think we need to head back to the palace and see for ourselves. Make sure the rebels are routed and Royal troops have the palace secured. Once that is accomplished we can try to locate the royals."</p><p></p><p>Ruby says to the group, "We need healing, several of us are injured. I know we have some potions but if any of you know of a temple here that could help us out, that would be a better, wiser option I think. Anyone have any ideas for us?" Sahab offers to lead the group to the Temple of Ra. Ruby says, "Okay, first to the Temple of Ra. Our safety first George. And frankly, I'm not keen on going back to the crumbling remnants of the palace. Is there another way we can figure out where the royals are?" Abby interjects, "Ruby's right. We won't do anyone any good if we run ourselves into the ground until we collapse. Much as I want to see what happened at the Palace after we left.”</p><p></p><p>The group ride to the Temple to seek healing. They arrive at the Temple of Ra. Meren and Cetan take the horses to the adjacent stable while the others head inside, following Sabah's lead. She escorts them to a large private chamber that has alters to four different Egyptian Gods, one of them being Bast, where she states a prayer. A High Priest of Ra soon arrives and converses with Sabah in a language that only the linguist Alsoomse (still in cat form) appears to recognize. Sabah explains that the Priest will cast healing spells on all who need it. They will then be taken to bedchambers separated by gender, where a Priest or Priestess will prepare a bed for each of them and then cast a spell which will give them all the equivalent of eight-hours sleep in just one hour.</p><p></p><p>While the priestesses prepare, Lawrence paces. He says, "One problem down, but two crop up. Maybe this General Orabi can be reasoned with." "If the French don't kidnap him. If he isn't fully their unwitting pawn. If we can reach him before he does too much harm." muses George. "We need to intercept him somehow, reach him to persuade him. To have him help us get his bride back. We also need to figure how if there are any of the French wizards who are actually on Egypt's side. At this point I doubt it." Lawrence replies, "Probably true, but who knows?"</p><p></p><p>Ruby says, "Let us all dream of what we should do when we awake, we're going to need all the help we can get." She gives George a kiss and follows Mina and Abby to the women's area where she happily takes a rest.</p><p></p><p>After the hour is up Ruby emerges from the secure area, rested and alert. She stretches, "That was so refreshing! Doesn't everyone feel so much better?" She thanks the priests of Ra for the gracious healing and speaks to them. "Have you heard any recent news of what is going on in the city? She is told by one of the priests that the army has instituted martial law and is telling everybody to stay in their homes until further notice.</p><p></p><p>Lawrence says, "That can't include the army. We'll have to liberate some uniforms. That should give us freedom to walk around." "Good idea, but what about Mina, Ruby and Abby?" asks George. Mina says, "As long as we are together with one of you in uniform I am sure you can think of a reason to support it." Lawrence replies, "We can say we're escorting them to a safe place."</p><p></p><p>One of the acolytes comes in and says, "This is strange. There is a uniformed ogre flying over the city!" Ruby snaps to attention. "Where? Can you point him out? Quickly friends, if it is who I think it is, we must get his attention!!" The acolyte gives Ruby and confused look and replies, "Point him out? How many flying ogres do you think there are in the sky? He's rather obvious!" </p><p></p><p>Ruby rolls her eyes. "I just meant what direction. There's a lot of sky out there!" Her face lights up and she quickly looks around the room. "Where are the stairs to the roof? The acolyte says she will take her up to the bell tower. Mina waves Ruby aside and says, "I'd better stay here. The Priests and guards up at the tower may recognize me as the one who broke their chime four hours ago."</p><p></p><p>Ruby nods. "I understand Nana. Why don't you go outside here and see what you spot, just in case we are too late up there." Ruby scoots the acolyte in the direction. "Now, we must hurry!" They run up the stairs as quickly as they can to get to the roof. Lawrence and George follow Ruby to the roof. Ruby and Lawrence head up the stairs, it takes considerable time, as the top of the bell tower is a good eighty feet above the street. Seeing that, Ruby realizes that her Grandmother had "played down" the degree of danger that had been involved in her earlier escapade here, as she had freely dived from this height.</p><p></p><p>There are a dozen men up top, four construction workers fixing the chime, two Priests of Ra, and six armed guards. Ruby also notes that the chime is considerably broken. Further observation reveals over a dozen sections of one upper wall near the edge where chinks and chips of the stone are broken off and a few bullets remain lodged in the wall . Given the close formation of the bullets it appears that when Mina indicated guards had shot at her, that there were a considerable number of them. Ruby concludes that her own impulsive streak towards danger is clearly an inherited trait. </p><p></p><p>Looking out and across the sky, it does not take long to spot the Ogre. He is making a wide circle around three blocks away, looking down upon the royal palace. George, who had followed Ruby outside asks to borrow her compact make up case. After a confused look she hands it over. George changes his position to account for the sun and uses the mirror to reflect the sun and to signal the flying ogre. George finds that he has some difficulty due to the fact that his target is a quarter-mile away and moving while facing the opposite direction.</p><p></p><p>"Well, we could shoot him." suggests George with a sardonic grin. George suddenly has an idea as he runs inside to the temple. Moments later he emerges with a shiny copper pan, some beeswax and a hammer. George kneels down and begin hammering the sides of the pan to form deeper depression. George pauses every now and again to check the shape by eye and do a few mental calculations. Lawrence asks what he is doing. George replies “I am making a parabolic photo-reflector to project a more intense and focused beam of light.” With one more hammer stroke George exclaims in delight. He places the mirror from the compact in the very center with some beeswax and aims it at a sharp angle between the ogre and the sun.</p><p></p><p>Lawrence wheezes and leans against the wall. "I ... am ... too old ... for this." From his hunched over posture, he can spot the ogre easily. "There he is. He's going to get himself killed if he doesn't land soon." Ruby is about to tell George he's crazy when his invention actually works. She shakes her head. "What a bunch we are," she laughs. She jumps up and down to get the ogres attention, hoping he recognizes her. He turns and flies in the direction of the temple's bell tower. As he nears Ruby recognizes him as Princess Neferka's personal bodyguard Mengesha.</p><p></p><p>Back below, despite the attentions of the Priestesses at the Temple, Abby had a hard time falling asleep. Worry and adrenaline from the battle kept her heart beating hard, and she'd actually had to meditate and focus on keeping her body calm and her mind clear in order to let her body rest. When the others went tearing up to the roof, Abby stayed with Mina and Sabah. "Now that the excitable ones are gone, where do we really stand? Everywhere we turn there seems to be French wizards working to cause chaos. I seriously doubt they know what the others are doing. If we can find the Royal Family we'll know what side to stand on. If we can’t?...."</p><p></p><p>Mina says, "We know is that they were working in eight teams of six all around Egypt, so indeed, it did seem like they were everywhere. They must be coming close to their "end-game", perhaps we should reflect back on what we know to try to figure out exactly what that will be." Another acolyte enters and says that the flying ogre is heading towards the temple.</p><p></p><p>Back up above, the ogre Mengesha lands upon the roof beside Ruby and George. Gesturing to the priests, guards and workmen he softly says "Are they allies? Should we speak in their presence?" "Honestly, they helped us but I'd rather talk more privately about these important matters," Ruby whispers back. "My friend!" She says in a louder voice, "You are safe, I am so relieved! We have so much to discuss! Friends," she turns to the priests, "Is there somewhere more private my friend and I may speak? We have some important matters to talk about and right now even the skies are not safe."</p><p></p><p>The taller priest orders one of the guards to bring them to a place labeled as the Tehuti Room. On the way down, Ruby collects Abby and her grandmother, telling them they are about to get some news. They are led below and through a long corridor, to a conference room with ornate chairs and a table made of dark onyx stone. A fresco on the wall depicts a humanoid in Egyptian garb with the head of a stork. Ruby thanks the priest and the guard for their help and makes sure the door is shut behind them.</p><p></p><p>"Mengesha!" She gives him a big hug. Then she starts in one breath, "I am so relieved to see you! Very quickly, this is my fiance George, My grandmother Mina and my friend Abby. Everyone, this is the Princesses personal bodyguard Mengesha. Now that that's taken care of, please forgive my rudeness but where is the Princess? What has happened to her? So you know where general Orabi is? We've been going crazy here trying to figure out what to do next!!" Ruby lets out one big breath. "Whew. Sorry."</p><p></p><p>The ogre replies "By now she and the General should be on their way to meet with the King. He extended his original deadline of 4PM to dusk due to his having to relocate from the palace." He removes the backpack he is wearing and from it takes out a wrapped package which he gives to Ruby stating, "The Princess wished for you to have this." Ruby begins opening the package. "Where is the royal family now? Where are they meeting?"</p><p></p><p>He replies, "They would not tell her, not until the French dirigible was in the air. They did not trust General Orabi to keep the location secret from his rebel allies. But the Princess is almost certain that she knows where they are. The King has a private chamber in one of the pyramids." Abby mulls, "A French Dirigible. Can we even trust that the Princess and the General will arrive safely?" The ogre replies, "They should be safe. They were negotiating a truce before General Orabi agreed to come. The King has given assurances that he will not be harmed.</p><p></p><p>Abby turned to the Ogre and said, "Everywhere we've turned today we've found French fighting on both sides. Some claim to be for the Royal Family, some for the rebels, others seem to just want to throw Egypt into chaos.” The Orge says, "My Sovereign has accompanied her and has sworn to protect her. Neither the King of Egypt or these French wish a war with Nubia. Abby says, “I think we need to take our chances and go where the Princess thinks they were headed."</p><p></p><p>Ruby's eyes go wide. "Wait-a-minute. Who are they?? What dirigible? Was the Princess on the Dreadnaught? Is she with the General?" The ogre says, "Not the one with the guns, the other one. They were leaving an hour after I departed. My flying belt is swift, but it took a while to find you here. If they are coming directly they should be in Gizah in the near future." Ruby breathes a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you Aphrodite! Okay, so they are on their way to the pyramids, that's where we need to go too then." Ruby pauses and looks up at the ogre. "Well, does the Princess still wish us to come to her?" Gesturing to the package the ogre says, "I do not think that she would have sent you that otherwise."</p><p></p><p>Ruby finishes unwrapping it. Inside is the lavender silk dress with platinum and gold embroidery throughout and rubies sewn into a white collar that they had negotiated the purchase of back in Zakazik. The sheik selling it had said that the dress was once worn by the Greek Goddess Venus, known to the Roman's as Aphrodite. He stated that it affords protection to the wearer as though they were attired in the strongest of magical armors</p><p></p><p>Ruby's eyes widen and her mouth drops open. "This is just... just..." She runs her hands along the soft silk as she gets herself together. "Of course, this color looks amazing on me," she grins. "I should look fabulous going into battle." Abby says, "If you were looking for Miss West, does that mean the Princess wants her presence there. With Mr. Eastman and Mrs. Parker? It certainly makes things easier if we're invited. The King isn't terribly pleased with any of us at the moment."</p><p></p><p>The ogre says, "He is far less pleased with General Orabi, but a truce has been negotiated that will last from now until midnight, when the moon is at its highest." Abby nodded. "A truce between the King and the General is the best outcome we can hope for. They need to be united to face the external threats to Egypt. Mainly from France. Abdullah will be nothing if they are not fighting against each other. Of course Europeans have interest here, Americans too. United they can make sure Egypt meets them as equals."</p><p></p><p>"We need more than a truce, we need resolution. What will happen at midnight Mengesha? If Orabi and the King do not reach an agreement what happens to the rebels here and to Orabi?" asks George. The ogre replies "At midnight, probably nothing. But at dawn Orabi's army will fight the British. It was the General who set that end time, to keep from being delayed in Gizah. He wanted sufficient time to return to Tel-el Kabir and prepare for battle.” "Will the French allow him to leave? Will they transport him?" asks George. The ogre replies, "Yes, they have promised to return him to the northeast once the audience with the King is concluded."</p><p></p><p>Ruby says, "I'm wondering, what does your King, the King of Nubia, have to do with any of this? Why is he interested in Protecting the Princess?" The ogre replies, "He wishes for Egypt to be ruled by the Egyptians. He has heard a prophesy from our priests that the British will take over both Egypt and Nubia unless the current path of time is changed. He seeks to prevent that from occurring." She says, "I can understand that I suppose."</p><p></p><p>Abby had half turned to ask Cal when she remembered that she had no idea where he was, or if he was even alive. She swallowed hard against the panic that threatened to rise in her throat. "Your King is wise," she said simply. Mengesha replies, “The wisest man that I have ever know, although his title is Prince rather than King. The Egyptian King will not allow for him to hold the title of an equal." Ruby states, "That seems unfair, don't you have your own country?" He replies, "Nubia is allowed autonomy, but it technically remains a part of Egypt."</p><p></p><p>"Well Mengesha, I don't know if that prophecy will come true, but hopefully a ragtag group of Americans can help keep Egypt, Egyptian. To do that though we need to reach that pyramid as fast as we can. Is there some way you can help us do that?” The ogre says, "It is eight miles away. I could carry one of you, perhaps two of the smaller, but that is all that the flight belt would allow." “Also were you looking for Ruby as you flew over the palace?" asks George. Mengesha replies, "I first checked at the telegraph office. You were no longer there. Then I flew around until I found you."</p><p></p><p>Ruby lifts up her new dress. "So, how long will it take for us to get to the pyramids?" Mina says, "By horseback, probably around an hour." "Then let us get some horses and ride. We may need all the time we can manage", George states. </p><p></p><p>Once Sabah hears where they want to go she sends a priest to the telegraph office to get the group's horses. Sabah also finds them robes so that they can travel as clergy. She explains that the closest Temple to Bast is in Gizah, so she and her entourage would have no difficulty getting through military checkpoints to go there. Abby says, "Thank you, Sabah. I don't know why, my instincts are screaming at me that you should be with us. Maybe you just make me feel better." Abby asks, "Mengesha, will you be there to meet us, to make sure we're admitted?" He says that he will fly there but is unsure of his personal influence.</p><p></p><p>Ruby has a priest take her to a private area where she can change into her new dress. She slips it on and even though it should feel heavy because of the jewels it feels soft and as light as air as it caresses her skin. She closes her eyes and drops to her knees, thanking Aphrodite for keeping her and her friends safe and asking for just a little more of her blessings and protections as they are about to embark on their most dangerous mission yet.</p><p></p><p>She strides out feeling confident and she does a twirl before George and Mina. "What do you think?" "The clothing of Aphrodite herself is the only thing that could possibly make you look more beautiful my dearest." replies George appreciatively Ruby says, "Alright. So we're going to the pyramids.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 6888931, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 88, “The Flying Ogre”, September 11, 1882, 4:00 P.M.[/B] As the last Frenchmen depart George signals Freya to fly down again. George rallies the group. Freya is to carry the gondola out to the USS Franklin Pierce with a letter from Mina to stow in under tarps and heavy guard. Freya will then meet back with the group at the Telegraph Office where the group will go to seek healing after a hard fought day. From there they will hopefully get a better idea of the status of the rebellion. Freya lands and after stripping off the balloon remnants manages to carry the gondola aloft. George, Mina, Ruby, Abby and Lawrence return to the telegraph office for the others. Telegraphs that have come in during the last hour indicate that Orabi's army is continuing to mobilize by the town of Tel El-Kabir, 30 miles southeast of Zakazik. No telegrams regarding the British forces have arrived. Abby asked quickly, "Have you heard from Cal or Boujoulais? Anyone who went with us to the Palace? Do we know anything about the location of the General, the King, or the Princess?" Hardin has returned from the palace with the rest of the party's horses, with two horses on loan from the Egyptian army as replacements for Abby and Ruby’s. There is no knowledge of what happened with the British spies. Similarly, there is no knowledge or any telegrams regarding the General or Princess. As for the King, witnesses claim that his Grand Vizier and the French Wizards teleported the entire Royal Family away to an unknown location once the rebels with the fireball wands stormed the palace. Abby kept her personal fears about Cal to herself. She stated "So as far as we know the royal family could already be dead. We have no idea what faction the French wizards who were with them belonged to. Or if Belloq is some kind of traitor or double agent, or just knows the real French plan." "How convenient" murmurs George "Okay, so the French could conceivably have the Entire Royal family AND the Princess essentially kidnapped. I am sure there is a French "Advisor" to General Orabi. I think we need to head back to the palace and see for ourselves. Make sure the rebels are routed and Royal troops have the palace secured. Once that is accomplished we can try to locate the royals." Ruby says to the group, "We need healing, several of us are injured. I know we have some potions but if any of you know of a temple here that could help us out, that would be a better, wiser option I think. Anyone have any ideas for us?" Sahab offers to lead the group to the Temple of Ra. Ruby says, "Okay, first to the Temple of Ra. Our safety first George. And frankly, I'm not keen on going back to the crumbling remnants of the palace. Is there another way we can figure out where the royals are?" Abby interjects, "Ruby's right. We won't do anyone any good if we run ourselves into the ground until we collapse. Much as I want to see what happened at the Palace after we left.” The group ride to the Temple to seek healing. They arrive at the Temple of Ra. Meren and Cetan take the horses to the adjacent stable while the others head inside, following Sabah's lead. She escorts them to a large private chamber that has alters to four different Egyptian Gods, one of them being Bast, where she states a prayer. A High Priest of Ra soon arrives and converses with Sabah in a language that only the linguist Alsoomse (still in cat form) appears to recognize. Sabah explains that the Priest will cast healing spells on all who need it. They will then be taken to bedchambers separated by gender, where a Priest or Priestess will prepare a bed for each of them and then cast a spell which will give them all the equivalent of eight-hours sleep in just one hour. While the priestesses prepare, Lawrence paces. He says, "One problem down, but two crop up. Maybe this General Orabi can be reasoned with." "If the French don't kidnap him. If he isn't fully their unwitting pawn. If we can reach him before he does too much harm." muses George. "We need to intercept him somehow, reach him to persuade him. To have him help us get his bride back. We also need to figure how if there are any of the French wizards who are actually on Egypt's side. At this point I doubt it." Lawrence replies, "Probably true, but who knows?" Ruby says, "Let us all dream of what we should do when we awake, we're going to need all the help we can get." She gives George a kiss and follows Mina and Abby to the women's area where she happily takes a rest. After the hour is up Ruby emerges from the secure area, rested and alert. She stretches, "That was so refreshing! Doesn't everyone feel so much better?" She thanks the priests of Ra for the gracious healing and speaks to them. "Have you heard any recent news of what is going on in the city? She is told by one of the priests that the army has instituted martial law and is telling everybody to stay in their homes until further notice. Lawrence says, "That can't include the army. We'll have to liberate some uniforms. That should give us freedom to walk around." "Good idea, but what about Mina, Ruby and Abby?" asks George. Mina says, "As long as we are together with one of you in uniform I am sure you can think of a reason to support it." Lawrence replies, "We can say we're escorting them to a safe place." One of the acolytes comes in and says, "This is strange. There is a uniformed ogre flying over the city!" Ruby snaps to attention. "Where? Can you point him out? Quickly friends, if it is who I think it is, we must get his attention!!" The acolyte gives Ruby and confused look and replies, "Point him out? How many flying ogres do you think there are in the sky? He's rather obvious!" Ruby rolls her eyes. "I just meant what direction. There's a lot of sky out there!" Her face lights up and she quickly looks around the room. "Where are the stairs to the roof? The acolyte says she will take her up to the bell tower. Mina waves Ruby aside and says, "I'd better stay here. The Priests and guards up at the tower may recognize me as the one who broke their chime four hours ago." Ruby nods. "I understand Nana. Why don't you go outside here and see what you spot, just in case we are too late up there." Ruby scoots the acolyte in the direction. "Now, we must hurry!" They run up the stairs as quickly as they can to get to the roof. Lawrence and George follow Ruby to the roof. Ruby and Lawrence head up the stairs, it takes considerable time, as the top of the bell tower is a good eighty feet above the street. Seeing that, Ruby realizes that her Grandmother had "played down" the degree of danger that had been involved in her earlier escapade here, as she had freely dived from this height. There are a dozen men up top, four construction workers fixing the chime, two Priests of Ra, and six armed guards. Ruby also notes that the chime is considerably broken. Further observation reveals over a dozen sections of one upper wall near the edge where chinks and chips of the stone are broken off and a few bullets remain lodged in the wall . Given the close formation of the bullets it appears that when Mina indicated guards had shot at her, that there were a considerable number of them. Ruby concludes that her own impulsive streak towards danger is clearly an inherited trait. Looking out and across the sky, it does not take long to spot the Ogre. He is making a wide circle around three blocks away, looking down upon the royal palace. George, who had followed Ruby outside asks to borrow her compact make up case. After a confused look she hands it over. George changes his position to account for the sun and uses the mirror to reflect the sun and to signal the flying ogre. George finds that he has some difficulty due to the fact that his target is a quarter-mile away and moving while facing the opposite direction. "Well, we could shoot him." suggests George with a sardonic grin. George suddenly has an idea as he runs inside to the temple. Moments later he emerges with a shiny copper pan, some beeswax and a hammer. George kneels down and begin hammering the sides of the pan to form deeper depression. George pauses every now and again to check the shape by eye and do a few mental calculations. Lawrence asks what he is doing. George replies “I am making a parabolic photo-reflector to project a more intense and focused beam of light.” With one more hammer stroke George exclaims in delight. He places the mirror from the compact in the very center with some beeswax and aims it at a sharp angle between the ogre and the sun. Lawrence wheezes and leans against the wall. "I ... am ... too old ... for this." From his hunched over posture, he can spot the ogre easily. "There he is. He's going to get himself killed if he doesn't land soon." Ruby is about to tell George he's crazy when his invention actually works. She shakes her head. "What a bunch we are," she laughs. She jumps up and down to get the ogres attention, hoping he recognizes her. He turns and flies in the direction of the temple's bell tower. As he nears Ruby recognizes him as Princess Neferka's personal bodyguard Mengesha. Back below, despite the attentions of the Priestesses at the Temple, Abby had a hard time falling asleep. Worry and adrenaline from the battle kept her heart beating hard, and she'd actually had to meditate and focus on keeping her body calm and her mind clear in order to let her body rest. When the others went tearing up to the roof, Abby stayed with Mina and Sabah. "Now that the excitable ones are gone, where do we really stand? Everywhere we turn there seems to be French wizards working to cause chaos. I seriously doubt they know what the others are doing. If we can find the Royal Family we'll know what side to stand on. If we can’t?...." Mina says, "We know is that they were working in eight teams of six all around Egypt, so indeed, it did seem like they were everywhere. They must be coming close to their "end-game", perhaps we should reflect back on what we know to try to figure out exactly what that will be." Another acolyte enters and says that the flying ogre is heading towards the temple. Back up above, the ogre Mengesha lands upon the roof beside Ruby and George. Gesturing to the priests, guards and workmen he softly says "Are they allies? Should we speak in their presence?" "Honestly, they helped us but I'd rather talk more privately about these important matters," Ruby whispers back. "My friend!" She says in a louder voice, "You are safe, I am so relieved! We have so much to discuss! Friends," she turns to the priests, "Is there somewhere more private my friend and I may speak? We have some important matters to talk about and right now even the skies are not safe." The taller priest orders one of the guards to bring them to a place labeled as the Tehuti Room. On the way down, Ruby collects Abby and her grandmother, telling them they are about to get some news. They are led below and through a long corridor, to a conference room with ornate chairs and a table made of dark onyx stone. A fresco on the wall depicts a humanoid in Egyptian garb with the head of a stork. Ruby thanks the priest and the guard for their help and makes sure the door is shut behind them. "Mengesha!" She gives him a big hug. Then she starts in one breath, "I am so relieved to see you! Very quickly, this is my fiance George, My grandmother Mina and my friend Abby. Everyone, this is the Princesses personal bodyguard Mengesha. Now that that's taken care of, please forgive my rudeness but where is the Princess? What has happened to her? So you know where general Orabi is? We've been going crazy here trying to figure out what to do next!!" Ruby lets out one big breath. "Whew. Sorry." The ogre replies "By now she and the General should be on their way to meet with the King. He extended his original deadline of 4PM to dusk due to his having to relocate from the palace." He removes the backpack he is wearing and from it takes out a wrapped package which he gives to Ruby stating, "The Princess wished for you to have this." Ruby begins opening the package. "Where is the royal family now? Where are they meeting?" He replies, "They would not tell her, not until the French dirigible was in the air. They did not trust General Orabi to keep the location secret from his rebel allies. But the Princess is almost certain that she knows where they are. The King has a private chamber in one of the pyramids." Abby mulls, "A French Dirigible. Can we even trust that the Princess and the General will arrive safely?" The ogre replies, "They should be safe. They were negotiating a truce before General Orabi agreed to come. The King has given assurances that he will not be harmed. Abby turned to the Ogre and said, "Everywhere we've turned today we've found French fighting on both sides. Some claim to be for the Royal Family, some for the rebels, others seem to just want to throw Egypt into chaos.” The Orge says, "My Sovereign has accompanied her and has sworn to protect her. Neither the King of Egypt or these French wish a war with Nubia. Abby says, “I think we need to take our chances and go where the Princess thinks they were headed." Ruby's eyes go wide. "Wait-a-minute. Who are they?? What dirigible? Was the Princess on the Dreadnaught? Is she with the General?" The ogre says, "Not the one with the guns, the other one. They were leaving an hour after I departed. My flying belt is swift, but it took a while to find you here. If they are coming directly they should be in Gizah in the near future." Ruby breathes a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you Aphrodite! Okay, so they are on their way to the pyramids, that's where we need to go too then." Ruby pauses and looks up at the ogre. "Well, does the Princess still wish us to come to her?" Gesturing to the package the ogre says, "I do not think that she would have sent you that otherwise." Ruby finishes unwrapping it. Inside is the lavender silk dress with platinum and gold embroidery throughout and rubies sewn into a white collar that they had negotiated the purchase of back in Zakazik. The sheik selling it had said that the dress was once worn by the Greek Goddess Venus, known to the Roman's as Aphrodite. He stated that it affords protection to the wearer as though they were attired in the strongest of magical armors Ruby's eyes widen and her mouth drops open. "This is just... just..." She runs her hands along the soft silk as she gets herself together. "Of course, this color looks amazing on me," she grins. "I should look fabulous going into battle." Abby says, "If you were looking for Miss West, does that mean the Princess wants her presence there. With Mr. Eastman and Mrs. Parker? It certainly makes things easier if we're invited. The King isn't terribly pleased with any of us at the moment." The ogre says, "He is far less pleased with General Orabi, but a truce has been negotiated that will last from now until midnight, when the moon is at its highest." Abby nodded. "A truce between the King and the General is the best outcome we can hope for. They need to be united to face the external threats to Egypt. Mainly from France. Abdullah will be nothing if they are not fighting against each other. Of course Europeans have interest here, Americans too. United they can make sure Egypt meets them as equals." "We need more than a truce, we need resolution. What will happen at midnight Mengesha? If Orabi and the King do not reach an agreement what happens to the rebels here and to Orabi?" asks George. The ogre replies "At midnight, probably nothing. But at dawn Orabi's army will fight the British. It was the General who set that end time, to keep from being delayed in Gizah. He wanted sufficient time to return to Tel-el Kabir and prepare for battle.” "Will the French allow him to leave? Will they transport him?" asks George. The ogre replies, "Yes, they have promised to return him to the northeast once the audience with the King is concluded." Ruby says, "I'm wondering, what does your King, the King of Nubia, have to do with any of this? Why is he interested in Protecting the Princess?" The ogre replies, "He wishes for Egypt to be ruled by the Egyptians. He has heard a prophesy from our priests that the British will take over both Egypt and Nubia unless the current path of time is changed. He seeks to prevent that from occurring." She says, "I can understand that I suppose." Abby had half turned to ask Cal when she remembered that she had no idea where he was, or if he was even alive. She swallowed hard against the panic that threatened to rise in her throat. "Your King is wise," she said simply. Mengesha replies, “The wisest man that I have ever know, although his title is Prince rather than King. The Egyptian King will not allow for him to hold the title of an equal." Ruby states, "That seems unfair, don't you have your own country?" He replies, "Nubia is allowed autonomy, but it technically remains a part of Egypt." "Well Mengesha, I don't know if that prophecy will come true, but hopefully a ragtag group of Americans can help keep Egypt, Egyptian. To do that though we need to reach that pyramid as fast as we can. Is there some way you can help us do that?” The ogre says, "It is eight miles away. I could carry one of you, perhaps two of the smaller, but that is all that the flight belt would allow." “Also were you looking for Ruby as you flew over the palace?" asks George. Mengesha replies, "I first checked at the telegraph office. You were no longer there. Then I flew around until I found you." Ruby lifts up her new dress. "So, how long will it take for us to get to the pyramids?" Mina says, "By horseback, probably around an hour." "Then let us get some horses and ride. We may need all the time we can manage", George states. Once Sabah hears where they want to go she sends a priest to the telegraph office to get the group's horses. Sabah also finds them robes so that they can travel as clergy. She explains that the closest Temple to Bast is in Gizah, so she and her entourage would have no difficulty getting through military checkpoints to go there. Abby says, "Thank you, Sabah. I don't know why, my instincts are screaming at me that you should be with us. Maybe you just make me feel better." Abby asks, "Mengesha, will you be there to meet us, to make sure we're admitted?" He says that he will fly there but is unsure of his personal influence. Ruby has a priest take her to a private area where she can change into her new dress. She slips it on and even though it should feel heavy because of the jewels it feels soft and as light as air as it caresses her skin. She closes her eyes and drops to her knees, thanking Aphrodite for keeping her and her friends safe and asking for just a little more of her blessings and protections as they are about to embark on their most dangerous mission yet. She strides out feeling confident and she does a twirl before George and Mina. "What do you think?" "The clothing of Aphrodite herself is the only thing that could possibly make you look more beautiful my dearest." replies George appreciatively Ruby says, "Alright. So we're going to the pyramids.” [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
Top