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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: 6929132" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 105, “For the Future of Egypt" September 12, 1882, 7:00 AM.</strong></p><p></p><p>The General's Second-in-Command, the fake Drury-Lowe, comes over to Woolsley and says, "I saw what Mr. Guizot saw as well, the young woman was the one who caused the airship to explode. General Woolsely, you cannot go anywhere with these people, they clearly seek to help the Egyptian Rebels." Ruby says, "Yes, I am not denying that I shot at the airship. But perhaps you missed the part where they fired on us first? But you have no proof that we are here to help the rebels and you found find none because it is not true. The French here are going to try to convince you that we are spies and have bad intentions because it is they who don't want their plot known!"</p><p></p><p>Mina interjected, "General, as I said, we are here to help both sides, to end this useless fighting." Mina smiled calmly, a look that was familiar to Ruby. "I believe you owe me a favor General, if you recall the last time we were together. All I ask is that you come and see what we have to show you. Then you can make your own decisions as to what to do going forward." General Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe exclaims, "General, we are in the midst of a great battle. You cannot turn your back on your duty to entertain the preposterous notions of these women!"</p><p></p><p>"We're certainly not shocked to hear YOU say this," Ruby says disgustingly. "Of course the REAL Drury Lowe would probably not agree with you. HE would not needlessly waste lives if he didn't have to." Mina nodded. "Yes General, what my granddaughter says is true. We rescued the real Drury-Lowe just an hour ago from a French warship. We also rescued Princess Nerfika and her husband, General Orabi." "They are lying General," Drury-Lowe exclaims. He adds "If I were an imposter replaced recently would I know that we spoke last week about the cigars that you smoked with General's Jackson and Longstreet when you visited the Confederacy during the American war?" I cannot emphasize enough, these people have proven that they are dangerous."</p><p></p><p>Simultaneous to Mina and Ruby's negotiations, George is conducting his own negotiations with an Egyptian rebel officer. George holds his hands up to show he is unarmed. In Arabic he addresses them formally "Gentlemen. I am here as an agent of my own, however, I seek only peace for the Egyptian people, the restoration of the true monarchy, absent of English OR French influence. I bear news of a most sinister and treacherous plot. Not only could my news save the loss of many brave Egyptian soldiers here today, but it could save Egypt herself. If that is, you do not shoot me." George gestures to the man he saw at the wedding, "You sir, what is your rank?"</p><p></p><p>The man says, "I am Colonel Zateb! And you are George Eastman, the man who convinced Ahmed that it was safe to meet with the King in the 'name of peace'. His blood is on your hands!" George answers, "No, his blood is not on my hands. yes, I convinced him that it was safe, and by all accounts it was, until the French wizards murdered him. However. I may have some evidence that will change your mind. Would you and your escort mind accompanying me to over to my friends there? By all means have your men keep their weapons out. What I am about to show you will not only clear my name of all stains of murder but will change the history of Egypt."</p><p></p><p>The Colonel pauses and ponders George's words. He then says, "And what assurances can you give that you are lot leading me into an ambush?" "Only my word and my life." says George taking our his pistol carefully and tossing it at the Colonel's feet. "If you truly wish it, leave me here with one of your men. If something happens to you, your man has me to do with as he pleases. I would prefer to show you the wonder myself of course, and what it means, though I know you will see the grand picture as soon as you see it."</p><p></p><p>The Colonel replies, "So you are a man of honor. Very well, my aide and I will accompany you." He turns to the rest of the men around him, ordering two to inform their commanding General of this development and tells the others to avenge his death if this is a trap. George bows to the colonel solemnly "Thank you for your trust in me Colonel. I assure you by Bast, that no harm shall come to you." He leads the two men back to Lawrence and Abby.</p><p></p><p>Abby and Lawrence remain watching over the three unconscious men. They then see some distant movement. Low to the ground and around a mile behind the Egyptian Rebel lines the outline of another small dirigible comes into view moving in this direction. "Well, well, well. What do you make of this?" He uses his spyglass to determine which side the airship belongs to. It is still nearly three-quarters of a mile away, so it is not possible yet to distinguish the feathers of the men inside the gondola.</p><p></p><p>"Damn, who is that coming in now? Last thing we need is more people at this party." Eastman was busy talking to the Egyptians. She and Lawrence couldn't leave the unconscious royalty. She looked back toward the dirigible to see if anyone was looking out. The dirigible slows and begins to descend toward the rear of the Egyptian line. Lawrence snaps the spyglass shut. "They're too far away to tell. Anyway we have more pressing matters. Here comes Eastman with some of the Egyptian officers." Abby says, "We don't have more pressing matter if that dirigible starts firing into the Egyptian forces from behind."</p><p></p><p>On the way back to the others, George primes the reveal. "We discovered that the French while posing as neutral agents were actually fueling the fire. They of course want to prevent the British from controlling Egypt, but they wanted more. They wanted to control Egypt to ensure the protection of their brand of magic. The best way to do that was to of course sow seeds of discord on both sides do no peace could be achieved. It was my friends and I would helped arrange the marriage to ensure peace. The French were of course furious about that. So they arranged to have Orabi kill the King! What better way to continue the war right?</p><p></p><p>But I was there, I saw the whole thing, and I can tell you Orabi was under some kind of spell. The Princess was a French Impostor. Orabi's body was destroyed by the French wizards before I could examine it. But later as we searched for the Princess, we discovered that not only had the French kidnapped her, they had found a way to impersonate the General."</p><p></p><p>George pauses as they approach Lawrence and Abby. "What we discovered was that they had kidnapped Orabi! Someone else, disguised most cleverly as him killed the King. But my friend, I will show you the truth of this fantastical tale." says George as he bends down and removes the covers from Orabi and the Princess. "They still suffer from some spell of the French and we cannot wake them yet, but here they are, to save Egypt." says George</p><p></p><p>The Colonel says, "That is not what we have been told. We were informed that the King still lives, that he invented the tale of Orabi's attempted assassination as an excuse to murder our General." George's face falls. "No, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that of the royal family, only the princess and her sisters survive. Their mother lives, but cannot take the throne."</p><p></p><p>Once George finished his speech Abby tried to catch his eye, and moves over to him as long as it seems it won't set off their visitors. "Eastman, dirigible behind the Egyptian lines, and Cal is trying to find someone who can wake at least one of them. He seems to think there is someone here who can as long as he can find them." She glued her eyes to that dirigible, ready to react at any hint that it was about to attack, although with just a rifle she wasn't sure what she could do. The small dirigible appears to be landing, approximately a half-mile to the west.</p><p></p><p>George has Lawrence remove the covering over Orabi and then Neferka and says, "Look down and see the face of your General. I swear by Bast and Osiris that I speak the truth. I only wish to avert war. The Princess is my friend, I would seek to spare her life above all else." His voice full of emotion as he bends and cradles the heads of Orabi and Nerfeka. The Colonel stops to closely examine Ahmed Orabi. After a minute he looks up and says, "This man does indeed appear to be the General, and that looks like his wife, but why are they asleep?"</p><p></p><p>George explains quickly "As I said, the French wizards kidnapped them. The hid them on their ship out in the Mediterranean. They kept them asleep because they needed them to not escape and to control their false Orabi. We will work on getting them awake but we need to stop this war NOW. We cannot allow the French to continue to manipulate anyone any more. My fiance is off getting a British counterpart as well, for the French kidnapped one of their generals as well and the impersonator is here on the field! When those dirigibles came down at Kassassin, they took the generals away under the guise of haling them, but all they did was keep them under a spell and replace them with impostors."</p><p></p><p>The Colonel looks up in alarm and gestures back towards the Egyptian Rebel line and the dirigible there and says, "That is what is happening right now as well. General Pasha, Ahmad Orabi's brother, was badly injured in the fighting just now. The French are taking him to medical care back near Kassassin." George swears in three languages. "Can you signal them to stop? I fear for Pasha's life if he leaves this battlefield. You see the insidious plan of the French. Go, I will guard Orabi and Neferka with my life, go and stop them from taking Pasha and let the others in command know the truth. Hurry." The Colonel sends his aide away as quickly as the man can run with that message.</p><p></p><p>Back in the British command tent, Ruby and Mina continue to make their case to Generals Woolsley and the fake Drury-Lowe. Ruby replies to Drury-Lowe's last comment, "Isn't that exactly what an imposter would say? Of course we are dangerous," Ruby's eyes sparked, "We are dangerous to their plans. They will do everything they can to try to discredit us."</p><p></p><p>While they are talking Ruby notices the first Frenchman who had objected to their presence, the older one named Guizot, quietly makes his way to the opposite side of tent from where they had entered. She then yells across the tent "Oh, Guizot was it? Leaving so soon? This party is just getting started, don't you think? You should stick around." The Frenchman turns, picks up something from a table, and walks back in their direction. Ruby notes that he is now holding a wand of some sort. Ruby quickly pulls out a wand of her own, points it at the Frenchman and steps in front of her grandmother.</p><p></p><p>"I know you'd love to kill us right here since we have all the information to fry all of you. But rest assured, you cannot win at this. We have made sure many people already know of your treachery and the "proof" is very well guarded. Even if you kill us, the truth will still come out. It's already out. You cannot get out of this." Mina asked, "General Woolsley, is there a reason you are so quiet? You must be thinking on this, do some parts ring true to you? Please give us the chance to show you and I promise you will convinced."</p><p></p><p>Woolsely says emphatically, "Both of you, put away those vile wizard-magic devices. They have no part in any way that MY nation will be waging warfare. Guizot tucks his wand into his belt and says, "Absolutely sir, although unlike the young lady, my device was not offensive in nature. It would have only provided defensive protection to myself and those beside me. I merely wished to better protect you from these untrustworthy females."</p><p></p><p>"How do you know what kind of wand I have?" Ruby scoffed as she lowered her wand. " How you've managed to worm your way into the General's trust I'll never know. Perhaps it's a wand of charm..." Mina shot her granddaughter a look and Ruby quieted. "Why don't we go take a short walk," Mina said. "You won't have to go far General, just to the side of the battlefield." Woolsley says "Very well Mrs. Hamilton." He turns to a colonel and says, "Assemble a squadron of troops to accompany us, we cannot be too careful under these circumstances." "We have no issue with that," Mina replied.</p><p></p><p>Mina adds, "I would however suggest you bring the French with you. Since they deny involvement perhaps they can shed light on what we are to see." Guizot says, "Ah, so that is your plan. To murder us all as you did my friend Andre Ampere. No thank you, we will remain here where there is relative safety." "Ah, yes, why not stay here so as soon as we leave you can escape... because you know you've been found out and I'm sure you know the General here isn't going to be lenient when he finds out just how evil your plan is. You're the one putting all his cards on the table." Ruby shook her head, "Oh no, you're coming with us."</p><p></p><p>Guizot says "No young lady, I am not. I am a former Prime Minister of France, I do not answer to rude Americans. I will remain here in the tent with these dozens of British military officers, who I believe are the people who are actually in charge here, not you." He gestures to another man and says, "But it may be helpful to have a member of my team as an observer. Doctor Chamberlain is a physician, he can go with you."</p><p></p><p>"You are right, I do get quite rude when it comes to the lives of my friends and family and I've had just about enough of this whole French conspiracy. However, you are right about the General being in charge and if he doesn't care if you come then it will be on his hands later if he needs to find you and you aren't here. Let's go."</p><p></p><p>One of the other Frenchmen is attempting to slip out the back of the tent. Ruby's wand hand shook slightly as she notices this. "Nana, look to see what that man is doing over by the back of the tent please while these gentleman ready to go for a small walk." The man is then ushered back inside by a pair of British soldiers, both wearing enlisted men uniforms. One of the soldiers winks at Mina and she then realizes that the pair of soldiers are actually Benjamin 'Fish' Trout and Maurice Beaujoulais. Mina nodded her head slightly in response. The General would be glad about this later.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, back near the Dirigible, the Colonel's aide has just left when the party notice a group of three more Egyptians heading in their direction at a quick pace from the Egyptian lines. Two are adults and the third is the size of a young man. George gestures to the Colonel. Abby grabbed George's arm and said quietly, "That should be Cal and the person who can wake Orabi," then let him go. George recognizes the young man as the disguised Henry Jones. He does not know the other two, although the Colonel apparently knows them.</p><p></p><p>George does not acknowledge Henry, but addresses all of them "Why the haste gentlemen?" The older of the two men, the one not in a military uniform, says "I am a doctor. I was told that a senior officer was in need of my services." The uniformed man introduces himself as Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza. George grins in relief, "A senior officer, yeah you could say that. This way gentlemen, I hope you can help doctor, and your name is?"</p><p></p><p>He replies, "I am Tepemkau, which translates as 'Best of Souls'. I descend from a long line of physicians. My ancestors served the Pharaohs and I wish to continue that tradition." George says, "Well Tepemkau, you may not get much closer than this in the modern age. Our patient, or rather patients, have been put under some kind of influence. They cannot be roused though they appear to be otherwise healthy. It is not know if this malaise is caused by a drug, toxin, poison or magic. While I have some medical training, I have not had much time to examine them, and my expertise is limited. Tepemkau, the future of Egypt may well be in your hands," says George as they cross the dune and come upon Abby and Lawrence guarding the sleeping kidnap victims.</p><p></p><p>The men reach were Abby and Lawrence are protecting the others. The Egyptian Doctor looks at the three and says, "I can attempt to negate any elixir or poison that may be in their bloodstream. But I see three here and I only have the power as of now to heal two." Tepemkau, are these people poisoned? If we wait will there be a reduced chance of saving them later?" asks George. He says, "I do not know sir. I cannot even guarantee that my spell will be successful, but we should select at least one of them for me to attempt it on."</p><p></p><p>Lawrence suggests, "I think you should cure the two generals. It's the best chance to stop this battle before too many soldiers are killed." George adds, "I agree with my friend Lawrence Tepemkau, please try first with the two generals, that will hopefully gain us enough time to cure the princess. " George then gazes out to the British lines and comments to Abby and Lawrence. "Any word from Ruby? No explosions so far, so that is a good sign"</p><p></p><p>Ruby begins to walk out of the tent to show the General their unconscious friends. A squadron of a around a dozen troops is quickly assembled to accompany the General and his aide. The designated French physician Chamberlain also prepares to go with them. Mina and Ruby lead the way out of the tent and back over to where the dirigible had landed.</p><p></p><p>As they walked they did a little explaining. Mina started, "We were here on our own business, General, and we inadvertently uncovered the French plot. My granddaughter Ruby is a friend of the Princess but otherwise we have no affinity for one side or the other here. The French, at least some of them, the French Wizards are unhappy about the situation in their own country. That is, they seem to be moving towards a less magical society. So these French Wizards plotted to take over Egypt in their own way - by murdering the King and then using the Princess, who is now married to Orabi and in fact, the Queen, to in effect puppet rule for them.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately we have been unable to stop them from murdering the royal family as we did not have previous knowledge of the plan. In effect the French managed to impersonate the General and the Princess at the Peace Summit, where the false Orabi then assassinated the King. That body was destroyed before we could examine it, but it was Sandra Bernhardt who impersonated the Princess. The French Wizards wanted to establish their own puppet government.</p><p></p><p>But as you will see they were hedging their bets and playing both sides. When a high ranking officer was injured the French came down in a dirigible to whisk them away on a humanitarian mission. Odd that they would do so for any altruistic means. In fact it was the perfect pretext to have officers at their disposal. Of course, this remains our theory, and just words without proof. Until now." "Seeing will be believing I assure you," adds Ruby as they approach the site with the real Drury.</p><p></p><p>Those by the dirigible look off to the far distance where a group of around fifteen are moving in this direction from some 400 yards away. The group appears to be comprised mostly of British soldiers, although George also spots Ruby West and Mina Parker among them. Lt. Col. Tabezza exclaims, "British troops are heading this way. Quickly, we must get myself and General Orabi away before we are captured or killed!"</p><p></p><p>George steps in front of him. "Please, Tabezza. Wait. No harm will befall you or General Orabi. This area is not under British control, nor rebel control. It is under my control and no one will be doing any shooting to keep the peace, other than perhaps my fiance. They are being brought here by my friends. Because the British have been duped by the French just as you have."</p><p></p><p>George now stoops and removes the covering from Drury's head. "See, one of their generals was replaced as well. It is vitally important that both sides of this conflict see that they are being manipulated by the French. So please, stay, you have my word of honor that no harm will befall you or Orabi. You saw that you could trust me before when I brought you here, please trust in me a bit longer, for the future of Egypt."</p><p></p><p>George then turns and says to Abby, "Would you please go fetch Hassan from the dirigible, and tell him to keep his weapons holstered. We will need his testimony." Abigail goes over to the tethered airship and requests that Lt. Col Hassan join them. He makes a few adjustments to the controls (essentially shifting it from Neutral to Park), rechecks the tethers to ensure that the vehicle is thoroughly anchored, and then joins her as they walk the short distance back to the others. They doctor adds, "I should probably wait. I would not want them to interrupt or misinterpret my spell casting."</p><p></p><p>Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza says "Alright Mr. Eastman, I will trust you. But if they decide to kill General Orabi I will expect you and your companions to take up arms to prevent that from happening."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 6929132, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 105, “For the Future of Egypt" September 12, 1882, 7:00 AM.[/B] The General's Second-in-Command, the fake Drury-Lowe, comes over to Woolsley and says, "I saw what Mr. Guizot saw as well, the young woman was the one who caused the airship to explode. General Woolsely, you cannot go anywhere with these people, they clearly seek to help the Egyptian Rebels." Ruby says, "Yes, I am not denying that I shot at the airship. But perhaps you missed the part where they fired on us first? But you have no proof that we are here to help the rebels and you found find none because it is not true. The French here are going to try to convince you that we are spies and have bad intentions because it is they who don't want their plot known!" Mina interjected, "General, as I said, we are here to help both sides, to end this useless fighting." Mina smiled calmly, a look that was familiar to Ruby. "I believe you owe me a favor General, if you recall the last time we were together. All I ask is that you come and see what we have to show you. Then you can make your own decisions as to what to do going forward." General Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe exclaims, "General, we are in the midst of a great battle. You cannot turn your back on your duty to entertain the preposterous notions of these women!" "We're certainly not shocked to hear YOU say this," Ruby says disgustingly. "Of course the REAL Drury Lowe would probably not agree with you. HE would not needlessly waste lives if he didn't have to." Mina nodded. "Yes General, what my granddaughter says is true. We rescued the real Drury-Lowe just an hour ago from a French warship. We also rescued Princess Nerfika and her husband, General Orabi." "They are lying General," Drury-Lowe exclaims. He adds "If I were an imposter replaced recently would I know that we spoke last week about the cigars that you smoked with General's Jackson and Longstreet when you visited the Confederacy during the American war?" I cannot emphasize enough, these people have proven that they are dangerous." Simultaneous to Mina and Ruby's negotiations, George is conducting his own negotiations with an Egyptian rebel officer. George holds his hands up to show he is unarmed. In Arabic he addresses them formally "Gentlemen. I am here as an agent of my own, however, I seek only peace for the Egyptian people, the restoration of the true monarchy, absent of English OR French influence. I bear news of a most sinister and treacherous plot. Not only could my news save the loss of many brave Egyptian soldiers here today, but it could save Egypt herself. If that is, you do not shoot me." George gestures to the man he saw at the wedding, "You sir, what is your rank?" The man says, "I am Colonel Zateb! And you are George Eastman, the man who convinced Ahmed that it was safe to meet with the King in the 'name of peace'. His blood is on your hands!" George answers, "No, his blood is not on my hands. yes, I convinced him that it was safe, and by all accounts it was, until the French wizards murdered him. However. I may have some evidence that will change your mind. Would you and your escort mind accompanying me to over to my friends there? By all means have your men keep their weapons out. What I am about to show you will not only clear my name of all stains of murder but will change the history of Egypt." The Colonel pauses and ponders George's words. He then says, "And what assurances can you give that you are lot leading me into an ambush?" "Only my word and my life." says George taking our his pistol carefully and tossing it at the Colonel's feet. "If you truly wish it, leave me here with one of your men. If something happens to you, your man has me to do with as he pleases. I would prefer to show you the wonder myself of course, and what it means, though I know you will see the grand picture as soon as you see it." The Colonel replies, "So you are a man of honor. Very well, my aide and I will accompany you." He turns to the rest of the men around him, ordering two to inform their commanding General of this development and tells the others to avenge his death if this is a trap. George bows to the colonel solemnly "Thank you for your trust in me Colonel. I assure you by Bast, that no harm shall come to you." He leads the two men back to Lawrence and Abby. Abby and Lawrence remain watching over the three unconscious men. They then see some distant movement. Low to the ground and around a mile behind the Egyptian Rebel lines the outline of another small dirigible comes into view moving in this direction. "Well, well, well. What do you make of this?" He uses his spyglass to determine which side the airship belongs to. It is still nearly three-quarters of a mile away, so it is not possible yet to distinguish the feathers of the men inside the gondola. "Damn, who is that coming in now? Last thing we need is more people at this party." Eastman was busy talking to the Egyptians. She and Lawrence couldn't leave the unconscious royalty. She looked back toward the dirigible to see if anyone was looking out. The dirigible slows and begins to descend toward the rear of the Egyptian line. Lawrence snaps the spyglass shut. "They're too far away to tell. Anyway we have more pressing matters. Here comes Eastman with some of the Egyptian officers." Abby says, "We don't have more pressing matter if that dirigible starts firing into the Egyptian forces from behind." On the way back to the others, George primes the reveal. "We discovered that the French while posing as neutral agents were actually fueling the fire. They of course want to prevent the British from controlling Egypt, but they wanted more. They wanted to control Egypt to ensure the protection of their brand of magic. The best way to do that was to of course sow seeds of discord on both sides do no peace could be achieved. It was my friends and I would helped arrange the marriage to ensure peace. The French were of course furious about that. So they arranged to have Orabi kill the King! What better way to continue the war right? But I was there, I saw the whole thing, and I can tell you Orabi was under some kind of spell. The Princess was a French Impostor. Orabi's body was destroyed by the French wizards before I could examine it. But later as we searched for the Princess, we discovered that not only had the French kidnapped her, they had found a way to impersonate the General." George pauses as they approach Lawrence and Abby. "What we discovered was that they had kidnapped Orabi! Someone else, disguised most cleverly as him killed the King. But my friend, I will show you the truth of this fantastical tale." says George as he bends down and removes the covers from Orabi and the Princess. "They still suffer from some spell of the French and we cannot wake them yet, but here they are, to save Egypt." says George The Colonel says, "That is not what we have been told. We were informed that the King still lives, that he invented the tale of Orabi's attempted assassination as an excuse to murder our General." George's face falls. "No, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that of the royal family, only the princess and her sisters survive. Their mother lives, but cannot take the throne." Once George finished his speech Abby tried to catch his eye, and moves over to him as long as it seems it won't set off their visitors. "Eastman, dirigible behind the Egyptian lines, and Cal is trying to find someone who can wake at least one of them. He seems to think there is someone here who can as long as he can find them." She glued her eyes to that dirigible, ready to react at any hint that it was about to attack, although with just a rifle she wasn't sure what she could do. The small dirigible appears to be landing, approximately a half-mile to the west. George has Lawrence remove the covering over Orabi and then Neferka and says, "Look down and see the face of your General. I swear by Bast and Osiris that I speak the truth. I only wish to avert war. The Princess is my friend, I would seek to spare her life above all else." His voice full of emotion as he bends and cradles the heads of Orabi and Nerfeka. The Colonel stops to closely examine Ahmed Orabi. After a minute he looks up and says, "This man does indeed appear to be the General, and that looks like his wife, but why are they asleep?" George explains quickly "As I said, the French wizards kidnapped them. The hid them on their ship out in the Mediterranean. They kept them asleep because they needed them to not escape and to control their false Orabi. We will work on getting them awake but we need to stop this war NOW. We cannot allow the French to continue to manipulate anyone any more. My fiance is off getting a British counterpart as well, for the French kidnapped one of their generals as well and the impersonator is here on the field! When those dirigibles came down at Kassassin, they took the generals away under the guise of haling them, but all they did was keep them under a spell and replace them with impostors." The Colonel looks up in alarm and gestures back towards the Egyptian Rebel line and the dirigible there and says, "That is what is happening right now as well. General Pasha, Ahmad Orabi's brother, was badly injured in the fighting just now. The French are taking him to medical care back near Kassassin." George swears in three languages. "Can you signal them to stop? I fear for Pasha's life if he leaves this battlefield. You see the insidious plan of the French. Go, I will guard Orabi and Neferka with my life, go and stop them from taking Pasha and let the others in command know the truth. Hurry." The Colonel sends his aide away as quickly as the man can run with that message. Back in the British command tent, Ruby and Mina continue to make their case to Generals Woolsley and the fake Drury-Lowe. Ruby replies to Drury-Lowe's last comment, "Isn't that exactly what an imposter would say? Of course we are dangerous," Ruby's eyes sparked, "We are dangerous to their plans. They will do everything they can to try to discredit us." While they are talking Ruby notices the first Frenchman who had objected to their presence, the older one named Guizot, quietly makes his way to the opposite side of tent from where they had entered. She then yells across the tent "Oh, Guizot was it? Leaving so soon? This party is just getting started, don't you think? You should stick around." The Frenchman turns, picks up something from a table, and walks back in their direction. Ruby notes that he is now holding a wand of some sort. Ruby quickly pulls out a wand of her own, points it at the Frenchman and steps in front of her grandmother. "I know you'd love to kill us right here since we have all the information to fry all of you. But rest assured, you cannot win at this. We have made sure many people already know of your treachery and the "proof" is very well guarded. Even if you kill us, the truth will still come out. It's already out. You cannot get out of this." Mina asked, "General Woolsley, is there a reason you are so quiet? You must be thinking on this, do some parts ring true to you? Please give us the chance to show you and I promise you will convinced." Woolsely says emphatically, "Both of you, put away those vile wizard-magic devices. They have no part in any way that MY nation will be waging warfare. Guizot tucks his wand into his belt and says, "Absolutely sir, although unlike the young lady, my device was not offensive in nature. It would have only provided defensive protection to myself and those beside me. I merely wished to better protect you from these untrustworthy females." "How do you know what kind of wand I have?" Ruby scoffed as she lowered her wand. " How you've managed to worm your way into the General's trust I'll never know. Perhaps it's a wand of charm..." Mina shot her granddaughter a look and Ruby quieted. "Why don't we go take a short walk," Mina said. "You won't have to go far General, just to the side of the battlefield." Woolsley says "Very well Mrs. Hamilton." He turns to a colonel and says, "Assemble a squadron of troops to accompany us, we cannot be too careful under these circumstances." "We have no issue with that," Mina replied. Mina adds, "I would however suggest you bring the French with you. Since they deny involvement perhaps they can shed light on what we are to see." Guizot says, "Ah, so that is your plan. To murder us all as you did my friend Andre Ampere. No thank you, we will remain here where there is relative safety." "Ah, yes, why not stay here so as soon as we leave you can escape... because you know you've been found out and I'm sure you know the General here isn't going to be lenient when he finds out just how evil your plan is. You're the one putting all his cards on the table." Ruby shook her head, "Oh no, you're coming with us." Guizot says "No young lady, I am not. I am a former Prime Minister of France, I do not answer to rude Americans. I will remain here in the tent with these dozens of British military officers, who I believe are the people who are actually in charge here, not you." He gestures to another man and says, "But it may be helpful to have a member of my team as an observer. Doctor Chamberlain is a physician, he can go with you." "You are right, I do get quite rude when it comes to the lives of my friends and family and I've had just about enough of this whole French conspiracy. However, you are right about the General being in charge and if he doesn't care if you come then it will be on his hands later if he needs to find you and you aren't here. Let's go." One of the other Frenchmen is attempting to slip out the back of the tent. Ruby's wand hand shook slightly as she notices this. "Nana, look to see what that man is doing over by the back of the tent please while these gentleman ready to go for a small walk." The man is then ushered back inside by a pair of British soldiers, both wearing enlisted men uniforms. One of the soldiers winks at Mina and she then realizes that the pair of soldiers are actually Benjamin 'Fish' Trout and Maurice Beaujoulais. Mina nodded her head slightly in response. The General would be glad about this later. Meanwhile, back near the Dirigible, the Colonel's aide has just left when the party notice a group of three more Egyptians heading in their direction at a quick pace from the Egyptian lines. Two are adults and the third is the size of a young man. George gestures to the Colonel. Abby grabbed George's arm and said quietly, "That should be Cal and the person who can wake Orabi," then let him go. George recognizes the young man as the disguised Henry Jones. He does not know the other two, although the Colonel apparently knows them. George does not acknowledge Henry, but addresses all of them "Why the haste gentlemen?" The older of the two men, the one not in a military uniform, says "I am a doctor. I was told that a senior officer was in need of my services." The uniformed man introduces himself as Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza. George grins in relief, "A senior officer, yeah you could say that. This way gentlemen, I hope you can help doctor, and your name is?" He replies, "I am Tepemkau, which translates as 'Best of Souls'. I descend from a long line of physicians. My ancestors served the Pharaohs and I wish to continue that tradition." George says, "Well Tepemkau, you may not get much closer than this in the modern age. Our patient, or rather patients, have been put under some kind of influence. They cannot be roused though they appear to be otherwise healthy. It is not know if this malaise is caused by a drug, toxin, poison or magic. While I have some medical training, I have not had much time to examine them, and my expertise is limited. Tepemkau, the future of Egypt may well be in your hands," says George as they cross the dune and come upon Abby and Lawrence guarding the sleeping kidnap victims. The men reach were Abby and Lawrence are protecting the others. The Egyptian Doctor looks at the three and says, "I can attempt to negate any elixir or poison that may be in their bloodstream. But I see three here and I only have the power as of now to heal two." Tepemkau, are these people poisoned? If we wait will there be a reduced chance of saving them later?" asks George. He says, "I do not know sir. I cannot even guarantee that my spell will be successful, but we should select at least one of them for me to attempt it on." Lawrence suggests, "I think you should cure the two generals. It's the best chance to stop this battle before too many soldiers are killed." George adds, "I agree with my friend Lawrence Tepemkau, please try first with the two generals, that will hopefully gain us enough time to cure the princess. " George then gazes out to the British lines and comments to Abby and Lawrence. "Any word from Ruby? No explosions so far, so that is a good sign" Ruby begins to walk out of the tent to show the General their unconscious friends. A squadron of a around a dozen troops is quickly assembled to accompany the General and his aide. The designated French physician Chamberlain also prepares to go with them. Mina and Ruby lead the way out of the tent and back over to where the dirigible had landed. As they walked they did a little explaining. Mina started, "We were here on our own business, General, and we inadvertently uncovered the French plot. My granddaughter Ruby is a friend of the Princess but otherwise we have no affinity for one side or the other here. The French, at least some of them, the French Wizards are unhappy about the situation in their own country. That is, they seem to be moving towards a less magical society. So these French Wizards plotted to take over Egypt in their own way - by murdering the King and then using the Princess, who is now married to Orabi and in fact, the Queen, to in effect puppet rule for them. Unfortunately we have been unable to stop them from murdering the royal family as we did not have previous knowledge of the plan. In effect the French managed to impersonate the General and the Princess at the Peace Summit, where the false Orabi then assassinated the King. That body was destroyed before we could examine it, but it was Sandra Bernhardt who impersonated the Princess. The French Wizards wanted to establish their own puppet government. But as you will see they were hedging their bets and playing both sides. When a high ranking officer was injured the French came down in a dirigible to whisk them away on a humanitarian mission. Odd that they would do so for any altruistic means. In fact it was the perfect pretext to have officers at their disposal. Of course, this remains our theory, and just words without proof. Until now." "Seeing will be believing I assure you," adds Ruby as they approach the site with the real Drury. Those by the dirigible look off to the far distance where a group of around fifteen are moving in this direction from some 400 yards away. The group appears to be comprised mostly of British soldiers, although George also spots Ruby West and Mina Parker among them. Lt. Col. Tabezza exclaims, "British troops are heading this way. Quickly, we must get myself and General Orabi away before we are captured or killed!" George steps in front of him. "Please, Tabezza. Wait. No harm will befall you or General Orabi. This area is not under British control, nor rebel control. It is under my control and no one will be doing any shooting to keep the peace, other than perhaps my fiance. They are being brought here by my friends. Because the British have been duped by the French just as you have." George now stoops and removes the covering from Drury's head. "See, one of their generals was replaced as well. It is vitally important that both sides of this conflict see that they are being manipulated by the French. So please, stay, you have my word of honor that no harm will befall you or Orabi. You saw that you could trust me before when I brought you here, please trust in me a bit longer, for the future of Egypt." George then turns and says to Abby, "Would you please go fetch Hassan from the dirigible, and tell him to keep his weapons holstered. We will need his testimony." Abigail goes over to the tethered airship and requests that Lt. Col Hassan join them. He makes a few adjustments to the controls (essentially shifting it from Neutral to Park), rechecks the tethers to ensure that the vehicle is thoroughly anchored, and then joins her as they walk the short distance back to the others. They doctor adds, "I should probably wait. I would not want them to interrupt or misinterpret my spell casting." Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza says "Alright Mr. Eastman, I will trust you. But if they decide to kill General Orabi I will expect you and your companions to take up arms to prevent that from happening." [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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