Under strange stars

[Zerth]

Very well, my silver-tongued friend," Amira says a bit amused by Ahmed's verbal expertise. "We really don't have the time for more of your stories right now - as entertaining as they always are."

"Staying out of sight is a good idea. You don't know that masked man like we do. He seems to be willing to do just about anything to get his greasy hands on that book."

Then turning to the others, she speaks again, "This gets more and more problematic. We need to find Abu or Zosimo next. With Abu being arrested by the vizier's men, he's quite unreachable at the moment. Hopefully that masked villain doesn't know about Zosimo's little theft yet, so we could be able to reach him."

 

[rangerjohn]

Al-Khazad

Al-Khazad turns back to Ahmed "I suggest you be more careful in your business dealing in the future, my friend. Not everyone is as understanding as myself. I would suggest you leave this island for awhile. It seems this masked man is the new vizier. I am sure a man of your intelligence can figure out what that means. But before you leave, is there anything else you can tell us, or some token to help us in our quest? To pay the debt you owe, for getting us involved in this mess." Al-Khazad says with all sincerity.

 

[Ashy]

Jagra steps beside Amira and tugs gently on her skirt in an effort to subtly get her attention. When she peers down at him, he looks at her with a concerned look on his face and whispers so that only she can hear. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to find out where this bildge rat'll be hidin'? If th' other leads fall cold, he's still our only link!"

 

[Someone]

Ahmed dries sweeps some of the sweat from his forehead, and shrugs at Al-Khazad with a smile. "My dear captain, I have nothing. From that, I´ll share with you as much as you want. Thankyou very much for your wise advice."

[OOC: Amira suggested to visit Zosimo right now, and that means going to Abu´s house; since nobody opposed, I´m assuming that´s what you´re doing. If nobody says otherwise, we´ll go there with the next post]

 

[Zerth]

Jagra steps beside Amira and tugs gently on her skirt in an effort to subtly get her attention. When she peers down at him, he looks at her with a concerned look on his face and whispers so that only she can hear. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to find out where this bildge rat'll be hidin'? If th' other leads fall cold, he's still our only link!"

"Maybe it's even better if we don't know Ahmed's whereabouts - for his sake. The vizier is a ruthless man and might soon be looking for him. Ahmed is, well, ...Ahmed, but he is still an old friend. I don't believe we can learn much more from him," Amira whispers back to Jagra with a friendly smile.

 

[Ashy]

The disguised gnome nods at the princess, his bushy eyebrow furrowed. "Perhaps you are right", he whispers, "but I cannot help but to feel that something more is amiss here..."

 

[Someone]

You leave Ahmed´s house and prepares to head to Abu´s palace. While Razeems informs Amira of what happened (“I saw a dog chasing its tail, it started to turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn and turn…” says while doing the same himself) Ormaz stops and farewells you from his turbaned height. “Ormaz has changed his mind. He prefers to avoid this affair, since he doesn´t see the benefit of facing the Vizier for some moldy pages. Ormaz sees the wisdom in Ahmed´s words and will dedicate his time to more rewarding and less political arcane matters in the savage lands.”

After the following goodbyes, the rest of you crosses the city –again-. You have an easier travel this time since the sun is up and most people retire to their relatively fresh homes, leaving the streets free. So it doesn´t take you too much until you arrive at Abu´s house.

Like other wealthy merchant´s homes, this is located near the port –the rich part of the city- Here you find a couple guard patrols, but they are private, not part of the caliph´s soldiers. From you can see from outside, it´s rectangular, surrounded by a high and plain stone wall dotted with narrow windows. In the corner nearest to the port, a tall and slim tower rises: you know that there´s normally one person there watching ships come and go.

The main entrance opens at the left of one of the long sides, protected by a heavy double door reinforced with iron. Fortunately, it´s open, and a servant watches it. From there, you can see the house: from the door, a short and wide corridor ends in a small and square courtyard; in it´s centre, a decorated fountain bubbles. Surrounding it, colums support a balaustrade you can reach through two wooden stairs; there are pots, big and small with plants and flowers everywhere. In both stories, you can see the door to various rooms, but you guess this is the part dedicated to the servants, since from it´s size, it´s clear that there´s another similar courtyard located to your right.

 

[Ashy]

Jagra lets out a low, slow whistle as his quick eyes take in the scene. "This looks to be fun", he says under his breath - not even trying to hide the dripping sarcasm...

 

[Someone]

The servant at the door eyes you. "So, do you like what you see?"

 

[Zerth]

Amira, dressed as a peasant girl, has veiled her face to avoid recognition. She has to hide her face, because an unveiled woman would surely draw disapproving looks from all kind of folk.

She is waiting for somebody else to speak to the servant - it is just not proper for a woman to adress anyone in public without permission from her guardian. As a princess, she would not have these kind of communication problems, which is quite naturally very irritating and humiliating to her. The masked man shall pay a thousand debts!

She tries casually to push Al-Khazad or Jagra to step up and say something. Knowing her they can tell she must be boiling in anger under her veil.