Blinks tells Sepdet as they wait, "You know I would follow you to Duat, if you let me." He lowers his head in a sulk. "You never let me."
Sepdet sighs. "I'm lettin' you now, cub. From now on...the times I'm not lettin' people come, is when I'm not even lettin' people like Anpwhotep come, because need to go at my own speed."
Blinks edges back from the big yellow thing, and eyes it suspiciously. "What does it want?" he whispers.
Sepdet looks at the taxi. "If we give the human who's inside something, he'll take us to the city. It's a lot safer than walking, and faster. Follow me...and don't worry. The yellow thing's just a weaver tool."
Blinks grabs Sepdet's hand and squeezes it a moment.
Sepdet gives Blinks' shoulder a gentle tap and gets in.
You hear a bump, and Blinks steps into the cab, holding his head.
Sepdet rifles through her pockets, pulling out several dollar bills. "This is money," she whispers. "You give it t'people when they do things for you, like take you to the city, or give you food. If it's friends, they'll do it for you for free. But other people...it's acknowledging that they've given you a service."
Sepdet tells the driver to take her to Athena Library. The driver nods and throws the taxi into gear.
Plodding through the streets, the cab slowly traverses the path to the library. Seeming to stop at every light, eons seem to pass before the graceful architecture of the old government buildings can be seen outside the window. Crossing a cobblestone crosswalk, the cab stops neatly in front of the Athena Library steps.
Intersection of Courthouse Avenue and Beaugregory Boulevard(#745R)
Elegant buildings with graceful architecture extend along the corners of the intersection. Designed in a style long past, the structures add a sense of refined beauty to a portion of the city on the verge of being overcome by reflective glass and steel. Cobblestone crosswalks link the sidewalks at the corners, another example of an ageless tradition that perhaps may soon be lost.
Courthouse Avenue extends to the east, while Beaugregory Boulevard runs north-south. On the northwest corner, elegant steps ascend from the street to the library.
Obvious exits:
Athena Library North East South
Blinks pages: Oops.
drive me to kent
Sepdet tells the driver to take her to Kent Crossing. The driver nods and throws the taxi into gear.
Sepdet pays for Blinks, takes his hand gently, and opens the door to get out. "Mind your head," she murmurs gently.
leave
You pay your fare, open the door and step out of the cab.
Intersection of Courthouse Avenue and Beaugregory Boulevard
Elegant buildings with graceful architecture extend along the corners of the intersection. Designed in a style long past, the structures add a sense of refined beauty to a portion of the city on the verge of being overcome by reflective glass and steel. Cobblestone crosswalks link the sidewalks at the corners, another example of an ageless tradition that perhaps may soon be lost.
Courthouse Avenue extends to the east, while Beaugregory Boulevard runs north-south. On the northwest corner, elegant steps ascend from the street to the library.
Contents:
Yellow Cab
Obvious exits:
Athena Library North East South
Blinks emerges from the Yellow Cab.
Blinks has arrived.
Blinks steps out of the cab hesitantly, looking around anxiously. He stands close by Sepdet.
Blinks pushes right up against Sepdet's shoulders, looking around. "Many people!" he whispers, wide-eyed.
Sepdet has chosen one of the cleaner parts of the city to start with, not to daunt Blinks-at-Fire too much. "People live in those," she murmurs softly, pointing at the buildings. "It never rains inside, and it's never cold. Their homes are very big."
Blinks looks up to a man walking towards them. "Hello," he says nervously. "My name is... um..." He turns his head and watches in dismay as the man veers away and hurries on by.
There is a small crowd gathered on the steps of the library and a man is speaking to them in a dry, raspy voice, though his words are not easily made out.
Blinks whispers to Sepdet, "What was wrong with that man?"
Sepdet shakes her head at Blinks. "There are so many people here, they've given up on introducing every time you meet. Otherwise you'd spend all day stopping to talk to everyone you passed." She sighs.
Blinks says, "But he not met me yet!"
Sepdet nods at Blinks patiently, and points around at all the other people. "We've been here a few minutes. If everyone on this street had to give their names to everyone else on the street, would they ever have time to do anything else ?"
Blinks shivers, as another implication of Sepdet's statement hits him. "You... you don't *know* these people?" He looks around at the strangers with more alarm, narrowing his eyes at them.
Sepdet shakes her head at Blinks. "Not all of them. They're just people Blinks. Like newcomers. It deosn't mean they're all bad."
Blinks whispers, "They could kill us! Whose territory is this?"
The man sounds like a prophet or, more likely, somebody who is a few grains short of a full sandbox. Occasionally you hear him bellow something about "When the fires come!" and "...the first to go."
You whisper "No one's." to Blinks.
You whisper "When this many people live together, it's not fair for one of them to 'claim' it." to Blinks.
Blinks nods. "Not fair," he repeats dully, looking around.
Sepdet takes Blinks' arm, whispering as she passes by the shouting human.
Sepdet whispers softly, "See? The humans know about the apocalypse too. Some of them. But they don't have our strengths, so they're more afraid."
Blinks smiles wryly. "They don't have our enemies."
Blinks nudges Sepdet. "Is he the Alpha?" he asks, looking at the man on the library steps.
Sepdet looks up at the man with the wide-eyed expression of a street waif as we draw level with him.
Blinks pages: Oh, is it too late to mention I don't have shoes?
Long distance to Blinks: Sepdet doesn't either.
Blinks whispers to Sepdet, "He is Alpha. We must speak to him, yes?"
The crowd gets a bit agitated at this point, apparently over something he is saying. A few hecklers speak up, calling him crazy and telling him to take his talk of Phoenix back to the loony bin where they came from.
Blinks looks over the crowd in confusion. "They not respect their Alpha!" he whispers, frowning.
The streets are growing more bare as twilight approaches. There are people of all types here, listening, some of them almost in spite of themselves. For the man's voice is hypnotic, entrancing, and inspiring all at once. There is a tendency to stop and pay attention, so great is the magnetism of this man and his rough words. A few men in suits brush shoulders with a biker or two, listening.
Sepdet looks up at the man, murmuring, "He's not an Alpha, Blinks. He's a mad prophet." Her brow puzzles. "He's also breakin' the Veil. Good thing they think 'es nuts."
Blinks looks back at Sepdet. "Breakin' the Veil?" He looks back to the man, and listens more carefully.
Blinks pages: I'm goin' t' learn English from Sepdet.
From afar, to Sepdet and Blinks, Slick will note, for the record, that nobody has seen Moyan in homid form except Anpwhotep, I don't think.
Slick pages to Sepdet and Blinks: "Although I imagine Anubis might be able to describe him if anybody asked.
Sepdet begins to look more worried, nodding. "He's talkin' things the humans shouldn't know about. Damn. Now they're actually lissenin." Still standing almost directly in front of the man, she jabs her chin up at him and jeers. "Hey, and do you b'lieve th' earth is flat, too? An' how about UFO's! Ya gotta have UFO's in there somewheres."
Moyan says "I have seen the fire!" he yells, over the voices. "And Phoenix swept me up and showed me the rain of destruction. Where were you when she spoke, child?"
Blinks gapes at Sepdet. Then he turns back, gulps, and shouts, "You Eff Ohs!"
Sepdet crosses her arms. "I was howlin' at the moon on a skateboard, bud, chewin' gum and playin' Chinese Checkers with Elvis."
Sepdet sticks her tongue out at the man. "And what weed were you smokin'?"
Blinks glances behind him, then nudges Sepdet. "The yellow thing is gone," he whispers in a frightened voice.
Sepdet pats Blinks' arm. "'Sokay, I'll buy you another, Blinky."
Moyan says "Look around you. How can you deny the destruction? The end is nigh, learn this and give up your ways. The more you pollute the waters, the more you destroy the lands, the faster the end comes."
Moyan descends the steps, a few paces, to confront these new hecklers. There is a wild look in his eyes.
Sepdet nods and touches her hat. "Well, I won't deny that, bub. Anyplace that has more cigarette butts inna grass than flowers is definitely sicko. But all this phoenix shit's gonna get people askin' you funny questions, before ya know it, the cops have come after ya 'n stuck you inna looney bin."
Long distance to Moyan Dashe: Sepdet sighs. Oh well. Would have recognized you, if you were in lupus. :)
l moyan
This man is tall and thin, like a rake standing at well over six feet. Dark skin and straight, black hair overshadow a strong, regal face of perhaps a half-century of years that is shadowed with a few days of greyish stubble. A grace and economy of movement only highlights the angularity of his features in the simple, basic way of an animal. Even his quiet, resonant voice is ripe with the sound of wild places and the loneliness of the empty savannah. What strikes you most about him though, even before he speaks, is an almost magnetic attraction. This is the type of man who, in a crowd, seems to draw people to him with only a word. And yet, for all of this, there is an unresolved dichotomy between this magnetism and the intimidating, haunting feel of his touch. Perhaps it is his baseness, his closeness to the animal, that makes him so disturbing. Perhaps it is something deeper.
Moyan Dashe bows, formally, palms raised upwards. "Surely you would not ask that I refuse these people salvation for my own comfort?" He turns to the crowd. "Would you not hear what I have to say?" His words are greeted by a few jeers but some interested muttering.
Blinks looks around at all the faces now turned toward Moyan, Sepdet, and himself. "Sepdet?" he says in a small voice. "I think these are not the good humans."
Sepdet takes a thoughtful sniff.
Sepdet looks around casually. "D'ya wanna get hauled in on your ass by a buncha men and have your tail busted? There's a Law against that, you know." She mutters something under her breath at Blinks. ~Is Veil the Third Law, or Fourth?~
You paged Moyan Dashe with '>sniff sniff< how bad is the Wyrm right here?'.
Moyan Dashe seems to smile at something the young girl says. He leans back against the stone railing. "And there are laws in this country against keeping silent when one's silence means death, are there not? How can I turn my back when so many need saving?" From the back another man shouts, "Yeah. Shuddup and let'm talk."
Blinks grins slightly. "You can't fool me. It's the... two after it is three before the end," he whispers back.
Moyan Dashe pages: Moyan has a faint Wyrm-taint as you might expect from somebody with a high Rage. Other than that there is nothing that would get your attention.
Sepdet looks up at the man worriedly. "Fine, fine. Jus' be careful, man, ya know what I mean?"
Sepdet takes Blinks' hand and starts to back off.
Sepdet mutters softly to Blinks, "At least he's speakin' the truth, even if he's got his head up 's ass."
Blinks puts his mouth to Sepdet's ear, and whispers.
You paged Moyan Dashe and Blinks with 'AAaaieee. Sepdet didn't used to be disrespectful of her elders. Really, she wasn't.'.
Moyan Dashe gestures to a seat on the stairs. "Please, stay. Perhaps a story will convince you." He turns back to the crowd. "Shall I tell them a story?"
Blinks whispers "We kill him?"
Sepdet shakes her head in a slight negative and growls back.
You whisper "That would catch the humans' attention worse than what he's saying. Destruction is the Wyrm's favorite tool, remember." to Blinks.
Blinks nods, looking relieved by Sepdet's answer.
Sepdet shrugs. "Me Da's not expectin' me back for a wee bit." She moves over to the edge of the steps, hops up onto the broad stone railing and swinging up onto it so that her feet dangle. She taps the spot next to her for Blinks to join her. "Don' s'pose you got any gum on ya, Blinky."
Blinks turns rigid for a moment. He gives the strange man a suspicious glare. "I am Vincent," he tells Sepdet as he sits down.
Moyan Dashe turns to the crowd, appreciatively. "Gather round, then, and I'll tell you what it means to not believe." His voice lowers to gentle, rasping tones that still seem to have the power to entrance in spite of their harsh edge. "I did not believe, once," he confides. "Not really. Oh, I heard the stories but I didn't *hear* them. Did you ever hear them, child?"
Sepdet looks abashed. "Vince. SO-ree. Keep ya pants on," she says obligingly to Blinks. Then she leans forward, propping her chin on her hands and kicking her feet. "I heard a lotta stories man," she says dryly. "But you're gonna tell me about 'em anyway, so don' let me stop you."
Moyan Dashe laughs, a sound like gravel spilling from a hillside. "That I will." For a moment a strange, sad look comes over his eyes then he turns his attention from the two newcomers and focuses on the rest of the crowd. "I grew up in Africa. The dark continent." He lets the words sink in.
Sepdet looks down at herself and does an exaggerated double-take, then back at the man.
At that moment a strange feeling sinks in. The motions of his body, his language and its emphasis, draw attention like a moth to a flame. When he speaks his throaty rumbles and gestures all command respect. But there is a disconnect between the words he speaks: a tale of Apartheid and discrimination in this country of his birth captivates the mortal crowd. But deeper down a different story echoes in your mind.
The crowd takes no notice of this other story, not hearing or sensing it.
Moyan Dashe's words and his gestures tell a story of two Striders, once packmates. They were hurrying across the sands, tired and aching from the travails of their journey through the Wyrm-infested lands. In their haste to return to what little protection their home afforded, they stumbled across a half-buried sphinx in the desert.
Sepdet sits up a little straighter for a fraction of a second, eyes narrowing at the man, fixing him with a suspicious glare. Are you crazy? Do you know what you're doing, here? Her gaze darts to the crowd and back in silent accusation.
Blinks tugs at Sepdet's arm. "We go, then he will stop," he whispers.
Moyan Dashe continues to influence the crowd though his grip on them fades somewhat, for some reason, and a few wander off. He talks of diamond mines and strikes and beatings. And under this story there is an older one whispered into your very soul.
Sepdet freezes as the unspoken story crystallizes, and covers her dismay with a low whistle of irritation at his story of the stupidities of human behavior. She reaches out and grabs Blinks' forearm, pulling him anxiously closer to her in an unspoken sign: stay. She wants to hear this.
Moyan Dashe describes a sphinx with the stony head of a goat that stared its defiance into the very wind that blew in its face, hurling the eroding sand against its stonework leaving its features soft and indistinct. These two of our tribe knew each other well and they could not pass by this curiousity without looking closer, for only Gaia knew when she might cover it again with sand for another half-dozen centuries.
Moyan Dashe tells of the first, a Crescent Moon whose wisdom I see reflected in some around me. He spent hours trying to read the sanded and obscured glyphs while the other, Moon Dancer by birth, scoured her own memories for tales of such a beast as thoroughly as the wind had scoured the sphinx's stoney hide. When she turned in frustration to her companion, he was gone as if he had been simply plucked from the bosom of Gaia. It is not clear where one story starts and the other picks up. The two blend together as one.
Moyan Dashe wonders when enigma actually changes to threat. It did there, for her, at that moment and she howled her anger at it when all else failed to turn up her lost packmate. She beat on its stony breast in frustration until the blood ran from her bruised hands in rivers but it was unmoved by her anger. Then, raising her voice and her eyes in challenge she fixed her gaze on its stony orbs. Instantly she was whisked away.
Blinks, despite his words, has remained gazing fixedly at Moyan. He does not show any sign of getting up.
Moyan Dashe asks you to imagine their surprise when they found themselves on the bank of a small sycamore-lined oasis. They had some time alone in this place and his worries soon began to show on the Theurge's face. ~I think I know this place,~ he whispered for they were not alone and the Striders who held this oasis gave their challenge. They won Guest-Right by dint of clever words and strength of will.
Moyan Dashe told you of how the Theurge knew what this place was and you might imagine the Galliard would not rest without knowing it too. When she challenged their hosts they held no secrets from her. ~This is Per Tini,~ they said, which means ~Old House~ in the language of that time. Before they could say more, her packmate's own response echoed back. ~I know what you are, and the time is not yet come.~
Moyan Dashe stands, his voice echoing out over the growing crowd. "No more! I yelled into the burning sands. No more! I screamed at the dried and salted watering holes." The crowd mutters its approval.
Moyan Dashe's clear gaze takes in both Blinks and Sepdet in his mind's eye. ~You may not understand this,~ he rumbles, ~though I think she did.~ He could not tell his packmate more than that it was an old secret he knew and could not explain. He wished them to leave. But she was the leader of the two and the caern and the Sept was not unfriendly though it was very old-fashioned. She wished them to stay until her packmate could heal.
Sepdet makes a small, desperate sound in her throat, her cocky, bemused grin as she listens to the man fraying badly at the edges. She shoots another glance at the crowd and balls her hands into fists, covering the lower half of her face and the fear tugging her mouth into a thin line. But yes, she is listening. Listening as hard as she can.
Moyan Dashe looks to the sky and when he speaks again there is a touch of mysticism in his voice. That night they banqueted in the oasis that was Per Tini, and their hosts asked them to stay on. ~I know what you are,~ the Theurge responded again, ~and the time is not yet come.~
Moyan Dashe relaxes a little. They slept uneasily but at least comfortably that night and the next day they were shown the wonders of this place and saw art and stonework the likes of which had not been seen in centuries. They chose to stay a final day and set out on the morrow.
Sepdet whispers something tight and soft to Blinks.
Moyan Dashe will tell you that their hosts, when they heard this news, offered to send some of their own with them to guard their steps. Again the Theurge shook his head, sadly. ~I know what you are, and the time is not yet come.~
Paul comes along Beaugregory Boulevard from below the Interstate.
Paul has arrived.
You whisper ~How does he know this story? How? I know the story. No one else...~ to Blinks.
Moyan Dashe's voice deepens as he nears the end of his tale. That night he told his packmate the secret: ~Per Tini is a powerful and ancient caern said to have been 'buried in the sand', the whole damn thing locked into a powerful fetish to be released in time of great need.~
Paul shifts his books to under his other arm and blinks.
Sepdet's bare heels kick a nervous, silent pattern against the side of the wide stone bannister leading up the steps of the library, sitting with Blinks and listening to a madman tell a story to the human crowd gathered round, and listening to the silences behind his mundane wrds.
Paul moves around the crowd and puts his books in the dropslot, then moves back around to behind Sepdet and Blinks.
Paul looks at the crowd curiously and stops to listen for a bit.
Blinks watches Moyan, spellbound.
Moyan Dashe continues without elaboration. As soon as he told her, she killed him.
Blinks stands up, agitated. "Did not!" he shouts, angrily.
Moyan Dashe pauses, then studiously ignores the young man. When he continues his tone is hushed. When he died, his form shimmered, changed to sandstone etched as old as time itself. The caern starts to mutate and she runs desperately through the landscape that flows about her like wax, calling her packmate's name. She eventually finds him trapped beneath the fallen lion's head of another sphinx. Together they search for a way out amidst the chaos, paths and landmarks altering with each step.
Sepdet's face twitches slightly at the sudden twist in the story, although she nods as if expecting this. She looks up at Blinks, pleading. "It's okay. Let him finish," she says gently.
Moyan Dashe's tone thrusts up from the quiet like the very stones he describes. There are sphinxes everywhere but none of them is the right one. Finally, her packmate grits his teeth against the pain of his crushed legs and tells her to close her eyes and keep them shut, just as a swarm of banes appears over the horizon.
Moyan Dashe slows, again. She does and sees the sphinx in the sand. She reaches back to the mundane world using the eyes, as before. They come out exactly where they left, in the middle of nowhere in the desert, and the only difference is the eyes of the sphinx seem to have been carved out long ago, from the blowing sand. She finds a mostly-obliterated Black Spiral carved on one of the goat's horns.
Moyan Dashe yells to the crowd over the voice that speaks to you in the whispers of the wolf, "And he took the fire into his hand and it was burned, to the very bone, the flesh..."
Moyan Dashe smiles grimly and his words take up their cadence in your mind again. Her packmate was despondent, but he did not tell her what he really knew of Per Tini. He did ask her though, ~Your eyes were pretty good today, Rhya. How did you know it wasn't me?~
Blinks looks back at Sepdet, then blinks and looks around him as if coming out of a spell. "Oh. Sorry. Pau-" He starts with recognition on seeing Paul, then turns back around and sits down, leaving the greeting unfinished.
Moyan Dashe looks up. And this is what she had learned, what he had long since learned, and what each of you should learn. She told him that if he had said the secret of Per Tini was not his to tell, then it was not. And all the legions of the Wyrm would not make him betray such a confidence. This is how she knew.
Moyan Dashe finishes both stories at the same time. The whispers fall silent and he speaks again in his voice. "Tell me, if you can, of the secrets we keep and the secrets we share. Who judges? And if you judge, who shall pay the price of telling and who the price of knowing?"
The crowd remains silent, hushed, deep in thought, trying to piece together the words with the question.
Paul blinks several times, thinking hard by the looks of it.
Blinks frowns in concentration. He leans over to Sepdet. "He asks us to kill him?" he hisses into her ear.
When it becomes clear that there are no more words to be had from the disturbing yet compelling man, the crowd begins to disperse. Moyan remains where he is.
Sepdet lets out a long shaky breath, something in her face still aghast-- as if Moyan Dashe had just spilled out her own soulname. But she doesn't seem angry. She shakes her head at the ground, eyes averted from human scrutiny. "Whew. Tha's a good talk, man. But ya gotta 'member. You may be sayin' or doin' somethin' cause it's right, and tha's fine. You may be breakin' the rules for a damn good reason. But the rules were put there for a good reason, so you shouldna be surprised if a fella or two tries to do what they think is right, by the rules they know. Tha's just the way life is."
You say "You break th' rules, even for a good reason, you gotta be ready t' pay the price if someone calls ya on it. Know what I mean?"
Paul nods slowly at Sepdet's words.
Paul looks up at the man on the steps curiously, his expression a mix of confusion and perhaps awe.
Moyan Dashe turns to Sepdet and he nods, though the look in his eyes suggests even one more undercurrent below the hidden meaning the two share. "I made that decision a long, long time ago."
Sepdet doesn't stir from where she is. She pulls her legs up in front of herself and tucks her arms around them, staring at the ground. She doesn't look up at the man. Behind her wry cautioning words, there seems to be a tremor. And those who have only known her of late may find something oddly timid about the way she curls into herself, shrinking before the strange man's presence.
Paul sniffs the night air slightly, as if testing the wind for something.
Blinks gives up his statue imitation and raises his eyes slowly to meet the man's.
You whisper "He is asking us not to judge him before we have seen him prove himself. He didn't break the veil. I thought he was about to, when he spoke to the humans of Phoenix." to Blinks.
You whisper "He didn't break the Veil. But dear Gaia. How does he know that story?" to Blinks.
Sepdet listens as the crowd moves away, hunched and brooding, now. She whispers something into her arms within Blinks' earshot.
Blinks says, hesitantly, as if talking aloud to himself, "In the story, the person who told a secret wasn't that person. It was something bad. And she killed it."
A woman, wandering off, gives Blinks a strange look. Even more strange than the look she gave Moyan earlier.
Paul murmurs something quietly to Blinks.
Moyan Dashe stays behind for a few moments, answering questions. When there are only a few people left he slowly makes his way down to the street.
Blinks nods to Paul. "Yes," he answers briefly, without looking at Paul.
Sepdet finally breaks from her huddle like a dog breaking a master's order to stay and pelts after the man, tugging on his sleeve and looking up at him.
Paul watches the strange man closely, and moves over to stand just in front of and to one side of Blinks. He looks nervous and somewhat defensive.
Moyan Dashe stops, that wild look in his eyes again, looking down.
Blinks jumps up and runs after her. He comes up beside her, panting.
Sepdet stands up on tiptoe and asks him something in a hushed, oddly desperate tone.
You whisper "Please, sir, can you tell me how you knew that story? You haven't seen him...have you? Ma'i?" to Moyan Dashe.
Paul stays close to Blinks, his nervous gaze darting away from the strange man to scan the surroundings every so often, but always returning to Moyan Dashe.
Blinks folds his arms and frowns, silently warning the man that he will have trouble if he hurts *this* girl.
Moyan Dashe gets a pained look in his eyes and pauses before he answers. "I know what you are, and the time is not yet come." He ignores the others.
Moyan Dashe turns to go, drawing his face down into a dark and scowling mask.
Sepdet's eyes close in pain, nodding resignedly at the man's answer. "Thank you," she says raggedly. She turns back to Blinks, shaking her head to indicate it's all right--although she's obviously upset by the last exchange. "Go well, Rhya," she says softly to the stranger.
Moyan Dashe does not answer, only walks off into the gathering darkness.
Moyan Dashe heads north up Beaugregory Boulevard toward the towering skyscrapers.
Moyan Dashe has left.
Paul turns his gaze on Sepdet now, looking a bit concerned.
Blinks stamps his feet uneasily on the cold pavement. "We follow? Find his home?"
Blinks nods to Paul once Moyan has left, acknowledging his presence for the first time.
Paul murmurs quietly, "Blinks. She said Rhya. Do you really want to confront him at his home?"
Sepdet buries her face in her hands and draws them up and across her cheeks, as if settling her features into some sort of order. Oddly, it seems to have the opposite effect, and some of the scars on her forehead--which had been hidden--reappear. She doesn't notice. "No," she says softly. "We...damn. I'd take you to Renaissance's place now, but our enemies are spying on it. Let me take you to..." she thinks. "Feinan's place. It's warded, and you should learn it as a refuge."
Sepdet looks between Blinks and Paul. "That man we just saw, he has no home. Like us."
Paul looks really nervouse. "The flat is being watched?"
Sepdet nods at Paul. "Come. I'll tell you about it, once we're somewhere safe."
Paul nods slowly, glancing back over his shoulder.
Paul says quietly, "Your lead."
Sepdet nods, heading northwards.
From afar, Slick hopes you weren't too bored hearing your own story back. :)
You paged Slick with 'Oh no. I was hearing it as Sepdet, being quite freaked out by the whole situation. :)'.
From afar, to Paul, Moyan Dashe, Sepdet, and Blinks, Slick sets the stage for events to come.
Blinks follows Sepdet through the crowd in a daze, craning his neck backwards to stare up at the skyscrapers, gawking at his picture in all the mirrors about him. "Enemies? Feinan?" he finally manages to ask.
Paul says quietly, "Feinan is a friend. I don't know about the enemies."
Sepdet shakes her head at Blinks. "Feinan's a good friend," she murmurs softly. "Human theurge. He knows magic, and he knows us. He's helped my pack before."
Sepdet turns off on Market Street, heading towards the river. She picks an odd weaving path through the thinning crowds, always keeping people between her and the shiny glass buildings.
Sepdet looks relieved as the more green parts of the city heave into view. Her shoulders relax as she steps off the sidewalk onto bark-chips and dirt, into the rose garden in front of Feinan's place.
dwr
You start up the path to the bookshop.
Outside Dark Wine and Roses(#2140RJ)
The area immediately in front of the shop used to be a patio, if some of the other stores on the block are any indication. Now, a path of red brick leads up to the shop. To the west, a tall, thick evergreen hedge blocks your view, but the ground to the east has been extensively landscaped. No grass can be seen - it's all shrubs and flower beds, with a few small gravel paths among them so that visitors can walk along them and look. The path to the shop is lined with rosebushes; although it's fall, there are still a few dark red blooms on them, giving forth a sweet scent.
The bookshop stands to the north, while the street lies to the south.
Obvious exits:
Street Dark Wine and Roses
Paul walks up the path from the street.
Paul has arrived.
Blinks walks up the path from the street.
Blinks has arrived.
Sepdet says softly, "We'll be able to talk freely in Feinan's back garden. Where the humans won't hear."
Paul says softly, "Well. I've been through this shop before, at least."
From afar, to Sepdet and Blinks, Paul curses his slippery fingers.
Sepdet nods at Paul. "I try not to come too often; don't want to put Feinan up to trouble. But this is important."
dwr
You walk up to the bookshop's door, open it, and walk inside.
Dark Wine and Roses Bookshop(#2090RJ)
This is the new books area of the store. Shelves of books dominate the room, with much of the floorspace being taken up by them. The walls are white, with dark wooden beams spaced along them. The beams join along the ceiling at ornamental moldings. The floor is made of golden-maple boards, polished to a high gloss, and soft grey carpets are scattered across it. The room is always brightly lit, either from the large windows letting in sunlight during the day or the old-fashioned ceiling lamps during the night. A cashier's station is set off to one side.
An archway on the west wall leads into the cafe area of the store, while a spiral staircase in one corner goes up to the second floor. On the north wall, a door labelled 'Manager' can be seen. To the east, there's another door, this one with a small sign about readings on it, while the door leading to the garden outside is to the south of the room, near the cashier's station.
Obvious exits:
Cafe Second Floor Garden
A silvery chiming is heard, as the bells over the main door are set in motion by someone coming in.
Blinks walks in from the garden. The door shuts softly behind him.
Blinks has arrived.
A silvery chiming is heard, as the bells over the main door are set in motion by someone coming in.
Paul walks in from the garden. The door shuts softly behind him.
Paul has arrived.
A silvery chiming is heard, as the bells over the main door are set in motion by someone coming in.
Sepdet leads her friends back through the store and cafe to the patio. She gestures for Blinks' benefit. "Books. It's how humans record and trade their stories and learning," she whispers.
Blinks glances around nervously, and shrinks up against the doorway. He looks up at the ceiling above him, and refuses to leave the doorway until he has scanned the room and assured himself it has other exits.
Blinks walks through the arch into the cafe.
Blinks has left.
The Luecks walks down the stairs leading from the second floor.
The Luecks has arrived.
Sepdet skips back into the cafe.
c
You walk through the arch into the cafe.
Dark Wine and Roses - Cafe(#2116RJM)
This room is bright and airy. The walls are still a cheerful white, and the floors, moldings, and beams are identical to the ones in the bookshop. An oak-and-marble counter is set close to one wall, and a bar can be seen behind it. A swinging door next to the bar leads into the kitchen, which can be glimpsed when the door is opened. In addition to the lights hanging from the ceiling, several fans are also visible. Large windows open onto the patio outside. Tables and booths of various sizes are scattered around the room.
A glass door on the west wall leads out onto the patio, while the archway to the east leads into the bookshop proper. The door to the kitchen is behind the counter to the north.
Obvious exits:
PaTio Bookshop
Paul walks in from the bookshop.
Paul has arrived.
Blinks comes in from the patio.
Blinks has arrived.
Sepdet waves a hand at the woman working tables tonight. "Nah, just bring us some glasses of water. No ice. We need a place t' sit and rest fer a while...wonna disturb ya reg'lar paying customers if we go out back, right?"
Paul stays quiet, giving a nod and a smile to any passersby that meet his gaze.
Sepdet goes over to the bar and picks up three big glasses of water, touching her hat in thanks to the waitress, and then slips out the patio door.
patioo
Huh? (Type "help" for help.)
pl
Dark Wine and Roses - Cafe(#2116RJM)
This room is bright and airy. The walls are still a cheerful white, and the floors, moldings, and beams are identical to the ones in the bookshop. An oak-and-marble counter is set close to one wall, and a bar can be seen behind it. A swinging door next to the bar leads into the kitchen, which can be glimpsed when the door is opened. In addition to the lights hanging from the ceiling, several fans are also visible. Large windows open onto the patio outside. Tables and booths of various sizes are scattered around the room.
A glass door on the west wall leads out onto the patio, while the archway to the east leads into the bookshop proper. The door to the kitchen is behind the counter to the north.
Contents:
Blinks
Paul
Obvious exits:
PaTio Bookshop
pt
You push open the glass door, and walk out onto the patio.
Dark Wine and Roses - Patio
Enclosed by a large, thick hedge of greenery, this patio is made of dark red brick. Several metal tables are scattered here and there, with umbrellas over them in case of showers. Beds of flowers and shrubs are scattered around the area, and something is always blooming or green, even in the winter months. Rose bushes are very prevalent, and several line the area around the cafe windows.
The only way out of here, besides trying to push through the hedge, is to the east: the glass door leading back into the cafe.
Obvious exits:
Cafe
Blinks walks out from the cafe.
Blinks has arrived.
Paul walks out from the cafe.
Paul has arrived.
Sepdet drops the glasses on a table and pulls up an ironwork chair with a loud creak. She sits into it with a heavy thump and puffs her cheeks in a long breath. "There. It's too cold for humans; they won't be eating out here this time o' year. This is where they come to get food, Blinks, since there's not enough room to hunt."
Paul takes a deep breath, and pulls out two chairs at a table. "I've missed being in town the last few months."
Paul sits in one, and gestures Blinks towards the other.
Blinks bends over to peer at the flowerbeds.
Paul settles into the chair and glances once towards the door before asking quietly, "What did I walk into, Sepdet? And should I be avoiding the flat?"
Sepdet settles back in her chair, lapping her drink with her tongue before answering. "It's a long story, Paul. What to tell you first." She glances over at Blinks with a sigh.
Blinks comes back over to the table. He puzzles over the chair a moment, then watches Paul sit down. He duplicates the movement and settles awkwardly into his own chair.
You say "Well, first, my pack's place is being spied on. If we went there, there's a good chance my enemies would hear everything we said."
Blinks keeps looking back and forth between Sepdet and the metal surface of the table, fascinated by both.
Sepdet sighs. "If they're not Garou, they know of us, anyway."
Paul nods slowly. "Well, crap. Guess I should have not been going there, huh? At least no one has been following me around that I've noticed."
Blinks rubs one hand back and forth along the iron latticework of the tabletop.
Blinks wriggles restlessly in his seat.
Paul looks over at Blinks with a small smile. "Uncomfortable?"
Blinks nods. "I just..." Blinks shuts up. He crosses his legs, and turns a contemplative gaze on the rosebushes.
Paul shakes his head. "Let me show you the bathrooms. That wouldn't look good if someone noticed."
Blinks shakes his head. "Don't need a bath."
Paul says "It is for pissing in, Blinks. Not bathing. Despite the name."
Blinks stands up. "Oh," he says, with a relieved smile.
Paul says to Sepdet, "I'm going to show him how to use a bathroom. We'll be right back."
Sepdet nods, smiling a bit.
Blinks looks again at the rosebushes on his way out. "No food there," he remarks. "No holes, no tracks, no nibbles on leaves."
Paul says quietly, "Nope," and heads inside.
Paul pulls open the door, and walks into the cafe.
Paul has left.
Blinks pulls open the door, and walks into the cafe.
Blinks has left.
Michael Powers walks out from the cafe.
Michael Powers has arrived.
Paul walks out from the cafe.
Paul has arrived.
Blinks walks out from the cafe.
Blinks has arrived.
Paul pulls up his chair at the table, and takes a sip of water.
Sepdet looks up, and relaxes. ~Oh great. You can help me tell the pups what's up,~ she says wryly, glancing out the door to make sure no one else is coming.
Blinks walks out the door backward, still gaping stupidly upward at the spinning ceiling fans inside.
Michael Powers tilts his head curiously and grabs a seat. "What's up?"
Sepdet doesn't seem particularly disturbed or even surprised by the lupus curiosity.
Blinks sits back down. "Cubs," he says. "Cubs."
Blinks nudges Paul. "They make their own wind!"
Sepdet says, ~Cubs,~ she says, flipping a hand apologetically. ~I'm trying to explain to Blinks and Paul just what has been going on.~
Michael Powers nods. Listens.
Sepdet sprawls in her chair, propping her elbow on an armrest and her chin on one hand. ~All right. This all started about--I don't know. A moon ago. Longer, if you count my dreams.~ She wrinkles her face. ~I'll tell Paul about them, but first, let me explain about these people spying on Renaissance, and about how it all started. My packmates started getting phonecalls from someone who is in very bad trouble. It's a boy, who's being held captive somewhere . We're in the process of tracing him, but since he's afraid to give his name and the calls always cut short quickly, we haven't yet. He's being tortured. I can't imagine his captors letting him free to go use a "phone", so I suspect they're making him call. Especially since he always becomes terrified, hangs up, when we ask for his name. He says 'they' will hurt him, if he speaks his name.~
Paul frowns deeply and asks quietly, "These are related to the calls that used you father's names? Or different ones?"
Sepdet nods at Paul. ~Exactly.~
Sepdet says, ~The same. Except...the last few times, we've started hearing from his captors too.~
Michael Powers nods...
Sepdet ducks her head, voice holding a repressed growl. ~First, the night that the boy called Michael's human, one of his captors called threatening her if she told us what she'd heard. That's when she called us for help. A good thing too, because she said there was at least one stranger watching her house, and someone broke into her ground floor rooms.~
Paul nods slowly, looking thoughtful.
Michael Powers nods. "And they left behind sand and bitumen, when they trashed the apartment."
Sepdet gives Michael a gentle glance, but goes on, leaving a comment unspoken. ~Yeah. And bandages for a burial. Definitely trying to tease us.~
Paul says quietly, "Egyptian. From Sepdet's old place. With an attitude, and a taste for vengeance?"
Blinks growls, "The crazy man."
Eochaid walks out from the cafe.
Eochaid has arrived.
Sepdet holds up a hand. ~You're running down roads without reading the signs first, friends. Either of those would surprise me.~
Sepdet breaks off as the door opens, glancing quickly at the new arrival.
Eochaid peers outside. "Eh, I thought I saw somebody I recognized."
Blinks looks up, and does not seem surprised to see yet another Garou come through the door.
Paul nods. "Eh, you could be quite right. That was how first glance made it seem."
Michael Powers looks up and shakes his head. "Nope. Just a pleasant break from classes."
Sepdet nods at Eochaid. "Hey story-teller. Say hi to Fledge for me."
Eochaid nods, his curiosity satisfied. "Aye. I'll go and do that." He turns quietly to leave.
Paul takes a long drink from his waterglass.
Eochaid pulls open the door, and walks into the cafe.
Eochaid has left.
Blinks reaches for Paul's glass after he's through.
Sepdet looks ruefully after Eochaid. ~Most nights I'd be glad t'see him.~
Blinks turns a puzzled eye on Sepdet. "Not glad now?"
Paul hands the water to Blinks.
Sepdet shrugs. ~This is tribe-stuff. I don't think I want ta let my friend storyteller hear all of this.~
Paul nods. "Sorry. I didn't notice him right off."
Blinks sets the water glass down. "Other tribes don't know?"
Sepdet smiles. ~It's all right. Eochaid's a nice guy...he could've stayed around, but I think he realized I didn't wanna him here right now. Not everybody's so polite.~
Sepdet settles back in her chair. ~No, Blinks. My pack knows, but I don't want the caern putting their nose into this and all running back and forth over the trail we're following like a bunch of raw puppies spoiling the scent. It's our business, for now.~
Michael Powers nods. "Bad enough that the ones who *are* mixed up in it are."
Blinks drops his arms to his side in amazement at their answers.
Paul seems relatively unsurprised by Tep and Sepdet's words.
Sepdet shakes her head at Blinks. ~You gotta learn about secrets, Blinks,~ she says gently, then continues,eyes going more distant. ~The second time was a few days ago. Michael had just gone outside, and I got a call from a man. That was bad.~ She stares down through the webbing of the ironwork table. ~He said he and his friends would kill "the old man" if we didn't stop trying to track them. Another reason not to get the whole caern involved. The less people in on this, the better. So. The way he said it...I had a bad feeling. He meant my father.~
Michael Powers nods. "Meanwhile, our friendly local arrogant Strider lupus guest was telling me that we were being watched, and whoever was watching would "mess everything up" if we didn't do something about them.
Paul says quietly, "Sepdet? I thought your father was dead?"
Sepdet's face goes cold at Paul's question. ~I have never said he was dead,~ she whispers tightly. ~He is not dead.~ The raw conviction behind her clipped words is almost that of madness, but the disturbing note is only there for an instant. Then she seems fine again.
Paul nods quickly. "Sorry... Sorry. I must have misremembered."
Sepdet stares at the ground. ~Well. Anyway. I tried Rite of Questing Stone. Used up everything I had, this time. I got close. But it was like last summer, when I saw him in the umbra, and followed...and got lost. I could get close enough to smell him in my mind, and then...lost it. I fell asleep, and I dreamed of him again. This time he wasn't running anymore. This time he wasn't standing in the desert waiting for a star. This time he was lying in the sand, bleeding, hurt.~ She shudders. ~Very badly hurt. He may be dying. He's not dead yet.~
Paul listens closely, thinking again.
Sepdet looks back at Michael, unwilling to follow that train of thought further. ~So that's what spirit says. As for things in this world, we have a Glass Walker helping the pack, who's found bugs...things for spying on us... by Glissa's house, and is damn sure there are some on our pack's headquarters. They may hear everything we're saying there. We've got a date set with him to guard him while he tries to kill the bugs, and trace where their signal comes from.~
Paul nods slowly.
Sepdet says, ~And I called my uncle. My father's older brother, my old mentor. He said...he's been dreaming of his little brother too, and he hasn't for years. He told me some things.~ She thinks. ~About Nekheb-Gathers-Close, the wandering Strider that came to Horus' gathering, the one I don't like very much. He's walked the Paths of the Dead, so he's...strange.~ She sighs.~
Sepdet says, ~He also told me about my father's knife. You know, my father, when I was born, he sent me away, when he and mother were attacked. He stayed behind.~ She spreads her hands, these words obviously very important to her. ~That's the last we know of him. Ibis said my father's knife was given to him by a stranger in Alexandria many years later. We don't have any idea how it got there. But Ibis also dreamed of his little brother.../after he sent me and mother away...in the streets of Alexandria. His mind was gone.~
Paul nods again, aparently remembering the first part at least.
Sepdet sounds tired. ~So maybe these people, who are calling me now, got my father there. We can't risk any Garou lives to save him. Our tribe's future-- our future-- is more important than the life of a charach. Remember that. I don't like it, but I know it's true. Still. If these people know enough to have found out from him that I'm his daughter, then they may know other, more dangerous secrets. Like where the Hidden Caern is. Like where some of the Strider tools my father guarded were kept. We've got to trace them, and kill them, but they're very good at covering their tracks.~
Paul asks quietly, "Is there any way to guarantee being able to track someone? With the right preparation or spirits? If so. well, someone could be set out as a stalking horse. To encourage them to grab someone who COULD be tracked."
Sepdet nods at Paul uneasily. ~I don't want anyone to get caught by them. If they've had my father all this time, it might be just as hard to track any new prisoner they catch as Father...and I and my mother have sought him in vain for years, with many rites.~
Blinks rubs one thumb curiously over the smooth, cold surface of Paul's glass. "Who is Ibis?"
Sepdet glances at Blinks. ~My uncle.~
Sepdet adds softly to Paul, ~Besides, the bait they'd most likely grab is me. And I don't think I could convince you, Anpwhotep, Joseph, or anyone else to try that, until all else fails.~
Paul nods to Sepdet. "I understand that. But. Your father was looked for after he was missing. Isn't it easier to find someone if you prep them first? Tie spirits to them or something? Or mechanical tracers, homing devices or something?"
Michael Powers nods. "You're right about that. You couldn't."
Michael Powers sighs. "If I could just hear him again...get something to work with."
Paul looks rueful. "Well, no, I guess you would be the one they want."
Sepdet touches the cartouche at her throat. ~Paul, I have a gift which will find almost anyone I know, if I know their name. And they blocked that . They blocked me from the scent of my own father. It is true, I have not seen him since I was born--but only while I was awake. I know him.~
Long distance to Michael Powers, Paul, and Blinks: Sepdet yeeeps! I forgot! I'm not wearing the cartouche!!!! Important detail.
Paul looks down. "Just a thought. I'm aware that I hardly know anything. Thank you for explaining."
Sepdet adds, ~It's a good thought. I've taken steps to give you the best chance of tracking me, if they do get me somehow.~ She growls irritably. ~Quiet knows Rite of Questing Stone. Joseph, who I trust to know these things and keep them quiet, says he is seeking one who has a stronger tracking-gift than mine, one which might be able to track the scent on the bandages and sand they left us to taunt us.~
Sepdet reaches for something at her throat, fumbles, and instead fidgets uneasily with her ankh.
Paul looks more closely at Sepdet. "Where's your cartouche, Sepdet?"
Sepdet drops her eyes. ~I gave it to Joseph, in case I disappear. He'll know. Quiet can use it for Rite of Questing Stone, if it comes to that.~
Paul nods. "Ah. So that's how it works? Something special to the person is a focus?"
Michael Powers slaps his forehead.
Sepdet shakes her head. ~It's not necessary, but it helps. After fighting to try and scent my father, I know she'd need more than a little help.~
Michael Powers says "The bandages. Of course."
Paul looks curiously at Michael.
You paged Michael Powers, Paul, and Blinks with '. o O (No, Michael, it can't be Warren Ramsey. He never logs on.)'.
Long distance to Michael Powers, Paul, and Blinks: Sepdet grins.
From afar, to Paul, Sepdet, and Blinks, Michael Powers grabs Sepdet and ruffles her hair mercilessly. Silly...
Michael Powers looks around and realizes he's just lost you all. "The scent from the bandages. If they haven't been handled too much...damn. Why didn't I figure this out before. Damn."
Michael Powers clenches a fist and growls softly under his breath.
Sepdet looks back at Michael in confusion. ~Do you know the gift Joseph spoke of?~
Michael Powers whispers "It's Mike's 'I'm an idiot' growl."
Michael Powers says "I don't know what gift Joseph was talking about, but I finally got a breakthrough, after Alex passed me. My sense of smell has improved. I'm *sure* I could track them now...as long as they're not masking their scents."
Sepdet looks at Michael in frustration. ~Well, we can give it a try. Otherwise, next time they call, I can ask them to leave us some more bandages.~
Sepdet rubs her forehead. ~Now the question is, how did that crazy old wolf we just saw tonight fit into all this? He smelled of...~ her eyes widen. ~Duat. He smelled of Duat.~
Michael Powers blinks and looks at Sepdet in surprise. "He what?"
Paul says quietly, "And if I understood the tag end I walked in on, his story... What do you mean he smelled of Duat?"
Blinks shrugs. "You said he walked the dead paths."
Sepdet's hand cups her ankh defensively. ~I said Nekheb-Gathers-Close did.~ She looks confused. ~Was the stranger him? But... why is he here? What was he doing, speaking to all those people? And...I have met Nekheb; why did he not say it was he? Why does he always speak to everyone except me?~ She sounds vaguely angry, mostly dazed.
Blinks shakes his head. "Sorry. I remembered wrong."
Michael Powers looks between the three of you curiously.
Sepdet says, ~He... he didn't introduce himself.~ She shivers. ~I don't know. I do not know if that was he; it might have been. That man. He spoke to the humans, but behind his words were the unspoken words of wolf. He spoke to them of the apocalypse, and Phoenix--to the humans . That was why I questioned him. But he wasn't breaking the veil, only opening the humans' eyes to their own madness. The story he told us--in wolf's way-- warned me not to judge too quickly on the matter of breaking the veil, of giving away secrets.~
Blinks taps the glass on the table, listening to its ring.
Paul says softly, "I only caught the end. The moral seemed different to me, but. He who? Nekheb? He smelled like high Rage like Nekheb did."
Blinks turns to Sepdet. "In the story, the female judged. Killed. And was right."
Sepdet looks at Blinks. ~So I pointed out to him.~
Sepdet sighs. ~And here is the thing that bothers me most.~
Sepdet says, ~Do you know who the female in that story was? Do you know who the seer was?~
Paul shakes his head slowly. "But I have the feeling you will tell us?"
Sepdet spreads out her hands. ~My parents, from the time before Father went mad and convinced her to...to have me. Back when they were only alpha and packmate, in the Red Land, in the desert.~
Paul nods, again not looking -too- surprised. "Well aimed story, then. So you are afraid that your father could reveal the secret of the Caern, as he didn't in the story? Among all the other reasons of course?"
Michael Powers tilts his head toward Sepdet, silently curious.
Sepdet shakes her head. ~No, it's too late now. After they got back from Per Tini, they saw the spiral carved into the Sphinx in which that caern was bound to wait for all time for the future. The Spirals found their way into even Per Tini, it seems, and the one who took my Father's face and broke the secret--whom my mother killed--well, no doubt that was the enemy. It's too late for Per Tini. But how did...this man...know the tale?~
Sepdet says, ~I asked him if he knew where my father is now. He didn't say that he didn't knw.~
Sepdet says, ~He said, like my father to my mother, when he dared not share with her the secret of Per Tini: 'The time is not yet.' And like my mother, I must respect that answer.~
Sepdet's hands ball into fist. At last she drops into an uneasy silence.
Paul mumbles something quietly to himself.
Michael Powers nods silently, thinking on all this new information...stands and wanders idly toward the doors, still deep in thought. Through the open doors, you can hear him saying something about chocolate and Sepdet.
Michael Powers pulls open the door, and walks into the cafe.
Michael Powers has left.
From afar, to Sepdet and Blinks, Paul can't help but think Nekheb knows FAR too much. :)
