Ankh Caves, above the Valley of Life, near Mustang, Tibet.
As the druidess sat next to the unconscious Scotsman, who was wrapped in the white cloths of the cave dwellers, Voronika, behind Sister Sunshine, went through the man's possessions. She found:
Po found straw in the room prepared for Wang Thang and offered it to Steele as fuel. He likened it to a diet of crisps (potato chips), but all agreed that it was a welcome break from his other recent fuel.
Voronika asked a servant: "What do you use for fuel?"
Servant: "The Fire keeps us warm."
Voronika and Forester found that their knowledge of Arabic barely allowed them to communicate simple things to the servants. Ramsey found it easiest to be understood. Although the servants appeared to know a smattering of Tibetan, it had little overlap with the Party's smattering, making that language useless.
As his injuries regenerated, the Scotsman came to and, groggily, thanked the druidess who pointed out that she had only healed him, not rescued him. He'd been caught in an avalanche and had, if anything, less understanding of where he was than the Party did. As he became aware of his surroundings he seemed concerned about his notes and other belongings. Innocently, Voronika pointed them out. Gathering a cloth around himself as a makeshift kilt, he knelt to examine the pile. Voronika noted that he seemed somewhat relieved when he saw the cylinder although he left it with the rest. His notes and instruments were missing.
The two women excused themselves and left their patient to dress. After doing so, he called out into the hall and the group invited him to assemble with them in Mr. Steele's room.
Scotsman: "Damn good to see some Anglishmen around. George McGregor, at your service."
Introductions went around. Finally, "Ben Steele."
McGregor, staring at the mechanical man: "You bear the strongest resemblance to the Nasmyth engine."
Steele: "How are you familiar with the Nasmyth engine?"
McGregor: "I saw it when Jason was working on it. I'm an engineer."
Po: "How long have you been in Mustang?" [Note, this was the question about how long he was in the town. The time he was in the country depends on where one puts its borders. :)]
McGregor: "About a week."
Penrington: "Did you find the people co-operative?"
McGregor: "They're not as friendly as in many other parts of the country. But I have no complaints. There was a laddie a lot like you," he looked at Po, "to whom they turned a cold shoulder."
Penrington: "So you're traveling alone?"
McGregor: "Now I am. I'm finishing out the measurements Everest started. Some of his records got lost on the way home." He explained a bit about how Sir George Everest [historically, surveyor general of India in 1830 - in this game, has to be a bit later, 1870 or so] had started a survey of these mountains. "I wanted a bearing on Peak 17. Got caught in an avalanche."
Penrington, more concerned with immediacy: "We're inside the mountain near the ankh above Mustang. They are strange people here."
Sunshine: "Rather like ancient Egyptians."
McGregor: "Egypt's a long way from here, lassie."
Steele: "So's Scotland."
McGregor: "Yes, but I took an airship to get here."
Po: "You'd need a balloon to get here."
McGregor: "Laddie, you'd need a special balloon - helium or hydrogen - at this altitude." His gaze intensified on the Chinese boy with some suspicion. Then he turned his attention to Ben Steele. "How are you working here?"
Steele: "Not well at all."
McGregor: "You were designed for African exploration. I could check you out and see what could be done. But I don't have any tools here."
Steele: "I have tools. We'll talk about it sometime."
At that point Ramsey put in an appearance, dressed in the local whites. Penrington made introductions.
Ramsey: "I've learned some things..."
McGregor: "Where are we?"
Ramsey: "Near the base of the ankh. These caves connect with the ankh."
Forester: "Is that where the fire is?"
Steele: "One thing at a time. Let the man speak."
Ramsey, somewhat bemused: "She knew me 3000 years ago. It really was me. She knew of my rifle, that I fought with a rifle. She knew the word "rifle" 3000 years ago. She's one of Akhenaten's daughters; his eldest. His and Nefertiti's. The 10th king of the 18th dynasty. It seems I saved his life. I thought that she thought that I was one of the Ramses. She insists that she'll find out how she knows me. She herself lived by passing through the fire. At the top of the ankh something heats air to keep the area warm." He collected his thoughts. "She took me up the ankh. She had a priest conduct a ceremony that heated the ankh. She did not want me damaged. We stood on the top of the ankh, at the top of the Temple of Life, and she showed me where her father was standing when I saved his life. She says I took a wound in the shoulder, that scarred; but there is no scar." He pointed to his shoulder. "We fell in love and I prophesied that we would meet again if it took 3000 years - and it has come to pass." He repeated the prophesy almost to himself several times, then continued, "She described me appearing between her father and an assassin and how I took a knife in the shoulder from another assassin."
The Egyptologist turned towards the druid. "You know how you have sisters who are twins and one of them is evil? Meritaten's sister Meketaten was her twin and served Death. I thought it an interesting parallel. She is Meritaten. She was intent on showing me my past here - it happened here - so that I would remember it. I do not."
Penrington: "Did you tell her our story."
Ramsey: "I told her that we came following a prophecy concerning Temujin and a piece of the Wheel of Time."
Penrington: "Did she know Temujin?
Ramsey: "She said he had been dead over six hundred years."
Penrington: "Does she know how to work the Wheel of Time?"
Ramsey: "I did not think to ask such questions."
As the hunter continued to ask the Egyptologist about questions that had not been asked, Voronika drew McGregor aside and offered him a drink of brandy (saved from Dr. Davis' stores). Quietly the two got acquainted, the Scotsman gallantly telling the gypsy that he had mistaken her for a Spaniard. McGregor confided that when he was 16 and a sergeant-major in the corps, he traveled with Everest. He had been promoted quickly because he had a talent with machines; he wasn't the right class, of course, to become an officer. Voronika found that the man was very knowledgeable about mountains and even shared the happy acquaintance of Mountaineer Neal. "Mountains in Switzerland are nothing like these!" To which observation the gypsy raised an assenting glass.
Ramsey: "Hes is her title; the job is hesea. It means 'close to fire' in Arabic. I do think that one might find eternal life - if anywhere - in the Temple of Life. She has lived all this time waiting for me. She couldn't understand why I wasn't as delighted as she." He looked rueful.
Penrington: "How long did you stay here after you saved her father's life?"
Ramsey: "I stayed long enough to recover from the wound and to become 'better acquainted'. I know the histories say that Meritaten married a Ramses."
Penrington, drily: "There's a certain similarity in names. Did you ask her about ____________?"
Ramsey: "I've been somewhat preoccupied; as was she."
The hunter gave a quiet leer.
McGregor and Voronika discussed the difficulties of traveling as a woman.
Voronika admitted, "At certain points it has been uncomfortable. Particularly when one considers native customs."
McGregor, with an air of fierceness: "Did any try to take liberties with an Anglish druidess!?!"
Voronika: "Not after I stabbed my dagger into their pillow."
McGregor lifted his glass: "I like a lassie with spirit!" They drank. "But why are you here?"
Voronika: "We are following a prophecy."
McGregor: "I knew Kali was an Indian Old One, but I hadn't heard she was given to prophecies."
They discussed the gypsy powers.
Voronika: "Amongst the Rom there are those with the ability to 'see' - the past, the future, the dead."
McGregor: "And you, lassie? What do you do?"
Voronika: "All of it."
McGregor: "And is that a good or bad thing?"
Ramsey: "The records have been doctored. Had there been twins in ancient Egypt - even royal twins - one at least would have been drowned at birth. Both Meritaten and Meketaten survived, it is now clear. Nefertiti had three daughters: the youngest was Ankhesaten. She married Tutankhaten, who changed his name when he became king to Tutankhanmun. The 18th dynasty virtually ended with him. Meritaten married Rameses and died before her father according to the records. But she is here. And he was here. A long, long way from Egypt."
Feeling restless, Forester announced, "I'm going to take a closer look at the base of the ankh." He pulled on his heavy Tibetan coat and hat and wandered down the hallway. Steele looked up for a moment from the Egyptologist's ramblings. But it seemed a safe enough jaunt. As the pedagogue passed by the guards at the cave entrance to the outer world, one of them spoke to him. Not understanding, he smiled and moved on, craning his neck and trying to focus his camera on the gigantic ankh.
Lunch was brought to Our Adventurers: goat cheese, rye cakes, water, stone jars of a potent-smelling liquor Norgay said was. The druidess looked around the gathering: "Where is Mr. Forester? Surely he has come back by now?" Penrington sighed and took Ramsey out to question the servants and then the guards. The guards at the exit were able to point out a direction: "We warned him not to go out of sight of the tunnels." Penrington sighed again when Ramsey translated. Chances were Forester had understood the words no more than the hunter had. "Let's suit up," he said.
The day had turned cloudy and foggy, with a chill breeze. The top of the ankh had a reddish glow. When McGregor volunteered to join the search, Voronika mentioned that there were several extra rifles: the French ones and those purchased for the non-combatants. Sister Sunshine offered the Scotsman "hers". "A fine Anglish piece, lassie," he smiled. He admitted that while he knew how to use the rifle, he was not what he'd consider a 'good shot'. The druidess smiled gently, "You'd be a better shot than I who cannot shoot at all."
The guards urged Mr. Ramsey not to leave the caves and, when it became clear that they would send for troops, the Party recommended the he "hold the line" just inside the caves. Line of sight would be preserved by stringing people down the path. First Steele, who was operating inefficiently still. Then Norgay, who no one wished to endanger. Then the druidess volunteered. Before she had to stop in place, though, both Penrington and McGregor identified a likely ambush spot along the path. Po clairvoyed and saw a black-clad individual moving quietly away from that very ambush position. Tibetan, the boy thought, not Mongol, although only the eyes were uncovered. As he watched, the lurker was joined by a second black-clad person, and they rapidly worked their way down hill.
Penrington: "Can't you locate Forester?"
Po: "I'm hesitant to try. There are forces beyond our ken at work."
Having heard Po's report, Voronika and Penrington stealthed down past the ambush point.
Penrington: "Let's think like a photographer."
Voronika, drily: "I have been. Look." She pointed out a small brown spatter stain on a boulder and some rocks scuffled out of place as though by a very short struggle.
At that moment Forester himself showed up amongst the others higher on the path, chattering about trying to take a photograph of the ankh. He was greeted with relief and annoyance.
Voronika asked the druidess to check the stain: blood, probably not there even overnight. The gypsy sent Norgay back after some rope with which she had herself lowered down that side of the cliff as far as the rope could manage. Nothing.
Forester started complaining about missing lunch and showed the one - poor - photograph he had managed to take. The hunter looked at it carefully.
Penrington, slyly: "Why don't you take a picture of us all. Now?"
As the photographer agreed, the druidess turned towards the hunter, "Why?"
Penrington saw something drop out of Forester's sleeve. Immediately there was a small explosion as Voronika (standing closest to the photographer) took damage [5,15] and everyone was flashed. There was the sound of running feet. The gypsy swung blindly where Forester had been and Sister Sunshine disciplined herself to cast the conical Drain Running spell. None of the Party saw the film of slick ice spread out from the druidess and down the path.
Po's vision was the first to clear and he swung on the escaping Forester, hitting the young man in the chest. The camera fell to the ground and Forester's body was flung by the blow over the edge of the cliff. As the others' eyesight returned, they could see Po starting to climb down the cliff. Sister Sunshine limped hastily to the edge where she could see the crumpled body on a ledge. Desperately she cast a Heal downwards; a glowing phantasm of a horse settled around the broken form.
Forester was dead. Po and the others lifted the body up with the rope. Sister Sunshine examined it: broken ribs, fractured and depressed brain pan, and - a tattoo on the wrist that she had never seen there before: a dot centered within and conjoined to 8 lines all kinked at right angles in the same direction.
Voronika turned to Penrington: "Do you see a man down the hill? I see a man down the hill." She had the hunter steady the rope as she climbed down to the fatal ledge.
Voronika: "I'd like to know your name." The gypsy carefully avoided phrasing it as a question.
The spirit sneered.
Voronika: "Kali did not protect you in that fall, huh?"
Spirit: "Kali welcomes me." The spirit faded.
When Voronika told the party the exchange, someone chided her for slipping and turning her statement into a question, but she responded, "I learned what I came for."
Meanwhile Sister Sunshine, guarded by McGregor, returned to the cave to explain what had happened and to ask Mr. Ramsey to find out from the guards if there was a mystic reason not to lose sight of the cave entrance. Ramsey asked. The guard answered, "There are many enemies about." Sure now that the earlier precautions were unnecessary, Sunshine asked Steele to come join the search.
As reinforcements were being recruited, Po shook his head at Penrington's question. "I will not be able to find Mr. Forester. I killed someone." Voronika and Penrington followed the impatient Po into the fog [8 hex visibility]. In the mist, Po heard someone shift position and then he was hit by a dagger in the chest [5,20]. Po ran up to his assailant who was perched on a rock. As the others hurried in pursuit, they spotted a second person just as it swung on Voronika. It missed. Penrington shot Po's assailant in the chest [4,16] as the deadly poison from the first blade coursed through Po's system. The boy fell.
Up the path, Steele, the druidess and McGregor heard the gunshot. Steele steamed into action. But, by the time he arrived at the battle, Penrington and Voronika had killed both assassins. Voronika carried the Chinese boy to Sister Sunshine who used her paramedic skills and regen power to counteract his wounds. For a brief moment, Po had the feeling that the entire mountain had flowed through his wounds, aiding the druidic spell. Startled, he looked up; the druidess herself seemed unaware of what had happened... and the boy did not mention the sensation.
Then the warriors scavenged the bodies: each ninja had started with 4 poisoned daggers and two ceramic flash balls. Voronika reported indications of at least half-a-dozen people heading downwards, perhaps carrying a burden. Penrington grated, "Forester," and quickly suggested a tactic arrangement for his haphazard troops.
Voronika: "We may have to burn the village."
Penrington: "I'm not inclined to be very friendly."
In the mists ahead, both Penrington and Voronika could see shapes as the knives started to fly. Penrington was stabbed in the chest [5,20] while the gypsy dodged. Penrington managed to return fire, stunning a ninja [7,28] with a bullet in the chest before he succumbed to the poison [10,40] and fell.
Po ran down and joined the fight. A ninja's dagger tinked off the steel codpiece Mr. Smith had insisted on making for the boy. A dagger bounced off Steele's chest as he waded into the fight. Voronika and McGregor repeatedly fired rounds into black-clad figures. There were at least 5 such dancing around in the fog.
The druidess knelt in the midst of battle to heal Penrington. McGregor moved to where he could protect both women, shooting one of the ninja. Shortly the fight was over.
Voronika found a body in boxer shorts with a black metal band around its neck. He was unconscious from a head wound, and very cold, but the gypsy thought he was alive. "I've found Forester." Groggy [still down 10,10] from having been awakened by a healing spell, Penrington ordered the druidess, "Go help Forester."
Despite the healing spells, Forester was still unconscious when the Party laid him down in his room of the cave. The druidess wondered if the black metal of his collar was the same as that used in the strange statue of Kali back in the village of Mustang. As Sunshine knelt beside Forester, she glanced up to see Wang Thang poke his head through the doorway. On his back was the long-haired gentleman she had seen in the palace at Chengdu. He said:
"The darkness from beneathQuickly the druidess recited the words aloud to her companions and, as the old man pointed, she did too - pointing the direction of a silver thread that linked the felled pedagogue to some place in the distance.
Distant from himself
The anchor to return."
Next Run: What does the Hes want? How can we restore Forester?
Note: Sunny will be out-of-town for the next two weeks.
(a) Cumulative (b) Cumulative since Volume II (c) Cumulative since Volume III
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