Upon the morning, those in the camp see that Xania and Dakath have returned at some point very quietly in the night, as they sleep very soundly. However, it appears that Rhees has departed equally quietly, during whose watch is unknown, though Augustus' silence about the matter reveals he may have had some knowledge. Interestingly enough, the horse given to him that Ullar once rode is still standing at the edge of camp untouched. It appears that he left on foot. However, he did not leave any trace the group can find, though it would take a skilled tracker to find anything in the hard rocky ground. Assuming he will return if and when he wishes to, the group breaks camp. Discussing with each other the night, they find that each had some rather nasty nightmares throughout the night, each having their own specific fears dramatically visited upon them, and the group is rather shaken. You all suspect this may have something to do with Rhees' departure, as he appeared to be a rather spiritual fellow. Augustus also appears very uneasy, and even more quiet than usual.
After smiling at Asif, "Good morning my friend. How are you this morning?" Rhune is looking around at the others in the party, frowning, "Where is Rhees? He does not seem to be with us this morning," she says to the party at large.
Seeming even more nervous than the night before, Amibar keeps mostly to himself. Despite his efforts and his deep hood, which he keeps up, it is soon revealed to the keen-eyed among the group what may be the reason for his reservedness. The young Gnome's face, neck and what parts of his hands that show are deeply scarred, making him a hard sight to stomach.
Catching the eye of someone looking at him, he quickly turns away in embarrassment, clearly uneasy at being the center of attention.
Asif casually studies Amibar with some interest from the comfort of his blankets. His mind trying to fathom exactly what the stranger is. Needing to perform his morning devotions to Aten he kisses Rhune upon the cheek and gently rubs her shoulder to wake her. He whispers to Rhune.
"What be the nature of he who now shares our fire, 'Lady of my Heart?' Is he a creature of Geb, the god of earth. I have not been blessed to see an Djinn of earth. His size and mention of his talent in heka suggests this might be so? But here in this land many stranger people have I met. Elfkind being not the only alien people to me."
Returning his kiss almost shyly but not quite... "I don't know. I think he is gnome. I have never met one before. Not sure he would be a djinn or not. Don't know what one is," she replies as she smiles at him, her deep purple eyes sparkling like twin jewels.
Dakath awakes late, he looks over at Xania lying next to him, he smiles before rising, careful not to wake her. He then stretches mightily. "It's not a bad morning is it? What have we got in the way of provisions for breakfast?"
Xania wakes several minutes later, the absence of warmth causing her to stir. She stretches languidly, with a definite smile of contentment on her face.
Hesitantly approaching, Amibar is holding his backpack. "I've got some, umm, provisions here. Not much in the way of food, but, ahhh, accessories."
He coughs nervously, fidgeting with the backpack. " Spices, you know, and such. I'd be glad to help with preparations." He looks at his boots nervously, "You've all been so kind".
Smiling at Amibar, "Thank you. That would be very nice. Seems we have several in the party that can do things with travel rations to make them more edible," Rhune says to the little gnome.
Setting down to work, he whips out an assortment of small containers, adding a pinch of this and a smother of that to the gathered bland rations the party takes out, and turning out quite a tasty meal.
Asif watches the small humanoid rummaging in his backpack as he strides past to find a quiet place for his devotions. He stops momentarily and breaths in deeply, the aroma of spices fresh in the morning air. He takes another step, then stops.
"Aten's blessing upon you this morning, he who takes the name of Amibar. I am Faris Asif al Mansour, and I bid you welcome this morning to our band. The aroma of your spices bring great pleasure to one who finds much of the food of this land, very bland to the palate. Efendi if you may bring some small blessing to this Arab, do you by any chance posses a spice called coffee? It be a drink make with boiling water in my homeland."
Rhune smiles as she hear Asif's request for coffee. She has only had it several times in her long life, but knows he enjoys the drink.
"Hello, Faris Asif al Mansour," Ami stumbles over the unfamiliar sounds, "I am sorry, but I don't have any coffee. Though I had the chance to taste some once," he wrinkles his nose. "It was quite bitter, I remember..."
"Ahhhh that is indeed sad. There is not better compliment to a meal than the richness of brewed coffee. Ah but do I miss the aroma of that fine brew and its wonderful taste. These Italians severely lack taste in many culinary delights, efendi. One can only hope that such wisdom shall fall upon them from the sky some time soon in the future. Anyway with that which you carry I think much hope do I have for the future exercise of my palette. But alas now, for the next ten minutes or so, this son of Aten must turn his head to Aten, not the desires of his body. I look forward to tasting some of your spices."
Asif smiles warmly to the Gnome, and bows gently his head and then turns away to the outskirts of the camp, upon which he lays down a small square of blanket. He then removes his riding boots and washes his feet and hands from the contents of a water bottle. He then bows down in prayer, chanting quietly to himself in the tongue of his ancestors. Upon completing this daily ritual he returns to camp and gets ready for breakfast.
Dakath frowns, he hadn't met the newcomer, in fact until now he didn't even know he was with the party.
"Erm, I'm sorry I don't believe we've met. I'm Dakath, a pleasure to meet you. I was gone last night and obviously was not present at your arrival," he extends his hand.
Obviously reluctant to extend his scarred hand, Ami at last gives in, and hesitantly does so. His small hand is swallowed in that of the bigger man. ," Hello. I am Amibar. Your friends were kind enough to let me share your campfire last night."
Dakath can't help but look on with enthusiasm for the breakfast that Amibar is preparing. "You can relax Amibar, you're amongst friends," He glances over at Xania smiling.
Amibar looks at him, quite startled. "Friends?" he mumbles, "I don't have any friends." He sounds quite bitter, and only those very near can hear him.
Dakath merely nods, "Things change my friend, things change."
"Not if you are a gnome..." says Ullar, smiling at the little fellow. Dakath (OOC: LOL)
Xania gladly gives over the chore to the stranger. "I'm Xania," she says with a lovely smile, ignoring the scars. Then again, she likely thinks that's just how gnomes look, never having seen one before.
"And I am Rhune. Welcome to our camp," Rhune adds as well as she hands him some of her rations to add to the breakfast.
"Hello," he answers shyly, not meeting her gaze. He quickly busies himself with the preparations.
Xania watches him curiously for a moment. "I didn't catch your name," she continues. "Are you a gnome?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's Amibar. Yes, I'm a gnome."
"Greetings, Amibar. I have never met a gnome before. Pardon me for my curiosity," Xania replies, gravely, though there is still a hint of laughter in her eyes.
Ullar eyes Amibar and Xania with cause. "A gnome?" he murmurs to himself? "A gnome? One of the major gnomish inventions? Like...the never stopping up and down thingy which will take you to the roof of a building and back?"
Tag joins in, "Gnomes! They can build wondrous musical instruments too, Si. Like the pump your feet and sound like a thousand different trumpets machine."
Amibar has absolutely no idea what either of these two is talking about. He assumes they must have heard some rather wild tales.
Looking about, the curious of you are still enticed to see what lies in the other two tombs, while several of you would just as soon be done with this place, as it clearly does not hold Stephan or any trace of him, at least that you can tell.
Looking around at her companions and friends, "I know that some of us don't want to continue searching the tombs for various reasons. However, I, for one, would like to search out the others. There is no telling what might be in them. And if we just happen to get rid of monsters at the same time, then this area may become a much better place all the way around. But I will abide whatever the party wishes. I do want to find Stephan and soon," Rhune says as she slips over to Asif.
"Yes my friend as much as this place brings despair to my heart. I too think we cannot leave until we have put an end to that which ties the dead to the place of the living. Some foul heka is at work here and by rights we should see that it is stopped before some other innocent falls victim to it as well."
Smiling at Asif, "I am glad, Asif that you are going to stay with us," Rhune replies secretly glad that she doesn't have to decide quite so soon as to what she whether she would follow him or not, though deep down she knows the answer to that already.
"For that I am happy too. The challenge to my moral beliefs is of little consequence to the obvious need to put an end to the evil heka of this place. With heavy heart do I enter the tombs of the dead. While there I shall turn a blind eye to those of less pure of motive.... For to all do I owe much, and I wish none to come to harm."
Tag nods at Asif giving him a look of understanding. "Mio amico, I will feel safe with you and Rhune guarding my back. Let us drive out the evil spirits if we may."
Rhune smiles at both men. "Let us hope that we don't face any in this tomb. But if we do, we will do our best."
"Yes let us see this thing done soon. In time I wish to know more of this Philosopher you talk of. I think you call him Dante. I wonder much, be he some religious figure in Italy? A man who we would call a prophet? Words that you quote of him speak strongly with meaning. Wisdom comes in many forms, with truth revealed to all manner of men by the gods."
"Now is not the time noble Arab, but I would be happy to tell you of Dante. He was not consecrated a priest and he called himself a poet, not a prophet. Never the less he more than dabbled in the politics of the church and was exiled from his home for being on the wrong side of a war in which the Pope sided with the victors. He was a deeply religious man, who wrote his poetry and filled it with rich imagery which brings the teachings of Jerboha into vivid color. It seems some may now call him a heretic for that, but I strongly disagree! Let us talk more when we can have a warm draught of wine and death is not stalking us, Si!"
"I shall indeed look forward to that, my friend," Asif replies.
Once done with breakfast, Dakath begins preparing his equipment, assuming everyone wants to explore the other tombs. During this he stops what he's doing, "Where did Rhees go?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "Perhaps the owner of the mace claimed his soul?" Dakath spares a glance at Tagilio.
Xania helps with breakfast quietly, humming slightly under her breath. Even the mention of Rhees doesn't seem to mar her fine mood.
"Speaking of that mace... uh, what should we do with it?" asks Forte, a little less excited and a little more nervous about the magical weapon. "Can anyone detect if it, in and of itself, is evil? If it is, how could we destroy it?"
"Yes we should see if it is evil before doing anything else with it. As for destroying it if it is, your guess is as good as mine, Forte," Rhune replies to the warrior.
"How on earth do you see if something is Evil?" Ullar returns the question to Rhune..
"I don't really know. I have heard mother and father talking about certain people who could just look at something or someone and tell if they or it were evil. I think they called them Paladins or something. I never met one so I don't really know," she replies to Ullar's question.
"Hand it over here and I'll reveal something about the mace," Dakath strides over to Forte. As soon as Dakath's hand grabs the hilt of the mace taking it from Forte's grasp, he starts to convulse violently, shouting "aaaahhhhhhhh!" Once he feels Forte's suitably shocked he stops, shrugs at the big warrior and hands it back. "I don't detect anything unusual about it," he says grinning.
Xania looks mildly alarmed but then laughs as she realizes the gag. She smiles warmly at Dakath.
"Very funny," Forte retorts, obviously angry at falling for Dakath's little prank. He holds the mace out to Taglio, "Tag, you wanna try?"
Tag looks suspiciously at Dakath and shivers. He then takes a deep breath. "We are missing so much information about the creators of these tombs and their artifacts, signore. If only I could tell you this item's history, but I recognize nothing of it. I would take the mace and examine it further, but I fear for my soul truly after its words last night. I will not touch it signore, grazie."
Dakath nods sagely, "I have heard of certain items that will only accept owners of a certain disposition and outlook. Perhaps this is one of these such items? So far I have heard no threats concerning my carrying the item."
Regarding Ullar's question earlier, "You grab it and if it makes you convulse, it's evil," Dakath says without looking up from what he's doing. "Don't worry, I'm the one carrying it so if anything bad happens it'll be to me."
Ullar is silent for a moment and then smiles "So...if we agree on the fact that you are evil we just found out that this thing is evil, cause nothing really scary happened to you except for the fact that you was doing 'the thingy' with Xania."
Dakath grins, "I'm not evil Ullar my friend, just misguided and I think it's too early to tell if I'm going to suffer from carrying it."
At the mention of Xania he looks over at her a slight smile playing on his lips, "Hardly scary, I didn't realize you felt like that when you're with a woman, perhaps you'd like some advice to over come your fear?"
Xania returns Dakath's smile and listens to see if Dakath will offer Ullar advice.
Dakath can feel Xania's eyes on him, he turns to face her but addresses Ullar, "In my humble opinion, lie and cheat in business, battle and war but with a woman always be honest," he smiles at her.
Xania throws back her head and laughs. "It is easy to be honest without speaking much."
Ullar just smiles.
"Oh how true, how true," Dakath grins.
"Though I have found that a man will say almost anything to get a woman to do the 'thingy'," Xania adds, with a grin towards Ullar.
"That is a sad fact but the shrewd woman can always tell when a man is being genuine," Dakath smiles at Xania.
"Oh, it's much easier than that," Xania grins, "It just takes a woman who knows what she wants." Her eyes warm as she gazes into Dakath's.
"Next time...when you are going to practice that 'thingy' again, call me, and I'll watch..." says Ullar, smiling from ear to ear.
"...you might learn something from me as well," he adds, casually.
Forte's eyes grow wide, and if anyone looked carefully they would see him blushing in the torchlight. But he says nothing.
"Hmmm. I've never had an audience," Xania speculates. "I doubt I'll learn anything from you watching though, Ullar. Perhaps you should try and find a woman and I'll watch and give you pointers," Xania grins cheerfully at the normally blushing warrior.
Which is indeed what he is doing...since he was expecting some 'naughty' remark from Dakath, not from the misses herself.
"Nhhgg." "Arghhmmm..."
With a movement of his arms he backs away from the argument, not finding the right words to defend himself, but in the meantime thinking of finding a way to get Xania back...
Xania just smiles cheerfully, not her usual smirk but a radiant glow of good cheer.
Forte's face grows even redder, while his ears burn. His is silently thankful for the torchlight, hoping it hides his embarrassment.
Dakath raises an eyebrow at Ullar's remark, "Thanks for the offer Ullar but if I have something to learn I'm sure Xania will point it out," he looks at her and winks.
"Practice makes perfect," Xania quips.
"Couldn't agree with you more Xania, perhaps later...," he says smiling at her leaving the rest unsaid.