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Lauren started to breath heavily as she tried to help the Lord Major out of his stupid situation that he had put himself in, and eventually he was pulled out of the hole. Lauren sat down on the ground and closed her eyes taking a deep breath as she whipped away a little bit of sweat. She looked over towards Nancy and smirked a little bit and shrugged a little bit. "Born and raised in Philly." Lauren said as she stood up, as she looked down at the hole again, biting her bottom lip for a moment she wasn't sure if Belladonna was alive or not now anymore as she looked over at the others.

As Nancy yelled out into the hole to try and call her, so far there wasn't a reply at all or anything as she reached over for the torch and then dropped it down into the hole. "Next time see if there is an actual bottom, instead of just jumping blindly you still have Vera to you do know." Lauren said towards The Lord Major as she turned her attention towards Nora and Mahendra, she really wanted to make sure that the others didn't end up falling. "We should at least do it smartly, we don't know what else is down here that could kill us." Lauren said softly.

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Notes: Remember - all directions are from the Docks. So if you want to go from one to the other you would need to head back to the docks and then go to another place. (Two rounds to get from one place to the docks, two rounds to get from docks to next place.)

To the left they would find the market and bazaar.
Straight ahead they would find the rose gardens and perfume dealers.
To the right there was a sign for Tours to Athribis and Leontopolis. Leontopolis was known for it's ancient tiles. Athribis was known as the birth place of Amenhotep and many artifacts in the museum back in Cairo held pieces from many a dig that had happened there, transported on rails by trains funded by a George Jay Gould. This is also where you will find the main train depot in the area.

*Roll requests can be made in chat or can be left at the bottom of your post for results in the next update. You can get a roll during your post and add another in the update at the bottom of your post! Ever in doubt of what to post, just drop me a message and we can talk.

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Boat (Infirmary): The doctor nodded. "Yes, but forgive me, it was a bit of a shock to have cold water on me then to suddenly see something other than those I knew," he said, sounding both apologetic and snarky. It wasn't every day someone came in after being attacked by a beehive. "Yes, yes, I can, please sit down," he said as he pushed the water out of his face and then shook his head. He didn't know why he fainted. He couldn't remember what had happened to cause it. "let us take a look," he said as he picked up a tower and tried his best to start drying himself off.

"Where are the ones that were here?" the Captain asked but the doctor didn't know, he couldn't even remember other two being in the room and looked confused to what the Captain was talking about. Sighing the Captain looked over towards the guard. "Start looking," he ordered.

Boat (Lauren's Room): Vera looked worried but nodded as she stood there. "As fit as I can be, yes. And please, yes. Call me Vera, tis much simpler at this time," she said looking around. She didn't want to be alone, she wanted to find George and frankly she would rather be out and about. She was feeling better than she had been this morning. Whatever had come over she still wasn't sure but Josephine had seemed to be a good woman and capable, and Reddish while loud at times seemed to mean well. Yes, she was much better with them than alone.

Athribis (Above Ground): The woman that Faye was speaking with pointed over towards a roped off area. It was where Richard had gone thankfully, though Faye wouldn't be able to see that. It was about that time a man came over to the woman. It seemed he was her fiance and he was very relieved to find her but wanted to rush her back to the train as it was about to leave. They both thanked Faye for her kindness before heading for the train. People wanted to get the hell out of there.

Athribis (Underground): Gene isn't seeing or hearing anything down there, it looks like a void of some sortHer voice echoes but not as far as one would think it would and it is so dark one cannot see where a bottom is, yet there was no sound when Bella fell down through it. Only a fog that seemed to come up and then vanish. It was odd. Nora on the other hand is having better luck. As she moves the number there is clicking and they sink in. The wall shakes slightly and at this point it would make everyone worry, considering what just happened to Bella. But yay, nothing bad happens and the wall starts to lift up, revealing a hallway they can continue down. Well holy shit, way to go Nora. Math for the win!

Richard is able to find an old torch that looks like it used to hang on the wall somewhere. It doesn't look like it will last long but hey it is something, that is if he has anything to lite it with. Hey, is his arm still burning? :P Anywho, he does feel that shake that just happened down in the underground. Might want to check that out.

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It was with no small amount of heaving and tugging, not too horribly unlike the story of a silly stuffed bear with an unfortunate sounding name (by today's standards) that had consumed too much honey and became lodged in the doorway of his friend's domicile, that Reginald was removed from the horrible situation within which he had placed himself . That feat of Hundred Acre Engineering took quite a bit to accomplish, in hindsight, and it most assuredly did NOT involve a proper Gentleman and Lord of the British Empire hanging from his unmentionables over a deep deep dark dark deep dark pit. _{(Kudos to anyone who gets that reference.)}

The direct insults as hurled by various LAUREN members of their party, though extremely well-founded, were shuffled off to the side of his thoughts as they were voiced mainly while he was suspended by his crotch over a gaping chasm of death. Certain things might be forgiven in hindsight. For at least as long as it took for the rope burn on his anus to heal, anyway. After he finally got back up on solid ground, however, he quietly gathered his belongings back from Lauren.

His undergarments were still mostly outergarments, technically, though he maintained enough of his British fortitude to prevent the horror and indignity from etching itself upon his face at the time. He did take to heart the advice of young Miss Benaszewski, considering that, in this instance, hanging about by his fundies was indeed the best case scenario. Visibly, anyway. In truth, he didn't put a lot of stock in the value of his own life, except for what he might do for others. And if he died in the process, hell, that might be a blessing. Still, the adrenaline of the moment, coupled with the continued goat-getting of the young American grated the hell out of his nerves enough to launch him into a row of unrestrained faux laughter as her "joke", with a hearty, "HA HA HA HO HO HA HA HA!" followed by a snarky, "You slay me, madame! Harrumph!"

He sighed. His undergarments were still a touch exteriorized, which he needed to attend presently, but first he softened his tone and said broadly, "Thank you, thank you all. The bad habits of an lifetime soldier, I'm afraid; please forgive the blundering of an old man." And more specifically, "Quite right, Mr. Zalil. Very inappropriate. Perhaps my time shall be better spent with differing pursuits, until my passing may actually accomplish something." Reginald took a step or three back, and while he wrenched his clothing back into something less barbaric to his entire pelvic region, he gave something of a once-over to the tile puzzle that the intellectuals were pouring over. Who knew? Maybe something from his days in Engineering or Codebreaking with the Royal Armed Forces might be of use here. I mean, all of this had to be based on something, right? Like modern mathematics came all the way from ancient Greece and Persia, and still of perfect use.

Reginald shrugged, shuffling his coat, hat, and sword back in their rightful places. He'd heard of worse ideas. He'd just lived a worse idea. Damnit.

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"Why, thank you, Miss Clarke! I do so intimately enjoy being a person worthy of asset-dom. Lady Munn, do lean if you find it necessary, and have no qualms about positioning me betwixt or between yourself and danger as a fully serviceable meatshield, if it please m'Lady. Any family of the Lord Major, whatnot and et cetera, you see." He gave a quick wink in the direction of Josephine, though whether it was a sly wink reinforcing the redoubling of his positive inclination toward the woman or an indicator that if (heaven forbid) he were to catch some ammunition she might use her newfound powers of amazingness to prevent his troubling and messy demise. Perhaps a thing to inquire about later. Or not. The thought process of the errant Corporal was a minefield full of surprises that a classically trained mentalist would pass a kidney stone trying to navigate.

As much as he did feel obligation to assist Vera, as well he should given the considerations above, the mismatched adventuring pair of himself and Josephine did not initially come down here for the purposes of seeing to her needs, specifically. Now that she was joining their party, Reddish felt the need to summarize. "I shall be succinct, Lady Munn," he began, apparently still not quite able to refer to her as "Vera" without a threat otherwise from a higher-ranking officer or similar, equally offputting condition. He took in a lingering, deep breath in preparation of his summary and began: "Miss Clarke and I went to the Bazaar to locate her grandfather's watch, likewise hoping to find out who took it on the chance that this person was involved with the constant harassment aimed at the Fellowship, only to have the beauteous young starlet assaulted by a shopkeeper because they don't take kindly to women haggling in these parts, the result of which was a slash to her face (which simply will not do, you see) that would have made one justified in setting his place ablaze and micturating upon the ashes afterwards (yet I digress) nonetheless prompting a return to the boat to have the physician see to her injury, only to find that Miss Clarke engaged some form of divine witchiness to close her wound herself, causing the Doctor to collapse in a faint, giving me the opportunity to locate a paper indicating yet another person aboard two doors down that might have the watch..." The color of Reddish's face was becoming quite, well, reddish at this point, but he was bound and determined to get this out in one go. "...ergo causing us to pass near the stateroom just in time to hear your calls for assistance, responded to posthaste by the..." He held up one finger, indicating that he was nearing completion and to please not interrupt, but politely as he didn't figure anyone was about to anyway. Nonetheless, his vision was starting to get spotty and he was slowly going down to a knee as he continued, "...sudden surge of preternatural strength from Miss Clarke, yet again evidence of her possible connections to forces most eldritch, only to find you alone in this room; meaning the object of our search and further answers about our plight very well might be two staterooms over." His hands were shaking and he was down on both knees now, wavering back and forth as if beaten to a standing knockout by an expert pugilist. Reddish thanked his lucky stars that he had come to the end of is sentence.

The shuddering sound of his lungs refilling was accompanied by his bloodshot eyes flying open wide. Simultaneously, his legs both spontaneously unfolded, springing him back to a standing position with naught but a slight bobble to his head indicating that anything amiss had just occurred. Summary down, next came the plan, such as it was. "Seeing as the doctor is or was unconscious, naturally we had to exit to go get help, yes?" he laid his finger next to his nose and nodded, a clear signal that here is where the chicanery was taking place in the monologue, Which, m'Lady, is precisely what we are going to let on if discovered. Now, this is a small boat, and it's naught but a small space of time until we're discovered if we're not already, so... two doors down? Hmmmm?" Reddish cocked his head to the side as he hmmmmm'ed, raising his eyebrows in the process. "As the item belongs to the lovely and talented Miss Josephine Clarke, I shall follow her direction on how to proceed, yet I must insist on ensuring the safety of you both in the meantime. That is to say, madames, command me from behind, yes? Let us go."

With that, Reddish peeked his head out of the doorway, attempting to remain hidden while determining if safe to proceed unnoticed.

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Josephine felt her heart go into her throat at Reddish’s account. She didn’t know he would be sharing everything they did. But she was most anxious to hear her grandfather’s watch was within distance to them and they could potentially get it. ”Reddish, darling, I am not a witch, as I have said. I do not know why the scar upon my face healed in that manner, but it did. Crazier things have happened on this journey, you know. The burned mark on my finger, for example?” She moved over to Vera, helping Reddish to ensure she was able to walk. ”As for that strength? That’s called being a modern woman, darling. You have to know how to handle yourself in any situation.”

With a twinkle in her eye, she looked around to see if anyone was coming. ”Vera, I know we should look for George, but my grandfather’s watch is so close. He is precious to me, you see. He is the only family I have that supported me and his watch isn’t worth much more than sentimental value. If it is as close as Reddish says, I’d like to see if I can obtain it back. Afterwards we can go see about finding George and meeting with the others. Who knows? Maybe the person who stole my watch knows about your theft as well.”

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Faye was thankful the woman had someone to help her now. And they pointed her in the right direction. She assumed Richard had made his way there without her, for which she would give him a stern talking to (after all, he was danger prone and a cave system like this was surely crawling with ways to injure him). She thanked them both as they made their way to the train to board it. Something had to have scared the locals so badly and it wasn’t just wild animals.

She made her way over to the entrance and looked inside. As soon as she did, she saw Richard. She was thankful he hadn’t gone too far in. ”Richard? You shouldn’t go walking off on your own. You know how you get. I’m surprised I haven’t found you on fire or knocked out on the ground.” She stepped inside and over to him. She was joking, of course.

”We’re in this together, you know. As such, I will share what I learned. The woman raving about a goat appearing. I feel she is telling the truth. Now whether the goat manifested itself is up for investigation, but I am inclined to agree something weird happened. Something to make all of these people run in fear. If the animals are involved, something spooked them. Or possessed them. Animals do not merely charge at people without prompting.”

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"Yes of course, I'm sure me looking like this doesn't have anything to do with it." She stated out directly with a shrug. She was a blunt person a lot of the time after all." Look doc, it's fine. Might as well admit it. It's not like it's a shameful thing and I'm sure I look like a monster." She added as she made herself as comfortable as she could given the location. Suddenly she had an realization struck her." Hey, is there a mirror somewhere around?" She asked, her voice weirdly enthusiastic." I want to see what I actually look like right now!" Mosi added." I haven't actually checked my condition. I want to see it, so I can DRAW IT!" She exclaimed." Will be one hell of a story for when I get back home. ANd of course a nice example why bee extermination on grand scales is the right thing to do!"

Suddenly the talk turned to other people who should have been in the infirmary. Mosi raised an eyebrow as she threw a look at the confused doctor. Well this journey certainly was being filled with weird events. Or rather she was starting to become sure of her theory about the whole museum group being cursed or somehting and that weird events would follow in their footsteps. So far there didn't seem to be any indication against that theory and much events to support it instead!" So who was here? And actually... how did the search go, it's still on?" She asked, feeling curious about this. She knew the ship was emptied from passengers as to have a search performed on it, but the captain didn't say anything about that right now and she came back way earlier than supposed so she suspected the search wasn't quite over yet.

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Mahendra, now confident that no further immediate danger was about to throw itself upon the Fellowship in the forseeable further, observed Nora do her own investigation of the wall tiles that she made the others aware of. Mahendra himself didn't think he had seen anything quite like that before, numbers and whatnot, quite sophisticated, but Nora surprisingly to him appeared to show some grasp of their concepts. Mahendra gave her another approving nod as she worked, she certainly was onto something, like he had told her earlier. "Smarter indeed, Lauren."

His confident assesment that they were no longer in danger was about to be put to the test, as a familiar shake shook its way through Mahendra's bones once again. Mahendra quickly turned his head to look out for more holes in the ground, but it wasn't the ground that was shaking; It was the wall, Nora's wall! Watching in amazment, Mahendra's mouth was wide open as the wall was lifted up by some unseen contraption, revealing an open hallway leading further into the depths of Athribis's underbelly. "Miss Kingston…You have officially my most sincere regards." Mahendra complimented Nora, reaching for another one of the torches he'd brought along and holding it out for the Lord Major to light. "Very good, Lord Major Sir. Your abilities are most certainly still needed by us. Would you be so kind as to light this one too, Sir?" Mahendra asked the Lord Major, who also looked at the wall. Or where the wall had once been, and now endless darkness persisted.

Mahendra stepped forward and began to inspect the hallway, hopefully with a lit torch as the darkness was not helping. He looked for anything that stuck out to him and his academic nose, but the only thing he could point out were the carvings of the walls. Not that the whole incident was as if pulled out of a legendary tale, but this was perhaps not Mahendra's forte. "How extraordinary…Miss Kingston? Would these markings here be of any meaning to you?"

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Looking around his immediate area for anything that he could use for light down in the curse darkness, it didn't take long for Richard to find a torch. Picking it up, Richard suddenly felt as if he was no longer a hard boiled detective, but one of those characters in a pulp-novel in a magazine. He had read a few in his years, but it really wasn't for him. Too many unrealistic portrayals of fights and seriously too much nudity. One would think they were sold soley for a male-audience with far too much time on their hands. Richard figured the torch he found would last for a little while, it was better than nothing in the very least. So far, so good.

And by good, Richard meant "What the…", as he felt the ground shake. Either they had managed to pull off a subway-system in the middle of deserty nowhere, or something was going on down in those tunnels. Richard lit the torch as he took a few cautious steps into the darkness, cursing himself for not having brought his gun with him. If push came to show and that shake was anything serious, he would have to trust his quick wits and blackjack neatly tucked under his jacket.

"Ah Faye, there you are." Richard responded quietly to his more or less unwilling partner when he heard her familiar voice, though he turned around to give her a serious, almost stern look at she went off on explaining all she found out. The joking she made didn't help his mood either. At the end of her briefing about the crazy goat, goat lady and how animals didn't attack without provokation, Richard sushed her down and nodded in agreement. "Well, good you figured that out…Think it was on purpose, 'cause I found something too?. Footprints. Someone calmly walked into this tunnel while all Hell broke loose back there. Someone's in here, and something caused a good shake here just before you arrived." Richard explained to Faye in a hushed voice, holding the torch in front of him as he carefully began to make his way further into the darkness. "Come on, we might just find some god damned answers for once."

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"I am certain," Nora replied to Mahendra, as he asked if she was certain. She had faith in her calculations and her analysis. He then once again brought up the idea that she could have been onto something, but to be careful. Her thoughts flickered back to Josephine briefly and the advice she had given her. Would Mahendra have been saying the same sort of things to her now if she were a man? Why caution her? She wasn't the one who had jumped into the void. She was being careful and methodical as she always was. It irritated her slightly. Less than a week ago, she would have resigned this as just being a part of the world, another reason to retreat and to not put herself out there. Now, her eyes flickered towards Mahendra and she returned to what she was doing, filled with determination instead of reluctance.

Gene didn't really see anything in the void, but the echoes on her voice seemed premature. "Maybe there's a bunch of birds down there," she mused, though she doubted anyone else would get her thought process there. "Are you afraid of birds?" she asked Lauren, peering up at her. She recalled the way the fog had risen up and she was confident that Belladonna was fine, even though she hadn't been able to hear her. It would take more than a little fall to kill her - though the same probably couldn't be said for the Lord Major. He seemed exceptionally fragile and dumb. His laughter was a bit grating. "You are welcome, Old Man," she responded.

The group's mathematician was examining the circular tile, pressing slightly tiles 17 and 28. As the numbers moved, there was another click that reminded her of the one from before and she braced herself for a plunge into the void. The shaking of the wall didn't help her nerves and even Gene looked a bit nervous, given that there wasn't really anything around to hold onto if they were about to fall to their doom. Maybe they'd all get lucky and get caught from their underwear? Nora's shoulders relaxed, the tension vanishing from them as the wall lifted upwards, revealing a hallway that they could continue to venture down. "Thank you," she said, accepting Mahendra's praise this time. "As for these markings... I imagine they will. Whether it be fate or just coincidence... Wherever this group travels, there seems to be a connection to the larger puzzle."

Gene's eyes lit up with excitement as the wall came down. Now THIS was a vacation! This was what she had come here for! A secret puzzle that could be solved by this Lady Kingston, followed up with a wall moving and bringing them closer to the unknown? It was positively tantalizing. Gene adored not knowing what came next. So many people back home would pester her to see what was ahead, but it sometimes could take away a bit of the fun, always knowing what was going to happen. She adored the mystery and the allure of the unknown.

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Lauren took a moment and then turned to look at Gene and shook her head slightly. "I'm not really scared of birds, just being in ruins that have traps scare me is all." Lauren answered her as she watched Nora rather closely as she watched her friend move the tile on the wall slightly. She started to feel the room shaking again, half expecting the hole that Belladonna had fallen down in, and the Lord Major nearly fell in might have gotten bigger. But she then started to relax, when the wall opened up for them, revealing another hallway leading deeper into the ruins. Which was also something that would be either interesting or scary. She handed back Lord Major's things and gave the man a slight smile and nod glad that he was alright, even though he had done something really stupid.

She was glad that her friend got it right as Lauren took a moment and started to look down the hallway wondering where it would end up leading next. "So any kind of idea where this leads? Hopefully there aren't any other traps down here." Lauren asked looking at everyone who was there, she wasn't sure if there were any further traps, like the one that had claimed Belladonna. Lauren also whished that the others were here as well to so that they could see what kind of information they could find down here as well.

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Notes: Remember - all directions are from the Docks. So if you want to go from one to the other you would need to head back to the docks and then go to another place. (Two rounds to get from one place to the docks, two rounds to get from docks to next place.)

To the left they would find the market and bazaar.
Straight ahead they would find the rose gardens and perfume dealers.
To the right there was a sign for Tours to Athribis and Leontopolis. Leontopolis was known for it's ancient tiles. Athribis was known as the birth place of Amenhotep and many artifacts in the museum back in Cairo held pieces from many a dig that had happened there, transported on rails by trains funded by a George Jay Gould. This is also where you will find the main train depot in the area.

*Roll requests can be made in chat or can be left at the bottom of your post for results in the next update. You can get a roll during your post and add another in the update at the bottom of your post! Ever in doubt of what to post, just drop me a message and we can talk.

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Boat (Infirmary): The doctor looked at Mosi as if she was mad. She wanted to see the damage? Well, who was he to deny a woman her morbid curiosities? After what she had suffered to end up in this condition he wasn't exactly feeling like she was fragile and would faint over the sight of herself. He might have, if he hadn't already before she arrived. Taking a breath he walked over to a drawer and pulled out a mirror. They kept several in the room in case someone needed stitches in a place that wasn't easy to see so he could show them once he was done, and other reasons. Taking one over he handed it over to her and half braced himself just in case she dropped it when she actually took a look at herself.

"A Miss Clark and a Mr. Reddish," the Captain said to Mosi as the guard left. "They shouldn't be wandering about," he added as he stood there. He wasn't leaving until a guard returned at this point. Last time he had left someone alone with the doctor he came back to find the man passed out on the floor. Today was shipping up to be a lot more eventful than he had wanted. He just wanted to get the boat back on the river at this point.

Boat (Lauren's Room -> Moving Out): Vera stood there listening to everything they both had to say. Which was a lot. She took a deep breath. She didn't want to put off looking for George but perhaps he had left to simply go fetch her something and they had just missed each other. It was possible. As she was starting to find out nothing was impossible and poor Miss Clark had seemed to be through an ordeal of her own. If the room was just two doors down, of course it would make sense to check while they could. "Yes, please, let us go and see if we can find it. Sometimes all we have left are the memories," she said in an understanding voice to Josephine. It was all she had left of Peter now. Reddish, oh Reddish. While the Lord Major might have been unsuccessful in his leap of faith, Reddish was darkness, he was the shadow! mwahahaha! Moving without issue and being able to make sure that no one would be detected on their journey to the room they sought out! In fact, so well indeed he would arrive and be able to open the door undetected. Room was in order and no one was in there.

Athribis (Underground): Poor Lord Major isn't figuring out shit this round. Mores-the-pity. Richard on the other hand is having better luck, he and Faye are going to be able to round the corner and see the other group off down the hallway as they are moving forward without being seen straight out. He and Faye will recognize them from being on the ship. Gene sadly isn't able to figure much out right now, she isn't detecting any more danger at the present though, so that's good. Right? Nora is having a bit better luck. Seeing the markings, while she can't read them and Vera would be very useful right now, patterns are allowing her to determine that what is on the walls is basically like one would have in an office building. They are actually pointing different directions to different points. If one were to write these down and reference them if they continued one could easily create a layout of the underground as they go and be able to get back out when they need to - hopefully.

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At the doctor's expression towards her when she told him she wanted a mirror, she only gave him a nice smile as she waited for him to find something for her to look at her reflection at. Moments later a mirror was found and the man carefully gave it to her. She took the mirror and slowly angled it so she could see her face. Her body froze, actually she froze as a whole. She looked at her self without blinking, without moving and without making a sound. She remained in this state for a good little while." Well..." She mumbled out as she slowly put away the mirror, her expression hard to quiet read through the swelling." To be honest, not sure what I was expecting." She blinked and stroked her chin in pondering manner." Well... nothing to be done." She eventually shrugged." Will it give me scars or something like swelling not going away with having been stung so much?" She asked hte doctor, this was a rather big question! She liked her pretty face. Granted she wasn't completely vain person, but hey she did care for her appearance. Though she sure as hell had to draw it down after hte doc was done treating her in whatever manner he had to.

"Clark and Reddish?" She asked, her eyebrows creasing, these were familiar names here, could it be?" Do you mean from the group I arrived with? A really pretty blonde woman and a a dark haired british soldier guy?" She asked for confirmation. What a coincidence that would be if they were at this place before she arrived and htey had to flee from the infirmary for whatever reason!

"I have to say, Captain, this voyage surely is turning out quite the adventure." She said with a smile." I agree with you on that topic. Seems like dangers are always lurking around the corners for this group." As she said that she displayed a pondering expression." I wonder what those who went out into the other parts of town and the like are doing now... Hopefully they are fine." The american woman mused to herself." I wonder if I should be concerned..."

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With gluteal crevasse finally free of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the Lord Major attempted to give the wall markings a decent once-over, confident that his training with the Royal Armed Forces might shed some light upon this mystery, if it mean discovering a pattern that more classically trained eyes might have missed or providing greater insight on the ancient engineering present with these sliding walls and trapdoors. Ah yes, the trapdoors, like the one that claimed Bella. Or did it? There was nothing remaining of the woman, no trace of her passing through at all. No sickening splatting sound and no cries of alarm as she fell. No matter what anyone had ever written in the annals of history nor fiction, there was no such thing as a bottomless pit. He shook his head. No, this will not do. Nor especially would it do that, even after shaking her head, the very stone around them continued shaking, as if his bobble continued despite the now stationary nature of his head. It was quite disconcerting. It also made the appraisal of the tiles pointless, as the mystery had been sussed out by the intellectual of their abbreviated group. All the same, something didn't set right with him.

"Madames and Sirs, if I may?" he said, raising a finger as if he were in a making a point at a dinner party, "I am never averse to venturing into places dark and unknown, as I have regrettably proven to my and others' dismay just recently, but I should think us quite callous, yes, quite callous indeed, to simply abandon the fine lady who led us here up until this point, deceased or no. It's perilously ungentlemanly. Perhaps if we could shed some light on the situation, if only to confirm the worst, before proceeding with the remainder of our epic questworthy undertakings? Must we continue this puzzle immediately at the cost of our humanity?" He felt a bit foolish right at that moment, suggesting the proper course of action when he had just been guilty of extreme foolishness.

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Oh dear, it sounded to him like somewhere in his nigh incoherent but strangely detailed run-on sentence describing the day's events from the Clarke-Reddish Party point of view, the Corporal had given the young Starlet an insult, or disservice at least. (Wait, Clarke-Reddish? Yes, Reddish-Clarke sounded like a highbrow paint hue set aside for fancy automobiles or debutante themes. Clarke-Reddish sounded much better. He might suggest the other to Josephine later for acquiring copyright, provided that both of them survived the adventure and she still wanted a thing to do with him.) The fine lady deserved an apology. And before they moved a step farther, he was going to give one appropriate to their differences in social stature, no matter what.

Reddish paused in his movements toward the door and swiftly turned around. He held up a finger, nonverbally requesting a moment for himself and beginning a long, arduous intake of air. Like, massive. Significantly moreso than the one required to get out the huge and continuous description of their activities, earlier. It seemed painful at first - one could almost see his brain firing with the sparks of a man about to wax with extreme and unnecessary garrulousness. After he had properly readied, a crazed smile flashed across his face for a second and he began to speak:

"I am quite sorry, Miss Clarke." His voice was cultured, calm, polite, and subdued. "You had mentioned this earlier; my repeating the statement has burdened you with unneeded insult. I shall make it up to you later, should you allow me the opportunity." He dutifully bowed his head in supplication of the lady's favor, again stressing, "My sincerest apologies, madame."

Raising his head again, a very different Reddish opened his eyes and, with hurried confidence, peeked out of the doorway and into the space beyond. He held up his hand, waiting for his moment, before beckoning them onward. "Quick and calm now, m'Lady, Miss Clarke. Remember, we're looking for help for the good doctor." With passable nonchalance, Reddish slyly made his way up the deck, noting the potential break points and possible movements of the staff, seamlessly circumventing the door in such a way that was just as effective (though far less dramatic) than Josephine's impressive doorsplosion from earlier. Ushering the women (should they have chosen to follow at the moment) into the room, he stood ready to react to whatever threat might lurk within.

But the joke was on them, it seemed. The room appeared empty and untouched. Purely in order, he began to wonder whether he had gotten the right room in the first place. No, this is what the paper clearly stated... something was off. Be it the situation or the paper in the infirmary that was misleading, something was off. He carefully closed the door and spoke very quietly, his hand moving behind him as if reaching for something, "Perhaps this requires a search - light touch, if possible." This was the elite deck. These rooms had a private lavatory. His eyes went in that direction first.

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Josephine could have hugged the woman if it wouldn’t have appeared awkward. ”Thank you very much Vera. I will make it up to you.” She knew the woman was probably wondering where George was. There was no way they missed him. She came barreling into the room and no one passed unless the man was invisible (and given the unnatural nature of this entire trip, she would not be surprised). Reddish was being himself. She had to hand it to the man, for all his faults he was a stand-up guy. If a bit too much of a pushover. ”Reddish, darling, you need to relax. I have taken no offense. If I had, you would have a nice red mark among your cheek or a good swift kick where the sun does not shine. But since you do not, I am not insulted. Please, press on and let us find this watch.”

She followed him along the Elite deck into the room they talked about. She did not need to boot this door down as Reddish handled that. She stepped inside and took in her surroundings. It all appeared in top shape and no watch. No signs of anyone either, but perhaps Reddish had the right idea. She stayed behind with Vera, ready to tackle or defend herself if need be.

”Do me careful, darling. They could be very dangerous.”

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Faye did not feel a shake, so it must have been contained to the cave alone. And that was odd. What could have caused such a shake? If they were mining out of the tunnel perhaps? Or something larger? Darker? Either way, things were slowly beginning to make sense and she wondered if Richard shared her thought process.

”As we walk, let us put some clues together. We arrive here and see a huge commotion of people, all scared out of their wits with animals chasing people. A woman claims to have seen a goat appear out of nowhere and people rush to get to the train to get out of there. We have footprints leading into the cave, evidence of walking rather than running and if this person was among the terrified citizens, surely they would have made a beeline for the train along with the others.”

“So that leaves me thinking the person who made these tracks is, in some way, responsible for all of that outside. How they did so I have not determined, but they must have needed a reason to get people out of here and away. Which means they are willing to go to great lengths for this and that means they could be dangerous. So we should air on the side of caution as he progress. I trust you have a weapon on you?”

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At Lauren's admission that their exact sort of scenario scared her, Gene snorted slightly. "Then this must be a really horrible vacation for you," she commented. She didn't see any noticeable traps or trip wires or anything of the likes around them, so it seemed to be safe enough to keep on moving. Her gut also told her that Belladonna was fine, probably just on a different level or something of the sort in these ruins. Belladonna's family never was the sort to just die easily - though Gene couldn't say the same for the Lord Major's family tree. She then glanced at the Lord Major, as he asked for them to hang back and try to figure out what had happened with Belladonna.

She was pretty certain that the Lord Major had a crush on Belladonna. "Alright, and how do you suggest we do that?" Gene asked him. "Jumping into the hole isn't going to help. I already did a bit of a test and it is deep. If you have a rope, we could lower someone down there to get a better look," she explained. Gene was on vacation and she didn't really want to take charge in this situation, but it seemed like she might as well have to at this rate. "Of course, what would you secure the rope to in order to lower someone down there? It isn't like this place is the most stable, so there's nowhere to hitch it that wouldn't risk another disaster on our hands." She huffed slightly. "If you'd like, I can do a reading to see if she's still alive - you'd be surprised how accurate tarot can be when you do it properly."

Meanwhile, Nora was examining the markings that Mahendra had pointed out to her. While she didn't understand their exact meaning, she was able to piece together a rough pattern from them - directions were being pointed to different points. It reminded her a bit of the maps that were pasted onto the walls of buildings, in order to help visitors locate the various offices and the like inside. She started to scratch down more and more notes on this, hoping to put together a map of sorts - or at least more of a guide as to their situation. "These markings are giving directions," Nora explained, looking at Mahendra for a moment.

"If I continue this process as we go... Perhaps I will be able to create a map of sorts, which would help us when we decide to leave this underground..." her voice fell silent for a moment, thinking on the Belladonna situation. Maybe they would be able to find her final resting place, using this guide. She didn't know if someone could have survived a fall like that. The Lord Major only survived thanks to his clothing getting caught, and she had seen how exhausted everyone was after trying to get him back up. While there was a chance that Belladonna was still alive, she felt that the probability of it was low. "... I don't know if she could have survived such a fall," she told the Lord Major quietly.

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Lauren looked towards Gene and laughed slightly and nodded slightly, the vacation had been pretty bad so far losing quiet a few friends since being here. "There have been quiet a few problems since I've been in Egypt." Lauren said as she shrugged slightly looking down at the hole for a moment and bit her bottom lip, hopefully Belladonna didn't end up dying from the fall and managed to catch onto something further down in the hole. She looked over at the Lord Major when he pointed that out, but as she took a look around the room there wasn't anything that looked like there could be used for rope at all.

"There isn't really anything we can use though." Lauren said softly towards the Lord Major as she rubbed the back of her neck slightly as she looked over towards the tunnel that opened up. "But I think she survived, if she was lucky enough maybe there is a way to get lower down through the chamber that just opened up?" Lauren suggested as she started to turn and make her way over towards her friend Nora and Mahendra overhearing their conversation a bit. "Does it say any kind of directions that could take us to a lower level?" Lauren asked them as she looked back towards the hole there again.

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*Roll requests can be made in chat or can be left at the bottom of your post for results in the next update. You can get a roll during your post and add another in the update at the bottom of your post! Ever in doubt of what to post, just drop me a message and we can talk.

Special Note: Oh my.... As the characters start looking around, they are going to notice something odd. You know how your vision gets after you rub your eyes for too long? Things seem to have that haze over them? Like looking through a bit of a fog? Yeah, that is how everything is looking right now.

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Boat (Infirmary): The doctor shook his head. "Oh no, just stings. Will take a few days for the swelling to go down of course but at long as you do not mess with them, once I remove the stingers there should be no permanent damage," he assured her. Prepping a needle he looked at her. "This should speed up the swelling going down, if you could roll your sleeve up," he added before rubbing his eyes.

"Yes, the very same," the Captain said as he stood there and then started rubbing his eyes as well. "Is there something in the air?" he asked as things started to get fuzzy and hazy.

"I don't think so," the doctor said but he was still rubbing his eyes. "Though, I swear I got something in my eye," he added. Things going hazy for him as well. Just what was going on?

Boat (Thief's? Room): Reddish is having about as much grace as Vera right now. Well at least he is staying on his feet and isn't bashing through a wall but whatever stealth he normally would have ain't there right now. Getting to the lavatory though, he is able to open the door and look around. It seems to be empty right now. Maybe whoever's room this is, is off the boat right now like the rest of the passengers. This would be a good thing as they would be able to look around more freely. Vera moved into the room with Josephine and glanced around. Slowly pushing the door closed behind them, just in case someone came down the hallway. At least if they kept quiet, then maybe someone wouldn't know they were in there. Granted being quiet was difficult considering just how clumsy Vera could be. Thinking on it a moment, she pressed her back against the wall and slid down it, sitting down there. "Maybe best if I sit here until you are done looking Miss Clark," she said as she motioned around the room. "Especially since everything seems fuzzy... I must not feeling as well as I thought," she said as she rubbed her eyes.

Athribis (Underground): (Note: Fantasy, skip Faye this round if you would like and wait for ONL to post for Richard again and the next update) - Nora doesn't seem to have enough variables for a Fermi but using educated guesses from what she has observed so far, as well as what she has studied on the tiles and mathematical principles created by the Egyptians over history - there is a chance that the shaft that Bella went down would not go straight down but would in fact angle off and they, if they follow downward deeper might find her alive at the bottom. Most shafts are angles due to having to move things down along ramps, very few were actually vertical. This would mean there is a chance she is alive but pressing forward would be the best bet at this point. They haven't the equipment to try to lower someone down the shaft with a light in hopes of reaching the bottom. And now that things are getting fuzzy, it would be best to keep ones feet on solid ground.

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It was a lot to take in for the Bengali geologist, now effectively the Fellowship's de facto Head of Archeology. Not only the extraordinary, in-fact unbelievable results they'd made after what Mahendra had to admit both audibly to the fair Miss Kingston and quietly to himself, as a lady he'd not anticapated faring well in this subterranian enviroment, but impressed him. No, Mahendra thought about all the conversation flying past him in those dimly-lit, dusty and quiet tunnels. Conversations which topics ranged from the academic to the trivial, and lastly noble!

First it was the matter of the markings Nora had so brilliantly made sense out of, which Mahendra couldn't possibly have done any better himself. The markings were no ordinary markings in a long-forgotten and desolute tomb, they were possible marking of given directions. A map of sorts? "For once it seems Fate is perhaps smiling on us." Mahendra said back to Nora, nodding encourageingly at her proposal for a map. "A map would be most useful in these circumstances, if our past is about to repeat itself down here. Would you like me to draw said map as well? I am quite adept with a pen and paper."

Second was Gene's exclaimation of this being a "vacation". In the process of pulling out his own notebook and a decently sharpened pencil, Mahendra silently scoffed at Gene's attitude towards all of this. Again he questioned why she was here in the Fellowship, what part of this intricate play she was to play? But the third topic was more important to adress.

The third and last was the subject of Belladonna; Her whereabouts and the best cause for action! Mahendra did not disagree with the Honourable Lord Major's concern for Belladonna and his wish to focus their attention on her disappearance. It was indeed quite integral to them that they did not lose her, it would be a stain on their good name and honour to simply abandon her, even if Mahendra still feared her possible knowledge of his swim in the Nile the day before. In good manner and fashion, Mahendra looked at his would-be commanding officer and nodded in agreement as a good would-be soldier.

But Gene for once - and Mahendra could simply not believe he thought so himself - had a fair point. How? And Nora raised the question whether or not she was alive at all. Dreadful. Lauren asked perhaps the two questions solid enough in his matter. With all this in mind, Mahendra decided to voice his opinion on the matter as politely as he could. "If I may be so bold, Lord Major Sir, I do not believe venturing into said darkness if abandoning Miss Belladonna. If we take the points already raised, going further down this new tunnel might be our best option. I did not like that hole myself." Mahendra raised his concerns to the Lord Major, before turning his attention back to Lauren who asked him and Nora a question, and in turn himself asked Nora the same one. "You probably understand that map better than any of us. Any clues?" Mahehndra asked Nora, though taking a look at the markings of directions she spoke of himself. Perhaps he could after all understand them, perhaps in a different way? That was if he could actually see anything at all…as if by the soft hands of some divine being, a fog…a haze cast itself over Mahendra's eyes, obscuring his vision. What was this sorcery? I am…seeing stars? What is this?

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Richard had to give it to Faye on this one. For once in a long while she was actually making some sense with her mystical mind of occultism and the supernatural. She was attempting to put all the gathered clues they had together and produce a logical, even plausible chain of events of what might have happened there. It was a good attempt, and Richard had to give her a quick smile of approval for once as they headed deeper than the sands they left up and behind them.

"You're reading my mind like an ol' Gipsy grandmother at a New Jersey carnival. Yeah, sounds like that's what we've got here. Only that there's more than one person, different footprints in the sand. Now there's one more question left unasked; Why?" Richard raised the question to Faye as they kept walking quietly into the darkness, only the light of a half burned torch and the lit cigarette in Richard's pursed lips giving them salvation from the shadows.

"In my experience, people who go to those lengths in order to cause a distraction, they're not in it for simply pocket change or small cash. No, we're talking big money. Usually my perps' are digging their dirty fingers into stores, banks or offices, perhaps a local museum with less interesting bits and bobs on display than worth paying for. Not in the middle-of-nowhere in Egypt, somewhere in an underground tomb or something. So just what the hell might they want to get their pawns on here and get out with unnoticed?" Richard continued his geniune question to Faye, in the process turning the corner and seeing movement up ahead. People. So those were the crooks they were after…

Wait a God-damned minute. He'd seen those bastards before!

"String me up silly and call me a smoking rooster, isn't that the people from the ship? Just what the hell are those idiots doing here?" Richard had expected to find company down in the tunnels, but them? They didn't look the type…which was the perfect cover. Hide in plain sight, as they said. Or in a field of stars and planets that made it difficult for the detective to see…what the hell? Richard rubbed his eyes with his empty hand for a moment, trying to get some clear vision again in the darkness. It must have been when they went down into the darkness, their eyes not adjusting properly or something. "What? Yeah, sure I am armed." Richard tried to ignore the annoying Broadway lights in his eyes as he pulled out his blackjack club, ready for whatever the fellow ship passengers were going for. "In this place, this old lady is just as good as a gun. You got anything, kid?"

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"Ohhh..." She made a sound of realization as the doctor told her it shouldn't result in any permanent damage. She took a deep breath and nodded with sense of ease filling her heart. If she got disfigured over this it wouldn't have been nice... Granted a scar depending on the scar itself wasn't all that bad sometimes, but swelling or the like would be." Good to hear, I was reasonably concerned over this. Ohh right, of course." She said and rolled up her sleeve as the man requested. For a moment she let her mind wander, she had surived! She'd have her revenge on the bee population across the world, just you all nasty little creatures wait!

"Well... talk about coincidence." Priscilla mumbled as the captain confirmed who the people that were missing from the room were. The universe for some reason seemed to revolve around these people or maybe this group of people? Brands and stuff, suddenly thinking about hte brands, she frowned, there was yet any real news or development on understanding the reason for those searing pains in the ass. Her pondering was short lived as she too finally took notice of the surrounding...

Well to say it was the surroundings wouldn't be quite as fair now, would it? All was just weird and wrong. She felt like she had a hazy veil over her eyes and by the sound of it she wasn't hte only one. Mosi frowned." You too are experiencing this?" She asked in confusion, rubbing her eyes once or twice before narrowing them to see if htat would help." Bloody hell not something weird again... can't we get a break?"

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The apparent lack of compassion from some of his Fellows struck Reginald as being highly unlike them. Yes, there was a mystery on their hands. But must they treat the very possible death of someone who was helping them as something trivial? The Lord Major knew that he was a fairly old-fashioned old chauvinist yet, but the the value of a life of a friend shouldn't be so temporary, in his estimation, even in this modern day and age. Truth be told, he was becoming quite annoyed by it. "Madame," he replied, speaking to Gene, "I suggest that we not callously abandon someone because it is inconvenient. Nor would I suggest card-based divination; I put little stock in it, myself, though if it is a comfort to you I've no objection." It was an attempt at gallantry in a tense situation. Or what should have registered as one in Reginald's humble opinion.

Nora's observation was at least addressing the issue. "I agree, Miss Kingston. The possibility is great." He really didn't know what else to say directly on the matter. The tiniest sliver of hope was raised b their resident Geologist, however. Reginald would take what he could get, especially if there was sound logic behind it. "You are suggesting, Mr. Zalil, that the may be a connection further inward? By Jove sir, that smacks of possibility! Let us press onward, if this truly serves a priority with Miss Bella's rescue or... or recovery, such as it may be." It was true that they were here for their own mission. But he was too much the gentleman to act otherwise. "Come along then. Let us venture." His tone was a bit more somber and serious, as subjects involving death tended to make people.

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When Josephine revealed to Reddish her intended course of action were she to truly feel insulted, that being the sudden and swift smack and/or kick upon his person, the Corporal gave a bashful smile. Maybe even a bit of a blush, it was hard to tell in that light, but he did manage to finally utter, "Oh, Miss Clarke... Promises, promises." He gave a coy, mischievous smile and winked, but then immediately set to his work. Unfortunately, his ability to move cleanly, quietly, and undetected by the populace at large took a backseat to less graceful movements; Reddish had accidentally knocked a lamp over ans struggled to right it before it clattered about and made too much noise. Then again, any amount of suspicious noise was too much when you were trying to be sneaky. Maybe it had something to do with the odd haze that seemed to settle over everything, like he was back in his family home in Nottinghamshire and a blanket of mist had settled into the lower laying grounds near and about. That was certainly interesting.

The attempt at stealth being shot, Reddish instead drew his pistol and opened the bathroom door at a jolt. Odd, he had expected someone to be in this stateroom. But it lay empty. The haze still bothered him - it set his teeth on edge, really. First there was an unnatural cold the previous evening, now this? It was like unnatural weather seemed to follow them. Or this boat. Hmm... The boat was cursed? That would be odd. But no matter. The room was vacated, and so opportunity might be present. "My Lady, Miss Clarke, I would suggest that we quickly and quietly make a search of this room, just in case we something was missed. Otherwise, it would look very conspicuous of us to be dallying about here while we're trying to find help for the doctor, yes?" Then at a whisper, "Oh unless either of you have a better cover story, I'd be all over it, indeed I would, wot wot." Wit that, he took to giving the place a scan for anything out of place or useful in their investigation.

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Lauren looked over towards the Lord Major for a moment, she didn't know Belladonna all that well either, but she wasn't going to jump down into a hole blindly. And she did want to look for the woman as well, and going through the tunnel that just opened up was their best bet as well. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed a little bit as she listened to the others as they spoke and nodded towards them, she wanted to look for the woman and was about to step forward as well. Then she stopped as she started to notice that her vision started to get really blurry and tried to look for a place to lean on.

"It feels like I got some sand in my eyes.." Lauren said to herself as she tried to rub her eyes and couldn't see anything other than her blurry vision. Lauren looked towards the tunnel as much as she wanted to go and try and find what was down there, if she couldn't see anything then it would be a problem as well. Lauren really didn't want to bump into something and cause some kind of trap like the little trap door that caused Belladonna to fall down. "I cant really see anything, is anyone else having the same problem as well?" Lauren asked as she tried to clear her vision.

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Nora considered the Belladonna problem. She wanted to use a quick estimate of whether or not she could have survived, but there just wasn't enough variables - or rather, she couldn't figure out what they needed to be and just didn't know them. Instead though, she remembered that shafts like these rather than going straight down may in fact have angled slightly, since they were used for building. Her eye sight became hazy all of the sudden and she blinked rapidly, terrified for a brief moment that it was perhaps an oncoming illness, but she dismissed that. She felt fine otherwise. It might have just been caused by the torches and low lighting, somehow? "If Belladonna survived the fall, our best chance of retrieving her would be to push onwards. These shafts are usually designed to finish off at an angle - so perhaps deeper down, we can find her," Nora explained gently.

Gene was getting thoroughly annoyed with the Lord Major - and Mahendra as well. Oh, there were things she could tell them that would make their heads spin and she was so tempted to do so, but she knew better. One upping these men wouldn't do anything good in the long run - though their reactions, she imagined, would be priceless. "Of course when the man says it, he listens," Gene grumbled, rolling her eyes slightly. She probably would have continued on with more snarky comments when there was a sudden haze in front of her eyes and she frowned slightly. "That's new..." she whispered quietly to herself.

Of course, her distraction wasn't long lasting. Her annoyance with the Lord Major was growing. She was half tempted to go and shove him down the hole, insist on him following his earlier course of action to find Belladonna. He had been funny at first but now he was just getting irritating. "It's not inconvenience - your idea to remain behind here was just stupid," she told him simply. "And now, we've wasted time. Time that Belladonna might not have, if she is stuck at the bottom of the shaft. So now I would like to make a suggestion! Hurry up, stop dawdling and being all British, and seriously, learn to use shorter sentences!" Gene snapped.

Nora was staying out of Gene's little spat with the Lord Major. She recalled that Mahendra had asked her if she would like him to copy over the map as well and she glanced up from her own work. "If you would like, you may but it is no trouble - I'm nearly finished," she told him. The haze was still in her eyes and she gave a nod to Lauren. "I'm experiencing it as well," she said.