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Josephine let the cheeky comment from Reddish slide. After all, the man had proven to be a solid ally and friend when she needed one. She was no more upset with him than with anyone else. And it filled a void that Haakon left when he passed. Now she was starting to appreciate their little group. She moved along further into the room, leaving Vera at the door. ”Probably a good idea, darling. You can keep an eye out. If they aren’t already looking for us they will be soon.” She moved closer to the center, keeping an eye out.

The room itself was put together well enough, with no obvious signs of anything. But that didn’t matter much. ”I wonder who this man is and why he stole from me. The watch was the least valuable thing and it is hardly anything to look at. If it was meant to upset me, it succeeded in a way, but I am more determined now than ever to see this through.”

She had no cover story, so she hoped they would not think they attacked the doctor. There would be no wounds on him, so that should hold, but they could hardly explain that her cut magically healed and he fainted. ”Let’s search quickly and leave. I’d hate to be caught in here. It would look bad, even for noble reasons.”

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Faye was happy Richard was proud of her. Was he proud? She supposed so. She sounded like a detective. Granted, she still figured something otherworldy was at foot, but logic did say that there were people walking into the tunnels while the crowd outside dealt with rampaging animals. That, to her, spelled trouble. "I wonder how this connects to what we were hoping to find here. About the mysterious death. If the man was in here first, then maybe that's what these figures intend to find? It has to be big and expensive to want to get a whole town to find it."

She followed Richard closely. She hadn’t meant for him to pull out a club. ”If you say so, but I would feel a lot safer if you had a firearm.” She looked forward when Richard pointed out people he saw. She got a good look and remembered them from the ship. ”Yeah, you’re right. I think I remember at least seeing one of them on the ship. If this is the case, they must be the ones who left the footprints and, thus, the ones who caused the chaos outside. Proceed with caution then, they could be dangerous.”

She still had a haze to her vision, but she proceeded forward carefully. She listened to see if she could hear their conversation and see if they were dangerous. For all she knew, these people ran into here from outside like them. It was better to air on the side of caution.

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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: That Haze will remain until further notice, so make sure to keep to it. ^_^

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Boat (Infirmary): "Yeah, I am seeing it as well and I wish we would get a break, this is getting more than odd," the Captain said. Well while one person is crapping out when it comes to observation, Mosi is nailing it. This haze is odd but there is remembrance from the occult that there was talk of those being able to bring others back from the dead and it creating a haze in the area where the dead were being raised. It is the veil between this life and the next blending together. But it is only supposed to be in a small area, just where the spell is cast and takes many artifacts to do it. Yet, this is just a room and no one is trying to cast any black magic obviously. This has to be something different, or at least on a much grander scale.

Boat (Thief's? Room): As Reddish is looking around, he spots something shiny under the back side of the basin. Reaching under it, he will feel something taped to the bottom. Pulling it away, there is a pocket watch there. Oh yes, Reddish just found Josephine's Grandfathers pocket watch! Jackpot! Sadly as he stands back up he hits the back of his head against the basin and knocks himself cold. Reddish is out for this round, will awaken at the end of the round.

Vera sat there and leaned back against the wall, holding her head a bit and trying to listen to anything happening in the hallway. It seemed quiet out there. When she heard the banging sound, her head turned sharply and she spotted Reddish out cold on the floor. "Oh dear!" she yelled as she scrambled on the floor, staying on all fours as she crawled over to the man. He seemed okay, other than being knocked out cold. A little bump on his head but he was alive and breathing. She started to try to shake him, hoping he would wake up. While Josephine isn't having any luck finding her grandfathers watch (as Reddish just found it), looking around and searching, she does find Vera's journal. That's good.

Athribis (Underground): Sadly Mahendra isn't able to get any more information at this time from what he is looking at or able to add to it. As far as Richard goes, I just don't have it in me to have him set his arm back on fire with that crit fail roll. But yeah, his stealth is shit and he trips and falls, nearly falling into the hole that opened up and took Belladonna - he is able to keep from falling into it but everyone down in the underground just heard that and can see him now. Nora is having a lot of luck when it comes to figuring this out. The Ancient Egyptians used math a lot to plan out their tombs and she is pretty sure she knows a good route to take that will lead them further into the tomb and place them under where Belladonna went into the hole that opened up in the ground. She is also figuring out where there could be a few traps, with a little more luck they should be able to avoid them. While Faye cannot hear what the others are saying, she is able to stay hidden in the shadows and out of sight. It will be up to her if she wants to reveal her presence now that Richard as gotten their attention on them.

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Mahendra would have let out a most proper and polite sigh of relief now that the honourable Lord Major was more inclined to delve deeper into the unknown in search of Bella, but his body did not let him have the pleasure of it. Firstly Gene's continuous un-lady like behaviour was giving him quite the headache, both as a figure of speech and slowly giving him an actual headache with her frank speech. It was not proper for Mahendra to give her a stern talk, though he wanted to; that was for the Lord Major to take care of, even if he wasn't the de facto leader of the little Fellowship. But Mahendra did give her a stern look, annoyed at her.

Secondly, and more strange than anything else, was the mystical haze that had set upon him and his vision. But as Mahendra heard the others mention it as well, it would seem he was not alone in being effected by this phenomenon. "Yes, Lauren dear, I see it too…Miss Kingston?" Mahendra assured first Lauren that he was experiencing the same, then turning to Nora as she spoke to him. Were they all under this veil of fog? "Lord Major, Miss Benaszewski? Do you see it too?" Mahendra was at this point focusing on assisting Nora in her map-making, instead trying to figure out what on Earth was befalling them!

Further up the tunnel, Richard and Faye were still trying to make sense of what they'd found so far. Richard kept his eyes locked onto the group of strangers snooping around up ahead of them, listening intently to what Faye speculated about their case. "Them trying to figure out why that man died? Could be, who knows how many people the ticket-man told that story to. Still doesn't answer why they'd be interested…then again, we're here." Ricard speculated back to Faye, turning around for a moment to look at her with the mention of a gun, rubbing his eyes trying to get whatever annoyed his eyes out. No success…great.

"You and me both, but guns in this country would be just as tricky as an armless guy playing the violin. Hopefully push won't come to show…" Richard had wanted to bring his gun along with him, but honestly didn't think it was worth it now. Having to explain why he, an American tourist in Egypt needed a loaded gun on him, he wasn't too keen on that. Perhaps when he had time he could get a proper permit for it, unless both that and the gun got nicked off him. Then he'd be in real trouble. Hopefully these people would be causing any of that…

Deep in that thought, Richard attempted to move quietly forward towards the group talking amongst themselves about something. He needed to get closer…and in the process tripped on something and falling face first onto the ground of sand and stone, sliding forward and almost falling into a…a hole in the ground? Had it been there before? Perhaps his blurred vision had obscured it at the distance? This really was starting to feel more and more like a Pulp-novel.

Mahendra was coming up blank with his mental analysis of the haze. It wasn't like anything he'd come across or experinced before himself, so what could it be? "I don't know what sorcery this is…not an allergy or simple dust, that I can assume…" Mahendra informed the others who were experiencing the divine veil, but getting no further when he heard something. Turning around to where the sound came from, he was taken back at seeing a man lying on the tunnel floor, clearly having fallen over. Where on Earth did he come from?

"By the Gods, what on Earth? Who are you, what are you doing here, Sir?" Had they been discovered, had their cover been blown?

Richard lifted his head and slowly began to push himself off the sandy floor beneath him, his eyes meeting those of the group they had tried and utterly failed to keep an eye on. One of them, a foreign-looking fella with a thick accent talked to him. This could mean trouble, real and mean trouble. What were they going to do to him? As Richard got slowly back up on his feet, he couldn't figure out head from tail. Either those people were the friendliest bunch of tourists he'd seen, or the meanest bastards he'd come across. The only thing he could do now, he thought, was to act calmly and not attract any attention to Faye in the background. If he was fucking up this, he was doing it alone and not dragging her down with him.

"Well…I'd ask you bunch the same thing, but it's obvious you lot are looking for something. Clearly you weren't chased down here by crazy goats or camels." Richard said back to the group, holding up his half-lit torch and resting his blackjack club under the arm, pinching his still lit cigarette between his fingers as he pulled in a good drag. Was he smoking socially, or as a soldier before a firing squad? He had to act calm and think quickly. "Look pal, I'll give you a square deal; You tell me what you and your friend are doing here, and I'll tell you. Simple, and we can all walk away from here like merry lambs, without the authorities getting unnecessarily involved? Capiche?"

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"Mmmhmmmm." Mosi nodded as the captain confirmed he too was experiencing this for real. She had rubbed her eyes and well it wasn't helping any. At most it only made her slightly uncomfortable because of how her body was feeling. She blinked and looked about before rolling her eyes." Yeah it's one of THOSE days again..." She sighed and reached with a hand to her stomach, still moving somewhat not as well because of the swelling, but hopefully whatever the doctor was injecting her would be helping with that soon. She pulled the edge of her shirt up as far as she could to display the brand on her body." See this? Would you believe me if I told you that it just appeared out of nowhere? Yeah, was walking down a street adn suddenly searing pain and I had a new fancy symbol on my body." She added." So I guess my point is that at least the haze isn't painful..." She added with a laugh as she suddenly recalled something.

"Hmmm... talking about hte weird and unexplainable... there I seem to recall something about a haze like this before." She mumbled and narrowed her eyes in thinking manner." Well this might sound more than a little weird, but I seem to recall some occult knowledge I read or heard about, can't quite recall where. It's a hobby." She added with a grin." Anyways, supposedly something like this was bound to happen whenever the dead were being raised!" Mosi started to explain with as most mysterious and dramatic voice as she could, before stiffling a chuckle." Well... at least that's what I've heard... or was it read? Not sure, probably should write it all down in a journal from now on. Seems interesting."

"Anyways that's under the pretext that the occult is real, which given the near curse like happenings around this trip so far, I'm currently very willing to believe in. Also we should totally check if hte other people on board and around the ship are experiencing it too. " She shrugged and looked at the captain, finding it fun how he was looking hazy as well." By the way... while we were away, did something interesting happen on board? I mean the obvious unconscious doctor and missing patients aside?"

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The calm and rational point made by Nora backed up the observation of another of their intellectuals, and by taking a different route of study. If Reginald were not convinced of the course of action before, hearing it from their resident mathematician. Reginald was a man of learning in his own right, enough so to know that his arena of study wasn't useful to them at this particular hour and deferring to the rest of his Fellowship was the wiser course of action. Recognizing the value in her observation, he lay his finger on the side of his nose and pointed in her direction. He may have even responded with a venturesome remark of approval, but his thought process on the matter was shuffled off to the wayside by the more colorful of their group, Gene.

To his credit, the Lord Major did take the American woman's advice and use shorter sentences. "You shall have to remind me why you are here again, Miss Benaszewski. Take your time, please." Though he meant the remark to be cold and mildly scathing, he had to admit it made him think, despite their little emergency. Circumstances were a bit fuzzy, and as it turned out, so was the air around them, it seemed.

Shifting his attention back to the other question at hand, he replied with a hearty, "Indeed I do, Mr. Zalil! Perhaps we should vacate... my, my, what have we here?" His suggestion was cut short by the recent arrival of yet another American. By this rate, the former colonies might have emptied out before year's end. "I am an authority, sir, and I daresay I shan't have you threatening my associate. Our business is ours. You may 'merry lamb' to your heart's desire." More broadly addressing the area, he continued, "Gentlemen, ladies; let us attend to our affairs."

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It was all well and good that the place was missing its former resident. The opportunity to do a fast and hard-hitting toss of the place was upon them, and that was all the motivation that Reddish needed to do precisely that. So long as he was the only one in or near the private water closet, he figured that he might as well start there. Good hiding spots could be found in a lavatory for those who needed one, but they were few in number. A person likewise skilled in subterfuge might make short work of such hidey-holes if properly motivated. And say what you will about the Corporal, he always seemed to be motivated.

A brief glance about the usual spots one might secret away a hand-held object bore nothing for the first few seconds. Nothing in the wastepaper basket underneath the bag, nothing rattling inside of a hollow-bottomed soap dish, nothing attached to the back of Le Crappier, though while he was on his knees checking, Reddish's eyes did detect a glint of something reflective underneath the water basin. He couldn't quite get a good view, but a tactile search made it out to be a metallic object secured to the bottom with tape. This must be it! Or if it is not, then it was something worthy of immediate note. Pulling it free, the Corporal confirmed his initial guess and broke into an immediate and disarming grin of accomplishment.

With the tape-covered timepiece in one hand and still upon his knees, the bubbly and eccentric Corporal Haring D. Reddish turned and rose, the beginning of an exclamation upon his lips, "H... !" that never quite got out before he slammed the back of his very dignified noggin into the underside of the wash basin. A thousand stars exploded in Reddish's vision and he bonelessly collapsed onto the floor, a shaky darkness overtaking him.

He would still have considered this a win, were he conscious enough to celebrate it.

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Lauren took a moment and looked towards Mahendra and Nora as well when they also pointed out that the are experiencing the same hazy blurry vision which was a good thing. "At least i'm not going crazy then." Lauren said with a slight smile, though she still wasn't sure exactly why it was happening now. She didn't even get sand in her face since coming down here in the first place either, she watched as Gene spoke towards the Lord Major, though it was a little bit harsh in her eyes. She did have a point they could have continued further down into the tunnel by now as well.

Then Lauren heard a thud and turned around and looked directly at the guy who was there and raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering if he was spying on them or not. But it looked like he would have ended up falling down into the hole if he had a little bit more speed, she looked over towards the Lord Major when he answered his question. It was true that the guy didn't have a right to know why they were down here in the first place. "Its official business." Lauren told him simply she didn't trust the guy, he could have a gun on him for all she knew as well.

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Josephine searched as quietly and as cleanly as she could, but she had to admit to herself she was more anxious to find her watch, so if the room got trashed a little in finding it, she did not much care. After all, if they did indeed find the watch she had every intention of reporting whoever used this room to the ship captain and having him arrested. Or tossed overboard. She hadn’t decided as yet.

In her hustle and bustle of searching, Josephine came across a journal. She picked it up and inspected it. It looked rather feminine for a man and, seeing as whoever used this room was a thief, it stood to reason this was probably not his notebook. She inspected it further and found it was, indeed, not his own, but rather it was Vera’s!

Oh the man was in for it now! This pointed them in the right direction then. If the man had her journal, surely he knew or took part in Vera’s theft. She turned to face her companions seeing Reddish look around the bed. Before she could speak, Reddish began to talk, only for the man to hit his head rather hard and get knocked out. ”Oh goodness. I imagine you deal with mishaps all the time, darling. Could you check that he is all right? My medical knowledge is not up to scruff I fear.”

“Oh but I do have good news for his recovery. I found your journal here! I believe this is yours.” She handed the journal over to Vera.

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Faye inched herself forward as stealthily as she could muster in this cave. She could hear voices but could not make them out from Adam. Frustrated, she allowed Richard to proceed, though she was a bit miffed he hadn’t taken a firearm. If whoever was there was dangerous, surely they had weapons of some sort. Richard took the lead a bit too hard as he managed to get himself caught. However, no one seemed to pay her any mind. Perhaps she was better at sneaking than she thought! She kept to the shadows within earshot, and close to Richard for aid.

No one seemed to be buying what Richard was selling and she debated on revealing herself. Perhaps they would listen to her more than him. But they could still be dangerous. After all, they did just follow them into a cave that they knew bad people entered. She whispered to Richard, ”Richard, you really need to work on your diplomacy. It’s one of you against many of them, but they have not seen me yet. Get them talking or follow them or something and I will bring up the rear. I find it is better if I remain unseen in case these people are the ones we are after.”

She pressed herself close to the cavern wall, hoping Richard could manage to make himself useful, though she doubted it very much.

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Nora was thoroughly in her element, taking notes and beginning to piece things together. While Belladonna was most likely dead or critically wounded, and she knew as much, Nora felt whole for perhaps one of the first times in her life. She had a sense of purpose and meaning, allowing her spirits to be lifted even as they were facing the possibility of death in this underground fortress. While she didn't know what this meant for her going forward, she made a note of this feeling of completeness and would examine it later - just another step towards actively living her life, rather than resigning in passivity due to the disappointment that was society.

Her analysis allowed her to figure out a decent route to allow them to go further into the tomb, as well as potentially find Belladonna. She figured she had found a way to at least get to where the hole Belladonna had fell into would lead to, which would allow them to determine what had happened to her. In addition to this, she was able to note the location of some of the traps that they might encounter, in order to prevent further tragedy. She allowed herself a slight smile and had she been at home, she would have rewarded herself with a good cup of tea. "I believe I have charted us a course to where Belladonna would have fallen, as well as identified some of the traps that we may encounter," she told her comrades. She had already told them that she had seen the haze as well, so she didn't respond to Mahendra's question. She did not like to repeat herself.

"Yeah, everything is fuzzy here," Gene answered Mahendra. However, there was then a sudden noise and Gene turned around, an eyebrow arched. Yeah, so they had picked up a stalker or something, it seemed. Why else would someone go into the off limits area and not say a word to announce their presence? She tried not to laugh as the man started talking about the authorities getting involved. They were dealing with mystical events and had just been threatened with the local police. In fact, she couldn't hold back the laughter and she was smirking. She wished there was a theater program just involving this stranger and the Lord Major. Of course, the Lord Major was talking to her again. "Believe it or not, I'm here to protect you all," she said honestly. "You just wouldn't believe me if I told you what I can do."

At the very least, the Lord Major was a certified bureaucrat in her opinion, meaning that his claim of being an authority followed through. However, laughing at his expense had gone on a bit too long. She needed to focus her mind and senses a little bit in this situation. They had a path to Belladonna and this newcomer to deal with, that was fine. But the haze that was clouding her vision - that was concerning. She hadn't experienced anything like that before.

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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: That Haze will remain until further notice, so make sure to keep to it. ^_^

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Boat (Infirmary): The Captain wasn't exactly sure what to think about the woman going on about the occult. His brow quirking as the doctor tended to her as best he could under the circumstances. The more she spoke the more the Captain tilted his head to the side, much like a dog that was getting yelled at in a kind voice and not really sure what to make of the matter. Eventually once she was done speaking he finally replied, she had gone on for a while and he wasn't about to stop her though it might have been better if he had. Maybe one of those stings happened in her ear and hit her brain. "I'm thinking it's more likely a gas leak," he said calmly. The man was not one to put much stock in a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

Boat (Thief's? Room): Vera wasn't sure what she could do for the man now that he had knocked himself out, other than either pour water on top of him or slap him. She decided to do neither. With her luck as of late, okay with her luck as of usual, which seemed to be even worse lately it was probably best not to add wet floors to the mix or getting shot when the man came to after being slapped. He seemed to have something, or have found something. Reaching over she looked at the item as Josephine addressed her. "Is this the watch you were looking for Miss Clark?" she asked as she handed it over with one hand and reached for her journal with the other. "I would say call for the doctor but perhaps we should wait and see if he awakens soon," Vera suggested. And it was a good one. He would wake up in just a few seconds. (Mid round)

Athribis (Underground): While Faye has no stealth skills to be speak of, she is is going to be able to remain hidden this round and just observe as long as she doesn't try to move in the shadows. Holding still is her best bet right now if she wants to remain out of sight of the others. While she can't tell anything about the man personality wise other than what she feels in her gut right now, looking closely at him, pieces of skin and such, she can tell the man has been in a few accidents as of late and perhaps runs along the same lines of luck with getting around as Vera does. Maybe he's cursed? Gene isn't figuring that this is a physical thing but something environmental. Counterfactual history will give her some clues though. About bodies and the dead walking again, about those without Souls in some pieces of time, about groups trying to recreate life and causing films of haze in the area of casting but nothing on this level.

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Mahendra could not believe the audacity, the imprudence and the boldness that this new American had to not only disregard his own questions towards him, but also the fact that he turned the question back at them and threatened them like some common thug! How dare he!? Who did this man think he was? Mahendra was cautiously curious as to the identity of him, but he was more than happy to let the honourable Lord Major take charge of this confrontation. And Mahendra couldn't be more proud at his unofficial superior's handling of it, showing the dasterdly American some good, British diplomacy.

It still did trouble him the obscuring haze that befall the remainders of the Fellowship, all of which now agreed in their dissposition. Mahendra looked over to his American friend, Lauren, giving her a slight smile back at her words of madness. "Not more crazy than anyone else of us. This is something…something larger than life."

Richard was really not doing a good job it seemed. Rather than getting the jump on the group of strangers and possibly fishing out some small piece of clue or evidence out from their surprised lips, all he got was a stern talk from the older gentleman. Typical, that was your typical British stiff upper lip. Though he had to give it to the Army grandpa, even if it wasn't helping.

So it turned out the old grandpa was in fact an authority figure, according to himself. Perhaps it was the haze that ultimately was screwing around with Richard, but he did look a whole lot like he was military. The way he dressed, spoke and held himself all pointed to the British Army, which to Richard's annoyed revelation gave the man a whole more authority than the American archeologists had down in these tunnels. And from the tone of what Richard had just been told, pushing either lines of questioning wasn't a good idea. "I see…Sir."

Pushing the matter of the nosey American aside, Mahendra nodded in agreement to the Lord Major's suggestion of attending to their affairs. "Indeed Sir, let us do so." Mahendra turned and made his way over to Nora who had to his great respect done some rather impressive mapping of the way forward. Mahendra gave her a polite smile and an approving nod, holding his torch out towads the dark tunnel that awaited them. "Miss Kingston, would you like to have the honour of being the pathfinder, or shall I?"

Richard continued in his efforts to play it cool as he listened to what Faye whispered up to him. If he could have turned and given her his piece of mind, he'd tell her something along the lines of "No shit, Sherlock.". But she was right, he hadn't been the best detective right then and there. Wrong time and place to threathen someone with snitching. Clearly he needed a different approach, which was apparent with one of the ladies straight up laughing at him. Richard slowly put away his blackjack club back under his jacket, his right hand now free to smoke the cigarette to his heart's desire. "Look I'm sorry. I clearly shouldn't have asked. I'm just trying to find someone I thought was down here, but I'll back off. Okay?" Richard told the group, slowly stepping away from them and making sure he was not getting close to the hole in the ground. Oh great, how much was Faye going to make fun of this later on? And more importantly, where the hell were those Americans?

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Priscilla let out a soft laughter at the captain's expression and reaction to her little speech about the Occult. Apparently she found herself an unbeliever. Nothing bad with that, it was his personal right to choose so. Besides she didn't actually have proof it was an occult event, unless she actually found something or someone being brought back from the land of the dead. Now if that did happen, and she made the captain oversee the whole process, she wondered if he would believe then, but honestly she couldn't really tell what might be happening in actuality. After all, was someone tryign to pull something from the dead on the ship? That was also the reason she suggested the captain to send someone around to ask people around hte port too.

"Well, it might be gas..." Priscilla shrugged her shoulders." But isn't that thing more or less bad for us? If it's really is gas, won't we get kind of dead or sick if we stay here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing hte captain, looking for a proper answer from him on this.

"Hey doc, I know to leave you to your work and all that, but when can I move?" She asked with a sort of tired voice. As much as tired and frankly not really comfortable she felt, sitting here with all these hazy vision stuff going on was a little too much." Like I would love it if I could instead go somewhere on the open air deck and sit there? Will that be alright with you captain? That way I will be out of the way of your crew while they do their tasks around the rest of the ship." She suggested to the captain.

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Lauren stared at Richard a little bit more, at least the guy seemed to agree now and hopefully he would leave them alone now, though she raised an eyebrow when he said that he was looking for someone. But it wasn't her business either to ask as well, she was still having a really hard time seeing as she sighed. Lauren then turned her attention back towards the others hearing Gene laughing at Richard, which made her smirk a little bit, since the guy failed literally on spying on them. She was also glad that Mahendra agreed with her that she wasn't going crazy, before moving over towards her friend Nora when she said she had a map laid out for them which was also really good and that they could avoid the traps hopefully as well.

"So what kind of traps are we looking at?" Lauren asked, she was ready to move forward now as well and hopefully they would be able to find Belladonna in the lower levels of this place. Lauren also was hoping that they would be able to avoid getting hurt any further while they were down here as well. Lauren looked back over towards Richard, she wasn't sure if he was going to be following them or not, she wasn't even sure if she could even trust the guy or not. But it was the Lord Major's position to deal with him if he continued to follow them further down into the ruins as well.

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Truth being what it was, Reginald was an authority. Granted, not the authority in charge of anything here, but the face value of his statement was accurate. Much had changed in Egypt, politically speaking, and while the Empire still held influence here they could not enforce laws except as it came to military affairs directly involving the Crown, or contractual investments by British citizens. Still, the Lord Major had bearing from a lifetime of military service and trotting about with the nobility. And being the seniormost officer in charge of his assigned garrison, his Fellowship's endeavor did proceed with military oversight, by his authority. So all in all, as the Lord Major wrapped his brain around the assertion had just made, he did not lie. Not an ounce. But if the local constabulary were brought into it, he might very well be detained and questioned by someone he knew. That didn't count for nothing.

What did, in his estimation, count for nothing was the colossal amount of stasis everyone seemed to be held under, within that moment. The ordinary passage of time, perhaps slowed down or halted altogether due to factors totally outside of his control, keeping them in the same spot regardless of desired course of action. "Well come long then, we mustn't dally," he said, turning back in the intended direction of the Fellowship's movement. "Fortune favors the bold, and so forth, you see," he added, partly as filler and partly because he wished to change the overall topic back to the matter at hand. This latest series of distractions was proving to annoy. Quieter, and in confidence of the group, he advised, "At least one person knows we are down here. I recommend we establish a rear guard, in the event of more guests. Volunteers?"

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Meanwhile, the Corporal was off on a grand adventure of his own, festooned in frilly attire 'round a grand table set for a ladies' afternoon tea. The frolicking gaiety of it all was something not horribly out of place in a Gilbert and Sullivan production, as he began prancing about with the others in a grand musical number:

Three little maids from school are we
Pert as a school-girl well can be
Filled to the brim with girlish glee
Three little maids from school!

La, la la la la, la-la;
La, la la la la-la...

Naturally, he couldn't sing along with the solos. Such a thing would be horribly gauche, not at all like the duty-inspired responsibility of Corporal Haring Demetrius Reddish, no sir. To compensate, he did ramp it up with the series of LAs, so much so, that in fact that the first glimmers of potential consciousness from the man were peppered by him unsteadily murmuring them to the waking world. La, la la la la-laaaaaaa!

Three little maids who, all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary —

Three little maids from school!

Three little maaaaaids from scho--!

The sudden awareness of reality jolted him to rapt alertness. Defying the generally accepted laws of physics, the Corporal snapped himself from the floor in the lavatory to a full and upright position, one hand holding his service revolver at the ready. Before his eyes were even completely open, the he had cocked the hammer back, ready to defend himself or those around him in the event that this was an intentional attack upon his person and not unintentionally self-inflicted. When his eyes did focus on his surroundings a quarter second later and he instinctively realized neither he nor the women in the stateroom were in immediate danger, his reflexive response as a member of the soldiery kicked in, despite himself.

"Reporting for duty, Lord MAJ ...wait. Some things were becoming clearer now. Not everything, as his instincts still had him set to repel a charge upon his trench from a dead sleep, something he probably wouldn't be able to shake without years of therapy. Nevertheless, he had the forethought to safely decock and holster his sidearm before continuing. Looking down at the hand that just formerly held Josephine's watch, Reddish got a mildly alarmed look on his face and exclaimed, "My word, Miss Clarke! I found it, but someone's off and copped your watch again! Damn the luck, if you'll forgive my language, Miss! ...and Lady!" He looked a touch embarrassed for a moment, assuring Vera, "Apologies m'Lady, for forgetting my propers in your presence. I shall find a way to appropriately discipline myself later, in the absence of the Lord Major's wisdom on such matters. But to the immediate; the watch is missing again!" He nodded vigorously, then immediately wished he hadn't. The screaming pain from him knocking himself silly reasserted itself, prompting him to clasp a hand to the back of his head.

He must not have fully recovered, as he took a steadying step to the side and mentioned aloud, "...and I've ruined the bloody finale, I did! We've got to move."

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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: That Haze will remain until further notice, so make sure to keep to it. ^_^

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Boat (Infirmary): The Captain looked over towards Mosi and nodded. "Yes, we should get you to open air just in case. Can she be moved?" he asked the Doctor.

"Yes, if she feels up to walking of course. I can move her to the Sun Deck, this is just removal of stingers now," he said as he held his hand out to the woman. "We can move you right now if you feel up to it," he said. The Captain nodded and looked over to the guard that was with him.

"Escort them to the Sun Deck, I am going below deck to check with Engineering to see if there is a leak or something else we need to be worried about," the Captain said as he rubbed his eyes before walking out. The Guard nodded and waited for the Doctor and Mosi before escorting them out of the infirmary and up to the Sun Deck where while it was hotter and in the sun, they were at least in open air. Thing was, it didn't seem to be helping. The Haze was still there even with clean air and one could see people panicking below on the docks because the Haze was effecting them as well.

Boat (Thief's? Room): Vera scooted back as Reddish came to and sighed a bit. "I handed the watch to Miss Clark and worry not about the language sir. I would have said the same after everything. Your secret is safe with me and I doubt uncle would hold it against you," she said as she took the journal of hers and started flipping through it. Seeing if it was in tact and if everything was there. It seemed to be by first glance but then she stopped about half way through the journal and she gasped. "No! It's gone!" she exclaimed as she stood up and pressed her back to the wall of the room. She kept flipping back and forth in the journal to see if she had missed something but she hadn't. "No! Why!" she called out, rather upset by the fact that whatever she was searching for was in fact missing and she hadn't just overlooked it.

Athribis (Underground): The Underground is as it was. The Haze is still effecting everyone down there. Gene is feeling an odd pull back in the direction they had set sail from, it is an odd feeling but one she had felt before. There is no sound coming from the pit that opened up and swallowed Belladonna, so if she is alive and is trying to call for help the sound isn't traveling enough for anyone to hear her. Time is marching on, so the group is going to want to decide if they should press on and risk getting lost down there to see if they can find Bella and some answers or hurry back to the boat in the next few rounds so they don't miss it. There is also the option of sending one back to the boat to see if they would hold dock, though with the Haze going on, it would be general protocol of a ship to not set sail in adverse conditions so their chances of the boat refusing to leave the docks tonight is high.

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Nora observed the stranger for a moment, finding that he oddly reminded her of Vera - the Lady Munn. He had been in quite a few accidents and that was just from what she could tell based on his appearance. If he were cursed, then he would be a welcome addition to the Fellowship - after all, some of them had been branded and all of them had experienced deeply disturbing dreams. Well, with the exception of George and his sister, as well as Belladonna and J.C. But they were odd enough to fit right in with the entire group, as Nora reflected on it a bit more.

Gene, meanwhile, was busying herself with thinking on the haze. She knew her Counterfactual History well and it gave her a leg up on everyone else here. This wasn't a physical phenomena - this was an environmental one. Facts went through her mind quickly - bodies and reanimated corpses, those without souls, recreation of life, haze caused by spells... None of it though should have been on this level. Perhaps it was all of it happening at once, but then again, what would have caused that? She had a gut instinct that whatever these people were messed up in, maybe it wasn't as easy and carefree an adventure as she had been expecting. She changed her outlook on the situation slightly, going out of ~amused babysitter mode~ and into ~amused warrior mode.~

As Mahendra asked if she would like the honor of being the pathfinder, Nora blinked slightly. She had a brief fantasy of smacking him, but that just wasn't in her nature. "With all due respect - your discoveries are yours. Please stop trying to acquire mine," she told him curtly, essentially telling him no, she was going to path find. She had already located a route that would bring them downstairs, so passing the map over to Mahendra would just be a waste of time. There was a foul taste in her throat and she was briefly reminded as to why she usually withdrew from society and kept to herself. Even now, feeling fulfilled and successful, her discoveries were almost reframed to be another's.

"Try not to trip while you're searching," Gene advised the stranger, as he said he would back off. She wasn't really too concerned about him, but she also wouldn't have minded if he came along. Maybe whoever he was looking for would have something to do with all of this. "Of course, tell us who you're looking for and maybe we'll let you come along with," she offered with a smirk. She could feel the pull back in the direction they had come from, but they needed to go and find Belladonna - and quickly. She glanced at Nora and gave her a smile. "Lead on, Lady Pathfinder," she told her.

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"Indeed." Mosi nodded at the captain as he agreed to moving to the sun deck. She smiled and looked at the doctor who also gave the approval of the idea." Well as much as I don't really want to move, it's better to do so." Mosi added with a grin and reached over, taking the doctor's hand to help her stand up. She sure was awaiting the time eventually when her body resumed it's at least normal flexibility. She got up and tried lightly stretching, but it wasn't a nice experience. Yeah... the stingers had to be removed first.

She quietly followed the guards who were to lead them to the sun deck.She squinted her eyes even more over the swelling as she got hit with the first rays of light, before she got used to it once she got on the sun deck. It was way hotter here, actually. At least the air was supposedly clearer and all that. It would all be great in theory if it wasn't for the simple fact the haze in the air hadn't seem to have gone out. She stood at the side looking at the docks and the people starting to panic there as well.

"So... remember when I told the captain that it seemed to be a occult event happening?" Mosi asked with a huge grin on her face as she observed the people on the docks also panicking." Either something really out there is happening, or that's a whole lot of gas. I'm betting on my theory now." She chuckled as she found a chair to sit down on, so the doctor can start removing the stingers.

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Jo quickly made her way over and exchanged the goods with Vera, eyeing her pocket watch to ensure it was the real deal and that there was no damage done to it. Once she was sure, she pocketed it. ”Yes! This is it! Oh I am so happy we found it! I don’t know what I would have done had it been gone forever. I suppose that means whoever used this room is the one who stole it seeing as they had your journal too.” It was then she remembered poor Reddish who took a hit to the noggin.

However, he was up and at them quickly. She stifled a giggle at his antics, but she went over to him and knelt down and pulled out the watch. ”No, I have it now, darling. Thank you ever so much for finding it for me.” She pecked the man on the cheek before standing up to move over to the door. It was then that Vera let out a cry.

"What is the matter, Vera? What's gone?" She ran back to the woman to check on her. She sounded hurt as she paged through the journal. Was there something inside of it gone? "Is it a page missing? Or something you kept in between the pages? Perhaps it fell out? We can look again if needed."

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Richard was really botching this up. She let out a small sigh, realizing she would have to step in. They appeared to be searching for something too. Or perhaps someone? Maybe they were both looking for the same thing. Faye stepped out from behind her hiding place and came up to Richard. ”I doubt they are the ones we are looking for. Something tells me they didn’t let the animals loose and whoever did might still be down here. I think it’s best if we continue our search then, and it seems we need to head in the same direction.”

She stepped forward as the other group began to edge in more. ”Oh do hold up please. I apologize for my friend’s forwardness. We meant no harm. We came in looking for two men who seemed to have caused quite a disturbance up on the surface. And we believe these men are up to no good, thus why he was armed. We need to press forward too, so perhaps we could work together?”

Faye didn’t trust them 100% yet. For all she knew, they were the ones who caused the attack, though she doubted it. She told them to see if they had a reaction to her words. Otherwise they would head in the same direction and not talk to one another and that would be rather awkward.

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Richard lifted up his free hand, placing the burning cigarette in-between his lips before reaching up to scratch his nose. Carefully. It was still hurting like the day after St. Patrick's 1911, but still in place. He listened to what the group of shady strangers were telling him, or rather, what they weren't. After his little introduction and subsequent apology to the fine gentleman of English descent and tight trousers, none of them even bothered to accknowledge his presence anymore. The older guy had turned his back on him, same had one of the American gals and the two others. Why, this was going south faster than…Richard was running out of metaphors. Perhaps it wasn't a fog that was making his vision blurry? Perhaps it was very detective spirit that was leaving his body, making him as useless as he felt?

Mahendra meanwhile was paying as little attention to the noisy American than he had done previously, focusing on their way forward and the members of the party who were ready to head into the unknown. Turning to the Lord Major, Mahendra was about to make a suggestion for the good old rear-guard action, when Nora spoke back to him. And not in a manner he was expecting. Mahendra's eyes widened some at her curt words, taken back by it. "…Miss Kingston, I…My deepest apologies, that was never my intentions." Mahendra attempted to apologize to Nora, not understanding how she took his words so wrong. He had merely did the gentlemanly thing of asking…perhaps she had misheard him?

Only one of them decided to give the American PI some more attention. It was one of the other American ladies, though Richard really had no way of knowing who she was. Of course, more humorous lines from a Broadway show thrown his way. Moving the cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other, he looked at her, rolling his eyes at her words but scrutinizing the following line. Tell them who they were looking for, and they could come along? Was the gal trying to trick Richard? From what Richard could gather with his long and bloodied nose, expert eyes and experience, he figured she was telling the truth. Perhaps…

They were going down into the darkness, into the unknown in search of answers and Miss Belladonna. Who knew if they would discover either of the two, or the cold grasp of Death that would entomb them down there? The thought crossed Mahendra's mind, but he attempted to show it aside as he turned back to the Lord Major and the matter of the rear-guard. "If I may make a suggestion, Lord Major Sir? I would volunteer for such an important task, but my expertice is better suited up front or in the middle of our column. May I suggest that Miss Benaszweski does the honour? She is already fraternizing with the American…" Mahendra suggested to the Lord Major as politely and humble as he could, both out of its practicality and his growing issue with Gene.

And just like that, the cat was out of the proverbial bag. Faye stepped out from her cover and made her presence known. Richard watched her make her way over to him, listening to what she decided to tell the group. Perhaps she was right, these weren't the same people who caused the mayhem above ground, but then who were they? Perhaps Faye's more diplomatic attempt would work better with this crowd, so Richard let her speak, giving her time in the spotlight. Letting Faye finish her explaination, Richard let out a puff of cigarette smoke, chimming in his two cents. "What she said, and some of the Americans who apparently run this dig-site but are nowhere to be found. We just need to ask them some questions." Richard said briefly to the woman, sighing as he continued. "We don't want any trouble. Frankly I've been through enough crap today, as you can see. We're both private investigators, we can help."

With the Fellowship starting to make their way into the tunnel, Mahendra began to follow after Nora who was leading the charge into their Destiny! Mahendra would not take the lead, still feeling apologetic for having caused Nora to feel offended by his words. But he still stood by what he told the Lord Major, his expertice was better used up front. Holding out his burning torch to give the others some light, Mahendra began to survey the path ahead of them. Lauren's earlier and unanswered question about what kind of traps they would come across echoed through his mind, hoping they would not meet the same fate as Belladonna had.

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Lauren looked towards the Lord Major for a moment when he suggested that one of them act as the rearguard for them, so that no one else would come down here or end up falling like Belladonna had. And they did have a limited time here as well before their ferry would leave, and with the haze she wasn't sure how long this would last either. "I don't really have any skills that would be of use down there, but the ferry wont stay here for very long. Until sundown if I remember correctly so if the search takes longer I'll try and get more time if possible." Lauren offered, as much as she didn't want to leave her friends behind either and she wasn't sure how long it would even take either.

Lauren then turned hearing another woman's voice as she approached the group, looking over at her for a moment, wondering who they were as well. "Seeing as this chamber hadn't been opened in awhile I don't think anyone else would have gotten themselves trapped down here." Lauren said shrugging slightly. "And it's probably up to the Lord Major if he wants you guys down there." She said but she wanted to give everyone as much time as possible to try and get Belladonna back if she was still even alive down there. "Just be careful, and try not to get lost or anything i'm not sure how long the ferry would be able to wait."

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Seeing yet another American emerge from the darkness reminded Reginald of some dreadful written work he had read years ago and mostly forgotten the details therein; yet the general plot consisted of some manner of loathsome replicating creature inhabiting the unrighteous or ribald members of the London underclass. In the story, they would slink around in dark places and prey upon the more genteel, educated persons of higher society. It was all a huge work of classist propaganda designed to make the middle and upper classes feel better about themselves and commit to virtuous lives, rather than take to slumming among their lessers. Nonetheless, the scene unfolding here was beginning to seriously tweak the Lord Major's sensibilities.

"St. Swithin's balding armhair! We haven't the time and I haven't the patience for this harlequinade and tomfoolery as we all bandy about pointlessly! All those who prefer lambasting one another with no clear end in sight may stand thusly whilst the remainder of us follow the educated lead of Miss Kingston." This was a time that he really wished their expedition leader, Vera, was present. This was technically a situation within which he had no previously agreed upon right to give orders.

"Miss Ridgeway, thank you for volunteering your service. It would be much appreciated. Do be careful." It was a piece of wisdom to have a representative back at the boat to protect their interests and keep their group traveling in the same direction at the same time, overall. "And as for you lot," he mentioned to the very recently arrived newcomers, "come along then. I shouldn't want you slinking about in the darkness to our rear. It should only serve to get yourselves trampled when we all begin running for our lives later on. Now, if there are any more of you, do have them show themselves. Mr. Zalil, thank you so much for your considered opinion and I am sure it was a misunderstanding. Miss Benaszewski, please continue protecting us as only you can." Reginald cleared his throat, and continued in a more personable tone, "Now... I shall follow the lead of Miss Kingston. Miss Kingston? Please, at your leisure. Let us continue away from this depressing location."

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A bit of color made Reddish's face ...reddish, after Josephine made the grateful but otherwise generally commonplace gesture of giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. You'd have thought he was a bashful schoolboy by his reaction, which bordered upon the positively shy. The otherwise brash yet stalwart Corporal stuttered through a reaction statement, "I, ah, that is to say I um... Think nothing of it, ah, Miss Clar..." A goofy, satisfied smile was plastered across his face as he stepped backward, his legs apparently having trouble keeping his body upright. Reddish's head swam back and forth ever so slightly and his eyes began to flutter. For all intents and purposes, it looked like that kiss, possibly coupled with his earlier head trauma, was putting his lights right back out.

Reddish slumped back onto the wall behind him, his smile never leaving his face. He began to slowly slide down, content in the entirety with his life in that second, until the sudden cry of Vera seemingly roused him like a spike of adrenaline. The Corporal immediately gumby'ed his body back to a ready, fully standing position, the blush and smile transforming into a steely, clear-eyed vision of aggressive duty. It might not be his task in any official capacity, but Reddish had some Corporaling to do.

"Right-o! Mission continues, then. We've the name of the person occupying this stateroom and the recovery of the watch and book, to things which had to have been taken separately and thusly points to either a conspiracy or a person targeting our group, unless I've missed an option. Lady Munn, if you would please share, what does the missing bit contain? P'raps it may provide a clue as to the intentions of our assailants." The Corporal had a way of altering his observable personality depending upon the situation. It was either a talent or a mental illness, one could hardly tell sometimes.