Reginald Keystone
Location: Athribis (Underground)
Skills: General Observation
Skills: General Observation
To say that there was a sincere and unbiased belief in the psychic powers of Gene Benaszewski within Reginald would be an act of folly. More specifically, as much as he wasn't going to allow himself to buy into it, there had been much that had happened in a very short time that might make him listen to, if not exactly unquestionably heed the words of, the argumentative lady suggesting that the all flee. Well, all flee except for the two of them, now. Briefly, his brain pondered over the implications. First, move or everyone dies. Now, move or everyone dies, but you should stay, Reggie. It arched an eyebrow in the old man, certainly. Even elicited a quiet chuckle. Well, he was still game. Stiff upper lip and whatnot, pip pip; valley of death, and so forth.
It was then that he noticed the glowing of their presently chiefmost intellectual, having claimed the title in the interim from Lady Munn by virtue of her presence and the fact that her fine brain has been monumentally helpful as of late. But yes, glowing. Unperturbed by the whole thing (yet remarkably curious), Reginald shared his observation that, "Glass half full, it should make seeing the stonework a shave easier, quite."
Perturbed or not, there was some serious supernatural stuff going on down here in the haze and uncertain light of their situation. Reginald himself was becoming drawn into it. Though his gaze remained steely and his hands prepared to engage in combat by blade, bullet, or fisticuffs, the memories of his dreams kept forcing themselves forward in his thoughts. The screamed message in local Arabic, the udjat ring, and more recently, the images of armies of inhuman creatures swarming and bounding toward each other in a cacophony of snarls and cries; the slamming of weapon upon weapon and weapon upon bodies, rendered intert by the actions of their fellows. And of course, the tall, jackal-headed creature who removed his heart from afar. The Lord Major could even see all of this in the haze around him; the Udjat, his own, fleshy heart floating as a dandelion fluff upon a slow wind toward who he supposed the mastermind of all of this carnage was. He recalled discussing it, though the name of the fellow almost escaped him. One might hear him whisper, "...a nudist, here? How very improbable..." He might have gotten the name wrong. It'd come back to him.
Then Mahendra said something that broke him away from his descent into hazy dreamland. Something about orders. Reginald was ever the eternal soldier, be he a bit rounder and more silvered of crown. His sense were still sharp, as were his faculties (for the most part). And while he had no official authority over the younger geologist, he also did not wish anyone else to get hurt. "Mr. Zalil, if you would please, have everyone who does not need to be here retreat a distance back up the corridor and make ready to move quickly. Miss Kingston, if you would please, do everything you require to open this great stone portcullis except for the very last movement. Then please, please join the others. We cannot bear to lose you and upon my honor, I cannot abandon our guide unless options are exhausted." He was still glancing into the haze around him, and occasionally back to Nora's hand. "If everything is perfectly safe and canny, I shall let you know. If it is not, I've a notion everyone shall know anyhow."
Haring Reddish
Location: Benha (Elite Deck -> Sun Deck)
Skills: General Observation
Skills: General Observation
The small talk of things both silvered and screened allowed Reddish to maintain his woefully cheery disposition while continuing to be active in the observation of the scene around him with meticulous care. He smiled and nodded at Vera's aid in finding the stairs, unnecessary though it was, making a big enough deal out of her pointing her finger in the appropriate direction as to make one think he might have been kicked in the head by a shod-hoofed beast of burden and sold to circus folk with a tenuous grasp on public speaking. That is to say, he was gracious, overly masticating his words as they exited his face, and was being extremely, massively, ponderously British about the whole thing.
Considering the nature of the Corporal's presence with the group, nothing else is really happening to and/or with him directly. Apart from a vague but (he insisted) pressing feeling that he belonged here, in this place and with these people, Reddish had never been party to the dreams, nor the branding, nor the handling of artifacts that would have impacted their mission in any significant way. He sees the haze, and apart from the mundane difficulties with distance vision because of it, has no further complaints.
But the movie discussion, of course. Cover aside, it was a thing which fascinated him. "Why Miss Clarke! If you would allow me to speak in a manner most grim? Do please pardon, but ah... I handled that paperwork and know quite what was on it; further I've been in the service of the Lord Major for a bit of time in Cairo, and know many of the people with whom he shows favor. If memory serves, he asked you to sign those in an effort to preserve the life of Miss Tarek, a longtime friend of the Lord Major." He gave a slightly embarrassed shrug, "She is, ah... now deceased. No fault of anyone's; God rest her soul, of course, and I mean no disrespect to the lady nor to the Lord Major, understand me. But I've no idea why he would uphold the contract any longer. I might even speak with him about it were I you, Miss Clarke." He smiled gently, looking over Josephine's choice in clothing today. The thought passed his mind that, were he her (as he mentioned just before) then he would have full access to all of her choice wardrobe. Ah, one of many of life's Grails, but no. Not now. There was a job to do.
But not before adding, "Oh and yes, you simply must play yourself. It just wouldn't be appropriate otherwise. Nary a spoken line of it."
The Corporal was about to comment more, when he too heard the big thump from just above. He risked jogging the last few steps up to inspect their surroundings before Vera and Josephine got there, ensuring safety and whatnot, only to see the ship's doctor yet again horizontal and without his ability to remain alert. Reddish jumped upon the circumstance with a few well-chosen words to smooth things over. "Splendid news here, ladies. Just splendid - I've gone and found the Doctor! Poor blighter's chronically incapable of remaining upright, I'm afraid, but by God can that man forcibly occupy a floor. Marvelous sir, bloody marvelous! He began clapping lightly and nodding, then looked back down at Josephine with a rather taken aback expression rapidly shifting to something more knowing and accepting. "Ah, Miss Clarke? Bit of something on your hand, there..."
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