Four more days of travel bring the expedition to Cairo in the ancient land of Egypt, on Tuesday, 14th June...
It is around noon when the expedition turns a corner around a high plateau of reddish rock and the city of Cairo comes into view about a mile to the northwest, and rising majestically over the City in the background, the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Gisa!
In the distance, herdsmen and their flocks can be seen roaming the dunes around the ancient capital of Egypt, clad in flowing white robes and turbans. A caravan of travelers with many camels is making its way into the city through a gate. The tops of mosques and palaces can be seen rising above the city walls, but even these tall structures are dwarfed by the mighty Sphinx and pyramids in the background...
Mwikali narrows her eyes at the familiar sight of Egypt. She fights of the growing bile in his heart and steels herself for the journey back into the realms that thrust her into servitude, her scars aching as she remembers every strike.
she looks down at her little figure a bear and smiles."Its ok Johann I'll be fine" She says with a giggle and then looks back up on to the scene.
The Ogon Fox marvels at the sight of this city and its ancient wonders.
"Do any of you know much of this land, its people and history? I'm afraid I know little."
The expedition approaches Cairo from the west, and falls into queue behind a long line of Berber traders--twenty Berbers and forty camels laden with trade goods, all of which the gate guards of the western city gate must search for contraband and appraise for tarrifs and taxes. Once this long caravan has passed through the west gate, the guards turn their attention to the expedition...
Idhkr 'asma'ak, wa'ayn 'ant qadim, waeamlik fi alqahira...
"They are slavers, whipping and seeding who they wish. Some will take you to fight others to bed, they weren't always like this but...' She trails off as she looks over at the market and then just goes quiet.
She straightens and looks at them"Sorry, Just watch yourselves"
Ihrin looks at the others and begins to speak."Someone tell them who we are and make up a reason why we are here"
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"Nahn musafirin min 'iisbania , taealawa liziarat masajid abayina." Lucius says calmly, stepping forward to the front of the group. He hands over a small pouch which chinks invitingly as the guard takes. "Barakatih min Allh"
"Blessings of god upon you."
"Nahn musafirin min 'iisbania , taealawa liziarat masajid abayina." Lucius says calmly, stepping forward to the front of the group. He hands over a small pouch which chinks invitingly as the guard takes. "Barakatih min Allh"
** spoiler omitted **
The guard accepts the pouch of coins from Cardinal Lucius with a smile, and gestures to the open gate.
Marhabaan bikum fi alqahirat , walmusafirina. Barakat Allah ealayk , kadhalik.
So far, so good... The expedition is ushered through the gate by the guards, into a sprawling bazaar teeming with vendors, merchants, traders, and travelers from all over Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Cairo is a feast for the senses, with colorful and exotic sights, sounds, and smells all around. Ancient, sunbaked buildings huddle around more recent mosques and minaret-topped palaces of Egypt's current rulers, the Turks.
As the expedition makes its way through the maze of vendor's tents, they come upon a disturbing but commonplace scene: a public stage, where a slave auction is taking place...
A rotund Arab wearing a turban and white robe serves as auction master, calling out loudly in Arabic as he gesticulates grandly and boasts of the fine condition of the fifteen slaves lined up on the stage behind him...
Tueal waleurud ealaa hula' aleubayd alafarq! Ln tajid ebydana 'afdal fi kl 'iifriqia! Laqad tama kasruha min qibal sawt, waealaa alrghm min sihat waqawiat, fahi mutye!
Nine men and six women stand on the stage behind the Arab auctioneer, naked except for loincloths, their wrists manacled and their ankles shackled, linked together by chains and collars. Their faces are uniformly downcast and subdued. Some of them openly weep.
Six Arab guards armed with scimitars and round shields, and clad in white turbans and robes over studded leather armor, stand guard around the stage, apparently guarding the slaves and the auctioneer. They watch the gathering crowd of potential slave buyers, seemingly bored with their duty.
A few of the wealthy Egyptians in the crowd begin to bid on some of the slaves.
The Fox heart is burdened by the plight of these men and women he sees in chains.
"This isn't right," he whispers to the others, "but is there anything we can do? It is the way of life in this place, and we did not come to overthrow the rulers of this city today..."
Alphonse, not speaking Arabic, doesn't know much of what is going on as they first enter the city. The sight of people in chains, however, speaks a universal language, and Mwikali's explanation darkens his face in anger.
"If this is their way of life, their way of life is barbaric." Alphonse says, not bothering to lower his voice.
"No man should own another of God's children. Perhaps we could free them all? I have some money saved up we could use to purchase their contracts."
Toshiro is uncomfortable.
"It is shunned by those reasonable in my country as an outdated practice, but sadly still legal. I should have expected the outside world would commit many of the same sins on a larger scale."
"A good idea, Alphonse. I am not willing to begin battling the authorities of this land over this practice at this time, but we can free these people while abiding by their laws. I will contribute from my accumulated wealth, as well."
The Fox looks around at their party, wondering who would look least out of place when approaching the auction master to purchase the slaves.
Walks up the slave Merchant.
"sayidi sayidi ladayh risalat lak nafham hadhih 'aw la kalamati walakun lah.
laqad kalafni 'an 'aqul. 'ant 'iibn jamal watifl min einzta. aleubid kunt fi alsadr lak fi almarat al'akhirat hayth poxed , watuufiy fi ghdwn 'usbue. lys faqat 'anahum 'usibuu bialhayawanat baladi mae alwaba' wakuluhum laquu hatafahum. 'atamanaa 'an tarithuu bytana kbyrana yahtawi ealaa aledyd min alghuraf wayajidun mwtana fi kli wahid minhum. hdha yunhi risalatan saydi.
She says this so that all can hear at the sale.
"Sir my master has a message for you. Understand these or not my words but his.
He has tasked me to say. You son of a camel and child of a goat. The slaves I per chested of you last time where poxed, and died with in a week. Not only that they infected my animals with their pestilence and all have died. I hope you inherit a large house with many rooms and are found dead in each one of them. That ends the message sir."
He says this so that all can hear, then leaves, walking past the others he whispers.
"I would suppect you can buy and free the slaves very cheaply now"
Meikali says quiet hiding her face as she shifts on her feet uncomfortably. When the offer of purchasing them comes around she speaks. "We can buy them, but the key is to what we do with them. In the city they are slaves, outside they are able to be captured again. We will need to bring them with us for now. Then we can send them to Safi or Marrakesh to live free.If the reports of The Portugeuse Prince prove wrong!"
"Hopefully one of them can possibly guide us and the dangers." she adds trying to blend in.
Walks up the slave Merchant.
"sayidi sayidi ladayh risalat lak nafham hadhih 'aw la kalamati walakun lah.
laqad kalafni 'an 'aqul. 'ant 'iibn jamal watifl min einzta. aleubid kunt fi alsadr lak fi almarat al'akhirat hayth poxed , watuufiy fi ghdwn 'usbue. lys faqat 'anahum 'usibuu bialhayawanat baladi mae alwaba' wakuluhum laquu hatafahum. 'atamanaa 'an tarithuu bytana kbyrana yahtawi ealaa aledyd min alghuraf wayajidun mwtana fi kli wahid minhum. hdha yunhi risalatan saydi.She says this so that all can hear at the sale.
** spoiler omitted **
He says this so that all can hear, then leaves, walking past the others he whispers.
"I would suppect you can buy and free the slaves very cheaply now"
The googling eyes and jaws dropped in astonished outrage at Machiavelli's cunning declaration are priceless! Immediately, a rumbling of laughter and gasps of shock and amusement ripples through the gathered crowd.
The crowd of Egyptians begins to thin around the stage where the slave auction is being held...
Ihrin walks over and drapes herself on Alphonse's arm and smiles as she translates everything said for him.
"I would bid now,Sir Veritas, offer a good but not too good bid of gold" She says giggling after pointing to one of the men's bodies and then to one of the women.
"Don't be too stiff, I am your lady and you are my sir. if any of the rest of you wish to bid and aid in freeing them please feel free to jump in.'
Alphonse is uncomfortable with buying these people at the same time he knows it's for a good cause. owning someone, however briefly, sits ill with him.
He barely knows where to start bidding, but with Ihrin and the rest surreptitiously feeding him prices, he manages to struggle through it.
"300 for all of them." Alphonse says at last. If the man agrees, he rudely shoves the money into his hand.
He smiles at the people, until he realizes they probably don't speak English, and thus likely do not see him as their savior, but more as an opportunist and cheapskate. The smile falters, but he rallies as he moves them off the platform.
"Can you please tell them they're in good hands. They're as good as free, and we're going to take them somewhere they won't be captured again."
Beating his chest and brow with grief and dismay, the Slave trader groans and grumbles in Arabic...
Laenatan w jadri ealaa al'uwrubiyiyn allaeina! Laqad damarni!
Having counted on making five or six times what he ended up with, the trader is clearly upset!
The slaves are a mix of Bantu, Guinean, and Mande Africans, nine men and six women. They are clearly apprehensive and despairing of their fate...
Mwikali uses her innate tongues ability to speak with the slaves. "Hello I am Mwikali, Chosen of Mother Africa, seeker of freedom, breaker of bondage. Me and my companions have come to these lands seeking a vast and ancient treasure. We saw your plight and did what we could. You are to help us in our mission and we will cloth you and feed you, arm you and train you. After we cloth you and feed you are free. However if you chose to you can accompany us and can help us in the futuure aid others as we have aided you. It is up to you."
"Do any of you speak Arabic? Kunai?"She asks them as she before she finishes,"Also what are your names?"
The Africans are relieved at their great fortune, and as soon as Mwikali tells them they are free to go as they wish but their service would be welcomed, they all agree to join the expedition as guides, porters, cooks, laborers, et cetera.
Babatunde! declares one man, thumping his chest...
Cadan! declares another man, bowing...
Kenya! cries a woman, patting her breasts...
One by one, the men and women give their names, which seem strange to European ears...
She speaks in arabic,"hal ayu wahid minkum yatakalam alearabiat ealaa alaql? 'ana ealaa 'amal alhusul ealaa bed alaitisalat janibaan faqat biastikhdam alsahr. 'ay wahd?"
She looks to the others."They are willing to join us and aid us. We must get clothes and provisions for them as well as any basic weapons and armor to spare"
A tall figure, whose form blurs at the edges slightly as though he's being observed through a dark piece of glass, detaches himself from the crowd and approaches.
"Salaam Alaikum to you Mwikali, Chosen of Africa, Ogon Fox, Abe no Toshiro and to you Cardinal Borgia." He offers a fluid bow, and then turns to Alphonse and Machiavelli. "A thousand pardons gentlemen that I cannot greet you by name. None-the-less, I offer you greetings and welcome you to Cairo. It is well to see Christians with mercy in their hearts. The Greatest has bestowed his compassion on you and that is well, if misguided."
He smiles slightly and it is plain to see the fangs at the edge of his mouth.
It is rumoured that they were the shock troops who finally breached Constantinople after the dragon attack.
'Freedom is not misguided"She says as she looks at this new figure with no real issue.
"But then again I doubt an Arab would understand that unless he suffered the lash and chain himself" she says not intimidated by such a creature, she was back home surrounded by the very life that was Mother Africa.
Ihrin eyes the man and cocks a brow, seeing the fangs she seethes and flips a dagger into her hand.
"Those fangs and that shadow, I am gonna say you might be a vampire. I do not care for Vampires." She says narrowing her eyes ready to throw her blade and draw another.
Alphonse recoils at the sight of the...creature standing in front of him.
"You are either very brave, or very foolish to so openly approach a Paladin of the Lord, THING."
His hand edges towards his scythe, but he does not wish to make another scene in the middle of this market.
"I would end you here and now, but no doubt you'd find some way to draw the innocents around you into the conflict."
In habit, Alphonse reads Saleh's aura, and the telltale oily sheen of evil shining around him is yet more confirmation that the abomination cannot be trusted.
"Why do you approach us so?"
"Vampire?" Toshiro says, brow crinkled.
"Where is his paper tag? These are different from the stories I know from my family who have visited China."
Alphonse recoils at the sight of the...creature standing in front of him.
"You are either very brave, or very foolish to so openly approach a Paladin of the Lord, THING."
His hand edges towards his scythe, but he does not wish to make another scene in the middle of this market.
"I would end you here and now, but no doubt you'd find some way to draw the innocents around you into the conflict."
In habit, Alphonse reads Saleh's aura, and the telltale oily sheen of evil shining around him is yet more confirmation that the abomination cannot be trusted.
"Why do you approach us so?"
Unexpectedly, the vampire does not radiate evil!
Unexpectedly, the vampire does not radiate evil!Alphonse recoils at the sight of the...creature standing in front of him.
"You are either very brave, or very foolish to so openly approach a Paladin of the Lord, THING."
His hand edges towards his scythe, but he does not wish to make another scene in the middle of this market.
"I would end you here and now, but no doubt you'd find some way to draw the innocents around you into the conflict."
In habit, Alphonse reads Saleh's aura, and the telltale oily sheen of evil shining around him is yet more confirmation that the abomination cannot be trusted.
"Why do you approach us so?"
"Those fangs and that shadow, I am gonna say you might be a vampire. I do not care for Vampires." She says narrowing her eyes ready to throw her blade and draw another.
"Come, come Ihrin." el'Dinn says, his grin widening. "Is that any way to treat your grandfather?"
Ihrin's grandfather should see a dentist about those unusually long and sharp incisors... Kiku whispers in Mwikali's ear...
"He is an undead thing Kiku' Mwikali says as she looks to the man and then the others.
"Did you come to satiate your hunger or do you have some other purpose? Either way be on with it, we have much to do, and I wish to be gone from this flea-bitten hell hole"Mwikali says shifting from one hip to the other.
Ihrins' face goes red and she almost throws the cold metal blade in her hand.
"Cum îndrăznești să-mi spui atât de familiar, nu te cunosc și nu ești bunicul meu! Ești un vampir o creatură a nopții, venind din umbrele care se sărbătoresc cu nevinovații. Trimiteți liliacul, corbul, lupul și șobolanul pentru a spiona și pentru a vă alătura timpul pentru a fura nu numai sângele, ci și inocența copiilor."She speaks accenting the end with a spit and then a quick gesture meant to ward off the ancient evil.
"Leave Nosferatu" She says turning from him and heading off to find something to distract her form such a lying creature.
"What do you know of your father, Princess? Perhaps you should think on him and what he has now become - if he had held true to his oaths, and stayed with me then he would not be as he is today. Be thankful that your brother is the only one his madness will ever infect." Saleh says cooly, apparently unmoved by her anger, before he turns to Mwikali.
"I am here at the command of the Sultan. Shield of Allah and Conqueror of the Infidel. Your exploits in Marrakesh did not go unnoticed, Champion of Africa. I am here to investigate your activities and report on them. So I ask, politely, as befits a meeting of peace. Why are you here?"
"I come to seeker answers to a threat to the world. It has little to do with my crusade to unify Africa from underneath those that seek to bind my people to the chains of outsiders. This has a greater threat. One that the Christians have shown me to be a greater evil then your Sultan." She says looking at the vampire.
"It has something to do with the coordinated rage of dragons as well as something called SAy-Tan...That evil spirit you and the Christians fear. Something to do with him." She says almost raising her brow as if lauding at the fact that such massive evil can coalesce into one massive and powerful being.
"You speak of Shai-tan?" The vampire replies, curiosity evident in his voice. "How can this be?"
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"The Anti-christ." Lucius responds, firmly emphasising the christian name, "Has made his lair beneath the city of Rome. He called upon the great Dragons to attack the cities of the world, which is how your Sultan was able to enter Constantinople. We are here to seek aid from Prester John, King of Abyssinia so that we can take the fight to Nero himself and drive him back into his father's hell!"
This is the most vehement the Cardinal has been in a long time, his normally calm veneer cracking with genuine fervour.
"We do not act against your Sultan, vampire. So return to your master and tell him that. In time the forces of Christendom will come for the Holy Land, but until then we do not act against him. There are greater forces for us to fight."
The recently freed slaves grow increasingly aware and alarmed at the vampire's presence and nature...
In Bantu: Oh, Papa Gede! Preserve us! It be a bloodsucker there! Bad juju! Ward us from this demon of the night!
In Swahili: Mother, save us! Save us from this darkness given a man's shape!
In Zulu: They have bought us cheap to feed their vampire friend! Dammit! I'd rather mine diamonds for Turks than be fed on by monsters!
Alphonse still itches to slay the creature, all his senses telling him that its existence is a blight on the world; a wrong to be corrected by its destruction.
Nevertheless he stays his hand. The creature has not attacked them, nor threatened harm against innocents. And it appeared as a curious blank spot on his ability to detect evil intentions. Whether it truly meant no ill or was simply shielding itself from what little of God's discernment a simple Paladin could bring to bear remained to be seen.
Turning away from it as the Cardinal converses with the unclean thing, he looks askance at the panicked former slaves.
"What do theys ay? They seem worried?" he asks Mwikali, or someone else who speaks their language.
Mwikali turns from the vampire and looks to the Slaves, she activates her Tongues and looks at them.
"What troubles you? Is it the dead one?" She says as she points to the Vampire.
"He asks why me and my friends our here. I told him. Now he won't go away. Do not worry you shall not be made his thralls. We freed you from such things." Mwikali says with a genuine smile as she looks to Alphonse.
"Our friends fear our 'Friend'" She says gesturing to the vampire." Let me try something?"
"Do any of you understand me?"
"Excuse me a moment." The vampire bows and moves swiftly across the square to confront the guards. It isn't clear what he says, or what he shows them, but the general tenor of his instructions is unmistakable.
With that problem removed he returns to the group and addresses the slaves in the Coptic language of the south. "I will not bite any of you. Your lives are as those of these christians, sacred to me and The Merciful One."
He turns back to Cardinal Borgia, and bows slightly. "It seems that your quest is a noble one Cardinal. I will not seek to hinder you. Better yet, I will offer my services. As an ally if you will. That way I can fulfil my Sultan's command and work some good at the same time?"
"Excuse me a moment." The vampire bows and moves swiftly across the square to confront the guards. It isn't clear what he says, or what he shows them, but the general tenor of his instructions is unmistakable.
[dice=Intimidate]d20+12
The guards slink away submissively from the shrouded Immortal, eyes averted from his dominating countenance...
The expedition and the freed slaves are left alone in the immediate vicinity of the auction stage with the dark figure...