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0910

Phebia glared at Milo then turned her venomous glare at Enrick. She held it for several long seconds. "Does anyone have a data slate? In spite of what our resident witch thinks we know nothing about this place, including whether or not what he babbled was important."

0910-1000 Day Two:

As Phebia and Milo pause in their argument the Cherub reappears and circles above their heads twice before heading back off into the maze of alleys. After some time you arrive at a high walled compound, with doors embossed with the Imperial Eagle. Your shown into a dark, high vaulted room, blessedly cool after the oppressive heat of the port city. You can see that some effort has been made to make the chamber comfortable, thick rugs cover the floor, there is real wooden furniture and a few tapestries adorn the walls.

Seated at a wooden table in an old leather chair is the man you're looking for. He wears charcoal grey robes and has a small smile on his lean and handsome face. As you enter, he holds a set of large ivory cards in his hands which he places in a silver case and returns to the pocket of his robes.

"Welcome! I am the Seer Aristarchus. I trust the trip passed quickly?" He says. He stands, comes round the table and offers you each his hand in greeting before gesturing for you to sit. Close up you can see he has curious gold-grey eyes and the sanctioning electoo of the Scholastica Psykana imprinted on one cheek. After shaking hands with you all, he adjusts a black satchel hanging at his side. You notice the bag is made from emadar silk, an expensive material and held shut with several lead purity symbols, each one bearing a long crimson ribbon that trails behind him.

He signals for several servitors waiting in the corners to take your baggage and motions for you to sit and take refreshments that another servitor is bringing in.

1001 Day 2

When the Seer approaches Phebia she visibly stiffens. The corners of lips flutter between a grimace and a stony stare as the girl's face twitches from the effort of controlling her reactions. Her hand never comes up to his and he is forced to pass without a hand shake. When it comes time to sit she is sure to sit as from from the Seer and Milo as she can.

10:02 - day two

Pahr's expressionless face met the man's smile as they shook hands; Pahr extended him the courtesy of a bow before taking his seat.

10:02 Day 2

Doing his best to mask his discomfort Marco briefly shook the psyker's hand, withdrawing his limb rapidly. As he sat down he thought back to what the dead cultist had said earlier, pondering over the meaning of the words as a voice in the back of his head nagged at him to remember something.

0907

Even as the sounds of the battle faded, Haxta kept her pistol at the ready. Approaching the man she'd downed, she nudged him with her foot, turning him over to stare blankly to the sky. Still feeling cautious, she pulled her knife with one hand, and jabbed the tip into the man's eye. When the corpse remained immobile Haxta finally accepted he was good and dead and made a quick job of stripping him of anything of importance.

As she looted the body, Haxta did her best to ignore the arguing that broke out among the more, vocal, members of the team. When she'd finished, she shuffled off to one side and waited in silence for them to finish. When Phebia inquired about a data-slate however, Haxta stepped forward, though a bit slowly.

" I have one," she said, holding the device out. " Also, I believe you could use these more than I could." She added, offering the stub ammo she looted.



1002
Haxta exchanged a brief handshake with the Seer, before moving quickly to take a seat, like Phebia, as far as possible from the man. She did not like the feeling she got from him, though unlike the battle sister, it had nothing to do with his unnatural gifts. She ignored the servitors completely.

0910

Phebia took the dataslate graciously from Haxta and began to scribble down what the stranger had said as best she could remember. She saved the information and offered the slate back. "Thank you," she said as she pocketed the stub ammo after checking its caliber.

09:12 Day 2

"May I see that?" Marco asked, plucking the dataslate out of Phebia's hand without waiting for an answer. He skimmed the text quickly, reading over the dead man's last words.

"Crow Father?" He said aloud, frowning and looking into the distance, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before. "Crow Father...." After a moment his eyes widened slightly and he turned to Phebia. "You're certain that's what he said? Crow Father?" He asked.

0912

Phebia snatch the slate back. "Would I have written it down if I wasn't?"

1002, Day Two

"Seer... Scholar," Milo said by way of greeting, shaking the offered hand and suppressing a grin. A sanctioned psyker, at this level of authority... Tauron Trask would have been vindicated, to show those scapegoating cowards...

Milo snapped his attention back to the moment. He could feel the power emanating from Aristarchus, and from his recently put-away Emperor's Tarot. "We've already met the locals, sir," he said, showing the Seer the two severed fingers. "Native Ghostfire cultists, by their markings. We were tailed, then attacked." Selecting a cordial of pale amasec from a servitor's tray, Milo continued, "Please don't mind the wanna-be Battle Sister. She believes that our kind are Man's ruin."

0912

Haxta's eyes widened a bit as Phebia and Marco grabbed the data-slate back and forth.

" Please, be careful with that," she said timidly.

0912

Phebia again turned to offer the slate back to Haxta. "Apologies priestess," she said.

0913, Day Two

Completely ignoring Phebia, Milo turned to Karibi. "You recognize the reference?" he asked, both curious and suspicious.

0912

Haxta took the data-slate gratefully, tucking it quickly back into the folds of her robes. " Thank you."

09:13 Day 2

"Yes, I do." Karibi answered the psyker, still irked at his murder of their only lead.

"The Crow Father" He began. "is an old Ashleen myth. It relates to some sort of....spirit. A dark one. It's also known as the 'Dancer at the Threshold'. The stories say that the spirit is ancient and wicked and that it delights in slaughter, leading misguided men to their doom with lies and trickery while appealing to their innermost desires." Marco paused for a moment to clear his throat.

"With that in mind, the man's words make some sense. The reference to it having two faces clearly refers to its nature as a sort of malevolent trickster. 'His hill shall run with blood'....perhaps a reference to the base of some sort of local cult that deifies the monster?" He shrugged and gestured at the other bodies. "In any case, I think it wouldn't be too big a leap to assume that these men are involved in such a cult. At the least, it would explain why they attacked us."