So all those snakes, cutting through Kebauet’s waters to get
up to the barque in time…not actually an issue.
As it turns out Imhotep possesses some measure of talent with illusions,
and wanted to “test” us before leaving. Slightly
annoying, but no harm done overall I suppose.
Anyway, while we were subject to the illusion he led us to
the room where Ra was blessing the souls that Kebauet had prepared for the
journey across Duat. We were paid very little attention throughout. Not that it was exactly a surprise. It was a formalized ritual, thousands of
years old, which we had no place in. The
gods present simply performed their duties, as they had for thousands of years,
and then set off to continue their journey.
Then Khonsu arrived to pursue an old grudge with Thoth. Except now, apparently, he holds it with
Andrew instead. He made the effort of
making his reason for coming appear superficially beneficial, I suppose. But was almost openly antagonistic towards
Imhotep and did little to hide his disdain for Andrew. He claimed that we’d never be able to keep up
with the Solar Barque without his assistance, more specifically his influence
over the passage of time. And offered to
bet them against the five days he lost to Thoth in a similar gamble so many
years ago.
Unsurprisingly, Andrew was hesitant to take him up on
it. He also asked Khonsu if the loss of
those five days really continued to rankle him even after all these years. It was a question to which…Khonsu took
exception. And his response was to hit
Andrew with some manner of Moon boon, bastard.
Then he left, saying that Denise would know how to contact him if Andrew
changed his mind. Which served as a
reminder that she’d suggested we could gamble with Khonsu for time before we
even arrived at the gate. I’ll wager a
mountain to a molehill he was planning on having that confrontation, gave
Denise a suggestion that he hoped would lead to it, and decided just to show up
anyway when it didn’t happen on its own.
It’s so very comforting to know that the specter of a Titan-aided divine
invasion does nothing to curb divine pettiness.
At least Andrew claimed to be fine afterwards. But we’ll probably have to keep an eye on him
just in case.
I suppose I shouldn’t exactly be surprised that Claire
seemed to manage to offend Kebauet somewhat with her remarks about the
situation. It would be nice if she’d
stop doing that to seemingly every other Psedjet of import we meet. I imagine it’d probably make it a whole hell
of a lot easier work with them to turn back the Dodekatheon.
Nevertheless, she did offer aid when I asked if she had any
advice for us before we left. More
specifically, she allowed us to immerse ourselves in her waters if we so
chose. Doing so would re-align our souls
slightly, she explained, replacing one of the virtues held dear by our pantheon
with one of those held most sacred to the Psedjet. Which, in turn, would make it easier to
navigate Duat. And on a more personal
level the Psedjet virtues are also much closer to those of the Yazata than
those of the Æsir are. So, in addition
to navigating Duat, the other main reason I took her up on the offer was the hope
that doing so will help me better understand my father’s people.
Ken was the only other one who took the plunge, so to
speak. Well, Andrew did as well, but he
was already in possession of Psedjet virtues anyway. It felt…a little strange going through the
waters, refreshing in a way, perhaps? It’s
a difficult thing to describe. And I’m
afraid that I don’t really have the words to do so. Regardless, there weren’t exactly any
pronounced and noticeable differences upon emerging. But I don’t doubt that some will show
themselves in time.
Then as we left Kebauet offered one last bit of aid, to me
specifically. A silvery vial she
referred to as her “hour of moonlight.”
She expressed confidence that I’d know when to use it. Hopefully she’s correct, as I’m not really
sure what it does. But I’m certainly
grateful for all she’s done to help us nevertheless.
Then we got back to our Barque to continue the journey
downriver and Claire…I have no idea what she was thinking. She decided to use her sun boons to light us
up like, well, a Solar Barque. Because
becoming a target was just what we
needed. Sure enough something hit us
pretty much before anyone had a chance to react. The jolt was enough to knock me overboard,
not that I consider going into the water personally to be much more than an
inconvenience. But Andrew went over too,
which I found significantly more disconcerting.
And I’m pretty sure I heard a third splash. Just a bloody mess…
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