The City of the Specter, Atem's Palace

[metagame]

The corpse sinks to the floor
Even the brightest gold, even the sharpest blade
Becomes sand, becomes dust

Comments

group one

[metagame]

As you make your way down the hallway, you eventually find Atem, Jesse, and Soujuurou.

Seems like Atem isn't very interested in attending court... He'd much rather bring you all to his extensive library instead. Which he does, by the way.

The library is full to the brim with rare scrolls and papyrus.

Feel free to check those out or speak with Atem! Because you guys found him first. Yay!

[privatedomicile]

[Huh, a library? Jesse is going to search the scrolls (his snooping is at about the level of a 13) and strike up conversation with Atem.]

So, uh...heard there was some River God guy givin' you guys a hard time? Need somebody to teach him a lesson?

[metagame]

[It's blink and miss, but Atem's eye twitches at the mention of the River God.]

No, no... I don't need any help. Thanks for the offer.

[apologize for the wikipedia link but i am not writing up this entire story. Jesse finds the scroll of the Dispute between a Man and his Ba! A truly riveting tale about how it's so much better to die to live in paradise then toil away in the living world, except keep trying as it's the right thing to do. Because why not.]

[privatedomicile]

Well, I got a magic dog to sic on him if you change your mind.

[Jesse notes that eye twitch. Another piece of the puzzle...

Interesting story, though.]

Ba's speaking facts. Live your life while you got it, y'know?

[metagame]

I suppose...

[His yellow eyes dart away. Doesn't seem he's interested in talking more about the story.]

Hey, Jesse. How about we play a game? Doesn't that sound way more fun?

[privatedomicile]

Huh. What kinda game we talkin'? I'm down.

[Surely he won't get Saw trap'd twice in a row. Surely.]

[prozaic]

[Just like the snake he is, Shalem flutters his tongue out to better scent the room. He's actually going to ignore Atem to look around, especially the scrolls. (6) But maybe he should have sniffed instead...]

[metagame]

Wow! Scrolls! There are so many of them!

[prozaic]

[Fine... he's picking one up to read... (13)]

[metagame]

Shalem finds a Wisdom text that someone (Atem) has drawn penises all over. It's illegible.

[prozaic]

[Yep, putting that away because kids gotta be kids. Of course. He's simply going to walk along the shelves, brushing his hand all over the scrolls.]

Atem. [His sanity's recovered enough that his voice is back to its usual cadence.] Are you happy here?

[A simple question.]

[pointzeropercent]

[He's checking out the papyrus (7), though after a while he'll go talk to Atem.]

Got any recommendations for reading?

[metagame]

I'm quite fond of the Shipwrecked Sailor. I should have it over here...

[pointzeropercent]

[Going to just go look for it wherever Atem points it out.]

[metagame]

Here you go, Sou!

[pointzeropercent]

[He will indeed read it, because any insight into Atem's mind is helpful.]

I see why you like this one. Fantastical stories like this really are entertaining.

[townmusician]

[Haruka looks over the papyrus (5...), but he's admittedly more curious over what Atem has to say.]

Things in the village seemed pretty... bad. Is everything gonna be okay?

[He will Not offer to fight any gods for him, because he thinks that's stupid.]

[metagame]

Huh? Why wouldn't it be okay? I thought the villagers were happy.

[He tilts his head up.]

[townmusician]

[🧍]

Uh, not really? They all kinda think they won't survive the flooding because there's not a lotta stuff, which is kind of the opposite of being happy.

[metagame]

That's not my problem.

[townmusician]

[blinks...]

Sheesh, that's heartless. Buncha people are gonna slowly die because what they need to survive is coming here and it's not your problem?

[can they go incite a revolution can they actually do that overthrowing thing]

[emptyself]

[ well soujuurou's kept to himself most of this time, letting the others do what they need to do, but he'll walk up to the pharaoh after one of the games. ]

Now that I think about it, I've never actually played a game. Do you mind if I try?

[metagame]

You did ask me to teach you a game that one time...

[Alright, Soujuurou! Atem lays four cards out after briefly shuffling them.]

This one's pretty simple.

[What's the best way to describe it to someone who has never played a game before..?]

You flip two of these cards over, and if they're both the same color you win. If you lose, you'll have to face a penalty.

[emptyself]

A penalty? Alright then.

[ he nods, seemingly unbothered by the comment. still, he draws his cards, and they're the ace of clubs and the ace of hearts. ]

Oh well. Maybe another time. [ he gives atem a small smile. ] It was fun.

[metagame]

It was, wasn't it?

It's not quite time yet for me to dish out any penalties. You'll have to wait.

[He smiles and takes his cards back. Time to inflict the game on another person!!]