The kalesh dropped Fredde and Dr. Elias off in front of the Egyptian Museum. They had been able to see the structure's large ochre dome as they approached, which seemed to serve as one of the more prominent visible landmarks they could make out in the city.

After making their way within, they were easily accomodated in English to the Museum's library, housed in an elaborate rotunda in the main wing of the museum. People who were presumably scholars, both of Western and Egyptian descent, perused volumes on the shelves, occasionally assisted by a librarian, or worked quietly at tables placed centrally for their use as they referred to the materials here.

OOC:

Leo & Fredde, what would you two like to research here? Give me subjects of inquiry and Library Use rolls for each, and anything else you deem appropriate.

Leo enjoyed the sights and sounds of Cairo as well as he could, and paid the gentleman that had transported them to the library. Once inside, he looked around for some help attempting to find something on that Queen that Harry had mentioned.

OOC: Looking for information on Queen Nitocris.

12:16, Today: Dr. Leonardo Elias rolled 52 using 1d100 with rolls of 52.  Library Use (75).

Fredde trails Leo through the stacks, running her finger along the spines of the dusty books. She stops abruptly, her eye snagging on a word.

"Hey, Doc!" she calls, before remembering where they are and lowering her voice to a hoarse whisper, "What's that name you're lookin' for? Nitocris, innit?"

Fredde ten Boom rolled 5 for Library Use 25%.

Leo and Fredde are only able to find scant references to Nitocris.

Dr. Elias locates a book that mentions that in the Sixth Dynasty, a cruel Queen named Nitocris reigned, and was thought to be a worshipper of a strange deity known as the Black Pharaoh.

Fredde locates a reference to her reverence for the Great Sphinx at Giza.

When Leo found the obscure reference, he frowned and quietly got Fredde's attention (they were in a library after all).

He pointed out what he had found so that she had the same information on the Queen.

Given the reference, Leo set out next to see if he could find anything more on the Black Pharaoh and quietly suggested Fredde do the same.

OOC: Looking up stuff on the Black Pharaoh.

15 is exactly one-fifth of Leo's Library Use skill. Is that important?

10:55, Today: Dr. Leonardo Elias rolled 15 using 1d100 with rolls of 15.  Library Use (75).

It took quite a while of looking through a variety of sources, and Leo could find no other references for the Black Pharaoh until he had almost given up. He decided that one last book was worth a look, an old book that had a minor footnote indicating that there was a book called Kitab al Azif written by Abdul al Hazrat that discussed the Black Pharaoh and other obscure deities, though little credence was given to the source.

He was unable to find the aforementioned book or anything by that author anywhere else in the library.

OOC:

It means you rolled a critical success, and thus, were able to find something about the Black Pharaoh. In this case, anything short of a critical success would have been a failure.

Fredde had a critical success too.

OOC:

Yes, Fredde did have a critical success on the roll about Nitocris. That information is only slightly less rare than that about the Black Pharaoh. You will find the results for that above in msg #33:

Fredde locates a reference to her reverence for the Great Sphinx at Giza.

In reply to The Keeper (msg # 37):

Yes! I did a good.

Leo again showed Fredde what he had found and jotted some notes on what little they'd discovered. As he couldn't find the other book here, he thought that perhaps another library would be a good next step.

He gestured toward the door for Fredde to join him in departure.

Their next step would be the American University, though Leo had his doubts about their finding anything of use there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:37, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

Fredde walks along beside Leo and joins him in their transport.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:37, Mon 08 Apr 2019.

They are able to easily flag down a kalesh, and with the aid of one of the museum staff members, they were able to communicate to them where they wanted to go. It took another thirty minutes to get there, but the crowds parted easily for the horses for fear of being trampled by the beasts which eased their passage.

As they round the corner from Tahrir square, the kalesh dropped them in front of ornate iron gates on the Qasr El Eyni street, which opened onto a courtyard in front of the French-style palace. Three stories high, the building was opulent and impressive from the outside, and equally impressive inside. Large hallways decorated and tiled in the Arabic style ran down the center of each wing, and their footsteps echoed on the wooden floors as they walked up to what they presumed was an administration office.

Sharply dressed students in suits and ties crisscross the grounds of the campus, some of them wearing a red tarbouch on their heads. Most were men, but there were women in their number as well, and they seemed mostly to be from Western European, Greek, and Armenian communities, as well as local Cairenes.

A brief conversation with a staff member resulted in getting directions to the university's library. As they were not students or faculty, they were advised that they wouldn't be able to check out any books, but were nonetheless welcome to peruse the library's contents, or that of some of the school's smaller collections.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:52, Mon 08 Apr 2019.

Leo again paid an appropriate amount for the ride with a little gratuity added on top of it, thanked their driver/guide, and made his way inside.

He again thanked those that provided directions and made his way to the university library. This time he began his search with the Black Pharaoh.

OOC:
10:30, Today: Dr. Leonardo Elias rolled 46 using 1d100 with rolls of 46.  Library Use (75).

Despite making a thorough search through the library's contents, Leo doesn't find a single mention of the Black Pharaoh. Remembering what he found in the other library, he turns his attention onto Kitab al Azif and Abdul al Hazrat, hoping to acquire some indirect knowledge.

Leo again showed Fredde what he'd discovered, then checked to see if she had managed to find anything else or different.

In reply to Dr. Leonardo Elias (msg # 44):

"No, sorry, Doc. No luck."

Leo nodded, then gestured toward the exit after taking some notes and leaving the books behind.

"Unless you have any other thoughts, I think we should head back to the hotel and reconnect with the others."

"Tip-top idea, Doc. I'll stand you to a drink at th' bar."

"That's an excellent idea. I don't think there are many places that serve strong drink here, but I believe our hotel bar is one of the few. And all this reading has certainly created a bit of thirst for something besides knowledge."

Leo led the pair back to the street where they attempted again to get transportation.

Placing two fingers in her mouth, Fredde emits a piercing whistle to get the attention of passing kaleshes.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:34, Fri 03 May 2019.

Fredde was able to successfully through universal gesture summon a kalesh, and they managed to communicate their destination. While the driver did not speak any English, nevertheless, he was able to understand the words "Shepheard's Hotel" and took them back to their point of origin.

OOC:

Sorry about the delay. Your research activities took much longer time wise than the other group's activities, so I was kind of waiting for a meeting up point to emerge, though it clearly hasn't. What's next for Fredde and Leo upon their return to the hotel?

Drink!

OOC:

It's certainly what I would do!

Ooc: drink. Leo’s buying.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Fri 10 May 2019.

I'll stand you the second round, Doc.