In reply to Ali (msg # 740):

Dr. Khafour frowned. "Language, Ali. There are ladies present. My apologies for my acquaintance. He's a rough sort."

In reply to Bahadir Sahin (msg # 741):

Not taking his eyes off Perkins, Ali inclined his head. "Where are my manners? My deepest apologies for my uncouth language.

"And what are you babbling about, Bahadir? The door to the corridor's right bloody there. My apologies, again."

In reply to Bahadir Sahin (msg # 741):

"Captured? By whom, may I ask?"

"I'm sorry, and frankly, a little confused that we could not come to an agreement. But thank you for your time, regardless, doctor."

With that, Cynthia will move to the door; slowly, aware of her steps, and checking around corners for surprises. This meeting has simply gone ... not at all as could be expected, and she's still not sure if she's in a trap or not.

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 746):

Dr. Khafour laughed. "Confused my dear? Really? It is quite simple. I wished to keep some items, which the Count confirms you know little about and care even less for, for a few days safekeeping while I teach you how to use them safely. I gave my word that they would be returned afterwards. There was some blather from you about your honor and me being a thief, or something, but you refused my rather generous offer and so now you are leaving because I have other matters to attend to. I can draw you a diagram, if you prefer.

"But as God commands his slave to be generous to others, I will do you a favour. This letter shall provide your bona fides with regards to those items, verifying they are not of ancient Egyptian origin and therefore not subject to seizure under the law."

Sitting down at his secretary's desk, he took a sheet of paper and fountain pen and scrawled a note. "If you do not care to wait, I will also be sending a typed formal authorisation to the residence where you are staying."

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 746):

As Cynthia peered cautiously around, Ali helpfully pointed out some of the anteroom's threats and dangers. "Careful, miss, there are scorpions in the corner there. A particularly disgruntled yet very deadly asp named "Charlie" resided in the light fixture. And do mind the crocodile waiting under the chaisse-lounge to pounce and bear you down under the deep, dark waters to your doom."

OOC: To clarify, anyone leaving Dr. Khafour's inner office may do so without issue. Dr. Khafour and Ali are now in the antechamber. There is a second door, leading to the corridor. Let me know when opening that one.

With little more then a cursorily nod the Count leaves the office after indicating for Ms Holloway to lead off. He makes eye contact with Mr Perkins who has put his hand in his pocket. The Count surmises he now has the muzzle pointing at this Ali character. "The English embassy will suffice for the letter Doctor. Thank you for your time." He then follows Ms Holloway opening the door for her as they leave the office.

OOC: I believe the Count will be opening the door.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:52, Thu 22 Jan 2015.

In reply to Count Sigismund Bathony (msg # 749):

Not moving, Ali commented calmly to Perkins, "careful there, old boy. Some of us served in the war by going "over the top" in Flanders to fight Jerry, others served by sticking knives between the ribs of Turkish thugs in the back alleys of Cairo. I'll let you sort out what that means."

He winked at Bahadir with the mention of killing Turks.

"A word before you leave, Count. As a servant of His Majesty I thank you on His behalf for services rendered that shall never be mentioned. For this, the Crown has protected you in your endevours so far it was able, but that is all over, now. Do take care not to break any more laws while you are in His realms or that of His friends, like Egypt.

"You'll find thing will be most... unpleasant."

Ali raised his voice. "Sergeant! They are coming out and are not to be molested. Do you understand?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:14, Thu 22 Jan 2015.

In reply to Ali (msg # 750):

Through the door, from the corridor came the muffled response.

"Sah! Yes Sah! They are not to be molested, Sah! Not unless you wish it to be so, sah!"

In reply to Count Sigismund Bathony (msg # 749):

The old wizened man didn't look up at Bathony's request.

"What? Oh yes, another copy is always sent to the Embassy."

"What ever makes you feel like you have achieved something." He then switched to a more Northern dialect; "And dun thuz wuz others like me oo clubbed de jerry's in their beds knee deep in filth and mud." He follows the others out a smirk on his face.

In reply to Ali (msg # 750):

The Count continued to walk as he spoke in reply to Ali; "Did his Majesty tell you that himself, as a lower level functionary in a far flung colonial outpost I am sure you are on a first name basis. Best not to evoke the names of people you have never met, those that have may take it as a slight. Good day Gentlemen." He flourishes his hand over his shoulder as he leaves.

In reply to Ali (msg # 750):

"Ah yes, so there's that! And I thought I was growing old before my time, hah!"

He scratches his right ear at Ali's command to the Sarge, puts a genial arm around Rashid's shoulders, and accompanies the Count.

In reply to Bahadir Sahin (msg # 755):

"See, Bahadir? You're safe as houses. The good Sergeant says so."

The only direct response to Bathony's and Perkin's repostes was a low, mocking laugh. He did say as an aside (in Arabic) to Dr. Khafour, "does he know there's a difference between serving on the order of the King and actually meeting the King? How imbecilic."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Fri 23 Jan 2015.

In reply to Ali (msg # 756):

Not looking up from his writing, Dr. Khafour nodded. He said in Arabic, "well, he is from Bulgaria, I think. Perhaps they do things differently there? I have met the King, you know, before the war. Quite a decent fellow. Alas, we were not on a first-name basis."

"Ah, here we go!" He had switched to English, spreading some sand to absorb the excess ink. He handed the letter of provenance to Rashid as the was hustled by.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:48, Fri 23 Jan 2015.

In reply to Dr. Ali Khafour (msg # 757):

Rashid gingerly took the proffered letter of provenance.

<i>"A thousand thank you. And please let me abjectly apologise for all that has gone on here."

In reply to Count Sigismund Bathony (msg # 754):

The outer door opened as Bathony reached it. Holding it open was a British Army infantry sergeant in the Indian Rifles, armed with a holstered pistol. He was a Sikh, with a fierce grey mustache and wearing a turban.

"This way. Please do not tarry."

A dozen more Indian Rifles waited standing at attention in the corridor. Half on one side, half on the other, staring straight ahead. Lee Enfield rifles on their shoulders.

Cynthia follows the Count out, now thoroughly bewildered and for once without a word to say. She tries to judge how 'noisy' of an exit they're making, surrounded by armed men. Regardless, she'll go to the car and climb in, making sure all of their possessions come in with her.

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 760):

Bahadir follows close by,with Cynthia and the Count. He takes Khafour's letter from Rashid and pores over it,determined to detect something amiss.

In reply to Bahadir Sahin (msg # 761):

Dr. Khafour was as good as his word. It was a letter of provenance for their items. On one hand it was informal, on the other, Dr. Khfour's word in this matter was law. It would suffice to convince curious police until the formal paperwork was delivered.

Under the circumstances, it was a surprisingly generous gesture (to Bahadir, who had some experience in matters of the regulation of antiquities). Some of their items, like the ankhs and sceptres, clearly were of ancient egyptian origin. The Egyptian government strictly regulated and jealously guarded such items. Under normal circumstances they would be seized under the law, with no recourse, despite their personal feelings!

Besides, the idea this letter was some kind of clever subterfuge was absurd. If Khafour wished to seize everything and have them throw them all in jail to boot, he clearly could do so immediately and with no legal impediment. Doing so was literally part of his job.

In reply to The Keeper (msg # 762):

The man calling himself "Ali" looked over at JM and Molly.

"My, you two are quiet. Have you anything to say for yourselves?"

JM steps forward and nods to Ali.  "Dr. Khafour, I'm not a man of academics or science but I have served in the War and afterward amongst men," he nodded to Molly and Cynthia, "and women of honor.  I would like to apologize for treating you with such disrespect."

He switched to Arabic.  "You honor us and place me in your debt by your gracious treatment of us despite coming to your house with harsh words.  The letter you have provided us and the forbearance you show by not having us arrested or seizing our artifacts puts us all in your debt.  I would ask you to reconsider working with us.  The foe that we all face is far to dangerous to society to allow misunderstandings to come between those of good heart.  I would only say in our defense that we have been through the loss of friends and family and betrayal by those in whom we placed our trust."

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 764):

The men waited until Bahadir, Rashid, Cynthia, the Count and Perkins were gone before continuing.

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 764):

Khafour studied JM for a moment, then sighed. He nodded to the other man, who returned the nod.

"Quite all right, my good man. I may have let my annoyance get the better of myself, for that I do apologise. All right, I think I can be of assistance with you. For one, I understand that Miss Cynthia has had some success with researching the Mirror of Gal. The sceptres are items of power, as well as the statue of the winged man.

"Tell me, what have you heard of the "Black Pharaoh"?"

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 764):

While Dr. Khafour paused, Ali, added.

"Apologies for myself as well. I imagine to your friends, we're just Arabs. "Bloody Wogs". Terms are usually dictated to us and we have no choice in the matter, not the other way around. That bit of "turnabout" may have struck them as odd, suspicious. Threatening a friend of His Majesty's government was perhaps a step too far. He was only doing his official job, you knows.

"Speaking of official jobs, the Crown utterly cannot be involved in what's going on, here. For one, this is Egypt, not the Empire proper. Second, it's too bloody fantastic! There are sacrifices, like that of Perkins' brother, that will never be mentioned. No medals, no drums, no bugles. But he will be remembered. And we can try to make... allowances. When possible. Try not to blow up the bloody pyramids, eh? That would be slightly difficult to smooth over."