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Sheep in the Midst of Wolves

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the_hdk said:
sounds interesting...

wild guess but maybe it's the Holy Grail? :p
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If it is youve blown his storyline :rofl:
 
Glad to have had you on the programme and we're very great to have your friendship ! I've been keeping up with this AAR and will continue to do so !

As for the flower , I love flower imagery , there's always something so .. romantic if you'll forgive the cliché . You have an excellent writing style , Fiftypence so I'm very excited to see more of this unfold . Hashshashins are so mean !
 
Interesting AAR... here I join.
 
I like the writing style - sometimes waxes poetic, even the dialogue. I think so far this AAR has been done quite well.

Consider me signed on. I'll be interested to keep track of progress on this one.
 
Fiftypence said:
Fear not, a new update is in the works.
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Eagerly awaiting :)
 
Very nice so far. :) *Subscribes*
 
Is this AAR dead? I hope not... :(
 
Sheep in the Midst of Wolves

​
Jerusalem

Humphrey de Toron knew not exactly where he was going, following hazily recollected directions he had received an hour before. It was evening in Jerusalem, and the light was slowly fading from the sky and the heat had somewhat abated, making the air fresh and tolerable. The streets were mostly empty, apart from a few wandering tradesmen and merchants, and as he walked Humphrey cursed his step-father’s name, feeling annoyed and frustrated.

Renaud de Chatillon had left to return to his castle in Kerak after they had lunched, leaving Humphrey in possession of the glimmering, maddeningly mystifying glass rose, that was currently tucked amid his tunic. He had spent the rest of the afternoon having discrete discussions with servants, who he knew had far more idea of what went on in Jerusalem than he did. Most had yielded no information, and Humphrey was somewhat surprised that it was his manservant Gilles who had told him of Malik, the man Humphrey was currently on his way to see.

Jerusalem, of course, allowed no Muslims within the city, and thus Humphrey assumed that Malik was a Saracen convert, though Gilles had said nothing on the matter. Malik ibn Sabbah was, apparently, a man of great knowledge and wisdom, who plied his trade as a soothsayer and mystic, and was especially popular with the newcomers to the city, mostly Venetian and Genoese merchants. Humphrey had learnt that Gilles himself had used his services many a time, and was in awe of the man. Humphrey found himself less convinced.

He came to the tavern where Malik spent most of his time, a squalid little space not far from the headquarters of the Hospital of St. John, and indeed owned by the Hospitaler Order, as far as Humphrey knew. He entered, and gazed from the threshold at the candlelit interior, attracting little attention from any of the clientele. He walked purposefully to the bar, behind which stood an impressively large lady, who looked at him with total disinterest. He leaned over the bar.

“Is Malik here?”

The lady stared at him for a moment, before nodding. “In the back.”

Humphrey thanked her, and found his way into a small room joined to the main bar area via a short corridor. In the room sat a brown skinned man smoking some kind of makeshift pipe, seemingly in a world of his own, elbows resting on a wooden table. Humphrey judged him to be about forty years old, by the slight wrinkles and the grey hair at his temples. After a couple of moments he glanced up at Humphrey with a sly smile.

“Ah, welcome. I’ve been expecting you. Sit down.”

“Have you?” the young nobleman said with some puzzlement, taking a seat. Gilles must have told him about my enquiries.

“No, it was not Gilles,” he said lightly, laughing as Humphrey’s eyes widened. “You come with something you wish for me to look at?”

Humphrey, still in partial shock, removed the rose from his clothing and laid it on the table. Malik took a deep puff from his pipe, and laughed. Humphrey was beginning to feel slightly annoyed.

“What’s so funny?”

Malik let out a large plume of smoke, and scratched his head. “You really have no idea what this is, do you?”

“Well no, that’s why I brought it to you, so you could tell me.”

Malik‘s features turned dark. “I could tell you what you want to know…but I’m going to tell you something else. Take away this rose, and get rid of it. Throw it in a river, or else hide it somewhere so secret that it could never be found.”

Humphrey felt a rush of anger. “WHAT? Why…no, why do you say that?? I could not bring myself to…”

“There will be very dangerous people looking for this object,” Malik said, “and they will have no qualms about killing you to get it. And now you have endangered both our lives by bringing it here to show it to me.”

Humphrey looked again at the rose, at its intoxicating beauty, and felt deeply disturbed. The fumes were beginning to take their effect, and he wiped his bleary eyes with a feeling of rising exhilaration. “All right, I’ll do as you say, I’ll get rid of it. But only if you tell me why I must. Please?” Malik gazed into Humphrey’s imploring eyes, and sighed.

“Fine. But not here, I don’t know who might be listening. Meet me tomorrow at sundown outside the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Make sure you have disposed of the rose by then. All I can tell you now is that that symbol has meaning only to one versed in the art of alchemy. Now leave.”

Humphrey nodded, standing up. He walked through to the bar and out of the tavern in a daze, and as he trod outside noticed how incredibly dark it had become. He reflected on this for a moment, and realised that he was incredibly hungry. With food on his mind he decided to head back to the palace, but had only made it a few steps when he was stopped in his tracks by a piercing, almost inhuman scream, from the tavern behind him. He rushed back inside through the bar and into the back room, and saw a sight that made him cover his mouth with his hands, to supress the urge to vomit. The Landlady was weeping with fear and shock in the corner.

"Oh, God!"

He knew that Malik would never tell his secrets, for he lay where he had been sitting with his throat cleanly cut, blood oozing and spilling out like syrup, stone dead.

Negev Desert

The vultures circled overhead, the only sign of life in this barren wilderness apart from a lone figure and his camel. Dressed entirely in white, the man was weary but had no intention of stopping, and drove on, for hour after hour, until he came to a stop and gracefully got off the camel. He removed one of the sacks from the camel’s back and laid it on the ground. Kneeling, he rummaged through, carefully removing a funeral shroud and a shovel. He then stood, and dug for a short while, toiling under the unforgiving sun, eventually uncovering a corpse, perfectly preserved by the desert sand.

Wiping away the vaguest hint of a tear, Anwar lifted the body of his deceased nephew, and dragged it out of it’s temporary grave.

“I promised I’d return, Nadim, and bury you properly,” he muttered, wrapping the shroud around the body with care. “The dog Chatillon will not have the satisfaction of doing you this dishonour, even if it kills me.”

Anwar solemnly read aloud various prayers and previously-memorised verses of the Qu'ran. He positioned Nadim’s body so it was facing Mecca while grabbing handfuls of sand and letting it fall and gradually cover his nephew until he was entirely buried once again.

Nothing here, just shifting sand, stretching for an eternity…

Anwar took a deep breath and wiped away the profuse sweat. “Rest peacefully, Nadim. Spirits, vultures, I warn you, keep your distance. Let him rest undisturbed." Saying nothing more he mounted the camel, and rode south for the Red Sea.
 
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After a very dry spell, I felt inspired and decided to write an update. My apologies for taking so long. As for what inspired me...well, there is a reference to a certain book I'm currently reading in the update above, I wander if anyone can spot it?

By the way, thanks for the comments above. And yes, I can confirm that the glass rose is not the holy grail. :p
 
Let's hope that the book is not "The Da Vinci Code" :D
 
Interesting touch of mystery.
 
So the rose is a alchemic symbol. It might hint that the rose cross has something to do with this.
 
Huh... :eek: .
 
Kurt_Steiner said:
Let's hope that the book is not "The Da Vinci Code" :D
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Seconded .

Looking forward to seeing what this is all about XD
 
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