Scene 03: Outside the Beer Sheds of Crickneck

A darkness of inclement clouds, carrying calm rain, crept toward where the trio sat. Praetor and his female Pantera companion, Sala, shifted off the rough-sawn bench seats and moved under the cover of the lone tree in the courtyard. From there they could still order food and drink should the ordinary quality not be a deterrent. Anubis did not move. He sat cross legged on the ground, as the gentlest of rain fell upon him. No otherworldly mien glimmered from his being. He looked only like a slowly dampening person, albeit one with a jackal's countenance. His dark furred head bent, muzzle pointed downward as many mosaics of his appearance have always pictured him. A slow procession of droplets depended one at a time from the tip of his nose, before falling away to make room for the next. His kohl black skin shone as it grew wet. His eyes were shut in a manner that might indicate sleep or contemplation. Praetor could not be certain but from this angle it looked like the rainwater dripping from the demigod was taking on a blackened hue. It pooled around where his buttocks and ankles touched the earth. There was little enough light at this point of the evening to tell for sure.
Sala gripped Praetor's forearm near to drawing blood. A serving man left from the beer shack and moved purposely to the seated demigod.
"Here now, you can't sit there in the rain! You'll worry the customers. I'll lose money."
Anubis shrugged, "No problem at all. Have some money." The server waited for the jackal-headed being to offer a pouch or coins but no movement occurred. "In your shack, you will find your payment."
The server returned quickly to the shack. There he saw a small, black chest banded in pure gold. The chest alone would be worth a single Warren day's takings. He almost didn't need to open it... almost. Inside the box held more gold, this in the form of metal teardrops.
Anubis, through this exchange, had not moved nor even opened his eyes. His inner gaze was directed elsewhere and elsewhen.
Some minutes passed and then he stood. Not nimbly, all weight on one leg lifting him upward. Once standing, he used his long stick to walk to his companions. Sala again clutched Praetor's arm, this time drawing blood. With her other paw's claw extended, she pointed at where their new companion had been sitting.
There, next to the table they'd sat at, in a puddle of rainwater, was an ebony outlined eye. Stylistically it resembled the markings and symbols Anubis's vessel was decorated with. Sala shivered though the humidity in the air would fervently deny the idea of a chill being possible. Praetor had seen this particular symbol a few times before. Always it was in dealings with the Veightal. He wasn't certain what it was meant to mean, but that it was significant in general and here and now specifically, he could be well certain.
Anubis reached them, "You both see it also?" Sala nodded dumbly. The black skinned godling exclaimed, "That's tops! I didn't dream it then."
"What does it mean?" The two asked in the same breath and then looked at each other with small smiles.
"That is the Eye. Some shadows came to call it the Eye of Illuminations... Upon other Elsewheres it has resided in the heads of special mortals for as long as it found use for these people, be they warlocks or champions... In one Age it rested in the skull of a northern God. Then it moved on... But that was after... After it had been born in another God. In truth, such an eye can only have one origin as with anything great or minor... It belonged to my brother. It has outlived him for a great deal of time. Now it has come here. It's my doing I imagine. It has a fondness for me, as it did my brother and Praetor it seems it has marked you as well. How long ago I can't say. Probably at a point when I wasn't around. You might have had contact with another of the Veightal. Or you might have come to the Phoenix's attention? Cygnus's for that matter. Did you ever meet my brother I wonder? Horus? Hawk's head where his jackal head should be? Well, you must have seen or been seen in some way. The Eye of Horus is upon you. Good luck!" Anubis turned his muzzle away at that point, muttering, "...with that."
He continued, "It has done its work as usual. I do feel somewhat better. Still limping though... Now that I've got more wit about me let me see who else might be con--HHAhh! -- con-jured to help us."
The humid air grew heavier as he motioned through the air with his two staves. All sense of a breeze, if there was any to begin with, vanished. The air became so still that the slightest movement would be felt even by those that normally would have no sense of it. For Sala, with her excellent senses for detection, it was like having them amplified. Her ears flicked to a point to her left where Anubis seemed to be focusing.
Praetor being a human, had no heat sensing organ, no mobile ears, no pressure sensitive whiskers. He did however, have his odd gemstone eye. It was capable of detecting things most could not. His hand moved of its own accord, unbidden to remove the eyepatch covering it. It looked at the place Anubis now directed a golden energy beam toward. The energy splashed against an unseen flat barrier. As Praetor's eye could discern more detail, he could see that the beam was creating a 'trench' all around what looked like a hexagonal panel. The golden energy now seemed to pulse and as it did, the hexagonal plate first seemed to float then wobbled and flew off to the side. Revealed in the place the hexagonal panel had been, Praetor could see another planar landscape. Heavily forested as Warren was not. The light through this hexagonal 'window' was also different. Gentler. More diffused. Altogether more hospitable than where the trio stood. Sala let out a low exclamation, like that of a child seeing a toy that it wanted.
Anubis also made a sound. His was a satisfied grunt, "The portal has been conjured... awake from sleep, you who are called Homestead's master. Before you a window has been created. This opens on a world of the real planes, one known as Warren. I know you have reason to believe all is lost. Hear and recall the voice of the Arch-Cur. It is I, it is the protector of the spirits, guardian of the dead and living proof of greatness past, I am Anubis. As proof of my reality and of our shared history, I offer you a memory made real, one that few would remember to use as anything but such a proof. Look through the window, look beside me.
To whomever the jackal-headed demigod spoke, it would be clear that next to Anubis stood, an oddly formed being. Humanoid with each of its four limbs detached from its torso as though these were originally part of the body but had, at some point been changed sufficiently that being apart was necessary. The limbs looked quiescent at the moment but there was a elemental nature to each one. Those with heightened senses, could see that three of the limbs were connected to one of the three elements. The right arm appeared to be capable of wielding colour and the head, a naked skull, could be encompassed in flame. Sala growled in spite of the demigod's introduction. She did not care for the creature's looks. It was a thing that was of the grave. Anubis looked over his shoulder at her, "You're right. I'm a friend to those who have gone beyond. Some few... they can return to assist the living. They must have guidance to remain with the living. I'm that guide. Do not be worried. This dead soul has a name. He was known as, Char."
Sala shook her head twice quickly as though she tried to remove something stuck to her forehead.
Praetor returned his gaze to the portal window. It began to expand. Soon it was large enough to reach the ground. Now more a doorway than a window, he could make out a group of individuals some mounted, some on foot, walking deliberately to the edge where two realities met.
Anubis bowed elaborately -- perhaps sarcastically -- toward the figure of a man who sat astride a horse at the party's front and intoned, " Welcome to Warren, creator of Homestead."