The road to Getsemiel

[Porcelain Fish]

[OOC:] "More details"? Is the good Brother Tim subconsciously straddling the fence? [/OOC]

"Well, it is rather suspect in that light," Maduin conceded after a moment, "and I suppose it's just as plausible that this loops back ino more Veracian Church politics as it is that Father Blaise has a secret peccadillo. Still, if they were following us in general, one would expect pictures of the rest of you to be present as well."

[Alberich]

[OOC: He was after the location of the room, not the decor. ]

Tim asked directly, "But is there any chance you could recognize where it is, or remember who might've been there, or use your magic to, ah, see more of it? I mean, whoever made the picture was looking you in the face, and if Rose is right was using magic to make it."

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose looked at Maduin. "No, no, I don't think this is church politics," she said. "I admit, though, that I don't know exactly what it is. Right now I'm more interested in how Blaise got that picture. There just wasn't anyone at that inn to make it, was there? Unless it was bugged or something, and I can't figure out why anyone would do that. The staff pretty well left us alone, and the only person there who saw us when you were running off with Argus was that weird poet, Porpington Bree, and he's dead now. He couldn't have ..." And then it hit her.

Yes, he's dead.

So is Sister Bree. And so is the man in the stable, Uncle Shemmy or whatever his name was. And so was that priest that Blaise went to the Southern Continent with. And ...

Rose's face turned pale as she tried to think of something to say.

[Drannin]

Argus looked at Rose in alarm. "What is it?"

[Graybeard]

"What is it?"

"Well, I just started thinking," Sister Rose answered, still shaken by the connections she'd made. "That ridiculous poet ... and Sister Bree ... and Shemmy ... and all the others ..."

Might as well put a name on it. "There's so much death around Father Blaise that ... well, suppose our mission does succeed. What are we going to do with him when we find him?"

[Drusia]

"I'm just dreaming of a world where I can walk around a town without people staring in horror or our 'parents' attacking us on sight." He sighed, and his mouth twisted into meanness. "I know your mother is one of the good ones, Priestess, but if someone told me tomorrow that a souped-up, super powered half-elf wiped them off the face of the earth I'd probably find the guy and buy him a beer."

I wrinkle my nose at him. "That's the thing," I reply, "There haven't been any of those since the War. I think it's because elves aren't having children with half-elves anymore. The more human blood we get, the fewer powerful Errants are born. I don't know if there's anyone left strong enough to do berzerk the way they did a couple thousand years ago." Not that they aren't still dangerous. Insane serial killers are still extremely dangerous, particularly in a small, close-knit town like Snamish. And it wouldn't take a super-powered Errant to burn down our town - just one with enough skill to cast a few fireballs.

-- Desiree

OOC: That was a bit fourth-wall of you. :p

[Alberich]

"Cyrus, too," added Timothy in response to Rose. "It might've been coincidence, or from what you're telling me, not. If Desiree hadn't been there, or maybe even if I hadn't come up right after, his heart would've stopped beating and that would've been that. Even as it was, after we healed him, he was weak and likely to stay so.

"That's why I was asking her if there was a way to make the heart beat stronger...to stop someone from just stopping like that. Like a forward defense against this subtle death."

Especially if Blaise's recruit's brother-in-law, whoever that was, had the power to make it happen. That makes it sound like an attack, and if it's an attack, I want a defense.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose stopped, thought. Truthfully, she hadn't considered the possibility that Father Cyrus' heart attack had been related to all of the other deaths. That had just seemed like an elderly, none too healthy man overexerting himself in a time of enormous stress. But on the other hand, why couldn't it have been connected to the other deaths?

After a little more thought, she shook her head. "No," she said slowly, "I don't think strengthening the heart would stop the deaths. Strengthening the soul, maybe, because what I ... experienced seemed like a direct attack on the soul. It wasn't even aimed at me, and it was one of the most frightening experiences I've ever had in my life."

[OOC: To save time, if Tim wants to know more about this, Rose would give him a carefully sanitized account of her encounter with Wilbur Hamael, taking care not to reveal the location where it happened, and certainly not to talk about Snamish. Not going to reproduce it here, however. It'll take some reading from that starting point to where push comes to shove, kick back and think about it...]

[Alberich]

Brother Timothy drank in the story quickly. Well, now, there were two practical things about the attack she described: firstly, there was a magical defense that worked, if you saw the attack coming and threw it up in time. Next, there was something, something alive and aware, waiting for you if the attack succeeded.

Brother Timothy then asked two favors of Sister Rose: Firstly, that she would teach him that defense, and secondly, that's she'd tell him - had she done any research, or heard anything about, what that "demon" on the other side might be?

"Because if this isn't just a regular magical attack, but it's invoking some kind of enemy - and we can see it when the attack hits - and we aren't paralyzed with fear because we didn't see it coming - maybe we can strike back, put it out of business. And if it attacks us all at once, maybe we can counterattack all at once, too." Fearsome though it sounded, a part of him liked the idea of being in front of Rose, shielding her from it, and charging right into its teeth.

He thought further. "If that poor farmer wasn't just a mighty wizard putting on an act, maybe this evil presence you sensed was controlling him - may be doing the same to Blaise."

[Graybeard]

"If that poor farmer wasn't just a mighty wizard putting on an act, maybe this evil presence you sensed was controlling him - may be doing the same to Blaise."

Sister Rose looked at her fellow clergyman, trying to keep her face neutral, and failing. "That's a positively horrifying thought." And one I hadn't had. There can't really be a connection between Wilbur Hamael and Father Blaise ... could there?

Damn right there could.

"I think you've convinced me that it would be a good idea not just to teach you a Barrier spell --" how did he become a militia or reserve officer without knowing one? Standards are slipping ... "-- but whoever else in the party is capable of it. Eli's a pretty sophisticated user of combat magic already, and I'm sure he knows it. So does Argus; he used to be a battlemage, he tells me. And who knows what Maduin is capable of? But let's try to get you and my cousin and Desiree set up with it. Lillith and Bryce, well, I don't know -- Lillith has surprised me lately with magic skills she didn't know she had, but this spell isn't exactly her style. Anyway, yes, let's work on it tonight. And if that means we stop early and sleep in a campsite, well, we stop early." She shuddered. "Better to be on the safe side when pursuing this man."

For all the good it's likely to do... An observer might have noticed that she'd adroitly dodged the question of what was looking back at her from the grave when Wilbur Hamael used the power of death. Or not.