Umbertiel

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC Is this taking place inside Plinkett's tailors? I'm losing track./OOC

"Deviants! Your sins must be purged! Come with us, it is time for a smiting!"

Eli was surprised, to put it bluntly, at the behaviour of the 'holy men' that had come crashing through the door and seized the men in their group. The half-elf's hand went to his sword instinctively before sanity reasserted itself and he remembered where he was. Instead, he gritted his teeth, said a silent prayer and stepped forward.

"Gentlemen." He said, in the most diplomatic tones he could muster. "Is there a problem here?"

[Drannin]

Argus caught up to Rose, breathing heavily. "Great. So someone got a little over-eager. Just great." He blinked. "And, ummm... what's that guy doing?"

Sometimes he wondered if he was a magnet for trouble. And strangeness.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Yes, this is all happening right at the door to the tailor's. Presumably Lillith and Brad and Desiree and Eli, having had a head start, are somewhere in the shop, while Maduin and Bryce are nearer the door, but still inside. Rose and Argus are still back at the inn, although on the way to the shop post haste. /OOC:]


"Is there a problem here?"

The priest looked at Eli, his face clouding for a moment with an attempt to sort through his memory and his instructions. Finding nothing he deemed relevant, he harrumphed. "Not involving you, there is not, and speak more respectfully to your intercessors with Our Lord Luminosita. These men --" he almost spat the word -- "are sinners of a most perfidious and noxious kind, and they must be purged of their sins before Luminosita. Now stand back as we conduct them to the smitings they deserve. Stay back, this is no concern of yours." The four soldiers' grips on Maduin's and Bryce's arms tightened.

------------

"And, ummm... what's that guy doing?"

"I don't know," Sister Rose answered. The man in the ornate robes of a high-ranking priest had stepped out of the Orthodox temple and looked down the street, to where the other priest and the soldiers/police had disappeared into a shop. He now was nodding his head about once a second, as he looked at what appeared to be a stop watch or similar time piece in his hand. After a few seconds, he nodded, apparently satisfied, put the thing away in the folds of his robe, and headed quickly for the shop.

Rose motioned for silence. "Let's follow him," she whispered, "but at a distance." They passed the temple ... and as they passed, Rose noticed something else.

A robed woman was staring down the street, leaning from an upper window and looking toward the shop. Her facial expression was not one of love of Luminosita, or piety, or anything like that. In fact, it would be best described as bearing an evil leer.

Rose wished she had time to stop and cast her Empathy, but she did not.

[Sareth]

"These men --" the priest almost spat the word -- "are sinners of a most perfidious and noxious kind, and they must be purged of their sins before Luminosita. Now stand back as we conduct them to the smitings they deserve. Stay back, this is no concern of yours." The four soldiers' grips on Maduin's and Bryce's arms tightened.

Suddenly a rack of clothing seemed to almost explode as garments flew in every direction. One bundle of cloth flew towards one of the soldiers holding Bryce. As it struck, the soldier flew back with a grunt and smacked against the door frame, releasing his hold.

"Lillith!" Brad's shout was full of surprise.

The bundle of clothing bounced back from where the soldier had been standing. It stood and revealed itself to be Lillith. She pulled an errant sweater from herself and dropped it to the floor, then turned a face twisted with anger and disgust towards the priest, then lowered herself into a peculiar crouch that could be nothing other than some sort of fighting stance.

"No."

[OOC]Sheesh, girls beats up one perverted elf and suddenly discovers a spine.[/OOC]

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli cringed at Lilith's explosive display but made the snap decision to help his companions; by the sound of it the Priest and his militia were preparing to inflict horrors on Bryce and Maudin for no reason better than them being a slightly different religious denomination to those doing the arresting. He held out his palm, the immediate area lit up as as fire materialised and began dancing on it.

"I hate to do this, but you leave me no choice." He said. "Let them go and leave now or you'll be answering questions from your God about your ignorant, morally bankrupt actions before the day is much older."

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Oh, my ... That wasn't the way things in the haberdashery were expected to go ... But since that's the way they're going, let's run with it and see what happens. /OOC:]

The few customers in the shop who weren't associated with the party had recoiled in horror, toward the back of the building, leaving the drama to be played out in the front. As the cop who'd had Bryce's shoulder and been separated from same by Lillith tried to regain his grip (and his dignity), one of the other cops spoke to Lillith, his voice surprisingly calm and conciliatory. "Missy, this be none of your concern," he said. "The big, fancy nun at th' Temple of Our Lord Luminosity be sayin' that these two be partakin' of --" he scrunched up his face to remember exactly what the imposing woman had said -- "'appetites what ain't meat,' I think she be sayin'. So they be orderin' us to be bringin' 'em in for a smitin'. Now don't be troublin' your purty head with it, it ain't the kind of thang that --"

And then the fire broke out on Eli's hand.

"Luminosita have mercy!" the speaker gasped, and his conciliatory demeanor was replaced by something else. He made the Sign of Luminosita and turned a panic-stricken glance at the priest.

Who was, to put it mildly, well outside his own comfort level himself. His orders had been rather simple, actually: bring the practitioners of un-Luminositan sexual practices (he'd blushed furiously when he first got the order) back to the temple so that their evil could be smitten out of them. What could be so hard about that? Everyone else in town would surely approve of such a righteous application of Luminosita's Law. But then there'd been the attack by the small, furious girl-woman -- she couldn't possibly understand the iniquities of the people she was trying to protect, could she? -- and now ...

He gathered what remained of his courage and screeched, in his reedy voice, "Stop in the name of Our Lord Luminosita, I command you! You use forbidden magics! Be aware that you yourself may be in need of a smiting! You --"

However, he didn't get any farther than that, because one of the women who'd been terrified into the back of the store had turned out to have more presence of mind than anyone expected.

Fire was always a hazard in a linen store, and fire-fighting goods were close at hand. She'd seen the flame on Eli's palm and reached a quick decision. Those Luminosita-hating sex maniacs had set this poor man on fire with their evil! "Don't worry, sir, I'll save you," she shrieked ... and emptied a bucket of water, secured in a red-painted corner for just this purpose, on Eli with a sploosh.

And then things really got interesting.

-----------

Sister Rose was still too far away from the store to have heard any of this, but the sudden screams left her with very little doubt that Something Bad had happened. Giving vent to a curse word she'd learned in the Albigenish Incident that would have made grown men tremble if it hadn't been in the Albigensian language, she abandoned all caution and broke into as much of a sprint as her church robes would allow her.

[Sareth]

The sudden blast of steam filled the place with a hot, sticky mess that was far too large for nature. Eli stood dripping as people began to cough on the sudden thickness. The police stepped back away from Maduin and Bryce.

"You people," Lillith began, "are exactly the sorts that have the rest of the world convinced you're all lunatics! To accost two guests of your nation in order to subject them to tenets that are not of their faith while gloating about your belief that it is the righteous command of your so-ca*mmmRRMFFF!"

During the start of what was promising to be a substantial tirade, Brad had come around behind her. Gently but firmly he had wrapped one arm around her waist while the othe came up to plop a hand over her mouth. "Lillith, please. You're making a scene."

Lillith glowered, but subsided, hair shinning in the damp air.

"Gentlemen, perhaps we should discuss this like adults?" Brad smiled like the priest he'd been trained to be.

"Heretics!" was the reply he received.

[Porcelain Fish]

"I think there seems to have been a misunderstanding," Maduin said calmly, tugging the sleeves of his robe and shirt straight, smiling pleasantly as the spell he'd cast in the street took full effect. The priest and all four men had relaxed, expressions turning vacant, eyes glazing over.

"Yes, a misunderstanding," the priest echoed slowly. "So terribly sorry. You're obviously not the ones we were looking for."

"Who sent you to us, good sir?" Maduin continued genially.

"Sister Bree said that we were to . . . to . . ." The priest trailed off, brow furrowing.

"You've known Sister Bree for quite some time?" Maduin's eyebrows rose slightly.

"No, she's . . . from Emerlyon . . ." The priest's head tilted slightly to the side, posture becoming looser, mouth hanging open slightly. "She came here with the . . . the Cardinal Inquisitor . . ."

Maduin's smile warmed, broadening. The priest abruptly shook himself and gave a crisp nod, the soldiers accompanying him, echoing the motion, expressions becoming alert once more. "You're quite right, citizen," the priest said firmly. "The Cardinal Inquisitor must be made aware of Sister Bree's proclivities as quickly as possible. This cannot be allowed to continue. I sincerely apologize for the interruption, but what you've revealed to me will be of great assistance in our inquiry into the matter." He paused, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "A bit stuffy in here isn't it? Almost a sauna. The storekeep really ought to leave the door propped."

"I couldn't agree more." Maduin inclined his head slightly.

The priest turned on his heel. "Laurence, leave the door open on our way out."

Maduin waited until the priest and his retinue had left, hazel eyes becoming well of emerald light, luminance cascading over his features, liming him in radiance, and turned his gaze on the staff and the other shoppers, a vision of light. He smiled warmly at them as the memory of the last few minutes simply vanished from their minds, leaving the indistinct impression of someone tripping and accidentally knocking over a few of the clothes racks, with a good laugh being had by all, including whoever it was that had done it.

He withdrew from their minds, unnoticed, leaving a general feeling of welcome warmth and good spirits in his wake.

"Well," he said warmly to the rest of the group. "I believe we were about to do some serious shopping."

Bryce didn't smile back. He was staring at the now-empty doorway, expression verging on murderous.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose pulled up short, almost running into the bemedalled priest, as she felt that familiar wave of magic emanate from the haberdashery. Maduin's mind magic again. I'd know it anywhere ... and I just hope it's enough, and in time.

Well, preliminary indications were encouraging. The younger priest and the four militiamen were leaving the building, and as they approached Rose and the other priest, she could hear laughter of a sort from the shop. The four armed men had happy faces as well, but the priest looked upset about something. Rose noticed that he still had a bit of a magical aura to him as he approached where they stood.

"Father Blaise, Your Eminence!" the man said. "I think there's something you should know that we learned in there..."

Startled, Rose missed the next part of the conversation. So this is Father Blaise, sent by the Inquisitor. But how can it be? This man doesn't look much older than I am, but he has to be in his seventies, based on what both Ranulph and Miguel said. It can't be his son; he's Orthodox and shouldn't have a son, let alone one old enough, and distinguished enough, to have all that egg salad on his tunic. I'd probably better pay more attention here.

"... Sister Bree," the younger priest was finishing up, and Blaise (if indeed he was) smiled and patted the man on his cheek. "I thank you for your report," he said, "and don't worry about it. Sister Bree has been a faithful servant of Our Lord Luminosita for many years now. I trust her completely." (Rose didn't need her Empathy spell to be unconvinced by that assertion, but now wasn't the time to challenge it.) "As for the other men in this case of mistaken identity, don't worry about them either. Inquiries will be made later to find the right people and purge them of their sins before Luminosita. Now go, and may Luminosita's Peace be on you." He smiled a benediction at the younger man.

After the armed party had gone on their way, "Blaise" turned to Rose. "So I gather that I'll be speaking to you tomorrow," he said in a surprisingly cordial, downright friendly tone of voice. "Yes, I'm Father Blaise, and Sister Bree and I were sent by the Cardinal Inquisitor in respect to the tragic happenings down south. You are Sister Rose, correct? I've heard so much about you. Please be reassured, no one in your party is a suspect in those terrible murders. We wish only to ask you and your colleague some questions that may help us in our inquiries. Don't worry, I think you'll find the process not at all uncomfortable. Now please excuse me."

He headed back for the temple ... leaving two thoughts in Rose's mind.

That's all easy for you to say.

And I'd sure like to know why the normal human aging process doesn't seem to work on a man reputed to have had an encounter with a death god.

[Drannin]

Argus watched the man withdraw, troubled. "...Formidable." He said calmly. Mentally: <"I thought he was supposed to be older than that...? But never mind, I see you're puzzled about that too. He's definitely not a man to be trifled with."> A sigh. <"Thank heavens for Maduin's mind-magic. I'm just glad their minds were fragile enough to be so overrun...">

Aloud, he concluded, "Well, come on, let's make sure everyone's all right. Also, learn exactly what happened in there."