Kiyoka, Douaga and beyond

[Graybeard]

The Luminositan Science priest stirred and leaned over to whisper something in Father Amalric's ear, and a quick, whispered conversation ensued, during which Sister Rose wished devoutly that she had put up her sensory enhancements, to know what was going on. However, wishing wouldn't make it so. Shortly Amalric turned his attention back to the group.

"We will return later to the subject of your parents, Desiree-who-has-no-last-name," he said. "For the moment, we will remain on track. Sister Rose, please continue."

"I really don't have much to add to what my colleague Dr.-- Argus said," Rose replied. (It was true enough; they'd been together almost the entire time since she'd first met Blaise.) "The first time we met Blaise was as a result of orders I received. They were classified, and I didn't share them with everybody here." (How could I? Therese and Desiree hadn't even joined us yet.) "Everything else proceeded as has already been described to you. Incidentally, what Desiree didn't want to tell you is that we're distantly related via marriage, on her mother's side. That was what was behind her mother's request to me to help her see the world." (That's all true, and it's innocuous enough, isn't it? It should spare Desiree a cross-examination.)

The usual exchange of nods occurred among the interrogators, and then Amalric nodded at the group. "Very well, then," he said. For a moment Rose entertained the same hope as Desiree, that this session would be coming to an end, but no such luck. "Our Tsuirakuan colleague --" he didn't quite spit the words, but he didn't have to -- "requested that we ask a question for him, one that I must say interests us as well. Immediately before Blaise inexplicably left Umbertiel, there were three unexpected events. Brother Timothy has already mentioned two of these. One was a fire in a stable, which has now been tracked to the upset of a lantern, nothing unusual there." (I wish I could be using a Truth spell on him for that one, Rose thought.) "The second was the unfortunate death of Sister Bree, may her soul rest in Luminosita's Peace. That is the subject of a continuing investigation, of which you do not have the need to know."

Like hell I don't, Rose thought. I want to fill Therese in on that later... but now isn't the time. She kept her face blandly neutral as Amalric continued. "The third matter, and the one of interest to Captain Kitaura, is that not long before he left, Father Blaise had an interview with a young Tsuirakuan who was traveling with you then, a Mr. Lochlear. Witnesses have stated that something -- unusual happened at that interview, but gave conflicting accounts as to just what it was. What can those of you who were in Umbertiel tell us about that encounter, please?" He fixed his gaze on Rose, Tim and Argus.

[Alberich]

Tim almost grinned. He might not be strong in the subtleties, but Father Amalric had not been subtle. Only the Tsuirakuan wanted this information, and the Churchmen didn't care a puff of incense whether he learned anything or not. So Tim gave them a selective sampling of the truth --

"None of us here was at that interview, I believe," said Tim. "But I was in the church at the time and there was a hubbub. Someone fired crossbow bolts through the window, broke it all to pieces, and into the desk Father Blaise was using. They didn't manage to hurt anyone. None of us saw who fired them and neither did any of the townsfolk. I've heard that Inquisitor Blaise was singularly unperturbed by the whole event - I mean, he didn't even yell or move the interview. And he was gone before anyone could get an explanation out of him.

"Also, Mr. Lochlear left us when we went to Port Lorrel, and I don't think any of us has a clue where he's gone."

If the Churchmen really wanted to find out about the rest, they should know that Father Arpad, the ranking priest on the spot, would have the rest of their information. Since Ronnie was in his charge and Tim had reported everything to him anyway, they could get all possible information about the bolt-shots that way without involving this Tsuirakuan.

[Graybeard]

"I see," Father Amalric said, his face revealing nothing. "This is consistent with at least some of the eyewitness accounts. However, it fails to explain one thing."

He reached down to a satchel at his side, rummaged through it, found what he was looking for. "Might any of you have an explanation, then, as to why, when Mr. Lochlear returned to his homeland, he was found to be carrying an artifact like this?"

And he placed on the table another small figurine that looked very much like the "strange little figurine of a drummer" that Tim had described a few minutes earlier. [OOC: PF, we miss you, and if you happen to still be reading this anonymously or under a different handle, please get in touch.]

[Drusia]

"We will return later to the subject of your parents, Desiree-who-has-no-last-name," he said. "For the moment, we will remain on track. Sister Rose, please continue."

I nod, unconcerned. I already have plans for that. I'll just say that -

"Incidentally, what Desiree didn't want to tell you is that we're distantly related via marriage, on her mother's side. That was what was behind her mother's request to me to help her see the world."

I don't flinch, but I really want to. Rose has just ruined my cover story. I was going to claim to be her sister in law - Kenny's sister - so that my mouring at his grave - if that came up - would be explained.

Then again, I could always chide Rose on the term 'distantly' - claim to be her sister in law anyway? But then they might ask her to confirm, and Rose isn't all that good at lying from what I've seen. Misleading, yes, but not direct lying.

I could claim to be her sister-in-law by marriage, but then that raises the question of where my husband is. Also dead? A young widow isn't a bad cover, I guess. I've pretended to be a young wife often enough, and Eli is... well, if he's not dead yet, I suppose he will be soon.

This would all be easier if Tim hadn't told them I'd been with the group longer. The last time we were here, I had them all but convinced that I was from the Northern Confederacy, but now that's all shot to hell. So, the idea that I'm some relative of Rose's is the best cover I can manage at the moment.

Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll let it go. Fat chance, but a girl can hope.

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

"Might any of you have an explanation, then, as to why, when Mr. Lochlear returned to his homeland, he was found to be carrying an artifact like this?"

"I couldn't say for sure," said Tim, which was true -- he, at least, had no idea that the Coward's Crossbow had been handed over to Maduin at any point, or anything like it. "But he was with us most of the time we chased Inquisitor Blaise to the coast, and we know Inquisitor Blaise dropped at least one item like that, as well as his Symbol, before he boarded that strange watercraft. And Mr. Lochlear used his magic to keep a lot of things -- he had a magic tent that could hold as much as a house, and it was amply furnished -- so it's possible he picked it up somewhere along the way, and simply kept it."

In fact, logically speaking, that last sentence pretty well had to be true -- so if Rose and Argus chose to "agree with Tim," they could answer truthfully while providing no information at all to the inquisitive Tsuirakuan, even if they really knew what Maduin was carrying and why (as Tim himself did not).

[OOC: Edited because I couldn't say "the whole time we chased Blaise," since Maduin was sometimes separated from the group.]

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose couldn't help herself: she let out an audible gasp when she saw the figurine.

"I ... we ... it ..." she fumbled most uncharacteristically over words for a few seconds before getting hold of herself. "I'm sorry, it's just that we've seen things like that before, as Tim says. But -- how did you ever get such a thing from Maduin?"

"We did not," Father Amalric said as he returned the figurine to his knapsack. "Captain Kitaura did. He refused to tell us how. I would venture a guess that it was in Mr. Lochlear's possession when he went back to Tsuiraku, and was found when he was clearing the Homeland Security checks. By the way, the statue that you just saw isn't the original item. We have a man in the temple, Brother Edgar, who is skilled at stonework. Kitaura insisted on keeping the original, but he agreed to let Edgar make a copy, which is what you see here today. Now I would be most interested to know why you reacted so strongly to the sight of this little item."

Rose shook herself before answering. "The originals of those things were powerfully magical at one time," she said, "and as Tim says, Blaise had at least two in his own possession when we saw him." Then she shook her head. "No, scratch that, we don't know that for sure. They showed up in circumstances where he might have had them, probably did have them, and dropped them after they'd been used. They seemed to hold some finite amount of magical charge and never worked again after it was expended."

"Worked at doing what?" Alaric prompted.

After a long pause, Rose answered. "I wish I knew."

And then she launched a thought at Argus, a thought that absolutely terrified her. <"Can it be ... Luminosita forbid ... that Maduin has joined the Convergence?">

[Alberich]

Tim added -- "Well, I think we know Blaise possessed at least one of them. Because when we took it to Port Lorrel, we were able to use magic to get a picture of the face of the last user - or at least find someone who could do that - that's how we got a picture of Blaise so we could trace him at the docks. And the magic showed him up as the last user of the one we'd picked up. Those things aren't native to Veracia. So that suggests the source is Blaise, one way or the other." Or someone with similar interests to him, Like maybe this Korou fellow, the one whose picture we found, the one who's so interested in foreign cultures and all?

He wished Rose hadn't gotten so upset -- another peril of having women in these kinds of positions, he supposed, letting their emotions get the better of them -- whether that would lead them onto ground she didn't want trodden, he didn't know, but he'd done what he could to sew it up neatly in front of the Tsuirakuan.

[Graybeard]

Therese chose this moment to quietly interrupt. "Remember, too, that we saw something similar up near where we found Blaise's body," she said. "I don't know whether it--"

Father Amalric raised a hand to interrupt. "We will return to the circumstances of Father Blaise's death shortly," he said. "For now, let us consider the threat that you obviously believe to be posed by these curious little figurines." He set the stonework back on the table in front of him. "You say that there were magical indicators connecting at least one to Blaise." Nods confirmed this. "And that at least one of them appeared to have been used for casting magic of an offensive nature." Again, nods. "Do you believe them to have been intended as weapons? If so, against whom?"

Wrong question, Sister Rose thought. The real question was: by whom were the menacing little devices intended to be wielded? She didn't like any of the answers she was thinking of for that one. She cleared her throat, and was about to say as much, when she was pre-empted by one of the other priests on the panel, a plump, moon-faced man who hadn't spoken previously during the interrogations.

"I don't think we need concern ourselves overly with these infernal devices, my brother," he said, in a voice that positively dripped with oiliness and sycophancy. "Our Lord Luminosita's power is surely great enough to prevail against whatever dark forces are behind them. Let us continue with our inquiries into the life and death of the late, lamented Father Blaise."

Oh, Luminosita's Nethers, what an idiot, Rose thought, hoping the emotion didn't show on her face. The panel was starting to nibble around the edges of something important, something that the Church definitely ought to care about. Instead, this functionary -- let's call him what he is, "ass-kisser," I've seen too many of them around the Patriarch's offices -- was making an obvious effort to sweep the figurines under the carpet, for reasons she couldn't begin to comprehend. Something was just wrong about that.

She was impressed to learn that Amalric shared her view, based on what he said next. "No, Your Eminence," he said, his face still stern, his voice with an edge on it. (Your Eminence? thought Rose. This guy is apparently important enough that I should know who he is, at least a Bishop, maybe a Cardinal. I'll make some inquiries later.) "I perceive there to be a military threat here that we need to understand. We're responsible here not only for Blaise's spiritual state, but also the military security of Veracia. It would be irresponsible to --"

The Bishop, or whatever he was, showed his fangs. "I am aware of your opinions, Father," he said, his tones no longer made of oil but of hard, blue ice. "Proceed with the questions pertaining to Father Blaise."

So under the carpet they go, thought Rose with disgust, as the hatchet-faced priest from Gervasiel scowled and regrouped. "Very well, Your Eminence," he said, then turned back to the group on the other side of the table. "Now if you would please discuss your interactions with Blaise, if any, in Getsemiel..."

[Alberich]

"There weren't any, Father," said Tim. "He was gone before we got there; Sister Rose was able to find which way he'd gone from a merchant; and we didn't see him until we chased him to the coast." He'd told them this already, but if they wanted to hear it once more, very well. "Our only interaction with him there was the Stop spell, where he froze everyone nearby until he could hop on that strange ship and escape."

Tim didn't think much of the byplay on the figurines. The Tsuirakuans knew about them already, so what was left to conceal? This hearing wasn't exactly the place to reason out what the figurines were for though. It was for bringing out information they already had. If Rose could figure something out about the wretched things, beyond what they already knew, she could report it at any time - to her "Colonel Bogey" or to Father Amalric directly. If the senior man on the board wanted to quash information, this was an incredibly stupid way to try it - far too many people knew the information was out there. He didn't speculate too much as he needed to keep his eyes and ears open.

[OOC: If the ellipsis meant you wanted to skip or summarize the rest of the hearing, or a piece of it, it's fine by me either way; Tim isn't going out of his way to reveal more than he has.]

[Graybeard]

Probes regarding Getsemiel and Port Lorrel turned up only routine questions and answers. If the clergy knew anything about the "Ralkin" and the weirdness that had come over Eli, Sister Rose observed, they didn't say anything about them. That was probably good. Rose wasn't even sure of her own observations on that sad subject, and she certainly didn't want any questions that cut closer to the bone -- particularly to Desiree's bones.

She took advantage of the relatively innocuous direction of the questions to study the plump priest more closely than had previously been possible. An Archbishop, she decided; his clerical finery looked about right for that rank. He'd clearly never been in the military, or if he had, it had been long enough ago for him to have descended into dissipation. More likely his education -- Rose hated the term "training" -- had been entirely in seminary and through later interactions in the Church. Even Emerylon University would likely have been too secular for him. She frowned at the thought; too many of the badly mistaken (in her opinion) members of the church hierarchy had followed that kind of other-worldly trajectory to get to where they were.

One other thing about him, something that to her chagrin, she'd missed the previous day, was that this Archbishop and Father Amalric clearly did not think too highly of each other. Actually, Rose was coming to the belief that her view of the hatchet-faced priest could stand some revision. Yes, he was a mass of abrasive mannerisms; yes, he'd got off rather spectacularly on the wrong foot with Drusia; no, she wouldn't want to have dinner with him, or serve under him. But this man tended his flock. She remembered the acrid exchange where he pointed out to a hostile Suriah the ways he'd quietly kept her out of the elves' way while she lived in Gervasiel. Now he was doing his best to home in on a possible threat to the well-being of the Veracian Church, and to the Veracians who were its members -- only to be diverted by this pompous ass of an Archbishop, who would probably go running back to the Patriarch's office with the message that everything was under control, that he'd tidied it all up.

Well, he hadn't. Rose's attention returned to the questioning as the subject changed. "Now, if you will, please describe for us the circumstances of Father Blaise's death, as best you can remember it," Amalric was saying, his gaze flicking from face to face and making it clear that the same routine, of answers from each participant, was expected.