Lorenzel and Ramanzel

[Graybeard]

Father Absalon listened impassively as Brother Miguel delicately broached the subject of Father Egbert's death. Miguel and Sister Rose wondered if the man was even listening, in fact; he simply wasn't reacting. Finally, after a long pause, he cleared his throat.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May Luminosita's Peace be on him." He turned to go.

Just like that? Rose wondered. She started to call him back, but without turning around, the man spoke again.

"I have no further business with priests of a heterodox sect or a heathen, and I certainly have no business with a band of possible Tsuirakuan spies. Now excuse me." He stepped inside the temple, and the front door closed with an audible thunk of a bar being put in place.

Rose and Miguel exchanged grimaces, then Rose shrugged her shoulders. "Truthfully, I'm surprised we haven't encountered more of that. Shall we go find my cousin before we get out of here?"

[Sareth]

Behind Sister Rose, Lillith seemed to wilt just a little. The hand Sister Rose imagined earlier became a fact, curling softly in the illusionary robe. "Heathen..."

[Graybeard]

Poor Lillith, Sister Rose thought. She takes things like that so hard... "Don't let it bother you," she said soothingly. "I've been called worse. Much worse." She started to say, If you think you face bigotry, being a half elf from a different religion, try sleeping with one and see what you get called, then decided against it...

Lillith still looked wobbly as the party approached the inn. Rose and Brother Miguel stepped inside, to find a cheery-looking older man at the desk. "Good afternoon, may I help you?"

Miguel cleared his throat as Rose smiled amiably; best to let the man do the talking in a place like this. "Sorry to trouble you, but we're trying to make contact with one of your guests, a --" He realized that Rose had never given him her cousin's full name, but she stepped in without missing a beat. "Bradford Nuria," she completed Miguel's sentence. "Could you tell us which room he's in? We hoped to meet him for tea."

The little old man smiled apologetically. "I wish I could help you," he said, "but we have no guests here by that name."

That caught Miguel and Rose by surprise. "Are you sure?" Rose asked. Maybe he was using a different name for concealment, although she couldn't imagine why. "He's in his thirties, tall, dark hair, green eyes much like my own. He's quite distinctive looking."

The man smiled again. "I'm sure he would be, from that description. No, nobody like that is staying with us. Our only guests tonight are the Parsoniel family from up at Provatiel, they've been here for several nights, and old Barton -- not that I have any business calling anyone old," he twinkled. "Certainly none of them fit your description at all."

Miguel started to say something, stopped, started again, puzzlement written on his face. "Ah ... possibly we've come to the wrong place, then. Is there another inn in town?"

"Sorry, there's not. This is it," the man said. "We don't get a lot of travelers here, you see." He was continuing to smile -- he just seemed like that kind of person -- but a trace of concern was creeping into his face. "Is there anything else I can do to help you?"

"No, no, sorry, we must be mistaken, our apologies for wasting your time," Miguel said. He and Rose turned to head back to the wagon and get some opinions on what was going on here.

[Sareth]

Outside, a somewhat bemused pair of men and one half elf woman were looking down at Lillith, who was very intently crouching on all fours on the ground. At first it looked as though Lillith had lost it, but on closer examination it could be seen that her lips were moving rhythmically, and her left hand was splayed out, very deliberately, in a tiny circle.

Knowing better than to interupt, Sister Rose looked a question to Argus. Argus' reply was a somewhat confused shrug, with a look in his eyes that seemed to mean many things beyond confusion at just the immediate moment. Before Sister Rose could really try to parse any of that out, though, Lillith rose. She looked at the group, but then focused on the nun.

"Not all spirits are beneficial. Some... are... Cruel." She looked back towards the house with the bodies. "They play with people's lives."

[Graybeard]

"Not all spirits are beneficial. Some... are... Cruel." She looked back towards the house with the bodies. "They play with people's lives."

Unexpectedly, Sister Rose responded to this pronouncement with a brief, barking, humorless laugh that caught not merely Lillith's attention, but also Brother Miguel's, and to a lesser extent, everyone else's. As Miguel raised an eyebrow, Rose chuckled mirthlessly again, and said, "Sorry. I just had a thought that I hope Luminosita will forgive me for: I wonder if your spirits who 'play with people's lives' might explain how certain of our company in the Church come to work for, or even become, the Cardinal Inquisitor?"

Miguel looked mildly horrified. "Rose!" The Reformed branch, to be sure, took a much more relaxed view toward the kind of things (some of them, anyway) that attracted the Inquisitor's attention, and they weren't always very happy with the way that Holy Office did its business. Still, there were limits to what should be said about them ... but on the other hand, he had to admit ...

He shook his head to clear the thought as Rose looked sheepish. "Are you picking up something here that you think is relevant to these 'cruel' spirits?" she asked, not entirely sure what answer she was hoping for.

[Sareth]

"Something is here..." Lillith whispered. Her voice had a slightly odd lilt, that had been present before, but had been overlooked in her rush to stand. Miguel, familiar with other faiths as he was, suspected she was still trying to hold what it was she had felt, without drawing too much attention from the spirit world she was 'seeing.' "Not long... It hasn't been here long... It was drawn..."

[Graybeard]

"Not long... It hasn't been here long... It was drawn..."

Drawn by what? Brother Miguel wondered, his skepticism about whatever Lillith was doing already starting to fade. His youth in the Southern Continent had left him less ... certain ... about the nonexistence of evil spirits than most priests of the Veracian Church. And he certainly believed in Evil.

Sister Rose, for her part, was decidedly chagrined at the absence of her cousin from the inn. Where had the man gone? She had no idea. His words had led her to believe he'd be at the inn, but he simply wasn't there. Clearly he wasn't staying at the Millenarian temple, even though it appeared to have a small cloister that might have a guest cell or two. The frosty reaction they'd received from this Father Absalon made it clear that nobody as exotic as a Reformed man from up north was likely to be occupying that cell. The Orthodox temple? It seemed unlikely; in general the Orthodox people were no more welcoming than the Millenarians. But where else could he be? Staying with a family in town? Camping in the woods, perish the thought?

"I think we should -- check in -- at the main temple in town," she said uncertainly, not convinced of her own words. "Maybe they'll know where Brad is. And Lillith, I know you're skeptical of the power of Luminosita, but believe me, it's nice to have a temple helping you out if there's evil about." She left it hanging as to what the "evil" might be, and headed across the square to the other temple.

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin wavered between relief and a faint sense of disappointment at Brad's sudden elusiveness. Granted, the man was untouchable goods, but he was also extremely easy on the eyes. He decided to settle for relief. Things were much less awkward this way, at least for him.

He felt a little sorry for Rose though. It was a little embarrassing to have your own cousin ditch you. Then too, it reinforced the fact that he shouldn't be messing with the man in the first place, especially one that would treat his own kin in such a fashion. After all, it wasn't like Rose was ugly or crazy, in which case it would have been perfectly understandable.

Ah well, greener pastures and all that, Maduin reminded himself, recalling the redhead back in Lorenzel. He glanced up as Rose headed off across the square, Lillith (as usual) in tow, only then realizing that he'd missed whatever they'd been discussing at the door while he'd been busy ruminating on love and fate and other cosmic forces. He hopped down off the wagon and hurried to catch up.

[Drannin]

Argus was silent, feeling uncomfortable, and not entirely sure what to do. Lillith was clearly upset, and he wanted to say a kind word that would make her feel better... but nothing really came to mind. This town made him nervous. He still felt like something was looking at him, ever since he had extended his consciousness into the ground and felt that great something. He wasn't detecting malice, per se... just a sense of something big looking at him with mild interest. Like one would look at a fly crawling on one's arm. The connotations there disturbed him.

And now there were old corpses. The mystery was deepening, and he had no clue what it all meant.

He glanced over at Lillith. ...So this place is getting to you, too?

[Graybeard]

As usual, the Orthodox temple in Ramanzel was a bit more garish than two clergy of the Reformed branch found tasteful, but it looked like it had seen better days. The large image on the door that showed Luminosita smiting the unbeliever was missing some gold foil. (Maybe they sold some of it to help the poor, Sister Rose thought. That'd be the kind of decrepitude that I could sign up for ... but I strongly doubt that that's what happened.) Somebody had vandalized one of the demonic gargoyles on the roof; Brother Miguel thought irreverently that the thing looked more like Patriarch Jeramel now than like a demon. And the grounds weren't as well kept as usual.

Rose and Miguel looked at each other, tried the front door, which was unlocked. The forms must be observed; they made the Sign of Luminosita as they opened the door and stepped inside. The anteroom matched the outdoor decor: a certain intrinsic ostentation and tackiness (Rose thought the memorabilia of the Mage-Priest Wars were particularly tasteless) combined with a distinct sense of being down at the heels (the cannon at the center of the memorabilia hadn't been polished in so long that it was turning green). Curiously, not a priest or nun was in sight.

The others in the party were hanging back, reasonably enough, and Rose spoke softly to them at the door. "This will just take a minute. We'd like to get our bearings here. Don't come in if it makes you feel uncomfortable." She padded quietly to the entrance to the main meeting hall.

It was empty -- almost. A man was sitting in one of the pews toward the back of the room, hunched over, his face in his hands. He was sobbing silently.

"... Brad?"

--------

Meanwhile, the folks up north were preparing a parrot that had a most interesting message involving the mission in Kiyoka and Captain Kitaura.