Judoc wriggles, twists, pulls each of the legs on the lopsided pew, but to no avail they all seam solidly attached.

Sighing with frustration, Judoc makes his way over to the two women now leaving the sanctuary, and though one has made it through a doorway before he manages his greeting, the other turns and nods a Judoc with a face of thin-lipped seriousness.

"Awful, just Awful."  The woman starts.  She is middle aged, the flecks of grey starting to weave their way through the thick brown hair that is tied back in a bun.  Likewise, her face seems to be just starting to crease into wrinkles just above her cheekbones and on her forehead.  "Peggy said she heard poor Holly scream and writhe their on the ground when it happened.  OF course the whole thing was chaos.  Came back straight to tell us when the bishop walked in, of course he was furious."

Judoc asks a few pointed questions, and the woman seems happy, if not eager to answer.  "Oh, no I haven't seen anything suspicious.  Unless you call that Malcombe boy skulking around outside instead of coming in to services suspicious.  His parents have been coming here every Sunday for years and he just up and leaves, rooting around the grounds and the graveyard of all places rather than sitting through worship!"  The woman sounds utterly scandalized by the prospect.  "Father Thomas was a kind soul though, knew all of us by name and family... asked after most of us when he came by.  Very kind.  He's been here for on thirty years now, this would be his third bishop.  Seemed happy here in the congregation.  Knew just about everybody, which is saying something for a church of this size."

The Deacon walks back into the church, now dressed in a simple black shirt with priest's collar and a pair of black pants that match well enough.

"He's raving!"  Samuel says as he walks in, realizing only a moment later that Judoc is engaged in conversation.  "Oh, Miss Judy."  Samuel remarks as he recognizes his mistake.  "Always so prompt in your duties."  he smiles as she returns the gesture rather thinly.

"Well,"  Judy says, looking back at Judoc.  "I should be getting home.  I'm sure my husband is already there and there's much to be done!"

Shaking his head in sympathy, Judoc listens to the cleaning women talk, nodding his head in the right places, tsk tsking at their description of the Malcombe boy.  Sounds like the kid shared some similarities with Judoc, and maybe he had seen something.  It was worth seeing if Judoc could find the kid and talk to him.

From everything he has heard, Father Thomas was practically a saint.  Could he have had some dark secret he was carrying, something that was worth killing the priest to bury?  And where did the disc fit in?  A secret society, perhaps?

"Maybe the Malcombe lad saw something," he says to Judy as Brother Samuel comes up."Any idea where his family lives?  This entire business is such a tragedy.".

REalizing he had taken up enough of the woman's time, Judoc smiles and says, "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Judy, and thank you.  We shall see justice served."

He waits for the cleaner to leave, and then he says quietly to Brother Samuel, "If Father Thomas was murdered, we'll find who did this.  Criminals always make mistakes."  He pauses for a moment.  "I keep coming back to Father Thomas' sermon.  He didn't go into specific detail, but I can't help but think his sermon was a warning to someone about something very specific.  I believe he was killed because of something he knew.". He fishes the strange disc out of his pocket and shows it to the deacon.  "Have you ever seen anything like this?" Perhaps the priest has been a member of a secret society, and this had been why he was murdered.  Judoc feels so close to solving this mystery.  He just needs the right clue to lay the whole case bare.

Judy shakes her head as Judoc asks where Malcombe lives.  "I believe the Farrow family lives in the freeman district, but I know not where.  His father Westley is a laborer and field hand in the summers.  I believe Sia is hired as a seamstress at Talbott's."  Judy smiles her goodbyes as she departs down a short staircase at the side of the sanctuary.

Samuel shakes his head at Judoc's thoughts, a bewildered expression adorning his face.  "Perhaps.  If there was any deep secret or foreboding warning then he never spoke of it to me."  Soliciting further ideas, Judoc shows the deacon the small pendant, but the deacon's expression only furrows in concern.  "Pentagram?  Isn't that a devil worshiper's symbol?  But I do not know what all the other marks are..."  Eventually Samuel shakes his head.  "I'm sorry, I would be speculating...  If you wish though, the Bishop"  Samuel cannot keep the spite out of the word as he nearly spits it onto the floor.  "Has instructed me to get the father's things together, he is already petitioning the archdiocese for another priest and he thinks that we must have the spaces available as soon as possible."

Samuel sighs.  "I know of no family the father had here, perhaps we will be able to find something in his things.  Though I am sure he would not object to his affects being donated for good use it always saddens me when a person blinks out of existence with no family to remember them."  He smiles weakly at Judoc.  "Perhaps it happens all too often with the church and I fear it will happen to me as well."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:50, Sun 11 June 2017.

Judoc lifts a hand in a goodbye wave as Miss Judy takes her leave, and then he turns to listen to Brother Samuel.  Judoc nods his head.  Devil worship.  As a student mage, Judoc knows that pentagrams have a variety of purposes, but yes, communicating with demons is one possibility.  In his gut, though, he senses that Father Thomas was either part of something, a secret organization of some kind that he was about to reveal to the world, or had come across someone else's involvement in such an organization and had been killed.  Either way, Judoc feels certain that Father Thomas was killed to silence him.  He had probably gone to the confessional booth to meet a person who was part of the secret society, little suspecting that he would be killed for his troubles.

"Brother Samuel, I noticed that you and Bishop Abram were giving benedictions as the congregation left today.  Wouldn't Father Thomas have been there as well?  Or was it common that he meet after mass to hear confessions?"  Judoc tries to remember the last time he had gone to confessional.  He had been very small, he thinks.  He had stolen another boy's sweetbread and had wolfed it down before his father could stop him, and as punishment he had had to go to confessional.  It was apparently good for the soul, but Judoc didn't relish having to bare his, even though it was fairly anonymous.

At the mention of the priest's belongings, Judoc says quickly, "Do you think I could go through them first?  Perhaps I can locate more clues that can aid in our investigation."  He nods his head and looks thoughtfully as Samuel says he might share the same fate.  Not murdered, of course, but dead with no one to mourn him but the church.  "You can't take it with you," he says gently.  "When we die, all we will have is our good works.  As the Holy Scriptures say, our true treasure is in heaven, safe from thieves and the evils of this world."  All of which sounds terribly boring to Judoc.  He'd hate being a priest.  Not being able to screw and carouse, store up wealth, make a name for himself?  Perhaps that's why Bishop Abram is so deadset on becoming famous himself.  He's seen the end result of a life devoted to God, and he wants a better deal.

OOC:  OK, go check out Father Thomas' things.  See if there are any more clues to be had in his possessions or his room.  Then, go to the freeman district to see if Judoc can hunt down Malcombe Farrow.

Samuel shakes his head at Judoc's first question.  "No it was fairly standard practice that one of the two of us would go to hear confessions right after church services completed.  The other would give benedictions with the bishop and then do whatever else was required to tidy up.  Today was simply his turn for confessional."  Samuel sighs slightly.  "Though I suppose I should admit that even if it wasn't his turn there is a fairly good chance that he would have ended up there anyway.  I think he liked doing it, he certainly liked it more than I did.  It can be so exhausting at times, or downright shocking, but normally just exhausting."

Samuel leads the way towards Father Thomas's small room, housed off in one of the side buildings to the cathedral, Samuel points things out as they walk, his own room, their kitchens.  It seems that the two share the small building and care mostly for themselves, unlike the Bishop who has his own attendants and larger lodgings.

"And here it is."  Samuel stops in the doorway of the small room, ushering Judoc forward with the gesture of a single hand.  "Neither of us collected much but I suppose it's possible that there is something that could be of some use."

Judoc walks in the small, perhaps ten foot square room.  It has a single window on the east wall with shutters that are currently thrown open, letting the chill air from outside in with a gentle breeze.  The rest of the room seems sparse, desk, wardrobe and bed with little else around.  Unsure exactly where to start, Judoc simply does a cursory examination of each.

To Judoc's left is a wooden desk with a high-backed chair tucked underneath the hollow.  There is a single built in shelf, perhaps a foot above the desktop, where a handful of books sit neatly in order of descending height: Deamonology, On Missions: Spreading the Word, Great Faith: Healing the Soul Through Exorcism, New World Catechism, and Mathew to Acts: The Deeds of God.  On the desktop itself, The Bible lays open on the chapter of Proverbs, a short stack of blank paper lays in the center of the desk with an inkwell and quill tucked neatly under the shelf behind it.

Judoc pulls out some of the drawers of the desk, finding other writing equipment, some fresh paper and a charcoal pencil along with a penknife and quills as well as a replacement bottle of ink.  In another he finds a handful of small trinkets, a necklace with a small wooden cross as its pendant, a knuckle sized milky green stone, a coin purse with a handful of farthings and pennies in it, an empty small wooden box and a small stack of letters that are up on their sides.  In another drawer, Judoc finds several sets of folders with loose papers in each of them, with titles like Accounts and Expenses, Ministry of the Grounds, Prayer Lists, Diocese, and Correspondence.

After the desk, the bed to his right seems little to look at.  It is pulled up and made just a thin set of sheets with a wool blanket, a mattress that is a few feet wide and perhaps six long raised a foot or so off the ground by a frame of solid wood.  A soft pillow of down sits at the head.

Walking over to the wardrobe, Judoc pulls open the door to again find the evidence of an organized man.  A few hanging wires sit empty on the left hand side, though there are a pair of stoles hanging in the middle, one with brightly stitched colors, yellows and greens, blues and reds, each pattern is a square about four inches wide that are stitched together to make the garment, the other stole is entirely purple.  To the right side are several shelves, one dedicated entirely to several black shirts with white collar, almost identical to the one Samuel wears, although there are other shelves filled with various other garments of shirts and pants, belts, socks and undergarments that any normal man would have.

OOC:  It is about 1400 on January 14th.  Feel free to continue searching or more specifically honing in on anything in particular, this post is the results of about a minute or two of taking in the obvious first.  Otherwise let me know when you are ready to go track down Malcombe Farrow.

Judoc nods his head at Samuel's explanation of confessional duties.  He tries to imagine himself in that role and all the tawdry stories he would hear as a result of parishioners' confessions.  Much of it was probably mundane stuff - Father, please forgive me, I yelled at my wife the other day when she burned the gruel - but what tantalizing stories had these men heard?  Best that those hearing the confessions were as morally upright as possible.  Otherwise, the potential for misusing that kind of information is staggering.

When the deacon shows Judoc into the deceased priest's quarters, Judoc stops a moment to take a mental inventory of the room.  Although some men use the church as a stepping stone to greater power and influence, Father Thomas had apparently not been one of them.

He decides to start with the desk.  He picks up each book in turn, flipping through them randomly, looking for loose pieces of paper or perhaps marked or underlined sections that might give him some clue about the mysterious medallion he had found or why someone would have wanted to murder the priest.  Next, he looks at the Bible and checks the chapters and verses that are on the open pages.  Perhaps the priest had read these words this very morning.  Once he notes the page number, he leafs through the Bible as well, again looking for any notes or loose paper inside.

He picks up the paper on the desk and holds it up to the open window, curious as to whether some tracings of a message might be discerned on the blank sheets.  Going through the desk itself, Judoc notes the different items, checking the necklace and pebble to see if they might radiate magic.  He picks up the empty box and checks it for hidden compartments.  "May I go through these letters?  And these folders?" he asks Samuel.

Next he turns his attention to the bed.  He lifts up the pillow, checking beneath it, turns over the covers, and checks beneath the bed.  Throughout, he looks for anything hidden around the bed, any notes, letters, or hidden items.  Once he is finished, he remakes the bed to match the state he found it in.

Remembering the hidden compartment in the priest's garment, Judoc checks the rest of Father Thomas' clothes, looking for similar hidden pockets.  As with the bed, when he finishes he puts everything back as he found it.

OOC:  If the deacon gives permission, Judoc will skim through the correspondence and the folders marked Prayer Requests, etc., looking for anything unusual, or noteworthy.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 07:55, Fri 09 June 2017.

Before attacking the contents of the room, Judoc takes mental notes, methodically placing everything in his mind, attempting to make connections and similarly exclude the chaff from the information that may actually be relevant.

Starting with the books, Judoc's main goal was to find the obvious information - Any heavy notes, loose papers or anything else that was significantly out of place or otherwise to start to develop his conception of the priest.  Starting with the largest of the books, Judoc first turns the Deamonology to have it's binding up, flipping through the pages, though there seems to be nothing between them that is hidden nor falling out.  Next, he cuts to a few pages randomly, looking for notes but the book seems to be fairly clean of them.  He reads a few sentences to realize that the book seem to be a list of deamons and their description:

145

Succubae

A succubae is a Lilin-demon in female form that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce and destroy men through sexual exploitation.  The male counterpart is the incubae.  While they often kill their prey of weak souls outright, at times succubae can prey on the same victim repeatedly, leaching away their morality and humanity with each feeding.

A succubae may or may not appear in dreams and is often seen as a shape shifter, coming to her victims in the form of seductress or enchantress, in their true form, however succubi are frightening and demonic in appearance.

Putting the book down, Judoc picks up the next, On Missions which proves to be a complete opposite.  The book is well used and the binding is starting to deteriorate, breaking across the spine on page 225.  The book is also completely littered with notes, nothing loose but rather ink and pencil notes jotted into margins on nearly every page.  Skipping through to the page where the binding is coming loose (on the rationale that it is the most used) Judoc begins to read:

225

rather it is the very expectation that a mission shall be primarily in order to spread the word of God spoken as by Christ Jesus.  Unfortunately resistance, both spoken of our message and shown through violence should be prepared for, if not expected.  It is incumbent upon the missionary to weather the spears and arrows both metaphorical, and if needed, physical in order to spread the word of God to both heathen and ignorant cultures alike. 

The text carries on in much the same vein and Judoc looks over to the margin, deciphering some of Thomas's notes on the subject:  While the idea of the great missionary in the wilderness is intriguing, in practice it is not the repetition of the same words and scriptures that will turn converts, but rather the slow evolution of the compulsions and morals they already hold toward those that are taught by Christ.  Fling yourself against the hardened wall of a man's heart and you shall surely die before convincing him to take any opinion of but his own.  But if you engage him in reasoned conversation of his own morality you can teach him how Jesus both preaches and praises the ethos that he already holds...

Judoc picks up the next text, Great Faith and as it's title states it seems a case for as well as instructional manual on faith healing.  Judoc combs through the pages to find no notes again this time with crisp pages and he only reads a few words about banishing everyday evils before he opts for the next book.

New World Catechism and Matthew to Acts are much the same as On Missions with various markings throughout the books and notes that make it difficult to pick out anything specific since it is almost all underlined and annotated.

Moving on, Judoc glances at the bible, scanning through the text on the open page and gets nearly half the way down before he recognizes something familiar from that day.

Proverbs 3:7

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Unlike the other books, there are no markings on his bible, and again, Judoc lifts the pages and combs through them to see nothing inserted between the pages.

Lifting the stack of paper to inspect it, Judoc moves over to the window searching for hidden text on each sheet, ink that has blotted through the paper, or otherwise shadows from any sort of indentions, but although he sees some scratches on the top sheet (like something was written on the sheet above it) it seems impossible to decipher any words or letters from the blank page.

Going through the desk, Judoc handles the cross and the stone, waiting for revelations of magic but nothing comes.  Turning over the two objects in his hands and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he eventually moves on to the wooden box.

Judoc turns to the box, opening the wooden cube again, Judoc places his fingers throughout the inside, feeling for any hidden compartments or switches that may store some secret though he finds nothing hidden.  Likewise, placing the wood on all sides between his thumb and forefinger, he finds it difficult to believe there is any room for a hidden compartment.

"May I go through these letters?  And these folders?"  Judoc starts to the deacon.  Samuel seems a little wary of the decision though he eventually concedes.  "It is to help the investigation isn't it?  Just... be careful of anything that might require... discretion.  There are many who feel most comfortable confiding in the church."

Unsure how to take comment, Judoc pulls out the letters first, thumbing through the first one in the stack he notices a boldened insignia in the corner and enormous letters adorning the top.


Thumbing to the next page, he reads a congratulatory letter from an Archbishop Decatur on his promotion to Curate, it seems to suggest some personal acquaintance more so than a compulsory act of the church, though after only a few lines of reading he deems it of little worth to the investigation.

Beloved Thomas

Judoc is instantly intrigued on the next piece of paper that he thumbs through.

Your decision cuts a dagger at my very heart, you who I thought were the only love I would ever have him my life.  While I rejoice in the path that you chose, and revel at the thought of the good you will do in this world (I can envision you clearly as a minister!) it saddens me terribly that this is assuredly an end to our love.  And while each of us may make promises of friendship and well wishes of writing often I cannot but think that the pain will be too awful for me to bear to think of you of anything but a lover.  I know you will do great things.  I know the very man you are will transform men and wives in their entirety to follow the wonderful God that you speak so elegantly of.  Still, I know that I cannot follow you in this venture.  Seminary will be long, arduous, and far, far from here.  There is little doubt you will be sent somewhere great upon your success, and you shall not be allowed a wife.  Therefore, to free us both from the pain that is surely coming, I release you from my love, and wish you the best of luck.  May you bless a thousand souls as you have blessed mine.

Love,
Indra

Unsure of what to think, Judoc simply moves on to the next of the letters, trying to keep his mind from running off with too many theories before he has the all of the facts.

Thomas

This one is newer than the others.

The bishop is fucking mad.  I know that you already know this, but the word is beginning to infest things here as well.  He cares nothing for his church, for his congregation, or even for his diocese!  He cares only for his unchecked ambition which careens like a juggernaut across the landscape of this whole island.  He fiddles with Graves as if any in the college cared even remotely for the faith.  Besides the few we know, have you ever seen a Templar here at chapel?  It is all because he seeks power and powerful allies!  That asshole runs this entire city and Abram is a slavering dog begging for a piece!  Is there nothing we can do to check his ambition?  Is there nothing we can do to reclaim our church?  I am exhausted by my trampling thoughts, though I fear the answer is no.  I entreat you to write to the archbishop though I know not what help it can accomplish.  Thank you, thank you, thank you my friend for staying true, keeping the faith, and being a real man of the cloth.

Kind regards,
X

OOC:  I know that this is already exhausting, but I'm not remotely done.  Hold off on posting for a minute, I feel like this saga deserves at least an addition of 2 to our post count.

His thoughts lingering on the last letter, Judoc puts the writings back and moves on to the folders in the other drawers, quickly moving through the contents of Accounts and Expenses which has a long list of donations by which parishioner by name or otherwise marked X, and another several pages of employees, volunteers, and ministries of the Church organized by amount.  Several of the notes on these pages are written, crossed through, or added as if these pages were the acting documents and finances of the church.

Ministry of the Grounds Likewise has some documents on the hired personnel for landscaping, the architectural drawings of the cathedral and some contracts of business with various signatures.  There is also a short list of funds specifically for the gardens, graveyard, and beautification funds.

Prayer Lists contains only two sheets of paper, thought this too looks like a sort of living document, with various scratches and added ink.  The first sheet has names of parishioners on the left side and various conditions on the right, with deceased marking the lines where the person has died.

Charity Keslering    Consumption deceased
Allen Connerson    Dementia
Badley Strong      Crisis of Faith
Brian Wulfric      Sodomy
Aaron Paulus    Cholera deceased

And so on...  The second page only seems to be a list of doubled letters.

TS
UL
CD
AC
BR
PK
HF
MS

This list is considerably shorter than the first and has no annotations other than the single markings crossing letters off the list.

The Folder of Diocese seems to hold correspondence back and forth between the parishes of the diocese and the cathedral.  The vast majority of which seem to be priests requesting a visit from the bishop for the purposes of confirmation or baptism.  Here and there Parishes ask for monetary relief in one form or another, but there is nothing that draws in Judocs attention so he moves on...

Correspondence seems to be various letters, some from above (the archbishop or in one case Jordan Siegebreaker with correspondence) though mostly again from parishioners asking for prayer requests, financial assistance in troubled times or otherwise from members of other churches in the diocese.  There are a fair few letters signed from Baron Graves, one that thanks the Bishop for his attendance on the students and another that thanks the church for its donation towards the education of the students, but there seems to be little here that points to murder of the father.

Already tired by his exertions, Judoc moves over to sit on, rather than search, the bed, putting both hands down on the edge of the mattress as he tries to collect his thoughts.  How long had it been, an hour already?  Looking over towards the doorway is the first time he realizes that Samuel has left, perhaps some time ago, to potentially attend to other things.  Shaking his head to try and attempt to reclaim some energy, Judoc stands up to go through the specifics of his sleeping arrangements.

First looking underneath and into the pillow, Judoc quickly moves on to the sheets the mattress, and then lifts the mattress up to search underneath.  It is a light thunk on the floor that alarms Judoc to the fact that he may have found something.  Moving onto one knee he places his head near the floor and sees a small, palm hand sized book that has fallen down, and scooping up his discovery Judoc turns to the first page (as it has no title).

Hello!

I suppose it is fortuitous that this next book starts with such an auspicious event!  The arrival of the new bishop.  Though I am saddened to see Bishop Decatur leave, it is with great enthusiasm that I relay that he has been promoted to archbishop!  He does not have an archdiocese yet but it is almost certain that he will not be in the area as the Megelan Archbishop Garfondo is only 62 years in age and unlikely to resign or retire soon enough for it to be placed as Decatur's charge.  Still, my heart bursts with pride for my friend and mentor and I am cautiously excited for our next bishop to arrive.  Certainly I will report back with my findings!

Judoc flips over a few pages before getting an idea and starting from the backside of the book, reading the last entry.

I fear for R.

It has been seven months now and his symptoms have only progressed.  The blackouts seem to be getting more frequent and when we speak his tone has changed from the confident youth I knew to a panicked and horrified child.  At times when we talk, he weeps for minutes, unable to speak as I can only comfort him.  He thinks he is dying, or otherwise going mad, losing his mind or his soul.  When I pray with him I feel such fear, and at times horrible anger.  I have been researching his condition and all of my work has pointed to two possibilities - first that his mind has been taken, injured beyond natural repair, from what I do not know and he has not told me.  The second possibility is even more horrifying and I shall not speak of it.

Intrigued, Judoc puts the diary (for that is certainly what it is) back down on the bed and remakes the sheets to the same neat standard they had been when he walked in the room.

Lastly, Judoc makes his way to the closet, searching each of the garments and the shelves closely, though he finds nothing else of value.

OOC:  Again, sorry for that, but you did ask to search literally everything in the room.  Also, the editing is probably subpar, because I didn't do it.  Forgive me for the misspellings and if some combination of words doesn't come together to make sense it's likely because my typing was going slower than my thinking and I just wrote too many or too few words not because I'm intentionally trying to be duplicitous or difficult to understand.  I wasn't sure the detail you wanted of anything specifically, so I gave you a few rolls here and there to see what it was that you picked up on.  It has been over an hour, but you are not entirely sure of the time.  Feel free to continue searching if you want, letting me know what specific stuff you want to peruse further.  Otherwise we can continue on to try and find Malcombe.

As Judoc pores over the flotsam of the priest's room, he looks for anything that might give him a better idea of what had happened to the priest and what leads he might be able to follow up.  The book on deamons seems interesting to him.  He knows from personal experience the reality of these creatures, and toys with the idea that the evil Father Thomas had warned of was one of these succubae.  Their true form might be horrifying, but it wouldn't be all bad to be sexually ravished by one of them, not if the form were appealing enough.  Eh, he doesn't need to go down that road, he thinks.

The Father seemed much more interested in missions than deamons, though.  Interesting how he compares it almost to a military campaign, an attack on the walls being suicidal, but diplomacy being the key to winning someone's heart.

The other books seem to not be very useful, but the text in the Bible is interesting.  That was the text from this morning.  He allows himself a small smile.  Again, it almost seems like a warning to Judoc, not that he needs one.

Holding up the paper to the light, he sees some indentations on it.  Looking around, he picks up the charcoal pencil and rubs across the sheet lightly to see if he can make out any words.

The letter from Indra touches him.  Although Judoc is a man of the world and has little time for such romantic entanglements, the story is intriguing.  Thomas had gone through with his decision to be a priest, even though he had this woman?  Based on his notes in the missiology book, Thomas was apparently a fervent believer.  Judoc wonders how hard it had been for Thomas to give up this relationship with Indra.  Had he felt sorrow?  Relief?  Regret?

Curious.  More about this bishop.  From what Samuel had said and now what he is reading, a picture is emerging of Bishop Abram as a grasping, weak-willed man, begging for scraps and striving to rise as far as he can.  Judoc doesn't fault the man for his ambition, but it seems the bishop cares for little else.  Had Thomas sent the letter?  Judoc wonders.  Could that have been enough to have had the priest eliminated?  And who was this X?  Perhaps the deacon?  Or someone else?

The accounts books seem unimportant.  The prayer list - perhaps there is something useful there, but maybe not.  The priest's prayers don't seem that effective.  The second page.  Curious.  Doubled letters - probably initials?  Judoc goes back to the desk, takes one of the blank pieces of paper, and jots down the initials.  They could be nothing, but perhaps they might make more sense later.

He continues to peruse the rest of the folders.  The various items of the Diocese and Correspondence seem mostly irrelevant.

How long has been going at this?  He's read so much already, and other than confirm what he's already heard about Thomas and Abram, he hasn't uncovered anything new that might indicate who had done the deed.

And then, just as he is beginning to feel fatigued, something falls to the floor.  Ducking down, he retrieves what appears to be a diary of some kind.  Now this might be useful!  Again, he reads words that intrigue him.  Who is R?  A child, apparently, one who was suffering a great deal.  Fear.  Anger.  He is reminded of a proverb he heard recently.  He's not sure who wrote it, but it something about fear leading to anger, anger to hate, and hate to suffering.  Perhaps this was linked to it as well.  And the second possibility?  Judoc is eager to know what that might have been.  Demonic possession?  Sexual abuse?

Standing up, Judoc looks around the room.  He feels reasonably confident he has learned everything he can from this place.  Now to find Malcombe.

OOC:  Something kind of like this:  https://youtu.be/SFcJ3IHFGqQ

He'll copy out the initials on the second page of the prayer lists folder.

Next, let's track down Malcombe.

Rubbing the charcoal pencil across the top page of the blank paper, Judoc's stiff smile turns gleeful as he watches the grey outline form against letters and words that slowly spring to the page.  He has uncovered a handful of paragraphs before he finally starts to read at the top.

those evils surround and permeate our lives.  The devils of hate, pride, injustice, and fear which seek to override our best intensions of faith and love.  For even those, faith and love, cannot conquer the evils of this world, they cannot conquer the evils of your heart... without you.  Only with our eyes open to the truth, our hearts exposed in humility, and our minds free from the biases of self indulgence and righteousness will we finally see the correct path and walk with God.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, give us the vision to detect the evil around us, the strength to stand together against it, and the true faith to banish evil with your omnipotent love.  Amen.

Shit.

Judoc had thought he had something, but he was foiled again by the preparations for today's sermon.  Scrawling the flat edge of the charcoal all the way down to the edges of the page, Judoc finds nothing else of note.

Still, Judoc is invigorated.  There was a substantial mound of evidence here, he just had to put it in context.  Theories swirled in his mind, waiting to be corroborated or disproven, the evidence splattered across his mind like the pieces of an incomplete jigsaw puzzle.  I can work my way through this.  Judoc thought.  I just need to make the right connections... and find the last pieces."

Judoc takes some quick notes to copy the second page of the prayer list, stuffing the copy into a pouch before he looks over the room quickly, finally deciding he has seen all that he can in a single sitting, Judoc departs the room, making a quick search and finding Samuel in his own chambers to let the deacon know that Judoc's search is complete before heading off to the Freeman district to search for young Malcombe Farrow.

Luckily, the Feeman district was quite close to the Cathedral, only a mile or two walk as the crow flies.  Though he had limited information to go on, only a few names, Westley, Sia, and Malcombe Farrow Judoc felt fairly confident that he could find his way to the young boy... however, after the better part of an hour searching through the district, Judoc still had little to go on.  He had searched through several neighborhoods, hailing strangers and asking of the Farrows, but no one seemed to know who they were, or where they lived.

"Excuse me miss."  Judoc hails an older woman, hoping her to be knowledgeable on the community due to her age and apparent community status.  Judoc is not ready for the response.

"Miss?!"  The woman shrieks, turning her head around to Judoc as her hips sway dangerously midstride.  "An what the fuck do you mean by that, ye half grown child?  Are ye invoking your noble's rights you fucking dog?  Get back to your own quarters you coin feeding succubus!  You're not needed here!"

OOC:  It is currently 1700 on January 17th.  Sunset is less than an hour away and you have been spinning your wheels in the freeman's district for the past hour or so.  Above is the result of a particularly nasty reaction roll.  If you wish to continue searching for Malcombe, roll vs. reaction or your best social skill (label it appropriately).  If you fail, feel free to roll again, but each attempt will take on average 10 minutes of your time.

The rubbing proves to be effective, but once Judoc is finished, he finds he only has the text to that morning's sermon.  Well, so much for that.  He tides up the room quickly, doubting that anyone will be behind him but not eager to leave too many clues behind that someone could use to follow his thoughts.  He can't wait to see how all these pieces fit together and he can uncover who killed the priest.  Right now, his primary suspects include the bishop and Graves, but the motive seems to be missing, unless Father Thomas was about to reveal something that would torpedo the Bishop's chances of gaining an archdiocese.  Yes, yes, that must be what happened.  Perhaps it was tied in with this boy who might be demon-possessed or whatever had caused his mind to change.  Abram was attempting to cover up the incident for whatever reason, and Father Thomas had gotten too close to the truth.  Perhaps the medallion had been used to summon the demon.  By the bishop?  Possibly, possibly.  It was a more outlandish theory, but it kind of fit the facts.

His investigations complete at the cathedral complex, he heads now for the Freeman district, curious to uncover what Malcombe Farrow might reveal about this case.

He is unprepared for the fusillade his innocent question has drawn.  The manners of these people!

"I have no idea what you are implying, madam," he says, attempting to calm this unreasonable old trout.  "I'm looking for a family, the Farrows.  Westley?  Sia?  Young Malcombe?  I've been sent by the church to get some information from them."  He smiles sickly.  Noble's rights?  Not in a million years, you old goat!  Just the thought of it is enough to make the bile burn his throat.

"Get out!"  The woman shouts, hardly even listening Judoc's request for information...  Though he is drawn to try and settle the misunderstanding as to why this woman has reacted so harshly, Judoc gives that situation up, deciding instead to attempt his luck elsewhere.

It is perhaps a half an hour later when he finally manages someone who seems to know where the Farrows live.  "Oh they're up there by the old walls!"  The boy is young, perhaps thirteen and Judoc surmises that it is quite probably that he and Malcombe are friends of some sort.  "I knows him."  The boy smiles at the question.  "But we don't see each other much any more, he runs with a different group.  He lives just over that way though, red clay brick building about halfway down the street, been there for as long as I can remember."

Judoc thanks the lad and continues on, watching as the sun makes its way to, and then sinks below the buildings beside him, the pale blues of the evening give way to orange, and the sky in the east begins to darken with the oncoming night.

Finally finding what he believes to be the right building, Judoc knocks on the door, which is answered by a petite woman of middle age.  "Can I help you?"  The woman asks, opening the door just enough to get her face and shoulder into the crevice.

OOC:  You know the drill, reaction roll or social skill of your choice.  I was trying to keep the plot moving so apologies if there was anything else you were going to ask the kid, I figured getting here in one post was better than playing out a conversation where you were unlikely to gain anything.  It is now about 1750 and the sun has set, and darkness is not far off.

"Fine, fine!  I'm going!" Throwing his hands up in the air, Judoc glares at the ridiculous woman and storms off.  The nerve of that old crone!  He tried to be polite, but there's no overcoming the old bag's poor manners.  Grumbling, he stalks off, hoping to find someone more reasonable.

At length he does, and Judoc thanks the lad before walking off in the direction indicated.  He reaches the building that matches the boy's description and knocks and waits patiently.  When the door is opened a crack, Judoc smiles.  "Good evening, madam.  Sorry to trouble you at this hour, but I've come from the church.  My name's Judoc.  I'm a student at the Templar's college.  There's been an accident at the Cathedral today, and someone mentioned they saw Malcombe nearby.  I wanted to see if he had seen anything today.  Is he in?  Could I speak with him?"

OOC:  Aim for a polite, friendly, deferential tone.

"An accident?"  The woman answers, concern in her face.  "I hope that everyone is ok."

However, after a moment, her expression takes a more stony turn as she opens up the door more widely for Judoc to step in.  "You don't think that Malcombe had something to do with it do you?  I swear that boy is going to reap an awful wrath for his actions.  Did you know he skipped church today!  We brought him with us and everything, and just before the service he up and goes!  Never saw him again until after.  His father took care of that well enough, but if you are saying he was up to something else other than just skipping church, then he may have another thing coming!"

Fuming, the woman leads Judoc into the house and closes the door behind him.  "Malcombe!"  She shouts, making Judoc near jump out of his skin.  "Get your ass over here!"

The woman leads Judoc into a kitchen of sorts with an open space in the middle with a table.  She offers Judoc a chair, and then moves over to the fireplace where a large bird carcass, perhaps a goose, is roasting on the fire.

"What mom?"  The voice creeps from the entryway of the room and Judoc spies a young man, this one early teens as well that is peering his head around the archway leading into the room.

"Don't you sass me!"  Sia (certainly this is Malcombe's mother) responds, prodding the bird as she turns it over on it's spit.  "This man wants to know what you were doing while all the devout were at church.  Says there was an accident that you might know something about.  Well."  Sia stands, balled fists on her hips as she turns towards the child.  "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Judoc considers how to play this.  What would be the best use of the information he has?  Should he tell everything he knows, or give it out in bits and pieces?

"No, madam, everything is not ok, I'm very sorry to say," he says, walking through the door, "although rest assured, we do not think Malcombe is involved in what has transpired.  Rather, I'm interested to learn what he might have seen.  Anything can be beneficial and help us secure justice in this matter."

He sits in the chair and takes in the room at a glance.  Nearly supper time, apparently, with the meat on the fire.  He turns his head as a young lad looks into the room.  Malcombe, apparently.

"Hello, Malcombe," Judoc says, as though speaking to an equal.  "It's all right.  You're not a suspect."  Not yet, anyway, Judoc thinks, although he doubts this young man had a hand in this dark business.  "I'd like to know what you saw while you were waiting for mass to be finished.  Did you notice anyone leaving the cathedral in a hurry right afterwards, or anyone skulking around during the service?"

OOC:  Judoc will ask questions about what Malcombe saw.  He will keep his tone civil and aim for a friendly, nonthreatening tone.  After he has the chance to question Malcombe as to what the boy has seen, Judoc will reveal that the priest was found dead under very suspicious circumstances and will hint that perhaps Father Thomas was murdered.  He wants to see what Malcombe's reaction to this information is.

Sia takes a moment to look at Judoc after his less than entirely straightforward statement, but in the end seems to decide there are more important things to do.  She turns around and goes to fetching a pot from one of the cupboards and some vegetables from her stores.

"Well."  She calls from over her shoulder as she busies herself about her pantry.  "Do let us know if there is anything we can do.  Church ain't just for healing from God but from all the neighbors pitching in."

As for Malcombe, he takes the news that he is not a suspect somewhat skeptically as he slowly moves towards the table and takes a seat on the opposite side and half way down.

"I didn't mean to leave the service, mister, but I had to use the outhouse and, well, it didn't seem right to walk in when it already started."  Malcombe flicks a glance over at his mother who seems busy at the moment chopping a cabbage into small pieces.

Malcombe looks back at Judoc, the nervous look on his face somewhat abated.  "So I stayed out by the Narthex, and listened in from there, but I didn't see anyone coming or going sir until the service was over, when the recession came out."

Behind Malcombe, Sia's voice explodes over the conversation.  "He doesn't need you lying on top of all your other sins today Malcombe!  God already knows where you went during church and why and apart from your father, he's the only one to punish you for it.  The man just wants to know if you saw anybody while you were out sinning!"

Malcombe's eyes bulge and his shoulders shrink down to the table with the reprimand.  "No ma'am."  Is all he manages, though the words are muffled with half of his face shrinking to below the table.

Seeing that this conversation is not getting where he would like it, Judoc lays bare the situation.  Father Thomas is dead, and while there is no direct proof, nearly everyone agrees that murder must be a consideration.  Sia gasps and turns from her chores, her hand over her mouth as she crosses herself and closes her eyes for a moment in prayer.

"Who would have any reason to murder that man?"  Sia asks, the emotion clear in her voice as it nearly breaks.  After a moment, she realizes she has a knife in her hand and puts it down on her cutting board with an overzealous haste.  "Him being a man of God, and he was so kind!"

Judoc however, had been watching Malcombe, who as he mentioned the foul deed seemed to go from abashed and nervous to downright horrified.

"I didn't have nothing to do with it!"  He blurts out.  "The services were started and if I were to be whooped for a farthing, I might as well have been whooped for a pound!  I went to the graveyard and climbed the trees until I saw the congregation come out!  I didn't see nothing or do nothing sir, I promise!"

"Malcombe!"  The voice of her mother bursts out over his words, forcing Judoc to concentrate to understand what he is saying.  "You were in the graveyard during mass!"  she turns about, the knife back in her hand as she glares at her son.  "You wait until your father gets home!  This is not done with!"

OOC:  Sorry for the oversight on my part.  Malcombe's reaction is hard to read beyond what is in the text here.  If you want to see if he is lying about anything, tell me the specific things you are wondering about if he is lying or not in private or OOC and I'll roll vs. detect lies (defaults to per-6) for each of them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:19, Sat 24 June 2017.

Judoc slowly collects information from Malcombe as he watches the young man, curious to find out what the boy knows and saw.  The responses aren't very encouraging.  Perhaps this is a dead end after all.  He glances over at Sia.  She seems to be able to tell when Malcombe is lying.  Or is she just naturally a suspicious woman?

"Well, not everyone thinks Father Thomas was murdered," Judoc says dryly.  "The bishop is convinced it was a freak natural death, but based on what the healer, Brother Seamus, said about Father Thomas' body, our priest didn't die naturally."

He leans forward with interest as Malcombe protests that he saw nothing.  "When the congregation left the cathedral, who did you see?  Anyone that seemed out of place, or who didn't normally go to mass?"  It would have been very natural for someone to slip in, attend the service, and then leave with the crowd.  Had it been another student, perhaps, tasked with the job of killing Thomas, just as Judoc had been told to kill Thresher?

OOC:  Ask Malcombe who he noticed coming and going.  Did anything surprise him about who he saw?

Once Judoc is finished, he will return back to the College to consider his next move.

Judoc stares at every muscle movement of the child as he speaks, trying to discern whether he speaks the truth or is lying through his teeth, although, unfortunately, he is simply too unskilled in the art of reading emotions to determine whether or not the boy is lying.

Malcombe seems somewhat more tamed after his outburst, and as such, Judoc lays into his most important of questions.  His eyes ever darting towards his mother, Malcombe creates his best list of the people who had attended.

"The first ones out were the bishop, father, and deacon of course, but the father didn't stay out long.  The people started processing out not long after.  Plenty of families, merchants, knights and beggars, nothing out of the ordinary."

Judoc presses on names of the people Malcombe saw, but unfortunately, Malcombe does not know many of the men who left.  Judoc instead is left with the impression that the boy saw the normal recession, which included plenty of citizens of the city, along with a handful of instructors and students from the college...

Thanking the two for their time and help, Judoc makes his way back to the dorms of the college.  Thankfully, he makes his way through the darkness unmolested and arrives in his rooms none the worse for wear at a reasonable hour.  Though no one else seems to be around, Indrid Colt is coiled up on his bed reading a tome of magick as Judoc enters.

OOC:  Ok, ball is back in your court.  If there is any specific branch of this story you want to shake, feel free to fast forward IC to what you want to investigate, or at least putting yourself on the course to that path.  If you are stumped, that's fine, I'll fast forward to a point where something potentially relevant may happen.  You may also try and get something out of Indrid, although he can be a chore to talk with at times, since he was at the Cathedral this morning as well.

Nodding, Judoc listens as Malcombe describes who he saw.  Disappointment shows in his face when the boy cannot give him any new information.  He had been sure Malcombe would hold the key to this mystery, perhaps Graves climbing down from a window and skulking away down some alley.  This lead is apparently a dead end.

Standing, Judoc takes his leave of Sia and her son.  "Thank you, Malcombe, and thank you, Mrs. Farrow.  I appreciate your time."  He starts back to the College, pondering this mystery.  How would he have committed this murder?

Obviously, it would be a simple matter to be alone in the confessional booth with Father Thomas.  The priest wouldn't even see him.  The screen had been tampered somehow.  Judoc favors flashy magic, not stealthy, secretive work, but that spell of Loke's that had made Judoc feel as though he were drowning.  Judoc wouldn't be surprised to learn that his least favorite teacher was behind this, but somehow, this doesn't seem like Loke's style.  Why would he kill the priest?  No, the bishop seemed a more likely suspect.  There was plainly some dirty dealings going on as the bishop attempted to curry favor with Graves.  Perhaps Father Thomas had intended to blow the lid off of the whole cancerous mess, but nothing in the priest's quarters made Judoc think this.

"Hey, Indrid," Judoc says as he enters their room and goes to sit as his desk, leaning back in his chair.  "Crazy thing today.  Somebody killed Father Thomas.  Did you see anything out of place before or after mass this morning?"

OOC:  Judoc will ask Indrid if he saw anything strange this morning.   He'll also talk to Wayne Irons.  He'll skip Cleppo and Wilmer.

He also wants to find out who R. is.  He'll go back to the cathedral, try to find Seamus and Samuel, and ask them about who R. might be.

Judoc's mind whirls at hurricane force as he finds himself, rather than consciously directing himself, into his own small barracks room.  Recognizing Indrid Colt had been there in the morning, Judoc stabs out in the dark to see if Indrid knows anything about the mess, but instead finds himself with another spoke of the story that juts out in an askew direction...

"What?"  Indrid stares, gawking as he lets his book drop onto the bed.  "You aren't serious!  In church?"  Indrid leans back on his pillow forcefully, the linin exhaling a forceful puff as he sinks into his headboard.  "This whole place is crazy town!  Did you hear about a couple of days ago when the Provost was attacked?  Well..."  Indrid is quick to revise his statement as Judoc's eyes bulge with surprise.  "Not him exactly but I heard that there was a knocking at his door in the middle of the night and when he went to see what it was there were gouges taken out of it like someone had hammered it with a dirk!  I'm telling you,"  Indrid leans back, arching his back upwards as he sprawls out on the length of his bed.  "Giles had it right, take a few classes, get some skills, and then get the fuck out of here.  He's probably living the dream down in Min right now, sunny days on the beaches with nothing but a few hours of watch to bother him..."

OOC:  I'll leave things here for now in case you want to ask Indrid more questions.  If you want to want to try and find Wayne to ask him what he knows, go ahead and roll vs. reaction or social skill of your choice.  If you get neutral or worse, then assume that nothing of value comes from your meeting.  Once you are done with Indrid (and we have figured out the Wayne thing), I will fast forward and put you back at the Cathedral.

"Baron Graves' room was attacked?"  Judoc is perplexed.  Who would be mad enough to attack the provost?  There wasn't anyone else in the city that Judoc is less on being on the wrong side of.  "Gouges, huh?   Must have been someone with a death wish."  Judoc finds it difficult to see anyone who would want to kill both Thomas and Graves, unless it was some kind of anarchist faction.  He knows the Row would love to take out Graves, but knocking on the door in the middle of the night doesn't seem their style.

"Man, you don't know the half of it."  He sits down on his bed.  "You know why Elliot left?  He was straight-up asked to kill somebody.  After that crazy night when he burned Mariana up, he must have been fingered as prime assassin material."  He pauses and plays with his ring for a second.  He doesn't mention that he, too, had been asked to kill.    "But I'm not leaving any time soon, not until I pick the brains of all the teachers I can and learn what they know.  I'm telling you, Indrid, I've learned so much here already.  And there's still so much they can teach me."

OOC:  OK, Judoc has nothing more to ask Indrid.  Let's go see what Wayne knows, if he saw anything strange, or if he saw anyone going to the Confessional booth.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 17:45, Wed 19 July 2017.

"What?"  Indrid looks scandalized by the conditions surrounding Elliot's departure.  Though Indrid seems keen to share more gossip, Judoc decides he doesn't want to get too much into the extent of information he knows on the college so he cuts the conversation short.

Though he wants to find out as much as he can tonight, the hour is already late, and Judoc decides to attack the matter of Wayne tomorrow.  However, despite his best efforts to catch him for a moment of conversation in the dining hall, and then between classes, and then during lunch, it isn't until well after the dinner hour when Judoc finally manages to track him down Wayne is in the library buried in a pile of books.

"No, I don't remember seeing anything..."  Wayne starts, pushing his book away from him with a face that says he welcomes the distraction.  "Seemed like a normal service...  I didn't stay after to try and plow through this assignment for Neranmal.  Why?  What happened?"

OOC:  It is now about 1900 on Monday the 15th of January.  Wayne doesn't seem to know anything obvious, but I stopped here in case you wanted to ask any specific questions.

"I'll tell you more about it later," Judoc tells Indrid when his roommate wants to know more about Elliot.  Judoc is keen to pick up more gossip but unwilling to say too much about what he knows regarding the circumstances of Elliot's departure.

That night, he dreams of the dead priest's body.  He sees a figure running from the church, and he races in pursuit, but when Judoc exits the church, he finds himself in a classroom.  Elliot is giving a lecture, and Judoc sits down beside Indrid.  No, Loke.  The person beside him changes again.  Now it is Graves sitting beside him, telling Judoc that he must track down the murderer and kill him.   At that moment, Judoc realizes that he himself is the murderer, and he tries to scream, but cannot.

Still thinking about the previous night's dream, Judoc drifts through the next day's classes.  The student mage is still distracted by the priest's death the day before, and he knows that he can solve this puzzle if only he can gather all the pieces together.  Someone must have seen someone or something out of the ordinary.   Perhaps Wayne will have a piece of the puzzle.

When Judoc finally unearths the other young man in the library and asks Wayne if he noticed anything odd, Judoc is disappointed to hear that Wayne saw nothing unusual.  "It was after the service," Judoc explains.  "Father Thomas was found dead in the confessional booth.  I think he was murdered."

OOC:  Judoc will give some details if Wayne asks - who found the body, the suspicious nature of the priest's death.  He won't reveal the small medallion he found, the diary, or his suspicion that the priest was killed to cover up some kind of conspiracy.

"What?!  Wayne seems completely nonplussed at the news, "And you're... looking into it then?"  Without an answer, Wayne closes his eyes, putting his forehead into his two hands as if deep in concentration.

"I don't remember anyone odd there."  Wayne rubs his temples, trying to massage some obscure helpful tidbit into his memory.  "I don't know all the locals yet, but the ones I recognized are normal enough.  Brother Moloran and Brother Caraway come often enough to be normal.  Y"  Wayne stops himself midword, and Judoc can't help but notice the awkward pause.  Nevertheless he continues as if he never missed a beat.  "Indrid isn't always a regular, but he's there often enough, Andros too.  Alevius is there every Sunday I have been...  Shit! who would want to kill Father Thomas?"

OOC:  Just to make sure you know, you are driving the show at this point.  So long as you keep responding here I'll keep posting for Wayne so let me know when you are ready to move on and where you plan on going from here.  If at any point you are stumped let me know and I can try and maneuver things appropriately.

Nodding his head, Judoc confirms that he is indeed investigating whether or not the priest had been murdered.  He takes a seat and leans in.  "Please don't say anything to anyone about this," he asks Wayne, pitching his tone lower.  "Obviously I've made a great impression on the church, but if Father Thomas was in fact killed, I don't want everyone to know that I'm running his killer to ground until after I apprehend the man."  Or woman, of course.  Once Judoc gathers all the clues, he is sure he will be able to deduce the murderer's identity, but it wouldn't do to give the person warning and spark a flight.

A twitch of a grin flits at the corner of his mouth.  Wayne had been about to say that it was unusual for Judoc to be there.  In fact, he muses, he himself was the most out of the ordinary attendee yesterday, a fact that gives him another advantage.  The murderer hadn't known that Judoc would be there.  Judoc's presence would be the other's undoing.

He shakes his head.  "By all accounts, the man was practically a saint.  But I have a few leads I'm following up on.  This was no ordinary crime.  Someone wanted Father Thomas dead, and that someone will kill again if they feel threatened."

Judoc stands.  "Let me know if you hear anything, or see anything," he says and smiles grimly.  "I will see justice done.  Father Thomas will be avenged."

OOC:  Next, let's see what we can find out about the medallion.   Is there a teacher Judoc can ask about the symbol?  He will draw it rather than show the coin.  Also, look through the books for Satanic imagery or secret cult symbols that might match this one or any of the small glyphs.