"The documents were discovered on top of the safe." Murphy sid.  "Here.  In a locked room.  There are perhaps five of us who have the key to this room."

"The dust was located here, before the safe." Murphy said.  "ECPD took most of it, but they let us keep some for our own purposes--mostly to justify to the Bishopric that something strange had happened and to perhaps exculpate us from responsibility for the documents having gone missing in the first place."

"I'm afraid we weren't expecting any kind of follow-up.  So, the room was cleaned after the technicians were here. "  Murphy offered.   "But, I'm afraid matters are becoming more.... um... complicated."

Father Murphy took a breath.   "Since the return of the documents--documentation of the ordination of Bishop O'Dea, there have been... unexplained phenomena.   Some of the buildings here have long been held to be haunted.  We like to call them our 'Kindred spirits'"  he said with a bit of a smile.   "It adds character it's never manifested as anything more than unexplained noises, the sound of feet shuffling and the occasional voice heard in an unoccupied room.   But..."

Murphy opened the door to the little office space.   "This appeared yesterday.  Detective Horowitz told us to preserve the room."

The closet-space office was dark and featured little more than a writing desk and a standing lamp, a circular metal garbage can with wast-paper within, and a several small photographs of a group of priests, gathered outside the cathedral proper.  None of them appeared to be formal photographs, more of relaxed casual memories...

But at the very front of the desk, perhaps an inch from the seating edge, the words "Omnia possum in eo qui me conforta" appeared to have been burnt into the wood.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:40, Sun 02 Aug 2020.

Sphere nodded.

"We apologize for causing you or the parishioners any surprise, Father Murphy." Sphere replied to the man as they made their way to the back room.

"The truth is that we don't KNOW for sure yet if this is a minor situation or not, so we're choosing to be cautious rather than make assumptions. We also are unsure if a crime has been committed or not, or if one is going to be committed later in the future regarding this. So that is why my colleagues are here too instead of just one of us. As for the forensics team...I'll go ahead and give them instructions to try and so their surveying in between main mass times. And I'll have some of my people get in touch with the detective about their dust as well." he continued.

"But they do need to do their assessment of the scene regardless so I want to apologize up front but again will get them to try and come between mass times. I was raised Catholic myself so would never intentionally disrespect a church building. But we also have a duty to this city and if forensics can help us uncover more clues then maybe we can potentially locate other missing church artifacts or prevent their theft. Among other things. Not to mention get more information about our third party and their mysterious motives."

While Sphere spoke to the priest, Ember Saint walked forward just bit to get a better view of the words burned into the table.  He concentrated and activated one of his powers that was relatively minor and unobtrusive:  thermovision.  Able to see the patterns of heat in the area around him, he was trying to see if there was any residual heat at the site at all.  After a moment of staring and trying to pronounce the words out loud, he looked back to the Father Murphy. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I am not sure, are those words latin?  And does anyone know what they mean?"

"Philippians 4:13" Murphy responded almost immediately.  "I can do all things through he who strengthens me."  The Apostle Paul's epistle to the Philippians, to thank them for their support.

Murphy  stood back to let the heroes get a closer look.   "Also, and perhaps more relevant, is that it was Saint Cabrini's personal motto.   Mother Cabrini was a parishioner here... the only one to have been venerated.  Patron saint of immigrants and finding a parking spot."  he said with a half smile.

"And you are welcome here, any time."    Murphy said.  "Your arrival was simply unexpected.   We worry because any unexplained phenomena has a chance to encourage religious seekers... While we certainly appreciate the increase in attendance, too much of a good thing is a thing, after all.  Word will get out, and the path we must tread is frought with the treachery of public opinion..  We must do everything we can to invstigate and verify.

So... What's the next step?"


--
Philippians 4:13 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/PHP.4.ESV
Mother Cabrini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Xavier_Cabrini

Even though there was a risk of disturbing the evidence, Alicia had to climb to the top of the writing desk to see the inscription that had been burned into the wood.  Upside down and written in a language that she couldn't understand, it was meaningless until Father Murphy provided the explanation.

"Father?"  the doll-sized woman spoke up.  "This seems like a very specific message.  Writing it in Latin means that they either know the language or would be familiar enough with what that phrase means to memorize it or copy it."

"I know that you can't violate any counsel that you may provided to someone, but has there been anybody who may have claimed to have experienced some form of divine intervention recently?" she asked, working on a theory.

Sphere nodded at Alicia - she was making a good point with her question!

He considered something that was bothering him himself though.

"Hmmm...Alicia's question is a good one. But I also wonder if the Saint herself is a clue?" he said as he pulled out his cell phone and ran the name mother cabrini onto google. Because Google was the best search engine and knew all sorts of stuff he sure didn't. And of course, he saw on Wikipedia she was of Italian descent.

"Father? It says here that she was an Italian immigrant. I know that lately when you hear the word immigrant you think of latinos and such, but we can't forget that there were once waves of white immigrants roughly 100 or more years ago. I remember hearing about that in school although I'm no historian. And of course there's asian and other waves of immigration historically too." he said.

"But that makes me ask the question...does this church happen to have any immigrant support groups, or perhaps groups of ethnic enclaves be they white, latin, asian, or any other focused ethnic group?"

Ember Saint listened in silence to the translation provided by Father Murphy and then Alicia's and Sphere's questions.  "Sounds ominous really to me."  He continued to look around using his thermovision trying to look for clues...


OOC:Do I see anything heat related or do I need a roll here?

"Not that I am aware of." Father Murphy let his brow furrow,  "Something like a visitation or an episode of speaking in tongues is taken very seriously.  I would know about it.  Mostly, I read this as an optimistic sign, a reminder that faith transcends.  But the location of the message...  it's more directed at us--the clergy--than the community."

As Murphy spoke, they was a knock at the door and a young woman in conservative clothes--jeans and a simple blue short-sleeved short--stood in the main door to the office.

"Father?  I'm sorry to interrupt."  The young woman said.

Murphy acknowledged her.  "Ah,  Claudia.  What is it?"

"There's something going on in the Sanctuary."  Her face was ashen, her eyes wide and she was sweating.  It was hard to tell whether she was more afraid or excited.  "Father Montgomery has ordered the hall cleared."

Claudia led Father Murphy--and Ember Saint and Sphere back the way they'd come to the main hall of the cathedral.

At the center of the cathedral--the meeting point of both wings and the actual architectural center, stood the raised alter, in which the relics of the Saints were placed.

While normally, the altar was bathed in naturral light, due to the enormous oculus dei above, the light that fell upon the raised marble altar and it's black base was vibrant and stunning, corruscating with hues of gold and amber and ivory...

And suspended in the air above it was a form clothed in light body extended, arms out to either side, head back and chin to the sky a if bathing in the light.

It was had to tell the gender of the form--so vivid was the light that it obscured enough detail.

There were maybe two-dozen people in the sanctuary.   Most were on their knees, some were crying.

AN older man with puffy skin and deep-set eyes clutched a rosary, his eyes wide, himself, face reflecting the light of the awesome vision.

"It just...  appeared."  He said as the Spehre and Ember Saint joined them.    "Sister Claudia was pointing out cracks in the base of the altar, when..., well, this..."

Alicia calmly descended from the writing desk to the floor to follow Claudia and the rest of her group into the center of the cathedral.

She stayed near the front of the group, not just for the better visibility because these towering people would have obstructed her view, but to also be in a better position to protect them if there was some kind of threat about to emerge.

Her gaze went to the figure floating above the altar as she raised one hand in an attempt to shield away the excess illumination that made it difficult to see exactly what or who this was.

If it weren't for her own unusual experiences in the past few years, she might have been as awestruck as the others in the sanctuary.  Just by coincidence, she had traveled here with two guys who were also capable of suspending themselves in mid-air.

"Can one of you guys go up there for a closer look?" Alicia suggested to her team.  "Just take it slow and easy... be as non-threatening as possible.  We're not trying to confront them.  They haven't done anything yet."

Sphere nodded.

"I'll fly up there and take a look. See if the figure is some sort of projection or hologram or if its a live person. See if it's harmful." he replied to Alicia with a nod.

He turned to the priest.

"Excuse me, father." he said as he gently began to hover a couple feet off the floor, his clothes and hair tussled softly by his own personal breezes. Sphere was calm although clearly intrigued by the figure's sudden appearance.

He flew into the main sanctuary, over the heads of the gathered parishoners. He stopped about 10 feet away from the floating figure of light, himself effortlessly floating in place in the air. He wondered what the parishioners would think, seeing two beings floating there in the middle of the church's main sanctuary area.

"Hello and greetings. If you can understand me, I mean you no harm - especially in a place of worship. I'd just like to talk. How are you doing today?" he asked the figure of light, not really sure how else to more diplomatically open a conversation than that.

"Uh right... Non-threatening... right go get 'em Sphere." Ember Saint said encouragingly to his companion.  Even though he had hopes that this would be a diplomatic situation, there was a doubt in his mind.  The armored man kept an eye on the figure and how it interacted with Sphere, but also tried to keep his eyes scanning for any other interlopers who might decide to show up here.

"Oh Sweet Mother." Father Murphy murmured, clearly awe-struck.

Sphere levitated up until he was roughly on level with the entity...

She seemed completely unaware of him.

Up close, though, she didn't seem quiet as radiant, and Julian could see specific details.  The texture of the woman's skin, the slightly off-center curve of one eye, the thick scar that seemed to extend vertically along the side of her neck.


She appeared to be a naked woman in her mid to late thirties, in reasonable physical shape.  The muscles of her calves and thighs rippling as if she was flexing them or as if there was some sort of electrical current running through her.   She didn't appear to be in pain, so much as... transfixed?   But with her arms out to either side and her legs mostly crossed at the heels, the similarity to the position of the crucifixion would be recognized by everyone here.




If the spacing is weird in this post it's cause there's a bunch of secret lines...
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Fri 30 Oct 2020.

And then, slowly, the light dimmed, though the naked woman remained suspended in the air.

Sunlight streamed through the oculus dei, but it somehow seemed drab and muted in comparison.

So... you're up close and personal... what now?

"Sphere?  Does she look okay?"  Alicia said quietly over the communicator before pausing as though she wasn't sure about whether to ask her next question."Is she crying?"

The tiny woman turned her gaze upwards again to see if she could figure out the source of the mystery.

OOC:  Perception roll if it is needed.
17:05, Today: Alicia rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Perception.
Blank lines/Weird formatting is because I think that my character may have received information in the post which was not yet revealed to the other players here.

Sphere turned to Alicia.

"She definitely is no angel or being of light. Up close she had solidity to her. But she's definitely not a normal human person though but clearly has human traits. Like a surgury scar and so on." he said as he turned back and flew closer to the floating lady.

Jake looked at her a bit sorrowfully. This woman, whoever she was, had obviously gone through a lot. She didn't seem to be in pain right now, although what was going on with her body and muscles wasn't natural and he wondered if she had some sort of underlying condition. Something maybe he could help her with if he applied his healing winds.

"Ma'am? My name is Sphere. Please let me know if you can understand me." he asked her firmly but kindly.

"I don't know what's going on with your body but it can't be comfortable for you. I am going to use my healing winds on you to see if it helps and I promise I'm not trying to hurt you. Please let me know if you're ok if you can." Sphere said as he gestured at the woman, and a swirl of golden mist snaked around him once before flowing into the floating woman like a gentle breeze.

OOC: He's cranking second wind up to max to give her regeneration 10. His winds are persistent so can cure even normally incurable things. He's hoping this can fix something in her brain or with her other physical health that might be causing her muscles to tense like that and her to be out of it.

The woman screamed.

It was high-pitched and full of anguish.  The tears on her cheeks glistened and her eyes brimmed with more.

But something else happened...  The light that emanated from her dimmed noticeably.  Until she emitted barely more than a slight luminous glow about her.

She was still a naked woman floating unaided in the middle of the church's sanctuary under the Eye of God.  But to Sphere, she seemed more... tangible than she had moments before.

Then her eyes closed and her body went limp.  But she still remained suspended in mid-air.




--
OOC:  Alicia, As Sphere hasn't actually touched the woman, this is the only direct evidence that suggests that she's actually corporeal and not, say, a projection or an illusion. 

Sphere frowned.

"Something odd is happening, but she is starting to seem more...physical the more time passes. My current guess is that all the light and such is the result of something physically wrong with her or her body becoming unstable, and my healing winds are slowly patching her up. At least...I hope that's what is happening. I've never quite seen anything like this before but I am wondering if she's in some sort of distress and doesn't even know it?" he said.

"Alicia or Ember or Father? Can someone please bring me a blanket for me to wrap around this poor woman? She's not well and this is unseemly for a house of God."

Ember Saint recoiled a bit as the woman screamed.  He seemed initially to be expecting this to be some sort of attack--but when none came, he was inclined to slip back into his medic mode.  Turning to the priest just as Sphere called for a blanket he quickly eyed the priest, the man wearing his robes possibly in preparation for some upcoming service. Or perhaps to try to help the flock of his church deal with the strange happenings.  Either way, this was a blessing the hero was glad to have here.

"Father!"  Ember Saint said in a commanding tone to gain attention quickly without having to shout in the man's face.  "We need one of your robes!  Now!"  Perhaps the man knew what he was getting at as he hurriedly took the robe off, or he just was listening to him due to the urgency he put into his tone.

Ember Saint didn't want to debate which as he had more pressing matters here.  His golden smoldering wings spouted from the back of his armored form and with a single beat he was up and behind the woman floating and seemingly unconscious.  Quickly throwing the robe over her nude form he hovered there waiting for both to see if she was as solid as she seemed--and to catch her should she begin to fall.


OOC: Activate Smoldering wings!
Ember Saint used move:  put some clothes on girl!
Was it effective?

The woman's shrill scream triggered a flashback of a memory from a day not that long ago when Alicia was the most frightened that she was about to die, not because of her cancer, but because of people being sent to kill her.  A hotel in Elfin Cove, where she and several others had been recovering after the Project Starfish treatments.  The scream, followed by a deafening blast and an eruption of broken glass, wood fragments, and a column of fire.

"Please don't blow up.  Please don't blow up," Alicia repeatedly whispered quietly to herself, almost like the silent prayers offered by the worshippers at other times in this cathedral.

When the immediate threat diminished because the woman appeared to pass out but continued to remain up in the air, Alicia became concerned that maybe this wasn't that woman's power but was the result of someone else using powers against this woman to suspend her in mid-air against her will.  She scanned the faces of those in the room, looking for someone that might be showing a hint of cruelty rather than awe and wonder.

OOC:  Using Perception to find people and Insight to determine their intentions
22:24, Today: Alicia rolled 19 using 1d20+5.  Insight.
22:23, Today: Alicia rolled 23 using 1d20+6.  Perception.

The presiding priest didn't hesitate.  The old man seemed initially startled out of his awe-full reverie.  He shrugged out of his robes immediately and held them out, first towards Sphere who was flying higher than he could reach, then to Ember saint.

There hadn't, actually, appeared to be any malice or malevolence in the crowd who was there.  It didn't preclude the possibility that  malevolence was a factor--simply that it didn't appear to be present on-site at the moment.

As Saint and Sphere managed to clothe the woman, she opened her eyes, though she still remained unresponsive.   She blinked, her eyes--a startling ice blue, rimmed with gold flecks--were focused in the distance.


Then, as her eyes focused, a sense of weight slowly seeped into her, until she weighed about as much as either of them would expect from a young lady of her relatively smaller size and stature.

"Is this..."  she said, her voice quavered, but it was a a low, contralto, surprising for one so small.  "Is this heaven?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:54, Mon 07 Dec 2020.

For a moment, Sphere put his hand to his head and shook it a bit. As if he was trying to shrug something off. Whatever was bothering him seemed to abate quickly though, as he blinked in surprise but a few seconds was alert again.

"That...was interesting..." he muttered as the woman began to speak.

Sphere shook his head at the woman, and spoke gently to her.

"No miss, you're still alive and we're on Earth. Yes, I know I am floating on air and healing wounds like an angel, but I promise you this isn't heaven and we're both very much alive. And yes my friend there has wings but again...still on Earth." he replied with a pleasant smile.

"We're inside a church, actually. You seemed in trouble and seemed like you were hurting, so I'm trying to help you any way I can. My name is Sphere, and you are in a safe space right now. What is your name, ma'am?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Wed 09 Dec 2020.

Stranded on the ground, Alicia couldn't exactly participate in the conversation that Sphere and Ember Saint were having the woman.  As far as she could tell, the woman's body language suggested that she may still be a little bit overwhelmed after that initial scream.

"Father, do you recognize her at all?" she asked the priest without taking her gaze off of the group in the air.  "Is she a member or your parish or someone who may have come here recently just looking for help?"

Is she one of us? she thought, wondering if the colony inside her would recognize one of their own if this woman now had a colony insider her too.

"No. She isn't one of the parishioners. Well, I mean, not one that I"m familiar with.    There are thousands, who come here..."  Father Murphy responded, his voice slowing down as he glanced around, almost uneasily.   "Not everyone needs to talk to the clergy.  Some just come to pray...  Oh.  Oh my."

Murphy's face went very still for a moment, then his jaw dropped and his eyes went very very wide.  "Oh, sweet mother." he whispered with a tone of absolute reverence

He licked his lips and lifted a hand to scratch idlely at his chin.   "May I show you something?"  he knelt down to one knee to get closer to Alicia.  "Do you mind if I carry you?  It's not far.  But...  not here."