All

[jawildey]

As everyone makes themselves comfortable (or not, as the case may be) Brother Tobius enters and without saying a word takes a seat behind his desk. Two other priests, closing the door behind themselves, take up posts at the back of the now crowded room. To Anastasia's relief, the smell of death and blood are not as bad as it was in the hallway. The corners of Brother Tobius mouth turn down in suppressed anger.

"As you may be aware," Brother Tobius begins somberly "Father Malaki was murdered in his office last night." Brother Tobius pauses to watch the reactions of each of the members of the group for any sign that might reveal one of them as the murderer. "The two guards posted outside the side entrance were also killed. Judging by the blood at both scenes, it appears that Father Malaki was killed before the other two. However, it is difficult to tell since he was apparently tortured to death and then his office ransacked.

"Now, as you might guess," he continues, "that presents a bit of a problem for the six of you." He pauses again, examining each of them in turn. "Five of you spent the night just down the hall from where the murders took place and one of you was unaccounted for." The last part of the statement he directs at Daniel. "Now, if you weren't responsible for the deaths, I would expect that you heard something. If you heard something, I'm sure you would have alerted someone. Since that didn't happen, I have to ask myself 'why not?' Could it be that you were all in on it or are you all just that sound of sleepers. Father Malaki, quite capable of defending himself, was tortured to death, after all, so I'm sure he didn't go quietly."

A knock on the door interrupts him and the guard that brought Anastasia, Gerard and the other two to the office in enters. Darl recognizes him as the same officer that he spoke to outside the tavern the night before. Walking up to Brother Tobius he whispers in his ear for a moment while glancing nervously at the group arrayed in front of Tobius' desk. Brother Tobius nods to him once and then the man exits the same way he came in. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I had that man take the liberty of searching your rooms and your belongings. Neither rooms show any signs of the blood that one would expect to have been left behind by a recent kill; however, it seems that the your packs" he says looking at Gerard and Darl, "appear to be missing. As you can imagine, that doesn't look good for you two."

"And you," Tobius says turning to Daniel "I see your bag is there by the door, I hope you won't mind if one of the brothers there takes a look inside. I'm also interested to hear where you were last night."

"And finally, I've also just been informed that the bathing pool outside of town is stained with blood. The land is in the process of filtering it out, but enough remains to definitively tell that it was blood." Brother Tobius concludes his monologue and waits patiently for the group to respond.

[Manson-Mage]

Brother Tobius says turning to Daniel "I see your bag is there by the door, I hope you won't mind if one of the brothers there takes a look inside. I'm also interested to hear where you were last night."

Daniel smiles at Tobius , " Well Brother Tobius as you can proabable tell , I rather keep my things with me and as for searchin my bag . Thats no problem . "
Daniel picks up his bag and opens it up , reaching in and pulling out his chainwhip .

" Now this is really the only thing in my bag , she's bout 15 feet long and if you happen to see any blood on there , I can explain that easy enough . Last night as everyone went to do their thing of either helping the woumded or talking to everyone . I on the other hand went demon huntin outside of town , South is the direction I went . I Tracked a group of foot prints , human in size and there were two groups that appeared to head to this town . I saw 1 set trail off on its own . I followed that set to a corpse that was being torn apart by 6 6 foot tall flying fish . I manage to kill maybe 4 of them while two retreated . Those two happen to call for bckup and I had to scatter out of there and fast . "

"And finally, I've also just been informed that the bathing pool outside of town is stained with blood. The land is in the process of filtering it out, but enough remains to definitively tell that it was blood." Brother Tobius concludes his monologue and waits patiently for the group to respond.

" As for the blood in the bathing pool , that was me washing off the blood and guts of the fish that i exploded . I didn't get back to town till early morning couple hours before dawn .. I crashed in the barn , up in the loft area . You can ask Sister Guineth where she caught up to me . and if you happen to not believe my story , just head outside of town , might take a few hours but you may see the remnants of the fish I killed . "
Daniel stands there and waits for anyone to say whats on their minds as he holds his slightly heavy chainwhip in his hand .

[giggles]

Anastasia, shocked by the news, grayish looking and feeling faint, starts to sob over the news of the death of Father Malaki. With swollen tear filled eyes, she looks towards Brother Tobius, "Brother Tobius..let me assure you that the group of us in the room heard no noises or cries for help or as you should know, we would have come to help. That has been our whole intention this whole time coming here and trying to find out answers. As you have already concluded there was no blood and sleeping so soundly, yes we must have. It was a very long day for us and alotta time spent trying to help people and find out what happened and why its all happening has drained us no doubt. I for one here, feel horrible about Father Malaki even tho we just met him, he was such a help and friendly person and didn't deserve to die. I want to help find out as much as you do what happened and who did this. May I ask one question here now...why didnt the guards outside the door hear his cries for help? They were right outside and no getting others to help or was there just not enough time? You see, alot of people can be blamed for this so instead of blaming lets get down to the bottom of all this and sort out what has been found out and what still needs to be looked into. I'm sure we all want to do this and the best way to do it is to together."

Leaving that said, Anastasia still in shock and shaky, wipes the tears from her face and tries to get herself together the best she can. Filled with hurt and filled with disgust and maybe hatred shes not quite sure how and what to do about her feelings at this point. All that matters is to get to the bottom of this and find out what happened and how to stop anything like this happening again as best as she or anyone in the group can.

[jthorson]

Darl simply sits quietly, waiting for the others to speak their piece ... knowing that their responses will help reveal to him more regarding their individual character; and wanting a chance to judge their response to the situation before stepping in to address Brother Tobius's concerns.

If the silence continues for any amount of time, he'll look directly at the priest, and ask simply, "Brother Tobius, do you know *what* I am?"

[Ryloc]

"As you know or can tell I am one that travels a lot and have over time gotten in the habit of making sure my gear isnt out in the open when I am in unfamiliar areas. Last thing I need is getting into a situation and what I need isnt there because it was taken or stolen from me. I'm sure if you look around my room, which I see you already have, or areas close to it they will show up. Would be happy to have a guard accompany me to take a look if you like? And Danial has answered the question about the blood in the pool.

I also didnt hear anything once asleep until the fists on the door awakening. I was also wondering, being "new" to town did you not have guards on our doors or at least patrols making more frequent rounds as we were offered rooms right here? Matter of fact, with what happened with the last attack did you all step up the patrols and rounds at night? Or were the other two guards that were killed the only others that might or could of heard something? Sorry to ask these questions but things have me perplexed a bit and I dont like being investigated for something I didnt do as well. Although I understand why these procedures are followed Brother Tobius. Almost sounds like magic of some kind was used if none of us or anyone else heard anything."

[jawildey]

Daniel smiles at Tobius," Well Brother Tobius as you can proabable tell, I rather keep my things with me and as for searchin my bag. Thats no problem. " Daniel picks up his bag and opens it up, reaching in and pulling out his chain whip.

"Now this is really the only thing in my bag , she's bout 15 feet long and if you happen to see any blood on there, I can explain that easy enough.

One of the priests at the back of the room steps forward and examines the weapon and the bag it came out of. Reaching into the bag he pulls out another bag that hangs loose and empty in his grasp. Laying it on the table next to the pack he returns to examining the weapon. "Could be some sort of techno-wizardry device, sir." he says to Brother Tobius. "Can't tell for sure without activating it or tearing it apart, though." The man runs a fingernail along a groove in the handle. "There is some old dried blood here as well."

Brother Tobius nods to the man but says nothing, indicating with a wave of his hand that the priest can return to his post. "Please continue. This is such a fascinating tale, after all." He says without much conviction.

Last night as everyone went to do their thing of either helping the wounded or talking to everyone, I on the other hand went demon huntin outside of town, East is the direction I went . I Tracked a group of footprints, human in size and there were two groups that appeared to head to this town. I saw one set trail off on its own. I followed that set to a corpse that was being torn apart by six 6 foot long flying fish. I managed to kill maybe four of them while two retreated. Those two happen to call for backup and I had to scatter out of there and fast."

Darl recognizes Daniel's description as the general direction he came into town from.

"Our scouts have reported occasional siting's of this particular version of The Unholy's minions. Nasty creatures that travel in large schools." Taking another look at Daniel, Brother Tobius continues with a raised eyebrow "You must be more than you seem if you were able to escape unharmed, especially if that monstrosity" he points at Daniel's weapon "was what you used to protect yourself."

"As for the blood in the bathing pool, that was me washing off the blood and guts of the fish that i exploded. I didn't get back to town till early morning couple hours before dawn.. I crashed in the barn, up in the loft area. You can ask Sister Guineth where she caught up to me, and if you happen to not believe my story, just head outside of town, might take a few hours but you may see the remnants of the fish I killed."

"I guess that would explain that. As you say, I can always check your story out...and believe me, I will." Tobius responds. "You do travel awfully light, though. Do you not have any other belongings? Perhaps you left them back at the barn?"

Anastasia, shocked by the news, grayish looking and feeling faint, starts to sob over the news of the death of Father Malaki. With swollen tear filled eyes, she looks towards Brother Tobius, "Brother Tobius..let me assure you that the group of us in the room heard no noises or cries for help or as you should know, we would have come to help. That has been our whole intention this whole time coming here and trying to find out answers. As you have already concluded there was no blood and sleeping so soundly, yes we must have. It was a very long day for us and alotta time spent trying to help people and find out what happened and why its all happening has drained us no doubt. I for one, here, feel horrible about Father Malaki even tho we just met him, he was such a help and friendly person and didn't deserve to die. I want to help find out as much as you do what happened and who did this. May I ask one question here now...why didnt the guards outside the door hear his cries for help? They were right outside and no getting others to help or was there just not enough time? You see, alot of people can be blamed for this so instead of blaming lets get down to the bottom of all this and sort out what has been found out and what still needs to be looked into. I'm sure we all want to do this and the best way to do it is to together."

Tobius listens respectfully as Anastasia finally runs down and ends her outburst. "Dear child," he says with sincerity that was lacking when speaking with Daniel. "You have had a bit of a shock this morning and I do apologize for breaking the news upon you so suddenly." It is quite evident that Brother Tobius' feelings don't necessarily extend to the others. "I'm not blaming you, I'm just asking questions. You are the only strangers seen in town, and with easy access to Father Malaki last night it makes you the most likely suspects...not the only ones, just the most likely. I have other's questioning the guards that were on hall duty during the night even as we speak."

"As you know or can tell I am one that travels a lot and have over time gotten in the habit of making sure my gear isnt out in the open when I am in unfamiliar areas. Last thing I need is getting into a situation and what I need isnt there because it was taken or stolen from me. I'm sure if you look around my room, which I see you already have, or areas close to it they will show up. Would be happy to have a guard accompany me to take a look if you like? And Danial has answered the question about the blood in the pool.

Brother Tobius frowns at Gerard. "Either you're refusing to say where your stuff is, or you don't know where it is. Since the latter seems unlikely, and I saw you bring it up here last night, it appears to me that you have something to hide. Everyone else is being open with me except apparently the two of you." he says while giving both Gerard and Darl a look.

"I also didnt hear anything once asleep until the fists on the door awakening. I was also wondering, being "new" to town did you not have guards on our doors or at least patrols making more frequent rounds as we were offered rooms right here? Matter of fact, with what happened with the last attack did you all step up the patrols and rounds at night? Or were the other two guards that were killed the only others that might or could of heard something? Sorry to ask these questions but things have me perplexed a bit and I dont like being investigated for something I didnt do as well. Although I understand why these procedures are followed Brother Tobius. Almost sounds like magic of some kind was used if none of us or anyone else heard anything."

"There were guards patrolling the hallways, as I mentioned, and they claim not to have heard anything either." Brother Tobius responds cooly. "Our focus was more on external patrols rather than internal ones; and even then, we are short handed due to injuries, losses during the battle and we tried to let as many rest as we thought safe." Switching topics he continues "There is a good chance that magic or psionics was involved. That's the only way that Father Malaki's death could have been accomplished without anyone being the wiser and half the building being brought down around our ears.

Darl simply sits quietly, waiting for the others to speak their piece ... knowing that their responses will help reveal to him more regarding their individual character; and wanting a chance to judge their response to the situation before stepping in to address Brother Tobius's concerns.

If the silence continues for any amount of time, he'll look directly at the priest, and ask simply, "Brother Tobius, do you know *what* I am?"

Tobius appraises Darl for a moment before answering "I don't know what species you are, but by looking at you you are obviously from another dimension, you rifted to our little world somehow and decided to make yourself at home. You have the appearance of a monster, by church standards, which makes you a demon or 'dimensional monster'. Whether you do now or did once work for The Unholy and the demon Horde remains to be seen. By your aloof attitude and apparent arrogance you either have no liking for authority or the church or both." On a roll now, he continues "You also came waltzing in here alone after the battle was won and claim that you were here to help. How am I supposed to know that you weren't here to finish what was started a night ago. Maybe the thief got to something before you did and you killed and tortured Father Malaki to get information from him!" Brother Tobius pauses and mentally calms himself. Was his outrage real or just a show? It's hard to tell. "However, I don't think you did,but I must question your suspicious behavior in light of recent events." Turning to the group as a whole he says "I don't think any of you did this, but I must be sure. Father Malaki was all too trusting, but rarely wrong about people. If he trusted you then I can't just ignore that regardless of my personal feelings about you."

[Manson-Mage]

One of the priests at the back of the room steps forward and examines the weapon and the bag it came out of. Reaching into the bag he pulls out another bag that hangs loose and empty in his grasp. Laying it on the table next to the pack he returns to examining the weapon. "Could be some sort of techno-wizardry device, sir." he says to Brother Tobius. "Can't tell for sure without activating it or tearing it apart, though." The man runs a fingernail along a groove in the handle. "There is some old dried blood here as well."

Daniel watches the guard examining his baby , " Yeah , shes a tw weapon . But she can only be used by me , Shes attuned to me and me alone . "

Brother Tobius nods to the man but says nothing, indicating with a wave of his hand that the priest can return to his post. "Please continue. This is such a fascinating tale, after all." He says without much conviction.

"Our scouts have reported occasional siting's of this particular version of The Unholy's minions. Nasty creatures that travel in large schools." Taking another look at Daniel, Brother Tobius continues with a raised eyebrow "You must be more than you seem if you were able to escape unharmed, especially if that monstrosity" he points at Daniel's weapon "was what you used to protect yourself."

Daniel smiles a bit , " Yeah , I tend to get that alot. You can say I'm a specail person . But where I am from there use to be others kinda like myself ."

"I guess that would explain that. As you say, I can always check your story out...and believe me, I will." Tobius responds. "You do travel awfully light, though. Do you not have any other belongings? Perhaps you left them back at the barn?"

Daniel Listens to the tone of Tobius's voice , and replies back , " Yes I do travel pretty light , but i dont have any other belongings . Over the years I lost more then I care to recount . This Town is easy pickings for the demon kind to raid . From what I can tell , this place is more like a sheep farm for them and humans are the sheep . This is just my own opinion of towns like this ."

Daniel walks over to the desk , " Can I now repack my baby now ? "

Daniel starts to place the empty bag back in the pack and then his baby .

[giggles]

Anastasia tries to calm herself down the best she can and relieved that Brother Tobius sees where shes coming from ..
"Thank you for your understanding Brother Tobius...As I said, we all have been here to help out and find out whats going on and why its happened. Yes, we are the strangers in town but I'm sure your finding out that we have nothing to hide ..some of us are different than others and others have certain attributes that are different from the normal person but truly we are just here to help and now even more I think with this more recent episode, were even more determined to find out what happened..If theres anything at all we can do to help I'm sure if you let us know after your questioning we will do our upmost to help you. Father Malaki will be dearly missed even by us strangers and very sad that hes been murdered ..I personally would like to help with anything maybe the others can't since your questioning them, I can do it right away if you would like>"
Waiting for a response, she gets herself together.."Theres no since being so shook up when we have to find out what happened..I need to get a better grip and see what I can do." she tells herself over and over.

[jthorson]

"Whether you do now or did once work for The Unholy and the demon Horde remains to be seen. By your aloof attitude and apparent arrogance you either have no liking for authority or the church or both."

Darl's eyes flash with hatred for just a moment at the suggestion that he might work for the Horde, but he restrains himself and lets Brother Tobius continue.

"I don't think any of you did this, but I must be sure. Father Malaki was all too trusting, but rarely wrong about people. If he trusted you then I can't just ignore that regardless of my personal feelings about you."

Darl smiles at the last statement. "Ahah! So there is some measure of wisdom behind those angry eyes!"

"Well, Brother Tobius, now that we've established that the only reason we're in this room is because we're strangers, and that despite your mistrust, you know we weren't involved with the deaths; perhaps we can now move on to figuring out how we might be able to help you determine who was, and perhaps start building some of that trust that Father Malaki apparently bore too much of? It's a pity that you aren't familiar with my race, because what I'm about to tell you is going to sound somewhat far-fetched."

"It's true that my kind did not originate here on Wormwoood. However, this planet is my home ... just as you yourself were born elsewhere, but now call this village home. Call me a monster if you must ... but I must warn you that I take extreme offense to the suggestion that I have any association with the the demon horde, the Unholy, and all those who are out to destroy this planet and thus my home. The only reason the last person to suggest such a thing is alive today is a sign of my respect for your village, and the fact that my desire to specifically NOT cause you any additional trouble is only slightly stronger than my need to correct those who spread such an offensive rumour."

"As for how I can help in the current situation, my kind has a certain affinity with ... 'time', shall we say." Darl briefly glances over at Anastasia while he continues. "Similar to how an oracle prophecizes about the future, I have the ability to glance into the recent past. Admittedly, this ability is much more limited in scope than that of an oracle, but the view also comes with much more clarity as their is no uncertainty regarding events which have already happened. And knowing that you were going to be asking questions, I took the liberty of investigating the murder outside just before joining you here."

"I can confirm that your murderer did indeed use magic to hide their tracks. They moved in absolute darkness, emerging from the protection of the spell only after emerging from the hallway, and just seconds before ambushing the door guards outside. If the culprit used a spell to keep him out of sight, then I have to assume they used another one to silence any sounds they might have made as well ... as the guards did not appear to hear their murderer exit behind them, and their throats were cut before they could cry out." Darl pauses just a moment, to let those assembled consider his suggestion.

"As for the pool," Darl continues, glancing over at Daniel, "I'm fairly sure that your priests will confirm that it is indeed human blood, and not fish-guts. You may have noted that one of the guards outside seems to have bled significantly less than the other. After slitting their throats, your murderer bled one of them into a vial ... while watching the vision, I assumed it was to be used in some sort of future spell ritual - but given the state of your stained bathing pool, it appears the purpose was to frame us, and cast suspicion on the group of strangers," gesturing at those assembled in the room, "who happened to stay here last night ... and who remained here, despite the fact that both the theft and subsequent murder were complete, and those responsible would have no other reason to stay here and risk discovery." "

"Your murderer was scarred and battle worn, taller than human but shorter than me. I did not get a good look at their face, but my suspicion is that it was another of Salome's minions, come to silence Father Malaki, and clean up any tracks that the thief may have left behind."

"Now before you accuse me of fabricating this fantastic tale, and in the name of trust, may I show you to our packs? And with your leave, I'd like to request access to Father Malaki's office so that I might attempt a viewing to discover just what happened there ... though I must admit, if the culprit hid his actions behind magic I don't expect to actually be able to discover anything new."

[Manson-Mage]

Daniel with a flash of anger in his eyes turns towards Darl , " Excuse me blue boy . While I was walking back to here with Sister Guineth , I saw you exit the building and turn the corner .. If you want to be casting doubt on anyone , try and make sure you are not seen exiting a building you were " sleeping " in the night before ! "

Daniel grabs up his baby handle in one hand and mid chain in the other .