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"The Pope cannot transfer the title." Lucius responds firmly. "It is bestowed by the Holy Spirit and the will of the College of Cardinals - no other way. Neither Cardinal Piccolomini nor I can claim that we are now Pope. At most we could present that as the Pope's suggestion that we should be elected as his successor - but that does not bind the conclave, it is merely a note to consider. But no Celeste, the office of Pope is one for life. While the Pope lives he is the Heir of St Peter, the college cannot remove the title while he lives. It would be sacrilege."
"The first part is good news. The second part is stupid. What happens if he has a stroke and is unable to perform his duties? Does the Church run around like headless chickens? There is a saying, you can put the government in the hands of a perfect man, but what do you do when the perfect man has a headache?" Celeste shakes her head. "Not to mention we have a whole hosts of demons and devils waiting to invade the city out there."Celeste gestures in the direction of Rome.
'Not a bad saying.' Elek smiles at Celeste's saying. Then looking from the Cardinal to Celeste to Maud, "Yes za demonic hoard outside of za city. Do vee vorry about za enemy vit in, or do vee continue fighting za enemy vit out?" He smiles a little, "I know vich vone vill be easiest to identify, ya."
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"Easier to identify certainly." Lucius responds, a slight smile forming. "It's anyone wearing the cardinal's scarlet surely? More seriously though, I would not suggest leaving the city again for a time. Our friend with the knife had a point, every time we leave the city we risk provoking the demons and they are nothing if not cunning -
eventually we would leave the passage to be discovered and then we have risked the safety of everyone in the city. While we lack a clear mission I suggest we do not risk it. Even more to the point, if we do not remove the enemy within then those without may be within far quicker than anyone would care to admit."
"I don't like having enemies behind my back - the problem is how are WE going to flush that creature in the shadows out when we have no leads on how to trace him?" Celeste states with a frown, "I am half minded to just bring as much supplies as we can carry - use the abandoned church we cleared outside the city, then progress from there as our base of operations until we find that tiefling commander and kill her."
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"The handwriting provides a lead, the man's gear might offer another and if we, or rather, one of you who are less well known - ask around about him and his whereabouts we might well be able to establish three methods of determining his identity and that of his patron." Lucius responds. "There are not many who knew about our mission - that narrows the suspect list considerably."
'That 'message trick is neat, now that I know what it is I realize Celeste and Lucius are talking. I wonder what they have decided.' Elek watches as Celeste and the Cardinal talk. Raising an eyebrow he asks quietly, "So vat have vee decided?"
"Lucius has a plan," Celeste outlines Lucius's plan to the entire party, "Firstly, the handwriting provides a lead, the man's gear might offer another and if some of you us are less well known - ask around about him and his whereabouts we might well be able to establish three methods of determining his identity and that of his patron."
"I'd say that sounds workable, and since I don't like leaving enemies behind my back, we could get to it."
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"Elek, Maud. You two are the least conspicuous amongst us - could you please try and track the man's whereabouts down. Find his family if possible, that sort of thing. I will visit the chancellery and attempt to track the handwriting."
Suiting actions to words Lucius heads for the Papal Chancellery, the domain of his cousin Rodrigo. Well known there Lucius dispenses blessing as he passes until he finds Mg Baptiste, a notary with whom he has conducted business before. "Buongiorno Mg Baptiste. I have a small commission for you. I need you to examine this writing for me and tell me if you can recognise the script. It appears to me as a chancellery hand, but I am no expert." Lucius shows Baptiste a section of the note recovered from the assassin with one hand and deposits a small bag on the notary's desk with the other. "For your mother's medicines, Mg."
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Listening as we decide our best course of action Maud gathers her thoughts before speaking, via message to the party. "I think for Elek and I to go about and find the assassin's family may prove to be easier said than done. From what I recall we never got his name, which may prove to be a challenge for tracking his family down. And since he has passed on to the afterlife..." she trails off seemed to be lost in thought.
'That is a tall order.' Elek nods his head in agreement with Maud, pointing to all three of his companions, attempting to use the message, "Maud is correct, I have some skill tracking za beast of za forest, but tracking une man I a city zat I am not familiar vit, seems a little beyond me. I am not even sure how I vould go about it."
Scratching his head for a moment, looking to the cardinal, "Zere must be somevone you vould have contact vit zat could introduce us to somevone ve could hire. Ve could send zem to investigate za body, und perchance gather clues."
He looks around suspiciously, "Za thieves guild of Rome is infamous, ya? Vat do zay call zemselves, za Mob? Do you not have a contact zat could employee zem? I'm sure zey have no interest in za deamon horde cutting into zere business interests."
Nodding as he takes the gold and the letter, "Yes, yes Cardinal Lucius, I will see what I can come up with. . .it may take me some time. My resources aren't what they used to be and everyone is one edge, but I will do this for you,"
Celeste thinks about what she knows about the thieves guild in Rome....
”Randomly asking about the assassin would make us VERY obvious. I believe discreetness is the key.“
Celeste in your studies of the Catholic Histories as well as the status of Italy during this time period you know there was an active Thieves Guild in Rome however they had mostly moved away from your basic robbery and instead focused mainly on offering "Paid Protection" and helping rare pelts and smuggle goods into the city without paying taxes for the wealthy and rich of status.
You've even heard that some Cardinals had made use of their services and even sometimes helped them avoid Church persecution. Though if that is true, you've no idea which Cardinals would be compromised or if they even survived the apocalypse.
”There is a Thieves Guild in the city – they may know more about the assassin.” Celeste tells the party. ”Now the interesting part – how are we going to contact them? And what would we pay them? They don’t work for free…”Celeste muses.
"We need to go to the Cloaca Maximus - then maybe one of you can try to look for a thieves guild contact." Celeste informs the party.
Celeste thinks about where the Cloaca Maximus is.
"The Church can be used, but the crypt must be checked for nasty surprises first. I recommend we do not stay in the Vatican until we have unmasked the traitor."
'A base of operations, that's a good idea. So is clearing the church basement, wouldn't hurt to clear a couple of buildings around it to make sure were not seen.' Elek nods his head in agreement with Maud and Celeste. "A base of operations is eine gute Idee how you say ' a good idea. I believe if vould be in our best interest to not only clear za Krypta but za nearby buildings as vell."
'I don not think we can unmask the traitor without the help of the thieves guild.' He then asks, "Can ve unmask za traitor vit out speaking to die Diebe Gilde?"
He looks at Lucius, "Is vere anything vee should do before vee head to za "Cloaca Maximus"
He scratches his head a moment, "Do vee have enough evidence from der Mörder to show za guild or should vee take der Körper, er, za body as well?"
He looks at the others shrugging his shoulders, "Vee could put it in eine sack."
" Assuming the body hasn't been cleared out of the crypt, we could, and it could be an idea. The body would start to smell after a few days, so we wouldn't want to keep it for long." Celeste replies to Elek.
"Let's head out of the city, clear the abandoned church and start looking for the Cloaca Maximus."Cdleste suggests. "If there's any speaking to the Thieves guild, someone else please do it, wizardy types like me tend to make people uncomfortable."
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"The Cloaca Maxima is a wonder of Ancient Rome - there are areas large enough to drive a horse and cart through." Lucius responds, a note of enthusiasm creeping into his voice. "It was linked to the great aqueducts so that it had a constant flow of runnning water to remove effluvia and the like. Unfortunately the acqueducts were all cut centuries ago. I've always thought that the Pope should put money into restoring them but its hardly possible these days." Lucius mutters before breaking off into though.
"There is one man I might be able to talk to. I have taken his confession before at my cardinal church. He is a good man who does not subscribe to the violence that so many of the petty guilds use to extort money from honest pilgrims. If we can find the guild I might be able to get us in."
"I must deal with a lead in the Chancery. Go to the crypt and I will meet you there."
'Oh is some kind of giant city sewage system, and Italians live there I know there is a punch line waiting, but I doubt if now is the time or place.' Elek smiles to himself, and nods his head in agreement with the Cardinal. "Ve vill meet you at za Krypta. Do you think vee vill need za corpse of der Mörder so they can recognize him or just his gear?"
When the party is done talking, Elek will go with the two ladies to the crypt. Keeping a keen eye out for anyone following them. Looking for any signs of entry at the crypt. "We should vait out here, zat vay ve cannot be caught in der krypta unavares, ya."
You guys gear up, feeling more accomplished and more powerful as you head out, you don't know if its confidence or what but something in you feels strong.
You guys arrive at the crypt in short order, it doesn't take long to open it up and see that it hasn't been disturbed since you were last here. It smells of day old rot and decay as the body as been left to sit here and stew.
Edging closer you overhear it appears to be Piccolominni and a few of his attendants discussing something with Baptiste.
As the wait for Lucius Elek asks the ladies, "Should vee take za body or just za gear? It may be zat somevone vould recognize za man himself. Assuming he is not too bloated."
As you try to sneak forward you get caught up in your robes and stumble causing a stir, Piccolominni turns around seeing you in the hallway, "Ah Lucius, another one of your ploys I take it?" scoffing, "Hah you will have to try harder than that, his Eminence made it clear who will succeed him and that will be me,"
He gathers his entourage and strides past you barely looking at you as he passes.
Magister Baptiste, "Ah my friend, my friend I almost had him! He was just about to verify his handwritten in front of me, but alas. . ." He helps you straighten your robes before continuing, "This isn't over, I will help you but it'll take a bit more cunning now,"
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Maud gathers long spear and javelin and follows along with Elek and Celeste back to the crypt.
Once back in the crypt Maud takes up a first watch and keeps an eye out for anyone who might have followed them here. "I don't think we were followed but you can never be certain, especially now that we know there is a target on our backs."
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"My apologies for disturbing your work Monsignor." Lucius offers, brushing himself down. "Please, anything I can do to assist your efforts, you must let me know, although I will avoid the Chancery for a little time I think. God be with you."
Annoyed at himself for bungling the job so spectacularly Lucius makes his way out of Rodrigo's dominion and heads for the crypt.
"Ladies, Gentlemen. Are we ready?"
"What took you so long."An impatient Celeste grumbles grouchy. "At least I hope your trip was more fruitful then us waiting here for you."
Elek nods toward the body, asking, "Do ve vant to take za body vit us so za thieves can identify him or do ve vant to look for identifying marks zat ve can describe?"
Packing up the body, its already started to bloat after only a day or so you guys search him over and find a unique brand on his chest, it looks like some sort of crest or sigil.
It could be used to help identify him or potentially identify fellow conspirators!
You don't really find much else on him that you hadn't already looted.
"Ewww..." Celeste wrinkles her nose at the smell and is very careful to pick up the crest with a rag, then examines it to see if she recognizes it. She also checks if the crest is magical.
Celeste shows the symbol to the party, "Elek, I think we may be able to use this symbol to identify others of his kind." She makes a sketch of it on her book. "It seems to have some enchantment on it...to do with control of another mind."
"We'd better leave things as they are here. I don't feel safe carrying the original around."
She then urges the party to the Cloaca Maximus.
Packing up the body, its already started to bloat after only a day or so you guys search him over and find a unique brand on his chest, it looks like some sort of crest or sigil.
It could be used to help identify him or potentially identify fellow conspirators!
'Not the first rotting body I've come upon, it used to be deer and wolves, now it's people, the smell is the same, but you never get used to it.' Elek takes a large square rag out of his pocket and ties it across his face, then he quickly begins to pack the body. Finding the brand he smiles. "Vit a brand like zat he shouldn't be to hard to identify, ya."
'Not what I would rather do, but just in case.' Waiting for Celeste to make a drawing of the brand, Elek then quickly uses his hunting knife and removes the skin leaving plenty of room around the brand. Nodding to the others as he wraps it up and places it in his rucksack. "Not vat I vould prefer doing zis, but zis vay vee have a couple of copies."
As they prepare to leave to find the thieves guild, he looks from the carved body to the others. "It is my opinion zat ve may as vell leave za body here, unless you think vee should dump it so zey do not know zat vee found za brand."
Celeste raises an eyebrow at Elek as he starts cutting out the brand but doesn't give further comments."I think we should dispose of the body. This is someone's crypt after all, and bodies tend to spread disease. We wouldn't want the next people coming in to catch something."Celeste however, stays some distance from the body, covering her nose with a scarf.
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"Burning the body may be premature. The discovery of the brand raises significant questions that must be answered." Lucius reaches out to pause Maud's actions. "If there really is a demon cult within the Vatican then we must seek to root it out immediately. It is also important that this news becomes known to the College. If the pope should die it is vital that we have an experienced hand at the helm, one who has the confidence and skill to guide the Church through these times. That is not Cardinal Piccolomini. If the College are aware of this then it will do much to counter-act his posturing."
He looks around the group. "I cannot command any of you, but I counsel this. I must depart, so that I am not directly implicated. Then you must report the body to the guard - inform them of what you found and explain that you removed the brand for fear it was some sort of unholy magic. I will inform my cousin and together we can ensure that the message reaches the right ears. Then we meet again to visit the Roman Thieves, although that will require leaving the Vatican again."
He looks from one person to the other, peering at their faces in the gloom.
Glad that Lucius has come up with a plan that does not involve her helping out lugging the dead body, Celeste nods. ”Yes we will definitely need to root out the demonic cult – I don’t want anymore assasins looking for us in our sleep. I am pretty sure that Cardinal Piccolomini is NOT the one that we want to take over the Pope.” ’I bet he’s in league with those demons and sent the assasin after us.’ Celeste thinks to herself. ”Your counsel is sound. We will look for the guards. May I enquire which cousin you are meeting?” She replies to Lucius.
”How will we know when to wait for you at the entrance to Rome?” She asks.
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"My cousin the Vicechancellor." Lucius replies. "He'd probably be delighted to meet you too Celeste - his taste for female company have always exceeded what the church commonly expects..."
With the rest of the group in agreement Lucius nods to them all. "Give me a few minutes and then seek out the guard. If this goes well it should swing momentum in our favour." With a firm nod he turns on his heel and leaves the crypt, grateful for the chance to breathe fresh air again. Consulting his memory he concludes that Rodrigo is likely to be in his chambers in the Chancellery and bends his footstep thither.
'To the guard... I should stop then.' Elek looks from Lucius to Celeste as ne stops cutting the brand off, and wipes of his blade. He shrugs his shoulders, "I vill leave za brand so za guards can see it, ya."
'Guess I'll need a new blanket when were done.' Wrapping the body as best as he can in his blanket, he hoists the dead man on his shoulder. "Ven vee find za guards vee vill tell vem va story of der Mörder's attack.
He address Lucius directly, "But zey vill vonder vy vee have vaited over une day to tell zem. Do you vant us to tell va truth, zat vee sought refuge vit your cousin or should vee beschwindeln er tell a lie?"