"Murders eh?" Quiary says listening ot the description that are being given. "Could be Sczarni doing it do you think? They are shady and cover their tracks well. We should look into that if it will help your fellows here believe in us more Ansgar."
Zelinda remains silent as they move through the... temple? lair? home?... of the cult of Ragathiel, save for a soft greeting to those that they meet within. While she doesn't know much about the group of holy warriors, she feels someone more at ease since their encounter with the undead swarm. The talk of murder in the city does gain her attention, but she doesn't want to stick her nose in someone else's troubles without invitation. Desna knows that there's been enough excitement with Sandpoint and the Thistletop goblins.
Cael looks around seeming more comfortable now. "So Stoneface, is this what passes for your home then? Not bad. Well if you need help dealing with them we can probably help out. We are heros after all."
Norm also follows along with the group, looking around at anything interesting, often stopping to look at paintings and other interesting stuff, almost getting left behind a couple of times.
You follow Ansgar into the house's main hall, a big room with lots of military-themed decoration such as shields and weapons hanging from the walls huge round table with a tactical map of the inner sea region, and a few tapestries showing a huge five-winged angel leading other angels in battle against various forces of darkness. About six people eat and drink around the table while engaging in light conversation. One of them is Lumina, a blonde woman wearing a brestplate.
"Welcome back, Ansgar.", she says, crouching near Cliff and extending her hand to pet him. "Aww, I didn't knew you were a cat person, where did you find him? He's so cute!"
Only then she seems to notice everyone else. "Ah, companions, I see, I assume John sent them here so they could be tested."
"Yes, you'll also be interested in hearing about what happened in Sandpoint. And they were apart of it." Ansgar seems to remember something, then continues, "I should make introductions. Lumina, this is Cael, Norm, Zelinda, and Quiary. And you've met Cliff already. Everyone, this is Lumina. If you pass her test you can stay here, otherwise it'll be an inn somewhere."
Ansgar walks over to where the food is laid out and grabs an ale and sits down before turning back to the others. "Good luck."
Zelinda raises an eyebrow in surprise. "A Test? Really? Well as long as we're not being asked to do anything unseemly, then it should be fine, I suppose. What do we need to do?"
"What is the test? Written? My penmanship is lousy so you may not be able to read it? Sneaking and Studying are my thing." Quiary says looking the woman up and down.
Hearing the woman praise Cliff, Norm lights up
"He's with me! His name is Cliff. He is not a pet, really, more like a ...companion. A friend really. I've been traveling with him since he was a kitten. I've actually always wondered, do you also call a baby tiger for a kitten or is it just cats? Well, no matter. He is a great travel companion. He'll help with the hunting and keeps me safe when I'm not traveling with anyone else. Do you want to here how I meet him? It was close to the Tapur Forest. Do you know about the Tapur Forest? it's full of fey! Now, they can be horrible, but some of them are nice, if it suits them. Most liky it don't. Uh, food! Can I have some? Food on the road has it's charme, but sometimes you want something without having to scrape the dirt off first, you know what I mean? Ohh, this is really nice! Pass the bread, please. And the butter, this bread deserves butter. What was that test you'r talking about? Ansgar hadn't said much about it. Well, he doesn't say much about anything. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy. Just don't talk as much as I'm use to"
Norm finally stops talking, mostly because his mouth is full of food.
"Ansgar, please wait here. Everyone else follow me.", she leads you to hallway and then to a small side room that looks like an office, she gestures for you to seat and leans against a wall.
She mutters something intelligible to herself and seems to focus on some kind of prayer for about half a minute before addressing you again.
"I apologize for not trusting you yet. The reason we test some of our guests is to prevent infiltrators from other cults from tricking us and attacking from within. Magnimar is home to many cults and unfortunately some of them are bent on destroying or corrupting the others."
"In fact, one of them was caught trying to steal a relic from our house a few days ago. We know we can't depend on the city watch for this one as his cult has tendrils there, but we couldn't get a consensus on what to do with him, so we've been keeping him as a guest downstairs for now."
"As your test, I'm leaving this choice to you, how should we deal with this thief?"
"Well, that's tough. What does the law say? I don't know Magnimar's laws. I'm not saying you have to do exactly as the law says, but it's good to know the rules" before deciding 5o break them.
Zelinda is slightly take aback by Lumina's forward approach, but she recovers quickly. "Do we know for certain that this person is from another cult, or even which one? What is the general consensus, at this point?"
"Question him at odd hours, don't let him sleep I would day so that he will crack. If he is of a rival cult who for some reason wants to destroy you then you cannot just let him go as it will show that you are weak and that people can do what they want to you guys and gals." Quiary says
Norm look worried
"Well, first off, I'd like to know what kind of evidences you have. You say you caught him stealing, but what exactly did happen? Why do you think he is from another cult? What was it that he was trying to steal? Why is it important to him and his cult? When we know that, I would like to hear his side of the story. Not that I don't trust you, but there are always two side"
She answers Caeldren.
"The law would dictate imprisonment for about a year, or a severed hand for repeated transgressions. Though many on the city watch would just give the thief a good beating and call it a day."
Then the others.
"We know he is a cultist to Norgorber, they seem to be spread among many small, vaguely connected cults around the city, which makes it nearly impossible to track them. He himself confessed it after some encouragement. The relic is the Judgment Texts, a sacred tablet of our religion, we have no idea why followers of Norgorber would want it. And I can't let you speak with him, for security reasons."
"Never heared of this Norgorber guy. Who is he?"
"Can we see the relic?"
"If you by "encouragement" means torture, the confession is worth nothing. He would have said anything to make you stop. And you don't need to worry about our safety. We just fought a woman with a demonic hand and her demon dog. I think we can handle a chained thief. I would still like to talk to him"
"Norgorber is a god of thieves, spies and assassins who plots in the darkness. We can't show you the relic nor the prisoner, if we had enough trust in you for that you wouldn't be here being tested. And no, encouragement doesn't mean torture."
"You already had a thought in mind of what you were going to do to him, you just wanted to see what we had to say right?" Quiary says
Zelinda gives the situation some though while the others continue to question the priestess. After a few moments, she responds, "Well, somehow I don't think that locking him up will do any good, and even a beating would have minimal lasting effect on a zealot. We certainly can't kill him while he's defenseless." She thinks a moment more before looking Lumina in the face once more. "I'm not one to care much for capital punishment of any kind, so I really don't condone cutting off the man's hand, even if it may be deserving. Is there no way that you could brand or mark him in such a way that it would be obvious to any observers that he is a thief. Perhaps some way that would prevent him from easily doing so again?"
Cael tried to think through it all. He didn't like being faced with tough decisions like this, he liked everything to be clear back and white. When things like this presented themselves he couldn't be carefree. When Zelinda spoke and gave such a well 5hoight out answer he was happy to follow on to that. "I think Zelinda's right. You can't just kill him, band cutting off a hand, that leaves a man a cripple. Branding is more of a punishment than a beating, but less than what the law would allow. That seems like a fitting middle road. Mercy, but tempered by wisdom."
"Then it's settled.", she says. "You're welcome to stay in our house as long as you need to."
She then turns to Quiary with a coy smile. "Maybe you're right, who knows?"
Cale breathes an audible sigh of relief. "So we pass the test then right? I mean of course we would, we're heros after all. Stonefa... I mean Sir Ansgar, where too now? Is there someone we should talk to about beds or something? Though I suppose that can wait till we're done with Nualia..."
Zelinda is briefly caught off guard, but it doesn't take long for a wide smile to overtake her face. "Thank you for your hospitality," she says, bowing deeply to the priestess.
Norm is troubled. He don't like that a person got a punishment, without any evidence, other then the victims words.
He keeps quiet about it though, but for the rest of the evening he is unusually quiet.
When Lumina and the others return, Ansgar can be found chatting and eating with the members of the cult. Looking up as the others enter, "Lumina, I must tell you of what happened in Sandpoint, as well as ask for some advice..." Ansgar quickly recaps the happenings in Sandpoint. "... with all that in mind, what should be done with Nualia's remains? She was adamant she could return, so I brought them to ensure there was no such risk." Ansgar puts Nualia's holy water soaked ashes on the table for Lumina to examine.
"Branding can be healed by magic so it probably won't last, it is your choice in the end what you wish to do with him but don't let the others see what you do as they have made their choices already." Quiary says with a wink. "Thank you for your hospitality, I don't think we are staying long but who konws, we won't impose upon you much." Quiary listens to Ansgar make his case about the remains he is returning.
Lumina thinks for a bit as Ansgar explains what happened in Sandpoint.
"With her body in this state there is little that can be done to bring her back. I'd say it's likely she won't return as herself, but rather some form of abomination. You've already done everything that can be done about her body, but we have no control over her soul."
She ponders for a while.
"Did she have any allies or superiors who could work to resurrect her?"
"She said she was working with others, but we don't know who." Ansgar replies. "So what is our next move everyone?" Ansgar asks the group.
Glad to have something other then the captive to focus on, Norm says
"I think our main priority should be to protect Sandpoint. Right now, Nualia is out of the picture, but we should investigate if it's true that someone could bring her back.
She claimed that it was Lamashtu that would bring her back, so I guess we should look for someone that worship her.
I got some papers from Thistletop in my backpack we could look through.
And we should probably take advantage of the libaries here in Magnimar to get all the information we can on Lamashtu.
If there's nothing useful in the notes, I think we did leave something at Thistletop, so we could go there and look for other clues.
Other then that, I'm not sure where to go"
"I'm not sure what we can do for the town that we haven't already done. The militia is organized, and there doesn't seem to be an attack coming any time soon. Maybe we should, I don't know, relax a little?"
"have a few drinks relax, don't go gambling here though, they will take all your money and leave you naked in the street." Quiary warns everyone with a smile
"It does sound tempting, even the part of ending up naked in the streets, but I still have a feeling that we're not quite done with Sandpoint. That Nualia was a nasty one and if there is someone out there, even more nasty, I'm afraid we could be in big trouble.
But this don't have to be our problem. We just kind of stumpled upon Nualia and took care of it as we were there. This could be something someone else should look in to. Maybe the cult here or some officials from Magnimar itself.
But I am kind of curious..."
Norm thinks a little
"But maybe we could spend a night or two in town, relax a little and have some fun. I think we deserve that."
"Well, if the good people of Ansgar's cult are going to let us stay with them, we ought to do something in return I suppose. Maybe we can look into these murders?"
Zelinda's eyes widen a little, "Murders? Who said anything about murders? Someone tried to rob them, not kill them." She turns turns to Lumina, "They bring up a good point, though. Is there anything that we could do in return for your hospitality?"
"What murders? I haven't been out asking questions but I could go spend some time on the town to see what I can find out. You going to come with me Norm?" QUiary asks
"I was talking about he ones the first guy mentioned. John wasn't it?"
About things happening, there's been a string of murders recently, some think a cult to some demon lord is to blame, but if you ask me the murders seem a bit too methodical and their traces well covered, the mayor has been tightly controlling the crime scenes as well, so its hard for anyone but the city watch to try investigating."
Lumina answers Zelinda.
"I'd say the best you can do for us is simply remember our hospitality.", she smiles. "I don't know much about the murders but it seems like unless you're with the city guard you can't even get close to one of the crime scenes."
"I'll go along. A long time since I've been here. You want to go now or should we have something to eat first?"
Zelinda considers the priestesses words for a moment before responding. "Then if we have no immediate need, we should be sure not to trouble you more than necessary. We should head back to Sandpoint once we've rested."
"I guess so..." Cael agrees, unsure of himself, but ready to go with the group.
"Food and a Drink first, we can head back to Sandpoint tomorrow. Ansgar you coming?" Quiary asks
Ansgar had been listening to the others talk, enjoying being back at what he considered home. As talk about returning to Sandpoint came up Ansgar's brows furrow a bit. One day... That's all I get here... They do have a point, and Sandpoint needs aid...
Sighing a bit internally, Ansgar looks at Quiary and nods. "I'll return to Sandpoint with you all, assuming Lumina has nothing for me here. My skills can be used there, and my services may be needed again."
... and I want to make sure the town stays safe...
"Do what you must.", Lumina says. "Home will aways be here for you."
After some time resting in the big city of Magnimar, you head back to Sandpoint. The journey back is uneventful, although the sky is covered in dark-gray clouds for the entire day.
A foul rainstorm begins just as you're getting back to Sandpoint, and you watch from afar as the fisherman come back to the shore and everyone runs back inside their homes, leaving the streets completely empty.
You're soaked to the bone when you finally cross Sandpoint Bridge, the Rusty Dragon Inn, just a few yards ahead, bustles with music and laughter.