Before we depart Your Eminence would you be able to hear my confession, if not now perhaps in the morning?
Of course, my friend.
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The friar will look over the map. Perhaps the entrance to the Catacombs of Priscillia will be the easiest to get to? Cardinal Borgia nods in agreement....
"That would be a logical choice, we have a base of operations here and healing close by if anything went wrong. So where do we begin? Did the assassin have anything we could use to find his comrades?" Cardinal Borgia produces a small vellum map that shows the layout of the seven hills of Rome, various landmarks such as the Vatican, the Coliseum, et cetera.... The map also indicates the locations of entrances to the Roman Catacombs throughout the city.... The assassin had this folded up in his pocket....
I see the wisdom in that course.... It is indeed troubling that the enemies of the Church would dare strike on sacred ground....
Your Eminence, would you suggest that the need to be silent as well as stealthy would be of upmost importance no matter what course of action we choose? Absolutely, Fray Manuel.... Stealth and discretion would serve you well in either mission....
It seems you have two paths you can traverse, young stalwarts: exploration of the catacombs beneath Rome to discover the location of the devil-worshippers, or an expedition to the foothills of Mt Vesuvius to strike at the orcs and goblinkind.... Either course will serve the Church, my friends....
It is known that these tribes of orcs and goblinkind have dwelt in cavernous lairs under the Alps for time immemorial.... But reports indicate that several tribes have abandoned their ancestral lairs to march down to Mt Vesuvius, where they are delving new lairs in the foothills of the ancient volcano.... And some tribes still on the march simply make camp wherever the morning light finds them, for they are creatures of night and darkness, and slumber by day....
After reading the information in the Vatican Library the young friar returns to the Cardinal's audience room and reports what he has found to Cardinal Borgia and the group. Your Eminence, the information I was able to find in the Vatican Libary suggests that there are miles of passageways and chambers riddling the stone below the seven hills of Rome and the surrounding countryside that the cult maintains at least three secret temples within these catacombs. In Latin: Yes, good Fray Manuel Jose.... Your readings have lead you down the same path that mine have led me.... But the exact location of the blasphemous temples where those unholy black masses are held remains a secret unknown even to the wisest among us....
In Latin: Of course, any assistance you can give in tracking down the secret lairs of these villainous devil-worshippers will also earn you treasures, both earthly and heavenly....
Cardinal Borgia considers each of the four heroes shrewdly for a moment, then offers them a chance to win further favors and rewards from the Church.... In Latin:
Our blessed brother here, whose countenance so reflects the varied splendor of creation, shall have a leathern purse full bursting with gold florins, the better that he might be at alms giving to the impoverished....
Aye, of course, Brother Jose.... I shall unlock for your perusal the vaults which contain the deepest mysteries known to the Holy Church....
These things shall be granted unto thee, knight of the Orient! Akio receives a fine cloak of resistance +1, with an ermine-trimmed collar and a silver clasp shaped like a medusa head, plus 3 potions of cure light wounds in Latin-labeled vials, and a purse containing 100 golden florins.
You shall each have a fine cloak, imbued with the divine protection of the Holy Spirit, to guard your lives as you have guarded the life of our blessed Archbishop of Toledo! That is, unless you desire a different gift.... Speak it, and if it be in our power to grant, it shall be thine....
The Borgia cardinal blesses all those present, and thanks the heroes who thwarted the assassination of the archbishop of Toledo warmly.... In Latin: Praise and thanks be to God that these young Samaritans were willing to intercede on behalf of our blessed Archbishop of Toledo.... You have done God's work, today, young heroes.... And you shall have God's healing and rewards.... When all wounded are gathered within 30 feet of the cardinal, including the archbishop of Toledo, Akio-San's steed, and any wounded PCs, Cardinal Borgia channels God's healing energy, restoring hit points.... |