Welcome to Gaia! ::

The woman was slightly startled at the sudden entrance of three more people. They were males, which worried her. She had heard stories of the lewd barbarians that eked out a living in the West; they were all about battle and glory with no sense of tact or decency. It was also improper for her to travel without a male escort, or one who might keep her...honor intact (in more ways than one). Her companion had died about a week ago, her last link to the old empire. These men would do well not to cross her, though. Still, she would reserve judgment until one of them tried something; besides, this was a monastery, was it not? It was still rude to stand there and not say anything, so she turned and introduced herself to the men.

"Greetings to you all. I hope today finds you in good health, despite the storm." The man with a scepter walked by her, confident and, if she was to be so bold, a little haughty. She ignored him and continued, "I am Theodora Komnenos, of Constantinople--the Queen of Cities." She didn't think they would know any of the minor royalty, but her family name might carry some weight. Then again, this seemed to be a backwater place, and she had been aware of the growing gap between the east and the west which had resulted in the horrible atrocities committed by the so-called "crusaders" who had sacked Constantinople not many years before. Returning to the matter at hand, she asked, "And who might the rest of you be?"

"Miss Ashworth," William greeted, his face lighting up with a smile. It was a reserved smile, nonetheless. "The storm has taken a turn for the worse, and even more visitors have started to arrive. How are matters fairing in the kitchen?"

He had a tendency to be formal, even around the young 'bandit' who had been staying there for over a week, even though much of his deferential attitude was dropped when speaking to her.

"Things're going fine." Robin glanced over her shoulder at the pot of stew bubbling away. "How many do we got? Do we need to put another pot on?"

Robin wondered what the newcomers would be like. She wondered if some of her fellow bandits had come looking for her. If that was the case, it would probably be bad for her 'reputation' to return without stealing something. She briefly entertained the idea of swiping some silverware, but found she couldn't really bring herself to act against her hosts.

Robin inwardly cursed herself for her cowardice as she continued smiling cheerfully at William.

Inno turned around and noticed the cold and helpless Azaria. How meek she came in, as opposed to many others who barged through the door such as himself.

"The spoils to the meek one, yeh?" he chimed.

Inno flung off his makeshift fur coat and with his large arm, wrapped it around Azaria in one smooth motion. The skin of the bear, although not professionally made, was still carefully done so as to not let anything but the skin and the fur. No entrails or organs were left hanging and the only evidence that there was even a bear there was the stains of dried blood on the inside of the coat and a the large head of the grizzly at the bottom. Essentially, the coat was a rug, but was not too heavy as it was a baby grizzly.

"Go and soak your feet in some hot water. I remember my Cossack mother told me always, "Inno!" she said, "You no eat today if you have no feet. A black foot is just as bad as no foot!" she would say" he chuckled boastfullly.

((Alright, Delays have gone on long enough. Bard cancelled and Rio apparently said it's okay to GM her character in, so ONWARD.))

Father Jonathan nodded to the newcomers, as he listened to Leront. "Just doing my job. And no....at least, none that I have gotten word of." He responded to the question, then continued about the two possessions to the east. "Oh dear...may she rest in peace." He said, crossing himself. "Well, I hope this place won't be in need of your service, but either way, you should feel free to make yourself at home until the storm subsides."

He bowed his head and then walked over to Isaac on his way to the kitchen. "Brother Isaac, your handiwork is excellent. Keep up the good work." He smiled at the young boy. He passed into the kitchen, having not heard the request about putting another pot on. "We have many more guests than expected, please put on some more food."

It was about this time that a young merchant girl came in, who said her name was Connie (Rio's character).

Father Jonathan welcomed everyone to come have dinner, as it would be ready soon. The food was brought out, and they had a nice, warm dinner, and then everyone was shown to the rooms they would stay in.

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((NIGHT PHASE 0))

Father Jonathan felt restless that night. He wasn't used to having so many guests, and the preparations had tired him out. However rather than sleep, he stayed up in his study, reading through a few of the books there. He heard a noise at the door.

There were figures there. "Ah, if you need anything, I'll be happy to get it for you." He couldn't see their faces or really much of anything by the candle light. They said nothing, so he got up to go see who they were...and found it getting rather hot inside. 'Strange, it should be cold, that blizzard is still going, I can hear it.'

Just then, he burst into flame. He cried out in pain....but no sound came out. The figures left the room, as he writhed on the ground in pain....and finally....he died.

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((DAY PHASE 1, WILL END FRIDAY AT 5:00 MST (=4:00PST=6:00CST=7:00EST), please get the voting done before then. when casting a vote, color the NAME red. WHen cancelling a vote, color the NAME blue.))

The Morning came, and the Blizzard was still in full force. As the people staying their filtered out of their rooms they would notice that Farther Jonathan was not coming down for breakfast.

should they go to his study, they would find the scene of last night, still just as it had been left.

Alene had been nibbling slowly on her breakfast of bread and bacon. She kept quiet herself, wondering silently about what could of happened to the good Father.

The herb seller watched as the big loud man, she didn't remember his name, (Inno) got up to go check on him. It wasn't long before the man came back with the news.

"WHAT?!" she shouted, her mind not wanting to believe the news, "It can't be. Who? Why?" she wanted to say more but no words came as she stared at Inno. Alene prayed in her mind that it was all some sort of really bad joke.

Richard had noticed that the Father Jonathan who had taken them all in the night before had not joined them for breakfast, but the blacksmith did not really think anything of it. He just wanted to finish the meal and leave the monastery as soon as possible. He had to get home and he was sure by now that there were already a number of people in need of his services. Much to his dismay though they would have to wait as the blizzard was still roaring outside. He wasn't going anywhere it seemed. Right as he turned his attention back to his meal he heard the man who had gone to check on him yell that there was a dead man upstairs. He quickly rose from his seat immediately wishing he had his heavy mallet just in case as he made his way upstairs to be greeted by the gruesome sight.

"Oh my... Father Jonathan... Who could have done this and why...?"

He said, the usually strong man almost shaken to his core by the sight. The man was horribly burnt... and being a black smith he knew something about burns and how fire acted...

"This isn't right... how is it only he is burned..? To get burned to this extent is unnatural without there being an actual fire in the building..."