Welcome to Gaia! ::

Isaac sat at the breakfast table, folding his napkin back and forth, eagerly trying to solve some inner puzzle. He'd heard that men and women of the east were able to make paper into tiny figures. His curiosity on the subject had him doing this every morning and evening and breakfast and dinner. Isaac usually never lifted his attention from the task, but this time was different, he raised his eyes and looked around, finding several guests and monastery members missing. He stood up and decided to follow the commotion. The noise led him to the study, where he froze in the doorway. He looked to Micheal, who was already in tears. He quickly walked over and took hold of him from behind. Isaac hugged him tightly, trying to calm his frustration, "Please forgive him... He was very close to Father Jonathan. Please... calm yourself Micheal..." Isaac was about the same age as the other boy, so unlike the many other members of the monastery, this one actually felt like a brother.

Azaria awoke nice and comfortable and warm for that matter, which was something that she had gone without for a couple of days. It definitely felt like a nice change. She dressed herself before heading downstairs, the call of her stomach was too strong to ignore. But before she could even stomach any food, someone called their attention. From the sound of it, it was the same person who greeted her late last night.

Azaria rushed upstairs after the throng of people and felt her stomach churn. She gasped at the sight and looked away, finding it unbearable to look upon his charred remains. The poor acolyte... what would he do now? "How ghastly! Did no one hear anything in the night?"

Alene had went into the room where the father was killed shortly after everyone else. Immediately she fell to her knees with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, heavenly father..." she whispered in a soft prayer as she held her hands to her chest, just trying to keep herself from having a break down cause of tears.

She didn't know what to say. Someone did this. Someone who had an obviously had something against the father, or even the church. Her eyes went around the room. There was the one whom seemed to have some sort of knowledge of fire. Then the girl, Robin, there was something about how the girl spoke, she didn't like it...

Theodora had slept in late, glad for the respite from the wilderness and constant danger of the road. She finished dressing, purposely leaving off the extra flourishes she usually put on to maintain some dignity. She covered her head--she was in a monastery after all, and she should start some form of penitence--and made her way down to breakfast. However, an empty hall greeted her, meals left half-eaten. Some sort of commotion echoed down the hallway, and so Theodora hurried over to see what was going on. A group gathered around a body...a badly burnt one.

What had happened? Who would burn a body, and why? How did it not spread to anything else? She had seen many fires during the sacking of Constantinople; the stench of charred flesh was hauntingly familiar. Theodora had hoped to escape the carnage and destruction, but it seemed to have found her even in this land of barbarians. She looked around at the faces, and found the same looks of horror, fear, disgust, and morbid interest she had seen in her old home. Her eyes narrowed. There had to be someone responsible for this...but who?

Richard looked at the group that had assembled very curiously. With the blizzard that had been raging on all through the night he hadn't heard anything. When the man started the investigating he turned his attention to the man as he asked for their alibis.

"My alibi is unfortunately just that... very simple. I have been asleep. I am a black smith from a far away town, a reputable man. I have no reason to kill anyone here. I have nothing to gain from it."

His eyes narrowed though as he looked yet again at Inno.

"You however, I think it was you! How do we know that you didn't do this and you are claiming to start this investigation to throw us off of your track!"

{Accused : Inno}

Nell took a second to step outside the room, her head still swimming from the smell. Oh, she had seen fire damage before...but never like that! Usually the damage of other objects by the fire covered up some of the burnt flesh smell of people caught on fire.

And now people were accusing people! The gall!

Nell stood, entering the room once again and taking shallow breaths. "Really? Are we really going to start accusing people, with no...no proof, and over the poor Father's body! Do you people have no decency?!" She was visibly shaking, before stepping back to right outside the room and breathing deeply outside it. Dear Christ, son of God! She really shouldn't have left that last village as early as she did.

Nell looked to Alene, before nodding and brushing her hands down the skirt of her dress. Almost like a way to calm herself, cause there was no reason do to so.

"Yes...yes, we'll pray for him. He would like that, I'm sure." And with that, Nell walked off to the chapel with Alene, her eyes looking troubled as she contemplated what was in the room and what had just happened.

"The lot of you need to leave this room immediately," Leront 'informed' them, making his way through to the Father's body, his eyes cold, narrowed. He formed the cross over his chest as he entered the threshold, having seen the body through the crowd. As he made his way through, he almost stepped in what appeared to be throw up- too fresh to be the Father's.

"And someone clean that up, please," he 'asked', stepping closer to the body and kneeling over it, prayer beads in one hand. He muttered under his breath for a moment, eyes closed solemnly... and stopped suddenly, standing with a swift- "Amen."

"Something dark hides in our midst," he declared, not caring if they were still here. "This reeks of brimstone, and yet... not as much as a normal possession. Someone has brought demonic intent onto holy ground."

And I'm willing to bet it's that woman from Constantinople. All of those barbarians are pagans.

{Accused : Theodora}