Talk some more before going to sleep.
An old pilgrim with an old bandage over his left eye answers your question, "I don't know much about Stern Hope before the cathedral but I arrived here in the early days, when the cathedral was merely foundations. We built this cathedral with our faith as much as our hands and it will bring all of us closer to the Emperor. Actually, I hear that woman Esha Raine is coming to the ceremony. She’s one of the “widows of the Ashleen”—a respected wise woman and healer. She believes the cathedral will help the Ashleen join “real” Imperial society and better us all. They say that’s why she agreed to help Skae and discouraged those clans nearby from raiding us. Her voice is listened to by many of the war clans and even a few renegades.”
Listen to more chatter and find more info while heading back
On the way back up the stairs you hear nothing more that could be useful.
Buy some drinks for the Ashleen; try to get them to spill some information on their culture and legends; specifically omens and the dead. Say that I'm simply a researcher of the sororitas, nothing more.
"Omens?" the young Ashleen woman taps her chin, "I'm sorry, I was never much of a believer of the old traditions but I heard that old mother Vossa saw the stone of the altar weep blood, so she did! But then she was always half mad that one, losing all her family to the slavers when she was young. Haven’t seen her now for days, probably wandered off somewhere…”
>Head down into the common room, seek out a drunk patron with a nice hat! Preferably something resembling a bowler!
>Chat with them in a friendly manner for a while before broaching the subject of what an excellent hat they have, and then attempt to trade my bottle of Spitbrew for it!
>If that's not enough, chuck in that padded vest I have, too.
You look down from the staircase as Argia passes you, trying to locate somebody drunk enough to be wearing their hat indoors and, as fortune would have it, you discover one who seems to be wearing something resembling a bowler hat. As you move through the crowd you get a closer look and discover that it is indeed a scruffy looking bowler hat, though it does have a notch missing from the rim.
After some initial small talk you attempt to trade your spitbrew for the hat. He's less than thrilled at the prospect.
You quickly add your vest to the deal. The drunkard runs a hand over the vest, as if checking it for faults before taking the spitbrew from your hand and shoving the hat unceremoniously on your head. He stumbles off bragging about the excellent trade he just made. Obviously he was more drunk than you thought because he has left the vest behind.
Inquire about the state of the machines used in and around the cathedral, particularly concerning any malfunctions or strange occurrences surrounding them- and, ideally, after finding someone who looks knowledgeable on the subject.
You approach a dirty looking man wearing what appear to be welding goggles on the off chance that he works with machines. Thankfully, he is, "The only true machines we use around here are the vehicles and the generatoria. As far as I know, nobody has seen anything strange around or regarding the machines, it's a lot of superstitious nonsense if you ask me. Only spirits around here are the machine spirits."
Go down to the people, and sit in a corner awkwardly. Hopefully a corner far away from any people like Gabriel. Gabriel was scary.
As you sit in the corner you do not overhear anything relevant to the mission. In fact, people seem to have moved away from you, as if sensing your abnormal nature. Perhaps it's your white hair.
Investigate the Dustdog and then the Priory.
You jump down from the rooftop, rolling as you land, and quickly walk off in the direction of the Dustdog's bark. You make your way quietly through the darkness and soon realise that you are moving away from the main mass of tents, across what seems to be a road and towards a much smaller collection of tents. You're about to give up on finding the dustdog when it barks again, the sound clearly coming from up ahead. You discover a fence and can now hear goats. You deduce that this is probably where animals are kept.
You retrace your steps back to the Crying Clota and then head south towards the lights of the Priory. When you get close you can see that the building resembles an Imperial bunker more than a religious building.
You hear the crunch of gravel on your six.
Follow Allion and trail him like a stalker.
You hear Allion jump from the roof, having already climbed out of his window. You keep your distance so as not to be heard and follow him through the moonless night by keeping him silhouetted by the lights from the tents. Soon you reach the edge of this set of tents and lose track of him in the darkness. You crouch low, breathing slowly so you can hear better and after a short wait you hear him return.
You follow him back to the inn but he sets off into the darkness again, this time towards the priory. As you approach, trying to make out his silhouette against the meagre light leaking from the priory's window covers, you inadvertantly step om some loose gravel making a jarringly audible noise.
((One more turn and then all aboard for the next day))
Author
Topic: Dark Heresy: Illumination IC - Faith Betrayed (Read 39960 times)