Getting "Settled"

Janine's shocked gaze flickers back and forth between you and the door. She is clearly torn, believing your story but respecting her elders. "I-I thought... Excuse me Sabine, I need to um... Go." She nearly trips over herself in her haste to get out the door, her otherwise graceful movements hindered by her confusion. You call out after her, "Janine!" She pauses, hand on the doorway, facing away from you. "When you've had time to think, I'd like to talk." She glances back, confusion still etched on her face, but gives you a quick nod before exiting the room.

You sigh heavily, flopping back on the pillows with enough **** to make you wince. Temporarily free to rest, your mind whirrs into action. What the Hell? Despite the turbulence of the link you swear the profanity gets a sympathetic twinge from The Burning Rose and a manic giggle escapes before you get ahold of yourself. Something is obviously wrong here. If it truly was the will of your goddess that brought you here, and you've no reason to suspect otherwise, this was somehow even more important that bringing the sword to Gerlangen. Or maybe this would get you there faster... somehow?

You spend an hour trying to wrap your head around what your deity wanted from you but all you accomplish is worsening your headache and the realization that you wouldn't accomplish anything lying down. A woman can accomplish some of her best work lying down... You nearly slap yourself out of reflex to the perverse thought but an echo of your own horror reverberates through your mind and stays your hand. Did... did that thought come from the Burning Rose? Remorse and sorrow touch the edge of your mind, tinged with an emotion reciprocated in your own thoughts: Fear.

Your hands shook uncontrollably as you straightened your gown, striding down abbey corridors warmly lit by the afternoon sun. The calm surroundings seemed almost heretical, considering how profoundly wrong the world had suddenly become. Something was corrup... affecting the Burning Rose, and the goddess knew it. Now that your own state of mind better reflected that of your deity you could feel her anger. Horror. Fear. For the first time in your life, you actively block the presence of your goddess. It was like being back in that room with the imp: wanting something so strongly, knowing it would lead to damnation, terrified by your own lack of control.

Why shouldn't she be afraid? The Divine were supposed to be untouchable: beings empowered by the very fabric of nature itself, given shape and meaning by millions of souls who couldn't begin to understand them in their true form. Or so you had been taught. The mere idea of something directly influencing a god was... terrifying.

The Burning Rose was purity, justice, righteousness... she was an immovable presence beyond all earthly evil and an unstoppable **** for good in the world. It was why she had such a strong following, why people young and old sought refuge in her abbeys, why women (if they were pure) strove to channel her power to purge the world of evil. Any shortcoming of her faith originated in her mortal conduits, the goddess was infallible. She was supposed to be infallible...

You round a corner, almost at a run, and slam into another sister. You steady yourself on the wall, momentarily shocked out of your dark thoughts, "I'm so sorry, are you alright?" You stretch a hand out to the dazed woman, helping her to her feet, "Oh. I'm fine. Very, very fine." She smiles blankly at you before continuing on her way, head bowed and hands clasped in prayer. You recognize the cadence as a prayer for guidance but the words were wrong, "Blooded Rose... accept my offering... glory of the... to our combined Euphoria."

You stare after the woman, "What in the name of all that is holy is going on around here?"