The Sisters of Adoration (and Angelo)

"Oh! So YOU are Cl-Cl-Claudia." Donna stumbled over the new name a little. "A mighty paladin of Jaris! Your armor is really beautiful~ I didn't know that the priesthood of Jaris had any such talented artists working for them! No offense meant, of course!" The waifish blonde sister reached out and took Claudia's hand, shaking it vigorously.

Claudia, couldn't help but blush and give a nervous little giggle even though her eyebrows crinkled with concern, eyes continually flicking back to the magical dog (?!). There were two things on her mind. Firstly, not to deal insensitively with Sister Donna's impairment or her *odd* choice of pet, and secondly, to gently remind her of her behavior. Having literally been raised in a bawdy house until two years ago, Claudia was quite aware of what was improper behavior on account of having it demonstrated for her at length - and from her arrival to her introduction, Donna was violating all kinds of social graces that normally one ought to observe in a noble's home. Bringing a dog inside without permission, talking or otherwise, was the least of it. She was going in through the servants entrance, which looked like sneaking; she had shaken Claudia's hand (that was a greeting for men; women were supposed to kiss each other's hands instead), and lastly her hairstyle.

While Donna's blonde hair framed her cute face perfectly in this style, it was very unusual for a sister or priestess. Cutting one's hair short in the back, as a female, was essentially announcing oneself as being "unvirtuous" and "unladylike". Though many working class women did so for convenience (the butchers, chimney sweeps, chandlers and so on), it was actually legally required for women who sold themselves in the work of sex. That was why Claudia had much of her gorgeous platinum blonde hair trimmed off when she was anoited - she was supposed to be the savior and lawbringer of the unchaste and unvirtuous specifically. By the very act of bringing Claudia here for help, Lord Mattias was making an unspoken confession that he believed his daughter and/or niece had already lost their maidenhood in the physical sense, and sought to cleanse that stain on his reputation through Claudia's application of a new doctrine. Surely this girl had just made a mistake... hadn't she?

"So you're... some kind of priestess?" Claudia asked slowly, looking intently at her.

"Oh!" Donna suddenly perked up. "Sorry, great pala-uh-din, I didn't introduce myself like I was supposed to. There are seven saintly virtues with seven monasteries, each with its own brotherhood or sisterhood, so, don't worry if you don't know mine! I can't remember all of them either, I had to scribble it on the back of my hand so that I could get through my final examination as a novice! Oh, uhm, please don't tell Jaris I said that. Anyway, like I was saying, I am Sister Donna of the Sisterhood of Adoration. So you know that all priests and priestesses of Norvaskr - especially priestesses! - have to be 'superior in every way', right? So normally that means certain people cannot do it, like me, because m' ears don't work!" Donna tapped herself playfully on the side of the head for emphasis.

"But Norvaskr is the god of all of humanity. You've heard the usual preachings, right? Every human is born absolutely perfect, and only becomes fallen through contact with the sinfulness of the world. So that means the ones who are different must be rare and special! So to symbolize how we trade off one thing for some unique blessing - like how we Sisters of Adoration are excellent writers, chirurgeons and masters of visual arts! - we aren't allowed to advance in the actual priestly hierarchy, but we are given the most favor of all in the cloistered orders!"

Claudia nodded to show her understanding. Indeed, humans from other lands such as the Shi'qae Sultanate often mistook the cloistered orders of Griffinwald for 'wizard's guilds', because they often dressed and acted in similar ways, and performed a similar service to the state... rather than providing direct leadership or guidance and ministering to the masses, they studied esoteric, cultural and intellectual topics - occasionally coming out of their seclusion to provide advice (as opposed to dictates) and to take advantage of their mastery of magic. Like Claudia herself, despite her great blessings, Donna was not actually a part of the priestly hierarchy. Formal and informal authority were two very different things.

"You must have questions," Donna smiled, a bit out of breath after her hasty spiel. "Here, I have a tiny chalk slate in my hip pouch here! Let me get it out. If there's a word I can't make out, I'll raise my hand, and you can write it down for me, okay? Don't worry, I won't need it very much! I've been studying at one of the best educational institutions in St. Marmelise for over a decade, now!"

All of a sudden, Claudia heard that mysterious ringing in her ears again. False. Donna is just barely nineteen years of age and comes from an order who rarely speak. The amount of practice she has had in reading lips has been sharply limited. She will recognize less than half the words in an average sentence.

Claudia shook her head a little and looked guiltily down at Donna. It seemed her holy powers had a bit of a hair trigger and condemned even little white lies. Claudia wondered, briefly, if there was some way she could 'loosen it up' a little.

'Why do you have a magic dog with you?' Claudia scribbled hastily, showing the little slate to Donna. "Oh," the sister replied, "Angelo isn't magic, silly! He is just very well trained. They assigned him to me so that he could bonk me with his head when somebody is knocking on the door and things like that, he's trained to do it when something needs my attention."

Claudia cocked her head to the side, utterly confused. "Uh... Angelo? Does she not know that you can talk?" she looked down to the golden retriever hound, throwing glances back at Donna.

Sure enough, the furry creature answered. "I shan't go into great detail, for our time is short, paladin. But indeed; I have only been with Donna for a short time, but I can already see she is an easily flustered girl, so I haven't had anyone tell her the full truth yet. The truth is that certain of my kind have been granted speech by Norvaskr in recognition of our dedication to serving humankind - alone among the beasts, we are under his purview, rather than Saetolus. I am one of seven holy hounds sent out by the priesthood to collect enough gold from across alliance lands to cast a full-scale, solid gold statue of our god, Norvaskr, including his throne."

"That's a LOT of gold!" Claudia said, eye snapping wide open out in spite of themselves. In response, Donna leaned down and gave Angelo's head an affectionate scratch. "Oooh I know! Doesn't he have the most lovely golden fur of any pup you've ever seen?"

"Indeed," Angelo said gravely. "That is why the Sisters of Adoration were one of the orders chosen to begin filling such a great tithe - because, so long as they keep their eyes focused on the goals of the church, they will be un-tempted by the words of the tricksters and deceivers who the vile pagan shamans will send against them. That is part of why Donna was sent here - if one of the young women of the foremost noble house of this city joins the church, the lord will be expected to make a suitably grandiose gift along with it."

Claudia looked back up to Donna's smiling eyes. "So she's going to be traveling around alliance lands, dressed like THAT, asking strangers to donate gold to her temple? I come from the red light district here, and I say, that could go very wrong indeed!"

"How so?" Angelo asked, tilting his head and giving the paladin a confused stare. "I don't see what you're getting at."

"...Um, perhaps I can raise that issue with the priesthood. It's not my place to judge, after all. That is, it is my place to judge, but only... uh, literally." Claudia babbled inelegantly. "Anyway, I haven't even found Sterling or her cousin yet, so..."

Pausing again, Claudia looked into Donna's cheerfully staring blue eyes. She wiped the chalk slate off and wrote again - in very small letters, this time. 'I need to get to know these girls better and find what secrets are being kept here before I can approve of one of them going away with you, Donna'.

"Oh, I know that, Miss Claudia!" Donna said, making a plaintive gesture by raising the palms of her hands. "I would never think of trying to rush or prod the living icon of a ruling god! You'd probably zap me with a lightning bolt and turn me into a big glass tchotchke."

"I didn't do that on purpose!!" Claudia protested, but Donna had already continued speaking and paid her no mind and prattled on: "You can proceed at your discretion. In fact, I am sure that my abbess would want me to use my blessings and help ensure your health and safety while you're here! Besides my holy magic I'm blessed with the ability to detect humans."

"Detect... humans?" Claudia blinked. "That doesn't sound very useful in the Griffinwald Theocracy. We're in an enormous city of 100,000 humans, with another half dozen cities of similar size to the north, south and east."

"Do not underestimate the dangers even here." Angelo spoke again. "Elves, goblins, serpentfolk, beastlings and other such filth can infiltrate the borders of the Theocracy with disgraceful ease by disguising themselves. Most often, they don't even need magic to do so. Do not discount Donna - she has been invested with considerable divine power."

"Okay," Claudia said, relaxing and allowing herself to smile. "So it sounds like you're just here to help - and I think Jaris would want me to help you on your holy mission, as well." There was something nagging the back of her brain though.

"Oh," Claudia added, eyes suddenly crinkling with concern as Donna began to walk past her. "There IS a slight problem, though! This manor, large and splendid though it is, has only a single unoccupied guest room, since Lord Mattias informed me that Sterling is now living in the other one." Gesturing and speaking slowly, on the third repetition she got the message across to Donna.

"That's no problem. I can get to sleep very easily! I'll just ask the lord to set aside a sofa in the common area or the dining room for me, I don't mind."

"But that's so unseemly!" Claudia protested. "Lord Mattias and his wife are going to be having guests here on an almost nightly basis. They'll whisper that he is showing disrespect and withholding hospitality from a holy sister. You shouldn't put him in that position."

"Well, I'll just get a room at an inn nearby then." Donna smiled, but then narrowed her eyes a little. "Forgive me, but it almost seems like you don't want me here, Claudia! I see what this is all about - you think the followers of Norvaskr are trying to steal your thunder. Well, even though I feel like I should point out that all thunder rightfully belongs to Norvaskr to begin with... the literal thunder that is, just making a little joke," she added with a wink, "let me promise before Jaris's all-seeing eye of truth that it isn't my intention to do so at all. This is the complete, unvarnished truth: my abbess told me to assist you however I could and obey your word as if you were a cardinal. Not just because you've got a right to such respect as an icon of Jaris but because the abbess said that we and the other sisterhoods are going to need your help on 'doctrinal matters'. I'm not sure quite what she meant but I trust her wisdom as always!" There was a brief silence - Claudia was still wary, but felt herself warming up to this sister, and nodded her assent.

"Great! So when is supper going to start? I'm famished from my journey and Angelo hasn't had breakfast today, let alone din-dins!"

"Ah-em!" Claudia cleared her throat, knitting her brow. It seemed like this sister wasn't the most... collected woman in the world. "You said that you had urgent messages to deliver to me?"

"Massage...? Well I could but... Ah, yes!" nodding belatedly, Donna reached down to the leather pouches at her hip and withdrew several parchments, neatly folded into squares. "These are the 'character sheets' for you, as well as your first two charges, Sterling and Yvonne. The method by which the holy diviners of the Brotherhood of Numerology produce them is a closely guarded secret, so only those who are blind or deaf are allowed to visit their monastery and request such sheets, for they are an unsparing assessment of the value of your character!"

Donna continued looking at the few sheets. "Oh! In fact, it seems they thought I needed one for myself as well. But I shouldn't look, I haven't been granted leave to do so! I must confess, I did sneak a little peak at yours, Claudia, and it said you are "beautiful" and "doubly well-endowed!" As well as being 'very blessed', and having 'clairvoyance', which must be useful!" She handed them over. "I don't want to be immodest, but I think I must be 'beautiful' too, because all the men I've met on my journey so far have been very nice to me!"

Claudia peered down at the perplexing collection of numbers. "What...? I was expecting this to explain more. I don't know what any of this means."

"The art of the Brotherhood's divination is esoteric indeed!" Donna said in her usual chipper voice. "But they said that high numbers are better, so the bigger the number in an attribute, the better you are. The baseline of 10 is for an average and unexceptional man. So, your 'strength' is a little lower than that, your 'dexterity' and 'intelligence quotient' and 'health' are a little higher. I showed it to Cardinal Velius first, and he's the one who told me I could find you here, which was fortuitous since I needed to confer with Yvonne and Sterling anyway."

"So..." Claudia pursed her lips, a bit disappointed, "this is just a bunch of information talking about what you and I and the cousins can be quantified as, in numbers? It doesn't allow us to do anything in particular?"

Angelo spoke again. "Do not underestimate the providence of the gods or the wisdom of their holy orders. If the Brotherhood of Numerology saw fit to give you these sheets, then they must be important. You should keep them close, commit them to memory, and never allow such information to fall into the wrong hands."

Claudia thought for a moment, deciding whether to read them in detail now or trust that she already knew what she really needed to. "Alright... I don't exactly have pockets in my vestments here, but I'll keep that little scroll pouch next to my blade and won't let it out of my sight. But Donna, I truly believe it would be better if we get you out of the manor discretely for now and have you come back during dinner in a few hours. That would be much more respectful to the lord and lady... besides, it seems Yvonne and Sterling aren't here right now, and I really ought to introduce myself to them before tonight, since I - er, we - might need to get to work protecting their virtue immediately, depending on what the guest list is like. It seems like Lord Mattias strongly wishes to avoid seeming stern or controlling, and besides, they are both grown women after all. So we will have to take care of matters ourselves."

But even as she spoke, Claudia felt a pang of worry. Wasn't this just increasing her responsibility really? Donna was nodding along but she couldn't be sure the sister was following everything. "Ah... but I am the Sin-Taker, aren't I? I suppose really I need to watch out for you as well." she laid a hand on Donna's forearm, bringing it up so she could kiss the back of the girl's hand affectionately, bringing a warm smile from Donna.

Looking down at Angelo as she did, Claudia pursed her lips and spoke. "You have been vigilant and steadfast in guarding Donna's virtue yourself I'm sure, Angelo?"

"But of course." The dog said serenely, wagging his tail in the affirmative. "Sister Donna has consumed nothing but water, dry bread and a few apples since I've met her. I do not believe she would even consider violating her vow knowingly and she always carefully checks any cup she drinks from."

"That... isn't quite the virtue I think she should worry about." Claudia said, her lips twisting into a tight, nervous smile.

"Please, don't speak in riddles!" the hint of a snarl formed on Angelo's muzzle. Donna noticed this and swatted him on the head. "No no~!" she said in a chiding sing song voice. "Claudia is a FRIEND, be a good doggie, Angelo!"

"Ahem. Apologies, I forgot my composure." Angelo dipped his tail and whined, lowering his head and looking up at Claudia with eyes that made her feel terribly guilty. "But please, either speak plainly or cast no more aspersions upon Sister Donna's character before she has even had a chance to prove herself before you! Is that not unbecoming of a champion of the god of justice?" he whined at her.

Claudia changed tack and looked up to Donna. "Donna!" she said loudly. "Before we go to this Inn, I have to warn you - I come from such a place, and it isn't safe for an innocent girl like you, it's all full of drunken, uninhibited men - here, let me write this down so you know exactly what I am saying..."

"It isn't safe?" Donna looked genuinely concerned and her face blanched a little. "Oh, no! When the abbess dispatched half our members to root out spies throughout the land I didn't think the issue was THAT serious!"

"Nooo!" Claudia buried her face in her hands and groaned. In spite of the awkwardness it was hard not to laugh a little. "For Jaris's sake..." she snatched the slate away, gripped the chalk in a fist, and wrote in big blocky letters 'PEOPLE WILL TRY TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU'.

"Oh my!" Donna's hand went up to her mouth, poorly hiding a smile, as her cheeks got pink. Claudia's holy empathy tingled her pleasantly, which meant that her words had given the skinny young woman a small degree of erotic pleasure or excitement. "Do you really think they would? Try to take advantage of an unguarded sister from a holy order, even knowing that she is forbidden to marry? I... hadn't even considered such a possibility."

As soon as the words left her mouth Claudia heard a noise in her ears like an avalanche or an earthquake. She felt as if a **** had impacted her from the front - a wave of fear with no obvious source wracked her body. So thoroughly stunned was she that Claudia couldn't even breathe, and stumbled backwards, nearly collapsing until she caught herself against a counter-top long enough to recover. She could see that Donna and Angelo were speaking but she couldn't hear them - everything was drowned out by a roaring voice in her ears: FAAAAAAAAAAALSE . When she closed her eyes, Claudia saw a vision of the word 'FALSE' in massive, mountain-sized letters made of glowing hot iron. Small rivulets of blood trickled from Claudia's ears and her birthmark burned as if it were on fire.

The intuitive understanding left behind in Claudia's mind after this shock to the senses was thus: There were different degrees of truth and falsehood in statements to which Jaris's sense was calibrated, and Donna's statement had been an example of one of the upper limits of the "power level" of a lie earnestly uttered in an attempt to deceive.

"I... hold on, please, be quiet for a moment." Claudia said suddenly gasping for breath to the concerned-looking Donna. "Can you just tell me the likeliest place to find Yvonne? Perhaps I can try looking for her with... with this vision I have supposedly been granted..."