«I fear we would need some theological research to know what sins are good and which are bad. Mentem spells might in fact be safer.»
Leaf comments "The brother wishes to show his father that his endeavor prospers. He would rather name what he finds rather than find what he seeks. His "direction" is the wind, and he will watch out for 'the whole of Provence".
When Lutra enters
"We must prepare. I wonder if the brother feels we have been bad hosts. Does he see heresy in every shadow? He strikes me as a washerwoman who somehow has the ear of a lord. We should gift them with a cask or two of wine, as they exeunt"
"Ah, so priests must've come by," he says, trying to piece together the pieces from the conversation. "If you need mentem spells I'm not half bad but Leaf is probably better suited, wouldn't you say?"
"He was directly referencing the Cathar's extreme dislike of sins of the flesh, every Catharist preacher in the town square speaks of it."
«I heard, my dear Alienore, but I am not convinced that he will embrace every sin the Cathars denounce. »
Leaf: I wonder at his resources. He says he did not intend to come to Bentalone. But perhaps that was a venal lie? And if so, did he come to visit scholars...wizards?
«It is strange. Can anyone remember the last time we had visitors?» asks Jerome.
"Not in the 5 years I've been here, no," replied Lutra. "It's certainly a blessing but also a shame that nobody but us is able to enjoy such a nice and secluded place, so close to such a beautiful lake and with an amazing hotspring."
"Perhaps keeping an eye on who, if any, of our folk chooses to visit Brother Rainier would be apt?" More quietly, to himself "Or am I misunderstanding the lesson? As I often do"
"I think he expects us to visit, and will judge us if we do not. We can decide if we will tell him we are magi, but other than that, we should confess the truth to him. I believe that he will judge us on what we consider sinful, and if our idea of sin is heretical, he will assume us to be heretics. I think the use of Mentem would be dangerous, if he had any idea of it whatsoever, then we would be in for retribution from the Church."
"I think I'll go, then," Lutra volunteered, not quite feeling confident about it considering he couldn't quite remember the last time he confessed, worried he might mess it up. "I think I have enough of a grasp on the situation for now and I do think I should be aware of our guest. I'll report back if I notice anything odd in our interaction." He then heads for the priest's room, thinking back to the sins he would confess.
You knock on the door and are invited in. Brother Rainier is sitting in a chair with his back to the door. "Have you come to confess your sins?"
"Yes, Father," he says as he comes in, closing the door behind himself and kneeling as he takes a deep breath before beginning. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It's been..." he tries to remember a for a while but doesn't manage to come up with any specific number and not wanting to lie unless the priest reacts negatively, he decides to just be honest. "...a very long time, can't remember exactly how much, since my last confession." While not being able to see his face directly, he tries to gauge his reaction before continuing, hoping he got the words so far right.
There is a deep breath and the monk seems to consider for a moment how to respond to this "While it is normally a priest who takes confessions, I have been specifically tasked by the Pope with this as part of my task. Please, though, it is Brother, not Father. Please, however, proceed."
"Understood," he says making a mental note of it, maybe he should've asked a bit more before rushing in... "Anyway, I have to say my biggest sin would be that of sloth. I just find it very easy to let the hours drift by whenever I visit the nearby lake to swim or when going into the hotsprings in this very castle, neglecting my duties until dusk approaches. It often leads me to miss dinner just like today and that leads me to my second sin, that of gluttony, as I tend to compensate the mornings after by stuffing myself with way more food than is proper..." The remorse in his voice is so far genuine but at the back of his mind he still has what his sodales said about confessing a sin that would rul out them being Cathars ringing through.
"I expect that does not help your relationships with others at the castle. How do you keep your position?" Brother Rainier still has not looked at you but his voice seems quite... direct.
"I'm not so bad when I'm actually furthering our research in..." He hesitated for a second before he came up with a technically true answer. "...the workings of the world, mostly of water in my case. I'm also very knowledgeable of the wilderness, which proves to be an useful ability from time to time. But above all else, I think we stick together because-" He shuts up abruptly before he finishes, wrangling his brain in search of something that wouldn't sound suspicious. "...we understand each other the best," he finishes sounding somewhat unsure of himself.
"And these understandings that you share, that you hesitate to reveal. You cannot receive absolution for sins you do not confess." The brother enarly turns in his chair to look at you trying to urge you onward.
He gives a deep breath before continuing onward. "It's not heresy we share, brother. Rather a desire to tame the forces of the world for the benefit of people. Not everyone appreciates our goal..." And suddenly a thought came to his head, maybe he could climb out of this hole afterall. "Least of all those who think the world Our Lord made is evil by nature and reject material existence. I know there's a danger of falling into the sin of pride, but at its core is our goal in itself a sin?"
"I would need to know more of this goal, and more importantly the reason behind it. Why do you believe the natural world, made by God, should be reordered?" He pauses " Or do you believe some part of our world may not be his creation? You say you are a student of nature, would you say that snakes are then part of his divine plan?"