[color=red]Where magic fails to identify the source of tampering with emtions particularly the darker ones then it must be necessary to suspect the infernal for the traces of hell are hard for magic to detect.
And then with no detectable irony in her voice
[color=red]Perhaps we should consult our humble pastor to see if God can reveal any clues to us
Justus Felix makes an apperance. After he has gotten informed about what’s happening, at least from Bartolomeaus he speaks to the assembled magi; [color=red]I think that we can ease our security as there seems not to be any imminent assault by unfriendly forces. Bartolomeaus it would be of great help if you consulted an investigation specialist, perhaps such one can detect anything useful to this case or about the book thief that assaulted us earlier.
Bartolomeaus; [color=red]I will leave you for a moment and return to Durenmar, perhaps I will return if I can find out anything useful. At least I will send a letter to you.
Justus Felix; [color=red]Thank you honoured quesiatoris, we much appreciate your help. Will you be needing that arcane connection, or could you return it to us?
Bartolomeaus; [color=red]It is of vital use to this investigation as I assume you know. I will keep it for the moment, once this is over and the villain punished then it will either be destroyed or kept by me. That is what I think, but it is the tribunal decision, there is little to gain for the order if is members starts collecting arcane connections to one and other. That can imply scrying and all other things that must be frowned upon.
[color=blue]If no one interferes Bartolomeaus will leave the covenant the following morning.
Later at the covenant the good father arrives, he can’t detect anything infernal about the man. Father Gerald claims that it is most strange and probably the works of the daemonic forces, but they are as all know clever in hiding.
[color=red]I'll keep the prisoner in my sanctum until the quaesitor is back with.
Should our opponent try to get him out shrug I won't bother to ask many questions...
Unless the other magi oppose, Yannick will have the man bound.
He will lead him into his sanctum and put him inside a circle of beast warding. On the way there Yannick will tell the guard dogs that they shall not let the man out of Yannicks sleeping place (=sanctum). They are to scare him back in, or keep him from running away, but not kill him.
[color=red]Listen to me, and listen closely, for I will only tell this to you once:
This here circle, he points to the circle of beast warding,[color=red] is a piece of magic that will keep the serpents away from you. If you leave the circle, you are dead meat.
If you happen to get out of here alive, there is still a dozen giant dogs waiting for you outside.
And of course, there is me 
Whispers to the snakes: [color=green]Lads, would you be so kind and come a little closer?
[color=red]That being out of the way now:
You might be wondering why you are still alive. You can thank Bartolomaeus for that. He is a very capable wizard, and by his magic, he did find out that someone has taken an ...unnatural... influence on you.
This someone apparently has some magical power.
This is why I keep you her, in my sanctum. While the wizards law forbids killing another wizard, it allows me to kill anyone -or anything- that enters my sanctum, including wizards. Wizards will know that of course, which means you are safe here.
Unless you try to flee... Yannick takes of the mans bonds.
[color=red]
You don't seem to be the type to kill your wife. You would rather have given the guy a sound beating, I know that.
I know it must sound weird to you: But your feelings are very likely not your own.
Yannick is going to continue frightening the man on the one side, offering help on the other. Telling the man it wasn't his fault, conjuring an ennemie to both of us, offering him revenge. After a while, when/if the man gets in a more cooperative mood, Yannick will start asking questions.
[color=red]Do you have any ennemies?
Do you know if the man you killed had ennemies?
Whom have you been talking to lately?
How did you know about your womens relationship?
What did you plan to do about it?
Do you feel sorry?
What shall we do with her corpse?
And so on...
Yannick will sleep in his serpent shape, along with the other serpents.
[color=blue]It takes sometime to get answers so after this post the magi of the covenant will see the return of the other magi, the morning after. OOC: I like to keep characters in the story, even if I need to pry them in to it with a crowbar.
Do you have any enemies?
- Non that he knows of. But sometimes at night he dreams about faceless men laughing at him for not being a man who had acted sooner.
Do you know if the man you killed had enemies?
- Nope.
Whom have you been talking too lately?
- My fellow woodsmen, those that I work with usually. Talk to master woodsman Franz and he will direct you to a few of my closes friends and co-worker, Gotwin, Conrad and Adolf.
How did you know about your women’s relationship?
- He became to think more and more about what his wife where doing while he where away in the forest and what she where doing during the nights. It became an obsession as time went by.
What did you plan to do about it? - One night I couldn’t stand the dreams, the thoughts that echoed through my mind and day and my own thoughts. I snuck back and watched her with that other man. At first I was paralysed and went back. I loved her and she was mine. As days pass by I couldn’t stop thinking about what ungodly things they carried out in my home. At day thoughts, at night dreams. I went back home one night with my axe and hid in the dark until they fornicated upon my bed in my home. I struck both of them, first I chopped their feet of then their hands… until I fled into the wood.
Do you feel sorry?
The answer to this question varies from day to day. Sometimes the man I angry at everyone who has betrayed him and sometimes his is quite remorseful.
What shall we do with her corpse?
Varies from “feed them to the pigs, ´cause that’s what you lot do with corpses around here†to “give them a good Christian burialâ€.
Justus Felix welcomes the magi who where away to Novgorod and at the breakfast table Justus receives the message from Constantia and the magi who where away are briefed on the situation at home. Justus read the letter and learns that Constantia will visit in a few weeks. [color=red]Now fellow soldaes once you have eaten your meals how shall we handle the situation?
[color=red]Mislead her maybe.
I don't trust her very much, and I think there's a lot of fishy things she didn't tell. I wonder if she isn't trying to manipulate us toward her own ends, instead of just trying to negociate.
Of course, I am all for trade and peaceful relationship between covenants, but I think that, the less she learns about us, or the more innacurate the information, the better.
Justus looks at Ardath, [color=red]Perhaps you could tell us more about maga Constantias peculiarities, what where “fishy†about her? Then we must ask ourselves, how do we handle the more pressing situation of the prisoner?
Krispin strokes his beard thoughtfully. [color=red]“Corruption, being driven to anger, and ultimately, to the foul sin of murder. The corruption being brought about subtly through thought, vision and dream. These strike me as the hallmarks of the Infernal, or at least a magical person or being with those leanings. That we cannot detect it is no disproof when dealing with Hell, as all know. As regards his earthy punishment… I will leave that for my sodales to decide. He has committed a foul crime, but I am loath to kill or main in retribution if another option existsâ€
“Even though things seem safe for now, there is still much we do not know. Given our hostile situation, I think the utmost caution would be appropriate.â€
“Though I’m sure our quaesitor guest was skilled and thorough, I think we should double check as much as possible, in case he has missed anything. Justus, Heinrich, and I have all studied some Intellego. Intellego Vim is not my interest, but Justus and Heinrich, perhaps a more careful check for traces of hedge or Hermetic magic that would have escaped the notice of our good quaesitor. Heinrich, I’ve heard you’re skilled in Intellego Mentem – perhaps you could check for anything about our huntsman our good quaesitor might have missed?â€
Also, do we know if our prisoner still has these dreams? He may still be under some dark influence. Perhaps we could take him to the church and see if the Divine aura has any effect on him.
I myself would like to look at the bodies, both of those murdered and that of the werewolf if it has not already been buried. And, since it doesn't seem our good quaesitor tried it, I would like to use The Inexorable Search on that arcane connection - even if none of this is related, more information is good.
[color=blue] If no one objects (or if there's some reason why it couldn't be done that I'm missing), Krispin will cast The Inexorable Search as soon as the meeting's over.
He also ought to be able to ceremonially cast a weaker version of Whispers Through the Black Gate, maybe with D: Mom for one question. My guess is ol’ Barty didn’t try necromancy, so we may learn something new, even if it grosses Krispin out a bit. Information about the werewolf and where he came from seemed particularly sketchy...
[color=blue]Falls: Do you mean the arcane connection that Bartolomeaus took with him? What do you hope to gain from you magical examinations?
Justus Felix speaks once again. [color=red]I shall go over our prisoner one more time but there are any more clues to be gained from his mind or if I can find a some evidence of mind tampering. I think that we give this murderer the punishment he deserves and a chance for redemption before he enters the life here after. After all he had chosen to slay two humans rather than telling the priest about their sins. God may have mercy upon his soul.
[color=blue](see my comments in the Table Talk thread about investigations. It’s sort of tangential to what’s actually going on, so I put it there).
Krispin looks sad, but determined. [color=red]“It’s true those who do wrong must be punished. For my part, I ask only that he have as painless a death as is feasible, and that he be given the opportunity for whatever religious services he desires. He will suffer enough in the Hereafter.â€
[color=red]Difficult to say. It's more a gut feeling than anything else. But she seems to be far more in control of her covenant than she led us to beleive, and a very authoritarian perso at that. She visibly tried to give us a vision of herself and her covenant that is far from reality, which doesn't really incite to trust.
As per the prisonner... Can he really be guilty if he was coerced by infernal forces? Sure, he should have seeked help, but he was not in a clear state of mind. We should punish him, but lessen this punishment somewhat.
Oh, and the priest... Are we sure he's really who he claims to be?
After krispin's speach
[color=red]Yes, a painless death is acceptable, as well as an opportunity for whatever religious service and confession he may desire. Unless someone has a better idea?
I say we should ensure his death is both painless and spectacular. Painless as an act of mercy to him, and spectacular in order to strike fear in the heart of men, which should incite them to respect our law.
[color=red]To be honest I see his actions as a matter of routine justice, demons can be found everywhere encouraging evil thoughts. The core of the mans actions was always there the demon merely fanned the flames of his envy from an ember of hate. However if you wish him to be executed by magic I can do it . Although my spells do not deliver instant death .... yet.
Justus scratches his head then speaks,[color=red] Now that we have decided upon the fate of this man perhaps we shall investigate the source of this corruption. I’ll check with father Gerald later so that this man can receive proper judgement and care for his soul. Does anyone have any idea upon where we shall start our investigation?
[color=red]There are several possibilities as I see it the first is
the demon is a wandering spiritual demon and it came upon us by chance
secondly it is a spirit brought by pagan rites practiced by the villagers or others nearby
thirdly it was sent malicously by an infernalist or pagan to casue trouble here.
With the first it will be difficult to investigate with the other two we will have to inquire deeply among the villagers looking for suspects.
[color=red]Mariella, Justus looks at her, [color=red]is it your suggestion that we let things go until we know more? We can’t mount a full scale investigation of everyone here in the village and hunting random spirits seems like a fools errand.
[color=red]We should certainly investigate more into this matter. If there is a demon involved, he won't stop there.
While I may be wrong, I doubt this is linked to the previous attacks upon our covenant. These concerned directly magi and books, while this doesn't.
[color=red]Ardeth I agree we should investigate , and that this is a new problem. I cannot think of a practical way to follow up though and I would be glad for someone to tell me an idea I have not thought of
Heinrich gulps and pales. [color=red]So, death it is. I will be glad to go over the details and persons in the man's account and discern what I can. Perhaps, it would be good to go over all his details again?
[color=red]Henrich, perhaps you should go and speak with the fellow workmen of this one. Perhaps they can tell something useful. I'll examine the prisoner if you Yannick bring him out of your sanctum. The rest can help this investigation in a matter that puts your talents to use.