When she unwraps the shroud there are claw marks visibly apparent on the patriarchs chest and stomach, but nothing obviously lethal, unless there was poison in the claws. When she attempts impression of the faded sigil she is overwhelmed with the smell of sulpher and the feeling of claws pulling her from her body- make a stress stamina roll (vim resistance applies) with a target of 12 or lose a fatigue level. This has 5 botch dice and any botches result in additional lost fatigue.
[9, failure]
Xene tries to push herself away from the body and the claws but they still rake her soul.
minos sees your reaction "Are you okay? What did you sense?"
"I... I don't know. I felt claws rake my chest It was as if the claws were pulling me out of my body. There was an overpowering smell of sulfur. It was probably unwise for me to try such a powerful and subtle spell. I can try to see if any deception was upon the spell," Xene says questioningly. Giving herself ten minutes to catch her breath, unless Minos says there is no point, she begins casting Reveal the Magical Deception.
[Neither I nor Xene is quite sure if "reveal the magical deception" will work on a non-active spell such as this. due to the CrVi ring spell any magical threads are restored to the level they had as soon as the spell(s) ended but that may not be enough.]
"I don't think we have anything precise enough to warrant checking for deception. All we really have is a strong indication of the involvement of the infernal, which the Patriarch himself could account for. You could try again, perhaps at a lower level and see if there is more precise information available, or we can abandon this line of inquiry."
Minos sighs, begins his ceremonial casting of the spell, then sits back "The patriarch's death was caused by a demon, not a spell. Not much more this examination can teach us, unless you can think of a line of inquiry I have missed."
Xene kneels by the corpse and prays, "Lord, in your infinite wisdom please grant me the knowledge of who sent the foul demon to kill this wayward follower of yours."
[I'm praying for a miracle. Understanding of level 25 is receive a vision of that addresses a specific question about your situation. Need, I assume is "beneficial" which gives +0 to effect difficulty and it does not need to be immediate so I'll have the vision within a month (-5)? Obviously this might be after this adventure is mostly wrapped up. My total was 14.]
Understanding allows insight to God's will and possible future outcomes, not questions of factuality or hard information, and is generally ambiguous in its results...
… page numbers would be helpful as these are rules I do not use often...
not sure where you are getting the part about need levels, but in any case this seems to have failed. Minos looks at you with an eyebrow raised in question, then sees your face. "I thought not, just because there is magic or miracles doesn't mean we don't have to do the work. Let's get this body back in the crypt, tomorrow we sail for Erebos, and see what we can find there. after all the relevant question is whether Megehia is responsible, and if so how and why."
[Under Miraculous Special Effects, RoP:D p61, there are two factors beyond Base & RDT that can affect the difficulty of Miracles. They are Timeliness (for example +10 difficulty if it must happen right now) and Need (For example, +20 difficulty if the miracle itself is impious).
You could be as cryptic as you wanted but, had I succeeded, the Understanding base 25 of "Receive a vision that addresses a specific question about your situation" seems pretty clear cut that I can ask whatever.]
Xene carefully rewraps the corpse in its shroud and helps the grogs return it to the crypt making sure to try and keep everything as it was before. Then she and other others return to their cell.
In the morning Xene rises as early as possible despite how tired she is. After making sure the few items she brought with are packed and secured for travel she seeks out Mother Cleo, hoping to find her alone to thank her for her help. Xene also tries to find Sister Rhea if she is still here, apologizing that she was unable to see her yesterday when they arrived and sorry that they must leave so soon. After breakfast and these goodbyes, Xene returns to the cell to leave with Minos.
Your goodbyes are short and awkward, as they typically are, and the trip to Erebos uneventful. When you arrive in Erebos you are welcomed inside but neither of you is given a token. Megehia seeks you out at dinner before you have begun your investigation. "I thought I'd see what time I could save your investigation, though I am not required to cooperate, in hopes of drawing this farce to a close. Yes I am responsible for the Patriarch's death, it was retribution forhim murdering my soldales, and that is the essence of my defense regarding mundane interference, save that the attack was also indirect- I caused him to lose control of demons he was conjuring, and they killed him, as they tend to do. Is there anything else you need to know? after speaking to Mino she turns to you and her attitude softens " or want to know?"
"Thank you for coming forward to explain. Unfortunately that does not put this... um, farce as you called it, to rest. We can not merely believe your statement as fact, much as I would like to. Would you allow me to ask you questions while you are under the effect of Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie? If you lowered your Parma I believe I could manage that. As I am not a full Quaesitor yet, Minos would have to oversee my interrogation but you could have a witness you trust, if you wanted. Obviously this would be voluntary and you may refuse answering particular questions if you chose."
Megehia nods "But not here. If I am going to lower my parma I want to do so where I still have some protections from outside magic, and where I am not out in the open." She gives directions to a secluded part of the covenant, where she casts a ReVi ward to prevent outside spells or magical effects from entering (note: this is within the aegis), then hands Xene a token before lowering her Parma for her.
Once she has the token Xene asks, "Are you ready?" And when Meghia informs her of her assent she begins casting Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie [Casting Total before Magic Aura 25, success, no fatigue loss]. Attempting to hide the familiarity she feels with Meghia, Xene affects a very proper and cold manner. "Please, Meghia, to be sure the spell is working, tell me that Justina is still alive."
[Assuming that Meghia states that lie and her breath was frosty and visible as the spell should make it Xene continues.]
"Thank you. Please tell us again how you arranged the death of the Patriarch."
The following is all stated without another breath of frost " As I stated before, I used my magics, including secrets handed down to me by my parens, to interfere with the control that the Patriarch had over the demon he had been using and which killed Justina. The demon had no motive to keep the Patriarch alive and resented his control, and so it killed the Patriarch. It is my impression that it also dragged his soul to hell, and I used further magics to prevent it from returning by any way associated with the Patriarch." she pauses for a second, thinking something through, and then nods, indicating she is done.
"These secrets, do they call upon demons or other infernal beings to destroy the control of the summoner?"
She pauses and thinks about the question for a moment before responding "As I understand them they do not need to do so, and I do not believe that the method I used does so." There is no frost and she smiles weakly.
Xene glances at Minos, "Do you think there are any more questions we need answered in this manner?"
Minos considers "Do you swear that everything you told us previously this day is true?"
Meghia considers for a moment then replies "I do not recall everything I said well enough to swear such an oath." and again there is no frost.
Minos nods then looks to Xene "I believe that is all we need to ask, though Meghia seems quite familiar with the limitations of this spell, and it might be worth your while to practice questioning her, if she will ascent, so that you become familiar with the limitations as well."
Xene visibly relaxes and smiles at Meghia, "Would you be willing to aid in my instruction? The grogs Minos has me practice on aren't usually aware of the limits of the spell?"