Mother Cleo nods and responds loudly "I see, unfortunately the Patriarch's body has already been interred with full rites, and I cannot see his grave desecrated for your investigation. I will let you spend the night before you leave in the morning." as she waits for a novice to guide you to your rooms she whispers "I will see you at midnight, and you may perform your investigation."
"I Understand, Mother," Xene says loud enough for others to hear, "We can not go about desecrating graves. Had we gotten here sooner..." and catches Minos' eye and winks.
You are settled in for the night and fed a hearty dinner, and at midnight mother Cleo comes to your rooms. " Understand that while you and I know the truth, to many the patriarch was a man of God. Sister Justina tried to guide him back to God, but he was convinced that his power over demons was itself a gift from God, as Jesus had the authority to cast out demons and order them into a herd of pigs. I too tried to guide him back from his pride, with more subtlety, and also failed. When you are finished his tomb must be restored as if nothing were ever amiss, and I cannot risk you removing the body from the catacombs for your investigation. "
You see Minos swallow and whisper to you "If you would pray to be allowed to do this work within this aura, I assume you would know reasons God might allow such a thing, it might be better for you to perform the investigation than I." The aura this deep in the monastery is 5.
"Thank you Mother. Now you should go and leave us to do our work that you won't be implicated if we are caught. Peace be with you."
Xene kneels and begins praying to god for his blessing to do her investigation.
[I'm unsure what the difficulty might be for that (Praying for Miracles RoP:D p60) or should I be Invoking the Saint (RoP:D p87) of this Monastery? I know that effect is listed as an example for saints, I don't believe it's "listed" as an effect for Miracles from god, though that one says (paraphrase) "You can ask God for anything."]
[Sorry, slight retcon. She is invoking the saint of the monastery to allow her investigation without being impeded by the aura.]
I suppose the two grogs are lodged elsewhere in the monastery, and know nothing about the nightly investigations.
unless Xene asked one of them for assistance and invited them along...
Xene prays to the covenant's saint and receives an intercession to allow her to conduct the investigation without penalty from the aura as she deposits coins into the covenant's offering box.
[ @loke , You know, one of the grogs might be useful. thinking they might need to move stone or a body depending on the situation in the catacombs. Considering that's her thought she'd ask Minoas, both stronger and younger.]
Xene, Minoas, and Minos move the corpse to a clear area of the floor so she may begin her work. Then, being careful not to damage the shroud or wrapping she removes it and examines the body as best she can for visible wounds or other signs of the cause of death. [She does not have medicine but she does have very basic skill with Chirurgy though her specialty is palliative care, let me know if she should roll something to notice anything.] After that she begins casting her circle around the corpse [casting Restore the Faded Threads, restores spell traces up to -4 but I doubt it's been 4 months since he died so that should work fine, assuming I don't botch.]
Minoas moves back to allow the Magi space. He’s uneasy, and keeps an eye on the entrance to the chamber, gesturing to the sailor to do the same. He’s pondering the life choices that led him here. Typical Magi-business.
Xene rests for a few minutes then begins ceremonially casting for the next hour and a half.
[Trying to cast Impression of the faded sigil (magic realm), InVi30.]
[result = 15, failure, this means Xene's Chaotic Magic flaw kicks in.
Chaotic Magic:
Your magic is very wild. When you cast a spontaneous spell, you must specify a desired level of effect. If you fall short of or exceed that target by more than one level, the spell still works, but its effects are beyond your control — the storyguide decides the results. The level of effect includes any levels you assign to Penetration.]
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."