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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3079533" data-attributes="member: 3448">“While we wait for them,” said Jacques, “could we see the Abbess’s chambers?  There may be indications about why she was targeted.”The Prioress led them to a single large room.  While much larger and nicer than the cells of the other nuns, the room was still simple and no more than ten feet by fifteen feet.  While the room contained a simple bed folded against the wall, two plain wood chairs, and a book shelf with a collection of a dozen or so books, an enormous metal desk dominated the attention of anyone entering.Jacques headed directly to the desk and looked it over.  “There are scratch marks at the locks and some scratching at the drawers, as if something tried to force them open.  Based on these prints on the floor, I would say the rat-lord came here first, tried to open the desk, and then went to the chapel.”  He knelt and looked more carefully.  “The locks are very good;  I don’t think it succeeded in opening them.”The Prioress nodded.  “The desk was a gift from Dain’s master crafters.  They gave it in thanks after the Abbess saved a dwarven diplomat many years ago.”“Can you open it?” asked Dame Brionna.“Do you know if it has traps upon it?” Jacques asked the Prioress.“I shouldn’t think so.  The dwarves sought to give her a secure desk, not to endanger her.  And I’ve never seen her disarm traps before opening it.”“Then I should be able to manage.  It may take some time.”Alone among the group, Ilsbet ignored the desk and headed directly to the book case.  She quickly rifled through the books.  About half were books of scriptures, meditations, and theology, which she glanced at quickly and then tossed aside.  The other half were more interesting.  “She was a mage.  Based on her spellbooks and the complexity of some of these books on magical theory, I would guess that she was a powerful one as well.”  She looked at the Prioress.  “May I have these books to read?”“I suppose so…”Ilsbet immediately began loading the books into her pack, along with the several books already there.  Dame Brionna frowned.  “Ilsbet, I think you can leave the books here.  They will let you come back to read them, and there will be plenty of time to read them later.  Bringing them now will just weigh down your pack.”  Ilsbet’s eyes narrowed as she looked back at Dame Brionna, as if she suspected some sort of trick.  But she grudgingly put the books back.“Ah.  There we go,” said Jacques after several minutes of work, sliding the desk’s drawers open.  “Very nice locks, indeed.”The main drawer held a stack of books and papers.  The group worked through each one.  The first was the convent’s ledger.  Dame Brionna shook her head as she read through it.  “They rely on continuous donations to make ends meet.  Every month there is a shortfall based on their resources and holdings, and every month they manage to get just enough gifts to cover their costs.”The second book was a black leather-bound tome, with a golden seal of Glor’diadel embossed on the cover.  As they opened it, it became clear that it was more a codex of individual pieces of parchment than a single text.  Jacques could make nothing of the writing, but both Ilsbet and Dame Brionna could follow it.  “Scrolls, all healing, I think.  And some are very powerful…”  Dame Brionna shifted it aside, along with a battered scripture book that the Abbess had probably used since her novitiate.A collection of letters sat below the books.  Dame Brionna sucked in her breath as she saw that the top one was written by Archduchess Amelia, in her own hand.  The letter addressed the Abbess as a personal friend and asked her to investigate some matters on the Archduchess’s behalf.  It informed the Abbess that it was “clear that the City has been pierced,” and asked her to observe and report on an extensive list of clergy and nuns of the Order of Blessed Hope.</blockquote>

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