[sblock=GM]OK, well, I've been pushing Larissa's suspicions for a while. Here's what I've got:
Relios said he had never seen the lion thing before, but it recognized him on sight, and also declared him dead. True, the Father would be well-known to people, but it's not like his picture is hanging on the wall. How would the lion-thing have seen him? The Father did mention there was a traitor in the church, but it's still not clear how that leads the lion-thing to knowledge of Relios' appearance. And why would the lion-thing assume he was dead if his body was not among the dead clergymen?
Another point is that the Father has been willing to let other people handle the hand-to-hand combat, until we got to the top of the stairs and met the lion thing. Then, as soon as it recognized him, he charged and hit it with everything he had. In other words, as soon as we encountered something that might have led to awkward questions, he killed it as quickly as possible. Even though he claimed he had no idea what it was or where it came from.
It's also odd that the wyvern the Father was so afraid of was lying dead on the floor, but perhaps that just reflects the fact that the Father left before the battle was completely concluded.
Another strange thing: Was the lion-thing really in league with the Dark Ones? Why didn't it come to help them when we were slaughtering them?
Another oddity: The Father did not go to the Church of Helerion for help. He wanted a small strike force, true, but they might have been able to furnish him with one.
One possible scenario: The ritual cleansing requires some form of human (humanoid?) sacrifice. The Father did not want to bring in loyal followers of Helerion, and is instead choosing to sacrifice those outside of the Faith.
Related scenario: The Father may believe he is in some way responsible for the deaths. Perhaps he was even the traitor, and this is his way of cleansing his soul.
Another off-the-wall thought: What if the lion-thing were really a temple guardian for the good guys? He could have been protecting the shrine. That would explain how he knew Relios, why the bad guys hadn't raided it, and why Relios was so desperate to kill it before it could explain anything.
Finally, my roll (add one to it if you want to include the Skill Rank I added when Larissa leveled): Sense Motive Roll: 1D20+7 = [9]+7 = 16
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Relios said he had never seen the lion thing before, but it recognized him on sight, and also declared him dead. True, the Father would be well-known to people, but it's not like his picture is hanging on the wall. How would the lion-thing have seen him? The Father did mention there was a traitor in the church, but it's still not clear how that leads the lion-thing to knowledge of Relios' appearance. And why would the lion-thing assume he was dead if his body was not among the dead clergymen?
Another point is that the Father has been willing to let other people handle the hand-to-hand combat, until we got to the top of the stairs and met the lion thing. Then, as soon as it recognized him, he charged and hit it with everything he had. In other words, as soon as we encountered something that might have led to awkward questions, he killed it as quickly as possible. Even though he claimed he had no idea what it was or where it came from.
It's also odd that the wyvern the Father was so afraid of was lying dead on the floor, but perhaps that just reflects the fact that the Father left before the battle was completely concluded.
Another strange thing: Was the lion-thing really in league with the Dark Ones? Why didn't it come to help them when we were slaughtering them?
Another oddity: The Father did not go to the Church of Helerion for help. He wanted a small strike force, true, but they might have been able to furnish him with one.
One possible scenario: The ritual cleansing requires some form of human (humanoid?) sacrifice. The Father did not want to bring in loyal followers of Helerion, and is instead choosing to sacrifice those outside of the Faith.
Related scenario: The Father may believe he is in some way responsible for the deaths. Perhaps he was even the traitor, and this is his way of cleansing his soul.
Another off-the-wall thought: What if the lion-thing were really a temple guardian for the good guys? He could have been protecting the shrine. That would explain how he knew Relios, why the bad guys hadn't raided it, and why Relios was so desperate to kill it before it could explain anything.
Finally, my roll (add one to it if you want to include the Skill Rank I added when Larissa leveled): Sense Motive Roll: 1D20+7 = [9]+7 = 16
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