Psalm 22

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Fear raised its Beastly head upon hearing Sterling's voice. Despite the kind tone it was still the smooth call of a greater predator. She hadn't inflicted final death though, so Kenneth calmed the instincts. It wasn't like he could flee right now anyway. Now she just needed to remove the nails...

Her next statement brought a brief flash of anger, as he immediately assumed this was some sort of humiliation she had contrived while he lay asleep. He passed it off as a grimace of pain. No, so far Josephine had been more than respectful, there was no reason to start abusing him now for no reason. She likely saw this as a way to further test his will, strength, and faith. He would do his to prove himself.

"Alright," he acquiesced, though if he had still been mortal, he would probably have tears running down his face from the idea of the coming pain. Just a moment in time. A drop in the sea of eternity. Like ripping off a band-aid.

  Two down

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-07-27 01:53:34		[03] Kenneth Gilroy rolls 4 to Str+Stam (10 Again)		7, 5, 6, 8		1 success
2015-07-27 01:53:34		[02] Kenneth Gilroy rolls 4 to Str+Stam (10 Again)		10, 6, 6, 5, 3		1 success
2015-07-27 01:53:34		[01] Kenneth Gilroy rolls 4 to Str+Stam (10 Again)		2, 5, 3, 3		failure

Gilroy didn't even bother trying not to scream. He closed his eyes, counted down from three, and then contorted his body to pull as hard as he on his left hand. If his voice had not been as high and pitched, it might almost be called a roar instead of a screech. The hand hit the head of the nail and stopped momentarily. Kenneth kept pull though. Flesh and bone tore and parted. Bits of sinew and skin hung off the metal, still dripping with vitae. Barely waiting to savor it as a victory, Kenneth jerked the other side with enough force that he felt a couple bones give way and crack. The iron pulled the bloody white out the other side.

Gilroy collapsed back. His hands shock and refused to follow anymore of his commands. The Haunt forced himself to breath. It was useless air of course. Kindred biology didn't make sense that way. However, it helped him gain back the will for the final step.

His feet proved less compliant. Not only was there more to pull over but without his hands nailed down, Gilroy had no good handholds to brace himself against. He yelled for five seconds before his body's mortal instincts kicked and shut down the struggle to prevent more harm to itself.

[Cayce]

With the Haunts assistance, or rather, almost entirely due to his efforts, Kenneth was freed from his crucifixion. It was only the feet that she truly had to aid him on, as his muscles lacked the proper leverage to truly utilize the largest muscles in his body, but with her slim arms straining they managed to free his feet, though they ended up having to free the nail first, itself.

The Ventrue frowned at that, but there was a hammer nearby. She would merely have to reset it later. For now, she held Kenneth as he came free of the cross, letting his tortured frame rest and gather itself before she helped him stand or sit and then withdrew from him.

"Brother, Priest, you have returned with holy wisdom, bestowed upon you by the Almighty in your time of trial. Reflect, now, upon the Prophet's words that so inspired you and speak them now."

  2 successes, he's free!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-07-29 01:06:35		Jojo! rolls 3 to free the roach (str+sta) (10 Again)		8, 8, 5		2 successes

[Kenneth Gilroy]

His legs free, he swung them over the edge of the altar, letting the blood drip down the intricate wax flow. More red spilled from his palms as he willed the gaps in his hands to close themselves, leaving only his feet still injured. He could have healed them but already the hunger was starting to pull harder. He didn't want to frenzy now. Not when the ceremony was so close to closing. Crawling might not be the most dignified but having two hands to hold rats was infinitely more practical.

"Behold Longinus, spear of damnation, humbled and exalted before man." His voice still sounded a like blood congealing through gravel "Behold the fruit of the blood of the anointed one, wandering in the wilderness. Behold his hunger, his fangs bared, his eyes empty." And his eyes did look empty, looking past the room to read words on a page of memory "Woe unto you, children of the night, that such sin has come unto you.

"Lord, all praise be to you, most high, for the shadow of your divine grace which you have allowed to fall upon us." He thought the 'dream' he had seen during his 'sleep'. It had not been what he had expected. Was that supposed to be holy wisdom and dark shadows or had Josephine done something to invoke a 'vision'? "Blessings be upon you and may our nights always venerate your holy ways. Amen."

  Quoting scripture

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2015-07-31 10:18:56		Kenneth Gilroy rolls 6 to Int+Comp-2 still in pain (10 Again)		6, 10, 1, 1, 1, 2, 5		1 success

-2 Vitae

[Josephine Sterling]

"Amen," Josephine echoed, a smile alighting upon her lips.

"It is actually very fitting that you've just been bestowed with the five wounds of Christ," she continued, "for the secret I am about to reveal to you is tied with such symbolism. You see, Kenneth, there has been, or still is, a criminal in this domain that holds our faith. A murderer of Kindred. My own clan in particular, and the Prince has asked me to handle this matter quietly. Having been bereft of companions, I have let the matter rest for far too long, but now that you have become Brother to me, we bring this matter to rest together."

She lapsed into silence, giving him time to process all that she had said.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Gilroy's mind had to shift gears. He had been expecting something more along the lines of mystery cult reveals. A Ventrue murder that could embarrass the covenant was a little out of left field. Kenneth closed his eyes and reorganized his thoughts. The instincts to flee and the pain got stored away for the time being. He went over what Josephine had just said. What it meant? What implications were unsaid? What more did he have to know?

The Prince was involved and wished it kept quiet. That probably had to do with clan pride, though keeping up appearances of a calm domain couldn't be discounted. From the sound of it, Sterling had been given dispensation over resolution. Given the Lancea's views and how Final Death is something to avoid, he couldn't assume just yet that execution was the end goal here. Additionally, any additional Sanctified could help the church become more powerful, even if that was a criminal. Josephine could possibly erase the Kindred's memories to help re-indoctrinate them. Not a pleasant thought but possible.

"Alright, who is this criminal and who did they kill?" Male or female, crime of passion or serial homicide, basic capabilities and information "And ultimately, how would you want this resolved?"

[Josephine Sterling]

"Ah, that is the crux of the matter, Brother Kenneth. The murderer, and his victim, are both unknown. Merely that the victim was Ventrue, and that the murderer employed specific ritual symbology that ties to the Sanctified. Additionally, there is also a tie between a blacksmith's mark found upon restraints at the sight of the murder and the same exact mark which is used upon some of the pews in the Moore House. Thus, I suspect we must investigate there to learn more about who might have purchased these items from the smith and to go from there," Josephine suggested.

"Come to the Moore House tomorrow night and then I will show you drawings of the blacksmith's mark and the ritual inscriptions. Then, together, we shall begin the hunt again."

[Kenneth Gilroy]

"Well, that certainly complicates things," Gilroy admitted. Depending on how long ago this occurred the trail could very well be cold. His experience searching for the old Necropolis add shown him the difficulty in investigating with too little information. With what Josephine had provided so far they could even be looking at a false flag. The fact that the pews shared the mark, was that why she had cleared them out for the Mass? Gilroy was having a little trouble concentrating as the hunger sang in his blood.

"I shall meet you at the Moore House then," Kenneth said, as his eyes slid away from the greater predator before him, to glance fervently for a moment toward the room where he had hid the rats.

Good to wrap up?

[Cayce]

Good to close! I'll open the next scene soon!