11063/Homework and Fieldwork

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Homework and Fieldwork
Date of Scene: 14 February 2020
Location: Italian Countryside
Synopsis: Indy and Cindy take a moment to research the rise and fall of a nun's fall from grace.
Cast of Characters: Indiana Jones, Silk




Indiana Jones has posed:
After escaping from the convent and putting enough distance to ensure they were not being followed, Indy pulls over to a small well near a wheat farm. The farmer working the field nearby eyes them, but focuses on his work. Probably thinking they were sightseeing tourists.

Indy settled his hat on his head as he got out to keep the sun out of his eyes. He looked at the surface of the car, an old habit after such altercations. Checking to see if they had been shot at, if anything important had been hit in the escape.

"I think we're good, Cindy," he said as he straightened up, looking around. "We should be safe for now."
Because "for now" was always a necessary qualifier.

Silk has posed:
"Good, glad the car is all right," Cindy replies distractedly as she watches Indy bend over to inspect their ride. "Uh...also glad you don't have any new and unnecessary holes in you. Because that's important." She brightens, then, focusing in on the task at hand. "Oh, and you got the journal! Can't wait to see what the crazy old bat was hiding."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy smiled wryly, taking it out of his pocket. "All right, Cindy. Class is in session. Hope you brought the teacher a gift."

Indy opened the journal. It was in Italian, of course. The Vatican had a history of taking books of all types to examine for doctrinal relevance, to analyze for historical content...or to scrutinize for heretical beliefs and sciences.

"Here begins the journal of Sister Maria, faithful servant of God, His unworthy bride...you get the picture. She writes about getting the journal to help order her thoughts. Apparently, she was the daughter of an Italian noble he couldn't marry off."

Silk has posed:
"Wellllll /yeah/, because she craaaazy," Cindy replies with a touch of snark, as she promptly produces a peanut butter protein bar and holds it out to Indy. "I brought a gift for the teacher!" She grins, and peeks in at the journal. "I mean just LOOK at that penmanship."

Then, she sighs. "Bet she wasn't only the unworthy, but also the unwilling bride of God. Imagine being told since you're unmarriageable, probably like before MY age, to 'Get thee to a nunnery.' That alone is enough to screw a chick up."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy smiles. "Little bit of info. Places for nuns were called convents. A nunnery was Old English slang for a brothel since the Elizabethan era. Remember the 'Get Thee to a Nunnery' line by Shakespeare? He was referring to that." He looks back to the journal. "She seems fairly devoted to her religion here. I'm not sure how you feel about the existence of God, but after brushing close to Him on two separate occasions, I'm a firm believer." He continues reading. "Her duties. Farming, cleaning, worship, study. Lather, rinse, repeat. No Internet or social media to take up her time."

Silk has posed:
"Ohhh noooo...That makes Hamlet even MORE of an a-hole."

Cindy shrugs uncertainly, and looks up at the sky. "I think God's out there somewhere. Or in here," she replies, thumping her chest. "But I don't think it's an old man with a white beard lookin' down from a cloud...Maybe God's what exists in the energy in the spaces of atoms. Or the spaces between stars. God knows. Probably." She looks back at Indy, with a little trepidation. It probably isn't Indy's view. "But by my own judgment, that old man would've gotten pretty bored looking down at me, alone in that bunker for ten years. Except maybe when he was watching the Superbowl."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy chuckled. "Far be it from me to dispute God on how He does things," he says as he pages through the journal. "The last recorded debate ended with God asking Job, 'Where were you when I made the world?"
He stopped, then smiled to Cindy. "Then again, you got out, and we met. Seemingly at the right time."
He looked back to the journal. "There are about six months where nothing much happens. She's making secret complaints that a few of her fellow nuns are looking down on her, ignoring her suggestions to increase the success of the harvest, that sort of thing." He pauses as he turns a page. "Here we go. She's relegated to their version of the secretarial pool. Assigned to the cataloguing of documents, books, and artwork appropriated by the Church."

Silk has posed:
"Ah HAH. Well, that explains how she got the manuscript." She pauses for a moment and looks up at Indy, her eyes betraying that she is lost in thought. She is reflecting on Indy's observation of timing. But a moment later, she has shaken off the thoughts to focus on him, and the journal. "This is bound to be where it gets juicy."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods. "We'll see. Okay...she seems to like this work, and the other nuns apparently leave her to do the 'tedious work.' She speaks of discarding some books due to forbidden content. She mentions a play by Plato...hang on." He looks closer at the page.

"'I have discovered a singular work. Hidden in a bolt of canvas is a leather-bound tome of dark red leather. It is not bound by any publisher, as the contents are handwritten. The title is "On Principalities"...by Miccolo Machiavelli.'"

Silk has posed:
"Told ya! I wanna see..." Cindy leans in, following along as Indy reads. "So we definitely know that your source is right. You've got good instincts for this kinda thing."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy tilts the book for Cindy to see. "Helps when you do your homework. There. She drew a rough sketch of the book itself. It's a good description, and we'll know what to look for."

Silk has posed:
"Right! But does she put in there where she hid it? She must have been SERIOUSLY confident that no one was gonna read this journal, for even having written that she found it. Who KNOWS what they would have done to her for that. It'd DEFINITELY have been worse than sending her to a convent." Cindy's brow is furrowed, and her eyes are glued to the pages of the journal.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy chuckled. "We have to establish context, Cindy. There also may be clues in the middle that can help us understand the end." He looks back to the journal. "'I have opened it. There are 31 chapters in this profane grimoire of influence. Reading it makes me feel...unclean. It speaks of exploiting weakness in others. In bending others to your will.'" He turns to the next page. "'I will speak to the Mother Superior when she returns from her audience with the Pope.' So far, she's doing the duty of a loyal servant of God..."

He turns to the next page, and there are the telltale blots of rough quill usage. "Hoo, boy...this is where it blows open. 'Sister Catherine has been telling the foulest lies about me! She says I am...debasing myself in the storage room when I should be working, which is UNTRUE! I have been doing the Lord's work! I have prayed and prayed and God is silent! Have I done something wrong?'"
Indy frowns as he reads the next line.
"'If God has abandoned me in this travesty...then I shall abandon HIM.'"

Silk has posed:
Cindy swallows. Now silent, her expression has fallen, and she reads the words with grim recognizance in her eyes. There's no more snark. There's no more mirth. "...God is silent. H-have I done something wrong?" she repeats, reading the words again, and turning them over and over in her mind.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy sighs, then says, "Yeah, this is where it starts to go bad."
He takes a deep breath, then continues. "'I have read in detail about the influence of others. There is no sorcery here, in spite of what the Holy City has said about him. It is only the use of one's intellect. I have determined that Catherine has a secret of her own...she has engaged in abominable acts with Sister Teresa. Laying with her as with a man. I have documented such acts, and prepared a report to give to the Mother Superior when she returns. That would be enough.'"
He turns another page. "'No...it is NOT enough. If they will not respect me, they will FEAR me. I have told Teresa I know of her secret dalliances with Catherine, as a concerned sister of the cloth, and would never reveal such innocent waywardness...as long as she does what I say.'"

Silk has posed:
"She's becoming unhinged," Cindy observes. "But who can blame her? She has done everything they asked of her, and she is still being persecuted. That's enough to...." She trails off, remembering her own words from earlier..."screw any chick up."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, turning pages. "By the end of her first year, she has half the nuns in her pocket. They pay her tribute by following her directions on various pursuits. She does make many improvements...guess she did know what she was doing when it came to farming. But she is getting pushback from Mother Superior for her 'questionable' ideas, as forward-thinking as they are. Even though they can support themselves better, Mother Superior seems entrenched in her ways."

Silk has posed:
Cindy shakes her head. "Well, it's her job to lead them in the old ways. Chicklet wasn't only proving Big Mama wrong about her, but she was outperforming her. Pride may be a sin, but underneath it all, penguins are people, too."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, continuing through the journal. "She's talking about making plans. Working on some grand..."
He turns the next page, then stops. "Ah, Hell." He takes a moment. "'Mother Superior is dead. Everyone believes that she fell ill as a result of tainted meat, which she has preferred rare. I, on the other hand, can attest that the old woman did not react favorably to her green tea, flavored with "strychnos nux-vomica"...'" Indy stopped. "Strychnine poisoning. Where the Hell did she get strychnine?"

Silk has posed:
"I dunno. I think we can safely rule out Walmart." Cindy chuffs and throws up her hands. "I was TRYING to believe in you, Chick. But strychnine in tea will really screw a chick up..."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy kept reading. It was a real page-turner now. "Now she runs the convent, and is influencing the local farmers to adopt her methods. Some do, some don't. Here, she's upset about the 'backwards-thinkers' she has to deal with. She's in full control of the convent now. She speaks of enacting certain periods of time where the nuns can pursue their secret sins in private, but she has an inner circle who spies on them."

Silk has posed:
"Dude. Not cool. She has lost her friggin' mind. I mean...Can just a power grab do something like that? Surely it wasn't REALLY the devil..." Cindy has taken to walking in slow circles. Pacing, as Indy narrates the story. "Cause there is DEFINITELY sin somewhere in lettin' nuns orgy, then watching 'em."

Indiana Jones has posed:
"Evil isn't like some sudden Fall, like Lucifer. Sometimes, it's just a little thing...which leads to a little more, then a little more. Once you let evil call the shots, then it pushed for more, because surely you let X happen, then Y isn't much worse..." He sighs. "And then someone hauls you out of a hole or drug den, put cuffs on you, and you look like a psychopath, and you say 'It wasn't THAT bad...'"

Silk has posed:
Cindy nods, stepping up on the same rock she has stepped on at least fifteen times, as she paced her circle. This time, she doesn't step down, instead standing balanced on one foot on the stone, as she thinks. "So...evil by degrees. But evil, nonetheless."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, then continues. "Okay...here's where things get even more serious. The Pope has caught wind of some rumors and has sent a messenger to tell her to settle down. She's in full Queen-Cersei-Lady-Macbeth mode by now, and she speaks about reaching out to some group called...Sinanju...about having the Pope taken out of the picture. Wow, she's a real tidy lady."

Silk has posed:
Cindy perks at that information. "Something tells me that might not have been the first time she reached out to a foreign group. Strychnine comes from mostly Asia, doesn't it? I mean, I think you can find the plant in Australia, too, but that is a pretty far-fetched theory, unless she had pen pals in prison there..." She pauses. "She made friends outside her circle."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods. "Maybe THE PRINCE gave instructions on how to contact them? It's an unsettling thought. Assassination was a political function back then." He continues through. "She's maintaining control, the Pope's getting closer to making a formal charge against her..."
Another page. "Well, so much for that. The Pope's dead. He had a number of enemies, so good luck tracing it back to one Mother Superior in a convent in the middle of nowhere."

Silk has posed:
"Okay, you know what?" Cindy is still perfectly balanced on the stone, and on the ball of her foot, with the other foot extended to one side, and her arms likewise extended for balance. "I tried to like this chick. I really did! I know, I called her crazy. But I know how she felt, being cast into a hole where God isn't listening. And I hurt for her. But she has gone totally off the rails, now. The gloves are off. She needs to give up the location of that book, or I am going back in time to kick her ass."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods. "Yeah, her trip to the Dark Side of the Force is pretty much complete by then. She...hey, now." He peered closer. "Looks like she didn't get away clean. She got a visit from four members of the Brotherhood of the Cross. Asking a lot of questions. A lot of educated questions. She...wait. Brotherhood." He looked to Cindy. "Brethren?"

Silk has posed:
"Wait...." Cindy leans forward, letting her weight carry her down off the stone upon which she has been balancing. "The same Brethren that are out to get us? Those guys? Bet it's one in the same. There aren't gonna be coincidences like that in a saga like this. They knew something then. And they know more now."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods. "She's scared now. Not only are they operating with the blessing of the new pope, they are Spanish Inquisitors. The burning-heretics-and-witches kind. And they are on the prod for her. They are also offering amnesty to the nuns of the convent. 'Tell us everything, and we'll protect you.' So she's wetting her habit in fear. She has to get the book away from the convent. If they find it there, you can imagine what they'll do to her."

Silk has posed:
"Of course she is. I would be, too. Those guys are STILL the burning at the stake type. Except the stake is a gun." She moves over to Indy again, looking in on the pages. The location is bound to be in there, but I bet she doesn't just blurt it out."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, then says, "She gave it to her most trusted associate to hold on to. She refers to her as 'the only one of six to eight.' She was urged to escape before the Brethren returned."
He gets to the last page.

"'Forgive me, Holy Husband. I have sinned most egregiously. I shall give myself to the Brethren, admit my sin, and accept my judgment. I was misled by power and adulteried myself to it.' I do not know that tortures await me, but I hope Your forgiveness will expiate my sin.'"

He paused. "One last message, in a different hand. 'The former Mother Superior was burned at the stake in 1547. God be praised.'"

Silk has posed:
Cindy runs her tongue over her teeth thoughtfully. "Well." She goes back to the stone and steps up on it again. "I guess I don't have to figure out time travel. I just have to figure out what One Six Eight means."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, closing the journal. "It has to be a name. We'll need to establish context, of course." He checked his watch. "It's getting late. We should probably head back to Rome."

Silk has posed:
Cindy nods. "Yeah...gotta be. Initials, maybe. AFH?" She shrugs. "I guess this means more homework. Back to Rome." She gives her stony perch a last backward glance, then trots back to the car to return to civilization.