Samswell looks a little confused at the mention that the matter concerns the Temple of Aieda, but doesn't make any comment as he sees Midian out of the Temple of Aieda.

Midian heads to his own Temple and is able to grab some food from the Temple staff who are in the process of preparing the evening meal. Normal inhabitants of the Temple would not be able to get away with such a thing, but being attached to the Seekers has its benefits as it is known that their activities aren't tied to any normal schedule.

After eating, Midian exits the Temple begins to make his way to the gates of the Ward, which as a compromise between the temples and as a recognition to the power of the throne, are manned by Constantine city guards.

The square is in shadow as he approaches the gate, but he can see no sign of either Priestess Aloma or Handleader Samswell. Which is perhaps a little surprising seeing as the last candle was called while he was eating.

"Move along please," says one of the guards, gesturing for Midian to pass through. "It is time you were leaving this Ward for the day." 

[Make a Perception check. Less than 10 will be considered a failure.]

Perception: 7

2nd try for experience:

9

Quote from Izraal1 >>

Perception: 7

2nd try for experience:

9

[No joy, I'm afraid.]

The actions of the guard seem a little unusual to Midian, as movement through the gate isn't normally restricted until much later at night. He looks back towards the Temple of Aieda and can see no sign of the priestess or the handleader. He then looks beyond the gate to the people walking past and can see no sign of them there either. 

[Does Midian do as he has been told?]

Midian assumes they will have just as little trouble finding him on one side of the gate as the other, but asks as he goes through, “This is a bit early in the day to be cutting off passage. Is there some news?”

"Orders from central," replies the guard, gesturing for Midian to pass through the gate. "They've increased our numbers too."

As he passes through the gate, Midian realises that instead of the normal two guards that man this spot, there is a full hand of five on duty today.

He joins the crowd of people in the street on the other side of the gate and notices that there seem to be more people in the street than usual. Then he realises that not all the people are passing through or by the gate and that there are a few groups of people, mostly young men, just looking in his general direction for some reason.

[Make an Insight check; less than 8 will be considered a failure.]

Insight: 10

Midian doesn't like the look of these groups of young men, who he also now notices are all Stemian. He gets the distinct feeling that trouble is brewing.

He moves out of the direct line of sight between the groups and the gate and is a little relieved to see that it is not him, especially, that they are looking at, but the gate and the Temple Ward beyond it. As he is realising this, he sees Priestess Aloma and Handleader Samswell, wearing ordinary clothes pass out through the gate.

Priestess Aloma has her hood down and Midian sees that she is quite an attractive woman, if perhaps a little old for him. Meanwhile, it seems that Handleader Samswell has taken on the role of her protector for this evening—the role that Midian was originally supposed to have. Samswell is wearing a long, thick woollen coat and is carrying a hooded lantern and a stout staff. In fact, he looks very much the part of an employed lantern carrier.  

Samswell sees Midian and the two approach him. As they do so, Midian hears a wolf whistle and sees Aloma pull her hood over her head in response.

"Let's get out of here," says Samswell. "I don't like the look of this."

“Aloma, Samswell, do you think this is some sort of civil unrest forming here?” Midian asks quietly. “It is good we decided to not openly display our vestments, but, what if this escalates into some sort of full scale riot against the church? Are those inside prepared? Perhaps some of our men should disperse this crowd proactively, or even round up a few of the ringleaders for interrogation. I know we are on our way to investigate other business, but surely someone can handle this in our absence. Do you think it’s being observed or should we send warning of what’s building here to those within?”

In response to Midian's words, Samswell looks around the street and then back towards the gate to the Temple Ward. "They know," he says. "There are more than the usual number of guards."

Meanwhile, Priestess Aloma has been carefully looking at one of the small groups of men. "They are angry," she says. "But there is no real threat here. I see no magic amongst them."

"We may have some trouble getting back through this gate later," adds Samswell. "But there are other ways into the Ward... And I agree with the priestess, there is no real danger here. If the crowd gets larger, the city guards at the gate will be bolstered by Temple guards, some of which are magi."

"We should go," says Priestess Aloma. "If anything is going to happen here, it will not happen for a while and we might be back by then to provide whatever assistance is needed."

So saying, she takes the lead and heads off north in the direction of the Scholar's Ward. 

[Make a Perception check.]

Perception: 8

The three of you make your way through the streets northwards and the situation is left quickly behind. 

As you walk, Midian gets a chance to overhear a quiet conversation between Priestess Aloma and Handleader Samswell. (It's not like they are intensionally trying to keep him out of the conversation, more that they are catching up with each other.)

"So, how was your trip with the Glory?" asks the priestess. "Is she as magnificent as we have all been told?"

Midian sees Samswell shrug and then he says, "She is definitely eye catching, but I would not call her magnificent. She is young, inexperienced... potentially magnificent, shall we say."

Then he says, "What I don't understand is: Why we went at all? And also: Why me? Why not a Mithran guard? I can't help but think they are trying to keep her away from their Temple business for some reason."

[OOC: Make a straight Wisdom check versus a DC of 8 to see if Midian knows something about what they are talking about.]

Wisdom: 7

Midian raises an eyebrow, but judges that making his eavesdropping obvious might not evoke the best response from the senior church members, and continues on towards the school of the arcane.

[OOC: The title 'Glory' is sometimes given to a religious warrior dedicated to the service of Mithra. Unless you as a player can remember otherwise, that is all that that Midian knows.]

Midian waits for a lull in their exchange, surmising they handleader is someone Aloma has worked with before and likely trusts. He inquires, “What do you make of it, this reporter manifestation of the goddess at the school of the arcane? I told Aloma about it earlier, Sam. Rumor from some of the college students that the goddess appeared there and may still reside on campus. I don’t think it’s literally what it claims to be, but do either of you have any theories? It’s a rather outlandish claim to make. What would be the motive?”

"I'll believe it when I see it," says Handleader Samswell a bit curtly. "And Samswell is my family name, and it doesn't get shortened."

"Now, now, Arthur," says Priestess Aloma patting the handleader's arm. "It was a natural mistake to make."

Then she continues on saying, "I told Handleader Samswell what you told me as we were walking out of the Temple. He's skeptical, as am I, but to have such a rumour come out of the School of Occult Studies is worth investigating... It's not like the students and masters there are going to be very easy to fool. And besides, Hareld Minton will be able to tell us all about it."

"You didn't tell me we were going to see Minton," says the handleader, unable to prevent a slight shiver. "He gives me the creeps. So, if you don't mind, I might stay outside while you two go in."

Priestess Aloma chuckles at this and says, "He is the soul of discretion, Arthur, so there's no need to worry. Your secrets would be safe with him... But as you wish. I shouldn't be long."

“We are giving the appearance of this being a social call perhaps, but this is church business,” Midian adds. “As long as you’re close enough by that you can intervene if we run into trouble, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m very curious as well as to what this is about, but I agree it’s got to be some kind of ruse. I’m also curious how it could tie into the business with Harlan, but it’s curiosity that keeps us looking until we have our answers I suppose. Let us pray we find them.” 

The School of Occult Studies is situated on a large block of land on the southern side of the smallest of the islands on which Constantine is built.

The three continue north and soon cross the bridge into the Scholar's Ward where things appear to be as normal for this time of day. They turn east and a little while later, they come into sight of the walls of the School and the single gate that provides entrance to the School on the landward side. Opposite the school is a long building with many chimneys that appears to be some sort of artisan's workshop.

"Sorry Priestess," begins Handleader Samswell. "But I just can't abide the idea of someone being inside my head, so I will wait for you here." With this, Samswell indicates the corner of the workshop where he apparently wishes to wait; it is a good hundred feet shy of the gate.

"It's not like that," says Aloma. "But as you wish. We won't be long." So saying, she continues walking toward the gate.

"Think nice thoughts," Samswell says to Midian in a half-hearted attempt at a jest.

Midian raises an eyebrow. “This schoolman reads minds? Oh dear. I’d best recite scripture in my head.” 

He looks to Aloma after they part ways. “Was the handleader joking?”

"About Master Minton?" asks Priestess Aloma rhetorically. "No. He was not joking. But it's more that Minton hears what you are thinking. We used to sing songs in our head to try to keep our little secrets... I was never very certain that that worked though."