"So do I... But unfortunately, if the name does ring a bell, it could be a suppressed memory of yours speaking to you." Rudick looks between Ireena and Ismark. "I would know what I could of the time before you came to be kin, if possible. Perhaps there is a clue there. And if not, perhaps it is that you remind him physically of her. Either way, I suspect-..." He catches himself there, and after a moment's pause, shook his head. "Either way it's something to keep in mind. And if we see Madam Eva again, mayhaps she will deem it time to enlighten us on the subject."

"On another note, this... place reminds me of one of her readings to us: A holy symbol of great power should be here, as all is not well here. Not with a leader who insists upon such madness as imprisoning and humiliating those for merely being a bit dour." He huffs. "Something about.... needing to find find a house of corruption, and within, a dark room full of still ghosts. Any rumors of the sort ringing a bell about such a home? If not, let's a keep a special ear about."

Seeing that he is no longer part of the conversation, Father Lucian bids you adue and makes his way over to Yeska. He begins to hand out apples to the civilians still in the church. A few more people leave the comfort of the church and walk out into the early morning air.

Ireena and Ismark share a glance before Ismark says, "My father adopted Ireena when she was 2 years old. He found her out wandering in the Svalich Woods all by herself late at night."

 Ireena adds, "I don't remember anything but a wolf howling and the crackling of pine needles under my feet."

"...Shall we go to the garden, then?" Alev asks, turning to Skip and Leann.

“Hmmm, if Sergei saw him digging, he could be burying the evidence....but, if they really are as poor as we are told, then they may well have sold them by now. The promise of gold to a poor Youngling can have strong temptations. That was me a few years ago. But let’s not put all our money on the surly one. His brother works inside, and may have had better access to this relic.”

"Let us follow the priest's hunch for now." Leann suggests. "Speaking to the boy in the garden seems our first move, we can always come back to speak to the second brother if that is needed."

 Rudick nods and grumbles to himself. "Not much to go on, but something to keep in mind as well... Keep trying in the meantime. To remember of the before, when peace is allotted." He says, and starts to turn away only to stop short and look back to the pair. "I almost forgot... Now that my friend is cured and we've made it to Vallaki, I suppose you two will be wanting to find yourselves more permnant residence here... But, if you have a mind to strike back at that 'man' for all the trouble he has caused, might you persist with us?" He asked, gauging their reactions carefully.

In the event of a positive one, if albeit largely so, he'll nod and presume either or would follow as he rejoins the rest of the group, having spied them brief in discussion out of the corner of his eyes. If not, he stare at them for a moment, before sighing and nodding less curtly prior to making his way back to the others regardless. Either way, he'll gruffly ask for a rundown on their discussion, as well as mention his theories of Vallaki being the place where their mystery Holy Symbol might reside.

Ireena hesitates for a moment before saying, "That Vistani seer seemed to believe that you people could destroy Strahd. I'm thinking I want to stay with you."

Ismark nods in agreement. "I've always wanted to beat the snot out of the devil."

After a moment of deliberation, the party moves to the side door of the church. Ismark opens the door and step aside to allow everyone to pass through. You see that Milivoj is kneeling on the ground tucking in a flower he just planted. He looks up as the door opens, and he stiffens as he sees the group walk out of the church. He stands and wipes his muddy hands on his pants before snatching up his shovel. He asks in a tight voice, "I'm busy. What do you want?"

Leann waits for the others to speak, or charm, the boy, her own methods being a bit more direct than either of those, and she had agreed to let them try their way first.

Sergei ventures to break the ice, as he'd already spoken to the youth previously. But first he will cast guidance on Rudick, as he seems to be the most discerning of the party. To do this, he places a hand on Rudick's shoulder and, as magic courses from Sergei's hand into Rudick, Sergei whispers in his ear, "Watch him closely to see how he reacts."

"Hey, Milivoj, it's me again, Sergei. You sure you don't need any help? We haven't got much to do here."

"Petrovich is a good man. He has helped us as surely as he's helped you, and we are in his debt. There is a matter that worries him, and he's asked us to look into it. There has been a theft at the church, something valuable was taken. He's worried that it was an inside job. You're a discerning lad, so perhaps you heard something about it?"

Sergei (and presumably the others) will closely observe Milivoj's reaction to this.

Insight 4

At Sergei's words, Milivoj narrows his eyes and says, "I haven't heard anything about it. Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you be talking to the Burgomaster if something was stolen?"

Sergei detects no lies in his words. He seems to be truthful, but his grip tightens of the shaft of the shovel. He eyes the party suspiciously, and you feel like he won't hesitate to smack you with his tool if it becomes necessary.

Insight: 28. (assuming its still possible to roll)

(@All: Not that it mattered! Lol!)

Perhaps it is because the Orc still had the whole future reading on the mind, or perhaps it was the whisper that did it? Either way, though Rudick narrowed his eyes at Milivoj, his focus isn't entirely on the immediate conversation. And because he was as gentle as a bull in a china shop when it came to the surly and young folk when forced to interact with them, well... he held his tongue for now to give others a shot at worming out answers.

One way or another, assuming they had the right kid..

Before asking anything, Alev will take a look to the flower the boy just planted and the ground around it, to try to see if there's any visible hint as to if something was buried beneath. 

"That's a pretty flower, what kind is it?" He asks him to disimulate the true motive behind his inspection of the plant.

Perception: 7 or Investigation: 20 (wasn't sure which one to roll for in this case)

(...It seems that the dice gods don't want us to find anything here, lol) (Nevermind. Nat 20, baby!)

As Alev takes a few steps forward to take a closer look at the surrounding area, Milivoj takes a few steps away while he holds his shovel threateningly. He says with apprehension, "It's a purple tulip. Haven't you seen them before?"

 Looking at the ground, you don't find anything out of place (even with the nat 20). The soil is damp and dark around the flower's base. The soil around is freshly disturbed, but you see no hints of bones.

((Lol. Apparently, Milivoj is a much better liar than I thought he'd be!))

While Milivoj is distracted by Alev, Sergei quickly touches his orb and makes a quick arcane gesture to cast minor illusion on the flower, making it appear to be wilted and black.

Sergei then points it out and says, "I dunno, Alev, you have a strange sense of what is pretty. That flower looks like it's already dead, to me. Strange, it looked healthy when Milivoj planted it... Perhaps these hallowed grounds aren't so hallowed any more. Maybe now they're cursed. Pity......."

Coming up silently behind the boy, Skip mutters some words that most of the others don’t understand

”Ó thief amháin go ceann eile, an ndearna tú na cnámha?”

Leann insight: 13

Milivoj looks down at the flower, and a look of confusion comes across his face, "It was fine a second ago." He looks back up at the group as he starts to slowly back away. He says, "I don't know what want from me. I haven't done anything wrong!"

It is then that Skip creeps up behind him and speaks strange words. Milivoj helps and whirls around with shovel in hand. Without even thinking, he slams the shovel into your face. You feel an explosion of pain, and white fills your vision for a moment as you feel your nose crumple. You take 6 bludgeoning damage.

Seeing what he did, Milivoj panics and begins to sprint away. He runs among the tombstones and vaults over the metal fence. What do you do?

Leann, at his last statement, your divine senses detect a lie.

"Well, I guess we best chase after him." Leann says with a frown at Skip. "Not sure what you said there, but, I thought we were waiting on the threats..."

Holding a hand to his squashed nose, trying to stem the bleeding, Skip, in a muffled and reproachful tone, says 

“Dat wernt no dreat, dat wad jud a queddion” he tries to say, as he gestures for Nook to follow the boy

"...Welp, that could have gone better" Alev says in a cheeky tone.

He will fly after the boy, but keep his distance. Given that the boy is now scared of them, he will try to fix things a little, to keep him from running away.

He sends a message to Milivoj. "I'm sorry for that. Please come back, we just want to talk."

Persuasion: 4

Scratch that, using that Inspiration I had saved from earlier for this roll. Persuasion: 22