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[King Roan Moore]

To consider that Roan liked to keep to himself when in his very English clothing with his very English crown one wold assume he would not be standing outside the most English visited place in Jerusalem. He hated being out in public in his overly adorned little metal circlet they called a crown, nothing more then a plain and rather heavy ring of metal really. In place of the typical metal armor plates on his arms and legs were leathers bracers and high boots that vanished into the oversized grey tunic he wore. All in all he felt like an idiot. This would make it even harder for him to make a decent disguise if he ever wanted to go about unseen again. He'd made a point of wearing his crucifix and making sure he was clean however, as he was about to meet his holyness himself, the pope.

Yes, the Pope was coming to the Holy Land to see this very place, and of course to see him. So he'd grabbed one of the more timid servants from the kitchen, had him dress nicely, and come with him to wait. Truth be told it was just as much to have a servant there if they needed him as it was to have someone else in the event he got asked an awkward question. After all, he'd been in a war, he'd fathered a child who he couldn't claim with a woman he couldn't marry, this was possibly the last person on Earth at the moment he wanted to meet.

Still, there he stood just a few hundred feet from the fairly new door, looking down the rather steep hill to see if he could pick the man out. It had just been recently that this church had been built over what had been sand after all, which he now considered might be why the man had come. He paused for a moment, taking into account for the first time in a long time it was said climbing this hill and asking forgiveness of your sins would grant you a morally speaking clean slate. Although the servant continued looking along the twisting path for the Pope, Roan turned a bit toward the church and said a little prayer for Isabell, that she might be forgiven for his sins.

[Pope Innocent IV]

David Harrington Praxley, now known to Christendom as Pope Innocent IV, was still not happy that the College of Cardinals in Rome had chosen him as the Supreme Pontiff to replace his mentor Gregory IX, but he had known it was coming. When he had been made Patriarch of Jerusalem, David knew it was a de facto way of saying he would replace the Pope. Then, on the voyage, he had learned that Gregory IX had passed away.

David had been ruminating on this very issue, strolling through the garden of this grand church, when he had received word that King Roan himself was awaiting his presence. He did not want to be Pope, but he was the Pope. It was as simple as that. No Pope had ever refused his Office and it would have been a scandal and a great dishonor to his Church and his mentor to do so. No, David was now truly the Pope (technically, he had been since stopping off in Rome and getting officially consecrated).

The voyage had not been terribly kind to David, the water had been rough and the weather less than great. He wanted to avoid sickness, especially so soon after getting elevated, even if he was young and in basically good health. Perhaps he would have some coffee (a most miraculous beverage, a true gift from the Mohammedans...a shame they were not Catholic of course).

Despite being the Pope, David still wore his standard simple black Benedictine habit (a tunic covered by a scapular and cowl) and sandals. Around his neck was a wooden pectoral cross. The only symbols of his Papal Office were the golden 'Ring of the Fisherman' worn on the proper finger and the red (the Pope's color as it were) fringed silk sash around his waist and habit. Although virtually every other Pope in memory had dressed in a garish manner of some sort, there was no official Papal uniform (after all, who could command the Pope on what to wear).

Following the person who had been sent to notify him of that King's presence, he sighed to himself as he neared the King. The new Pope had heard certain unpleasant rumors about the man, but, on the other hand, there should be a certain sense of camaraderie since they both hailed from the [British] Isles.

Approaching the King, David bowed politely, "Good day, Your Majesty," and was not quite sure what to say.

[King Roan Moore]

He had been distracted by the prayer for no more then a minute or two before he turned back to the servant. "Have you seen him?" The smaller man shook his head and kept watching as traveler after traveler walked up the little pathway to see the church built here on this sacred hill. As a matter of fact the servant had seen him, earlier that day, when he had been sent to inform the keepers of the church the king would be coming to see him. It was just that the poor man had no idea who he was looking for. In all his rembered years the popes hd dressed in gold and silver and white and worn jewlery and carried all sorts of trinkets with them.

The man that the servant now saw approaching as Roan stared off down the hillside was wearing none of these things. He didn't even comment on the man as such, and started to look through the crowd, as perhapse he had missed the paritioner. Roan had tired of looking over the edge of the hill and turned to see an approaching friar, probably baring some kind of message. It was Roan, after a loud sigh and a mental wish that the man wasn't coming, that noticed the red sash and the ring on the man's hand. It was the fact that it was inappropriate for a king to gawk that made him blink a few times as the man approached and bowed.

This was the pope? This was the pope! "No!" He said a little too enthusiastically, grabbing the man's shoulder to straighten him up. "No sir, on this of all hills you do not bow to me." He instead dropped his head low. This was the single most holy place the Catholic and Christian world believed in, here earthly kinghis didn't matter, it was men like monks and priests who held the highest respects on this tiny patch of dirt. Thus soeone such as the pope, the Lord's right hand man if you will, never had to bow to anyone here. "My name is Roan, I appologize for the short notice." He held his hand out this time to shake the other man's, despite being the slightest bit nervous.

[Pope Innocent IV]

David was startled by the King's alacrity in being respectful. In many though, it also embarrassed the new Pope. He was not one for pomp and circumstance and thought it shameful how much of the clergy were behaving in the manner of worldly nobles. It was not that David begrudged the nobility for their actions, it was that too many clergy sought to emulate such behavior that bothered him.

The Pope shook the King's hand gently, still a little surprised by all this. Motioning for the monarch to stand up, the Pope took a deep breath (more to allow himself a chance to think than because of a need for air), "Sire, I am most honored that you would choose to greet me personally. I am but a humble but a humble monk who has been blessed," he had to stifle at his own words for he certainly did not truly think it a blessing to be Il Papa, "with a chance to serve the Church in a unique position," he smiled slightly lopsidedly.

Thinking for a moment, he continued, "Please forgive me, but would you mind if we took this meeting inside. Although I enjoyed the journey from our homeland," he and Roan were both from England after all, "but some inclement weather and rough seas have played poorly with my health and I wish to avoid a bad ailment," he was being truthful.

[King Roan Moore]

He took the gentel shake with a firm one of his own. He'd always been told he had a good handshake. It was his father that had once told him you could get the measure of a man by his handshake if you paid it enough attention. Weak men gave weak handshakes, dishonest men were quick to remove their hands, and kin men were want to offer gentle hands in greating. Although he had been called 'all heart' it didn't mean he couldn't be abit forcefull if the need arose.

He smiled as the man spoke, the gesture faultering slightly when he was called 'Sire'. There was no one amoung those that livwere considered near his equals that called him 'Sire' or 'my lord', only the servants the people and those who needed to be reminded on ocassion that he was the king were asked to call him that. "Please," He said as the smile reafixed itself on his face, "Call me Roan, it's much prefered I assure you."

He seemed worried when the man mentioned that the trip was a rough one. He sighed a bit and ran his now free hand through his hair, "I must say the weather on the seas this time of year is not the best. We lose more goods that way then any over the early months of the year." He himself had been shipped off along with Isabel in the winter. While not the best time for travel by ship it had been a slow and mostly uneventful trip with the exception of a few rougher patches. "One can only hope for the best unfortunatly." He started for the church however, the great mass of people moving out of his way when they recognized him, or rather the clothing that he wore. It was a bit like baring a sign that read 'Look out, he's royalty.'

[Pope Innocent IV]

David held the handshake for the proper amount of time. He too knew the importance of shaking hands properly. People might judge you based on that gesture (he would dare not call it a simple one...he knew better than that, there was a lot of nuance to it). It was a good sign that Roan had a good firm shake, but not an overbearing or brutish one (trying to crush one's hand as though in a vice was usually a sign of an would-be bully).

"As you wish," he paused, "Roan," it did feel a little odd calling a King by their given name. It seemed too casual for royalty (it still had not sunk in to David's mind just how important the role of the Papacy was, even among secular leaders...who were all Catholic of course), but he would go along with it.

The Pope nodded at the King's words about losing goods, "Yes, unfortunately, that does happen. I remember more than a few times helping to recover waterlogged cargo," he sighed at that memory. Maybe that was why his health was a little less than great at the moment, too much time doing such labors, but he was still in good physical shape, young and such.

David walked alongside the King, occasionally bumping into exiting parishioners (unfortunately, there was only one entrance/exit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) and mumbling apologies and 'excuse me's as he moved along. Moving somberly (nothing else would do for such a sacred place), he genuflected deeply as he neared the main altar, but then continued on, bypassing it.

Continuing through a maze of smallish corridors, he assumed that Roan was keeping up with him. He passed the Bishop's area (one could tell it was such by how ornate it was...nothing less for a Bishop, eh?) and then he was in the attached dormitory area (if it could be called that). Going up a staircase to the third floor, he strode over to the room that had been granted him.

Pushing open the crude wooden door, he entered and waited for Roan. The room was very sparse, as befitting a monk in the Order of St. Benedict. There was a thin straw-filled mattress (with pillow and blanket of course) in one corner, a small kneeler in front of an icon of Our Lord and a sloped shelf with an opened prayer book and couple of candles, a small table and two chairs, and two bowls (one with clean water and the other a commode), a plain wooden armoire (containing a couple changes of clothes and some knick-knacks), and a small nook for cooking over an open flame. All in all, it was what might be expected in any monk's room.

Assuming the King was used to meeting in better areas, David smiled, "Please forgive the bareness of the room, but this Church is always crowded...I am most blessed they had even this and, besides, it certainly befits a monk of the Benedictine order."

[King Roan Moore]

Roan himself had been helping not a few weeks ago with that very same problem actually. He'd been cornered into going by an older man whom he knew that had wanted him to see for himself just what was happeneing. It had done just what the man wanted, and Roan had been all but eager to help pull in the floating crates of clothing and food that were most likely going to spoil before they reached the harbor. It was sad really.

The king, after finally making it through the throng of church goers and into the building let the Pope lead the way, following his lead at the alter, not sure what room had been given to the holy man. He expected somethign a little grander then the typical room, and was more then a little surprised when they passed the Bishops room and wound through dozens of doors and halls to get to a very small room with almost nothing in it. He looked about the room, very much reminded of his own quarters at home although they had been furnished with a few more pillows and a tapestry, and listened as the man explained.

"Not at all." he answered in regaurds to the room, "If you should need anything for it just send word and I'll have it sent right away. Or should you change your mind and like a room without the noise you may always stay in the palace, I'm sure we have more then enough room." He was always in awe of just how many rooms were in the place, as he'd spent a few hours one day walking through them. There were large dinning halls, bedrooms, a pair of kitchens, several rows of servants quarters, and all sorts of rooms for this and that that he had never been to. "If not I know of several lords I would be more the glad to excuse that you might have their place." It was of course, a play on the idea that they might give up the rooms willingly. They might as well, but not the men that Roan would be hapiest to see go.

[Pope Innocent IV]

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Ma--," he caught himself, "Roan, but this is what I am used to...a monk's life after all," he motioned to the black habit he was wearing. It might surprise many people to know that David wished to return to those simpler days. It had never been his idea to rise through Church's hierarchy...that had been the idea of others.

In a way, he felt he could be honest with King Roan. Motioning for Roan to sit down in one of the chairs, David would follow suit. Taking a deep breath, he spoke softly and gently (as was his norm, except if someone angered him and his temper flared, but that was usually quite rare these days), "I hope you do not mind me taking up your valuable time," he assumed any King's time was valuable, "to meet like this, but I do not know how long I will be able to remain here in Jerusalem. The Cardinals want me to return to Rome, but I must admit I never particularly liked it there," David had journeyed to Rome for his seminary education and such when younger, "It always seems too...too worldly, as if it was still the center of world as it had men over a millennium ago. I know I will miss England," he sighed to himself as he spoke.

"But there is definitely something about Jerusalem that is endearing. Like Rome, it is an ancient city, but much more subdued and pious, the land of God. Even the Mohammedans seem to recognize this. Even this Church here maintains a sacredness and piety, but perhaps that is just its glorious location."

Pausing for a moment, he smiled, "What is your impression of this place?" the Pope asked truthfully.

[King Roan Moore]

He'd never lived as a monk, he had honestly never been that religious. All his life he'd gotten a bit of the better side of things, never the best as they were only the family of a knight, but the better things for sure. The idea of living in a room with nothing but a few chairs, while it wasn't horrifying or upsetting, mad him a little sad. It was as if something might be missing, after all he'd never have known what to do without a few books and toys to divide between himselves and his sisters. That was why the palace doors were aways open, so that anyone or any number of visitors might come and go as they pleased. To each his own he supposed.

He nodded his thanks and took a seat in one of the chairs, slouching more then any mother would approve of. He hated the constant 'royal' actions, he couldn't slouch he couldn't drum his nails on the throne when soe old man went on and on about the state of Jerusalem's moral decay due to the inclusion of muslims, he couldn't even be free to leave without a disguise and ordering his gaurds to stay behind. Most importantly however, he couldn't marry Isabel, which only fuled his dislike for the position, but it was for the better of the people and thus he had no choice. He did however give a little chuckle when his 'valuble time' was mentioned. "I assure you your Eminance if there were anything else I was to be doing now I would rather be here with you regaurdless."

He considered mentioning the fact that every religious place in the city had been on fire or looted when he had first come, seeing as the city had been besieged for months. It was an unpleasant thought, but the steps they had made to returning it to normal were great, and they were only making it more livable as time went on. Of course the only thing keeping it alive in this 'glorious location' half way out in the middle of the desert was the spring beneath it. His impression was a rather slanted one, and his mind behived him to keep it to himself. He still couldn't help but stand when asked for his impression, crossing to the window to open it and look out.

"You see that domed building there?" He asked, pointing to the mosque across the city. "That is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount. The building is nearly four centuries old, and was built over the ruins of the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. There is but one wall left of that temple, and it stands behind the Mosque, and here not even a mile away stands the most Holy Catholic place in the world." He leaned agains thte window frame and watched as people walked along the roads between themselves and the sites, "This city is the center for every religion in the world, and all of them co-exist within the same few city streets we've built around them. This place would truely be the Holy Land if only it's people could be so understnading as it's monuments."