[u][b]9:51 AM, December 3rd
Unknown Location[/b][/u]

[@Blackstripe]

The staircase was long, winding, sometimes seeming to defy logic with their spiraling nature, the air around them deathly silent and cool. There was no question they weren't in the mortal plane any more, the trio surrounded by inky black skies and a thin, ghostly fog that seemed to caress each of them curiously before dissipating around them, almost as if it were a sentient being sizing up intruders into it's territory. Clayton didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by it all, and in fact seemed to look almost nostalgic about his surroundings as he stepped heavily down the stairs.

"When you meet him, keep your eyes forward, look him in the face. He may or may not look like a Human when you see him, so don't be too surprised if you see a...I dunno, cerberus, or a friggin' cthuluoid space monster. He likes to make points." He said, not looking back at either Karen or Samantha, his eyes focused down the stairs, at the singular truly colorful spot in this plane. It was circular, covered in a wide, bright red rug that stretched out at least 100 feet, a golden throne adored with cushions of the same blood red as the rug. A pair of golden braziers flanked the throne, pink flames roaring in the bowls as the three approached the man in the throne. 

The figure was a tall, stocky, White and sporting a truly massive brown beard, with clothes that clearly didn't belong in that century. His fingers were steepled as he looked over them all, his eyes fixing on Karen after he'd offered polite nods to Samantha and Clayton. When he spoke, it was almost as if his beard moved rather than his lips, it was so thick.

"I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and king unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they can do no wrong. If there is any assumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. History shows the greatest names are coupled with the greatest crimes." He spoke the words like scripture, rising up from his throne and starting towards the trio, straight toward Karen with his eyes fixed on her face, as if he were trying to peer into her very soul. He stopped three feet in front of her.

"Do you understand why you are here?"