A Matter of Murder (Savio, Assilsa, Sayren, Kallos)

[Balderdash]

24th of Fall, 513AV The Safehaven Hostel Ah, the simplicity of staring at dead people. No complicated politics or bizarre procedures, just a bunch of eyes and a lot of blood. Good Laat, was there a lot of blood. Franjo Franjic, a monk of Uphis who was probably up to here with all the stabbings, opened the door for the group. It was a room like any other at the Hostel, though the spartan furniture had been replaced. There was a cream colored carpet on the floor, for one. The table was pleasant and round, made of solid mahogany. As were the two accompanying chairs. The sheets of the (still fairly modest) bed were black satin, and a small shrine devoted to Rhysol sat between two silk pennants. The victim was here, splayed out on the floor with his head tucked at an unnatural angle against the wall. His chest and neck were a mess of gore and shattered bones. A few fragments of rib sat a foot or so away from the body itself. If Savio, who, growing up on a farm, had no doubt seen the remains of sheep eaten by wolves, chose to inspect them, he would notice that they appeared to have been chewed. The deceased's nose and mouth had also been ripped out, with their jaw dangling from their head by a strand of sinew. Their eyes and brow had begun to sag, but they still held a shadow of their last expression. One of unmitigated horror. The pennant closest to the victim was nearly torn off the wall, and was spattered with blood. It also caked the space between the victim and the pennant. As Franjo lead the way inside, the group heard the crunch of trodden glass, and the monk stepped to the side. At his left was the fragments of a glass along with a wine stain in the hastily appropriated carpet. On the table was a spilled, but still intact glass. The chair nearest the victim was overturned. The rest of the room was undisturbed. "Well, here we are." he said with a grimace. "Try not to puke on anything."

[Savio]

Normally, at this time in the day Savio was in the middle of running deliveries around Nyka. But instead, his Boss had managed to talk him into joining the investigation of the Ravokian murder at the SafeHaven. When he arrived at the Hostel, he found that he was not the only one. He quickly found that his fellow student Sayren was a part of the investigation along with his newest acquaintance Kallos and… A Widow?! He had only heard of them but had never seen one of their kind before.

Savio gulped and tried to ignore his uneasiness as he approached the small group. In short time, the monk led them up to the finer rooms of the establishment. Even before they got to the door of the crime scene, the metallic scent of blood was almost overwhelming.

When the monk opened the door, Savio’s stomach gave an unpleasant lurch and he was instantly grateful that he had missed breakfast that morning. Even though most of the room was left untouched, the violence of what had been seemed to override the attention to anything else. Blood painted the far walls and a good portion of the floor. But what truly held Savio attention was the corpse that was leaning against the wall as though he had been tossed there like a child’s rag doll.

The small group stepped inside; the crunch of glass could be heard underfoot. The monk then spoke up; the look of disgust at the scene was evident on his face. "Well, here we are. Try not to puke on anything."

Perhaps it was morbid curiosity, but Savio was undeniably drawn to the decimated remains. The young scanned his surrounded as he carefully made his way to the body on light feet, making sure not to upset potential clues as to what exactly happened.

He had so cover his nose when he got closer; the scent was almost too much to bear for his stomach. He squatted down and looked over the body, trying to focus on the sight and not the smell. It was an absolute mess, and it appeared to have been the work of…very sharp teeth? The throat had clearly been ripped out but the damage on the chest looked slightly abnormal. Savio frowned as he leaned in a little closer, unsheathing his dagger and using the tip to gently lift the torn fabric that had once been clothes away from the carcass so he could get a better look. The skin of the chest had been hacked to shreds by a sharp object, not ripped by teeth like the throat was. Also, it seemed like the man's lungs were missing. How strange.

The sight of bits of rib bones also caught his attention. He hesitantly picked one up and saw teeth marks on it. What kind of man or beast had done this? Savio stood up and looked around the room, confused as to what exactly had happened in the man's last moments.

“The man looks to have been attacked viciously by...something. I cannot say if its human or not. But i do know that there was a weapon involved. Perhaps a knife or a dagger.” Savio said, informing his team mates of his findings. He hoped someone had an idea because he was completely at a loss. Savio then looked at the monk and asked "Does the door have signs that someone forced their way in?"

[Assilsa Curare]

Assilsa had been one of the first people on the scene, for the crime had only occurred a few rooms from her own in the safe haven Hotel. Even the Symenestra had to admit it was a scary thought, having someone gruesomely murdered while you had been sleeping only a short distance away.

One familiar face appeared in the group assigned to the case, her Drykas woman friend, Sayren. After greeting all the monks she hung close to her ‘babysitter’, As they slowly entered the room, Assilsa reminded calm as she observed the ghastly remains, however Assilsa’s hunter eyes began to notice small oddities around the room.

“try not to puke on anything”

Those words echoed in her ears, to insult someone’s lost life blood in that way, it just repulsed her. The main thing that had caught Assilsa’s eye was the broken glass and the shine devoted to Rhysol. She slowly approached the shine and touched it with her longest nail, it looked perfectly intact, Assilsa considered that it might not have been a crime of God.

Returning back to the group she watched one of the group observe the body, as he looked over the body Assilsa began to follow his eyes. The ribs were an interesting case and by the looks of it Assilsa wasn’t the only one how had noticed, she came up beside the man who was currently examining a rib bone. Assilsa remained silent but noticed that they looked gnawed on, Cannibalism?

Kneeling beside the body Assilsa wondered why the body didn’t bother her as much as the others, maybe it was just a racial trait, maybe it was because after going wild in the wilderlands it almost made her hungry. The victims head and neck caught Assilsa eyes main focus, the head was at an unnatural angle that caused a cringe to slide onto her face, reaching out Assilsa began to feel the neck bone. Assilsa looked back at the group still cringing.

“I think… I think his neck is shattered, there is no way his head could be at this angle without the murder smashing his victims neck”

[Kallos]

When Kallos was told about the murder, he was a bit shocked. As far as he’d gathered, the people here were violent, but rarely fatally so. Even more so when it was said that the monks would not be investigating, but would leave it to civilians. He wasn’t interested, until the prospect of a reward came up. He took a few days off of work for it.

Savio being there was a pleasant turn of events, though he was less familiar with the other student. The fourth member of their little party gave him pause, though. It was the first time he’d ever set his eyes on one of the spider folk. He’d heard of them in his travels, and the rumors weren’t kind. He’d make sure to keep her on his left side.

As the monk led them to the room, he saw his companions show signs of unease, as if the murderer were still there among them. Before the door even opened, the stench filling the air was already foul. It was enough to make him frown, even if he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. At least it lacked the usual burnt smell this time.

Kallos was the last into the room, so he heard the monk’s remark before seeing the main event of this field trip. “Well, here we are. Try not to puke on anything.” In a less pungent atmosphere, Kallos might have laughed, but seeing Savio’s face, perhaps the monk wasn’t joking.

Then, he saw the corpse. Izurdin’s hammer, that poor bastard didn’t look like he died quickly. The blood was everywhere, bones even outside the body.What ever did this, Kallos was sure that they were not human. The oversized children, as far as he considered them, were not that brutal.

Savio bent down next to the corpse, and inspected it. As he did so, Kallos merely stood and stared. Something... was off. He couldn’t quite place it. A memory called out to him, but it was too far gone to see, like a voice to quiet to understand. He felt that he should know more about this, that he’d heard of this before. That nagging voice annoyed him.

The corpse’s eyes were wide with fear. Judging by that, it wasn’t his broken neck that killed him. It dawned on Kallos that the corpse might not have been defiled, but that the man was alive when he was cut apart. Was this a ritual killing, perhaps?

As he looked around the room in it’s entirety for the first time, he noticed the glass laying on the table, and paused. He looked to the monk’s feet, remembering the sound of his steps earlier, and sure enough, there were clear shards next to where he stood.

“The man looks to have been attacked viciously by...something. I cannot say if its human or not. But i do know that there was a weapon involved. Perhaps a knife or a dagger.” "Does the door have signs that someone forced their way in?"

Kallos moved from beside the human women, and stood at the feet of the dead man, to gain a new perspective. There were two chairs, two glasses. The one left intact still had wine inside it. The spider woman spoke about the corpse's neck, but the observation itself was of little import, as far as he was concerned. If that was the wound that killed him, his eyes would not have been so wide.

"This dead man knew his killer." Kallos points to the glass, and then the chairs. "There are two used wine glasses in this room. They were drinking together." He looks at the monk. "Tell me, monk. Do you know if he brought anyone to his room last night? Did he travel alone?"

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren was over in the Northern Qaurter heading towards the school when she had heard about the murder. What caught her intrigue even more so, was the reward behind it. Two hundred gold mizas for anyone who participated in assisting with the killer's capture. Taking into consideration that she really would like to earn some extra mizas, she figured she could give it a shot and lend a hand. When she heard one of the monks calling out that it happened at the Safehaven Hostel. Her eyes widen. Assilsa was staying at the Hostel. By the seven, Sayren hoped she was okay.

With that, she reined Garel around and bolted off towards the hostel. She arrived about the time Savio did. Along with an Isur. He seemed tiny, but his arm seemed like it would do more damage than any hammer she could imagine. Then Sayren caught sight of Assilsa, she was alright. That was good. Then Franjo, the tall muscled monk of Uphis, led the group towards the room.

By the Web...Sayren had to cover her mouth just to keep her lunch from lurching out of her throat. She remembered how the goat looked like, and it seemed to have more dignity than this poor sod's death. His jaw ripped out, ribs ripped out and his chest stabbed and gashed. Aside from the mess near the body, the rest of the room seemed completely content. Unaware to the mass of heaping flesh now festering as a rotting corpse in one of its chairs.

She began to hum to herself to distract herself from the gory scene. It was a small and happy tune her father used to sing to her in order to calm her down whenever she got antsy. Savio and Assilsa had already started glancing over at the body. Each stating their perceptions about what had happened to the man.

However, what intrigued her was when the Isur spoke. His tongue seemed to her. She couldn't quite understand his words, but seeing that he was pointing to the chair and glasses of wine. He must've been insinuating that the man must've been dining with someone he knew, or else he wouldn't have been sitting down so familiarly with the person. Possibly the killer themself.

Her eyes curiously went over to the pennant with blood caked all over it. Judging the distance, it would've been reasonable to say that it was blood that could've been flung across from a swing of a dagger. So the assailant had to have used a dagger...even if he did chew on the bones.

Since no one seemed to have answered Savio's question about the door, Sayren took a glance for herself. It didn't appear to have any scratches or any parts of it damaged, so she safely assumed it wasn't the case. "It doesn't seem like it Sav..." She said, getting another glimpse at the eyes of the man as she darted her eyes away and started humming once again. That poor sod...

[Balderdash]

Kallos' inquiry was met with a shrug. "We haven't let anyone see them yet- we've met enough foreigners to know they find our ways... Strange." It certainly wouldn't take a great leap of logic to imagine why. "Their entourage was big enough, but why wait? Wouldn't it be easier to kill him in the wilds?" The scion of Uphis frowned, "I told Acolyte Runath about this- he just grabbed a lyre from the nearest busker and took off. Brought a few of my brothers with him too, come to think of it..." Franjo shrugged then. "I know the ambassadors keep daggers on them. Could be something in that." Looking closer, Savio noticed the teeth marks seemed unpleasantly human in their size. And Assilsa saw a small scrap of black fabric in one of the victim's hands. A fragment of the torn pennant, no doubt. Feeling the wet sinew and cartilage around the neck told her that his spine was... Intact. So much for a broken neck.

[Savio]

Savio listening closely to the inquiries of his companions. Something was tugging at his memory and he couldn’t quite place it. Savio’s attention was once again drawn to the mangled body and the rib bone that he held. The marks were not like that of a creature with sharp teeth. The grooves were wider, and not quite as deep, his tongue rubbed against his own teeth feeling the points until he realized that the marks in the bone was similar to that of ones made by human teeth, and he felt his stomach twist unpleasantly. He dropped the rib in disgust, which caused him to look down and see something clinched tightly in the man’s hand.

Savio wiped the blood off of his dagger on the remains of the Ravokian’s clothes before sheathing it so that both of his hands were free to pry open the Rigor mortis affected fingers. Once open, Savio was able to retrieve a scrap of black cloth. He frowned in concentration as he stood up and looked around the room for fabric like it. The damaged pendant caught his attention and he walked over to further inspect it. He placed the piece next to the whole and found that it was a match. “Interesting…” Savio murmured more to himself than the others. How did it fit into the big picture?

He turned back around to look the room over again from a new standpoint; his mind was in a whirl. “Your brother monk grabbed a Lyre, you say. But why-?”

Savio paused in mid-thought, a childhood nursery rhyme echoing though his memory. He couldnt help but quitely speak it aloud.

"Beware my child, don't you stray.
Wicked things lurk night and day.
Things that shout and things that scream.
Strangers that aren't what they seem.
They'll chew your bones and steal your voice.
'Till they've enough and their lips are moist.
But if you meet the horrid Wailer,
Turn and run 'fore you become their dinner"

He could almost hear his mother's voice in his mind as the words tumbled from his mouth. His mother had told him the nursery rhyme to dissuade him from running off, but he never listened because he just brushed off the warning as a silly fairytale, but as he looked upon the mutilated man with renewed horror he knew now that it had been true all along.

"I think... We are dealing with a Wailer."

[Assilsa Curare]

Her conclusion had been wrong, she had found this out by examining the neck further she found that she had infact been wrong. Growling softly Assilsa began to look for something else on the body that would tell her something. She noticed a small piece of black fabric clutched in the dead man’s hand.
Assilsa pulled a face as she watch the one who was called Sav , pull at the man’s stiff fingers. Even with her strong stomach the scene was beginning to turn her stomach, looking back at Sayren painfully she reached for her hand. Being close to a friend helped to calm Assilsa somewhat until Sav began to recite a poem. Once he had finished Assilsa was more confused than before,
“What’s a Wailer?”
Assilsa used her delicate claws to pinch the piece of fabric from the distracted man’s hands; she slowly began to spin it in her own. Dragging her fingers along the pennant she assumed it was from the same thing.

[Kallos]

Kallos nodded as the monk explained, it would have been very easy to kill him in the wild lands. Then again, it would also mean that there wouldn’t be any reasonable doubt that they were the killers. Now that they were in the city, if one of his escorts were the murderer, he has less of a chance that he’d be caught and punished. Kallos told his thoughts to the monk, loud enough for all to hear.

That was the very moment Savio began to speak. As he recited the poem, comprehension dawned on Kallos. He remembered reading about Wailers, in the Silver Tower. It wasn’t so important to him then, so he had forgotten them as the years went by. Now, facing one, the memories flooded to the front of his mind. If anyone were looking at him closely, they would see him visibly pale.

The spider asked what a wailer was. He took a breath, and tried to find the words in common. “They are... monsters, made of sound. They change their shape, and eat your lungs...” He could have said more, if they understood his native tongue. The words to describe this monster weren’t ones he used often, though. Instead, he turned to the Monk again.

“Your brothers have a lyre with them, and are hunting the monster? Where did they go? How will they kill it?”

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren watched as Assilsa reached for her hand. The woman must not have felt to comfortable with their surroundings. Sayren could hardly blame her. The sight was just too much gore for any person to handle without some sort of reaction. Sayren pulled the woman into her arms as she listened to Savio recite some odd poem, one that she even heard from her mother a few times. Which was strange...how would she know of such a thing? What other little stories and rhymes would her mother have known?

Before she could distract her mind much further, Savio stated that they could be dealing with a Wailer. Followed by a brief description of the creature from Kallos. The Isurian wizard must've encountered some during his day, because he struggled to tell more about them. From what Sayren could see, an attempt to distract himself from those past thoughts of the creature, Kallos turns his attention to the monk and begins asking him questions.

Sayren narrowed her eyes and stood beside Kallos in front of the monk, "Would they need help? A Wailer sounds like a dangerous creature..."