video; un: hopscotch

[clavesregni]

[Caitlyn has found a small corner somewhere in the Wards that she's turned into a personal headquarters. Several sheets of paper, covered in incomprehensibly messy scribbles, are stuck to the walls, and there's plenty of room for more to come. She's even found some colored string somewhere and has started to make connections between the papers with the strings.

She speaks very enthusiastically. Nothing makes Caitlyn's whole being light up like detective work.]

I've begun working on solving the series of murders that have occurred here over the last eleven weeks.

The victims were all male, between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-five. There are no other obvious connections between the victims, no common physical characteristics, profession, or origin. We'll need to dig if we want to find any commonalities apart from sex and a rough age range. And, with only five victims, we can't entirely rule out the idea that the commonalities we do know of may be coincidental.

There are rumors circulating of someone referred to as the 'Reaper,' who is punishing the people here for abandoning their duty. I don't know if that's the killer's true motivation; why kill only young men? There's something more going on here.

There are two clear points of interest:

First, none of the victims have an obvious cause of death. Some have wounds, but nothing that would be fatal under normal circumstances, and none appear to have been ill. How is the Reaper killing the victims?

Second, all have a white string tied around their wrists. This must be some sort of calling card, though what it means is not yet clear. If we can determine the meaning of the string, it could give us an insight into the killer's motivations and perhaps their identity.

I suggest we collaborate in our work to find the killer.

Comments

un: absterge

[downswing]

A haunting.


( Quite possible, when you sre an exorcist, everything appears to be a haunting to you. )

[clavesregni]

It's certainly possible, but we can't rule out non-supernatural explanations. It's just as likely we have a serial killer on our hands.

[downswing]

If a man merely thirst for blood, he has an open battlefield.

un: magic wand (private)

[faceblocker]

why are you like this

she's going to see this

[ Vi can be impressed by Caitlyn being the Ultimate Detective later. Right now she's pissed that it's putting her at risk. ...More risk than a mysterious murderer, even. Obviously Jinx will figure out Caitlyn is here eventually, but must she advertise her existence on the network? ]

private

[clavesregni]

Am I never to use the network again? I have a job to do.

[faceblocker]

yes! fuck the stupid job

you have any idea how hard it is trying to help her and keep her from finding out you're here?

video; un: cat's cradle

[wantshappiness]

Perhaps the Reaper has some sort of ability that allows them to kill people and leave no traces? [She certainly can do something like that.....not that she would!! She doesn't do that anymore!!

...psychometry would be so useful right now.]

[clavesregni]

You're suggesting magic? It's possible. I'm afraid I'm not well versed in magical methods of homicide, and it would certainly make the murders more difficult to investigate, but it can't be ruled out.

It could be poison. There are poisons that leave few or no physical traces. There's also suffocation - that can be done without leaving a mark, at least hypothetically. They could have died of fright.

Without someone to conduct a full autopsy, it's difficult to say.

[wantshappiness]

...obviously, I can't say I am an expert. But where I'm from, there are more than a few powers that could do something like that. Organs are pretty delivate things. Any method that allows access to them without breaking through skin and bones can achieve something like that.

And it's true that too much adrenaline could kill but is that something that can be replicated so many times successfully?

[She sighed a little.]

Ah...getting an autopsy really would make things easier...

video — un: starburst.

[valeas]

( ... All right, so that is an impressive murder wall.

Emilia does not bother hiding her curiosity as she cants her head to the side in an attempt to follow the strings. )

I am not convinced it is the killer's true motivation, either. Beyond the fact they were all young men, one of them was a foreign merchant. What duty did he have to Alem? Unless he was mistaken for someone else, it seems more like he simply found himself at the wrong place. ( At the wrong time. )

[clavesregni]

Yes, that does support the theory that there's another motivation at play.

In the absence of other connections, we ought to start by at least theorizing that the connections we do have matter. Why younger men? What motivation could someone have for killing members of that demographic specifically?

[valeas]

The killer might be twisted enough to simply have a preference. Or they might wish to weaken Deimar further.

It doesn't explain the white string found on them, but whenever I ask about it, I'm given different answers. Some believe the string is a token sirens wrap around their intended. Others believe it signifies either fate or wealth. Why leave something like this behind on their bodies?

[downswing]

Young men are preferred for battle.

video | un: max silver

[margenes]

My question is going to be dumb, but I am new.

[a casual shrug. call him whatever you want.]

You say over the last several weeks. Are those who were killed in different locations, then?

[clavesregni]

I'd say that's quite an important question,actually. They were all found in different locations.

I do wonder if that indicates that the killer is aware of their victims' routines and plans accordingly, or whether the killer merely selects victims who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[margenes]

It sounds like a meticulous one. To know all the details... less mistakes, perhaps.

Are you a detective?

un: yiling laozu

[weifinder]

Are suspicions leaning toward a male or female or indeterminate attacker? Targeting young men might be for revenge over being left behind by one, revenge for being harmed by one, or jealousy over their existence as something alive, before they weren't.

Timing wise, is there any equal spacing or pattern with the way people have been evacuated out of the Guts Bind and when these past murders occurred?

[clavesregni]

At the moment there's no concrete evidence regarding the gender of the killer.

A very good question but I don't know the answer. Do you suspect something in the Gut's Bind may be responsible for the killings? Something escaping from the rift that they're guarding down there?

[weifinder]

Could be from there, could be any of the haunts endemic to this place, there's enough of them. The sheer... deathliness? Pouring out. I've already felt fluctuations. They happen more frequently than the murders.

un : deft hand of little deaths (voice)

[scrapgege]

If there's no obvious wound, it would be a ghost or a demon- they do have sort of portal to hell here, I think? That they're trying to keep closed, but a small demon could slip through.

The white string is...

[clavesregni]

Quite possibly. We'd need to investigate the portal more - what sorts of creatures come through it, what measures are taken to contain them, that sort of thing. None of the bodies have been found in the Gut's Bind, though, and I do wonder, if a demon that came through the portal is responsible, why it would confine its killings to the Wards and the Keep.

Does the white string mean anything to you?

[scrapgege]

Has anyone here told you about the White Traveler? People also call him Brother White. He's... we're not quite certain of his identity, but we've been finding bits and pieces about him everywhere we've been. He's probably not human anymore and it looks like he's the person who sort of... created, all of these undead war lords. We don't really know how or why either, but there's traces of him everywhere we go.

This seems to be too small for him, though. What would be the point of him killing random people in this city? He's done much bigger and terrible things before.

un: white pawn; video

[chosenbylight]

I have been doing work with the families in the Ward where they were found. I might be able to ask around after them? If there is any particular information you might find of use?

[Or if you’re looking for fair-haired bait in the Wards someone who has had at least one of those weird waking dreams… Anduin is your guy.]

[clavesregni]

At this point I believe any information at all will be of great help. Do you know if any of the men had family members? Were any of them married? Were all of them heterosexual? Apparently some say the white ribbon is something sirens give to their betrothed, and I wonder, if that's the case, whether these men had any say in the betrothal.

[She finally notices his hair color.]

There's been some discussion of finding a man who might be willing to stay up overnight to listen for a song that some men have reportedly been hearing, or who might even be willing to offer himself as bait to lure the killer out. I'd volunteer myself, but, my being the wrong gender, I doubt it would do much good. [Yes, she's pretty frustrated that the serial killer is exclusively into killing men.] I do hate to impose on a stranger, but I've got to find someone.

[chosenbylight]

Sirens give to their betrothed...

[Anduin contemplates that information for a moment, before shaking his head.]

I have found a couple of the men had families around in the Ward. From what they told me, they don't recall their relatives telling them falling under the spell of any songs in the night, nor witnessing it for themselves. That... Isn't to say that it might not have happened in the end, of course.

[Anduin pauses a beat, before offering:] I could try, if you'd like? There would need to be certain parameters in place to be certain she didn't get me of course, but.

[He shrugs. If not her, he knows someone who would have Opinions on him offering himself for this, who would stand guard for him. Likely cursing him all the while...]