Following the guards, the party arrives not at the headquarters of the mercenaries. Bur rather at one of the smaller merchant shops near the outskirts of the city. Mercenaries from the 3 largest companies are here patrolling the area and are looking on edge.
Entering the shop, it's clear to see why. Another murder occurred, the smell of blood and death bombarding the party as soon as they entered. They go to the back of the shop and see six silver adorned mercenaries stand there accompanied by 3 mercenaries from "The Beggar's Coin Pouch." All investigating the room, the guard that's been leading the party commands them to wait. He walks over toward Aryien, the leader of The Silver Sons. The woman is checking the wounds of the deceased.
The guard says something to her before she gets up and walks toward the party.
"Before you all begin claiming to "help." Let me make some things clear. If you get in the way, you'ill get beaten. If you interrupt an investigation or plan, you'ill get beaten. Anything else I consider a transgression you'ill get beaten. Am I clear?" The leader of Te Silver Sons says her hand already forming a fist.
"It is. We're to help, and we will do whatever is necessary." Cristal replies for the group.
"Good." Aryien loosens her hands not having to beat the newbies in order.
The party moves over to inspect the body. It appears to be a man in his late twenties. The cause of death either the slit neck or the many stab wounds in his chest. For the experienced eye, it's easy to tell that this is amateurish work.
"May I ask if you have any leads or information about the murders?" Hellas asks trying to get information.
"This man was Ima de Ad, one of the smaller merchants. He and his family were killed by Korys."
"You already know the killer?"
"We found Korys at home having committed suicide. With a note explaining why."
"May I ask why we're still here then?"
"Because it doesn't make sense. This is not the first "solved" murder. The murders are all unnecessarily brutal, and don't stop with the lives of just the target. And those are just the murders we managed to solve. There are some that we're still investigating."
During this conversation, Sol stands up. There is nothing more to gleam from this body besides, the scent of blood and death doesn't just stop here. He walks away from the body and continues inward into the house.
"Where are you going?" Cristal asks as she follows Sol.
Smelling the scent of blood, Sol follows unaffected by the strong smell. Next to the door of the room far left, people are covering their noses. Whilst standing guard in front of the door. Secessus and Cristal approach as one of the mercenaries tries to speak to them.
"Wh-euhm- what business?" The man struggles to speak, the heavy scent of death in an enclosed space overwhelming the mercenaries. Even Cristal is heavily affected covering her nose as she approaches.
"We're hired to help investigate." Sol simply replies as he walks past the mercenaries. They're unable to do anything to stop the shade demon as they're not willing to stop covering their noses.
Sol opens the door and enter the sleeping room. The sleeping room is rather neat and tidy if you manage to ignore the corpses of the two children and their mother. The children, probably teenagers, are lying dead in the closet. The shattered closet door probably meant that they were hiding whilst their mother was killed. The mother lies on the bed with a shattered glass nearby, also covered in blood. The cuts on her hands probably mean that she used the glass to try to hit her murderer across the face.
"Saint Miesha, What the fuck?" Cristal says as she also sees the atrocities committed in this room. The exposed intestines of the children and the adult woman are not a sight for the faint-hearted. Sol moves closer to inspect the bodies and grabs the liver of the woman as he inspects. His time in Lucille's Light had made him accustomed to murder and death. However, there was something else he learned as well.
Especially in the beginning, the different races and the continuous death caught his fascination. He had to learn to survive, and so he did. Why would someone kill? For some it's sport and for others it's food. An example are the wendigos cursed for their act of cannibalism.
This murder wasn't just to kill. It was to feed. However, the body of the adult male was not. Either the murder drove the murderer mad or something else is at play.
"Were other murders also this brutal?" Sol asks toward one of the mercenaries standing guard.
"Bwe- They evolved gradually. It's becoming worse and worse each case."
"They're getting cocky." The voice of Aryien intervenes as she walks over with the rest of the party. Alyrien stays unaffected by the sight whilst the rest of the party does seem to be disturbed.
"Any conclusion from your sight?"
"I believe something is using these murders to feed themselves. What was your conclusion?"
"Mmmh, interesting. However, there should be no beast or monster in our territory capable of such a thing. We had theorized that the forces behind these sole murders must purposefully be killing other s brutally to invoke fear." Aryien explains as she also comes closer to the body of the adult woman.
After a bit of silence, the mercenary captain speaks once again.
"The murderers were meeting up somewhere. Witnesses have sighted multiple walking together late at night."
"What about the first murderer? The one who left behind the message?" Sol decides to ask as everyone is trying to put the puzzle pieces together.
"We haven't sighted him after the "The Beggar's Coin Pouch managed to wound him. It was a male adult who definitely had military experience. However, his murders have been far more "civil.""
"So they're not connected in any way."
"The motives and the ways of murder don't align. So we're guessing not. We think he was inspiration for some madman who's manipulating the irritated populace." Aryien explains looking as is she's going to push someone.
The party continued to investigate for a while longer before leaving one of the victim's home. With a sense of duty, they join the investigation and the nightly searches. Trying to figure out who's behind this.