A killer on the loose: XXV
Filing books is boring. At least that's how Asher saw it. "Where on Toril is this supposed to go??" Asher asked as he picked up a small green book with black lettering on it. "And who writes black on dark green? They had to know you can't fucking read that." He added as he tried to wheel a cart of these books. Nearly five days ago, he had hired a private investigator to look over Lif's death with his party, but now? Asher had just been set on collecting coin for a few days.
"Oh that's on Keerg mythology, just place it on row five." Markos pointed over to a distant shelf as they sorted the books. Originally Asher had intended on requesting some down time work at the metal guild or even the wood guilds, he had contacted them for repairs on the house after all. It wasn't until Markos convinced him to go to TrollSkull's library and work in the occult section instead that he changed his mind.
"Come on Asher we'll work in the occult part of the library sort some books and such definitely won't end the world." Asher mocked Markos's words to himself. "And how on earth did you convince them to pay us so much for this?" He asked Markos as he tried to tell the difference between Celestial and Infernal writing.
"I am just very persuasive." Markos replied with a smile. Asher could almost feel his eye twitch, persuasive at converting people you mean he thought. Asher sighed, gripping two books and hauling them over to the Infernal section, the library's occult books were thankfully tucked into the back on a lower floor of the place to ensure those who shouldn't read them, didn't. He had spent the better part of this tenday working at this library with Markos while their furniture arrived, thank the gods for Riu giving Renaer that list of necessities, not to mention the top of which being; Beds! Asher made his way to the dusty red shelf. "Hey wait, what are you doing?" he stopped and groaned. Recalling everytime Vestus chastised him for mixing up Homer and the Iliad with the Odyssey.
"Putting these infernal books in the infernal section? Lemme guess Satan does go to Santa?" Asher replied. He looked to Markos who was intently staring at the two books in his hands. He frowned and Asher got the message.
"Those.. aren't Infernal..." Markos replied, "Hell none of the books here are infernal for that matter." Asher frowned and looked around at the books.
"Wait.. first of all, you read Infernal? And Second, how can NONE of the library's inventory be infernal, they have an entire shelf for infernal books." Asher protested his insane friend. Though he did note Markos seemed to be doing well today he was pretty proud of the guy.
"Yeah I read Infernal.." Markos admitted. "Though you are right.. Why are all the infernal books missing?" He and Markos took a quick moment to pour through the somewhat sorted books, looking at the various tomes on occult history and the mystical past. "Well it was probably all checked out?" Markos suggested. But Asher shook his head. That didn't make sense.
'All the infernal books checked out? It couldn't be a coincidence' Asher thought. 'There were so many as well.. A whole shelf was dedicated to just the history! No something else was going on here.' He paused his thoughts and looked closely at the shelf. "Markos, can you check who checked out all these books?" The half-elf quickly nodded.
"Yeah sure, shouldn't be much of a problem.." Markos opened a drawer to the right of the shelf flicking through the previous checkout "It's all one person by the name of Br-'' Markos stopped dead in his tracks.
*KreeeFooom!*
In the moment Asher could hear an ear piercing crackle from beyond the library a deep boom followed by screaming. It was a nearly identical yet muffled sound of Alekzandr's rifle.. No.. to a firearm he could tell the difference thank the House.
"I heard it too." He instantly responded. The two of them ran out the back doors of the library heading towards the sound.
"God damnit!" Asher heard a voice yell from over the small hill between the library and the docks. "Is this another one?!" around five minutes had passed since the sound within the time he and Markos had cleared the hill and got a privy moment of what was going on. On the distant docks Asher could see a group of city watch huddled around a single location. Each of them in deep chatter.
"What are they saying?" Asher whispered to Markos, Markos closed his eyes. He didn't like this, that sound was identical to that of the gunshots he had heard in Rushiv, and by the looks of it the city guard were not happy either.
"They're saying.. It's another dead one.. Elven.. We should tell Jalester.. Look there's two people on that ridge.. Get them now.." Markos opened his eyes and Asher just kinda paused and slowly blinked.
"Hey!" Asher slowly climbed up on the ridge. "Who goes there?" He and Markos stood up slowly as they faced the beaming lanterns of the guards. The light would have been harsher if his glass lenses didnt filter them.
"I'm Markos, and this is Asher, we heard a sound from over here and wanted to see what was going on." Markos replied. Asher was sad the day was almost over. His friend was having a good one mentally.
"Now you really want me to believe that-" The first guard said, Asher could clearly see him through the lantern's beam.
"Hey wait a second, I know those names." Another guard replied. "You were part of the group who rescued Neverembers son right?" The second guards grabbed the first's arm and lowered the lantern. "It's alright, any friend of Renaer is a friend of ours." Asher breathed a sigh of relief as he and Markos started walking towards the group of guards. "We heard of em, Masked man along with a girl half-elf." The guard reminded his friend.
"We're friends of Jalester's." Markos noted. As the two of them approached the guards.
"Hey that's fantastic, well if you two want you can take a look at this." Asher frowned as the third guard spoke, he turned to Markos and the two of them moved to what the guards were inspecting so heavily. He prepared himself for work.
"What are we looking at.." Asher stopped talking. Small with copper colored skin and hard features in the middle of the dock was a dead elf body. The elf couldn't have been more than a teenager yet of course their actual age was impossible to pin down. The elf's green and brown wool clothes were completely painted in a blood red liquid oozing from a hole in his sternum. The crimson sludge seemed to pool below the dead elf as it soaked into the yellow wood docks sliding off into the water below. The docks were a quiet place with a long line of wooden logs adjacent to large pillars in the water allowing them to rise and fall with the tide, all of it overlooking a vast deep blue ocean. Asher knelt and began inspecting the wound.
"It looks like those new gunpowder weapons." He said, examining the hole. The elf's face was beginning to drain as it became paler.
"Those were our thoughts exactly- oh.. I'm sorry." The third guard said. "Where are my manors, my name is Fen. That's Elrik" Fen pointed to the second guard, who had a more distinctly nasally voice. "And that one is Bevel." Fen pointed to the first guard who Asher could finally see sported long brown hair under his helmet. "However we can't be sure it was a gunshot or.." he waved his hand at the guards.
"Markos, flip him over." Asher pulled a small dagger from his belt as Markos slowly pushed the body over, blood still spewing from it as they were both seemingly careful to avoid getting it on themselves, the body tumbled with a limp resistance. "Just as I thought.." Asher muttered. The back of the elf's chest wound was massive, probably three times the size of the front wound however based on the trajectory of the attack and the direction the flesh went Asher could be sure the elf was attacked from the front.
"What is it?" Bevel asked. "Did you find something?" Asher nodded looking up at Bevel's concerned eyes.
"The exit wound is bigger than the entrance wound." Markos noted. "That is perfectly indicative of a gunshot, it's one of those new gunpowder weapons." Markos added bitterly.
"Well.." Fen admitted. "That doesnt help us much, you see this is the fifth murder like this in the past two weeks." Fen leaned down and touched the dead elf's face. "All of them have been elves or half elves.. And all of them were at the docks."
"An elven serial killer?" Asher scoffed. He looked over at Markos who seemed relatively unschathed by the information. And back at the guards, for the first time he could see into Elrik's helmet, his elven features were on full display. His hands drifted slowly to his blades on his back. Wondering if now was the time to start razing hell.
"I'm afraid so.." Elrik muttered. "We patrol the dock's every night but.. We're far too spread thin, and too many of the elven officers refuse to go here.. The others are just too racist to give a damn." Elrik spat angrily. Asher nodded and scanned the area. Bevel was looking up sheepishly. Probably uncomfortable about the mask.
"Hey wait.." Bevel mentioned. "You guys have already done a job for the City watch.. You could look into the matter!" Bevel declared happily. Asher tried to see if under his hood but it was clear from his voice Bevel couldn't have been older than seventeen. "And Jalester already trusts you.. If you guys could bring in the culprit alive then we would be happy to pay you after all-"
"Bevel be quiet." Fen interjected. Bevel went to open his mouth before closing it. "While yes.. We would love your help. You don't need to risk anything for the watch. I'd recommend warning any of your Elven friends what's going on. Please excuse Bevel here.. He's just a little enthusiastic." Fed finished. Asher nodded and waved to Markos.
"We'd be happy to help, as soon as we get the rest of our party on board.. Though Herod keeps saying he needs new armor.." He mentioned it before. "Markos lets."
"Yeah." Markos replied. The two of them bid the guards a farewell as they headed back towards TrollSkull Manor.
By the time the two of them had arrived to the Manor the late night had only gotten darker, Asher looked up at the house, over the course of the tenday they had successfully exterminated the termite infestation, fixed up a bit of the wood and the metal work on the outside. The manor was looking just a tad bit better. Though Asher knew the metal work would take another ten days and the woodwork would take the longest at an easy extra twenty days. Asher watched Markos grab the door handle and walk in, filing in behind him.
"Well you two were out late." Asher looked over at Alekzandr drinking at the bar. Did.. he do nothing else?
"We have a problem." Asher announced, looking over to Herod and Riu who were sitting at one of the bar tables chatting, in their immediate requests from Renaer they had asked for a few tables, chairs and most important beds to be delivered as soon as possible. Renaer had it to them in a day, for that he was grateful.
"You're damn right we do. The cultist is still with us." Adleth replied in stride from across the bar. Alekzandr let out a small chuckle and Asher just shook his head smiling.
"Yeah uh.. No.." Asher answered. "We actually have an Elven serial killed on the loose." he said, gritting his teeth a little. Looking up at the party he could see some faces fall and others become slightly bewildered.
"At the docks." Markos interjected as he took a seat at one of the tables. Asher looked over at the new furniture and pulled out a dark oak seat for himself. "When we were working in the library we heard a massive sound from the dock like Alekzandr's gun. When we went to check it out.. A group of guards informed us about a string of elf murders on the dock ward. Even offered to pay us to help out." Asher nodded, looking around to gauge the party's reactions. Herod looked mildly concerned while Riu looked back and met his eyes. Alekzandr looked in a mild panic and.. Almost outrage as far as Asher could tell. However Adleth, her green eyes were wide as saucers as an expression of fear and dread seemed to consume her.
"A sound.. Like my Segeri?" Alekzandr asked quietly. It was under that soft voice however Asher could hear a seething rage.
"Correct." Asher piped in. "Like that of Segeri, hell like all of the ASX-1's in my opinion however." He quickly added. "It looks to be more of a gunpowder weapon than a mystical one. Alekzandr's face seemed to drop a little, losing a bit of its rage. Why he was angry Asher wasn't sure.
"Then we must begin investigations immediately." Alekzandr said standing up. "Comrades, we should venture to the docks.. It is the hour of the wolf." Alekzandr reached for his silver flask and took a long swig. Asher flinched at that mention, the hour of the wolf.. A great ally but not for everyone.
"Yeah, screw that noise." Adleth interjected. "You're telling me there is a sociopath out for Elves and you want to bring an Elf?" Adleth fumed. Asher examined her face seeing a clear thread of panic in her eyes masked by the bitterness she filled her words with.
"Put up your hood." Asher breathed. "We could use you in apprehending the killer, especially if he goes after any more Elves. Think of how many.. Loved ones are dying." Asher played the gamble as her expression wavered for a moment.
"I.." Adleth hesitated as she looked around for a second. "How much are we getting paid?"
"No idea." Markos chimed in. "All we know is that bringing the culprit back alive is better." Markos concluded. Asher brought his eyes to Herod and Riu who both stood at once.
"I mean.. The ten day ain't over but we can go after them." Herod replied. "Afterall we gotta keep up appearances on our end. Can't afford to lose the good will stored up from the guards." Herod strolled over to Asher. "Honestly, I kinda wished I had gone out and gotten some better armor during our tenday but.. It is what it is." Herod stated.
"Let's do this." Riu added as she clipped her mace to her belt. Asher cringed a little. He always hated maces, and morning stars and all those weapons just a terrible way to go.
"Right." Asher finally said. "Then let's head to the South docks, the west docks are pretty much completely empty with the guards there, and looking at this map." Asher heled a small map of waterdeep he picked up from the library.
"The easiest route for the killer is from the west to the South." Markos chimed in. "If we can trap the non-believer there we can kill him- I mean.. Get him." Markos muttered in correction.
"This is stupid." Adleth barked. "And if I die, I'm haunting the crap out of all of you." Adleth added as he watched the elf pull a hood from her cloak over her auburn hair.
"Well.. I think we can deal with that." he assured. "Let go.'' The six of them exited TrollSkull manor as they walked through the various alley way's and roads heading towards the South docks. "Alekzandr, What time is it?" Asher inquired. Looking over at his drunker of a friend. Looking into the sky Alekzandr pondered for a moment before replying.
"About eleven comrade." Alekzandr answered. "If anyone is leaving the bar's by the docks, right now is the time." He grit his teeth and nodded.
"Then it's time to catch ourselves a killer."