In the eye of the beholder.....

[The Ice Hag]

He raced down the cobblestone streets, his mind fighting against the horror he had witnessed.
"Another has been found, this one killed in the same manner, but...but...shes missing her face." The sentry gasped, his skin pale..

The old soldier ran his calloused hands through his graying hair, shaking his head in disgust. "That's the third victim in as many days, and still no leads."
All three of the victims were young, beautiful women if the tales were true, but their corpses had been found scattered about the city, concealed in the shadows of the alleys, their skins flayed and removed, leaving only a bloody husk.

The sargeant motioned for the younger sentry to gather the other members of the watch together as quickly as possible. Something had to be done. The citizens were becoming alarmed at the rash of recent murders, choosing to remain inside their homes rather than risk the chance of suffering a similar fate.

Somewhere in the darkness a figure crouched in the shadows, awaiting it's next victim.

[Lollercide]

Hano crouched over a place believed to be where a victim was discarded by the mysterious murder. The body was taken away long ago by those from the City Watch to give her proper burial after inspection. In deep thought, Hano runs his hand across the cobblestone with a stern look on his face.

"Helm.. Your vigilant eye may have observed the happenings here, however I am ignorant. Bless me with your vigilance so that I might uncover what has happened." Hano turns to a figure behind him after whispering his prayer, sighing in frustration. "I've no idea what could have caused this. I've seen nothing like this before."

Wiping the sweat from his lip with the back of his hand he continues, "However if they're connected with the other two murders they have no intentions on stopping." He then stands to his feet glancing around the scene nodding to himself. "Let's scour the area thoroughly. If he's left anything behind... We'll find it."

OOC: The figure behind me remains undefined for anyone willing to be that person. I don't mind who it is or why they're there!

[Kaeldorn]

A young woman, probably not much older than those who had fallen victim to the murders, stood behind Hano watching the scene somewhat nervously. She gulped when she tried to imagine how the deed as described by the Watch had happened here. Yashia had been slowly turning into more of an urban ranger of late, seeing as there came to be more and more dangers to the people lurking out on the streets. Dangers they needed to be protected from. And the fallen paladin felt drawn to such causes, no matter how gruesome the scenes she would pass by sometimes might be.

When Hano gave the word, Yashia gave no responce but a single nod. Then she immediately started searching the scene of the crime for clues. This was all a bit new to her, but she knew she could do it. Justice had to be done for those who had fallen.

[Gamling]

Lauan had been following Yashia out of curiousity. She did not know entirely how serious things were or why they were happening, but why somebody wanted peoples faces were a mystery to her.She folowed Yashia in hopes of a quick answer. If somebody wanted peoples faces, then maybe they want hers too?

Lauan shrugged and began walking around looking for people with extra faces.

[Deathmage]

"Elminster, it appears that I was lucky." Wings mused, as she strode down the street and away from the crime scene, clutching an old notebook. "Samantha wants skins for spellbooks, but what would she have need for faces for? It is much harder to remove - less area too..."

A young man, nearby, ushered his wife into a building and they locked the door shut before shooting a suspicious look at Wings through the window.

"The people are afraid. Last time, the government killed some Banites. How shall they respond now?"

OOC: Feel free to interact with her. It's been quite a while since I've had forum RPs

[Lollercide]

Hano stands firmly over the scene of the crime, hands against his waist as he passively analyzes it over. Thorough searching for fine details and analyzing clues to draw a conclusion was not his forte. He had been blessed with great charisma and a strong will, but he is still comparable to most common folk in terms of wisdom and intelligence.

He waited impatiently watching Yashia do her job... She was far more keen than Hano. Her witts and ability to track were far superior to Hano's as well as many others that would call themselves rangers. Smiling to himself in confidence of Yashia's abilities a familiar figure catches the corner of his eye.

"...Wings?" He asks in a lowered tone, expecting the figure to be someone else. Dropping his hands to his side he begins to approach the half-elf.

[Deathmage]

((She's a half-elf...))

Running a frustrated finger through her hair, she heard familiar thumping footsteps. She glanced up from her books - it was Hano, wearing an expression of surprise. She smiled. How long has it been?

He looked tired, older than he should be. Probably a reflection of recent events, she thought.
"Hello, sir Hano. I see Samantha is keeping you busy."

[Lollercide]

He smiles warmly from the familiar presence before him. He turns away from her, wiping his brow and pointing to the scene. "Have you heard the rumors? There seems to be some lunatic on the loose spreading havoc." He glances at her briefly taking in her reply before continuing.

"I don't believe this is by the hands of the Necromancer. She normally hasn't targeted women in her past, especially not beautiful ones in particular. Also the method of disposal varies greatly from her known style. I've not seen such acts committed before in my time, so I worry... I worry this is a new threat." He pauses looking toward Yashia who is still giving her utmost care to the crime scene. Pacing a few steps forward with Wings at his side he continues his reasoning.

"I am in no position to give out my opinion openly to the public, but I'm almost sure this is an act of a single lunatic. The only relevance we can make between each crime is their obsession for beauty.. There are many likely suspects, however, as I said before I'm in no position to state my opinion."

Stopping before they step into the crime scene Hano points Wings toward the blood against the cobblestone. "This is where we discovered one of the victims. The crime scene does not speak much to me, but... Perhaps it will for you and Yashia?"

[Gamling]

Watching Yashia work, Lauan has a look of boredom on her face. She knows this is either very important or fun for Yashia so she does not bother her. While looking around in her naturaly curious way, she notices the half elf and smiles, but does not speak.

After another moment of listening to Hano speak while watching Yashia work, she begins to tap her chin, thinking about something. Lauan stares at the blood and tries to think of what the killer had done. Her face lights up with a knowing expression and says bye to Hano and Yashia quickly while walking off in a hurry with a smile on her face.

[Deathmage]

"Sir Hano!" said Wings with an indignant smile. "Haven't target beautiful woman before? Come now! What am I, a Tethtyrian cucumber?!"

Chuckling softly and brushing past him to avoid his blushing reply, she strode around the scene of crime, peering at the young girl. Despite her mutilation, it's easy to see how beautiful she was - her body was a fine figure, her hair long and lustrious.

"Maybe we could start by investigating who they are, Hano. It is indeed unnerving that her face should be removed: what could anyone want with the face? Logically, Samantha has no need for it; if she wants skin for spellbooks, then the back...would be an ideal location. It is likely, as you say, that this is yet another lunatic - forgive me, not lunatic. This is calculated madness; there's method in't. Have you any ideas?"

[Lollercide]

Stumbling across his words trying to find ones that might save his situation he mutters, "I... I did not mean that. I.. You know what I meant." His face was now flushed with red following Wings as brushed past him to the crime scene. He regained his posture and his face went stern thinking about.

"You're right.. However calculated madness might be a bit of a leap of assumptions. We can not say for sure who or what caused this and sadly it seems that we are pushed into a corner." The Knight steps to the side of Wings crossing his arms to select his next words.

With reluctance and a frown to match he speaks the following, "The corner where we can do very little other than speculate - Which my Sister Tamryn says could lead to misinformation that could be more grave than no information at all. I worry that the best we can do now is wait and react properly. Double our efforts to enforce curfew and pray that The True will grace us with wisdom for our patience and faith."

[Kaeldorn]

Overhearing the conversation between the two of them, Yashia sighed. They were making valid points, but this search had been fruitless thus far. There were no tracks of note and few traces were left behind of the gruesome events that had taken place here. There were many questions, but no answers were given. Not yet.

The ranger kept searching, knowing all too well that perseverance could often get one a long way. A single find of note could sway the tides in their favor.

[The Ice Hag]

(To Wings and Yashia)

Upon further investigation of the crime scene you discover what appears to be smeared tracks, perhaps left behind by some form of animal, though you cannot be certain exactly what type of animal it originates from.

The cuts around the womens faces appear to have some sort of "Burn" marks around the edges as well.

[Kaeldorn]

After looking the area three times over, Yashia finally takes note of the unknown smeared tracks found in the dirt besides a few bushes, very close to the scene of the crime. Treading slowly but sure-footedly, ensuring that she doesn't disturb anything, she starts to follow the tracks to see where they might lead. It could be nothing of importance, but it felt better having something to focus her attention on. Something to follow for a while. She could always continue to search for new leads later...

While Yashia was following the tracks, a messenger came running past and did his best to draw Hano's attention. "Sir! ... Sir, I have come from the City Watch. I was told to report to you that some weird burn marks were found on the victims' faces, around the place where their..." He gulps and pauses for a few seconds, regaining his composure to continue speaking more calmly. "Where their skin was peeled off. You are free to come or send someone to inspect if you believe it will help with the investigations. But if you want that done, it'll have to be done quickly, 'fore the burials are arranged."

The messenger nods firmly to express the sincerity of his words, and awaits. Expecting Hano to send him back with a reply, or to dismiss him.

[sharringtonm]

Incidently, the attacks on beautiful women have stopped completely, though no one knows why...
http://www.sundren.org/forum/showpos...4&postcount=10