The Black Hand Tightens

[Raksha]

A gristly sight awaited a courier delivering a message to the Vellik family home in Sestra. All threee members of the family, Tal, Jane and little Astra were found brutally butchered and arranged in a cruel mockery of a loving embrace.

Letters, written in the blood of the deceased, spelled out an ominous message on the wall over the corpses' heads:

Defy the Black Hand, and Suffer Its Wrath
Obey the Black Hand, and Reap Its Reward
Loyalty for Loyalty
Fealty for Fealty
Submission Is Life
Defiance Is Death

Before the militia can finish cleaning up the scene, word of the brutal killing spreads throughout Sestra.

During the course of the preliminary investigation, the two security guards contracted out from Exigo were both found with their throats cut in the upstairs study, covered by a curtain. The trap on the door into the family's quarters had been expertly disabled. Both of these signs point to the existence of a professional assassin... one apparently able to bypass even a wealthy family's security.

Unrest and fear spread with the news of the killings, and many are drawn to wonder if their families will be next...

[Lollercide]

"WHAAAT?" The tiefling cries out in a sudden outburst when hearing the rumor within the Exigo's Trade Post, from a fellow adventurer. "Yeah -- YEAH! THAT MAKES SENSE." He steps to the side throwing his hands to the air.

"Bow before me or dieeee -- Pfah!" He spits. "How many Bane-bowers you see walking around in broad day light? Eh..? EH? SHOW OF HANDS, WHO FOLLOWS BANE!?" Despite nobody likely listening to him, he still continues with his rant. "Exactly! Because anyone that worships that bastard and ain't hiding gets their asses trampled by, oh, the one million and two paladins who are actually strong enough to walk around in broad daylight without getting slaughtered?"

Zack pouts, crossing his arms. "So you chance being killed by some bastard for not following his God, or you definitely get killed for following him. Uuhhh... Again -- Raise of hands, who wants to live?" Zack raises his hand, still looking around. "Devils below me, we all have the risk of death when walking to the shitter. You could slip, fall, break your neck or somethin'. Who knows? Don't mean I'm going to be afraid of the shitter, and to hell with ensuring I'm going to die by becoming a target of all the paladins -- I like being alive."

Zack starts picking his teeth and walks off, talking in whisper now. "And who cares if he tortures you before you die, anyway? Only got one death to die. Don't matter how much pain came before it, in the end. This is why I ain't follow any Gods. All the world needs is Zack."

[sharringtonm]

Shakes his head walking away. Looking over at a few adventurers, he says simply:
"The goat head is off his rocker. Only one death? I heard from the Tormites about the eternal punishment visited on one of their own, named Tifton. One death indeed. I wouldn't want to mess with Bane. Best to keep a low profile and stay out of his way in my opinion. Don't believe me? Ask The paladin Hano or his mage friend Alyrian. They know the full story."

[Kaseira]

"But if you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew that you didn't know, why did you pretend that I didn't?" The bard asks of the merchant in the Exigo Trading Post. The rumor had been spreading rapidly, and had just begun to reach the outlying Trade Post, so some may not have known. But she was sure this one did, but what gave her that impression she didn't know. Since she prided herself on information, she sometimes would trade rumors for othes. Which is precisely why she argued with him, because he wanted to know, and she wanted to know more. At least, that's what she thought this conversation was about, now. She wasn't particularly sure at this point, because the merchant had made it rather confusing, which, in her opinion, was a very rude thing to do.

Upon hearing Zack's nearby outburst, both turn to look on for several moments as she finishes his tirade about Bane and paladins and worshipping.

She breaks the silence after the sound of the horned one dies off. "See, he knew. And you call yourself a trader of rumors..." she sighs, walking off and shaking her head disdainfully, as if it is impossible to find good help these days. The merchant was convinced that he had never said such, and that was actually the way in which she introduced herself. Nevertheless, he didn't press the point, feeling it best not to get into another heated debate with the obviously confusing elf.

[Landaren]

It is rumored that undead activities around sestra and aquor have increased recently.

It is also rumored that the Exigo merchants have been selling more animate dead scrolls of late.