The Butcher
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| Nightly pondering outside of Windhelm |
Back in the Candlehearth Hall I was
shocked to hear that Susanna was dead. The folks told me that she was
murdered by a stranger just moments ago – and to make it worse:
this murder wasn't the first! Several young women were already killed
by “the butcher”, as they call the murderer, in the very same
fashion. Everyone in the city I met was shocked. Most of course the
young women, who were all afraid they might be next. I went to the
scene of the crime and talked with the guard what they were going to
do about this series of murders. The guard was just as clueless as I
was. He actually seemed pretty embarrassed they weren't able to stop
the butcher yet. But he explained me that the war with the imperials
drained their numbers heavily, so they just didn't had the men to
investigate. What a sad confession of inability.
I offered the guard my help in
investigating the murders. Even though I had absolutely no idea what
to do to find the butcher, I thought my help could at least do no
harm.
I did ask the spectators which had
gathered around the body if anyone has seen something. A guy called
Calixto, who runs a little museum, said he saw a stranger running
away. A beggar who was around too didn't see anything – how
frustrating: I bet she must have been in earshot when it happened. If
she were just a little bit closer, she might have seen all – or
even alarm the guards to prevent the murder.
It started to snow and I aimlessly
wandered through the city, looking suspiciously at everyone passing
by. One of them could have been the butcher. Yet he was in total
safety in his anonymity. How could I catch him if he just could have
walked past me without me even knowing!
I wondered if the priest who was
preparing Susanna's body for her burial has observed anything which
could help. So I went to the Hall of Dead to talk with her. She was
in the middle of her preparations already and told me she discovered
very unusual wounds on the dead. It seems they were made with and old
nordic enbalming tool – something she didn't expect anyone in the
city to own or even know about.
Deep in thought I left the hall. When I
returned to the place where they found Susanna, the guard pointed me
at the traces of blood leading away. As if something was dragged from
there. I followed the traces – I had the impression they were
leading through half of the city! - until I came to an abandoned
manor called Hjerim where they ended.
My next move was to head over to the
Palace of Kings and ask steward Jorleif for access there. The key to
the murders must be inside these walls.
Jorleif told me that the house in
question is owned by Tova Shatter-Shield and is empty since her
daughter was murdered. I found Tova at the marketplace. She was still
devastated by the loss or her daughter, but I could convince her
investigating Hjerim could solve the mystery.
I admit how surprised I was about
myself finding me in the role of an investigator and when I entered
the manor I was ready to kill the murderer on sight. It was empty
though, expect a bit of furniture from its previous owner. When
inspecting a closet though I noticed something special: its back wall
could be moved to the side and suddenly I stood in blood and gore.
Before me was a stone table soaked in blood, with body parts laying
all over the place. How sick I felt seeing this horror! I barely
didn't dared to inspect the scene, but in hindsight I'm glad I did. I
found the butcher's journal and a kind of amulet between its pages. I
don't want to get into details here, but it seemed that the murderer
was attempting to perform a necromancy ritual in order to bring his
sister back to life. It wasn't signed though, so I could only guess
who might be that.
Shock and full of disgust I packed the
book away and cleansed it with as many fireballs I could cast before
I was exhausted. Its a wonder that not the whole building caught
fire. Then I headed outside. I just needed some fresh air now.
Soon after I left Hjerim I ran into
Viola Giordano who I showed the journal, hoping she would know anyone
who might be able to perform such ritual. She immediately pointed me
at Wuuferth.
I decided to go and question him about
the murders on my own, despite her telling me that I should talk to
the Steward first. I needed some kind of proof at least.
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| On the look-out for the butcher. |
Against my concerns Wuufherth didn't
start to send zombies after me or tried to shock me to death. To the
contrary: he was appalled but my findings just as I was. I also
showed him the amulet which he identified as a necromancer's
talisman. Since necromancy was involved, he told me, he could
determine when the next murder was due to happen. It was tonight!
Part of me was wondering if he just
sent me on a false track as I snug myself into a dark corner in the
Stone Quarter and waited for the nightfall.
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| Sneaking through the Stone-Quarter |
A long time nothing at all did happen.
Guards were passing by, the occasional local, but no-one was even
getting close to Hjerim. After waiting a few hours I started to
wonder if I'm really at the right place. I left my hideout to warm up
my stiff muscles, stretched myself and began to walk around towards
the marketplace. Suddenly I heard the scream of a woman and then saw
that guy Calixto running away from her. I followed him and hit him
with an ice-spike in order to slow him down. He eventually turned
around and tried to attack me with his dagger but I nailed him to the
ground with my ice-magic. It was over – the butcher was dead. I
found the key to his house in his pockets, went there and indeed
uncovered another part of his journal. That was my proof.
The next morning I headed to Jorleif
and explained him the case.
After this was solved I stayed in
Windhelm a little longer, but I felt I needed to see something new.
At least I needed to get my thoughts away from these gruesome
murders. I bought a magic amulet which was both very useful but also
very expensive, so I had a good excuse to get out into the wild again
and collect some herbs and perhaps discover a few caves too.
I left the city to the south into the
warmer and geologically active south of the Eastmarch. I was
wandering between sulphur ponds and overgrown rocks before the search
for creep clusters lead me to a mammoth cadaver covered with spider
webs laying before the entrance of a cave. I think even without my
fresh experience as crime investigator I would been able to guess
that frost spiders lived there.
I entered carefully, ready to burn
everything which dared to move. The fireballs turned out to be very
effective against these critters. I detonated them right between them
and the blast threw them in all directions like eight-legged torches.
Just the mother-spider – as I called
her – proved to be a more difficult challenge, but I was able to
defeat her too eventually. I was almost outside again, as I spotted a
button next to a stone-panel. I examined it and after I convinced
myself that no rocks would fall on my head when triggering it, I
pushed the button. The stone panel slid aside and revealed a secret
chamber. A campfire was burning there and at a raised platform I
could also spot a small house – what a strange sight: a house
inside a cave. Before I finished wondering though, a group of
vampires attacked me. I gained distance and defeated them with my
fire magic. Now I was even more careful. I send a number of Fireballs
into the house, to poke the rest of the vampires to show themselves.
A house simply was too large for just two of them. The blast of their
explosions echoed from the cave's walls like thunder and indeed: two
more vampires, partially burning, ran outside the house. I hit them
with more precise shots and could take them out.
The inside of the house was like a
reflection of the butcher's hideout. Blood and bones everywhere! I
picked up some useful items and set the rest of the place on fire.
Outside again I set path back home. I
got a good number of items together and collected enough ingredients
to keep me going for a while and pay my training sessions at the
college.
When reaching the White River though I
found a remote shack on the shore, with the remnants of its former
inhabitant. Again it wasn't hard to guess who its murderer was: it
was still there. A massive cave-bear leaped towards me and gave me
quite the tough fight! I have to say I like my bears roasted from a
nice distance. These close-range fights are just nasty.
The rest of my journey back to Windhelm
was rather uneventful and I was really happy to back in its safe
walls again, even though they were cold and dark and oppressive. How
much a near-death-experiences can change your perception!
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