Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5583506-20150708222546/@comment-5583506-20150709232219

(Approved. Alright time to set the Investigators in motion.)

It was early in the morning when the City Watch of Leyawiin arrived to find Theomyr Cordius' mansion in a sorry state. The iron gate meant to keep unwanted visitors away from the old alchemist's was swaying silently in the wind with a slow creaking, hanging onto the lower hinges. The front doors of the mansion were lying on the parquet floor in the entrance, broken in half as if something had shattered their inner structure completely.

"What kind of force could have possibly done this?" said captain Vemirius, upon further inspection with a selected troop of guards.

"No idea, sir", replied Rufio Antus, the newest recruit.

Vemirius rubbed the side of his nosetip in confusion. "Basile", he said and turned to a guard with a goatee. "Summon the healers now. If something has happened to Theomyr, we need them here as soon as possible."

"Right on it, sir!" said the guard and headed down the gravel road.

"You three on me", said Vemirius and ascended up the staircase. He signaled to the two who were last to scout the remainder of the mansion while he groomed his new recruit in the worst of situations.

The boy's gotta get used to dire situations...

As soon as Vemirius touched the railing on the staircase he froze up. He became aware of huge marks left in the wood. A chill ran down his spine when he realised that the markings were actually that of claw marks, but he did his best to remain calm. He didn't want to seem like a bad role model for Rufio Antus. Luckily, the young recruit didn't seem to take notice of the evidence layed out before him.

''He should pay attention to the signs. But then again I doubt he would know what to make of it. Hell, even I don't know what to make of this...''

The door to the alchemist's study was severely damaged and it was awfully quiet. Vemirius didn't like the silence. Not the least. It felt just as if they had stepped into some old and forgotten grave and disturbed the dead who slept within, buried deep beneath the ground for thousands of years in solitude and eternal rest.

"Antus, keep behind me", warned Vemirius and signaled to him with his hand to stay back.

The guard captain expected that the worst had happened to the mansion's one inhabitant, and he didn't want Rufio to be the first to notice. The situation looked bad enough as it was. Vemirius drew his steel sword and took position behind the broken door. Chances were that the culprit was still lurking around somewhere. He peered around the corner, into the study and felt a chill run down his spine. His face turned pale at the sight of the massacre that had taken place.

"S-sir?" asked Rufio nervously in the background.

"For goodness sake, Antus", wheezed Vemirius. "Don't come over here! Check the next room or something!"

The young recruit swallowed hard and only gave his superior officer a single nod before entering the bedroom next door. Vemirius exhaled loudly as he entered the study. Blood was smeared all over the walls, furnitures were turned about and broken as if a violent struggle had taken place. Glass bottles lay shattered upon the floor, the splinters of what little remained of the door were strewn all over the place. And leaning against the wall was the remains of the great alchemist Theomyr Cordius.

Vemirius felt like he was going to throw up. The old man had been savagedly mauled, as if he had been exposed to some sort of vicious animal attacked.

''But what kind of animal breaks down doors and gates? ''reflected the captain and covered his mouth as he entered the room.

Theomyr was missing his lower jaw, and one of his eyes had popped out due to a forceful impact against the wall. Perhaps not just from the wall itself. Vemirius looked up into the ceiling and couldn't help but notice that there were blood marks there as well. The alchemist had been tossed around like a ragdoll. His rib cage had been ripped open whereupon the innards had been shredded, presumably by claws. The expression of the alchemist was that of shock and dizziness, as if he had in his last moments been unable to feel the pain dealt to him.

The guard Basile arrived shortly after. "Sir, the healers just arrived and... By the Gods", he whispered upon the sight of the murdered alchemist. "Is... is that...?"

Vemirius nodded. "What remains of him anyway... Tell the healers that they can take the body away. I don't think we will be needing some school of Restoration here."

Beatrix Carmine, a young Breton healer with a sharp sense for the anatomical, examined the body later that morning.

Vemirius had accompanied her to the House of Healing in Leyawiin where they had prepared a room speficifally to deal with dead bodies. He didn't want to leave his post so early, despite the horrors he had witnessed. He wanted some conclusion, some answers of what could have done such a thing to a man in his own city. He needed to be sure that this was nothing that would ever happen to his family.

"Anything?" he asked the woman.

"Well, the claw and bite marks on him are really interesting", she remarked.

"How so?"

"Well, to begin with these bite marks have a really odd set human bite marks, but there is also marks of canine activity. You didn't happen to find any traces of dogs where you found old Cordius, did you?"

Vemirius lowered his eyebrows. "Ehrm... No. No, I didn't."

"Then there is the matter of these claw marks", she said. "There are no animals present in Cyrodiil capable of doing this to a man. The length of these claws must be.... I don't know. 19 - 20 inches long? That is, unless the alchemist accidentally summoned a Daedroth into his house, but I highly doubt it."

"So do I", remarked Vemirius, visually uncomfortable with the facts she was telling him.

"I examined what was left of his insides", she said with a confused expression. "And what I found is... well... astonishing... or disturbing. Depends on how you look at it."

"Why is that so?"

Beatrix adjusted her glasses. "How old was Theomyr Cordius?"

"He has been registered as a citizen of Leyawiin for almost seventy-two years by now. Why are you asking?"

She laughed nervously. "Because... the metabolism found within late Cordius' body does not match his exterior. Not unless he was twenty-five years old when he died."

Vemirius grew cold. "Wait... Are you telling me that..."

"Are you really sure that this is the Theomyr Cordius from the registry? Because for being seventy-two years old, he had the well-functioning system of that of a fit twenty year old man..."

Remian Fortus, the senior officer of the Investigators had received an urgent message from Leyawiin at his office in Solitude, the Investigator Headquarters. A messenger had been riding for hours at straight in order to deliver the information that the City Watch in Leyawiin called upon urgent help... specifically that of the Investigators.

And he intended to reply them in kind with some of the best the force had to offer.

"Alright, people!" he called out for attention over the desks on the third floor. "I have a new assignment ready for those who doesn't mind a trip to sunny old Cyrodiil. Those of you who are interested, meet me in the council room! To those of you who aren't: why the hell are you listening to me? Get back to your paper work!"

With those orders he strolled back into the council chambers and patiently awaited for any Investigator to show up. Showing interest, no matter what kind of assignment he handed out, was the sign of a potential candidate to rise among the ranks.

The Imperial was getting too old to remain at his post, he knew that, but he had always found it hard to believe that some of the other Investigators could pull the job off as well as he did. Then again, there was the matter of Kay and Sibern, both good candidates to take over when he went into retirment. However, Sibern had not been himself since the Pale Man incident in Riften eight years ago, and Remian doubted that he ever would be. Sibern had grown quiet and somber, moreso than usual. In fact, he considered the Nord to be semi-retired, even though he was still working at the office and handling minor cases taking place within Solitude itself. Kay on the other hand was more suited to groom for leadership. She was talented and intelligent, and was younger than Sibern, granting her more years to make the Investigators into a major force of advanced cases within Tamriel.

But those were only candidates for now, and he still wasn't sure whether or not he would withdraw from his work soon. It would have to wait. For now, they had yet another assignment to handle...

"Did... did you check the cabinet?" asked Arjhani.

"Both over, under, and inside", replied the guard. "Nothing."

The Khajiit closed her eyes again and tried to focus harder. "I... I don't know... There is something here telling me..."

This one.

"... that the evidence must be found within that cabinet."

"Tsk", muttered the guard's accomplice in the background, clearly sceptical at Arjhani's attempts. "She is bluffing, mate."

Ignore him.

"The evidence..."

Go deeper...

A picture started to take form within her head. She saw the cabinet clearly before her. Her mind opened the cabinet doors for her and let her enter.

Deeper...

"There is a fake wall inside the cabinet", she said and exhaled loudly. Her visions were taking there toll... "If you open the cabinet and break loose its wall to the left, you will find the murder weapon hidden behind. It is an ebony dagger with the initial K marked on its handle. The blood should also match that of the murdered noble."

The guard who had come for her help smiled at her and the smirked at his comrade. "See! I bloody told you! I bet you fifty gold drakes that everything she said was true! Now we will get that promotion!"

He then turned back to her and shook her hand. "Thanks, love. I will make sure to mention the Investigators in my report."

She just nodded with an exhausted expression and dismissed them with a wave of her available hand. She was tired. She hadn't slept for twenty hours straight. She just felt like she was close to use her desk at the Investigator Headquarters as a pillow. But if Remian catched her like that, he would toss her out on her behind.

She felt how her eyelids grew heavy, only to have them spring open as soon as she heard Remian Fortus call out to all available Investigators about some assignment from Leyawiin.

Maybe I can rest on my way there? she reflected and rose up from her desk, heading for the council chambers.