Fantasy Hunter's Moon [IC] [CLOSED]

[Infab]

"Three victims, all were completely drained of their blood through a singular set of bite marks to the neck. The bites punctured the carotid artery in each victim. I haven't seen any other wounds on the bodies beyond that." explained Dr. Turner, as he walked around next to the body of the inquisitor. Valeria followed, standing next to the body of her friend and inspecting the neck. Two holes. Typical for a vampire bite. Ghouls left multiple holes due to their multple razor like teeth, and tended to rip flesh. This was done with pinpoint precision.

"All three were drained completely?" said Valeria, glancing up to the doctor. "Indeed. There is not a single drop of blood in either of the three bodies. Here." he stated, before reaching over and taking the dead inquisitor's arm. He took a scalpel from the tray next to the table, and made an incision along the arm. No blood oozed from the wound at all, even as the doctor spread the wound apart. Valeria straightened up, her eyes narrowed. Often, when a vampire fed, they would bite their victim and drink enough to sate their appetite before moving on. The victim would then either turn into a vampire, or most often a ghoul. Only when a vampire was utterly starved would they completely drain a victim of all of their blood.

Starved vampires often struck random targets, as they are driven to hunt for food anywhere they can get it. "Have there been other victims of vampire attacks here lately? Anything like this?" asked Valeria, glancing up to the doctor. "No, ma'am. These are the first victims of a vampire attack that we've had. The last time someone was killed here was during the necromancer incident a month ago."

 

[Breadman]

"Necromancer incident?"

 

[EdwardDewey98]

"Poor fellows..." said Jakob, while looking towards the Inquisitor. "Then we really are dealing with vampires. But this seems quite odd...why would they drain all three of them? Don't vampires...uh..." he said, before eyeing Aleister and Mariette, "...evil vampires always leave people to turn? Have 'em like fellow vampires or...you know, ghoul pets?"

 

[Infab]

The doctor glanced up to Theodore. "Yes, there was an incident a month ago involving a necromancer and some skeletons and zombies that he had raised. He managed to kill a few of the locals, before this man here slew him." said Dr. Turner, motioning to the dead inquisitor on the table. Valeria nodded. "We had heard of graves being robbed here in Bromwich three months ago when I, Atkins here, and Father Weston were investigating another set of vampire attacks. It was only a matter of time before the necromancer decided to do something out in the open."

She glanced over to Jakob as he spoke, but left it to Aleister or Mariette to answer.

 

[K0mori]

Mariette's eyes narrowed as she looked over the shriveled bodies. "Blood isn't that difficult to find. I'd sooner feed on a pig or a cat than drain a man like this. I'd question how the attacker wound up starved in the first place... Perhaps the attacker had been intentionally starved by another... I would say that whoever did this - or planned it - intended it to be a murder from the very beginning."

 

[Breadman]

"Interesting." Theodore began to scratch his chin through the fabric of his facemask "And those attacks are not related to this one?" It was a long shot, but the frequency of supernatural attacks made him curious. An attack from vampires, followed by a necromancer and then another set of vampire attacks. Either this town was plagued by bad luck or something else was happening behind the scenes. Or it all could be unrelated and a very unfortunate set of circumstances. Never the less, he shouldn't discount things. Not at this stage.

 

[Dmaster]

Camille had refused the set of leather gloves for she already had a pair of her own on, holding up a flattened palm to the man who offered them to the group as she silently strode in. Now that they were indoors she lowered her hood, getting close to the bodies as the others talked about the situation and she listened intently. Though her gaze did not leave the victims, and there was a certain intensity to how she looked upon the victims. With a slight lean she looked at all of the bite marks on their necks, moving through each victim one by one as she suddenly turned to the doctor. "Have you any measuring tools? Did you check the amount of space between the bite wounds on each neck?" she said aloud after some time. If the bite marks were different it would mean that they would be dealing with several vampires instead of just one. Hunting a group of vampires as opposed to a single monster was an entirely different matter, and might even make things a bit easier.

 

[Infab]

"Quite unrelated, I imagine." said Valeria. "The vampire attacks three months ago were dealt with in Tresomin. I burned the vampire at the stake personally, and slayed the children that he had converted into ghouls." Her voice took a softer tone when she spoke of the children. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "...I agree with Mariette. This is intentional. Only Atkins and the two priests assisting him were drained."

She looked up to the doctor again, before glancing over to one of the constables that had followed them into the room. "Is there anything else you can tell me? Did Atkins get into an argument with anyone? Who was the last person Atkins spoke to before you found him like this?" The constable scratched his head. "Well...really no one, ma'am. He spoke to some of the constables, the Duke, some locals..." he replied. Valeria's expression actually changed to one of surprise. "The Duke was here in Bromwich?" she asked. The constable nodded rapidly. "Yes, ma'am. Lord Ashwood decided to pay a visit here to see how the other towns were doing on Grimtham. I'm sure you've heard about the plague outbreak down in Porthcrawl?"

Valeria nodded. "How long was he here? Did he and Atkins get along?" she asked. The constable thought for a moment. "About three days. He left about a day after Atkins arrived. The two got along quite well, ma'am." Valeria thought for a moment, before nodding again and looking back to Atkins' body. She had already ruled out the Duke, but it helped to know that nothing horrid occured between Ashwood and Atkins. The Colonel was also already ruled out, as he had arrived after Atkins had died.

When Camille asked about tools to measure the marks, Dr. Turner stepped over and handed her the appropriate tool from one of the trays. "Indeed, ma'am. Each measurement is the same. Whoever did this did it to all three victims."

 

[Dmaster]

She did some measuring of her own just to confirm it, not out of mistrust but to just do a thorough check since the doctor had given her the tool for it. With a nod of understanding she returned it to him, soon returning her hands to behind her back. "Curious. While it is of course a welcome idea to begin scrutinizing the citizens, is it possible the vampire responsible has fled?" she asks yet again. Vampiric nobles at least had estates to cling to that they were unwilling to part with, those that masqueraded as the average citizen could easily pack up and move on to another town should they desire. A slight annoyance, but Camille was aware that they always left behind a trail, be it bodies or something a bit less conspicuous.

 

[K0mori]

"Doubtful," Mariette said. "An Inquisitor like this wouldn't go down easy unless he was taken completely by surprise, and even then, there were three of them... If it were me, I would have killed them the easy way first," she explained, patting the knife strapped to her leg, "then had my meal afterwards. But that would've been grissly. It would have sent a different message." Her eyes lit up and she turned to Valeria promptly. "Mademoiselle, I think these men might have been bait... for you."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jakob crossed his arms, looking to each of the bodies. "But...these men..." he said, before looking directly to Valeria. "Ma'am, you knew the inquisitor better than any of us. And from what you've told us so far, he was a competent if not amazing inquisitor." He rubbed his chin a bit. "How could ONE vampire overwhelm three men? Even if a vampire is stronger and more able than us common folk, I'm sure these men could have easily overwhelmed them."

 

[Infab]

Valeria listened to all three, before looking to Mariette as she implied that this was all bait to get Valeria to come here. She raised an eyebrow at the thought. "Do you mean that whatever did this is intentionally targeting inquisitors and members of the church?" she asked, before looking back to Atkins. It made sense, as only Atkins and the two priests were killed. It still didn't answer the question of what actually DID the killings. It very clearly appeared to be a vampire, but one vampire taking three men by surprise and draining them completely dry? Either it was a very talented vampire, or it was a pureblood. And if it were a pureblood, they would be in for a world of trouble.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister had put the large leather gloves over his white day gloves, not wanting the latter to get dirty with any chemicals or other such nastiness. It didn't look like blood or bodily fluids would be a risk here considering the state of the three dead men. He quietly examined them while the others spoke, nodding a few times as his own questions and observations seemed to be mirrored through the others. It was good that they all made logical conclusions, but it was somewhat concerning if they all had the same or similar one-track mind for these kind of conclusions. It could lead them to down the wrong, misguided path very easily.

"I must admit I am still somewhat weary on a single vampire doing this. Three bodies full of blood would be beyond overwhelming - I doubt the vampire would even be capable of movement after three such meals. It would be the equivalent of a single man eating not a single pot of stew, but three in one sitting," Aleister commented. "Even starving, you can only consume so much. I could see this being done by twins, perhaps, which would explain the similar bite marks but that is a less likely explanation."

"And I agree with Mariette, the risk of feeding from three men like this without killing them first is nearly suicidal. Could they have been poisoned, or paralyzed before hand? I am aware of at least one alchemist vampire, from Daristein, who used some concoction to paralyze his victims. This was some years ago but the method exists, to my knowledge. I suppose even magic is a possibility as well. But any vampire who cared for self-preservation would not target these three men alone without some sort of... guarantee of safety."

"Unless they were simply... that good...." He added somewhat uncomfortably.

Hearing the suggestion that the vampire could be targeting priests or inquisitors made him slightly nervous, as he had his own liking for church officials. Though he was not so brutal with it, nor did he let his victims turn or die.

"From what I would guess... if this vampire was targeting church officials, they would not stop or begin at three. Are there any records, going back decades if we must, that show other officials from the Church being targeted?"

 

[Infab]

"Well, yes. There's archives of them, dating back to the Age of Darkness. We're not liked all that much, if you recall, by that which we hunt." said Valeria, glancing towards Aleister. "But the records for Grimtham would be back at the church in Airedale." The constable spoke up. "I can send a letter to Father Bartley, and have him send the information. It will likely take a few days." he said, motioning towards the door. Valeria nodded in his direction, and the constable strolled out quickly. The information would likely tell them where else the vampire...or creature...often targetted members of the church as well. Those places would also need to be investigated, if the creature were no longer here in Bromwich.

After the constable left, Valeria looked to the others. "...You realize that this also makes you targets for whatever this creature is. You are linked to me, as well as Aleister."

 

[Viper Actual]

Galina helped Rosanna unload some of the gear and belongings at the inn before the latter went off to tend to the horses.

After asking Rosanna to take a quick look at Boris Galina occupied herself by arranging the bags and such into their respective rooms.

Galina took the liberty of deciding herself where some members of the party would stay.

This included having Aleister share a room with Jakob and Erwin- who Galina trusted to be far more capable of defending themselves than the other men- while Galina and Rosanna would share a room with Mariette.

Camille was given a room several doors away for safety's sake.

Once most of the rooms had been organized Galina ordered several hot meals with some being kept warm untill the others would return.

She then sat down at Erwin's table. "I placed your bags in the same room as Aleister's. If he or Camille tries anything you'll be there to stop it."

Galina then took a bite of her meal, a classic Atracan meatpie, before continuing. "I'll keep an eye on Mariette. Honestly though I'm more concerned about Camille than the vampires.

She grunted. "They may be snakes but at least they're not reckless and driven by pride."

 

[EdwardDewey98]

Jakob nodded, and gave Valeria a big smile. "Ma'am, I'm here to serve you. And I will do it to the best of my abilities." He saluted, before speaking again. "I'll do my best to protect both you and gentleman Aleister. That's a promise." He then nodded in the direction of Aleister.

 

[Radley]

"I know a venomous snake when I see one." Erwin said calmly whilst looking into his stew and eating. After he finished chewing he looked up at Galina, his ravaged face accentuated by light from the oil lamp at the table. "And I don't usually wait around for it to bite me before I decided to cut it's head off."

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Aleister nodded somewhat uneasily. "I suppose so. Though I have the benefit of my own condition to protect me. Still, so long as we stick to our group, we should be fine. Only maddened vampires go after groups alone," he explained. Unless they are just that good, he added in his mind unhappily, looking at the three dead bodies.

He gave a sideways glance towards Jakob as the constable spoke up. It was somewhat... cute in a way that the mortal took his duty so seriously, though a vampire needing protection from a normal human was rather funny to him.

"I appreciate your pledge, constable, though... good luck," he said, deciding it would be rude to say otherwise.

 

[Breadman]

Theodore still wasn't convinced that the cases were just a coincidence, but there was very little to go after for now. If there was a further investigation into those, he would have to do them on his own time as not to impede the inquiry. So far he fully agreed with his colleagues that a single vampire could not simply overpower and kill three men. Especially when one of them was a inquisitor. So far as Aleister pointed out the three men had the religious background in common. He wondered.

"Single vampire, three victims that serve the gods. He doesn't seem to be the theatrical sort that usually go after men of the cloth or inquisitors." He looked to the constable "Unless you found something else out of the ordinary in the scene of the crime."

 

[Dmaster]

Camille continued to stand straight as Aleister tried to put together the rationale behind the bites, finding herself somewhat thankful that they had vampires here to gauge just why one of their kin would perform this way. To that end she actually saw the merit of keeping them within the group, and she had an assumption that was precisely why Witlock had allowed them on the inquiry in the first place. Still, she wasn't exactly going to openly admit anything beyond the Senior Inquisitor's efficiency.

"If they wish to combat any of us, I say let them come." she says with a smirk on her face. "That would certainly remove the need for us to solve the mystery of their current whereabouts at least, oui?" Shaking her head, the Escarian huntress put her hands on her hips and shook her head from side to side. "Though I am doubtful they would be so bold to attack us, given that they've obtained quite the reputation for killing church members and inquisitors. As tantalizing as it might be to add more notches to their score, I think we are a group far too large and alert to be attacked by them. I am still of the opinion that they are on the run."

 

[Viper Actual]

Galina grunted at Erwin's remark and raised her mug. "I'll drink to that. Cheers to those that strike first."

 

[joshuadim]

Ethraeil had remained in the carriage to this point, rather not wanting to risk rousing the locals with the sight of his presence nor stir the ire of Valeria. Although, he was somewhat curious as to at least have a mild change of scenery. He waited until the coast seemed clear before exiting the carriage in his entirety. He stretched his legs quickly before briskly walking into the inn that has been chosen for the stay.

It was somewhat of a strange sight to see a lich enter an inn of all places as he made himself comfortable at the table where Erwin and Galina sat. "Do either of you have calcium powder on your person perchance?"

 

[Radley]

Erwin eyed Galina with a cold expression while chewing slowly, and let the moment pass without returning the cheer.

As Ethraeil wandered into the inn. Erwin rolled his eyes. He followed the lich as he made his way to their table and sat down. "About as inconspicuous as a barn fire, ain't you?"

 

[K0mori]

"Take care," Mariette warned Camille. "If my theory is correct, and these murders were meant to attract the Senior Inquisitor to this place, then we may soon have a fight indeed. But the simple fact remains: we don't know who we'll be fighting. A single vampire didn't consume three bodies of blood, as Aleister said, even if the bite patterns match. We don't know how the attacker or attackers subdued these men before drinking them dry. Mademoiselle, if an Inquisitor fell to this opponent's trap without a fight, who's to say you won't be caught out the way he was?

"Perhaps it was only vampires, but do not rule out even darker possibilities. Now, that being said, Valeria... Do you have any personal enemies on Grimtham?"

 

[joshuadim]

"I wanted a change of scenery. I made sure nobody saw me outside I think." Ethraeil responded. "The carriage was becoming a bore to stay in."