The death of the empress has spread far and wide, reaching every person that wept for only minutes before going back to their normal life of chaos and sorrow sewn hours before night time came as it did every night. But where was the murderer? That was no question, for it's already been answered; in a cell rotting. However, there's a problem, that evil, hated excuse of life everybody spat down upon in their minds, the one who drew the sword of crimson away from Empress Kaldwin and watched the woman fall to the ground like a sack of dirt, and the one who ran free as the 'murderer' that merely watched this in an attempt to help, stopped by the hand that had been around his neck, pinning him to a wall as he watched the unmentionable horror, wasn't the one in the cell. His name is Corvo Attano, and he has been accused of the murder of Jassamine Kaldwin, but he never would lay a finger in bad intention on her, for she and Emily meant the world to him. But now they were gone, ripped away from him by cold hands, one being buried as another was only god knows where, calling out for him to help, like he had been told to.
In this saddening tale of revenge, betrayal, anger, sorrow, and everything else in the mix of the sewage in this barrel, Corvo Attano is our 'hero' if there is one to call such a title to this story. Our proud hero, currently withered and guilt-ridden under his shell of unbreaking skin that showed no emotion as he wasted away in his cell. Six months, six long, tedious and poisoning months passed by since that day; and it hasn't left him since.
But I'm getting a little ahead of myself aren't I? Why, you don't even know exactly what happened that day, at least—not all of it. You see, The Empress wasn't the only one meant to die that day.

"Corvo, if only there was someone else I trusted to send, so that you could remain near. But there is no one else, and the Spymaster was right to insist that I send you. The plague has taken so many and we must find a cure. When you are near, my heart is at peace. Emily and I will count the days until you return. Hurry home and bring good news."

Those simple words on that one piece of paper meant the most to Corvo, but his mind was pulled away from the letter he had left behind by a voice coming from the person that was named Geoff Curnow, the man's steps seeming to be silenced by the finely polished wood and the sound of the mud colored waters flowing gently, but not enough the move the boat on its own. Curnow turned slightly, still able to see Corvo out of the corner of his eye, but paid more attention to the guard behind the controls of the small boat, merely a lever to start the engine to move. "Take us straight to Dunwall Tower, Lord Corvo has news for the Empress and we've come a long way." He ordered the guard who obeyed, the boat seeming to come to life with a loud rumbling roar as it moved out of in between the two large ships and out towards the Tower.
"A long way to bring bad news. The sailors say there's a curse on us, Black Magic." The guard said, to which Curnow rolled his eyes at the foolish rumor that a guard below his ranking would even tell him.
"Superstition. For all we know there's a cure for the plague by now." He spoke in a calm voice, despite the small tone of civil defense in his voice at the stupid rumor. Corvo was silent, watching the two talk as the tower caught his glance at the right, it growing closer.
The guard gave a nod, "maybe. We live in strange times. Sending the Empress' body guard away for a couple of month, that's unusual." Corvo's attention went to the guard at the mention of himself, not liking people talk about him at all, period. He'd rather stay out of their discussions.
"Well, this was important. We need help with the rat plague." Curnow retorted, Corvo relaxing at the statement as it seemed to settle any curiosity the guard had as to why he had been sent away. The rat plague has been running wild through the populous for the past few months, people dropping like flies, sections of Dunwall being closed off completely due to… things walking amok behind those metal barriers that seemed like they could touch the sky. People have gone to such extremes, but ah right, the story.
A long moment of silence fell over them as Curnow seemed to be looking at the still water before the light of the sun was blocked when they entered the docking station in the tower, it grey and honestly quite dull. The guard turned off the boat, it dying into silence as water began to fall down the stone walls, filling the shallow water beneath the boat until they arose to the top, the amount of water in the tower now seeming to be enough to raise a whale in.
"The Empress will be waiting for your news, Corvo." Curnow said with his hands behind his back as he was turned away from Corvo who was barely able to hear him over the sound of water still pounding in his ears. Footsteps echoed off the metal draw bridge of sorts, the scenery around him the same as ever. A mixture of greys and blacks, sometimes even a little white text on the ground such as 'Halt' or 'Watch Your Step' placed next to the black metal railing, damp with water vapor as looking more like the room of a storage site of a construction crew in a large space.
Corvo blacked out Curnow's bickering to the guard for the machinery being too slow, or too fast, he didn't tell the words apart from those running sentences. Instead, he walked out onto the ground outside the door, the white pebbles of various shapes and sizes all placed neatly and tightly to form the ground, all of the smooth with the small pitter-patter his feet made with each step on them until passing the two guards, stopping at the sound of a familiar girl. The bright smiling girl who looked no older than around twelve or thirteen, her black stands of silky hair much like Snow White's brushed neatly and perfect like always, the white bow in her hair matching her completely white outfit, her shirt sleeves rolled up just under her elbows as she ran towards him. "Corvo, you're back!" She said almost in slight disbelieve as he crouched to her height, arms outstretched to hug her. She nearly lunged when she was close enough, hugging hi tightly and wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him tighter. She let go and looked at him as she was picked up, one hand under each arm. "Will you tell me about your trip? Please? Were there any whales?" She asked as he merely smiled and said nothing, just smiling larger as he felt happy. He was about to put her down until she spoke again. "Wait! Let's play Hide and Seek first. I'll cover my eyes and you hide. You have time! Mother is busy talking to that nasty old Spymaster." He thought for a moment then finally responded as he put her down, standing up again.

"Okay, go on." He said happily, his warm voice making her smile as he agreed. "Okay, here we go." She said before taking off in a sprint as he followed sprinting as well, as they ran she continued to talk to him. "Later, will you give me more climbing lessons? Someday I'm going to climb up to the rooftop." She smiled and laughed before running down some stairs as Corvo stopped running, hearing somebody address him. He turned to see a man in a red coat, with little to no hair, and what he had was grey as dust, his arms crossed like they always were, black gloves covering his hands.
"Welcome home, Lord Protector." He said raising his hand to Corvo before crossing his arms once again. This man, was known as Thaddeus Campbell, bitter and as harsh as a shark, and about as ugly as one too.
The man with black hair, and a black beard to match spoke. "Stop moving Campbell, and you, Corvo, welcome back from wherever you've been." The man dressed in black pants and a dark green, almost like grey had puked on green jacket, standing in front of a canvas with paint in one hand and a brush in the other as the painting of Campbell finally crossed his mind. The name of this, ugly, I mean- harsh man was Anton Sokolov, a man who made up for his lack of people skills with his inventions and sometimes genius, sometimes insane ideas.
Campbell spoke again, a sentence Corvo didn't enjoy hearing. "They sent him all around the isles to beg for aid." What as he to them, a beggar? 'He could at least worded it a bit better as not to make me sound like just a helpless child.' Corvo thought, choosing to still be silent.
"A waste of time. My elixir will banish the plague from this city. Now keep still a moment, High Overseer Campbell." Corvo kept his mouth shut, but his hand had the urge to send that self-praising, cocky Sokolov's face into his painting, might make it look better.
He left before he might get in trouble at opening his mouth and showing just how nice he could be to him, Emily making her way back up the stairs and finding him. "Let's go see mother Corvo." She chirped joyfully, them both walking up the stone path paved on a slight hill, passing two guards and a maid cleaning an outdoor table that shinned as blue as the painted oceans of long ago.
He stopped at seeing the Empress, dressed in all black with her black hair in a bun as she talked to a bald, pale man dressed in all black as well, at least besides the small red he wore under his black jacket. "They're sick people, not criminals!" The Empress exclaimed at the man, not bothering to face him.
The hoarse, sharp voice of the man shouted, "We've gone beyond the question, your Majesty. They're-"
He was cut off by her regal, ordering tone. "They're my citizens, and we will save them from the plague if we can. All of them."
"Very well."
"We will not speak of this again." She told him before Emily ran up there and interrupted them.
"Mother, Corvo is back!" She said happily, only to have her mother say in an indifferent tone from before "Thank you Emily." She turned to face that slimy Spymaster known as Hiram Burrows. "Leave us, please." She told him.
He bowed and said "As you wish, Your Majesty." Before turning and leaving, Corvo hearing him grumble through gritted teeth. "Corvo," he said as he passed him, locking eye contact with eyes of a snakes. "Two days early, full of surprises, as usual." Before walking by him, leaving.
He walked up to Emily and Kaldwin, her smile seeming to have left her long ago as she spoke. "It's a fair wind that brings you home to me. What news have you brought?"
Just barely, Corvo heard that snake say "Come Captain, we should leave them alone." He seemed not to bother paying attention as they left, his attention going back to her as she held out her hand, waiting for the letter that was in his pocket. He gave the note to her, silence filling the air and churning it with the hint of sewage, brine and salt before she sighed and turned.
"I hoped that one of the other cities had dealt with this before, knew of some cure. This news is very bad, we're at the breaking point." He watched her cross her arms, the letter falling to the ground, the red wax seal that was broken weighing it down. "Cowards! They're going to blockade us. They'll wait to see if the plague turns the city into a graveyard."
Emily spoke up, taking a step forward. "Are you okay mother? You seem sad." She sounded concerned for her, Kaldwin turning to smile at her as she walked to her.
"Yes, don't worry, darling. Mother is fine." She reassured, Corvo knowing that was a lie, but playing along. Kaldwin was torn from her moment with her daughter as she looked around realizing something. "Wait, where are the guards? Who sent them away?"
Just as soon as she said that, Emily pointed to the rooftops nearby and spoke. "Mother, look! What are they doing on the rooftop?"
'Huh? Who would be-'Corvo thought until his sight caught them, two men dressed very odd until Kaldwin shouted. "What?! Emily, come here!" Emily ran to her and hugged her.
Corvo would have attempted to get the guards until his eyes widened at the man who appeared in all black and shades of dark grey, a sword in his right hand as a gas mask of sorts covered his face, the person appearing out of nowhere. 'What the hell?!People don't just appear!' Corvo thought, stunned in confusion and shock at what he had just witness, not moving until the second one appeared. As soon as the other did, he pulled out his own sword and his gun, the auburn wood and grey metal with blue accent of rim color of the gun being pointed at one of the trespassers.
"Emily, get behind me!" Kaldwin said as she did so, her mother acting like a shield over her daughter.
Corvo swung his sword that splattered crimson drops on the floor, shooting a bullet from his gun with an air shattering boom, the man vanishing as the bullet whizzed by, Corvo's eyes going wide. No matter how much he tried, that single cut was all he was able to land on the two, before both of them disappeared, leaving him in confusion with the two.
Emily and Kaldwin walked to him, Emily running and hugging onto him. "Corvo, thank you." Kaldwin said almost sounding grateful.
'No, this isn't right.' Corvo thought. 'None of this is, they were winning… they wouldn't of just left…' Corvo's expression went from confused to weary of the situation, shaking his head slightly at her, trying to tell her it wasn't right to thank him yet.
"If you hadn't been here-" His attention snapped away from her words to the whooshing sound to his left like a tunnel of air before he seemed to be picked up, the scenery blurring into one color while it was focused at the brims of his sight, the man standing in the middle of the area, controlling this. "No, no more! Not again!" Kaldwin shouted, Corvo being lifted as he was being choked by the force that kept him still. His vision caught glimpses of the man, one of the same people from before, both hands out as the tightness around his neck increased as his lungs gagged and craved air. 'Witchcraft! It's a trap!' He tried to scream out to the two but his throat was like a knotted rope, nothing getting past.
"Mommy!" Emily screamed before the other man appeared and lunged at her, sword in hand. 'Emily!' Corvo thought hurriedly as he struggled against the 'witchcraft' if it could be called that, his only goal to safe them even if it cost his life.
"No!" The Empress shouted, pushing Emily out of the way, and shoving the man back, this man not dressed like the other one from before. For one small second, Corvo got a good glimpse; this man in red and black, with hair as black as coal seemed all too familiar for anywhere near comfort. "You stay away from her!" She screamed at him, before a hand was around her neck. "Corvo!" She pleaded out for him as the sword was raised, his eyes going wide in horror.
'No! Don't you dare!' Corvo thought, his mouth refusing to work as he managed to yank his body slightly before grunting as the force slammed him back again.
His struggling stopped as crimson painted the floor in spots, the Empress meeting her demise with a gut wrenching scene as the air from her lungs escaped, never to inhale more as she fell to the ground.
"Mommy!" Emily screamed as she tried to run. 'No Emily! Go hide! Don't!' Corvo didn't know what to do, what could he do? Nothing, he could only watch as everything he once cared about was gutted in front of him like a dead whale. The man that once had Corvo nearly dead grabbed Emily. "Corvo!" She shouted, before they vanished. The man that had killed Kaldwin vanished, Corvo limping over to her as blood pooled out onto the once white tiles.
He held her for a moment before hearing her scared voice. "Corvo… it's all… coming apart. Find… Find Emily. Protect her, you're the only one. You'll know what to do…Won't you?Corvo?" Her shallow breaths ended as her hurried words did, those pale blue eyes closing for the final time as he kept all his emotion inside, screaming and clinging to her in a thought, but doing nothing except laying her corpse gently down onto the ground silently.
He stood up to see four guards, two of which were Campbell and Burrows. "Ward us all, look at what he's done." Campbell said.
"Yes, he's killed the Empress!" Burrows shouted in his conniving voice. As those words were said, the two lower class guards drew their swords and had them aimed at Corvo. Burrows looked around before turning to Corvo angrily. "What did you do with young lady Emily, traitor?" He demanded to know.
"Her own bodyguard, Ironic." Campbell muttered.
"I'll see you beheaded for this, Corvo." Burrows said. "Take him!" He ordered the guard on the left which nodded, raising his arm with sword in hand. Corvo looked frightened, fearing his death before pain exploded in his skull, everything instantly going pitch black as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Corvo was also supposed to die that day, and I guess in a way; he did. Corvo died as soon as Emily was gone and held the Empress with her dying breath. The Corvo everybody knew was dead, and a new Corvo emerged; one that was consumed with revenge, and he wanted to seek it, to hold it in his grasp. He was a monster; A monster with nothing left to loose.