Varrock, Night
A chilly breeze blew over Varrock, as the late afternoon sun sank into the west. People began to make their way towards their houses or the bar, for no one wished to be caught out at night.
The shop keepers closed their shops, the bankers closed the bank, and guards of the castle patroled the courtyard and gardens.
It was well after sunset when a young man, about the age of twenty ran into town. He had come from Catherby, the small town on the other side of White Wolf Mountain. He was visiting his cousin.
It was dark and there weren't many lights so it was hard to tell where he was. He found the fountain in the middle of town square, but he didn't know which way he was to go next.
"I should have asked Molly which way to go..." he sighed. "Wouldn't be lost if I had asked."
He walked down a short street into an alley. It was a dead end and as he turned around to go back, he found himself surrounded by bandits.
"Hel-" he began to yell. Someone had come up behind him and stuffed a cloth into his mouth.
"Look a' wha' we go' here." the man on the right said. "A los' soul."
"Maybe, we can do to him like we did the others?" a girl on the left asked.
"Well..." the tall man in the center said. "Alright, but you know where to put him."
Varrock, Dawn
"Sir, we've got another one." the guard said.
"Where?" the captain asked.
"Same as the other five. The yew tree next to the chapel."
The captain stood up, grabbed his helmet and sword and followed the guard to the chapel. A crowd had gathered along the street, all eyes turned to the tall yew.
Hanging from a branch, was the body of a man. He was stripped of everything except for his pants. All along his body were scars, cuts and gashes from being whipped. Tightly coiled around his neck was a rope, with the other end tied down to a lower branch on the tree.
"Has he been identified?" the captain asked.
"Not yet, Sir." the guard replied.
"Captain, may I step closer." a small voice said. "I think I may be able to identify him."
The captain turned to see Molly, the apprentice apothecary. She wore her usual yellow tunic, brown boots and black pants, while her green hair was pulled back into a long ponytail.
"Yes, Molly, you may step closer."
Molly walked up to the man who hung on the branch. She stared up into his glazed eyes and she felt tears in her own.
"Oh, no..." she gasped, looking away. "This man is my cousin, Ben. He wasn't supposed to arrive until this afternoon."
"Where did he live?"
"C-Catherby, Sir."
"We'll send word right away to his famil-"
"Don't bother, he lived alone. His parents died when he was young, so my parents took him in. My parents died a few years back, that's when he left to go back to Catherby to be a fisherman."
"What about a girlfriend or a wife?"
"He said he never found the right woman..."
"Any friends?"
"Only me."
"...I'm sorry for you lose, Miss Molly."
Shortly after Ben had been removed from the tree, the crowd broken up and Molly escorted safely back to the apothocary's house, the Varrock guards held a meeting.
"Sir, we must do something!" one of the youngest guards exclaimed. "We can't just sit by and let more and more people get killed!"
"I am aware, Porter." the captain replied. "But our first priority is to the King and Queen."
"Rillin!" an older guard exclaimed. "This isn't just a threat to the people of Varrock anymore! This is for all of Runescape!"
"And would you have me do, Toula?" Rillin replied. "Have all our best guards sent undercover to find out who the murder is and leave the King and Queen without protection?"
"No, I'm not suggested that at all."
"Then what?"
"We must hire some people to do the undercover work for us."
"And how do you plan on doing that, when anyone in the city could be the murderer?"
"We've got to look for someone who isn't from around here, Falador, Lumbridge, Draynor, Rimmington, Al Kahrid or Egdeville."
"And where shall you be looking?"
"We should look in Ardougne. I have heard of a small group fighting against criminals there."
"Then send the word, Toula!" Rillin exclaimed. "The sooner the criminals are caught, the sooner we can all get life undercontrol again."