A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas
Chapter 79: Dryvale
We set out again the following morning, and before too long were able to make it to Dryvale. It was one of the largest settlements we've visited so far, and looked to be a rather prosperous city. The guards tensed at the sight of me, but did nothing more. I also noticed that the townsfolk also seemed a bit wary, but otherwise ignored us. However, I overheard snippets of their conversations.
"…it happened again? How many now?"
"Six, I heard! What's the mayor thinking? Something needs to be done!"
We soon approached the temple, and the pair of travelers departed our company. As they left, I looked to my companions.
"Did you hear what the townsfolk were talking about?" I asked, "It sounds like something bad is happening around here".
"I heard that too," said Krisyra, "it sounded like the mayor might know something".
We made our way towards they mayor's office, and after introducing ourselves were led to meet the mayor, well I had to stay outside and stick my head in the window. The mayor was a tall human woman in fine clothing, and seemed quite serious
"I heard there were some adventurers in town," said the mayor, "I am Mayor Enkam. Perhaps you could aid us".
"What's been going on?" asked Lydratir.
"There's been a series of murders in Dryvale, and we suspect that they're all the work of the same killer," said Enkam, "so far, there have been six victims, all from a wide range of backgrounds. Each one has been stabbed to death, and bizzarely, their internal organs, eyes, and bones had been transformed into crystal".
"That is unusual," said Narcrath, "clearly some sort of magical effect".
"It seems so," sad Enkam, "on top of that, the victims' hearts were missing. I've tried querying the the high alchemist about this, but he's refused me aid. He might speak to you though. If you wish, the bodies of the victims were available for investigation. As well, it would probably be a good idea to speak Mekno, the guard captain".
"Thank you for the information ma'am," said Charles, "we'll go speak to you guard captain".
"Very well," said Enkam, "good luck with your investigation… hopefully you'll turn up more than we've been able to".
We headed out, and soon located the guard captain. He was a sturdily-build human man with orange hair and a beard. He glanced at us as we approached.
"Who are you?" said Mekno.
"A concerned party," said Krisyra, "Mayor Enkam told us you've been having some strange goings on around here".
Mekne sighed heavily, "I'm not sure how you can help, everything we've look into so far has been a dead end".
"A fresh set of eye never hurts," said Narcrath.
"True enough," said Mekno, "The best we can work out, it seems like these killings might be ritualistic. Other than the odd transformation of the victims, there have been strange chalk markings around each of the murder sites".
"Would you mind if we see the sites of these killings? Asked Lydratir.
"Knock yourself out," said Mekno, "maybe you can make head or tails of them. In any case, I have to get back to my patrols. Good luck with your investigation".
He headed off down the street, and we considered our options,
"Let's split up," I suggested, "three of us can examine the murder sites, while the other three can examine the bodies".
"Krisyra, Narcrath and I will examine the bodies," said Charles, "you three can examine the crime scenes".
"Sounds like a good plan," said Uxarix, "let's get going".
We went our separate ways, with Uxarix, Lydratir, and I heading for the crime scene. We found it before too long and started checking around. The largest point of interest was the symbols drawn on the walls in chalk. Uxarix frowned at them.
"These are definitely some sort of infernal symbols, most likely part of some dark ritual," said Uxarix.
Lydratir looked at the symbols closer, and nodded.
"You're right," said Lydratir, "this one, here. It says 'cage the soul'. Someone is using infernal magic in this city. But I can't tell who from what we see here".
"Let's head back, perhaps our companions have uncovered more," I said.
We moved back up the streets, heading for the plaza we'd agreed on as a meeting point. A short time later, our companions arrived.
"Good to see you again," said Charles, "what did you uncover?"
"It sees Mekno was right, there does seem to be a ritualistic aspect to these killings. We deciphered the symbols near the murder sites, and they said something about 'cage the soul'. What did you find?"
"Well, it was clear the the victims were stabbed to death," said Krisyra, "While the stab wounds seemed rough and amateurish, the removal of the heart was done with great precision. It also seems like, based off the angle of the stab wounds, they were inflicted by someone of small stature. As well, whoever removed the hearts had nimble hands".
"We also asked around about the high alchemist, but he won't have time to speak to us until tomorrow," said Narcrath.
"Then let's find a place to rest, we can continue our investigation in the morning," I said.
As we began to head off, I heard a scream of distress in the distance.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"I did," said Uxarix, "It sounds like someone's in trouble, but we should be careful".
We made our way towards the sound, which led us into a shadowy alley. Immediately, I could tell something was off. Four figures stepped out of the darkness. They were humanoid in shape, with clawed feet and hands, and beards of spiked tendrils.
"Sorry about this, mortals, but a job's a job, and the boss doesn't like what you've been doing," said the bearded devil.
"And what exactly his you summoner up to?" asked Uxarix.
"Don't know, and it's not my business," said the bearded devil, "Now then, prepare youselves!"
Uxarix was the swiftest to react, stepping up to the nearest bearded devil, jabbing it with his rapier wreathed in holy light. The devil retaliated with its beard and glaive, but Uxarix blocked both with his shield. The next devil went after Krisyra, but her agility allowed her to dodge its attacks. The next devil went after Uxarix as well, and while he dodged its beard its glaive caught him, but we seemed to still be alright. Lydratir took aim at the wounded devil, his arrows taking it down. the fourth of these devils went after Narcrath, striking him with both beard and glaive. Krisyra morphed into an earth elemental and began slamming the devil with her rock-heard fists. I assisted her, slashing at the devil with my claws, but it was still standing. Narcrath took a step back from the devil near him, dodging its attack and countered with a nasty-looking spell which split to hit both the nearest devil to him and the one I'd just attacked, taking down the weakened one. Charles moved up to the devil nearest to Narcrath, taking it down. He then turned and struck at the foe near Uxarix, weakening it.
Uxarix struck at the last remaining devil, finishing it off with a flourish of his rapier.
As the last of the bearded devils faded away into acrid smoke, we regather ourselves and continued down our original path, wondering just what we might be on the trail of.
A/N: And there we go! who could be the culprit behind these crimes? Next time, the investigation continues. See you then!