Blood Ties, Part 12

While you have a variety of choices available to you, the brothel's Madame seems the best opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Both a good source of information on the killer's activities and a chance to learn more about your own target. You approach her, the old dwarf walking past you as he heads toward the door.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" you say respectfully, with just the right subtle hint of charm. "May I have a moment of your time? I'm interested in the bounty for this maniac that's been running around, and I was hoping I could ask you a few questions."

The older woman turns to you, still casually fanning herself with that ornate folding fan, and—oh, this is intriguing. You can see in her steel-eyed gaze as she looks you up and down that she isn't the type to fall for the simpler sort of tricks that you might employ to quickly ingratiate with her. This is the kind of woman who knows them all too well herself, the kind of woman who has seen and used them as a means of survival for years and years, until they were second nature to her.

Not that you couldn't win her over with a serious effort, of course. In fact, you can feel your incubus blood rising at the thought of the uniquely enticing challenge it would provide, to make this stern, worldly woman scream your name in unabashed adoration.

Still, at the moment you're working under a time limit, if you want to get back to Janessa before your absence is discovered. And while you're confident you could succeed, winning her over would require an involved effort—even for you.

So instead, you adjust your approach. Still keeping that hint of the charm, of the tricks you both know how to use... but you add a knowing look to your gaze. Generously affording the older prostitute the respect of a peer, even if her mortal record of seduction doubtless pales in comparison to your own.

The Madame raises a single eyebrow, continuing to fan herself as she watches you. Right now, all she knows of you is that you're a mortal bounty hunter with some skill at charm. But apparently, her curiosity is piqued enough for her to give you the time of day—or night, as it were. "What do you wish to know, hunter?"

"Anything you can think of that might be of use," you say. "Is there a description of him?"

"Only one girl has even caught a glimpse of him and lived," the Madame says. "But she didn't get a good look to begin with, and the girl was so terrified by what happened to her friend that she can't—or won't—recall it well. Even now, she has frequent nightmares of the attack."

The woman exhales. "All we've been able to get her to remember—at least so far—is that it was a tall man, wearing a long, ragged coat. She said that he had a knife. And she said that when he moved, he was fast. Very fast."

Interesting. So even if he's targeting vulnerable people, he does seem to have a level of skill of his own. Probably not a good idea for you to try and fight him head-on, then, given your lack of combat prowess. Something to keep in mind. "What are his habits?" you ask. "Where does he usually strike?"

"Girls have been taken from many different places in the red light district," she replies. "Always at night. Sometimes on the street, sometimes in their homes, but always when they're alone... except for that one mistake. No pattern in the location that we've been able to determine. Except that—so far—he's avoided the territory controlled by any of the major players, or anyone who's under anyone's protection. Only going after the girls trying to make it on their own."

"And yet there's already a bounty on him?" you ask, curious. "Doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that victims like that could afford. And if anything, it would seem the more established players would benefit from someone targeting their competition."

The Madame's eyes narrow. "The Gangs aren't offering much," she agrees curtly. "Short-sighted fools. Even if this killer is only targeting the cheaper whores on the fringes, word will still eventually get around that there's a maniac on the loose. Will our richer customers trust that he'll only keep to those targets? If even one noble gets spooked away from visiting my high-class girls, I'm out more gold than all the cheap girls could cost me, combined."

She folds her fan, in a single, irate motion, slapping it down into her palm. "And eventually, he's going to run out of smaller targets. Already, many of them are fleeing into the arms of the larger players, begging to be taken in. He may be playing it safe now... but animals like that never stop. Sooner or later, the likes of him will come after me and mine."

"It sounds as though you've seen this happen before," you observe.

"Of course I have," says the Madame, her lip twisting in a resigned, humorless smile. "This scum, whoever he is, is far from the first murderer to target us with his sick obsessions. And he certainly won't be the last. Granted, it's... been a long time since we've see one quite this bad. But we always know the risk is there."

You can hear the hard-earned experience in her words, and you can tell she's remembering her own experiences, her own time in the streets. She still doesn't let down her guard... though you're perceptive enough to tell that what she said has brought back old memories to her.

Reading between the lines of what she's told you, it sounds like it's the Madame herself who is putting up most of the reward money. For reasons that she can justify through mercenary motives, of course. You doubt she's the type of woman who would often act without such a hard calculation to back it up.

But at the same time, you get the sense that, while she would be loathe to act without any excuse of self-benefit... she would also be willing to stretch that excuse a considerable distance if it was for the sake of her girls.

Seizing on talk of the reward, you use it to swing the conversation toward your other target. "Still... it's surprising that you managed to even attract the attention of the royal sorceress with a bounty that small," you remark. "I've heard rumors that she's involved herself as well."

The Madame lets out a huff. And for the first time, you see a true crack in the hard exterior she wears like a second skin. A brief betrayal of her control, revealing the weakness of fond affection. "That girl..." she says, shaking her head. "She's a damn fool, is what she is. Anyone who was smart would have put this place as far behind her as she could after getting out. Do you have any idea the gossip and backbiting she faces in court for continuing to associate with us? If she weren't as powerful as she is..."

But the Madame cuts herself off, then sighs. As she does, you can see a look of weary sadness deep in her eyes. "Still... between her and Kolfinn, they're our best hope at hunting this scum down. I... suppose I should have known Ceriss wouldn't let this go, once she heard. I only hope that history doesn't end up repeating itself again..."

You blink, surprised. Now that is something new. This is the first indication you've heard that there might be a more... personal aspect to this, a connection to something that happened in the past. "What do you mean?" you ask, looking puzzled. "What exactly are you hoping to avoid?"

But the Madame's expression hardens, realizing she's told you more than she intended. "Nothing of relevance," she says, curtly. "Just the long past. Nothing a bounty hunter need concern themselves with."

You can tell from her reactions that, even if she doesn't think it's significant to the hunt, it's definitely significant to her. And, from the context, possibly significant to Ceriss as well. If there is a more personal dimension to this hunt, it might be a topic you could raise with the sorceress, to push the conversation to a much deeper emotional place.

Alternatively, if you wanted to investigate more first about the specifics, it might be something the old dwarf could know about. Now that the Madame's slip has given you something to inquire about, you might be able to convince him to be a little more loose with his words. If anyone around here can answer questions about the "long past", the old dwarf is probably your best bet.

Resisting the urge to press the Madame for more information, which you're pretty sure would be a mistake right now, you instead ask her for more details on where the various girls were taken. You try to picture each location, and soon a puzzled look crosses your face.

"They really are spread out all over the place," you muse. "Which raises another interesting question. We know he keeps the girls somewhere. Tortures them for upwards of a week before killing them. If the attacks had been clustered in one area, it could have helped narrow our search. But for them to be this spread out... how is he bringing them to wherever he's keeping them without anyone ever noticing, anywhere along the way?"

"Kolfinn has raised the same question to me," says the Madame, giving you an approving look. "Multiple times. Loudly, with a great deal of profanity. He hasn't yet been able to come up with an answer. He's asked around the various locations, but he's never been able to find anyone who say anything suspicious... or anyone consistently resembling what little description we have."

You frown in thought, already entertaining various theories. Some plausible, some not. The question of just how exactly the killer is transporting his victims could be key to actually tracking him down. You open your mouth to ask another question...

...when suddenly, you hear a distant detonation. Whirling, you hurry back to the door of the brothel, just in time to see a lance of flame sear its way across the sky, shooting up from a different part of the city. That's followed by another series of faint explosions, the sound of a running magical battle of impressive scale.

Even as you realize what you're looking at, the Madame joins you at the doorway. "Well!" she says, a satisfied look on her face. "It seems as though our conversation may have been for nothing after all."

You burst into a run, legs pumping as you race toward the source of the noises, the buildings blurring past you on either side. It takes a while, but soon you reach your goal, though not before the sounds of combat have ceased.

When you arrive, it is to a breathtaking sight. Ceriss is levitating above the rooftops, her eyes glowing, held aloft by sheer magical power as she spins back and forth, searching the surrounding streets with increasing frustration. Flames wreath her fists, running up the length of her arms and burning away much of the stealthy, practical outfit that she had been wearing.

That turns it into something quite a bit more revealing, with one side completely incinerated up past the shoulder, and the other only barely hanging on. She ignores this entirely, focused on searching for a quarry which, it seems, has actually escaped her.

Your eyebrows go up a little. The Madame already told you that this killer was fast... but if he can actually escape a direct confrontation with a heroine, then you were still underestimating his level of skill. This really is no mere gutter-born madman. No, this killer is truly dangerous.

This also leaves you with a choice to make. You could approach Ceriss, try to learn more about just what exactly happened, and ingratiate yourself even more with her. You could do this in your Niko form, spinning it as the boy trying to do some investigation of his own and seeing the fight. Or you could use your new bounty hunter persona, opening another line of attack on the heroine.

Alternatively, you could search the surrounding area. While you probably won't run into the killer himself if Ceriss can't see him from that vantage point, there's always a chance you might be able to pick up some other small clue or trail that he left behind.

Either way, you'll only have time for one before you need to head back to Janessa, and even that will probably be cutting it close.