Completed Thriller Dinner

[Prakash]

Timestamp: 88th of Winter, 513 AV It was time for the weekly check-in at one of their favorite locations, a place literally littered with secrets and mysteries just waiting to be unravelled. It called out to Prakash and Drath like a mudpuddle did to a child. Unbelievably entertaining and fascinating, the Message Square was a weekly treasure chest, seemingly created just to please their insatiable thirst for the unknown. As Prakash walked through the streets from his appartment at Atri's Place towards the Message Square, he encountered a few friendly, known faces and greeted them all hearthily. Often stopping to chit-chat a bit with them as he made his way towards the sanctity of the Message Square. Ever since he realized, with the help of his late father, that secrets are not to be shared and thrown about carelessly; The people around him opened their hearts to him and his life improved drasticly now that he was no longer seen as a parasite. Even more, Prakash was often consulted as a life diary for people, especially youngsters, to share their secrets with and get it off their shoulders as they knew Prakash and Drath weren't going to tell anyone a secret unless they had a very good reason to. After encountering a troubled youngster and hearing him out, about how he was scared regarding the upcoming Rite of Passage, Prakash and Drath provided the young'un with advice on how best to deal with this issue. Something they rarely do, as they didn't like acting as a therapist or counselor, for the simple reason that they didn't feel like the right person to do that. "Look here, there is not a child in the books of history that didn't feel fear regarding the Rite of Passage. This is not about not feeling fear, this is about how you overcome the fear and trial given to you! Change what can be changed, accept that which can not." Drath then quickly added in a stern voice: "Prepare and do your best, is what my bombastic side is saying....You'll be fine." He added the last part softer and more quiet than the rest, but the message was relayed and the child gave the impression to be more stable and ready to face the challenge. After the child ran off thanking and bidding farewell, Prakash and Drath arrived at the Message Square, where they instantly got greeted by a familiar voice.

[Prakash]

"Welcome back!!" Prakash easily traced the cheerful chirpy voice to the Priestess of Qalaya 'Wind', as he turned to face her, and greeted her back equally amicably. She had a large, straw broom in her hands as she came darting to the Akalak and shot him a bright smile as she went on to talk about everything and nothing, in a manner that amused him greatly as the Kelvic Priestess was always so full of life and joy. She finished her lively rambling with her standard question that she asked every week: "Why are you here?" Every week Prakash couldn't help but come up with an improvised answer on the spot to try and make her laugh in her cute, chirpy manner. "Because the kids need their shoes!" And every week she responded with a mocking 'pfuh!' but always accompanied with a silly grin on her lips. Wind went back to her chores and relentless attempts at cleaning the Message Square as clean as possible, while Prakash and Drath made their way towards the nearest vines criss-crossing vertically over the walls surrounding the square, as there was the treasure they seeked. Advertisements, love declarations, revelations, secrets and more...was all within armsreach at the Message Square. Most of the messages on the wooden clothespins were from people unable to convey their feelings directly to another, for whatever reason, and as such this was their outlet until they gathered the courage or the right time arrived. The messages could usually be placed into one of 3 categories: * An advertisement * A love declaration * A revelation - The first type was simply an advertisement regarding soliciting something or someone, or the other way around; Seeking something or someone for a specific reason. Although sometimes it could be interesting, and useful to keep up-to-date on certain situations. For example Prakash noticed an advertisement regarding a certain someone soliciting for a new job, it's not hard to deduct he lost/quit his former job; Or when someone advertises an entire wardrobe for free, it's often because of a nasty break-up. - The second type are undeclared affectional messages, of people unable to convey their feelings for the other; Be it because of lacking courage, self-esteem or the person in question already being in a relationship. These messages often only note the name of the person passionate about, but not the name of the person showing affection. - A revelation can range from guilt-ridden people needing a place to vent their situation in one way or another, to a secret kept for the sake of another but sharing it here in order to bear the burden easier. These messages seldomly have named included in them but are very often the more interesting ones to read and try to analyse. It was nearing midday and Prakash had scanned over many of the messages hanging from the vines and was about to sigh and move on as he didn't really encounter anything particularly interesting today, until his eye fell on a clothespin placed so high it was barely reachable by any but the tallest of the tall. It struck Prakash as odd to place a message up so high, as if the person who did it wanted to vent but at the same time not have anyone read what he wrote. This sparked Prakash and Drath's interest greatly who quickly went to ask Wind for a ladder of sorts to reach up there. "Funny, you're the 2nd one to ask that this week."

[Prakash]

"2nd? This is important info, don't overlook it in the rush, Prakash!" "Wha---Oh, you're right, thanks Drath!" Wind was already used to this scenario, but it was still rare to see the Akalak this excited, so she hurried to get them the small stepping ladder and quickly gave it to Prakash who didn't waste any time, he'd thank her later after regaining his composure and having satisfied his impulsive obsesssion with reading what was on that 'mysterious' note. Almost missing a step, he was finally able to pry the note of the clotheshook with his fingers and held the paper balled up in his fist triumpantly before jumping off the ladder, making it topple over in the process. All the while Wind was watching him and shaking her head in an amused mocking manner. Oblivious to Wind's enjoyment of seeing the extatic childlike Akalak struggle keeping his joy and excitement from exploding like Ivak's Fire, he opened the rumpled piece of paper and started reading it intently: "Another transaction made. It's unbelievable how much joy it brings me to kill them and trick all those fools too. They'll never find out where it comes from. Nobody will ever suspect anything and it's sold right under their noses, in a legitimate business even...Hilarious!" Prakash stared wide-eyed at the message, taking the message in over and over again, until finally Wind broke him free of his enthrallment by shaking his shoulder, asking him what's the message is saying. "I...I don't know, yet!"

[Prakash]

Scanning the cryptic message, he slowly started to realize he had just come across the 'unveiling' of a hidden psychopath in Riverfall, it was still unclear what exactly he was describing in the message, but no doubt in either Prakash or Drath's mind that it was foreboding an evil agenda. He had to analyze this and find the culprit before he strikes again! The thought of running this through the lawmen of Riverfall crossed his mind, but they would never take this seriously, not without proof. So began the trip down a madman's psyche. After brushing Wind off and hurrying to his appartment at Atri's Place, he took place at his desk and ran his hands through his hair as he glared at the message as if had just insulted him dearly. Drath spoke to Prakash calmly but equally perplexed about the message before them. "Don't get worked up, keep calm and investigate until you find the roots behind this message's meaning!" " I know! But we're dealing with a psychopath, more than likely a mad killer even!" "That's why you need to stay focused, save his next target!" Prakash and Drath wrecked themselves during the night trying to break the 'allegorical code'. Because, as amateuristic as it may be, there are too many unknown factors to safely deduct the message to one possible outcome/result. For example: * Transaction: Purchase, Sale or Trade? * Kill them: What or who is them? * Where it comes from: What exactly does it mean? * Legitimate business: What business in Riverfall? Now onto the things they've been able to link, analyse and deduct during their night of brainwrecking puzzling: * Transaction -> Legitimate Business: Concerns either a purchase or sale at a legit shop or market in Riverfall. * Kill them -> Either animals or people, can not be killed within Riverfall walls, as the writer indicates multiple victims and it would be widespread knowledge to watch out for an murderer. * Where it comes from -> Probably the writer sells items coming from his victims. Fur, meat or parts if the victims are animals. Clothes, jewelry or random items if the victims are human * Kill them -> Kills outside of Riverfall -> Either a hunter or a battlehardened warrior since the only things to kill directly outside of Riverfall walls are people travelling by caravan or Glassbeaks and other dangerous animals. Having noted everything down, Prakash slumped over and forced himself to give him time to rest as he pushed himself away from the desk and dragged his feet over the floor towards his bed, where he instantly dozed off until the next morning.

[Prakash]

Waking up from a horrid and pretty much sleepless night, Drath moved onto his back and stretched out with a loud groan before sitting at the edge of the bed and shooting lightning bolt glances at his desk, where the message still was, halfcrumpled and as ominous as it was yesterday. Accepting the fact it was up to him to unravel this mysery and stop the seemingly deranged murderer, he got up with more force than needed as if readying himself to throw down with an invisible adversary before him. "I'll get you, y'bastard, as sure as the Void is cold and dark!" Grabbing the message and his own notes from the desk, he bolted towards the door and slammed it shut behind him as he jumped down the stairs and speedwalked out the door with a gnarly face on Drath. Prakash told Drath to keep his cool and work this out with tactics and planning in mind, which Drath responded positively too, but his actions spoke otherwise. He was clearly in a bad mood and gave everyone that crossed his sight the evil eye before delving back into the hidden meanings in the note. "Alright, first things first, let's retrace our steps. The person in question went to the Message Squa---Where Wind offered the person the ladder!---"Interrupted Prakash, Drath's train of thought. Without sneering at Prakash for interrupting him, Drath quickly ran towards the Message Square and asked Wind about the unknown person asking her the ladder this week. "Oh? Hm...He was a male, human, and quite tall and ruggedlooking. He was covered in dirt and was carrying a bow and quiver. He had dirtyblond hair but apart from that I can't remember all too much details really..." Drath thanked her, brief and swift, for the information provided and walked away while Prakash was annoyed with the way Drath had treated the helpful and cute Wind. Drath quickly gave Prakash a stern lesson on what this was all about, not about flirting with Wind but about saving lives and catching a culprit, doing what we did best and helping others doing it! Which quickly shut down Prakash for a while as Drath made his way to the next location where he could gather information, albeit for a price...

[Prakash]

Both Prakash and Drath dreaded the place they were about to visit, as the rumors about the Rat Hole were much too frequent and diverse to not hold at least a smidge of truth behind them, The Rat Hole...A building containing less than savoury people and secrets, both the people and the secrets were usually well kept out of sight, but still the residents of Riverfall were aware of at least their existence. Although unknown why such a place was tolerated inside Riverfall's walls, it held some value as it was a place where a lot of information could be gathered from both beyond and inside Riverfall's borders. "You sure about this, Drath? You know what happened last time we went there..." Responding with a grumpy but resoundingly steadfast and confident hrmpfh, Drath made his way towards the Rat Hole, slowing down his pace once arriving at its cobbleheaded street. There weren't many people in this area, as if it was off ground, but the Akalak knew that any who dared linger in this area for too long, was prone to harassment of people you don't really want to mess with, so he hurried his slightly hessitant feet through the street and focused his eyes solely on the building known as the Rat Hole, trying to make clear to those skulking the area and peering through small nooks and crannies, that the Akalak was here for a reason. Pushing the dull door, there was an improvised 'alarm system' that went off, which consisted of some bells hanging barely over the door's top edge, on the inside, alarming not only the owners but also the Rat Hole's visitors that there was someone entering. Usually it resulted in a silent tension that could be cut with a knife, before being broken by whispers and hushes once the person that entered was deemed harmless. As the Akalak entered, he avoided crossing sight or lingering his eyes on the people seated in dark corners and dicussing things he would love to know about, but fearing for his own safety he didn't give in to that urge. He was here with a mission anyway, it wasn't the time to get involved in something unrelated and probably even more dangerous than what he was involved in right now. Drath hadn't taken more than a few steps before he got halted by a rough hand on his chest, easily halting him in his tracks and keeping him there by both fear and strength. It was the man that had Prakash thinking twice about coming to this place, Ardan, the human bodyguard of the Rat Hole's proprietaire. "What's your business here?" The man asked bluntly and clearly without the intention to take any shyke as response. While Drath nor Prakash were easily intimidated, they remembered their last visit all too well and how easily they were trashed and thrown out by this man. Drath looked Ardan squarely in the eye, without trying to sound like he was looking for a fight: "I need to speak to Mr Volus, it's important." "And what makes you think Tom has time for someone like you?" Ardan seemed to be in an especially bad and feisty mood, which didn't bode well for the Akalak, but he wasn't going to let this man walk all over him, regardless of the outcome. "Loo---"Ardan, let him through!" Fortunately, for the Akalak, Tom Volus had interfered with the escalating conversation between the 2 men almost ready to throw down already. Ardan finally removed his hand from Drath's chest and gave him a smirky glare that screamed out he was ready whenever Drath was. The Akalak broke his own glare away from Ardan as he walked towards the counter where Tom Volus was located, not serving others but simply leaning on the counter, smoking a thin cigar.

[Prakash]

The smell of the lit cigar, and smoke swirls flowing through the dimly lit bar, united with the putrid scent of nearly rotten meat and pissbeer, attacked Drath's nose who couldn't help but frown. As he resisted gagging while standing in front of Tom Volus, at the other side of the counter, he greeted the eyepatched man and ordered a beer for both of them, as was the common way of starting a bartering conversation at the Rat Hole. While Tom gratefully accepted as if he was just shown humanity's last ray of charitable kindness, the Akalak couldn't help but notice that throughout the entire chit-chat opening ceremony the human man didn't touch his mug even once. "...Good to hear you're doing well Mr Volus!" Which was another common tradition when doing business with this shrew man, to indicate one was about to cut the casual convo and get down to business. "Say, you don't happen to know about no rugged dirty blonde hunter who's 'making a name' for himself...Do you?" Knowing that this would drag on with cryptic half-revealing messages, if there wasn't any Miza backing up that question; Drath took out his small leather bag filled with Miza and placed it on the counter, well within sight and enclosed by both his lower arms as he leaned on them, eager to hear what Tom would have to say. Volus grinned and leaned much the same way as Drath before whispering: "Are you sure you want to know? This information...is dangerous, sonny." Drath swallowed away the tension and started to unravel the string keeping his coinpurse closed. "I see...20 Gold Miza and what I know, you will know!" As Drath wordlessly took out the Gold Miza, while Ardan positioned himself between Drath and a nosey counterhanging drunk, who removed himself from their vicinity the moment he saw the look in Ardan's eyes and his hand resting on his knee, seemingly casually sliding away his cloak and revealing a well used, and tainted with dried blood, shortsword...After Drath mumbled '20' and Volus swiped it away instantly, the whispers started to let the cat out of the hat.. "There was a man, fitting your description, who got in an argument recently with our good Ardan over here. While there was nothing weird about that, the drunken and angered comment he made...lingers in my mind up to this day." 'If you're not careful, you'll be next on the butcher's hooks!" With a mocking smirk, Tom said he only shared what he knew without a doubt, so he couldn't tell Drath more than this. But it was clear, even to Ardan, that Drath had heard enough. The shocked look on the Akalak's face spoke more than it should in the company of Tom Volus, who was seemingly amused and happy that he had gained information alongside a hefty amount of Gold Miza. Drath nodded and walked out of the stench from the Rat Hole, seeing everything in a dazed fog until Prakash spoke to him. "The butcher..."

[Prakash]

Now was no longer the time to keep this all to himself, he has enough proof and leads now to contact the Kuvay'Nas and arrest this insane criminal, Prakash knew he needed to organize this properly in order to minimize casualties and the chance for the hunter-manslayer to escape. He figured the odds would be best if they confronted the hunter at his own place in Riverfall where he had little room to escape or use his bow, as the Akalak figured that would be his most prominent weapon. As such, Prakash made his way to Kyloe's Butcher Shop in the southern district of Riverfall and kept a look out for any patrolling Kuvay'Nas he might encounter. Unfortunately he didn't had any luck and encountered no patrols whatsoever as he hurried towards the butcher shop. As he approached Kyloe's butcher shop, he slowed down and tried to regain his composure before barging in there. As he opened the door, the Akalak quickly scanned the room for the hunter but came to the conclusion he wasn't there. After which he asked Kyloe to talk to him in private. Kyloe didn't have much room in his shop where they could properly talk, so he took Prakash with him through the backdoor of the building and asked what was going on. Prakash tried his best not to stumble over his words as he explained the entire situation to Kyloe whose face contorted in disgust, shock and disbelief as the situation was laid bare. "If...IF!.. This is true, we need to catch that crazy bastard where he can't run or weasel his way out of it...I know he lives at a Kuahala Estate, gather a few Kuvay'Nas and I'll come with you to show where he lives!" Prakash nodded and agreed to that plan, as he left the butcher to himself, he went and started to search for the nearest Kuvay'Nas he could find.

[Prakash]

After searching feverishly for a patrolling force of Riverfall's militia, the Kuvay'Nas, throughout the streets in the vicinity of Kyloe's Butcher Shop, Prakash finally spotted a two-manned patrolling cell of the militia and immediatly approached them, as he breathed heavily with both hands on his knees, hunching forward and trying to explain the situation as best as possible, he started seeing small black dots shift through his sight. After steadying himself and finally letting himself regain his breath and stamina, he described the entire story up to now, in an intense synopsis. The Kuvay'Nas were sceptic and even mockingly amused at the beginning, but at the story unfolded itself and revealed too much details and proofs from different people, the sceptics became shocked and digusted believers who were quick to react even when faced with such a gruesome revelation. As the three men ran back to the butchershop, all of them were lost in their own train of thought. The Kuvay'Nas duo seemed to be consisting of one veteran member of the militia and the other being one either a volunteer or a new fledgling of the Kuvay'Nas. The veteran had a Lakan with a holster attached sideways to the back of his custom belt and a second weapon who he seemed to be comfortable with considering he was carrying it with him on duty, a shortsword resembling a gladius. which was strapped to his back slightly curved for better access when reaching for its handle in a pinch. As prepared and focused as the veteran appeared, the novice looked anxious and even scared of what was to come, with only his Lakan in his possession. Granted, Prakash wasn't too eager to face the manslayer head-on as well, but he tried to best to think of strategies on how best to arrest, or if needed, put him down. Without letting his fear sink in long enough at any given time to nest itself in his mind and soul. Once arrived at Kyloe's, the butcher seemed to most fearless of them all as he ordered his assistant to run the shop in his absence, grabbing a meatcleaver, implanted in a hardwood cutting board, with one fell swoop and rushed out the door, leading the way to the Kuahala Estates. "We'll avenge all the lost lives by his hands!" With renewed courage and fighting spirit, they rushed towards the Kuahala Estates and once arrived, the four of them clutched all the weapons at their disposal in their hands and decided upon the best way to approach the hunter's estate after the butcher pointed it out, by pointing his bloody cleaver wordlessly at the farthest estate located at the end of an unpaved road swirling around large boulders and trees all the way up to the estate. The four 'agents of justice' figured it would be best to sneak up on the estate by not following the road but moving through the brushes and trees if possible, cutting their distance and making it easier to move unseen. Unfortunately they forgot they were dealing with a seasoned and extremely dangerous hunter.

[Prakash]

The improvised assault group had almost made it to the hunter's estate, whether or not he'd be there is irrelevant as they could always ambush him when he'd arrive. Even more so, it's not unthinkable most of the men were even hoping he wouldn't be there, but they pushed on regardless! The Kuvay'Nas novice was seemingly growing more courageous as time went by as he even got brave, and arrogant, enough to take the lead in the sneaky charge. That arrogance was his unfortunate downfall as suddenly a loud clanking snap was heard by the men and before any could tell what it was, the most agonizing and bonemarrow freezing scream pierced their eardrums as the novice screamed his lungs out while clutching his leg, stuck in a teethed beartrap. The trap was undoubtedly set by the hunter as an improvised alarm system for unwanted intruders as it was placed out of normal route's way and was clearly there to alert the hunter his 'bastion' was being assaulted. Fortunately for everyone, the veteran instantly took the lead back and ordered the butcher to take care of the wounded Kuvay'Nas as best as he could while, in the same breath, ordering Prakash and Drath to keep up as he stormed the Kuahala Estate. It was a blessing they had only been caught out so close to the Estate, because just as they rushed over the last unpaved streak between them and the Estate's door, Prakash could make out a silhouette rushing over the balcony and steadying his arrow nocked bow at their direction. In a flare of instinct and, probably more selfish than he'd like to believe, he shouted out a beastial sound as he leaped forward and slammed his body into the battlehardened veteran's back, making them both topple forward and roll towards the door as an arrow wooshed over their rolling bodies. Prakash could swear he felt the wind, and even the brush of the feathered arrowend kiss his skin as it flew by and planted itself in the soil. Through the curses and threats of the hunter above them, the veteran nodded in gratitude and acknowledgement to Prakash before pointing out by a simple handgesture to stay put, before kicking in the door and letting out a roar that would put fear in the hearts of many warriors as he spread his arms downwards with his gladius in one hand and the Lakan in the other, before storming inside. Prakash didn't understand at first why he had to stay and was about to move out to follow the Kuvay'Nas warrior to aide him. But Drath was the voice of reason and kept Prakash grounded as he explained it was most likely to block the hunter's only escape route. "Damned fool! If you want to help, climb that tree to get on the balcony and ambush that dirty rat!" Prakash didn't allow himself to think about the poor man with his leg ruined by that beartrap, and focused himself, as he climbed the tree, solely on helping the other Kuvay'Nas and apprehending the manslayer. Fortunately the tree wasn't that difficult to climb as it had many thick branches flowing upwards and sideways where Prakash could grab and lean onto. After at least two minutes, he had finally made it up high enough to make the leap of faith onto the balcony, where he landed ungracefully and tumbled forward before pushing himself off as fast as he could with his Lakan ready in his righthand, his eyes moved faster than the mind could think as he saw the hunter and Kuvay'Nas engulfed in a deadly dance of blades, with the bow ditched against the opposite wall. Prakash's first thought was to ambush the hunter, which at first was going quite well, sneaking carefully into the room where the Kuvay'Nas warrior was, according to Drath, voluntarily keeping the hunter with his back towards Prakash as steel clashed and sparks flew, with limbs weaving in and out of severing range during the frenzied battle. The hunter seemed to be using a pair of double bladed curved daggers, with fearsome effectiveness. The Kuvay'Nas trooper was clearly putting all into keeping the agressive offense up so that the hunter had little room to retalliate or focus on his surroundings. But when Prakash had made it into the 10 feet radius of the hunter, approaching his rear with sweatbeads of supressed tension and concentration all over his face and arms, he made the mistake of thinking too far ahead and not giving enough concentration on his immediate surrounding. With sweaty blue palms, he inadvertently tripped on the cursed carpet.