Post by NPC Knight on May 3, 2017 14:12:00 GMT -5
The seamier side of the city was known for its lengthy shadows and pitch-dark alleys, places where the most unsavory of business could be conducted privately and anything could be obtained… for a price. So long as blood did not coat the cobbles and the eerie quiet was seldom disturbed, the Watch asked no questions. Bodies were discreetly removed and if the perpetrators were near at hand, they were scooped up without ceremony to face the city’s justice.
That is, unless the body discovered was grossly out of place and the identity unmistakable. Then, the Lilac Quarter teemed with men of the Watch, asking questions and rousting the usual suspects in a dogged search for answers. In a place like the Lilac Quarter, someone was always watching. Someone saw something. Nothing went unobserved, especially crime.
The morning of November 1 dawned with a sky stained an angry red and orange, a promise of foul weather to come, when the unmistakable sound of a Watchman’s rattle shattered the silence, followed by a shout of “Murder! Murder!”
The heavy thud of footsteps on the run brought Watchmen and curious onlookers alike, straining to see past the line of men establishing a perimeter against the arrival of the Night Captain. Their efforts merely garnered them the sight of a cloak-draped form, though the more observant noted that the visible articles of clothing and footwear suggested that the victim was no mere denizen of the Quarter. If anything, the man seemed distinctly out of place with his fine boots with their mirror-like shine.
Just who was the victim, and why was he down here? Toffs didn’t come to the Lilac; they could afford for anyone to come to them. Already, whispers were starting, speculating as to the identity of the victim and his business in the long shadows of the city’s underbelly. The men of the Watch exchanged looks but no words, knowing it would be their jobs if the Captain heard them talking about the crime before the investigation had begun. That didn’t stop the people, however, for whom this was prime excitement indeed. As the crowd continued to grow, the men of the Watch were forced to cordon off the alley and part of the street against the Captain’s arrival.
Hopefully, he was on his way.
That is, unless the body discovered was grossly out of place and the identity unmistakable. Then, the Lilac Quarter teemed with men of the Watch, asking questions and rousting the usual suspects in a dogged search for answers. In a place like the Lilac Quarter, someone was always watching. Someone saw something. Nothing went unobserved, especially crime.
The morning of November 1 dawned with a sky stained an angry red and orange, a promise of foul weather to come, when the unmistakable sound of a Watchman’s rattle shattered the silence, followed by a shout of “Murder! Murder!”
The heavy thud of footsteps on the run brought Watchmen and curious onlookers alike, straining to see past the line of men establishing a perimeter against the arrival of the Night Captain. Their efforts merely garnered them the sight of a cloak-draped form, though the more observant noted that the visible articles of clothing and footwear suggested that the victim was no mere denizen of the Quarter. If anything, the man seemed distinctly out of place with his fine boots with their mirror-like shine.
Just who was the victim, and why was he down here? Toffs didn’t come to the Lilac; they could afford for anyone to come to them. Already, whispers were starting, speculating as to the identity of the victim and his business in the long shadows of the city’s underbelly. The men of the Watch exchanged looks but no words, knowing it would be their jobs if the Captain heard them talking about the crime before the investigation had begun. That didn’t stop the people, however, for whom this was prime excitement indeed. As the crowd continued to grow, the men of the Watch were forced to cordon off the alley and part of the street against the Captain’s arrival.
Hopefully, he was on his way.