FOR THEY CANNOT DIE ANYMORE, BECAUSE THEY ARE EQUAL TO ANGELS.

[cccorp]

Today, the canals of Mac Anu flow as gentle as they always do, gondolas drifting lazy through the paths of sunlight cut bright across the water. Shops and vendors line the stonework streets along the waterways, a general murmur of NPCs circulating through their preprogrammed business keeping Mac Anu, as always, feeling maybe a little more alive than a real city.

There is one particular bridge that nearly every player's taken at least once, because it connects to a great many other places of interest, and it's wide enough for easy travel. Besides, with the professions update, they've put a fishing spot on the other side of it. NPCs with fishing rods litter the spot in alternating shifts, their laughter mingling with the calls of shopkeeps advertising cheap prices for some simple plants to get started crafting with, and the clink of forks and plates at a restaurant nearby, its customers singing the chef praises.

Below the bridge, a gondolier passes, humming, his gondola drifting along its circuit through the canals, his tune in rhythm with the passing conversation. As he comes out from under it and sails further away, he glances up at the bridge, as if he were expecting something, and he seems to see it. His gaze remains fixed there until, eventually, the water takes him out of sight again.

Today, you might notice that at the base of this bridge, just before your feet, is a red sort of smear.

A little further down the bridge, about a fourth of the way along it, is a person collapsed on the ground. The red trails to him, fallen forward.

You see upon approaching his hand grasping at his throat at the singularly cut sliced deep into his neck. His one good eye wide and unblinking, he is—among all the laughter and conversation on either side of the bridge; in the shadow of the clock tower, which stands a silent witness, the sun at its back—no longer breathing, his body cool to the touch.

Perhaps this could be considered a kindness: for one who failed, time and time and again, to grasp the desire to live, maybe he found some suggestion of it in his last moments, his hand at his throat, his palm smeared with dried blood, a curious anomaly in the deathless Mac Anu. Fragment had, after all, taught him a great many things. Should he not be grateful for one more, no matter how permanent the lesson?

Mithrun is dead.

Comments

investigation question(s): bloody footprints

[ganymed]

[ Of course, Ganymede returns, thinking to give Hien a piece of his mind again, but upon seeing the difference in barrier size, he reconsiders. So, let's zero in on the footprints, which is far enough from the body to a point from which it gets closer once more, and he is mature enough not to shoot any dirty looks (for now.)

--

1. If he compares his feeties to the size of the footprints, can he get a potential size estimation in regards to a height range of whomever left these?

2. Do the footprints look like they were left with a more...messy movement, or perhaps from the way they've been imprinted, a leisurely one?

3. Just one pair of bloody footprints present? ]

[cccorp]

1. Yes! And, if Ganymede is diligent, he may notice that the footsteps belong to one person.

2. It looks as if the owner of the footprints wasn't paying much mind to where they were going. As far as anyone can tell, their gait was relatively consistent. They clearly weren't in any rush...

3. Correct.

[ganymed]

[ ...Okay, moving right along then, he's going to go about the size estimation! What are we looking at for height range thereabouts for comparison against feeties? ]

[cccorp]

You're looking for someone short with relatively small feet. That describes about a third of the game.

Are you a smart boy, Gany? Maybe you'll consider looking at the underside of Mithrun's feet before you wander off too far. If you do, you'll notice that they're quite bloody and match the footprints on the ground.

[ganymed]

[ Of course it ended up like that, but better to rule it out sooner than later. Anyways, anything else...odd hanging around the trail of bloody footprints? Strange pieces of fabrics, marks, or other easy to miss small sus things that might be easy to glean upon a more intensive look through? ]

[cccorp]

Nope, not really! The trail of blood is a bit of a mess as a result of through traffic, but those can be ruled out as the regular movements of NPCs milling around town. While their movement has made a mess of the blood trails, NPCs do not leave footprints behind, so that makes determining who the footprints belong to quite easy.

[ganymed]

[ Well then. Unfortunate that NPC disturbed the blood, but it is what it is.

Hmm, well, he is probably done here, because he doesn't know what else to look for, though he will note down his findings for later... ]

[cccorp]

You're done, Gany. Good work! Don't get blood on your robes on your way out.