Professional killers

Movement, just in the corner of her vision. She looked up from the book she was trying to read, irritated. She knew it was irrational but ... One of the damned guards was standing outside the latticed windows leading into the garden, with a lantern, watching her. She turned round and gave him an exasperated look and mouthed "still not dead".

She stared at him until he moved away. Then she stood up and pulled the long velvet drapes across the glass doors.

it had taken her long enough to persuade them to leave her study. Honestly. She was at home in her own library; there were guards at the front and back, one in the cellar and one on the roof. How did the imagine an assassin was going to get to her? She had half a mind to compose a strongly-worded note to Senator Adamah of the Silent Tide; apparently this whole ridiculous arrangement had been his idea.

Still ... she checked the drawer at her desk as she sat back down, to reassure herself that there was a naked blade within easy reach.

The drawer was empty. She frowned. Someone cleared their throat.

She turned and for a moment found it next to impossible to take in what she was seeing. A plump fellow in a simple white mask, wrapped up in a long billowing cloak, was standing near the mirror. He had her knife in one hand, and in a smooth motion that was almost too fast for her to follow, stepped close and put one hand on her shoulder. The strength went out of her limbs and she slumped backwards trying to remember how to shout for help it was so hard to focus and ...

Her confusion ended abruptly as the doors from the garden exploded in a shower of glass and splinters. A large briar, roaring, with a sword in each hand, charged into the room straight from the garden. Her assailant was obviously as surprised as she was. He made an attempt to drive the knife into Helena's throat but the sudden apperance of the briar had broken the strange malaise that had fallen over the civil servant.

"How dare you come into my home!" she bellowed, as she threw herself backwards. The assassin over-extended himself. Before he could recover, the briar guard had barelled stright into him and brought him down with an unstoppable tackle. He was shouting something about Mitwold Wanderers as he did so.

As the two tussled on the floor, the other guard - a no-nonsense Highborn woman - appeared in the shattered lattice, made a quick assessment, and tore down one of the long curtains.

"Havelock! Over here!" she shouted as she rushed forward.

The briar stopped methodically smashing his fist into the would-be murderer's face, and rolled to one side. The Highborn guard threw the drape over his prone victim, and kicked it twice - once in the head, once in the crotch. A hand holding a knife emerged momentarily from under the edge of the heavy crimson fabric and she stamped on it repeatedly until it dropped the knife and withdrew.

Helena stood up, shakily. She looked from one to the other. The Briar was shouting something at their prisoner, straddling him, ready to pound him into submission with newly-barked fists if he tried to put up a fight. The prisoner moaned faintly, but had the good sense not to continue struggling.

The door burst open, and two more guards and a pair of militia volunteers crowded through into the library. As the Highborn woman barked instructions at the two militia volunteers, Helena closed her workbook. Slightly regretfully, realisng it was unlikely she was going to get any work done. For one, she would need to get a glazier into fix the doors into the garden; for two, she was going to be busy setting up a camp-bed in her sleeping chamber, and discussing her itinerary for the rest of the month with her new best friends ...

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Overview

In the last three months, there have been three more attacks against the remaining civil servants associated with the department of historical research have been bloodily murdered. The first attack came a fortnight after the end of the Summer Solstice; Edgar of Woldstone was assaulted while researching the origins of the Vallorn in Rundhal.

The attack resulted in a slightly different outcome to the terrible crimes of the previous season.

When the assassin attempted to murder Edgar, he was unprepared for the sudden appearance of the civil servant's bodyguards. Warren of Aldstock and Jennifer Greenwood, yeomen of the Marches, intercepted the masked assassin as he approached the oblivious researcher and engaged him in a short, bloody scuffle. Taken by surprise, the assassin was completely outmatched and attempted to flee. While the two yeomen made every effort to take the murderer alive, he died of a nasty wound inflicted when Jennifer threw her hatchet after his fleeing form.

According to Edgar of Woldstone, who examined the body with the assistance of several Kallavesi mystics, there is no doubt that the assassin was not a mortal man at all, but a herald. Beneath the bone-white dramaturgy mask the would-be murderer wore, the creature had no face; simply a featureless smooth surface. Perhaps more compellingly, the body dissolved completely over the course of the next twelve hours leaving behind only the mask and a pair of blue leather gloves. Even these last pieces of evidence have disappeared; they vanished from a sealed box while in transit from Rundhal to the Castle of Thorns in Astolat.

The second and third attacks went more or less the same way. An attempt against the life of Edgar of Woldstone saw the assassin escape by throwing itself through a window into a canal.

The third attack came against Helena Raminci di Sarvos. Attacked in her personal library; a trio of bravos employed by the Senate managed to capture the assailant by wrapping him in a long velvet drape.

The magistrates were immediately called, and the would-be assassin taken into custody. Following this, there have been no further attacks against civil servants from the department of historical research.

Significance

The Senate has passed a motion to assign significant funds to providing the historical research department with constant, round-the-cloth protection. While the remaining civil servants have had a few frightening encounters, no more have been slaughtered. The upkeep of these elite bodyguards is ongoing. If the Senate abrogated these fund it is likely that the attacks would begin again if the underlying situaion was not redressed..

Furthermore, recruitment within the civil service for the department of historical research is at a standstill, and several of the remaining members have still chosen to take early retirement or to seek transfer to other departments. As such, the Senate still has the ability to commission only two historical research projects each season.

Magistrate Karkovtch (sp?) has confirmed that he intends to seek the assistance of the Archmage of Night during the upcoming summit. The would-be murderer will be brought to Anvil for interrogation by magical experts, and to face trial for his crimes.