Spire Stalker

“No Arbitrator, nothing out of the ordinary last night. Just the normal screams that always come from Lord Bransmyth's personal chambers."
--Attendant-scribe Portoni during interrogation
In the soaring spire of Hive Sibellus, someone
is killing nobles. Almost every night for the
last month, the murderer has struck. The
targets are high-born noblemen and women,
family dignitaries of leading merchant houses,
wealthy hive-officiates, and any possessed of
the status and power to dwell in the luxury
and splendor of the spire. The victims are
found inside their well-guarded quarters,
slain in a bloody frenzy of slashing cuts.
No clear evidence has been found, but
panicked witnesses talk of a speeding devil flitting
through the air, while hazy spy-lens picts suggest
a dark, winged figure, possibly female. The high
society scandal-mongers have quickly drawn their
own conclusions and fixed upon the individual they
consider the most likely culprit. This person is none other
than Lady Etula Vellomina Hax, niece and ward of the Sector Governor himself. The gossips cite the young noblewoman’s
introverted and morose nature, as well as her occasional flashes
of temper and her exceptional ability with a dueling blade,
as clear evidence of her dangerous character. The stories say
that every night she dons a xenos altered synth-skin suit that
boosts her strength and agility and goes out hunting, some
say to alleviate the claustrophobic boredom of her life, others
that she is compelled to unleash a hidden inner rage.
The wealthy occupants of the spire are at once delirious at
the hint of scandal and terrified of being the victim. Patrols and
sentries have been tripled, mostly through the employ of private
muscle, and there is a clamor for the authorities to catch the so-called
Spire Stalker. Groups of young noblemen are attempting to
take matters into their own hands, wandering the spire after dark,
armed with dueling rapiers and pistols, half drunk or drugged (or
both). So far they have killed someone's pet bird, but little else.