The Bloody Hyacinth

**Misremembered Realms**

The Bloody Hyacinth is the nickname for a serial killer in the city of Waterdeep active from 1491 Dale Reckoning to 1493 (Present).

The Bloody Hyacinth has serval copy-cats. Anything specific to copy-cats will be marked as such. Copycats always are imperfect copies and don't match the dossier below in some way, most often the magical mask and medical skill level.

If you are running a Bloody Hyacinth session, and they catch or kill the Hyacinth, either keep the hyacinth's identity secret and contact a lead storyteller or reveal it to be a copycat.

## Investigation

As of 04/11/2022 the investigation is on going and may still be. Join our discord if you want to help catch the serial killer or otherwise want to be part of the story.

### 12 Odd Court, Lier's Night

On 30 (Lier's Night) / 10 (Marpenoth) / 149x DR, In the Odd Court of the Dock-Ship-n-Sail district of the Dock Ward a City Watch member, civilar Denzin, was murdered in her guard post. The court has been closed off by members of the Zhentarim Mafia under the command of Sean Hardlock as he helps with the investigation, started by customers of the Odd Court Hostile.

#### Notable Characters

##### NPCs

* civilar Denzin: She-Human, Victim
* Polly: She-gnome, waitress for a pub in the court. Was seen entering guard post night of death.
* Grink: They-goblin, PI. Was denied pay for a job by Denzin, reviving an IOU instead and was seen entering guard post night of death.
* Dratillda: She-orc, bard who was playing in the court. Was seen entering guard post night of death.
* Unknown: She-half-elf, mask merchant selling in the court. Was captured by the investigators for seemingly having a **connection to the murders.**

##### PCs

* Fighter: He-human, mercenary commander. help with investigation.
* Goose: He-cat. Help with investigation.
* Hum Bubblings Esquire: Helped with investigation.
* Indigo: found the body, helped with investigation.
* Mo Fan: helped with investigation
* Kalm: He-giant, helped with investigation
* Rall: helped with investigation
* Tinder: helped with investigation
* Ulfketill: helped with investigation

###### Recurring

* Capo Sean Hardlock: **Murderer**. He-human, mafioso, doctor, and unofficial mayor of Dock-Ship-n-Sail. Has done autopsies on most of the Dock Ward victims whilst working with the Watch. Helped the investigating party before being determined to be the murderer and given to the Mafia for punishment.

#### Events

##### Confrontation

Before sundown, civilar Denzin came into the court extremely drunk jovially threatened to knock down Rall's carved pumpkin unless they were bought a drink. When confronted by Rall and Kalm, Denzin insisted it was all in good fun. Capo Hardlock ask her if she had a pumpkin up, which she said she did and that it is a silly fun tradition to inquire hedonism and pranks. but when Capo Hardlock pointed out that in a hostile not everyone is from Waterdeep and therefore participates in the more nuanced parts of the holiday nor have know how seriously to take the misfortune warning. With that, Denzin called everyone humbugs and drunkenly slunk back to her watch post.

##### Visits

Indigo watch other the festivities in the courts, and noticed that Dratillda, Polly, and Grink all visited the watch post.

##### Body Found

Just after Grink left the watch post, Indigo went over to see why people kept visiting. Finding the watch post empty with some spilled alcohol, Indigo investigated and found the armory door unlocked. Inside was the corpse of Civilar Dezin in a pool of her own blood with a blood soaked white hyacinth on her chest.

Indigo, Mo Fan, Kalm, Rall, Tinder, Ulfketill investigated the body and found that Dezin had a Y incision on her torso but no other clear wounds and Tinder deduced that in flower language, the white hyacinth represents a game or challenge.

##### psy

The party got Capo Hardlock to do an improto autopsy with a knife, a smiths hammer from Ulfketill, and a carpenter saw from Tinder.

They found that just as with the other victims, despite the Y incision, the victims bones and organs were all intact. Tinder suggested that rather than taking something out, maybe the killer put something in the corpse, and the party directed Hardlock to break through the rib cage. He found a poem carved into the liver. "The rules apply even when drunken. Your pumpkin shows rules you've spoken, so a pumpkin tipped means misfortune".

##### Closing the Court

When the party express a desire to keep the suspects in the court, Hardlock offered to get the Zhentatim to subtly close the court for investigation. The party agreed and Sean got his gang to around and enter the court.

##### Interviewing People in the Court

During interviews in the court with Grink, and the Mask Merchant, they discovered the following.

* Grink...
	+ Distrusts the Zhentarim and believes it was a gang hit disguised as a copy-cat. (from Grink)
	+ Was cheated out of payment for a investigation job by Denzin, but says they still think she is a good member of the Watch. (from Grink)
	+ Had an argument Denzin when he visited about payment. (from wall ivy)
	+ Only suspect who noticed the hidden gang members.
* Polly...
	+ Hated Denzin as Denzin would always find some way to coerce a free drink. (from Grink)
* The Mask Merchent...
	+ Uses she/her pronouns. (Insight by Ulfketill)
	+ Has silver hair (a lie by the Merchent)
	+ Is uncooperative with the investigation.

##### Interviewing the Hyacinth

The next day, Tinder had the idea to speak to the Hyacinth clipping left as a calling card using the speak with plants spell. Using this method, they investigators surmised that the Hyacinth was grown by the murderer, "raised from a seedling" in the plants words, and that the garden the plant grew in was within the Dock Ward as the plant said it could "taste the pollen of my brothers".

See guidelines on interviewing plants in the Session Guidelines below.

###### Interrogation of Prime Suspects

After interviewing the suspects, the investigators settled on two prime suspects of Capo Sean Hardlock and the uncooperative mask merchant. After informing the Mask Merchant what they were about to do, the Hum Bubblings Esquire cast the *Zone of Truth* spell on the merchant who resisted the spell. The investigators then asked Capo Hardlock to approach the Merchant, which he did, also resisting the spell. After assuring the investigators he resisted because he did not know what the spell was or who cast it, he agreed to the spell being recast. The Mask Merchant relented to the recasting once the investigates had promised to only ask "were you involved in this murder". Both suspects were effected by the recasting.

When attempting to asked the question "were you involved in this murder" Goose said "were you involved in these-" before catching themselves and rephrasing to "or this murder" forming a complete question, "Were you involved in these or this murder". Sean catching on that the merchant refused to answer ask the original question, which the Merchant responded "no" to. This clued the investigators in that the Merchant did have some connections to prior Bloody Hyacinth murders. The investigators then went back on their word and asked more questions whilst the Zone of Truth was active.

#### Resolution

During the interrogation Capo Hardlock to admitted to killing Denzin as a Zhentarim hit and making it seem like a Bloody Hyacinth murder. His reasoning was that Denzin refused to honor the agreement between the City Watch and the Zhentarim Mafia where in the Watch turns a blind eye and the Zhent keeps the blood of the streets and crime from other criminals down.

As murder without sanction from the Don is banned within the Zhentarim Mafia several of the investigators confronted Capo Hardlock with this and he seemed genuinely remorseful. Many of the investigators having worked with Hardlock in the past to break up slave rings, agreed to let this matter be handled internally by the Zhentarim.

## Dossier

### Spoiler-Free Dossier

#### Info

* **Name**: Unknown
* **Nickname**: Bloody Hyacinth (named for the flowers they dip in victim's blood))
* **Pronouns**: Unknown
* **Race**: Unknown
* **Career**: Unknown
* **Age**: Unknown (appears to be adolescent, young-adult, or adult)
* **Allegiance**: Unknown
* **Relationships**: Unknown
* **Kill Count**: Victims: 12 total, 9 confirmed, 1 confirmed copy-cat.

#### Personality

* **Quirk**: Unknown
* **Trait**: Unknown
* **Ideal**: Social Contract: Life is a game and a game has rules. People who break forgo protection by the rules.
* **Bond**: Unknown
* **Flaw**: Unknown
* **Likes**: Flowers, Poetry, Romantic Ideals.
* **Dislikes**: Cheaters.

#### Description

* **Physical**: They wear a great coat and a top-hat with a mask obscuring their face. Some say that as soon as they looked away from the figure, they forgot any defining features of the person.
* **Bio**: Unknown

#### Interaction

* **MO**:
	+ *Target*: The Bloody Hyacinth goes after targets they view as having broken a social contract. Notably, what qualifies as breaking the contract depends on the part of society the victim is a part of. A victim who is a member of the city watch may be killed by the hyacinth for breaking the law or actively endangering a citizen, a member of a gang may be victimized for betraying the trust of the gang, and a romantic noble may be killed for standing in the way of courtly love.
	+ *Method*: The Hyacinth uses a sleeping potion to incapacitate their victims before killing them. They open the victim with a medically excellent Y incision before stitching them back up. The purpose of this incision is unknown as all of the internal organs and bones remain intact.
	+ *Party Interaction*: Even if the party is attempting to capture the hyacinth, they are unlikely to be targets unless the hyacinth knows they match the criteria. If the party does not impede the Hyacinth, the Hyacinth will ignore them, and even be polite. If the party is investigating the Hycanith will take this as a challenge, the start of its own game of cat and mouse
* **Tactics**: When caught in a confrontation, the Hyacinth will flee, using his sleeping potion if necessary. One the Bloody Hyacinth is in a place where they can easily slip into a group of people, they will take of the coat, hat, and mask and use their amazing social skills to hide. The bloody hyacinth wants to get in and out without conflict, and so researches the location in and out before hand, and so almost always knowns it better than their opposition.

### Spoiler Dossier

#### Info

* **Name**: Unknown
* **Nickname**: Bloody Hyacinth (named for the flowers they dip in victim's blood))
* **Pronouns**: Unknown
* **Race**: Unknown
* **Career**: Unknown
* **Age**: Unknown (appears to be adolescent, young-adult, or adult)
* **Allegiance**: Unknown
* **Relationships**: Unknown
* **Kill Count**: Victims: 12 total, 9 confirmed, 3 confirmed copy-cats.

#### Personality

* **Quirk**: While wearing the mask, the true hyacinth cannot single out individuals (as they forget peoples' identities (but not existence) as soon as the person leaves the Hyacinth's line of sight.)
* **Trait**: Unknown
* **Ideal**: Social Contract: Life is a game and a game has rules. People who break forgo protection by the rules.
* **Bond**: Unknown
* **Flaw**: Unknown
* **Likes**: Flowers, Poetry, Romantic Ideals.
* **Dislikes**: Cheaters.

#### Description

* **Physical**: They wear a great coat and a tophat with a mask obscuring their face. Some say that as soon as they looked away from the figure, they forgot any defining features of the person. When the true hyacinth leaves a character's line of sight, the character forgets anything else about their description (such as height, build, race, etc.)
* **Bio**: Unknown

#### Interaction

* **MO**:
	+ *Target*: The Bloody Hyacinth goes after targets they view as having broken a social contract. Notably, what qualifies as breaking the contract depends on the part of society the victim is a part of. A victim who is a member of the city watch may be killed by the hyacinth for breaking the law or actively endangering a citizen, a member of a gang may be victimised for betraying the trust of the gang, and a romantic noble may be killed for standing in the way of courtly love.
	+ *Method*: The Hyacinth uses a sleeping potion to incapacitate their victims before killing them. They open the victim with a medically excellent Y incision before stitching them back up. The purpose of this incision is to remove an organ so it can be inscribe with a poems explaining why the victim was targeted. The removed organ is then replaced and the rib-cage repaired with a *mending* spell.
	+ *Party Interaction*: Even if the party is attempting to capture the hyacinth, they are unlikely to be targets unless the hyacinth knows they match the criteria. If the party does not impede the Hyacinth, the Hyacinth will ignore them, and even be polite. If the party is investigating the Hycanith will take this as a challenge, the start of its own game of cat and mouse
* **Tactics**: When caught in a confrontation, the Hyacinth will flee, using his sleeping potion if necessary. One the Bloody Hyacinth is in a place where they can easily slip into a group of people, they will take of the coat, hat, and mask and use their amazing social skills to hide. The bloody hyacinth wants to get in and out without conflict, and so researches the location in and out before hand, and so almost always knowns it better than their opposition.

### Stat Block

#### Tier 1

##### Info

* *Medium Humanoid(Human), LE,*
* *Weight xx, Height xx*

--

##### Combat Info

* Armor Class 15
* Hit Points 33 (4d8 + 15)
* Speed 30ft

\_\_\_

##### Abilities

* STR      DEX    CON     INT      WIS      CHA   WILL
* 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 08 (-1) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 18 (+4) 10 (+0)

--

##### Skills and Traits

* **Proficiency Bonus** +3 (+1d6)
* **Saving Throws** Con +2, Int +5
* **Skills** History +5, Insight +4, Intimidation +7, Nature +5, Slight of Hand +5, Stealth +5
	+ **Expertise** Deception +10, Medicine(int) +8, Persuasion +10
* **Tools** Alchemy(int) +5, Herbalism(wis) +4, Healer's(int) +5, Thieves'(dex) +5
* **Senses**
* **Languages** Common, Halfling, Draconic, Flower, Thieves' cant.
* **Challenge** 3~

--

###### *Features*

* **First Aid(4/S. rest)**: Bonus Action, heal 6 (1d4+int mod HP).
* **Second Opinion**: reaction, 20ft, hearable. +healing/2+int mod to amount healed by other.
* **Patch Up(3/L.Rest)**: 10 minutes, touch up to six willing creatures, target removes all non-magical ailments and heals half their max HP.
* **Diagnosis(3[  ]/S.Rest)**: Action, Line of sight, learn one of the following: dmg. vulnerable, resist, immunity, highest save, lowest save, or weather creature is below half HP.
* **Paramedic**: Disengage and dash action with one action.
* **Vaccination**: Action, touch, cure a target of one disease afflicting them, or make target immune to disease for 24 hours.
* **Surgery**: 2 hours, touch, target is cured of all ailments (mundane and magic) and regains max HP (remaining HP becomes temp.).
* **Doctor's Bag**: A fully stocked healers kit holding anything a surgeon could want. With a full round, the bloody hyacinth can rearrange what is on the two outer pockets (starts with sleep vapor and laughing vapor), allowing them to be drawn with a bonus action.
* **Antithetic**: The bloody Hyacinth carries antithetic potions in the Doctors Bag.
	+ *Sleep Vapor (1 use)*: This can either be poured in a rag without consuming it and held over target's mouth(see in action below) or thrown on the ground to create a cloud. The cloud has the effect of a 2nd level *sleep* spell.
	+ *Laughing Vapor (1 use)*: This can either be poured in a rag without consuming it and held over target's mouth(see in action below) or thrown on the ground to create a cloud. The cloud has the effect of *a hideous laughter* spell.

###### *Actions*

* ***Sleep Rag*.** *Melee Spell Attack:* +5 (+1d6+2) to hit, reach 5ft., 1 target(s). *Hit:* 23 (5d8) compared to the target's current HP, if the number rolled is higher, the target is affected by the sleep spell. If the target is unaware of the Hyacinth, they are affected by the sleep spell. This can be reused.
* ***Laugh Rag*.** *Melee Spell Attack:* DC13 Wis save, reach 5ft., 1 target(s). *Failure:* The target is affected by the *Hideous Laughter* spell. If the target is unaware of the Hyacinth, they automatically fail the save. This can be reused.

## Session Guidelines

### Interviewing

#### Interviewing Plants

Interviewing plants can be valuable but limited. As plants do not have eyes, they cannot give any visual clues, they are aware of surroundings based on "vibes" with pollen (and pheromones, the animals pollen) and "sounds" as plants can seance vibration. Additionally, each plant should have a unique personality.

In the Odd Court case, Tinder used the spell *Speak with Plants* to interview the hyacinth clipping the murderer left as a calling card. Investigations in the future which use this technique should treat it like a *Speak with Dead* spell, with the change that healing spells of 1st level or higher can be cast on the plant to gain 1 additional question.

#### Zone of Truth

Zone of Truth can be used to completely break the murder mystery format by allowing the investigators to simply ask the question, "did you kill this person". There are several ways around this. The DM can choose to use any or all of these. As Tales from Waterdeep is often a Round Table DM session, the dissension should be a unanimous one.

##### 1: Banned Questions

A DM can make it clear before the spell is cast that certain questions are band. A list of commonly banned questions follows.

* "Are you the murderer" or variations there-of.

##### 2: Uncertainty

A DM can choose to remove the part of the spell that allows the caster to know if the spell was resisted or not.