The Shadow Killer

## Tadhg Ní Mhaoilchiaráin AKA The Shadow Killer

The 'Shadow Killer' is a moniker given to the mysterious serial killer that has been plaguing the Trade Lands and the Frozen Coast. The description given seems to indicate a firbolg with a burnt face, suggesting a connection with Gráinne.

Recently it was discovered, with thanks to Bob the Skull, that the name of The Shadow Killer is Tagdg Ní Mhaoilchiaráin.

## Case Files

### Báile Caillte Harbour

#### The Crime Scene

* All three murders occurred at the docks, at berth twenty-two
* Victim one was found in the lower decks of the fishing boat 'Fair Weather Friend'
* Victim two was find on the upper of deck of the same boat, slumped against the gunwale. It seems she was trying to reach victim three
* Victim three was found inside a barrel near the scene of the crime. It appears they were dragged there post-mortem, after being struck down approximately ten feet from victim two.

#### The Victims

* Victim one: Melanie 'Melly' Janson; half-elven, 48, female, 5'7", 157 lb, brown hair, brown eyes. Fisher, wife of Edgar Hearth-Janson and mother of Trice Hearth-Janson. She owned and operated the fishing boat 'Fair Weather Friend'. She was found dead from what appeared to be a 'violent, sudden detonation of the heart' caused by five acute blows to the chest, surrounding the heart. How this caused the heart to 'explode' is currently unknown, but it is believed that death was instant.

* Victim two: Edgar Hearth-Janson; dwarven, 65, male, 4'4", 210 lb, red hair, green eyes. Fish monger, husband of Melanie Janson and father of trice Hearth-Janson. Cause of death was a series of three or four blows to the back of the head dealt in rapid succession, followed by a single blow to the forehead caused by an impact with the gunwale.
* Victim three: Trice Hearth-Janson; son of Melanie Janson and Edgar Hearth Janson; human, 8, 4"1', 48 lb, blond hair, grey eyes. Attended Saint Stephanie the Wise school. Body was found within a barrel, the cause of death apparently asphyxiation. From evidence at the scene, it appears the victim was stunned by unknown means and injured their head when they fell. Neither being stunned nor the blow to the head should've proven fatal, but the perpetrator placed the victim in a nearby barrel, where they suffocated.

#### The Witnesses

* Dignity Santiago: tiefling trade and owner of 'Profit and Pride', a trade skiff that operates out Baile Trádála. Reported seeing a "tall, lanky looking fella lurkin' around the Fairweather. Didn't look like no goliath for that height, and didn't have the manner of a half-orc. Would bet my last coin it was one of them firbolgs, although you don't see many around these parts". Mr Santiago has since left harbour on a return trip to Baile Trádála and attempts to contact any form of local watch for follow up have proved unsuccessful.
* Halfo Ugwok: local halfing craftswoman. Of the night of the murders she claims to have seen "a tall chappie, and by tall, I mean taller than most of you bigjobs. I didn't get a good look at 'im, but he had that earthen skin firbolgs are supposed to have, and 'is face was mighty burnt, looked a right mess." Ms Ugwok's business and place of residence, A Fine Touch, can be found at 23, Ish Sah fifth.
* Lava: half-orc alchemist who runs a laboratory down in the docks at warehouse twelve. She was having a cigarette when she saw the incident transpire. She reported to the towns watch that "a tall, grey-brown skinned individual attacked Edgar and Trice on Melly's boat, and threw Trice in a barrel." The report was initially disregarded as being a product of hallucinations caused by alchemical reagents, but following the discovery of the bodies, the report was re-examined.
* Note: The reporting officer was disciplined severely for not following reporting protocol.

#### The Evidence

* Bodies of victims one, two and three. Victim one shows the most perplexing cause of death, that has yet to be indentified and thus can be assumed to be tied most closely to the killer. Victim three also shows signs of some kind of strange interruption to bodily functions that is believed to have resulted in their incapacitation.
* A bloody footprint left by the killer as they pursued victim three. Due to environmental conditions, the footprint was still wet on arrival of the watch and an imprint was made.
* Reports have come in from both Bóford and Falsa City Isle that similar crimes have been reported.

### Falsa City Isle

#### The Crime Scene

* Due to poor documentation, there is no real timeline of the crime scenes. As such, the crime scenes are indexed from west to east
* Victim one was found floating face down in the rushes on the south-west shore of the isle. Currents in the area suggest they impacted the water around the Iron Bridge
* Victim two was discovered under refuse behind the 'Lucky Copper' tavern.
* Victim three was founded embedded in a plaster wall in the back room of herbalists emporium. Evidence of a theft at the property; several jars of herbs were missing against the inventory.

#### The Victims

* Victim one: Jane Doe, dwarven, 30-40, female, 4'3", 143 lb, white hair, grey eyes. Clothing indicates victim one was a vagrant living on or under the iron bridge. Cause of death was a single punch to the sternum with a enough force to collapse the entire ribcage, crushing the heart and lungs.
* Victim two: Drewalt, elven, 60-70, male, 5'11", 110 lb, silver hair, blue eyes. A regular of the 'Lucky Copper', Drewalt was found intentionally buried under rubbish and refuge behind the tavern. Cause of death seems to be a broken spine and collapsed trachea.
* Victim three: Bilia Fairleaf, elven, 43, female. 6'6", 148 lb, black hair, green eyes. Proprietor of 'Bilia's Leaf' herb emporium, the victim was found embedded in a plaster wall, seemingly due to a massive blow to the chest propelling her across the room. Cause of death was exsanguination due to multiple wood spars puncturing the torse, and massive organ damage.

#### The Witnesses

* Although there are no witness testimonies on record, the following witnesses can be found:
* 'Upriver Jessie': A homeless half-orc who lives under the Iron Bridge witnessed the murder of 'Jane Doe' (actually 'Old Tessa Irontooth') who begged a coin off a passing "normal height type person, 'cept their skin was wrong. Was all browny grey and burned up" The stranger punched Tessa in the chest, sending her over the side of the bright
* Bill Cooper: A human bartender at the Lucky Copper, he saw someone "punch 'im once in the throat and Drewalt went down like a sack of potatoes."
* Mac and Sam Swelter: Drow twins, and thieves, they were casing out Bilia's Leaf when the saw "a tall, grey-brown skin fella stride straight in and turn the place over like it was nothing. They heard a kafuffle and scarpered. Sounded like the kinda trouble they stay out of"
* Asking around the city reveals a figure matching the description of the murder was seen in the vicinity of several 'accidental' deaths.

The Evidence

* The only evidence logged was the missing items list from the third crime scene:
	+ 2 jars of hogsweed
	+ 1 vial of deadly nightshade
	+ 3 ounces of crowsleaf
	+ 10 pouches of pipeweed

### Oighear Cósta

#### The Crime Scene

* Victim one was found in his office, a small coin exchange, strapped to his chair with two pieces of hempen rope, no sign of forced entry or a struggle. Found on Céadaoin amháin Eanáir.
* Victim two was found in their study at their abode; Two Twenty Three Peacemaker Street, again with no sign of forced entry. Found on Déardaoin amháin Eanáir
* Victim three was discovered impaled on a railing on the south end of Ivory Park, damage to surrounding foliage suggests a brief fight took place. Found on hAoine amháin Eanáir
* Suspected victim four died when her carriage crashed into wall south of Majestic Ballroom. This occurred on Domhnaigh amháin Eanáir.
* Suspected victim five was observed falling to her death from atop a crane at the Stone Docks. This occurred on Céadaoin dhá Eanáir.

#### The Victims

* Victim one: Albert Westner; human, 41, male, 5'9", 161 lb, grey hair, brown eyes. A small scale coin changer, Mr Westner was found bound to his office chair. Cause of death appears to be a series of coins embedded in the chest. Each coin seemed to avoid any major organs; cause of death being exsanguination.
* Victim two: Hannah Hart; halfling accountant, 52, female, 4'1", 42 lb, blond hair, blue eyes. Mrs Hart was a client of Albert Westner and eye witness reports place her at the scene of Mr Westner's murder approximately 12 hours before. She was discovered dead in her study, her neck having been snapped with a single, swift motion from behind.
* Victim three: Officer Ruta Mandrake; dwarven, 78, male, 4'6", 98 lb, brown hair, brown eyes. Officer Mandrake was a member of the Garda, having served 21 years to date. He was found impaled on the railing with each piece of his garda issued uniform likewise impaled along the railings. Cause of death was a single blow caving in the breastplate, the jagged edges of which cause fatal bleeding.
* Suspected victim four: Gwendolin Llywen; elven, 67, female, 6'9", 118 lb, silver hair, silver eyes. The victim died shortly after her carriage crashed, cause of death sever trauma to the head.
* Suspected victim five: Yowen Shieldborn; goliath, 28, 7'9", 210 lb, bald, grey eyes. A dock manager, Ms Shieldborn fell to her death in what was an apparent suicide when she fell from the overseers perch of the crane she was standing on.

#### The Witnesses

* Marcus Kale: Albert Westner's gnomish secretary, Mr Kale was the last person to see Mr Westner alive. He claims to have seen a 'shadowy figure lurking in the alley opposite'
* Multiple business owners on Goldriver Road, where Mr Westner's coin exchange is located, observed Mrs Hart being followed by a 'tall figure who lurked within the shadows'. One Mr Diblah, a food vendor, reported seeing a figure with burns down the left side of their face.
* Officer Mandrake's partner, Petty-Officer Willems, provided a testimony that his partner 'left a local establishment where they were spending their evening following the conclusion of their shift to pursue a suspicious individual." Petty-Officer Willems claimed he didn't see the suspect because he was "talking with an attractive bartender"
* Multiple witnesses report that prior to the crash that killed Lady Llywen a hooded figure, standing between 7 and 9 feet tall, was seen talking to her horse shortly before it bolted.
* Two different dock workers claim to have seen a figure standing behind Yowen Shieldborn before she fell.

#### The Evidence

* The rope used to bind victim one appears to be hand made from local hemp using a weaving technique not practised by locals. When an expert was consulted, they said the technique would be more suitable to materials from a warmer, wetter climate.
* Blood splatter and entry wounds from the first victim suggests that the murder launched (or *threw*) the coins from across the room.
* The following passage was found written in the victim's blood on the wall of his office: "An chuid eile súile tuirseach ar feadh tamaill"
* There was no sign of forced entry or foul play at the location of victim two (cause of death notwithstanding). Written in ink on her ledger pad was the following verse: "Is Sweet thy leanbh aoibh gháire,"
* The horse pulling Ms Llywen's carriage was found dead shortly after the crash; having sheered the harness linkage, the normally well tempered horse bolted through the streets before running off the Iron Bridge.
* Circumstantial evidence: although her body was badly damaged by the fall, the attending cleric reported that Yowen Shieldborn had "strange disruptions to her spirit, blocking the flow of vital energy"

### The Crime Scene

* The victim was discovered three days after death inside his vault within his home office. The office showed no signs of forced entry, but the vault had been forced open.

#### The Victims

* Victim: Darerduik Forgedigger; dwarf, 98, male, 4'1", 115 lb, grey hair, grey eyes. Forgedigger was a banker for the three largest smithies in the city. He was found after his clients each independantly filled missing person reports for him failing to attend meetings (he hadn't missed an appointment in 50 years). He was found by the Ùr-Guard inside his vault; almost every bone broken and his mouth filled with coins.

The Witnesses

* Although there have been many reports of 'The Long Man' around Dum’Dachaigh Ùr, there were no concrete witnesses of the crimes or the perpetrator.
* There have been reports of a figure seen 'in the shadows, moving without a sound, limbs long like rope and a face like melted wax' but it has been impossible to corroborate these reports.

### The Evidence

* Impressions and damage to the vault of Darerduik Forgedigger seems to suggest it was opened by force *without the use of tools*. The finger impressions suggest a creature of six foot stature or greater
* Engraved on the door of the safe, apparently using a diamond taken from Darerduik Forgedigger's personal collection, was the following passage:
	+ "Angels ag guarding"