Lilypad Murderer

The lilypad murderer was a murderer in Trosstin who was active in **637PR**. They are known for killing numerous victims in barbaric and often strange ways. Many theories have arisen about the lilypad murderer and the case was never solved. They eventually stopped their murders in **640PR**, but had gained international fame.

## Background

In **619PR** the city of Trosstin had finally unified it’s small island, winning a series of political and military battles. This made Budion Yueqin the Official King of the City-State. Now that the island and city was prospering, the culture of the nation finally began to get constructed, giving them an identity.

As a peaceful group of people, personal security was not an active topic, trusting the others that came through along with the guards that protected them. The guards themselves acted more like a deterrent than doing anything proactive. Despite this, the crime rate in the city and nation was incredibly low, and general happiness was at an all time high.

At the time of their unification, an influx of tourists and traders was at an all time high but by the 630s it became stable. With the prosperity beginning to mature, current King Sriwi Yueqin added a welfare system, allowing people to get some food from the city's own supply in order to feed the poor.

## Murders

On Asunak 11 **637PR** the body of Sinta Xiao was found near the Labourers Guild HQ in Trosstin. She had a deep stab wound to her stomach, her left hand was severed and missing, her throat had a deep cut, she was missing a tongue and had a lilypad cut into her back. She had been seen only hours earlier at an inn she frequented before leaving for home, her only connection to the Labourers Guild was getting employment through them in **635PR**.

On Caesan 1 **637PR** the body of Darma Hozou was discovered by guards in one of the guard houses situated along the walls. The man had 3 deep stab wounds to his stomach and back, along with a cut to his left wrist and missing foot. He too was missing his tongue and had a lilypad cut into his back, though the quality was lacking. He had been missing for two days and the guards had begun looking for him.

On Caesan 28 **637PR** the body of Kuwak was discovered in Yueqin Castle, just outside of the city. He had been stabbed multiple times to both the chest, neck and face. This time he was missing both his right hand and foot, along with the normal acts of a missing tongue and a lilypad cut into his back. He had worked as a servant for the Yueqin family and had been reportedly ill, forcing him to return to his quarters and miss a shift.

With the Aliquam Guild now investigating, it took some months for a body to appear, but eventually the body of Marthat Marat was discovered on Augona 21 **637PR**. The man had stabbed only once, but the stab turned into a deep cut. Most of his insides were dragged out and missing, along with his tongue. His back had a more detailed version of the lilypad. His body was dumped near the Sunwarm Guild HQ and discovered by one of their workers in the morning.

It had been some time since the previous murder but a group of 3 bodies was eventually discovered in an alleyway near the Aliquam Guild on Caesan 10 **638PR**. Two were identified as female but the third was unknown, too mutilated to understand.

Of the two females, their tongues had been ripped out this time, rather than removed from a knife or sharp object. Other wounds included missing eyes and ears, along with a deep gash in their chest. Both had half of a lilypad cut into their back. Initially it was believed the two were twins but later revealed that was not the case. The final victim had been attacked aggressively with cuts all over their body and a blunt object crushing their face. When the attacker or attackers were finished, they burnt the body, dumping it with the rest.

On Marcu 14 **639PR** an individual was scared off after leading a female to an alleyway, the men in the tavern nearby believed that they might’ve been the lilypad murder and ran to the rescue. The female was found to be drugged, and likely would’ve been their next victim. Unfortunately due to the drugs they were unable to give a good description.

On Caesan 4 **639PR** the bodies of both men who stopped the individual last time were dumped on the ship that the new Aliquam Guild members arrived on. They were both similarly mutilated to the previous male, stabbed multiple times in the stomach and had an eye each cut through. A lilypad with a skull in the centre was cut on their back and covered with salt, an act likely occurring while the men were still alive to maximise punishment.

On Caesan 9 **639PR** the body of Aliquam Guild member Stefan Whalstrak was discovered, he was an investigator in the case. He had been stabbed multiple times, and showed signs of fighting back. His tongue and mouth had been destroyed, and a crudely drawn lilypad was carved into his back.

A few days later Stefan’s partner, Yvonne was attacked but managed to escape, she suffered three quick wounds to the back, piercing her kidney and stomach. She managed to run away but was unable to get a description of the attacker, simply describing that she suddenly felt a surge of pain in her back.

On Caesan 28 **639PR** the body of Yvonne’s sister, Greta, had been found. She had been planning to visit her sister as a surprise and had not heard of the attacks while on the ship. She was found outside the city in the woods. Her tongue and eyes had been cut out, and she had a deep wound in her neck and back. A lilypad was cut into her back and some more of her body was injured but found out to be from animals.

On Caesan 2 **640PR** the body of investigator Jihaad Wenyan was discovered. They were one of the guard members and showed signs of fighting against the lilypad murderer. They had been stabbed directly through the mouth with likely a sword or spear, and had a lilypad cut into their back. Differences from previous murders was the cuts on Jihaad’s body were minor, indicating a fight, but rather than the stab wound he was relatively fine.

On Caesan 27 **640PR** the woman who had survived the previous attack’s body was discovered near the Yueqin Castle. She had a lilypad carved into her back and her tongue was cut out. Again different to the previous murders, her other cuts came only for the need to write a message. On a board of wood, there was the message “And that’s the final show.”.

## Investigation

When the body of Sinta was discovered the guards were called, shocked that such a horrific act could happen within the city. In order to avoid the public panicking, they kept the matter quiet, cleaning out the body and taking everything to their headquarters. The current head of the guard upped the amount of patrols in the city and called for an immediate investigation.

Again the guards kept the matter quiet after the discovery of Darma, now alerting the royal family and King Sriwi Yueqin. The matter of how the body got to the guard house was up to much debate, eventually it was found that many of the patrols along the wall had been lacking and the house itself had not been visited for 3 days. The guards meant to be patrolling the section were fired, and out of rage they revealed the murders to the populace, spreading fear.

2 weeks after the body was found, King Sriwi Yueqin hired more guards to patrol the city, in an act to keep the people happy and feeling secure once more. At this point they still had no leads on the murder.

The third body and murder was of no doubt a threat to the Yueqin family and they acted accordingly. No people were allowed in or out, and the Viper’s Fang were hired as protection. With 3 horrific murders still with no leads, they called for the Aliquam Guild to investigate the matter, believing it could only be an Awakened Individual who could do this.

The discovery of Marthat Marat made the Aliquam Guild fear for the worse, believing that maybe a Necromancer was conducting these murders and slowly taking the body parts from their victims in order to create the perfect being. The tongue was simply to avoid any magical measures of talking to the dead, unable to talk or have their tongue healed. However, they believed they were close on the case, since there had been some time without a murder and relayed that to the public, keeping both their employer, the King, and populace happier.

With no murders for a while the Aliquam Guild’s and guard’s trails ran cold. They believed they had successfully scared the killer away and began reviewing evidence to see where they could’ve been close. This was helped with a series of house raids conducted in Augona, Septim and Octavium. Ironically they ended up finding a thief instead, sentencing him to hanging later in Novollo.

When the three new bodies were discovered the Aliquam Guild Trosstin branch called for international help, unable to find even a good suspect to investigate. The bodies now were becoming cleaner, yet the killer still hadn’t presented a logical motive. On Deamber **638PR** a description was made of a suspicious man loitering in the streets of Trosstin late at night. They were described as coated, but acted very polite, without saying any words. While the evidence and description were lacking, it was the first real clue that the Aliquam Guild had.

On Marcu 14 the Aliquam Guild had more good news, hearing that a murder had been prevented. The men who saved the woman were awarded, and congratulated in the centre part of the city for their efforts. While they were unable to give a good description, the Aliquam Guild came to the conclusion that the murderer was likely an Awakened and using some type of magic to blur themselves along with normal disguises.

They began tracking magic this time, using help from the Uhekian Templars who were experts in the field. With the tracking set they were able to raid a few houses, discovering the lilypad murderers' previous hideout. This included the discovery of one of the weapons, a knife matching the cuts in all murders in **637PR**. Neighbours nearby were able to give the description of a tall and strong person but always hid their face under a hat or cloak.

Bad news came in Caesan with the discovery of the two men who had helped save the girl previously. Worse was that they were placed on the ship that new Aliquam Guild members arrived on, scaring off some recruits. Investigators were able to determine this was an angry killing, especially with the torture aspect. Further bad news came with Stefan’s death, lead investigator for the case. Later his wife was attacked but managed to survive, her sister dying in Caesan. But, this gave the investigators some news. The murderer definitely had access to the docks in some capacity, and began screening anyone who entered. This seemed to work because another murder wasn’t reported until **640PR**.

Jihaad had been one of the early investigators on the case and went out secretly to follow a lead. In his notes it was revealed that he believed there was an informant within the investigation team and they could have alerted the killer. His lead was helpful as his body was discovered later, bringing investigators closer to the killer.

Yet, the killer remained a step ahead, killing his final victim at the end of Caesan in **640PR** before disappearing. 4 days later the investigators were able to discover his final house, missing him by only a day. When they followed the trail they were led to the sea, where a makeshift dock had been constructed, enough to hold a medium sized ship. The Aliquam Guild worked internationally to find any ships that could’ve matched the description but found nothing.

### Suspects

During the investigation the Aliquam Guild found very little in terms of evidence that could lead them to any suspects. Any suspects they did have were only of slight concern, but still stalked and raided as with anyone else. It is believed that the Murderer at least had some money, coming from the multiple houses and hideouts. As an Awakened this was made more likely.

## Reaction

The reaction to the murders spread heavy fear throughout Trosstin. Many people refused to go outside during the murders, especially in Caesan during the killer's more active month. Mistrust was also placed upon not only the guards but each other, and many false calls were given, hampering the investigation but showing the fear of the people.

Internationally people followed the case with great interest, believing that their own guard system needed to be reformed in order to protect the people from death.

## Legacy

While some copycat killers of the lilypad murderer have sprung up in different nations and even Trosstin, none were as mysterious as the original. The murders still go down in history as a horror show, the murderer never being found.

Many myths have later been made about the murderer, such as being the Devil or a Demon sneaking through the nights, or punishing the evildoers. Some cults have formed around the lilypad murderer from some deranged mindset, causing any positive comments about the murderer to be outlawed in Trosstin.