What: Riftwatch has been asked to investigate a series of murders that have taken place in the town of Pérouges over the last month or so. Pérouges is a medium-sized town, smaller than Pessac but too large to properly be called a village, certainly not large enough for six murders in as many weeks. The locals believe they are caused by a demon stalking the town, due to the brutality of the crimes and the lack of any obvious culprits or clues left behind.
The town is relatively well-off due to the presence of a fountain shrine where it's claimed Andraste stopped to drink and pray during her march to Tevinter, which has become a minor pilgrimage site. Unlike many symbols of the Andrastian/Orlesian Chantry, which suffered under occupation, this one has been left unscathed, as has the town in general. Tevinter soldiers were based here throughout the occupation, and a party of Venatori even took up residence in the mayor's house for some months, but there is no significant damage to be seen, and the townspeople will report having been afraid, threatened, property confiscated, but nothing worse.
Despite this, the mood in the town is particularly low and tense. This may be attributed to the prolonged occupation and the active serial killer, but over time the most perceptive in the group may pick on a hint of guilt underlying the fear. Many people are terrified that they might be the demon's next victims, and though no one will discuss it outright, they may hear whispers that suggest the general belief is that this is a demon of vengeance.
The Mayor of Pérouges, a sturdily efficient and friendly man of about 60 named Maurice Liseaux, will brush any such rumors off as the product of fevered imaginations and people overwrought by difficult times. He believes the murders are a demon but suspects its presence is caused by all the rifts and such in the region and specifically requested Riftwatch's assistance for that reason. A pair of identical elven twins named Lisette and Robert serve as the Mayor's all-purpose personal assistants/clerks, and he will assign them to assist the team with anything they need during their stay. Lisette and Robert are very reserved and professional, but will be of great assistance in terms of facilitating the investigation, providing information about the town and its inhabitants and getting them the necessary access, introductions, and interviews.
The murder victims:
Achille Duguay: prosperous cloth merchant and local justice of the peace, killed in his office while working late
Émilie Plourde: brewer whose business doesn't appear to have suffered despite the grain shortages elsewhere, killed while walking back from a rendezvous with her lover, Denis Travert
Denis Travert: banker and the Mayor's cousin, killed while riding home from a rendezvous with his lover, Émilie Plourde
Françoise Blanc: the town's sheriff, killed in his office early one morning just before his deputies arrived
Odile Masson: innkeeper whose premises were heavily patronized by the occupiers, killed in the tavern's main room one night not long after closing
Yanick Bonnaire: local gentry, minor in the grand scheme of things but important by the town's standards, killed while taking his nightly constitutional about the grounds
While investigating, three things will gradually come to stand out:
1. All of the victims were killed at times/places that suggest that if the murderer is not a demon, it must be someone who had enough familiarity to be aware of the victims' routines and/or to have been granted admission to their homes.
2. All of the victims are either sufficiently wealthy or run large enough businesses that they ought to have a larger number of servants and workers assisting them, but their homes/farms/warehouses seem nearly empty. Anyone questioned about this will provide vague excuses about losing staff to the war and unreliable servants running off at the first sign of trouble.
3. Once people start thinking about servants, it may become noticeable that there are almost no elves around, which is unusual in an Orlesian town of this size. Further digging on this subject will only make it more suspicious: there is a (very small, not actually walled) 'alienage' district in Pérouges that the townspeople have simply stopped mentioning or visiting, and which now appears to be abandoned.
If the Mayor is questioned directly about this, he will admit that the enemy--specifically the Venatori who spent some time in the town--rounded up the town's elves and took them away, and that he and the townspeople allowed it because it was made clear to him that the alternative was the enemy taking them by force along with anyone else who resisted. Any other townspeople pressed on this will tell the same story, at times exactly the same story, word for word. If Lisette or Robert are questioned about this, they too will provide the same story. Lisette will tell it convincingly, but Robert will almost verbatim parrot the Mayor's words in a way that makes obvious that it's what they've been told to say.
It's after this conversation that the Mayor and Lisette and Robert all disappear. By process of elimination, smarts, or tracking skills, the team can trace them back to the Mayor's own house, which the Venatori occupied for quite some time, and to the secret basement where--it will quickly become clear--they conducted blood magic rituals. There, Robert and Lisette are holding the Mayor, attempting to force him to write out a confession before they kill him.
They'll tell the team the real story, which they saw play out from their place in the Mayor's office: the Venatori did demand that the Mayor provide a certain number of people for their use, and there was a clear threat that if he didn't, the Venatori would take whoever they pleased. But it was the Mayor and his cronies who decided to offer up the town's elves specifically. At first it was just the handful the Venatori demanded, but when their compliance seemed to grant the town protection from the abuses the Venatori were said to be inflicting elsewhere, they decided to keep it going and make sure that the Venatori received a consistent supply of elven victims, offering them up even before requests were made. Some human citizens complied out of fear alone, but others were eager to seem friendly and sympathetic and reap the rewards that followed (more/better food, guarantees of safety, business arrangements with the occupiers). The few people who spoke up against this were given to the Venatori as well, effectively crushing future opposition.
The Mayor will tearfully admit that all of this is true, but profess that he was just doing what he had to do to keep the town safe, the Venatori would have killed far more if he'd done different, and that he protected Lisette and Robert because they're like family to him, but that's the best he could do. Unmoved, the elves will refuse to stand down and will make clear that their only remaining desire in life is to mete out justice on the people of Pérouges. They will not trust the entirely-human Riftwatch team to get justice any other way, or to ensure that they and the mayor stand trial and get the truth out. The options will be to allow them to carry on with their mission of vengeance, or to kill them. Either way, it will also be up to the team what story is presented to the public (and to the Chantry/Inquisition).
OOC Notes: If they do try something other than letting them go or killing them, check in with us to let us know what they're doing so we can let you know how that'd god and if there's any fallout! And be sure one of you posts a report to the rookery comm by the end of September.
PÉROUGES
Who: Bastien, John, Madi, Sawbones, Yevdokiya
What: Riftwatch has been asked to investigate a series of murders that have taken place in the town of Pérouges over the last month or so. Pérouges is a medium-sized town, smaller than Pessac but too large to properly be called a village, certainly not large enough for six murders in as many weeks. The locals believe they are caused by a demon stalking the town, due to the brutality of the crimes and the lack of any obvious culprits or clues left behind.
The town is relatively well-off due to the presence of a fountain shrine where it's claimed Andraste stopped to drink and pray during her march to Tevinter, which has become a minor pilgrimage site. Unlike many symbols of the Andrastian/Orlesian Chantry, which suffered under occupation, this one has been left unscathed, as has the town in general. Tevinter soldiers were based here throughout the occupation, and a party of Venatori even took up residence in the mayor's house for some months, but there is no significant damage to be seen, and the townspeople will report having been afraid, threatened, property confiscated, but nothing worse.
Despite this, the mood in the town is particularly low and tense. This may be attributed to the prolonged occupation and the active serial killer, but over time the most perceptive in the group may pick on a hint of guilt underlying the fear. Many people are terrified that they might be the demon's next victims, and though no one will discuss it outright, they may hear whispers that suggest the general belief is that this is a demon of vengeance.
The Mayor of Pérouges, a sturdily efficient and friendly man of about 60 named Maurice Liseaux, will brush any such rumors off as the product of fevered imaginations and people overwrought by difficult times. He believes the murders are a demon but suspects its presence is caused by all the rifts and such in the region and specifically requested Riftwatch's assistance for that reason. A pair of identical elven twins named Lisette and Robert serve as the Mayor's all-purpose personal assistants/clerks, and he will assign them to assist the team with anything they need during their stay. Lisette and Robert are very reserved and professional, but will be of great assistance in terms of facilitating the investigation, providing information about the town and its inhabitants and getting them the necessary access, introductions, and interviews.
The murder victims:
- Achille Duguay: prosperous cloth merchant and local justice of the peace, killed in his office while working late
- Émilie Plourde: brewer whose business doesn't appear to have suffered despite the grain shortages elsewhere, killed while walking back from a rendezvous with her lover, Denis Travert
- Denis Travert: banker and the Mayor's cousin, killed while riding home from a rendezvous with his lover, Émilie Plourde
- Françoise Blanc: the town's sheriff, killed in his office early one morning just before his deputies arrived
- Odile Masson: innkeeper whose premises were heavily patronized by the occupiers, killed in the tavern's main room one night not long after closing
- Yanick Bonnaire: local gentry, minor in the grand scheme of things but important by the town's standards, killed while taking his nightly constitutional about the grounds
While investigating, three things will gradually come to stand out:
If the Mayor is questioned directly about this, he will admit that the enemy--specifically the Venatori who spent some time in the town--rounded up the town's elves and took them away, and that he and the townspeople allowed it because it was made clear to him that the alternative was the enemy taking them by force along with anyone else who resisted. Any other townspeople pressed on this will tell the same story, at times exactly the same story, word for word. If Lisette or Robert are questioned about this, they too will provide the same story. Lisette will tell it convincingly, but Robert will almost verbatim parrot the Mayor's words in a way that makes obvious that it's what they've been told to say.1. All of the victims were killed at times/places that suggest that if the murderer is not a demon, it must be someone who had enough familiarity to be aware of the victims' routines and/or to have been granted admission to their homes.
2. All of the victims are either sufficiently wealthy or run large enough businesses that they ought to have a larger number of servants and workers assisting them, but their homes/farms/warehouses seem nearly empty. Anyone questioned about this will provide vague excuses about losing staff to the war and unreliable servants running off at the first sign of trouble.
3. Once people start thinking about servants, it may become noticeable that there are almost no elves around, which is unusual in an Orlesian town of this size. Further digging on this subject will only make it more suspicious: there is a (very small, not actually walled) 'alienage' district in Pérouges that the townspeople have simply stopped mentioning or visiting, and which now appears to be abandoned.
It's after this conversation that the Mayor and Lisette and Robert all disappear. By process of elimination, smarts, or tracking skills, the team can trace them back to the Mayor's own house, which the Venatori occupied for quite some time, and to the secret basement where--it will quickly become clear--they conducted blood magic rituals. There, Robert and Lisette are holding the Mayor, attempting to force him to write out a confession before they kill him.
They'll tell the team the real story, which they saw play out from their place in the Mayor's office: the Venatori did demand that the Mayor provide a certain number of people for their use, and there was a clear threat that if he didn't, the Venatori would take whoever they pleased. But it was the Mayor and his cronies who decided to offer up the town's elves specifically. At first it was just the handful the Venatori demanded, but when their compliance seemed to grant the town protection from the abuses the Venatori were said to be inflicting elsewhere, they decided to keep it going and make sure that the Venatori received a consistent supply of elven victims, offering them up even before requests were made. Some human citizens complied out of fear alone, but others were eager to seem friendly and sympathetic and reap the rewards that followed (more/better food, guarantees of safety, business arrangements with the occupiers). The few people who spoke up against this were given to the Venatori as well, effectively crushing future opposition.
The Mayor will tearfully admit that all of this is true, but profess that he was just doing what he had to do to keep the town safe, the Venatori would have killed far more if he'd done different, and that he protected Lisette and Robert because they're like family to him, but that's the best he could do. Unmoved, the elves will refuse to stand down and will make clear that their only remaining desire in life is to mete out justice on the people of Pérouges. They will not trust the entirely-human Riftwatch team to get justice any other way, or to ensure that they and the mayor stand trial and get the truth out. The options will be to allow them to carry on with their mission of vengeance, or to kill them. Either way, it will also be up to the team what story is presented to the public (and to the Chantry/Inquisition).
OOC Notes: If they do try something other than letting them go or killing them, check in with us to let us know what they're doing so we can let you know how that'd god and if there's any fallout! And be sure one of you posts a report to the rookery comm by the end of September.