Assassin from the Mist
Lightning struck, splitting through the sky in a brilliant flash of light; rising in the mist, a figure appeared from the lightning. The mist swiftly spread, covering the capital in a choking blanket. The guards fell instantly, the city falling asleep as the figure strode towards the central building: the castle. Climbing the steps, the cloaked figure crossed through the doors without hesitation.
Hardly pausing at the top of the stairs the assassin continued, lightning flashing again. Rain pattered softly, three more figures stirring from the mist opposite the figure from the storm. Each Mage lit their marks, attacking the assassin at once. Each attack deflected, the three Mages were felled instantly.
The assassin didn't break their stride until coming to the King's room. The candles lining the room were blown out as the cloaked figure entered the room, darkness fell upon the city in anticipation for what was to come. Nonchalantly drawing a dagger and sending it flipping into the air and catching it deftly, swiftly approaching the King's bedside prepared to kill.
On the eve of the third year of Xylus Conoval's tenure as the King of the Lypian Empire, an assassin struck killing the King in his sleep. Leaving the scene through Magic, the assassin only left a paper with an unknown and possibly foreign symbol. A mark of power, the assassin was able to put the whole capital to sleep upon arrival.
The Assassin from the Mist only ever attacked Xylus - who is known by the guild and the South for being the cruelest ruler to ever rule over the Lypian Empire - before disappearing to never be found again; what happened to the assassin after the attack remains unknown. No one from the Mage's Guild or Historian's Guild were able to figure out who killed the King, the action that may have spurred the assassination, or on whom's orders; the only thing that they were able to assume was that it had to do with the rising power of Xylus, who was renowned for his terrible ruling.
The majority of the case study was completed by the Mage's Guild, spurred by the rising tension between the guild and the Empire caused by the assassin's Magic. To prevent all-out war, the Mage's Guild offered to look into the assassin, though it wasn't long before they hit a brick wall. Due to the lack of evidence, the Mage's Guild was forced to resign from the case.
Hardly pausing at the top of the stairs the assassin continued, lightning flashing again. Rain pattered softly, three more figures stirring from the mist opposite the figure from the storm. Each Mage lit their marks, attacking the assassin at once. Each attack deflected, the three Mages were felled instantly.
The assassin didn't break their stride until coming to the King's room. The candles lining the room were blown out as the cloaked figure entered the room, darkness fell upon the city in anticipation for what was to come. Nonchalantly drawing a dagger and sending it flipping into the air and catching it deftly, swiftly approaching the King's bedside prepared to kill.
/*Drawing a silver dagger, the assassin swiftly moved to the King's bedside. Flipping the knife through the air, the assassin was nonchalant as they stood above the King.*/
/*Dropping the dagger into the King's chest there wasn't a sound.*/
There wasn't a sound as the assassin dropped the dagger into the King's chest. A cold breeze drew itself around the capital, the assassin disappearing into the wind, leaving nothing more than a paper with an unfamiliar and strange symbol resting on the floor from whence they had left.Case Information
Crime
On the first night of Jamey in 149 CM, an assassin broke into the capital and killed King Xylus. The act was considered high treason or a mark of war, Prince-to-be-King Kyausiol Conoval rose up and declared a bounty, live or dead, against the assassin; the bounty remains unclaimed 200 years later in the modern era, never to be claimed as the assassin likely died long ago.Accounts
Because of the power of the assassin to knock out everyone in the city with a mist, and the fact they arrived through lightning transport, virtually no one was present to see the assassin arriving or leaving. The assassin limited visual contact to one of the guards and a team of Mages, who were knocked out. The Mage's Guild was pulled into to the situation due to the assassins connections to Magic and collected quotes from those who saw the assassin arriving:"It was horrifying. They appeared from lightning, sweeping the city in an instant. The only thing I can remember is that their eyes glowed white."
"We were ready; all of our Magic was perfectly in tune and spells ready to attack in an instant. I couldn't sense hardly any magic in the air, but out of nowhere, it unfurled. The assassin didn't even stop walking as they came at us, simply knocking us each out with their Magic. It was untraceable and I've never seen Magic so powerful."
Evidence
Evidence by Jacob Billings
The case of the Assassin from the Mist is renowned for its lack of evidence. The only evidence found to support the case was a single piece of paper with a strange mark on it; other than what they wished to leave, the assassin left no traces and all evidence was wiped away by the mist when the assassin left. The lack of evidence deterred all members from all of the guilds from attempting to solve the case, leaving it unsolved despite hundreds attempting to claim the bounty.
Suspect Files
Mariam Thornlee
Braudli Stromwil
Case Summary File
- Mariam Thornlee
- Level 9 Power
- Level 8 Skill
- Braudli Stromwil
- Level 9 Power
- Level 9 Skill
Date of Setting
Jamey 1, 149 CM
Related People
Related Organizations
"Whoever did this needs to be brought to justice. I don't care how. I don't care when. All I care about is that they are brought to to me, alive or dead. I will pay anyone who can find the assassin their weight in gold."
"There were only two Storm Magic Mages with that power at the time of the assassination. One was here, as several meetings were taking place, and one was on a job in the far East. Both were not realistic suspects as they had strong alibis and neither fit the suspect description. The guild gave up on the case two days after the assassination. Your guild, the Historian's Guild, is trying, but they haven't had any luck either. We have all the information from that event, but there is no reasonable explanation for what happened."
"No one from the Mage's Guild has been able to make a crack into the case. In the three decades since the assassin left, he hasn't attacked once. Most of our Mages couldn't even find any other Mage with the power to kill the king. Even under the rule of the two kings since the assassin has never resurfaced."
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I like it! You have a few minor typos and the opening quot had some tense shifting but not enough to keep it from grabbing my attention. I loved the concept of these assassins appearing from lighting. I never would have come up with that and the quotes make it really stick that this had an effect on the people as well. You mention two suspects in the sidebar. I don't recall them being named in the article though. Who were they and how did they come to be suspected?
Thanks for the comments. I'll be doing a lot of editing and hopefully, I can weed those out quickly. I decided to add the names later on, but at the moment their only other mention is in the quote and not by name.
Yeah it saw it was a work in progress on your authors notes. Didn't want to point too much out. lol. It's fantastic tho. Good luck man. Great work.
Always looking for advice, even on WIP articles. Thanks for reading it, and your article was awesome as well.
Thank you so much! When your done with what u have planned send it my way. I can take a look if you like.
Sure. It'd be great if you want to take a look. You can at any point, as who knows what I forgot/was lapsed in my deletion of today's work...
Of course. lemme throw a follow here!
I think I finished the complete basics of my article here, so if you have any advice you remember, I would appreciate it as I head into the editing phase.
If not, that's all good too.
Hot damn, this article is beautiful. im on comp now and wow! ok so lets see here... "Whoever did this need to be brought to justice." That sneaky S needs to be put on needs lol and "grew to be feared as a darker Magic as a myth. " This seems like a sentence splice here. editing problem perhaps? im not sure what this is really saying. apart from that i don't see much else wrong. i see alot that is done right. the formatting, the inclusion of the suspects, ooof very well done. i apologize i dont have much more to add, though i suppose thats a good thing in its own way.
Thanks a bunch. I'll add those to what I'm editing on. Super helpful!