Murder (Aliyah 14)

[Mikayla]

Because of time constraints on my writing, this story is going to come out in pieces as I write it. All the pieces will be in this thread. The first part is below, and will be followed later by the rest of the story.

My thanks to Rumple, who DM'd the session, and to Muse (Zaara) who tried to help Aliyah out of a mess of Aliyah's own making.

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“He'd kill you all right. No sweat. But for the wrong reasons. Amateur's reasons. Of course, you'll be just as dead.”

― Laurell K. Hamilton, The Laughing Corpse


Murder


Aliyah sat in the atrium of the Golden Oak in Silverymoon with the fire-genasi witch called Zaara. They were discussing Aliyah’s distaste for wizards when a dwarf approached their table. Mug in hand, swagger in his gait, the dwarf was in his cups but not so far gone as to be unintelligible. His attention was drawn first to Aliyah’s beautiful face and raven hair, but the licks of flame crowning Zaara’s white mane quickly caught the dwarf’s eye. His comments were rude and ignorant, but his intent more lecherous than provocative.

The two Calishite women exchanged words with the stout, tipsy, lech. With the typical stubbornness of his race, he ignored the rather obvious signs that neither woman was interested in his ale-soaked affections. The women resorted to blunt honesty; they told him he should go soak his head in a bucket of cold water.

“I’ll pour a bucket o’water on yer head.” He said with drunken menace to Zaara.

Aliyah had no idea if a bucket of water would do anything to the fire-genasi other than make her wet, but the mere thought of this dwarf showing such disrespect to Zaara, or any member of the crew, angered Aliyah. She slipped her hand around her back to the hilt of her killing-knife.

“If you so much as get her damp,” Aliyah growled, “I will gut you like a fish.”

The dwarf just laughed. Aliyah was speechless for a moment. Was he that drunk? Did she seem that harmless? The dwarf started rambling on about having sex with Aliyah and about how Aliyah really just wanted to have sex with him. There was no fear, no pause, no recognition of the fact that Aliyah had just threatened him. He simply was not afraid of her. He clearly thought Aliyah was just some dumb tavern wench; a slut or prostitute that he could treat disrespectfully with impunity. Despite her threat, he obviously did not realize or believe he was talking to a killer.

Aliyah’s anger peaked and then, suddenly, the heat and rage were gone, replaced by a cold determination. The tension in her face drained away and she began to smile playfully at the dwarf.

“You’re right.” She said in a girlish voice. “I do want to play. Why don’t you get a room for us?” The dwarf was nearly beside himself with excitement. As Aliyah watched the eager dwarf waddle off to rent a bower, a single thought passed through her mind over and over again, as bright and clear as the ringing of the purest silver bell.

I am going to murder you.



(To be continued ... )

[Mikayla]

Author's Note: I didn't have a log of this conversation, so (1) the conversation is condensed and (2) its based on my memory. Zaara (played by Muse) spoke more and did more during these events (though she didn't kill anyone) but I've only included those things I have a really good memory of.

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Murder, Again (Part 2 of Murder)

Inside a private room at the Golden Oak, Aliyah stripped out of her leathers, exposing the black lines of Thorass script tattooed across most of her body. She waited to see the dwarf’s reaction; sometimes the extensive tattooing frightened people. Sometimes it fascinated them. Rarely was there no reaction at all, but that was the case here. The dwarf was too drunk, too horny or too much of both to care.

“Why don’t you get naked and get in the tub.” Aliyah purred, her voice soft and sweet like honey. “I’ll give you a bath.”

The dwarf, Gert Rockhand, eagerly complied and soon he was relaxing in the steaming water.

Aliyah knelt beside the tub and picked up a sponge with her left hand. Smiling, she began to wash Gert’s chest. Her right hand, however, moved to the small of her back where she gripped the hilt of her killing-knife.

“I am really glad you got in the bath.” She said softly. Because it makes it easier to do this. She drew her killing-knife and stabbed it into the side of Gert’s neck, then pulled the razor-sharp blade back towards her, severing the fat artery that ran to the brain. Bright red blood sprayed from the gaping tear and Gert’s eyes went wide. Aliyah rose up on her feet and with both hands pushed the bleeding dwarf under water. Gert struggled, but with the artery to the brain cut, he faded into unconsciousness quickly. The dwarf’s blood stained the water crimson, and Aliyah could not help but smile. Ali’Hussein was not here to save this dwarf, like he had been at the Blade & Stars. This dwarf, this drunken lech, was going to die.

And die he did. Aliyah stood. Gert was motionless, his head under the bloody water.

Aliyah went to the inside window of the bower, the one that looked out on the Golden Oak’s atrium. She cracked the shutters open just a bit and waved to Zaara who was still sitting at their table. Zaara set her wine glass down and walked over to the bower where Aliyah let her in, then bolted the door behind the fire-genasi.

“He’s dead.” Aliyah said simply. “I need to get rid of the body.” Zaara looked from the bloody tub to Aliyah with a mixture of shock and fear. Or maybe it was anger. Aliyah could not tell. “I was hoping you could summon a wolf or something and have it eat him. Ali’Hussein has talked about disposing of bodies like that.”

Zaara walked over to the tub and looked down on Gert’s dead body. “A summons only lasts about 20 seconds.” She said. “It would take a hundred such spells for the wolves to eat this body.”

Well, f*ck. Aliyah thought. “Can you do anything else to it?”

Zaara frowned a little. “I can boil away the water to get rid of the blood.”

“Alright, that’s a start.” Aliyah said, looking about the room. “We can roll him up in this rug, push him out the window, and I can carry him down to the river. I am stronger than I look.”

Zaara looked from the tub to the rug to Aliyah, her face betraying her concern. “We have to be smart about this.” The fire-genasi’s tone added an unspoken coda: Because so far, this has been nothing but stupid.

Aliyah looked over the bloody tub and dead dwarf, and turned back to Zaara with a mischievous but also somewhat embarrassed smile. “I probably shouldn’t have done this, yeah?” She shook her head a bit, and laughed to herself. This WAS stupid. But fuck him. Aliyah began washing her bloody hands off with the sponge.

Outside in the atrium a woman’s voice called out loudly and angrily. “Gert! Gert where are you? I know you’re in here somewhere.”

Really? Aliyah thought. You have got to be fucking kidding me. This asshole’s not dead for five minutes and his wife is already here looking for him? Really?!? This is the hand of Beshasaba, and that bitch must be laughing her ass off.

Zaara was looking Aliyah wide-eyed. The yelling got closer and then there was pounding on the door of the room.

How in the f*ck did she know what room so fast? For the love of all the gods, was she tracking him with some spell? Is his wife a goddamn oracle? If she keeps yelling and pounding on this door, the staff is going to get involved. And once the staff are involved, how long before the city guard and the knights? An idea came to Aliyah. Maybe the wife would be reasonable; her husband, if he was her husband, was a cheating, lying, drunken bastard. Maybe if she saw that, Aliyah could buy her silence – the dwarf woman’s no-good husband dies, and she gets rich. Of course, if she was not his wife, this was not going to work. Come on Tymora, smile on me a little – kick that bitch Beshaba in the ass for me, would ya?

Aliyah pulled open the bolt on the door.

“Wait!” Zaara said. The fire-genasi picked the rug up off the floor and draped it over the tub, concealing the body and the blood.

Aliyah opened the door, letting the irate dwarf woman in, then quickly shut the door and threw the bolt closed.

“Where’s Gert?” The woman barked loudly. “I know he’s in here. Where is he?”

“Lets talk.” Aliyah said calmly. “What is your name?”

The dwarf woman stomped about the room, looking behind the bed, under it, and all around. “Where’s Gert? I know he’s here!”

How the fuck does she know that? Aliyah wondered. Well, it doesn’t matter now. She’s here.

“Hey!” Aliyah interjected. “Lets talk for a moment, alright? What is your name?”

The woman continued to ignore Aliyah, and finally noticed the rug draped over the tub. She pulled the rug back and her face went ghostly white as she saw Gert’s exsanguinated form in the bath.

Softly, Aliyah walked up behind the dwarf woman. “Alright, stay calm.” Aliyah said quietly. “Lets talk. What is your name?”

“Gert … oh Gert … what did you do?” The woman’s whole demeanor had changed from irate outrage to grief in the space of a heartbeat.

“He wanted to f*ck me.” Aliyah explained. “I didn’t want to be f*cked. He died.”

The woman finally acknowledged Aliyah’s presence and turned to face her. “He .. he tried to rape you?”

Aliyah shrugged and looked away, trying to give the impression that was what happened. “Like I said. He wanted to f*ck me, and I didn’t want to be f*cked, so .. now he’s dead. Look, what is your name?”

“Fillkim. Fillkim Rockhand.” The woman replied in a small voice.

“Was Gert your husband?” Aliyah asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

Fillkim nodded. “Yes.” She began to weep.

“Well, he wasn’t a very good husband.” Aliyah began explaining. “We can make a deal here that helps everyone.”

“We should get the Knights in Silver.” Fillkim said, the strength returning to her voice.

“Whoa!” Aliyah exclaimed, holding up her hands, and stepping between the dwarf woman and the door.

Zaara interjected, pointing out how embarrassing this would be for the woman; how scandalous. Aliyah pulled out a coin-purse and jingled it a bit.

“Your husband was a no-good cheating drunk.” Aliyah said. “And now he’s dead. But this doesn’t have to be a scandal and you can walk away rich.”

Fillkim seemed to consider the proposition for a moment, but then a cloud of anger darkened her face and she shook her head. “I am getting the Knights.” She growled.

Aliyah reached around her back and gripped the hilt of her killing-knife. Here we go again. She thought. Now I have to murder you too.

(To be continued ... )

[Mikayla]

Escape (Part 3 of Murder)


Fillkim did not die as easily or as quietly as Gert. The dwaf woman had pulled her own knife, and while not a match for Aliyah, there had been a lot of yelling and screaming in the few seconds it took for Aliyah to kill her. Aliyah was the first to yell actually.

“Fillkim! Put down the knife!” Aliyah had screamed. “Fillkim don’t! Oh gods, she’s killing Gert!” Too late, Fillkim realized what Aliyah was doing. She began to yell as Aliyah fell upon the ill-fated dwarf with her bloody killing-knife.

This time, the blood was not confined to the waters of the tub – Fillkim’s corpse lay propped up against the wall of the bower, bloodied from wounds to her gut and neck.

“They will use magic to find the truth.” Zaara said.

“Other than speaking with the dead?” Aliyah asked. She already knew about magic that would let people speak with the dead, but in order for that magic to work, the dead had to have an intact jaw. Aliyah was already starting to mangle Gert’s jaw with Fillkim’s knife.

“They’ll use zone of truth.”

Zone of truth? What the f*ck is zone of truth? Aliyah thought. The sound of panicked voices came from the atrium. People were yelling for the knights in silver and the city guard.

“I have to go.” Aliyah said simply. She opened up the outer window and dropped down into the street. Zaara followed.

“You should stay here.” Aliyah said. “They’ll use magic, and they’ll know you didn’t hurt or kill anyone. You’re safe.”

“What do I tell them when they question me?” Zaara asked, the fear clear in her eyes.

“Tell them the truth. Tell them I did it.”

“And if they ask your name?”

“Give it to them.” Aliyah turned and ran down the alley, headed for the west gate, while Zaara climbed back through the window into the bower.

Aliyah slipped through the shadows, unseen, and unheard, but moving fast. She could hear the cries of “Murder! Murder!” echoing through the streets. Now Knights were yelling down the hill and city guard too. The west gate was closed, with pair of armed and armored guards standing in front of the wooden portal. Aliyah made her way east, staying off the wide streets and sticking to the dark alleys. She passed an enormous round tower set into the city’s wall. The seem between the tower and the wall – that was where she would climb. Her fingers searched for a hold and she started her ascent.

She had not gotten even ten feet off the ground before she slipped and fell. Too much fear, too much adrenaline, not enough purchase. Looking up the seam, she could see lights atop the wall. There were men up there. This was no good.

She moved away from the wall, headed down hill towards the river. She passed through shadowy alleys and darted across the wider streets, dodging patrols of guards and knights. She ran, almost laughing, as she did.

I am so f*cking stupid! She thought to herself, but she couldn't help but smile. She might be one step from the noose, but she felt alive as she darted through the alleys and streets of Silverymoon, evading the knights and guards. It was all she could do to keep from lauging as she ran.

Emerging from a dark alley near the Bright Blades Brandished, she saw her escape – the river. She looked left and right, and saw no knights or guards. She took a deep breath and sprinted from the cover of the alley. She ran past the door of the tavern and dove into the water. It was cold, bracing, and it made her feel even more alive. She gave thanks for all her years at sea where she had learned to swim.

Laying on her back, moving as little as possible, she let the current carry her down river. It did not take long before the city was just a distant shadow beneath the night sky. Aliyah hauled herself out of the water and built a fire to get warm and dry again. She did not sleep however. Instead, she kept travelling as fast and as far as her feet would carry her. Eventually, she bought passage on a river vessel and made her way down to Waterdeep, and from Waterdeep, she caught a ship to Baldur’s Gate.

She had escaped. But now she was alone in a foreign city, and wanted both in the south and the north. Aliyah’s world was getting smaller and smaller.

[Mikayla]

OOC: So that is the (short) story of how Aliyah came to have a bounty put on her head. Moral of the story? Don't piss off a Chaotic killer with a Wisdom of 8.

There is another moral here too, something about having a plan before you murder people, knowing how you are going to dispose of the body, conceal the crime, and all of that, but like I said, Chaotic/Wis 8. Aliyah can be pretty smart (Int 14) but when her anger is up, she lacks judgment to say the least. Fun character to play though.

My thanks to Muse and Rumple for an eventful evening.

[vergin_sacrifice]

F'n dwarves... short piles of trouble and guff.

[Galadorn]

lol... blame..the dwarves?? lol baha