In a large city which bears a strange resemblance to London around 1700 a series of murders has begun to create quite a buzz. Characters in this campaign will be trying to figure out the mystery of the Black Fog Murders.
London is at the center of a strange pocket of reality linked to Golarion, particularly near the mouth of the wide River Thames that flows through the heart of London. Trade with London requires ships outfitted with special gate keys which divert such ships as they enter certain rivers around the Inner Sea. As the number of ships with these keys has multiplied, so have imports (initially traded for high quality wool) but as raw materials became available, craftsmen stepped up to the tasks of creating trade goods and since then the population has swelled, and along with it, a host of problems, including crime.
While a city guard exists, it is mainly there to keep the peace, not to seek out criminals and bring them to justice. If the murderer who has struck repeatedly in recent days is to be caught, it will be on the initiative of people like the PCs in this campaign.
Murder 1:
HIGH PRIEST MURDERED IN BLACK FOG
Desnus 24, Starday
Heifestus Taketis, high priest of Abadar and vicar of St. Pentagonus of the Poor temple on Broad Street, was murdered in a manner most foul after holding evening mass for his parishioners on Fireday night of Desnus 23. The body was discovered on the northwest side of Broad Street, near Gresham College of Wizarding Arts by Carter Wedgewood, a first year student at Gresham.
“I was coming back from studying at the library until after midnight heading down Broad toward my apartment off White Lyon Court. I noticed what I at first took to be a drunk at the side of the road, but I noticed the Golden Key of Abadar gleaming in the dim light and looked closer. It was the high priest Taketis. I tried to rouse him, thinking he may have fallen but when I rolled him over, his face was a horrid sight, all bashed in, and his neck was broken.”
Only one person is known to have witnessed the murder, the daughter of Father Taketis, Annice Taketis. She was found wandering the streets shortly after the city guard arrived, in a state of shock. When asked what had happened, she said, “Daddy and I were walking home after having the last of the Taking of Accounts. Something came up behind us and suddenly, it got dark, like the fog descended. I was pushed aside by a large man with a horrid face that looked like a wild beast or a demon. It set upon Daddy and …” after this point, Miss Taketis became hysterical and could not be calmed enough to ask her any more.
Vice Chairman of the Royal Bank, Reginald Dinnsmorton, heard what was to be Father Taketis’ last sermon. He described it as a scathing denunciation of rich members of the community taking advantage of the poor. In the sermon, he mentioned several wealthy members of the church by name—Biltran Horrace, Elizabeth Moore, and guildmaster Bathwillow. Taketis has been an outspoken spokesman for the plight of the workers and those without proper employment, operating a number of poorhouses and distributing alms to the beggars on a regular basis. A bag of gold pieces was found on Father Taketis’ body, with the insignia of the Royal Bank. This is doubly odd because, according to Lucan Braveheart, secretary of Finance at St. Pentagonus, the high priest did not normally take money for distributing to the poor after a late service and because such a valuable prize was left by the murderer, suggesting the motive for the killing was not profit.
The City Guard searched the surrounding streets, but except for a passed out drunk, they found no one. No one has come forward as a witness, not surprising given the lateness of the hour.
Tavern talk blames everything from a summoned demon to an assassination by the Shadow, purported guild of assassins. The Church of Abadar has not released any statements except to say they are looking into the murder and a successor to Father Taketis is being selected.
Murder 2:
Desnus 27 (3 days later, Toilday)
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL TORN APART NEAR SACRED SONG TEMPLE
Master of the Mint and Governor of Magical Artifacts Ludwig Chrysostom was violently murdered last night a block north of the great Sacred Song Temple. Two watchmen heard screams and sounds of struggle in a narrow alley between Pater Noster Row and Sacred Song Temple grounds. As the guards rushed toward the sounds of struggle, they found themselves in a section of the alley so dark, they could not see anything until they got to within a few feet. They reported they could see Master Chrysostom in the grip of someone large. As they struggled to help the Master of the Mint, he managed to break free from the attacker and struck him with his rapier before trying to move away. The guards reported the attacker leapt after Chrysostom and drew close enough to the guards that they witnessed a horrific sight of an abominable visage filled with sharp teeth. The monster bit down on Chrysostom’s neck and killed him instantly. It roared and ran off before the startled guards could react. One guard ran after the monster, but reported he could see nothing but a dark shadow fleeing into the already dark alleys at the rate of a thoroughbred stallion.
The guards summoned help, but the Master of the Mint was dead. In addition to a broken neck and slashed arteries that bled profusely, the man’s shoulders were dislocated and he appeared to have suffered a number of broken ribs. This attack follows three days after a similar attack on High Priest Heifestus Taketis just fifteen blocks away. Everyone in London is wondering what this Black Fog Demon wants and when will it be stopped. Body guards and blackguards all across London are mobilizing for the expected increase in demand for protection as two of the city’s high ranking citizens have been cut down like a wheat stalk before a scythe.
Neither the family of Chrysostom nor his office have had any comment on the question of what the master was doing alone in a dark alley in the middle of the night. Locals, however, pointed out that the attack occurred just a short run from a brothel, a gambling house, and several smoking clubs where wealthy patrons meet for late night entertainment and secret business deals. The body did not appear to have been robbed, perhaps because the guards surprised the monster before it could take anything.
Experts in the outsider planes have suggested any number of demons and devils who might be summoned to commit crimes, including a Babau, Dretch, or Shadow Demon. But the guards described the attacker as have the body of a man, wearing a shabby and worn overcoat, work boots, and leather gloves. Only the face was a seething monstrosity of luminous eyes, scabby gashes, and orange teeth. Some experts say this rules out most demons and devils, most of whom bear distinctly monstrous bodies as well as faces. The darkness surrounding the creature has suggested to some it might be a Black Jinn, known to leave sooty dust in its wake. But no such dust was observed at the scene, suggesting the darkness might have been old fashioned London night air, never very helpful when trying to see in a dark alley.
Some have suggested the deaths are assassinations, someone cleaning house of enemies using some new form of assassin or summoned monster. But the high priest was an enemy of wealthy aristocrats who made life hard for the working class, while Master Chrysostom is known to be just the sort of man who, according to the sermons of the High Priest, would find a surprise in the hereafter for his sins against his fellow humanoids. Master Chrysostom had many enemies in Parliament and the House of Lords for his attempts to bolster the currency of the realm by cracking down on counterfeiters and sellers of dangerous magical items.
The most pressing question on every Londoner’s lips today is when will the Black Fog Demon strike next, and who will be his target?
[Note: The Sacred Song Temple is a famous and very visible landmark of the city, with a majestic dome rising high above the other buildings of the city. It was rebuilt after the previous temple to Songheim was destroyed in a great fire a half century before, having been completed just a few years ago. It is located where St. Paul’s Cathedral is in Earth’s London.]
Another newspaper claimed that the rumors of darkness and a monster killing Chrysostom were false, that the real murderer was more mundane, setting upon the Master of the Mint in a mundane attempt to rob a rich drunk gentleman. The paper claims the guards who told the story related in the previous account were paid off to make up the account that would link the attack to the previous murder of the high priest. This however does not explain the presence of valuable items on the Master’s person.
Murder 3,4:
Desnus 29 (2 days later, Oathday)
Double Murder in Gun Alley. Black Fog Killer Strikes Again?
A man and a prostitute were found dead in Gun Alley off Sugarloaf Court near Bethlam Hospital for the insane, three days after the last Black Fog Murders. The man was thrown against a wall and his head bashed in and the prostitute’s neck was broken and arteries torn asunder. The bodies were found by late night revelers exiting Sugarloaf Tavern off Sugarloaf Court in the middle of the night. No one is admitting to witnessing the event and so everyone is asking whether or not these were the third and fourth victims of the Black Fog Killer or just another example of how dangerous the streets are late at night.
The man was identified as Festus Warwick, a barrister clerk for Owain Biggleswade, offices off Salisbury Square near Fleet Street and Fleet Ditch. The late Mr. Warwick resided 21 New Street near Aldarsgate Street and Long Lane. He was 24 years old, according to the man’s younger sister, Dorothy. Mr. Warwick was found with 10 golden guineas in his pocket, ruling out theft as the motive for his murder. This has raised eyebrows, as most clerks do not command such salaries as to support such a purse. The Biggleswade office, however, indicated the young man had received a bonus for stellar work of late.
The prostitute is unidentified at this time, largely due to the mutilated state of her face. But patrons of the Sugarloaf Tavern recognized her as working the neighborhood, based on her clothing and hair color. She too had a purse of coins, suggesting Warwick was not her first john of the night.
A spokesman for Mister Bigglewsade said only that they were sorry to learn of Mr. Warwick’s demise, saying that he had only been working as a clerk for a few months and that he was doing fine work. They expressed condolences to Warwick’s family and added that the events were perhaps a cautionary tale to those pursuing carnal pleasures in disreputable parts of town.
Warwick was a worshipper of Desna and services will be held at the Saint Sibylla Temple at Wood Street and Lad Lane in 2 days.
Murder 5:
Desnus 30 (1 day later, Fireday)
Black Fog Killer Strikes Again! Woman Murdered in her Bed!
Last night, the Black Fog Killer entered the apartment of a young woman, Gianaconia Boatwright, on Red Maid Lane, bit into her neck with savage fury, broke her back, and ripped her head off. Neighbors entered the hallway of the cramped apartment building with hastily lit lamps, disturbed by crashing sounds and seconds later by a woman’s dying screams for mercy. They saw that Miss Boatwright’s door had been broken down and seconds later, the hallway was absolutely dark, as if black pitch had been smeared over their eyes. Something described as big as a bear and with a face wide with teeth and green glowing eyes, no nose, and rams horns, bulled its way down the hall, sending the curious onlookers tumbling, smearing blood on their clothes, and giving them a faint glimpse of the monster. It moved with unusual speed, like a bounding deer through a park, and disappeared into the night. By the time tracking dogs were brought to the area, they were unable to pick up a scent.
Miss Boatwright is suspected of being a petty thief, although she has worked at times as a store clerk and a messenger. A bloody sword was found in her room near her corpse, suggesting she put up a fight and may have wounded the monster before being brutally slaughtered. As is typical of the Black Fog Killer, nothing was apparently stolen. The room was searched by guards and found to contain contraband apparently stolen from the homes of people of quality. If the motive for the murder was theft, it is possible the monster took something and left, but much of value was left behind, including diamond jewelry and a few bags of coins.
Some count this the 5th victim of the Black Fog Killer. The first was Heifestus Taketis, High Priest of Abadar, murdered on Fireday night of Desnus 23. The high priest’s wife witnessed the murderer, who moved as if in a dense fog, glimpsing the face described as a demon but with the body of a large man. Number two was Master of the Mint and Governor of Magical Artifacts Ludwig Chrysostom, whose chest was ripped out three nights later, Moonday night, Desnus 26, witnessed by two city guards who again alleged the monster had a demonic visage, was surrounded by dense darkness, and moved with unusual fleetness. The third and fourth were Festus Warwick and a street walker, since identified as Malinda O’Neele. No one witnessed the murder, but the bodies were brutalized and ripped as if by the maws of a demon and the murders were committed in the middle of the night, 2 nights after Master Chrysostom’s murder, Wealday night. Finally, Miss Boatwright makes the fifth victim, just one night later.
Although most everybody now assumes the same monster has murdered all these victims, most are also baffled as to the motive and method of selecting victims. While two of the murder sites were reasonably close to each other and Bethlam Hospital for the Insane, Master Chrsysostom’s murder took place in the shadow of the great Sacred Song Temple and Miss Boatwright’s miles away nearer the East terminus of London and not far from the docks. Two of the victims were important persons of quality, another a common clerk, and the other two a prostitute and a thief. Nothing significant was stolen from any of the victims. While rewards have been offered for the capture of the monster or its destruction, even the most esteemed thief takers are so far unmoved to try to win the prize. Even renowned thief taker Klaus Ringold has been absent his usual haunts this morning, although perhaps he is already on the case with renewed urgency. The city is crying out for heroes to step up and end this menace. Fear of this monster that mutilates in the darkest of nights and flies away like a falcon seems to be ruling the city. City guards are allegedly being tripled and even some members of the military have been ordered to patrol the streets, streets that are increasingly empty of all but those who have no choice but to risk death in the night.
