The hunt begins

[Sharpie]

"This cousin of yours… is his name Azarion?”

"Yes, sir." Jason shrugged. "Ovinia Camilla said she thought he had blue eyes, and he had his knives in a bag under the cloak. And... Azarion suggested that this..." he swallowed the coarse expression he'd been about to use; he was speaking of a citizen to citizens, they wouldn't appreciate it. "...has come back once to somewhere he attacked someone - and killed her. He might go back to some of the other places?"

He shut up then, he had nothing else to say and citizens preferred their slaves silent and invisible unless directly addressed. The patrician certainly would; he hadn't got the measure of the tall man yet, except to note the presence of a wooden sword in his belt, which meant he'd been a gladiator. Probably he was the other man's bodyguard or something - gods knew he'd need one, if he came across this sick bastard they were looking for.

He unconsciously flexed his fingers. He'd give anything for a bow so he could fill the bastard full of arrows and let him bleed out like he'd left Azarion's friend and the lady Ovinia to do.

"Azarion's only young," he said. "He might not have been meant to be attacked, it was right by the stables, near the slaves' entrance, in an alley there." It had to have been a coincidence that he'd gone for Azarion.

And... they were going to include him in this? Which made sense, in a way; they'd need him to interpret the trade signs as Azarion's master had needed.

"We need a time and a place to all sit down together. This is... bigger than we thought. Ovinia, twice. The girl who got killed, and Azarion too. The girl at the brothel... and Alexius' friend. And that is just the ones we know of."

He counted silently on his fingers as the patrician listed the people he knew of. Six. Well, five and one twice... This was big, and horrible, and he couldn't help agreeing that he had to be stopped.

But how?

 

@Atrice @Chevi

Edited January 2, 2022 by Sharpie

[Atrice]

What a fucked up world it was, where the friend to a murdered girl also got attacked, most likely by the same beast that killed the girl! Alexius listened to what Jason told about the attacker, what Ovinia had said. He tried to think about what he knew. Didia had said he wasn’t dressed very finely and he wasn’t a slave either. He didn’t have the name tag, like Jason and Azarion did.

 “Good point, we should find the other places. See if there’s anything useful.” Alexius suggested, getting a bright idea, “Maybe find the place where you found Ovinia? Maybe he dropped something?” That was a good idea, go look for clues! And that was the most recent crime scene, so it might still be intact and they could figure stuff out. He almost wanted to suggest taking Ovinia there, but that might be too much for her. Poor girl. He really would love to kill that maniac. Now, sooner rather than later.

 Jason said his cousin might not have meant to be attacked, but he was just there. Alexius nodded. Still, it was one more the sick bastard had attacked. Lucius, maybe being the brightest of the bunch, said they should sit down together. Alexius nodded. He still thought they should go and see where Ovinia was attacked. Jason would know where that was.

 “How about… later today, at my place? I live in the Esquilinae. It’s not hard to find.” Lucius knew where that was, now – and he was sure Jason could find it too, “Jason can bring Azarion.”

@Chevi @Sharpie