A Colovian Assassination

On the Assassination of Marcus Secunia, Colovian Baron.

The Dining hall was an utter disaster area. The table had been tipped almost half way over when the crowd in attendance rapidly fled the room, leaving half-spoiled food, dining plates, and silverware strewn over the floor in an unrecognizable mass. The chairs laid mostly on their sides, and two were broken. Centered at the head of the table, blood had been splattered near about everywhere, and had pooled there, leaving a dark black crust where it fell, and beneath a window, on the side of the room, a heap covered with rough spun cloth. The only light was what shined through the windows, and the skies were vaguely overcast, leaving the room fairly dim. The only disturbance in the scene was the presence of two men; Inspector Roland Aelius of the Penitus Occulatus, accompanied by member of the local legion garrison, who had been among the first to respond to the incident, who went only by Lucius.

Inspector Roland was black haired and middle aged, and he had served in the Penitus Oculatus for about seven years now, after a ten year tour of duty in the legion had left his left arm partially crippled, after taking a rebel's mace a little too hard to the wrist. Though mages and priests did much to relieve the pain and damage, his grip had never quite recovered, and the joint flared painfully when he moved it too vigorously. He wasn't ready to end his military career, however, and his promotion to a non-combatant role was as deserved as it was timely, and won him great respect. And yet, he still couldn't help but be jealous of his temporary companion. Lucius was fresh, and green. He'd only been in the legion for a year or so, and his body was still hard, flexible, and vigorous. He moved with energy, and his light brown hair over blue eyes made him seem all the more bright and eager. It was cold comfort, to Roland, that it wouldn't last.

"Young nobles end up with knives in their backs all the time in Tamriel, Lucius. What is it about this one that my superiors seem to think necessitates the involvement of the Penitus Oculatus? This is just a matter of assassination for hire, is it not?" Asked Roland.

"Well, yes it is, sir." said the young soldier, "But if you would allow me to run down the whole incident, I think you may begin to understand." Lucius answered, with a knowing smile, that told of some hidden secret he couldn't wait to let out, but wouldn't spoil until he'd had proper fun with it.

Roland hated that smile in an instant. But he nodded, with a stern formal frown on his face, as usual. It was almost part of the uniform.

Lucius began speaking as he walked around the dim room, gesturing to various objects as they became relevant to the story. "Our late baron threw a party to celebrate his birthday, and to announce that he would be financing a friend's trade venture to the Summerset Isles. All rather boring stuff really, but it sets the scene. His friend, some family of both parties, and courtiers, in attendance, including key witnesses, Strom Stromsson, A nord fellow from just across the provincial border, and apparently some distant relation of the Baron's via his sister's husband or something, and Irene Nytte, a mid ranking member of the mages guild who lends some talent to the town." Lucius said, as he came to the head of the table, careful not to disturb the blood stains, "The Baron sat here, at the head of the table, and the party was well underway, the feast just beginning really, when suddenly, the Baron's head jerked backwards and upwards. He screamed. His throat opened up, blood flew everywhere, and the guests all panicked, upending the table and their chairs in their haste to leave." he said "Except for our aforementioned friend Strom, who, in his panic, grabbed a chair and started swinging it wildly through the air in circles around himself. In the chaos, this happened to catch the assassin in the head, who fell to the ground, before Strom dispatched him with a rather brutal beating with this very broken chair." he went on to say, gesturing to a pile of splintered wood, near that covered heap at the side of the room.

"I'm still failing to see the interesting aspect of this. An assassin with an invisibility spell, or potion. The two are hardly uncommon together." said Roland.

Lucius's smile only broadened, "You forgot our other witness, Irene. The mage." he started, "Her attendance here was fairly important, her role was specifically to be aware of any kind of magic in the area that might disrupt the festivities, be it foul pranks, spies, or assassins. According to her, invisibility was specifically something she was looking out for."

"And you believe her? Could she not be lying to cover her failure?"

"I believe her, and I have good reason to. You see, after the assassination, we began to interview locals in town about any suspicious characters or activities they'd witnessed in the weeks leading up to the event. None of them had the same story to tell. Or rather, they all had the same story, but with crucial details contradictory. Some mention a suspicious wood elf they didn't recognize. Others, a suspicious High Elf. Others, a dark elf. They can't all be right. Could they?" he asked rhetorically, as he moved to the heap. "And that brings us to our unfortunate assassin." he began.

"You'd think him fortunate, if you knew what the Penitus Oculatus would be doing to him right now, if he were alive." Roland answered.

Lucius shrugged as he bent down, and carefully pulled the cloth back to reveal the corpse underneath.

"What in Sixteen Hells... Is that what I think it is?"

Lucius nodded, as he dropped the cloth again, "We discussed it, the mage and I, referenced a few books to make sure she wasn't leaping to conclusions."

"In Tamriel... Killing people. Well, you really have just made my job very interesting after all." said Roland, as he walked forward to get a closer look.

The body was male and elvish, obviously so, for it was completely naked, from head to toe. The assassination weapon was obvious, a shard of crystalline glass with a cloth wrapped around one end so that it could be held without self inflicted injury. What was notable about the corpse was that the skin was not golden, or light brown, or bluish grey, or anything, really, at all. Not even really white. It was a sort of sickly translucent color, and Roland swore that he could see the elf's bowels through his stomach.

"His skin was still changing colors at random when we got to the scene. Splashes and splotches in strange patterns, like you might see when you shut your eyes and press on your eyelids with your fingers. He wasn't invisible, was was just... Blended in to the background so well, no one saw him."

"What is a Sea Elf assassin doing in the middle of Cyrodiil?" Roland asked rhetorically. It seemed a ridiculous proposition.

"Now that, I'm afraid, is your department."

• • • Be Gentle, I am not good at wording