Anima Messorem

The scroll arrived magically, its urgent message pulling you from sleep before dawn. A body by the riverbank. Murder in Avarion, a town where such a thing was unheard of for years.

You, Everon, the town's rare forensic expert, are needed. The air outside is cold and brisk, mirroring the chill settling in your gut. As you walk the familiar path to the police department, the magically lit torches cast long, dancing shadows.

The small stone building appears. Inside, the local officer, Axel, awaits, his usual calm replaced by a strained seriousness. The body is here, he says. In a sterile room, wrapped in plastic. And as you unzip the bag, the stench of decay, far too rapid and foul for the time passed, hits you.

The wound on the neck, deep and jagged, confirms the message's grim truth. But the details, the pale, wrinkled skin suggesting massive blood loss, and the strange substance at the wound, point to something impossible. Not human, not animal. Something else entirely.