Chapter 1
“For the love of the Trinity… how in the Hell am I going to catch this bastard…” the Justice of the Peace for the small 4000-strong village of Côte De Nuit, Alan Schmutz, lets out a heavy sigh and leans back in his chair to the tune of a series of protesting squeaks. Curse his terrible luck… only four months after tricking the populace into electing him to this lofty position, and he was already chasing an honest-to-Goddess serial killer. In his town! The nerve of some people! Probably some filthy, disgusting commoner that held some sort of grudge. Why else would the bodies be sliced and stabbed over a hundred times each?!
With a loud harrumph, the portly magistrate wipes his sweaty hands across the front of his velvet judicial robes, and then begins to pack an overly-large ivory pipe full of finely-cut tobacco. Why he ever deigned to run for this silly position was now beyond him. For prestige and politics, really. Having the entire town grovelling at his feet was a nice little bonus, too. And it was a good way to get invited to all of the best gatherings throughout the year. Perhaps… as long as this whole killer-business was put to rest soon, then it shouldn’t affect his social ambitions…
As a loud rap sounds against the solid oak door to his chambers, the justicar glances up to the source of the annoyance, and lets out a smoke-filled sigh at the sight of his ginger-headed nephew-slash-subordinate. “What is it now, Johnson? I gave you specific orders not to disturb me until it was time for my mid-day meal.”
“Pardon the intrusion, Your Honour… but, uh…” the scare-crow-like constable clears his throat softly and takes a brief peek over his shoulder at the pair of officials waiting to be admitted into his superior’s office. “T-there’s, uh… two individuals that demand an audience with you…”
“Bah!” Schmutz waives away the insinuation that anyone be allowed to demand anything from him. “Tell them to just bugger off. I’m much too busy to entertain any-“
The red-headed Johnson draws in a quick gasp as a beautiful woman steps to his side and gently pushes the door all the way open. Or what he thinks is a beautiful woman, anyways. The shorter, 5’9” femme was wearing a shadowy half-veil attached to a stylish chapeau, which made it difficult to browse all of her features… but the fair pale skin and painted red lips that were evident hinted at an equally-sublime nose, and perhaps a delicately-assembled set of eyes. “M-Miss… if you’d please wait-“
Holding up a gloved hand in a command for the young male to cease his useless prattle, the slim woman then clears her throat softly before addressing the even more-annoying one in charge. “Magistrate Schmutz? I am Angeline Deglace… of the Imperial Investigations Service.”
With his flabby jowls hanging down low, it takes a handful of seconds before the Justice regains any semblance of composure. “T-the Imperial…” a-a member of the personal guard of the Empress?! HERE? B-but that… WHY?!
The ginger constable trails his gaze down the form-fitting black dress of the young lady at his side, and as his eyes catch sight of the stylized golden amulet at her throat, he issues a slightly-strangled noise while taking a shuffled step away. “Y-you’re… a mage?!”
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Aegis and Order: First Light
Fantasi"It’s shoulders were wide and powerful. At four metres in height, it was almost as large across as it was tall. The arms of the hulking beast hung nearly all the way to the ground, and were thick with rope-like muscles that bulged with even the sl...
