What she overheard from the two men made her heart drop down to her stomach. As her back was to them, only Milas was able to see the girl's gray eyes widen for a few moments. They had come too late. Those letters the three of them all received were her last words to them all. Chrys finished her drink in silence, and when the woman in the suit told her she was going to see it for herself, she gave a glance as a reply. There were only five people left in the inn now, and after waiting for a period of time, Chrysanthe got up and paid for her drink. Doing her best to put on a typical smile, she thanked Milas before taking her leave to follow after Bianca. Bianca had gotten to the body first, and the crowds were being shooed away by the city guards so people would go about their own business. Acting as a tourist again, she poked around and stood on her toes to give the impression that she was simply a curious traveler who wondered what the fuss was about. Pulling aside a few people who she assumed might be locals, she asked them what had happened. A few shook their heads, some ignored her, and others only said the same things as the two men back at the Riverside Inn. When she was contemplating on bothering one of the guards, a woman in a patterned dress with a basket balanced on her head motioned to her. 

Chrys wasn't sure who she was or why she was beckoning to her, and kept herself alert while she approached. "You won't get anywhere asking those people. They've only just arrived themselves. Greetings traveler, though I wish it were under less tragic circumstances. My name is Lucy. Come, have a seat here." The blonde girl did so, and then the woman quietly cast a spell that stirred the air around them. "There, that should do for now. It would be dangerous for us both if others were to hear us talk. You wish to know about the terrible crime which was committed against that poor child, yes?"

"Yes, I do. From what I heard about this city, Jayou has more freedom than most places and a thriving economy for just about anything. I don't understand how could something so horrible like this happen?" She did well to hide the true reasons for her curiosity about the situation, and the woman didn't seem interested in prying either. Lucy could tell Chrys wasn't from Jayou, that was why she was willing to share the information that she knew with a stranger. "Those first things are indeed true, however every city has its less than pleasant side. I do not know the details surrounding why the girl died, but I believe there are a few possibilities. Now, promise me you will listen carefully and be even more careful with what I will tell you." Lucy told the young Rosenite that she had seen the body before the guards found it. It was around mid-morning, after the fog had lifted. The park was empty as the merchants hadn't begun to start peddling their wares, and all had been quiet. Apparently she wasn't the first person to encounter the body, as the woman distinctly remembered seeing a large, tall man with shabby clothes hanging around the area. The man was further down and she couldn't see his face. Not daring to stay any longer, she went to bring the guards so they could see for themselves. When she returned to where she found the body, the man was nowhere in sight. It was then that she noticed that the smell of pig meat back when she first discovered the corpse was gone as well. 

This was all a lot to take in, and Lucy let Chrys have a few moments in silence once she had told her story. "I hope that poor soul will find peace, regardless what they may have done. Now, you best run along too before the crowds completely disperse." Lucy said to her, and the slight breeze that had been surrounding them to protect their conversation from being overheard ended. Chrys returned to the Riverside Inn a bit earlier than Bianca, giving a friendly wave to Milas which was more of an act now than genuine cheer. Setting her backpack down again, there was a slight slump in her posture as the information she had learned weighed heavily on her mind. Once Bianca returned with her share of information, that weight would only sink further.

Listening intently to Chakra as he explained the details of what he saw. While she hoped that the victim in question was not Attie as horrible as that was, but deep down she knew that most likely the one pinned to the tree was in fact her friend.

Covering her mouth and widening her eyes as she gasped to keep up the naive priestess act. "That's horrible, the poor girl, I should go there to see if I can do anything for her and her family". Preparing to leave Chakra's comment almost pushed the Undead to edge, luckily for him she had to confirm if or if not Attie was in fact the one now pinned to a tree.

It was easy to find the park as all she had to do was follow the gossip and groups travelling to go see the newest spectacle to drown out the boredom. Upon reaching the park Attie took center stage among the guard going about their business as citizenry gawked and gossiped among themselves. Horrific scenes were nothing to Lixue as she had seen first hand the horrors of the world, but Attie was no stranger to her. It took all of the Undead's focus not to lose herself to her emotions as she could not bear to see one of her only friends strewn about. If I had gotten her faster I could've stopped this! Attie I'm so sorry, you don't deserve this! I'll find Marcov for you and Dala and I'll make sure the hell I send him will seem like heaven when I'm done with him!

Taking a moment to calm down as she looked over the scene once more before moving in. Whispers of the dealings among the citizens could be heard as Jayou was always known to be a seedy town catered to any kind of service if you knew where to look. Slipping through the crowd while keeping her eyes on Attie and the words. Stay out of your way huh? Well, I'm sorry to say that i'll be very much in your way.

Reaching the perimeter the guard had she could see that Bianca was already there questioning the guards. As the Undead tried to get a better look one of the guards stopped her, "Oh I'm sorry I'm Po Jinghua a priestess! I heard what happened and came here to see if I could help or for the very least aid the friends and family with burial and pray". Bowing to the guard apologetically and keeping up her act bore fruit as the guard let her past while pointing to Bianca or Alasse.

Moving to Bianca and the guard she was speaking to she would do her song and dance again while overhearing the guards mention the issue they are having with getting Attie down. Raising her hand, "I would be more than happy to assist a guardsman. Do not worry I'll be sure not to cause any further damage and make sure to persevere Alasse's friend from further damage". Once she received the go ahead the Priestess would fly up to Attie to get her down while also giving her a better vantage to see what was done to her friend.

Face to face with Attie now gave Lixue pause as what was done to her was nothing short of monstrous. However, the incisions and removal of the organs were not done by anyone. It was clear as day that the removal of the organs were done professionally by either a healer or a necromancer. She knew of plenty of magical as well as alchemical reasons for human organs, but the wounds around Attie's neck were not done by the same person. Moving in closer it was plain to see bruising and friction burns around the neck. Touching Attie's neck revealed no breaks signalling a death by strangulation.

Gleaning all the information that she was able she grabbed onto the metal rods one by one freezing and shattering the to free Attie. Clearly the one who placed Attie here was the very same person who strangled her as the rods were buried deep. The amount of strength that would be needed to do so was far beyond human ability, explaining how they were able to keep the upper hand on Attie who was no weakling herself in any sense.

With Attie loose she glided down while turning to face both Bianca and the guardsman as she cradled Attie in her arms. "I'm sorry for your loss, miss. I have your friend now I can offer to bury and put her soul..". As she looked to Attie her friend's soul was nowhere to be found. Biting her lip with enough force to draw her black blood as not only had they desecrated her friend's body, but her soul as well. Seemly at her limit, Lixue stood there in silence as she could not even help pass on her friend's soul.

The guards, having concluded that it was related to gambling, quickly began to clean up the crime scene. The body itself was in Cao Lixue's hands so they began to clean the tree and the ground up. The head guard seemed satisfied with his conclusion and left. The crowd dispersed now that the action was done, though they would still be talking about it for the rest of the day. The only people who cared about the actual Attie was Chrys, Bianca, and Cao Lixue. Otherwise, nobody else really cared about solving the mystery of her horrifying death. 

Back at the Tavern….

Milas watched as a saddened Chrys returned to the Tavern. She hadn't known why the group had rushed out so frantically but she had a feeling that it had something to do with Attie and the pinned to the tree thing. Milas was unaware of Attie's death but after seeing Chrys, it wasn't hard to understand what had happened. She wasn't as close as they were but she still felt sadness herself at the thought of her death. Heading behind the counter she found some sweetrolls, milk, and some strong alcohol in case anybody wanted it. She then placed it on the table Chrys was at. 

"Have as much as you want. Rooms are free for your group as well." Milas said quietly, "Stay as long as you need to."

It was Milas' way of respecting the dead. She knew that Attie's friends were some of the most important things to her. So, she would treat the friends with care as a way to honor Attie's memory. 

Cao had found Bianca first and Bianca acted like she hadn’t met Cao before to keep up their respective ruses. When she left that left Bianca speaking to the guardsman until Cao came back and he left, Cao having Attie’s body in her arms. Grief was plain to see in Cao and Bianca was mirroring that grief in kind as they stared down their dead friend. Bianca reached out and placed a gentle hand on Attie’s head. ”I’m sorry, Attie, you deserved more. We’ll find who did this and make them suffer, I promise you.” Bianca whispered before offering to take the burden from Cao for a moment.

Bianca continued the ruse however, in case anyone was watching or listening. ”Yes, though there is the option to cremate her to.” Bianca’s way of asking if Cao would rather bury or cremate Attie’s remains. ”Before we do either of those, I should go back to the tavern and speak to someone there, so that they know where I am.” Bianca said, saying that they would go and get Chrys so that she could be with them when they decided what to do with Attie’s remains.

Whenever that was all settled they could get around to exchanging information and figure out their next move from there.

[OOC: Bianca will go and get Chrys from the tavern if that’s what we decide to do and they can all meet back at the tavern afterwards?]

As she was trying to get a hold on the entire situation, the woman in the suit who Chrys had seen leave earlier returned back to the Riverside Inn. Joining the other two, she finally was able to see what had befallen Attie herself. It was a horrible sight. She had seen Chompers and other Twisted creatures from the time Void creatures swarmed the lands, but this was different. Her friend's body was mutilated in an awful way, but despite her overwhelming grief–she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very unusual about it. After a long silence, she spoke up so Bianca and Miss Cao could hear. She formally introduced herself, then turned her attention to what was left of Attie. "I can't believe someone would do something like this…to anyone. I think maybe Attie really did stumble onto something serious. Most people who want enemies or potential threats dead just kill them, but they took out her heart, brain, and eyes too. Normally this would just be adding insult to injury, however I think the killer or whoever wanted her dead might have some knowledge of necromancy."

"It's just a guess–that's all." The blonde girl added quickly. "…I know someone who happens to be a necromancer, and one of the requirements for raising the dead is the heart must be intact. That might also explain the stitches around her head too, but I don't know why they'd take her eyes." Taking a deep breath, she wrapped up her train of thought. "If they took out her heart, then they probably were trying to ensure people couldn't use necromancy to make her reveal what she knew. And the rest of the missing organs would make it so resurrection wouldn't be possible." No matter which way she looked at it, it didn't change the awful truth. Marcov had killed Attie, either directly or indirectly. How were they going to go up against someone who had no reservations in hurting those who stood in their way? How would they even begin, without making themselves the next victims on his list? There was also the question of what that smell of raw pork meant, from what she had learned from the first person to find the body. There were too many questions without any leads or answers.

Pulling Attie away from the outstretched hand slightly as Lixue looked up to see that she had mistakenly withdrawn Attie away from her friend. Moving Attie closer to Bianca's hand while breaking eye contact as she did not wish for Bianca to see the grief and shame in her eyes. Doing her best to keep out of Bianca's open apology and promise, Lixue shook her head as Bianca offered to take Attie from her. "No, please allow me to carry her, it helps me focus on something else". While Bianca was unaware of the Undead's peculiar situation she hoped that Bianca would accept her wish while prying into her words.

With their grief, partial sated the Priestess looked to Bianca with confusion before remembering the past exchange. "I suppose so, but perhaps your friend here wished for a proper burial. There are many of those, especially Elves and Fae, who prefer to return to the forest, however as I do not know your friend I'll defer to your choice as it was your friend". Continuing the act deeply wounded the Undead as she had to pretend to not know her friend while doing her best to steer Bianca into the decision. Thankfully her assumption of Bianca's intelligence was on point as they quickly understood the meaning behind her words and agreed with the proposal.

While the method had been agreed upon Lixue had mostly forgotten about Chrysanthe out of both shocks from Attie's death and anger that someone who Attie once called friend was not here with them. "Oh, is another one of her friends here as well? If that is the case please retrieve them and your friends' shattered armour and exit north of the city till you see the outline of the woods". Doing her best to hide her contempt for Chrysanthe as she kept up the act, but what really mattered was that Bianca gathered the armour as the Undead knew exactly what to use it for.

As they parted ways Lixue held Attie tighter in her arms as she walked to the outer city limits. If I knew that the party was the last time we would have met, I would have ignored everything else no matter if they were gods or nobility and danced with you forever if it kept you from meeting your end like this. Once she had exited the city she let her mask and tears fall as the Undead rested Attie on a nearby tree. Rubbing her eyes and shaking her body as she created a shovel out of ice as her draining aura slowly poured over a small area around her killing all life in a small area around her. "Sorry! you have to see me like this Attie, I'll stop as I know you would not want to see me like this". Forcing a smile at Attie the Undead would begin her work as she waited for the others.

With Bianca and Chrysanthe's arrival, Chrysanthe introduced herself to Bianca and Lixue whose head was barely poking out of the grave. Ignoring the Girl's introduction as the Undead continued to put the finishing touches on the grave as Chrysanthe continued on with her theory as to why Attie was mutilated. Meeting the Blond's words with the sharp stab of her shovel and the clomping of dirt as the Undead removed the last of the dirt from Attie's grave.

Climbing out of the hole and tossing the ice shovel aside as Chrysanthe made an interesting point about necromancy to only then ruin what good graces the comment had garnered with Lixue as she shared her fears and concerns. Looking through Attie’s so called friend. "That is exactly what I am going to do, get in their way and make them come to me. If you're afraid, leave after we've buried Attie". Looking away from the Blond while turning to look at Bianca to see if she had brought the armour. "Thank you for getting this, place it on the ground nearby. Though do you think I should use it to make the headstone or coffin"?

Attie's corpse was cold as ice. People began to leave the area when Lixue took down the body. The intriguing event was over and there was a lack of material for gossip. They had gotten their fill and would be talking about it for the rest of the week. The guards helped clean up the rest of the blood then returned to their original business now that the body had been identified and they had decided that they knew what happened. The only ones who seemed to care about the girl were already investigating, so why bother putting any extra work into it? 

(OOC: Sorry for it being so short. Its a bit difficult to navigate without a character XD)