220 / 04 / 24 - Ritualistic Murders brought to an end

In the early hours of the morning of the 23rd Mids, another person fell victim to the murderer who has been plaguing our town for the last week. Adran of Kerevar, who made his living ferrying goods along the Dimar, had been placed under the care of the Inner Guard after they received information he may be a target. In keeping with the information unearthed by members of the council, Adran had had some disagreements with the Halfling and gnome communities. In this case his refusal to grant them passage Like the other victims, Adran was found with his legs and eyes removed. Payle, a healer from the Mallory Centre for Healing , was brought in to examine the body and confirmed that this was the work of the mass murderer rather than someone imitating them as had happened with the murder of Remus Carter.
Two other potential victims had been flagged to the inner guard, but lacking the resources to protect all of them, the inner guard turned to the Outer Guard and a group of private citizens. The Outer Guard unit led by Sergeant Mardin, who recently distinguished himself by dealing with a group of undead, successfully protected their charge as were the group protecting the third potential victim.
With the Inner Guard unable to find any new clues at the murder scene it was left to a group that could mostly be described as vigilantes to finally locate the murderers. Though their methods, which included breaking into a private home, could be considered to be in breach of the law, they were undoubtedly successful. This group, which included the healer Payle, an entertainer named John Fennan (the self styled Rainbow Bard), and an Halfling known as Flint Sharptongue, discovered the lair underground and eliminated the group of murderers. However, despite their success it is only the severity of the threat posed by the murderers that prevents charges being pressed against the group for trespassing and murder.
According to this group the killers were of a race of shorter folk that dwell predominately underground. This race, known as Darklings, is badly affected by light and when they die they explode in a burst of light. Unfortunately this means that there were no bodies to examine and no way to confirm the number of killers. However, the existence of this race of Darklings and the fact that no body is left when they die has been confirmed with the noted sage, Perfin Searcher. Some documents that the group claim to have found in the murderers' lairs were presented as evidence, but beyond the fact that they are written in an obscure language, little information has been released about them.
Though we should be all be thankful to this group that the murderers have been dealt with it is hardly to the credit of the Inner Guard that it took the involvement of a set of freelancers to end this menace. The council are sure to be asking whether the coin spent on the Inner Guard is being used effectively.