221 / 02 / 23 - Cause for Suicides Revealed

Chirin has been no stranger to unusual occurrences of late, with the nights of terror looming large in everyone's mind. It could be easy to fall into despair, even for those with wealth and influence. So it was that when Darrel Goldsmith took his own life it was not treated as suspicious. He had just lost his daughter to the demon attacks, and his neighbours commented on how withdrawn and depressed he had become. Everything pointed to this being a suicide and the patrol left it at that. When Caroline Miller was found dead by her own hand a week later a brief investigation by the patrol again revealed that she had been acting differently, being less sociable and barely speaking to her family. With no indications of any other parties involved it was again ruled a suicide. A third death, this time of Lethian Goodbarrel, also appeared to be through self inflicted wounds though his family hired a priestess to investigate further. This priestess, Fuscia Hillbrook, was able to confirm that there was no other person involved in the death, though she claimed there was a taint on Lethian's soul. With no evidence of any involvement by a third party and the only anomaly being a spiritual matter the patrol once again classed this as a suicide.
There was nothing to link these three deaths at the time but a fourth apparent suicide, that of Caroline's son Ogen Miller, prompted the patrol to investigate further. Based on the earlier reports of a spiritual taint a wizard was hired to inspect Ogen's belongings. This investigation revealed that a jewelled bracelet had a faint magical trace. The bracelet seemed relatively new and bore the mark of Darrel Goldsmith. With this potential link between the deaths, the belongings of any unusual deaths were reviewed and a jewelled necklace created by Darrel was found amongst Lethian's possessions. With the possibility that the jewellery was linked to multiple deaths it was turned over to the Acceptors of Merial for study and safe keeping. The Acceptors determined that there was a taint on the gemstones used in the jewellery which could influence a person's emotions, leading them into such a state of despair that they would take their own life.
On learning this the patrol started an investigation into where these gemstones came from and how many other pieces might have been created. There were no records of the gemstones being purchased in Darrel's accounts but Darrel's daughter remembered when he had acquired them as he had commented on getting them for a very good price. The gems had all been used in the two pieces that had been recovered which meant no one else was at risk. Unfortunately the lack of records means that the source of the gems remains unknown, though the effect that they have had indicates that they were likely planted by an enemy of Chirin. The Council is continuing to pursue this line of inquiry though there is little likelihood that any evidence will emerge. While the threat has been neutralised for now, similar attacks may occur in the future and it is essential that all citizens remain vigilant and on guard against the manipulations of those who would threaten our freedom.