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Jin, being somewhat learned in the art of magic, could figure out that Renault was at the most under Tura's control and could let it go. Silently agreeing with Amelia's statement about rest, he turned to leave. Perhaps it was a wounded pride that had made him so quiet, but if so, there wasn't much he could do now. Everything had indeed worked out in the end...

Renault's sudden appearance, however, was not lost on Ghis. He wasna wi' us before, an' now he is... Sa' clothes, too.

Although uneducated, Ghis wasn't co-captain of the Watch for nothing. Sure, the zombie-beast-thing they recently met was moving on its own accord, but who was responsible for setting it loose in the first place? Tura was destroyed, but Ghis had a vague feeling Renault had more than a little something to do with it... him and that so-called "morph", too. Perhaps it was time to take them both in for proper questioning... but Amelia wrapped her arms around the fallen Renault, clearly more than thankful he was alive. What had he said to them, when they came face-to-face? It didn't look like the girl was remotely mad at him. Nobody did. So... what would he make of this?

"'Melia, I'll be wantin' th' Bishop a' th' Watch 'ouse t'morrow", he began sternly, staring down Amelia and Renault.

But then his gaze softened.

"...I' th' mornin'. An' ye doon't 'ave to."

He turned around and marched off, adding to Javert, "Oh, an' ye doon't 'ave tae come in early, either."

Javert watched Ghis leave, then sighed and sat down, leaning back against a tall tree.

"Well, I guess that means you're off the hook," he said, nodding at Renault. "And, umm... I think I'll stay here a little while. After all that, I'd just like to take some time to think."

He yawned and stretched his arms, placing his hands behind his head to create a makeshift pillow, closing his eyes.

((Aaaand now for explanations.))

Renault did show up at the Watch House the next day, as ordered. A few others did happen to be there; they would be curious, wouldn't they? And the story he had to tell was long, since the first part really did involve him.

It was rather widely known that Renault had in fact lived for several centuries before becoming involved in the incident at Dragon's Gate. And, it was slightly less well-known that he had been a mercenary up to approximately twenty years before that incident. As amercenary, he had worked for Nergal, collecting quintessence for the man in hopes that Nergal would revive his dearest friend. Nergal, of course, lived for an extremely long time directly off the quintessence of other living beings. Renault, however, was a different story. Nergal couldn't be bothered to keep giving a minion precious quintessence, so instead Renault became his first test subject; Nergal took Renault's own quintessence and shaped it to replace his body, greatly extending his lifespan but not teaching him how to use quintessence on himself. No, that would make him too dangerous.

So, Renault lived on, part of his body the equivalent of a morph's body. And then, the Dragon's Gate incident occurred, and Nergal was killed. The problem with this was that it had been Nergal's magic that had kept his body together, and it was not a spell that had been meant to endure. So, once the caster was dead... the spell began to unravel.

The spell held for a length of time; a few years, even. Renault came to Learania, and all was fine for a period of time. However, the strain put on him at both Easter and Christmas - defending Madriana and destroying a great... 'bell tower', weakened his body, and took a toll on his mind. He became obsessed with the Door and examined it incessantly; just as Soren before him had. Finally, his exposure to the Door and the dark presence who had controlled it drove his body to decay, and he left, taking a trip away to hide it from the others.

For the next few months, he tried to recraft the spell that had held his body together, and failed. So, instead he used the knowledge of quintessence he had gained from Nergal and took from others, keeping himself alive though each time his body rotted faster.

On the day he came back to Fefga's, his mind had begun to rot as well, or at least part of it. However, his magic remained, and he could yet feel the auras in the House. So, he created a Morph; though the experiments he'd been doing would not recreate his own body, he'd figured out how to create other bodies. Thus, he went to save his daughter.

And here is where the story changes. He had retreated to the attic, where he knew a familiar presence was; a piece of his dear friend Soren, and the only one other than himself that knew of quintessence. Melethia followed him, both complicating and simplifying things. Renault took some quintessence from Melethia; being half-dragon, she had plenty to spare. The bishop had Neros place the rotting half of his body in stasis, teaching the other about quintessence; then together they created a morph, one that looked just as Renault did, and gave it memories to believe it truly was the bishop. Then, they sent it off with Luce, expecting that it would last long enough for them to get Renault back to normal and replace it.

This... did not work out so well.

Originally, the plan had been to simply bring back one citizen and use their body as a base to replace Renault's morph side with that person's living organs. Granted, one person would be killed, but it would be quick and painless, and no one would know. The problem came later.

Kishuna had been living in an abandoned mansion on the outskirts of town for a few months now. It was a bit creepy, but it was all right; it kept people away. Renault came here to visit his friend, and to ask for his help; however, he was distracted by the pull of a magic from the basement. Unbeknownst to either the bishop or the morph, long ago a necromancer had been sealed deep underground by a group of mages, and a house was built above the tomb once people had forgotten its existence. On the floor of the cellar was a mask; a mask worn by the necromancer, Tura.

Renault touched the mask, ostensibly to examine it... and suddenly, he was struck by a thought. Why stop with simply one person? Why not select the perfect organs for his new body? And, while he was at it, make the townspeople realize their sins, and punish them as well. All these things in one fell swoop. So he donned the mask, and did these things; though a part of his mind still begged him to stop. It seemed that the mask, being worn for so long by the evil creature, had acquired some of its first owner's evil, and now passed it on to the bishop through mental suggestion.

The rest was self-explanatory. Melethia had been unaware that this had not been part of the plan until late in the game; once she had realized, she had turned on him and joined against him. So, she couldn't be blamed. Neither could Kishuna; having made him, Renault could issue him commands and he would have to follow them. He had no choice.

And then Amelia had destroyed the mask, and here they stood. Renault had not healed his wounds; instead, he wore a bandage across his face. He would have a scar from where the tip of the spear had slashed, but that was acceptable. It would be a reminder not to be so foolish.

----

Leon's Report (Thus Spoke Misery Summary)

I am Leon Vatara, Lieutenant under Watch Captain Daniel Leek. This is a report… my final report. This report covers the case in which shall be my last, and hopefully the information I leave behind will be enough to solve it once and for all. This is the record of all I found on the “Tura Case of Misery.”

The first victim we found had her ribs split open. She was a middle-aged woman with a note left behind, obviously a clue. “What makes a life worth living?” was the question. All of us had different answers, us on this case. The writing the suspect used made me a little anxious… not many in Eyris can read and write, elegantly at that. It at least narrowed it down. It was early in the case though. No need to fret…

The Lady Isadora of FEF gave us a suspect’s name, whom I now know is behind it all, Tura.

The next victim was a heavyset, unemployed man was in the fountain, another note clue left behind. This note left hints of ‘painting’, as if referring to art itself and that he was creating something out of these murders. I have no clue what he could have meant. The question this time was “what do you do when you lose someone, especially to murder?” After this, I had a brief encounter with a noble lady, but… it turned out to be not so bad, as she was only out for fine wine.

Two murders occurred in one night. One had already been done, the young woman nailed to the wall, and a dog placed in quite the obscene position. This will make the photos to desensitize future officers for sure. Shortly after, a scream was heard, and when I went to check it out, the man was dead and many civilians were just gazing upon him... Despite our warnings, this still happened. The notes left behind made no sense until all of us on the task force (any Watchmen reading this know who they are) combined the two notes together. “The ones I kill aren’t of the light.” Criminals? “This is for someone most dear to you.” But who is this note for, dear to whom?

The next to fall was a middle-aged man. After he had been killed, the clue said that snow would be falling. Off-duty Watch Constable Amelia first found the remains… that the ‘snow’ was ashes of this charred man. The other note left behind told of the suffering of life, and how death was a welcome escape. The writer seemed to now be in the possible pain of guilt.

The next day, the final day of the murders, again, two occurred. They were clearly innocents, an old woman and a young boy! The messages behind said “Why live past today” and “It only hurts once, they’re just broken bones.” These cryptic messages, much to my embarrassment frustrated me enough to leave a message and even call out loud to Tura, the murderer myself. I first got an annoying riddle reply… but upon calling out loud… it almost felt like he was right behind me. “Don’t come alone, bring the others with you.” He knew of the task force! But still, going together was better than alone. Together, we approached the manor, FEFGA’s manor… and stepped inside a hallway. There, Tura, the culprit stood. He proceeded to lecture us about how we were villains, listing circumstantial things, all involving the guild FEF’s various conflicts which supposedly drove a civilian to suicide. I was not about to fall to his trickery, I knew better than that. He also told us the sins of the murdered… not that it mattered. For next, in my tired eyes now, I was now separated from my companions by supernatural flames. No other way to describe them.

In this room, I was alone until being drug into a clinic. I don't know what it was for, after all... I needed no vaccine. I woke up to discover it was poison they were experimenting on me with. There was nothing I could do to avoid this capture, this fate.

The closing statement of this report…is a word to all who knew me. These words I write are for my friends, for my enemies, for anyone that knew me.

Thank you my friends for your love, thank you, my enemies for making me stronger. Thank you, and goodbye.

I thought that it was going to be the last of my days, but to my surprise, my capture and death turned out to be illusions! I was taken (by my other comrades) out of the manor and outside, where Father Renault showed up and we prepared to battle the supernatural. Tura entered a body of all he’d killed and was ready to strike us down… but then his own servants gave the end of him after a prayer from the Father, and this madman's mansion collapsed. From various accounts of Lady Isadora of FEF Crew, Constable Amelia, and Father Renault himself, we concluded that Tura was a spirit born of hatred, releasing his vengeance upon Eyris when he inhabited a mask the unfortunate Father happened to pick up.

All in the task force survived. Back-up arrived courtesy of the citizen, Leena and were able to escort us to medical facilities safely. There was no murderer to bring in, but we know that the misery upon our beloved city has now come to a close. Although in recovery right now, I plan to return to the Watch’s services promptly, and be certain that this terror never strikes our homeland again.