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[i][b]The Dancing Donkey Inn, Anvil[/b][/i]
[i]13 Midyear, 5:46[/i]

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"Yeah I heard about Lucius. Found the poor fuck with more'n twenny stab wounds, his house a right rotten mess too."

[right]"Another one..."[/right]

"Something like that, seems to be gettin' out of hand now. Guards are meant to protect us and now the killings are happnin in our homes!"

[right]"An outrage..."[/right]

[center]"You're wrong."[/center]

"And who asked you?"

[center]"I'm just saying-"[/center]

"No-one fuckin' asked!"

[right]"Yeah, no one..."[/right]

[center]"When you talk as loud as you fetchers do, you invite the entire inn to your conversation."[/center]

"Alright then, tell me why I'm so wrong?"

[center]"Lucius was stabbed. Many times, as you recount."[/center]

"Yeah. Stabbed dead as a doornail."

[right]"Yeah, twenty times."[/right]

[center]"Actually it was six, exactly."[/center]

"You calling me a liar?"

[center]"No. Perhaps your ears are dirty, anyway -"[/center]

"Fuck this, and fuck off Greyskin."

[right]"...Sorry about him."[/right]

[center]"Don't be."[/center]
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Uriel was sat in earshot of the tense conversation, but just far enough away that he didn't draw attention - not even from the Dunmer who had proven himself to be astute; or at least a good listener. He was right, Lucius had suffered exactly six stab wounds. Upper arm, chest, twice in the shoulder, once in the belly, and a final in the neck. He wondered too if the Dunmer was aware of the second body they'd found that day - of Gionato, another dockhand who had been found with a Vedori heirloom in his jacket.

He surmised that the Dunmer could recall that the other bodies had all been found to have been killed by a blunt-force trauma. 

Uriel knew that the Dunmer wouldn't know that each body had been exsanguinated. That was known by only the guards and a local healer they employed to examine the bodies. It was clear as crystal that Gionato had murdered Lucius, but then had found himself in trouble. 

As Uriel drank from his glass, he looked around the place. He wasn't on duty tonight, and so he slouched over the bar, his golden eyes tracking the movements of the barkeep, finding that he liked the sight of the flash of skin of his chest where his shirt was unbuttoned just so. 

He kept that lonely feeling of longing to himself.

The vision in front of him became the bottom of his glass again - empty, and the barkeep approached.

"Need a top up, Uriel?" he asked with a friendly smile.

Uriel just pushed the glass closer to him, a slight nod, "sure."

He waited until the barkeep was tending to someone else before he looked back up and let out the breath he had been holding. 

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Outside of the Inn, the sun was setting - early, for a summer night, and unusual. 

Across the darkening Gold Coast, the umber burning sunset made way for an ill wind to begin to howl.