The Confectioner's Demise

HEM ACADEMY POST-ACTION REPORT

Filed by: Samuel Desmond, Peacekeeper Grade 1

Location: Resta City

Date: Ames 28, 3E4

Time: 19:40

People of Interest

• Deidre Dario (Victim-Deceased)  2124 Poppy Lane, Garden District of Resta City
• Camilla Winstrom (Witness) 2124 Poppy Lane, Garden District of Resta City
• David Harret (Witness) 32 Blackstone Avenue, Apex District of Resta City

Warrants 

• Camilla Dario (Accused of Mass Murder Illegal Transformation Magic)
• Serena Dario (Accused of Mass Murder, Illegal Transformation Magic)

Advisories

• Involvement of fey creatures
• Use of unidentified magic

Action Summary:

I arrived in the capitol at 16:22 in order to respond to a Peacekeeper summons at a candy shop located at 2124 Poppy Lane in the city's Garden District, known as Spring Confections. I had been summoned by Camilla Winstrom, an apprentice candy maker employed there to investigate a strange act of vandalism. As it turned out, everything on display in the store had somehow taken on the appearance of hard candy. Sensing nothing unusual about such a sight in a candy shop, I asked for the witness to elaborate to which she responded that the stores wares were usually made with a variety of different candies, including chocolate, marshmallow, and cotton candy. The sight of everything being replaced by hard candy overnight was an unusual sight that even she couldn't explain.

I opted to question the store's owner, Deidre Dario at 16:51 which was within minutes of the store's closing. The witness was uncooperative with my questioning. It would have been easy for one to assume that she had something to do with the vandalism, but certain nonverbal cues indicated she was just as shaken as her apprentice was. Her breathing was quick, she avoided eye contact, and she was constantly checking the windows and exits as if I weren't there. I could tell that she was worried that someone else might show up, but she refused to tell me anything. She was clearly hiding something, but nothing I had seen up to that point constituted legal grounds to compel her to speak.

Seeing nothing else that could be done in the absence of useful information, I began to scan the shop for traces of magic. This was how I learned that everything in the store had been exposed to various forms of magic. Fey energy seemed to coat the walls, but I was more interested in the hard candy, which showed evidence of dark magic. When I asked Ms. Winstrom about it, she seemed aghast at the very mention. She clearly knew nothing about the dark magic, but was willing to confirm that fey magic as a usual part of the store's operation. Both the master and apprentice were then revealed to be feykin.

I chose to follow the trail of the dark magic, which led me to the residence of one David Harret. I knocked three times, seeking permission to enter. I was met with no response, but I could clearly hear thumping within. Fearing the presence of dark magic implied someone might be in danger, I assumed my frostback form in order to break down the door. Once inside, I found Mr. Harret, suspended by chains over what appeared to be a cauldron full of molten candy. I released the man from his bonds and began to question him about his predicament. 

Shaking in terror, he told me of a pair of witches he encountered in the southern hills outside Freedom's Reach who had been responsible for the random capture and murder of the city's citizens. The witches' method of killing was very similar to what had happened to the merchandise at Spring Confections. Based on what he told me and my observation of the dark magic within, I determined that if he had been boiled in this cauldron, his entire body would have turned to candy. The witness was highly distressed throughout the conversation, confused as to why they would come so far out of their way just to follow him. Although the timeline of their previous murders did correspond with the date, I had no answer as to why they had come here. It seemed unlikely that they would come so far just to eliminate one former witness, especially since he had told me that he'd already reported what he knew to representatives of both our order and Galeon's Home Defense League. So, I was left to assume this had something to do with Spring Confections.

I returned to the shop to find a very horrified Ms. Winstrom standing over a pile of shattered hard candy behind the counter that I was positive hadn't been there when I had last visited. Moreover, the hard candy that once littered the storefront had mysteriously vanished. She told me that she had seen the witches, both of whom had addressed the proprietor of the shop as "Mother". They didn't say much, but Ms. Winstrom did quote one of them as having said, "This is the only way to escape you!" They then used magic to liquefy all of the candy in the room and bury Mrs. Dario with it. Although they had attempted to kill both her and Ms. Winstrom, the latter survived thanks to a shielding spell that had fully protected her from contact with the liquid. Mrs. Dario had no time to defend herself, however, so she could not help being turned into a statue of hard candy, which the witches took turns pulverizing before leaving quietly. They left Ms. Winstrom alive only because the candy was too thick for them to see the shield that protected her beneath it.

After recounting what had happened, it was clear that the witness was too overwhelmed to say much else. So, with her consent, I began to search through Mrs. Dario's personal effects. There I found piles of returned letters that the candy maker had written to her daughters. I noticed immediately that one of them shared a name with her apprentice, Camilla, while the other was called Serena. She pleaded on several occasions for them to come back home, begging for their forgiveness, and explaining that her craft had improved. She assured them that she had much to teach them, but her words indicated that neither of them had bothered to reply for over twenty years. The most recent letter was one in which she mentioned taking on an apprentice, but assuring them once again that her secrets would be theirs too if only they would come back to her.

Based on this evidence, I suspect that the daughters in question were the same two witches who had terrorized Freedom's Reach and killed Mrs. Dario. I have collected all of these letters as well as the candied remains of the victim for the elders' analysis. The suspects, Camilla and Serena Dario, are to be considered extremely dangerous and immediate action is necessary if we are to bring them to justice before their confirmed period of yearly activity ends.