The bodies of the dead appear mysteriously during the night and are taken down by Camelot's law enforcement before next sunrise. Those who manage to see the display/s before they're taken down will note they are hung up as a deliberate, increasingly gruesome spectacle [think the 'art' in the TV show Hannibal] as the days go on. It is not a sight for the faint-hearted. If you smell the result, you will in all likelihood throw up the contents of your stomach.
The FIRST WEEK simply involves a single body hung up on a lamp post or some similar, convenient archway/overhang, with one or two more dead bodies below it. None of them are particularly special and all are eventually ID'd as lower tier thugs with shifty reputations.
On the SECOND WEEK, the bodies turn into more...artful displays.
One finger taken for each day Hythlodaeus had been in their custody (7 total) - each stump cauterised so the victim would not bleed to death before the ordeal was over. Each bone of the remaining fingers has been broken from the individual phalanges to the metacarpal bone, from the ulna and radius to the humerus, and then repeated in similarly painstaking fashion for the feet, ankles, and legs. Skin discolouration from bruising plus other pertinent signs on the corpse point to this being done BEFORE death.
This body hangs from an archway by several wires laced at the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Hence its name, 'the puppet'. It has been hanging just long enough that its weight means the wires have begun to cut into the flesh. The marks on the corpse associated with the wires indicate they occurred AFTER death.
Certain people will recognise this fae as being the one who initially threatened Emet-Selch at his shop.
EXTRA: The wire is unusually devoid of any of the usual manufacturing marks more modern characters may associate with steel production, but maybe this isn't so unusual in a place where alchemists can make almost anything out of natural materials.
Those knowledgeable about Earth's viking history will recognise this brutal humiliation. Instead of being hung from a post or arch, this victim has been crucified facedown on to a cross: one arm hanging from each end of the horizontal spar by a single, thick, iron nail through each wrist whilst their neck and ankles are bound to the central post by leather cord. Two whole swathes of the flesh from their back have been sliced open with a sharp blade and peeled outward. The ribs have been severed from the spine, the lungs pulled out and sewn to the flaps of skin so they hang like grotesque wings. The sawn ribs add a pattern of 'feathers' to the 'eagle' on display.
From the sparse amount of blood on the ground, this victim was killed elsewhere before being brought to their current spot to be nailed in. More scientific or similarly precise examination of the leather cord used reveals that the 'leather' has been derived from human skin. It does not look as though the skin was taken from this particular victim however.
Great care has been taken to extract the head and entire spinal column from this body with minimal damage. It's far from perfect - the small bones that have fallen have been fused back to the main column in a way that could only have been by an alchemist. As a result, it's proof that this entire work of 'art' has been conducted after the victim's death. Alchemists cannot work with living material after all.
The fae's body is doubled over like a foetus and frozen in some kind of lacquer. String has been used to keep it tightly bound in this position beforehand, which can be faintly seen if one has the stomach to turn the corpse over and look. The end of the spine has been inserted into the open neck and holds fast by virtue of the lacquer, leaving the head to stare slack-jawed upon all those its sightless eyes pass over.
As a final addition, the victim's cranium has been carefully carved out and its skull emptied of brains and other internal matter, creating something of a cup to drink from - and indeed, the skull can be removed from the spinal column for that very purpose. A wholly unnecessary yet macabre touch.
The fourth and final corpse is found spiked on top of an iron fence. It has had its entire chest cavity opened up, the flesh and muscle cut away from the bone, the lungs, heart, and liver extracted. It leaves the rib cage on display, from which are hung numerous keys. It's not a terribly masterful job. Whoever tied off the remaining organs is not a surgeon, nor likely not in any sort of medical profession at all. The cavity still oozes blood and bile when it's found and has begun to emit a horrid stench.
The keys (after being cleaned) will later be discovered to unlock certain dwellings or buildings owned between the four victims. In these places evidence of a small-time smuggling ring is unearthed, although there seems to no longer be anyone to bring to justice over it. Someone has single-handedly ripped out this entire small-time gang from the city's underbelly...but it is noted that many grunts are still missing and the leader appears to have gone into hiding.
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THE CORPSES
The FIRST WEEK simply involves a single body hung up on a lamp post or some similar, convenient archway/overhang, with one or two more dead bodies below it. None of them are particularly special and all are eventually ID'd as lower tier thugs with shifty reputations.
On the SECOND WEEK, the bodies turn into more...artful displays.
1) THE PUPPET
This body hangs from an archway by several wires laced at the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Hence its name, 'the puppet'. It has been hanging just long enough that its weight means the wires have begun to cut into the flesh. The marks on the corpse associated with the wires indicate they occurred AFTER death.
Certain people will recognise this fae as being the one who initially threatened Emet-Selch at his shop.
EXTRA: The wire is unusually devoid of any of the usual manufacturing marks more modern characters may associate with steel production, but maybe this isn't so unusual in a place where alchemists can make almost anything out of natural materials.
2) THE BLOOD EAGLE
From the sparse amount of blood on the ground, this victim was killed elsewhere before being brought to their current spot to be nailed in. More scientific or similarly precise examination of the leather cord used reveals that the 'leather' has been derived from human skin. It does not look as though the skin was taken from this particular victim however.
3) LONG-NECK
The fae's body is doubled over like a foetus and frozen in some kind of lacquer. String has been used to keep it tightly bound in this position beforehand, which can be faintly seen if one has the stomach to turn the corpse over and look. The end of the spine has been inserted into the open neck and holds fast by virtue of the lacquer, leaving the head to stare slack-jawed upon all those its sightless eyes pass over.
As a final addition, the victim's cranium has been carefully carved out and its skull emptied of brains and other internal matter, creating something of a cup to drink from - and indeed, the skull can be removed from the spinal column for that very purpose. A wholly unnecessary yet macabre touch.
4) THE KEYHOLDER
The keys (after being cleaned) will later be discovered to unlock certain dwellings or buildings owned between the four victims. In these places evidence of a small-time smuggling ring is unearthed, although there seems to no longer be anyone to bring to justice over it. Someone has single-handedly ripped out this entire small-time gang from the city's underbelly...but it is noted that many grunts are still missing and the leader appears to have gone into hiding.