“Little Luthien” Killer: “I Am the Kappa” 05/10/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
KORDAVA – In a remarkable new twist in the weeks-old hunt for a serial killer
stalking the streets of Kordava’s so-called “Little Luthien” district, the Towne Bureau
of Investigations today released what they believe to be electronic messages from the
murderer himself. The TBI has not revealed exactly when the messages – all
apparently sent from public-access terminals throughout the city – were issued, but
have suggested to INN that all of them postdate an earlier electronic message in which
the killer denied any involvement in the death of BCA Administrator, Hikaru
Roneskovich. In this latest batch of transmissions, many sent in both Japanese and
English languages, the killer apparently attempts to warn off his pursuers, and has
even gone so far as to name himself the “Kappa,” after a mystical creature of Terran
Asian origins.
In one of the earliest and most distinctive messages, the killer seemed to suggest that
the rise in military and political tensions may have prompted his killing spree, which
has so far claimed seven lives:
Inspector Frances Becca told INN that criminal psychiatrists and linguistics experts at
the TBI are continuing to analyze these messages for clues as to the identity of the
killer, and have drawn a number of possible conclusions. First and foremost among
them is the developing belief that the killer is likely of Draconis Combine origin, and
may in fact be a resident of the Kordava area, which includes some of the most
concentrated communities on Towne populated by descendants of that state.
“At this time, our best analysis holds a greater than 80 percent chance that the alleged
suspect hails from the Japanese-influenced culture of the Draconis Combine, or is a
descendant thereof,” Becca told INN in this morning’s press conference, held at the
TBI field headquarters in downtown Kordava. “In either event, it is clear we are
dealing with a suspect who retains strong ties to such heritage. The kappa myth is
largely unknown in the modern world, being arcane among the Japanese even before
the first spacecraft left the Sol system.”
“We are also secure in the belief that the killer possesses an intimate knowledge of
human anatomy,” Becca added, citing as evidence the precision of the mutilations on
all seven known victims. “It is possible that the pieces he is claiming from each victim
bear some significance, given that he prefers strangulation and suffocation as his
chosen murder methods, both of which avoid any gross physical damage to the body
prior to mutilation.”
In ancient Japanese folklore, the kappa was an amphibious creature with the back of a
tortoise, a scaled hide, webbed feet, and the face of a monkey. It possessed
supernatural abilities derived from rivers, lakes, and ponds, and usually carried some
of its native water in a saucer on its head, which when dry left the kappa powerless.
Likened in some tales to vampires, and renowned for mutilating their victims and
consuming either their blood or internal organs, kappas supposedly possessed
superhuman strength and intelligence, as well as a peculiar sense of honor and
courtesy. They were also said to be able to reattach their own severed limbs. Many of
these characteristics, police believe, fit with some aspects of the killer’s pattern,
including the dumping of victims in the Kordava marina, as well as the mutilations,
thus explaining the killer’s assumption of such an alter ego.
The killer also allegedly sent a more recent message in which he warns the TBI not to
allow incoming Knight-Errant Kristoff Erbe to join the investigation:
Despite the cultural identification of the kappa myth, Becca warned INN that nothing
in the messages confirms the suspect’s origins, and the TBI is not singling any one
group out as harboring the killer. She further stressed that – contrary to rumors by
local demonstrators – the TBI has not initiated background checks against possible
pro-Combine dissidents under the cover of this case, an action viewed by many as an
excuse for a police crackdown on the community.
“We are not in the business of persecution,” Becca said, when asked if the TBI was
looking into local family backgrounds. “The Bureau is simply pursuing every possible
lead in this case, while simultaneously bearing in mind the citizens’ right to privacy.”
A new wave of demonstrations began yesterday after Kordava police reportedly raided
the home of Dr. Shiro Kawanaka, a prominent physician in the Little Luthien district.
Kawanaka was released in the evening after a reportedly intense questioning that had
many area residents proclaiming his rights were violated.
“The TBI’s treatment of Combine residents and citizens is appalling!” declared Agito
Checherenkoff, one of several area youths who spoke out at a demonstration in
downtown Kordava, just outside the TBI field headquarters. “We are made to feel as
if we are all under suspicion, when we are all clearly the victims here! When will the
government confess that they’re too incompetent to solve this? When will they look
beyond our neighborhoods, to the Davion Supremacists, who gain ground and
credibility at our expense?”
Towne Log
+ WTF? As far as I ever knew, a “kappa” was just a letter of the Greek alphabet, and
something Clanners named their Galaxies after. Since when did it ever become a
mythological beast? :- FMLurder
+ I dunno, since long before a hyperopinionated mongrel like you were born? Lurd,
the legend predates the nuclear age! Heck, the article says it was archaic before
spaceflight! :- Vesuvius
+ And this guy just pulls that out of his butt? Figures the cops are buying it, but now
it’s got to be obvious they’re dealing with somebody who has WAY too much time on
his hands. :- FMLurder
+ Which brings us the other question of how we all know it’s a male killer? The cops,
even the reporter writing this article figures it’s a male, without even offering a shred
of evidence. :- LewCass
+ Whoever it is has killed only women; generally speaking, that’s not often done by
serial-killing women. We’re dealing with a misogynist, a brilliant one, mind you, and
likely a nut case, too – or this is all just what he wants us to think. :- Chungabunga
+ All right, so he thinks he’s a prehistoric mythological beast, which sounds like it
walked out of one of those crappy flat-screen animations the Dracs seem to love so
much. What does that tell us? Hmmm. Oh, I know! Let’s get him to bow or
something – him being all honorable and courteous – and then he’ll dump all that
water in his head out and be powerless. :- MM009
+ I know you’re trying to be ridiculous, MM, but actually that was part of the kappa
mythos, too. :- RaiRai
+ Huh!? :- MM009
+ According to the legend, one way to defeat a kappa was to bow. Its sense of honor
demanded a return bow, which of course spilled the water it used for its power. (Hey,
don’t look at me; I didn’t write the freaking myth!) Another way to save yourself was
to write your name on a cucumber and toss it into the lake or whatever it lived in. :-
RaiRai
+ What the hell does THAT do!? :- FMLurder
+ Heh. The kappa likes cucumber, apparently. (Where do you think we got kappa
maki from?) Feeding a kappa what he likes makes him grateful, and since you signed
it, he knows not to attack you. :- RaiRai
+ That is the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. Who came up with this myth?
Some poor, starving cucumber farmers, to open a new market? :- FMLurder
+ (shrug) Where did the Europeans come up with those silly myths about fairies,
elves, and dwarves? Did they have some kind of “thing” for short people? :- RaiRai
+ Huh! That explains why I saw all those vegetables in the bay this morning! Never
heard of that . . . :- Draco041
+ What’s kappa maki? :- Synnik
+ Sushi, stuffed with cucumber. Rather disgusting, really. :- RaiRai
+ Quick, Draco! Go carve your name on a cucumber! Maybe your killer won’t find
you! :- WetWillie
+ Get a life already, WW! :- FMLurder
INN - Interstellar News Network
KORDAVA – In a remarkable new twist in the weeks-old hunt for a serial killer
stalking the streets of Kordava’s so-called “Little Luthien” district, the Towne Bureau
of Investigations today released what they believe to be electronic messages from the
murderer himself. The TBI has not revealed exactly when the messages – all
apparently sent from public-access terminals throughout the city – were issued, but
have suggested to INN that all of them postdate an earlier electronic message in which
the killer denied any involvement in the death of BCA Administrator, Hikaru
Roneskovich. In this latest batch of transmissions, many sent in both Japanese and
English languages, the killer apparently attempts to warn off his pursuers, and has
even gone so far as to name himself the “Kappa,” after a mystical creature of Terran
Asian origins.
In one of the earliest and most distinctive messages, the killer seemed to suggest that
the rise in military and political tensions may have prompted his killing spree, which
has so far claimed seven lives:
- I am the Kappa, the spirit of the waters and the land. I have watched the folly
of men, and I have grown enraged. In the name of justice, I strike out. In the
name of vengeance, I leave you the signs of warning. I am not the cause of
your pain, but an echo of it. Fear me for what I am, but do not blame your
mundane troubles upon me, for I can claim that which you hold most dear,
most cherished, with but an instant’s work, and with far greater tragedy than
any of your foolish wars.
Inspector Frances Becca told INN that criminal psychiatrists and linguistics experts at
the TBI are continuing to analyze these messages for clues as to the identity of the
killer, and have drawn a number of possible conclusions. First and foremost among
them is the developing belief that the killer is likely of Draconis Combine origin, and
may in fact be a resident of the Kordava area, which includes some of the most
concentrated communities on Towne populated by descendants of that state.
“At this time, our best analysis holds a greater than 80 percent chance that the alleged
suspect hails from the Japanese-influenced culture of the Draconis Combine, or is a
descendant thereof,” Becca told INN in this morning’s press conference, held at the
TBI field headquarters in downtown Kordava. “In either event, it is clear we are
dealing with a suspect who retains strong ties to such heritage. The kappa myth is
largely unknown in the modern world, being arcane among the Japanese even before
the first spacecraft left the Sol system.”
“We are also secure in the belief that the killer possesses an intimate knowledge of
human anatomy,” Becca added, citing as evidence the precision of the mutilations on
all seven known victims. “It is possible that the pieces he is claiming from each victim
bear some significance, given that he prefers strangulation and suffocation as his
chosen murder methods, both of which avoid any gross physical damage to the body
prior to mutilation.”
In ancient Japanese folklore, the kappa was an amphibious creature with the back of a
tortoise, a scaled hide, webbed feet, and the face of a monkey. It possessed
supernatural abilities derived from rivers, lakes, and ponds, and usually carried some
of its native water in a saucer on its head, which when dry left the kappa powerless.
Likened in some tales to vampires, and renowned for mutilating their victims and
consuming either their blood or internal organs, kappas supposedly possessed
superhuman strength and intelligence, as well as a peculiar sense of honor and
courtesy. They were also said to be able to reattach their own severed limbs. Many of
these characteristics, police believe, fit with some aspects of the killer’s pattern,
including the dumping of victims in the Kordava marina, as well as the mutilations,
thus explaining the killer’s assumption of such an alter ego.
The killer also allegedly sent a more recent message in which he warns the TBI not to
allow incoming Knight-Errant Kristoff Erbe to join the investigation:
- There is no savior who can rescue you from my justice. All that can be
accomplished by bringing in outsiders – even those born of my soil – is to draw
more of my wrath upon you. Hunt for me if you like, but I will not honor he
who does not belong.
Despite the cultural identification of the kappa myth, Becca warned INN that nothing
in the messages confirms the suspect’s origins, and the TBI is not singling any one
group out as harboring the killer. She further stressed that – contrary to rumors by
local demonstrators – the TBI has not initiated background checks against possible
pro-Combine dissidents under the cover of this case, an action viewed by many as an
excuse for a police crackdown on the community.
“We are not in the business of persecution,” Becca said, when asked if the TBI was
looking into local family backgrounds. “The Bureau is simply pursuing every possible
lead in this case, while simultaneously bearing in mind the citizens’ right to privacy.”
A new wave of demonstrations began yesterday after Kordava police reportedly raided
the home of Dr. Shiro Kawanaka, a prominent physician in the Little Luthien district.
Kawanaka was released in the evening after a reportedly intense questioning that had
many area residents proclaiming his rights were violated.
“The TBI’s treatment of Combine residents and citizens is appalling!” declared Agito
Checherenkoff, one of several area youths who spoke out at a demonstration in
downtown Kordava, just outside the TBI field headquarters. “We are made to feel as
if we are all under suspicion, when we are all clearly the victims here! When will the
government confess that they’re too incompetent to solve this? When will they look
beyond our neighborhoods, to the Davion Supremacists, who gain ground and
credibility at our expense?”
Towne Log
+ WTF? As far as I ever knew, a “kappa” was just a letter of the Greek alphabet, and
something Clanners named their Galaxies after. Since when did it ever become a
mythological beast? :- FMLurder
+ I dunno, since long before a hyperopinionated mongrel like you were born? Lurd,
the legend predates the nuclear age! Heck, the article says it was archaic before
spaceflight! :- Vesuvius
+ And this guy just pulls that out of his butt? Figures the cops are buying it, but now
it’s got to be obvious they’re dealing with somebody who has WAY too much time on
his hands. :- FMLurder
+ Which brings us the other question of how we all know it’s a male killer? The cops,
even the reporter writing this article figures it’s a male, without even offering a shred
of evidence. :- LewCass
+ Whoever it is has killed only women; generally speaking, that’s not often done by
serial-killing women. We’re dealing with a misogynist, a brilliant one, mind you, and
likely a nut case, too – or this is all just what he wants us to think. :- Chungabunga
+ All right, so he thinks he’s a prehistoric mythological beast, which sounds like it
walked out of one of those crappy flat-screen animations the Dracs seem to love so
much. What does that tell us? Hmmm. Oh, I know! Let’s get him to bow or
something – him being all honorable and courteous – and then he’ll dump all that
water in his head out and be powerless. :- MM009
+ I know you’re trying to be ridiculous, MM, but actually that was part of the kappa
mythos, too. :- RaiRai
+ Huh!? :- MM009
+ According to the legend, one way to defeat a kappa was to bow. Its sense of honor
demanded a return bow, which of course spilled the water it used for its power. (Hey,
don’t look at me; I didn’t write the freaking myth!) Another way to save yourself was
to write your name on a cucumber and toss it into the lake or whatever it lived in. :-
RaiRai
+ What the hell does THAT do!? :- FMLurder
+ Heh. The kappa likes cucumber, apparently. (Where do you think we got kappa
maki from?) Feeding a kappa what he likes makes him grateful, and since you signed
it, he knows not to attack you. :- RaiRai
+ That is the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. Who came up with this myth?
Some poor, starving cucumber farmers, to open a new market? :- FMLurder
+ (shrug) Where did the Europeans come up with those silly myths about fairies,
elves, and dwarves? Did they have some kind of “thing” for short people? :- RaiRai
+ Huh! That explains why I saw all those vegetables in the bay this morning! Never
heard of that . . . :- Draco041
+ What’s kappa maki? :- Synnik
+ Sushi, stuffed with cucumber. Rather disgusting, really. :- RaiRai
+ Quick, Draco! Go carve your name on a cucumber! Maybe your killer won’t find
you! :- WetWillie
+ Get a life already, WW! :- FMLurder
| May 10, 3133 |