L.T. File: 085: Thawːůùl Dzhøùl- The Dancer's Knife
A knife of simple steel, sharp as a razor's edge. A bone handle, well-worn and glistening. This could describe many hunting knives in Hechesoieh, but only one holds the dark secret of the Dancer's Knife. The murders that were first recorded with this knife date back to 1231 (pre), in the Vashari regions south of the Dragonspines, in the city of Zharum-Khal. In the dark alleys and smoke-filled side roads, women were being killed. They were being cut open, as if by a sport hunter who was not interested in bringing home his prize.
Zevemlyan authorities were initially puzzles by the bizarre murders, and suggested that women not go outside alone until the murderer was found. This went on for months until one of the dancers became an unfortunate target for the killer. The killer was slain, and the murders went down in history as a strange anomaly. The dancer took his knife as a prize. In her profession, the dancer, whose name has been lost to history, killed many men, so it was not until years later that anyone noticed anything amiss.
In the year 1220 (pre) another string of murders sprang up, (though it is assumed that more deaths had been occurring for nearly ten years prior), seemingly a series of copycat murders, with the wounds identical, but done on men instead of women. This time, the murders were not only in Zharum-Khal, but all across the empire. Due to the secretive nature of the dancers, it took nearly twenty years to determine her involvement in the grisly deaths, and by then hundreds of men had been killed. According to the official archives of Zevemlya it took three other dancers to take her down, and two lost their lives in the process. but she was killed in the year 1201 (pre)
Her remains were buried including the knife, and there it lay buried for nearly 1000 years until the tomb was robbed, and the knife stolen. At the time of the robbery, the knife appeared to be heavily rusted. The would-be thief quickly became a killer, slaying three women before she was caught in the year 198 (pre). At that time, the knife was cleaned, and glistening, as though never having been rusted. The connection was not made until later when the man who caught her took the knife. The man, a guard in Zevemlya executed fourteen men before he was taken down himself in 196 (pre) all of these murders were identical to those done over a millennia before.
The knife exchanged hands nearly a dozen times over the next century, leaving evidence lockers to end up in the hands of the next killer. Attempts to destroy the knife met with failure in 75 (pre) when the woman intending to do so killed everyone around her, men and women alike, but died from the wounds she sustained from the others' defensive acts. Then something interesting happened. A young woman got hold of the knife, she was an evidence categorizer who was looking over old cases in the year 85 named Everlea Dharkun. She took the knife, which was, again, apparently very rusted. She feared explaining that she began hearing voices, some crying out in pain, and others explaining the terrible things they had done. Zevemlyan's would sooner put a mentally ill person in an asylum than help them resolve their issues.
Luckily for Everlea, she lived on the port city of Dais'sia in the southwest of Zevemlya, and was able to charter a boat to take her to central where she then chartered a boat to western Ngākauwhenua, and from there to Daebzat. Once in Daebzat, plagued by these voices, she made the long trek to Gënlèul- Land of Dawn. Once in Gënléul, she sought out the Aulven therapists. Luckily, she was immediately connected to one of the therapists with a connection to the The Tranquil Shadows, who was an active agent, Mistletoe. Mistletoe immediately recognized the danger she was in, and asked that the knife be put in a containment box. Shortly after the box was removed from Everlea's possession (within days) she was no longer hearing voices. The knife was sent within the week to containment within the Vault Obsidian-3 for containment and study.
Chronal observationists have uncovered certain facts about the knife that might explain the seemingly random, yet identical murders perpetrated by the wielders of the knife throughout Zevemlyan history. First, that the first murderer was not compelled by the blade, but that he was a madman with some psionic potential that leaked into his blade. Second, that due to his murders being connected to his desire for the women he killed, the blade caused the wielder to hunt only those they would pine for. Looking at the historical records, and connecting them with the knowledge gained from the Chronal observationists, and adding some creative gap-filling, the operatives were able to ascertain that the wielders sexual preferences all matched their murders, even the woman who killed everyone around her was polysexual. That led to the questions of Everlea, who confirmed that she was asexual, though not aromantic.
The knife was hidden away, under secure psionic containment, and contact with the weapon is prohibited by any protocol unless authorized by the director.
-Editor's note: Everlea now lives in Gënléul, having left Zevemlya behind. She has had no trouble fitting into aulven social circles that do not prioritize sexual interest over friendship between genders. -Mistletoe, Psychosocial Division
History
1. In-Depth Physical Description of the Dancer’s Knife
Archival Object Description — Tranquil Shadows, Anathema Catalogue
Object Name: The Dancer’s Knife
Estimated Age: ~1350 years
Original Region: Vashari territories, southern Zevemlya
Weight: 0.5 kilograms
Material Composition: Iron-steel alloy blade; elk-bone handle
Apparent Condition: Rusted, though clean edge remains impossibly razor sharp
General Overview
At first glance, the Dancer’s Knife resembles any traditional Vashari hunting knife forged in the mid–pre-Calamity centuries. Its construction mirrors the utilitarian blades used for field dressing, hide splitting, and general survival tasks. Though its function has long since diverged from normalcy, the knife’s physical form remains deceivingly ordinary.
Blade
- Length: approx. 18 cm
- Material: Vashari steel, folded and oil-quenched
- Condition:
- The flats and spine show extensive rust, pitted in places as though left in brine or damp soil for centuries.
- Rust layers form uneven ridges, obscuring many smithing marks.
- Despite this, the edge is pristine—a continuous, impossibly fine line that gleams even in low light.
- Under magnification, the cutting edge presents no chips, blunting, or rolled segments.
The blade geometry is consistent with early Vashari hunting tools: single-edged, slight drop point, optimized for cutting rather than stabbing. Balance is forward-heavy, appropriate for slicing cleanly through hide or muscle.
Handle
- Material: Elk bone, likely sourced from the mountain plains herds
- Length: approx. 9 cm
- Grip Pattern:
- No carvings or inlays.
- Surface is worn smooth on both sides, consistent with prolonged hand contact over centuries.
- Polished by oils from countless hands, the bone gleams softly even when untouched.
- A faint, darkened patina runs along the underside, likely a mixture of dirt, sweat, and historic blood traces.
Close examination shows micro-striations consistent with tool scraping, identical to Vashari craft traditions from that era. The tang is full, the bone slabs fixed with three iron rivets now nearly fused to the surrounding rust.
Weight and Balance
At 0.5 kilograms, the knife is heavier than modern elven standards but typical for its time.
Its center of gravity sits slightly forward of mid-blade. In hand, it feels sturdy, well-anchored — and unnervingly ready.
Craftsmanship Analysis
Nothing about the knife’s physical construction is anomalous:
- No unusual metals
- No trace enchantments
- No maker’s marks beyond a faint Vashari smith-stamp partially obscured by corrosion
- No hidden seams or cavities
If not for its behavioral history, the knife would be catalogued as an average 13th-century-pre Vashari hunting implement, unremarkable in every dimension except its unsettling sharpness.
- Editor's note: All operatives who touched the blade for any amount of time were quarantined for ten days after contact to remove psionic residue- Director Sashine- Onyx Wind
2. Therapeutic Notes on Everlea Dharkun
By Mistletoe, Tranquil Shadows, Psychosocial Division
(Compiled from private logs spanning Everlea’s arrival in Lèùl Shlùr̈ùl to her release from observation)
Arrival Entry — Day 1
Everlea Dharkun arrived just before dusk, escorted by two junior Shadows ( Opal and Cornerstone) functioning as my secretaries, who looked more shaken than their charge. She is small, sharp-eyed, and visibly exhausted. Her hands tremble not from fear, but from overthinking. Classic Zevemlyan academist posture: shoulders tight, chin tucked, gaze flicking between threat-points.
She reports: “There are voices in the knife, but they do not want me.”
No compulsion, only haunting. That distinction may save her life.
She says she fled because Zevemlyans treat “unusual minds” as defects, and she refused to be locked away for hearing what she calls “the voices"
I told her she is safe here. She did not believe me yet. Up to this point, I have had very little occasion to interact with Zevemlyans from the mainland, as I mostly avoided the violence of the war.
Day 3
She slept poorly. When asked to describe the nature of the whispers, she gave four categories:
- Pain
- Confession
- Longing
- Regret
She stated: “They don’t speak to me. They speak near me. Like I’m standing in someone else’s nightmare.”
This matches known psionic residue patterns. She ate little today. Still startled by the ease of aulven communal dining, the lack of gendered spaces, the absence of tension when speaking to men. She flinches when people brush past her. Trauma-adjacent hypervigilance.
Day 10
Notable improvement.
She watched the sunset with a group of young Aulvi and appeared comfortable.
She disclosed her orientation today — asexual, though not aromantic. She seemed relieved that no one reacted with suspicion or pity. She admitted that the knife had “nothing to dig its claws into,” because she feels desire rarely and faintly, and never toward strangers.
This confirms the working theory: the blade hunts through the user’s sexual desire. Without desire, compulsion reduces to noise.
Everlea asked if that made her “broken.”
I nearly laughed.
Instead I told her that being misaligned with a cursed weapon’s parameters is one of the few times a trait should be celebrated. I also explained that in Hechesoieh being asexual was not some burden, as women are not simply tools for reproduction.
At first, she seemed not to believe me, taking my statement for a joke, but as we continued, and she came to realize that I was baing honest she smiled for the first time.
Day 21
Nightmares diminishing. Residue-voices less frequent. She reports they flare only during psionic turbulence or when discussing the knife. Everlea now partakes in communal rest cycles; her breathing has smoothed. She has become fond of an anadi sculptor who shares evening tea with her. Purely platonic, she insists. I said: “All affection is valuable.” She seemed surprised by that.
Day 34
We conducted a controlled exposure using a simulacrum of the knife’s psionic signature. No compulsion triggered.
No desire-based resonance. Only mild echo-reactivity, decreasing rapidly after removal. She demonstrated full cognitive autonomy and no intrusive ideation.
I am confident she is not a carrier of the anomaly.
Discharge Entry — Day 40
Everlea is stable, socially integrated, and no longer experiencing daily residue hallucinations.
She requested to stay in Gënléul permanently. I believe it is best for her. Elven communal living suits her nature, and she thrives in environments where intimacy is not solely erotic. She left today with a group of librarians who welcomed her as though she had always lived here. She said that she intends to work at the Library of the Son as a categorical archivist.
Her last words to me as her therapist were: “Thank you for treating me like a person, not a problem.”
I told her: “The knife is a problem. You never were.”
3. Investigator’s Case Notes — Zharum-Khal, 1231 (pre)
Recovered fragments from Zevemlyan archives; damage, gaps, and degraded script preserved
Note: The following was written by Investigator Saryen Vochtan, City Guard of Zharum-Khal.
Pages were brittle and water-warped; many sections unreadable.
Fragment 1 — Early Inquiry
…streets near the smoke-houses where the first body was found…
…no valuables taken. Wounds deliberate, not rage-slashed…
…women only, all of similar age…
…cut open like deer on a hunter’s post. Whoever does this knows anatomy or has done such work before…
Manuscript torn here.
Fragment 2 — Suspect Patterns
…citizens terrified. All alleys in lower district empty after dusk…
…pattern emerging: victims share physical features. Dark hair, mid-twenties, slender…
…one witness claims seeing “a man with a strange calmness”…
…description vague, possibly fear-distorted…
Ink smeared by water.
Fragment 3 — Knife Description
…weapon believed to be a small hunting blade. Very sharp. Cuts made with precision, almost ritualistic…
…autopsy suggests first incision always identical in placement…
…like the killer rehearsed the act or follows a fixed impulse…
Portion missing — eaten by insects.
Fragment 4 — The Dancer’s Intervention
…tonight the killer was confronted by a dancer from the House of the Golden Veil…
…reports inconsistent; some say she tracked him, others say he attacked her…
…killer dead. Knife in dancer’s possession. She refused to speak to authorities. Claimed “spoils of victory.”
…something in her eyes unsettled me. She looked not triumphant, but… hungry?
Page ends abruptly.
Fragment 5 — Closing Attempt
…murders ceased. Case closing. Yet I remain uneasy…
…knife should have been surrendered…
…when she held it, I saw no rust, though others swore it was filthy before…
…the blade… glistened…
…should report this to—
End of surviving page. Lower half completely disintegrated.
After some research, this writer was able to ascertain that this guard disappeared shortly after this note was written, likely the first victim of the dancer.- Mistletoe
unique
steel and elk-bone
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