Inside Below
After a little while, she does. And at the first one she sees, she'll crouch down to get a closer look.
Oh, look! Are these what you were talking about?
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Inside Below
After a little while, she does. And at the first one she sees, she'll crouch down to get a closer look.
Oh, look! Are these what you were talking about?
[Inside Below]
Despair, Fear, and Sorrow crouch down next to her, and peer at them.
"Yep. Those would be them."
Inside Below
I like them. They're neat.
[Inside Below]
Sorrow nods.
"Yep. And they show we're in the right place, too."
Inside Below
Alysha looks around. Awesome. So, are they around here?
[Inside Below]
"The Velvets? Maybe at one point, but probably not anymore. It would explain what happened to the tree if they were, though."
Inside Below
Alysha nods in agreement.
Yeah, I was wondering what a tree was doing down here. They probably dragged it down.
[Inside Below]
"I doubt they dragged it down. Stuff like that just pops up in the Cities Below. What he meant was they were living here at one point, then someone came while they were sleeping and burned them out."
Inside Below
Alysha's eyes go wide.
Oh no! Who would do that?
[Inside Below]
"Somebody who didn't like how much something cost, I'd guess. Or a relative of someone who bought something expensive."
Inside Below
Well, that's just mean. If you don't like the cost, then don't buy it! Duh!
[Inside Below]
"That can be tough with the Velvets sometimes... They're good people, but they're not always clear on how much a thing is. I agree that you take the risk if you buy from them, but the relative isn't necessarily thinking straight."
Inside Below
Relative? Huh? She's confused again.
[Inside Below]
"Because the person that payed them died from it."
Inside Below
Alysha's jaw drops.
Wait...what?
[Inside Below]
Fear tries to lay a hand on the vampire's shoulder.
"Like we told you, Alysha, they take payment in warmth and life. Sometimes the cost is enough to kill the one that pays it."
Inside Below
But...no...there isn't anything else that can be done?
[Inside Below]
"They can take it from more than one person. But it's rare that people are willing to do that. And often there's only one person buying anyway."
Inside Below
That's...that's still horrible...
[Inside Below]
"The Velvets are still good people, Alysha. The ones that buy from them make a choice, and accept that it's dangerous when they do. If someone bought a sword, and accidently killed themselves with it, would you blame the one who sold it to them?"
Inside Below
Alysha seems flustered now.
Yeah...I know...it still sucks, though...
[Inside Below]
Fear nods.
"It does."
She pauses for a moment.
"Do you still want to meet them?"
Leonardo kneels down to look at the paintings.
"Seems fair to me. If something was valuable enough to them to spend their life force, they either knew the risk or were fools. Either way, it's a fair deal.
Inside Below
Alysha nods. Yeah, I do.
[Inside Below]
The paintings are of a herd of pygmy mammoths chasing a German Shepherd, traffic, and various other things.
"Then we should probably get going."
Inside Below
Alysha nods, and will follow.
[Inside Below]
The Tieflings begin leading the group further down. Eventually, unless something happens to keep them from getting that far, they'll start hearing the sound of hammering.
Inside Below
Alysha tries to see what she can see.
[Inside Below]
It sounds like it's coming from a sidepassage, but it's fairly echoing, and thus hard to be sure.
Inside Below
If the group goes that way, Alysha will follow.