[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[OrchestraHc]

Mindlink

Yeah, horsey-face man-spider scouts. We ran into one along the way, he brought us here. Watchout. Justin warns.

Beyond that, most of the guard here is either humanoid or big bugs. The only leader here currently is Elizabethele, the priestess. The structure is kind of maze like. That's all I really have.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

"Oh, no. Different slavers, not the same group. Well, maybe the same group, but they'd be really stupid. See, I've told my congregation that the humans wandering around are capable of supplying good-quality slaves. If they attack, none of my congregation will buy from them. Although they might attack in revenge, sacrifice the leader to Dalachrech and enslave the rest; carting off the pretty ones and selling the remainder. Or just kill them all and daub scorpions onto the walls with their blood." Charynrae uses a different method of execution than Elezibethele; she feeds them to her giant spiders.

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"You did very well today, Mine. Here, help me out of my dress." Elezibethele will beckon her nude slave over to get her dress off. She's smiling, too, and won't interfere like Azurelle does.

Riverside Temple

"Mel'ara called me an amateur, after remarking that if our positions were reversed I'd be beaten for incompetence. So I want you, a total amateur, to torture Mel'ara so she knows what it's like. You'll stop when I tell you to, and I'll give you tips. Then, I'll heal her wounds and torture her myself so she knows the difference. Here, hold this whip. Like... this." Azurelle has a very pleasant smile on her face, totally at odds with her words. She'll try to put a barbed whip in Toy's hands, adjusting Toy's grip so she knows how to hold it properly.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Riverside Temple]

Despair watches with interest as Toy is given the whip, examining its design as closely as she can from where she is, and also watching how well the human responds to Azurelle's correction of her grip.

If she does well, the Tiefling smiles slightly, pleased that she's a reasonably fast learner, and probably going to be done fairly fast; otherwise, a slight frown appears, as she doesn't like what it says about her ability to pick up skill with weapons.

[The Alexandrian]

[Riverside Temple]

"I'll...I'll do my best, Mistress."

Wow! Toy is dumbstruck! She didn't expect her speech where she declared that she desired only to bask in the pain and suffering to really get through to Azurelle on such a deep level! Toy accepts the whip that is placed in her hand and will do her best to learn under the methodology embodying Azurelle's fine pedagogy! She's a decent, careful student, attending to even the most minute of points governing proper lash form. She is hesitant to begin with, but she'll show signs of actually enjoying herself as the lesson advances onward, frighteningly enough!

-------
[Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room]

Oooo! Mine hastens to help his Mistress disrobe herself. He is meticulous and tender in this action, moving quickly enough not to displease her, but not too fast, taking time to appreciate Elezibethele's elven supremacy.

This was well-worth the price of admission, and much more motivating than a harsh beating to Mine.

-------
[Underside Temple]

"Oh..."

Sylvia replies, kind of understanding the way slavery works now, if incompletely. She shifts about uneasily in her place, wistfully thinking back on her family and wishing that Charynrae's flock would gorily execute each and every single one of those slavers. But the storm cloud had a silver lining. Sylvia met Charynrae through the slavers' perfidy!

"What do so many people want slaves for, Charynrae? Why are we so appealing to them? Can't they just hire people to work for them? I mean, I'd have worked for you for free."

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

Elezibethele will allow Mine to take his time in disrobing her, admiring his body in turn. When that's complete, she'll walk towards the bed and clip the bracelet attached to Mine's collar to one of the bed's posts. "Now, Mine, you behaved really well today, I'm going to reward you. Come here, Mine." Elezibethele sits on the bed and pats the duvet next to her.

Underside Temple

"You would work for me willingly, yes. But what of One and Two? Would they? Or if somebody else had bought you, a large male dwarf so ugly he can't find anybody willing to share his bed he resorts to buying those that are unwilling. Or say it was a goblin mine owner, who wanted cheap labourers to dig up coal? Would you work as willingly for them as you do for me?" Slavery is primarily used in areas with lots of land and few workers, because otherwise the workers would be able to insist far more money than the employers can afford for what is being produced, so they put prices up until nobody can afford whatever is being produced. It's the same story with serfdom.

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room]

Were Mine a cartoon character, he'd be comically bleeding from both nostrils by now. This is likely the highpoint of his life up to this point. This is a paramount success for the slave! A relationship with a stunning woman. How lucky could he get?

He'll zip on over to the indicated location beside Azurelle as quick as can be, happy that his mistress is pleased with him for once.

-------
[Underside Temple]

Sylvia bites her lip. She's stuck at a crossroads, spurred to resolve a dilemma. Should she tell Charynrae the truth or sugar coat it so that Charynrae doesn't worry about it? No, no. Charynrae deserves nothing but the truth.

"Honessstly, were I ssshipped off to work for either of thossse two gross missstakesss, I'd kill them. I'd kill them ssstone dead."

Woah, Sylvia! That's a bit extreme. Heartfelt too, it would seem. That's a little scary.

"But if it was profitable to work for the sssecond, I might. And I'd do a better job of it if I did it of my own volition! He'd have to have sssomething that appealed to me in that case. Sssomething like apples."

People will happily accept menial labor in cultures where the competition is fair and the society doesn't suffer from the scourge of an overqualified work force or overly avaricious business owners.

[Shadowcaller]

Mindlink

Yeah, horsey-face man-spider scouts. We ran into one along the way, he brought us here. Watchout. Justin warns.

Beyond that, most of the guard here is either humanoid or big bugs. The only leader here currently is Elizabethele, the priestess. The structure is kind of maze like. That's all I really have.

Mindlink

Okay, I'll share this with the others. We'll try to come as quickly as possible. Watch out and don't take any stupid risks. Cessie says before cutting off the link.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Guest Room

Just after the cut-off, Justin laughs to himself. "Might as well not have even asked me to come," he whispers to himself. He hops out of the bed and walks up to the door. He'll wave his hand to Waterstrider to tell him to stand aside. If he does he'll examine the door, particularly, how the door is locked, how the handle is attached, and how the door is attached to the frame, as well as what the door is made of. (I've been running under the assumption of metal.)

[iElf]

Mel does her best not to utter a sound, but after a while, her concentration slips, the drow beginning to groan loudly at her fate , blood trickling down her back

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Guest Room

The door is made of several wooden panels and held together by large metal studs. The Hermitage is of mediaeval design, and its guards equipped in the same manner. The doors, therefore, are of mediaeval construction and I don't know of any solid metal mediaeval doors.

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Elezibethele's Room

Elezibethele will reach over and push Mine onto the bed as she pulls the curtain. Elezibethele won't deliberately hurt Mine, and she'll be rather gentle.

Riverside Temple

Azurelle will reach over and try to rest her hand on Despair/Wussy's back, checking the wings to see if they're still there. She'll keep it there either way as she watches Toy whip Mel'ara. "You can use anything you want, Toy, so long as she stays where she is."

Underside Temple

But in areas with more land and jobs than workers, competition amongst employers leads to high wages which aren't sustainable on the long term. It doesn't matter how much the employers take as profit if the workers have very high wage and cannot be supported. The employers, in order to stay open and protect the jobs, need to find cheaper labour from somewhere.

"You know, I think you would. What if the mine owner has lots of area, and it's poor quality seams? Lots of work, poor rewards. The goblin cannot afford to pay workers, but if he closes the mine he starves. He cannot afford to make it profitable for you, but he also can't afford to kill you through neglect. Also, what's an apple?" Charynrae has never seen the surface, and doesn't believe in rain.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Riverside Temple]

The wings are indeed still there, and more fully formed, the bump in the back of her shirt protruding a fair bit more than it was before.

At the start of Mel's punishment Despair is smiling slightly, apparently pleased to see the arrogant drowess get taken down a bit. However, as it progresses, while the smile mostly remains on her face, some of her other body language shows that she feels some sympathy, and a bit of pity, for the drowess, though she's reasonably good at hiding it.

[Morty]

[Outside Hermitage]

Wenomir arrives at the beginning of the path to the Hermitage Justin told Cessie about. He's wearing his full armour, his sword is on his back and about a dozen throwing daggers are placed in his two belts.

[Halae]

[Outside the Hermitage]

Harnel arrives here with Wenomir, decked out in plates. It's not a full suit of mail, but it covers his vitals and his limbs, including the top of his tail and the alar phalanges, or 'fingers' of his wings. Because doing otherwise would be stupid, he also has a helmet made specifically to work with his horns. He has Conflict here as well, just in case.

"We could potentially go in through the roof - just crack a hole into the attic and move downward from there. most slave keepers house them in the basement though, so the front door would be quicker, if more defended. What do you think?"

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage Guest Room

(The Hermitage gives off a very dungeony vibe, so my thoughts go stone walls metal doors.)

If there's no obvious way he'd usually open a door from inside, pullin the pins out of the hinges being his favorite, he'll settle on the loud approach. Waving Waterstrider back to the door, he'll hop back into bed and wait for contact.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Guest Room

There's a door handle, and a lock. The lock could be picked; it's not too complex. The hinges could be removed, although the door would be kept up by the lock; the weight of the door will easily break the lock when pushed, though is louder than picking the lock and will certainly attract attention.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage Guest Room

Brand has no lock picking skills and no brute force skills, so he stands back. His job is to go for the slaves when they can.

[UncleWolf]

Hermitage - Guest Room

Waterstrider shakes his head at the door. He didn't like this plan at all. They should have just left quietly the next day instead of deciding that the assault should happen while they were still in the middle of the place.

Hindsight is a painful thing to go through.

Taking a look at Justin, he makes sure the man is ready for whatever happens before trying to nudge Brand behind him. Waterstrider will take a firm grip on the door knob before trying to twist it with all his might to try and break the lock in a quieter fashion than popping the hinges or kicking it down.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage Guest Room

Justin does have lock picking skills and would notice if the lock was pickable, so that's his plan for now. He's also made no mention of his plans with the door beyond observation, keeping silent for fear of the imaginary eavesdroppers. He's also waiting for the actual fighting to begin before attempting to sneak out. If Waterstrider does try to open the door, he'll get a pretty cross look from Justin, as he hasn't shared any observations. If he does, though, he's ready to deal with the fallout.

[Darkcomet]

[Outside the Hermitage]

"I was just going to blast the door down. That or the wall. Take your pick, really, I'm open to suggestions." DC as present as well, walking along behind the others.

[UncleWolf]

Hermitage - Guest Room

Assuming Justin at least motions for Waterstrider to step aside, the wolfen will do so.

[Morty]

[Outside the Hermitage]

Better go through the front door. We need to draw as much attention as possible in order for the others to slip away with the slaves. They're likely not to pay too much attention to them if we barge in and start breaking stuff.

[Shadowcaller]

[Outside the Hermitage]

The Cessie-shaped fire elemental nods. "Yes, in this case I'm afraid we need to be as blunt as possible. DC, why don't you throw something big at their door to get those open? Might give us the shock we need to rush inside. Remember though, it would be ideal if we could capture a cult-member, that way we could find out if they have more places like this."

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Hermitage

The Hermitage lies behind a dense pine forest, with little ground cover and lots of spider webs strung amongst the trees. It's easy for something to move silently within the forest; a thick layer of dead pine needles soften footfalls, though there's no bushes or ground vegetation to hide amongst- unless one is clambering about the tree-tops. It is possible to teleport closer, or fly over the forest, but I thought this foursome arrived on foot/by vehicle.

Hermitage- Guest Room

The lock is not trapped, and Justin can pick it without trouble. Occasionally something large skitters past, once actually walking over the door; most likely the giant centipedes. They don't notice the abnormal activity within the room, however.

[Darkcomet]

[Outside the Hermitage]

DC seems to think for a moment before nodding. "Something big, you say...I can do that." The psychic glances around at the trees. "How about a tree or two? That ought to get their attention."

...

It seems DC's tendency to jump to 'crush it with something far too large' is very much intact. Evidently crushing that eldritch crab under many tons of blubber wasn't enough.

[Morty]

[Outside the Hermitage]

Trees work. But first we need to get there, so let's et moving, Wenomir says.

[Halae]

[Outside the Hermitage]

Harnel just nods and starts moving swiftly. Harnel isn't moving at his full speed of course - the man runs like a horse at full speed, and he knows the others wouldn't be able to keep up.

[Shadowcaller]

[Outside the Hermitage]

The Cessie elemental follows along as well, though not as fast as Harnel of course. It keeps itself from burning the forest down though which is always a good thing.

[Earl of Purple]

Outside the Hermitage

The forest is dense, the only light that they brought with them- at least Cessie, as a fire elemental, gives off a lot of light. The floor is littered with a thick layer of dead and dry pine needles, coated in places with spider or caterpillar silk; if Cessie can stop her footprints from burning then the risk of fire is greatly reduced.

On the way, they might notice a large beetle lying on the forest floor. It's six feet long, green, and has vicious flesh-tearing mandibles. It also isn't moving. Closer examination will show it to be an empty husk, meaning that somewhere within the forest lurks the beetle which shed that skin in order to grow and is, therefore, slightly larger than six feet long.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage Guest Room

Justin jolts up from the bed. He had forgotten about Mine. He was Elizabethele's personal pet and had his own bed in the priestess' room. He wouldn't sleep with the other slaves. If the alarm was raised, she might take him with her to see what the problem is. He knew they could do this quietly, so sneaking out ahead of schedule wouldn't be too upsetting to the plan. They could take out the head of the spider and maybe get more out of it.

He pulls his back to him and removes two things. The first is a kevlar vest (one size fits everyone). And the other is his Vault maintenance tool belt. Moving to the door he offers Waterstrider the vest, believing he should get it as the melee fighter, an assumption made from thinking he would fight like a mixture between the wild dogs he's seen (Pounce, Pin, Tear with teeth), or like the like the Wolfman from old movies (Charge, Claw, Repeat). If he doesn't take it Justin will put it on himself. He'll also put on his tool belt and begin working on the lock.

A Look of serenity comes over his face. For once since this mission started, he knows exactly what he's doing. As the lock finally clicks open, if it's as easy as Earl claims it to be, his calm smile creep across his mouth. It disappears quickly enough, as he pushes his head against the door, waiting for the next centipede to scramble by before opening.

When he does he'll look at Brand and point in both directions as if asking which way the Slave quarters are. He's hoping toward Elizabethele's room, so they can nab Mine and the Preistess first.

[Morty]

[Outside the Hermitage]

Alright... careful now. The thing that ate this beetle is still around, Wenomir says as he walks along.