[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Torture Chamber]

Mine continues to exist here! He doesn't do much, as there isn't much for him to do other than be obedient to Elezibethele. Since Elezibethele hasn't commanded that he take any sort of action, his hands are essentially tied in terms of choices he can take here.

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[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Kitchen]

The 4 normal, unnamed slaves are, for the most part NPCs but, for the purposes of this plot, I shall be rping them.

They have been treated much better than Azurelle's slaves, but worse than Mine, as I see it.

Most of them are scrawny, having only fed on the scraps of meals for some time now. They are acceptable cooks, though a little shaken and constantly fearful that their lives will be taken in the same way that...that...

That they are forced to assist in...

One of them does pipe up, though! A slave with wide green eyes and a short stature. He is extraordinarily submissive in his habits, staring intently at the ground more often than not.

"I bid you a fond welcome, Brand. We will be assisting you in preparing your Master's meal. We don't have names here, so you'll have to point at who you want where or just call us by our numbers. Whatever you prefer. The pantry and cooking instruments are over there."

The slave indicates the pantry with a sweeping motion of his hand. All of the slaves are labeled with numbers ranging from one to four, as Brand may well notice. They've been branded with a hot iron for some time now.

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[Underside Temple]

Well that's reassuring.

Sylvia doesn't flinch or shy away from Charynrae at the mention of the slicing. She'll endure it for her paramour. The mark will proclaim their burning love for each other to the whole world!

"I'll remain awake and conscious so the pain will pass faster."

Because she'll be able to drink the healing potion quicker, assuming one is offered.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Punishment Room --> Elezibethele's Room

"As you wish. My bedroom should be suitable; I don't have an office. Please, follow me." Elezibethele will leave the punishment room and head down a corridor and up a flight of stairs. When the party arrives outside Elezibethele's room, an aranea is sent to inform Brand's guide that Elezibethele and her guests are currently in her chamber.

Inside, Elezibethele's room is quite large, dominated by an incredibly large four-poster bed. There's a wardrobe in one corner, a chest at the foot of the bed and two bedside cabinets. In a corner against one of the walls is a basket, like a large dog's basket. Set above it in the wall is a metal hoop. Also, there's a door leading to another room by the bed.

Hermitage- Up The Walls

Mr. Squiggles should have no difficulty reaching the top of the Hermitage; the sentries are usually on the edges of the forest, and nobody's looking for something scaling the Hermitage itself. A few Aranea patrol within the Hermitage on the lower floors, but provided Mr. Squiggles doesn't stay over an arrow slit for too long he should reach the top unchallenged and unnoticed.

Underside Temple

"Excellent. Would you like a ride?" Charynrae gets up, and pats her exoskeleton just behind her torso before she starts to put on her silk top. It's like a long-sleeved t-shirt, but it's quite tight and has a few tassels ornamenting it.

Unfortunately, a healing potion heals wounds and prevents scarring. One will be offered after the removal of the brand, but not after the addition of a new one.

[OrchestraHc]

Elizabethele's Room

Justin takes two guesses as to who that bed's for. Both of them are for the naked guy with the same name as him. "You have a lovely room, my lady. Shall we begin?" he starts. "To start, my lady, what numbers are you looking for?"

[happyturtle]

Kitchen

Brand finds a stool to stand on and starts chopping vegetables. "So if you're One to Four, is the naked one Five?" he asks. He deliberately cooks below his usual standards - he really doesn't want Elizabethele to smell or taste his cooking and make Justin an offer to buy him.

[Reinholdt]

Hermitage Roof

Mister Squiggles looks around the roof once up there to see what he can see.

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Kitchen]

"Possibly."

The slave responds, busying himself with baking something. Can't stop working for idle chatter, you know. That gets slaves killed!

"He's Mistress Elezibethele's personal slave. Always attached to the end of that leash. We don't talk to him. I think Mistress Elezibethele calls him Mine, though."

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[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Elezibethele's Bedroom]

Mine follows and obeys! Yep! He can't do much else, so this post will be dull to read.

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[Underside Temple]

"Thanksss."

Sylvia accepts the offer and merrily attempts to climb up onto Charynrae's back. She doesn't don any clothes because she probably doesn't have to. They aren't heading to a public area, she is sure.

So she'll attempt to hop up onto Charynrae's back and wrap her arms around Charynrae's torso, attempting to softly rest her head on Charynrae's shoulder.

Hacking skin off of Sylvia's body is going to hurt a bunch more than the brand alone. That's what she'll need the healing potion for. The brand will hurt for awhile, but she'll live through it again.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage of Dalachrech - Kitchen

"I guess I'm lucky, belonging to Master Justin's family. They trust their highest ranking slaves to work without chains. But I've been with them as long as I can remember," Brand says, also continuing to work. "How long have you been here?"

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

The slave's name is Mine, not Justin. But yes, the basket is for the slave.

"That's not how I do business. I don't buy based on numbers, I buy based on appearance, capabilities and other factors. Makes it too impersonal." Elezibethele doesn't mention the fact she considers humans less than people.

Hermitage- Roof

The roof is quite large, with four squat bee hives and the dessicated remains of a giant dandelion plant. The plant died a long time ago, and was the escape route used by Elezibethele's last lot of slaves, including the three elves at GLoG.

Hermitage- Kitchen

The aranea guard is here, watching. Another aranea, also in human form, walks in. "High Priestess Elezibethele is in her bedroom, hosting the visitor. The meal is to be delivered there; I'm to escort them there, along with you too."

Underside Temple

Charynrae will carry Sylvia in that manner to the Temple's Punishment Room. They won't take a public route, but One and Two may spot them going through the temple in this manner. When they arrive, Charynrae will walk over to a table. "I'm afraid it's time to get off, now. Please lie on the table; it'll make things easier."

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Elizabethele's Room

Yes, and so is Justin. Justin Mine.

"Very sorry, my lady. What was I thinking? You aren't running a plantation." He nods his head in apology, but a calm smile remains present. "That will actually be a bit more expensive, my lady. Slave traders won't show up just to make nothing should no slave catch your eye. They'll have to be paid an incentive to come." He brings up his wrist and clicks the record function on his pipboy on. Looking up from his wrist, and leaving it in front of him, he returns to the conversation. "What are you looking for in your slaves, my lady? Please be as specific as possible."

[Reinholdt]

Hermitage- Roof

As long as the bees aren't flying around and buzzing, Mister Squiggles will walk around slowly on the roof, looking for some sort of stairs or trapdoor leading down.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage Kitchen

Hey guys!

Guess what! I'm really, really sick. Hence, posting is going to be spotty at best until I feel better.

Sorry.

Please put all of my characters on autopilot, especially those involved in the slave liberation plot. Gm them as you cool people see fit.

I guess this means Brand continues to prepare the meal with the slaves, while chatting with them in an attempt to learn the following:

1. How many slaves are on the premises
2. Where they stay at night

He'd like to ask questions about the priests and defences, but he thinks that will make him look too suspicious - especially with a guard there. As it is, he'll be disguising all of his questions as best he can to try to come out naturally during conversation, as a compare-and-contrast of how slaves are treated at the fictitious business run by Justin's family.

If the slaves start to grow uneasy at his questioning, he'll back off and talk about cooking instead.

Whatever he's able to learn, the food will be ready in about twenty minutes from when Brand was led to the kitchen, and he'll follow the guards then. That should give Justin and Elizabethele time to negotiate.

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage - Elezibethele's Bedroom]

A pipboy? So, Justin is from the Fallout universe? Nifty! You learn something new everyday!

Mine remains here. There's not much he can or will do, again, so feel free to skip him for a time because boring posts are boring and I can't seem to doctor them up enough to make them exciting and flashy to read.

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[Hermitage - Kitchen]

Brand will succeed in learning that 9 slaves, 5 males and 4 females, were originally purchased from an unknown slave emporium and delivered here. The three "talkative" slaves (well, they're talkative for their stations, but not loquacious by many other standards), the humans, haven't heard much of one of the females, who they do not name, and are currently wondering where she has run off to, though they are sure she is still somewhere inside of the Hermitage, being a skilled non-magical healer/surgeon and all. They report that Mistress Azurelle took the three pretty triplets that accompanied them here off to an undisclosed location, and they haven't seen head nor tail of 'em since.

Of course, the only reason they believe Brand is asking for this valuable information is so that he can properly gauge how much food he should prepare for the crowd, as they are fed from the scraps of the meals like dogs of yore.

Brand shall also be instructed on where the slaves sleep. They sleep in a locked, dark, usually guarded (or so they believe, at the very least) chamber with flat, uncomfortable beds and sets of manacles restraining them during the night. They'll detail where it is for Brand, for they assume he'll be joining them there when the time for scant slumber comes once more.

And if you want to rp out the entire conversation where this occurs, feel free as I am better already!

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[Underside Temple]

Sylvia nods and dismounts as requested and heads over to lie on the table, shivering a tad in anticipation of the pain. She has tensed up visibly. That's bad. That'll only make the whole process hurt more!

Charynrae and Sylvia would appear to have escaped One and Two's prying gaze for now, but their secret won't last very long at all. Sylvia wants everyone to know about her special relationship with Charynrae.

That event will have to wait until later, for now. There's relabeling to endure first!

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

I was unaware of Justin's surname.

"Oh, I'll certainly buy one every time. Dalachrech asks only that live sacrifices to Him be aware of what's going on, so animals, children and the simple-minded aren't acceptable. And Azurelle is certain to buy any pretty young females, regardless of race. The Hermitage has no need for more slaves, though I'll replace any that die as and when- I aim for young male slaves, not too attractive, with a good work ethic and preferably no history of recalcitrance for the Temple. For myself, young, male slaves; elvish, or perhaps part-human. Attractive, well-proportioned, and so on. Like dear Mine, here, basically; I care not for hair or eye colour too much. Azurelle prefers her slaves to be young, buxom, tender-fleshed, and naive. The last two generally don't last very long, which Azurelle finds unfortunate. She has three humans at the moment, unless she's killed one. Accidentally, of course. None of us here murder our slaves pointlessly. Some of the guards might buy their own, too, though not very regularly." Elezibethele was going to demonstrate how little the lives of her slaves mean to her by executing one of the Temple Slaves by using him to feed her bombardier beetle, by he tried to fall over and break his neck to escape that fate and she decided to force him to live as punishment.

Hermitage- Roof

There is a trapdoor, though glowing indigo runes around the hinges and the lock suggest it is magically secured, trapped, or both. There's also the matter of the giant centipedes roaming the upper levels of the Hermitage- no sign of them up here, but the snow-spider said they were inside.

Underside Temple

Charynrae will delicately run one finger down Sylvia's spine before she starts to slice. She'll be gentle as possible, cutting only the scarred tissue and leaving as much as possible of the surrounding flesh. It hurts, but it's quick, and immediately afterwards Charynrae hands Sylvia a healing potion.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Elizabethele's room

"I've been told Elves are a touch more difficult to get a hold of, my lady, but as for your general... sacrifice," it's an almost painful word to spit out, but he gets through it without seeming disgusted, but not exactly approving. "I'm sure that would keep the traders mollified." He moves away from the topic as quickly as he can, "Now, slavery trade has very specific laws where I am from, my lady. In order to circumvent certain annoyances, my father has a few rules of his own. So my lady, beyond manpower, is there anything you need or want? Food, water, spice, fineries, raw materials like wood or stone?"

[Reinholdt]

Hermitage- Roof

Yes. Can't forget them.

Hmm... well, the group with the slaves might want to escape this way. But Squiggles has no real way of knowing. Still... wouldn't hurt to try and get some options.

It's time to... gently poke the trapdoor with a stick!
>>
Poke.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"I am aware that elves tend to be more expensive, but I'm confident I can afford a few more using my personal funds. We have a lot of difficulty in obtaining some spices, yes. We produce our own honey and fruit, though meat can be harder to obtain. Most of the mammals near here have been eaten by the invertebrates attracted by Dalachrech's Glory. I would be willing to buy fabric to produce my own clothes, and also a slave trained in the arts of dressmaking to assist. Everything else we have in plentiful enough supply for the day-to-day running of this fortress." Elezibethele is telling the truth about that; there's enough stockpiled for a few month's siege. Though it's unlikely they will need to last that long- the local environment has sufficient invertebrates within it to make that more hostile than the occupants of the Hermitage itself.

Hermitage- Roof

Poking the trapdoor with the stick causes the indigo runes to flare briefly, though they quickly return to their previous level of illumination.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

The spine-rubbing has a calming, reassuring effect on Sylvia. She is comforted a tad. It's all for the best. It's all for the best. She repeats this phrase over and over to herself as she waits for the cold knife to-

Oh gods!

Sylvia winces as the knife carves flesh! Her hands clench into pained fists and she barely contains herself, preventing herself from impulsively bolting upright!

When the process has reached completion, Sylvia is shaking a bit. She'll fumble for the healing potion gratefully and attempt to clasp it between her two hands, lifting it to her lips and tilting it upward, draining it in a few swallows, if the portion of potion placed within the bottle is meant to be the correct amount of potion for one application and no additional ones.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

The potions are one-dose-only; Sylvia is supposed to empty the bottle. When that's complete, Charynrae will go back to running her hand along Sylvia's spine for a bit. Her other hand, out of sight from Sylvia, is slowly taking a long poker from a nearby rack of them. The poker's really a branding iron, with a head shaped like a simple spider's web with a spider sitting in the middle.

((Also, Azurelle is calling for Toy in Riverside))

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Elizabethele's room

"So meat, spice, fabric, and an assisstant." He repeats into his pipboy. "Is that all you need, my lady? Is there anything you desire then?" Now it was time for the upsell, every salesman's favorite part. "I hope it is not too bold to say, my lady, but such a beautiful lady deserves the finest adornments. Rings of silver, earings of diamond, bracelets of gold. Only such fineries, my lady, would be becoming of someone so gorgeous."

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Sylvia relaxes at Charynrae's touch. She leans into the rubbing, shaking only a little bit but shaking nonetheless. She thinks the worst to be done and over with. Her muscles are no longer tensed as she is not aware of Charynrae's furtive preparation of her branding poker.

So patting someone on the back while readying an implement with which to brand him or her isn't such a bad idea after all!

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"I need no more jewellery. This is the only decoration I will wear." Elezibethele reaches up and holds out her unholy symbol. It's a plain silver amulet shaped as a two-tailed scorpion. Quite different is the stag beetle shaped brooch pinned to her dress; it's gold, and encrusted with jewels. "Perhaps something for Mine, though. Do you think gold or silver would look better?" Elezibethele drops her symbol back so it hangs around her neck as she looks across at her slave.

Justin's flattery goes unnoticed; Elezibethele doesn't like humans very much and considers them little more than beasts. She's willing to hide it in order to get things that help her aims.

Underside Temple

Charynrae continues to stroke Sylvia's back as she begins muttering in Abyssal. The spell causes her eyes to glow as a navy-blue translucent spider web fades into view behind her head, where it hangs halo-like. The spell also causes the branding iron to start glowing as it slowly heats up. When she judges the branding iron is hot enough to make its mark but no hotter than necessary, she'll suddenly plunge it onto Sylvia's shoulder. This likely hurts more than the knife did, because Charynrae was doing her best not to hurt with the knife and there's just nothing she can do to stop this from hurting.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Elizabethele's room.

Justin's opinion of humans as a race are pretty low as well, but he makes a habit of liking or hating on a personal level. He also doesn't see much difference between humans and elves. Granted he doesn't know the whole long lived thing. But I digress...

Goodie! Justin gets to look at the naked guy again. He almost forgot he was there. So much for that dream. Justin pretends to eye him discerningly, before returning with, "Silver, for his complection, my lady. I would reccommend gold if he got a little more sun. Though, I think he could work a platinum if you so chose, my lady." he is of course assuming they're talking about collars, considering he wears nothing else.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"Yes, I agree. Dwarf-work would be best, I think; it needs to last. I hope we'll be together for a long time." Until she replaces him with a younger model, anyway.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage-Elizabethele's Room

Justin finds that almost sweet in a horrific way. Shame he doubts there's any consent on the naked one's part.

"I'll have it looked into, my lady." which is all he can really say, knowing Jack all about dwarves. They're shorter than regular humans right? Is Brand a dwarf? His player doesn't think he's heard the word halfling in conversation yet. He'll have to ask. "And, if you have little interest in jewelery for yourself, my lady, perhaps decoration for your room? Paintings or rugs? Perhaps a record player, if music serves as my lady's muse?"

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"I'm comfortable with my existing possessions. My homeworld is pre-industrial, or so you tekkie types like to call it. There's no records or record players, and the Hermitage is powered on wood. There's no electricity here. I dare say Azurelle would like some tactless erotic art for her room, though." The room is lit by candles, though none are burning; instead, each has been targeted by a spell that causes the candle to glow.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

Primitive would be Justin's usual way to describe it actually, but he's being polite today. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, my lady. And just in case I can interest you, there are phonographs powered by hand crank, but I can speak of that later, my lady." That's the end of the upsell for now. "That should be enough to make a contract on for now. I can write one up after dinner, if it pleases my lady. Until then, how would my lady care to pass the time?" He pulls a small cardboard box from his pocket, and fiddles with it in his hand. It's roughly the size of a deck of cards, because that's exactly what's in it.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

"Hand-crank? Well, it would give Mine something to do whilst I'm making dresses. Yes, I'll have one, and some decent Elvish music to go with it." I have no idea how easy it would be to find Elvish music for a phonograph. "I haven't played cards before. How about chess?" Azurelle likes to think she's quite good at chess, and she's certainly better than I am- I don't think ahead at all with my moves.

Riverside Temple of Dalachrech- Outside

This building looks like a normal house along an average Northside road made notable only due to its somewhat central position to the Westside and Eastside borders. More accurately, it looks like two normal houses, each semi-detached. The doors have been painted different colours, the roofs are tiled differently and there's lots of little differences designed to disguise the linked nature of the structure. Azurelle will lead the cart up the drive of one of the houses before a young catgirl rushes out to open the garage, into which Azurelle shall drive her snow-spider pulled wagon.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Riverside Temple - Exterior]

Depending on how long the drive was, Despair may or may not have fully recovered, but she's been quiet, unless Toy spoke to her, whether or not she has, and, in fact, hasn't even tested her bonds yet, feeling that a cart when she's injured and unarmed isn't a very good place to try to escape.

[The Alexandrian]

[Riverside Temple]

Ah! So this is the mysterious Dalachrechian Temple of Riverside! Wow! What a swanky, swinging pad!

In the middle of a city where the sun don't shine too! Must be cold! Vitamin D deficiency must also be a major problem hereabouts, but no matter! The party probably isn't going to remain here for a very long time, Toy thinks to herself. Musing on this lucky development...plotting dastardly deeds is likely a more apt term, Toy absorbs the splendor of the neighborhood. She hasn't ever been anywhere quite like this before. Is this truly what life looks like on the outside?

Toy wonders just how out of place this group appears to be for this area. It is posh, and Toy's general outfit is but a distant, worn-down ancestor of that term. Not to mention she is more than a little grimy herself. Azurelle hasn't allowed her to keep up her good hygiene.

She's better off than her sisters, at the very least. They'll die of neglect in the Hermitage if left without care for too long.

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[Underside Temple]

Ooooouuuuucccchhhh!

Sylvia shrieks as the brand sears a crisp mark into her skin! Oh gods that smarts! Augh! Ouch! She thought that Charynrae was finished with her maintenance but noooo! Ugh! Ow! Stupid customs! That was absolutely terrible!

Sylvia is in a ton of pain right now. It'll subside eventually, but she's going to be out of it for a couple of hours at the very least. Mentally, of course. She'll still be there physically, just like when the whole pack received their brands originally.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- Garage

Only Westside is shrouded in eternal night. Northside is clear of the enchantment, though the Temple's location means there's a lot of shade- Westside lies between the Temple and the sun half the day.

"Come on Toy, help me take our newest companion to the local Punishment Room. Could you lead the way?" The last sentence is said to the catgirl. She's young; looks to be about sixteen, maybe seventeen, and she's wearing a pair of very short denim shorts, a tight blue t-shirt and loose sandals. Her hair, and the fur on her ears and tail, is black, and her eyes are green and feline. She nods and will open the door leading into the Temple proper whilst Azurelle grabs Despair under the armpits and will attempt to drag her off the wagon.