BLOOD IS FUEL - The Vaults of Torment - [part 1]

[XQbitor]

"A wager, eh your Highness?" A smirk grew on Tizian's lips as he slowly nodded. "I will have to need time to find the terms... if you are up to it. We will keep count for now. But please, call me Tizian and I am no pesant. You don't need to know more about me." He turned away from the queen to see what the commotion was about in one of the branching caveways. A satisfied feeling settled in his gut as he walked away from the royal woman. This was a real queen. With real valuables on her person.

He groaned slightly as he prepared for a speech about safety in numbers and not wandering about when they were together. Then he caught a glimpse of the makeshift dining table with the survivors waiting for their meal sizzling over a fire. He came just in time to hear about the curse king Fathmu had brought upon them all. "Curse that trice-damned king!" Tizian shouted at the realization.

Tizian glanced back at the yellow pool. This time an exposed ribcage presented itself to the surface before it disappeared again. "It may be a way. But who is to say the bodyparts that come to the surface now and again isn't the luckless 'brave' ones you've seen? He only knows."

[Dixi]

Urminor listened to Crelo's words, while his gaze was shifting uneasily between the afflicted individuals. The sight was unsettling. And he did not get the main answer yet.

Keeping a safe distance, Urminor approached Crelo cautiously. He looked weak (even by Urminor's standards) but appearance can be deciecing. "Thank you for the warning, Crelo," he said, his tone still guarded. "We didn't choose to come here, but we'll do our best to leave on ... better terms." He glanced at others to see how the "we" was accepted. "Who is being here for the longest?"

[Vedast]

Vardøger moved back a distance, along with Orph, with some relief as Urminor began a dialogue with Crelo. The Pale One was uncomfortable amongst so many, but was eager to hear of anything that might assist him (them?) to escape this place.

"Curse that trice-damned king!"

Tizian's shouting caused Vardøger to look behind him, immediately wary. His nerves, such as they were, very much on edge.

[Malkavian Grin]

"Very well, Tizian," the Queen spoke with emphasis. "You will address me as your Highness, or as Queen Katla. For as you see, there are only two kinds of people; nobility and peasantry. Or, if you prefer--the haves and have-nots." She tilted her head at the last word.

Upon seeing the state of the people inside, Katla grimaced. "Ghastly! I'll stay out here, thanks."

Poltroon stayed outside as well, trying to cheer up Katla with a dance mixed with self-deprecation. Katla rolled her eyes, sighed heavily, crossed her arms, and looked elsewhere.

[Malkavian Grin]

Crelo just shook his head and half-shrugged multiple times, wishing he had an answer for Tizian. He was happy for Urm's distracting question since he seemed less prone to violence.

"It's f-fine. Y-you don't have to b-be nice. W-we're sc-c.. sca...red," he forced out while looking at the yellow pool. "Hargha's b-been here longest. B-but she can't talk. B-been here uh... t-ten uh sleeps? D-days?" he added with a shrug.

He looked about the room at the survivors and seemed defeated. "W-we all end up like this. Longer m-means w-w-w.... w-w... m-more bad..." Crelo clenched his jaw shut for a moment and pushed his thumb into the muscle.

"S-s... orry. Y-you asked b-before... This is j-just a cave. The n-name W-wander-lll... lings.. gets thrown around. People w-wander in and j-just stay. Or g-go in the pool. Uh b-b-b... but, don't p-piss off the W-warden if y-you leave."

Crelo pointed at the other cave on the southern side of the cavern which seemed to have smoother hewn stone.

[Vedast]

Vardøger turned back to Crelo.

Leave? Do those who go into the pool ... did they do so to escape this place, or to surrender to it?

How else might one leave? If we all leave together, what matters the Warden?

[Dixi]

Crelo looked so pathetic that Urminor stopped eyeing his every move with suspicion and, not relaxed, of course, but became a touch less wary. Less explicitly polite too.

"It's like a waiting room at the hell's gate. Are they eating their body parts? Or is someone eating them?" He did not understand Crelo's explanations but it did not look like he could explain any better.

Urmior waited for the answers to Vardøger's question and added one more. "Who is Warden?" So far he sounded like an arch-demon of this place.

Edited June 19, 2023 by Dixi (see edit history)

[Malkavian Grin]

A woman with a cloth tied around her head to hide a presumed lack of eyes pushed herself to her feet. An older man helped her stand up and the two made their way closer. Crelo looked at the ground and awkwardly stepped back.

"No one knows what happens if you jump in the pool. Damned fools, you ask me!" she said, with an accusatory tone. "Anyone with a brain left in their head'll stay here with us. We got shelter. We got food. A few of us got weapons."

The older man patted the woman's hand to try calming her. "There's not many fit to fight, though," he interjected.

The woman curled her lips in anger. "Better'n drowning!" she spat out.

The man looked at the newcomers and shook his head. "There's no way out of here, unless you want to try climbing back up the way you came down. I reckon it's a tough climb though..."

"And one that ends in a face-full of spears," the woman snapped.

The man simply nodded.

"You want more answers, you better talk to the Warden. He keeps the unruly locked up. The ones that refuse to live out their days here with us, but also refuse to jump in the pool," she continued. "He must be working for that fat-ass Fathmu. Everyone says he's been here longer than anyone else, and isn't losing body parts."

The man nodded along again. "If you're hungry, well... we're low on, uh, real food," he struggled to say. "If you don't want to starve... you'll eat the meat that's in abundance..."

The woman shoved in a corner, clearly not coping well with the situation, screamed again, "I'LL STARVE BEFORE I EAT THE DEAD!"

A man near her just laughed manically. "And you'll be next on the spit!" he added.

As if on cue, a curl of thicker smoke wafted around the corner from the back end of the cave. It made its way across everyone's nostrils, accompanied by the sounds of hot sizzling. Knowing it used to be a person made it even harder to understand why it smelled so good.

[XQbitor]

Tizian covered his mouth in a vain attempt to stop himself from gagging. But there was nothing. No retching or sour taste in his mouth. In fact, his teeth were watering. He had to remind himself what was being roasted over the fire. While his mind was sound, his body reacted otherwise. It had been a while since he had had a decent meal and his sub-conscience pushed forward to just have a feast.

Food the wolf said as it felt Tizian's urges.

"No", he growled loudly through gritted teeth. His patience with the woebegone prisoners was wearing thin. "Leave them be. They are beyond any help we can give them. I, however, would want a word with this Warden."

He turned away and followed the hallway back to the large cavern with the statue and the yellow pool. It would seem he was eager to find the Warden, but in reality, he wanted to get away from the smell of cooking meat. He placed his basket on the ground and found the smoked fish inside. It would have to make do. With hesitation, he started to bite into the ashen meat while he waited for the others to join him.

[Vedast]

"Leave them be. They are beyond any help we can give them. I, however, would want a word with this Warden."

Vardøger looked questioningly at Urminor following Tizian's outburst. The ghastly odor of burned flesh was nauseating, though perhaps his physiology and sense of smell was less sensitive than Tizian's. There was something a bit feral about the man.

The Pale One was still uncertain as to whether the Pool was an escape route or ... just a final escape. But, perhaps a trial of this Warden might be advisable before making such a commitment into the unknown?

[Dixi]

Urminor caught the look from Vardøger and shrugged with a bit of uncertainty in the gesture. "I... never had human flesh. I can tell this is not how the fresh spit-roasting meat smells. Must be true, they are cooking the flesh of the dead. I am not tempted. Yet."

He swallowed involuntarily - whatever it was it still smelled like food - but the stench of the cave itself helped to overcome the inappropriate excitement of the stomach. Then he asked a more important question: "Where did the get fire? What do they burn here?"

He repeated the question to the talkative woman. Anything can be useful, and who knows, the fire might even help to overcome the "face full of spears" one day.

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Status Bookkeeping

Tizian	Urminor	Vardøger	Queen Katla	Poltroon
> Has eaten > Has not drank	> Has not eaten > Has not drank	> Has not eaten > Has not drank	> Has not eaten > Has drank	> Has not eaten > Has drank

As Tizian exited the cave and began to eat some food, Katla was reminded that she herself was thirsty. She ordered Poltroon to give her the waterskin, taking a good swig to quench her thirst. With a handwave, she allowed her jester to also have a drink.

Inside the cave, Urm's question was answered by the blind woman. "We burn their clothes, and anything else that'll hold a flame. Sometimes, after they dry out, we burn the bodies. That's what that big pile is for that you probably fell on. Not much else burns. Sometimes the Warden gives us a log of wood. We've been lucky recently--someone came down with a whole wagon of supplies. Been burning all of that but it's getting low."

OOC

Just let me know if you want to explore elsewhere. There's the Warden's area to the south and another set of caves to the west.

[Vedast]

Vardøger grudgingly acknowledged his own stomach's clamoring. He found some dried rat meat, whose appeal soared in this hellish environment, and took a few swigs of water to wash it down.

His eyes narrowed at the tale of burning wagon supplies. Perhaps the sooner away from this pathetic group the better, he thought. In any event, he would defend his faithful Orph.

[Dixi]

"Everything that burns" notion made Urminor tighten his grip on his sac and step back. He walked outside the "cave of sad and pitiful" but did not join the feast others were enjoying. Instead, he picked up his waterskin and made a few gulps, washing down all the assaulting smells and tastes he was exposed to in the last few hours.

"We can check other caves?" He looked at his yet unbroken inmates but did not move in the direction of any other cave still. He would follow someone brave enough to make the first step, though.

[Vedast]

"We can check other caves?" said Urminor in an interrogative tone.

If we circle with the walls to our right, we can view that western cave before coming to that worked opening opposite, Vardøger suggested. He spoke at a normal tone hoping to engage Tizian and her ladyship, unless they were already beyond the range of normal speaking volume.