The day, if it can be called that, grinds on. Swing after swing, punctuated on occasion by breaks for water. Crockus does not return.
After some hours, a guard calls down the tunnels where you are working. "Ho! Break time." At her voice, the other guards move into action. The guard sergeant calls out instructions: "Tools down. Line up!" and the other slaves begin to move. The lash is applied readily to those who lag.
The owner of the female voice appears with a partner bearing a large trough. The two are followed by another pair of guards carrying similar. By the sour smell that wafts toward you, you recognize the same gruel you were fed earlier.
The quartet sets down the troughs in front of the first slave in line and empties four clay jugs into the water barrel. The nearby guards stand at the ready around the line; others remain overseeing the group of slaves still working. One at a time, you advance, eat, and drink--not enough to satiate, but enough to keep you alive. Those who take too long are lashed.
You return to your task, dismantling the rock around you and shoveling it into carts that are brought and removed by a pair of slaves driven by another guard. Time wears on.
After a time, water break is called and you each take your turn at the barrel. Then more labor, and as you tire, more lashes. Work continues. Muscles fatigue and cramp. The task of chipping at the stone becomes all--the percussion of iron on stone, the rhythmic work songs of the veteran slaves, the ache and twinge of muscled unused to such toil.
At last, the guard sergeant calls break and you are again lined up for gruel and marched back to the cell. On the way back, you notice that yours is one of quite a few cells in a single hallway, and that there appear to be other such halls nearby, down branching corridors.
As for Crockus and the invalid, they are left more or less alone during the day, save for interruptions for more water and food. The mystery man's raving doesn't diminish, but Crockus treats his wounds with a rough poultice and feeds him rice and helpful herbs, and keeps him as warm as he can. After a time, the man's face appears slightly less flushed, his breathing somewhat less ragged. [For the following day, Matt's Stamina + Resistance rolls for his character to resist/overcome his infection are at -3 instead of -4. Crockus can continue to make Intelligence + Medicine rolls to help deal with the infection.]
[While Crockus cares for the invalid, he has the time to explore his cell, converse with the guard, etc., if he likes.]
Later, food is brought--a hunk of hard bread and similar cheese, plus gruel, and a bowl of broth for the invalid, plus water in a wooden bucket with a ladle.
[If anyone would like to act or comment before the night and next day continue, now's the time. Wednesday deadline.]
[As always, if you wish to interrupt any of the above with comments or actions, please do so.]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
33 comments:
Crockus gets little rest that night despite the comfort of his straw pallet. The man he cares for sleeps fitfully, muttering in his sleep and waking to raving visions throughout the night.
In the morning, however, he seems calmer. Crockus continues to administer care, and by midday the man no longer seems to be staring at the unseen. He takes food and water and is alert enough to have small conversation. His fever has broken.
Crockus continues his magic administrations to his patient who's smelling less and less, which is a relief to him and the guard. As the sick man seems to be looking better, Crockus speaks gently to him:
"hello, I am taking care of you. My name is Crockus. We're in a mine, underground, that is why you cannot see well. Your sensation of time may be altered because of that. The man by the door is a guard. We are prisonners here. I need to check if your neurologically sound. Can you tell me what your name is and how old you are? What are your last memories? Can you hear and see well? Can you hold squeez my fingers with both hands? (waits for answers in between each question of course).
Do let me know if there is anything I can do for you, such as relieve another symptom maybe."
The invalid blinks, as if he doesn't understand, but when Crockus speaks the word "prisoners", he tenses up, then lies back. The words escape his lips like life leaving the body:"Tell them I have no money, and my family cares not a whit for me."
[Crockus and the invalid are free to carry on their conversation and actions.] The rest of you are shut in your cell for the night. Darkness reigns. Soon the other slaves begin to sleep. [You have time to converse here if you like. Just interject. Otherwise, read on.]
After too short a time, the lock turns, the door is yanked open, and sudden light is thrown into the room. A gruel trough is brought forth and then retired as before, the door shut. It reopens a short while later, and once again you are led into the tunnels. This time you pass or hear other groups working or marching.
Again the drudgery and labor. Rock dust clings to your skin and your sweat runs in dark rivulets. Your muscles sing their pain and fatigue. Even the breaks for water and food, welcome though they are, only offer brief respite.
[When meal break comes, Arana should make a Perception + Awareness roll at standard difficulty.]
[BTW, deadline for responses is today, Wednesday.]
As people gather for the gruel break, Number Seventeen Mouth goes around to the people she's done extra work for, and whispers to each one, "Now's the time for fair payment. You may swallow all that falls from your hands to your mouth, but if I catch you licking your hands or fingers before I can then there'll be no special rests for you in the future."
17 eagerly and quickly gulps down her share, watching after her business partners. She then goes around lapping up the extra gruel left on their hands, careful to watch for any already-licked patches.
As she is shoveling during the last work period, she says out loud to no one in particular, "Here it comes." She then takes her shovel over to the rock wall and attempts to pick at the stone with it. Lacking much success, she starts to pick more and more furiously. She ends up pretty much whacking the wall mostly with the blunt end of the shovel, singing a song with no discernible words that gets louder as time goes on. If someone takes away her shovel, she'll pretty much do the same with a pick, hitting the wall with the center of its head rather than the business end. If they take away all tools, she'll ask the stone, "Would you like to trade up for a while?" She will then start hitting a cart with a rock. The singing will eventually devolve into insane laughter.
Sensing the three guards converging on him from behind, Arana mentally notes the location of the small needles and other weapons secreted about his body. He flexes his fingers and toes, sighs the tension from his body, straightens, and turns to face the guards. He smiles.
Crockus (to the invalid): "They are not after ransom but are using us as workers, slaves, in this mine. When you become stronger, we will both have to work for them. What is your name?"
If he doesn't answer, or after he does, Crockus adresses the guard:
"He's healing but he needs a few more days of care before being independent. I do not need to be with him at all times anymore, however, is there any other person who might need my assistance?"
[What follows begins as Seventeen is collecting on payments due, carries through Arana's observation and after. 17's fit will occur at about the same time, as slaves are returned to work for the final period.]
Most of the slaves who had made deals with Number Seventeen Mouth look at her with fear, suspicion, or distaste as she suggests licking their hands clean. One laughs hoarsely.
The guards, however, are less gentle. A few laugh and gesture lewdly as she makes her rounds--"Here girl, I've a finger for you to lick...", "Had practice with your tongue, have you? You'll fetch a fine price when I take you to auction," "Heh. Not if I take her somewhere else first!"
The lean, bent-backed slave master puts a stop to this, however, grabbing Seventeen by the scalp: "You, slave! What're you doing? Eat your own meals! Keep away from the others!" he rasps, tossing her hard on the ground. (Still, she has by this point collected most of the payments owed her.) Then he calls out "Back to work--everyone! Now!" and moves down the line of slaves, seeing to it that those done eating are dispersed back to their posts.
This leaves Arana, who was unlucky enough to have been last in line for food. He has been resolutely eating, and hears amid the renewed movement of guards and slaves the scuff of boots approaching behind him. Judging by volume, distance, and the like, he estimates three guards moving deliberately to surround him.
[Here is where Arana's actions take place. He makes a mental assessment of his arsenal, stretches his digits and relaxes, then stands to confront the guards with a smile. This is also where Number Seventeen begins to have her fit, having been, due to her energy, one of the first back to work.]
Many of the slaves have turned to watch Seventeen flail at the rock. Some of the more cautious watch sidelong, and some of the delinquents are lashed back to work--though this works less well as Seventeen's fit continues. Two guards hurry over. One wrests the shovel from her, and then the pick, while the other earns a bruised nose and several gashes while struggling to restrain her. Despite these new obstacles, she continues to pound at the cart with her rock.
Arana turns to find himself flanked by two guards and facing a third--the burly one he had been watching the day before. He stands a head and a half above Arana's full height. He cracks his knuckles. "You look tough, boy. Hide it well, but it's there. Why don't you come with me for a bit."
"Dane," wheezes the prisoner, and he coughs, loud and ragged. "I am called Dane. Ah gods, I feel like I've been dragged through the Empress's stables."
Crockus answers: "Dane! Why I'm very glad to finally meet you properly. Do you have any memory of our capture, and where you were before it?" Crockus starts whispering, after checking the guard isn't paying much attention: "I'd like to understand where we are located, and knowing where prisoners were caught would give us a radius. I'd like to know what I'd come out into if I manage to figure out a way to escape..."
(V says: sorry I've been so long with answering, I've been really really busy :s)
[Arana turns to find himself flanked by two guards and facing a third--the burly one he had been watching the day before. He stands a head and a half above Arana's full height. He cracks his knuckles. "You look tough, boy. Hide it well, but it's there. Why don't you come with me for a bit."]
Arana continues to smile and turns his palms up, half a signal of compliance, half a nonverbal "Lead the way." Arana is prepared for several options:
- If they attack as one, Arana will block.
- If they turn and walk down the hallway, Arana will follow silently.
- Arana's experience of being in this situation before leads him to believe one or both of the flanking guards will grab his arm as a gesture of control.
-- If both grab his arms (which are held slight in front of him with palms up) at exactly the same time, he will drop his weight down to the guards, touching the floor in between the guards, pulling them off-center and smacking their heads against each other. This occurs on the count of ONE. He will extend his hands through the space by their necks and drop down and back (TWO), smacking the guards' head satisfyingly on the lip of the stone food trough (THREE). Still smiling, Arana says to the burly guard, who is either watching bemusedly or fumbling for a sword, "Lead the way."
--If, as he suspects, one of the guards will grab his arm first (probably the little guy on the left with the evil glint in his eye). Arana moves his arm in a gentle arc over the food trough as he moves his body to face the guard. This happens as the guard is grabbing. At the same time, Arana's right hand comes up and slices down at the guard's neck, driving him toward the lip of the food trough. The guard's head smacks against the corner of the trough with a satisfying crunch, and he slides to the ground. All of this happens on a count of ONE. As the guard slides towards the ground, Arana pivots and performs the same maneuver. With some minor changes depending on arm position and distance to the guard, Arana knocks the other guard unconscious on a count of TWO. Still smiling, Arana says calmly to the burly guard, who is either watching bemusedly or fumbling for a sword, "Lead the way."
Arana extends his palms slightly, looking deliberately beatific. (Dave, feel free to correct if you don't like.) The weasely guard on the left grins viciously and steps forward, grabbing for Arana's bicep. Arana moves in a blur. [Dave, since they're not expecting trouble, I'll say you start at Tick 0 in terms of actions. Roll Martial Arts + Dexterity to accomplish your first attack on the weasely one, plus just to speed things up, roll the same for the second for when your turn arrives again. If you had intended multiple actions, tell me via the comments when you roll, and subtract 2 dice from the first attack, 3 from the second.]
The guards who took away Number Seventeen Mouth's tools look at her with confusion and trepidation as she pounds on the cart and the ground with her rock, cackling merrily. Slaves nearby have stopped their work and are staring. Blood has begun to drip from scrapes on Seventeen's knuckles. [Those who wish to act here are more than welcome.]
Meanwhile, before Dane can issue a response to Crockus, noise is heard at the cell door. It swings wide and the sinewy guard who had been standing watch steps aside to allow the familiar authoritative figure of the guard sergeant access to the room. He looks at Crockus and Dane, then says "Take ten minutes" to the watch and steps next to the Dane's pallet. "So. You've saved him--though whether it was truly merciful to revive him merely so that he may labor, well.... Dragons know that is not a fate most would choose. Regardless, good work."
[Wednesday deadline for replies, but if David can send me rolls ASAP, that would be awesome like 10,000 hot dogs.]
Arana moves his arm in a gentle arc over the food trough as he shifts his body to face the guard that reaches for him. At the same time, Arana's right hand comes up and slices down at the guard's neck, driving him toward the lip of the food trough. The guard's head smacks against the corner of the trough with a satisfying crunch, and he slides to the ground, clutching his face.
Arana pivots as the second guard growls "Hey!" and steps forward to grapple with him, but a swift set of motions like the first ones, and Arana sends the guard down. He does not get up. The first is moaning and swearing through his hands.
The burly guard watches with amusement, his arms barred over his chest. Still smiling, Arana turns and says calmly to him, "Lead the way." The guard bursts into laughter, then says "You'll do, you'll do." He motions for Arana to move in front of him, and then marches him across the mining area to a lesser tunnel that none of you has yet been into.
[Mina notices this interchange if she likes, as the noise of it carries pretty well. She also notices Seventeen's fit, and can act on or in response to either if she likes.)
As Arana and the guard approach the tunnel, a few others slip away from their work to join the two. (Arana and Mina can make Perception + Awareness rolls here if they feel like it.)
Crockus stands in front of the guard and says "Thank you. I see the sole aim for our capture is to use us as workforce. Well, he is not fit to work as yet, he would collapse and be useless very quickly if he starts laboring so soon after he regains consciousness. I saw the prisonners digging out there. It is hard work and his body will not be able to sustain such effort for quite a while longer, it is still fighting against the infection. Are there any other projects he could be helpful for when he is able to stand? I also wanted to ask you whether there were any more needs for my healing skills?"
Crockus feels a spindly claw grip her ankle, with a frantic strength you would think impossible from the ailing figure on the sparse mat. "Please," he hisses, "don't go! I...I don't..." As his strength fails him, Dane whispers and pleads, and you can see desperate fear in his eyes.
(Sorry I bugged you and then flaked; I promise to post soon if you do!)
Crockus takes the arms of Dane in his hands and calmly sets him back to the floor gently hushing him "There, rest, calm down, you are too unwell to move thus". He tells the guard, while keeping an appeasing hand on Dane's shoulder: "He is delirious again, the fever has broken one more time. It's the infection attacking him again. May I boil some more water in your kitchens to prepare a poultrice for his wound? It would help treat the fever. It could be dangerous if it got too high."
The guard looks at Dane for a long moment and then says "Little work for him unless he can cook or sew. Perhaps when he has more strength." Then he turns more fully toward Crockus. "You, on the other hand, seem to have a gift for healing. You'll be put to more work as soon as you're done with him. In the meantime, is there anything you need to continue caring for him?" [If Crockus responds in the affirmative and indicates zhat he needs, the guard says "Show me why," and waits.]
Number Seventeen Mouth seems to always be on the lookout for those too weak to work. She whacks the stone one last time and then pauses for a short moment, panting. She then smoothly stands erect and schools her face to utter calm. She confidently strides toward Crockus, Dane, and the guard captain near them, and says to the guard, "Sir, you must pardon my frustration at the lack of sufficient work to do. I understand that that man on the floor could be seen as a burden to you for the time being. If you would be amenable, then for an extra daily share of food, I will make a practice of working extra hours when the others have gone back to rest. Though I may be slight, I lack not for energy." The expression in her eyes briefly grows feverishly intense.
She waits for the guard's response, then thanks him baroquely either way. Is there any chance that she might have noticed Arana's scuffle and departure?
[Oops. I should have been clearer. Dane and Crockus are not in the main mining area yet. They are still in one of the cells. (However, if 17 hallucinates at all...) As far as 17 noticing Arana's scuffle, that depends on how lucid she is during her fits. If she's lucid, sure. Most people in the area seem to have noticed. But if she's not lucid, or lucid but just too focused on whatever occupies her during the fits, then probably not.]
Dane moans.
(Nothing for me to say here really, but I promised I'd post!)
*Blush* Number Seventeen Mouth ceases hallucinating and whacking when the sting of pain from her knuckles reaches her. She blinks, looks at the rock as if it were a sixth finger for a long moment, drops it, and looks up. She'll give a devilish grin to anyone staring at her, and then will follow the sound of the commotion caused by Arana. That should work.
You watch as the strange and silent Arana is led into the dark. Some of the other slaves also watch furtively until the overseer yells and whips them. (In this time, you all have the opportunity to do something if you like. If not, tant pis.)
Arana is taken into the dark tunnels (as mentioned earlier) and eventually pushed into a small carved chamber lit by several torches in crude sconces. The chamber is large--enough to hold a small handful of guards, including a pair that holds a gaunt, whip-scarred slave roughly by the arms. They stand opposite the entrance through which Arana has entered, and one of them grins as they see Arana and his escort. "Took you long enough," he says
"Found a show-off. Should be fun," says Arana's escort.
The first one turns to the rest of the group. "Alright, guys, take a look. One flashy newcomer, one wiry "veteran". Size 'em up, make your wagers, and we'll get started."
With those words, the small group erupts into loud talking, calling out bets on either Arana or the other slave, some for themselves, some apparently for other people. There are also calls to parade the two slaves, or to show their arm, back, or leg strength.
After a few minutes, the same guard calls off betting and announces: "Alright, circle up. You all know the rules: one match, anything goes. Last one standing wins." He nods to Arana's escort and the other guard. "Release 'em." And Arana is shoved forward into the center of a circle of guards, facing a lanky and blear-eyed fellow slave.
(If Arana wants to do or say something during all this, he may and we will adjust description accordingly.)
Meanwhile, the overseer cracks his whip and leers over everyone's shoulders. Those who don't scramble to work receive a beating. Number 17 is avoided by some of the other slaves. The jovial guard moves nearish to Mina and makes small comments, as if attempting both to chat and to disguise it.
Rapid footsteps on stone. Two new guards enter the mine chamber and approaches the overseer. The three talk for a moment (if Mina and Number 17 with to eavesdrop, they can make a perception + awareness roll), and then the overseer begins walking amongst the slaves. He gestures at one, and the guards grab him by the shoulders and drag him with them. This is repeated twice more, and then the pair leaves with the three slaves.
(If you wish to do anything, as usual, just say so and we will insert and revise as per what you do.)
Otherwise work continues through the day as before and you are returned to your cells at night.
For Crockus and Dane, things are somewhat different. The authoritative guard takes Crockus's silence as a "no" and leaves, closing the door behind. Crockus and Dane are left to speak or not to speak as they see fit. Dane seems to recover his strength fairly rapidly with Crockus's ministrations, but even so, time passes slowly and there is little to do until noise in the corridor alerts you both to the guard's return.
The door opens and the authoritative guard enters the cell brusquely. His jaw is held tight. He speaks: "Come with me, healer."
(Crockus and Dane can both speak up here if they like. Barring other actions, this is what occurs--Dane can come along if he likes and can make a case for it to the guard:)
He then leads Crockus through the corridors to the kitchen area again, and this time into a larger room that might be described as a mess hall, if one were generous. The tables and benches have been cleared aside near the entrance to the kitchen and in the open space lies a man on a stretcher, flanked by two guards. The man seems to be a guard--he wears the same uniform and additionally a vest of thick leather as armor. He appears to be gravely wounded; blood smears his left shoulder and stains the ragged edges of his armor where it borders a large wound on his abdomen.
The authoritative guard speaks again: "You have some skill at this, healer. We need it. Do whatever you can for this man."
Arana scans the room and his opponent. (Is that Perception + Awareness?)
The skeletal, jaundiced slave in front of Arana looks fearfully back toward the guards that have just released him, then at Arana. He staggers forward, his movements an odd hybrid of desperate aggression and fearful hesitation.
The guard that Mina had been talking to walks by her. "You see that?" he asks. "They were just taken off." He says this as if it proves something. "Dunno why; normally it's the ones who act up. But I can tell you you won't be seeing them again."
Arana stands, watching the erratic slave. He notes many openings in the hesitant, lunging jabs. The man moves closer, looking more committed to the fight. Still, his swings are wild. One particularly off-balance attack brings him close enough to Arana, who grabs the man's shirt and drops and rolls backward. As they fall, Arana moves his feet up to the slave's chest. As they roll together backward, following momentum, Arana kicks. The slave is propelled into the guards behind. Arana stands and turns.
Meanwhile, Dane is left alone in his cell. After a short time, however, a tapping begins on the door, and it is quickly followed by a voice. "Hey. Hey. Hey, invalid. How you doin' in there, invalid? Hey invalid, need something? Got you nice and wrapped up in there, taking care of you and everything. Heh. Like a little princess. How do you like being a princess, invalid?"
The door to the cell opens and more torchlight spills into the room. The wiry young guard that has been standing outside the cell looks down the hall and then steps inside. "Hey princess. You gettin' treated right? You getting what you want, princess? You queen of the slaves? Nice little palace you got here. Heh heh heh." He steps closer by a pace or so. "Can you hear me, you weak-framed little shit?"
Arana prepares himself as the staggering slave inches closer. He breathes. He sees only his opponent. Which is why he is taken by surprise when one of the guards flings a rock at him, not hard enough to hurt, but certainly enough to distract. In that one moment while he is looking away, the other slave gathers the courage to charge and barrel into Arana. Thankfully, his extreme malnutrition renders his attack rather pointless. Arana stands his ground while the slave struggles against him. (Arana's turn to act now, since his first intended action didn't work.)
Number Seventeen Mouth knuckles under and goes back to her work site. Before picking up her pick, she searches the ground to see if she's managed to chip any of the iron off the pick, and will hide it on her person. If not, a resilient-looking stone will do.
She'll also keep her eyes peeled for any sign of slaves returning from the passage with the commotion or from the sick cell.
Crockus looks at the man while asking the guards. "Do you know what happened? How long has he been like this and losing blood?" If the man is conscious he asks him "What is your name, is there another place you're hurting?"
Crockus does all he can do diagnose the man and heal him. Whatever he needs to do that he asks the guards to bring to him.
Post a Comment