Post by Malakbel on Jan 11, 2019 10:11:13 GMT
The faint echo of the cavernous dungeons were filled mainly by the sound of various droplets of water falling from the ceiling. The sound of the storm above had been raging for two days straight and was by now white noise. The damp, cold cell had a certain life-leeching property all on it's own, and far from being an actual magical effect the Yuan-ti had come to realise that most hopeless places like that had it as well. The moaning of other prisioners was not uncommon. At the cell on the end of the hall there was a man who he had nicknamed "the screamer". Every now and again he would burst into a series of shouts calling for a man named "Edvard" and claiming he would have his revenge, after dennouncing the man's many faults. It was a startling performance, and a bothersome one at that since a few times it had caught him off guard while he was sleeping.
And it wasn't just bothersome because he had been sleeping, but because actually managing to fall asleep on an uneven wet stone floor was not an easy thing to do. After the third day in most of his body was aching, and had only managed to sleep properly once.
On the cell to his right was a man named "Snicker" or so he presented himself as.
"Him?" said the faceless, misterious man on the dungeon cell next to him. "Don't know, they dragged him here a couple weeks before you, he's been screaming ever since. Probably got double crossed. Anyways, what's your name?"
"Naizelos" replied the Yuan-ti, and he sighed, pressing his back against the door before sliding down to the floor. His stomach growled with hunger.
"So what are you in for?" The man prodded
"Lollygagging" He replied, monotone
"Hah! Fine, suit yourself. You'll tell me when you're ready, nothing else to do 'round here but talk"
"What about you, then?"
"Fucking sheeps, man"
Naizelos couldn't help but laugh out loud
"You fucked sheeps so they threw you in jail?"
"Wait, what? What the fuck? No man, some farmer put the word on me I stole his sheep."
"And did you?"
"No, but they wound up on my place regardless. I was set up."
"Why would anyone set you up? Had any enemies?"
"It's a long story, really"
"I have time"
"See, now you're starting to get the gist of it" finally said the man, and Naizelos could easily imagine a small smile upon his lips.
He then proceeded to narrate a story in which he was a hardworking man, that traveled daily to the big city to try and make a few extra coins. It was then when he met a woman in a tavern, a high-born girl dressed up as a peasant for a night of fun. She said she would like to meet him again, and she did good on her word and they started to meet out regularly at discreet locations. The man spared no details about the girls' beauty and body measures, to the point where the Yuan-ti had to tell him to go on with the story. The man coughed, and continued.
"So, anyways. One day we were at this inn, we went into a room to get a good night's fun when the doors below burst open and an armed escort walked through. A fat man in fancy looking clothes demanded to know the whereabouts of her wife. What are the odds? Should'a figured she was married. I climbed out from the window with her help, and managed to outrun the guards. I don't think anyone saw my face out of them, really, but I guess gold really does loosen up tongues because no later than one week the whole with the sheeps happened."
"You think it was the nobleman?"
"I -know- it was the nobleman, trying to keep his hand hidden. I know it because he came down here himself to mock me and then beat me later. It would have been bad, but he was out of breath by the third punch, and had one of his goons carry out the beating in it's stead. I guess it would've of hurt more if I wasn't laughing on the inside. Fucking prick was named Rikkard or some fancy name like that."
"You must hate her right now."
"Naw... I love her, it's the husband I hate"
"She got you thrown in jail and you love her? You are either masochistic beyond belief or too naive for your own good" Declared, baffled at the man's words
"I loved her since before getting locked up in here. I would've appreciated she telling me she was married, but I would've of still done what I did anyways."
Naizelos snorted at what he regarded as poor judgement
"Have you ever been in love?" Asked the man
The Yuan-ti paused a few moments before answering his question
"Once" said "When I was young and naive"
"Oh, ho... Sounds like you got roughed up, what happened there?"
There was no reply. The man inside the cell clapped his hands.
"For all the good that's going to do to you, what do you think I'm gonna do, write it all down in all this parchment I have lying around and distribute it around the city? Well, all the same, take your time... Your stuff is your stuff man."
Hunger gnawed on him while the cold ate away at him, keeping him shivering and sneezing. Stale bread could only do so much to keep malnutrition away; on the fifth day he caught a rat and ate it with a mixture of wild savagery and desperation, the poor critter managed to let out a screech of terror before it's neck was snapped. Without sunlight or guard shifts to keep track of time he was starting to forget how long he'd been in there. The only time he saw any other sign of life besides the prisoners and their talk was when they came to deliver the food, once a day.
"What are you going to do if you ever get out?" He had asked Snicker
"Go find my girl, and maybe shiv Rikkard"
Naizelos let out a faint smile in the darkness
"You think she would choose you, a starved beggar smelling like piss and rot over his perfumed wealthy husband?"
"She probably only married because of some political shtick, it's always like that. The nobles don't get to choose with who they marry, their familiy chooses. And trust me, that guy? He ain't got nothing on me"
"Wealth, social standing, actual power, influence..."
"Nothing compared to the power of love, I'll be out of here in a jibby, she loves me too, see?"
"You are incredibly delusional, not to say hopeless."
"Don't be such a downer, all's well that ends well, it's only my first month here... Or so I think. She must be trying to figure out a plan to break me out."
"Open your eyes, she cut her losses the moment you were caught. Ain't nobody coming to get you out, except maybe the fat guy that threw you in in the first place, only to punch you again."
"Please, Sir Fattington could barely stand the place without puking, you overestimate him. I have faith in my girl, she'll figure something out."
The Yuan-ti sighed heavily.
"So, what are you going to do?" asked Snicker
"I'll cross that river when I get there. I don't have anyone to blame me but myself for being here."
"You a thief?"
"I trusted the wrong person, I should have known better."
"And you don't want to shiv him for that? We can be shivving buddies"
"It's pointless. By this time, who knows where he would be. Probably somewhere enjoying his freedom. And I've got better things to do than waste my time and effort pursuing a pointless vengeance, that is if I ever get out. To chase someone out and spend long amounts of time brooding about vengeance... it's just not a good choice of action. It's wasteful. I've better things to do. I'll probably seek out a magic academy or something of the sort"
Snicker plunged himself against the door with renewed interest
"You a wizard?"
"Not really, I had only begun to learn when they killed my teacher. I only know the basics. I'm an apprentice, at best."
"How'd you end up here caught then? Academies and licenses don't come cheap boy, you must come from a wealthy family, or have some important connections. Maybe you call for someone to intercede for you, like nobles do."
"I didn't learn at an academy, my mother taught me in the shadow of the shitty town I grew up in. What would a license do for me, anyways?"
"Hah, so you're a rogue wizard? That's illegal you know, all wizards must have a license to use magic"
He shrugged "What's one more stripe on the tiger's back, really?"
"You mean you really didn't know it was illegal?"
"I didn't, I was just passing through. But it makes sense; the only thing people in power want is to keep being the people in power. And you can't be the people in power if there is class movement and you're getting constantly challenged. And magic... it's a game changer on it's own. It's only natural that you'd want to limit and control the amount of people with that knowledge going around. On top of that, if you control the academy, you can also influence the future wizards, and their stances on things. In the end, that's all laws are. A way to keep the people in power, in power."
"You're lucky they didn't execute you if you've been spewing that out, the clergy doesn't take kindly to that, and less so the nobles. The king's the king because he's more or less the one chosen by the gods to rule. And the clergy backs him up on this. And so on with the nobles, it's the way the world works."
"Like the abyss it is. The whole idea of something being legitimate is laughable. I'm not dumb, I haven't been shouting this all around the city... But it's not like you're going anywhere. That's to show you how much faith I have in you getting out of here anytime soon."
"Hah, there -is- some fire inside you after all. I suppose you don't have a "unlock a padlock" spell you would happen to know, right?"
"Do you think I would be here if I did?"
"It was worth a shot, maybe you were hanging out just because you were perversely bored, like a mad rogue wizard"
Naizelos chuckled at the thought, and he leaned back against the wall. No, he didn't have a "unlock padlock" spell he knew. He knew other spells though, a scant few. The padlock however was on the other side of the door and freezing or shooting fire at the iron door was unlikely to achieve anything other than making noise and, like Snicker had pointed out, maybe get him re-assessed, and maybe executed or moved to a cell where his only asset, that had remained hidden until now, wouldn't be of any use.
There was one cantrip he knew though, the mage hand, that could prove useful but it couldn't unlock the doorpad on itself. Maybe it could be used to steal the guard's key, he thought... If he even had any. If he chose to do it, he would only have one shot. So far, he hadn't had a chance to pull it off. Not on his own at least. While he could, theoretically, try to unlock the door just in front of his, unlocking his own whilst not being able to see it was entirely another matter.
"You're sure you're not a thief, right?" Asked the Yuan-ti
"Naw man... Unless we count stealing apples from the neighboor as a kid thievery"
Naizelos sighed loudly and let his head rest against the wall, closing his eyes. There had to be some way out of that prision cell and out into the streets. And whatever he was going to do, he had to do it before he lost the strength to fight a guard or two... Which was, in itself, a fairly optimistic number. He hadn't seen Snicker at all, but if the man's words were anything to go by, he had been trapped in there for a month... That wouldn't be much help in a fight. A plan began to form on his mind. Even if it was reckless, it was better than not having a plan.
And it wasn't just bothersome because he had been sleeping, but because actually managing to fall asleep on an uneven wet stone floor was not an easy thing to do. After the third day in most of his body was aching, and had only managed to sleep properly once.
On the cell to his right was a man named "Snicker" or so he presented himself as.
"Him?" said the faceless, misterious man on the dungeon cell next to him. "Don't know, they dragged him here a couple weeks before you, he's been screaming ever since. Probably got double crossed. Anyways, what's your name?"
"Naizelos" replied the Yuan-ti, and he sighed, pressing his back against the door before sliding down to the floor. His stomach growled with hunger.
"So what are you in for?" The man prodded
"Lollygagging" He replied, monotone
"Hah! Fine, suit yourself. You'll tell me when you're ready, nothing else to do 'round here but talk"
"What about you, then?"
"Fucking sheeps, man"
Naizelos couldn't help but laugh out loud
"You fucked sheeps so they threw you in jail?"
"Wait, what? What the fuck? No man, some farmer put the word on me I stole his sheep."
"And did you?"
"No, but they wound up on my place regardless. I was set up."
"Why would anyone set you up? Had any enemies?"
"It's a long story, really"
"I have time"
"See, now you're starting to get the gist of it" finally said the man, and Naizelos could easily imagine a small smile upon his lips.
He then proceeded to narrate a story in which he was a hardworking man, that traveled daily to the big city to try and make a few extra coins. It was then when he met a woman in a tavern, a high-born girl dressed up as a peasant for a night of fun. She said she would like to meet him again, and she did good on her word and they started to meet out regularly at discreet locations. The man spared no details about the girls' beauty and body measures, to the point where the Yuan-ti had to tell him to go on with the story. The man coughed, and continued.
"So, anyways. One day we were at this inn, we went into a room to get a good night's fun when the doors below burst open and an armed escort walked through. A fat man in fancy looking clothes demanded to know the whereabouts of her wife. What are the odds? Should'a figured she was married. I climbed out from the window with her help, and managed to outrun the guards. I don't think anyone saw my face out of them, really, but I guess gold really does loosen up tongues because no later than one week the whole with the sheeps happened."
"You think it was the nobleman?"
"I -know- it was the nobleman, trying to keep his hand hidden. I know it because he came down here himself to mock me and then beat me later. It would have been bad, but he was out of breath by the third punch, and had one of his goons carry out the beating in it's stead. I guess it would've of hurt more if I wasn't laughing on the inside. Fucking prick was named Rikkard or some fancy name like that."
"You must hate her right now."
"Naw... I love her, it's the husband I hate"
"She got you thrown in jail and you love her? You are either masochistic beyond belief or too naive for your own good" Declared, baffled at the man's words
"I loved her since before getting locked up in here. I would've appreciated she telling me she was married, but I would've of still done what I did anyways."
Naizelos snorted at what he regarded as poor judgement
"Have you ever been in love?" Asked the man
The Yuan-ti paused a few moments before answering his question
"Once" said "When I was young and naive"
"Oh, ho... Sounds like you got roughed up, what happened there?"
There was no reply. The man inside the cell clapped his hands.
"For all the good that's going to do to you, what do you think I'm gonna do, write it all down in all this parchment I have lying around and distribute it around the city? Well, all the same, take your time... Your stuff is your stuff man."
Hunger gnawed on him while the cold ate away at him, keeping him shivering and sneezing. Stale bread could only do so much to keep malnutrition away; on the fifth day he caught a rat and ate it with a mixture of wild savagery and desperation, the poor critter managed to let out a screech of terror before it's neck was snapped. Without sunlight or guard shifts to keep track of time he was starting to forget how long he'd been in there. The only time he saw any other sign of life besides the prisoners and their talk was when they came to deliver the food, once a day.
"What are you going to do if you ever get out?" He had asked Snicker
"Go find my girl, and maybe shiv Rikkard"
Naizelos let out a faint smile in the darkness
"You think she would choose you, a starved beggar smelling like piss and rot over his perfumed wealthy husband?"
"She probably only married because of some political shtick, it's always like that. The nobles don't get to choose with who they marry, their familiy chooses. And trust me, that guy? He ain't got nothing on me"
"Wealth, social standing, actual power, influence..."
"Nothing compared to the power of love, I'll be out of here in a jibby, she loves me too, see?"
"You are incredibly delusional, not to say hopeless."
"Don't be such a downer, all's well that ends well, it's only my first month here... Or so I think. She must be trying to figure out a plan to break me out."
"Open your eyes, she cut her losses the moment you were caught. Ain't nobody coming to get you out, except maybe the fat guy that threw you in in the first place, only to punch you again."
"Please, Sir Fattington could barely stand the place without puking, you overestimate him. I have faith in my girl, she'll figure something out."
The Yuan-ti sighed heavily.
"So, what are you going to do?" asked Snicker
"I'll cross that river when I get there. I don't have anyone to blame me but myself for being here."
"You a thief?"
"I trusted the wrong person, I should have known better."
"And you don't want to shiv him for that? We can be shivving buddies"
"It's pointless. By this time, who knows where he would be. Probably somewhere enjoying his freedom. And I've got better things to do than waste my time and effort pursuing a pointless vengeance, that is if I ever get out. To chase someone out and spend long amounts of time brooding about vengeance... it's just not a good choice of action. It's wasteful. I've better things to do. I'll probably seek out a magic academy or something of the sort"
Snicker plunged himself against the door with renewed interest
"You a wizard?"
"Not really, I had only begun to learn when they killed my teacher. I only know the basics. I'm an apprentice, at best."
"How'd you end up here caught then? Academies and licenses don't come cheap boy, you must come from a wealthy family, or have some important connections. Maybe you call for someone to intercede for you, like nobles do."
"I didn't learn at an academy, my mother taught me in the shadow of the shitty town I grew up in. What would a license do for me, anyways?"
"Hah, so you're a rogue wizard? That's illegal you know, all wizards must have a license to use magic"
He shrugged "What's one more stripe on the tiger's back, really?"
"You mean you really didn't know it was illegal?"
"I didn't, I was just passing through. But it makes sense; the only thing people in power want is to keep being the people in power. And you can't be the people in power if there is class movement and you're getting constantly challenged. And magic... it's a game changer on it's own. It's only natural that you'd want to limit and control the amount of people with that knowledge going around. On top of that, if you control the academy, you can also influence the future wizards, and their stances on things. In the end, that's all laws are. A way to keep the people in power, in power."
"You're lucky they didn't execute you if you've been spewing that out, the clergy doesn't take kindly to that, and less so the nobles. The king's the king because he's more or less the one chosen by the gods to rule. And the clergy backs him up on this. And so on with the nobles, it's the way the world works."
"Like the abyss it is. The whole idea of something being legitimate is laughable. I'm not dumb, I haven't been shouting this all around the city... But it's not like you're going anywhere. That's to show you how much faith I have in you getting out of here anytime soon."
"Hah, there -is- some fire inside you after all. I suppose you don't have a "unlock a padlock" spell you would happen to know, right?"
"Do you think I would be here if I did?"
"It was worth a shot, maybe you were hanging out just because you were perversely bored, like a mad rogue wizard"
Naizelos chuckled at the thought, and he leaned back against the wall. No, he didn't have a "unlock padlock" spell he knew. He knew other spells though, a scant few. The padlock however was on the other side of the door and freezing or shooting fire at the iron door was unlikely to achieve anything other than making noise and, like Snicker had pointed out, maybe get him re-assessed, and maybe executed or moved to a cell where his only asset, that had remained hidden until now, wouldn't be of any use.
There was one cantrip he knew though, the mage hand, that could prove useful but it couldn't unlock the doorpad on itself. Maybe it could be used to steal the guard's key, he thought... If he even had any. If he chose to do it, he would only have one shot. So far, he hadn't had a chance to pull it off. Not on his own at least. While he could, theoretically, try to unlock the door just in front of his, unlocking his own whilst not being able to see it was entirely another matter.
"You're sure you're not a thief, right?" Asked the Yuan-ti
"Naw man... Unless we count stealing apples from the neighboor as a kid thievery"
Naizelos sighed loudly and let his head rest against the wall, closing his eyes. There had to be some way out of that prision cell and out into the streets. And whatever he was going to do, he had to do it before he lost the strength to fight a guard or two... Which was, in itself, a fairly optimistic number. He hadn't seen Snicker at all, but if the man's words were anything to go by, he had been trapped in there for a month... That wouldn't be much help in a fight. A plan began to form on his mind. Even if it was reckless, it was better than not having a plan.
