Closed Blood and Ashes

[Shasshtekssemet]

Timestamp: 50th of Summer 514 AV

Ssemet drew up her posture as the guards keyed the cell door. Mentally the viper reminded herself to buy different clothing for this job, it might very easily ruin her lovely orange robe. Still she stepped into the cell and beheld the captive chained to the back wall. Yesterday the tawny Myrian beast had lunged at her, today he watched her like a cornered animal. The fight wasn’t gone, far from it, but it was a start. Now he was defensive rather than offensive.

The viper had been expecting to seek information but perhaps for her first case it was appropriate not to trust an outsider with that sort of responsibility. It was here job this day and for the next few days to turn this warrior in a worker. Unlike the other souls who worked in this profession she didn’t have an entire tool kit for the process. She used nothing but a kris, her flute, and her religion. At the same time she had chosen this morning on a whim to invest in a whip, as of current she had no experience in the device but she imagined it would be beneficial and later points in the slave’s breaking.

“Yesssterday you had one rule, It. Recite that rule.” She had never asked his name and taken to calling him It in place as a way to remove his identity. A slave rarely needed identity.

The Myrian snarled at her, but she knew he understood at least some common. He was choosing not to answer. Instead of immediately striking him like some might she simply nodded, “That iss one againssst you. I did not explain the rulesss yesssterday. Today, I will. You will have a new rule every morning but all of the previousss ruless sstill apply. In thisss way you will learn. During our time together I will count your sstrikess and at the end you will be punisssshed accordingly.” Ssemet strode towards the Myrian. “Underssstood?” She ducked to the side to avoid the spittal he hocked.

“That sseemss like a yess. Two.” Nodding again she turned her back on the captive, a subtle insult. He could be of no harm to her so it was safe to put him behind her. In the corner was a small stool, a request she had made. Settled upon it she unwrapped the sash about her waist. Twisted within the cloth was not only her kris but her flute. One before the other she reminded herself not to be hasty, this was delicate work. “Your firsst rule wasss to call me Misstresss. Today, your sssecond rule is to never look me in the eye again.” Ssemet cast her gaze directly upon the victim and he failed to look at away. His hatred fumed out at her, almost tangibly. In return the viper grinned. “Three.”

Standing from her seat, she left the flute perched on the stool and took her kris up in her dominant hand. The slash along his right cheek from yesterday still burned angry and painful. The reminder of her own pain abated on his flesh. Today he would receive two regular cuts and one from Krysus. Surveying the product Ssemet sought out the perfect spot. The back was preferable but it was too early to have access to it and she couldn’t mar his flesh permanently where it could be seen, that might lower his value to she who bought him. Not too low to the ground she mused, that might too easily become infected given that he wasn’t allowed out of his shackles to defecate yet.

Oh perfect, she smiled to herself and brought herself up to his arms. He was chained too tightly to reach out and bite her though he certainly wished he could. Ssemet doubted his grin was amusement like hers. She made two gentle scores with her kris along his under arm near the pit. The cuts were tame like kittens compared to what followed. Using the tip of her kris she created a flap between the two parallel red lines in his flesh, with her left hand she grabbed the tab and ripped. The strip of skin pulled free shockingly easily and then Myrian yowled. Using her edge once more she severed the strip of flesh and tossed it at the wall. There the vital fluids made it stick so he could view it every day until it withered and fell. Still the viper felt certain it would haunt him and keep her ever present in his mind.

“That wass two.” She lifted the kris to his left cheek and sliced a twin to his right. With her left hand upon him she drew from Krysus, changing a small cut into a mind-consuming agony. She drew back leisurely and once again turned her back on him. The captive was trying to hold out, but even as her headache abated his true screams began. The shackles rattled against the wall as he writhed, his yowl before had been almost dramatic compared to the primal nature of true pain.

Sitting down upon her stool again, the Dhani picked up her flute and began to play a tune to his pain. She hoped he might associate this song with pain so she had to harm valuable flesh less often near the end of his training. That wasn’t the only reason she played though; the others would hear the vibrant flute accompany his screams every day until he was nothing, ready to be built into whatever his owner desired. And when Ssemet moved on from this training the others would see her enter their cell with her flute and know her.

reciept :

1 GM spent for a whip

[Evalin]

It was one of those odd days for Evalin. She was not locked within the cavern of the little Queen preparing for the time to come. She was not out collecting specimens for her craft or for her own amusement. In fact, if one might call it thus, this day was perhaps a rather uneventful day for the undead witch. No plans were to be set in motion this day, no schemes to be plotted, no blood to be spilt. It was a day to herself of sorts, or rather it was a day to BE herself. To look about this world of serpents as an observer for one of the last times. One could never know what she will find with a simple stroll through the caverns of Zinrah.

Evalin wore her child body today. More and more she found that to look as she did gave her more advantage than she ever realized before. The whole of the city knew of her now, or they might recognize her as her connection to the newly appointed queen. Evalin, the Immortal Witch who walked through eternity could no longer hide in shadows and go unnoticed, for the eyes of Tanabis herself was upon her. There was a marker on her back now, and a fast approaching deadline after which the Nuit would either flee or she would be killed for the crime of existing. That is what the Queen believed at least, but Evalin knew better.

As a child Evalin held the advantage for very few knew of her in this form. When one spoke of Aka's strange attendant they often spoke of the woman with dark hair and red eyes, more corpse than woman at all. Never do they speak of a child that would wander at Aka's side, for Evalin was careful that this form was never seen with the little Queen. As she was now those of the nest would look over her, or think she was an oddity. A child who walked about Zinrah, pale as death with red eyes was something unnatural, and often she was avoided completely. Whats more Evalin had taken to borrowing some of Aka's smaller attire, which was perhaps more colorful than she preferred but it did seem to fit this disguise well. This day she wore a dark red top and skirt, frills accenting the sleeves and the hem of the skirt that stop just below her knees. Her feet were bare of course, for Eva found little need for boots as she was now. The blue gem hung as it always did from around her neck, and the ring of bone circled her finger. Today, however, Evalin left her staff in the Scarlet Cavern. She would not have need of it she was certain, and best not to loose it.

Without much though Evalin's feet carried her to a place where she felt the most comfortable, where she was not quite so out of place. The den of torture where cell upon cell was filled with poor creatures too despicable or simply too unlucky to be set free to enjoy the light of day. It was where even Evalin could come with little scrutiny, for all were preoccupied with other tasks, or pain.

The Nuit paused at a few of the cells here and there, simply looking and observing the inhabitants. Some were bloody and barely of the living, others were still bright eyed and defiant as they tried desperately to free themselves from their chains. All of these Evalin simply passed by however, until she came upon one that was truly interesting. In this one there was a woman, a Dhani of course, but not one of the hulking constrictors. Another Viper as Aka was? She spoke softly, calmly to her prisoner, making counts as she spoke like she was preparing a list to be finished later. It was curious, and it caught the Immortal's interest so much that she paused at this cell to watch in silence.

A small smile touched Evailn's lips as she saw the blade being put to work, slicing and cutting here and there. Certainly it should have been painful, but then the wail that the creature made as his skin was ripped free was of such magnitude and volume that it defied a reasonable explanation. Did he truly hurt that much? Evalin did not understand... was it just the weakness of the flesh, or was this girl truly that talented? And then the music began to flow and it twined and spun with the sounds of agony, creating a cacophony of clashing sounds that sounded strangely beautiful to Evalin. IN truth Evalin never found much use for torture. It was messy, drawn out and so noisy. More often than not Evalin would simply kill the person instead of going to such lengths as these, but then perhaps Evalin was a bit more merciful. Still, Evalin could appreciate the work of a talented professional when she saw it, and without realizing it she noticed her hands had curled around the bars as she watched with rapt attention.

For the moment it looked as though Evalin had gone unnoticed, and so she half walked, half skipped (children often skipped, and to Evalin's amusement it seemed to make others unease when they saw a Witchling child do the same) to the other side. There she curled her fingers around the bars, her long pointed black nails clacking against the metal as she pressed her forehead against the bars to smile at the Dhani inside, "You display quite the talent for performance. It amuses me, and I would like to see more."

Evalin grinned, showing her teeth as she stared unblinkingly with her blood red eyes, "Will you play with me?"

Evalin knew she was no child, yet despite this she found that when she looked the part she also began to act it, taking on more childish tendencies and actions and words. It was a game of sorts, one that occupied the nuit's time and amused her. Her voice was high as a girl no older than 8 should be, small and thin for her age and all about her the deathly qualities hung like a cloak. Evalin always liked this moment, when those around her sensed something... wrong but could not quite put their finger on what. For one such as she, 'fun' was hard to come by but this was as close as the Sorceress ever came.

[Shasshtekssemet]

When she finished her song and the man’s writhing had stilled into a mewling, limp, casing of flesh, Ssemet finally realized she wasn’t alone. The viper wrapped up her flute again within her sash before turning to see the young girl beyond the door. A child like Ssemet had never seen before, so pale, so dark like she wasn’t human at all. Some creature born of shadows and magic and those eyes; rubies piercing the darkness. Scarlet like that woman’s, that Goddess’s. Ssemet had to control the shiver up her spin as the memory threatened. “I would play with you child, but not with thisss man. Hiss part in the ssong isss done for the day.”

Stepping out from the cell, the torturer motioned for the guards to lock the cell once more. “What game iss it that the childling wisssshesss to play?” Her fingers were still tacking with the man’s blood and she played with it idly tapping her fingers together to mar the consistency. Combined with the crimson veins prominently visible beneath her tawny skin and the dirt of her work, it looked like the blood was being absorbed into her hand. It was only a trick of the light though, as soon as Ssemet washed her hands the foreign blood would be clear and her mark would remain.

The beautiful reprieve of her headache gave the Viper a heady rush and a startling clarity that she so rarely enjoyed. In her clarity, she recognized the strange intellect that was hidden in the strange little girl’s words. She had used the words of a child, ‘game’ and ‘play’, but never had the viper heard a youngling say ‘it amuses me’. What oddity had found her this mundane morning? And if Ssemet learned the truth could she ever recall today as mundane again? Truth being a double-edged sword, the viper failed to question it, for now there was no knife at her neck and she would keep it that with ignorance. “Sssince you are here I can only assume, you mean torture. There are three new captivess this morning, would you like to go ssee them?” The Dhani motioned down the hallway into the deeper tunnels of the Bastille. There when information was screamed through mutilated throats the to-be slaves could not hear the secrets. Perhaps by now one would have been deemed unnecessary to put to question or unknowledgeable and Ssemet could return with the pitiful creature to a higher cell for the child’s game.

“What are you called childling? You are no Dhani, I ssee thiss in you.” Ssemet had no way to be certain the child wasn’t a Dhani but it was a good guess in her esitmation. Though her voice had never risen from a conversational tone with the man, her tone was completely different with Evalin. Because the child was not a target for her crueler attentions, her pain-singing persona was set aside. Instead she spoke like the tones of flute windy and gentle though lacking any patronizing note. The awareness of the girl’s intelligence whether it was natural genius or supernatural phenomenon was enough to cause Ssemet to speak to her as a peer. “I am Sasshtekssemet, my sshort name iss Ssemet. Let me sshow you the way.” It was always the abnormal that made for the best stories and those unique stories made for enchanting melodies. As the snake watched this child, she became more convinced something extraordinary had found her today. No this morning would not be mundane in the least.

[Evalin]

Evalin kept one hand grasping the bars as she stepped back slightly out of the way to allow the Dhani to walk past. She looked back at the tortured man, who hung limp and whimpering and the nuit was pleased, "Hush now child, your verse is done, but ever you wait for soon the next shall begin." She whispered this softly under her breath, only absently aware that she was being spoken too until she broke her attention away from this shattered man, with home of a new entertainment to come.

"Certainly let us continue your song with another. The music you make it is... entrancing, beautiful and terrible all the same. Never have I heard something quite like it..." Releasing the bars of the cell, not a single glance spared for the previous crescendo, Evalin looked up to Ssemet, "Perhaps you might teach me your art, to play the notes as you do to ring out and cause such effects upon the minds of those around. Clever it is your medium, and one I have not learned myself." Evalin laughed and folded her hands behind her back, skipping lightly as children do as she followed, "Music is far more interesting than I thought possible."

"I am what i am, and not what I am not for certain of this you may be. if you require a name, you may call me Katherine, hand maiden of Mistress Aka. The pleasure is of course mine, and perhaps if I enjoy what you shall show me my Mistress would wish to know of you and your name as well."

Boxcode by Verena

[Shasshtekssemet]

Ssemet took them deeper into the dungeons. There are other captives brought in when that fool man had been caught. THe viper had heard of the prowess of the female Myrians though and had been unsure if her skills would have any effect on one. Certainly her mark of Krysus would harm them into submission and if she used her hypnotism subtly they may be convince to at least be silent. The only thing Ssemet was certain of her abilities in torture would not be up to the task. This would be a brutal thing or the opposite very subtle, which would depend upon Katherine.

“Ah, your Missstress is Queen Aka? I know her. My home isss not sso far from her chamber.” The musician had known without a doubt there would be stories surrounding the viper queen in the constrictor nest, and this morning one had clearly found her. She stopped before another cell. It was the female Myrian. Some small bit of trepidation fluttered in Ssemet’s stomach but it was quickly overwhelmed with twisted excitement. There was a challenge here. To see if someone could take the pain she could wield, and not just to abate her symptoms. It was the lust engrained in her from the release of her Krysus-given pains. Only now, there was no pain only anticipation like Ssemet rarely experienced.

The viper pushed open the chamber door. Within the tawny Myrian woman was shackled to the wall like the male had been, but the similarities end there. He had been aggressive but she was primordial chaos incarnate. Already blood foamed from her lips, she had bitten out her own tongue and spit it in the corner of the room. Interrogations would do no good here. What little straw covering existed to absorb secretions had be flung away from her as she had scrambled against the chains. Her wrists oozed dirt-muddled blood slowly coagulating as it trailed down her arms.She had been stripped naked when brought into the dungeon, no doubt to remove anything at all that could be used as a weapon.

There were fewer prisoners kept near her, whether by design or coincidence Ssemet was not sure. What the viper did know was that she would not break a pattern she had only just begun. Withdrawing her flute once more she smiled at the Myrian. Her posture once again spoke of confidence bordering on arrogance, a surety that by the end there would be a whimper poodle of flesh on the floor. In some respects it was true confidence, she had never seen an individual go unphased by the mark’s pain. At the same time it was a mask to hide her concern that this woman would be the rock she could not shatter. The potential made it interesting and surely it shown through her eyes. She locked her vision on the woman, who like a predator vying for dominance would not break the contact.

“Katherine, I play becaussse I want the othersss to know that when the flute’sss ssong whisssperss down the tunnelss sssomeone will know agony. Sssoon they will fear the ssound more than the pain.” Ssemet brought the instrument to her lips, her eyes never having left the Myrian. She played a gentle tune, but eiry. It was in every way reminiscent of a night in the Kalean wilds. Dark and moody with a looming specter of foreboding. It was a song made of her own feelings in the seemingly endless ancient forest. With this song though, Ssemet’s eyes conjured another message. She could not fully subdue the Myrian, her hypnotism was not nearly strong enough, but she could feed the woman’s hubris. Her djed trickled through the channels to manifest magic through her lips. The notes seemed to grow quiet, almost demure. This was not her song at all but a quiet set of notes played without prior planning. It was the tone of the message, The Snake is No threat. She can do you no harm. Pathetic.

If Ssemet couldn’t change the woman’s beliefs, which was truly beyond her abilities, then she could bolster them. That was much simpler. Then when those very same beliefs came crashing down it would wreck the woman all the more.