Location [Syliras Location] Li Mauta

[Dusk]

In a city as large as Syliras, dealing with the dead presents its own difficulties - respecting those who've passed, honoring those who've sacrificed themselves... sanitation. Once the city grew beyond the bounds of the first settlement, there wasn't enough space or manpower to bury the dead, not even the Knights who fell protecting the city, so it was decided that the most efficient way to deal with the dead was cremation. The Knights built Li Mauta in the warehouse district just north of the docks to serve those who'd passed on. It features the tallest point in Syliras, the great smokestack that towers high above the city belching its occasional puff of black vapor to be dispersed in the air overhead. The crematorium was constructed by master masons who specifically designed the ovens to keep the fires hot enough to vaporize any remains, as well as being careful to control any olfactory emissions that might make the neighbors unhappy. Li Mauta is presided over by Benoit Grivin, the Undertaker of Syliras. Though a Nuit himself, he has created very strict rules about how Nuit can obtain bodies in Syliras, and the Knights have accepted his wisdom and council. As such, any Nuit who is in need of a new body may petition Li Mauta. A body will be chosen that has no ties to anyone in Syliras - either a wandering stranger who happened to die within the Walls, or a person who passed with no relatives or friends - and given to the petitioning Nuit. There is no choice of another body; you take what you're given or you stay in your current rotting corpse. Anyone who is found snatching bodies from healthy, living citizens is dealt with as any common murderer, no questions asked. The warehouse also includes a large section which holds the personal effects of those who've been brought in. Relatives have four weeks to claim the effects before they are forfeit to the Knights.

This location is moderated by Dusk and Sondra

[Jilitse]

9th of Fall, 510 AV

Jilitse, worn and torn from her previous encounter with those that wished to steal her treasure, decided that it was best to grant Stitch the space that he had requested. The Nuit wasn't entirely receptive of the man's anger, but she decided that it was best to leave humans alone for the mean time. Attachment and camaraderie could lead to serious relationships that the Nuit was cold and impersonal about most of the time. Not that Jilitse was incapable of love, but she was not exactly a sponge for emotions. Brief outbursts of anger and illogical emotions do not register with her. She needed to bide her time to reflect on things, to understand herself better.

Li Mauta was a place she had often wanted to visit, but never really done so. She had heard of the Nuit who once sat in the Council of Syliras, who had been around a long, long time. Benoit Grivin was probably the only being in Syliras who could help Jilitse understand what living with humans meant. It was time to meet him.

It wasn't so hard to meet with the great smokestack that towered in the distance. She decided to knock on the door and ask for an audience, "If I may intrude upon your hospitality, I am currently looking for a place to work and stay."

If Benoit Grivin grants her audience, she would greet the Nuit and introduce herself. "My name is Jilitse, I am a Nuit who has been in Syliras since last Summer. I have heard that Li Mauta was run by a Nuit, and have decided that it would be in my best interest to become your apprentice."

Uncalled for, but she decided to unburden herself more than necessary, "I used to stay at the orphanage, but I have decided to leave. I had a falling out with the owner, and it would be better if I stay away from him and the children for now." Her face was straight, her voice flat, but even another Nuit such as Benoit would probably get hints from the underlying message Jilitse brought forth. There had been small rumors about the Welcome Home burning, whispers about the blind man and a Nuit. Jilitse was hoping that Benoit would understand where she came from.

[Dusk]

Jilitse It wasn't hard to get an audience with Benoit - it's not as if he had a foyer with an assistant waiting to take his messages. All she needed to do was walk into the warehouse that housed the crematorium of Syliras, and look for the oldest man working there. He was currently shoveling ash out of one of the ovens, depositing it in wide-mouthed buckets. The only remnants of the dead of the city. He grunted as Jilitse introduced herself, glancing her up and down once before he went back to shoveling. "You figure out, is not easy living with dey 'umans," he murmured, his accent strange and antiquated. But then, he had lived an awfully long time. "You want job? You bettah not have too much love for dat body. We rough, here, on da flesh. But you get new body for free, here. How long you been around?" he asked, setting the shovel down and picking up the bucket, motioning her to follow him as he traipsed through the warehouse to deposit it in a cart in the back.

[Sondra]

TS: 50th of Winter, 510 AV Sondra knew she was close by the smell. There was nothing in the world like the scent of burning flesh. Human and Humanoid kin had their own particular tang. There was the metallic note of blood, the sulfurous fumes from hair and the strange, cloying sweetness that felt like a sucker punch amidst all the gore. Round it off with the dry smell of ash and you had a human bonfire. Sondra didn't like thinking about how she knew all these scents so intimately. A few sinners she had turned over in her hands had a penchant for fire. Nuit made Sondra uncomfortable. It was a talking to a corpse, no two ways about it. A nasty rotting thing that was some glorified meat puppet for a spectral forcer. But then, most "normal people" made Sondra uncomfortable. The Konti didn't feel like mincing words. Pleasantries weren't for people who shoveled dead bodies everyday. "I won't bore you with details, Mister." Sondra took off her coat as she continued to show she wasn't hiding anything. "I'm looking for work because I'm broke. And I prefer not having to deal with people, living ones at least. That's why I want to be here, but I'll tell you why you want me here." Sondra tugged at her collar, showing a gnosis mark from Ivak: blue fire winding around one side of her throat to reach the clavicle. "I'm almost fireproof. I'm quiet and I work hard." The Konti swallowed a butterfly sneaking up from her gut. "How'd you like someone to help with grunt work, eh?"

[Dusk]

Sondra Benoit himself was working one of the furnaces, a linen-wrapped body laying on a metal table in front of him. He looked up as Sondra approached, but didn't bother stopping in his ministrations - as she made her gruff appeal, he systematically stripped every piece of clothing from the body, then took a sharp knife from his belt and began shaving the corpse's head, letting the hair fall into a basket on the floor. If she bothered examining it, she'd see that the person obviously died from a rather excessive stab wound across the torso. He gave a low grunt, perhaps of approval, when she showed him the Gnosis mark. "Not many people tink dey get a mark from Ivak just so dey can shove bodies in a furnace. Is pride, dat, ain't nuttin wrong wit a hard day's work." He paused in his speech to finish his knife work, completely ignoring Sondra in the interim. When he looked up to find her still there, he nodded to himself. "Is not d' best work here, so we can pay a bit more den most. You get a gold a day, and you can work sunup to sundown or de opp-oh-sit," he said, over-enunciating the word as if he enjoyed hearing it. "Dun matter t'me, deh's always more bodies. Any come in without a mark, you give 'em t'me for embalming. Dey got a wound, you strip em, shave 'em, and put 'em in de fire. Clean de ashes every twenty bodies, dey go in a bin in de back. Best t'ing dey got for soap," he said, cackling to himself as if the thought was one of the funnier ones he'd ever heard.

[Sondra]

OOCYour npc is great! I love him. Benoit was a man of few words, all of which were direct or macabre. Despite his being "dead", she couldn't help but appreciate him. Sondra had a stronger stomach than most, and had seen her fair share of dead bodies (and their terrifying moments prior to becoming so), but there was still something unnerving about a corpse. It was the emptiest of promises. Sondra watched Benoit crudely shave the head, probably good business in re-selling hair and teeth. She would get used to handling the bodies. She'd gotten used to a lot of unpleasant things in life merely through repetition. "Aye, Sir. Pride won't feed me, and work makes one honest." When Benoit started talking pay, Sondra counted herself lucky. It was a good living, better than she'd seen in a while. The hours were broad as well. He was right, there were always more bodies. If ever there was stability in work, it was here. She nodded understanding to his brief instructions on how things ran in Li Matua, even cracking a grim smile at his joke. It was a strange enough jest to entertain her. "Sounds more than fair." She stuck out her gloved hand to seal the deal. "I'm Sondra, by the way, and I'll be here tomorrow morning."

[Dusk]

Sondra The old man nodded, and reached out to take the hand and give it a firm shake. "Benoit," he said, voice gravely and low. "Dey call me Benoit. Far's I can tell," he said with a shrug. "And I'm always here." With that, he turned to give the metal slab a shove, sending it into the fires of the oven with a careful hand. He closed the big metal door, turning the handle on it to lock it, and went about working the bellows. It was as much of a dismissal as she was like to get, and quite on par with the one everyone got. There would be no encouragement or pats on the back at Li Mauta - she was simply expected to do her job, and collect her pay. If anything else were to come of it, it would be her own impetus, not something handed to her by the ancient monster that ran the fires. OOCCongrats! I'll update your Storyteller Secrets thread with your wages. Please check the OOC Announcements thread in Syliras' forum for how to earn and apply for wages.

[Harper]

17 of Fall, 511 AV Finding the Li Mauta took a little longer than Harper had hoped for; not knowing the city well was really starting to aggravate her. But nonetheless, she eventually wandered into the crematorium, weary from a day's walking. The smell of the place was pretty hard to stomach, and it burned Harper's eyes to the point of making them water. She put her sleeve up to her face, attempting to block the smell from her nose with little success. But Harper continued into the crematorium. When she found Benoit, she announced herself. "Hello sir, my name is Harper, and I am currently looking for work." The man looked rugged and dirty, and looked rather .. dead. A corpse disposing of corpses? Harper thought to herself amusingly. She walked over to the man and held out the paper that Trega had given Harper for him to take. "I'm a hard worker, and I'm in need of money. I'm not too great at conversation or talking to people, but I have a strong stomach," She said, even though she wasn't too sure of herself anymore, since she was having a hard time dealing with the smell of the place. But Harper was determined to get this job, so she pushed through it. "I'm willing to learn. Eager to learn, actually; embalming has always seemed interesting to me. And I can stand the heat, I think," she said finally, figuring she had been talking too much. She waited for the man's reply, quietly fidgeting with the bloody skin hanging off of her fingers. Picking at the skin until she bled was one of her many nervous habits.

[Dusk]

Harper Benoit had been cleaning the ashes out of one of the ovens, splotches of soot covering his bare chest and smeared across his leather pants. He didn't look up as she entered, but as she spoke he straightened up and turned his attention to her. There was no expression on his wrinkled face, and a blankness in his eyes that made it even more evident that he was little more than a walking corpse. When she finished, he nodded and continued to stare at her. "Harper," he said slowly. "Is a good name, dat. Strong. Don' need much talkin' here. Jess hard work an' a sharp mind. You wanna give it a try, I'm happy t' have ya. You come at sun up or down, whichever ya like. Always dead t' be looked after here."

[Harper]

Harper smiled as she listened to the man. She liked him; he was an interesting character for sure, someone she was sure had an interesting past. "Thank you," She said in response to his compliment on her name. "I'm very eager to start work, sir, but I was wondering what my pay would be? I'm honestly not too picky, I would just like to know that I'll be making enough to live off of..." She laughed nervously as she looked over the man. Her mind wondered over the ideas of what she would be doing, working in Li Mauta. Throwing bodies in the fires? Cutting them and embalming them for burial? It was all so new to Harper, she didn't know what to expect.