Dank, that was the main descriptor that came to the mind of Marduk when he opened his eyes.
The room was dark, cold and felt like stone with poorly kept cots in the corner and a door of rusting metal reinforcing wood with a face sized square grate cut into it allowing in barely a hair of light from the lanterns outside his cell.
The chains binding his wrists together and his ankles together clinked and clattered loudly as he attempted to move, worst of all was the large muzzle of fabric clamping his jaw shut. He couldn’t move his arms and legs more than a few inches without the metal bearing deep into his scales in an uncomfortable manner that threatened tearing flesh.
‘I should have seen this coming.’ He complained internally as he looked around the cell again.
‘I got a bad premonition, then we just happen to come across a grisly murder and the person who did it gets away.’
‘I wish I was better at following my instincts.’
Releasing a long exhausted breath he laid back on the ground in a way that felt the most comfortable and just waited. There wasn’t anything else for him to do at this point.
Or that was what he thought until there was a knock on the cell door and the sound of shuffling stirred him to open his eyes as a loud Crrreeeeeeaaaakkk signalled the door opening-
“What the fuck”
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The Julia Manor thrummed like static arching out of live wires as the family and their guests discussed their response to the accusations beset on their Lizardfolk friend, at first the Lamia and Half-Spriggan fought in favour of his innocence with the snake woman offering her version of events, but the Julia needed no convincing of the manner only time to grieve the loss of a servant.
Theos was the attendant and friend of Sophus Julia for two decades and had been preparing for the final year of his service to the family and attain his freedom, much of his work recently had been training a new attendant to fit his masters needs making sure they had the right skills and comprehension levels.
As well, Theos was investigating the deeper roots of Óðal’s Count Fel for his master, which the man assumed was the cause of his death.
The larger issue in Sophus’ eyes was the manner in which the murder had happened by way of Minerva’s account; it was in the same fashion as two other recent killings happening around the time the Lizardfolk first arrived. The other murders were of influential members of the guilds in town who opposed the Counts' opinions and actively caused problems for him in the past.
It seemed now with a scapegoat the lecherous monster was seeing to those who he thought were stepping on his toes or stopping his conquest of other villages around the crags as he had done in the past before pushback and outcry sparked around town.
Until now the murders had somewhat been kept under wraps with only the rumour of a killer out at night getting among the more gossipy types, but with the arrest of a so-called monster and ‘cause’ of the recent deaths the people would likely call for the Lizardfolk’s death.
They would need to work fast to clear the air and change minds on the matter, Minerva’s version of events was currently being shared with as many people in the inns and taverns across town by people he had his slaves pay off. As well when that was done he would make sure people knew full well that Marduk spent most of his time learning Auran within the walls of his home.
There was so much to do and not enough time to do it.
Sophus wiped his brow of sweat as he finished writing a handful of letters to his fellow guild leaders and friends in high places to hopefully swing their support to campaign for the release of the Lizardfolk.
He was doubtful they would be swayed by Fel, but he had to hope on the light of Sol that they were stronger than whatever the Count tried.
Sitting back on his hind he breathed a sigh letting his shoulders slump.
“Theos could you-” He cut himself off expression morphing into a pained sorrowful grimace as the realisation set in once again.
Taking a moment to compose himself he tried again.
“Luemas come here I need you to take one of the guards and deliver these letters to the people on this list-” The dark haired Centaur handed the collection of paper off to his new attendant.
Luemas accepted the letters carefully and quickly looked over the list before leaving all in a quiet fashion without any sort of verbal response. While Sophus appreciated it, he preferred when he could speak with his slaves and they could be a friend and argue their mind in a particular manner if they had doubts.
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Adalgard blinked a few times as she wasn’t quite sure what to say.
She’d been asked by Geneva to collect the children for lessons with a tutor the woman had hired recently, but when the Half-Spriggan stepped in the room the Fawn Centaurs had been living in she found it barren with the only thing left a note.
A note which she had read and was now baffled by-
To whomever reads this, the Fawns have returned to their master.
You needn’t trouble yourself with their disappearance, they are safe.
“Master?” The woman voiced her confusion.
Something was afoot with those twins and she had been trying to piece it together since they met.
At first she had questioned their presence in Ale when they arrived as even the other children later told her they had no clue who the twins were, she had wondered what drove them to attach themselves to the Saurian and furthermore why they were so interested in him. They had also appeared unharmed in the wake of the slaughter in Ale while the children were frightened and covered in some of their parents' blood.
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All had led to this point where Adalgard almost had confirmation that the fawns were a part related to the fall itself with this letter, or at least she felt that way. Like their Master, whoever they were clearly sent them to end up in the hands of her and her friends.
But that last part was something of a speculative conjecture. She wanted it to be true, to have someone to call the blame upon for what happened…
Then again, Orcneas are only brought about by a summoner, who is to say that the local lord- a certain Count was at the heart of it? Especially after the conversation she was privy to between Marduk and Sophus, it was hard for her to ignore that was the true cause of all this.
A village slaughtered, and for what?
No one had come across it before they did, there only seemed to be a couple of the monsters themselves with no signs that anyone escaped the bloodbath aside from the children.
She was a merchant not an investigator, this was all too much for her, she was beginning to think leaving soon would be the right choice. As much as she’d grown to like travelling between the Suarian tribes and Óðal it wasn’t worth the hassle of false murder accusations and the Count potentially being some kind of living dead or immortal.
In any case Adalgard left the room she’d been standing in and took the note to the head of the family before returning to his wife to help the lesson with the children seeing as they’d asked her to.
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Within the shadows of Óðal, far beneath the depths of Count Fel’s residence in the Crimson Palace, the dank dungeon that acted like a cacophony of rat tunnels that connected to the cisterns built many years ago the large Saurian man sat in surprise as he looked at the trio in front of him.
In the light of the lantern in the hall stood three figures, two feminine stood on either side of a singular masculine.
The man was tall, had pale grey skin and showed his musculature through tight fabric gripping his form so unnaturally to how the clothes he had seen until now were. The features of the man were monstrous, a sharp angular face with high cheekbones and gaunt cheeks, a large brow shadowing over pulsating fierce red eyes.
His voice was droning but deep and harsh to listen to. “This is the mongrel you fell for?” The man asked, turning to the figure on his left.
“Yes Master, his strength and-” The woman who spoke sounded familiar though she was cut off before he could place it.
“I don’t need to hear your salivating about how his loins get yours wet Líadan.” The man growled with a vicious sneer contorting his face and baring the jagged teeth in the act.
“O-of Course Master!” The woman responded stiffening her posture.
Silence hung in the air for longer than would have normally as the piercing red eyes glared at the Saurian.
“I have to thank you Lizard, your presence was perfect, not only did you dispatch my Orcneas’ but you also brought my pets back with you.” The grin that took the man's face looked unnatural and feral like an animal baring fangs at prey.
“In any matter your death will service my cause greatly… or it would have given my pets here did not fall for you in some twisted farce of lust and fate- never had they inclined towards such attractions, but now you have caught them.” Disgust spilled from his tone making it clear the idea was sickening.
“Why?” Marduk asked, finding his eyes lingering on the grotesque before him.
It was like the man in the doorway was wearing the skin of a human.
“I have no interest in telling you my plans, what fool delivers his machinations to those in the heart of it?” He scoffed with a frown. “There is not a time in which I could be beguiled into such lunacy.”
“Will you make us wait any longer Master?” The woman on the right of him asked, earning a ‘snrk’ from the man.
“Fine, indulge yourselves for now, but I expect you back within the hour Oébfinn. I cannot spare you longer when there is so much to do.” With that the man turned and left, closing the cell door behind him.
Despite the closing of the door a light remained as Líadan held a lantern in her left hand. The candle within flickered and wavered for a moment before stilling.
With his eyes having nowhere else left to look, Marduk turned his eyes to the faces of the pair before him.
“What the fuck” He cursed in a language not known the the world in surprise.
He hadn’t expected the faces of the women to resemble the fawns.
But they did, their figures alluded to that of human women with a transient ethereal nature to their skin that was wispy and blurred like a mist surrounding them, keeping their bodies from taking an exact shape as it slowly wobbled.
“We are sorry we didn’t mention it sooner, Marduk, but our Master is very strict with how we interact with people.” The woman on the right said as she took a step forward.
Though he moved to get away from them he couldn’t when his back touched the cold stone fo the cell wall, the wispy woman leaned down and placed her hand on the metal binding his wrists and a soft click later he felt the pressure of the bindings release, then another soft click followed by the clatter of metal falling to the ground.
His eyes met the glowing blue of Oébfinn’s as the woman took a step back, behind her Líadan placed the lantern on a hook hanging from the ceiling.
“There is something we would like you to do.” The woman in front of him started.
“We want you to kill our Master and release us from our contract” The pair said in unison each taking one of his hands as they pleaded.