> Dear Bishop Graham,
>
> I must insist upon you the urgency of this matter. I loathe to say it, but I suspect the Oracle is compromised. I attach records of our readings indicating the absence of a Transient class Aberration on two occasions Witchdoctor Exill was confirmed to leave Ark. Fluctuations indicate he is a non-standard class, pending further investigation.
>
> I understand the readings in Savig may be similarly distorted by your Labyrinth, but I ask that you keep an eye on indirect readings. You should be able to confirm my data first hand. See attached for the method I devised for passive detection.
>
> May the Spirit bless your path,
> Inquisitor Deroch
>
> [Attached: A diagram detailing a large room with a central fixed bracket for the Elderwood staff. It requires the user to mark each degree of deviation on the periphery of the room. Readings on the channelled beam of light should be taken after morning and evening prayers and any deviation from the norm should be recorded.]
>
> [https://i.ibb.co/QK2fnmh/Aberration-Detection.jpg]
†
> Dear Inquisitor Deroch,
>
> What you are suggesting is on the verge of Heresy and I urge you to retract your statement on the Oracle. I will be sure to raise this in our next Communion.
>
> Unless you obtain a writ from the Archbishop, I will not lay a finger on the Witchdoctor.
>
> May the Spirit redeem your soul,
> Bishop Graham
***
“Oh, this is good.” Exill hummed to a disinterested Envy and ate another spoonful of hearty stew.
It was a variation of the Gumbo he was familiar with back on Earth. A strongly flavoured stock with generous helpings of shellfish and vegetables. It was served alongside thin sheets of woodfired dough, and he learned from observing the other patrons that they spread a portion of the thick stew on the flatbread, and rolled it up.
Envy was enjoying a glass of warm honeyed wine, and she stared with vague interest at the joy painted on her companion’s face.
“I need to find and purchase what they used to season this dish because the flavour…” Exill made a pleasured sound that resembled the noise she made while feeding.
They toured the market afterwards, but the wares on offer were meagre in diversity compared to Ark. With their destination and length of journey unknown, they couldn’t laden themselves either. So they toured the market, purchasing a few more foodstuffs before heading back to the barge.
“I’m still full from the meal. You can have the bunk till evening.” Exill waved Envy off and leaned against the railing to watch the barge slowly take off. There was a slow, swaying cadence to life on the vessel and he found it pleasant to idly watch the verdant greenery of the riverbanks just drifting by.
It almost made up for everything he was leaving behind.
Once the sun had fully set, he descended below deck to switch shifts with Envy.
***
That night, Exill awoke in cold sweat from a nightmare, a vivid dream of worshipping an Eldritch being who enticingly whispered of fertility and harvest.
Looking around the dimly lit room, he saw all the other berths were eerily empty.
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There was an electric tension in the air, a highly charged static that crackled with appalling intent. He stepped into the dark claustrophobic corridor, where only the sounds of creaking wood and muffled sobs were audible. The rooms he passed on the way up were empty, all except one.
“Mommy…” a young boy was huddled in a corner softly crying for his mother.
He moved past the boy and poked his head up the steep stairs, witnessing an eerie scene that was bathed in cold moonlight. All the crew and passengers were on deck, still as statues, staring at the full moon with their eyes unblinking in quietude.
As he watched, they slowly began to move as if caught in a spectral automaton.
The people closest to the railings bit their wrists and let their blood flow freely onto the deck, staining the wood with its slippery sheen. While this was happening, the passengers and crewmen amidship were undressing themselves, and he spotted his vacant-eyed partner step out of her dress and lay down on the cold deck.
In mounting horror Exill knew what would happen next.
He pushed forward, slipping on the bloodstained deck, heart racing desperately as he forced through the assembled crowd. Up ahead, Envy and several of the female passengers spread their legs with arms outstretched, inviting the placid men to their embrace.
“Snap out of it!” He shouted. Dragging the crouched sailor aside, he grasped her wrist and pulled up, snapping around in panic at the debauchery unfolding around them.
“Join us.” Envy whispered in his ear invitingly while they were surrounded by soft moans of pleasure.
“Wake up, this isn’t real.” He hissed angrily, pulling her towards the safety below deck.
However they didn’t get far. Strong arms gripped the intruder who was disrupting the ritual, and Envy was torn from his grasp where she willingly returned to the debased orgy of limbs.
“No!” Exill thrashed at the countless hands restraining him, but as soon as he struck one down, another replaced them. A hollow anguish crept upon him when he saw his woman begin to descend amidst the perverse tangle of flesh.
In his final moment of despair, he exhaled mana into his breath and commanded his slave in desperation.
“Come to me!” he roared, refusing to accept the scene unfolding in front of his eyes.
Envy paused.
Too many emotions flickered across her face. She slowly stood back up and turned to him, her lithe body bathed in moonlight and blood, and confusion in her vacant eyes. She struck at the clutching hands that tried to restrain her, but they were too many.
Struck with insane fury, Exill finally managed to break free using his boosted strength. Out of the corner of his eye, he recognised a merchant whom he had greeted before, holding aloft a circular tablet of stone. The ancient, pitted disc was inscribed with slippery runes that evaded close inspection.
‘That must be what is causing all this.’
Feeling the familiar tug of something twisted and wrong, Exill seized the insipid tablet from the merchant’s inhuman grip, and was temporarily blinded as the engraved runes repelled him in radiant anger.
Profane and obscene whispers entered his mind, visions of the people he cared for impregnated by a heaving mass of flesh. They were of Tsarra, Envy and Luna repeatedly torn apart from within, with expressions of pure bliss painting their features.
Exill clung to what remained of his sanity, brought to his knees by the horrific image planted in his mind. In a desperate last attempt, he slung the stone disc overboard with all his remaining strength.
It noiselessly slipped into the dark depths of the river.
He knew the madness was over when the soft moans of pleasure were replaced with cries of pain and outrage. Pushing through the naked mass of people he finally reached Envy who was angrily shoving a sailor aside who was too slow to move away.
“Thank the Spirit you are safe.” He hugged her in a tight embrace.
“Mn!?”
Noticing the glances men were throwing at her naked form, Exill stripped off his tunic and slid it over her head. He then led her towards the stairs, too tired and emotionally drained to respond when she protested they should look for her clothes. It was of little consequence anyway, since they would find the garments strewn across the deck, soaked in blood the next day.
There were groans of pain from the people who had tried to mindlessly restrain him, suffering from fractures and serious bruising. He feigned ignorance and led Envy back to their quarters.
“I… had a strange dream.” She frowned while slipping into fresh clothes.
“Shh… it’s okay, nothing happened.” He brushed her black hair, relieved that he had rescued her in time. Her disguise from [Assassin] had held throughout the ordeal.
A corner of his mind was reminded of the maddening visions the tablet had shown him and was relieved Tsarra hadn’t followed him here. Since she was no longer a slave, he would not have been able to order her to fight back.
It was unfair of him to do so, but Exill found himself dumping the residual helpless frustration he still felt upon Envy.
“If I had asked Tsarra as you suggested, what do you think would have happened?” He muttered somewhat spitefully. The visions of the people he cared for being defiled had been especially vivid in that front.
Envy remained silent towards his recrimination. She didn’t fully understand what had happened, but recognised the familiar anguish of helpless impotence in his eyes.
“It’s going to be okay.” She soothed, and let him embrace her till morning arrived.