Farther to Fall
Fourteenth Day of the First Month 294 AC
City of Brass, Bazaar of a Thousand Sins
When Maelor had first begun carefully looking for slaves the King might have an interest in buying and freeing he had expected to witness cruelty, madness and tragedy in greater measure than even in the rest of this damn city. There was a reason after all why he hadn't eaten anything yet today. You got less nauseous on an empty stomach, he had learned that trick back when going to bed hungry was as common as doing so cold. These days he didn't need to eat thanks to one of the enchanted rings he bore and he certainly couldn't think of any place in this city that was cold, but some things never changed.
The clink of chains... the snap of whips... the short sharp breaths of swallowed tears.
What he had not expected was to see so many folk trying to sell themselves to 'good masters' before they ended up in worst straights. It did make sense in a twisted sort of way, the boy supposed. Being a slave in the City of Brass after all at least granted one the protection afforded as your master's property as opposed to waiting for the debtors and moneylenders to close in like vultures.
Today had an even stranger surprise in store for him, one of the
turtle sprites of Nirvana, the sorts that were more comfortable on water than land, which is to say a thousand times more comfortable anywhere besides the City of Brass, trying and mostly failing to keep the gaze of passersby from his companion, a delicate figure with shimmering crystal wings that the darkness at the back of his mind knew at once as a
choral angel, though Maelor could have done without the not-quite-memories that came attached to that thought. The angel looked sick, or maybe cursed, threads of rippling chaotic colors running through her flesh. "You wanna buy one of us, you buy both of us," the agathion said in a tired almost reigned voice that made Maelor suspect he had to repeat that many times over.
"What's wrong with her?" the boy asked brusquely. Wouldn't do to come off as too nice to future slaves lest he draw attention to himself.
"She's Falling, but she's holding it off with
jena to make herself forget," the shelled warrior replied in a tone that probably accounted for the other reason he hadn't found a buyer."Not just... loosing hope, she lost that a long time ago, but becoming something else."
"Jena? Isn't that a little weak for that kind of thing?" Maelor asked startled. He had seen plenty of the Fallen, fiends and celestials alike, but he had never before thought just what it would look like when someone tumbled over the edge.
"Yes," the angel breathed, almost too soft to hear. "Used to take something stronger... gone now... all gone." There was loss and sorrow in those words, but above all there was fear of what she might turn into. Well, the King had hired outright demons, might be worth taking that gamble. Maybe they'd even be able to get her to Yss in time.
Do you buy the celestial pair?
1 Advanced Chelonidal - 9HD CR 8
1 Choral Angel Bard Creature 8 HD CR 7
Cost: 11,760 IM
[] No, too much uncertainty
[] Yes
-[] Wait and catalog the process of Falling
-[] Try to get the angel to Yss as quietly as possible to keep her from anchoring to any of the lower planes
OOC: Only one of the potential hires this time around, it's late and I can't concentrate on witting properly. Hopefully it's an interesting enough situation to make for an engaging vote.
