━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ENTERTAIN ME+++++++++++++++++
Remiel turned the small card over in his hands, reclining against the velveteen chair and watching the glint of firelight skitter across the surface. It had been presented to him in place of a debt from a merchant owing him more than a man’s weight in gold and tenfold that for the secrets that Remiel kept. The card was passed with shaking hands across the table with hastily murmured reassurances that it would be well worth the lord’s time. And so Remiel had accepted the card with only a simple nod, tucking it discretely in his pocket with the promise to return should the claims prove false and returned to his duties. As a lord, calling on a debt was only the first of his nightly tasks.
He was a self-made elitist, one amongst the many ‘nouveau riche’ that had arisen with the recent spike of tourism in A’Klar. He managed, on the surface, a small but successful lawfirm known simply by his last name Savorno. However in the underground he was called ‘the Collector’ both for the company that he kept and his infamous interest in the strange and peculiar. The secret to the firm’s success laid in its access to the infinite information networks of the underground, feeding it in turn with its own dark secrets….for a price. Remiel was a collector of information and creatures, filling the bowels of his home with that which proper society shyed from –a rare albino tiger, a poisonous tropical python, deep-sea creatures and things even stranger yet: a four-eyed firelizard, an earth-bound cockatrice, a boy-born bird, and whatever manner of oddity that caught his eye. For Remiel was a man with dark desires and even darker hobbies, who would stop at nothing to attain what he wanted.
Only when he had settled in for the night did he remember the card again. Opening the seal with a practiced hand, Remiel withdrew the small square of paper. It was no mere card, no, it was <i>the</i> card – an invitation to an event spoken only with hushed voices behind closed doors and known only to those who frequented the darker side of Nova Nona. He disposed of the envelope quickly, tossing it into the fire to destroy it. Even that small piece could be enough to incriminate him. He brushed a hand over the embossed words “Masquerade & Auction” feeling a familiar thrill flash through his chest. Yes, this was what he had been waiting for. The world had grown too dull as of late. No entertainment, no bobbles, no new preoccupations with which to fill his days. It was time.
The burn made him restless, so much so that even his wine’s good vintage could not quench his thirst. So, finishing the last of the glass in a single swallow, he made his way to the simple closet door beside the house’s main entrance. A soft sliding click sounded as the back panel opened to reveal a narrow entryway and a spiralling set of iron-wrought stairs. All together, the entire complex was nearly as large as the manor itself, an identical underground replicate filled instead with caged rooms of varying degrees of furnishing, ending in a small tropical sanctuary built incongruously into the side wall. Remiel whistled sharply as he descended the last step, the single note piercing the stifling silence. There was a sudden flurry of motion, deep inhuman screeches and the sound of many clawed feet rasping against the stone. A hound with too-many heads and jagged teeth too large for its mouth bounded to the man’s side, sitting obediently as Remiel snapped his fingers. And so he made his rounds.
He paused by the flesh-eating bird, offering scraps of human meat through the bars, watching dispassionately as it trilled and rubbed itself against his hands, jagged beak clicking in pleasure. In the confinement over, he ran his hands along the trembling bare back of a young child, feeling for the small wing-like protrusions and feeding it only sugar water from his fingers. The third cage, he steeped fully into, as a serpent unfurled itself from the corner..
“My, my, you’ve been busy, haven’t you?” Remiel said stepping over the large pile of bones in the center of the room, holding out his hand so the python could taste his scent. A forked tongue flickered along the edges of his signet ring, before withdrawing, satisfied. The lord let the snake slither over his shoulders and settle like a piece of over-sized reptilian jewellery around his neck.
However, as Remiel reached the empty cage at the end, his expression flattened into a frown of displeasure.
“Where are the others..?” he asked to the darkness, voice ringing even over the din. With a dry rasp, a shadow detached itself from the wall, eyes sunken and arms trembling as it brought Remiel’s hand to its lips – yet its voice was strong and distinctly male when it replied. “The ‘fish’ has perished my lord. It was not meant to be confined nor without---“ Before the manservant could finish speaking, Remiel already had him by the neck, lifting him off his feet. “I have no interest for your petty excuses,” he said with a small sigh of exasperation, grip tightening till the man began making small choking noises. “You had but one job to complete in exchange for the life I gave you,” he continued calmly, pacing his words as one would to a child, “I’m afraid, my dear keeper…any failure is inexcusable. Open the gates.“
“B-But…” the man protested, going so far as to grab hold of Remiel’s sleeve. Detaching the man’s grip, finger by finger, Remiel cooed in a mockingly sweet tone, “Ah, not a word now...” His eyes flashed, “...lest you disturb the beasts.” With a parting wave, he ascended the stairs once more, neither the echoing wail that chased his steps nor the distinct sound of crunching bones enough to still his steps. It was time to get ready.
 Shadomu · Thu May 12, 2011 @ 06:38am · 0 Comments |
