Dionysus The crew explains.

• Aurelia then takes Kashaji and leaves the ship.

Dionysus Where do you go?

Aurelia The city.

Dionysus It's two hours across forbidding territory, but you reach it.

Dionysus Ogres are everywhere, ignoring you, mostly, though a few give you lascivious looks & feel similar, but they all assume you are owned if you have some sort of hound.

Aurelia Bah.

Dionysus The slaves here are miserable, like in Waerport.

• Aurelia is just going to wander for a long while.

Dionysus The grim, dark city is huge.

Dionysus As you travel, you hear the song of frogs.

• Aurelia ignores it.

Aurelia Grim and dark works.

Dionysus You end up in a slum.

Dionysus The place is where the non-ogres live.

Dionysus At least once, you pass a venomir, & once an ender, but they pay you no mind.

• Aurelia ignores them as well.

Dionysus A man who feels like /greed/ yells out at you, "Ten bones for an hour's modeling, miss! You can't miss an opportunity like this!"

• Aurelia pauses to look at the man. She considers accepting, considers killing him, then turns and continues walking.

Dionysus "Oh, come now! That's just how it goes ofr Bentley Pharnum, ain't it? I published Albert Renkarr himself, but I beat one Imperial tax collector to death & they run me out of the country!"

Dionysus "Can't never get a break!"

Aurelia Hahahaa. Awesome.

• Aurelia does not respond.

Dionysus You come to a whorehouse.

Dionysus Ugly women, beyond ugly, lounge outside it, calling for passersby.

Dionysus At least one is a man, an ugly one, dressed in ludicrous feminine clothing.

• Aurelia pauses outside that as well. She stares at the man for a moment.

Dionysus He looks back, "<Like what ya see>?

Aurelia ~Does illusion suffice? Does flesh give form to spirit?~

Aurelia ~=elven

Dionysus <What? What the hell was that, outlander?>

Aurelia <What completeness in life..?>

• Aurelia shakes her head and starts onward again.

Dionysus <Bitch.>

• Aurelia puts a hand on Kashaji's shoulder and does not otherwise indicate having heard.

Dionysus You pass by a dead child in the street, a goblin of some sort.

Aurelia How are the others around responding to it?

Dionysus They are ignoring it.

• Aurelia pauses to look, and moves on.

Dionysus You come to the end of the slums, coming out in a dark, rat infested abandoned street, where three ogres are lounging on the ruins of an old temple.

Aurelia What sort of temple?

Dionysus Formerly pestilence.

Aurelia How ruined? Is there still a structure?

Dionysus It looks like the stones have been chewed to crumbling piles by rats.

Dionysus The foundation & a small wall of cracked stones is all.

Dionysus The remains of an altar.

Dionysus And a giant stone snake.

Aurelia Then I do not enter. I walk by.

Dionysus I should haev said stone scarab

Dionysus Not snake

Dionysus Anyway

Dionysus The ogres sit up as you go by. <Hello, little slave.>

• Aurelia pauses. <Hello.>

Dionysus They are feeling... cruel.

Dionysus They get up & start toward you, <What are you doin' in our little haven here, slave girl?>

Aurelia <Attempting to understand, or to break. This place is well for it.>

Dionysus <What the bone-spittin' Hells are you talkin' about?> <Break? Yo tryin' to get free?>

Aurelia <We never are free.>

Dionysus <Damn straight.>

Dionysus <Say, boys, she smells funny. Maybe we shouldn't eat her.>

Dionysus <Yeah, just put our big ones in her tiny mouth, yeah?>

• Aurelia watches them.

Dionysus They loom over you, moving to surround you. Kashaji is growling now.

• Aurelia does not try to escape.

Dionysus <Nice doggie. Maybe we eat him.>

Aurelia <No.>

Dionysus <Definitely eat him.>

Dionysus Kashaji is being attacked.

Dionysus What does he do?

Aurelia He attacks first.

Dionysus Kashaji leaps up almost vertically to bite into the ogre's neck.

Dionysus The other ogre swings a massive fist at the dhole.

Dionysus The ogre's punch flies through the empty air.

Dionysus The other ogre grabs for Aurelia.

Dionysus But she ducks under his attempt.

• Aurelia attempts to lay hands on him.

Dionysus He frowns & leaps back as you reach for him.

Aurelia He goes for the one that attacked Aurelia.

Dionysus This ogre is taken in the upper thigh, his arteries gushing out bluish blood as he slumps to the ground, growling in agony.

Dionysus The other ogre roars & tackles the dhole

Dionysus Kashaji slips out of his grasp.

• Aurelia tries to touch him.

Dionysus He blocks with his bracered arm, knocking your hand away too quickly to try to wound.

Dionysus The bite takes him in the side, ripping out a huge amount of pale, piebald flesh. Blood flows like a river.

Aurelia Stun, MW.

Dionysus A small wound opens in his neck. He groans in pain,

Aurelia Not terribly effective, but...

Dionysus Battle over. What do you do now?

Aurelia Finish him.

Dionysus He dies.

Aurelia Is there a water source nearby?

Dionysus Not a clean one

• Aurelia will have to do what she can for her hands and Kashaji's muzzle with handkerchiefs then.

Dionysus It's not very good. There's blood on his muzzle & your hands feel stained.

Aurelia They're always stained.

Aurelia After a few minutes, we move on.

Dionysus You come to the factory sector after about twenty more minutes of ruins & slums.

Dionysus The air here is disgusting, & you hear frogs once more.

• Aurelia skirts this sector. Brooding is one thing, not being able to breathe another.

Dionysus You end up in the main ogrish sectors, then.

Dionysus You are getting stared at.

Dionysus Disgust, hatred, curiosity, & malice are directed at you.

Aurelia Aah, this is more like what I was looking for.

Dionysus If you stick in this area, a guardsman comes up to you, "<Slave, who is your master?>

• Aurelia considers this question for a moment. <Hornet Rust>

Dionysus A frown, then, <I did not know your master was in this city.>

• Aurelia blinks, and does not otherwise respond.

Dionysus <What is your business in this area?>

Dionysus The name you gave gave him pause, by the way. Not worry, but caution.

Aurelia <To find an answer.>

Dionysus <From whom?>

Aurelia <I do not know.>

Dionysus <You master sent you to find an answer, but did not tell you from whom. Did he even give you the question to ask?>

• Aurelia looks up at him, expression bland. <I am the question.>

Dionysus <And who do you ask yourslef to, slave? Answer me.>

Aurelia <I do not know.>

Dionysus <He sent you here without a destination or a message?>

• Aurelia briefly considers the metaphorical value of 'he sent you'. <If there answer here, I will know it. If there is not, I will look another place.>

Dionysus He feels frustrated.

Dionysus <You will leave here. Now.>

• Aurelia tilts her head, then nods vaguely and turns to start away.

Dionysus He glares with undisguised disgust as you walk off.

• Aurelia considers the conversation as she walks.

Dionysus You end up in the temple district, the proper one, with the three temples that are open, & the other closed ones.

• Aurelia lingers briefly outside the temple of envy, then moves one, contemplating each temple in turn.

Dionysus Despair waves out of the despair temple, envy from the envy. The void doesn't have any resonance.

Dionysus The abandoned temples have faint traces: malice from darkness, unease from undeath, frustration from destruction, hatred from hate, nothing from ice, hunger from famine, & frenzy from chaos.

Aurelia Both are appropriate in their own ways.

• Aurelia fingers the fringe of her scarf as she walks.

Dionysus Roll awareness in festin

Aurelia r awa 14

Aurelia ...

Dionysus A human walks up to you.

Dionysus "You seem lost."

Dionysus He feels... hunger.

Aurelia What language?

Dionysus Err, <>Ogrish.

• Aurelia considers the question, then nods.

Dionysus <May I offer guidance?>

Aurelia <You hunger.>

Dionysus <I do. Are you a venomir?>

• Aurelia considers, shakes her head.

Dionysus He pauses, then smiles, <How did you know?>

Aurelia What's the intensity of said hunger?

Dionysus n a scale of 1 to 25, 13

Aurelia "Your heart sings with it."

Aurelia <>

Dionysus <You can hear my heart?> His hunger spikes.

Aurelia <It speaks to mine.>

Dionysus <You are an empath?>

• Aurelia nods slightly.

Dionysus <Delicious.>

Dionysus He smiles frigtheningly, his hunger intensifying. You note his eyes are emerald green.

• Aurelia looks back at him placidly.

Dionysus <May I touch your neck?>

Aurelia <Why?>

Dionysus <You are delicious.>

Aurelia <May I touch your neck?>

Dionysus <Certainly.>

Dionysus He reaches for your neck.

• Aurelia reaches for his.

Dionysus He dies, bleeding.

Aurelia Shame. Does he shrivel?

Dionysus He reverts to a husk.

• Aurelia continues on, thinking on the morality of that exchange.

Dionysus An ogre stands, staring at the dead doppleganger. He says, <This is a clean district, slave. Move that body from the streets.>

• Aurelia blinks at him in surprise, then looks at the body. <Where?>

Dionysus <Find a place, slave. Do not ask questions of your betters. Didn't your master train you?>

Aurelia <No.>

• Aurelia looks around for a place to move the body, though she doesn't move from here yet.

Dionysus He growls, & Kashaji growls back.

Dionysus <Just do as your told, slave.>.

Aurelia If I see a place, I'll drag the body there.

Dionysus There's dozens of alleys,.

Dionysus The ogre wanders off.

• Aurelia drags it into an alley, drops it, and moves on.

Dionysus You come to the blacksmith's row. The ringing music of hammers beating on metal fills the air.

Dionysus It is choked with smoke, but less so than the factory district.

Aurelia This's doable.

• Aurelia looks for works of art, conventionally pretty or not, out of habit.

Dionysus Just weapons, armor, & the occasssional cart piece, horseshoe, or other useful bit of metal.

• Aurelia pauses over some of the more menacing armor, but does not buy.

Dionysus You couldn't carry most of it anyway.

Aurelia No, but the thought of walking about in black, spiky armour and holding Grimdancer is morbidly fascinating.

Dionysus Haha. It's three times your size, at lest.

Aurelia That's how Hornet would want his child to look.

• Aurelia continues on.

Dionysus You come, at last, to what passes for a market. Mostly, it's huge, gutted racks of meat.

Dionysus Armor, weapons, tools, & religous ornaments.

Dionysus Vicious animals.

Dionysus And slaves.

• Aurelia looks at them all. Though not the meat so much.

Dionysus The meat used to be people of some sort.

Aurelia Probably not people I knew. And they're not feeling anything now, or looking attractive.

Dionysus You do recall being told, though, as you look at one, that Hornet once flayed the skin off a man's back with a touch.

• Aurelia looks blandly at it, and wonders if she could do that. Maybe sell the meat here. Be an ender /and/ productive.

Dionysus The most artistic things here are the ceremonial despair masks.

Dionysus Huge, hulking things.

Aurelia How huge?

Dionysus Like five feet high, three feet wide.

Aurelia I could have Kashaji carry one, but... pass, I think.

Dionysus That's the long & short of the market. Do you move on?

Aurelia Yes.

Dionysus You're getting tired at this point.

Dionysus It's late afternoon.

Dionysus You've not eaten.

Dionysus And you come to the mass graves.

Aurelia Mass graves?

Dionysus This is where they dump dead slaves.

Dionysus Huge piles of dead bodies in pits, covered in lyme.

Dionysus The stench of rot permeates the air none-the-less.

• Aurelia puts a kerchief over her nose and remains there a few minutes, then turns away. Were there any inns with humans who looked unattached going in and out? The slums?

Dionysus You didn't see any such inns.

Aurelia I look for one.

Dionysus How long do you look?

Aurelia A couple of hours, in parts of the city I haven't been through yet.

Dionysus You find nothing.

Aurelia Hm. I could try an abandoned temple. Or impersonate someone.

Dionysus Up to you.

Aurelia Or try the slums again. I suppose that's the most likely place to have rooms.

Aurelia Or leave the city and find a place to sleep.

Dionysus Up to you.

Aurelia ... I go back to the bloody ship, if it's still there.