It was a good day, Lovio reckoned. The smell of sulfur coming from the east covered up the stench of excrement, urnine, and decay that usually prevaded the slums of Jubilee, and the sun was a more pleasant shade of crimson than usual. "Thank Junil," Lovio thought, but he dare not say it; mentioning Junil's name would assure you would be dragged off to the Ashen Veil's sacrificial altar or to serve as some carnival amusement; both were lethal, and Lovio was unsure which was a worse fate. He glanced at the twisted vines growing on the crumbling apartment block that served as the headquarters for the Order in West End of Jubilee. He had heard plants used to be green and pleasant, and seen illustrations of "flowers" in the books he had read as a child. These were probably myths, Lovio reckoned, to cheer up children, but it was pleasant to imagine. It gave people hope, something that was lacking for the poor of Jubilee.
He had been sent to get groceries. This might have seemed a simple task, but for the poor of Jubilee, nothing was ever that simple. He had a handful of coins; several silver pieces bearing Keelyn's image and a single gold coin with Perpentach's leering face. Enough for the week, if Lovio spent them wisely. He dared not show such a sum, though. Street gangs were everywhere. He knew his own gang, the West End Ravens, and the South Road Deathskulls, were fronts for the Order, and there were several others. But nobody in the Order knew too much, to keep it from being tortured out of them, and even his fellow followers of Junil might unwittingly mug him seeking to feed their own flock. So Lovio watched carefully, sticking to the main roads. He realized that a day this pleasant would bring out more gangs than usual, and his safest bet would be to go through the carnival.
The music was pleasant, but it had a dark, slightly hypnotic undertone. If he stayed too long, he'd doubtless make some mistake, made drunk on the music's call or some drug-filled vapor. He knew the carnival pretty well, but it changed from day to day as some attractions moved on and others took their place. He saw a tent with a beautiful but sobbing half-naked woman outside, covered in chains and whip marks. "Care for a bit of time with my finest slave?" enquired the woman's "owner." Only a few fools even looked twice; most knew the "slave" to be a succubus, since no man had ever been seen emerging from the tent. Served them right in Lovio's opinion. They doubtless suffered exactly what they had planned on inflicting.
He heard the slavedealer offering his wares. "How about this fine young lad?" The slavedealer offered up a boy young boy. "He's Ljosalfar, so he works well in the woods. Unless someone would like him for more... private uses." Lovio shuddered as a fat man offered three gold coins. The boy would be lucky if he was merely worked to death. He heard screams from nearby. "This red button makes the trap door open! The green one brings down the saw! The blue one lets loose the acid! And there's so many more! So many more! Five copper pieces if you provide your own slave, ten if you use one of ours! Not only can you watch them die, you can even choose their death!" This was a new attraction, Lovio noted. "Mommy, can I please?" demanded a small boy, well-dressed and clearly some noble's brat. "You know our old slave is too worn out to work! I want to make him die!" Lovio shuddered and continued on. He was regretting not taking the long route.
He finally came upon a food stall. "So, how's the weather?" asked Lovio. "Heavenly," said the stall's owner. He took a great risk; this was the newest codeword for the Order, but it might have already been found out. Lovio could have been an agent of the Ashen Veil, for all the stall owner knew, and they might have already found out the codeword. Then again, the stall owner could also have been an agent of the Veil, seeking to find out if Lovio was a member of the Order. Or it might have been a coincidence. Lovio chose to avoid pursuing the subject, instead examining the food up for offer. No gulgarms; it seemed likelier the stall owner was an agent of the Order, but nothing was sure. Lovio had been taught from an early age to loathe gulgarms; they were said to damn the souls of those who ate them, and the Order was taking no chances. For most, they were the most delicious of all foods in the Balseraph empire, cheap and succulent, but they were damned anyways and cared not about old wives' tales. Lovio was tempted by the roasted toad; it was a delicacy, but the price made Lovio decide against it. Although he did love a good roasted toad, Lovio had to feed the orphans as well as himself and his Brothers. He also liked cockroach, however, and the price for that was far more reasonable. There was some ludicriously overpriced steak, imported from Amurite lands. Lovio had tried the stuff once, but found it strange and disgusting... all the more so when he discovered what sort of beast it had come from, a massive creature with horns like a Balor's. Of course, nobody could live on cockroach alone and, on a whim, Lovio picked up some maggot pies and a jug of bat's blood.
It was a good day, Arvan reckoned. He set up his food stall in the carnival. His stall was right by that new attraction, the Executioner's Delight. Waste of good slaves in Arvan's opinion. But the rich were dumb. They had slaves to spare. He watched one sliced in half by a swinging blade. It would go right over a Dwarf's head, Arvan thought, but as if to reply, another blade flew at the man's kneecaps. "They think of everything, don't they?" But Arvan had better things to do than watch the rich dispose of slaves. The thing he loved about the carnival was the music. He wasn't keen on the vapors; those were for people with money to spare, but the music was the one thing that was free. He was putting together as much money as he could. He was planning to move to Letum Frigus. Arvan had heard that in the Illian lands, one could go their entire life without risking sacrifice; their god apparently was satisfied as long as nobody caused too much fuss. Sacrifice an animal or two to him, and he'd be happy. It sounded pleasant, and Arvan already had a collection of fur coats ready.
He watched some idiot pay the owner of the Succubus' tent a few coins. The fool grinned lecherously at what looked like a beaten, sobbing beauty and the two went inside, the woman pleading the whole way. It would soon be the man that was begging for mercy, Arvan knew. If people wanted to beat women, Arvan thought to himself, they should have enough sense to buy their own.
Some slave dealer was selling his catches. Or possibly someone else's catches, to guess by the inflated prices. "How about this fine young lad?" A young Ljosalfar was dragged onstage. "He's Ljosalfar, so he works well in the woods. Unless someone would like him for more... private uses." Arvan looked at him. Young and beautiful; some fetishist would get him. And, just as Arvan thought this, a fat man offered three gold coins. Arvan reckoned the kid would make a good cockroach hunter, but he didn't have money to spare and had to tend to his stall. So he let the fat man have his toy. Waste of a good slave, again. The rich were always wasting their slaves on fetishes or amusments.
"This red button makes the trap door open! The green one brings down the saw! The blue one lets loose the acid! And there's so many more! So many more! Five copper pieces if you provide your own slave, ten if you use one of ours! Not only can you watch them die, you can even choose their death!" The barker for the Executioner's Delight began hollering about the machine's wonders. Some brat heard him and began whining to his mother. "Mommy, can I please?" The kid was staring at the Executioner's Delight. "You know our old slave is too worn out to work! I want to make him die!" A noble's spawn, of course. Only a noble would waste a slave in such a fashion, and only a noble would dress their child in such ludicriously rich clothes... of all the wastes of gold, a coat of human skin. Dark, Malakim skin no less. His parents were doubtless in Perpentach's inner court. One bad day, and they'd be up the sacrificial altar. Arvan preferred his stall to spending time near that clown. "Just a few platinum pieces and I'll be off to Letum Frigus." Arvan reminded himself.
"So, how's the weather?" asked a scraggly young man, dressed in the black and teal of the West End Ravens. Arvan had heard of the Ravens; they were said to be some of the most vicious brutes in all of Jubilee, so ruthless and murderous that even the priests of the Ashen Veil avoided West End. But this guy was just a punk. And Arvan was in a good mood. "Heavenly," he responded, thinking of the paradise of Letum Frigus. The man seemed slightly startled by this reaction, but after a moment of contemplation seemed to decide it wasn't important. He glanced at the steak in disgust. Arvan was slightly insulted; it was genuine Amurite steak, good stuff. But the punk was probably used to local food. Arvan would sell the steak to someone with more money then sense later. The punk picked out some cockroaches, a few maggot pies, and a jug of bat's blood. He definetly had good taste, Arvan thought approvingly as he added the coins to his stash. A few coins closer to Letum Frigus... a few coins closer to getting away from this madhouse. The only thing he would miss was the music.
It was a good day, Lasur reckoned. Mommy was taking him to the carnival. He loved the carnival. The music was fun, and there were always so many things to do. He put on his new coat. It was made of bad people. It felt really nice, but it had cost a lot. His daddy had to be really nice to the Perpentach, the smiling king, and his daughter to get it. Lasur had seen Perpentach's daughter. Her name was Keelyn, and she was pretty. He'd wanted to play with her, but his parents wouldn't let him. They seemed worried, like she'd hurt him, but she seemed so nice. She'd wanted to show him her friend, Giggles. His parents always seemed to be scared of Perpentach and Keelyn, even though they both seemed so nice. Perpentach always spoke in fun little rhymes and riddles.
Lasur liked the carnival. There was so much to do. And Mommy and Daddy were rich, so he could buy whatever he want. They almost never said no to what he wanted. Mommy was too busy with her vapors, and Daddy was usually playing all sorts of strange games with his slave girls. Daddy had promised Lasur he'd explain these games when he was older. Lasur had asked Mommy about these games, but she had sighed and cried a little bit when he did. She always had extra vapors when she found Daddy playing with his slave girls.
Lasur saw a tent with a woman outside it. She was crying, and looked like one of Daddy's slaves. She was pretteir than most of Daddy's slaves, though. A man paid the tent man a few coins and went in with the pretty woman. "Maybe we should take Daddy here. I think he'd enjoy that tent," Lasur said. "Yes," Mommy said with a strange grin. "I think it would be perfect for him..."
Lasur saw a great big machine. It was really complicated, and had lots of gears and levers and buttons. "This red button makes the trap door open! The green one brings down the saw! The blue one lets loose the acid! And there's so many more! So many more! Five copper pieces if you provide your own slave, ten if you use one of ours! Not only can you watch them die, you can even choose their death!" Lasur had lots of copper pieces. "Mommy, can I please?" Lasur asked, pulling on Mommy's dress and pointing at the machine. "You know our old slave is too worn out to work! I want to make him die!" Lasur was tired of Mommy's old work slave. He couldn't carry as much any more. He wasn't any use. He was old and boring. Mommy had been planning to sell him, but that was boring. "No," Mommy said, "he's still worth gold... but if you're a good boy, you know what we'll do?" "What?" Lasur asked. Mommy had been speaking quietly. Lasur knew that he should be secertive as well. "We'll take one of Daddy's slaves to the Executioner's Delight. Maybe that pretty little Svartalfar girl he's been playing with so often... yes, she'll be perfect... I'll make her suffer, then you can finish her off! Doesn't that sound fun!" "Yes! That sounds really fun!" Lasur promised he'd be a good boy and say his prayers to Agares every night and not ask Mommy for anything when she was on her vapors and tell Mommy everything that Daddy did and not tell Daddy anything that Mommy did. He was going to have so much fun!
