The Sleeper

[Brahkula Hun'viir]

Originally Posted by Lichen

The House of Hun'viir was secluded in one of the far corners of the Upper Level of Herozzal, hidden far away from view in winding caverns and tunnels. It's exterior was relatively unremarkable, merely a large wooden door at the end of a long tunnel filled with stalactites. Wood was expensive, of course, but any Matron worth her salt could afford wooden doors. There were no guards outside, for the way to get in involved a weekly changing password and therefore the guards felt free to sit inside as opposed to outside. One simply uttered the password, and the guards swung the door open - they could see and hear through a slit in the wall.'

Beyond the door was a stairway that wasn't much more impressive than the outside tunnel. It was barely carved out - there were stalactites growing on the roof of the stairwell, despite the stalagmites having been carved off to make way for stairs. It was a very long, very narrow, unlit and very uncomfortable staircase, and no doubt had been designed that way. The staircase eventually leveled out into what was possibly the most graphic and horrific of all the greeting rooms of the Matrons of the Council of Ten. A medium-sized cavern had been modified for the purpose of the Greeting room, and unlike the stair case it was well lit with torches and lamps... no doubt so that visitors of all races could fully appreciate the scene that lay out before them.

The floor had been covered in a thick red lacquer that glistened like still-wet blood in the torchlight. Rumor said that it had been made from actual blood. Rumor was true. Several stalagmites ruptured from the floor like yellowed teeth in the jaws of a predator. From the ceiling hung wickedly sharp spikes, though none so low that they needed to be avoided. Directly ahead of the staircase was the 'throne' where Elize Hun'viir would sit to greet her guests. Made out of the femurs of dozens of ex-slaves, with small skulls gracing the ends of the arm rests, the piece of furniture summed up eloquently what no words could concerning how Elize ran her House. Some of the bones were still yellow and had bits of red flesh on them that the subterranean scavengers had missed. It was rumored that Elize occasionally replaced parts of her chairs with the leg bones of those who defied her... and rumor was, again, true.

To the right of the chair was another excellent example of Elize's control over her house. Two manacles hung from the roof, and two matching manacles sat on the floor. Slaves who needed to be punished were hung from the ceiling while Elize meted out their discipline. Rumor had it that she was fond of hanging the slaves up and then tearing off hunks of their flesh and eating it in front of them. In this instance, rumor was untrue... she generally made the slaves eat it instead.

This was the basement of the house, where Elize disciplined, greeted, and also enjoyed herself. Having come into power only in the past era or so, Elize was still new in her position. She'd assassinated her mother in order to gain the power, and now she was enjoying it. She often threw large orgy parties or tortured slaves for the fun of it, and indulged in all sorts of expensive food, drink and garments. Now that she had reign over the house, she could indulge herself freely in the habits that she'd had to contain before... and as Elize was a sadist in the extreme sense of the word, this gave new meaning to the words "painful existance" for all the members of her house. In her short tenure as Matron, she'd already managed to cow every last member of her House, and was exercising more control and had more power than her (far nicer) mother ever had.

The basement had long been her play place, but after her mother's death she'd decided to reconstruct the house slightly and had dug the stairwell in order to transform her favorite room into the greeting room as well. Elize's scare tactics did not work as well on the other Matrons, but entering into such a barbaric and hideous room often got the message across that Elize was not to be messed with. She'd do as many barbaric things as she could while their, from the food served to the decorations of the room, in order to make sure her point got across. More often than not, a slave was locked up in manacles to serve both as entertainment for Elize and also as a message to her guest.

Dressed in katta skin and human hair, the tiny Elize didn't seem like much to be feared. In fact, most considered her to be relatively foolish... until they visited her. She was quickly gaining a reputation for not only being incredibly intelligent and terrifying, but also possibly insane. Elize was an extreme that few vysstichi descended to. While she worshiped Haya very devoutly, she despised magic of all varieties, and was well versed in the arts of Zinn-ka and fighting with daggers instead. Her body was a weapon as opposed to her mind... and her mind was so completely twisted it was hard to imagine her as belonging to any civilization at all. This was a cultivated image, of course... and it was quickly leading to a far more respectful treatment of her house and power, if only out of her Machiavellian approach to every aspect of her life. There were no concrete rules in her house, no commandments written on the walls... for the law was Elize's whim, and so was the punishment for breaking it.

Lady of Angels had once again been submerged in the dark depraved depths of her masterwork ivory coffin. A lavished gift from the slaver mistress alara that was crafted by the high priestess of haya in harloth, its lavished trimmings of white gold decorated the outside while inside it was wrapped in the finest plushest purple silk one could imagine. Enveloped in an ocean of comfort Brahkula had been able to dream towards the future once again, for nearly two years she had rested undisturbed perhaps thanks to Elizes whim.

But a carnal craving had violated her slumber, and caused her to awaken from the abymsal darkness. It was a terrible thirst that could never be truly quenched, it caused her to shake with anxiety and wake up in a cold sweat like the withdrawls from a severe addiction as the beast within her thrashed and roared while it feverishly anticipated its next fix. Even the greatest most powerful Nosferatu was still nothing more then a junkie, a slave to there own self indulgence.

A shrill click resonated from within the coffin as the locking mechanism was released. When this happened the coffin gently opened leaving in its wake an eerie sounding creek, as the Lady of Angels slowly emerged from her place of buriel.

Brahkula was wearing a garment akin to an arakmatian pleasure slave, light though vibrantly colored green silk that covered her private parts but veiled nothing.

Her devastating body from the waist up was like an exceptionally luscious nymph, Brahkula had a perfectly toned lithe frame with the cutest naval one could imagine. And a bare hefty bosom that heaved up and down as she breathed which seemed completely disproportionate to the rest of her body. The type of overly generous curves that had the capacity to make other woman jealous and envious even self aware, the kind of perky cleavage that could even put haya to shame and be common place too avert attention and fall into a mesmerized stupor from her to that. She also had shoulder length golden blonde hair that twisted into natural curls and locks it was thick and full bodied and resembled fine jewelry like that of refined and polished gold. Or the hypnotic trance that befell those who stared too deeply into her vibrant emerald green eyes. Down to the playful mischief of her cute little nose. There was also the way her plush lustful cherry red lips teased, followed by that bombshell visage that could turn a lion into a kitten in a matter of moments.

Her entire left arm adorned in a meticulously forged tribal tattoo that carried a heart in the center of her ivory shoulder. While surrounding it the intermingling flowing tendrils draped down her bicep which almost looked like two lovers embracing each other in heated passion. Many had told her in disbelief they had seen the lover run his hand through the maidens hair, or the maiden look up from his chest; even kiss. As the interwoven pattern spiraled turbulently like the essence of euphoria the patterns displayed lightly drifting lotus's and the flowers loose pedals with angel down. Its illusion was that of never ending descent. The lotus itself was a well known aphrodisiac, and the angel down must have represented that heavenly feeling. At the very end atop her hand the tattoo twisted to its climax in one point atop her hand in the fashion of three runes overlapping each other genas, ostar, uram. Creating a unique glyph which meant lust, pleasure, love were all connected. Though it carried no magical qualities of any sort, the variation told indepth how much time effort and research from its creator went into the process.

She was stunning eye candy, so exotic and unbelievably gorgious she left those that beheld her, breathless and swept away. It was her dark gift Brahkula could control people she could manipulate them and coerce them without any form of mysticism even effort at all. The type of temptress that could inspire a man to commit murder in the name of love.

It was pure, primal and powerful in its own way.

Now that Brahkula was awake after a 2 year beauty rest she was going to explore the house.

[Kalinda]

Two years had passed, two years during which she had slept or believed she had, two years in a coffin, dead to the world while the rest of the Empire had lived, moved on, while people had been born and died. A war had come and gone, orcs had destroyed two cities, and a human ruled in Aelyria Prime now. Har’oloth, Herozzal’s sister city had been shaken to the core, had been turned upside down as two of the most powerful women had lost their lives, and Toherro, the great lich, had once again decided to interfer with mortal politics. Less had happened in Herozzal, but the city had not been entirely unaffected by the events that had taken place.

The room she found herself in was empty, that is, no living being was inside. It was a strange room, dark, frightening, but of a barbaric beauty at the same time. The walls that surrounded her seemed to be made of bones, snow white, shimmering, polished bones, but bones nevertheless. The floor was made of black marble.

Her coffin stood on a large pedestal. An artificial pond surrounded it, filled with a red liquid. Blood? There were narrow bridges on each side of her “island”, leading to the edges of the chamber and beyond. Light came from a number of candles, each one as high as a grown man, that stood in the corners. They were kept from falling by candlesticks made of black metal, candlesticks that looked like gargoyles.

Everything about the chamber spoke of the owner’s sinister tastes – and more for the chamber resembled the great temple of Haya in Hon’elgg, although the great temple was alive, made of warm flesh and beating hearts, filled with the screams of trapped souls while this place was dead. It was so quiet here that one could almost hear the candles burn, that one would have been able to hear a feather fall – and the sound would have seemed abnormally loud.

[Brahkula Hun'viir]

It had seemed as though Elize had gone too great lengths to ensure that she slept without disturbance. It was so quiet in this chamber, but the silence was welcome even treasured. The fact that a small island had been erected, moat and all gave the impression that the matron favoured her and perhaps even cared for her well being. The decorative bone walls told her this, it was a chilling reminder of what could have been had she not.

Lady Of Angels lifted her hand and began trying to count the skulls by pointing them out, if they were numerous it would have told her that Elize was purchasing large quantities of slaves to maim torture and sacrafice. If this was the case then perhaps the deal with the slaver mistress had done well, had this meant that the House Of Hidden Dreams was hers had alara kept her word? It was the number one brothel in vortex that catered to the rich and powerful it was by far the largest prostitution racket in that city, had this meant that there was two years of profits in her name? Perhaps Elize had been left in charge of her business in her absense and had taken the crowns for herself. It mattered not, money was trivial just as long as it provided her with Elizes generosity and good graces and continued to do so.

Walking to the edge of the island she would examine the contents of the moat, if it was in fact blood she would kneel down and use her hand to cup the liquid and drink it. And Brahkula would continue to do this for a couple of minutes until her cravings subsided. When she was finished with this she would walk across the bridge and look for the door or pathway out.

There was much to see, much to do and much to talk about.

[Kalinda]

There were so many skulls, so many bones. Countless people had lost their lives so that this chamber could be build, men, women, children, humans and elves alike had been sacrificed to satisfy Elize’s dark desires. Brahkula’s bedroom was perfect, a work of art, perverted and wrong, but perfect in its own way nevertheless.

The floor was so smooth that she would slip and fall if she didn’t pay attention, and if she looked down she would see her own reflection in it.

The pond was indeed filled with blood, fresh, warm blood that left a metallic taste in her mouth and carried a most peculiar smell.

There was a portal between two of those large candles, framed by skeletal hands that seemed to reach out towards those that dared to enter - or leave. And beyond that there was only darkness.

[Brahkula Hun'viir]

((Sorry this post was so short, there just wasnt much happening in the room after my last post.))

Satisfied with the answer to her question, Brahkula was ready to venture out of her room, she would have to thank elize for her generosity when she had the chance.

All this must have been constructed soon after she had locked herself away in her coffin.

Lady Of Angels would then walk through the portal and see what lurked on the other side.

She had to admit, she eagerly anticipated to grace the halls of bone in house hun'viir and to once again be in Elizes court, while in the back of her mind she wondered if the house had changed.

[Kalinda]

After a while her eyes adjusted to the darkness beyond her bedroom. She could see that there were people waiting for her in the hallway, two women, vysstichi, both of them more than six feet tall, with silver hair that came down to their waists and red eyes. They were dressed in the barbaric clothes that Elize herself seemed to prefer, in cloaks made of katta skin and armor made of dracon scales. The jewelry they wore was made of a shimmering white material. It was made of bones, bracelets and necklaces made of bones to rival the most precious gems of the world above.

They looked at her, their faces unreadable. No torches were lit to make it easier for her to find her way in the perpetual twilight that was Elize’s fortress. Finally one of them decided to speak, “The Matron is expecting you, human.” Her voice was deep and cold and had the rough accent of the vysstichi. “She told us to take you to her as soon as possible. She is most interested in getting reacquainted with you. She says she misses you ...”

The vysstichi’s lips finally curved into a cruel smile that would make Brahkula wonder in which way exactly the Matron missed her, whether she missed the massages and all the other things she had offered when she had first come here or had other, darker things in mind.

[Brahkula Hun'viir]

Lady Of Angels saw it on the cruel smile that was placed upon there lips, it was envy. They had waited for her arrival for a long time, that was there job, there soul purpose in life was to wait upon her. And if they had half a brain should they spew such malice in her direction, should they refer to her as sunkissed but once more she would see to it that she wore there skin and face as punishment.

Golden blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in quaint locks and curls, huge shimmering orbs of emerald green were filled with unmistakeable malice they were burning with rage from such insolence. When she smiled in wrathful glee her plush ruby red lips parted revealing her perfect snow white teeth, and her long razor sharp fangs.

But she had no time to bicker, if it was in fact the wish of Elize that she go too her then she would obey. To break her whim was to break the law of the house, and to break the laws of this house meant punishment. Punishment so heinous and sadistic it made a torture chamber seem like a luxurious spa, it was so disturbing that Brahkula did not even want to comprehend it.

" Then let us not waste time, if she misses me then she should not be denied my presence."

Brahkula had a splended plan for her awakening, she desired to get Elize a pet. She knew exactly who had that power Alara, when she would go too meet her arrangements would be made. A giant widow, they were rumored to roam in demios perhaps even the cavernous maze of memories. If there was any person on the face of telath who had the power to collect such a prize without harming it, it would be the slaver mistress. One might ponder the question why, but it made perfect sense Elize would simply love it. A new method to terrorize her guests as an unlucky soul was devoured, and it would most certainly be the talk of the town. The spider held great admiration and respect in herrozal, it would be a pet worthy of her Matron. And would secure her position within the house, it fueled her inspiration and would drive her ambition forward.

She continued to follow these guards, she was smiling the whole time as the gears in her mind began to churn. Lady Of Angels did not have time to think about the vysstichis mind games, they were busy testing her plotting and scheming she knew very well that they hated the fact that she had the appearance of the sunkissed yet managed to have more power and respect then they themselves, dark elves of noble rank.

[Kalinda]

Elize was sitting on her throne made of the bones of former slaves, her slender arms resting on the skulls of those that had defied her. She was such a tiny woman, young and innocent looking, with big red eyes and an utterly kissable mouth, a pretty girl with snow white hair, but she had never really been innocent, and while she was small, every inch of that small body was well muscled. She was a fighter, had trained in the arts of Zinn’ka since she had been a girl, and her cruelty was unrivalled among her kind. Appearances were deceiving, and in her case underestimating her, taking her for anything but a merciless killer would lead to a slow and painful death.

Chains were hanging from the ceiling of Elize’s barbaric throne room. Slaves were trapped there, two humans and two vysstichi, three men and a woman. Blood was flowing from numerous wounds. One of the men’s eyes had been removed and were resting in a silver bowl on a small table next to Elize’s throne now. Whatever the sadistic Matron wanted to do with them, was a mystery, but it was likely nothing good. She was famous for her creative ways of torturing people.

As the guards brought Brahkula to her, the Matron smiled. “Ah … I see you are awake. Come to me, Brahkula and greet me properly. Or did you not miss me?” Her words were gentle, soft words, laced with honey, but behind them was a hint of cruelty. “I hope the room I gave to you was to your liking.” Such friendly words, but if Brahkula did not do exactly what Elize said, if she did not do what the Matron expected of her, she would find herself hanging from the ceiling just like those slaves and experience exactly how creative Elize was when it came to killing people firsthand.