lostcarnival | HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 2

Who: The people who were captured or turned.
When: Very early Day 66 to Day 67
Where: Vampire Hell
What: Those that were captured by the vampires are brought back to one of their demonic home dimensions to be imprisoned or integrated into the pack. People can start moving over here as they resolve their threads at the masquerade.
Warnings: Horrible BS, most likely. Violence, sexuality, torture, etc.

GOING TO HELL↴

You don't get to see what the outside of the fortress looks like, since when you were brought here, it was either by portal or by a ritual summoning ring set up by the vampires. However, the realm is easy to get the gist of - it's about classically hell dimension as you can imagine. Lava runs throughout the fortress like water in Venice, and the architecture is smooth black and grey stone that puts a significant effort into looking imposing. Skulls, demons, suggestive nudity - it's all carved straight into the pillars, or provided via ornate tapestry. It's hot, too, though not as hot as it should realistically be while standing at the edge of a lava pool.

Prisoners and freshly turned vampires will end up separated - those that have been captured will be chained in iron and locked within a great stone cell within the center of a ring of lava (as pictured above), with only narrow bridges leading across it. Those that have been turned will be unceremoniously thrown into the living areas of the other neonate vampires - which turns out to be a cavernous pit of almost-rooms where a vast quantity of newly turned vampires have been left to sort themselves out.

► IMPRISONED: The supervisors (or other captives that have made themselves exceptions) will be bound with iron and left in a large cell kept separate from the rest of the prison. At first, they'll all be locked in there together - spread around the walls of the dungeon to be kept apart from each other, but able to communicate across the gap. As time goes on, they may be pulled away for "special treatment" - whatever cruel fate the vampires end up having in mind for them, whether that be interrogation, brainwashing, or simply aimless torment. Sometimes they'll be brought back, and other times they won't. How exactly they are bound is up to you, but at the very least each prisoner should have either a collar or shackles of iron, which will rob veteran characters of most of their powers. It will be extremely uncomfortable, too.

► FORSAKEN: The newly turned vampires will be introduced to their "hazing" almost immediately - that is, they'll be mixed in with the other neonates, apparently collected from at least three different words. Most of them appear human, however, so the looks of the new arrivals may set them apart - potential in ways that may cause them difficulties. These young vampires have been dumped into a series of caverns and left to live with each other, with animals or human victims occasionally tossed in for them to feed. There is not enough blood to go around, ultimately, and the human victims are highly preferred over the animals - these means there is constant and violent competition over who gets to feed. The ideal is for the neonates to thin their own ranks, allowing the strongest and most canny to survive long enough to be accepted into the rest of the clan. You'll want to stick together - after all, vampires can feed off of each other, as well.

► MORNINGSTAR: Apparently the demon in charge of this all is a creature that calls herself "Morningstar." You won't see her long if you see her at all - the only sight of her you see is a form within a black cultist's robe, with their face concealed in shadow. Beyond her, you can continue using adult or neonates vampire NPCS to torment your characters, or ask the mods for the presence of an elder, if needed.

Whatever scheme is going on here, it's clear you're just another pawn.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jamie is probably not someone Snake can or should trust, and the feeling is pretty much mutual in this situation, but Jamie can appreciate that Snake does not seem to pose a direct threat to him personally, and that the two of them together stand a better chance of taking down another vampire than either of them do alone. These aren't things that he recognizes on any conscious level; he's too hungry to really think the way he would have as a human, but these factors occur to him intuitively, and so he acts on them.

At present there is another neonate finishing the carcass of a somewhat sheep-like animal that he's dragged into a little recessed area partially blocked off by crumbled columns of stone. These provide privacy for the feeding neonate - as well as an excellent ambush point for Jamie and Snake.

The scent of the animal's blood is almost more than Jamie can stand, but somehow he reins himself in, fangs distended and ears pricked as he observes from his perch on side of the entrance to the alcove. Finally he looks to Snake with red, slit-pupil eyes.

"Get ready," he mouths, and hunkers down into a crouch, coiled to spring as the older neonate approaches the ambush point.

It's not trust per say, but at least Jamie's from the carnival. Even through the haze of vampiric starvation, Snake can recognize that much. That's good enough for now. He may be dangerous, he may even try to kill Snake if he acts out of turn, as he's a vampire neonate on the verge of starvation, but he's still a comrade in arms in a way.

It helps that Snake is submissive and meek for a vampire, though. A wolf in sheep's clothing, maybe, but not a threat to another starving neonate. Emily, coiled around his neck, is better fed than him, and keeping him sane where others wouldn't be, making him safer to be around.

Most of the other neonates are a different story. They're dangerous, little more than attack dogs after weeks or months starving in the pit. They've lost all semblance of sanity.

Then there are the oldest ones, the survivors. Starved but coldly calculating, these vampires master the pit. They're terrifying, almost ready to join the vampires' proper orders as adults.

Snake's not been here long enough to know the difference; one can only hope that they're attacking one of the former. He nods, a short sharp motion that their prey doesn't notice, so absorbed are they in their new food source. Snake mimics Jamie's crouch, lowering himself to all fours to push off with his arms and legs.

Somewhat ironically, it's Jamie's own starved condition that keeps him from realizing, and being horrified by, how close he is to being like the feral monster he's preying on. His meek human nature has been completely subsumed by the bestial spirit demanding blood to feed on; the only way to keep from succumbing entirely to the insanity brought about by prolonged starvation is to savagely murder another hungry, suffering neonate. There's something ironic in that, as well.

He tenses in his position atop a pile of rubble. Still graceless and awkward compared to a more experienced vampire, his movements create a multitude of small noises that would put more alert prey on the defensive: claws and boot soles scraping against stone, the rustling of fabric and creaking of leather, an involuntary noise as he reflexively swallows in nervous fear. His and Snake's intended victim is apparently heedless of these cues, however, lulled into complacency by a full belly, and steps through the gap without noticing the presence of either of the other neonates.

Stifling a snarl, Jamie leaps for the fledgling's throat, sinking his claws into the other's shoulders. The neonate, a burly male, utters a roar of surprise and anger, wrenching his neck to the side before Jamie can land a killing bite, and tries to wrestle Jamie off of his back. This all occurs in the split second after Jamie launches his attack - a hair's breadth of time in which he's completely oblivious to Snake's presence.

Snake, too, is blinded by his starved state. He's just... so hungry! And this vampire, and the beast he's dragged into this alcove, both smell soooo good. It's nothing compared to the human and elfin blood he took in at the celebration, but it's still blood.

Fortunately, this neonate is both new and starving. He's barely sensible, little more than a monster. Not that the two feeding on him are much better. He's at least tall enough that Snake manages to get a grip with his feet at the neonate's waist, boots long abandoned in favor of a quieter tread. His hands perch on the taller vampire's shoulder, and he manages to land a fang in his neck. The vampire bucks, but Snake maintains his grip, solidifies it, even.

Meanwhile, the creature is not dead, merely bleeding out. The perfect target for Jamie, if he loses focus on the vampire.

HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 2

C

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lmk if you'd like me to change anything about this

Nope! It's fine!