Of Torture, Nightmares & Becoming

[Kamar Deythal]

Kamar watched what was going on before him, though he couldn't understand what Bela was saying. When the red smoke formed faces before him, he thought he saw his mother's face, but after blinking to keep his vision from blurring, there was a new face in her place.

Kamar resisted the urge to pull away from Bela's finger tracing where the bottom half of his jaw used to be. Instead, he glared up into Bela's eyes, not even attempting to make a sound.

With the rage coiling through him, Kamar found a last reserve of strength and energy. He pushed himself back up to his feet, barely keeping from stumbling, and made a motion for Bela to lead the way. He wasn't going to chance any nasty magical surprises coming from him leaving first, and figured Bela would turn off any wards that would be outside the door in case something had gone horribly wrong.

He hoped Bela would be quick about it, as he didn't think the vampire would deign to carry his newest battlemage should Kamar pass out from the after effects of torture and the draining experiences he had been through over the last several days.

[Belatucadrus]

The vampire took the parchment and led Kamar out of the room. Immediately upon leaving the perimeter, everything ceased and silence rang so loud it was deafening. There were no more whispers and the ethereal presence that had continually pressed down on Kamar in the room was left behind. The catacombs beneath Kaledin manor were an empty void with nobody but Kamar and Bela making any sound at all as they walked.

If there were others down there, hidden behind closed doors of the various cells, none of them made any noise. Soon enough the smell of candles and wood, carried along a river of warm air that somehow snaked its way down the circular staircase met them.

Bela led him back up to the main floor, where things were once again warm and comfortable. The passed down the long hallway that ran across the back of the Manor until the vampire stopped at one of the rooms and indicated from Kamar to proceed.

Inside it was an array of artifacts and devices, strewn along a set of tables and shelves around the boundary of what had to be some sort of laboratory or office. The room had too many oddities in it to count. Alchemical tools like an alembic, ceremonial weapons, a pair of goggles, smaller metallic contraptions that had to be gnomish in origin, a skull, assorted books... Across from them was a mirror, which one might recognize as a scrying device by its ornate decorations and the series of wires that led from it to a few empty bowls.

Next to those empty bowls was one filled with liquid and a lumpy, fleshy mass. Kamar's Jaw.

After indicating for Kamar to have a seat in a large leather chair, the vampire left the parchment on the table, took the bowl in hand and then approached him with it.

"You show a lot of promise, Kamar. Work with me toward my goals, and you will realize your full potential. Our contract is my assurance of your loyalty. One day soon, one of your brethren will make the mistake of attempting to betray me, and you will see what happens when the contract is broken. I suggest you wait until then to see for yourself before you think of doing the same."

He pulled up a smaller, wooden chair, and sat down across from him with the bowl resting in his lap.

"This world is in disarray, Kamar. There is little over a century left before the seal will collapse and everything you know outside of Marn is consumed by war. Play your cards right and you will live to see it happen."

With the tips of his thumb and forefinger, he plucked the dripping jaw out of the bowl and let the liquids ooze off of it into the pool of bloody water.

"I intend to be here when that happens. Marn will survive, and those of us who have prepared for it will be the new rulers of this world. For all their manpower and wealth, the empires are to fractured and corrupted to survive. The way to live is to disguise yourself as a mouse and let the elephants rampage until they have no strength left. Look around, and you'll see why Marn exists."

He brought the jaw up to Kamar's face and slowly pressed it back into place, using his fingers to lift Kamar's sagging tongue out of the way so that it once again lay inside the old, familiar orifice. When the vampire ran his hands over the gaps in his flesh, things began to tingle and burn. He used magic to coax flesh, muscles, and bone to meet. It was like working with living putty.

In less than a minute the grafting was complete and Kamar could once again use his mouth. The last to be sealed was the flesh of his cheeks that met at his lips.

The job was imperfect because the vampire wanted it to be.

Bela stood up, placed the bowl back on the table, and spoke while using a dirty rag to wipe the gore from his hands.

"Go to Marn. They will know you when you reach Justice Hall. There you will meet the Porter and it - he - will teach you everything you need to know. Trust him but obey the Judges. The rest will become clear in time. Leyssa will give you a horse and money on your way out. If you're going to faint, do so in the Red Chalice."

He smiled, and remained in the room.

[Kamar Deythal]

Kamar followed Bela up from the catacombs below his house, and into the warmer confines of the house itself. He didn't remember the reverse trip down into the depths.

They were silent all the way up, but Kamar could still hear that ringing silence after the incessant whispering and noise from the room they had previously been in. He stumbled some as they climbed stairs and traversed hallways, occasionally reaching out a hand with drying blood on it to steady himself on a door frame or wall to keep from falling.

When they arrived at their destination, Kamar took in the room as was his usual tendency. Even this injured and out of his head, Kamar's instincts stood him in good stead. He noted any exits, and anything that could be used as a weapon. He doubted that Bela would go through all of this trouble to have him brought here, tortured, and signing a magical contract just to kill him in this room of alchemical origins, but sometimes it was hard to get proper readings from some people. Especially people that were actually undead bloodsuckers.

Kamar moved to the seat indicated by Bela, and watched as the vampire retrieved his jaw. He made no move or indication of what he was thinking, but instead watched as Bela let the liquids ooze off and bring it over.

As he watched, he listened, wondering how Bela knew as much as he did. The scrying tools probably explained some of it, and Kamar had heard that the judges also had some ways of finding out things that not many other people knew. He supposed that this could explain some if it, and that the presence downstairs in that room also explained a fair bit as well. Kamar wondered which battlemage would attempt the betrayal.

The tingling, burning sensation of his jaw being mended by Bela brought him out of his thoughts. He could feel the flesh fusing together as whatever magic the vampire used knitted the muscle, tendons and cartilage of the two halves of his jaw back together. It only took a minute, but the burning and tingling lasted longer than that.

Kamar, still naked, stood up from the leather chair when Bela told him to get going. He nodded, still not trusting his voice and his dry tongue to speak, but didn't offer anything more than that one nod of respect. He looked forward to the power that had been suggested would be within his power should he join with this man, and decided he would do what he could for this creature to help him realize his goals.

The naked half-elf stepped out of the room, where Leyssa waited for him. She looked him up and down and offered him a smile, though her gaze lingered on his cheeks. Kamar frowned at this, but followed when she indicated for him to do so.

Leyssa brought him to a room and opened the door. She waved him in as she said, "You should find clothes in here that will fit you well enough for now. Change and clean yourself, then meet me back out here when you are finished. Take your time, as I'm sure you would like to be clean after your ordeal. Once you're ready to go, I'll give you the Bishani you were promised, and we'll get you a horse to get you back to Marn."

Kamar nodded his thanks and went into the room. Leyssa closed the door behind him as he quickly surveyed the room. He went to the large basin filled with water and with several hand-towels for him to wash with and a larger towel for him to dry with. He ignored the thick, luxurious blankets on the large, four-posted bed, the thick, blood red curtains hanging over the windows, and the handmade and carved dressers, mirrors, tables, and wardrobes. It was an opulent room for a vampire to have in his house, but he supposed that even the undead had idiosyncrasies pertaining to their previous life. Kamar idly wondered how long ago it was that Bela had actually lived.

As he began washing himself with the hand-towels, Kamar glanced up into the mirror before him. He noticed that he needed a shave, but that wasn't what held his attention. A scar ran from each side of his lips, making his smile look larger and more disturbing than it had previously been. It ran back from the edge of his lips to the bottoms of his ears. Part of his heritage made it so that he had no earlobes. The scar ran behind the back of his jaw and connected underneath his jaw. It was massively disfiguring, and a little upsetting to look at.

Kamar stared for long moments at the scar, everything else forgotten. It marred what he had previously thought of as his good looks, but it also made it so that he looked more dangerous than he had before. In his profession ... previous profession, he reminded himself ... he couldn't afford to look too remarkable, or it was easier for people to remember him or pick him out of a crowd. Now, he would look the part he was actually playing. He would be less in the shadows than he had been, but he still preferred to operate in those shadows.

After lingering moments of looking at himself, he finally went back to washing, then took a couple minutes to shave. He found clothes that fit, as Leyssa said he would, and finally stood before the door where Leyssa was waiting. The entire process had taken him nearly an hour. He took a deep, steadying breath, then opened the door to begin a new portion of his life.