[Flashback] Not only Spiders Spin Webs (Poison)

[Dhalvasha]

The quiet of the cave could not overcome Sagallius's voice. It hushed, whispered through the cracks and slid across the contours of Dhalvasha's face like the tips of Shai's fingers in their private encounters. Held on the wall, hanging and hesitant, Dhalvasha slid back down. When he was level with the god, the Symenestra took a breath and tried to clear his mind of the excitement his words brought. Everything he said, like the god held the door open to his mind and could glance along the depths with the ease Dhalvasha might survey a wound. Despite the tremors of unease arresting his body at the thought alone, there was some interest in that.

There was power here.

And the god offered what Dhalvasha did not believe he could achieve...what Viratas had never given him, what no one had ever hoped for.

A chance.

Still, the doctor was wary. Stronger minds than his had been led astray by false promises and whispered conspiracies. He would need to be careful. But the god spoke aright, why manipulate a single Symenestra against the head medic of the Purging? What did he hope to gain from such an encounter? Gods were not creatures so flippant with their powers as to appear for the sake of mere fun...were they?

Sagallius was a name the surgeon only partially remembered, some lesson in the darkness long, long ago. There was something about this one the doctor had found interesting at the time...but the details were gone now, lost in his recent emotional troubles.

"Very well," he said hesitantly, narrowed eyes points of crimson in the darkness, "You have my attention, Puppeteer. What would you require to give me what you offer?"

Frowning, he continued, running a tongue across his dry lips in a rare display of nerves. The mention of the Larkspur madwoman was enough to unsettle the Symenestra severely. She existed as a reminder of why magic was dangerous, of why it was important to always be in control.

Else one lose it forever.

"I doubt you offer power out of altruism alone, so name your price and, if I am capable, I will perform it."

Why else wouldn't he? Kalinor had become dark...a hopeless place where people came to die, where a culture accepted their fatal lot and embraced the monstrous reputation the Harvest conferred upon them. No one tried to change anymore, no one asked to. Viratas was fat on the stagnancy of the old.

Kalinor needed to change, else there be no Kalinor in the future.

"Do not question my dedication," the Symenestra warned, surprised he had the ambition to growl in the face of a god "If anything, I question your interest in the plights of my kind...what do you gain from helping me?"

It came as a shock to the doctor, here in the darkness, how he had such bravery.

He simply did not care...some part of him had given up hope and this, this was that hope's painful reanimation. The god had dared to give the surgeon the vision that his suffering, his losses, his mission were not in vain.

In short, if lying, the god had done far more harm than any blade or Overgiving could possibly achieve.

What was life...after all hope for improvement was gone?

[Poison]

„Require?“ the Puppeteer repeated and cocked his head a little to the side. „Why do you think I require something from you, Dhalvasha Hysal? Maybe I’m just a very selfless person ... or god, in that case. Maybe I am curious as to what a man like you will do with the power I can grant. As I said before, I find you interesting. Your people have so many issues that that they cannot see that the solution to their problems is directly in front of them. You on the other hand are like a man that can see who is surrounded by the blind – or a one eyed man at least, maybe a little near-sighted every now and then. We’ll have to see which you ultimately turn out to be. Of course you have a few issues as well, but they can be forgiven, I think. It’s hard when making love to a woman kills her, isn’t it?“ There was a certain undertone in his voice, as if he didn’t find it that hard, as if he were mocking Dhalvasha a little.

„Nervous?“ he asked. „You should be. You should be worried about ending up like her, about being in my presence. It would be problematic if you weren’t, and I wouldn’t have approached you ...“ He fell silent and simply watched Dhalvahsa closely for a moment. And then he shrugged his shoulders. „Well, I actually do need a favour from you in return for my power“, he admitted. „Or rather, I want you to show me something. There is a certain person I would like you to meet, but let’s talk about him later on. I am getting ahead of myself. There’s something that needs to be done first. Every great story starts with a life changing event, with something divine, and your story is still lacking in that regard, don’t you agree?“

As he said this, Dhalvasha’s right arm began to tingle in the strangest way. A mark began to spread on his pale skin, blue, like the sky above that some Symenestra never got to see. There were a handful of lines, like the strings that those that had been marked by Sagallius wove. „Now that this has been taken care of“, the god continued, apparently satisfied. „There is something that you need to see before our encounter ends and we both go our way. We’ll have to go a little lower for that. If you are to achieve all the things you want to achieve and accomplish the task I have for you, you need to be able to control your environment a little better. You are aware of what kind of creatures live at the bottom of the cave, I assume?“

„They’ll have the pleasure of being our test subjects before I send you after him. Don’t worry, I’ll reveal his name soon enough – you’ll be fairly surprised if you hear it - but for now follow me.“

[Dhalvasha]

It was hard to get a read off Sagallius, like unraveling a spider's web without breaking a strand. Any attempt Dhalvasha made to gauge the god was met with frustrating inconclusive evidence. Was he here to mock, to cajole, to help? The blue marks, tangles of strings, drew across his right arm in arcs of serendipity. It did not hurt, merely tingled, the jolt he felt sometimes rubbing against coarse material. Holding up his arm, he regarded the marks with a mixture of loathing and excitement. A god...the attention of a god. Why now when it could have been when he needed it?

No...he never needed it. Gods were a means to an end, pompous bloated powers on outdated thrones. Closing his fingers, the Symenestra let out a sigh. It was obvious that Sagallius could read his mind, but he should have already known the symenestra's misgivings about the powers that be. Still, the opportunity to create his own destiny, much like a patronage. This, he could settle with...and to think he had somehow attracted the attention of this divine creature...well...it was hard not to let his ego take the reigns.

He grimaced at the remark Sagallius made about his deadly relations, especially the borderline suggestion that he was looking for a rise. In Dhalvasha's fragile state he almost gave him what he wanted, but bit back harsh words, letting them smash against the inside of his head and dissipate.

"No one is so selfless, not even a god," Dhalvasha muttered, crawling after Sagallius, "Do not test me with being 'sefless' or 'curious'...this mark must cost you some of your power else the entire race of Symenestra be marked by Viritas...so spare me your appeals to my pride and tell me what you're truly after."

He crawled after him, descending back into darkness. It cloyingly caught at his skin, binding the Symenestra as he tried to follow Sagallius deeper into shadow. "My eyesight is not enough to see what you expect me to test," the Symenestra remarked coldly, slowing his descent, "I don't suppose you have some item or magic that will grant me the light to see what I'm doing...do you?"

It seemed strange to be sarcastic, especially in the presence of a such a powerful being. However, Sagallius spoke on a haughty throne of superiority...Dhalvasha was his marked and certainly the god hadn't gone through all this trouble just to hurl the spider to the wolves...so to speak.

Dhalvasha stopped right before his vision was gone completely, held fast to the wall and glaring suspiciously into the darkness beyond. It was hard to forget that but moments before the god had used the vision of his failure to coax him into a near deathtrap, now he sought to bring him here again?

Was he the god of Madness?

"I may be your marked, and I...appreciate...that show of faith, but I will not willingly blind myself without a better reason than experimentation."

[Poison]

„On the contrary, marking you doesn’t cost me anything“, the god replied as he moved downwards, towards the bottom of the cave. „I gain something from it. We both gain something from it. It’s all part of something bigger. I’m sure you realize that or at least suspect it. That other person I mentioned, he bears my mark as well. I need something from him – or him, whatever you prefer. Consider it a challenge, a test of your intelligence. The winner gains more, and the loser, well I’m not a god of murderers. I don’t just force two people that might or might not have met each other before to fight to the death. That would be a little cliché, besides it might end with two dead men instead of one. And what good would that do me? No, as I said it’s all part of a bigger plan ...“

„As for Viratas, gods tend to only mark those that are truly faithful to them or those that are of some kind of use to them. Thus it can either be assumed that your people have outlived their use or that they have strayed from the true path. Think about it. It might just help you save your people.“ Again, there was a hint of sarcasm.

He didn’t react to Dhalvasha’s next comment, but simply walked on. If Dhalvasha concentrated hard enough, he would be able to see some kind of dim light, there, at the end of the darkness, deep below Kalinor. There was something, glowing softly. „You don’t have to blind yourself“, the Puppeteer remarked. „There is light even in the deepest darkness for those that know where to look. Tell me, Dhalvasha, have you ever played with a puppet? Have you ever tried to move its strings and make it bend to your will?“

„Have you ever seen any of the creatures that dwell below Kalinor? You should know a little about them. They could cause your kind a lot of harm if they ever found a way to climb the rocks. They are all connected, Kalinor, the monsters, the dead surrogates, you, the other marked one. You just need to figure out how.“

[Dhalvasha]

Apprehension, suspicion, and the curling edge of entertainment turned like wheels in Dhalvasha's mind. Sagallius was an interesting creature, sacrasm and intelligence, the edge of babbling insanity with an eerie grounding in logic. So, marking people cost the gods nothing...and Viratas had not deigned to makr the Symenestra at birth. So the people worked to prove themselves to the blood god, toiling beneath his 'benevolent' reign while mothers died and her cast as offal into the depths of Kalinor.

Viratas...how many would fall from his path if they knew the truth?

Taking a breath and holding it in his lungs, Dhalvasha scuttled down the wall toward the faint light. The bottom of the cave was dark, shadows crawled in crevices, lurked beyond his field of vision. "A doctor is a pupeteer of the body," he answered, a roundabout way of saying no, "We manipulate the health of our victims for ill or for benefit, but I have never played with strings and wooden dolls...do you?"

In the black, Dhalvasha was a faintly glowing phantom himself. His eyes cut red rubies into the shadow while his body was the faint luminescent of near albino quality. Had his people once had skin more tolerant to the sun? In the before time, in the jungle...what had they been like then? What accomplishments? What empire?

He didn't remark on the connection, his brain already turning to fit such ends together. It was obvious Sagallius could read his mind so speaking the thoughts only diluted the complexity of his musings. Everything connected. Of course, Kalinor was suspended above a precipitous drop, a place where they happened to throw their offal. Never had Kalinor descended. Certainly the city had no need of expansion, especially with its population dying off, but hunts went to the surface for food, never below. No...it was dangerous below, too dark, but if there was light down here then someone had to have discovered it at some point. Why hide it? The trip below was not so long that it made hunting her impossible, and why did the bodies have to be dropped?

It was grisly, but they could easily have been consumed, even buried in the ways of their people on the surface. So...would it stand to reason that when the Symenestra of the jungle came here, they somehow angered something in the cave? Perhaps Viratas himself? Maybe the population culling was to keep them from expanding, exploring, keep them close and communal. But to afflict such monstrous fate only to keep them close? Why not forbid them to go below?

Ah...of course, forbidden always meant interesting...someone would go eventually. But had others gone before? What sort of monsters WERE down here? His father liked to boast he had fought them before, but the man was more story than fact. Spiders he had imagined, massive spiders with bloated pale bodies...but that wouldn't be right. The spiders could climb the walls.

What lived in the chasm beneath Kalinor? What fed on the surrogates dropped from above?

Dhalvasha stepped toward Sagallius nervously, his claws tapping together. "What do you know?"

[Poison]

„Not wooden dolls“, the Puppeteer answered and laughed. „Although there are some dolls that can be filled with life to mimick human beings - or Symenestra, in your case. I was rather thinking of living beings, bound by invisible strings. Even the strongest, most powerful of men has to bend to your will if you do it right. Even kings and queens can be made to dance like ridiculous little puppets, like the toys of a child if you pull at their strings a certain way. I will show you how to manipulate their strings in a few moments, but we have to venture even deeper for that, into the dark, unknown heart of Kalinor.“

As he said this, he moved further towards the bottom of the cave, and the light Dhalvasha had seen there came closer. It became brighter, and soon it was obvious that it wasn’t a single source of light. Countless pairs of eyes were staring at him from a place where no living being should be able to exist according to what those that were in charge claimed. They were waiting for Dhalvasha, waiting for him to come closer …

As Dhalvasha asked him what he knew, the Puppeteer turned around. For now he was willing to answer the Symenestra’s questions. „Everything“, he said. „I know everything, about how your people came to be, about why the were changed, and I have seen their future. I know what lies in the dark heart, but I won’t take you by the hand and lead you like a child. I will give you certain hints – I won’t deny you that – but it is up to you to find the solution, the final piece that connects all the other pieces. And now come, the puppets are waiting for us.“