Closed Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Valerius gets acquainted with his new slave.

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A city floating in the center of a lake, Ravok is a place of dark beauty, romance and culture. Behind it all though is the presence of Rhysol, God of Evil and Betrayal. The city is controlled by The Black Sun, a religious organization devoted to Rhysol. [Lore]

Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Alea Davenport on December 30th, 2013, 2:40 pm

Winter 3, 513, immediately following the auction

It was annoying being shoved around like a rag doll, but Alea didn't see much point in resisting just yet. So far, all she knew was that some fellow had paid a lot of money for her, but she had no good idea why. She'd heard the term "slave" bandied about of course, but that still left so many possibilities. And really, did she have to be on guard around a guy who looked like he combed his hair five times a day?

Her shackles and the gag were removed (she was allowed to keep the burlap sack of a dress they'd given her), and she was presented to Valerius. After that, the slavers went about their business, and it was just her and the copper-haired boy. It was a little strange, the first time in days someone hadn't been holding onto her. She rubbed her wrists where the manacles had chaffed.

She glanced at Valerius, but didn't say anything at first. She was, of all things, feeling a bit shy. After all, she was three seasons out of practice meeting new people, and she'd never exactly been an outgoing child. She meekly followed Valerius for about fifteen ticks, before her curiosity drove her to speak.

"So, what happens now?" she wondered. But for the copper-haired boy, she was alone in a strange city, far from any place she'd ever called home. Being shoved around by slavers she hadn't noticed it, but she suddenly felt extremely lost, and terrifyingly adrift. Of all creatures, she dearly missed her horse. She was hit by a sudden pang of loss, a feeling she'd been suppressing all this time, and though she tried to hold them back, a few tears formed in her eyes.

She had absolutely nothing left to remind her of her life before this moment, beyond the memories. Well, and the toothed anklet she had almost forgotten she was wearing. She was still convinced it might be cursed.
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Valerius Nitrozian on January 1st, 2014, 11:28 am

Valerius didn’t smile as his new slave was presented to him. Oh, he was quite content that he had won the auction and not the Valdinox halfblood or that other man – that was the main reason why he had even participated in the auction - but he wasn’t sure if the Denvali would really fit in. His other slaves were beautiful, they could sing and dance, this woman on the other hand looked as if her only talent was to disobey, and she was only mildly attractive.

Maybe she would look better once he had asked Tuuli to clean her up, do her hair and dress her in real clothes, but he somehow doubted it. He looked at her as she looked at him, quietly wondering whatever he was supposed to do with her. As she asked him what would happen now, he turned around, frowning very lightly as he did so. He didn’t appreciate it if his slaves talked to him without permission, but her question was justified, so he deigned to answer.

„I will take you home, to the Nitrozian Estate. You belong to me now, Valerius Nitrozian. Once we have arrived, you will be bathed and dressed into something a little more appealing …“ He frowned at her attire which looked more like a burlap sack than a dress. „… and then I will decide what to do with you. As long as you behave and follow my orders, your life will be pleasant, and you will always have enough to eat, but disobedience will be punished. Is that understood?“

He gave her a moment to think about his words before he asked another question, „Do you have a name?“
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Alea Davenport on January 1st, 2014, 12:12 pm

Alea groaned slightly at Vlarius's explanation, and mumbled, "So basically you're my mother." She had left home specifically to get away from having to do other people's chores! Though to be fair, she soon discovered that if she wanted to eat, she would have to do some kind of work, so she could get paid, so she could eat. It hadn't been as bad as living with her parents, because at least she could decide what kind of chores to do, but managing money was hard, and, as had been proven by her current situation, she was bad at it.

At he last question she snapped, "Course I've got a name! Doesn't everybody? Valerius?" She grinned at him. It seemed sort of a silly name for a boy to have, but she wouldn't judge. Not out loud at least. "As for me, I'm Alea Davenport. And yes, I am from Denval, and if you doubt me again I'll punch your face," she warned, some of the anger she'd felt up on the auction block threatening to resurface.

Before she could go too far down that line of thought however, her stomach grumbled audibly. She hadn't been able to eat much for a few days, presumably either because of nerves or because the fare the slavers offered was...unpalatable. "So...is the food any good?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but mostly coming off as hungry.
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Valerius Nitrozian on January 3rd, 2014, 9:06 am

„Basically“, Valerius replied as Alea mumbled something about how he was basically her mother. „But in truth I’m your owner, and you are my slave. Try to remember that.“ From the tone of her voice and the way she had acted during the auction he could already tell that this one would be difficult and that she wouldn’t easily be broken. Why had he bought her again?

Did he have secret masochistic tendencies?

„Alea“, he spoke coldly as she told him her name and subsequently threatened him. He raised his hand as if to slap her, but then lowered it again. She didn’t look entirely clean. He would only touch her after she had been washed out of fear that he would get a disease from her.

„If you even try to punch my face, you will be whipped and put in shackles. If you manage hurt me, I will sell you to the Pit where you will have to fight until your death! So think carefully about what you are going to say from now on if you value your life.“

As he heard her stomach grumble, he frowned. Apparently the slaver hadn’t fed her properly either. He wondered what else was wrong with her. „The food is some of the best in Ravok“, he informed her. „But you will only receive food if you behave. If you behave, you will have a better life than most common citizens of Ravok. If you threaten me and insult me on other hand, you will continue to starve. It is up to you.“
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Alea Davenport on January 3rd, 2014, 12:12 pm

The coldness of his tone shocked Alea, and she looked at him with a new uncertainty. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had considered their conversation up to this point as, essentially, friendly banter. She hadn't realized it until this exact moment, but it was exactly how the other Denvali children used to speak to each other, before she knew how to fight, before she could be included in their fun. She had never been able to find a place to belong with them, and she had been spending her life since trying to find that same camaraderie with everyone else she met.

But Valerius's tone, and the unreasonable extremity of his threats, made it clear that he had no interest that sort of interaction. She was once again without friend, without home. She met his eyes, but there was no challenge there. Only hurt.

She refused to speak as she continued to follow Valerius. She was confused by the conflicting emotions inside her some of which were new. She was quite familiar with the stubborn refusal to let anyone else get the upper hand. But then there was this tiny, tiny, and yet piercing voice that tearfully wanted to know, why doesn't he like me? Alea was appalled to find such a thought in her brain, and yet, she couldn't shake it.

She settled on an internal compromise. She could convince herself to...cooperate with Valerius. After all, he was doing her the favor of kindly providing her with food and shelter, and everything she'd experienced had suggested that it was only polite to be useful in return. However, she did not like the way she talked down to her, and if she happened to obey orders, she refused to acknowledge them out loud. And if he asked something unreasonable, well, then they'd see just which one of them was more stubborn.

...Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

OOCSorry it wasn't as rebellious as you were hoping ;) I opted for character development instead :D
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Valerius Nitrozian on January 6th, 2014, 4:39 pm

Valerius noticed that his new slave had fallen silent, and nodded, appreciating the change in her behaviour. This was how it should be. He made a few concessions to his Melenna, because she was such a talented and exotic slave, but all in all slaves should only talk if they were given permission to do so. Maybe it would work out after all. Maybe she wouldn’t shame House Nitrozian, ruin his furniture and terrorize his other slaves. Maybe, if Rhysol was willing.

„We will not walk to my house of course“, he informed her as they moved away from the slave market, towards a canal. „Only those that cannot afford other means of transportation walk through all of Ravok. We will use a ravosala. It will take us directly to the Nitrozian Estate. I assume that you know what a ravosala is, Alea?“

No matter what she answered, she soon found out what a ravosala was. It was a special kind of boat. A man was sitting in the boat, obviously waiting for Valerius. „The slave and the boat belong to my family, just as you do now“, Valerius informed Alea, and then he gestured for her to enter the boat. He would only do so after her so that she couldn’t run away. He’d dealt with one runaway slave and wasn’t interested in a second one.
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Alea Davenport on January 6th, 2014, 6:28 pm

Alea of course had never heard of a ravosala before in her life, but she was hesitant to admit as much to Valerius, who she was at this point trying to impress, for reasons she didn't fully understand. Luckily it didn't take her long to find out. She got in without complaint, but on the ride home had trouble keeping herself entertained. She tried looking at the city around her, and when that failed she trailed a hand in the unusually clear water below. She even stuck her head over the side of the boat and peered down as far as she could into the lake, wondering if she could see the bottom from here.

But it didn't take long at all for her to start fidgeting. She was never particularly skilled at sitting still, and before she could stop it, a question burst forth. "Why is it called a ravosala? I get that the first part comes from 'Ravok', but what does 'sala' mean? Does it just mean boat? Ravok boat? That would make sense, but what language does 'sala' mean boat in anyway?" Normally she would not be at all interested in questions of history or etymology, since they really held no relevance to her life, but she was far from home, and nervous, so her curiosity found the most bizarre outlets.

She would have preferred to walk, truthfully. Or possibly even run. Heck, did they have horses here? She'd ride. But just sitting in a boat was agonizing to the energetic youth. And her discomfort was made quiet apparent, since her frequent movements made the boat rock unsteadily.

OOCI don't have to be rebellious, Alea's annoying without even trying ;)
Last edited by Alea Davenport on January 10th, 2014, 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Valerius Nitrozian on January 10th, 2014, 10:15 am

Valerius watched his new slave closely during the boat trip. He had expected her to complain, to be afraid of the water, but she was merely looking at the city and the lake below them. He could understand her interest in them, in some way, and thus he remarked, in a comparatively soft tone, „Ravok is fascinating, isn’t it? There is no other city quite like it in all of Mizahar.“ He leaned back and allowed himself to relax a little while the boat took them closer and closer to the Nitrozian Estate. Maybe it would work out.

As the questions came – that momentary change in her behaviour had apparently been too good to be true – Valerius frowned – until Alea brought the matter of language up. The Nitrozian was a bit of a linguist – he had studied the Ancient Tongue in Zeltiva, among other things – and thus he decided to answer. „To be honest, Alea, I’m not entirely sure where ‚sala‘ comes from, but I agree with you that it probably means ‚boat‘. The word doesn’t bear any similarities to Common words. I suspect that it is derived from a word in the Ancient Tongue or maybe an extinct dialect that was spoken at the time of the Valterrian. Ravok was founded soon after the catastrophe, so it would make sense.“

„It is possible that the Institute of Higher Learning may have more information“,
he continued. „I have to admit, I haven’t been particularly interested in boats and why they have certain names so far.“

Fortunately for the energetic young Denvali the boat trip didn’t take too long. After a short journey they had reached the Nitrozian Square. Alea could already see her new home, the Nitrozian Estate. It was actually composed of three buildings, and Valerius lived in the biggest and most luxurious one of course. The Ravokian left the boat first and then gave Alea a sign to exit. He didn’t help her out of the boat – and neither did the other slave who hadn’t said a single word during the entire trip.

„This is it“, Valerius informed her and gestured for her to follow him. He sounded cold and indifferent again. „I expect you to behave when you meet my family and my other slaves for the first time. I don’t want you to embarrass me. Do you understand?“
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Alea Davenport on January 10th, 2014, 12:19 pm

Alea wouldn't quite say she was fascinated by Ravok. After all, Avanthal was certainly more magnificent with its towering ice buildings, and the city in the giant trees of the Spires was like a magical green hiding place. But she supposed Ravok had it's own charm. She'd never been to a floating city before, and it certainly felt...comfortable. Though when she tried to imagine living here forever, the idea felt a bit off. She decided not to say anything to Valerius though. After all, this was an unexpected opportunity to learn about another of the cities of Mizahar, so there was definitely a benefit to staying for a while at least.

At the words "Institute of Higher Learning" Alea made a face, sort of scrunching it up and sticking out her tongue. She wasn't sure quiet what it meant, but it sounded like an awful lot of big words, and it would probably involve books. She wasn't sure Valerius would be interested in hearing her stories about why she hated books so much, but she decided to keep in in mind in case he seemed inclined to listen any time in the future.

She was also perfectly sympathetic to Valerius's lack of interest in boats. After all, what they were called wasn't all that important. She'd only asked to pass the time, and to keep from being so nervous that she jumped out of the boat.

Alea did not notice Valerius's signal since she was looking in another direction, but she scrambled out of the boat anyway, still following him like a lost duckling, and not having anywhere else to go anyway. When he pointed out his house, Alea was surprised for a moment, but then realized that they Valerius must count his extended relatives among his family, much like the holds of Avanthal. It was certainly too big for a family of three or four people, but if everyone sharing the name ended up living there, it made sense that they'd need a hold that size.

Alea was a little confused by Valerius's request. Behave? Behave like what? When her parents said that, they usually meant "do your chores," but Alea didn't have any chores yet. Were there chores she was supposed to know about already? She began to panic. How was she supposed to do the right thing if she didn't know what that was?! He seemed to be expecting a response, so she took the opportunity to ask in a slightly shaky tone, "What do you want me to do?"
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Home is Where You Keep Your Slaves

Postby Valerius Nitrozian on January 12th, 2014, 2:24 pm

„First of all I want you to be polite and respect my family and your fellow slaves“, Valerius replied as they walked across the plaza to the Nitrozian Estate. „As for the rest, it depends. What can you do? Do you have any useful skills at all or did I make a mistake when I bought you?“ As he waited for her answer, he knocked on the door, and one of the guards opened it and immediately bowed.

He looked curiously at Alea, but Valerius didn’t explain who she was. It was none of the man’s business. Instead he simply told him, „Get Tuuli. I need her help.“ „As you wish“, the guard replied. While they waited, Alea had the opportunity to observe her new surroundings. Everything in the Nitrozian Estate was expensive and very, very clean. Her new owner’s family obviously had a lot of money.

After a few chimes the guard returned with a young woman. She was beautiful, with dark skin, brown eyes and long black hair, and she was wearing a floor length white dress. „This is Tuuli, my slave“, Valerius informed Alea. Tuuli, as Alea could see, was not particularly happy about the newest addition to the Nitrozian household. In fact she glared at the Denvali. Where had Valerius gotten her?

Was that why he never taken her to his bed? Was he into primitive women?

Valerius cast a warning glance at Tuuli – there would be consequences if she said or did anything he disapproved of – but the girl had been in the Nitrozian Estate long enough to know that and thus remained silent.

„Tuuli, this is Alea“, he told her. „I bought her today. I want you to help her clean herself and give her something to wear. Once you are done, deliver her to my quarters so that I can decide what to do with her.“
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