Episode 14

> It would appear you’re bound by book and chain to answer our questions.
>
> Brother Santino, **Baby's First Torture**

> Darling you made it, you made it. I am so proud of you. I am so proud.
>
> Aalea to Aurelius E. Otho, when he emerges from the blood pool, **Baby's First Torture**

SHORT SUMMARY

## Synopsis

The party finds themselves bound to a chair, each in their own cell. There is an extra set of manacles on our hands and feet and we are stripped down to one layer of clothing. In the rooms there are torture devices, none of which look particular fun. Aurelius, Caeso, Petra and Julius are already starting to feel quite unsettled. We can still speak, which prompts Agrippa to call out. Tacitus answers from the room across from Agrippa. Caeso assures Agrippa that he can hear him. Agrippa hears some kind of praying in the background coming from Aurelius’ cell. Ashlinn and Bianca yell out. Ashlinn asks if Agrippa is okay and asks him where the party was when they got jumped. Agrippa tells her that we were on the way to the ribs, where the marrowborn have their houses. Ashlinn comments how far away they were from them, as they were at the Liisian market when they got jumped. As this conversation takes place, we can hear footsteps down the hall, the sound of doors being opened and closed and the distant sound of screams start to erupt. The torturers go into the cell next to Petra, and as this happens she realizes it is occupied by Whispcatcher; she can hear their voice. Whispcatcher tries to stay as quiet as they are used to. Julius can smell when the fresh blood hits the floor. After this it is Petra’s turn. The torturers wear the long white robes of Aa with the mark of Aa around their necks. They are caring around several templates of slate carved out with lines of scripture. Splashes of blood on their sleeves, all fresh. The first is tall, powerfully built and absolutely covered in scars. The other is leaner with dead dull eyes. They look like confessors, people who are recruited by the church of light. Usually the most zealous members or those who seem to have a particular affinity for this line of work. They are tasked with rooting out heresy, especially focused on unsanctioned gods. That being the mother and the dead god. After revealing some information about Petra, they introduce themselves as Brother Santino and Brother Angelo. They ask Petra where she was before she arrived in Godsgrave, and as she proceeds to lie about it, she gets punished for it. After a while they grow bored and leave Petra attached to a device as they move along the corridor towards Aurelius’ cell.

Xanthus can clearly see the fear in Aurelius’ face as he is in the room directly across from him. Something about this situation seems to be getting to him and Xanthus doesn’t have a lot of faith in Aurelius’ ability to withstand pain like this. Xanthus stays quiet, but tries to cast a shadow command. He asks the shadow to free his hands for him. It fails. The tortuers reach Aurelius’ cell as he is in the middle of rumbling a prayer. Nothing heretical. They greet Aurelius and state that he hails from the Otho family, when they ask him if this is correct, Aurelius just stares at the floor, not answering. Aurelius’ earns his first slap when he shakes his head to the question, if he knows why he is here. They proceed to question him about where he was before arriving at Godsgrave. Aurelius’ stays quiet and gets slapped. He cries out from the pain. As he proceeds to not give them an answer, they start to tap the amulet that hangs around Aurelius’ neck. Instead of answering, Aurelius asks if Decurion Otho has sanctioned this and if he knows that he is here. This only gets him another slap, as they ask him about the amulet, ignoring his question entirely. Aurelius then confesses that he stole it from the Marcellus house when he was a student. They take a knife and jam it into Aurelius’ already scarred arm. They ask him why he took it and Aurelius mentions that he didn’t deserve to have it. They start to waterboard Aurelius. When they say that the Othos will be disappointed to hear about this, Aurelius just starts to laugh. When Aurelius cries out in pain again, Xanthus interrupts this scene, yelling: *»Why don’t you try someone who is ready to talk.«* Brother Angelo goes over to Xanthus and gags him, only to return to Aurelius. Aurelius notices one of them leaving, hearing this when he was coming up from being dunked into the water pool. As they pull out Aurelius’ records, they ask him why he didn’t live in his family's home instead of renting an apartment. Aurelius only laughs at that. When asked why he has drifted so far from the church, Aurelius responds by saying that he thought they knew him, knew the family. They ask Aurelius where his faith lies and Aurelius says as he slumps back on the floor, that he is a good-fearing follower of Aa. After they continue to question and inflict pain to Aurelius, he starts reciting a prayer from the church of Aa. They seem unimpressed after exchanging a glance, lifting Aurelius back into the water pool. Aurelius doesn’t answer their questions but tells them, *»If you want me to apologize to my family then let me because I will do it.«* After a while they drag Aurelius to the rack in the side of the room and hang him up there. They put a hot poker into the fire. Before they leave, Brother Santino pets Aurelius on his cheek, tells him that since he seems so willing to talk he should think about his answers before they come back.

They glare at Xanthus before they disappear into the next cell. They greet Agrippa with the words *»A pleasure to meet the Coliseums' greatest loser.«* They mention that Agrippa’s kill count is five in the arena, speculating that those aren’t his only kills. The torturers reveal that after earning his freedom, he has bought his family a farm on the Itreyan mainlands. Agrippa claims that he has been drunk in a tavern in Whitekeep before he came to Godsgrave, because he was missing the city. After slapping him they tell him that they know what his pain tolerance is like, picking up a hammer. The torturers mention that this is information people keep categorized when betting on the gladiators. They proceed to question him, Agrippa just muses, not giving an answer, as they hit him again with the hammer. »Oh. Yeah the hammer is doing wonders. I was at your place, your parents said hi by the way.« They hit him again, as Agrippa then tells them that he is starting a scarf collection, looking for those. After Agrippa’s shoulders start looking bruised and bleeding in places, they both take Agrippa towards the water, dunking him in. Agrippa takes this like a champ. Agrippa tries to break free from where they are holding his arms, but he fails. They bind Agrippa to the rack, smack him again with a hammer. Brother Angelo picks up a poker and puts it in the fire as Santino jams his fingers into Agrippa’s slave brand, saying that they will leave more permanent damage if he can’t talk.

They move to Nadya’s cell. As they yet again introduce themselves, they ask her why she, as a respectable merchant, is mixed up with this bunch. Nadya answers that she herself is confused by the fact that she is here. As one of them continues to talk, they pull out Vitruv bound by a snake hood. They ask her, what kind of merchant keeps a pet so venomous that it could bite her any time. Nadya answers, surely an interesting one. They comment on Nadya keeping strange company, asking her if she has an alliance with a man named Justus. Nadya claims that name doesn’t ring a bell, they mention that Petra steals from his ships regularly. They slap Nadya and ask her where she was before she arrived in Godsgrave. She tells them she was where she always is on the road, claiming to have come alone. When asked about where her belongings are, Nadya says they were stolen. She refuses to answer their question and gets slapped repeatedly. They turn her around to show her the water tank and tools for surfurcation, they see that her attention gets drawn to the tools for surfurcation. Nadya continues to give them non-answers to their questions; they put her on the rack too. They take out Vitruv, holding her on the back of her neck, removing the snake hood. She is very panicked and they get her to bite Nadya. Nadya has never been bitten by Vitruv before, it’s strangely fascinating to Nadya, allowing her to focus on it. They leave Nadya and go over to Ashlinn’s cell. There is very little actual speaking, but Nadya hears a lot of noise from Ashlinn, laughing, screaming, being very loud to unnerve them. She curses and asks what they are doing to her friends. They move further down the corridor.

Caeso asks Nadya if she is doing okay, she assures him that she is fine, asking him to stay safe. Meanwhile Agrippa yells out to Petra and Aurelius. Aurelius doesn’t respond, but makes noise. Tacitus asks if Agrippa is okay, he responds saying he is okayish. Tacitus assures him that he is tough and he is sure Agrippa will be okay. Agrippa asks him to hang in. Nadya calls out to Ashlinn, asking her if she is okay. After a while we see Glasspinner getting dragged down the corridor with a hood on her face. As time passes more people are getting dragged away. Seadancer, Nel, Octavia, Cato, Hadassah and Wez. Then the torturers come back from the other direction. There are screams from Hush’s cell. It is Julius’ turn. They ask Julius the same questions, dunking him under water. They ask him if he will tell them with a little privacy, putting a hood on his head and dragging him away.

When they come back again they go over to Xanthus, and take off his gag. They introduce themselves to him and state his name, claiming that they know a lot about him, all in some records. Xanthus claims he was with a friend, as he stays quiet when asked about the name, they slap him. Xanthus tells them the name of one of the senators, saying he was fucking him. They laugh, slap him and tell him that they will be checking on that story. They turn Xanthus towards the water. Xanthus spits water on them. As they shove Xanthus back into the chair, they tell him that maybe he needs a different motivation. Angelo makes his way over to Aurelius’ cell. He drags a knife over the scars on Aurelius’ arm, prompting him to scream out loud. They dunk Xanthus again, after he refuses to answer. As he comes up, he can see Angelo cutting across Aurelius’ upper lip. Tacitus begins to shout and struggle. Angelo looks pissed off and stays with Aurelius. Xanthus casts a shadow command, this time the shadow manages to open both of his manacles. Xanthus casts toss bodies with his hands now freed. Santinos falls prone and Xanthus uses that opportunity to climb on top of him and choke him. It doesn’t take that long till Xanthus feels Angelo’s hands on his shoulders, wrestling Xanthus to the chair and binding him there. They start to beat up Xanthus, he screams. Aurelius calls out to him and casts something to sooth his fear. Xanthus screams again and Tacitus yells louder. Xanthus spits blood at them and Angelo leaves for Aurelius again. In the meantime Petra and Agrippa try to break free from their restraints, resulting in Agrippa dislocating his shoulder. Xanthus notices that the symbols of Aa don’t make him sick even if they should have been blessed, he doesn’t understand what it means. They cut again across Aurelius’s face. They set up Xanthus at the rack, leaving a poker in the fire again and leaving with the promise of putting it in Xanthus’ face.

They move to Tacitus. He seems to be very stoic and doesn’t answer. They are whipping Tacitus. Angelo goes over to Xanthus, asking him to scream, if he refuses he will beat him until he does. Xanthus refuses and gets beaten, he tries to suppress his screaming. He takes a blade and runs it across his shoulder to his chest. Xanthus screams. He takes the blade with his blood over to Tacitus. There is sobbing and Agrippa yells at him not to snitch. They drag Tacitus past the corridor, hooded.

Meanwhile, Caeso sees Nadya struggling to keep a brave face, the poison running through her system. He looks away before they arrive at this cell. They greet him, say his name and legion. Legion 2 Cohort 6 Municipal 3. As they recite this to Caeso, he feels his bit of leverage slide away. They ask him what he is doing here, and Caeso proceeds to tell them that he doesn’t know anything. This gets him slapped. After a while Caeso begins to cry a little from the slapping. They laugh at this and tell him that they were gonna waterboard him, but that won’t do much for an army man. When being asked if he is protecting anyone with these secrets, he responds say, »No, I just don’t want to tell you fucking anything.« They slap Caeso again. They point out Nadya and the snake, saying it doesn’t look fun and if he wants to be bitten. Santino notices Caeso’s shift in mood with Nadya being mentioned. They threaten to get her bitten again if Caeso doesn’t talk. Caeso realizes that Nadya is willing to go through all of this to keep the secrets. He can’t attest that they would keep their world, so Caeso has to stay silent. They go over to Nadya’s cell to give her another snake bite. As they leave, they move over to Bianca’s cell. She screams and screams, insulting them, spitting.

Xanthus tries to catch Aurelius’ eyes and says sorry, while it quiets down a little in their part of the corridor. Aurelius returns this with a neutral expression. Nadya attempts to suck out some of the poison out of her snake bite. After a while it gets quiet, when suddenly we hear the sound of a lever, metal slams down and we can’t see each other. They pour cool water down our backs. After some hours pass they bring us down and bind us to fresh boards. They try again to get something out of Aurelius, he just smiles a little as his lips splits a bit. He spreads his right hand out and holds the knife in front of his wrist and asks him how it would feel to lose a hand for a scholar. Aurelius asks, *»Why are doing this to me, I have never hurt anybody before.«* They repeat this to him, saying that they know he has been lying and this is his chance to tell them the truth. Aurelius cries and shakes his head and as they are to strike the knife down, they stop. They congratulate Aurelius on passing the test, as they help him onto his feet. They lead him down the corridor as they did with Petra before and he arrives back in the Porkery. Aurelius spits into the face of Brother Angelo, he seems mad about this, but Brother Santino gestures him back. Before he stumbles through the corridor, Aurelius says to him *»When you walk through the fire, you’ll not be burned Brother.«*

As they lay down Agrippa, they pick up the hot poker from the fireplace. They ask him if he wants a brand worse than his slave brand, they suggest the three eyes of Aa across his chest. Agrippa says nothing, they lower the poker down, so Agrippa can feel the heat near his skin and then they take it back again. Brother Santino helps him to his feet and needs help from Brother Angelo. They congratulate Agrippa. *»It appears that you won’t give up the secrets of the church for anything.«* Agrippa asks if they are cops, they assure him that they are not and this is all fake. Agrippa arrives at the Porkery, being led again to where the blood pool is located.

After this they move to Nadya, she gets pulled down the rack and layed on the table. They ask if she is now ready to talk, Nadya assures them that she told them everything she knew. *»You are a beautiful woman, how do you feel about changing that?«* They hold the fire poker near Nadya’s face, but she doesn’t give much of a reaction. They pull out Vitruv from a bag and an ax and hold it over her, as if to cut her head off. They ask her if she is now ready to talk, which Nadya refuses, stating she would rather not, thank you. Then they stop, dropping their tools and helping Nadya up to her feet. They congratulate Nadya on passing the test, leading her down to the Pockery to the room where the blood pool resites. Before they leave the room Nadya kicks both of them. Xanthus gets the same treatment as the others and is laid out on the table. They hold the branding stick near his face. They tell him if he doesn’t want his friends killed or a scar that will last. Xanthus refuses and then they drop their charade. Xanthus asks them if this is fun for them to which they only reply that they chose this job for a reason. He is led to the Porkery and Xanthus asks if he has to go back now, because he really has to do something. They tell him that he must return, telling him that he will return to Godsgrave next week.

The torturers enter Caeso’s room, they proceed like they did with the rest of us. They threaten Caeso with killing Nadya. But they tell him that they will do something more visceral, they find his scar, where his arm got removed and hold an ax right in above it. They ask him if he wants to talk. Caeso just responds by saying, *»Fuck you«*. They stop and help him up his feet, congratulating him on passing the test. Caeso ask if all of this was just a fucking test, to which they just respond by saying that this is what signing up to be a blade entails, since it won’t be the first time this will happen. Caeso further questions these methods. Santinos emphasizes that this is an assassins school, keeping everything a secret is one of the highest priorities to ensure its existence. He is led to the Porkery and the blood pool. They get Julius from the other room.

As we get into the blood pool we feel the song and we are sucked down to the surface, we arrive at the red church. The singer is there and so is Aalea. As Aurelius comes up from the blood, he sees Aalea with tears pouring down her face, launching herself into the blood pool and pulling Aurelius into her arms. As she sobs telling Aurelius how proud she is of him, she reveals that she has been praying for all of us since we left. *»I have been praying for all of you since you left, praying so you would know not to give up any secrets. You are my favourites and I needed you here.«* Aurelius doesn’t say much, but collapses into her arms. Aurelius refuses healing, stating he needs time to process. Xanthus refuses a hug from Aalea, telling her that he knew why he wanted to go to Godsgrave. She claims that this wasn’t up to her, that she wouldn’t do this if she was in charge, this is the way of the mother, the way Drusilla has chosen to continue this. Aalea assures him that next time he will have time to attend to the Livia business. He too refuses healing from Aalea. She mentions that she has been through this too, saying she is proud and sorry. Aalea states that Tacitus hasn’t come through yet. Aurelius and Nadya notice that Aalea seemed sincere in her tears, but she seemed also torn and more in more than just her loyalty to the church and Mother Drusilla, but also in confusion over her faith in her deity.

When Caeso comes back and stiffly accepts Aalea’s hug, he mentions that she knew this will happen. She says she did, stating how sorry she is and explaining that this is not part of her class, but something the church does and she has no say in it. She is trying to change things, but it is not easy. Caeso and Xanthus exchange a long look. Xanthus gets told by Aalea that the last person has come through, Tacitus not being one to arrive back. We are instructed to wait in the dining hall, because Mother Drusilla is supposed to greet us. Xanthus stays to find out, as Aalea reads the names carved into leather of the people who are not to return. Xanthus proclaims, »That stupid fucking idiot«. Aalea goes against the rules, pulling Xanthus into the side room, explaining that those who don’t pass the test are almost always killed, but Tacitus may be safe, if the marrowborn are placed high enough, they are not killed.

Mother Drusilla gives a speech. *»You have undertaken one of our greatest tests. And you passed. We know that for blades some are made of glass and some are made of iron. Glass does fine as a blade; it can cut as well as anything, but when you smash it, it will shatter and iron will survive. We needed to know which of you could withstand something like this. Because the Church of Aa will stop at nothing to destroy us.«* She reads the name of the ones that have died. Dido, Glasspinner, Hadassah, Ludo, Marcus, Nestor, Tivoli and Tacitus. Classes are canceled for the rest of the week.

Nadya notices Xanthus sitting in a kind of shock after hearing the news. Bianca leaves pretty quickly, Cato and Silver are holding hands. Ashlinn is sitting with her brother again, they were crying and having an arm around each other. Ocativa sits next to them not speaking. Lynne follows after Bianca leaves. Whispcatcher is eating, not making eye contact with anyone. Nel and Wez are both crying, talking about some of the people that were gone. The party leaves with bottles of liquor and plates of food. Aurelius goes straight to his room. The others gather in Nadya’s room. Nadya makes tea and Petra makes chips. Petra brings both of those over to Aurelius. They have a chat about the church and this strange test. They argue about the necessity of this, all agreeing that it is fucked up. Xanthus leaves and Nadya gives him a hug. He stops by Aurelius’ door. Saying again how sorry he is. Aurelius says he is sorry about Tacitus. They shake hands and Xanthus leaves again for his room. He realizes that his room is filled with some stuff he was gifted by Tacitus. Meanwhile Agrippa asks if they are going to stay here, yet the options are very limited. They talk about how they are feeling, stating some of the stuff that has been done to them. Agrippa and Caeso hug. The rest of them fall asleep in Nadya’s room. In the middle of the night Aurelius goes to the star-filled room and falls asleep there.