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Rhea took a good look around at her immediate surroundings. Stone brick walls stretched out into the distance in several directions, making for a rather impressive collection of corridors, with lanterns placed every few paces to give the hallways a constant yet dim source of light. Such structures certainly weren't cheap to build nor maintain. But here they were, in working order, and even rather well-kept--for a dungeon, anyway.
It was the woman's first time visiting the Labyrinth, an underground network run by Elynsor's most notorious and influential criminal organization, the Redclaw Syndicate. Here, captives were said to be interrogated and broken down, and of those that survived, slaves were made of them. They were then to be peddled and sold to the highest bidder, or sometimes put up for temporary use to anyone with coin to pay. Experiments of various sorts were sometimes run on the less fortunate subjects. But Rhea hadn't entered the perilous dungeon as a prisoner. Here, she came in as a member of the Syndicate itself.
The exact nature of the everyday activities held within the Labyrinth depended on the division, of which there were five primary sections each claiming a piece of territory; the Priesthood, Military, Inquisition, Arcane, and Rogues Divisions. Rhea, a former street child, belonged to the last of the five. But it wasn't such a luxurious position, despite her new place in the Syndicate and her lack of shackles or a collar. The Rogues' Division was considered the lowest of those within the Redclaws, assigned to common thug work such as thievery, kidnapping, murder, trafficking and intimidation.
The vast majority of its members were like Rhea, unsavory street folk who served as the Syndicate's eyes and ears in the realm of commoners and especially within the slums of Elynsor. If there was word on the street to be heard of, illegal drugs to be sold, or people to rough up, those in the Rogues' Division were called on first.
But even within the division there were countless recruits joining daily, and the gang Rhea belonged in, the Thorns, was the newest addition to the ever-growing fold. Some divisions were said to homogenize their members in rank and even mind upon entry, but organization in the Rogues' Division was much looser. Gangs who entered as a group were allowed to keep their names and identities, so long as they answered and reported to the primary leader of the division, a rogue known as Xanrud, when summoned by him. Even then, his leadership style was at times said to be rather loose.
Rhea and her cohorts had arrived to the Labyrinth to do just that. She trailed just behind the leader of her crew, a large and intimidating man by the name of Valtes. While perhaps not the prettiest one in the group, he had solid features and a sturdier build. Towering over Rhea at well over six feet, with no space for muscle wasted upon his large bones, the hulk of a man helped in making the girl thief feel safe, if anything. On occasion, she had been the target of a lustful gaze or two from many a thug, even her own gang members not long after her initial induction to the fold, but Valtes' companionship and apparent favoritism towards her ensured that such looks would soon be pointed elsewhere, as his authority was largely unchallenged within the group. Naturally, that had its own price, but it was one Rhea would be glad to pay given the crude nature of many street folk.
But now they were amongst all too many of the type in the Rogues' Division. The Thorns walked into a large, wide-open room at the end of the hall. Like an infirmary of sorts, it was lined with numerous beds... and there was little room for any sort of privacy. In addition, the furnishings provided were small and filthy. To make matters worse, half of them were already occupied, the mattresses sat upon by familiar faces. The Scarmarked, a rival gang whose previous encounters with the Thorns all too often ended in violence, were there, lounging about without a care in the world. The expressions upon their ritualistically scarred faces were not as sour or angry as those in the Thorns, but rather gleeful and mocking, as if they had just gotten the upper hand on something.
And perhaps they had. A dark-skinned man with long, unruly reddish hair and a black patch concealing one of his eyes stood to the far end of the room. He wore a long coat, sporting a sword at his side. Not that he needed it, as he was flanked by two muscular bodyguards; one was a thug with blue hair, the other, with red locks, mostly shaved off save for a fashionable strip down the middle of his head. Even Rhea knew this man to be Xanrud, whose name was feared throughout the underworld. He was mingling with one of the Thorns' worst enemies, the Scarmarked, out in the open, and could only grin as he turned an eye to the newcomers.
"I've been told we have quarters here," declared Valtes in a booming voice. Despite the presence of his apparent superior, he was not to be cowed. A massive man such as himself wasn't used to bowing his head to others... even one such as Xanrud.
"Hah, yeah. You're lookin' at em," pronounced the one named Xanrud. "I saved the last spot just for you guys. Play well with your new roomies, won't ya? Bedspace around here don't come easy..." He turned his good eye to Rhea. "I'm sure a few guys 'round here won't mind sharing."
Some of the Scarmarked began to hoot and holler after the statement.
"Ooh, our old friends. And they brought that girly pet of theirs, too! Hah! So glad you brought us a gift!"
"Yeah baby, come cozy up with me. I even made room for you on the bottom."
Lewd comments made by random fools on the street were one thing, but it was another when the possibility of sharing a room to sleep with them was all too high. But Rhea's safety wasn't the only concern; most of the Thorns looked all too irritated to even be in the same room with their hated rivals.
"We won't be sharing a room with the likes of them," said Valtes with a low growl. "Get us another quarters, or we'll flush them out."
"Yeah, no. Can't have that," responded Xanrud. "Ya know that good ol' Red here is one of 'em, right?" He motioned to his bodyguard on the left, who bore one of the facial tattoos typical of a Scarmarked member. "Needless to say, you're the newbies, while these guys have been around for a little while. Actually, yer kinda lucky to even get a spot here. But if ya plan on having any real place here in the Labyrinth, I guess you'll just have to learn to get along, then... heh," replied Xanrud with a chuckle. "Don't tell me it's the broad you're worried about? We got plenty more where she came from if you want a nice warm hole to put it in."
"It's far more than that," pronounced Valtes, his frown growing more defined. "The Scarmarked have spilt our blood, and we theirs. This isn't a feud that will go away overnight. It is bad enough to think that we would work alongside them in any matter."
"Heh, please... like I don't know a thing about gang wars. Let me tell ya somethin', brawny. Maybe you got it easy in your district of the slums, but here in the Syndicate, you'd better be ready to make friends with some enemies... and make some enemies out of friends. Otherwise, I don't see ya lastin' too long. Even if you are the feared leader of the Thorns," explained the leader of the Rogues' Division with a shrug. "As for the beds... take 'em or leave 'em. I just thought I'd do somethin' nice for ya guys fer once. But if ya don't want 'em, I'll just give 'em to someone else."
"Do that," said Valtes. "We'll find another place."
"Good luck with that," replied Xanrud, snickering. "Damn, I always knew this division was the most fun to lead... heh."
At Valtes' direction, the Thorns would take their leave, right past Xanrud and the Scarmarked thugs, continuing down an unoccupied hallway.
"Can't believe we're even in the same organization as those pricks now," uttered Sammon, a shorter and thinner member of the Thorns. Like Rhea, he was originally a pickpocket of sorts, having joined the gang by sheer circumstance.
"Maybe we can find a way to fuck them over," suggested Penadin, former second-in-command of the Thorns--that is, until Rhea informally took his place. It was one of the rare cases where being a woman might have worked out in her favor, as the thief's feminine charm hadn't gone unnoticed by Valtes himself.
Though, depending on her mood, it might not be all a plus. Valtes' frustration over recent events slowly grew more and more visible upon his visage as they walked along. Grabbing Rhea by the wrist, he whispered in her ear through gritted teeth. "I need you to help me relieve some stress," urged the leader before pulling her away from the chattering group and towards a nearby room. He was... direct, as always, but rarely had he been this sudden about it.
It was the woman's first time visiting the Labyrinth, an underground network run by Elynsor's most notorious and influential criminal organization, the Redclaw Syndicate. Here, captives were said to be interrogated and broken down, and of those that survived, slaves were made of them. They were then to be peddled and sold to the highest bidder, or sometimes put up for temporary use to anyone with coin to pay. Experiments of various sorts were sometimes run on the less fortunate subjects. But Rhea hadn't entered the perilous dungeon as a prisoner. Here, she came in as a member of the Syndicate itself.
The exact nature of the everyday activities held within the Labyrinth depended on the division, of which there were five primary sections each claiming a piece of territory; the Priesthood, Military, Inquisition, Arcane, and Rogues Divisions. Rhea, a former street child, belonged to the last of the five. But it wasn't such a luxurious position, despite her new place in the Syndicate and her lack of shackles or a collar. The Rogues' Division was considered the lowest of those within the Redclaws, assigned to common thug work such as thievery, kidnapping, murder, trafficking and intimidation.
The vast majority of its members were like Rhea, unsavory street folk who served as the Syndicate's eyes and ears in the realm of commoners and especially within the slums of Elynsor. If there was word on the street to be heard of, illegal drugs to be sold, or people to rough up, those in the Rogues' Division were called on first.
But even within the division there were countless recruits joining daily, and the gang Rhea belonged in, the Thorns, was the newest addition to the ever-growing fold. Some divisions were said to homogenize their members in rank and even mind upon entry, but organization in the Rogues' Division was much looser. Gangs who entered as a group were allowed to keep their names and identities, so long as they answered and reported to the primary leader of the division, a rogue known as Xanrud, when summoned by him. Even then, his leadership style was at times said to be rather loose.
Rhea and her cohorts had arrived to the Labyrinth to do just that. She trailed just behind the leader of her crew, a large and intimidating man by the name of Valtes. While perhaps not the prettiest one in the group, he had solid features and a sturdier build. Towering over Rhea at well over six feet, with no space for muscle wasted upon his large bones, the hulk of a man helped in making the girl thief feel safe, if anything. On occasion, she had been the target of a lustful gaze or two from many a thug, even her own gang members not long after her initial induction to the fold, but Valtes' companionship and apparent favoritism towards her ensured that such looks would soon be pointed elsewhere, as his authority was largely unchallenged within the group. Naturally, that had its own price, but it was one Rhea would be glad to pay given the crude nature of many street folk.
But now they were amongst all too many of the type in the Rogues' Division. The Thorns walked into a large, wide-open room at the end of the hall. Like an infirmary of sorts, it was lined with numerous beds... and there was little room for any sort of privacy. In addition, the furnishings provided were small and filthy. To make matters worse, half of them were already occupied, the mattresses sat upon by familiar faces. The Scarmarked, a rival gang whose previous encounters with the Thorns all too often ended in violence, were there, lounging about without a care in the world. The expressions upon their ritualistically scarred faces were not as sour or angry as those in the Thorns, but rather gleeful and mocking, as if they had just gotten the upper hand on something.
And perhaps they had. A dark-skinned man with long, unruly reddish hair and a black patch concealing one of his eyes stood to the far end of the room. He wore a long coat, sporting a sword at his side. Not that he needed it, as he was flanked by two muscular bodyguards; one was a thug with blue hair, the other, with red locks, mostly shaved off save for a fashionable strip down the middle of his head. Even Rhea knew this man to be Xanrud, whose name was feared throughout the underworld. He was mingling with one of the Thorns' worst enemies, the Scarmarked, out in the open, and could only grin as he turned an eye to the newcomers.
"I've been told we have quarters here," declared Valtes in a booming voice. Despite the presence of his apparent superior, he was not to be cowed. A massive man such as himself wasn't used to bowing his head to others... even one such as Xanrud.
"Hah, yeah. You're lookin' at em," pronounced the one named Xanrud. "I saved the last spot just for you guys. Play well with your new roomies, won't ya? Bedspace around here don't come easy..." He turned his good eye to Rhea. "I'm sure a few guys 'round here won't mind sharing."
Some of the Scarmarked began to hoot and holler after the statement.
"Ooh, our old friends. And they brought that girly pet of theirs, too! Hah! So glad you brought us a gift!"
"Yeah baby, come cozy up with me. I even made room for you on the bottom."
Lewd comments made by random fools on the street were one thing, but it was another when the possibility of sharing a room to sleep with them was all too high. But Rhea's safety wasn't the only concern; most of the Thorns looked all too irritated to even be in the same room with their hated rivals.
"We won't be sharing a room with the likes of them," said Valtes with a low growl. "Get us another quarters, or we'll flush them out."
"Yeah, no. Can't have that," responded Xanrud. "Ya know that good ol' Red here is one of 'em, right?" He motioned to his bodyguard on the left, who bore one of the facial tattoos typical of a Scarmarked member. "Needless to say, you're the newbies, while these guys have been around for a little while. Actually, yer kinda lucky to even get a spot here. But if ya plan on having any real place here in the Labyrinth, I guess you'll just have to learn to get along, then... heh," replied Xanrud with a chuckle. "Don't tell me it's the broad you're worried about? We got plenty more where she came from if you want a nice warm hole to put it in."
"It's far more than that," pronounced Valtes, his frown growing more defined. "The Scarmarked have spilt our blood, and we theirs. This isn't a feud that will go away overnight. It is bad enough to think that we would work alongside them in any matter."
"Heh, please... like I don't know a thing about gang wars. Let me tell ya somethin', brawny. Maybe you got it easy in your district of the slums, but here in the Syndicate, you'd better be ready to make friends with some enemies... and make some enemies out of friends. Otherwise, I don't see ya lastin' too long. Even if you are the feared leader of the Thorns," explained the leader of the Rogues' Division with a shrug. "As for the beds... take 'em or leave 'em. I just thought I'd do somethin' nice for ya guys fer once. But if ya don't want 'em, I'll just give 'em to someone else."
"Do that," said Valtes. "We'll find another place."
"Good luck with that," replied Xanrud, snickering. "Damn, I always knew this division was the most fun to lead... heh."
At Valtes' direction, the Thorns would take their leave, right past Xanrud and the Scarmarked thugs, continuing down an unoccupied hallway.
"Can't believe we're even in the same organization as those pricks now," uttered Sammon, a shorter and thinner member of the Thorns. Like Rhea, he was originally a pickpocket of sorts, having joined the gang by sheer circumstance.
"Maybe we can find a way to fuck them over," suggested Penadin, former second-in-command of the Thorns--that is, until Rhea informally took his place. It was one of the rare cases where being a woman might have worked out in her favor, as the thief's feminine charm hadn't gone unnoticed by Valtes himself.
Though, depending on her mood, it might not be all a plus. Valtes' frustration over recent events slowly grew more and more visible upon his visage as they walked along. Grabbing Rhea by the wrist, he whispered in her ear through gritted teeth. "I need you to help me relieve some stress," urged the leader before pulling her away from the chattering group and towards a nearby room. He was... direct, as always, but rarely had he been this sudden about it.