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umbras in caligine


Courage Wolf

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I promised you a story sister lupine, Here it is.

The breaking of the world... A cataclysm unspoken of in over a century, and the fires that arose from it formed the crucible that all children born upon the earth are tested, tried, and hopefully found worthy amidst the twisted metal landscape. There were still some who remembered what had happened on that day, the way fire and death plumed into the sky as 100 countries around the globe decided that diplomacy and reason were no longer sufficient to achieve their goals, and the political machinations turned into thoughts of war, betrayal, persecution, and insanity. Man had risen to it's pinnacle, one tiny, shining moment in it's history before greed and envy tore the world and all of mankinds workings down into the dust to be trampled on by the progression of time. It was said, that even after the fire claimed the world, that the land was poisoned, that the sky wept tears of black blood, and that for a time after, it was as if the planet itself raged against what humanity had dared to unleash in their neverending struggle for dominance over one another...

Were the wisdom of all to be considered, you'd assume simply that they had learned from this tragic mistake, that amidst the blood, and the steel, and charred bones, that mankind would look around and see what terrible things they had wrought. But you would be wrong. Indeed, after the cataclysm, Mankind never broke from it's sins and the survivors found that the old creed of Might makes Right, was truer now then it ever had been. Simple things like clean water, and food had become so scarce that warfare decided who got to eat at the end of the day, and out of this chaos rose the holdings of two distinct, but small nations.

Like a plague of locusts, humanity congregated to huddle around light and to consume what food they could find, but the world had not recovered from it's breaking, and sooner then later, starvation, dehydration, poisoning, disease, and all the riders of Hell's apocalypse claimed more then their fair share of lives. Now children, we live in this place, this amalgamation of steel and hope, a bulwark against such insanity. We must try to remember what caused our pain and the tribulations we endure everyday, lest we fall into madness. Outside these walls lies the great Sea of Caspian. And beyond that, the Marauders, thieves, cutthroats, and all manner of beast and monster that our twisted sins birthed in the days that followed the breaking of the world. But there is one such creature that is both varied in it's form, and in it's wickedness, and never should the last vestiges of humanity here heed their call. I speak children, of the witches, and the mutants that call them gods.

People, broken in the eyes of God and given power by the hatred and malice that created and scarred the world, to bring pain and suffering down upon the heads of all those true and just. Be wary my children... Be wary...


Excerpt from the "Holders of God" Primary religion of Nubila. Circa 165 A.S.


Nubila... Ahh, how many had heard that name, the telling of a floating country amidst the caspian sea, were food was available, shelter, and safety, all the simple things that a struggling family craved for there for the taking. And all they asked was that you work, you toil for what you were given as was good under the eyes of their God, and that twice a week, you attend worship and heed the words of Master Caller. Truly not a bad life, and there were many who lived there in this apparent beacon of safety, quite comfortably compared to the harsh world that lay just outside it's natural, watery walls.

To reach the city, and in reality compared to the scope of it, and the size of most settlements that could be found in the ashes, it was more of a country, you had to find the Ferryman. The mystical name given to a simple fisherman who handled the transport from mainland to Nubila in exchange for his solitude. His own sins were beyond question, you did not ask the Ferryman his name, nor did you question his methods or the laws upon his vessel. You simply gave what he asked of you, it was never much, but it was always significant, and he would take you across the waters to be accepted in the waiting arms of the Holders of God. They said that the Ferryman could always be found on the western shore, and that sailing to Nubila was best done in the early morning, so that you could see the sun rise behind your new life, and to do so was an omen of the best kind in the eyes of many. And if you watched carefully, you could see the slanting colors of the crystal and the metal and the wood that made up a city floating in the sea.

Between the bullshit rumors, the stories around broken fire rings and flaming barrels where beggars and families alike huddled for warmth on the twisted mainlands of europe, and the actual journey, the reality of Nubila was almost as beautiful as the myth to a starving child, a broken parent, a shattered man... To see it, to really see the possibility of safety for the next generation floating there amidst the waves, well, you wouldn't care that it was an aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and other large military and commercial vessels welded, tied, and banded together to form the land you would stay upon. You wouldn't mind listening to a sermon and doing a days work so your family could eat and be cared for, and after a week, you wouldn't mind walking into the chapel, to stand amidst the pews of the Holders, and swear fealty to God under panes of bulletproof glass and rust.

Nubila was, in myth, and reality, a bastion of safety and security for most of the people who could make the journey, and those that had never left, the mechanics, soldiers, doctors, and teachers, who had been aboard, or nearby when it was founded, to sit on the safety of deep water and watch as the chaos spread like a wildfire even after the cataclysm. And when Lindsay had found it for the first time, she had thought that all the pain, and the persecution was over... Until she'd heard her first sermon. brought there by the Ferryman, in exchange for the only thing she had to give, her story, Lindsay had revealed, in full truth, that she had grown different from the rest of her family, that through excertion of will alone, she could affect the world around her to a degree, and the Ferryman had listened, quietly and without judgement while she told of the slow death of her family, the member picked off by fire, fear, and death one by one, until she alone made it here, as her father had wanted for her.

The Ferryman said only one thing to her, before taking her to Nubila. "Care my child, your gift is a curse to those aboard the ship. Care." And she had. Taken to the ship, and hearing her first sermon before being assigned a job errecting buildings from scrap metal, Lindsay had learned that day that she must go out of her way to hide what she was, Witches were feared, unnatural creatures, and here, well... running away here would be difficult. So she worked, she said her oaths, and she learned. Forced to eschew her gift in entirety for so long, Lindsay became a capable fighter and brawler, having to look out for herself as she finished growing into maturity, and before long, she caught the eye of a good man, a mercenary.

It would seem odd to have men of war upon a ship that could not be assailed, but their primary job was to head ashore and clear the coasts of the creatures and the bandits who would prey upon those seeking the ferryman, and guide them to him. As well as to keep the peace upon Nubila as a kind of police force. His name was Derek, a kind and hardworking man, good at his trade and willing to teach her everything he knew. Simple respect turned into passion, and passion to love amidst the broken hulls, shantytowns, and residential districts of the floating city, and at 20, they were wed before the eyes of God in the Holder's embrace. Life was good, her husband kind, and the people respected the powerful pairing, thinking it all well, a blessing on Nubila that such a spirited pair would find each other, and under this affection, at 23, Lindsay concieved...

The timing could not have been worse. Derek's success had earned him enemies among rival groups, and he had finally caught the eye and attention of a company with far more control and influence then anyone who would protect him. And one night, their daughter still no more then a babe, armed men descended upon their home with the intent to kill, and well placed bribes turned the eyes of other groups, and on that day, a family was damaged.

It only grew more trying as time passed however, and forced to flee into the bowels of Nubila, into the hulls, and the metal shielding, and the darkness, eventually this proved too much for Derek, and Lindsay was left with nothing more then a note, a child, and the hanging corpse of a man she had loved. Whether from despair or cowardice, a combination of the two, or feelings of regret and failure, he had abandoned Lindsay and the child in the end and once more Lindsay found herself alone.

All was not lost, and Lindsay was strong, she had picked her way over miles and hardships to reach Nubila, she had suffered, alone, and in the darkness beneath the thriving remnants of humanity, she cared and tended to the child who would grow up in shadow. Only when she knew she could reenter Nubila proper, did she dare, and it was under a new name, but now she was forced to rely on old gifts and strange power to hide who she really was, to hide her daughter who shared her gifts from prying eyes, and to keep what little family she had left intact. But such things did not go unnoticed forever and she could smell a change in the air, a terrible and punishing wind was brewing and such thoughts filled a strong woman with dread for a child that could not fathom the cruelty of others in it's entirety.

Today was a special day, it was Recompense, Saturday, the day that all people of Nubila could go to the Holder's of God, in their scarlet robes, and recieve food, and fresh, clean water, and Lindsay made her way amidst the crowd, hidden beneath her shawl, hiding her face from those who could know her to get what she needed to feed the little girl below, hiding among the water vats and brewing still of level 8, far below the platforms and scrap metal buildings of Nubila above. She would have food today, she had promised, and now as she pressed through the people to look at the three men standing there, their robes spread around them and their arms open, she could see what she was after. All she had to do, was lie again, to fool them into thinking she was a woman long since dead, and that she had done her weeks labor...
 

Sinfulwolf

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Re: umbras in caligine

Her heart pounded within her chest, and a cold sweat ran down the small of her back, but she could not back out now. Not with Leah hungry and thirsty down below, through the decks of metal, so deep that the walls were almost made of rust rather than the old steel armies had used. Shivering, cold, alone with the rats.

Lindsey let out a long breath, and moved forward. She passed an elderly man, his thinning hair white and wispy. One of his eyes, once a starting piercing blue was now clouded over. He looked towards her for a second, and Lindsay felt her blood pounding in her ears. She knew this man, and fear of discovery clutched her, but she passed by. For the moment at least.

Standing before those men who could deliver her salvation, the irony of the situation almost hurt. She looked up, and smiled.

"Karen Silvestri," she said, hiding her natural accent after weeks of practice.

Even as the name of the dead woman's name slipped past her lips, Lindsay had a flash of blood and brain dashed across one of the bulkheads down below. The stench of shit as bowels had released, and the sickening tearing of flesh as the rats devoured their newest meal.
 
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Courage Wolf

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Re: umbras in caligine

The memory of the dead woman flashing through her mind almost broke her concentration, almost betrayed her for this one single moment of weakness, and for a tense moment, there was silence as the Holder looked at Lindsay, before he handed her a bag, and a hydro tube "Go with God child... The Hydro Tube, a rarity from before everything, a remnant of technology that at the time, seemed almost inconsequential among mankinds other achievements, but here... just having one outside Nubila? It was like holding a cylinder made of solid gold or diamond. The Hydro Tube was a cylinder about 8 inches long that served two functions. One was that it held supercondensed water in it's core, and this could be dispenced to water up to 3 people for a month. The other, and less utilized, was to make even pure sea water completely drinkable, though the taste wasn't the best.

The shining metal tube held to her chest tightly, the sack of bread and cooked meat slung over her shoulder, Lindsay was now free to simply fade back into the crowd and obscurity, to slink like a rat herself back into the bowels of the ship she now called home. Her daughter needed this badly, the young were usually afforded larger rations then the adults, but without any way to bring the girl up, she was forced to share this dead woman's meals, like eating mushrooms from atop a corpse. And surrounded by the floating casket of rust and steel, the comparison was oddly fitting to lindsay. Today hadn't had any complications, nothing to make her fear except for that one recognition. And with the Hydro Tube, all that was left was to make a choice. To find a way out of this place before someone chased her off of it, or continue to hide like vermin in the belly of the beast called Nubila.

To her recollection, no one had Ever managed to get out of Nubila with their Tube, though to be honest, most never tried, and she could only recall maybe a handful of cases like hers where someone had gone underground to hide. There were actually urban legends of these cases, told by those above like horror stories of the Bogie Man to frighten small children, of the Ghouls that lived below, the creatures that had been so long without the grace of god that they'd become twisted, warped, and hungry... Her late husband had told her the truth, That such things did exist down here, those twisted by radiation from the nuclear core of the carrier that was still operational. Those that had tried to hide there in the coolant chamber and maintenance ducts from their pursuers, and died of radiation poisoning.

But that was a problem for the new world, of the Dead not Staying dead. Something else had poluted the world when it had fallen that no one had a true explanation for, not even the Witches, if you could find one without them crushing your heart in your chest. Such people were called Ravens, those that could move from the Witches' territory freely, and they were all marked, by a teardrop tattoo below their left eye. This tattoo was unique, something the witches did to the ink, that made it shine in the moonlight, and where the witches were regarded with fear and hatred, these people were treated with respect. Most that entered the witches' territory far to the north never came out again, of the tunnels and abandoned mines where they made their home in the mountains. These few souls did, and they were exceptional one and all, possessing no magic of their own, they were powerful in their own way, whether scholars or warriors, each could be said to be the match of anyone they encountered, and so they were given wide berth.

Lindsay had thought of trying to go there, but so far, fear for her daughter had kept her here, until the child was strong enough to make the journey. They could both recieve training there, maybe... Hopefully... Where this place of fear and loathing had resided in the hearts of this new mankind as a festering sore, it sat in Lindsay's like a beacon of the angels for her child. They couldn't stay here for much longer, every time Lindsay ventured upwards, she risked being found out, and the longer she stayed down here, moving within the bowels of Nubila, she risked the Ghouls finding here. Intelligent, dangerous, unfearing monsters and hunters... She'd found one, her second day here, and it hadn't stopped until she'd literally burnt it's body to ashes... They were recognizable almost instantly by the violet glowing behind their eyes, the ragged bodies and twisted muscle. And their taste for flesh was something of legend, to devour was their only true purpose, and they hunted like animals, waiting in the shadows or moving in packs.... She'd been lucky that day... How long could she count on luck alone to keep them safe...
 

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Re: umbras in caligine

She moved through the crowd silently, clutching at her treasured rations beneath her cloak for this mass of the Holders. She kept her head tilted, looking up with her eyes to not reveal her face. Most assumed she was just another of the poor, and ignored her. One or two let their eyes linger inappropriately, but Lindsay ignored them as much she could, despite the shiver of revulsion sliding up her spine.

In a hurry, fearful of what might await her down below, but cautious, unwilling to expose herself to all these people, Lindsay shuffled through the crowd. Throngs of people moving past her to get their own food, for their own survival, unaware of what they considered an abomination moving amongst them.

Then Lindsey stopped, heart pounding. She saw a familiar face not too far from her, the woman's strawberry blonde hair mostly hidden beneath her own cloak, but her kind face looked up to the Holders with awe. Carley had once been Lindsay's friend, until she discovered the secret held from her.

That day was one of many hauntings in Lindsay's memories, the way her eyes had hardened and turned cruel.

Ducking her head further, Lindsay pushed past her old friend, felt her arm brush against hers, felt the woman's eyes turn to regard her with suspicion, before moving back to those that spoke of her God.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Lindsay began to descent into the darkness and rust of the bowels of a city made from the skeletons of the past. She paused on one of the landings, letting out a long breath, head tilting upwards as she slipped out of her cloak, carefully wrapping her treasures of food and water within it, and making an impromptu satchel that slung over her shoulder and crossed her torso. She pulled it snug, not wanting it to bounce and crash against anything.

Getting up onto the tips of her toes, Lindsay carefully pulled a grate from its place on the wall. Stale recycled air washed over her face as she reached within. The paws of a rat waddled over the top of her hand, but she ignored it, until she found what she was looking for.

Drawing her shotgun, the very same that Dereck had given her so long ago, from the vent, Lindsay instantly felt safer. With twelve gauge in hand, she continued her descent. To find Leah, and think of a way to get off this floating fortress that now only meant oppression and doom for Lindsay and her daughter.
 
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Courage Wolf

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Re: umbras in caligine

Stale air, the smell of old death, of the rotting metal corpse this floating city really was... It was always here down among the rats and the hungry corpses of those truly cursed by the powers that be. As her fingers closed around the weapon she had come to rely on more every day, Lindsay calmed a little, the familiar weight comforting before she began her search, her hard won gains satchled tightly around her chest.

One would think that Lindsay wouldn't have to search for her daughter, but they'd had a plan since her young one was old enough to understand it. When mommy went up to, Lindsay hid, away from the sounds and the people and she kept moving in a big circle, sticking to the same relatively abandoned and structurally sound areas.

A small girl, any small girl born into this metal hell and all the dangers that came with it, was far more adept at that ancient skill of hide and seek then any adult or monster could ever claim and it was honestly the only thing that let Lindsay keep a level head when the person she cared about most in this world was out of her sight, the knowledge that if all else failed, that her daughter knew what to do in the end.

It was an old game they played really as Lindsay stalked the metal grates and rewelded sheets of rust and steel that counted as a floor, the shadows long and only offset by the grates above, and the runner lights for the technicians still in working order, a childrens rhyme on her lips. The lost child of nubila... She would only answer to this sound, this one song sung by the voice that heralded her only chances for survival in a paradise that had become a living hell.

Deeper and deeper into the bowels of the old carrier, further into the almost literal belly of the beast, Lindsay made her rounds, singing softly, before three knocks sounded further down. Featherlight taps on the metal... the signal of her daughter. "Here I am, come save me again Mommy" It seemed to say, answering the call of her song before a pale face flashed across the grates before hiding again. There was one more part to this game, an answering call from Lindsay, and only then would the child show herself fully... One last secret defense from a trap if all else went wrong...
 

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Re: umbras in caligine

"Oh princess of shadows, your witch has come to take you home," Lindsay whispered into the darkness, holding her shotgun in one hand, the other clutching at the treasures pressing to her form.

One of the grates high on the wall silently popped open, but Lindsey noticed the movement from the corner of her eye. With a smile she reached upwards to help Leah descend from behind the grate that had once blown fresh air through the ship for the sailors living within.

Leah was silent as she slipped into her mother's embrace, her dark green eyes looking at the satchel in wonder.

"Don't worry sweetie, I got us enough to last a little while as long as we're careful," Lindsay whispered, as she set her daughter down, running her fingers gently through the short dark hair the little girl wore. Leah nodded gently before something rattled down the hallway. Instantly Lindsay leveled her shotgun only to see a rat scurrying away from a pipe that had finally rusted through and fallen.

"Let's go honey, we can't stay here," Lindsey whispered, starting down through the halls and passages of an old world turned vile.
 
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Re: umbras in caligine

Toxic, like an old wound, sickly sweet in some ways and repugnant in others, it was safe to say that the only blessings this world held anymore, were for the maggots that feasted on the dying flesh. The Demigogues, the Survivors, the Unnatural, and Those born under the right stars, as if fated by the gods to have what will and luck they would need to simply get by.

Down in the bowels of the beast, mother and daughter reunited and Leah, quiet as a mouse slipped into her mother's waiting arms before a creature, reknowned as silent and careful, made enough noise to shatter the tender moment and bring both of them crashing back into the horrid reality Earth had become.

Leah simply nodded slightly as Lindsay said it was time to move on, never arguing or fussing, Lindsay could see him in her, in the ways she moved, in her strong silence, her seemingly unbreakable will... She was the best of both of them, and it may have been too great a sin to bring such a child into a world like this one.

Sliding passed the curve of the hall, the grate slid back into place before, it was once again a maze of shadows and ghost lights, of a mother turned back into a frightened animal and a child trusting and clinging for the person who signalled their salvation from everything and anything. It was down, every month they had to head deeper into the ship to avoid detection, Nubila's population swelling and growing to the point that more were venturing down despite the monsters that lurked here. And the Holders did nothing to stop it. If people came down here, and were eaten by the undead that burrowed through the metal, then it was simply population control, everything could be explained through the good will of God. This time, all was not silent, all was not quiet or safe.

As the pair moved through the ship, they heard the quiet shuffling of the ghouls that plagued this level of the ship, the level of the reactor, and the raspy breathing of their twisted and shattered lungs, and for a moment, Lindsay hid like a shadow between a pair of pipes along the wall, Leah pressed behind her, shotgun held ready, before they both breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The creature could be heard shuffling away, hunting elsewhere... Their home was close now, they could almost taste their sanctuary, of that single blast door, and the magical lock that Lindsay had contrived. It was the only ladder left that led to the bottom levels of the ship, where they still had what amounted to a true home...
 

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Re: umbras in caligine

Letting out a long breath of relief, Lindsay looked down to Leah and smiled as warmly as she could. It was forced, as they always were outside of their haven, but it was a smile regardless.

"Come on. Almost home dear," she whispered, gently running her hand over Leah's hair.

She moved as quickly as she dared, wary of making noise with her movements. When Leah knocked a piece of metal across the grated floors she paused, holding her hand behind her to stop her daughter's movements while she listened intently. The barrel of the shotgun slowly slid back and forth as it scanned for targets.

When nothing appeared, Lindsay rose to her feet and moved through another short hallway and stood before the blast door she had locked. Shotgun at her side, she raised her hand and pressed it to the old steel. Her eyes closed as she felt the elements beneath her palm, cold against her skin, alive in her mind.

A light shimmered across the steel, and the locks within pulled back and started to open under Lindsay's power, opening the way to her haven in the belly of hell.
 
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Re: umbras in caligine

If any one piece of machinery down inside this little twisted hell could be said to be well cared for, oiled and well treated, cleaned and shown the tender loving care it deserved, it was the many arms, pulleys, and bolts that made up the cylindrical lock that held this door.

By extension of her will alone, Lindsay could feel the many arms, springs, bolts, wheels, and piston bars that held her homes front door, turn, bend, and snap back to rest peacefully behind the door, and as the light faded, the door swung open. They had survived another day, save, with food and water, and even here for mother and daughter, that was an accomplishment worthy of praise. How long now had they been doing this, how many months and years had passed in this manner of fear and risk, and how many times had luck simply smiled down on them.

Leah was the first down, immediately hopping down into the safety of their home and sliding down the ladder with a happy little squeak, before the thump of her landing signaled Lindsay to follow, shutting the door quietly behind her, the locks snapping back into place with a loud clang. Down the ladder, passed an old worn sign that said Engine Room, and into.... Home.

It wasn't much, but it was surprising what a person could gather, if they were careful and diligent, and down inside the engine room, Lindsay had made her home. There were other entrances, some less safe but the clever witch had gone to the trouble of sealing them, heavy steel pulled from around the ship to be melted into place. Leah, running around happily, bounced up onto a pile of homemade cushions and smiled at her mother, that soft little reminder that this would always be worth it, for her.

The large wooden wire spool was her table, the crates the chairs, the wool homespun curtains that covered to port holes, showing the blue world underneath made by her own hand, and the shining blue light that lit this place was made of crystal, a last gift from her father before the end, shining with a strange radiation that although created light, was perfectly harmless. With what they had, they could hide for another month, and given how close Lindsay had come to be... Bang..... Bang.... Thump...shuffle...

Ghouls... pounding on the door, wanting in, knowing there was a meal inside, knowing the 2 women would be filling, delicious... tender... Bang....Bang... Leah, hearing the sound, ran up and dove into her mother's arms, she didn't have to be tough or brave here, she could just be a little girl, and as she hid inside her mother's arms, that's what she was, starting to cry softly. Still, despite everything, her stomach rumbled rather loudly, and so did Lindsay's. Whether they would be haunted by these strange creatures, they still needed to eat, and despite it all, the strange sound and funny moment had her daughter giggling softly, looking at the bag of goodies on the table.
 
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