thebastion | Core Event: Day 259 [open]

[Lists of prisoners, prisoner transfer requests, parole requests, requests for family visitations, all sorts of paperwork can be found here.

There is one letter within an already-opened envelope that might be of interest, though. Even those who can't read Caelondian should be able to tell it is important, because the seal on the envelope is the seal for the Mancers.

If the letter is read, it's a response to a previous letter, or possibly a chain of letters. The exact reason for this chain of letters is not apparent, but there is one very, very important detail that can be gleaned from it:

Rucks was about to be arrested.

Given how this is on top of the pile of mail, it was probably one of the most recent letters received, right before the Calamity hit. The letter details Rucks' work schedule, with the intent of finding the best time of cornering Rucks and arresting him.]

Look, let's take just a minute here first. If we know who's in that cell block, or WHAT they were in for, we can know what we're likely going to find down there. Or not find, as it seems more likely in this case.

[Colin's going to leaf through the letters, paying special attention to that one with the Mancer's seal. He arches an eyebrow, and gives a low whistle.]

Well, well... looks like Zulf, Raile, Zia, and Rucks' little plan hadn't been going unnoticed... This letter's saying that they'd been planning to arrest the old man.

And given that it's at the top of the pile, seems likely to me that this was shortly before the calamity...

[He glances at Ippo and Zuko with a grin, then he looks around the Warden's office with some new curiosity.]

I need a prisoner manifest, and I want to see if there's any more of these Mancer-marked letters... it strikes me that there's some good information to be had here.

[He also isn't giving up hopes for cache of shards or weapons or SOMETHING, but he knows this place has been heavily picked over already. He wouldn't be surprised if the Ura hadn't already raided this place to free their countrymen...]

Especially for Cell Block three. That's where all those keys seemed to be missing for...

[Well...that was certainly news to be sure. He'd heard about the group through the grapevine, but that was about all...things considered, it was disconcerting to say the least. Still, he'd continue rummaging around, looking for the things Colin had suggested...the more information the better after all.]

But...what do you think it all means?

[Zuko hasn't heard too much about them, and the fact that someone was going to be arrested doesn't mean much to her. How are old arrest records going to be useful information? Still, she starts rooting around to see if there's anything else with that seal.]

You think they kept Ura sympathizers here?

[Maybe the people who came in here before were from the Ura camp?]

I think that the Caelondians were like every short-sighted victorious force in a war that sought to dominate rather than repair.

[Just a trace of bitterness in his tone there.]

Other than that, I don't know. I suspect that the Mancers had domestic spies that were looking for dissent and treason anywhere they could find it, but... until I find something more, I've got no proof other than historical precedent.

[He's going to leaf through the mail pile first, though he suspects there's not going to be too much more useful stuff in there... then he's going to start going through the warden's desk. And probably taking it apart. Experience has taught him that everyone in positions of power have things they don't want other people to see, and in a pre-information age, that means hidden compartments in places they view as under their strict control...]

[There are lots of letters to go through, and it will take a lot of time to actually go and read all of them here. But, just at a glance, the group would be able to find a couple groups of letters that might be interesting.

For one, they can find several more with the Mancer symbol on them, likely the rest in the chain of letters. Additionally, if Colin actually does start dismantling the desk, he will find a secret compartment with a couple letters and a small logbook in it. Finally, if they read through the dates on the letters, they will be able to sort out the ones that came in the week preceding the Calamity.

However, due to shenanigans in another thread, this group only has enough time to do one of the following before shit hits the fan:

1: read one of the groups of letters

2: pocket the letters and go check out the jail cells

3: pocket the letters and go try to track down the solitary confinement area.

What do you do?]

[You better believe that he's taking that desk apart. Fortunately, with the combination of his eye and his engineering expertise, as well as a predilection towards breaking things, and understanding how things are made, that's not too difficult... With all this reading material, though...]

Okay, there's going to be plenty of stuff to read for later.

[Into the satchel it goes.]

If you've found anything good, let's see it... if not... Well, do we wanna check the possible mass breakout, or do we wanna check whoever was important enough to separate from everyone else?

[Nothing but paperwork, Colin. Zuko hands over what she's collected for his satchel.]

We still don't know where solitary is, do we?

[Plus it's not like they'd find anyone alive in there after all this time.]

I guess not...so, to the cell block then?

[It would have been nice to check Solitary, but Zuko made a fair point as she usually did. It was better to take a shot where they had multiple chances at finding something rather than one big gamble.]

That sounds like our best option, then.

[Colin glances around the Warden's office one more time, growing disappointed... He'll come back later to check there service quarter, but he honestly doesn't expect to find anything. This is either the best planned prison, or the absolute worst...]

[To the cell blocks it is!

Fortunately, it is not too difficult to find cell block 3. It is the one that was left largely undamaged in the Calamity. And when they get to the proper area, they will find quite a scene.

First off, there are almost no ash piles in this area. Somehow this particular cell block was shielded from the worst of the Calamity, and those who were locked away here managed to survive.

However, surviving the searing heat may not have been a blessing for most of them. Though almost all the keys for this area were taken from the guard tower, only about half were actually opened by a key. Most of the rest seem to have had their iron bars ripped off by some great force, and there are many suspicious, old blood stains on the walls and floors.

For the few that were neither unlocked nor ripped open, the prisoners' bodies are still in their cells, as they had passed away long ago. But those particular instances are very few and far between. For most of the prisoners, they either escaped or met a rather gruesome end.

If anyone happens to look through the cells, they will find a journal in one of the cells with a door ripped off. Said journal has been left on one of the beds, and is covered in dried blood, so much so that large parts of the pages have been rendered illegible. Some of the sections can still be read, though.]

[Ippo grimaced at the scene, surveying the levels of destruction around him. It was never easy to see, and while it wasn't his first time seeing dead bodies, the smell was horrendous enough to have him tucking his face into his shirt. He did however bother to check what cells he could manage to bring himself into; for all he knew, he might find something under a bed or mattress, but in between all of that he found the journal, which he tossed to Colin.]

I found this! Can you read it?

[He wasn't going to pat the bodies down for goods though...it just didn't feel right to him to rifle through someone's body looking for stuff.]

Careful with it, it looks like it's been through a lot...

[Colin follows Ippo in, his hand shooting up to catch the journal and hopefully find it without extra damage.]

Let's see what language this is in, first... I'm guessing 60-40 it's in Ura... Maybe a slim chance it's in some third language that we have yet to discover around here...

[He's not so sure he wants to let it be known that he knows how to read Ura... not that it will STOP him from reading it, of course... Just stop him from sharing later.]

[About Zuko's only experience with dead bodies was Night, and the sight of the few here clearly makes her uncomfortable. Part of her just wants to avoid those cells entirely and part of her has to remind herself that they don't have time for funeral pyres.

She can handle the dried blood and the ripped open cells, though.]

Somehow I don't think this was a metalbender. [Which means, probably not a human.] Does it say anything in there about a monster?

[The journal is well past halfway filled, and it's clear that whoever has been writing in this has been in jail for some time. The first entry details his detainment (over theft) and his jail sentence (three years). Several months' worth of entries are filled with the day-to-day boringness of life in prison, as well as this man's struggles with sharing a cell with an Ura, as he had never met an Ura before going to prison and he only knew the stories his father had told him about them. And since his father had been a military-type...yeah, not the most neutral opinions there. But yeah most of that can be skimmed, it's not so important here.

Closer to the end of the filled in pages, it's clear that this person has gotten on more friendly terms with his roommate, who is later referenced by name: Zed.]

I am not sure what happened, but it has to be something big. I saw the light, and I felt the burn of the heat, but Zed and I managed to avoid the worst of it. For one long, horrible moment, there was much screaming, and then all went silent-

[Bloodstains cover the rest of the page, and they seem to have soaked through, making the rest of the pages only readable in chunks. All of the following text is all that is readable on the next ten or so pages.]

-We counted by shouts, naming off ourselves. All told, there are sixty-one of us left in this cell block. I do not know if anyone else survived outside, but I can on-

-two days now. Zed and I had been saving our food for months already, as the guards liked to sometimes 'forget' our meals, no doubt because of who Zed is. The other cells with Ura in them had a similar problem, so they will last longer, like us. The rest have eaten through what little they already have, though. Zed wanted to share, but with no sign of any living guards, I thought it best not to-

-down to fifty-nine now. The screams last night seemed to come from one of the upper cells, which is where our missing brothers were. As hungry as everyone is, the worry over what happened is making everything wor-

-A group came through he cells today. I do not know who they were, but they had the pale skin and black hair that all Ura have. They went through, talking to those in the cells, unlocking some but leaving others-

-ty-three left now. Between those who left with the man, and those who disappear each night, we are down to less than half our original number. I hate to admit it, but I am afraid. When will they come for us? When wi-

-finally got Zed to explain why we were left. He said that they only wanted him. They were only freeing the Ura, not the Caels. He had refused to leave me behind to die, and instead was left to rot with me-

-ten left, maybe less. Our food has lasted us these three weeks, and the water dripping from the ceiling has kept our thirst at bay. But we are running out. Zed has a plan, we will be sleeping during the day, so that at night we can entice the beast to our cell. When it rips the bars off, we will take that time-

-leaving this here for whoever may find it. Do not stay in this place. The beast will devour you. We are going towards my home-

-find us there. If we survive.

Whatever may happen, whoever finds this journal, tell my mother I love her.

[Colin's flipping through the pages, skimming them as quickly as he can without damaging them.]

Typical prisoner log, Caelondian tongue...

Huh... Looks like a few of them did survive the Calamity...

And, surprise surprise, racial hatred screwed some of the survivors over. We were right. Ura survivors came by to free their companions.

They left the Caels to die. No big surprise there.

[Little bit of disgust? Oh yeah.]

And... they also left Zed behind... interesting... hang on, I'm going to read this. It's... kinda broken up by blood stains, so...

[Colin's going to start reading from the first mention of the Calamity, all the way to the end, pausing between readable spots.]

We may have to go pay our Ura friends another visit.

[There's a shout through the building, though it's mental rather than actual sound. Tobias has landed at the closest opening to the building he can find.]

<Hey! If you guys are in there - there's something going on in the offices. I think it's a monster. Head over there now!>

[Maybe it's no surprise to Colin, but it makes Zuko a little sick to think the Ura just left people here to die. At the end of the world, shouldn't they have a little more compassion than that? Maybe it just makes her worry about the kind of treatment her own people would get.

If the Boiling Rock survived the Calamity, would anyone have come to let Mai out? Or would they have left her, too?

She doesn't have the time to find her words before Tobias's voice rings in her mind and her expression hardens.]

Looks like that monster is still living here.

We should get going.

Damn!

[A rare curse left Ippo's mouth and without a second thought, he gave his gauntlets one more tap for luck and darted out of the room like a zip of lightning. Now that he was back in tip-top shape, he felt ready to handle anything that was going to come his way and if it was just a monster, a monster he could hit...he would do just fine.]

[Colin blinks and looks down the hall, then he scowls.]

Dammit... Zuko, I need to put this stuff away. Keep up with Ippo, I'll be right behind you two!

Tobias, what kind of monster?!

[And Zuko thought Ippo had made some progress at being less reckless. Maybe not. Not that she planned on wasting time, but she thought it might be useful to know if Tobias had any more information than that.

Instead she nods to Colin. He'll tell them if he figures anything out.]

Right.

[Aaand she's off after Ippo.]

<Some kind of lizard. I can follow behind you guys, but it'll take me a minute once we get in there for me to morph to anything useful. Heat will probably drive it off if it's anything like the lizards I know.>

[Then again, maybe it's not. But it's worth a try.]

[Colin frowns, and looks around at the debris and along the doors at the cell block. Something doesn't feel right...]

Keep out of its range, and dive-bomb it. If it's like the lizards I know, it won't enjoy an aerial threat to its well-being.

[He starts packing away the book and carefully arranging the letters to minimize the risk to damaging them in transit and combat. He also takes a moment to study the damage to the doors. He's going to want to compare the marks to the Lizard's body when he gets the chance... Prisons are designed to take a LOT of abuse. Even a large, angry animal would probably not be able to do all of this, even over an extended length of time...]

<Got it. I'd morph Paarthurnax but he wouldn't fit. I don't have any tougher options for aerial assault. I'll head over there now.>

[He flaps and takes off, thinking over his options. Staying in his current form is probably the best option...]

Core Event: Day 259 [open]

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