<strong>Keriath's Journal</strong><br/><br/><em>Note: Keriath's journal is written from the perspective that he expects some do-gooder to eventually find and read it. He considers outright lying a last resort, but he will tend to gloss over important details where they might compromise his goals. He may sometimes imply things that aren't true or severely understate things that are.</em><br/><br/><strong>Day 1</strong><br/><br/>My dear little slave was sounding so happy. Poor thing. Oh to watch the hope fade from her eyes. I am certain it would have broken a lesser heart.<br/><br/>After our grand trial, we had a lovely trip to Brandescar. I assume it must have been lovely because they did not dare take my hood off from the moment the trial ended. I was allowed to drink water through straw, at least. My pet was all too happy to describe the scenery for me. Of course, her voice could make a pigsty sound immaculate.<br/><br/>Sergeant Blackerly laughed at her cry when he branded her. Before I leave, I am going to brand each of his stones along with his manhood, and stuff their crushed, burnt remains down his throat. I doubt that my dear slave will appreciate the gesture, but I will not tolerate disrespect to my most valuable property.<br/><br/>He needed to reheat the iron twice to get my brand to take. The hood permitted me to keep a bemused look on my face as he cursed my mother. I understand that she is not the most gentle of women, but he has no right to call her that.<br/><br/>He is going to wish I killed him. I know he has no reward awaiting him in the afterlife, but I feel it important to make sure his life in this world is thoroughly destroyed, first.<br/><br/>Besides my fellow cellmates, I caught neither whiff nor sound of another female in the entire prison on my way in, nor any of the guards talking about any female except for Thog. Such esteemed company we are in. I was not expecting her to look anywhere near as pleasant as she does, as such creatures go. Given her sobriquet, I imagine she will be dining well shortly.<br/><br/>The guards openly taunted me about the visage I was missing as they locked me in. I told them I could smell my new friends just<em>fine</em>and that seemed to disturb them enough to shut them up.<br/><br/>If you are some would-be hero looking for clues as to where we might be off too, yes, Tomas seriously let me see a guest and actually allowed us privacy while my hood was off and arms unbound. She had him wrapped around her finger so tight I was worried she would need to amputate it. He didn't even get to touch her for it, much less... Anyway, his own soldiers aren't exactly blind to how incompetent he is, either.<br/><br/>And yes... freedom. If you think being manacled and fettered is uncomfortable, you should grow a pair of tails and have the lovely ladies who finally captured us bind them to your waist. Once they figured it out - after a few weeks of very little dignity - they did a very good job, in more than a few ways. The wizardess spent most of the time researching a counter to the grease spell just so they could have the... grip to pull my tails fully taut. It took all six of them, plus some volunteers.<br/><br/>When I get my clothes back from the sorceress - and check up on my sons if they are born yet - I am going to have to thank them for minding my bone structure when they bound my tails. They ached... oh did they ever ache, but a straight wind around would have been excruciating. The ladies must have made it rather clear how hard they were to bind, because no one dared take the bindings off since, even for the trial.<br/><br/>Just the feeling of them being free was enough to distract me from the... nature and state of my new companions. Important, I think, that we get someplace safe.<br/><br/>Now for the guards. I might ask, what would you do, if you had four beautiful women and a man in a cell, all securely bound, and the man able to hear but not see?<br/><br/>I know what I would do. My slave knows too. I am curious how disciplined these guards are.<br/><br/>What better way for a man to get himself killed than to damn himself by his thoughts and goals in the process? Exquisite, I would say.