>>5558676>“…Scratch?”“Yeah. On account of my tendency to scratch out the eyes of people I don’t like. Now, get on with it.”
Even with this accursed darkness, it was clear to see that this person wasn’t Anemone OR Eulalia. Still, perhaps they might be worth questioning in the hopes they knew something useful.
>“Okay…Scratch. How long have you been down here?”Scratch…scratches her head. “Don’t know. Weeks, I think. Maybe a month? Hard to tell what day it is though when you’re just sitting in the dark alone. Most of the time I just pass out. It’s impossible to tell for how long too. I’ll just…fall asleep, wake up, and then repeat. Over and over and over.”
>“Even for a prisoner, this all seems to be a bit excessive.”Scratch shrugs her shoulders. “Ain’t like I don’t deserve it. Every so often, my new friend would come and visit. She tried to leave a torch on for me once, but when one of the knights found out, apparently he’d screamed at her to never do that again.” She mumbles under her breath. “Wish I could rip that bastard’s head off for that.”
“Friend?” Corrine asks incredulously. “You made a friend in this dump?! I thought you were alone?”
“Yeah. Her name is Mariah. She’s a good girl. Not like that other bitch. Imagine my surprise that a little noble lady would want anything to do with a crook like me?”
Mariah? The handmaiden from upstairs? Why would she come to a place like this? And who was this “other bitch”? Interesting.
“How are you even alive?” Corrine asks. “From the way you spoke earlier, seems you’ve been waiting to be executed for a while.”
“At this point, I’m so bored I’d welcome it.” The bandit scoffs. “Some time ago, I stopped getting fed. The soldier that would come by with my meals just up and vanished. I thought maybe they forgot about me, and I’d starve. But Mariah told me that was because of all that ‘trouble’ going on outside. Now she’s the one taking care of me. She stops by with scraps to keep me fed. Even spends some time chatting. Hey, is she okay?”
At this point, you notice something strange about Scratch. Despite being kept in hellish conditions with little to no food for days, or possibly weeks on end, she looks to be in good health. Her body is still muscular, perhaps even more so than your own. And despite her isolation and sensory deprivation, her mind seems to be all there.
>Choose three questions to ask.>A): Ask about Mariah.>B): Ask if she’s seen anyone else in the dungeons.>C): Ask about the knight that yelled at Mariah.>D): Ask if she’s seen signs of the Agarthan lab.>E): Share your observations about her health with her.>F): Write-in. 