Two weeks of rolling grasslands gave way to a more rocky landscape, and apparently this was our destination. It was a huge open cast quarry. The wagons rolled through the gates and we were unloaded into a pen off to the side. After a couple of hours this self-important man walked out onto a platform above the pen and gave us a speech on the glories of the Empire and the benefits of civilization that it brought. And we could be a part of this and be better and stronger if we only accepted the new Class we were offered. That was the first time I was offered the Slave Class. He didn’t get any takers at that point and I don't think he expected to. But that was just the start.

Our accommodation was basically a shed. Meals were a watery gruel at dawn and dusk. Part of the Quarry had actual Stone Masons and their slaves carving out slabs and blocks which were carted off somewhere. Our job was to pound up the offcuts into gravel and load it into carts which then disappeared. Sometimes we had to pound at a rock face because it wasn’t suitable until we got to the rock that was. There were injuries from falling rocks, there were injuries from guard beatings and whips. There was hunger and thirst. Then there was the Torture Pit.

If you stood out in anyway, or especially if you showed any signs of new skills or, in one case an affinity, you were taken to the Torture Pit. There you were continuously tortured until you accepted the Slave Class or you died. They didn’t want you to die. In fact they got punished if they killed you. They wanted you to become a Slave. Slaves with special Skills were more valued. The Guards were good at their jobs. The torture could last days, in one case over a week. Eventually the person would appear blank eyed and obedient. All the while we had to listen to the screams.

Apparently Slaves found it very difficult to learn new skills after accepting the Class and it was impossible for them to get an affinity. One man was so exhausted after a day's work he stumbled and fell into the cooking fire. At first there were screams and the smell of burnt flesh, then there wasn’t and only burnt clothes and maniacal laughter. Then this guy went around touching everything he could and everything he touched was left with burn marks or on fire. The guards soon appeared with shields and herded / bashed him into the Pit. He only lasted a day and came out blank eyed and soaking wet. He was moved into the other barracks with the “proper” Slaves and given other tasks until the next caravan collected them.

About every three months a Caravan would turn up. We would get fresh bodies and they would take away the “proper” Slaves. People would accept the Slave Class even at the threat of being taken to the Pit. This would happen if the Caravan was due and they didn’t have enough for whatever number of Slaves they had to meet for their quota.

In my first week there I got the Hammer skill and in the second my base Physical Strength went up one. Then I got offered a choice of two very basic classes. Labourer and Quarry Worker. I was suspicious at first and discreetly asked some of the others. Apparently this is common and the Empire would like you to accept more classes. All in the name of raising the skill level of their slave population, of course. Both Labourer and Quarry Worker came with three Attribute Points per level, but these were all automatically assigned. Labourer got 2 to Physical Strength and 1 to Physical Agility. Quarry Worker received 2 to Physical Strength and 1 to Spiritual Strength. This puzzled me at first, but apparently the Physical requirements of Quarry Worker went beyond the physical and needed the Spiritual boost. Plus some of the skills had minimum Spiritual Strength requirements in the apprentice and Journeyman levels. I didn’t much care about that. I was wanting the strength to escape. This was probably also the reasoning of almost every slave before me too. However, I chose Quarry Worker because Agility was taken care of in my hunter class and I currently had no input to the Spiritual attributes.

After I had been there 6 months I became one of the old hands. That was when I bonded with Pip and levelled my Hunter Class. What is there to hunt in a Quarry? Rodents and snakes. We did our best to supplement our food and I was one of the better hunters and with my stealth and hearing, better at avoiding the Guards. My Trapping, Tracking and Stealth all went up. At that point I was being worn down mentally. Quarry Worker was stalled at 4 and I couldn’t be bothered putting in the effort to get it over the hump to the Apprentice Levels. Why bother? Food was still important so I went out hunting that night and checked my few traps. I followed a faint snake trail and found a new snake nest. I could hear them well with Hearing Aid, but the crevice was too dark for me to see and Identify them. I braced myself against the edge and leaned over trying to catch a glimpse. That’s when Pip gave me my poison resistance.

While I was peering into the crevice a young snake attached itself to my hand and injected me with its venom. I quickly moved my hand away, but the still attached snake came with it. I brought my other hand around and detached the snake and was going to smash its head against the rock when it occurred to me I could harvest the venom as a weapon. It was quite a potent weapon. I was definitely getting woozy and had to sit for a while. This was just a young snake affecting me and my Physical Constitution was pretty high these days. I hadn’t seen this type of snake before so I threw an Identify at it, and it came back with Young Desert Viper - Potential to Bond 63%. That was new, or was it just the poison affecting me? I could bond with it? I could bond with it!!! I wasn’t going to let this chance pass. Now how on earth do you do this? It was Mental Strength and Mental Agility and obviously Mental perception helped. My base Mental Strength had notched up a couple of points due to the pressure of being here. I latched on to that and tried to form a Mental connection to the snake. It was like pushing through mud. Thick mud. I added one of my free points to Mental Strength and it got slightly easier. I put another to Mental Agility and could move through the thickness easier, and suddenly I was there. I could feel the snake's presence in my mind, just vague emotions. I definitely got the feeling he was hungry. I got a new skill, Animal Bond 1 and It seemed to push my Hunter Class to 4. A Desert Viper appeared in my Status and I decided to name him Pip (shortened from Pip Squeak, because he was small). Hopefully we would grow to understand each other better as we levelled the Animal Bond skill. Pip had two skills, Quick Strike and Venom Bite.

I could come back and harvest Venom another night. Right now we needed to hunt for something for Pip to eat. I let Pip slither up my arm under my sleeve and he curled up on my shoulder under my shirt where I provided the warmth. We went hunting. I had a new purpose to keep going. I would have to keep Pip a secret from everybody, including my fellow prisoners. As soon as someone accepted the Slave Class they would then answer any question asked of them. Including if they knew if any of their former mates had any special abilities.

I looked at my Status and one thing stood out to me. That was my Spiritual Agility still at 8. 10 is often a minimum for a lot of skills. Am I missing out on some Spiritual Skills because of this? I had two points from levelling Hunter to 4. Should I bump it to 10? I could use one point to get Physical Perception to 20 and get Far Sight. I could put them in the Mental Attributes and bolster my mental defences and boost my connection to Pip. Shit I am going to do it. I closed my eyes and put them to Spiritual Agility and waited. Nothing. Did I waste my last free points for a long time? Probably. Anyway I liked the look of my Status now. All I have to do now is keep me and Pip out of the Torture Pit.

Class

Hunt

QW

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

4

4

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

10

2

8

20

57.0

Agility (PA)

14

4

18

Poison R +1

Perception (PP)

11

8 19

Mental

Strength (MS)

11

2

13

38.0

Agility (MA)

12

2

14

Pain R +3

Perception (MP)

11

0 11

Spiritual

Strength (SS)

10

0

4

14

34.0

Agility (SA)

8

2 10

Perception (SP)

10

0 10

Totals

97

20 12 129

Free points

0

Bond: Pip Desert Viper. Skills: Venom Bite, Quick Strike

Skills:

Novice: Fishing3, Small Blades 4, Skinning 4, Cooking 1, Tracking 2, Identify 4, Hearing Aid 4, Butchering 1, Spear 1, Animal Bond 1

Apprentice: Bow 5, Hammer 7, Stealth 7, Trapping 8