[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/985402701812744232/1124476494392086639/96b75b3cd8439e691904ed5382ef2765.png[/img][hr][h2][color=lightblue]Cold Comfort: Two Birds in a Cage[/color][/h2][hr][/center]

Sleep, the most important function of any living being, one that determines the productivity of any person. Within stone walls that reverberate any sound made and a man who snores like a knife scraping across slate, having a restful sleep was difficult. Marz thankfully had been through similar situation, so having any bit of sleep was good enough in his mind. What Marz was upset about was the fact that they were awoken in a very abrupt way, a loud bell began to ring throughout the halls which reverberated through the ears and directly to the bones.

The monks began to walk through the halls, making sure each cell was awake and were then ordered into different lines. Each line being assigned different tasks for the day, Marz was ordered into one group, one that was filled with many different craftsmen of different crafts. Men and women with larger builds, smaller builds, burns and calluses in different locations of the hands, even tan marks around the face in specific locations for different eye wear and face wear associated with different crafts. Among the group of people Marz noticed a very particular person, Choran, in a small moment their eyes met a flash of hostility was felt from both of them. Marz heard multiple monks notice and yelled at them to stay away from each other. After which, the group began to head off to the manufacturing floor.

Marz felt the eyes of everyone around him laid down onto his movements. They were watching his every move, wondering if he would make a slip up, one false move that would give him away as some kind of rat in their midst. Soon enough this deep stare from all directions faded away once they entered a set of 2 large doors, each with enough width to allow multiple grown to pass by each other with ease. The doors themselves seem to be made of a thick wood with much wear and damage across the door similar to the damage a cart would deal when hit against an object.

Once the group entered the manufacturing floor Marz was able to see the working conditions of these smiths, and all he could think is how awful these were. Smelly and damp air filled the nostrils as it smelt as if this place was only sweat. The heat in the manufacture floor assaulted the body and mouth, making the body heat up quickly and dry the mouth. The forges seemed well made but any good smith would know that they would bleed heat and making forging much harder to even work. The anvils were solid metal, yet the face of them seemed scaled over with many imperfections that would transfer to the metal and make any product rough and require countless hours of sanding and polishing to make it remotely smooth.

Marz' face looked at the tools, the work stations, the material, all of it being completely unacceptable in Marz' mind. Noticing Marz' face, a monk comes over to scold him, [color=lightblue]"What? Is something wrong?"[/color]

Marz looked to the man and was about to berate the man and the many others here about these conditions, but he noticed something from the corner of his eye, it seemed some of the other Hegelans looked to him, pleading silently to not say anything. Marz wasn't sure why, he would expect craftsmen of high caliber to wish for adequate working conditions, yet they seemed to try and tell him this is the conditions they wanted. Marz knew something was going on with the other Hegelans, with a mole involved, they may have a plan that required these harsher conditions. Marz answered the monk who has now gotten into his face and began to tower over Marz, [color=#933A16]"The smell of some of these pigs is awful"[/color].

Like the many others here, Marz was set to work, because of the little information the monks had on his skill, they tasked him with gunsmithing to test his skill. Forming a barrel, the firing mechanism, working wood, forming and making the tools needed, much of the work expected to prove oneself as a competent smith. Yet as Marz felt stares fall upon him, he began to stares and watch back. Paying attention to the many people working within this dark, hot, and difficult enviroment. Everyone's work here seemed sloppy, slow, and all around inadequate for even an adept to even be able to call these things of any quality. Marz decided to match the pace, of all his work he learned when he was younger, the faster you work, the more work you do.

Half way through the day, Marz has made some progress on the tools he would eventually use to form the firing mechanism. Yet his flow was interrupted by the ringing of a bell, a bell that signaled everything within these prison walls. When to sleep, when to eat, when to leave, and many more things. This time thankfully it was signaling the meal time where Marz was able to meet with Venna. Again, the food is quite drab, soup and bread, the soup should be called 'Flavor' as it was the only way Marz could think of this food being able to taste like anything. Once he sat down, Venna found him quickly enough by seeing his large size and sitting across from him as she was the first to spark conversation, [color=pink]"So how were things?"[/color]

Marz shrugged as he spoke before putting a spoon full of soup into his mouth, [color=#933A16]"Eh, its work, it felt annoyin' with ev'rything there, it seems ev'ryone else has some alternative motive"[/color].

Venna nodded as she spoke in more hushed tones, [color=pink]"I know, they are definitly up to somethin'. I can 'ell whit what I see, and it is good, it means they aren't buying things 'ere"[/color]. Venna sighs as she takes a spoon full of soup and seems to grumble quietly. Something akin to her knowing nothing and being left out of the loop.  Among the grumbling, Marz ate his food, wondering, as eyes continued to look at him, what the other Hegelans here were doing.

Back on the manufacturing floor, Marz returned to his work with making tools for gunsmithing. It came to a shock to him when he saw Venna come over to him with a large cart, [color=pink]"'Ello, can I get ya anythin'?"[/color]

Marz said quizzically, [color=#933A16]"What'd ya got?"[/color]

Venna lightly gestured to the cart, [color=pink]"Water, flux, files, whetstones, and a whole assortment of tings"[/color].

Marz nodded his head as he wiped some of the sweat off of his head, [color=#933A16]"Uhm, ya, some water"[/color].

Venna nodded as she took out this small metal cup that she ladled water into. Marz took hold of it and quickly downed the water before Venna took it back and made some more conversation with Marz before she moved on, where she began asking them much the same. Venna's job seemed much more like an apprentice's when working in a large shop. Marz was curious when he saw this, he was wondering if she did this work in one of the areas. This had to be something Marz needed to ask her later, as it might give him an idea of what kind of other work is done here.

Marz continued to work and watch everyone, and began to notice soemthing perculiar about the amount of bathroom breaks taken. There was a highly unusual amount of bathroom breaks being taken in a very set interval. Marz began counting the time inbetween each break by the beat of his hammer hitting the metal and when he was not hitting it, the anvil. This was something every smith knew would keep themselves in motion and keeping their own time when forging. Marz noticed that with every 5 minute bathroom break, another person clocked out to use the restroom 2 minutes after the person returned. Marz continued to watch and count, as once he noticed most others were looking away and focusing on their work, Marz left his station to clock out at the exact moment the person had to return, breaking the cycle the others had made.

Once Marz began to leave, he was looked at with scorn, yet none of them could mess with him, as he was the only one allowed to be gone at the moment. Feeling satisfied, Marz began to make his way to the directed bathroom where he ran into one of his cellmates, Choran. When their eyes met they both stared at the other as if they were about to brawl, yet Choran looked around and realized  it was only Marz. Marz threw a thumb behind him as he said, [color=#933A16]"Move, I need to shit"[/color]. Choran begrudgingly left, bumping shoulders into Marz before he left.

The moment Marz entered the privy, his eyes darted around as he began to look around the enclosed space. There had to be a reason they constantly came here, as it was in that moment Marz' eyes landed on in. He dropped to one knee as he thought for a moment where could only a Hegelan could reach, Marz took a deep breath as he stuck his arm into the toilet hole where he reach behind where the hole is, he could feel an empty space where there would be a vent to allow the smell to leave, it was a space impossible to reach,  well impossible for those with long arms. For Hegelans, they had arms short enough to allow them to hook their arm into the space without falling in, as Marz found some strange object. He pulled it out and stepped away from the toilet, beginning to inspect it. The object seemed intricate, yet also makeshift and crude. Marz was about to begin his inspection more thoroughly, however he heard a slamming at the door and the door was nearly thrown open. 

Marz turned to see Choran had returned, and the man seemed furious, [color=orange]"What are you doin' in 'ere? Yer sure as shit ain't takin one!"[/color]

Marz was about to rebuttal yet he saw from the corner of his eye a shadow turning the corner. He stood up and put the device behind his back, using his back loop to hang it off of precariously as the monk called out, [color=Lightblue]"What are you two doing?"[/color] The monk turned to Choran as he said, [color=lightblue]"You, why are you out here, you are supposed to be back on the floor"[/color].

Choran seemed to be almost dumbfounded while the monk got closer, Marz quickly came up with a quick cover before the monk forced a search, [color=#933A16]"Choran here was helpin' me find the privy, am not too good wit directions an the dark is hard on me eyes"[/color]. The monk looked to Marz for a moment and then to Choran, Choran nodded in agreement as the monk looked to Marz and waved his hand, [color=lightblue]"Finish then"[/color]. Marz nodded as he grabbed the handle of the door and he backed up into the privy, where when he closed the door, he did so with a solid thud and then set his knees down onto it hard, making it where is sounded like he sat back. There he leaned in and put the device back into the little hidden hole, and then let out a fart into the toilet.

Once Marz left the toilet, he and Choran were escorted back to the manufacturing floor, there Choran and Marz' eyes met, and Choran nodded to Marz. Once they returned they were both told to return to their work stations.  

Once the work day finished the bell that controlled the flow of life within these tunnels rung, informing everyone that it is time for supper. The same motions as the day before, all the Hegelans were put into a flowing line that travelled to the dinning hall. Everyone collected their tasteless stew and bread. Marz found a place where he sat across from Venna, and the two of them started talking about the day's gossip. However the strange thing was that other Hegelans came and sat around them. They all came and nodded to him, with the one to sit next to him was the charismatic Hegelan who seemed to try and interrogate him the previous night, [color=green]"Thanks fella"[/color]. Nothing more, leaving Venna in the dark, as many look to her with wary looks. Leaving Venna confused why they looked to her and speaking in secrets, but for Marz, he knew they were thanking him for keeping the secret of the device.

Once dinner was done, Marz returned to his cell, and the mood within seemed much more calm. Hostilities within seemed to have lifted as Khalud seeming to be acting like a much more livelier friend who even welcomed Marz into the cell, [color=purple]"Marz! How was your first day!"[/color] They seemed much friendlier, each of them regarding him in their own way. Choran opened up from their originally hostile relationship, Khalud was very friendly and wishing to make conversation. Even Mazan, the old silent man even opened up as he regarded Marz with a nod.

Choran was the first one to break the silence as he said, [color=orange]"Thanks again"[/color].

Marz did a nod then a light head toss while he said, [color=#933A16]"What's going on here?"[/color] Marz being one who always is to the point didn't want to play around the issues.

Choran chuckled to himself as he said, [color=orange]"A man to the point I see. One after my own heart"[/color].

Marz looked to him with a face that showed disgust, [color=#933A16]"What does that mean?"[/color]

Choran continued as if he never heard Marz, [color=orange]"So, the monks here, we believe they aren't real. They're too worried about certain things, not much about the religious, more about the profit. This entire situation might be us being trapped in this confined hole till they are done with us"[/color].

Khalud the chimed in, [color=purple]"So instead of being some cog in their machine, we have been stallin' on their magic dampenin' work and have been doin' our own than'. You know, the one ye found"[/color].

Choran spoke up once more, [color=orange]"However, we ran into some snags, things we haven't been able to figure out"[/color].

Mazen then interjected, [color=gray]"So the problem we have been running into is…"[/color] Mazen then began to talk for nearly an hour about the many technical difficulties they have ran into.

Marz nodded once Mazen finished, [color=#933A16]"I'll be honest old man, I don't know a damn thing you said. I work better with my hands"[/color].

Choran then promised, [color=orange]"Tomorrow we will bring you in on it, it'll require some time, but having your eyes might be the thing we need"[/color].

Once it came time for everyone to sleep, things ended quite normally. Mazan began to snore like a half clockwork engine, yet Marz had slightly became more accustomed to it. Which made it all the more strange when he thought he heard a scratching sound. Marz began to listen to the scratching as it continued inbetween Mazan's snoring, telling him it was something else. Marz turned to listen as he thought he could hear the sound coming from Choran and Khalud's side of the room.

Marz began to turn and sit up, yet the moment he sat up to try and investigate, it stopped, and never returned for that night.