The Chronicles of Glisco (Original Story)

Chapter 5: Luke's Group

Josh leads Lycus through the streets of Martho for several minutes. At this point they stop in front of a large building. The building is so large, that it remains Lycus of the mansion where his family lives. However, this building does not appear to be as well taken care of as the mansion. It is also in the middle of a city rather than in a gated area like the Arth mansion.

Once they get there, Josh says, "Alright I will show you around. Just be warned that it is usually not a pretty sight inside."

"I should be fine," Lycus states.

With this the two of them walk into the building. They have just entered the building when Lycus is overpowered by the stench of feces. He is stunned by just how bad it smells inside this building. What is even more surprising is that he could not smell it until they had actually entered the building.

As soon as they have entered the building a man walks up to them. This man says, "Welcome to Luke's Group. Are you in the market for some extra cheap labor?"

Josh replies, "My name is Josh Barls. I am a soldier that serves the Arth family. I have been asked to look for a new servant for the mansion."

"Is that so?" the man replies. He then says, "Well you could not have come to a better place than this to find a servant. Are there any specific qualities that you are looking for?"

Josh quickly replies, "No, nothing in particular." He then adds, "Oh by the way. This young man is my son, Bill. My wife could not watch him today, so he had to come with me."

"That is fine. However, young children are usually upset by the condition that some of the people here are in," the man states.

Josh says, "I think that Bill will be alright."

"Very well. I will show you around them. Let me know if any of them catch your eye," the man says. With this he leads the two of them further into the building.

As the man is leading them deeper into the building Lycus whispers, "Why did you lie about who I am?"

"Because if they knew a member of the Count's family had come here personally they would be more on edge. It's better not to worry them," Josh says.

"I guess that makes sense," Lycus replies.

At this point, Lycus realizes that they have been led to a staircase. The man begins to descend the stairs. Josh and Lycus follow him. As they are going down these stairs, Lycus can smell many horrible stenches coming from deep below. He is starting to see why his parents did not want him to know about this place.

When they reach the bottom of the spiral staircase, the group of three enters a large open area. This area is lined with cages upon cages. The number of cages in the area is truly amazing to Lycus. However, the fact that each one likely contains a slave makes the sight also somewhat disturbing to Lycus.

Once they are in this area the man that is guiding them says, "I will start by showing you some of the finer products that we have here at Luke's Group. I trust that since you are here on the Count's business, you are able to pay for such a product."

"It should not be a problem," Josh replies.

"Excellent," the man says. He then leads them to the far back of the room.

As they are making their way towards the back end of the area, Lycus looks into many of the cages that they are passing. He sees all sorts of humanoids. Many of the occupants of the cages are actually beastkin. They are people that are half human and half animal. According to what Lycus knows, the beastkin is the result of a curse being put on a family. The beastkin are largely looked down on in Glisco. That is about all that Lycus knows about them though.