Genesis

Chapter 14: In the Depths

It was musty down in the dungeons; the shadows flickered on the walls, playing tag with the torch burning low outside the prison cell. The young boy lay in a heap amongst rotting cloth and straw. He was thin, but fit; hunger and thirst were taking their toll on his childish body. The sound of shuffling feet echoed through the dungeon corridors. The feet clicked like snapping fingers and faded in and out as the patrols made their circuits. The patrols were nearly pointless. The guards moved back and forth, completing their duties, but they did not truly care.

The floor was cool to the touch. Its embrace sent a chill run down his spine, causing him to tremble. The cold was his only comfort. He could clutch to the ancient bars of his cell, but no matter what he did the cold was the only thing to ever hug him back.

He was stuck in the misery of abandonment, with nothing but his thoughts and the pangs of hunger to accompany him. He lay in the farthest cell, both down, and back. If one was to descend the stairs at the prison's entrance, which were guarded by six ruthless guards and barred and locked, then moved forward until they reached the place where the corridor split in two and took a left, they would reach the first series of cells, where violent beggars were placed.

As they past that single room, they could then, follow along a low hanging path until they could take a right at the divide that offered two diagonal pathways. One path led to further cells and dead ends of unkempt tunnels, while the other, hewn from the very stone that surrounded it, would lead them to a steep spiral stairwell that barely large enough to accommodate a single person.

That staircase would then drop its bearer off on a small balcony overlooking the first dungeon floor, where they would descend another stairwell. The second well of stair was far more accommodating to its users.

Only upon reaching the main floor would they be able to make a left down a small side corridor, which would be dark, ominous and barely illuminated by the subtle glow of nearby torchlight. They would follow that corridor, with their head stooped low, until its end had been reached, leaving them with the sole option of turning right, into a corridor that was not so fortunate as to have been carved into a tunnel, but rather remained as the cave path that it had been before the land had been settled. After finding their way through the tight and dangerous spaces of that tunnel they would pass by a series of corridors on the left and right that were used to house prisoners who would possibly, just possibly, oppose the tyranny that had overtaken the land, where many prisoners had been allocated to.

They guards preferred those who were believed to have committed treason close by. At the end of that path they would find a second, larger spiral staircase that deposited them deeper into the prison complex and placed them on the second floor.

The second floor was a straight line of small, cramped cells stacked one on top of the other, with paths and ladders of varying lengths and sizes that did not do well to assure safety to their user. The cells housed ordinary criminals: petty thieves and their like. The third, fourth and fifth floors held many of the same criminals, although the fifth also held many side corridors that held the central barracks, storerooms and the armory, as well as many other side passages that led so deep that, if whosoever entered were to get lost, it was unlikely they would ever return to the light. But, there was still a chance. That is if they were able to survive the hundreds of pitfalls, both large and small, that littered the darkness of the deep tunnels.

Then came the sixth floor, which was used for housing the worst D'karian criminals: killers, those convicted of treasonous acts, among many other unforgivable crimes. That floor was the largest. It had long, winding tunnels leading to areas that had been carved out to make room for other prisoners long ago when Corusca saw a sudden rise in residents and crime. But that was before it had enough guards to patrol its streets. In response they dug out deep tunnels believing they would need them, but most of the cells remained empty, as did many of the vast tunnels.