Rotblossom Rose (1.18R)

Welcome to the space where I experiment, my weekly serial. It is written raw, not edited at all, and mostly unplanned.

The world is partly based on the background of an unpublished Steampunk game that I worked on with a few friends, which has grown in my mind over the last couple of years. The story is a take on those ultra-violent revenge epics of the eighties where a man’s family is abused and killed, but he survives and seeks vengeance. Needless to say it is a grim, bloody tale, that deals with bad people doing bad things, so be warned.

Here is the first post of this series.

Here is last week’s post.

<>

Rose flexed her metal fingers. She could feel through them, not as well as her real hand, of course, but still… it was a marvel, she decided, a gift to herself for a job well done. Grimes, Blackeyes, and Nave were all crossed off her list now, along with Kragorr and her da. She deserved this, and besides she needed the hand to continue along the path of vengeance that would earn her redemption.

As she contemplated the hand, which was animated by the ‘phantom impression of her lost arm’, at least according the artificer who built it, she listened to the rhythmic thumping of two enormous brutes pounding each other with their fists. Every now and then a collective intake of breath of a cheer from the crowd around the ring drew her attention to the fight but tonight she could not concentrate on the match tonight.

Rose’s purse was almost empty now, all save for a small, dull red stone and the bright green stone that she used to ease her pain and stop the rot from claiming any more of her body. It was worrisome. She needed to find work, but her only real skill was coilsword fencing. Even with the new mask that she wore over the rotten half of her face it would be hard to attract students and too public by far.

“Excuse me, do you mind if I join you?” The speaker’s voice was rough and indefinably odd in Rose’s ears. The man himself was worse; Rose was not in a position to judge people based on their appearance by something about the man’s appearance was alien. He was tall and thin with joints that hinted at wrong angles. His eyes were pale green and his smile was devoid of both charm and warmth.

“I do actually,” said Rose, taking an instant dislike to the man.

“Then I will be brief,” said the man, sitting down. He held a series of metal strings in his hands which he wove with his fingers, creating a cascade of of strange patterns that drew her attention. Rose abruptly notice the two very large men lurking nearby; her visitor kept company with thugs. “People in these parts call me The Spider. I make it my business to understand who is buying and selling Wraithstone in this part of The Hive.”

“Well fuck off then, I am not doing either.” said Rose, her skin crawling just to look at the man. Something about him just repulsed her, and yet she could not come up with any reason why she should react to him that way. Later on she learned that The Spider had that effect on everyone he met.

“Ah, but you have been selling,” said The Spider. “And I think you have a good eye for Wraithstone. To cut to the quick, I want to train you as a sniffer, a finder of Wraithstone. Bleed diving is tough work, but it is very profitable if you are careful and smart. Come and visit me by Ten Dragon Fountain if you are interested in a job.”

And with that, he got up and left. It took Rose a few moments to get over The Spider’s strange, aberrant presence and the disgust the felt toward the man. She left hurriedly after that, feeling compromised, but no new dangers awaited her.

In the end, after learning that The Spider was, in truth, a strong presence in the Wraithstone trade, Rose decided to join him.

<>