Cathrac the Gilded City

Chapter 2

There is a teenager in the great city of Cathrac. He is tall as his father once was, his hair sandy like his mother's. He is painfully thin. He has a hard time eating because often times his little sister four years his younger and his set of twin siblings. One boy and one girl. have to go hungry if eats. He has a raspy voice from screaming when he was a kid. He lives in the third lowest segment of the city. His mother married quickly after Savantar's death. She married one of his friends. He heard of great opportunities in the city and sold all of the boy's possessions from his father. His mother name was Lila. His father though always called her Vakker or Beautiful in the slave language. Now her husband was a drunk always gone and beating the youth. He had a name once but his step-father had taken it. He was simply Boy to all who knew him.

Names to this society were important. When the children first showed signs of being past babyhood the were given their name based on their physical traits. Such as Chubbs or Curly. Boy's name had been Giggle. This was about ages four to five. This was their family nickname the one their parents probably would always use in private. Once they have begun to show signs of being more than kids they were given their second name. This name was based on anything the parents though appropriate usually was on what showed the parents that their child had grown up. Such as seeing their father die in battle. Boy's mother before she had remarried had named him Voice-scarred. Once they had completed the three tasks worthy of being an adult they were considered adults and allowed to pick their own name. This was the name they would use in the public for most of their entire life. However, If the person influential enough they were given a new name by the people. For example, the vizier was FireSteel because her rage was like fire and rule like steel.

The boy worked hard to support his family. Even for his stepfather who didn't realize where the money came from for his drink. He worked three different jobs. He was the main repairman for his block. He was an apprentice fisherman to a senile old man. Stinky was not senile enough to be generous though in this city. His third job though brought in the most money for his family. He was a pit fighter. This sport is the one thing that united all the levels of the city. Entire fortunes were made in pit fighting either by being good enough to proceed to the higher pit fights or through betting. Boy was good but he was tired and malnourished. Pit fights had real weapons and could often end in death. Last night's fight had been particularly brutal. They called it a Horde fight. One fighter was given a shield and a baton. Then they released a horde of goblins or troglodytes or a similar type of species. In Boy's case though he never got normal fights. Instead of nice small swamp goblins (which are the normal kind), they let gold goblins in.

Gold goblins are completely different from their cousins in the swamps. For one they live in active volcanoes because it is the only challenging environment for them to live in. They live entirely on honor through combat. Instead of being three to four feet they are five to six feet. Their skin is harder and their senses keener. The only advantage their swamp cousins have is that they are faster.

Boy fought well and beat all five of them. Unfortunately, one of them got his baton and inflicted some nasty bruises and a cracked rib. Boy only won because he was good. Boy though was not the only one with problems in this city. The prince had reached his eighteenth birthday. He signed a paper that made the vizier queen and disappeared without a trace. However, it was the vizier with problems today. Her six-year-old daughter had run away again. FireSteel paced the throne room already cleaned off the blood of daughters third guardian. She was a beautiful woman though only one person ever had the courage to tell her. She had jet black hair that gleamed and piercing green eyes. She was small but had an aura that screamed for obedience the moment you saw her. Her eyes always had a calculating look in them. She was a master of geama fuil. The only thing she truly cared about is her daughter. She grabbed the nearest guard and brought her face down to her level. She spoke softly but with an inflection that meant she was to be immediately obeyed, "Every guard is to be whipped for every hour my daughter is missing." She then whirled and stomped to the table. When she noticed the guard had not been moved she picked up a glass chalice and threw it at him. FireSteel has many talents. One of them is an unwavering aim. The full glass shattered on impact and the glass lodged in the guard's eye. As he screamed she stalked over to him he realized his mistake and desperately tried to get the blood of the expensive white carpet but it was too late. She lowered to his shaking form, "too bad about your family but this need to be replaced."

"Please," begged the guard "take me instead leave them out of it," the guard begged fitfully as his tears and snot trailed onto the ground mixing with the blood from his eye making the carpet worse. The vizier smiled and all the other guards straightened up as much as they could and looked away.

"Unfortunately with only one eye, you wouldn't even cover half the price of the rug. You misunderstand me you and your family are being sold to the mines. If that and all your possessions don't cover the cost... well, your body when it is dead will make up the rest." at this, the guards began to drag him away. His name was Crusher because in combat he refused weapons and instead crushed skulls with his hands. This hulk of a man was carried away from the vizier now queen's chamber blubbering like a baby because he knew his life was over.

The mines were the terrible secret of the royalty in Cathrac. They were one of the only mines in the continent of LeDaunt. The other mines were more elaborate. Cathrac's mines though have several functions. Here is the entire funding for Carthac. It also serves as a prison for every nation on this continent. Only the worst criminals are sent there and, people who displease the vizier. No one has escaped the mines before except Matromnium.