The Palace of the Cursed discussion

This is underground and is where all the food is stored.

Delilah was On a quest. A quest for some food and the ones who dumped her in this place. And there was one place she hadn't been to get - the cellar. Everytime she detected her prey's scent and headed there, she found no one. Oh sure she found other Cursed but never her prey. It was getting to she would never find them, that they didn't exist but she was determined. Instead she found herself at a place she hadn't been before. Now she stood before the door wondering what she would find. Taking a deep breath she reached out and opened the door...

"Oh!" Rosie popped her head out of the crate she'd been digging through and looked up. No one ever came down here.
The blonde girl in the doorway was probably around Rosie's age, but she looked much older-- and not just because Rosie was tiny. The other girl's face was carved with tragedy, which was not uncommon among the older Cursed.
She wore a fiercely determined expression, daring anyone to pity her.
"Are you looking for something?"

Dakota's extra sensitive sense of smell detected another. Her eyes narrowed as she stated at the girl. Her cheetah instincts revealed one thing - dinner. A feral look crossed her cute face and her hands kept opening and closing. It was that, and the gloves that returned Delilah 's humanity back and the thought: you must not attack this girl. "I..." She began right before a loud Growl made its presence known. " any meat in there? " she asked if the girl.

"I think there's some jerky in one of those crates," Rosie said, pointing to a pile of crates in a corner. "They tried making some in the winter, but it didn't go very very well, so they packed it up and sent it down here. That stuff lasts a while." She shrugged.
"I'm Rosemary, but you can call me Rose or Rosie. What's your name?"

Delilah's nose wrinkled at the mention jerky. She wasn't too fond of the stuff, but in a pinch it was okay. She sighed and moved over toward the crate mentioned and began rummaging through it. She would mutter about the lack of actual meat. Soon enough she found the jerky, her nose wrinkled cutely again before realizing the girl spoke. "Um, oh. Hello, my name's Delilah and I'm kind of new here."

"It's nice to meet you, Delilah." She gestured around the cellar. "Is there anything else you're looking for?" This place was a veritable treasure trove, and one of her favorite places in the Palace. (Indoors, at least.)

Delilah shook her head, taking a bite of the jerky in hand and wrinkled her nose at the taste. Not what she wanted. "No, just... searching is all. What about you?". Might as well be nice she the girl was too.

"I'm just exploring-- there's so much cool stuff down here!"
The other girl didn't seem too impressed. Rosie replaced the lid of the crate she'd been digging trough. "Who else have you met?"

Delilah let her gaze move up as she sought to recall but the names alluded her. Instead, she shrugged. "Wouldn't remember their but they seemed nice enough." She answered. " what about you, got any friends in this place?*she inquired.

"Yeah-- I've been here since I was a baby, so I know pretty much everyone." She shrugged.
Suddenly, she gasped and darted over to a box in the corner. She opened it up, to reveal...

"Well I wasn't born here and there's no way I'm staying here. Though first I intend to do something with those who brought me here," Delilah said. There was anticipation in those words at the thought. She was startled when Rosie gasped. "What? What is it?"

"What? Oh, of course you're not staying here-- none of us are," Rosie said distractedly as she pulled out the ancient, dusty (but somehow, not moth eaten,) cloth from the crate. Then she realized what she'd said and covered her mouth.

Delilah 's brow rose at Rosie's (No pun intended haha). "Hmmm," she merely said waiting to hear what more Rosie would say.

She laid the cloth out on top of the crate it had been in.
"I wanted to show you this...do you know what this is?"

Delilah stared at the cloth before saying, "Can't say that I don't. What is it?" She asked . Though it did look familiar, she couldn't remember where she'd seen it before.

Slowly, reverently, Rosie unfolded the ancient cloth.
"This must be hundreds of years old-- maybe even a thousand."
When she'd fully unfolded it, the cloth covered several of the crates in the room. It was clearly taller than she was- maybe even taller than Delilah, or Leah.
"Isn't it beautiful?" It was a tapestry, covered with hundreds of ghostly animals, each beside a (not-quite-)human figure, and in the middle was a bright, shining castle.

Delilah wouldn't know beauty in a tapestry it reached up and slapped her, she shrugged. "Really, not my cup of tea. What is it?"

"I'm not sure, exactly. They look like Cursed, don't they? But most art depicts us as hideous monsters-- these look like people. And I've looked carefully at the Palace-- I think this castle is supposed to be what it looked like when it was new."
She pointed to the tapestry.
"Have you ever wondered why they call this place a 'Palace'?"

Again Delilah shook her head, "Nope, not so I care at this point. Besides, my prey are here and I mean to take them out.". She bared her teeth at the thought of finding those Snatched a and ending them. But then the tapestry was starting to get a bit interesting. She would stay with this delicious looking girl and find out some thing, then she continue her search. "What makes you think those are Cursed?" And in that one word anyone hearing it could hear the venom, not for the Cursed but for those responsible for their capture.

(Delicious? Really?)
Rosie ignored the other girl's use of the term 'prey'. It was nothing she hadn't heard from many, many other Cursed who'd been dragged here, often after witnessing the deaths of their friends or families.
"Well, look at this..." She pointed to one of the figures- an elderly woman standing beside a wispy, see-through wolf. "Look at her ears. And if you look closer, there are claws at the end of her fingertips. Plus, that wolf next to her is a dead giveaway. And they're all like that."

(That's Delilah talking. She is a sort of predator.)
Delilah leaned in closer, the scent coming from Rosie was a hard to ignore, but she found the will to do just that. "And?" Delilah shrugged gazing at Rosie calmly waiting .

"Like I was saying, you never see beautiful representations of Cursed, especially not as elaborate as this one. And that building in the center looks like the Palace might have, but not like the prison it is-- it looks almost like a real palace, suitable for royalty."
Rosie'd discovered it years ago, but she'd never shown anyone-- even Leah. It was her secret. But something inside her told her that she needed to show it to Delilah.

Again Delilah shrugged. She wasn't sure what all of this meant, but it seemed like big deal to Rosie. "So, what are you planning on doing about all of this?". To be are Delilah was getting more curious about the whole thing.

"Hmmm......I've been trying to figure out what it all means, but it's tricky-- there obviously won't be any books about it in the library." In fact, Rosie's search was almost entirely dead-ended. The best chance she had was to find something down here.

"There's probably someone alive who knos, have you tried finding them," Delilah inquired . "Human or Cursed, that is?"

"Someone alive? Probably," said Rosie, carefully folding the tapestry back up, and returning it to its crate. "But how would I find them? I don't have any way of contacting the outside, and even if I could, smuggling a tapestry out of here is nigh impossible."

"Surely there's someone who. Maybe one of us, or something. I wouldn't know I'm fairly new here myself. Maybe someone old," Delilah said thoughtfully . "Or if they're young they may have heard it or something."

"Perhaps.....but most people have been here since they were babies. And I don't want to let too many people know-- if the Snatchers found out, they'd torch this place," Rosie said. This wasn't her first time thinking about this. "Someday, when we leave this place, I'll find someone who can tell me."

"Not many came as babies. They were taken from their families. I am one of those kidnapped because of what I am," Delilah said. "And I hope to find those responsible and make them pay. Besides I don't think they will torch this place. Too many of us reside here, many are dangerous.". She gave a shrug. " you should find someone who knows more. If you need me I'll come and help you. "

"I meant the cellar. I don't think they even know this place exists, but it'd be far too easy for them to come down here and destroy all of this." Rosie sighed. "And you're wrong, you know. Sure, there are plenty of people here are like you, who weren't brought here until they were older, you guys are the exception, not the rule. Almost all of us were brought as babies, usually handed over willingly."
Delilah was surprisingly naive. She din't realize that too most people, the Cursed were evil monsters-- even their own children. Ninety-nine people out of a hundred, if they had a Cursed child, would instantly hand them over to the Snatchers.

"Perhaps that may be true but I had friends and we watched over each other, until the Snatchers killed them. When I find those responsible I will wish they never saw me.". And there mayhem reverbrating in Delilah 's voice. It was enough to put fear into any one who heard it. "And besides, they may not want to risk setting the who place ablaze. Never know if one of their kind might still be in here."

"It was a metaphorical torch....they could just as easily come in here with hammer, and break and tear everything up," Rosie muttered quietly. She knew that wasn't really the point, and Delilah clearly just wanted to vent.
"Do you want to talk about it?"

Delilah shook her head. It wasn't like this girl could do much, just by looks though Delilah could easily protect her instead. "Merely something in the nature of a vow. To my human friends who have their lives to protect me," she said it nonchalantly but the anger remained in Delilah's voice and she kept clenching and unflinching her hands while feeling the gloves the Snatchers forced on her.

(Did Delilah jst assume Rosie needs to be protected? She will regret that soon enough...)
"Are you going to kill them?" Rosie asked, in the same tone as if she'd asked if Delilah wanted butter on her toast.

(It's just an assumption. She wouldn't protect anyone unless they really need it.)

Delilah had that look in her eyes saying much more. "An eye for an eye, so to speak. But yes, they need to die."

"They were the ones who happened to be there at that time. Any of the other Snatchers would have done the same thing-- many of them have. Are you going to kill all of them?" Rosie's voice expressed a mild curiosity.

Delilah's eyes narrowed at the thought. "If need be, yes I will. I'm a heartbeat. They killed my friends, then they deserve to die as well.". She no longer cared . In her eyes the Snatchers were the enemy and needed to be put down like the dogs they are.

"Hmmmmm......" Rosie looked thoughtful. "The Snatchers are just doing their job-- that's what they were ordered to do by someone who doesn't want to have to do the dirty work themselves. Are you also going to kill the ones who hired them?"

"If I can find them," Delilah said. " and will know the manner in which they died. Bloody and way more brutal than generations will know. ".

"But neither the Snatchers nor their 'boss' would dream of hurting any of us unless there was a demand for it. That's how business works, you know. The Snatcherskidmap and murder because they're paid, their bosses hire them because they don't want the bother of doing it themselves, but they make sure it gets done because someone else wants to make sure it happens. So do you think wants us to suffer like this?"

"Then they shouldn't have murdered my friends for protecting me. What they did is unforgivable and I intend on taking it out on them." Delilah said. " They were my family and those Snatchers took them away by killing them. "

"You're avoiding the question. The Snatchers take and kill and steal and hurt. It's what they do. But if you're going to kill them, it makes the most sense to also kill the puppet-masters at the very top, the ones who wanted it to happen. Otherwise, what happened to you will keep happening, no matter how many Snatchers you kill. The problem ought to be cut off at the route." Rosie's tone was calm, placid, as through she was talking about how to weed a garden rather than killing their captors. "Now, answer the question: who do you think those puppet-masters are?"

"Wouldn't know and don't care," Delilah answered. I'll know when I can sense them. And the... and then it's hunting season. ". There was a smile at her lips at the thought.

((Ok, this rp is awesome! Well done guys! Also, LJF. I'm building up to Aelic escaping soon so I need to organise with you for him to meet Leah and now Rosie etc. He will meet all of the characters currently rping to organise what's gonna happen in the rebellion but he definitely needs to meet them.))

"Delilah, how old do you think I am?"
(Rosie looks like she's about 11 or 12, if not younger.)

Delilah really glanced at Rosie with that whatever I don't care sort of look. She shrugged, "You look 12 or12 but I don't think you are. You act older than you look." She responded .

"That's a first...and pretty close, too-- most people think I'm nine or ten." Rosie's face remained as placid as ever. "I'm fifteen, Delilah, but no one would ever believe it. Even the people who I've known since they were babies think they're older than me. I can count on one hand the number of people my age who treat me as real equals. I hate it." Her voice didn't betray the slightest emotion. "This childish body of mine. I don't known if I'll ever get any taller, and, of course, no man is ever going to love me. There isn't a single good thing about it-- except one." Just for a moment, her voice broke as though she was about to sob.
"When people think you're younger, they say things around that they wouldn't if they believed you were just a year or two older. And no one notices when you sneak around, searching and spying. What harm could an innocent little kid with gossamer wings possibly do? I hear things. I see things. I know things. And even though I haven't left this place since I first came, I know more about the outside world than most-- including the ones who grew up out there and think they understand ho w the world works."

Delilah merely listened. She could understand where Rosie was coming from and kind of empathized with her. Looking younger could be a boom - No one pays attention to kiss so they could get away with plenty much anything. Of course if one has class and fangs that tends to go out of the window except with Delilah 's friends. They were different. The saw Delilah as a member of the family. "We all have ways in our lives. Yours happen to be what it is."

"That's why I know," Rosie explained, "The others, they don't understand the full picture. To them the Snatchers are the enemy, the end, but that's too simple. The Snatchers are mercenaries. They're hired by the government to 'take care' of us. Some would say 'Down with the government! We'll just kill them, too!' But that is still too simplistic. The government only does it because it is demanded of them. In other words, the entirety of the blame lays at the feet of the ordinary people of Aiden. Your friend are not dead because the Snatchers decided to kill them. They're dead because the people decided thatus Cursed are evil, as are any of our friends, and those friends deserve to die for it. Are you going to kill all of them, too?"