Penal Camp Mid-Level Security 3

Description

Penal Camp Mid-Level Security 3, or Peca M3 for short, is located about two days south of Midtal, on the western side of the Tal River. The complex lays about 200 meters from the river, enclosed by two barbed wire fences with a path between them. Guard towers are present at the corners and guards with dogs patrol the perimeter. At the west end of the camp is the main building, this contains administration, storage, the commissary, and houses the guards. Intake of new prisoners is done here.

At the center of the camp is the communal building that houses a shrine to Ulaa, a small theater (seats 80), a library, the central guard post and guard tower at the top. Radiating out from this building to the edge of the camp are eight inmate zones, all separated by a path with barbed wire fences on either side. Each zone contains two wooden barracks that each house twelve prisoners. Between those is a yard and built towards the back fence are two more wooden building; a laundry building and a kitchen plus mess hall.

At the river stands the brickfield where the inmates are put to work. Clay is gathered from near the river and then brought to washmills where prisoners push a centrally pivoted beam with rakes to break up the clay and turn it into a slurry. Chalk and ash is added and the slurry is then deposited into square washbacks. From there it is put through a pugmill, then molded into bricks, and finally stored and dried for five weeks. After that time it is collected and brought to a kiln to be fired.

Intake

The prisoners are brought into the administration building to a holding area. From there they are taken one by one by two guards to another room where they are to disrobe and then given blue coveralls and work boots, everything comes in three sizes so it’s usually too large or too small for any individual inmate. Next, they are gathered again, now in a larger room. A sergeant is waiting and observing the new arrivals, she’s middle-aged, short, has a pug nose and short, dark hair.

When everyone is there, she addresses them. “I am Sergeant Rabb, but as you are civilians you will address me as Boss, is that clear?” “Yes boss,” Neske immediately answers, followed by the others, except Odrik. “This is how you will address all guards,” the sergeant clarifies. “Has anyone here been in a penal camp before?” she asks. Neske raises her hand. “Which one?” the sergeant asks. “Peca M14,” is the answer. “Ah,” she says, “well, you’ll find we run a much tighter ship here.”

“I am responsible for barracks 7 and 8, which is where you will be housed. Over there is Corporal Winter who is in charge of barrack 7,” she motions towards a tall woman with an eyepatch, “and Corporal Leng who is in charge of barrack 8,” she indicates a dwarf with a braided beard and tattooed hands. “They report to me and I deal with any infractions. If you have any issues with your incarceration, fellow inmates, or guards, you ask to see me.”

“For the duration of your term you will be working ten-hour days at the brickfield near the river, your barrack Elder will give you further details on the work you will be doing,” she continues as she looks from face to face. “If you make your daily quota, this work will pay for your meals and the rent on the clothes you are currently wearing. At the commissary you can buy more clothes, snacks, and certain other items. Your belongings have been brought here and any purchases will be deducted from your money. It is also possible to sell some of your belongings at set prices.”

“When not at the brickfield your time is your own but you will have certain chores, the barrack Elder will explain this to you,” the sergeant tells them, “You are to be in your own bed by ten and no noise is to be made at night. I understand that for anyone new here this is a lot to take in, but if you do the work and obey the rules you will find that your time here won’t be that hard. I will now go and report to the warden who will come here to address you, do not make any noise during his speech and pay attention.”

Major Fries

The warden is an older dwarf, balding but with lots of wavy hair around his skull. He puts in his monocle and addresses those assembled, it quickly become quite clear he has given this same talk many, many times before.

“I like to welcome any new inmates personally and tell them about this penal camp. It is important that you know that this camp is not the end of your life but, in fact, a new start. We are an M class camp which means you were convicted of crimes that are not violent or of such heinousness that there is no way back. No, you are in a position to get your life back on track again. Here you will learn the value of hard work, of getting up early every day and doing something you can be proud of.”

“Many of our former inmates have found work at one of the brickworks in the area; it’s hard but rewarding work, and it pays enough to settle down and start a family. Others have gone on to other fulfilling careers, while those who kept on the path of crime usually ended up in an H class camp with nothing but regrets.”

“So, take heart in the fact you have not succumbed to your baser urges; violence solves nothing, and yes, I know that might sound strange coming from a soldier, but my years of experience have shown me nothing more clearly. So let me warn you; no type of violence is acceptable here, anyone who commits a savage act will be immediately transferred to an H class camp, the same goes for anyone trying to escape.”

“But let me end on a much brighter note. Not only can you learn the value of hard work here; we are committed to your spiritual wellbeing. We believe that your life can be much enriched with the right kind of stimulation. And thus, do we not only have a large library with stimulating literature, we also have a camp orchestra and theater company, both putting on performances every month. I encourage you to participate or at the very least attend. You’ll see that your time here will be valuable and just what you needed to get your life back on track. I wish you the very best.”

He does a “Glory to Otteun! Glory to the Ott!” but there isn't much conviction behind it.

Three-ring

They are now brought to the barracks; all four of our friends have been assigned to barrack 7 where they are welcomed by a dwarf with a Miforan accent, his wild black-grey hair framing his face. He tells them his name is Three-ring, and he is the barrack Elder; the person who has been here the longest. He is in charge and he lets them know he runs a tight ship and doesn't want any problems. Infractions incurred by one person are suffered by everyone in the barrack so they better be on their best behavior.

Most importantly he tells them that if they can afford it they should immediately buy at least three extra coveralls and boots. The work they will be doing will make it impossible for just one to survive daily use; it won't even be dry by the next morning. He inquires about any skills among them, musical, theatrical, culinary, or otherwise. Also a final warning; there will be a full search of their person and the barrack by the guards as they always do so when new inmates arrive, don't smuggle anything in, don't do anything stupid!

Clay for the Clay God!

It's just past noon and they are now brought to the river where they are to collect clay. They meet a few of the other inmates and quickly learn it is a very tiring and dirty job. The last working hour of the day they are brought over to learn how to make bricks, they will be taught all steps in the process so that they eventually can be rotated among all jobs. Today they are taught by a very old gnome woman, Queza, who tells them that while the dwarves of Baltur claimed to have invented hollow bricks, it was gnomes who really did so, and much earlier.

Extracurricular

Back at the barracks a dwarf woman the others refer to as Twitch, immediately takes off her coveralls, walks over to her bed in the far corner and falls onto it. "Don't interact with her," is the message, "don't even look at her, she's former Kill Company and not right in her head, quite dangerous." Despite the warning most of the inmates seem to be protective of her, maybe it's just pity.

Three-ring now hands out the chores. It is unclear if he decided at random or what but Odrik is assigned to the kitchen, Zayn will be a stagehand, Izzy gets assigned to the library, and Boldrek gets laundry duty, but on alternate days, that chore is considered quite brutal. Beds are also assigned and Odrik gets the one next to Twitch, the others commiserate with him.

Inmates

Ordered by time already served, descending. Age indications are human ages. Duration of full sentence is given at the end of their line.

Barrack 7

1. Clement “Three-ring” Kirkos; male dwarf, 40’s, Miforan accent, wild black/grey hair and beard framing his face, defrauding the Ott (stole and sold their weapons), 10 years.
2. Jorji Costava; male, 50’s, from Cobrastan(?), short beard, receding hairline, forgery, 4 years. Theater (stagehand)
3. Moe “Peddler” Steel; male, 60’s, yellow teeth, long hair, bald on top, canes, both legs broken, pornographer, 4 years. Library.
4. Iisig Meilin; male half-orc, 40’s, short, strong legs, runs for sport, bookkeeper, tax fraud, 4 years. Theater (assistant director).
5. Asla “Twitch” Horhumin; female dwarf, 50’s, tall and broad, short hair, public intoxication and disturbing the peace, 2 years. Laundry.
6. Carn-Rill “Creep” Hammaver; 20’s, attractive, dark hair, small mustache, harassment, 4 years! Orchestra.
7. Isane “Insane” Hillbag; female halfling, 30’s, thin, wild hair, purple eyes, crooked mouth, wagon theft & public endangerment, 3 years.
8. Kyrton Barnshyn; male, 20’s, from Dolac, tall, blond hair, acne, drug trafficking, 10 years, lucky he did not get High-Sec!
9. Boldrek "Exotic" - Laundry.
10. Izzy - Library.
11. Odrik - Kitchen.
12. Zayn - Theater (stagehand).

Barrack 8

1. Eric “Pumice” Pummlar; male, 50’s, pockmarked skin, clubfoot, fraud (sold spoiled meat to the Ott), 8 years.
2. Osma “Tipple” Bhelnom; female dwarf, 50’s, rotund, red nose, receipt of stolen goods, 4 years. Orchestra.
3. Tayrom Thull; male, 40’s, large, hirsute, dark eyes, very friendly, indecency, 4 years. Laundry.
4. Bardin “Convo” Brukkorlim; male dwarf, 40’s, tall, thin, short beard, large scar on right hand, talks to himself, burglary, 3 years. Orchestra.
5. Queza “Witch” Hergen; female gnome, 80’s, bone thin, shrill voice, murder by poison (sent here instead of high security due to her advanced age), 40 years. Orchestra.
6. Erin “Baby” Vonner, female halfling, 20's, short, pretty, bow-legged, solicitation, 2 years. Theater (actor).
7. Nora “Legs” Grettich; female, 30’s, pretty, strawberry blonde, ‘facilitator’, bribery of a government official, 1 year. Orchestra.
8. Markos Tellmacher; male, 50’s, large nose, pudgy, balding, extortion, 9 months. Rumored Rhes Haghed member.
9. Corinna Dukker; female, 20’s, short, slight, dark hair falling over left eye, pick pocketing, 1 year.
10. Enak Cardigan; male, 30’s, short, sinewy, shoulder length hair, bandana, vandalism, 3 months. Assigned to kitchen duty.
11. Neske Horthor; female half-orc, 30's, tall, cleft lip, charismatic, incitement, 2 years. Theater (actor).
12. Harl Zorgar; male half-orc, 30's, athletic, large crimson mark on his left cheek, vandalism, 3 months. Laundry.

Training

Boldrek

Work at the laundry is hard; the coveralls are taken directly after shift and then brought to laundry building to soak in suds. After dinner they are scrubbed and then hung to dry. Tayrom Thull is the other laundry worker during Boldrek's shifts. The man is very friendly and likes to talk as they work. He's quite interested in the dwarf, his far-flung homeland, and his adventures. One day the man tells him how he used to be a wrestler back in his school days, Midtal champion, even. He also comes up with a nickname for Boldrek that soon sticks; Exotic.

Izzy

Peddler is the head librarian though that's quite a grandiose term for the work. He definitely enjoys asking Izzy to lift him up from his seated position. Inmates come in one at the time, a guard is always nearby. Some ask for book suggestions; “got any books with some, well, you know…”. Peddler suggests; “The Steadfast Patriot; a Soldier’s Tale, you’ll really like the lieutenant.” The work mostly consists of putting the books back in the right place and repairing them, something Izzy turns out to be quite adapt at. Izzy even looks for a prison mail system and Peddler explains that they have their own system. In their talks Peddler turns out to be quite well read and knowledgeable.

An inmate by the name of Mallik furtively hands over a few pages. It turns out he's something of an auteur and Peddler asks Izzy to read them to him.

Clinic of the Heart

A battle-hardened young Ott soldier visits a remote clinic in the west to heal his injuries. But when he meets Gail, an elegant older nurse, she goes to work on his heart, as well.

CHAPTER 34 - HEALING TOUCH

Fletcher held her tightly. His strength had returned - that much was clear.

Yet here he remained. At the clinic. With her.

He shook his head as if he'd read her mind with his perfect green eyes. "Gail, the Ott's calling me back - they want me protecting Midtal. But I don't know how to leave. Not after what we've found together."

"Then stay," she whispered, letting her breath warm his ear. "I can certainly find a... position for you here."

"Oh, Laws," he moaned, pulling her closer.

She pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh. The only law here is love."

Credits for the above to The Outer Worlds.

Odrik

When the dwarf enters the kitchen he finds Enak there, who looks at him and says; "Bruised But Not Broken, right? Retired." "How do you know," Odrik replies. "The stance, it's very distinctive," is the reply. It turns out that Enak is an excellent cook and he even managed to somehow get hold of a very sharp, very oft sharpened, knife. For now Odrik can peel potatoes; there's quite a lot of them, the largest pan on the stove could easily hold a gnome. At some point Enak has the dwarf crawl under the barracks and gather some mushrooms.

After the battle with the troll, Enak asks about the fight and when Odrik mentions missing his shield, the man asks him if he knows this one shield trick. When the dwarf replies he doesn't, Enak grabs the largest pot lid and from then on they spend every evening practicing shield moves in the kitchen.

Zayn

At the theater Zayn learns that production started a week ago on The Over, Under, and Out Inn, a farce with an edifying message. It turns out that he isn't much for carpentry or building props, so his tasked with painting the sets and backgrounds. Neske Horthor gets to be the understudy for the female lead; the inmate with that role should be released before the play will be staged, basically giving her the role.

All inmates are padded down when entering and exiting the theater and guards always posted around to keep an eye on things. But things are quite relaxed, giving everyone time to talk and catch up. Neske is very nice to talk to, she is definitely a firebrand but not one who only nags, she is very charismatic and very engaging. The play they are staging shows the ‘good citizen’ characters coming out well, whereas the others (archetypes like the troublemaker, the lazy one, the sneaky one, etc.) all suffer in different ways. Neske is looking for ways to change things in the play and tell people to fight the system without the guards noticing, she she can't just change whole dialogues or scenes in the play.

Further Adventures

Sink or Swim

After only two days most of the party notice that Harl Zorgar keeps looking at the river with a certain look in his eyes. Izzy goes over to him and exchanges a few words. A few minutes later the half-orc makes a run for it and jumps into the river, trying to swim to the other shore. While he is quite athletic and strong, the river is very wide (around 500 meters) and quite fast flowing in places. The guards spot him and a launch with some guards soon plucks him from the river. He is not seen again by the others and sent to a high security camp with quite a few months added to his sentence.

Drugs are bad, mmmkay?

A few days later the inspection that Three-ring warned them about finally happens. On their way back to camp they are stood to attention. Izzy happens to stand next to Markos Tellmacher who mutters and manages to remove a little bag from his boot. He whispers to the bard and offers her 25 gp to claim to the guards that the bag is hers. He goes up as high as a 100 gp but Izzy doesn't respond. He looks quite angry, Izzy hasn't made a friend here. “If anything happens to me, I’ll rat you out,” she tells him. The guards find the bag and the man gets a few months added to his sentence.

Get ripped

Private Gabbi Kollen is quite pregnant but about a month or so before she is due, the baby decides that right now, on their way to the brickfield is a good time to be born. Our friends try and offer any assistance they can but this is not really their field. Fortunately both mother and daughter survive the ordeal.

Trolled

It's a few weeks into their sentence and the party is hard at work gathering clay when suddenly a troll comes out of the river and attacks private Fizzi Preis. The poor dwarf doesn't stand a chance; three attacks from the creature and she lays bleeding on the river bank. Of all of the inmates who see this happening, most run towards the troll, brandishing nothing but the buckets they were using, a few shrink away though. Three-ring gets a good hit in but the improvised weapon doesn't do all that much damage, certainly not anywhere the amount the troll does to him.

Corporal Betti Winter and her truncheon fare better but she, too, is attacked back by the creature who does significant damage to her. Our friends and other inmates join the fray and even though no one does all that much damage, the combined attacks certainly add up. Izzy's Faerie Fire spell in particular makes everything a lot easier. Then Twitch shows up and a weird ripple of energy goes up and down her body as she charges in. The next round she comments on using fire when fighting trolls and her hands become enveloped in flames as she attacks the creature thrice and kills it.

Poor Fizzi Preis was really unlucky though and died almost at the exact moment the troll did. More inmates and guards show up, the work shift is over for the day. The wounded are taken care of and everyone is returned to the barracks. Zayn wonders if the troll was maybe controlled some way, why would it attack them? Twitch lays down on her bed and looks quite poorly, hacking up a storm. Izzy asks for the cleric of Ulaa to come have a look but the dwarf doesn't want her help.

Major Fries himself stops by not much later and thanks all the inmates for their bravery in helping fend off the creature. He talks with everyone individually, seeing how they are holding up. And when leaving he tells them they are getting the day off tomorrow.

Locked Warlocks

It's been a good month or so inside when Zayn suddenly hears a familiar voice inside his head. His patron tells him that another warlock has been imprisoned here; a dwarf by the name of Sarnar Hemnulim. He tells the half-orc that he told her about him as well; they should find a way to meditate together for an hour, it will be to both their benefit.

Zayn asks around when he is at the theater that evening; "an old friend, Sarnar Hemnulim, arrived today, anyone know where she is at?" The question makes a few inmates quite suspicious of the half-orc but eventually he does find someone who tells him that she is in barracks 4 and has a two year sentence, though they don't know what for. When asked, they also tell Zayn that she has been given kitchen duty. Plans are hatched to get a message to her to join the theater if possible.

On the evening of the dress rehearsal a plan is put into action. Zayn uses glue to mar all the stage outfits and then finds someone from barracks 4 and manages to be quite convincing in telling them they should find a guard and bring the clothes to the laundry quickly. They completely go along with the story and soon convince a guard to bring them back to their barracks to do the laundry.

Izzy has been repairing books in the library and using gum arabic to do so. She took some and gave it to Zayn who can use it together with an eyelash to cast an invisibility spell. He does so and when the time is there, slips out with the guard and inmate, following them to barracks 3 and 4. Once there he follows the cart with clothes into the laundry building and finally sees a dwarven woman who should be Sarnar Hemnulim.

He uses his awakened mind ability to speak directly into her mind to let her know he is there, suggesting she pretends to faint or something. She does so convincingly and goes out 'for some fresh air', leaving the other two inmates in the lurch. Then she and Zayn crawl under one of the barracks and spend an hour in meditation together. Afterwards both unlock a new ability in their respective tomes.

Snatching

In the evening there is a commotion in the yard; Tipple and Creep are fighting, blows are exchanged! Some of the other inmates rush in to pull them apart before the guards notice. Odrik interposes himself to stop any fighting and others restrain the two combatants. Tipple accuses Creep of stealing something from her, which he vehemently denies.

When things have calmed down a bit Zayn tries to find out what was stolen from the woman but she really does not want to share that information. Izzy then takes a crack at it and Tipple tells her, in confidence, a magical ring that tastes like wine when you lick it. She had hid it in her bunk and it was missing when they returned this afternoon. And she had seen Creep hanging around her bunk a few times.

Creep, for his part, keeps denying having anything to do with all this and he seems quite convincing, eventually telling them he was only there to talk to Legs, whose bunk is next to Tipple's. Three-ring makes it clear he runs a tight ship and has both Creep himself and his bunk searched but nothing turns up.

Our friends hatch many plans to see if they can find the ring or get someone to confess to taking it. They check under both barracks to see if it fell through a crack. Then they approach Witch and ask her to cast detect magic spell. It's dinner time and they have all the inmates file into the mess hall one by one so the ancient gnome can try and see if anyone is carrying a magic item. No one does so Boldrek goes to both barracks with her in the hopes of finding anything there, but alas, no such luck.

The party then decides to go to each barrack and pretend to have found the ring to see if anyone will react to that news. As they walk out of the mess hall a bird quickly flies off and they recognize it as a magpie, watching it fly to some bushes about 15 meters outside the camp. This has them thinking the thief might well be of another kind altogether.

Fortunately Zayn can talk to animals at will and so he 'shouts' at the bird that they will give it dry sausages in exchange for a shiny ring. A little bartering takes place but eventually the magpie flies over with a silver ring with a grape engraving. This is then returned to Tipple with an explanation of who really took it, and our friends suggest she apologize to Creep.

Signed

Zayn has been showing the sign painted in blood that he found at his destroyed village to just about anyone and eventually he also showed it to Twitch. She is the first person to recognize it. She tells the warlock that it's a personal sign that a former colleague from her Kill Company days used to leave behind wherever they went. When asked what it means, all the she can say is that it was sort of a 'fuck you' to the Ott, just the weird sense of humor that the guy had.

The man's name is Guck Molden, though in their company he was usually referred to by his nickname; Geist. According to Twitch he was a real piece of work and deadly with a dagger. He was quite young when she knew him so he might still be in the Ott.