The Prison Temple of Perice
Nobody ever leaves this place.
"Nobody ever leaves this place. Not the prisoners nor the prison guards. We are all here for a reason. And we are best left forgotten by the outside world.
General
The Prison Temple of Perice is one of the most highly secure building complexes that has even been built. It is guarded by immortal creatures imbued with the powers of death, decay, and rot: the Priests of Perice.
Its hallways and cells go deep, deep down into the earth. There appears to be no end. And no one who enters will return. They either serve eternally as Prisoners or Prison Guards. There is no alternative. The only one who can enter and leave, the only one who knows the true path to and from its old stone gates, is the Convoy Escort: Those that supply the Temple Prison with new prisoners. And sometimes additional prison guards.
The Legend
It once was a simple temple dedicated to an old Goddess of Death known as Perice.
In time, outsiders felt too threatened by the Priests of Perice and imprisoned them in their own temple. Soon, other people that were considered too dangerous to roam free was thrown in as well. The Priests of Perice quickly saw their new duty; to guard these prisoners and to accomplish this their Goddess gifted them with immortality and other dark gifts; this is the legend at least.
"Time moves differently within this Prison's walls. It is not noticeable at first, but soon the scratch marks for every day passed will start to cover every possible surface of the cell. I have no doubt that some of the inmates here have been imprisoned for thousands of years, as far as the outsiders are aware.
The Prisoners
Who exactly are the prisoners that can be found locked in the Temple Prison? The majority are people who have done horrible deeds both to others and to themselves, usually for their own gains.
Some are powerful indeed, capable of laying waste to entire armies or kingdoms on their own, while others are simply ordinary in both flesh and soul. The depravity of their minds might be the only thing that sets them apart.
Some Prisoners — considered by most to be the worst ones — have stayed in their cells for several thousand years, with the only evidence to show for it being their slowly decaying minds and deep seethed hatred for the Prison Guards.
Most of them have forgotten the sun.
Among all the uncountable Prisoners, only a few handfuls have served their sentences and have been promoted to Prison Guards, to Priests of Perice. Because nobody ever leaves this Temple Prison. Nobody except the Prison Escort.
"They feed us tasteless slop that barely keeps us alive. The beds are uncomfortable and we only get a thin cover to keep the cold or heat out. You are constantly bombarded with sounds from the other prisoners or the strange howling winds. Or the footsteps of the Prison Guards. No matter how long time has passed, you will never ever get used to them. As if they are not natural but more of a product of your mind. Maybe that is the case? Maybe I am already insane?
The Prison Guards
Once humans. Now they are something elevated. Still, they serve the Death Goddess Perice as her Priests and the Prison Guards of her Temple Prison.
They wander the dark hallways of the Prison Complex, always vigilant, never tiring. They do not need old fashioned nutrients as once before since they feed upon the energies of death. Of guilt. Of spilled blood.
Empowered with abilities connected with the Death Goddess, the Prison Guards see to it that the Prisoners stay alive. They need to serve their sentence and cannot do it if they are dead. Death is the only escape route that is fairly possible for inmates. Fortunately, most of them are too proud or too fearful of taking that step.
Most Prison Guards are dressed in neatly cut black robes with silver-white brims underneath pitch-black scale armor made by something akin to steel. At their hips, they carry stark white swords that are slightly curved.
Sometimes, Prisoners of the lower levels can hear them using their weapons and abilities to battle something. Something big, angry, and hateful. It has made some wonder, is it only the Prisoners they guard?
The Prison Escort
"Why is the Prison Escort allowed to leave? What makes them so different? They aren't human. Not anymore. Nor are they are Priests of Perice. They do not have the same foul presence about them. Nor do you ever forget their faces, no matter how much time you spend imprisoned here.
The Prison Escort are said to be pale as corpses, their teeth and tongues blackened and dripping with black saliva as if they had been drinking tar. Their eyes; lifeless and empty, their gazes so terrible that it causes physical pain to those unfortunate enough to look upon them.
They do not speak. Instead, they either give off smiles far too wide to be natural, so wide that they might split their faces in two at any second, or laugh hoarsely as if they remember a good joke.
You might wonder, what happened to those outsiders that imprisoned the Priests of Perice in their Temple so long ago? It is said that they were all taken by Perice Herself after they went to sleep following their horrendous actions and cursed to travel about to find Her new Prisoners and Prison Guards. Never allowed to rest. Never allowed to escape the pain of a forever dying flame within their blackened hearts.
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