Chapter One: Outbreak

Eventually, you were all loaded into three separate boats and made your way through the canals. After close to about twenty minutes, you approached an imposing building that seemed to be separate from the rest of the city and approachable only by water. It was a stone structure that was badly weathered but sturdy and guards with longarms patrolled the top of the walls. As you approached, you were hailed by the guards on the wall but when the guards you were with identified themselves, the rifles were lowered and the steel gate that was lowered into the water and muck was raised slowly admitting your party. Entering the guards navigated to a stone rampway that led deeper into the structure. As the party disembarked, you saw that green moss and lichen had turned the stones closer to the waterline a shade of green, causing you to wonder at the building's age. Elisabeth regarded you cooly for a moment before she brought her hand above the table. She had concealed it without you noticing but more importantly, you saw that she was holding a cocked pistol. She very purposefully uncocked it and laid it on the table and kept both her hands in full view on the table.

"And when exactly was this?" she asked and you almost thought you detected a sense of wonder in her voice.

Elizabeth rocked back on her chair and seemed to take in everything that was being said.

"So it's true then, I heard tales but I have never believed any of it...." she whispered.

When she was finished speaking she took another very large drink. From what you both understood of human biology, she had to be feeling the effects of the alcohol but there were no outward signs of any drunkenness that you could detect.
As you came off the boat the guards seemed to be more relaxed, no doubt due to the fortified surroundings they found themselves in. The guards made their way to a heavy cast iron door with a padlock at the end of the dry dock and unlocked it with a heavy key. The door seemed old and rusted but still very solid and it took two of the guards working together to open it. The door swung in, creaking and groaning to reveal an arched hallway that was richly decorated. A heavy crimson rug ran the length of the hallway and torches burned, providing light. There were no windows, as the hallway appeared to lead deeper into the structure. As the guards began moving into the hall, there was a rattling of chains and the portcullis began to lower into the water once more.

"One of my men left ahead of us and a special court has been convened given the gravity of the situation before us and the decision they must make." the captain said in response before making his way into the hallway.
Hallion closed his eyes and inhaled deeply and as he exhaled, his consciousness began to stretch in all directions but he felt nothing inherently good or evil in his presence, just the murky grey of humanity. For a brief moment, you thought you may have detected a pulse in the distance but it was too fast and too far for you to make anything out for certain. As you made your way through the cots, you a faint shuffling sound reaches your ears and a whisper carries in the cavernous space before you.

"Come one, he went this way. You know what we need to do." the voice was low and husky and there was a strange accent that you could not place.