Meeting With Damir

The stables are something of a misnomer, unlike with horses or cattle or anything with a pulse, Upyrs have no need of warmth, and as such the ‘stables’ are more like a line of large cages wrought from cast iron, not enough to stop them if they should decide to break free, but strong enough to discourage humans from stealing them away in the night.

To keep the stables inhabitants sated, a drip mechanism supplies each cell with a small but steady supply of blood, just enough to keep them from tearing their way out of their cages for a proper meal.

Around the area travelers come and go either extracting their herd of Upyrs or depositing them in a free cell as various militiamen loiter about, ensuring nothing goes awry as citizens come and go from the checkpoint gates.

Standing in front of one of the many cages is Damir, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm as he watches a cell of Upyrs (Presumably Natalya’s) feed upon the bloodied snow within their cell ravenously.

“Do you think they were human once…?” Begins Damir, in place of a proper greeting.

“We’ve all heard the stories but… what kind of sins could a man commit to be cursed with…. This…?” Continues Damir, not looking away as the creatures fight for every last drop of red nectar.

“You’re too young to remember it, but these beasts were ghost stories when I was little… parables to make sure I preyed every night and stayed away from boys until marriage… no… these came from the rifts… same as the Zmei…” says Natalya with a bitter smile, watching the abominable imitations of the human form.

“Then… if these things were only stories before… then.. why did the rifts send them…? Why not… space aliens? Or evil clowns…?” Ponders Damir, clearly lost in thought as he observes the manifested folklore monsters.

“Why do the rifts do anything? Why does gravity work as it does here? Why does the Kremlin repeat the same day forever? These questions do not matter to you or I, we will not live to know the answers.” States Natalya, ending the speculation there and then.

“So… you said you may know a way to make some money..? I’d like to hear it.” Says Natalya, now turning to the young man.

“Oh, yes! I actually grew up around here, before I took up the life of a caravan guard, me and my family made our living in scavenging! We should do that!” He says beaming now turned to look into the eyes of his new employer.

“We already have a wagon for the haul, I have a lot of experience in the actual salvage part and you have experience in business! We can’t lose!” He shouts, coaxing a small bit of growls from the nearby cage.

“You’re family… they were… successful in this line of work..?” Asks Natalya, looking for confirmation in the viability of the work.

“Of course! Half of the city is just waiting below us to be stripped and sold, we made tens of thousands of rubles during our best months!”

“Ok, then let’s meet with your family then? Maybe we could go into business together?” Upon the words leaving her mouth, the excited and eager Damir deflates a little, a crack in his joyful visage.

“Oh… well… that wouldn’t be possible I’m afraid… on our last run, we came across a cluster of Bauks.. a big one… they.. they didn’t make it…” he says, looking away as though to hide the sorrow in his eyes as he speaks on the subject.

Bauks. That’s not an easy death, Natalya had very little experience with the fouls creatures but the stories she’s heard are the kind to turn the stomach.

“I am sorry to hear this Damir…” she says, Natalya, hoping to soothe the seemingly fresh wound.

It appears that this career path is as fraught with dangers as the opportunities that Natalya had come across on her tour through the streets of Novosibirsk.

“Where exactly would you have us start..? There’s much ground to cover down below, surely..?” Asks Natalya.

“While there are many opportunities for profit, we’d want to start small for now, we’re starting from zero, yes? So I propose we go to the landfill, there’s plenty of space for things to find, but in my experience the worst you’ll find in the area are a few Bedas so if you keep an eye on your belongings we’ll be fine!” Says Damir.

And now the time has come to make a choice, 200 rubles will not last forever and sitting on her hands will not bring in the money any faster.

However each of these options carry with it risk, each of them bare the serious possibility of violent confrontation, a field that Natalya had never been overly capable in, and why Damir has proven to be reliable and eager to work, he’s not exactly a red army veteran.

It may be worth the cost to see about purchasing a few extra guns for hire, as Natalya had rapidly learned on the road to Novosibirsk, an expedition can go from boring to dangerous in the blink of an eye.