Features: First Look at the Ghouls Sourcebook

Finally. The two Adama wandered off to do whatever it was that Adama did and Elliot allowed himself a breath as he stood up and stretched. The signs he’d recognized from his research told him this was the place, even if he didn’t understand what the signs actually meant. Amanda was trading him some pretty hefty favors in exchange for what he was doing here, but he wasn’t the sort of Kinguim that was just going to let it lie at that. He had his own reasons for being here.

“You could have given us away.” The voice startled him, a hissing whisper that could have come from anywhere. He did his best not to look around, knowing that such an action would only make him appear weak. Instead he did nothing, waited, heard the beginnings of a grudging respect in the next question. “You are clumsy and fat but you make the proper signs for a meeting. What do you want?”

“To speak at length with the Emerald River Gathering.” Elliot hoped he’d gotten the name right, felt the cold shuddering that clutched at the bottom of his spine. “On behalf of one who would make pact with you… and to settle my own curiosity.” Soft laughter trickled around him, a liquid sound that came from nowhere and settled down in the shadows. There was whispering in a language no human could have spoken, a language that was not meant for him. And then:

“What curiosity possesses you?”

“You and your people.” Elliot swallowed, crossed his arms to hide his shivering. “I’m sort of a historian among my people. Rabishu.”

“Rabishu.” The word was repeated like it could be tasted.

“That’s the word, yes.”

More whispers, then silence. Elliot closed his eyes, tried to look bored.

“Very well.” A direction this time, to his left. He looked and there the figure was, thin to the point of emaciation, eyes shining with a milky film, bald of head and dressed in earthy rags. Male, sitting on a tombstone, considering. A number of others figures that looked somewhat like the first just appeared, slithering out of the dark like snakes. Shadows and their rags hid their features. “We will hear your offer and trade stories with you. Give your offering and follow.”

He pointed to where the offering Amanda had given him waited. Some of the creatures – Ghouls – went and collected the bodies in the bags that he’d left down below. Corpses thrown over shoulders and then they were walking into a mausoleum, shifting the cover of a grave to reveal a staircase leading below. He marshaled his courage, followed the lead Ghoul as they moved down and further down. Above him he could hear the lid being replaced, but he dared not turn around, dared not show any sign of fear to the monsters that stood all around him.

Eventually, the stair broke off into a number of tunnels. Elliot could hear running water somewhere but paid his surroundings only scant attention, mapping his way in case he had to leave in a hurry. He wondered if anyone in McDonough even imagined that this place was here, wondered how far back he’d have to look in the legends of the city to find any hint of such a myth. They walked down the largest tunnel, towards a small fire being tended by a female who looked up at him through a long mane of white hair.

The Ghouls came from everywhere, resembling the corpses they fed on more than living beings. Eyes shining through a thin milky film, they looked at him with obvious curiosity but said nothing. The lead Ghoul, the one he’d been following, sat on a bench and motioned for Elliot to sit beside him.

“I represent a woman named Amanda Osborn.” Elliot made himself as comfortable as he dared. It was surprisingly warm down here. “She wishes to make an exchange with you. Three bodies will be given to you with every passage of the moon. In return, she wishes you to spy or assault those that threaten her and alert her to other powers that move the city.”

“Can we eat those we assault?”

“Of course.” Elliot hoped his efforts not to wretch were hidden enough not to interrupt the hissed conversation shared by those around him, a return to the language of growls and moans.

“For three bodies we will not endanger our own,” the lead ghoul said, turning to him once more. “We are not her personal army; we will follow and watch but not assault unless we feel we can do so safely. Any information we gather is hers.”

“Alright,” Elliot nodded. “I take it you would be open to further negotiations for assaults?”

“On an individual basis,” the ghoul said, considering with an obvious intelligence that Elliot found surprising. “Are such terms acceptable?”

“I believe so, yes.” Elliot shrugged, tried to smile and look relaxed. “Details will be worked out between her and you, of course.”

“She deals with Usen’Hote.”

“I’m Elliot.” Usen’Hote nodded, staring at him with eyes that flickered with the faltering flames.

“And you wanted something else, yes?”

“Knowledge.” Elliot spoke the word like the name of a lover, his throat suddenly dry. He thought of the water he’d brought with him but resisted the urge to drink from it, not sure if such an act would insult them. “The chance to talk with you.”

“And what do you offer for it?” Usen’Hote asked, amused. Elliot reached into his shoulder bag, pushed the water bottle aside and brought out a small bundle. He unwrapped it carefully, in clear view, and held it up for every Ghoul in the warren to see. He saw Usen’Hote swallow, staring at the small trinket he held in his hands.

Kingu Forefend, the legends are right, thank Kingu the legends are right… Usen’Hote and the others stared for a good long time, the lead Ghoul the first to stare at him, slowly nodding. Good. Good. I think we have a deal. With any luck I’ll even get out of here alive…