The Iceshelf's ventilation system was as cold and unwelcoming as the rest of the forsaken prison. In order to save time and construction costs, the air ducts were not properly measured or shaped and they were not lined with any metal. They were simply small tunnels chipped out of the massive ice mountain the prison was built into. The work was all done by hand and was inconsistent. This resulted in poor air circulation, exacerbating the prison's freezing cold. Considering what this place was however, it suited the guards and the warden just fine.
The iron bars that made up the air vents that led to the ducts were not locked. As they were made of solid ice and impossible to navigate, there wasn't any need for security. There were also no maps of the ventilation system. No one had ever tried to make any due to the inconsistent construction, and the air circulation was all done by gravity so there were no maintenance men who needed to find their way around. This combination of factors made the ventilation system a good hiding place for those who didn't wish to be found. Among those was The Iceshelf's first child in over twenty years. Tali Riana.
Tali was conceived between the prison warden and a female Nord prisoner. Their relationship was hot and heavy but brief and by the time Tali came along there was no room in the warden's heart for her. He had seen to it that her young life didn't end early but only her mother ever really cared for her and she couldn't stop Tali from running "errands" for the warden. Errands to find the biggest skooma ring among the prisoners, the next big escape attempt, figure out who was starting fights in the yard. Tali's reward for these things was food: a rare and precious resource. Two years ago her mother had objected to this one too many times and was killed. Tali had never even known her name but she knew her love and the warden had taken that away too. Ever since that day he had actively abused her. She would report on the prisoners but receive no food. She would volunteer to kill rats but receive nothing for it. If she protested she was beaten. If she cried she was beaten. If she was caught stealing she was beaten. Now Tali was forced to live on whatever she could steal, beg for or find from some kind prisoner.
Tali knew The Iceshelf. She knew its nicks and crannies. Where the guards slept, where the prisoners ate, where the firewood and blankets were. She survived because she could take advantage of this knowledge but the guards were getting smart. Every day it was harder and harder to find something she could eat. Every day she got a little hungrier, a little weaker, a little more desperate. After six weeks of increasingly difficult scavenging she was down to skin and bones. She didn't have many days left.
At the moment Tali was asleep in one of the square rooms the duct miners had used to take breaks. It was about as large as a standard prison cell and had become her little sanctuary from the world. A stainless steel slab on the floor and an old bedroll Tali had moved herself made for a little bed and barrier from the ice. Two thin blankets supplemented Tali's fully covering but threadbare clothes and headscarf in keeping her warm. A small electric lantern and a handful of stolen batteries provided light to the otherwise total darkness of this level. A small pen light Tali had stolen from the lab a year ago provided guidance through the vents, along with a few batteries to power it. Her little bed was in the middle of the room and there were two vents that led to exits on either side. One led to other parts of the system, allowing her to move about unseen and unheard. The other rounded a corner and led to a vent that opened up to the entrance to the yard. The guards and the warden knew that Tali used the vents and slept here but none of them really cared since she was out of the way. Plus none of them could fit up there.
Tali woke with a start as the telltale noise of the iron yard doors being slammed woke her up. This happened every day yard time began and again when it ended but this second time felt too soon today. Tali rolled over on her stomach, adjusted her blankets to keep herself cocooned, and checked her old pocket watch. It was 7:30 a.m. Yard time didn't end until 8:00 a.m. Something must have happened to have it end early. Some of the prisoners probably got into a fight. It wasn't uncommon but wasn't terribly frequent either. Most prisoners were too docile, weak or afraid to start a fight unless it was to fight over food.
"Just like me..." Tali whispered to herself. She had eaten her last bit of bread yesterday and had become too weak to range very far. She wasn't very hungry and she knew that was a bad sign, but she needed to try and find something to eat anyway. She could feel her backbone by pushing her stomach in with her finger she was so skinny. Tali didn't want to die but she was getting close to that. Another few days and she'd be too weak to move. She had to find enough food to start exploring again. A loaf of bread, a sausage, a couple of eggs, any of these would keep her alive for another week.
She picked herself up, folded her blankets, made sure her headscarf was completely covering her ample, dirty brown hair and opened the vent that led to the main hallway. She wrapped her hands in pieces of fabric to protect them from the bare ice and her knees and legs were already wrapped in thinning but still valuable fabric. As she came around the bend she heard a large procession of footsteps. A closer look showed that a large group of prisoners were approaching the wall vent. Ten, maybe twelve people. Some of them were sure to have food on them and if they could somehow drop it, Tali could scoop it up and them disappear again. All she needed was a distraction and she knew just how to make one.
This prison was filled with skooma addicts. Many of those who could get the precious drug used it themselves and the first thing they did when they got a shipment was take a hit. That way they could properly negotiate. Tali had observed a small trading circle involving a gang of Orcs who sold skooma to a gang of Redguards. This created a working relationship between the otherwise hostile gangs and this relationship had been disrupted by an Imperial male who had recently arrived and had fallen under the drug's power. He had taken the vial of skooma the Orcs were to trade and hid it in a crack in one of the icy walls of his cell. Tali had watched all this from the shadows and had been able to steal the skooma while the imperial was asleep. She had hoped she could make herself known to him later and trade the vial for food. Now she had a more immediate option. She could throw the skooma into the approaching crowd and grab any food they dropped as they fought over it. The guards were still outside and had locked the doors to the yard so they wouldn't be a problem. They had their own entrance to the rest of The Iceshelf and the prisoners had nowhere to go but back to their cells.
Tali sat there in the freezing air vent for several minutes and listened as the crowd of prisoners got closer. Then she heard something she hadn't anticipated. The guards were with the prisoners. She mentally slapped herself as she remembered the guards always walked the prisoners back to their cells after a fight. Her heart sank and her stomach growled all the more. She could never execute her plan now. The guards had seen her too often and they'd catch her for sure. Not knowing what to do, Tali crawled back through the vent towards her little room in defeat.
As she moved however she had another idea. Breakfast was always served after yard time and since yard time was ended early, breakfast would come early too! She hadn't been able to get breakfast from the prison carts or the kitchen recently. The guards had caught on to what she was doing and had become vigilant but today had changing circumstances. They were getting an extra half hour to their break thanks to the cancelled yard time and that meant they would be more relaxed. Maybe they would be relaxed enough to let their guard down a bit. If she was quick and clever, Tali could follow today's food cart and steal something fresh while the guards were away from it serving the prisoners. All she needed was a little luck
***
Twenty minutes later, Tali was out of the duct system and hiding in the shadows of an unused and unlocked cell. She was in the first cell block to be fed, the one containing some of the strongest prisoners. The kitchen was right around the corner so the food was still warm and fresh. A reward for the strong surviving this place. Among the prisoners here was a short, pretty brown haired Breton woman Tali liked to watch. Her name was Allie and she liked that name because it rhymed with her name, Tali. There were also a pair of Imperial men, a handsome black haired one named Fine or Funn or something like that and another shorter one named Natch. Tali had stolen his skooma and now she could still use it for barter. There was also a Breton man named Menroe, who had been beaten and was lying in his cell sleeping it off, an Altmer woman with a scarred throat that never talked and another Altmer woman named Doctor Selina C. Page. Tali knew about her mainly because of the stationary in the lab with her name on it. She was pretty and seemed nice to the prisoners and she wasn't as good at locking up medicine as the old doctor was. In fact, she had recently been leaving out exactly what Tali needed at just the right time. A bit of bread, some bandages and most recently an elixir to help suppress Tali's bad case of Whooping Cough. Tali found this worrisome and very strange. She was absolutely grateful to Doctor Selina C. Page for this but it was all a little too convenient. As if the good doctor knew about Tali and was onto her. Like the doctor was trying to help Tali without helping her.
What if she doesn't help me anymore? What if she finds me? All the other grown ups beat me when they find me. Maybe she's different and nice. Like Allie. Hmm-hmm...Allie and Tali, Allie and Tali, Alli and Tali Tali thought, softly giggling to herself at the similar sounding names. Soon the food cart arrived and the smell of warm oatmeal and salted ham hit Tali's nose. It had been so long since she smelled hot, fresh food. So long she couldn't remember. She moved out of her vacant cell and kept low but the smell called to her. Her stomach screamed for the food. Being a ten year old girl, Tali had little discipline or self-control and starvation and her terrible cough had sapped her of what little she had. Just as the guard wheeling the cart opened the door to the first cell (OOC: Whoever posts next should be this first prisoner.) Tali made a beeline for the cart. Her little muffled feet went as fast as they could go and she made it to the cart before the guard knew she was there but the extra energy of running irritated her chest and sapped her energy. She had gotten hold of an entire block of salted ham, as big as a shoebox, a treasure beyond belief. Then the coughing came back.
"AHOO! AHOO! AHOO!" Tali coughed, gaining the attention of the entire hallway and the guard in front of her. She panicked as the guard turned on her and that exacerbated her coughing. This cough hurt so much, and it was happening so fast she couldn't breath. She dropped the ham block and gasped for breath as she coughed up spit and bits of throw up on the floor, begging for the cough to stop. "What the...You!" The guard shouted, rounding on the gasping Tali and taking out his mace. "You little urchin! I thought I told you that if I caught you stealing one more time I'd smash all ya fingers, feed 'em to ya and see you like THAT MEAL! Looks like I get ta' keep me promise! Com 'ere ya little moppet!" Tali was now crying tears of pain, panic and failure over being caught. She tried to run away but she was too weak to stand. Her coughing had stopped all too late and had taken too much out of her. She backed up to the all next to the open cell door of the prisoner who was to be fed, and cowered. Unless someone helped her, she was going to die. "Please." Tali cried. "Please don't hurt me!"
