dev 3 - prisoners

Hundreds upon hundreds.

Ever since the metal was purified, ever since the construction of the State-of-the-Art facility to drain mana was built by the endless Undead in possession of the Lich King, the captives were forced in the capsules that would drain them for eternity and forever more. It is the vile, atrocious method of extracting as much power as one can possibly drain from a human body, leaving them completely exhausted but still alive. And yet, Arthur did not shy away from it. Not at all.

The runes were very much simple, at least to him. As accomplished runescribe, the creation of relevant runes was not a hard process for him. A rune to channel the consumption of mana that comes through Tyrium and Cold Iron, one to store it, and one to gather it all... to be frank, this was easier than he anticipated. The hardest part was, actually, getting the captives themselves - but with the countless armies he led towards Gehenna and Huangzhou alike, as well as those against the rebel army, enough was gathered. As for runes...

'Deligo - the Purpose of Gather, of Drain.'
'Fretum - the Purpose of Channel, of Flow.'
'Copia - the Purpose of Storing, of Abundance.'

These runes alone were enough to prove the fact that the state-of-the-art capsules would be perhaps his salvation in the coming days. Still...
(Arthur Rowan)

"Put them into pods."

Roughly, without mercy or regard, endless captives were put in their draining prisons. The construction was on-going even now, and with each capsule constructed and connected, yet another captive was shoved in against their will. It was only a matter of time- a brief time- until all of them are connected to larger network of constantly draining their mana, 24-7, enough to keep them fully exhausted but alive. There are truly fates worse than death - and the Lich King hardly imagined anything worse than being used as a feeding animal, only to be put to slaughter few years later.

"Make sure that they're fully secured and they cannot leave."

Thankfully, the captives were as weak as it is... it took no effort for the Undead warriors and guardsmen to put the poor people to their would-be doom. Still, if anything, this is an extesnion to their life - an unholy one, where they will not see their loved ones or even the light of the day, but an extension. Whoever said that death can't be merciful was clearly in the wrong, with atrocities such as these.

A prisoner after prisoner, and slowly, the hundreds were put in the capsules over the course of the day.
(Arthur Rowan)

No matter how many cries were made that day, it would fall upon deaf ears.

Still, he could regard them with at least some credit. The way they fought, the way they thrashed till the last... it showed some degree of disobedience, something that he, unironically, enjoyed. What fun is there if they all simply surrender their fate? Some had to be forcibly put in, some would not surrender until the last - but none were killed. The Lich King, with all of his cruelty, was very much preserving of his captives; was it because he was caring? Absolutely not.

The energy would simply fade otherwise.

Each captive was safely secured, left in the prison that they would damn over and over again. With their circuitry being drained by the metals and runes alike, they would be left weak enough to not be able to do anything at all, but living so that they keep generating more energy - but there is no hope for these prisoners, for they knew that they're only a feast to the Lich King.

And death in Dawn can be, indeed, mercy.
(Arthur Rowan)