The Ultimate Boredom of Imprisonment

[SekoETC]

Now here's a topic I've been planning to start for a while. It's about getting locked up in Cantr, and how it usually goes. I myself only have experience with three characters but that should certainly be enough. Every time I come to notice how terribly boring an experience it is, I swear to myself "next time I'm not going to give up so easily, I'll rather run and get killed than wait for a miracle to happen". But for some reason I still haven't learned.

There's always that thought that your character might be able to accoplish something, get their message through and be heard. - Bullshit. When your character is locked up and no one talks to them, no one even tries to kill them, there's no chance of working on projects, no one reacts to notes, you simply start checking other characters more often and let this one be forgotten. You'd think there's good time to start planning for the future, writing all the things you wanted to write but never had the time. Inside you know that no one would ever read those notes, they'll just end up in the trash envelope with the scribblings of a dozen fools just like you. (- This was for Gahak.)

To be continued after supper.

[nitefyre]

Well then I'm encouraged to drag and throw away the key more often than not, now.

[Stan]

Your strategy worked for Maline. She's the only survivor the Clan of Barons has ever left behind.

...sorry Nitefyre...

[SekoETC]

Quoting Cara the Mord'Sith in Temple of the Winds: "With no one to talk to and nothing to do but consider their foom, it drains their resolve - takes the fight right out of them. [...] I have had men beg to be beaten rather than have to stand alone, hour after hour." I understand this very well. I've felt it through my characters, they'd gladly be cut into pieces just to feel someone close to them.

Things in my mind can be more easily explained through examples. Dove was the first one of my characters to be imprisoned. She had acted against the laws but wasn't aware of it being witnessed. She was long burdened with guilt, unable to know if she'd been killed would the Mac Gregors had known everything. In fact the whole thing finally cleared to her only through reading the records in the library, years later.

The beginning of Dove's imprisonment was lightened by the fact that she wasn't alone. Her two friends were there, they could talk and the spirit remained high for many days. They were also able to make things out of the resources they were carrying. Being occupied with sewing it was easy to forget about the locked door. Lady Jessamin coming to talk to her every once in a while gave hope in the darkness, even when it came out that the boys were going to be executed. It was the short time after their deaths that broke her mind, launching a psychosis.

Most people are broken by loneliness quite quickly. After that they'll be happy to work. The person letting them out is seen as a saviour. In Dove's case, even though she had negative feelings towards many people in the clan, she saw Jessamin as a saint and was bonded with unconditional love to the end. At first she felt herself a slave and was bitter, but given trust and responsibility she became very devoted to the clan.

Maline then, in a way she learned to love Fritter even though the fear never quite left her. She believed that he has a divided personality, the dark side being what's called Baron F. Because it was impossible to tell when the dark side would rise to the surface, she was paralyzed with uncertainty. But for a while she was willing to work as long as it wouldn't be directly against her ethics. A broken mind can easily be remolded. In time, she might have changed to favour her captors. But there were things preventing it. First of all, Slaid's tomb. She had been obsessed by it for years and couldn't stop thinking about it. Secondly, she was a vagabond. Even though she had a need to be close to people, it couldn't keep her tied to a location. These things could have been bypassed but it was unlikely. And what's past is past.

Maline escaped. But in a way she was never free again. 101 to keeping slaves, even though you wish to make them think that you're friends and not captors anymore, you might want to take away the crowbar, and to make sure there's no nearly done lock-picking project on a vehicle, and if the lock is popped then for god's sake have someone sit on the vehicle like glued until the new lock is finished. When someone is desperate, they will take what ever chance they get. She felt guilty for betraying them, after all they'd been so friendly in the end. Maybe she would have thought differently would she had known about the discussion after her escape ("we're gonna kill that bitch") but now her end was troubled by ambivalence, would it had been better to stay?. And yes, she's dead. Technically it was hunger but I'd say it was loneliness that killed her. She would have been ready to love someone, it could have been anybody. What she felt for Slaid had been just a blooming crush, and there was room for many other men in her heart. But instead she turned into an anorectic ghoul. You're happy to have gotten rid of her.

[nitefyre]

Your strategy worked for Maline. She's the only survivor the Clan of Barons has ever left behind.

...sorry Nitefyre...

What're you talking about, Stan?

A) I wasn't the one who jailed Seko's characters.
B) Maline isn't alive.
C) I have nothing to do with this and I was speaking in general.

[SekoETC]

Nitefyre, that sounds a bit rude (though even I failed to see the connection) - even if Maline died that doesn't void the fact that she escaped.

On another thing, concerning Blerk Hills I gotta say "nyah-nyah, now you know how it feels!" (If someone wonders, I have nothing to do with that incident but was amused to notice who the characters involved belong to.)

Ok blah, I'm feeling mean before even submitting but couldn't resist.

[Yo_Yo]

There is a solution to the being bored in jail thing.

A) Don't get caught.
B) Don't turn around so you can get thrown in jail.
C) Don't forget to beg like a little girl if you do get caught.


The three D's of crime. Enjoy.

[AoM]

I've had two characters jailed whom I was very, very partial to. One was brutally murdered. And someday, somehow, his death will be avenged. The other kept on talking and talking to the captors, and wrote lots of detailed notes, and eventually was set free, none the worse for wear. Just gotta be careful about who you deal with, where you travel, and if you're traveling on a road next to a hostile territory, DON'T go on christmas vacation without remembering to turn around.

~AoM

[Nixit]

There is a solution to the being bored in jail thing.

A) Don't get caught.
B) Don't turn around so you can get thrown in jail.
C) Don't forget to beg like a little girl if you do get caught.


The three D's of crime. Enjoy.

what if it isn't a crime and they take over... and then throw you in a jail?

[SekoETC]

Uh-huh, bingo. And besides if you have a hunch that what you're doing might not be liked then running surely nails you guilty.

[nitefyre]

We seem to really know our A, B, C's in this topic.

p.s. The next letter is D.

[Slowness_Incarnate]

oh..oh my goodness..Gahak is going to be in there forever, doncha know? Tessa HATES him, and as NICE as she is that was hard to accomplish. You can hit her and still get away with your life, but Gahak did the big nono. He talked dirty smack about her town, thems fightin' words!

[SekoETC]

In that case you'll gonna have a revolution in there soon. Provided there is anyone awake to rebel... *mutter* Damn town of sleepers.

[Lumin]

If we're talking about the town I think we're talking about, then yeah, it's pretty boring. I stole seven thousand carrots from there once in protest.

[Yo_Yo]

There is a solution to the being bored in jail thing.

A) Don't get caught.
B) Don't turn around so you can get thrown in jail.
C) Don't forget to beg like a little girl if you do get caught.


The three D's of crime. Enjoy.

Erm.. hate to say it, but I was right when I said the three D's of crime. If you look real real closly you can see each one starts with a word beggining with the letter D. Uh oh, caught ya!