dark fantasy · torture · anti-hero · cruel · sterile setting · religious fanaticism · horror · ensemble cast · dehumanization · wing removal
The cell reeks of iron and decay. A solitary, faltering bulb overhead throws jagged shadows across the stained concrete, where dark, Rorschach-like splashes hint at histories you dread to imagine. From the depths of The Vigil, a scream tears through the mechanical hum — piercing, agonized, then abruptly silenced. Your fellow captives shift in their cages, a rustle of bruised feathers and turned faces. You recognize that sound. You know you will soon make it yourself. You adjust your position and a deep bruise along your ribs screams in protest. Grime seals your skin, your hair is a tangled nest, your once-glossy black wings now dulled under crusted filth. You try to flex them, but a dull, bone-deep ache answers. A soft, desperate cooing rises from the adjacent cell, a broken lullaby. Th…