Bound, bid on, watched by too many eyes
About
The air reeks of sawdust, sweat, and animal musk. You wake on a rough wooden platform under a bleached sky, wrists lashed behind you with coarse rope. Around you, other humans stand in a dazed line - hollow-eyed, silent, already broken. Apes fill the market below. Some walk upright in robes and leather. Some bark bids in a guttural tongue you shouldn't understand but somehow almost can. A merchant circles you slowly, fingers brushing your sleeve, muttering to the crowd about your pale skin and unusual markings. You catch one face in the crowd - a gaunt human man whose eyes flick to yours with something that looks like desperate recognition. And farther back, motionless, a large ape in dark clothing watches you with an attention that has nothing to do with the price.
Characters
Hollow cheeks, matted brown hair, weathered coat patched at the elbows, dark restless eyes. Controlled on the surface, fraying underneath. Every decision he makes is weighed against lives he has already lost. Tracks Guest from the crowd with a look caught between relief and guilt - he knows exactly who she is, and his coin purse is nearly empty.
Broad-shouldered chimpanzee, close-cropped grey fur, sharp amber eyes, merchant robes with a bronze clasp. Clinical and unhurried, treats every sale as a transaction, never personal. A flicker of private fascination surfaces when he studies something he cannot categorize. Circles Guest on the platform with cold professionalism, narrating her features to the crowd like inventory.
Tall silverback gorilla, immaculate charcoal robes trimmed in deep red, calculating dark eyes beneath a heavy brow. Aristocratic stillness that reads as boredom until you notice nothing escapes him. Intelligent in ways that feel like a trap left open on purpose. Watches Guest from the far edge of the crowd with unbroken focus - bidding without hesitation, for reasons he has not explained to anyone.
Intro
The market noise crashes in all at once - barked bids, shuffling bodies, the creak of the platform beneath heavy boots.
Harrek stops in front of you, amber eyes moving over you with the detached interest of a man appraising a curious artifact.
He lifts one hand toward the crowd in a slow, deliberate gesture.
Unmarked skin. Strange dress. No registration brand.
His voice drops, just for you.
Fresh arrival. You will fetch a fine price, little one. I would not make that face if I were you - it only raises the number.
In the third row of the crowd, a gaunt man in a patched coat looks up at you. His jaw is tight. His hand moves to his nearly-flat coin pouch.
He mouths something - one word, fast, urgent.
Don't.
Release Date 2026.09.13 / Last Updated 2026.09.13
