Evils and Evaluations (Dated)

Thread takes place on Thursday, November the Eighth, year 4; Morning.


The Topclaw Auctionhouse was an imposing structure that rose from Mainstreet, looming high and mighty over the degenerate shops and merchants of the streets below. It's brick and glass facade belied a warm, hospitable interior, though the realities were a bit more intense. The auction house was a burning-building, a stove of intentions and hot-heads, each in fiery contest with one another. No griffon or pony entered the auction house content, and none left content either.

It was a long and merciless tradition among the heavy-walleted and relic-possessing, to visit the auction house to seek their happiness. Some found curios, and literature, and famed artifacts of years long ago; happiness was nowhere in this building, though cash and comforts made the rough motions.

The front of the building was immaculate- no beggar stopped here, for fear of being shooed roughly off by the muscle of the enterprise. The building wore a rough facade, having stood the test of monarchy, lost fortunes and Tsarists alike without faltering once in its work. And though the building seemed to leech fortunes like a leech on the thigh, nobody grew the wiser; That gambling were a deadlier sin than murder, and what better gamble than one known as thrift?

The foyer invited people in, a classy affair in the Manehattenites finest arrangement, chrome and brass and fancy cloth adornments decking everything- all was fine to the eye and the touch, and one gathered the impression that the building was more valuable than the materials it was built to sell.

Past the foyer the styles petered out, but fine wooden paneling still found itself on everything it could, and the auction-room was lined up like church pews, all wooden and curved, with slots on the chairs in front of them for pamphlets and such. The room was grand, and looking up you would see a ceiling not quite domed, but sloped enough to give the impression of a cathedral, with paintings of Griffon and Pegasus dancing together in the clouds. In the front of the room was a multi-storied deck where the days goods would be held, and displayed prominently for the bidders below.

The backrooms were storage, warehouse, and operations rooms, and were much more utilitarian. They're walls were brick, or plastered according to necessity, and the wiring and plumbing was exposed for ease of repair. The backrooms also had rear access ramp, so that goods could be brought into the auction house with ease from the rear alley, which was as wide as a street and made specifically to accommodate the auction house.

These are the affairs that many slaves of the newfound regime find themselves in. Broken and weary, they were thrust into a world of fast money and faster bidders. The Topclaws did not condone slavery, but they didn't oppose the cash it brought either. So, slaves were bought. And slaves were sold. And money came and money flowed.

A Griffon officer entred the building, wearing an exquisitely tailored dress uniform that marked him out as an aide of Feliks. He was followed by Aella, wearing only the enchanted slave-collar issued to her by the Tsar's army. The large and powerful Griffoness received a few odd looks from the idle rich who milled about in the building before they collectively realised her status as a slave.

As the officer lead her through the building, Aella chanced quick glances at the beautiful and no doubt valuable ornamentation that filled every nook and cranny of the structure.

The officer stopped suddenly a few steps from a bright blue Griffoness, almost casing Aella to stumble into him, and spoke.

'My name is Hendrik of the generals staff. I have an appointment with an evaluator'

Evangeline looked to the haughty griffoness, and back to the slave. She felt somewhat to moderately advanced in pissiness threshold at this moment, and a customer not following the proper puntualities was only making it a bit worse. All the tsarist thought that they were above the Manehatten griffons, but Saphire was having none of it. This was her auction house, and the Tsar himself would kneel before her if she demanded him to.

"Ah, yes, the Generals staff. And your late, no doubt with an excellent excuse. Why is the property out for everyone to see it? You were supposed to bring it in through the back."

The officer scowled at Saphire.

'I had specific instruction from Feliks to ensure that no harm came to his property. Our lateness was due to a diversion around a particulary vile neibourhood of this city. If you would please forgive this, I am sure that Feliks will refrain from investigating your sub-legal activities'

The officer gave a nasty, toothy smile.

'Shall we move into a room, or perform the evaluation here?'

"Yes, of course."

Sapphire led the two up through the bidder's seats, and up onto the decking. She moved past a few curios, and through a doorway. This led into a bare hallway, where several other slaves stood chained to mountings on the wall. "The evaluations room is a bit further down, and to the right. I have business to attend to- I assume you can find your way down a hall without missing an appointment, no?"

Sapphire left the two, and made her way out to the front of the building again. The slaves looked downcast at the floors in front of them, stripped and shaved of all hair and mark. Their cutie marks had been rubbed and polished, to highlight them for their talents.

No griffon slaves had been through today, but that was about to change. A rough looking muscle-griff stood by, standing over the slaves. He looked lustily over Aella, before prodding a talon in the direction of the appraisal office.

The officer huffed and marched down the hallway, beak in the air like the stuck-up noble that she probably was.

Aella followed close behind her, making very sure to put the officer between her and the Tercel. She could likely rip him limb from limb without much effort, but it was better to be on the safeside. That, and he reminded her of the way that some of her handlers had looked at her, and the way that some of the officers that she was assigned to now gazed at her.

She followed the officer into the evaluation room and stood close behind her, awaiting orders.

The room was an anachronism of workshop and medical facility. Brushes, calipers,horseshoes, bonesaws, and much more hung from hooks and shelves all along its walls.

A solitary desk sat, plucked from a nicer set and cast into the roughness that was this room. No chairs were seated at it, instead its worker wrote standing on her fours, documenting her work. A smallish earth pony of mute colors stood in the center, and he was being poked and prodded by an eclectic looking griffon of unusual apparel. She measured his dimensions with a caliper device, inscribing her findings on a pad atop the desk.

She stopped measuring at once when she noticed the two entering the room. Her eyes narrowed, and darted back and forth between the two. "I am sorry, but it is of importance that perhaps you wait on the other side of the room before I perform your appraisal being that I am already occupied at the moment and would find it grievous to my work to be interrupted."

The Earth pony looked to the griffons before his head was abruptly snapped back forward by the brusque measurements of the appraiser. She began encircling his cranium with a measuring tape, finding to the nearest millimeter the circumference.

The officer snorted and looked at Aella.

'I am going to go and find something better to do then care for Felik's new toy. You will wait here for me, and you' She said, turning to Ev 'Will have the appraisal noted down for the good general'

With that she stalked from the room.

Aella bowed to the officer as she left, then stood out of the way and watched, dearly hoping that she would not need ot find out what some of those instruments did.

Evangeline finished the stallion with a bit of rough polish around his cutie mark, and sent him out to the hall, where the muscle-griff was prepared to receive him. Evangeline turned to the griffoness who awaited her attention. "Are you... new to being appraised?" she asked, sincere. "It is imperative for my trade to ask such questions, so please do not see me as being unduly prying since I merely ask to expedite the process."

She raised a piece of metal, with serrations down it's length, that had been curved into the rough shape of a hoop with a handle. She visually compared it to the size of Aella's neck, before putting it down.

Aella stood in the pose that she had been taught to best show off her physique. She was slightly confused by this question. Normally the emotional state of a slave was of little concern to the handlers.
'
'I... have been appraised once before, yes. But my own feelings about it are irrelivant'

Evangeline paused briefly from her work, as if thinking of the appropriate things to say. "Though I have no intent on disheartening you or mayhaps contradicting a lesson you have been taught it is necessary for me to be highly attuned to your emotional and psychological states, if only for determining your viability as a slave. Although I imagine it is somewhat demoralizing for you to try and remain objective about your status at this time I think it is best that perhaps you don't make the mental leaps into despair that I have seen so often."

"We are currently in the first phase of the analysis that I will perform and it consists of several questions to determine your psychological state and whether or not you may or may not be viable for sale as a slave. It is important that you be honest if you wish to be accurately placed in a household. My first question is in regards to your circumstances, and consists of the question: How where you initiated into slavery and under what duress were you under when you first became a slave?"

Aella looked at Ev. She seemed... almost caring, as if speaking to an equal and not an item of living property. This was very unexpected.

'I was born into slavery. My mother was Angeline of line Eversor, my father was... unkown. The officer has my ancestry information but... she walked off'

The room became silent as Evangeline contemplated her next action. "Well, seeing as the officer has left and we still must undergo this procedure, we will continue with the questioning."

Evangeline jotted down a few facts onto the notepad, before returning to her barrage of questions. "We will begin with a rudimentary psychological examination that will probe your mind and determine if you have any issues that have yet to be brought up in the course of our processing."

"First in this line of inquiry is the question that am asking you now: When do you feel your best?"

Aella thought for a moment. She could say that battle made her happy, or victory, but it was likely that the bejeweled griffoness would see right through that.

'I was taught to dance and sing, and to play the lyre, drums and flute. Performing makes me happy'

Evangeline nodded and returned to her journal. She jotted something down, and returned her attention forwards. Then she looked back to the notepad and jotted some more. And some more. She began scribbling notes that were incomprehensible to the Griffoness she was reviewing, a wide grin taking hold of her face. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes and four and a half pages, she jolted from her writing, as if she suddenly remembered she was performing an appraisal.

"Oh I am sorry and hope I did not worry you because I got distracted briefly and will not recontinue this evaluation that we are undergoing right now and I hope I didn't give you any bad impressions by not being attentive for such a long time. Now to continue our appraisal I must ask you about your lovers. Are you sexually active, and if so was it consensual or was it non consensual?"

Aella looks away from Evangeline.

'I have... been ordered to the quaters of two of the senior officers for an evening on seperate occasions. I reveived orders for entertainment and I... followed them'

She clenched her teeth at the memory.

The hesitance to speak wasn't read at all by the Appraisal artist, and she continued down her line of inquiry without hesitance. "And when you participated in intercourse, did you at any time become pregnant or contract a sexually transmittable disease?"

'Have not become pregnant and I do not believe that I have any infections'

Aella shuffled uncomfortably, breaking her pose and adopting a slightly more downtrodden posture. While motherhood had its own advantages to a slave like her, such as more food and a reduced workload, she did not wish to bring a hatchling into a life of slavery.

After the fact was noted, she asked another. "Have you ever committed an act of murder, or brutality besides work in your line of duties and I mean an act of brutality at personal urgency and not out of defense?"

'I have killed thirty-seven ponies over the course of my training as supervised opponents. During my first public fight I killed... one griffon'

Aella tries to hold back tears with limited success.

"Very good. No accidental homicides then, that's reported quite well. I'll be sure to see the paperwork on it, but other than that I think we're good but now I am seeing tears on your face and think that maybe we are not good so I must ask you if any of my previous statements have brought grievance to you? Because if so please say so so that I may understand why and perhaps get some insight into your character."

'I was... forced to kill a Tercel that I... he was like a father to me...' Aella trails off, tears running freely down her face.

'That was little more than a month ago'

"And that is... saddening to you I suppose though in retrospect yes I suppose that would be a saddening thing and now I think I may have been insensitive so thank you for bringing it up. Now, to move onto the more or less easier to measure and diagram appraisals, we must begin the physical appraisal. Please stand here where I am standing though not simultaneously I mean in the place I am currently standing and not where I am personally just the location."

Aella moves to the space previously occupied by Ev and takes up the appraisal pose again. She manages to regain control of herself, realising that excess emotion was a ticket to a taste of the collar's enchantment.

She watches Ev carefully, intrigued by the strange, oddly kind griffoness.

The Griffoness took to her tools and began measuring and prodding without another word. She quickly and efficiently gathered much more information than she was able to glean from there conversations, and used the work as a break from the difficulties of conversation. She spent no more than five minutes with calipers and body-fat detectors and measuring tapes before she was done. A tailor would be proud of her prowess. When she was finished, she wrote up all the measurements that had been stored in her memory, and began performing a cursory medical examination.

After she was done ensuring the Griffoness was in perfect health, she began speaking again.

"Are we to wait for the... other griffoness before we begin the sales paperwork, or are we not selling today?"

Aella sat down on the floor.

'I do not know if I am being sold today mistress'

She paused for a moment, listening to barely audiable indigant shouting from the auction hall.

'It seems unlikely given that I was purchased very recently' She paused again, summouning her courage in case she was displeased 'May I see the appraisal mistress?'

Evangeline paused, and laughed. "I forgot to ask you if you were literate or not. I suppose this answers the question."

She handed the appraisal notes to the Griffoness.

Name: Aella
Lineage: Pending attached documents.

Disposition:

The Griffoness displayed no traits that lead me to suggest she has any abnormal psychological phenotypes. She shows signs of rudimentary grief but beyond that no known deficiencies. She is able to maintain eye contact and poise for significant times and there are no signs to suggest that she may suffer from any illnesses. Details next page.

Health:

Extremely good health. No infection, no malnutrition, superb beak shaping, no loss of bone mass. Non-virgin. Very little body fat, though not from malnutrition. Extreme muscle density for a subject her size. Is much heavier than average for her height.

Notes: Is a bred-slave griffon. Shows genuine enthusiasm for dancing, though this may or may not have anything to do with her job. Bred and trained for Gladiatorial spectacle(? I am not acquinted much with the status of such spectacles due to unfamiliarity) and possesses no known trade or craft beyond the extent of her breeding.

Synopsis: Good profile, good health, no cons. 99th percentile Female Griffon. Perhaps good for continued breeding or for competition (? Again, unfamiliar with Griffon slavery practices). If sold for utility expect low bid. If sold for Breeding or for Gladiatorial prowess, expect high bids. Professional Valuation at 20,000 bits or 1,960 crowns

Aella holds the doccument carefully, afraid to damage the precious appraisal. After reading, she bows to Ev as the door to the evaluation room was thrown open by the griffon officer who had escorted her.

'I thank you mistress'

The officer stormed into the room, her face flushed with anger.

'Your damned guards would not let me back in!' she shouted at Ev

Evangeline stammered a brief reply. "I am... sorry to hear that."

The officer scowled at Evangeline and turned to Aella.

'Give me that!' She said as she snatched the evaluation from Aella's talons.

Looking it over quickly the officer frowned and withdrew Aellas lineage papers from her coat and held them out for Ev.



Eversor lineage to the third degree

Aella, daugher of Abelia, sire unkown

Abelia, four championships, one daughter at time of writing, daughter of Chloe, sired by Balius

Chloe, eight championships, three daughters and five sons, deceased, daughter of Gaea, sired by Ignatius

Balius, seventeen championships, fifteen daughters and eight sons, retired from performance, deceased, son of Cora, sired by Evander

All further records stored in the collosseum archives, Aquilla

The lineage paper's possessed the proper writs, signatures, and formalities fitting of their age of writing and the location of the staffers who had signed them. Evangeline was confident of the genuinity.

She returned the documents to the officer who presented them. "If you are to sell her today, tomorrow, or any day beyond this day I highly suggest you keep those documents with the appraisal forms for the transaction and surrender them with the appraisal forms in the instance that you perform the transaction. I apologize for any grievances my... gaurds? have caused you. Now please- you were already late and I have other appraisals awaiting my attention."

The officer nodded and withrew a small box from her coat, opening it to reveal a twisted gold Torc.

'As payment for services rendered, courtesy of Feliks'

She placed it on a bench and stalked out of the room.

Aella looked to Ev, gave her a short bow and followed the officer out of the auction house.