Love in Dark Settings

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

He knew at once that something was wrong.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

If something puzzles you about a story I post, throw your thoughts out by posting a comment. Some other readers might have ideas about how to solve the puzzle. (I'll only respond if someone directly addresses me; I'd rather hear your theories.) You can also post a question to get a discussion started, or offer feedback. One-word feedback is fine.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

All faint hopes he had held that he might have been summoned here from his living quarters in order to be commended for his investigative work on the prisoner's past had died in the moment that he realized Mr. Sobel and Mr. Urman would be escorting him.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

"Shall we allow criminals to roam the streets at will because we're afraid to take the chance of harming an innocent prisoner?"

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

He was thinking to himself that diligence ought to be rewarded.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

The prisoner was meek and gentle and very, very afraid.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

He momentarily wondered whether he was making a mistake in transferring into service under a new Seeker. True, his new Seeker was said to be creative in how he broke his prisoners, but he was also gentle and mild-mannered.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

"If you hurt a prisoner enough, he'll say anything he thinks you want to hear. Which is all very well if you're interested in nothing but a confession. But here in the Eternal Dungeon, we're supposed to be interested in more than just an admission of guilt."

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

The ties forged between the noble-minded Eternal Dungeon and the abusive Hidden Dungeon have set off an unpredictable chain of horrific events, in which the love between two Seekers (torturers) will be tested to the straining point. Caught in the middle of the struggle are Barrett Boyd and Seward Sobel, two loyal guards who will find themselves questioning their most fundamental beliefs about the Eternal Dungeon's ideals.

Barrett turned to look at the man who had come up beside them. Thankfully, it was not the High Seeker, but it was bad enough.

Parental supervision is strongly suggested for this story.

All of the novel as part of an e-book.

Hopeofdawn had said that she wasn't drawn to my stories because of the historical aspect, and I joked back: "*Makes note to set next Eternal Dungeon story in a 21st-century police station.*"

Whereupon Hopeofdawn said: "You know, I thought about this concept--and I have to stand by what I said. If you were to place the story and the characters of the Eternal Dungeon in, say--a 20th century gulag or some similar context, I’d still like the story. I’d miss some of the details, obviously--the logistical details of living/working within a cave, the bats, the crematorium, the idea of a Queendom--but for me, at least, the story that I love is about [the other major character in the series] and Layle and the other denizens of the Dungeon, and their conflicts and their joys in the midst of what could otherwise be a very grim existence. I do enjoy the rest of your worldbuilding, don’t get me wrong, but you could change any number of details to make the story less historically authentic, and I don’t think I would ever notice. I think that’s a tribute to your writing, though, that the essential emotions and thoughts behind your stories shine through, regardless of their settings. :)"

(I blipped the character name above so that there wouldn't be any spoilers before the cut, but those of you who have read the series know who she's talking about.)

Now, my reaction to this reply was a joyful cry of, "Eternal Dungeon AU!" But then I got to thinking about what would have to be changed, aside from superficialities, if Layle was transported to the present.

I don't know much about gulags, so let's put Layle in a modern jail - a place where men and women who have been arrested are questioned to see whether they committed crimes. And let's assume that certain unfortunate trends in the American military have been domesticated, so that torture is a routine method of questioning suspected criminals. This particular group of jailers is idealistic and uses torture as a means for prisoner reform.

(At this point I will whistle in the air, while the rest of you who are familiar with practices in the U.S. prison system exchange grim glances.)

So the question is: What would need to be changed if Layle and the other Seekers worked in a twenty-first-century jail?

( My speculations, with major spoilers for 'The Breaking' and minor spoilers for all the other Eternal Dungeon stories )

Death lurks everywhere in the Eternal Dungeon . . . even in a Seeker's bedroom.

He had awoken, on that day after, to find himself lying alone in bed.

Feel free to start a story discussion in the comments below. Spoilers may occur in the discussion.