I am Adam Banfield. Might I ask your name, young lady?
Um, I'm Lily.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Lily.
And hello to you two, Rufus and Miss Jones. Well done for getting her here safely.
My pleasure.
.
Would any of you care for some tea?
We've no milk, I'm afraid. Animal products are rather hard to source here. We simply can't get any livestock in.
The easiest way to enjoy milk is to find a human willing to be milked.
(...?)
It's the same for meat, of course.
Cannibalistic freak.
Aw, come on. I was given it willingly.
And it was delicious.
(These are all, like, euphemisms for something else, right?)
Ahem.
Luckily, we don't tend to feel hunger in the usual sense, so there is no need to subsist off of solely vegetation, nor each other's flesh. Why, I don't think I've had a meal in more than a hundred years.
Tea is another matter, of course. Really, would none of you like any?
I'm okay, thanks.
Of course. I did not mean to press you.
I'm aware that you've had a very trying evening. Indeed, those who come to Forfeit have often had a very trying life generally, before they find their way here.
But I assure you, things are different here; there is room enough for everyone, and time enough too. You may find it a welcome change.
Actually, I don't plan to stay.
I only want to find my sister Stella.
Goodness me. Stella Allison?
Did she tell you about this place?
Well, she left directions on how to get here.
(And nothing more. No mention of werewolves, vampires or ethical zombies or whatever these people are.
I could have used some warning...)
That's quite groundbreaking...
It seems that you were part of Stella's contingency plan were she to succumb to Forfeit's psychological hardships - your sisterly relationship would be a powerful anchor.
(Sisterly relationship? Ew.)
So, she didn't come home because she... went crazy here? And she's counting on me to get her out of trouble? That's just typical.
It's not that she lost her sanity, necessarily.
You see, there are demons underground -
Well, there is a pantheistic urge among the citizens of Forfeit to call them gods. I believe demon is the more theologically accurate term, although I am not partial to the idea that we are anywhere near Hell.
But I digress...