| Every society contains at least one class division. The most generic and popular division is into two classes: those with and those without power. Since power in society is a relative term, this is better understood as one group being the teeming masses of the laboring populace, and the other group being the overlords in charge of the masses. Another way to phrase this division is by using the analogy of sheep versus wolves. The sheep do nothing but what they are told, and it is the wolves who tell the sheep what to do. This analogy can also be applied to crime and liberty. The sheep are too timid to break even the smallest rules, whereas the wolves take what they want, whenever they want it, and by any means at their disposal. The sheep are guided by religious texts and vague things such as emotions, or the feelings of others; the wolves will suffer no guidance, save for the calculus of sating their own desires. If they were truly two different species, this would be a prime example of Darwinian survival of the fittest. | |
 |
There are very few mods that tackle the presentation of sheep versus wolves. In one sense, this is an even more taboo and dangerous subject than sex, because sex at least contains elements of beauty, pleasure, and life affirmation. But the preying of one class upon another has absolutely nothing to commend it. It is one of the grimmest and ugliest truths of the human condition that children should never have to learn until they come of age. There is no dark alley where someone has not been murdered over drugs or cash, no laundromat basement where the cops or the mob have not worked somebody over. The protection of law is an illusion for the poor commoner, because justice can be purchased. Politics, religion, and charity always fail in their pursuit of noble purposes whenever they meet wealth, because the inevitable result of wealth -- for those who cannot master it -- is corruption. The status quo never changes because only those who already have the power in their possession will do everything in that power to preserve it. |
| Infernal Rapture brings these horrible truths to Morrowind. It is a mod about a club called Hellfire, which is also a joinable faction. The Hellfire Club is a secret underground organization founded and funded by the rich and elite of Morrowind for the purpose of indulging in pleasure -- pleasure which is often obtained at the expense of other human beings. It would be an understatement to say that Hellfire endorses slavery. Some players of Morrowind may have wondered why there are so many gangs of slavers hiding in the various caves, when there are only a small handful of farms and plantations that make any use of slaves. This is clearly a situation where supply outstrips the demand, yes? But consider that no market can exist in a vaccuum, unsupported...and the existence of Hellfire can be inferred. The club is the single greatest buyer of slaves imaginable. Hellfire's appetite for new flesh cannot be whetted or appeased. |  |
 |
Why does Hellfire require so many slaves? Because its members are constantly burning through them, like so much canodia paper caught within a sun. Consider the number of ways that sex can be increased as a pleasurable vice -- especially if the consent of your sex partners is irrelevant. Abuse is commonplace, here in the Halls of Infernal Rapture, and torture is an art form. Suffice it to say that the writings of Marquis de Sade and the legends of the Victorian-era Hellfire Club have inspired the creation of this mod. Sex is a pleasurable activity, no doubt...but there is no requirement in this mod that both participants feel that pleasure. In fact, the slaves usually do not survive the experience at all. And why should they? Torture them, torment them, maim them, kill them, rape them, brand them, hunt them for sport -- even eat them -- what difference does it make to the wolves? The next shipment of fresh meat has already been purchased and will arrive at Hellfire on the morrow. This is, after all, what the club members have paid for. |
| From this description so far, the crude soul would imagine Hellfire to be nothing more than a giant dungeon, filled with screams and torture devices. Far from it. There is indeed a very large Dungeon that is devoted to this purpose, but it is not the only interior cell in this mod, and it is not even the largest cell by far. The members of the club have highly refined tastes -- a natural consequence of being steeped in excessive wealth all of their lives. There is a pit where an orgy is constantly staged around the clock, and a balcony is placed above this pit from which to view the action. There is an arena to watch slaves tear each other into bloody shreds purely for the enjoyment of the onlookers, with no rules to govern the combat. There is a lush garden to wander through, a sector of exclusive merchants to buy exotic wares from, a bath house to soak and be pampered in, and a fine dining room with its own permanent chef and service staff. The more privileged members even have their own pets and living quarters. |  |
 |
It must be stressed that the use of the word "pets" in this mod is both the same, and yet radically different, from how the word is normally used. The difference is that here in Hellfire, a pet is a kept human being, instead of an animal. Everything else, however, remains the same. The pet is allowed to live in its master's chambers, and it exists to do the bidding of the master. The only purpose of the pet is to please the master, and to this end, it must wait hand and foot on its master and anyone else the master cares to share the pet with. The pet remains nude at all times, except for the simple adornments of a neck collar and some ownership tags. The pet is taught to perform certain tricks, and it is punished when it breaks certain rules. And when the master gets tired of the pet...the pet is put to sleep. But make no mistake, a good pet is a rare and precious thing, and it is prized and pampered for as long as the master appreciates it. |
| The fact that some slaves are elevated to the status of pets -- owned solely by one club member, instead of the club entire -- should underscore the truism that not everything can be bought. Hellfire also offers the entertainments of intrigue. The veteran player who has finished all of the main quests of Morrowind will undoubtedly run into a few familiar faces in the Halls of Infernal Rapture. For the politically powerful, there is no better place to conduct business and make policy decisions with like-minded peers -- without all the hassle of democratic process or formal ratification. After all, these are all wolves who understand where the true source of power stems from, aren't they? Who knows how many far-reaching decisions have been made, in the rotunda bar after a rigorous slave hunt or a heavily-wagered slaughtering competition, or in the quiet nooks and crannies of the thickly-forested garden, or even in the receiving room for breaking in new slaves...the walls will never tell. And even here, the divisions of class throw true: the staff officers of Hellfire play one game of thrones, the club members another one. |  |
 |
In a club where vices are proudly displayed, where social stigmatism is a badge of honor, how can there be such a thing as secrets worth keeping? What could a club member possibly be ashamed of, in this realm where shame has no meaning? Yet the secrets persist...the careful player will uncover rumors of staff officers and club members alike whom no one has ever seen and whose identities and locales remain hidden. Locked doors abound, sealed with mechanisms that defy all locks and picks, and strange artifacts with no stated function turn up in the remote corners of Hellfire...some doors even seem to violate the laws of physics, granting access to areas that would appear to overlap. A builder's mistake...or a gimmick to conceal a hidden door or passageway? There are darker things that dwell in the depths of the human heart -- whispering behemoths of cold purpose that can sometimes be glimpsed moving silently through the veneer of civilization -- than mere vices. Things that even the rules of Hellfire forbid displaying in its Halls. |
| Even so, Hellfire is certainly no model of decorum that any society would wish to emulate. Racism is the rule of the day -- the beast races have never been granted membership -- and sexism is not far behind. Skooma flows as abundantly as liquor, and nakedness is the norm rather than the exception. The guards and slave handlers are all people who could not find work anywhere else because of their homosexual inclinations, or because of their murderous flash-point tempers. A great deal of the freaks that normal mundane society has rejected, in fact, call Hellfire their home, precisely because it is the only place where they can belong. This is true of everyone featured in this mod, to some extent...the beautiful ones just have their freakiness on the inside. And it is no simple matter of coming up with thousands of septims and paying the entry fee to gain membership in Hellfire, either. A potential candidate must first demonstrate a drastic rejection of the rules that emasculate all of the sheep in Morrowind society, then seek out members of an underworld organization to learn the rest. |  |
 |
Hellfire is a world of equal parts savagery and beauty -- a celebration of the beauty that is to be found within savagery and blood, within decadence and misrule. It is a rejection of everything polite and mundane, in favor of noise and chaos. A world where the sword is mightier than the pen, and every orifice is jammed with something sharp. There are places to terrify, and places to delight. Everything has been built to be as visually arresting as possible. There are secrets to discover, dark experiments to perform, tied-up slaves to whip, and ancient vendettas to resolve. This mod has been our world for many long months, and soon it shall be your world as well. For those of you who are adventurous and libertine enough to taste what we have to offer, and not gag or choke on the offering, we bid you...welcome. |
