AuroraGyps
First Post
Me!
From my PC's first meeting with the other players, I knew this was going to be an interesting game, but I never guessed just how interesting it would be. What a crazy, crazy ride. 
Demons in the Mist (October 9th update)
Me!
From my PC's first meeting with the other players, I knew this was going to be an interesting game, but I never guessed just how interesting it would be. What a crazy, crazy ride. 
Desdichado
Hero
Right; negative hitpoints. He didn't actually die, because Dr. Livingstone stabilized him and he was sent to the dungeon.
Desdichado
Hero
She ran towards them desperate, but not stupid. She was cautiously optimistic about the chances of being saved. She was dressed in leathers, wrapped in a bedroll, and holding a piece of canvas over her head. She gets up turned on seeing the ship land, and ran over to a pile of things set up against a small incline of stone. She sat on top of a small chest, with her back to the rock, and waited there for any people that might come up to her.
The rodentish shifter was the first a-peak, hopping over the side of the airship and moving around the newcomer, sniffing curiously at her as he picked through the remains of the dead.
"I'm afraid I've already done that." Nix said to the man sorting through the crew that lay about. "I've already stowed the things I really want, so you all can have the rest, " She held up a large and lumpy sack and then placed it on a pile of what seem to be weapons and other things.
Lash suddenly bellows from on deck. "Leng take me, is that you, Nix? "
"Who wants to know?"
Lash grinned, and said, "Don't you play coy with me, you scallywag. What happened? Did you steal the captain and stuff him in you bag? Or was it the sails? I'm starting to wonder if we barely avoided crashing here, or if you just pulled off one of your heists!"
But then his eyes narrowed a bit and he asked, "How did you managed to find yourself here, lass. Coincidences this close to the Mist worry me."
Lash raised his voice again to carry over the ship, "Keep a close watch, all. No telling what's lurking below that Mistline, and two juicy airships landing here is bound to attract some attention. With our luck, at least."
"You know each other?" Scritch asked cautiously as he settled on his haunches by the hobgoblin. He laughed softly, his Fu Manchu moustache quivering over his lips. The Demon-Rat would love this one! "What happened to air-ship?" As the crew disembarked to scavenge from the wreckage, he rose to his feet and waves the rest of the group over to them.
Nix stood up and shook the water off herself. "What didn't happen to it?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "A run of bad luck, that I know. Why we really crashed, I can't say, since I was asleep at the time."
The shifter bobbed his head up and down sadly. "Bad things happen whenever friends sleep. Ricardo, he always cries when sleeping, like something is hitting him with big wooden sticks."
Lash paused, and looks around. Then, in a low, menacing voice he growled, "Where is Ricardo?"
Below decks, Ricardo has escorted Francesca to her cabin. "I should really go see what's going on up top. Those friends of mine, they're probably-- Uh. Oh. Oh, dear. Okay, go ahead." Lash is so going to kill me for this.
Shautha jumped lightly (for a half-orc barbarian girl) off the ship and strode confidently over to the edge of the Mist, standing with her back to it, as if daring it to get her. "How did you say your ship crashed?" she asked the stranger suspiciously.
On hearing more of Lash's conversation, though, she relaxed marginally. "You know her? Strange. And, as you say, coincidences near to the Mistline are probably not coincidences."
Belowdecks: "Look, you really shouldn't be undress-- No, they look fine, it's just your sister-- I don't like to compare, honestly. Maybe you should do those buttons back up now."
Lash was getting more and more frantic. "No, really. Where. Is. Ricardo?!"
Scritch perched atop some rubble and looked back meaningfully towards their ship to answer Lash's question.
"I haven't seen him. I'll go back and get him." Shautha jumped slightly less dextrously back onto the airship and pounded down the stairs to the bunks. "RICARDO!"
Vuukran absentmindedly picked at one of the large fangs protruding from his lower jaw as he appraised the situation. "This the strangest ship I've ever been on, and that's saying a lot. A woman appeared out of nowhere for Ricardo, and now one has done the same for Lash. What manner of sorcery is this?"
Shautha tossed a wink back at Vuukran as she went by. "I'm still available for you."
"The gods pity fools and small children. The rest of us, they torture for eternity." Scritch continued to scan the Mist-shrouded peak, all too aware of the dangers that could emerge at any moment.
While the crew scavenged what repairs they could from the ship, Scritch reached within his vest and retrieved a small leather pouch. He whistled for a moment to catch Vuukran's attention, then tossed it to him. The pouch contained 80 gold pieces.
Vuukran rifled through the pouch, assessing its contents, then cocked his head and arched an eyebrow at the shifter. "What the Dog* is this for?"
Is he trying to buy the half-orcess off of me? I don't own he- wait... is this the fee for bedding her? By Dog, that's expensive!
"From Kirov. Equal share for equal danger, with one-tenth kept back for the Demon-Rat." He rustles around inside his vest before producing a similar pouch and tossing it to Lash.
Lash buried his face in his hand for a moment, a la Picard. Taking a deep breath and dropping his hand, he shook his head as if to clear it, and made a visible effort to pull himself upright. "Right, done is done. Might well as try to change the wind. I'll deal with Ricardo and our stowaway later. For now, we need to concentrate on repairs. Vuukran, would you assist me in picking through yonder ship for the things we need? Another set of eyes and a strong back will make things go faster.
The rest of you mind what I said about keeping a sharp eye. We are not safe here."
Vuukran vaulted over the edge of the ship with careless ease and trotted over to Lash. "Sure thing, not-Captain! Oh, and pleased to meet you, Lash's woman." He bowed with too much of a flourish before Nix, then lifted his eyepatch to give her an overly exaggerated conspiratorial wink.
"If it's pairs of eyes you want, it's too bad we're not in Mnar. Did I ever tell you about the time I was negotiating a peace treaty with an island full of aranea? They've got four pairs of eyes each! Anyway, so there I was, all alone, thre rest of the expedition lost to disease, starvation or worse, surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of eyes as I addressed their Queen..."
The shifter hopped down as several of the crew begin digging in the wreckage he was perched atop. He prowled around the mountain peak for a few minutes, silently gauging the Mists as Vuukran prattled on about his fantastical adventures, before skittering up atop a small rock outcropping and pulling out his bow. The ratling settled in on himself, bow out and ready for trouble.
Inside the ship, Shautha started banging on closed doors. "RICARDO!"
Entangled with one woman and hearing the approach of another is a situation Ricardo knew how to handle. That husky voice called out from the bunks above, and down in the cargo hold, in Francesca's little boudoir, he leapt into action.
"My dear, it would go poorly for us both if we were discovered. Perhaps we can continue this enchanting conversation some other time..."
Francesca's charms seem to have discombobulated him more than he thought, for he was unable to resist a last lingering caress before slipping under the curtain and sprinting for the bow companionway, wincing as he knocked over a stack of lace, hoping to avoid the other woman he could hear above. He failed.
"Oh! Hey, there you are. It's... Shautha, isn't it?" It's dark down here but she's certainly well-built. Hm, possibilities. Ricardo pitched his voice quiet and assured, giving his best "suddenly I'm engrossed in you, baby" impression.**
She waggled her eyebrows at the man. "Yes, it is. But for now we're both needed topside." She pointed vaguely in the direction of the peak.
"Yes, of course."
Ricardo straightened his cuffs and offered the Shautha a quick bow, then dashed up to the deck. "Lash, what seems to be the trouble, my old friend? What a ruckus you're causing."
Shautha peeked curiously down the hallway before shrugging and following Ricardo topside.
Lash glared at Ricardo from the midst of the other ship's wreckage and called back, "You missed a lace on your breeches, my dear Ricardo. And I'd appreciate it if you could keep a watchful eye out for danger where I can keep an eye on you," Lash finished in a mutter. Lash actually had no idea if Ricardo really did miss a lace or not, but he'd been around the block a few times with Ricky, and he was confident he was right.
Ricardo scarcely heard Lash. There was a gorgeous human woman standing on the rocky peak. A wet gorgeous human woman. "Oh, my dear, has no one seen to your needs?" He immediately crossed to the dark-skinned girl and offered her his hankerchief.
"At least dry yourself. Perhaps I could accompany you aboar-- well, actually, I do need to be out here. You see how my friends rely on me. I am Ricardo Murciélago, adventurer and trusted partner of the di Vicenta family from Razina. And may I say how pleased I am to be able to assist such a lady as yourself."
He bowed gracefully and kissed the girl's hand.
Shautha rolled her eyes and then jumped off the ship to help the others search the wreckage. "Anything in particular we should be saving? I know nothing about airships."
Finding the material Lash and Gustav needed to make the repairs was not difficult, but it would take them a couple of hours. Only Lash and Gustav knew what they were looking for; the rest of them could only offer strong backs to carry material onboard. Francesca came out on deck after having spent a little bit of time in the tiny ship's galley while everyone was working. It turned out she was quite talented in the galley, and she had turned the rather unpalatable rations into something that everyone quite liked. She had also apparently dropped the snotty spoiled brat routine and the would-be underage vamp routine for now, and was quite charming, although she avoided looking at or talking to Ricardo as much as possible. When she did catch his eye, she inadvertently drops[ed her eyes to her breasts and frowned.
Her monkey was in a fine mood, too. He saluted Vuukran again, then paced back and forth on the table with his hands behind his back, babbling at high speed, occasionally stopping to jab his finger at charts or diagrams that he makes with a pencil (the diagrams don't make any sense to anyone else) or gesticulated wildly. No one had any idea what he was saying (except maybe Vuukran), but apparently he considered himself quite an authority on whatever it is he was talking about.
When lunch was done and the repair work was about halfway done, the weather changed. The wind slowed and the rain stopped, and even the sounds of Lash and Gustav working, or the rest of the crew moving and talking seemed muffled and quiet, as if covered in a thick blanket.
To the right, a low organic clicking sound suddenly cane out of the Mist. Every other sound stopped. Then they heard it again to the left. And behind.
* Dog is one of the beings worshipped in the area. He's a gigantic Dog... apparently immortal... who lives on one of the little plateaus near Mnar's southern edge. He's a relatively benevolent little godling; as long as he gets a sacrificial virgin to eat two or three times a year, he leaves everyone pretty much alone. Over time, pretty much all the characters starting swearing by Dog and taking his canine name in vain, which I thought was kinda amusing.
** It was a running joke for quite some time that Ricardo hadn't actually had a good look at Shautha and was laboring under the delusion that she just might be attractive.
The rodentish shifter was the first a-peak, hopping over the side of the airship and moving around the newcomer, sniffing curiously at her as he picked through the remains of the dead.
"I'm afraid I've already done that." Nix said to the man sorting through the crew that lay about. "I've already stowed the things I really want, so you all can have the rest, " She held up a large and lumpy sack and then placed it on a pile of what seem to be weapons and other things.
Lash suddenly bellows from on deck. "Leng take me, is that you, Nix? "
"Who wants to know?"
Lash grinned, and said, "Don't you play coy with me, you scallywag. What happened? Did you steal the captain and stuff him in you bag? Or was it the sails? I'm starting to wonder if we barely avoided crashing here, or if you just pulled off one of your heists!"
But then his eyes narrowed a bit and he asked, "How did you managed to find yourself here, lass. Coincidences this close to the Mist worry me."
Lash raised his voice again to carry over the ship, "Keep a close watch, all. No telling what's lurking below that Mistline, and two juicy airships landing here is bound to attract some attention. With our luck, at least."
"You know each other?" Scritch asked cautiously as he settled on his haunches by the hobgoblin. He laughed softly, his Fu Manchu moustache quivering over his lips. The Demon-Rat would love this one! "What happened to air-ship?" As the crew disembarked to scavenge from the wreckage, he rose to his feet and waves the rest of the group over to them.
Nix stood up and shook the water off herself. "What didn't happen to it?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "A run of bad luck, that I know. Why we really crashed, I can't say, since I was asleep at the time."
The shifter bobbed his head up and down sadly. "Bad things happen whenever friends sleep. Ricardo, he always cries when sleeping, like something is hitting him with big wooden sticks."
Lash paused, and looks around. Then, in a low, menacing voice he growled, "Where is Ricardo?"
Below decks, Ricardo has escorted Francesca to her cabin. "I should really go see what's going on up top. Those friends of mine, they're probably-- Uh. Oh. Oh, dear. Okay, go ahead." Lash is so going to kill me for this.
Shautha jumped lightly (for a half-orc barbarian girl) off the ship and strode confidently over to the edge of the Mist, standing with her back to it, as if daring it to get her. "How did you say your ship crashed?" she asked the stranger suspiciously.
On hearing more of Lash's conversation, though, she relaxed marginally. "You know her? Strange. And, as you say, coincidences near to the Mistline are probably not coincidences."
Belowdecks: "Look, you really shouldn't be undress-- No, they look fine, it's just your sister-- I don't like to compare, honestly. Maybe you should do those buttons back up now."
Lash was getting more and more frantic. "No, really. Where. Is. Ricardo?!"
Scritch perched atop some rubble and looked back meaningfully towards their ship to answer Lash's question.
"I haven't seen him. I'll go back and get him." Shautha jumped slightly less dextrously back onto the airship and pounded down the stairs to the bunks. "RICARDO!"
Vuukran absentmindedly picked at one of the large fangs protruding from his lower jaw as he appraised the situation. "This the strangest ship I've ever been on, and that's saying a lot. A woman appeared out of nowhere for Ricardo, and now one has done the same for Lash. What manner of sorcery is this?"
Shautha tossed a wink back at Vuukran as she went by. "I'm still available for you."
"The gods pity fools and small children. The rest of us, they torture for eternity." Scritch continued to scan the Mist-shrouded peak, all too aware of the dangers that could emerge at any moment.
While the crew scavenged what repairs they could from the ship, Scritch reached within his vest and retrieved a small leather pouch. He whistled for a moment to catch Vuukran's attention, then tossed it to him. The pouch contained 80 gold pieces.
Vuukran rifled through the pouch, assessing its contents, then cocked his head and arched an eyebrow at the shifter. "What the Dog* is this for?"
Is he trying to buy the half-orcess off of me? I don't own he- wait... is this the fee for bedding her? By Dog, that's expensive!
"From Kirov. Equal share for equal danger, with one-tenth kept back for the Demon-Rat." He rustles around inside his vest before producing a similar pouch and tossing it to Lash.
Lash buried his face in his hand for a moment, a la Picard. Taking a deep breath and dropping his hand, he shook his head as if to clear it, and made a visible effort to pull himself upright. "Right, done is done. Might well as try to change the wind. I'll deal with Ricardo and our stowaway later. For now, we need to concentrate on repairs. Vuukran, would you assist me in picking through yonder ship for the things we need? Another set of eyes and a strong back will make things go faster.
The rest of you mind what I said about keeping a sharp eye. We are not safe here."
Vuukran vaulted over the edge of the ship with careless ease and trotted over to Lash. "Sure thing, not-Captain! Oh, and pleased to meet you, Lash's woman." He bowed with too much of a flourish before Nix, then lifted his eyepatch to give her an overly exaggerated conspiratorial wink.
"If it's pairs of eyes you want, it's too bad we're not in Mnar. Did I ever tell you about the time I was negotiating a peace treaty with an island full of aranea? They've got four pairs of eyes each! Anyway, so there I was, all alone, thre rest of the expedition lost to disease, starvation or worse, surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of eyes as I addressed their Queen..."
The shifter hopped down as several of the crew begin digging in the wreckage he was perched atop. He prowled around the mountain peak for a few minutes, silently gauging the Mists as Vuukran prattled on about his fantastical adventures, before skittering up atop a small rock outcropping and pulling out his bow. The ratling settled in on himself, bow out and ready for trouble.
Inside the ship, Shautha started banging on closed doors. "RICARDO!"
Entangled with one woman and hearing the approach of another is a situation Ricardo knew how to handle. That husky voice called out from the bunks above, and down in the cargo hold, in Francesca's little boudoir, he leapt into action.
"My dear, it would go poorly for us both if we were discovered. Perhaps we can continue this enchanting conversation some other time..."
Francesca's charms seem to have discombobulated him more than he thought, for he was unable to resist a last lingering caress before slipping under the curtain and sprinting for the bow companionway, wincing as he knocked over a stack of lace, hoping to avoid the other woman he could hear above. He failed.
"Oh! Hey, there you are. It's... Shautha, isn't it?" It's dark down here but she's certainly well-built. Hm, possibilities. Ricardo pitched his voice quiet and assured, giving his best "suddenly I'm engrossed in you, baby" impression.**
She waggled her eyebrows at the man. "Yes, it is. But for now we're both needed topside." She pointed vaguely in the direction of the peak.
"Yes, of course."
Ricardo straightened his cuffs and offered the Shautha a quick bow, then dashed up to the deck. "Lash, what seems to be the trouble, my old friend? What a ruckus you're causing."
Shautha peeked curiously down the hallway before shrugging and following Ricardo topside.
Lash glared at Ricardo from the midst of the other ship's wreckage and called back, "You missed a lace on your breeches, my dear Ricardo. And I'd appreciate it if you could keep a watchful eye out for danger where I can keep an eye on you," Lash finished in a mutter. Lash actually had no idea if Ricardo really did miss a lace or not, but he'd been around the block a few times with Ricky, and he was confident he was right.
Ricardo scarcely heard Lash. There was a gorgeous human woman standing on the rocky peak. A wet gorgeous human woman. "Oh, my dear, has no one seen to your needs?" He immediately crossed to the dark-skinned girl and offered her his hankerchief.
"At least dry yourself. Perhaps I could accompany you aboar-- well, actually, I do need to be out here. You see how my friends rely on me. I am Ricardo Murciélago, adventurer and trusted partner of the di Vicenta family from Razina. And may I say how pleased I am to be able to assist such a lady as yourself."
He bowed gracefully and kissed the girl's hand.
Shautha rolled her eyes and then jumped off the ship to help the others search the wreckage. "Anything in particular we should be saving? I know nothing about airships."
Finding the material Lash and Gustav needed to make the repairs was not difficult, but it would take them a couple of hours. Only Lash and Gustav knew what they were looking for; the rest of them could only offer strong backs to carry material onboard. Francesca came out on deck after having spent a little bit of time in the tiny ship's galley while everyone was working. It turned out she was quite talented in the galley, and she had turned the rather unpalatable rations into something that everyone quite liked. She had also apparently dropped the snotty spoiled brat routine and the would-be underage vamp routine for now, and was quite charming, although she avoided looking at or talking to Ricardo as much as possible. When she did catch his eye, she inadvertently drops[ed her eyes to her breasts and frowned.
Her monkey was in a fine mood, too. He saluted Vuukran again, then paced back and forth on the table with his hands behind his back, babbling at high speed, occasionally stopping to jab his finger at charts or diagrams that he makes with a pencil (the diagrams don't make any sense to anyone else) or gesticulated wildly. No one had any idea what he was saying (except maybe Vuukran), but apparently he considered himself quite an authority on whatever it is he was talking about.
When lunch was done and the repair work was about halfway done, the weather changed. The wind slowed and the rain stopped, and even the sounds of Lash and Gustav working, or the rest of the crew moving and talking seemed muffled and quiet, as if covered in a thick blanket.
To the right, a low organic clicking sound suddenly cane out of the Mist. Every other sound stopped. Then they heard it again to the left. And behind.
* Dog is one of the beings worshipped in the area. He's a gigantic Dog... apparently immortal... who lives on one of the little plateaus near Mnar's southern edge. He's a relatively benevolent little godling; as long as he gets a sacrificial virgin to eat two or three times a year, he leaves everyone pretty much alone. Over time, pretty much all the characters starting swearing by Dog and taking his canine name in vain, which I thought was kinda amusing.
** It was a running joke for quite some time that Ricardo hadn't actually had a good look at Shautha and was laboring under the delusion that she just might be attractive.
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Desdichado
Hero
Scritch's talents didn't extend to the manual labor side of things; he stayed atop his perch, keeping his eyes on the Mist-shrouded edges of the mountain peak. As the noises echoed across the now-silent tableau, he rose to his feet and nocked his bow.
Lash breathed, "Back to the ship, now, Master Gustav, but slowly. Make us ready to cast off." He shouldered the last of the needed parts and walked calmly toward the ship, with no sudden movements.
Gustav was pale and sweating, despite the chill. "If we cast off now, we'll just sink right into the Mist. We can't cast off until we fix that superstructure, and that's another good hour of work to make it usable."
"Master Gustav, you do as I say. If we are to be overrun by Mist demons, do you fancy your chances here on this rock, or airborn below the Mistline with the Lady's good potions to help us live long enough to effect repairs, hmmm?" Lash responded much more calmly than his expression showed.
Vuukran backed slowly towards the ship, intent on letting his comrades board first. He peered through the Mist with grave intent as an ebony blade materialized in his hand.
Within moments all of them saw four strange creatures bound out of the mist, moving extremely fast. They were vaguely houndlike, although there was a strange suggestion of almost humanoid shape to them, as if they were once people who were corrupted and mutated into these soulless creatures. Huge, dead-black eyes, like those of a shark, stared unblinking from their heads and their mouths were gaping maws filled with jagged teeth that looked like grimy shards of broken glass had been jammed into their gums. They were very gaunt, and grayish skin covered their thin, bony bodies. They moved quickly to attack before anyone could get aboard the ship.
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Ricardo had been chatting with Nix all this time, utterly absorbed. He looked up when he heard Lash speaking calmly. That only happens when things have gone very, very bad. Lash dropped the part he was carrying, drew his cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other, and stepped to the north side as to be the closest to that... thing.
"Changelings!!!" Vuukran spat in disgust at the sight of the wretched creatures and stood his ground, waiting for them to strike.
Scritch allowed his feral side to erupt forth; as he did so, he loosed an arrow at the nearest of the Mist creatures. He then quickly scrambled down and sprinted towards the ship. "To the ship!"
"If you don't get out of my way, you may end up with a sling bullet in your head and that's really not my preferred way of saying 'hello'." Nix said sharply to Ricardo, pulling our her sling and a small stone bullet.
"I'm sure we can come up with something far friendlier, my dear."
Ricardo kept one eye on the approaching creatures and another on the young woman's shapely ankles. "But why don't we get to the ship and carry on getting to know each other there?"
"Ricardo! Fighting first!" Lash growled
Scritch and Nix both hit the same Mist thing. As the arrow and stone hit it, it thunked hollowly, as if the creature were made out of wood. The arrow stuck in its flesh, but it did not bleed. It was clear that it had any permanent effect, although the creature did flinch briefly from the blows, at least. Two of them bounded like demon-cheetahs towards Scritch, their claw-like appendages throwing gravel behind them. They leapt up to his sitting position, scrabbling on the rock and debris, and snapped at him with their jagged jaws. One of the jaws snapped like a bear-trap just out of reach, but the other one chomped down on his leg. The ragged teeth tore a chunk of flesh from the shifter and as it pulled its teeth away, shadowy tendrils of icy darkness continued to worm their way like maggots through the wound.
The other two leapt forward, but instead of closing and biting, their mouths gaped open really wide, like snakes dislocating their jaws, and a stream of hideous shadowy little figures flew out of their mouths. These little tiny creatures were all teeth, glowing eyes and nasty temper, and they swarmed over Ricardo and Nix, biting and clawing at them.
Ricardo shivered with disgust as he brushed the creatures off his cloak. "Are you alright?" he called to Nix. "Get to the ship, quick as you can!" He immediately turned to brush the remaining creatures off Nix's clothes, keeping to the shoulders and back, of course. Of course.
Shautha bellowed incoherently and charged the nearest one. She suddenly seemed much larger than she did a moment ago. Her clothing ripped in such a way that no naughty bits were revealed, but pretty much everything else was. She swung the morningstar with ease, bearing down on the Mist creatures. The morningstar bashed the head of one creature, turning it completely around. With a creaking sound, it re-aligned it's head and did that clicky growl again, and pressed its attack.
"You want to help? Grab a side!" Nix snapped at Ricardo as she grabbed one of the handles of the small trunk.
"Of course. Just a moment. I don't feel so--" Ricardo reached for the chest and then collapsed, bleeding from hundreds of bites as the creatures swarmed over him.
Lash's whip snaked out at the Mist thing that Scritch and Nix had already shot and snapped across its body like a thunderclap. The creature seemed to melt into a fetid pool of oily vomit.
Gustav screamed like a little girl and ran for the ship. Dr. Livingstone did pretty much the same. Francesca backed away towards the ship, trembling in fear, her eyes wide, but she still popped off a shot at the thing Shautha and Vuukran had attacked with her flintlock pistol, and it too dissolved into vomitous goop.
Scritch growled angrily as the Mist-creature savaged his thigh. Slipping upwards on the outcropping, he nodded once as Lash came to his aid, taking the hobgoblin's distraction in stride as he vanished from sight...
... and reappeared on the other other side of the creature, short sword in hand, bow in the other, and stabbed it.
Shautha savaged the fourth beast with her morningstar. Her inhuman screaming continued unabated, as if she didn't even need to take breath. *
Trouble seems to follow the foppish dandy around like a social disease. Still, it would seem like a waste to let him die on this rock; he might prove useful yet. Vuukran willed another black blade into existence, then bounded deftly along the rock and debris until he stood above Ricardo, his blade cutting a menacing swath in front of him. "Filthy changelings! You'll not have the chance to feast on our hearts this day. You'll taste our blades instead!"
One of the Mist critters breathed his blasphemous breath all over Scritch and Lash while the other one snapped at Shautha, savaging her with a sound like crunching glass. The maggoty shadow tendrils bore into her body. Lash turned from the beast he had destroyed and caught a faceful of the other's evil breath. Staggering for a second, he reoriented himself into a flanking position with Skritch, and swung his cutlass at the vile demon, scoring a hit and dealing a solid blow. "Back to the Mists with you, demon!"
Nix propped Ricardo on the top of the trunk (like over a saddle), made sure his head didn't hit the ground, and started dragging the trunk towards the ship.
"No, sweetheart, I like the black ribbons..."
... pausing only to stuff his hankie into his mouth. But by that point, the four demon-hounds were all dissolved into oily black vomit. The black ichor started to flow together. When it joined, it rose up and started to take shape. Within moments, a figure stood before them. A figure of femininity gone horribly, horribly wrong.
The figure was a naked woman; tall and fit, with a monstrous face split by a wide mouth with needle-like teeth. Between her legs was another... orifice... of some kind, also with needle-sharp teeth and a lolling, greasy tongue hanging down nearly two feet in length. She had large breasts... six of them, stacked in three rows, and her face had two sets of eyes.
"HOLD, MORTALS!" she called, and when she spoke, her voice sounded like four women, an eagle, a snake and a walrus all speaking at once.
"Ricardo, wake up! Your services are needed." Vuukran shook him desperately.
"We make no bargain with demons." Scritch hissed angrily as he sheathed his kukri and began backing away towards the airship.
The demon-woman looked at him curiously after he spoke. Then she looked at all of them, especially Nix and Francesca and Shautha. "IT SEEMS MY MEMORY OF THE MORTAL FORM HAS FAILED AFTER SO MANY AGES." She stopped for a moment, and her form shimmered and changed. Suddenly she was a searingly beautiful woman with pure silver hair and piercing gray eyes. She was clothed in only a diaphanous gauze of pale red, wrapped loosely around her body.
Gesturing at the flag flying from your airship, she spoke again. "YOU BEAR THE SYMBOL OF THE ALLY OF SAMYASSA. I WISH NO QUARREL WITH SAMYASSA." She gestured again, and everyone was completely and fully healed of all their wounds. "WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE, ALLIES OF SAMYASSA?"
Ricardo, stay asleep! Your services are the last thing we need right now! Vuukran immediately stopped shaking him.
This was definitely above Scritch's paygrade. The elders forbade trafficking with demons, lest we lose our souls... He looked to the others, then back to the shapechanging demoness, then back to the others.
But as the magical healing went into effect, Ricardo was immediately awake, alert, and formulating plans. His mind was razor-sharp, his focus clear and his purpose... purposeful. He pulled his hankerchief from his mouth without any sign of concern as to why it was there, and stuffed it back in his sleeve as he studied, with a growing smile, the vision before him
Silver hair? Pale eyes? Diaphanous gauze? Ricardo bowed. THIS he knew how to handle. "Most beautiful enchantress, we are nothing but poor refugees from the storm, seeking a safe haven where we can repair our vessel and be on our way. If we have trespassed, my friends and I, please allow me to offer any service within my power as recompense. I am in every way your humble servant, my queen. I wish only to please you."
"YOUR OFFER PLEASES ME. I WILL ACCEPT YOUR SERVICE AND YOU WILL BE MY EMISSARY IN THE MORTAL WORLD." With that, the woman turned transparent and gradually faded away. The only thing left was the faintly blowing wind.
"Did you just sell your soul to a Mist Demon, Ricardo?" Scritch asked, amazed.
"Mist take me, I hope so." Ricardo sighed, straightened his collar, and looked around with a bright smile. "What, aren't we ready to go yet?"
Shautha was staring where the enchantress stood, yet again facing away, but no matter. The human girl was right here. Ricardo turned and gave her a big smile and bent to pick up the chest. "No problem, my dear, allow me."
Scritch repeated himself, a little louder. "Did you just sell your soul to a Mist Demon, Ricardo?"
"Hm? A mist demon? What gives you that idea? No, no, just some disembodied spirit, I'm sure. Nothing to worry about. Mist demons look all horrible and such. Nasty teeth, I understand.""
The chest was a little heavy for him, but he managed to struggle up the ramp onto the ship. He turned back to wink at Nix. "We'll have to find you a cabin, my dear. I hope you don't mind sharing."
Watching Ricardo walk away, carrying her trunk, Nix commented to Scritch, "If so, I hope it's the only soul he sold. Who knows how a... person.. like that exactly thinks." She looked at Scritch and raised her eyebrows. "We know her memory of how we look is a rusty.. who knows what she may have forgotten about our languages or words." She sighed, shook her head, and continued to follow her trunk.
Scritch moved quietly past the two hobgoblins and muttered quietly to them before examining his leg. The wounds had healed themselves, but he feared the taint would linger. "Watch him. If the demon has taken him, he will show the signs soon enough." He hurried onto the airship to find Dr. Livingston. The chirurgeon would be able to help, wouldn't he?
Vuukran muttered, more to himself than anyone else, "By Dog, the only way we'll ever have any hope of him thinking with the right head is if we castrate him and shove it into his ear."
Lash stared into the space left by the apparition for a minute or two after it disappeared. Then slowly looked at Ricardo's back, then at the Calça jack flying at the stern, then back to Ricardo, and back to the now empty space. He also shook his head, and said, "Who the Mist is Samyassa, why are we it's allies, and DID RICARDO JUST SELL HIMSELF TO A MIST DEMON?!?"
* Another running joke was that Shautha, when she raged, turned beautiful, just for a few moments. Kinda like a sexy She Hulk.
Lash breathed, "Back to the ship, now, Master Gustav, but slowly. Make us ready to cast off." He shouldered the last of the needed parts and walked calmly toward the ship, with no sudden movements.
Gustav was pale and sweating, despite the chill. "If we cast off now, we'll just sink right into the Mist. We can't cast off until we fix that superstructure, and that's another good hour of work to make it usable."
"Master Gustav, you do as I say. If we are to be overrun by Mist demons, do you fancy your chances here on this rock, or airborn below the Mistline with the Lady's good potions to help us live long enough to effect repairs, hmmm?" Lash responded much more calmly than his expression showed.
Vuukran backed slowly towards the ship, intent on letting his comrades board first. He peered through the Mist with grave intent as an ebony blade materialized in his hand.
Within moments all of them saw four strange creatures bound out of the mist, moving extremely fast. They were vaguely houndlike, although there was a strange suggestion of almost humanoid shape to them, as if they were once people who were corrupted and mutated into these soulless creatures. Huge, dead-black eyes, like those of a shark, stared unblinking from their heads and their mouths were gaping maws filled with jagged teeth that looked like grimy shards of broken glass had been jammed into their gums. They were very gaunt, and grayish skin covered their thin, bony bodies. They moved quickly to attack before anyone could get aboard the ship.
[sblock]
Ricardo had been chatting with Nix all this time, utterly absorbed. He looked up when he heard Lash speaking calmly. That only happens when things have gone very, very bad. Lash dropped the part he was carrying, drew his cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other, and stepped to the north side as to be the closest to that... thing.
"Changelings!!!" Vuukran spat in disgust at the sight of the wretched creatures and stood his ground, waiting for them to strike.
Scritch allowed his feral side to erupt forth; as he did so, he loosed an arrow at the nearest of the Mist creatures. He then quickly scrambled down and sprinted towards the ship. "To the ship!"
"If you don't get out of my way, you may end up with a sling bullet in your head and that's really not my preferred way of saying 'hello'." Nix said sharply to Ricardo, pulling our her sling and a small stone bullet.
"I'm sure we can come up with something far friendlier, my dear."
Ricardo kept one eye on the approaching creatures and another on the young woman's shapely ankles. "But why don't we get to the ship and carry on getting to know each other there?"
"Ricardo! Fighting first!" Lash growled
Scritch and Nix both hit the same Mist thing. As the arrow and stone hit it, it thunked hollowly, as if the creature were made out of wood. The arrow stuck in its flesh, but it did not bleed. It was clear that it had any permanent effect, although the creature did flinch briefly from the blows, at least. Two of them bounded like demon-cheetahs towards Scritch, their claw-like appendages throwing gravel behind them. They leapt up to his sitting position, scrabbling on the rock and debris, and snapped at him with their jagged jaws. One of the jaws snapped like a bear-trap just out of reach, but the other one chomped down on his leg. The ragged teeth tore a chunk of flesh from the shifter and as it pulled its teeth away, shadowy tendrils of icy darkness continued to worm their way like maggots through the wound.
The other two leapt forward, but instead of closing and biting, their mouths gaped open really wide, like snakes dislocating their jaws, and a stream of hideous shadowy little figures flew out of their mouths. These little tiny creatures were all teeth, glowing eyes and nasty temper, and they swarmed over Ricardo and Nix, biting and clawing at them.
Ricardo shivered with disgust as he brushed the creatures off his cloak. "Are you alright?" he called to Nix. "Get to the ship, quick as you can!" He immediately turned to brush the remaining creatures off Nix's clothes, keeping to the shoulders and back, of course. Of course.
Shautha bellowed incoherently and charged the nearest one. She suddenly seemed much larger than she did a moment ago. Her clothing ripped in such a way that no naughty bits were revealed, but pretty much everything else was. She swung the morningstar with ease, bearing down on the Mist creatures. The morningstar bashed the head of one creature, turning it completely around. With a creaking sound, it re-aligned it's head and did that clicky growl again, and pressed its attack.
"You want to help? Grab a side!" Nix snapped at Ricardo as she grabbed one of the handles of the small trunk.
"Of course. Just a moment. I don't feel so--" Ricardo reached for the chest and then collapsed, bleeding from hundreds of bites as the creatures swarmed over him.
Lash's whip snaked out at the Mist thing that Scritch and Nix had already shot and snapped across its body like a thunderclap. The creature seemed to melt into a fetid pool of oily vomit.
Gustav screamed like a little girl and ran for the ship. Dr. Livingstone did pretty much the same. Francesca backed away towards the ship, trembling in fear, her eyes wide, but she still popped off a shot at the thing Shautha and Vuukran had attacked with her flintlock pistol, and it too dissolved into vomitous goop.
Scritch growled angrily as the Mist-creature savaged his thigh. Slipping upwards on the outcropping, he nodded once as Lash came to his aid, taking the hobgoblin's distraction in stride as he vanished from sight...
... and reappeared on the other other side of the creature, short sword in hand, bow in the other, and stabbed it.
Shautha savaged the fourth beast with her morningstar. Her inhuman screaming continued unabated, as if she didn't even need to take breath. *
Trouble seems to follow the foppish dandy around like a social disease. Still, it would seem like a waste to let him die on this rock; he might prove useful yet. Vuukran willed another black blade into existence, then bounded deftly along the rock and debris until he stood above Ricardo, his blade cutting a menacing swath in front of him. "Filthy changelings! You'll not have the chance to feast on our hearts this day. You'll taste our blades instead!"
One of the Mist critters breathed his blasphemous breath all over Scritch and Lash while the other one snapped at Shautha, savaging her with a sound like crunching glass. The maggoty shadow tendrils bore into her body. Lash turned from the beast he had destroyed and caught a faceful of the other's evil breath. Staggering for a second, he reoriented himself into a flanking position with Skritch, and swung his cutlass at the vile demon, scoring a hit and dealing a solid blow. "Back to the Mists with you, demon!"
Nix propped Ricardo on the top of the trunk (like over a saddle), made sure his head didn't hit the ground, and started dragging the trunk towards the ship.
"No, sweetheart, I like the black ribbons..."
... pausing only to stuff his hankie into his mouth. But by that point, the four demon-hounds were all dissolved into oily black vomit. The black ichor started to flow together. When it joined, it rose up and started to take shape. Within moments, a figure stood before them. A figure of femininity gone horribly, horribly wrong.
The figure was a naked woman; tall and fit, with a monstrous face split by a wide mouth with needle-like teeth. Between her legs was another... orifice... of some kind, also with needle-sharp teeth and a lolling, greasy tongue hanging down nearly two feet in length. She had large breasts... six of them, stacked in three rows, and her face had two sets of eyes.
"HOLD, MORTALS!" she called, and when she spoke, her voice sounded like four women, an eagle, a snake and a walrus all speaking at once.
"Ricardo, wake up! Your services are needed." Vuukran shook him desperately.
"We make no bargain with demons." Scritch hissed angrily as he sheathed his kukri and began backing away towards the airship.
The demon-woman looked at him curiously after he spoke. Then she looked at all of them, especially Nix and Francesca and Shautha. "IT SEEMS MY MEMORY OF THE MORTAL FORM HAS FAILED AFTER SO MANY AGES." She stopped for a moment, and her form shimmered and changed. Suddenly she was a searingly beautiful woman with pure silver hair and piercing gray eyes. She was clothed in only a diaphanous gauze of pale red, wrapped loosely around her body.
Gesturing at the flag flying from your airship, she spoke again. "YOU BEAR THE SYMBOL OF THE ALLY OF SAMYASSA. I WISH NO QUARREL WITH SAMYASSA." She gestured again, and everyone was completely and fully healed of all their wounds. "WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE, ALLIES OF SAMYASSA?"
Ricardo, stay asleep! Your services are the last thing we need right now! Vuukran immediately stopped shaking him.
This was definitely above Scritch's paygrade. The elders forbade trafficking with demons, lest we lose our souls... He looked to the others, then back to the shapechanging demoness, then back to the others.
But as the magical healing went into effect, Ricardo was immediately awake, alert, and formulating plans. His mind was razor-sharp, his focus clear and his purpose... purposeful. He pulled his hankerchief from his mouth without any sign of concern as to why it was there, and stuffed it back in his sleeve as he studied, with a growing smile, the vision before him
Silver hair? Pale eyes? Diaphanous gauze? Ricardo bowed. THIS he knew how to handle. "Most beautiful enchantress, we are nothing but poor refugees from the storm, seeking a safe haven where we can repair our vessel and be on our way. If we have trespassed, my friends and I, please allow me to offer any service within my power as recompense. I am in every way your humble servant, my queen. I wish only to please you."
"YOUR OFFER PLEASES ME. I WILL ACCEPT YOUR SERVICE AND YOU WILL BE MY EMISSARY IN THE MORTAL WORLD." With that, the woman turned transparent and gradually faded away. The only thing left was the faintly blowing wind.
"Did you just sell your soul to a Mist Demon, Ricardo?" Scritch asked, amazed.
"Mist take me, I hope so." Ricardo sighed, straightened his collar, and looked around with a bright smile. "What, aren't we ready to go yet?"
Shautha was staring where the enchantress stood, yet again facing away, but no matter. The human girl was right here. Ricardo turned and gave her a big smile and bent to pick up the chest. "No problem, my dear, allow me."
Scritch repeated himself, a little louder. "Did you just sell your soul to a Mist Demon, Ricardo?"
"Hm? A mist demon? What gives you that idea? No, no, just some disembodied spirit, I'm sure. Nothing to worry about. Mist demons look all horrible and such. Nasty teeth, I understand.""
The chest was a little heavy for him, but he managed to struggle up the ramp onto the ship. He turned back to wink at Nix. "We'll have to find you a cabin, my dear. I hope you don't mind sharing."
Watching Ricardo walk away, carrying her trunk, Nix commented to Scritch, "If so, I hope it's the only soul he sold. Who knows how a... person.. like that exactly thinks." She looked at Scritch and raised her eyebrows. "We know her memory of how we look is a rusty.. who knows what she may have forgotten about our languages or words." She sighed, shook her head, and continued to follow her trunk.
Scritch moved quietly past the two hobgoblins and muttered quietly to them before examining his leg. The wounds had healed themselves, but he feared the taint would linger. "Watch him. If the demon has taken him, he will show the signs soon enough." He hurried onto the airship to find Dr. Livingston. The chirurgeon would be able to help, wouldn't he?
Vuukran muttered, more to himself than anyone else, "By Dog, the only way we'll ever have any hope of him thinking with the right head is if we castrate him and shove it into his ear."
Lash stared into the space left by the apparition for a minute or two after it disappeared. Then slowly looked at Ricardo's back, then at the Calça jack flying at the stern, then back to Ricardo, and back to the now empty space. He also shook his head, and said, "Who the Mist is Samyassa, why are we it's allies, and DID RICARDO JUST SELL HIMSELF TO A MIST DEMON?!?"
* Another running joke was that Shautha, when she raged, turned beautiful, just for a few moments. Kinda like a sexy She Hulk.
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Desdichado
Hero
Ricardo carried Nix's trunk to Shautha's cabin. As the half-orc was still outside talking with the hobgoblins, he just set the chest down outside the door. "The young half-orc, you must have met her, has this cabin. I'm sure she won't mind if you share." He points down the companionway with a roguish grin and a good-humoured wink. "My room is right there. In case Shautha's not to your liking."
As soon as he leaves, Nix sits on the trunk, rubs her face with her hands and mutters something in Gnoll to herself. "Oy vai." (Translated from Gnoll)
When the demon first appeared, Shautha had been torn between bowing down before it and striking it with her morningstar, still bloodied from the Mist creatures. Her rage had slowly dissipated, though, and as Ricardo spoke, Shautha's jaw dropped in a very unseemly way. What was he thinking? It is one thing to revere the demons, but an entirely different thing to give them everything they want without proper negotiation! We are all doomed.
She kept her eye on the demon until it disappeared and then turned back to the ship, very much resigned to what she hoped is just Ricardo's fate. But as the Mist knows, the demons have a way of dragging everything and everyone into their webs. She paused in her tracks and then resumed after a moment. I should have left him to rot in that stupid dungeon! When she reboarded the ship, she just shook her head at all the chatter and looked for some way to help get them out of there.
Whistling cheerfully to himself, Ricardo tidied himself up in his cabin, getting a fresh hankerchief and making sure his hair and cloak were back in place.
Then he set out to find Francesca. Poor little thing was looking a trifle down, no doubt because of how he'd had to leave her earlier in the day. A little cheering up is what she needed. And maybe a little competitive spirit stirred up in her breast -- Ricardo never met a little sister who wasn't competitive with her older sister.
Gustav had swooned. Yes, swooned. Dr. Livingstone was huddled in a corner, trembling over a puddle of his own vomit. Francesca was more composed, but her eyes are still wide and she's staring into space. (All the NPCs failed their Sanity checks! The PC's didn't have to make Sanity checks, they're the "heroes!") With the liberal application of a couple buckets of water, everyone was awakened and cleaned up, and the ship was soon repaired and ready to go. Ricardo pranced around the ship ignorantly, wondering why in the world everyone was staring at him that way.
The monkey was hiding in a cabinet with the charts in the Captain's cabin. He was still mumbling to himself in Monkey about where he thought they should go and what they should do. Also, there was a strange book sitting in the cabin that wasn't there before. It was bound in black leather and had gilt page edges, and a gold clasp. It was clearly a work of art and something very valuable. However, no one could read it. In addition to the rather disconcerting fact that this book just appeared out of nowhere (as near as anyone could tell can tell) it seemed to give off disquieting emanations of some sort. Something about this book, besides its abrupt and unexplained appearance, was unnatural.
When the ship was fixed, Lash wasted no time getting back in motion. It was late by this time, and early stars were starting to appear. Gustav located their position using the stars and a sextant and told everyone that they'd blown west much farther than they could have traveled without the storm giving them extraordinary speed, and were (almost) directly south of Sènt-Andriu.
"Good," Lash answered. "Whatever 'welcoming committee' that bastard Kirov helped arrange should be waiting for us to the East. We should head for the passage between Terrassa and Erau and take the inland passage. That way we only have regular pirates to concern us. And could someone do something about this monkey before it damages the charts?"
Shautha studied the book carefully before handing it over to someone else. "This," she proclaimed, "is demons' work. If we try to throw it overboard, I'm sure it will just reappear. If we try to burn it, the flames will not touch it. If we douse it in acid, it will eat the acid. We should put it somewhere out of the way until its purpose is revealed. As it certainly will." She finished with a dark glower in Ricardo's direction.
"Book must be the words of the Mist Demon to her new slave...Keep Ricardo away from it?" Scritch's taste for conversation exhausted, he foun himself a nice quiet hidey-hole (aka his cabin) and performed the cleansing rituals passed down from year to year year from the Kriisa elders, trying to free himself of any lingering taint from the Mist.
Shautha spent the next several hours (I'm sure) trying to coax the monkey into being her friend, and chasing it around the ship. "Wow, your standards are really slipping," Vuukran commented.
"Vuukran," Shautha asked curiously, "do you really understand what the monkey is saying, or are you just guessing?"
The hobgoblin started to answer, but then shared a knowing wink and nod with the monkey instead. Shautha rolled her eyes.
Lash dragged Ricardo into a cabin and explained to him, multiple times, exactly what he did and who he was talking to. Ricardo was frankly relieved to be pulled away from Francesca, as she'd gotten decidedly more... intense in her "friendship"... At first he wasn't really paying attention to the hobgoblin, so busy was he planning his strategies for Nix, and Francesca and that Shautha ("I wonder that's the SAME Shautha from that dungeon? Never did get a chance to see her..."), but eventually it sunk in and Ricardo was horrified. "WHAT? And with the teeth and the breasts and... WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?"
When he heard that the beautiful woman he'd promised to serve started life as a freakish demon-thing, Ricardo was what you call FREAKED OUT. "Okay, but allies of Samyassa, that's not so bad. That's that angel supposed to rule a kingdom in the mist, around here somewhere they say. Maybe she wasn't a demon. Maybe she was an angel. You think maybe...?"
Ricardo didn't bother finishing that question; he knew what Lash was going to say. "We need more information."
Lash sat back and grumbled. "You really got yourself into trouble this time. This is worse than that 'incident' with the cross-dresser in Kadath."
"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Ricardo insisted, his face going flat.
"Except you cried then, too."
"I'm not crying. Francesca was licking my eyes."
"Ok, ok. You aren't crying. But you should clean yourself up before you go out and I'd say something about how smoke from the lamps blew in your eyes to explain the puffiness."
Lash continued, "By the by, about Francecsa.... Hands off, Ricardo, I mean it. She's the sister of our employer, remember her? Rich lady, paying us, had sex with you, is paying good money to move weapons of mass destruction, knows more assassins than you do whores? However pretty you are, and however much you impressed her in the sack, she'll have you castrated for fooling around with her sister, especially after fooling around with her. Remember back in Torregina? The twins? This will be worse. Way worse."
Ricardo was affronted. "Me? You think I'd betray our business interests, our partnership, for the sake of a pair of blue eyes?" Then he thought about the twins. "Well, alright, never mind that. Don't worry about Francesca; that situation is under control. Castellana is not going to have any cause for jealousy, even if she were inclined that way about me, which I assure you she is not. "Delivering her sister safe sound and with a good report of us is going to do us plenty of good with Castellana. I can make sure she's happy a lot better than you can."
Otherwise, the trip to Zin was relatively uneventful. Between Lash's diligence and Francesca's nervousness following "the incident" of inadvertently getting pregnant with Rosemary's Baby, Ricardo's advances in that regard were frustrated. Dr. Livingstone checked each of them out in detail (especially Nix. He spent a very long time examining Nix. Shautha he kind of rushed through nervously.) and gave everyone a clean bill of health; no traces of taint or corruption that he could see. For the moment anyway. Francesca's monkey (who had been unfortunately named Mr. Peepers, a name that he did not appreciate) becomes good friends with Vuukran, swapping all kinds of rather simplistic and boring stories about being pampered by Francesca, and before that, swinging in the trees in Mnar as a youngster. He seemed to be much more widely traveled than Vuukran ever suspected, but his memory and ability to determine important details was sketchy at best, as was his vocabulary and ability to communicate complex thoughts.
Assuming, of course, that Vuukran really could understand him.
Scritch had a number of really bad dreams about toothed, shadowy maggots burrowing through his legs, and twice he woke up from such dreams to find the mysterious book sitting in his cabin, as if watching him, although he knew for sure that it was not there when he went to sleep.
The book itself seemed to exhibit some unusual properties, if that's not merely imagination. Sometimes the characters seemed to be different, as if the writing was spontaneously changing languages when no one was looking at it, but still nobody could read a word of it. Gustav got physically ill when he could see the book, and refused to be in the same room with it. Francesca, in an effort to stave off boredom, suggested that everyone play cards, betting food rations as stakes. Amazingly enough, she could eat like crazy and still look like a coltish, thin youngster. And she did seem to win. A lot. Everyone that spent any appreciable time playing with her went hungry more often than not.
Despite some creaking and the occasional need to climb up on the balloon and make adjustments, the field repairs and spare parts held out and the airship had no further problems. They also had good traveling weather, managed to avoid pirates, and had apparently thrown any pursuit by Kirov's agents off the scent with the unexpected landfall. Shautha, after losing all her meals for the day to Franesca, attempted to shoot, lasso or otherwise catch some birds and cook them, maybe, but they taste tough, dry and slightly rancid. The most common breed they saw while traveling were carrion eaters like ravens, crows and vultures anyway, although an occasional eagle or hawk flew by in the distance. Bats were also a common sight, but nobody was desperate enough to eat them, even the large unfurred carrion-eating.
Shautha spent some time of the journey trying to scare the poor doctor. She also spent much of her time trying to determine if Vuukran really could speak with the monkey or not. Though she did not seek it out, she also did not avoid the book and when it was convenient, she studied it in the hopes that some magic of the Mist would let her understand its purpose. It didn't. She also gambled recklessly, often getting angry and stomping away from the table at a particularly bad or foolish loss, but she always came back the next time for more.
Scritch spent the remainder of the trip in a couple of places: his cabin, where the sounds of tribal chanting could occasionally be heard, the cargo bay, where he curled up amidst blankets and bedding and naps during the day, and the rigging of the airship itself, where he spent the nights he wasn't tortured by nightmares enjoying the breeze and surveying the Mist-shrouded world.
Occasionally, he could be found returning the book to wher it normally was kept. After losing a day's worth of food to Francesca, he stopped gambling but did watch the others play, obviously enjoying their company but not providing much in the way of conversation himself.
Finally after twelve days of travel, they arrived at Mnar and could see Zin in the distance. Mnar itself was a rather flat plateau, stretching off into the distance, with sharply falling red sandstone cliffs that angled near the top. Zin was built literally on the cliff itself; the lowest levels were carved into the side of the rock, and treacherous paths, rope bridges and ladders, and rickety scaffolding made up the "streets". At higher elevations, it came to terraces where the buildings were much more substantial. The richest Zinians lived on the top of the plateau itself, away from the edge. Zin was a large city of several hundred thousand regular residents and a few tens of thousands of transient residents at any one time, and was possibly the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region. Airship and flying mount traffic was relatively thick as they approach edthe city itself, and a guard mounted on a giant eagle flew out to their ship to welcome them and determine their business in Zin.
As they get within sight of the mainland, Shautha took deep lusty breaths at every opportunity. "Ahhh, Mnar! Home sweet home!" she crowed.
Lash ignored her and answered the eagle guard. "Trade, resupply, and repairs, likely in that order. What news in Zin?"
He looked bored, especially since they were still flying the di Vicenta colors, which he recognized and wasn't about to mess with. He pointed Lash towards their local estate and gave him some really boring news about the succession (the King was getting on in years and his many, many children by many, many women, were coming out of the woodwork. And mostly getting assassinated as soon as they did) and about rumors of unrest in the interior. Settlers, trappers and downright crazy people alike all agreed that something was going on. The most common story was that the gorillas and the gnolls were going to war with each other, although some people said that they had allied with each other and would instead march to war against the cities along the edge of the plateau.
Vuukran whispered loudly to the monkey, "Did you hear that, Commander Bananas? Gorilla warfare!", then shook his head sadly.
Given their connections to the di Vicenta family, the eagle guard didn't charge them any docking fee, warned them that his only function was to charge docking fees and/or other tarriffs and that once they were in Zin itself their safety and security was their own affair, and let them go.
Before changing heading for the di Vicenta estate, Vuukran presented Commander Bananas, the name he claimed was the monkey's real name, with a crude monkey-sized pirate hat and eyepatch that he had made for him during the journey, and promised to buy him a nicer set as soon as he could. He also admitted, somewhat awkwardly, that he wasn't aware that Shautha was from Mnar. "Have you ever been to the Great Bazaar in this city? I've heard so much about it... I've been told that the prices are Zinsane!"
At Vuukran's question, Shautha kind of blushed. "Oh, uh, I've never actually been to the Bazaar . . ." she mumbled.
Upon seeing Mnar from the ship, Nix's mood turned sour.
They flew deliberately over the rooftops, up to the higher elevations where the rich lived. The di Vicenta estate had a fair bit of real estate, up on the highest levels of the ridge that made up the plateau rim. From here they could see the sunken interior of the gigantic Mnar plateau, farmlands extending a mile or two away from the city to end at a shrieking, steaming treeline where the infamous jungles of Mnar started. The estate was surrounded by a thick wall, and their ship was helped by liveried servants and slaves to the docking platform, and pulled down and secured. Francesca gulped slightly as she saw her older brother Gaspar waiting for them to disembark. "Maybe I'll just stay here in my cabin while you meet with Gaspar." she said.
Gaspar himself was a finely dressed (and fine-looking) man, tall, dark and handsome. He smiled as they started to disembark. "You were as good as dear Castellana promised! Congratulations on your swift arrival!"
As soon as he leaves, Nix sits on the trunk, rubs her face with her hands and mutters something in Gnoll to herself. "Oy vai." (Translated from Gnoll)
When the demon first appeared, Shautha had been torn between bowing down before it and striking it with her morningstar, still bloodied from the Mist creatures. Her rage had slowly dissipated, though, and as Ricardo spoke, Shautha's jaw dropped in a very unseemly way. What was he thinking? It is one thing to revere the demons, but an entirely different thing to give them everything they want without proper negotiation! We are all doomed.
She kept her eye on the demon until it disappeared and then turned back to the ship, very much resigned to what she hoped is just Ricardo's fate. But as the Mist knows, the demons have a way of dragging everything and everyone into their webs. She paused in her tracks and then resumed after a moment. I should have left him to rot in that stupid dungeon! When she reboarded the ship, she just shook her head at all the chatter and looked for some way to help get them out of there.
Whistling cheerfully to himself, Ricardo tidied himself up in his cabin, getting a fresh hankerchief and making sure his hair and cloak were back in place.
Then he set out to find Francesca. Poor little thing was looking a trifle down, no doubt because of how he'd had to leave her earlier in the day. A little cheering up is what she needed. And maybe a little competitive spirit stirred up in her breast -- Ricardo never met a little sister who wasn't competitive with her older sister.
Gustav had swooned. Yes, swooned. Dr. Livingstone was huddled in a corner, trembling over a puddle of his own vomit. Francesca was more composed, but her eyes are still wide and she's staring into space. (All the NPCs failed their Sanity checks! The PC's didn't have to make Sanity checks, they're the "heroes!") With the liberal application of a couple buckets of water, everyone was awakened and cleaned up, and the ship was soon repaired and ready to go. Ricardo pranced around the ship ignorantly, wondering why in the world everyone was staring at him that way.
The monkey was hiding in a cabinet with the charts in the Captain's cabin. He was still mumbling to himself in Monkey about where he thought they should go and what they should do. Also, there was a strange book sitting in the cabin that wasn't there before. It was bound in black leather and had gilt page edges, and a gold clasp. It was clearly a work of art and something very valuable. However, no one could read it. In addition to the rather disconcerting fact that this book just appeared out of nowhere (as near as anyone could tell can tell) it seemed to give off disquieting emanations of some sort. Something about this book, besides its abrupt and unexplained appearance, was unnatural.
When the ship was fixed, Lash wasted no time getting back in motion. It was late by this time, and early stars were starting to appear. Gustav located their position using the stars and a sextant and told everyone that they'd blown west much farther than they could have traveled without the storm giving them extraordinary speed, and were (almost) directly south of Sènt-Andriu.
"Good," Lash answered. "Whatever 'welcoming committee' that bastard Kirov helped arrange should be waiting for us to the East. We should head for the passage between Terrassa and Erau and take the inland passage. That way we only have regular pirates to concern us. And could someone do something about this monkey before it damages the charts?"
Shautha studied the book carefully before handing it over to someone else. "This," she proclaimed, "is demons' work. If we try to throw it overboard, I'm sure it will just reappear. If we try to burn it, the flames will not touch it. If we douse it in acid, it will eat the acid. We should put it somewhere out of the way until its purpose is revealed. As it certainly will." She finished with a dark glower in Ricardo's direction.
"Book must be the words of the Mist Demon to her new slave...Keep Ricardo away from it?" Scritch's taste for conversation exhausted, he foun himself a nice quiet hidey-hole (aka his cabin) and performed the cleansing rituals passed down from year to year year from the Kriisa elders, trying to free himself of any lingering taint from the Mist.
Shautha spent the next several hours (I'm sure) trying to coax the monkey into being her friend, and chasing it around the ship. "Wow, your standards are really slipping," Vuukran commented.
"Vuukran," Shautha asked curiously, "do you really understand what the monkey is saying, or are you just guessing?"
The hobgoblin started to answer, but then shared a knowing wink and nod with the monkey instead. Shautha rolled her eyes.
Lash dragged Ricardo into a cabin and explained to him, multiple times, exactly what he did and who he was talking to. Ricardo was frankly relieved to be pulled away from Francesca, as she'd gotten decidedly more... intense in her "friendship"... At first he wasn't really paying attention to the hobgoblin, so busy was he planning his strategies for Nix, and Francesca and that Shautha ("I wonder that's the SAME Shautha from that dungeon? Never did get a chance to see her..."), but eventually it sunk in and Ricardo was horrified. "WHAT? And with the teeth and the breasts and... WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?"
When he heard that the beautiful woman he'd promised to serve started life as a freakish demon-thing, Ricardo was what you call FREAKED OUT. "Okay, but allies of Samyassa, that's not so bad. That's that angel supposed to rule a kingdom in the mist, around here somewhere they say. Maybe she wasn't a demon. Maybe she was an angel. You think maybe...?"
Ricardo didn't bother finishing that question; he knew what Lash was going to say. "We need more information."
Lash sat back and grumbled. "You really got yourself into trouble this time. This is worse than that 'incident' with the cross-dresser in Kadath."
"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Ricardo insisted, his face going flat.
"Except you cried then, too."
"I'm not crying. Francesca was licking my eyes."
"Ok, ok. You aren't crying. But you should clean yourself up before you go out and I'd say something about how smoke from the lamps blew in your eyes to explain the puffiness."
Lash continued, "By the by, about Francecsa.... Hands off, Ricardo, I mean it. She's the sister of our employer, remember her? Rich lady, paying us, had sex with you, is paying good money to move weapons of mass destruction, knows more assassins than you do whores? However pretty you are, and however much you impressed her in the sack, she'll have you castrated for fooling around with her sister, especially after fooling around with her. Remember back in Torregina? The twins? This will be worse. Way worse."
Ricardo was affronted. "Me? You think I'd betray our business interests, our partnership, for the sake of a pair of blue eyes?" Then he thought about the twins. "Well, alright, never mind that. Don't worry about Francesca; that situation is under control. Castellana is not going to have any cause for jealousy, even if she were inclined that way about me, which I assure you she is not. "Delivering her sister safe sound and with a good report of us is going to do us plenty of good with Castellana. I can make sure she's happy a lot better than you can."
Otherwise, the trip to Zin was relatively uneventful. Between Lash's diligence and Francesca's nervousness following "the incident" of inadvertently getting pregnant with Rosemary's Baby, Ricardo's advances in that regard were frustrated. Dr. Livingstone checked each of them out in detail (especially Nix. He spent a very long time examining Nix. Shautha he kind of rushed through nervously.) and gave everyone a clean bill of health; no traces of taint or corruption that he could see. For the moment anyway. Francesca's monkey (who had been unfortunately named Mr. Peepers, a name that he did not appreciate) becomes good friends with Vuukran, swapping all kinds of rather simplistic and boring stories about being pampered by Francesca, and before that, swinging in the trees in Mnar as a youngster. He seemed to be much more widely traveled than Vuukran ever suspected, but his memory and ability to determine important details was sketchy at best, as was his vocabulary and ability to communicate complex thoughts.
Assuming, of course, that Vuukran really could understand him.
Scritch had a number of really bad dreams about toothed, shadowy maggots burrowing through his legs, and twice he woke up from such dreams to find the mysterious book sitting in his cabin, as if watching him, although he knew for sure that it was not there when he went to sleep.
The book itself seemed to exhibit some unusual properties, if that's not merely imagination. Sometimes the characters seemed to be different, as if the writing was spontaneously changing languages when no one was looking at it, but still nobody could read a word of it. Gustav got physically ill when he could see the book, and refused to be in the same room with it. Francesca, in an effort to stave off boredom, suggested that everyone play cards, betting food rations as stakes. Amazingly enough, she could eat like crazy and still look like a coltish, thin youngster. And she did seem to win. A lot. Everyone that spent any appreciable time playing with her went hungry more often than not.
Despite some creaking and the occasional need to climb up on the balloon and make adjustments, the field repairs and spare parts held out and the airship had no further problems. They also had good traveling weather, managed to avoid pirates, and had apparently thrown any pursuit by Kirov's agents off the scent with the unexpected landfall. Shautha, after losing all her meals for the day to Franesca, attempted to shoot, lasso or otherwise catch some birds and cook them, maybe, but they taste tough, dry and slightly rancid. The most common breed they saw while traveling were carrion eaters like ravens, crows and vultures anyway, although an occasional eagle or hawk flew by in the distance. Bats were also a common sight, but nobody was desperate enough to eat them, even the large unfurred carrion-eating.
Shautha spent some time of the journey trying to scare the poor doctor. She also spent much of her time trying to determine if Vuukran really could speak with the monkey or not. Though she did not seek it out, she also did not avoid the book and when it was convenient, she studied it in the hopes that some magic of the Mist would let her understand its purpose. It didn't. She also gambled recklessly, often getting angry and stomping away from the table at a particularly bad or foolish loss, but she always came back the next time for more.
Scritch spent the remainder of the trip in a couple of places: his cabin, where the sounds of tribal chanting could occasionally be heard, the cargo bay, where he curled up amidst blankets and bedding and naps during the day, and the rigging of the airship itself, where he spent the nights he wasn't tortured by nightmares enjoying the breeze and surveying the Mist-shrouded world.
Occasionally, he could be found returning the book to wher it normally was kept. After losing a day's worth of food to Francesca, he stopped gambling but did watch the others play, obviously enjoying their company but not providing much in the way of conversation himself.
Finally after twelve days of travel, they arrived at Mnar and could see Zin in the distance. Mnar itself was a rather flat plateau, stretching off into the distance, with sharply falling red sandstone cliffs that angled near the top. Zin was built literally on the cliff itself; the lowest levels were carved into the side of the rock, and treacherous paths, rope bridges and ladders, and rickety scaffolding made up the "streets". At higher elevations, it came to terraces where the buildings were much more substantial. The richest Zinians lived on the top of the plateau itself, away from the edge. Zin was a large city of several hundred thousand regular residents and a few tens of thousands of transient residents at any one time, and was possibly the most cosmopolitan city in the entire region. Airship and flying mount traffic was relatively thick as they approach edthe city itself, and a guard mounted on a giant eagle flew out to their ship to welcome them and determine their business in Zin.
As they get within sight of the mainland, Shautha took deep lusty breaths at every opportunity. "Ahhh, Mnar! Home sweet home!" she crowed.
Lash ignored her and answered the eagle guard. "Trade, resupply, and repairs, likely in that order. What news in Zin?"
He looked bored, especially since they were still flying the di Vicenta colors, which he recognized and wasn't about to mess with. He pointed Lash towards their local estate and gave him some really boring news about the succession (the King was getting on in years and his many, many children by many, many women, were coming out of the woodwork. And mostly getting assassinated as soon as they did) and about rumors of unrest in the interior. Settlers, trappers and downright crazy people alike all agreed that something was going on. The most common story was that the gorillas and the gnolls were going to war with each other, although some people said that they had allied with each other and would instead march to war against the cities along the edge of the plateau.
Vuukran whispered loudly to the monkey, "Did you hear that, Commander Bananas? Gorilla warfare!", then shook his head sadly.
Given their connections to the di Vicenta family, the eagle guard didn't charge them any docking fee, warned them that his only function was to charge docking fees and/or other tarriffs and that once they were in Zin itself their safety and security was their own affair, and let them go.
Before changing heading for the di Vicenta estate, Vuukran presented Commander Bananas, the name he claimed was the monkey's real name, with a crude monkey-sized pirate hat and eyepatch that he had made for him during the journey, and promised to buy him a nicer set as soon as he could. He also admitted, somewhat awkwardly, that he wasn't aware that Shautha was from Mnar. "Have you ever been to the Great Bazaar in this city? I've heard so much about it... I've been told that the prices are Zinsane!"
At Vuukran's question, Shautha kind of blushed. "Oh, uh, I've never actually been to the Bazaar . . ." she mumbled.
Upon seeing Mnar from the ship, Nix's mood turned sour.
They flew deliberately over the rooftops, up to the higher elevations where the rich lived. The di Vicenta estate had a fair bit of real estate, up on the highest levels of the ridge that made up the plateau rim. From here they could see the sunken interior of the gigantic Mnar plateau, farmlands extending a mile or two away from the city to end at a shrieking, steaming treeline where the infamous jungles of Mnar started. The estate was surrounded by a thick wall, and their ship was helped by liveried servants and slaves to the docking platform, and pulled down and secured. Francesca gulped slightly as she saw her older brother Gaspar waiting for them to disembark. "Maybe I'll just stay here in my cabin while you meet with Gaspar." she said.
Gaspar himself was a finely dressed (and fine-looking) man, tall, dark and handsome. He smiled as they started to disembark. "You were as good as dear Castellana promised! Congratulations on your swift arrival!"
Desdichado
Hero
D'oh! Fell off the first page! I need to make a permanent link to this somewhere so I don't accidentally lose it.
In any case, I'm finding that it is nearly as time consuming to edit and modify the game logs as it would be to write it from scrach anyway, so I apologize for the rather lengthy delay. I've also been very busy with work recently.
I do hope to get another update (or two. Or three) done still this week, though.
In any case, I'm finding that it is nearly as time consuming to edit and modify the game logs as it would be to write it from scrach anyway, so I apologize for the rather lengthy delay. I've also been very busy with work recently.
I do hope to get another update (or two. Or three) done still this week, though.
barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Ricardo does NOT prance.
AuroraGyps
First Post
Desdichado
Hero
Shautha threw caution to the wind and smiled coquettishly at Gaspar. "Some of us are quite good in other ways, too."
Ricardo meanwhile, took hold of Francesca's arm in a firm grip. "Not a bit of it, young lady. You'll go back to your family safe and sound. Your older sister would never speak to me again if I allowed you to risk yourself. There's nothing you can do to change my mind."
"She probably won't ever speak to you again anyway. She doesn't look back when it comes to boy toys."
"I'm not known for looking back, myself. But that's hardly a reason to risk incurring her displeasure."
Lash chuckled at Gaspar's comment. "We suffered some damage in a storm just out of Razina. The repairs are holding, but you'll want to dock her and give her an overhaul. Master Gustav performed admirably, and likely saved us all from certain death.
As soon as you've verified delivery, we'd be delighted to settle accounts and discuss future endeavors."
Liveried slaves and workers started unloading the cargo as Gaspar walked up the gangplank himself. "Come on, don't be shy! You've got payment to collect, and I'll entertain you tonight, and you can stay here at the estate for a few days. I think there may be some more opportunities for lucrative work right around the... Francesca?! What are you doing here? Dressed like that?!" He glared at her, then turned to Lash for an explanation.
The shifter chittered amusedly. "We found some cargo not on manifest."
"Ah, yes, our stowaway,"Lash grimaced. "She hid herself among the cargo, in a prepared crate. I'd check among your hands in Razina for her accomplice, as she definately had help. Her safe return is the least we could do for such generous employers. No additional compensation is required, but we would not be so crass as to refuse your gratitude. "
Ricardo bowed and added, "We were as astonished as yourself, señor, when we found your sister hiding within the cargo hold of our ship. We would have returned her, but the storm that caused the damage you see made that impossible, and we decided the safest course was to bring her here where we knew you would be able to take charge of her." With a perfectly polite smile, Ricardo gestured for the young woman to cross the deck towards her brother. "We are happy to be able to deliver her, safe and sound, into your care."
Gaspar was livid. "Fran. Ces. Ca! I want you off the ship now, and out of those ridiculous clothes and into something decent. Then I want you out of my sight the rest of the night. I'll make sure that you are closely guarded."
Francesca was on the verge of bursting into tears. Gaspar sighed. "Yes. Well, if you'll follow me, I'll see that you get paid." An armed guard lead Francesca away, but at the last minute the monkey jumped off her shoulder and climbed up Vuukran's leg to stay with him.
Gaspar lead the group into his brightly lit, semi-open air office and counted out the gold crowns that they were promised; a fairly heft sack. Then he sat back and relaxed a bit, noticing them individually for the first time. He winked and grinned and Nix especially. He gulped and smiled nervously at Shautha. "Hola! Please, all of you, make yourselves at home. Dinner will be served in two hours, and I imagine you'll want to clean up after your long journey and get more comfortable. Is there anything else I can do for you in the meantime? I never want it to be said that the di Vicenta's are poor hosts to those who are in their favor."
"Perhaps a tour of the estate?" Shautha batted her eyelashes at Gaspar.
"Uh..." Gaspar looked around quickly, desperately, hoping to find something that he had to do, but coming up blank. His shoulders sank. "Sure, milady." He offered her his arm.
Shautha smiled at Gaspar and took his arm rather gently for someone of her size and demeanor. "I look forward to getting to know you better, my lord. I can't wait for the dinner tonight." She chattered on somewhat inanely as they walked away.
Commander Bananas chittered in Vuukran's ear after Shautha and Gaspar left.
Gaspar sighed and started telling Shautha about the estate. "And over there is my bedroom..." Suddenly his eyes went panic-stricken and he clapped his hand over his mouth. "Ahh... I mean... my... uh...Oh no. Oh my... Uh... Shautha, you're... uh... your clothes... You're, uh, having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction... [size=-2]please let that be an accident[/size]"
Vuukran's eyes went wide with shock for a moment before he composed himself. Dog, when my time in this world is over, I pray only that you fetch me away to a world free from changelings. Leaning over to the other hobgoblin, he whispered, "Lash, we may be in trouble. Appearances to the contrary, that is not Gaspar di Vicenta."
Duh-duh-DUUUHHHHH!!!!!
Ricardo meanwhile, took hold of Francesca's arm in a firm grip. "Not a bit of it, young lady. You'll go back to your family safe and sound. Your older sister would never speak to me again if I allowed you to risk yourself. There's nothing you can do to change my mind."
"She probably won't ever speak to you again anyway. She doesn't look back when it comes to boy toys."
"I'm not known for looking back, myself. But that's hardly a reason to risk incurring her displeasure."
Lash chuckled at Gaspar's comment. "We suffered some damage in a storm just out of Razina. The repairs are holding, but you'll want to dock her and give her an overhaul. Master Gustav performed admirably, and likely saved us all from certain death.
As soon as you've verified delivery, we'd be delighted to settle accounts and discuss future endeavors."
Liveried slaves and workers started unloading the cargo as Gaspar walked up the gangplank himself. "Come on, don't be shy! You've got payment to collect, and I'll entertain you tonight, and you can stay here at the estate for a few days. I think there may be some more opportunities for lucrative work right around the... Francesca?! What are you doing here? Dressed like that?!" He glared at her, then turned to Lash for an explanation.
The shifter chittered amusedly. "We found some cargo not on manifest."
"Ah, yes, our stowaway,"Lash grimaced. "She hid herself among the cargo, in a prepared crate. I'd check among your hands in Razina for her accomplice, as she definately had help. Her safe return is the least we could do for such generous employers. No additional compensation is required, but we would not be so crass as to refuse your gratitude. "
Ricardo bowed and added, "We were as astonished as yourself, señor, when we found your sister hiding within the cargo hold of our ship. We would have returned her, but the storm that caused the damage you see made that impossible, and we decided the safest course was to bring her here where we knew you would be able to take charge of her." With a perfectly polite smile, Ricardo gestured for the young woman to cross the deck towards her brother. "We are happy to be able to deliver her, safe and sound, into your care."
Gaspar was livid. "Fran. Ces. Ca! I want you off the ship now, and out of those ridiculous clothes and into something decent. Then I want you out of my sight the rest of the night. I'll make sure that you are closely guarded."
Francesca was on the verge of bursting into tears. Gaspar sighed. "Yes. Well, if you'll follow me, I'll see that you get paid." An armed guard lead Francesca away, but at the last minute the monkey jumped off her shoulder and climbed up Vuukran's leg to stay with him.
Gaspar lead the group into his brightly lit, semi-open air office and counted out the gold crowns that they were promised; a fairly heft sack. Then he sat back and relaxed a bit, noticing them individually for the first time. He winked and grinned and Nix especially. He gulped and smiled nervously at Shautha. "Hola! Please, all of you, make yourselves at home. Dinner will be served in two hours, and I imagine you'll want to clean up after your long journey and get more comfortable. Is there anything else I can do for you in the meantime? I never want it to be said that the di Vicenta's are poor hosts to those who are in their favor."
"Perhaps a tour of the estate?" Shautha batted her eyelashes at Gaspar.
"Uh..." Gaspar looked around quickly, desperately, hoping to find something that he had to do, but coming up blank. His shoulders sank. "Sure, milady." He offered her his arm.
Shautha smiled at Gaspar and took his arm rather gently for someone of her size and demeanor. "I look forward to getting to know you better, my lord. I can't wait for the dinner tonight." She chattered on somewhat inanely as they walked away.
Commander Bananas chittered in Vuukran's ear after Shautha and Gaspar left.
Gaspar sighed and started telling Shautha about the estate. "And over there is my bedroom..." Suddenly his eyes went panic-stricken and he clapped his hand over his mouth. "Ahh... I mean... my... uh...Oh no. Oh my... Uh... Shautha, you're... uh... your clothes... You're, uh, having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction... [size=-2]please let that be an accident[/size]"
Vuukran's eyes went wide with shock for a moment before he composed himself. Dog, when my time in this world is over, I pray only that you fetch me away to a world free from changelings. Leaning over to the other hobgoblin, he whispered, "Lash, we may be in trouble. Appearances to the contrary, that is not Gaspar di Vicenta."
Duh-duh-DUUUHHHHH!!!!!
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