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Coils of Scuttlecove (Evil Campaign, Mature, no spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ipissimus" data-source="post: 3612165" data-attributes="member: 41514"><p>"Ladies first," Jacith gestured with his left hand while his right sheathed his sword. Shae noticed that he wore a small arsenal under his cloak; at least five daggers and a short sword at his right hip.</p><p></p><p>Smiling flirtaciously, she sashayed past, heading for the street. "Might I know where we're going or should I just wander around town until you point out the destination?"</p><p></p><p>"The Violated Ogre."</p><p></p><p>Nodding, she turned right when they got to the street, deftly navigating the twisted maze of streets formed by a complete lack of any form of planning for decades.Their route took them past the imposing Monestary of Dire hunger, lipless monks chanting bleak hymns in the small muddy square outside despite the rain. Further along, they passed the strange green sone building of Eralakni's Emporium, a large marketplace that primarily dealt in pirate goods. To the north, Shae spied the grizzly Plaza of Hanging Ruin, hoists atop large pillers where water-bloated corpses hung still bleeding from cruel barbed hooks. Ravens huddled underneath the bodies occasionally satisfying their hunger by pecking at the dlesh that was within easy reach.</p><p></p><p>Finally, they arrived at The Violated Ogre, the largest inn of Scuttlecove. Welcome warmth hit Shae's face as she stepped inside, though she could have done without the stench of beer, sweat and worse that permiated the air. The crowd was busy jeering at the show on stage as two naked Skindancers slowly cut the ogre with bejewled silver gauntlets fitted with scalpel-sharp knives at the fingertips and then licked away the thick black fluid that poured from the wounds. One of Kedward Bone's wizard henchmen stood watching nearby.</p><p></p><p>Shae knew the act, one not usually performed upon a creature that could regenerate. The black fluid seeping from the wounds rather than blood was a lower-grade varient of the drug called Agony, formed by the wizard's magic from the victim's pain. Agony was known to supernaturally induce please and increase the addict's beauty and poise, perfect for such sadomasocistic entertainment. Usually a relatively safe drug, occasionally the tainted lower-grade would cause one of the girls would die of pleasure during the act, a fact that only made the entertainment more popular.</p><p></p><p>Of course, that wouldn't be the end of the girl's story. The corpse would be preserved and sold to one of Kedward's friends, a Necromancer called remus Caldakar, reanimated and sold on to Porphyry House for use by those whose tastes ran toward the living dead. Shae had always refused to participate no matter the price offered. Her body, mind and soul were worth more to her intact.</p><p></p><p>What she couldn't abide was that most of the room was looking at the show rather than her. Pulling the chord that tied her cloak around her shoulders, the knot loosened and allowed the cloak to slip away. "Could you hold this for me please?" She asked Jacith coyly as he stepped through the door behind her.</p><p></p><p>He took the cloak without a word.</p><p></p><p>Underneath the garment she wore surprisingly little, considering the weather. High, soft, boots hugged the tender flesh of her legs, fully visible as her burgandy dress was slit to the hips on both sides. The rich cloth hugged her torso snugly but left her shoulders bare, though the cold had forced her to wear long black leather gloves. It was a trade-off between exposed skin and warmth but the effect of her beauty on the crowd was immediate. As she passed, heads turned. She felt the elation like butterflies in her stomach as men longed for her and women longed to kill her.</p><p></p><p>"What do you drink?" Jacith asked, making a concerted effort to keep his eyes on her face. Shae was impressed at his willpower.</p><p></p><p>"Wine, please." She smiled. "So which of these louts are your compatriots?"</p><p></p><p>He nodded towards the private rooms. "We're out the back. Come on, the drinks will be brought there."</p><p></p><p>Shae was surprised when Jacith took the lead. His exposed back was a tempting target, just for sneaking up on her earlier, but again greed and perhaps no small ammount of curiosity stayed her hand. She was so deep in thought that the sudden pain that shot up her spine took her by surprise, making her hop up slightly to her toes and letting out a yelp.</p><p></p><p>The men behind her yelped as she turned slowly towards them, eyes smouldering with something the unobservant might take for as lust. "Who pinched me?"</p><p></p><p>They weren't observant. In the midst of masculine laughter, the group pushed one of their number toward her. "Aye," the bearded lout stumbled drunkenly forward, "that'd be me, lass."</p><p></p><p>She favored him with a smile, stepping forward so that she could run her left hand over his chest and shoulder. His friends cheered and whooped, egging the impromptu show on. Leaning foward up on the tips of her toes, she whispered into his ear. "Now, hold very, very still for me, lover."</p><p></p><p>Pulling back, she considered the man's red face and leering grin for a moment before punching the heel of her palm up into his nose, spearing the cartilage into his brain. He stood still for a moment, blood pouring from his nose, before plummeting backwards over the table, scattering mugs and spraying the contents over the patrons. The crowd roared with laughter as Shae gave them a coy wink and strutted away, the crowd pulling themselves out of her path.</p><p></p><p>"Do you kill every man that finds you attractive?" Jacith inquired testily.</p><p></p><p>She thought about it for a moment. "One or two are still alive. Could you get the door for me, please?"</p><p></p><p>Bowing slightly, he opened the door for her and allowed her to enter first with trained aplomb. Shae kept that little tidbit in the back of her mind, Jacith knew the ways of the cultured gentleman even if he pretended otherwise. The room on the other side of the door was dark and smoky. Light from the fireplace flickered over three figures, two at the large round wooden table in the center of the room, one peering out into the rain through a gap in the brickwork.</p><p></p><p>On Shae's left sat a large, bulky, man in enameled black platemail embossed with the symbol of a fist clutching six red arrows. Leaning on his chair was a massive flail easily as tall as he was standing. His face, however, was a mass of scar tissue; teeth visible through a wound that had healed open through his left cheek.</p><p></p><p>On the right, across the table, sat a gaunt man in a hooded purple and black robe with a silver pendant in the shape of an eye hanging around his neck. His skin was pale, his eyes sunken and his cheeks sallow. His features were angular, skin stretched out over the bone structure underneath. He had no drink in front of him and he kept his hands folded inside his long sleeves.</p><p></p><p>The third man was much cleaner and well groomed than the other two, dressed in satin and silks. He sported a thick black handlebar moustache, long hair and bushy eyebrows over hawklike features.</p><p></p><p>"Shae," Jacith introduced her after he closed the door, "these are our compatriots, Dukar of the church of Hextor and Zaladi, until recently an apprentice of the Black Acadamy. The last man is my employer, Baron Rikelander."</p><p></p><p>The Baron turned and bowed gracefully. "Please, gentlemen, it is rude to sit while a lady still stands."</p><p></p><p>"Let me know when one comes," Dukar growled.</p><p></p><p>"Dukar," Jacith reproached calmly with the one word.</p><p></p><p>"That's all right, Baron, Jacith," Shae smiled, gliding over to offer her arm to the Baron, "no need to inconvenience yourselves on my account. I too would like to get down to the business at hand and fulfil my aching curiosity."</p><p></p><p>Smiling, the Baron led her arm in arm to the table before drawing her chair out for her and taking a seat beside her next to Zaladi. Jacith slid into the chair on the other side between Shae and Dukar, giving the priest a dark glance. "The Baron has asked me to find three of the most capable mercenaries in Scuttlecove," Jacith explained, "each of you was picked for your particular skills. Dukar for both his ability to cause and repair damage, though he seems to enjoy causing destruction far more than he does healing it. We have fought together in the past and I can vouch for his skills if not his manners. Zaladi knows intimately the ways dark and mystical, though I cannot vouch for him personally, he does come recommended by people that I have good cause to trust in their judgement."</p><p></p><p>"What people?" The Baron asked suspiciously.</p><p></p><p>"Zeladi here served on the pirate vessal Tarrantula," Jacith informed, "I know the captain."</p><p></p><p>"And the female?" Dukar sneered.</p><p></p><p>The Baron frowned but Shae put a staying hand on his wrist. "Do you have a problem with women, priest?"</p><p></p><p>Dukar leant forward in his chair, showing off his scars in an attempt at intimidation. "I hate the weak and the useless. When the Paladins razed my temple, they cast me into the firepit when I refused to recant my religion. The fires burnt away my face and much of my body and so I no longer have a use for women. Some men might mourn that loss but I find myself imbued with a clarity of purpose and focus on my goals that most are unable to achieve through the miasma of such petty distractions. The only practical application of females is procreation and once I shuffle off my mortality I will feel no need to spread my seed either. Women are weak, illogical, capricious and simple-minded, fit only to be sacrificed for the glory of Hextor."</p><p></p><p>Leaning forward to match Dukar, Shae rested her delicate chin in her hands and simply smiled without saying a word.</p><p></p><p>Jacith coughed. "Shae comes to us recommended as a cutpurse in good standing with the Guild as well as a member of the Skindancer Academy. She is particularly well known amongst certain circles for the ability to kill a man with her bare hands."</p><p></p><p>Some of the certainty bled from Dukar's eyes while the pleasant smile on Shae's face never faltered. Slowly, a smile split the scarred man's face. "Perhaps she does have another use after all."</p><p></p><p>"A eunoch," Shae accused, "and a coward."</p><p></p><p>He shrugged off the insults. "The loss of my skin taught me to value it above all else. Anything else is insanity."</p><p></p><p>"As I said," Jacith turned to the Baron again, "Dukar's manners are attrocious but there's no other man I'd have at my shoulder in a fight."</p><p></p><p>Shae sat back in her chair and absently pulled her red braids over one shoulder, wrinkling her nose. "Can anyone else smell that?"</p><p></p><p>Zeladi coughed in embarassment. "That would be me. You just can't get the stench of my trade out of your clothes between carcasses and chemicals, I know it is one of the more detestible aromas of the world."</p><p></p><p>"I hired Shae to grease the wheels in places that your professions would usually have us killed on sight," Jacith told the other two, "now, if you'll all be quiet, the Baron has a business proposeal that I believe could be quite lucrative. Baron, if you please."</p><p></p><p>Nodding, the Baron stood, resting his hands on his wide leather belt. "The situation that I currently find myself in requires some explaination on my part. I was born in the city of Leshass on the other side of this island and my family counted a large part of the tamed north coast as part of their holdings. When I was old enough, my father sent me to war in his stead and I served this Kingdom alongside Jacith for several years. When I returned my father was dead and my elder brother stood to inherit our father's lands. My elder brother was a scholar and prone to bouts of sickness that prevented him serving in the war and... I admit, that he would inherit everything my father owned while I would depend upon him for food and shelter rankled my pride.</p><p></p><p>I was almost resolved to sign on with the King's Navy when I was approached by a childhood friend who claimed to have a better proposition in mind. He had entered the merchant's guild and earned enough money for himself to construct his own palace with influence stretched across the globe and his fingers in too many pies to reliably count. He claimed that his success was due in no small ammount to the intervention of a society known as the Seventh Coil..."</p><p></p><p>The Baron paused, taking a deep breath to steady himself and a sip of ale to calm his nerves. "He also claimed that this society knew of myself from my exploits during the war and believed me to be a talented general worthy of induction into the society. He promised me wealth, lands, power and most of all the respect that I felt was my manifest destiny. I agreed and I was inducted into the society and given this."</p><p></p><p>He produced a ring in the shape of a silver serpent eating its own tail then pocketed it again quickly as if he were afraid that hidden eyes would glimpse it.</p><p></p><p>"And that was the beginning," he continued, "a few days later my brother contracted an illness that neither priests nor doctors could cure. He died in agonizing pain and I inherited the family lands. I convinced myself that it was just a stroke of luck, some unfathomable trick of circumstance or perhaps the will of the Gods. In truth, I didn't want to believe that I was somehow responsible. Over the years, I forged a great many financial and political alliances with the help of the Seventh Coil, amassing such power and wealth that I had never even dreamed of possessing. In return the Seventh Coil send messengers asking for minor favors and boons, a pittance compared to what I was recieving in return. Then their requests became larger and yet the returns for what I had to do were substantially greater. It was in this way that I slowly sold my soul to them piece by piece. When my childhood friend failed in one of his tasks, they had me execute him. I did it without a moment's hesitation.</p><p></p><p>After that, I found that nothing was beyond me. Murder, torture, piracy... I have committed many crimes, chief among them being High Treason. Since then my main contact with the Seventh Coil has been through my best friend's widow as she inherited his businesses following his death. Recently she admitted to me that she has a contact to can assure anyone's death through mysterious and incureable illness. Though it is trivial, I find that I do so balk at the notion that my brother was murdered by poison and my heart burns with the need for revenge. I wish to bring down the Seventh Coil and take its power for my own. Those that are willing to risk all to aid my quest will be given power and wealth beyond measure. Any who choose against me will be destroyed."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ipissimus, post: 3612165, member: 41514"] "Ladies first," Jacith gestured with his left hand while his right sheathed his sword. Shae noticed that he wore a small arsenal under his cloak; at least five daggers and a short sword at his right hip. Smiling flirtaciously, she sashayed past, heading for the street. "Might I know where we're going or should I just wander around town until you point out the destination?" "The Violated Ogre." Nodding, she turned right when they got to the street, deftly navigating the twisted maze of streets formed by a complete lack of any form of planning for decades.Their route took them past the imposing Monestary of Dire hunger, lipless monks chanting bleak hymns in the small muddy square outside despite the rain. Further along, they passed the strange green sone building of Eralakni's Emporium, a large marketplace that primarily dealt in pirate goods. To the north, Shae spied the grizzly Plaza of Hanging Ruin, hoists atop large pillers where water-bloated corpses hung still bleeding from cruel barbed hooks. Ravens huddled underneath the bodies occasionally satisfying their hunger by pecking at the dlesh that was within easy reach. Finally, they arrived at The Violated Ogre, the largest inn of Scuttlecove. Welcome warmth hit Shae's face as she stepped inside, though she could have done without the stench of beer, sweat and worse that permiated the air. The crowd was busy jeering at the show on stage as two naked Skindancers slowly cut the ogre with bejewled silver gauntlets fitted with scalpel-sharp knives at the fingertips and then licked away the thick black fluid that poured from the wounds. One of Kedward Bone's wizard henchmen stood watching nearby. Shae knew the act, one not usually performed upon a creature that could regenerate. The black fluid seeping from the wounds rather than blood was a lower-grade varient of the drug called Agony, formed by the wizard's magic from the victim's pain. Agony was known to supernaturally induce please and increase the addict's beauty and poise, perfect for such sadomasocistic entertainment. Usually a relatively safe drug, occasionally the tainted lower-grade would cause one of the girls would die of pleasure during the act, a fact that only made the entertainment more popular. Of course, that wouldn't be the end of the girl's story. The corpse would be preserved and sold to one of Kedward's friends, a Necromancer called remus Caldakar, reanimated and sold on to Porphyry House for use by those whose tastes ran toward the living dead. Shae had always refused to participate no matter the price offered. Her body, mind and soul were worth more to her intact. What she couldn't abide was that most of the room was looking at the show rather than her. Pulling the chord that tied her cloak around her shoulders, the knot loosened and allowed the cloak to slip away. "Could you hold this for me please?" She asked Jacith coyly as he stepped through the door behind her. He took the cloak without a word. Underneath the garment she wore surprisingly little, considering the weather. High, soft, boots hugged the tender flesh of her legs, fully visible as her burgandy dress was slit to the hips on both sides. The rich cloth hugged her torso snugly but left her shoulders bare, though the cold had forced her to wear long black leather gloves. It was a trade-off between exposed skin and warmth but the effect of her beauty on the crowd was immediate. As she passed, heads turned. She felt the elation like butterflies in her stomach as men longed for her and women longed to kill her. "What do you drink?" Jacith asked, making a concerted effort to keep his eyes on her face. Shae was impressed at his willpower. "Wine, please." She smiled. "So which of these louts are your compatriots?" He nodded towards the private rooms. "We're out the back. Come on, the drinks will be brought there." Shae was surprised when Jacith took the lead. His exposed back was a tempting target, just for sneaking up on her earlier, but again greed and perhaps no small ammount of curiosity stayed her hand. She was so deep in thought that the sudden pain that shot up her spine took her by surprise, making her hop up slightly to her toes and letting out a yelp. The men behind her yelped as she turned slowly towards them, eyes smouldering with something the unobservant might take for as lust. "Who pinched me?" They weren't observant. In the midst of masculine laughter, the group pushed one of their number toward her. "Aye," the bearded lout stumbled drunkenly forward, "that'd be me, lass." She favored him with a smile, stepping forward so that she could run her left hand over his chest and shoulder. His friends cheered and whooped, egging the impromptu show on. Leaning foward up on the tips of her toes, she whispered into his ear. "Now, hold very, very still for me, lover." Pulling back, she considered the man's red face and leering grin for a moment before punching the heel of her palm up into his nose, spearing the cartilage into his brain. He stood still for a moment, blood pouring from his nose, before plummeting backwards over the table, scattering mugs and spraying the contents over the patrons. The crowd roared with laughter as Shae gave them a coy wink and strutted away, the crowd pulling themselves out of her path. "Do you kill every man that finds you attractive?" Jacith inquired testily. She thought about it for a moment. "One or two are still alive. Could you get the door for me, please?" Bowing slightly, he opened the door for her and allowed her to enter first with trained aplomb. Shae kept that little tidbit in the back of her mind, Jacith knew the ways of the cultured gentleman even if he pretended otherwise. The room on the other side of the door was dark and smoky. Light from the fireplace flickered over three figures, two at the large round wooden table in the center of the room, one peering out into the rain through a gap in the brickwork. On Shae's left sat a large, bulky, man in enameled black platemail embossed with the symbol of a fist clutching six red arrows. Leaning on his chair was a massive flail easily as tall as he was standing. His face, however, was a mass of scar tissue; teeth visible through a wound that had healed open through his left cheek. On the right, across the table, sat a gaunt man in a hooded purple and black robe with a silver pendant in the shape of an eye hanging around his neck. His skin was pale, his eyes sunken and his cheeks sallow. His features were angular, skin stretched out over the bone structure underneath. He had no drink in front of him and he kept his hands folded inside his long sleeves. The third man was much cleaner and well groomed than the other two, dressed in satin and silks. He sported a thick black handlebar moustache, long hair and bushy eyebrows over hawklike features. "Shae," Jacith introduced her after he closed the door, "these are our compatriots, Dukar of the church of Hextor and Zaladi, until recently an apprentice of the Black Acadamy. The last man is my employer, Baron Rikelander." The Baron turned and bowed gracefully. "Please, gentlemen, it is rude to sit while a lady still stands." "Let me know when one comes," Dukar growled. "Dukar," Jacith reproached calmly with the one word. "That's all right, Baron, Jacith," Shae smiled, gliding over to offer her arm to the Baron, "no need to inconvenience yourselves on my account. I too would like to get down to the business at hand and fulfil my aching curiosity." Smiling, the Baron led her arm in arm to the table before drawing her chair out for her and taking a seat beside her next to Zaladi. Jacith slid into the chair on the other side between Shae and Dukar, giving the priest a dark glance. "The Baron has asked me to find three of the most capable mercenaries in Scuttlecove," Jacith explained, "each of you was picked for your particular skills. Dukar for both his ability to cause and repair damage, though he seems to enjoy causing destruction far more than he does healing it. We have fought together in the past and I can vouch for his skills if not his manners. Zaladi knows intimately the ways dark and mystical, though I cannot vouch for him personally, he does come recommended by people that I have good cause to trust in their judgement." "What people?" The Baron asked suspiciously. "Zeladi here served on the pirate vessal Tarrantula," Jacith informed, "I know the captain." "And the female?" Dukar sneered. The Baron frowned but Shae put a staying hand on his wrist. "Do you have a problem with women, priest?" Dukar leant forward in his chair, showing off his scars in an attempt at intimidation. "I hate the weak and the useless. When the Paladins razed my temple, they cast me into the firepit when I refused to recant my religion. The fires burnt away my face and much of my body and so I no longer have a use for women. Some men might mourn that loss but I find myself imbued with a clarity of purpose and focus on my goals that most are unable to achieve through the miasma of such petty distractions. The only practical application of females is procreation and once I shuffle off my mortality I will feel no need to spread my seed either. Women are weak, illogical, capricious and simple-minded, fit only to be sacrificed for the glory of Hextor." Leaning forward to match Dukar, Shae rested her delicate chin in her hands and simply smiled without saying a word. Jacith coughed. "Shae comes to us recommended as a cutpurse in good standing with the Guild as well as a member of the Skindancer Academy. She is particularly well known amongst certain circles for the ability to kill a man with her bare hands." Some of the certainty bled from Dukar's eyes while the pleasant smile on Shae's face never faltered. Slowly, a smile split the scarred man's face. "Perhaps she does have another use after all." "A eunoch," Shae accused, "and a coward." He shrugged off the insults. "The loss of my skin taught me to value it above all else. Anything else is insanity." "As I said," Jacith turned to the Baron again, "Dukar's manners are attrocious but there's no other man I'd have at my shoulder in a fight." Shae sat back in her chair and absently pulled her red braids over one shoulder, wrinkling her nose. "Can anyone else smell that?" Zeladi coughed in embarassment. "That would be me. You just can't get the stench of my trade out of your clothes between carcasses and chemicals, I know it is one of the more detestible aromas of the world." "I hired Shae to grease the wheels in places that your professions would usually have us killed on sight," Jacith told the other two, "now, if you'll all be quiet, the Baron has a business proposeal that I believe could be quite lucrative. Baron, if you please." Nodding, the Baron stood, resting his hands on his wide leather belt. "The situation that I currently find myself in requires some explaination on my part. I was born in the city of Leshass on the other side of this island and my family counted a large part of the tamed north coast as part of their holdings. When I was old enough, my father sent me to war in his stead and I served this Kingdom alongside Jacith for several years. When I returned my father was dead and my elder brother stood to inherit our father's lands. My elder brother was a scholar and prone to bouts of sickness that prevented him serving in the war and... I admit, that he would inherit everything my father owned while I would depend upon him for food and shelter rankled my pride. I was almost resolved to sign on with the King's Navy when I was approached by a childhood friend who claimed to have a better proposition in mind. He had entered the merchant's guild and earned enough money for himself to construct his own palace with influence stretched across the globe and his fingers in too many pies to reliably count. He claimed that his success was due in no small ammount to the intervention of a society known as the Seventh Coil..." The Baron paused, taking a deep breath to steady himself and a sip of ale to calm his nerves. "He also claimed that this society knew of myself from my exploits during the war and believed me to be a talented general worthy of induction into the society. He promised me wealth, lands, power and most of all the respect that I felt was my manifest destiny. I agreed and I was inducted into the society and given this." He produced a ring in the shape of a silver serpent eating its own tail then pocketed it again quickly as if he were afraid that hidden eyes would glimpse it. "And that was the beginning," he continued, "a few days later my brother contracted an illness that neither priests nor doctors could cure. He died in agonizing pain and I inherited the family lands. I convinced myself that it was just a stroke of luck, some unfathomable trick of circumstance or perhaps the will of the Gods. In truth, I didn't want to believe that I was somehow responsible. Over the years, I forged a great many financial and political alliances with the help of the Seventh Coil, amassing such power and wealth that I had never even dreamed of possessing. In return the Seventh Coil send messengers asking for minor favors and boons, a pittance compared to what I was recieving in return. Then their requests became larger and yet the returns for what I had to do were substantially greater. It was in this way that I slowly sold my soul to them piece by piece. When my childhood friend failed in one of his tasks, they had me execute him. I did it without a moment's hesitation. After that, I found that nothing was beyond me. Murder, torture, piracy... I have committed many crimes, chief among them being High Treason. Since then my main contact with the Seventh Coil has been through my best friend's widow as she inherited his businesses following his death. Recently she admitted to me that she has a contact to can assure anyone's death through mysterious and incureable illness. Though it is trivial, I find that I do so balk at the notion that my brother was murdered by poison and my heart burns with the need for revenge. I wish to bring down the Seventh Coil and take its power for my own. Those that are willing to risk all to aid my quest will be given power and wealth beyond measure. Any who choose against me will be destroyed." [/QUOTE]
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