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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shemeska" data-source="post: 1419376" data-attributes="member: 11697">Next Update[Here's the latest update, but let me preface this a bit. First I'm uploading this a bit early and without as much proofreading because I'll be out of town till Monday. And I've moved the location of the Ubiquitous Wayfarer / Portal Schmortal from the Lower Ward to the Clerk's Ward. Don't ask, just accept it.]The two spent the next twenty minutes walking back from the Hive into the Clerk's Ward. In fact, the particular section of the Clerks Ward seemed to be almost a small ghetto of sorts, a small insular neighborhood situated right on the margins of the Guildhall Ward. Close enough to commute easily to either ward for whatever reasons, but away from both the bustle of the Guildhall Ward and the... order... of the Clerks Ward.Clueless looked around with a slight smile, “…this is a nice place…”Tarelia smiled back as they arrived at the front of a small, two story building where several children sat and played on the front steps of the next door down. They appeared to be Aasimar by the look of them, and they giggled as they tossed a blue ball amongst themselves.Tarelia returned a mutual wave to the children, “Good evening to you Misha and you too Tarel. Tell your parents I said hello will you?”Clueless waved to the children as well, feeling faintly shy as the Eladrin greeted them warmly. But Tarelia removed the awkward moment as the knocked a few times on a blank doorplate on her door, no handle apparent. She closed her eyes and held her hand to the metal plate and several seconds later some unseen mechanism gave a soft ‘click!’ and the door swung open inwards. Clueless gave a fascinated look at the whole affair, his head tilted just slightly as he pondered just how the door lock worked.Tarelia ushered Clueless inside to a slightly small but cozy room containing a table, a few chairs and a tiny cooking area. Clueless was still looking back curiously at the door, “…how did you do that door thing?”She smiled back as she set down a few things on the table, “A little magical gift I got from a wizard I knew a few years back. I originally rented this little kip from him, then eventually I bought it when I’d finally made enough jink for myself. The door actually keys off a memory or two. You hold your hand against it and think. You remember the correct memory and the door opens for you. Pretty simple.”Clueless grinned, “Now that’s a neat trick…”Tarelia closed the door as a soft amber glow filled the room and flowed dimly from the doorway of another one adjacent. The glow wasn’t really centered, but seemed to fill the rooms from the air itself. Magic obviously. Meanwhile, sitting in the center of the table, on a cushion, was a large and multifaceted globe of crystal. The sphere shed a very slight white light as it refracted back the amber light of the room itself.Clueless blinked his eyes several times as he panned around the room trying to focus on the light source. Eventually he gave up and instead began to mentally catalogue the various articles in the room.“Table, chair, door, glowy light thing…” he muttered to himself.Tarelia walked over to the globe as Clueless watched and placed her hands over it. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a few moments, then opened them again and covered the globe with a soft yellow velvet cloth."...what is that?" Clueless still peered curiously at the globe as it flickered softly beneath the cloth."Oh, it's a diary I guess you could call it.""Oh, okie." He smiled at her trying his best not to do the pushy curious thing most people have a tendency to do.The Eladrin chattered with her guest while in the process of putting down her things. She unconsciously slipped off her shoes and kicked them into a corner. “You must be famished, can I offer you anything?"Clueless looked around a little for a place to put down the bundle he’d been carrying, finally putting it in a chair near the door, and looking down just to make sure he didn't end up tracking anything in onto the floor."Hmm... lets see what I can offer you. I have some fruit, some bread of course, some other little things. Please feel free to take what you like, I have more than enough for both of us.""Are you sure?" Clueless asked, wanting to check first before he took anything."Would I have offered if I wasn't?" she grinned.Clueless answered with a wry smile back, "... point... very good point..."The food was already set out in a few bowls with a tray for the bread. A slim knife sat near to the bread ready for use. All of it seemed to have been waiting there since the morning, likely set up ahead of time for whenever the tout came home and might have been too tired to sit and prepare anything. Wandering towards the food as he found a chair to settle in, "Wan' me to cut you some of this?" He motioned to the bread and glanced at his host."Oh please if you would."While Clueless sliced the bread, he heard the soft clink of glasses or mugs being taken down and Tarelia’s voice call to him from where she crouched on the floor in front of a small cabinet, "Care for a drink? It's nothing fancy, but it's fresh."He nodded in the affirmative, relaxing now that he was someplace warm and safe. "It's probably be the best thing I've tasted today."Tarelia took a slim glass bottle, popped open the cork and poured out something rich and teal colored into a small copper cup for herself and Clueless alike. She brought one of them over and offered it to him, then took a small sip of her own.Clueless took it and sipped, relaxing further at its taste as he cored and sliced up an apple for the two of them to share. She smiled at him as she watched him slice the apple, just standing there patiently observing, looking quite relaxed. When he finished slicing the apple he held one of the wedges up to her, one eyebrow raised."May I?" she asked as she stood up on her tip toes and opened her mouth."Yep!" Clueless replied and popped one in with a grin of his own as she closed her mouth around it and happily munched away."Mmm, dith gut.." he said around bites from his own slice of apple.When he finished his first bit of the fruit, she picked up one of the other slices he’d made and held it up to him, offering it. He smiled further at the game she was making the whole situation into and tilted his chin up, opening his mouth up for the slice.She took a slim piece and popped it into his open mouth, then took a finger and pushed up on his chin to close his mouth for him. Clueless smirked at her as he munched. She proceeded to repeat this little game of hers with the rest of the fruit, clearly enjoying the mutual teasing.After the both of them seemed to have had their fill of food, on the last slice of the apple as Clueless opened his mouth and waited for her to give him another piece, she paused a second. "Well, I hope this isn't too forward of me, but maybe I could help you remember a few other things you might have liked." With that she leaned in, and instead of popping a bit of bread or fruit into his mouth, she planted a kiss on his lips and laid a hand on his shoulder.By the last slice Clueless seemed to have reached a conclusion of sorts, "...I think I liked apples. Or at least... I like ‘em now." There was a startled sound from him for a split second before he relaxed and his lower brain caught up with his upper. He leaned in a little as he tried to remember just how to handle such things.She waited to judge his reaction and then tentatively gave him another kiss, a little longer this time, waiting to see if he’d go along or if she’s overstepped some unspoken boundary between two people who’d only met that day. It seemed she hadn’t as Clueless relaxed with it and slowly his instincts come back. He lifted one hand to frame her face, the other placed at her waist to steady her as he leaned into it, old skills resurfacing.As he did so, she placed one of her hands on his chest and the other at the back of his head while she leaned in fully against him, delicately slipping her tongue into his mouth. With that, her skin flushed warmer as he responded and a happy murmur escaped her throat.Finally after a few moments she broke off the kiss to catch her breath. Clueless smiled slightly at her sounds of approval and stroked lightly at the skin over her ribs as she broke away.She looked down and smiled to herself before looking back up, "I think you've done that before, remembering anything more yet? Do you think I should try a little harder?""As for remembering... I think I was a bit distracted.... might have to have another go at it..." there was a wry yet giddy note in his voice as she smiled coyly into his eyes then took his hand and led him towards the other room. Clueless followed her but glanced behind himself briefly, just to make sure that his sword was still in place near the door, wrapped in his cloak...The room she led Clueless into was clearly her bedroom by the look of it. It was lit by the same amber light as the other room of her kip and was arranged with a small mattress made from several cushions and some blankets towards the rear. Clueless scanned the room out of curiosity, noting little out of the ordinary except for a small household idol of sorts situated in the corner and a small, sheathed dagger on a chair near the doorway.As the two of them reached the bed she smiled again and looked up, "You can say no now. I wouldn’t want to force anything. But if you would like...." she trailed off and her eyes sparkled with a tiny orange flicker within.Clueless raised an eyebrow and lifted up the hand of hers that she was still holding. Gently he kissed the knuckles lightly, and replied while still looking up into her eyes, "... I would, very much so." She gave a rosy blush at the kiss."Lets see if this sparks any memories." She said as she reached over and started to remove his shirt. Her hands gently wandered over his muscles while she worked the clothing up and over his head. Clueless helped her with a lithe little stretch, and half ducked out of the shirt as a large series of tattoos became visible covering his back. Her hand brushed and traced over some of the lines that comprised the elaborate and obviously arcane markings that crisscrossed his back in a swirling pattern of knotwork.    “Oh now that’s interesting. Last time I saw something like that, the only time I saw something like that was on that fellow in the Tir on the Outlands. You don’t look like an elf though… maybe you grew up somewhere with a lot of elves?” Clueless gave no reply to her question as his eyes got stuck somewhere below her chin as she examined his back.After sating her curiosity and examining her partner’s back for a few more moments she slowly started to remove her own shirt and bodice, obviously enjoying watching Clueless’s eyes play along."... you're beautiful..." murmured Clueless as he helped her undo the laces to her top."Thank you... I should say the same of you. How someone like you ended up in Hopeless is a crime." Her sentiment was genuine as her eyes traveled over his obviously well tended physique.Clueless laughed at that, "Well… the lump on my head agrees with you on that one!" He looked down to her hands and then traced back up her arms to glance at, well... other things. She tossed her shirt off to one side, stood there for a second just admiring the muscles on his chest, and then ran the tips of her fingers over it. They seemed unusually warm on Clueless’s skin and in turn she sighed happily as he ran his own hands over her skin.[Intentional fade to black and shift to outside the room. I had to cut out around 4 pages worth of fairly well written porn here so as not to offend anyone’s grandma. Oh well, all of your loses. *waves the pages of pr0n teasingly*]Heard from outside the room:Clueless - "If I may?"Tarelia - "Definately I'd say." Clueless - ".... I meet approval?"Tarelia - "Care to help me now?" followed by the sound of breaches being unlaced.A sound of giggling can be heard through the door.Clueless - "...I'm gonna have to revise my previous statement... georgous."Tarelia - "You flatter me, thank you..."Clueless - "... you deserve it.."Clueless - "And so do you, let me give you something."Tarelia - "Mmm!"Clueless - "That's... nice..." Clueless - "Do lie down..."Various noises can be heard dimly through the doorTarelia - "This seem familiar at all? Or shall I try again?"Clueless - "... oh... some of it's familar... some of it wasn't ... but... oh..."Clueless - "... this isn't fair you know... oh..."Some assorted and distinctly happy noises on both of their partsTarelia - "Ooooohhh....Not... fair....please... keep doing... that...."Clueless - "... good… no fair?" Tarelia - "Remembering anything more? Surely you've done this before..."Clueless - "Oh... *quite* a bit..." Tarelia - "Please don't stop...."Various assorted happy noisesClueless - "...huh? what? Um..."Tarelia - "Oh my! This is unexpected!"Clueless -  ".....what did I do?" Tarelia – “Look back dear, we’re flying, hovering actually, mmm…” There’s a giggle from herClueless - "...I have wings@?!"There was a loud ‘thump!’ of two people hitting the ground onto something padded but not quite padded enough to completely cushion the fall.Clueless - "...um...  I have... wings?" said in a bemused voiceClueless - "... those... are sensitive..." murmuredTarelia - "Well, looks like I helped you remember. Well to remember ‘something’ anyways." Clueless - "Guess so..." Tarelia - "Mmmm..." [Back inside w/ full view again]Both Clueless and Tarelia sat in each others’ arms, flushed and smiling, clearly basking in a serious level of afterglow. Somewhat difficult to see fully over his shoulder, but there nonetheless, were a pair of shimmering black or dark blue in color, almost iridescent, thin wings. They seemed almost like larger sized versions of those you might expect to see on a sylph, pixie, or fairy. To a person knowledgeable in such matters they would have immediately pointed to a distinctly ‘Unseelie’ origin.But time passed and they enjoyed each other’s company for the remainder of the evening before finally falling asleep. The next morning as the both of them awoke, however, one thing was different in the kitchen and readily apparent. Sitting upon the chain on which Clueless had, the night before, left his sword and cloak, directly on top of them was a singular sealed scroll.    Tarelia gathered a robe around herself in the cooler morning air and immediately checked the door. It was closed and the locking spell didn’t appear to have been tampered with.    Clueless’s eyes widened as he followed her and glanced at the scroll with a confused look. “…um… could someone have put that in here magically?”    “Possibly… but most magic like that generally doesn’t work reliably within Sigil.”    As they both examined the scroll, the seal was cast in a fiery red wax that glittered slightly. It almost seemed as if a crushed red stone or glass had been mixed in with the wax while it was still warm.    “…still.” Clueless murmured while looking closely at the seal, “…do you know this sigil?”    He showed Tarelia the scroll and its seal. The symbol was clearly a wizard’s sigil looking almost like a small flame.    “Never seen it before…” she said with a bit of apprehension.Clueless broke the seal to read the scroll - wings fluttering behind him absently - half rubbing against each other in ill concealed nervousness. As his eyes scanned over the first line of the letter, they widened considerably.The letter read: “Greetings my memory deprived fellow.”“I first of all urge descretion in the reading and showing of this scroll. Your location and identity would fetch a high price in some hands, and so unless you wish those parties to be informed of said details you will follow my following instructions.”"....I'm.... being... blackmailed..." there was low surprise in Clueless’s voice and he looked at Tarelia in surprise, "I can't believe this..."The note continued: “Firstly, I desire to meet with you. Secondly, I have a task which requires completion, and one which I will admit to not wishing to undertake myself. Blackmail is not my ideal method of action, but in this case it suits me nicely. I wish for completion of a certain task by yourself, and others procured into my service in similar fashion. Once completed, you will be sent upon your way, and by which time, those seeking you will have been... sated by other means. Again, I urge your discretion. I will meet you, and your soon to be companions at the third room on the left at the top of the stairs at the former location of the Ubiquitous Wayfarer. You will be there, for I doubt that the Baatezu will act slowly upon finding out you are still quite alive. The door to the building shall be unlocked. Meet me there at Antipeak, come alone.  – B. Trenevain”Clueless turned again to Tarelia with astonishment playing across his face, "...I'm being blackmailed...Um... where's the…" he paused to read; "…*Former* location of the Ubiquitous Wayfarer?"She paused to think “... well that's the old name... changed to 'Portal Schmortal' after The Lady scrambled every sodding portal in the burg after mazing the factols. Name didn't have the same ring though, and business dropped off with the portals vanishing. It went out of business shortly afterwards. It's a ten minute walk down a bit more into the Clerk’s Ward, down between the Workers district and the Administrators district.” Clueless nodded, "... do you know who ... B. Trenevain is?""I'd doubt that's a real name, but no, never heard of him."He nodded again and looked down at his sword, "... well. Whoever they are - they know who I am... or at least know enough about me to know that I   don't know who I am..."[With one intro finished, on to the next poor soul in our slowly unwinding, and progressively more complicated story.]    Around the same time as Clueless was waking up to his own little surprise, an abnormally tall and broad shouldered man was waking up in his own room at the Drunken Dabus.</blockquote>

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