The Pleasure Prison of the B'thuvian Demon

[CanadienneBacon]

The adventure finds the ladies lounging in a tavern in Anguran, the last desert stop on the grand East-West Trade Route. After serving a year in the all-female Isfala Guard, the girls have mustered out of the Guard and wandered toward Anguran to sell-sword their way to the exotic lands of the Far East. Little do the femmes fatale know that with each swill of date wine they take and each illicit kiss "stolen" from barmaids and bartenders all too willing, dark plans are being hatched that will alter their fate on this plane.

Of all the communities within Isfala's sphere of control, the large town of Anguran benefits the most from the large amount of trade flowing along the East-West Trade Route. It is at Anguran that the majority of caravans stop and unload their goods to local merchants. Anguran is a rowdy town full of roustabouts and merchants, travelers and caravan guards. Its streets flow heavy with date wine and night walkers--which, if truth be told, are more like walkers-of-whatever-time-you-like in Anguran.

The Varaki River flows through the walls of Anguran and lowers the killing desert temperatures to merely brutal while providing a waterway for goods moving downriver to Kalik. Along the river, inn after inn and tavern after tavern ply their trade to the rough-and-ready who typically frequent Anguran..

 

[CanadienneBacon]

After a long year in the guards of Isfala, the ladies have decided something more adventurous suits their taste. Spending day in and day out watching the goods of the far east enter the gates of jeweled Isfala lends itself to deep thoughts concerning the lands of the far east: what are they like? Are the women there like the women here, or are they one-legged monstrosities with faces on their chests? Are the men worthy lovers?

Such questions--and others perhaps more secret--led each of you to Anguran, the last stop on the great desert trade route, with a small purse of gold and the tavern known as The Tranny's Giblet. As payment for "favors" rendered to the royal family, you have been allowed to retain the better of your gear from the Isfala Guard. Each of you know the favor you gave, whether or no you share it with the others.

A head light with date wine and a purse even lighter from several loosing bets on the tavern's cock fight makes the approach of Rowinna the barmaid even more appealing than normal, but the hard glint to her brown eyes bespeaks trouble. The barmaid eyes the room, then heads for the table where a cat-eyed minx of a human fighter sits. Sliding onto the bench next to Vanessa Harrow, Rowinna makes certain the curve of her hip meets the warm flesh of Vanessa's left thigh. "Trouble brews, love, I've brought you a juicy bit of news, if you're interested." Rowinna makes it plain she desires a coin for her trouble, while her eyes smolder of promises for later.

OOC: Your characters may all be sitting at the same table together and already know one another, if you wish. If you prefer to start play as strangers, then post accordingly with the caveat that you overheard Rowinna's comment to Vanessa.

 

[Insight]

OOC: I prefer to have Lilandra be a former member of the guard and hopefully know most of the other PCs.

Lilandra Olmen, cocking her head inquisitively at the barmaid, is silent, but watching and listening, taking in whatever details she can glean not only from the words, but from intent and implication.

"I'll pay the ferryman," Lilandra says, smiling coyly at Vanessa. "This time." The leather-clad warrior-maiden slides a gold coin across to Rowinna.

 

[Rhun]

OOC: I too prefer to have the PCs know one another.


Vanessa winks at the smiling Lilandra as she slides the coin across the table. Turning, she smiles at the barmaid, lightly touching Rowinna's arm with her hand. "Tell us then. A bit of juicy news, while perhaps not the best way to while away the afternoon, is nevertheless most welcome..."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Rowinna doesn't miss a beat. Nearly faster than either Lilandra or Vanessa can blink, the barmaid swipes Lilandra's gold coin off the table. Smiling winsomely with her eyes at Lilandra while simultaneously pressing her hip just a hair harder against the bits of skin that press through the laces of Vanessa's pant leg, Rowinna launches into her tale, her colored lips whispering fast. "There's been a heist on the trade route. Some say an elf queen was traveling incognito on the caravan that was robbed, and she went missing after the hold up. The word is this queen's assumed captured by the robbers, and I have it on good authority," Rowinna pauses and leans in closer to Lilandra so that just the tips of her hair touch Lilandra's cheek, "just who the robbers are. If I'm right an' you can get the Queen back, you can do so without the robbers even realizing who they have, and collect a finder's fee from the Queen's trove for her safe return." Rowinna lets her fingers dance in a soft caress along Vanessa's shoulder. "The finder's fee is 6,000 gold pieces, or so's the word in town. If you're quick about your work, the robbers won't have time to realize the value of their prize."

Rowinna leans back and pauses a moment to let her words sink in. "I'll give you the name of the robbers and their location in exchange for a ten percent cut of the reward." The barmaid smiles coyly first at Vanessa then at Lilandra. "And maybe a night or two together afterward, eh? What say? Deal?"

 

[Insight]

Rowinna leans back and pauses a moment to let her words sink in. "I'll give you the name of the robbers and their location in exchange for a ten percent cut of the reward." The barmaid smiles coyly first at Vanessa then at Lilandra. "And maybe a night or two together afterward, eh? What say? Deal?"

"Sounds like an opportunity," Lilandra replies. "I'll take on this job. And the promised companionship is on the house, of course." Lilandra smiles at Rowinna, looking over at Vanessa for her reaction.

 

[jackslate45]

Rowinna leans back and pauses a moment to let her words sink in. "I'll give you the name of the robbers and their location in exchange for a ten percent cut of the reward." The barmaid smiles coyly first at Vanessa then at Lilandra. "And maybe a night or two together afterward, eh? What say? Deal?"

Lune had been sitting in silence, listening hard on the conversation. Even now she could not believe the so called "reward" included a night with some random barmaid Is this what the East is like as well? She asked herself silently.

However, they had very little money right now. I should have learned my lesson after that third fight... And a job was a job. With a sigh, she turns to Rowinna and says "While I might skip the 'afterwards', I will gladly do what we can rescue the Qu... rescue the prisoner."

 

[Shayuri]

The table shook suddenly as there was a 'CONK' noise from underneath it. An instant later the women seated there were treated to a shock of wild blonde hair rising up over the table's edge, followed by a pair of intense green eyes that were wide with naked amazement.

"The QUEEN?!" cried a high, somewhat squeaky voice. Mellisande hopped up to stand on a chair, letting her lean halfway over the table and cup her hands around her mouth as she percieved the prevailing wish for discretion.

"The Queen?!" she repeated, now whispered through her hands. "We're gonna save the Queen?!" The gnome's pretty, tiny face radiated joy so fierce it seemed she might explode into colored streamers and confetti at any second.

 

[Rhun]

Vanessa laughs lightly at Mellisande's antics before turning back to regard Rowinna. "Done, and done," she says, her smile wide.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Rowinna's eyes widen at first at Mellisande's antics but just as quickly harden as the gnome capers on a chair. Opening her mouth to bark at Mellisande, Rowinna instead shivers and mellows at Vanessa's slow smile. Thinking better of any fierceness directed at the gnome, Rowinna instead arranges a smile on her face and begins to slowly unwind a long red cloth from her upper torso. So long is the shawl that by the time Rowinna finishes unbinding herself from it, there is little left to cover the flesh of her chest. Handing the red cloth to Lilandra, Rowinna says in a low triumphant whisper--with a glare at Mellisande--"It's the slavers at Uz-Kala you want. Make a turban of this cloth and offer 100 gp to the market guard Eslamshar and he'll do business with you."

OOC: Anyone with Knowledge: local, history, or nobility, or with bardic knowledge needs to make a post with the pertinent die roll.