The Lady’s Hand (A Dickings & Dalliances Adventure) - (Closed Except By Invitation)

[Nouh_Bdee]

Cline stood and gave Arx a low bow. “You as well, Champion. You and our goddess have both blessed me tremendously this day.” He looked up into her eyes. “I will not forget you, and I will do my best to make sure that temples of Yenda all over the continent will be a haven for you and yours.”

 

[justspitballing]

At this point the strange figure that Sprite was fallowing past in and out of clouds, making them hard to see in detail. The only thing that was clear is that they were trying to escape the city and they were a humanoid with wings like herself. Sprite could not shake the feeling deep down that maybe this was a harpy like herself. They were a very skilled flyer, so it seemed possible. All Sprite knew was she had to find out or find out at least why they were running from the city. Sprite gave up on being slow and hiding. She shot forward, full blast, closing the distance between them in a massive burst of speed. But it wasn't close enough. The unknown figure sped up as Sprite got nearer. They had spotted them.

Whoever they were, they flew past the walls of the city and into the unknown. Sprite knew it was a bad idea, but she fallowed.

"Do slow down. I don't stand for the city if it is them you are running from!" Sprite called out as she flew forward, still trying to get close to them.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Sprite chases the fleeing individual, and it dives lower, off the road, just above the treeline. With large, feathered wings, and taloned feet, it very well may be a harpy, but before Sprite can fly any closer, just as she gets out of earshot of the road and the city walls, a shape collides with Sprite in mid air.

They tumble end over end, grappling in the air, buffeted by limbs and branches, before finally crashing onto the forest floor. Her assailant grasps out for her, but Sprite is too strong, and her flailing limbs jerk free.

She finds herself on her back on the forest floor, with a lean, fit aarakocra man in front of her. He’s in a muted red with a gray tabard over the top, with scaled pauldrons and a pair of brown leather straps around him. His feathers are nearly all black except for stripes of white on each wing and over each eye, and a number of leaves sticking out of his feathers.

 

[ICM8781]

Chasen holds Maritia and a gives her a sweet kiss. "Thanks for all your assistance both yesterday and today. I'm going to stake out our debtee." He taps his new book into the palm of his hand and smiles. "Got some reading material for the wait. I'll buttplug back when I'm done here."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Maritia returns Chasen’s kiss and squeezes his arm. “Enjoy. I’ll most likely be back and forth between the palace and the temple.” She smirks. “Try not to kill the asshole, alright? If I have to revive father *and* son in two days they may take it personally.” A wink takes any sting out of her words.

She walked away, and for the moment the house remained quiet

 

[ICM8781]

He makes an air kiss back and watches her walk away before digging into his book. seeing a meditation ritual he recognized. Something his mother taught him. Something he hasn't done since before he started working as a Mercenary. He reads the passages quickly stopping only to observe any movement around the estate waiting for Corinald to leave.

 

[justspitballing]

It could be someone else, but the description that Arx provided of her attacker fit this being that had crashed into Sprite to a T. Whoever harmed Arx so, Sprite didn't want to think about how, needed to be pay, and if Arx statements were true he was a skilled spellcaster. If there was one thing that was true about magic folk, if you wanted to take one down you had to do it fast and without any hesitation. Sprite would do her best not to kill this man, but she had to knock him out before he could fight back and then find out who he was. Arx needed proper pay back. Of course this meant the being Sprite was chasing would get away, but this was far more important.

Sprite wished her bladed skirt wasn't in the shop, but she would do her best. She swung out her axe. It just hit him on the first swing, a glide along the chest, and then it lightly cut his right arm. It drew blood both times, but the bird jerked slightly each time causing to not cut as deep as it should. Still, he was harmed. Sprite then flew up, hopefully high enough out of his reach.

"I am vengeance! You have wronged the last soul you measly twerp!" Sprite called down.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The aarakocra sneers up at Sprite. “They always start out angry, but then they’re mewling by the end.” He concentrates, and his form begins to waver and shift, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where he is, then he takes a step back to fall into mist just as Sprite is stabbed by another assailant, a harpy that has flown right into Sprite’s side with a jeweled dagger, and Sprite feels her muscles begin to lock up.



A pair of young men that Chasen immediately pegs as in possession of far more money than sense walk up to the door of the Heatheringbone estate. Before long, Corinald joins them and they rambunctiously begin an apparent night on the town, clapping each other on the back and strutting over the cobblestones with purpose.

 

[Poprockz]

What a cool guy. Arx grinned and nodded, putting on her clothes. “Oh shit, but the way- they didn’t tell you what the piercings were for, did they?”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Cline tilts his head in confusion. “She did. I’m assuming She and Laritz didn’t tell you?” He smiles. “They honor me further, allowing me to describe their enchantments for you.”

He points at one of her nipples, the one whose piercing is set with a red gem. “That one will allow you to let someone…suckle…one healing potion from that breast per day. You’ll feel them swell with your next night’s sleep.”

He’s blushing now, despite what they’ve just done. He points at the other tit. “That one is the same, but the potion it dispenses will restore magical energy to a spellcaster.”

Then, his finger drifts down to her clit, and a small, wistful smiles crawls unbidden onto the cleric’s lips. “That one, well you’ll probably feel it tomorrow, but it waits for you to target someone in your mind, once a day. That individual will feel any touch you give to your…clit…as if your fingers stroke their…well, their corresponding body part, whichever that may be. I…I serve my goddess gladly, but I may not be able to look the wizard I commissioned that from in the eye for quite some time.”

He shakes his head in amusement. “Nonetheless, they all act as holy symbols of a sort.” His eyes widen as a thought occurs to him, “I wonder if others who serve Yenda will be getting similar holy symbols…”

 

[ICM8781]

Chasen tails the young men. Keeping unnoticed waiting for a moment to confront Corinald alone.

 

[Poprockz]

“If they do, I’m sure they’ll be pleased.” Arx smiled and then perked up even more, “oh hey! Do you know any knowledgeable wizards? I’ve got some stuff I need to get looked at.”

So… health, magic, and an invisible hand. Interesting. She didn’t know any mages, so the magical one might be a bit neglected, but the health one would come in handy.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The young men are easy to follow, loudly making their way to more entertainment-focused district of the city. They’re much too engrossed in their plans for the evening to notice the half-elf following them.





Cline rubs the back of his neck, still blushing. “I actually had to get these done on the mainland. I took a teleportation sigil to Treasureshoal. Lambadaster was the wizard’s name. The best magic shop in Rionne is the Disgraced Displacer, but the man who runs the office here is useless for commission work.”

 

[Poprockz]

“That still helps!” She clapped her hand on his shoulder, “alright, I’m going to head out before I jump you. See you around, Cline!” With that, she exited the room, the temple, and went in search of the shop he head suggested.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Cline’s eyes widen when Arx mentions jumping him, but after that he just smiles and nods.

The walk to the Disgraced Displacer was uneventful, and Arx would enter to find much the same scene Chasen had stumbled upon earlier. The lizardman still sat behind the counter, and this time he was holding a crystal to his ear. He had no reaction to Arx’s entrance.

 

[Poprockz]

She looked around, wandering up to the counter and waiting for him to look up at her. When he didn’t, she figured she should probably take some initiative.

“I’d like to pay a wizard to look at a creepy bracelet and a map. Do you have a wizard available for that, and how much would that cost?” Her tone was polite.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The sigh that reaches Arx’s ears is heavy enough to crush a lesser hero. It takes nearly a full minute for the lizardman’s eyes to crawl off the counter to look at his prospective customer. He stares her in the eye for just as long. “A hundred each”, he says, and leans back in his chair.

 

[Poprockz]

She waited. And waited. When he finally spoke, she was admittedly a bit annoyed. However when she heard the price, she nodded in satisfaction.

“A hundred silver you say? Excellent. Let’s do it then.”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

“Gold,” the lizardman corrects her without opening his eyes.

 

[Poprockz]

There was a pause and then-

“Gold?! That’s highway robbery!”

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The lizardman did not argue with her. In fact, he did not acknowledge her exclamation at all.

 

[Poprockz]

The gods had told her to have the items examined, but she was very much fighting the urge to stomp out of this shop and find service elsewhere. Still… Cline had recommended him, and hopefully he knew his shit.

She reached into her pocket and plopped down 100 gold along with the creepy bracelet. “Fine. 100 gold to examine the bracelet and tell me your findings along with any other questions I have as a follow up to your findings. If your observations yield results, I’ll pay you to do the map as well.” Arx hoped she wasn’t throwing 100 down the drain…

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The man reached a scrawny scaled hand up to palm the gold, but did not touch the jewelry yet. He eyed it for a second and smirked. “For one thing, that’s a necklace. Come back in the morning for the rest.”

 

[Poprockz]

“I’ve been wearing it as a bracelet, so it doubles as both,” she huffed, feeling a bit foolish. She had forgotten that it was originally a necklace, but her annoyance and pride would not allow her to budge.

“Anyway, I guess I’ll be back in the- wait.” She paused. “If I give you the map tomorrow will it take you another night to look at that one?” Arx didn’t want to be delayed for too long.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The lizardman displays the first hint of curiosity that either Arx or Chasen has seen from him so far, arching one scaly eyebrow and finally looking the changeling in the eye. “You have an enchanted map?”