Swords, Sex and Sorcery (IC thread)

[kittenofdeath]

Three long weeks it had taken, three weeks of cheep food and nothing to do but stay holed up in a room and wait, but finally that wait was over, the captain had announced last night that the ship would be arriving before lunch today. Zell couldn’t wait to get off and on to some stable earth, the last minute ticket he had secured for himself was not exactly first class, or even second class for that matter, no, all Zells ticket had bought him was a bare patch of the floor down in the hold and bare minimum food it took to keep a man alive.

“Attention passengers” The crystal in the corner that served as the communications system flared to life, glowing as it spat out an accented and haughty voice “We will be touching down shortly and we ask that you prepare your belongs for arrival, in the meantime, the viewing deck will now be open for your entertainment, that is all.”

“Fantastic” Zell commented as he pulled himself up off the floor and quickly set about gathering his things, which he had left scattered about. Normally you would have to worry about theft in such an environment and keep all of your belongings close, but those kinds of things rarely happen to Zell, or at least, they rarely happen a second time, stabbing someone in the hand sends an effective message.

Once his things were in order and his armor was on, he headed out to get a look at what would be his new home, of course, he had to sidestep some of the airships guards along the way, his class of ticket not actually giving him access to the viewing deck, but that was a simple matter now that he knew their routes so well. The viewing deck itself was a nice enough place, an open space at the bow of the ship with a giant window so you could see where the ship was headed, up until now all there had been to see was the open sea though. Zell worked his way through the crowd to try and get to the window, careful not to cause too much of a fuss on the way lest someone figure out he wasn’t meant to be there.

The view was worth the effort, the crystal clear waters were dotted with small islands leading up to the mainland, which started with a great circular bay at which lay an impressive looking stone port city, easily as large as the capital back home, and at its center was an imposing tower that loomed over all. Beyond the city was plains land, and beyond that forests that eventually gave way to a mountain range, but what lay past the mountains was anyone’s guess.

“Beautiful, I should have been run out of town years ago” Zell remarked with a smile as he took a swig from his hipflask, he had been rather careful not to drink too much while in flight, replacing it up here was expensive, but that was about to stop being an issue anymore.

 

[Cherubian]

Ceana was almost finished with securing the straps on the backpack that held her meager belongings when the announcement through the comm crystal came. She had turned into an early riser by necessity. When your combat technique requires daily practice – limb wagging, as Mae liked to call it – for maximum efficiency, and when for a good part of your life you have tried to keep that very combat technique a secret from your fellow scoundrels, that only left the early morning hours when everyone else was sound asleep. And even now that the need for secrecy no longer was as prevalent, old habits simply died hard.

Once she was done she looked over to the other bunk where Mae's muscular form began to finally stir under the sheet, the announcer's blaring voice seemingly had been able to end her slumber. After some deliberation they had opted for a two person cabin. Sure, that was not the cheapest option, and it had left her nearly broke, but in her experience gold came and went anyways, so why not enjoy it when it is there? This way at least they had had some more privacy, which in turn led to some interesting and entertaining nightly activities to break the trip's monotony. Although her selective barbarian companion on more than one occasion had wrinkled her nose at the men Ceana had brought into the fray.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder the slender changeling got to her feet and stepped over to the other bunk, her right palm landing playfully on one upturned sheet covered buttock. "Get up, big girl, the next great adventure is waiting. And many a stiff dick to boot, I am sure."

 

[Incubo28]

Lucius stretched himself when the voice of the captain woke him up. Finally their destination was getting close after three long weeks. She had suggested he joined this quest, but surely there should be better means than being trapped in an airship for three full weeks. At least it hadn't been three full months as had been the case for people that were 'lucky' enough to go on the first quests. Lucius wondered how many of those people had returned alive. He was not a coward, he just liked being alive.

He looked at the girl next to him and smiled. Last night had been great, everyone on board seemed very excited at the news they should be arriving now and this girl had been the lucky one to show her excitement in his bed. Lucius wasn't very sure about her name, it hadn't mattered that much to him. There weren't many girls on this ship, but several of them had made this trip a bit more worthwhile. But still... three weeks.

He left the bed and dressed himself in the outfit of a simple adventurer. He wasn't really sure what to expect after landing so if there was mud or blood, he better got those stains on these clothing. The signet ring around his finger would show the right people the right things. "It was fun." He whispered and softly kissed the girl's neck while making another attempt to remember her girl. He shrugged and used a little magic to get his hairs and clothing in order and headed to the viewing deck.

It was doubtful he had gotten more than three hours of sleep but for him or for his magic that luckily didn't matter. Gods, it felt good to be powerful, even when that power came from quite the opposite end of religion.

 

[Drakkwall]

Kerloch was lying upon the back of his wagon, he kept a slight distance from most of the other passengers, and to keep his giant gecko Frofro. Of course there had been a few times when he left the wagon to speak to some of the other people on the ship. Most had just been banefully glaring on him but he had managed to charm his cute little scaly self into the warm open arms, and legs, of a drow priestess whom he gave many a pleasant memories from their three week trip.

Getting on this boat had been a good idea so far, he hadn't been chased by a mob, he had fellow travellers who didn't attempt to kill him for a bounty and he hadn't heard all too many insults on the entire trip. It had been a three week long vacation really, sure the food was substandard even by poor standards but he was a kobold he was used to worse, and the lack of view wasn't going to win any gold stars but he had never had such a relaxing trip when amongst a big group of people not of his own kind and it felt good. Oh and the sexy priestess giving him some sweet sugary loving was by no means a bad thing either.

When the captain's announcement reached his ear holes the kobold stretched and got his gear ready, among them his Sundark Goggles and attaching one of his many kobold tail attachment weapons, a curved blade called a sweeper, onto his tail before sitting down on the driver's seat of the wagon and grabbing the reigns of his large animal. A smile spread across his draconic features and his hood covered head looked upon the giant gecko as it laid there, knowing not to move yet, and spoke in draconic. "Looks like vacation is over Frofro, let's see what adventure awaits us once we land." The giant gecko just hissed out softly as it raised its head and looked ahead, not moving from its spot on the floor just yet.

 

[JadeKnight]

Calare spent the three weeks aboard the airship in her human form. She was proud to be a kitsune, and spent most of her time in a form that showed her heritage. Though this was contrary to most of her race, who spent their time among others races as human, she showed off her heritage in a partial form most of the time. She used her money to purchase a second class ticket, so she was somewhat comfortable during the journey.

She spent her time training her skills, mostly through playing tricks on other passengers. Things were taken, but they always appeared in another place to be found by their owners. She came close to getting caught a few times, but she used her skills well.

At the sound of the announcement, Calare gathered her things up quickly. She didn't want to miss her first view of the new land she was going to be exploring. She nimbly moved through the already formed crowd at the viewing deck, grabbing a railing view. The wind blew through her thick, silken white hair, revealing her eyepatch, as well as getting complaints from other passengers beside her.

 

[KattDclaw]

......

 

[Cherubian]

"Three times over if I wanted to" Ceana replied with a wide grin. Their sleeping patterns were definitely one thing not in sync. While she was an early riser she had to admit that her friends stamina ragarding late night carousing and drinking exceeded hers by far. Sure, she could stay up late if a job demanded it, but once alcohol got into the mix ...

The slender girl sat back down on her bech, lower arms lightly resting on her knees, as she watched Mae and waited for her to rise. She had once again picked her usual attire. Her combat style greatly emphasized speed and mobility, and she had taken those boundary conditions to heart so much that they affected most ofher lifestyle. She preferred to travel very light, to always keep her luggage to a minimum, and most importantly to make sure her clothes are not encumbering her. So seeing how the climate was mild and warm all she wore at the moment was a tight fitting pair of leather shorts covering no more than half her upper thigh as well as a short sleeved shirt of very light linen with a nice enough V-shaped cleavage in front. Not only would that allow her maximum freedom of movement, on occasion it even served to distract her opponents.

"I know the bed is soft, but maybe you should get dressed and get up on that viewing deck, so we get to see what we are getting ourselves into. Unless you'd rather not get dressed before walking up there..."

 

[KattDclaw]

.....

 

[Cherubian]

“It is a big city from all I hear, and I am sure one of the taverns will be to your liking” Ceana reminded her friend with a playful smile. Not so much her own, she added to herself, as she remembered the lonely gold coin currently inhabiting her purse. Likely she would once again have to be creative to secure a place to sleep.

“But let’s not speculate, let’s see for ourselves instead.” With that she pushed herself up to her feet, and light, naturally graceful steps led her out of the cabin for good. The way to the viewing deck was familiar, she had been there once or twice before. While previously the sight of endless ocean could be considered monotonous by most, it was a nice background for meditating. And so no two minutes later she was joining the illustrious crown in the large hall with the big window.

Slipping through between the rows of men and woman far enough to get a good view herself was easy enough for her combination of agility and charm, and for a moment her thoughts were with Mae behind her. Then however, she had made it, and was taking in the impressive view.

She had to agree with the remark of the … tiefling? – to her right. “Wow, that place is big.”

 

[Drakkwall]

OOC: Here's another post by me.

After sitting on his wagon for a while Kerloch decided to go up and see the scenery before they landed, he hadn't really had the chance to as he had been a bit too nervous during their journey across the blue skies. Petting Frofro's head he told the large lizard to keep an eye on the wagon before skipping up to the upper deck of the ship and eagerly past the gathering adventurers and travellers before stepping up on a barrel so that he could rest his palms against the railing and look at the new land.

"That iss one impressive view." He said happily in common, while most kobolds would have sounded like a snake whenever speaking s, z or other hissing noises was he rather clear speaking and only rolled the S a little. Looking at the new land he almost felt a bit dizzy from the eagerness and curiosity exploding through his small frame. He looked across the other travellers on the ship and felt a bit unsafe with how some of them kept giving him unfriendly eyes. He instinctively folded his spread wings and draped them like a cloak by using the thumbs of the wings to grab onto his own shoulder, the leaf armour beneath his outfit allowing him to grip it better.

He fingered the morning star resting beneath his robe on the belt around his waist before deciding that while the view was fantastic was he not too keen on the company, especially not at such an height. Even if he had wings and could glide/fly did he not want to test to see if anyone would be willing to push or throw him off the ship.

"Better not rissk it." He mutters to himself before jumping off the barrel the kobold began to walk back towards the cargo hold to safely put himself on his wagon.

 

[KattDclaw]

.....

 

[Cherubian]

Ceana had to struggle to recover from the ‘gentle nudge’ her companion had given her. When would Mae learn that she neither had the other woman’s body mass nor the strength required to effortlessly withstand such a massive impact? Until that time, as usual, she would struggle to stay upright. Her natural nimbleness was a big help in that as was her acrobatic training, and so the lithe girl avoided to hit the ground, a brief spreading of her arms and a step to catch the momentum of the push enough to keep her balance.

Which finally gave her the opportunity to look into the indicated direction. And indeed, there, already with its back turned towards them and departing was a rather strange creature. Hardly more than three feet tall it resembled a giant winged lizard more than anything else. Only that particular lizard was upright and was dressed. And wearing glasses…

Keeping her gaze on the strange individuum she quietly murmured to her companion “I have no clue what it is, but since it’s here and not put in a cage chances are it can speak. So why don’t you go over and ask it yourself? It might have a clue…”

 

[Incubo28]

Lucius too had arrived at the viewing deck and spend a long moment to admire the sight. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much longer before they actually could leave this thing, he preferred to stay in control of situations and being trapped inside an airship gave him hardly any control over where to go or what to do. But after enjoying the view for a while, he turned around and started to watch the others that had gathered here. It was not uncommon for him to go to events just to see who else had decided to show up. One never knew what he could learn from such things or who he could meet that would turn out worth while.

It was not very strange that his eyes first went over the females who had gathered. At times he smiled when he saw someone who had kept him company during the nights, while with others he wondered how he had been able to miss them. Soon enough his attention was drawn to another creature. He was quite sure it was a kobold although it very much surprised him to see one here.

"Go say hi" A very familiar female voice seemed to whisper in his ear, even though no one was standing there. Lucius smiled and made a small nod and then moved closer to the kobold. "Good day Sir. I don't believe we have had the honour of meeting each other before. My name is Lucius Octavius." He spoke with a charming smile. He was good at charming smiles, even when he had no idea why she had suggested he had to meet this creature. At least it was not a gnome, Lucius was not big on gnomes.

 

[Drakkwall]

Kerloch nearly jumped at the sudden male voice speaking to him, kind of odd considering he was rarely spoken to in a polite fashion. Turning his head towards the strange man who was speaking to him, though he swiftly decided to not appear rude with his staring he decided to respond. "Kerloch create you sser Octaviuss." Shaking his head at himself speaking in third person, something he had hoped he'd have grown past since living so long travelling amongst the more cultural countries and their people. "Ahem, ssorry about that I ssometime sspeak in third persson, a habit I had thought I had outgrown. But anyhow, I am Kerloch Asshbringer, kobold traveller, sself proclaimed inventor and practitioner of the alchemical artss. It'ss rare for anyone to sspeak to me sso openly with me being what I am."

The kobold was feeling a bit more relaxed and let his folded wings out from their folded position, the robes allowing them to flax out of the sides, he adjusted the glasses like goggles on his reptilian face and he lazily motioned for the glaring people amongst the other passengers. "But pleassantriess and introductionss asside can I assk why you wisshed to speak to me while mosst of the other passsengers have a more defined opinion of myself? Though how they can't ssee my obviouss geniuss rather then my reptilian heritage iss beyond me." As he asked he motioned for the people around them, which among them were quite a few glares and open sneers at the winged kobold.

 

[Incubo28]

Lucius was surprised at how intellect this creature seemed to be, even if he was somewhat strange. People who knew of alchemy could be very useful, if they didn't make things that blew up in your face. "People are easily scared, especially with all the prejudices towards alchemists. If you believe all the rumours and stories about terrible accidents it is a miracle that there are still towns in existence." Lucius said with humour as if that was a bigger problem for the man than the face he was a kobold.

"But to answer your question, we all have travelled three weeks to get here so no matter how we look like we will all be strangers on our destination except to the ones we travelled with. And I for one, am under the impression that it never hurts to have a friendly conversation before we find out what awaits us." Lucius said. "And I prefer to form an opinion based on personal experience rather than based on stories and rumours."

 

[Drakkwall]

"That iss very open minded of you. Though the thought of it being my talentss rather then my heritage does make it more bearable I admit." The kobold then pulls out a potion from his alchemist kit and holds it up. "But alchemy holds so much to offer, thiss potion iss a sspecial kind I usse for sseveral purpossess. It can be both a weapon and a boosst in combat depending how you usse it."

Pocketing the potion the kobold spread his wings and stretched them a little before folding them. "Imagination and a good deal of knowledge can let you create the most amazing thingss, it'ss almosst like magic in some cassess. But I digresss I came to thiss journey to find mysself a real adventure, I've travelled the surfacess for four yearss and yet I have not experienced a proper adventure sso I'd have hoped to find ssomething on thiss side of the world. I can only guesss you yoursself have a goal to achieve coming on thiss trip."

 

[Incubo28]

Lucius nodded in understanding. "I have some skills of my own so I can very well relate to what you are saying and I will admit that I indeed was curious of your reasons to go on this journey. The reason I am here is mostly to learn new things and in hopes of finding knowledge or experience no one else back home has. Here the world is a mystery and as long the mystery doesn't kill me, I love a good mystery." He said with a grin.

"I will be happy when we can leave this airship, although I don't really know what to expect after we land." Lucius then admitted.

 

[JadeKnight]

Having had her fill of the view, Calare stepped back from the railing as best as she could. As she moved carefully through the crowd, she picked up a bit of conversation between a very large female barbarian and a smaller female. She wasn't sure what caught her attention, but it could have been the fact they were in the crowd, but looking away from the railing. She nimbly walked up beside the barbarian,, peeking around to see what she was looking at.

Calare blinked for a moment as she took in the small figure that was talking to a human. She had been around quite a bit, but she didn't remember the last time she saw a kobold by itself. She spoke up for a moment, a mixture of a purr and growl in her speech.

"That would be a Kobold ladies. A very rare sight since they usually don't travel by themselves."

She reached up and scratched her head for a moment, right in the area where her kitsune ears were usually. She had been in human form for longer than she liked, and needed to change soon. However she didn't want to startle anyone with her change.

 

[kittenofdeath]

As an inattentive person in social situations, Zell paid little heed to the whoever had spoken on his left, what they said wasn’t all that important sounding anyway. Once the extra movement caught his eye though he regretted not looking sooner, he chuckled slightly at the sight of a large warrior woman almost toppling a smaller girl with a harmless pat on the back, the fact they were both stunningly beautiful was a nice bonus for his eyes too. He turned his focus back to the view and nibbled on his lip as he tried to remind himself to keep an eye on his tail, the last thing he needed right now was to be accused of feeling up women because his errant extra appendage acted on its own again, it was hardly his fault if it had good taste.

Unfortunately for Zell, his ears were the weak link, now that he was aware of the pair of beauties so close by he couldn’t help but eavesdrop on them, it was a common pit trap for him to fall in to, and it was one that he never wised up to. At first he considered that they might have been talking about him, but the sound of it told him they were looking in another direction, which they would only be doing if they were talking about someone else, or if they were trying to be discreet about him, but they clearly weren’t being discreet about their inquiries. Now he was a little curious.

Then a third voice also joined the group, this one sounding just as alluring as the first two had looked, though Zell knew from experience that the sound of a woman’s voice, or a mans for that matter, was an unreliable indicator or his or her attractiveness. Between his curiosity to see the Kobold, a creature he hadn’t seen for quite some time, and his desire to see if the new voice was as good as it sounded, he turned to look.

The second question was answered with a definite yes, the duo had indeed expanded to a trio, and the general level of attractiveness had not dipped one bit by the new arrival, Zell mentally reminded himself to pay attention to the location of his tail then followed the girls gazes to where he assumed he would find this Kobold.

“That Kobold has wings” he muttered to himself as fully turned around and scratched his head in confusion, not even minding that he was now looking in the direction of the sun now he was so put off by the unexpected set of small stubby wings he was seeing. “Why in the infinite Abyss does that Kobold have wings?” he asked of no one in particular, but loud enough for the winged gentleman in question to probably hear, but that didn’t matter, the problem was that Zell could only handle so many thoughts in his head, the sun was in his eyes, he was accidentally next to a group of beautiful women, he was kind of hungry, oh, and there was a Kobold with damned wings on the other side of the room.

The fact that he was supposed to remember to not accidentally feel people up with his tail was well and truly forgotten, and it was only a matter of time before he had a reminder slapped in to him.

 

[KattDclaw]

.....

 

[Cherubian]

She had heard of koboolds before, sure. But they were usually described as primitive lizard like tribal cavern dwellers, and nothing except for the lizard like part seemed to fit to that one.

"Why it has wings? Your guess is as good as mine, maybe his mother had a thing for bats?" Ceana tried to contrinute to the conversation in a humorous way. There were quite a few new individuals almost pouring in onto her companion and her self, which made her busy to seize them up carefully, intently looking for any subtlle signs hinting to hidden agendas, malicious motives and the like. Old habits die hard, especially those that previously saved her life.

She therefore had resolved to leave the talking to Mae for the time being. Her friends way to lead a conversation could often be compared to a wrecking ball, but the chaos and turmoil that caused usually was more telling that the controlled calm of regular small talk. So she stayed quiet until ...

"How is that for an unusual part?" Her left hand was gripping the end of Zell's tail, which a moment ago she had plucked away from her buttock. Holding it up and at the same time trying to shove it back into the direction of its owner, while looking at him questioningly.

 

[Drakkwall]

Kerloch could hear the conversations about him and he felt a bit proud that his wings drew so much attention that they thought he thought himself as a dragon, which any kobold worth his scales dreams of. Turning towards the women speaking of him he felt a bit distracted from the three beauties, the buxom barbarian was a keen beauty and he almost felt like drooling but quickly gained his wit back before he made a fool of himself and spoke up with a fanged smile towards the women. "Ah I ssee not jusst you are curious of my pressence here Luciuss."

Stepping forward the kobold made a small artful bow to the three women, and the man too, and spoke up in a rather formal voice, if you looked past him rolling his s:es, not something you'd imagine coming from one of the many races considered to be savages. "I am Kerloch Asshbringer and I couldn't help but hear your curioussity of my wingss. And there iss a rather ssimple explanation. You ssee my tribe containss the essence of dragonss from our many centuriess sserving them, while the dragonss who ruled over uss have died long ago sso have their blood not diminisshed, I am what ssome would call a Dragonwrought Kobold, the dragon blood in our veinss iss sso sstrong we grow draconic featuress ssuch ass wingss, dragon breathe, hornss and sso on. Normally we become warriorss or sshamanss but I found my own calling ass an alchemisst and traveller of the ssurface realm. Which I have been travelling for the passt four yearss and I've yet to regret it."

 

[kittenofdeath]

Zell had never been the best a reading people, the subtle nuances of other beings escaped him, but there was one thing he could almost always see when it was there, a predator, and when the redheaded vision before smiled, what he saw was a predators grin baring down on him. On the other hand, the predator before him had also just done a better job of putting on a sexy seductress voice then most professionals he had met, and Zell had spent one hell of a lot of time in various brothels over the years.

“Well actually...” Zell began, playing along and intending to mention his tail, which he just realized was feeling something warm round and firm, or at least it was, before he enjoyed that for even a second he felt it plucked away by a not so gentle hand.

"How is that for an unusual part?"

“Um...” Zell quickly searched his mind for a good way out of this, sadly, Zell is not that smart a man “believe it or not, that’s not the most unusual part I have” he said as she held his tail which was subconsciously curling around her hand, trying to project a calm voice and play it down like it was nothing, though he had the distinct feeling that she wasn’t going to buy his fake confidence. If only there was some kind of convenient distraction.

Conveniently, the Kobold, revealed to be one Kerloch Ashbringer, provided a lovely distraction. Of course, Zell just couldn’t help but draw attention by giving what he believed to be the obvious answer, which made the distraction somewhat less effective. “Because its stupidly bright up here?” Zell knew very little about Kobolds, but he knew that the goggles hanging from his neck were made by them, so if he needed them when it was bright out, they probably did too.

 

[Cherubian]

Ceana's expression mellowed at that. "That is not very practical, is it?" Her lips rose into a friendly smile. The kobold might be a nice person besides being a curiosity, but for now that tiefling with the lively tail end seemed more interesting. Getting a hold of it had been more a reflex that a conscious decision and seeing how embarrassed the tall man was by his mishap chased away any misgivings she might have had. Wasn't it a compliment to her that out of the gorgeous trio it had been her behind that had been groped? Or was it just dumb coincidence?

"Wouldn't it be more useful if that appendage came to life in the darkness under the sheets than in bright daylight, where it could cause complications by approaching the wrong person." So far Ceana showed no inclination to let go of the swirling end in her grip.

"But if this is not your most unusual part, I am quite curious what is."

 

[KattDclaw]

......