"Let's not take too long in here," the human girl, Vera, said as she moved with urgency to a large trio of barrels in a corner. "I don't have much mana left, and this room doesn't feel particularly safe."
The other three in the party exchanged annoyed looks. Between the half orc and the dwarf, there were few things left down here their strength couldn't match. And with the dark elf's impeccable hearing, what was there to worry about?
"Yeah, okay, princess," Darlo, the half orc, replied with a level of sarcasm that rolled naturally off his tongue.
Vera glared over her shoulder at him as she searched the barrels. He knew she hated the nickname, which made it all the more enjoyable to call her by it.
She was new to their group. The three of them rarely adventured with humans, or women. Just wasn't their style. But they needed a spellcaster for this dungeon and Vera had been in the right place at the right time.
Cric, the dwarf of the group rolled his eyes at their antics, but continued into the room to search for their goal, leaving the drow, Leffi, to stand by the door on lookout.
The dusty armoires and abandoned shelves held a few lasting treasures, maybe enough to get a couple hundred gold at the market on top of their quest reward.
Darlo came over quietly to Cric, careful to not catch the attention of Leffi who always thwarted his ingenous pranks whenever possible. He opened his hands in front of Cric to quietly show a black studded neckband. "Look," he whispered, nodding at the band and then toward Vera as she dug through a chest. Cric snickered. The neckband was reminiscent of a dog collar and he also found the idea amusing. He nodded, giving Darlo his blessing.
The chest Vera dug through was immense. She was on her knees, pulling cloth and jewels from it and piling them at her side. They needed to find the damned crown they'd been sent for so she could finish this damned quest. She had been so excited to join the adventures, but after hearing they planned on this being her only mission with them, she was ready to just go home and cry.
She couldn't understand why no one was willing to take her as a real member of their party. This was the fifth time she had been picked up to do a one off and she had really thought it would be different this time. A party with no spellcasters was a perfect fit for her! Vera knew she was rather weak, a scrawny girl by human standards, but her magical abilities were rather good. Not the best, but definitely useful in a number of ways for an adventuring party.
If this party didn't want her as a permanent member, she wasn't sure who would. She was almost 20 now. Perhaps her father was right and it was time she gave up on all this adventuring nonsense and got married to some drab farmer, have a dozen kids, become a boring old maid...
Tears stung her eyes as she kept them at bay, not willing to break down in front of real adventurers that she had not quite entirely given up hope of impressing. Her frantic search finally halted as she reached the bottom of the chest and found the glint of gold she had hoped for. She raised up the crown, beholding its tarnished beauty and let out a great sigh.
It was accompanied by a loud click as something snapped into place around her neck. A shudder rippled down her spine, heat welling within her as she instinctively dropped the crown to frantically feel at her neck.
"Oh, you found it! Wonderful," Darlo mused, picking it up from where she dropped it. He stepped back to join Cric in watching Vera's erratic tugging at the collar.
"What is this?" she said finally turning around. "Darlo, where did you get this?" He had already pulled a few stunts with her and was trying her best to play along and not be a spoil sport, but the warm sensation in her was beginning to tingle, making her light headed. She needed to think straight. With its placement on her neck, she couldn't get a decent angle to assess the item, but it was clearly magical.
"What is that?" Leffi finally said, turning from his post to assess the commotion. "Can you two never stop causing trouble?"
"Come on, it's just a joke," Darlo muttered, watching his work.
Vera bit her lip and looked up at the elf. If she was being honest, he was the main one she wanted to impress. His rogue nature, his dark features, his mysterious presence- it mesmerized her. And his courteous and thoughtful behaviour on their adventure thus far had only spurred her affections more. But currently she was beginning to get scared and needed his help.
Still kneeling on the ground, her thighs were beginning to rub together of their own accord as she continued to search for a clasp. "L-Leffi, I can't see it but it won't come off and it's... mmph, it's doing something to me. Can you identify it?" Her voice had begun to soften, a breathiness coming over it, causing Darlo and Cric to look less amused.
Leffi sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. This whole quest was turning into such a pain. Darlo's incessant flirting was beginning to drive him up a wall. Leaving the doorway, he came over to check the item, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. As soon as he passed the gawking pair of buffoons, he stumbled slightly.
Was the radius of it that wide? He was still 3 or so paces away from the girl. It wasn't strong enough to control him, but he still felt the pull of it. He took a moment to glare at Darlo who gave an innocent shrug. They would have to have another serious talk about the many dangers of unidentified items.
Groaning, he continued, crouching next to the poor, wide-eyed girl. He lifted the neckband, twisting it around her neck until he found the inscription. He cursed in his native tongue, shocking everyone. Grabbing one arm, he lifted her into a standing position. "Can you walk?" After her slow nod in response, he gave another sigh and walked briskly back toward the doorway. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Vera was stunned, but her altered, seemingly tipsy state left little room for contemplation. "Wha- Leffi, what is it?" She stumbled after him but only made it a few steps before Cric grabbed her wrist.
He was slightly shorter than her but far surpassed her strength. The grip he had on her made her uncomfortably aware of that fact. His eyes took on an almost hungry look as he licked his lips. "I don't... think we should... leave," he said monotonously, as though under some sort of spell.
That can't be good, Vera thought.
Leffi immediately turned and removed the dwarf's hand from her and pushed him back towards the opposite end of the room in hopes of keeping him out of the spell's range, "Control yourself, Cric. Your will should be strong enough to resist something like this." As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized who of them had the lowest will and turned his head in time to see Darlo backing Vera into a corner. It was taking all his strength just to restrain Cric, there was no way he could deal with Darlo at the same time.
Vera wasn't sure if anyone had ever looked at her the way Darlo was. She felt like a bright-eyed doe before a stalking mountain lion. Her foot caught on the pile of crap she had formed mere moments ago and she tumbled to the floor and to her horror, the half-orc followed, dropping to his knees over her.
Leffi closed his eyes quickly, trying to recall everything he could about this stupid artifact. "Vera, it's a cursed Nymph's Collar," he shouted over to her. Cric wasn't snapping out of it, even after being out of range. Once the effect is in place, it didn't seem to go away even after the presence is gone. Leffi cursed once more. "The spell should lift for the day if they help you finish."
The half orc was caressing her arms, moving his hands up them and then to the opening of her robes to begin unbuttoning her simple tunic. Her breathing had become quite quick, and her terror was mixed with that strange burning desire the curse was inflicting. "Th- th- they have to finish what?"
"Climax, Vera! They have to make you cum!" Leffi yelled, agitation taking on a new meaning for the dark elf.
Vera's mouth fell open, words unable to form in her mouth as Darlo leaned down to rake his teeth against her collarbone, his hands almost finished with undoing her top. A stifled moan escaped her, her body ready without her. "I'm- Leffi, I'm scared."
Leffi swallowed. This was a rather uncomfortable situation to be in. He fought against bringing her along from the beginning. He had a few magical abilities after all, they rarely needed more than the basic heal. Yet as soon as he saw her excitement to join them, all his arguments began to crumble. And now, his party was jumping at the bit, ready to ravage her, and yet she was still looking to him for reassurance. Her naivety and trust were hard not to find endearing.