The world that this story is set in is a strange one, no doubt about that. A land where sorcerers live amongst the people and vampires haunt the darkest parts of the world. Giants and barbarians roam the wilds and dragons soar across the skies. Some even say that gods live in a place high above earth, and that one day they will return, to return this world to nothingness. But not every part of this world is death and pain, for while danger exists, so does pleasure, because if there is one thing that this land has in abundance, it is sex.
*
Anikara was a petite elf, with the kind of face and body that made guys, and a lot of girls for that matter, look twice as she walked by. She was known as Ani to her friends, which meant that most people called her Anikara. She was also blonde, tall and very, very serious about her work. Which at the moment constituted talking to a middle aged waitress who worked in a tavern about a merchant in town who apparently knew how to use worms as an magical energy source.
"I just told you, I'm from the mages guild, and I need to know who the merchant is who uses worms as magical batteries," Anikara shouted over the horrible bard who had half of the packed tavern singing along with him.
"Oh, that story? Sorry to say, but that was started by Jory. He's the unofficial town fool, and he started that story on a bet that he couldn't sell an entire crate of worms," shouted back the tired looking brunette.
"Great, like I didn't need another dead end. If this keeps up I'll have to go back to the mages hall and talk to the elders again," replied Anikara, her usually calm face twisted into a snarl.
"Woah, take it easy, girl. Sounds like someone needs a visit to Denzik," she grinned, giving her a wink.
"Wait, who's Denzik?" inquired Anikara, her curiosity piqued.
"You don't know who Denzik is? He's legendary. I know it sounds kind stupid but he's the greatest male prostitute alive. He's supposed to be able to please any woman. Literally any woman at all," the server said, as the bard was shut up by a tankard that was broken over the back of his head.
"He can't be that great. Besides, I don't have any interest in sex, I have a job to do," the slightly annoyed blonde replied, getting up to leave.
"Say what you want about him, but he is good, I know that for a fact. Plus, how many guys have a pleasure room with a giant glowing crystal in the middle of it?"
With that, the waitress left a bunch of very happy drunks, an unconscious bard and one very curious mage in the main room of the tavern.
*
The next day, a very tall, very cheerful man was walking across the town square of that same village, which went by the misleading name of Glory Hill. He was in a very good mood, though not even he knew why exactly. Of course, anyone that saw him would have expected him to be in a good mood, he was walking around town with a very attractive, very wealthy looking blonde, who looked to be almost as happy as the man was.
Most people would expect her to be happy too, considering her partner. He was tall and a little bulky, with longish brown hair and a sharp, angular face. He wasn't quite as attractive as his partner and he didn't have the same air of sophistication as her, but he was certainly attractive in his own right.
The man was, naturally, the famous Denzik. Anikara had tracked him down earlier that morning and after convincing him that she desired his services, she had decided to tag along with him on a few errands and he was none the wiser about her true goals. So there they were, a rather large human in a dark green robe held in place by a copper pin and a graceful elf in a pair of blue tights and a darker blue top that resembled a corset.
Denzik was looking for a few bundles of rope first, so they headed for the carpenter, who lived and worked on the east side of the village. The carpenter turned out to be short, squat man who joked around with Denzik for half an hour before they got the rope that they were looking for. After that, they headed for apothecaries, where Denzik perused the shelves for even longer than he had spent at the carpenters. Finally, he selected three small jars of snake venom, crushed fish bones and a very strange green liquid.
They were finally leaving the magic shop with a handful of blue pearls and Anikara was just about ready to snap. After spending the whole morning searching town for this idiot, she had found him just down the street from the tavern she had stayed in and if she had to spend another day playing nice with another fraudster, she was going to lose it. The only reason she had stuck around this long was because she had to see this giant glowing crystal for herself. If it was real and she could research it, she would finally get her chance to make it as a professional mage.
Now, just as they were about to return to the wagon that Denzik claimed to call home, he noticed a dwarf selling a strange, pink metal out of the back of a cart on the edge the market. He walked up to him and just as he bent down to inspect the metal ingots, Anikara grabbed his shoulder and pulled him with her to an alley behind the town hall.
She raised her hand under his chin and snarled, "Now I have had it up to here with this farce. Now tell me, do you own a giant magi-crystal. Answer quickly."
To his credit, Denzik didn't even flinch. Instead he assessed her sudden change in attitude, before grinning and replying, "I was wondering how long it would take you to snap."
