Her vision was grey, like a bleak sky. It hung there for a split second of obscurity and then faded into clarity. Ailis' focus returned to her from a dream she could not remember. Wild music drummed from above. The wooden ceiling underneath the Spiral Decent tavern revealed itself in its mundane predilection. Cracked and worn from the heavy movements above, the crevices gaped in plea for some form of care; real or temporary. Under normal circumstance Ailis would have fixed it up a bit with a few minor spells, but in this place she needed all the spells in her repertoire.
If only it benefited me, the young woman surmised, but I'm done with this room.
Ailis shoved a draping arm off her naked breast, and then realized it was a woman's arm. Not just that, two naked women slept listlessly to her opposite sides. They were the same two women who were dancing upstairs previously.
Firfel!
The young mage's mind screamed. She quickly got off the bed and started to dress. Oddly enough; she felt her anus wasn't sore at all, as a matter of fact her whole body felt quite rejuvenated and fresh. Yet, Firfel was nowhere to be found. That, she expected.
"Gods! I will kill that twice bedamned elf," the mage muttered.
He's gotten too cocky to think he could bring strangers to bed with me while I was asleep,
she thought. Ailis shook her head, she couldn't let this anger take over her right now. She needed that crazy elf, whether she liked it or not. When she was dressed she left the room and climbed the stairwell towards the rambunctious noise. The crowd was larger than before; the music assaulted her and was bouncing off the walls, sung by a toxic band of freaks. The place was like a jungle full of dancing barbarians. The young woman squeezed through the swarm and half expected some deft hands to grope her, but none did.
"Belthar!" she called out once she reached the counter, "Where is Firfel?"
"What?" the half-orc yelled back.
"Firfel!" Ailis screamed over the relentless music as she leaned closer.
"Oh yeah…" Belthar said as he handed the mage a parchment.
Whatever the half-orc said afterwards Ailis couldn't hear. She just nodded as she read the note, more to the music than anything. It was catchy though she couldn't understand it, it made her want to get naked and bounce with the crowd.
The note read:
Hey Ailis,
Burn this after you read it. I have some business I need to take care of, but don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you. You need to meet with someone. I can't tell you who it will be, but you'll find out. Just follow the road north from the Spiral Decent and it will take you towards the Merchant District. Your travel will be dangerous, so use stealth spells if possible. You will know when you reach it. Once there, visit the Sword Swallower (catchy name eh?). It's a small bar a little down the right street from the district's entrance. The password is "Broken Tooth." From there on, how you handle the situation determines how you are welcomed in my world. Consider this job as "your first foot in the doorway." Impress "us" and more doorways will be open for you. One advice, you are a whole new person here. Take advantage of it.
Ailis crumbled the parchment as her hand wreathed into flames which consumed the note.
What is this game he's playing,
she asked herself. She became aware of a humanoid crow-like creature staring at her; whether from lusty interests or deadly intents she wasn't sure. Sparing it no other thought, she left the tavern and went her way in the night. She snuck into an alleyway and threw a spell of invisibility over herself.
The creature failed to pursue her and Ailis thought herself safe until something shot pass her, just inches away from her neck.
What was it? Where was it from? Who was the culprit?
Her concealment was still up, but that shot was obviously marked for her. Cautiously, the mage flattened herself against the corner of a wall and scanned around. If only she could spot where the shooter was, she thought. It was too dark to see. Right now, she felt like open target. She was getting worried, her heart was racing, and she wasn't sure what to do.
Another shot almost struck her, the bolt lodged itself into the wall, a finger's width too close. It was crossbow ammunition, and that meant the weapon needed time to be reloaded after each time it fired. Ailis took the opportunity to quickly run down the alleyway and into an abandoned hovel.
Peering through the little openings through a barred window she saw a roguish looking man with a crossbow standing on one of the rooftops sending silent signals.
Hmph, more than one assassin. I certainly feel special.
Ailis' hand gestured; her invisible cloak shed, and two magic missiles jet through open air, then burst against the assassin's leg, causing him to fall off the building. The sound of broken bone silenced the surprised scream.
There, that's one less. This is kinda fun,
Ailis giggled.
"You've got nowhere to run, give it up. We got you surrounded," a man's voice roughly called out.
Ailis quickly went to the opposite window, barred in the same fashion and saw no one in the little openings. She couldn't tell where the voice was from.
"Look, if you're working for Firfel, we're willing to talk," the man spoke again.
He was somewhere ground level, she knew.
"What's this? Shoot first and talk later? What a very charming approach. What's next, are you going to stab me, then hand me flowers?" Ailis asked.
"Okay, we came off on the wrong foot, but this can still go smoothly for all of us. Just come out."
He was around the area behind the hovel, which was not visible to her.
"No deal. It wouldn't be smart of me to risk myself upon your words. If you want to talk, show yourself, all of you. Come to the left side of the building, to the window, and keep your distance."
Four of them showed, all rugged looking thugs. Ailis knew there were more hiding, so the doorway never escaped her attention and her hands were summoning magic.
"Well then, tell me what it is that this is about."
"Let us know whether or not you're in league with Firfel," the leader said. He was a stocky man whose face was as bitter as his voice.
"Our relationship is shaky; I'm not even sure myself to tell you the truth."
"Stop playing fucken coy, are you one of his bitches?" he nearly yelled.
"Since you put it that way, it's a definite 'no.' Must I remind you of your endearing charisma? I'm sure your flying spittle adds much care to your words."
Some of the henchmen chuckled and the man's face turned a dark shade of red.
"Alright, since you got such a big fucking mouth. Firfel is sure to keep you around just for good dick sucking. And since….AHHHH!" The man collapsed to his knees clutching the melting flesh on one side of his face.
Ailis smiled wryly at his anguish. She had never tested her acid arrow spell on a living being before. Now that she saw how cruel its infliction could be, she took it delightfully. The thugs scattered and as the mage prepared to veil herself under invisibility an explosion knocked her to the ground.
A weasel of a man stepped through the large opening and through the cloud of dust. Ailis went back to preparing a spell, but the man aimed a wand and shot something at her. It was thick, blob-like and covered her face completely and tightly, suffocating her. She lost her vision, concentration and she couldn't' breathe. As she struggled, she heard the door break open accompanied by laughter which was instantly replaced by pain.
Fighting went about her as she was slowly losing her senses. Someone clutched her arm and swung her hard, then let go of her until she fell. She rolled along the ground until she struck a wall. She felt parts of her body bruise and scrape. A burning pain ran along one of her elbows. She had an idea. Her hand became a torch and when she held it close to the mask on her face, it loosened and slipped off her.
Relieved and becoming aware of her surrounding she saw blades flash against the moonlight in the darkness of the hovel in front of her. Quickly she cloaked herself invisible and fled from the scene. Whoever it was that saved her most likely knew of the risk it involved itself in, so good luck to that person, she thought. She couldn't waste anymore time dealing with this, she had a job to do and she didn't want to be late.
The Merchant District greeted her with guards, cobblestones and fine structures. As Ailis walked down the street she noticed how astute the layouts of the buildings were. There were shops for each specific type of trade goods. The shops were aligned in a way to compliment each other. She passed between two shops, one for ham and one for bread. And just across them were shops for cheese and wine. It seemed like most of the place was similarly designed. It was structured for convenience and easy flow of economy.
The young woman knew about it, but the order and cleanliness in this part of the city still surprised her. When she made it to the Sword Swallower, she dropped her invisibility before walking in. The lights were dim and the atmosphere, mellow. Nothing explicit as the name suggested was going on, only people relaxing and talking quietly.
One of the serving wenches came to her and asked, "Hi, what is it that I can help you with? Will you prefer our cocktail bar or to lounge on our cushions? And would you prefer any company? Oh, I'm sorry, you must be new here. Should I fill you in on our rules?"
The offers were tempting to Ailis's sore body, but she said, "No, no," then whispered the password to the woman.
The waitress eyed her carefully then said, "Right this way please."
