Deviant Adventures(Firehead)

[Firehead]

I sighed as I learned the source of the dispute. "Yeah, I had to get someone to vouch for me when I joined." I had been a bit upset, but I'd been lucky Lorthin had not only been willing to help me out, but he turned out he was a very good guy. It was also a bit hard to complain about the need for a guardian when he was the only reason I wasn't legally a slave to the brothel right now. "I hope you and your friend can get this resolved." I figured I could tell Lorthin about this though I doubted he could do much with how insulted she seemed by the idea of having a man vouch for her.

[Sallin_Kari]

"That the stupid part... We have a voucher from the city for this, so we could hand it over and be done in a minute, but no, she has to take this principled stand against the bureaucracy because she doesn't like the rules." The young drow sighed, rubbing her temples as she rolls her head between her hands.

[Firehead]

I chuckled as she vented her frustration at me a little. "Yeah, that sounds rough." Thinking about it, it didn't seem like she had much to do but sit here and deal with this. I hoped Lorthin wouldn't mind, but it felt bad to think about just leaving her here for this. "Do you want to come with me while she sorts this out? It probably beats watching this for however long."

[Sallin_Kari]

"As much as I would love to, I can't go too far, least I give her a legitimate reason to chew my ear off. Bad enough that she is already in a bad mood," She points out with a pained smile. Well... It's not like you're taking her for a tour of the city(not that you know it well enough to do so anyways.) She would still be in the building so is that 'too far?'

[Firehead]

I shrug, "Yeah, I wouldn't want to get you in any trouble with your partner. I'm just talking about going up to the suite I share with my sponsor slash partner. You'd know better than I how far you could go without upsetting her. It's just upstairs if you wanna come with. You could even follow me to see how far it is and turn back if you think you're going too far."

[Sallin_Kari]

She thinks for a moment before shrugging, "Well, that should be fine. By the way, since we're getting all chummy, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and your little town here."

[Firehead]

I began leading her along the way. "The first thing to say about myself is I've been in the city for less than a week, so I'm not particularly familiar with it yet. It's way bigger than my village, so I wouldn't call it little myself."

[Sallin_Kari]

"Oh?" She was clearly surprised about that but shrugged, "Well, regardless, this is a pretty small city for me... I doubt there is more then hundred thousand people here. Compare that to the... six million back home, and it is quite tiny."

[Firehead]

I look a little shocked. "That's more people than I could imagine. My town had maybe, 50 people tops." Opening the door to the suite, I called out. "Lorthin, I'm back. Met someone in the lobby and invited them up while their partner deals with a...clerical dispute, I guess."

[Sallin_Kari]

She laughs at your shock, "Such a small group wouldn't last a week in the Underdark."

As you enter the room, Lorthin raises an eyebrow at your new friend, "I see... well make yourself at home." However, she has a far stronger reaction, leaning over to whisper in your ears, with a sparkle in her eyes, "Wow, he's hot. Are you his little sex slave?"

[Firehead]

I shrug as she comments about that. "I enjoy it. You get to know everyone so well. I must have spent an hour or two roaming the streets, and there are still so many places I've never been, and there are still so many strangers. It's exciting but a little intimidating at the same time. Increasing the number of people and putting it somewhere so dangerous just sound like it's too much."

I wave to Lorthin unable to read his expression. There was certainly a reaction, but it was very subdued. My guest, however, seemed to just speak out her thought. I kept my voice down not wanting to let Lorthin hear. "It's nothing like that. He just vouched for me to get into the guild and took me on a few missions."

[Sallin_Kari]

"Nothing? With someone like that?" She asks in disbelief, pausing to look him up and down for a moment before licking her lips, "Well if you don't want it, what do you think my chances to take that role?"

[Firehead]

"I don't even know what kind of girls he likes, so how would I know your chances?" I hadn't really given it much thought to me and Lorthin, but I hadn't really seen anything that hinted to me he was interested. "There's always been something else to deal with."

[Sallin_Kari]

"Well... I wouldn't mind him 'dealing' with me," She says with a very openly... 'affectionate' look in her eyes. Hell, you don't even need to check to tell she's probably wet. Lorthin... doesn't seem to notice or at least mind, as he asks, not turning his eyes away from the gear he's maintaining as she draws up close to him, salaciously whispering into his ear, "Hey, stud, are you looking for little submissive bitch slave?"
"Your... 'partner,' and by how you're acting, I'm assuming another female, is having a 'clerical dispute', which implies to me that you're on assignment. How do you plan to be my 'little submissive bitch slave' if you're not going to be staying?" He responses with... a surprisingly neutral tone considering his vulgar language.
"Oh, don't worry about that... We're here on standby for coordinate efforts in case the undead issue becomes critical," She shrugs, not noticing Lorthin freezing at her words as she leans against him, "So we'll be here a while... and I'm sure I'll have all the time in the world to get myself assigned to you... I'm sure you know how much the nobles are concerned with repop-"
He ... 'places' his tool down on the table with such force it makes a sharp snap, silencing the thirsty drow as she realizes the change in mood, before he speaks, "What was that you said about 'the undead issue?'"
The poor girl, not sure what caused the sudden shift, fears she stepped on a landmine, and looks at you with pleading eyes .

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Yeah... Drows, being the lustful S&M ashen kink machines that they are, aren't going to be any less kinky... just... changed their preferences... now their females are uber... powersubs.

[Firehead]

I watched embarrassed at the way she seemed to make moves on Lorthin. I didn't mind if he was interested in her, but his disinterested reactions made her continued moves uncomfortable. At the very least, Lorthin didn't seem too bothered by her amorous desires.

The way he put down the implement seemed to change in the atmosphere of the room. It was clear some kind of nerve had been struck before he even spoke. Seeing that even her guest had lost her nerve and was now terrified, I realized I had to do something. Even if I felt her approach of him was unbearable, I didn't think she deserved whatever ire she had dug up.

"Uh Lorthin, is everything okay? I've never seen you like this." He had always been kind with her, so she hoped she could convince him to approach this conversation more calmly, but she wasn't sure what else to do if he didn't. Was this why the people at the brothel had been so freaked out?

[Sallin_Kari]

Lorthin takes a breath, turning back to the calm man you know him as before continuing, "If you recall that my homecity is no longer in existences, and in my history lesson to you about the underdark, you may remember that I said the we turned to more dangerous practices which in turned ruined us... What that was specifically, was a... kind of intelligent nigh-unkillable undead that could turn those they killed into more undead. It worked well... except that the magic that controlled the undead... only controlled the undead made by the creator, and not those they created... And when the necromancers were killed, the undead numbers increased dramatically as they slaughtered everyone in the city, forming a tide of death that flowed through the underdark, wiping out cities until the drow were forced to swallow their pride and ally with those they hated to end this threat," At this, he turns his attention back to the drow girl, repeating, "So, as you may guess, I have a... concern when you mention undead issue."
The drow's face pales(you didn't know they could do that) as she things slot in place for her, "Wait? You think this might be what they officials are worried about?" She begins to fill with panic nearly falling to her knees until Lorthin grabs her shoulder and giving her a firm shake as he stands her up straight, before he repeats his request, "What do you know?"
"Uh... just that there were sighting of undead near the city. They're not usually a big deal, so I didn't think much of it."

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

History is on page 10 by the way.

[Firehead]

She listened a little horrified at what the drow had done though it sounded like they had more than adequately paid for the danger their actions posed. At the very least it seemed Lorthin anger was at the possibility that they might be making that same mistake again, and her guest confirmed that was not happening though while less terrible than what Lorthin feared, the threat that was there was still something dangerous.

"When you say nigh-unkillable. Exactly how tough are they?" Her thoughts then turned to all the people in the city. If these things were difficult to kill, they would easily pose a major threat to anyone not skilled in combat. "Shouldn't we warn someone? These things could really hurt someone, and it seems like no one else even knows about it."

[Sallin_Kari]

"Dread-knights can recover from any injury, and lack a fatal weakness like vampires do. Only completely obliterating them will kill them," Lorthin comments.
"Yeah... I believe that the empire's magic artillery were instrumental in that," the young drow interjects.
"Despite the dread-knight's magic resistance, the constant bombardment was enough to overwhelm them," Lorthin elaborated.

At you comment about warning someone, she looks at with a confused expression, "Every drow knows of the dread-knights... not sure about you surfacers, but they are taught to be the thing of nightmares."
"She's right Dalia. Take a breath and calm down," Lorthin advises, "At the moment, it seems... unconfirmed whether this is related to them at all. The Underdark is rife with undead, either natural or by necromancy from one of the denizen, however, the mere possibility has the drow council send people out in case they need to quickly call for reinforcements. They are taking it very seriously..." He pauses before getting up, "I think I will seek out your partner... I don't think you ever game me your name young one."
"Oh! Uh... Bazara."
"Well Bazara, could you stay here, and answer any questions Dalia has about the dread-knights?"
"Of course sir!" And with that Lorthin leaves out the door.

[Firehead]

I stopped as they informed me that these things were pretty well known, and it wasn't certain that they were the undead that had been sighted. It seemed like I was regularly learning about things that my parents had hidden from me. Taking a breath, I calmed myself and took a seat.

I listened to Lorthin ask my guests name which I hadn't bothered to ask myself, but at least I now knew her as Bazara. Thinking a moment, I had a bit of trouble thinking of any questions to ask about. I could ask about why the drow would create such things, but I figured that was probably a bit of a sore subject considering how much it had harmed them and how they'd needed help to take care of it. "So is the magic artillery the only thing that was discovered to be effective against the dread-knights, and how do you distinguish them from other undead?"

[Sallin_Kari]

"Well, it's not the only thing. Mages can do the same thing... Heck those new bombs probably would work even better since they aren't magic. Still, the magic artillery worked well because the drow hadn't experienced that, and that meant the dread-knights couldn't plan for them, and were caught off guard. As for how to identify them, they have glowing icy blue eyes, and an aura of frost and decay. Still, that doesn't help if they are using their undead minions, since they are just regular undead, but the dread-knight can see through their eyes and command them remotely. They were designed to be commanders of undead armies after all," She explains.