Tainted Princess

[FragranceofMtDew]

Sharyas eyes fly open as soon as the sunrise hits them and she leaps out of bed. The time for sleep was over, today was going to be her first day travelling with her new friends and she couldn't wait to get started! But... It probably wouldn't be a good idea to run off without getting the okay from the doctor... She'll wait around for him to show up, but there's no way Sharya is spending any more time in bed! A little morning exercise is just the thing to get her pumped up for the day and kill some time. After a bit of consideration, she decides on practice thrusts and draws her rapier to get to work.

She continues to practice her sword thrusts until the doctor enters along with everyone else. Suspecting she'll get a scolding for having her sword drawn in a medical office, she quickly sheathes her rapier and hides it behind her back. "Eep! Uh, y-yeah I'm all healed up and ready to hit the road! Thanks for asking!" Sharya replies to Aria's query before falling silent again while the doctor tells them about the Esmeralda Encampment, blinking in surprise as he points at her and mentions that this Esmeralda has the same mark that she does. "Wait, so Esmeralda's tattoo is spreading just like that sniper's? She must know more about it than we do! Maybe heading north with that caravan is a good idea. If she'll talk to us, we can learn a lot." There were too many unanswered questions right now, and Sharya was nothing if not curious.

[An Ying Hu]

Zalira peers over her shoulder with unease as she sees that at least two others had noticed her and were heading in the same direction - beast people, by the looks of it. "Why are they staring at me like that?" the blonde elf mumbled in a barely audible whisper as she approached the building marked by a red cross. "It might be your.. liberal, attire," Ey'ala responded with only the slightest bit of a humorous tone mixed in for good measure. Zalira frowned at her familiar, though she could hardly deny that ever since the stranger left his mark on her she had felt uncomfortable wearing too much clothing; not that she had been ever fond of it and her secluded life ensured she barely needed it, but now even her mage robes felt restraining and heavy.

To her ease, the two - and a pair of humans - did not appear hostile or even talk to her and they all gathered in front of the hospital and were greeted by the medic who let them go inside, where Zalira was treated with the sight of another elf - a woman who was in the middle of sword practice just when the door had opened. Even though she had no idea who she was, the fact that she was not the only one of the elven people here made Zalira feel a bit more comfortable.. and that she seems to share her fate, though the tattoo on her shoulder had no resemblance to the one Zalira bore across her breast, the pattern was there for sure - this was the stranger's work.

She took a place next to her and listened patiently to the medic's description of this Esmeralda Encampment. It seems that an originally benign group had changed drastically after their leader appeared with a mark. Nothing new as far as the procedure went and it still didn't explain anything, though Zalira felt disturbed upon hearing the other elf talk about the tattoo. She waited until the doctor was over and then addressed Sharya. "What do you mean by 'spreading'?" she inquired rather abruptly and awkwardly, a fact that was quickly noticed by Ey'ala who intervened with a bit more grace and politeness. "My companion seems to be in the same situation as you are. We are trying to track down the perpetrator of these markings and would be grateful for anything that you could share," she says, getting used to the idea that Zalira was not the most skilled as far as conversations went, and that she is going to have to provide quite a bit of assistance from one time to another.

[MelissaB]

Kailyne groaned as the sunrise and Sharya's loud behavior and eagerness for getting up and about robbed her of her rest. Mumbling she petting Nighteyes before shoving her off of the bed. "Get up you." She grumbles before getting up herself, the practice at fencing having driven the very concept of going back to sleep far from her mind as she began to get redressed in time for everyone to arrive.

The elven ranger regarded them all with a mumble before she instantly grabbed Nighteye's by the scuff of her neck and held her in place at the sight of the huge raven as if knowing exactly what the beast was thinking as if on cue the wolfess snapped it's jaws at the raven before the elf managed to hold it back. "Sorry for that sister, I presume you know how wolves and raven's get along." She comments before blinking as the raven speaks, realizing this isn't the average bird and the elf with it certainly not common. "It can spread apparently... cover your body, at certain stages the man responsible for putting it there visits you again." She grumbles before standing and giving her companions and the new comer a nod. "Name's Kailyne sister, the wolf is Nighteyes." The wolfess growls which gets a smirk from the elven ranger as she fixes her hair. "When you're ready I am eager to get moving."

[An Ying Hu]

Zalira flinched at the sight of Kailyne's large wolf as it snapped its fierce jaws in the direction of her shoulder, though she did her best to remain calm. Ey'ala was not disturbed, and she replied in a comforting tone to the elven huntress, "It's quite alright, I am used to being seen as such by other animals," a bit of sadness in her echoing voice could be heard as she finished.

"Just don't let her too close," Zalira added, managing a smile before listening to Kailyne's explanation on what she knew of the mark. "Interesting. If he visits us again, maybe we can lay a trap?" she wondered, moments after becoming aware of her manners. "Um.. my name is Zalira, by the way. This is my familiar, Ey'ala," she nodded to Kailyne and any others who looked as if they were listening.

A bit of a silence interjected as Zalira watched the other blonde elf arranging her hair, the warlock woman's eyes involuntarily shifting to the subtle movements of the other's bust as she so lightly moved her body. She blinked, shaking her head briefly at this new and unfamiliar feeling which resurfaced again once she averted her gaze towards Sharya. She cleared her throat quickly. ".. right. I'm ready to head out whenever you are," she said, promptly.

[VintageBass]

So it seems that the tavern is not the rendezvous point she was hoping to be but the clinic, seeing as the new stranger and the catgirl are heading in that direction. Kassy makes her way towards there, looking out at the witch to get an idea about who she is and why she is talking to the raven with her. Upon arriving at the clinic, Kassy sees the others are up and moving about, with Sharya swinging her sword about and Nighteyes going after the raven before being stopped by Kailyne. This is a certainly interesting group of travelers here, all tied by one common goal and similar markings. Even hearing that the newcomer elf also has a similar mark to the others, although the main thing that really caught her attention isn't so much the attire she's wearing, which Kassy is rather mystified in her beauty, but the fact that the raven is actually speaking. Huh.

When the moment the doctor began speaking, Kassy shook out of her trance and wonderment of the bird speaking and focuses on the man speak about Eseralda's troupe. What is getting to her the most is the mention of the description of beastmen the doctor is talking about, and how she differs from the rest of them. Sure she does sell stuff and does have her own mystical aura around her, but she has settled down in this town because she likes working out in her field and enjoying the hard work being put into it. This has her thinking about wanting to call her partner "husband" or "wife," should she ever finds one to share her love. The holstaur kept all of this to herself, listening patiently and not really disagreeing with the doctor, although she could be one of the rare exceptions to his description. The real meat lies in the matter that Esmeralda has something similar to the sniper, meaning that the mark has spread and is doing some odd magic to her being. This has Kassy petting her chest, rubbing her mark and wondering if that's how those two end up, would she be like them?

The holstaur shudders a bit, questioning to herself about how far does her holy protection go in preventing possibly some demonic magic from taking a hold of her and corrupting her much like Esmeralda, judging from the sound of the doctor's talk. She wants to grab onto Priea and hold her close, but she does want to get moving and learn a little more about what is happening. "Hopefully she is reasonable enough to talk," she explained, going off of what Sharya said. "She could be like that sniper with how her mark is, but if it's completely filled..." she pauses, trying to piece together what this could mean. "Anyway, it might be better to get moving. So who is this merchant and where are they?" Kassy throws her hellos to the witch and her companion, and she also questions about the usage of a trap done by the stranger man. She thought about it for a moment, but then shakes her head. "No, it seems a bit unlikely. It might be just them affected by the mark, but I don't know. It's best we learn what it's capable of and see if there's anything we can do to prevent it from doing the same to us."

[MASigma]

Priea kept quiet for the moment, having started getting lost in her own thoughts and worries as she thought about her own marking and how it might affect her depending on what might happen in the future... hopefully it wouldn't come to that, Priea even fighting the urge to touch her own marking through her clothing as she felt the urge just thinking about it. She shook it off, not going to let this thing she'd been cursed with stop or corrupt her in anyways... still, the idea the others had to deal with the same thing, even Kassy did made her worry... if only there was a way to be rid of the mark as quickly as possible. She sighed as she regained focus on the here and now, wondering if they were all going to be sticking together from now on... hoping this was so as they'd be better off that way.

[FragranceofMtDew]

Sharya lets Kailyne answer Zalira's question, though mostly because she's fascinated by the talking raven. "A familiar? That. Is. Awesome! I want one." Sharya excitedly declares, her gaze never leaving the raven. She vaguely recalls hearing the term before or perhaps reading it in a book, though the details of summoning one were unknown to her. Apparently skipping out on the lessons that bored her wasn't the best idea after all. Oh well, she can always just wing it as usual if she really wants to.

While Sharya was daydreaming up a familiar to summon, everyone else continued to discuss the matters at hand with Zalira suggesting they use the mark to lay a trap for their target. That's a bold plan, though Sharya surprisingly has her reservations about it. "Ummm... Oh, I'm Sharya. Anyway, he's pretty tough. He took me down in an instant so we'll need to be careful if we try to fight him. Maybe with all seven of us it will be enough though. But wouldn't that mean at least one of us would have to find a way to spread our mark?" Even if they found a way it would be risky. Sharya wouldn't mind taking that risk herself, but it would be better to save that as a last resort.

[Mark3000]

Once he finishes patching up Shayde & Aria, the doctor moves Sharya and Kailyne to examine their wounds. With a smile he gives the two of them a pat on the back. "You two should be fine. Though I think you already realized that." The man said looking at the Sharya, in particular the rapier she had hidden behind her back. "Just be careful out there." And with that the doctor lets you go on your way.

____________________________________________

You all return to town. It doesn't take you long to find the merchant the doctor was talking about. You see four people surrounding two horse drawn carts. A short man outside one of the carts looking over some scrolls. He was pudgy, balding and wore a simple white tunic and pantaloons. There was a second man loading food, tools and other materials onto the two carts. He looked younger and a bit more muscular then first man. All he had on at the moment was a pair of loose blue pants. You also see two women tending to the horses. Both of them had brown hair and green eyes with matching dresses. One had a fuller figure and wore her hair in a bun as she fed the horses. The other young lady seemed to be adjusting the harnesses and wore her hair at shoulder length.

The man with scrolls walks over to you and gives you a hearty smile. "I remember you lot. I saw what you all did taking out Hillsdale. That man was a scoundrel and gave all us real business men a bad name. I heard in the bar yesterday you were heading to The Esmeralda Encampment. Me and my family are on our way to Southdale and are gonna past through the encampment. Your free to hitch a ride if you want." He said reaching out his hand to shake each of their hands. "The name's Oliver. That young man over there is my son, Duke. The little ladies handling the horses are my wife, Caroline and my daughter Maribelle."

[VintageBass]

Feeling good that both Kailyne and Sharya are fully patched up, Kassy makes her way out of the clinic and starts looking out for the merchant to get on moving to the encampment. It didn't take too long for the lot of them to find them, and the holstaur takes her time to study each one of them to get an idea of who they'll be with. Hearing that the shorter man was here earlier and shares the disgust about Hillsdale, Kassy gives the family a smile in knowing that with that evil man out of the picture, the lot of them can enjoy going about their business and trade their goods without the worries of someone siphoning their money away. If only there was another way to handle the situation, one that gave everyone their homes back, but she can't change things now. Kassy simply nods in agreement about Hillsdale. "Yes, and it's good that he's out of the way," she explained, holding her chest up while trying to clear her mind about him dying.

What is helping her is the man's family. What got to her first is the matter of the two women with him and her feeling concerned about their safety. With the holstaur and everyone else in her group bearing similar marks and where they're heading off to, it makes her worried that these two lovely ladies are going to end up with a similar fate as them. This makes it more apparent to her that guarding them is on top priority, just so the influence doesn't spread and Oliver isn't going to suffer. Then there's Duke, which Kassy is very much interested in. Muscular, shirtless, working his back off carrying stuff onto the wagons... Something seems to be clicking inside of her as she walks on over to talk to the son. "Hello, my name is Kassandra," she stated, extending a hand out to shake. "Would you like some assistance with these? I don't mind throwing my own weight around to help out fellow merchants~" Her cheeks are a little rosy pink, a bit smitten by the young man, and seeing that she's going to be traveling with the four of them, this could provide a chance to talk between the two.

[An Ying Hu]

"I agree, it's unlikely that you'll succeed right now, though it might be a plan to consider in the future once we know precisely who we are dealing with," Ey'ala said in response to Kassy and Sharya's remarks. Zalira pouted a bit at what she perceived that her simple wondering about a possibility was so readily dissected. She huffed with indignation, but said nothing otherwise.
___________________________________________

She joined the others as they left the hospital building and headed towards the caravan where she made the acquaintance of Oliver and his family. She did not converse beyond a simple greeting, more so since the holstaur took the initiative to chat them up, though her eyes started to wander in the same direction as Kassy - the shirtless man, Duke, surely looked attractive, and only served to remind her of feelings she just experienced earlier, which she tried to dismiss with no great result. And then there was.. Maribelle, was it? Zalira watched the young girl as she tended the horses, innocently unaware of the gaze that followed her. The elven warlock's mind caught itself imagining what it would be like if these two - brother and sister - would be naked and cramming her between their-

Zalira shook her head. What is happening to me? she thought, frowning. It's not like she hasn't seen people tending to horses before, peasants like these ones so far beneath her stature. Well.. elven versions of them, but still. Their kind worked for her. It wasn't like she is going to let herself think these kind of ungainly thoughts.. was she?

She cleared her throat (again), turning to Ey'ala in an attempt to shift her attention to light conversation, but the damn birding appeared to be acting like a beast now - cocking her head randomly and squawking from time to time. It seems that Ey'ala considered it unwise to reveal her true nature before strangers, lest their suspicions might rise in detriment to the group. Zalira sighed, opting to listen in on whatever conversation might take place, instead.

[MelissaB]

Kailyne nods towards the raven and the warlock her eyes showing signs of curiosity in the pair before feeling a calling towards nighteyes she's never heard before, her heart racing as she felt her mind meld closer to her companion and she to her. "Nighteyes..." She murmurs as they walk with the others towards the gate almost hearing a voice return the greeting to her as the wolfess growls and she smiles nodding. "Sister?" She offers the wolfess before grinning and running her slender fingers through the soft fur. Humming she is lsot in her own world with the wolfess as they both make their way towards the merchant and his family.

Once there she nods shaking his hand before she withdraws from the group to spend sometime with her wolf. Humming to herself a little before she focuses her energy and wraps the wolfess in a hug, pushing their bodies together searching for a link she can feel there there before she lets go, their minds and bodies merging as one.(Using Spirit of the Beast) They morph, a glow emitting from them until it slowly fades to reveal something similar to a beastman. Where once was two now kneel one, clutching a bow and growling. "Niliyne." She whispers to herself. "We are one." She grins before the wolf morph made of the elf and wolfess walk back tot he group, the eyes following each as she adjusts to the body, testing it out as she learns what it can and can't do. "Hello..." She speaks her voice huskier and more feral than the soft elven one she spoke in before. "Interesting." She comments with a tilt of her head and looks over her fur clad body her paw like hands forming over herself before she catches what she is doing and gulps with a blush, thankfully hidden by her fur. "We are ready when you all are."

[Mark3000]

Duke looks towards Kassandra and nods. "Yea, I could use the help." He says as he wipes his hands on his pants before reaching out to shake your hand. " You're a merchant too? Never would have guessed. You look like a solider. No offense" He says as he points towards your armor. As he talks, the young man continues to load the cart. It seemed he wasn't shy about being half-naked around women. While he doesn't notice Zalira's additional attention, Maribelle does. For a moment your eyes meet only for her to look away. Her cheeks a bright red, the young woman looks to continue tightening the harnesses. As the newly formed Niliyne approaches, you immediately grab Oliver's attention. "I've heard elves could do some pretty crazy magic but nothing like this." He says as he leads you and anyone else ready to leave to one of the carts. It's filled with various items but their proves to be enough room for all of you to fit.

[VintageBass]

It was a little bit hard peeling her gaze away from the young man to help him out in packing what is remaining onto the carts, mostly keeping her gaze locked on his chest before watching him brush his hands off. Kassy's fingers wiggle at the sight, her mouth beginning to feel dry as her mind starts to question what lies underneath Duke's trousers. However she turns herself away from her perverse fantasies and goes for answering a question. "Oh no, I'm actually a farmer living here," she explained to him. This actually gives her a chance to get to work on loading what remains onto the cart. "The armor comes from me being a paladin as well, since I was raised to be one for my father's desire. Really I prefer working in the field, helping you merchants out in spreading my goods out and just enjoying the peace. There's nothing wrong in that, hm?"

The holstaur makes good work alongside Duke to make sure everything is packed away and tied down so nothing goes flying if they were to hit something and the cart goes tumbling. Once she finished her side of work, she took a moment to look around at the others, seeing Maribelle flushing red from something and... Kassy's eyes lit up upon seeing the new girl joining the group. Wait, upon closer inspection, it seems that Kailyne and Nighteyes fused together to make a rather sexy lupine beastman. Given the group she's with, it's going to be hard keeping her thoughts together with these people giving her all of these sexy thoughts. Cute little Priea in her nun attire, shirtless Duke breaking a sweat and now Kailyne fusing with Nighteyes to make one hot bitch. Kassy feels her groin getting a bit tighter, and while looking for something to pull her mind away from the perverse thoughts, she catches Oliver leading them over to the carts to get the party moving. Even though there is the space, Kassy has a different idea. "I'll stick by the side and walk alongside," she explained herself. "I can use a good jog, also it'll be a little easier for me to get to things just in case we get attack."

[MASigma]

Priea of course kept to the side, allowing the rest of the group to pretty much drool over the handsome merchant... sh herself found him attractive enough but wasn't going to even tempt such a thing given the mark on her body, not wanting any risk of doing the sort of act that caused it to possibly make the mark grow more along her body. In fact by this point she found herself frowning, finding him boring in fact as he watched Kassy clearly drooling all over him... the Paladin could do MUCH better in opinion and... Kailyne suddenly showed up looking quite... different, Priea forcing a blush back as she tried to ignore how... interesting the elvish woman now appeared to be. Hearing Kassy's own intentions, she instantly speaks up," I'll come with in case you need help!", She reasoned with a bright smile, rushing to the side of the Holstaur," That okay with you?"

[VintageBass]

The holstaur picks up the enthusiastic cry of the cleric offering out to help in defending the cart, and she smiles when Priea rushes up to her. Every ounce of her wants to simply pull the cleric in and give her a big hug, but she needs to allow the both of them to do their duty. Plus out of the three people she is interested in, she is very grateful to have the very girl she helped long ago by her side. Duke is handsome, Maribelle is cute but seems to be interested in the new witch of the group, and Kailyne is far from every good attribute you can put on her in terms of her appearance. Having the sweet little Priea by her side should help her clear her mind... but that does stop the itchiness she is getting down below. Hopefully that fixes itself along the way, because Kassy isn't going to enjoy being in the middle of three people she really wants to bang... and that depends on who gets to Kailyne first.

Still, she gives Priea a small hug before getting herself pumped. "All right, that sounds good!" she stated, huffing a bit. "Just make sure you can keep up with me and the cart, and we should be all set!"

[FragranceofMtDew]

Welp, she was busted after all. "Ehehehe... Thanks for all your help!" Sharya tells the doctor with a sheepish grin, following the rest of the group to the caravan in a hurry before she got in trouble. Once there, she shook Oliver's hand enthusiastically and introduced herself when her turn came while admiring his cute horses and adorable family. She had always kinda wanted a sibling, though having a brother as hot and prone to going topless as Duke would be troublesome. And as if she didn't have enough eye candy, now Kailyne seems to have learned some sort of way to combine with Nighteyes into a really cute looking wolf girl form. "Wow, that's really impressive! But I think we might end up getting kinda side tracked if this keeps up." She remarks with a giggle, as even her normally oblivious self can pick up on all the sexual tension in the atmosphere.

Since she already got some exercise in today, Sharya opts to ride on the cart. It would be nice to just relax for a bit and enjoy the sights of an unfamiliar land. She kept her sword close by just in case there was trouble on the roads, but she felt secure knowing she'd at least get some warning from those walking along side the cart.

[An Ying Hu]

Zalira flashes a rather wanton smirk in the direction of Maribelle's blushing face, her formerly awkward attitude swept aside by the attraction she was feeling. She stifled a chuckle as the shy girl turned away, and after a short while Kailyne returned and was now changed into a wolf girl, it seems. Both the warlock and Ey'ala peered at her with curiousity, though really for very different reasons. Zalira bit her lip as Niliyne softly touched herself, though she did nothing except offer her a suggestive wink, perhaps an acknowledgement of approval in finding her new form pretty. She moved on to get in the cart, taking a seat across from Sharya with the raven still on her shoulder. The young elf was feeling a bit frustrated among all this sexual tension which was new and yet so pleasant to her. She couldn't even touch herself with everyone so close by.. but she had to make do, she supposed.

With more than a few lewd images transpiring in the back of her mind, she crossed her legs, trying to relax until everyone takes their place in the caravan, whether in the cart or outside.

[MelissaB]

Nilyne As she has become walks along the companions, her eyes traveling to each before her eyes narrow and a grin forms on her muzzle as she watches Zalira's wink before she following along leaping onto the cart and curling up in a corner, resting much like a wolf would as her eyes travel from those on the cart to those lurking to walk alongside it. Yawning she stretches her jaws wide and displays her long flat canine tongue for others to see. "Wake me when we get there..." She states with a grin before rolling onto her back and stretching out, allowing anyone to see her form be display provocatively for their eyes until she finally stops and relaxes her posture before laying more relaxes on the cart floor.

[MASigma]

Priea blushed a bit at Kassy's response, offering a smile in turn as she nodded," Don't you worry, I'll show you how much I can handle my own now", she promised, eager to be traveling side by side by the woman whom had inspired her so much. Still, a part of her noticed something was a bit off with Kassy, though what it was she had no clue... perhaps she could find out once they were on their way? For now she just kept close, eager to continue their conversation," So um, when exactly did you stop traveling to become a farmer anyways?", she asked curiously, having always imagined Kassy to always be moving around to help more and more people. As she waited for a response, her gaze turned to the relaxed and resting form of Nilyne, finding her eyes... wandering a bit for but a few seconds before forcing her gaze away, cursing herself mentally for it as she reminded herself what perverse actions led to... it helping that her only sexual experience in her life had been the horrible one that had led to the mark on her body being planted.

[VintageBass]

Kassy feels excited about having Priea by her side, which can allow the two of them to have some time together and chat with each other. Plus if she focuses more on her, instead of Duke and Nilyne, then she can ease herself and really focus on the mission at hand. The question about her traveling is a good start in that matter. "Actually I never really traveled all that much," she answered. "It's only to and from the church for my training that I did do any in the like. I just..." she reaches behind her neck and rubs it. "I had this feeling that I belonged here, wanting to help protect the people that I grew up and provide a service through a different method. Also I put care into my crops, allowing them to be nutritious so that when they do get shipped off, the people that really need it are getting the nutrients they need. Sure there is a militia, but I do want to protect the town I grew up in and I am proud to be there even with Hillsdale taking over everyone's home."

The holstaur takes a moment to breathe, wanting to keep off the man being dead and instead focus on the cleric. "How about yourself? How has the church been these past few years? You've been staying out of trouble?" She knows that isn't all true if she's here, but if they stay on the more positive side of things then they should be all right.