Damsels and Dungeons Mark II - Main Thread

[Mizriqa]

Clara looked over at the farm boys as they finally got the courage to come and help now that the danger was mostly all over. "Thanks." She said to the men. Too bad that they didn't have the gumption to help out during the brawl, unlike that little goblin woman. Clara quickly grabbed her sword and made to chase the Horc out the door, without a thought as to her state of undress. She wasn't one to bail on someone who helped her.

However, she wasn't the first to react as she saw Niminia hop on the Horc's back and ended up taking a tumble with the smaller woman to the ground as the man made his way out the door. She chuckled slightly after letting out a sigh of relief and went to the other two. Putting her sword away, she offered a hand to each of them to help them back up onto their feet.

She kept an eye on the goblin woman. "Thanks for helping me out. You're the one that took out that big bastard, weren't you?"

 

[Fantasy_Picaresque]

Nimina grimaced as the horc approached her, fury in his bloodshot eyes. "H-hey, stay back!" she exclaimed, whimpering slightly. It was one thing to drive your blade through the heart of a creature that didn't even know you were there, it was another entirely to face an enemy head-on. The goblin was only able feebly to slash once or twice through the air as she was promptly grabbed. In an instant, her bloodied rapier fell to the floor and she felt gravity betray her.

Now held over the shoulder of the retreating horc, Nimina began to panic! With widened eyes, she began to beat on his back. Realizing swiftly that her wrigglings wouldn't save her, she opted to instead sink her sharp teeth into any available patch of flesh. Hopefully, her painful bite would cause the horc to drop her! Before she could even land her bite, however, a stranger stepped in to save Nimina from her fate!

Suddenly, the goblin felt her world re-orient itself once again, although this time she found herself in a far better place - upon the face of what appeared to be a dark elf. With a sheepish grin, Nimina shifted her weight back, her broad hips sliding back so as to give Akri room to breathe. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry!" she pleaded, now straddling Akri's middle. "Are you alright? Wait, hey! Y-you saved me!"

"What's... what's your name?" Before Akri could answer, Clara approached the goblin. "Uhh, yeah! I mean, of course I was." she answered, a smug grin forming upon her face. As Clara helped her up, she began to brush dust and grime off of her top, her heavy freckled breasts heaving slightly as she caught her breath.

"Wasn't going to let those animals do... that to you. It was the right thing to do."

 

[xavierrol]

The body of the dead Horc was removed with a chilling efficiency that seems largely routine for the bartender. The Horc was a nobody and his friend's apparently didn't want any more interaction with the local constabulary than did the bartender. The dwarves had retreated to their room and the farm boys didn't wait much longer, though they at least had the decency to feel ashamed for their lack of chivalry, the dwarves felt no such regrets.

Not long after night fall, a rather young and gentle looking man strides in, his cane looking more ornamental than functional. He exchanges a few words with the bartender, his eyes settling on the remaining adventuresses. His eyes then roam the rest of the room, as if looking for others, but it is all locals now here for a bit of music and drink, no one with that look of adventure and skill with swords or magics. With a disappointed sigh his eyes come back to your table with a look of resignation. He lays a few coins on the bar then approaches.

"The proprietor tells me you are here to lay claim to the reward for the rescue of Miss Lelisque?" He says in a soft voice that barely carries over the bard performing on stage. "I am Lionel Archambault." He gave a slight bow though pausing as he noticed the goblin lass among them. He seemed flustered for a moment then continued. "I understand you had some trouble, but managed to acquit yourselves well enough. If that trouble hasn't frightened you off, permit me to tell you what I know as I am putting up the reward myself." He then sat himself down among them.

"Ciara, Miss Lilisque and I, are engaged to be married so you can see that I might consider, time of the essence in this matter." He was obviously concerned about her condition, though for her sake or for the sake of his pride at the thought of his bride's spoiled purity was less clear. "She was taken 2 nights ago, along with the female house staff, all maids and younger matrons. Just like the others in the valley, but those were peasants and one or two at a time, they grow more bold." He became more passionate as he spoke, his frustration with the Waterbaron for not sending out his riders was still raw in his mind and heart.

He rolled a map out on the table. "They must be working out of the Sumber Hills, whether on the river itself or among the rocks and crags, a cave perhaps. The Waterbaron won't send out the Shields of Yartar without more to go on, a better location than the hills, which can be a maze in their own right, probably why they chose that as a base." He showed them where the Lelisque estate was, about 6 miles north of Womford on the Dessarin road, sprawling between the river and the road. "The steward of the estate may know more, though I'm not sure I trust him, seeing as how he let Ciara be taken in the first place." His bitterness was obvious. "Her most recent letters spoke of his resistance to upping the guards at the estate, she was worried, I know that much."

He stopped talking and looked at each of them. "I have 250 gold pieces for her rescue, 50 for a precise enough location to convince the Waterbaron to send out his riders." Split between them, It was a year's wages for most in the valley if they could bring back the girl.