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The Adventures of Antoinette [gelid and causeway]

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gelidAtelier

gelidAtelier

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Libertine Lagoon was one of the smaller settlements in the freelancer kingdom of Vinnell, but it's maritime industries brought it much wealth and a steady flow of goods, visitors, and ideas from distant lands, and it's relative lack of laws or regulations made it a prime spot for adventurous vagrants. It's governor, Baroness Cordelia Corbeau, greatly enjoyed exotic things and encouraged the constant state of transience.

It was a crisp, bright summer morning; the clouds artfully strewn across the sky, gauzing the sun just enough to block the worst of its glare. A faint salty breeze blew up from the beaches, lending a cool atmosphere.

A few particular structures stood out among the town. The first, built atop a sea cliff overlooking the entire town, was Chateau Corbeau, where the town's sorceress ruler and her consort lived. Standing on the opposite side of town was the town's old keep, a memorial to a less enlightened military ruler, though its southern tower was still kept in use as a lighthouse.

Lastly, there were the grounds of the Travelers' Manor, which offered free lodging, meals, and a few other services for vagrants and adventurers who could not afford a stay in the town's luxurious inns. It was built and maintained by the baroness in order to encourage adventurers to use the town as a home base in their exploits in this country.

Currently, it seemed that the baroness was hosting a festival in the town's square, allowing the travelers to show off their skills for a chance to be invited as a personal guest of the sorceress at her chateau.

The numerous opportunities and temptations of the city lay out before Antoinette de Chevalier as she arrived on the outskirts of the town, ready for her to reach forth and claim them.
 
Debarking from the small clipper ship she had taken from Vinnell's capital, Antoinette de Chevalier strode off the ship, stretching from the cramped cabins of her journey. She wore a bright, confident smile, the sort of a woman who believes that the first day of a glorious and exciting life has just begun.

Having just graduated from the Royal Academy of the Guard and Musketeers, Antoinette was the top of her class, and it showed. Her uniform, a white and gold tunic with corset, flowing skirt, and tan leggings, were all pristine and obviously well-kept, as was her wide-brimmed, feathered hat, which sat above her striking red curls. Her soft, ruddy and freckled face was by no means unpleasant to look at, nor was her shapely and athletic figure. Topping it off were her bright, sparkling emerald eyes, which now fixed upon her destination: the Chateau Corbeau. A salty sea breeze wafted in from the sea, causing her shoulder cape to flutter dramatically.

One hand rested upon the hilt of her rapier; though only munitions-grade, she kept such good care of her blade that the observer would swear it was master-crafted. In the other, she held a scroll case containing her assignment and letter of recommendation from the High Marshal of the Royal Guard and Musketeers, placing her under the command of the Baroness Corbeau.

Antoinette was not sure what to think of the baroness, at this point. She tried to keep an open mind, but there was no denying some of the more scandalous rumors about the elf sorceress that were heard in the courts throughout the kingdom. Still, based on the appearance of her little fiefdom and the apparent happiness of her subjects, she could not be a terrible ruler, if a bit eccentric.

The young woman marched through the city, walking with purpose but still taking the time to observe the sights and sounds of her new home, and she liked what she saw so far. When she arrived at the chateau, she addressed the doorman, "Bonjour and good morning, fine sir. I am Antoinette de Chevalier, Musketeer First Class of 'is Royal 'Ighness's Guard, assigned to zhe command of zhe Baroness Cordelia Corbeau."
 
The door guard, a slim, blonde elven youth, looked at her letter. "It's been awhile since they sent us anybody from the Academy... usually her ladyship hires mercenaries to do guard work."

His companion, a rather sallow looking, slightly older man replied, "I hope this doesn't meet we're going to get more royally assigned fools." He looked at Antoinette. "They're probably going to end up sending you back. Unless Sir Gunzig really feels he wants to make use of you. Or her ladyship likes you for some reason. So don't get too comfortable."

The blonde guard handed her back the scroll, but held tightly to it. "You know... shouldn't we check her for hidden weapons or poison? She could be an assassin... gods know her ladyship has enough enemies that would try something like this."
 
Antoinette blinked at the reception. She honestly expected that the arrival of the Academy's best would be met more... warmly. "You may search me at your leisure. I 'ave nothing to 'ide," she said, standing there. She even removed her sword belt, and handed the weapon off to the older man. "You may keep zhis until you are comfortable with letting me so armed into zhe baroness's presence."
 
The younger guard reached out to begin patting her down, and the older one grunted at him, "You're on duty, so do it seriously." The youth seemed a bit disappointed at this admonishment, but otherwise wastes no time frisking her. He does a thorough professional job checking for any hidden pockets, inside her boots, but notably spent a long time checking her thighs and chest, though he didn't try to put his hands inside her clothes.

"Well. I suppose you're good to go."
The other guard handed her back her sword. "Go on in. The guard office is at the end of the righthand hallway. You'll want to report to Sir Gunzig before you get to meet her ladyship. He'll show you... whatever it is you'll end up doing."
 
The musketeer narrowed her eyes as his hands seem to linger around her bosom, hips and thighs, though she says nothing. In her mind, she is thankful they did not demand a strip search.

She graciously accepts her blade back, and returns it to its place at her hip. "Zhank you, and 'ave a good day, sirs." With that, she headed straight down the hall, and into the guard office. As she entered, she looked for this Sir Gunzig, attempting to size him up. It sounded like he would be her superior for a while. "Sir," she said, saluting, "I am Antoinette de Chevalier. I was sent here under assignment from zhe Royal Grand Marshal." She handed him the papers.
 
Sir Gunzig was seated at a massive oaken desk, busily writing orders, signing approvals, or issuing sanctions... a terrible lot of paperwork it apparently took to run the fief's military, defense, and enforcement of what few laws of the land there were.

He was a tall, stern-mouthed man, apparently hard enough to be wearing full plate while filling out paperwork, with a weathered face, a short gray beard, and narrow black eyes.

He did not bother to take the papers, though his eyes did flick up enough to catch the seal on them.
He didn't so much as look at Antoinette.

"Who are you?" he asked in a thick, gravelly voice, pointedly ignoring the fact that she'd already introduced herself.
 
Antoinette blinked once again, astonished at how... rude people were around here. However, she did not let it affect her composure in any other way. "I am zhe newest musketeer under your command, sir," she said, in as crisp and clear a manner as possible. "I am awaiting your orders, sir."
 
"Hrmf. I suppose it is out of the question to tell you to go back to where you came. No, then I'd have to hear more of the Marshal's incessant whining."

He looked up at her. "Well, you may as well give me your spiel. What are you good at, graduated top of your class with honors, I'm sure. Sell me on why I should give you something meaningful to do with your time here rather than assigning you to scrub everyone else's sword."
 
Antoinette clasped her hands behind her back. "If you wish for somezhing to be accomplished, zhen you tell me to do it. And zhen I make sure zhat the goal is met, and zhe problem solved. And zhen it does not reappear. If you wish to know my competencies, you may review my credentials. If you wish to test my resolve, you will 'ave to be more imposing zhan zhis."
 
causeway25oclock said:
Antoinette clasped her hands behind her back. "If you wish for somezhing to be accomplished, zhen you tell me to do it. And zhen I make sure zhat the goal is met, and zhe problem solved. And zhen it does not reappear. If you wish to know my competencies, you may review my credentials. If you wish to test my resolve, you will 'ave to be more imposing zhan zhis."
Click to expand...

Gunzig thought over the list of things to be done.
"Hmph. I want both the Grand Marshal and the King to bite it. There's some sahuagins down the south coast in some caves we haven't been able to weed out and they're harassing the fishermen that stray too far. Would like to seem them all go away too. There's supposedly a lich somewhere out in the woods. Try making sure that one doesn't reappear. Lots and lots of bandits around because the royals don't like the baroness and won't send any help to this area because of it. A lot of idiots around town that start trouble... though not much you can do there since the baroness says that's fine. Unfortunately no dragons that I know of, but I suppose your mission to be going out and finding one. Which of these sounds the most fun to you?"

He stands up with his hands on the desk, bending slightly down to meet her eyes and searching them for any trace of hesitation or irritation.
 
Antoinette's face has neither of these, as she appeared to be honestly pondering the different options. "Well, aside from what could be clearly considered treasonous statements... is it a 'abit of yours to get your subordinates killed? If not, zhen I would like to hear more about zhese... sahuagins, is zhat how you called zhem? Zheir elimination would be a boon to zhe baroness, no? I cannot do it on my own, but with a bit of resources..."
 
Gunzig gave a barking laugh. "Apparently you were not aware that treason is the national hobby. The dogs are all out to get each other..." He turned aside, grabbing a dagger from a rack behind the desk and walked around the desk, facing away from her as he continued. "You'll have to decide whether your foremost loyalty will be to some churlish notion of 'the realm', or if you are truly insipid, to the crown itself, or to your immediate mistress, the Baroness Corbeau.

In any case, you won't be going on any death missions." With deft and vicious force he hurled the dagger at the far wall, which was plastered with sketches of criminals. It stuck at the bottom of one in particular. "You are to find this man, and bring him to justice. He's something of a thorn in the baroness' side, but we haven't been resourceful enough to find him... and he knows all of us, anyway. Do that, and you'll have proven your use to me, and more importantly, gained the favor of the baroness... at that point she'll probably want to deal with you personally and you'll likely be more or less out of my hair." He scratched his beard and waited for her to ask any questions.

The young man in the poster was named René Hölletier. There was a thousand coin bounty on his head, and he wanted for theft, treason against her ladyship, disturbance of the peace, vandalism, assault, murder, sedition, and... 'aggressive seduction'. Quite the list.

He looked to be a quite a handsome, boyish-looking man, with cat-slitted eyes, and stripe-like markings on his cheeks. The poster indicated he would have a tanned complexion and bright red hair.
 
Antoinette nodded, accepting the mission. "It shall be done as you command, sir. Hölletier will be brought to justice." She studied the wanted poster carefully, memorizing his face. "Will that be all, sir?"

If she was dismissed, she went to the barracks to secure her belongings, before heading out to the city to begin her investigation. She would start in the taverns.
 
Gunzig recommended she start at the Tortured Tiefling... one of the more... unsavory taverns down by the town's docks. It was one he had been known to frequent quite often, and those there might know where to find him.

He stressed that she should not tell anyone she was a musketeer, and certainly not one in their service. While the baroness was respected in town, René was not without his own loyal friends in the underbelly.


The streets of the town as a whole were filled with merchants and street performers, but in the corner of the town she was head to, they seemed a lot more surly and self-absorbed, and they didn't call out to Antoinette.

The tavern itself was pretty shady looking. It was painted black and a garish shady of purple, and its entrance was lit by a glowing orange lamp with an iron cut-out figure on one side, casting a human-shaped shadow onto the door.
 
Antoinette had changed from her clean, pressed musketeer uniform to a worm but still sturdy suit of reinforced leather armor, which was made in a somewhat flattering cut. Instead of her nice, feathered hat, she wore a black bandana with golden embroidery, making her look far less like a dashing young member of the Royal Guard and more like a scurvy buccaneer.

Disguise (1d20+2=13)

She assumed a persona to match her environment as she sauntered to the Tortured Tiefling, playing the role of a sassy, seductive pirate wench. As she entered the tavern, she noticed the image the lamp cast, that of a silhouette of an apparently naked woman posed seductively.
 
It was a decent enough disguise. It wasn't like anyone in here was going to be particular suspicious of her, anyway, as long as she didn't come across as too pushy with her questions.

She was met with the acrid aroma of a dozen different exotic liquors.
The immediate eyecatcher was the raised stage at the far side of the common room. A woman was shackled to a saltire cross, facing towards the wall. Her bronzed skin was soaked with sweat, and she had orange hair in a pixie cut. Her hands and feet were black and ended in cruel, curved talons, and single small horn jutted from her head. She was being whipped, every lash causing her serpentine tail to shiver from the agony.
Obviously the tavern's namesake.

Besides the woman currently whipping her, a drow with several facial piercings occasionally cast a slight healing spell on the tiefling.


As for the rest of the tavern, it was a motley assortment of ruffians. This was a sailors' bar, so most of the patrons were likely out-of-towners... hobgoblin mercenaries, orcish freebooters, some dark elven refugees... though Libertine Lagoon wasn't short on its native ne'er-do-wells either. The bar itself was lit with yellow-orange lamps that gave it a somewhat hellish atmosphere, the room structured for maximum acoustics for catching the tiefling's moans.
 
Antoinette's eyes widened a bit as she entered, and got a good look at the fiendblooded woman being publicly flogged, apparently for the amusement and pleasure of the audience. She wasn't particularly fond of tieflings, but she didn't want to see anyone suffer for the amusement of others. A moment later, she had an idea. She approached closer, and tried to figure out if the tiefling was here against her will, or volunteered.

Sense Motive (1d20+3=19)
 
The tiefling is blindfolded, but her long, catlike ears twitched as Antoinette approached, sensing her approached. She attempted to vocalize through her ball gag.
Antoinette wasn't sure, and maybe it was just her empathy towards the suffering of others, but she got a gut feeling like the woman wanted help.

Meanwhile, the woman who had been whipping her handed over the lash to the drow and returned to her table. Noticing the attention she was paying to the tiefling, the dark elf approached Antoinette.
"Quite the specimen, isn't she?" he said, his voice thick, sweet, and snobbish, like honey vomited by the most pompous of bees.
"I don't believe I've seen you in here before. Care to have a go at her? Only a silver for a few srokes of the whip. I assure you, she quite deserves it."
 
"Oh?" Antoinette asked, taking on a vaguely interested tone. "I 'ave just arrived in town, yes. Hmm..." she purred, examining the whip. "Do tell... what sort of sins is zhis woman so guilty of to warrant... such attentions?"
 
"Well, she used to be the owner of this tavern... back before it had its current name. She lost it to its current owner in a... rather very high stakes contest. She bet everything she owned, and it was agreed she would have to make up the rest of her debt in pain. She has been in our care ever since."
The drow certainly seemed proud of the story. The tiefling girl thrashed and moan-screamed wildly.

"So what do you say? If whipping doesn't serve your fancy, for a few gold you can be permitted to use her flesh in... other ways."
 
Note to self: Be verycareful making wagers in this town. As a matter of fact, don't bet at all...

"Hmm... per'aps another time, zhough you do make a very tempting offer." Antoinette handed him three copper pieces. "Per'aps... just a touch?"
 
"Of course!" he said, taking the coins. "Feel free to give her a good caress. She has quite the long way to go before her wager is paid off, and every penny counts."

He bows with a grin and gestures his hands to the tiefling. "All yours!"
 
Stepping forward, Antoinette took off the glove on her right hand, and reached out to touch one of the tiefling's rather shapely buttocks. She runs her hand over the sweaty, smooth curve, feeling the soft layer of fat over tight, well-toned gluteal muscles. "She is razher nicely put together for a fiend-blood, no? Very nice... I bet you get a lot of requests for her time..." She will attempt to pump the drow for more information on his clients.

Diplomacy (+1 Trait Feat) (1d20+7=13)
 
The tiefling tenses up briefly, but seems to relax under her touch. Antoinette gets a fuzzy tingle from her skin, the tiefling giving a more demure purr through her gag.

"We do indeed have quite a few patrons who wish more... intimate acts with our friend here. Of course, part of the conditions are that she cannot leave the stage, so anyone who wishes to have their way with her must be willing to give a performance up here, so it's less common than you'd think. Even such corrupt customers such as ours are not totally shameless." The drow put on a contemplative expression. "Now Master René, when he used to frequent this place, he would savage her quite viciously, often several times a night. Such a sporting chap, that one. It's a pity he doesn't come around here anymore, though, given how the guards would come looking for him if he did, I suppose that's for the best."
 
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