The shadow sheaths her own sword in response. The moment they touch the fake Arthuria merges with the original. A moment later the runes leading from the stone sword to the arch start lighting up one by one, glowing with green light. Behind her Arthuria hears Sara moan as the housewife rides the stone dick. Looking over her shoulder the blonde sees the runes leading from the stone phallus to the arch also starting to light up, one by one. Finally, just as Sara comes with a rather loud scream, both sets of runes light up fully and in response a swirling green portal fills the inside of the stone arch. Where it might lead is impossible to tell, but hopefully back to Marika. “H-help me...” Sara begs, still impaled on the stone dildo and sounding exhausted. Thankfully the box is not trapped. Opening it Avella finds the stolen necklace inside, as promised. It seems the thief kept his word, if nothing else. As the elf examines the stolen heirloom her eyes stop on the medallion and the crest engraved on it. She gasps as she recognizes it – it is the crest of House Leonis, one of the oldest, wealthiest, most powerful and most influential noble families in all of Tarnia – and one of the few to have weathered the troubles of the previous few years largely unaffected. If she were to personally return the necklace she would earn the gratitude of the Leonis, which would be of great benefit for Avella and her family. But first she would need to convince Lathrul to let her have the necklace... “You have what you wanted, now leave me alone and get lost!” The thief interrupts her thoughts, his sword still pointed at her as he watches her from afar, apparently waiting to see her leave. If Lusserina noticed the similarities between her and the “slut”, she does not show it, too focused on his words. Seems like his guess might be correct, as she no longer tries to push his hands away, lewd moans coming out of her mouth instead. As the old man continues telling the story and groping her he notices the elf's hand moving to between her legs again. “Well, your task was to just visit the outpost and find out why they have gone silent, nothing more.” Edward shrugs. “You do get a significant discount on any land you decide to purchase, though – let me know when you have decided where you would like to have your future holdings. As for a noble title, that will require the approval of someone a bit higher-ranked than us, I am afraid.” “Though with how helpful you have been the Queen might decide to... reward you with a noble's title.” Victoria adds and Ida does not miss the way the word “reward”. The two men move to stop him, the one with his cock out leading the charge, the other one – who has finally managed to get his dick back inside his pants – following closely behind. [spoiler-Ganith's Attack]1d100 = 58 Sword fighting: +20 Draconic Strength: +10 Total: 88[/spoiler] Big mistake, as it turns out. The two men are no match for his skill with the sword or his draconic strength and quickly fall before him, one after the other. “What the hell?!? Who are you? You friend of this bitch?” The last of the men has finally noticed the new threat. He quickly pulls out of the woman and pulls up his pants, then unsheathes a pair of arming swords. “Well, come on, then! Let's see what you've got!” He manages to sound somewhat threatening. The two women are no interested in any sort of advanced tactics. They head directly for her, the blonde making the first move... Spoiler: Attack 1d100 = 76 …and pays for it as Lydia's sword cuts her down. She falls down on the dirt path, unhurt but unconscious. Thanks to the thief's planning she is able to avoid the redhead's attack and strike at her next. Spoiler: Attack 1d100 = 85 The second woman falls down, unconscious as well. With both opponents defeated Lydia is able to stop and catch her breath. Though she can't explain it she feels like she has learned the basics of fighting with a short sword. (She gets the skill at level 1). With no immediate threat Lydia is able to take a look down the split path: * To the left she seems some tents in a clearing, 5 naked women sitting around a fire. They would be perfect targets for an archer – but alas, she does not have her bow right now, only the short sword. Surprising them is impossible and there's no way to tell if it is just those five, or if there are more in the tents. Individually they seem no more challenging than the two she just defeated, but in a group they might be a serious threat. * To the right she sees some sort of wooden cottage, a lone woman standing guard outside next to the door. This one is wearing leather armor and has two short swords on her belt. The cottage behind her has two windows – one on each side of the door – but the curtains are drawn, making it impossible to see inside. This there is no way to be sure if anyone is inside. Looks like each path offers a different challenge.
“Maybe I will...” The thug replies as she watches her leave. Spoiler: Mylea's Search 1d100 = 78 After crossing the bridge the priestess heads south along the river. She has no luck finding the 'lad' the thug mentioned, but after an hour of searching she finds more of the plants the lady had her examine, plus a couple of other types of plants that also seem to have been planted by someone.
"Hmm..." Mylea examines the ground near the plants, trying to use her knowledge of the forest to identify some tracks. Before she follows them, if she finds any, she does a diagnostic spell on these heretofore unknown species of plant.
Spoiler: Diagnosis Spell 1d100 = 30 Nature Magic: +20 Total: 50 The first plant is an herb used in the creation of various antidotes. The second... seems to be regular rice? Hard to tell if it was planted as a test, as a cover-up for the rest of the plants, or by mistake. Mylea examines the ground and is quite disappointed to find no footprints or any other hint of human presence in the immediate vicinity – looks like the unknown person made sure to cover their tracks. She could search further away, in the hope that the person was not as careful after moving away from here, or she could wait for them to come back – though there's no telling when that might happen.
"Ah, but you see, this woman was quite... stubborn." Anton adds, a little boldly as he noticed how focused she was now. "When the elderly merchant was playing nice, she was quite headstrong, ignoring his advances, shooting down his proposals." He whispered, letting her rub her own pussy. "Until he wasn't so nice" He said in a stern tone, as his right hand slides down her breasts, along her stomach, until he reached her crotch. "For... financial reasons you see, the woman has agreed to sleep with the old man. Unbeknownst to her that he's been studying her body, learning every part of her that made her squirm." He whispered, leaning in to kiss Lusserina's nape. His right hand making her think that he'll go for her pussy, when he suddenly slides it behind her. Groping her ass, his finger prodding her sphincter.
Mylea decides to head further into the woods, never minding a trip into nature, as she searches for the mysterious planter.
Avella open her eyes wide for chace what was give to her by fate, or maybe by Sarenear. If she managed to give back medalion to House Leonis and earn their graditue for family of her father, he could finaly acknowlege her! No more years, slowly building church of Everlight in Marika, she could be official daughter of her father right now! Suddenly, thief disturb her deepest thoughts. "Of course, I'm going away. But remember what I told you. You always have a chance for redemntion. Keep that in mind". She said as she leave him in the camp, with box of house Leonis. She return to Marda and Lathrul and show the amulet in the box. "I managed to convince him, into giving it back without the fight. Our mission is succed." Avella said happy, before looking at Lathrul. "Lathrul... I was thinking that I should talk with nobles who hired you. I recognise this crest and I'm sure, that I could talk them into giving us bigger reward than they promised." She said with confidence in her voice.
[Is the skill for short swords specifically or for swordfighting in general?] Always harder to deal with numbers. Best to concentrate on just the one. Lydia walks down the right-hand path towards the cottage. Maybe I could try sneakin' through the trees, but this is supposed to teach me how to fight and all. More fun this way too. She raises her weapon as she nears the lone guard. "Do any of you lot talk or are you all mute?"
"Not a friend..." Ganith shrugs at his assertion. "Mostly she's just lucky i'm in a good mood." Ganith will attempt to make short work of the final man by using his fire magic. Just sort of manifesting a gout of flame in his hand and lobbing the flaming liquid ball at the naked man like a hot potato.
Ida frowned at the words. Of course the bastards were already backing of from the promise of land and changing it into the 'promise of buying the land'. Bastards. "You did also require to solve the situation if possible." The blond reminded him. She completely lost interest in becoming noble now. "How much for the land south-west of southern bridge?" She asked.
“Ah!” Lusserina gasps in surprise, apparently having not expected him to go for her ass. But as he starts prodding her back door a lewd moan escapes her lips. “A-and... oh... w-what... mmm... happened... ah... next?” The MILF manages to ask between moans. Spoiler: Search 1d100 = 9 Unfortunately the unknown person seems to have been very careful in covering their tracks, as she finds no trace of them no matter how much she searches. “Well, look who's back!” A woman's voice exclaims from behind her. Turning around Mylea sees the dryad she met earlier. “Welcome back, little sister! What brings you here?” “Hmm... perhaps...” The elf replies, looking at her thoughtfully. “For now keep the box and we'll discuss it when we make camp, since we likely won't make it back to the village before sunset.” “I think we have a problem.” Marda interrupts them and points at something. The two elves follow her finger to the other side of the bridge, where a trio of armored soldiers have stopped a young woman, likely from Marika, and are searching her. Apparently they do not find what they are looking for because they let her go, sending her on her way with a slap to her ass that earns them an angry glare. Soon the young woman is lost from sight as she heads north along the river. The soldiers remain, seemingly waiting for something – or someone. “Those are House Rexvanus soldiers,” Lathrul tells them, his tone grim. Avella recognizes the name as that of another powerful family. “The thief was hired by them, so who wants to bet that they are searching for what's inside that box?” He gives Avella a meaningful look. “We don't have to cross the bridge,” Marda begins, “we could head north until we reach the lumber camp and then cross the bridge into the village. No need to confront and potentially fight them.” “Yeah, but if those guys are here there might be more waiting in Marika.” Lathrul points out. “True, but they are less likely to openly attack us while in the village. Marika's guards won't like it, no matter who these guys work for.” The druid counters. Both of them look at Avella, waiting to hear what she thinks – seems like it is her decision. (Due to the specifics of the training it's just for short swords for now, though learning the other types of swords will be easier.) “What's there to talk about? Either you win, or you get fucked. Or we skip the fighting and you just let me fuck you.” The woman smirks as she unsheathes her swords and turns sideways so that Lydia can see only the side of her body and only one of the two swords. “Come, show me what you have learned.” Spoiler: Spell 1d100 = 66 Magic – Fire: +10 Surprise: +25 Total: 101 “What the...AAAAHHH!” It seems the man expected a sword strike, not a spell. He is caught completely unprepared and the ball of liquid fire hits him in the middle of the chest, setting him on fire. He starts screaming in pain, apparently too panicked to come up with a way to put out the flames. He will likely burn to death soon, unless Ganith decides to put him out of his misery first.
“Southern bridge?” Edward raises an eyebrow at her words. “You do realize that it will be a while before the southern village is founded, so for now you will be on your own if you settle there, right?” He points out. “Still, if you are sure you want to own land in that area, then sure... What do you have in mind? Enough land for a small house, enough a large house, land to build a mansion on, something even bigger... depending on how much land you want to own it could be as little as 100 Gil, or as much as 10'000 Gil. The prices do not include the discount for helping Marika, though, so the final price is likely to be much lower.”
"That will place me between the kingdom and Empire, far away from any conflicts the two could go into." Ida nodded her head. "How about an area that would be enough to build a village?" She asked. She was ready to buy land for up to 900 gil... she simply did not have more to spend.
" I bet, we could deal with them in fight, but better for us to awoid unecessery conflict and vendeta of House Rexvanus." She said, thinking if she will be able to awoid searching by these soldier if they try to by pass the bridge here. "Better go to lumber camp. It will mean not only guards of Marika, but also some lumbers too. I fight among side with one of them against wolf-demon and they will be huge help. Also, I think in villiage we will managed to talk our way out." Elve paladin decided.
"Once the elderly merchant stopped being... nice." Anton emphasized his words by circling his finger around her asshole, rubbing against every wrinkly on her rosebud. "He stopped holding back, making it so that every time they shared a bed. He'd either make her orgasm over, and over, and over until the night ended." He whispered, shallowly prodding her asshole. "Or, he'd tie her up, make sure she couldn't move... and spend the night relentlessly teasing her, leaving her at the brink of an orgasm until dawn broke." Anton removes his finger from her ass, returning to teasing her back hole from the outside once more. "Which part do you want to hear about first?" He whispered, pinching the milf's erect nipple as he did.
“Depends on the size of the village. For a small village the price will be around 4000 Gil, so a thousand Gil with the discount. Double that if you would like to pay in parts instead of all at once, but you will have two years to pay the whole amount.” The young lord tells her after some quick calculations in his mind. “Though if you are planning to build a village it might be better to request that the Queen give you the title of baroness and put you in charge of founding the southern settlement. This will give you an additional discount on the land, plus you'll have royal support in building the place.” He points out. Spoiler: Stealth 1d100 = 93 Unnoticed by the soldiers the trio goes back into the forest and then heads north, toward the lumber camp. Spoiler: Random Encounter 1d100 = 97 For better or worse they do not encounter anything of interest. Eventually, as the sun starts to set, they stumble upon a large forest clearing where they could set up camp and spend the night. “The-the former...” Lusserina manages to get out with some difficulty, then lets out a moan as her nipple is pinched.
"Straight to it, then? Not gonna take me to dinner first?" Lydia teases, buying a second to think about how to engage the woman. Can't block both swords at once, really. Gotta wait for an opening. Or just take a hit. She steps forward, and makes a light, noncommittal jab at her opponent's lead shoulder. She raises her left forearm to catch any counterattacks from the other woman's rear arm while stabbing at the armored fighter's head.
Avella sit on fallen tree, removing one of her boots, to throw out small pebble, which by mystery magic find way inside. "Ahhh... another day of long walking. Maybe for these reward I will buy myself proper horse? It would make travel easier and faster." She said and help other to make their tents. "By the way, Lathrul." Avella asked as she fixed straps of tent. "Do you have any plans what to do after finishing this mission? Do you stay in Marika or return to more urban area?" Then, she prepared some woodstick, to have firecamp on the breakfeast, and looking for forest fruits, which will be perfect to porridge.
Ida narrowed her eyes. Somehow, she was not surprised that the man was trying to screw her over. "I will buy it now." She said as she put 950 gil on the table. She frowned, hesitating a little."950 - is that enough?" She asked. If not, she could always add her magical band on the pile, which would close the sum quite nicely. She wanted to take the proof of ownership and leave. Truly, these people... those leeches, irritated her.
Spoiler: Attack 1d100 = 90 Lydia's Short Swords: +10 Total: 100 1d100 = 62 Opponent's Short Swords: +20 Total: 82 The woman seems to guess what Lydia is trying to do and manages to avoid the worst of it, but she still receives a stab to her shoulder, causing her to grimace in pain. Spoiler: Defense 1d100 = 86 Lydia's Short Swords: +10 Total: 96 1d100 = 3 Opponent's Short Swords: +20 Total: 23 At the last moment Lydia realizes what is about to happen and pulls away, right on time to avoid getting stabbed by the woman's second sword. The blade narrow misses, leaving the attacker exposed and vulnerable to counter attack. Spoiler: Attack 1d100 = 71 Lydia's Short Swords: +10 Total: 81 Seizing the chance Lydia manages to deliver a second blow before her opponent pulls away, grimacing in pain. She seems almost at her limit, but not yet out of it.
