First Tnt post on the new serial boards! I hope you like it!
Tnt 108 : First Adventure
Rose opened her eyes and stretched as the rays of the sun poured in through the porthole and the light had followed a path over the floor towards the bed over time. Instantly, Rose found she was in one of her most favorite situations of all : Lying on her side with her elf's arms wrapped around her. Smiling, Rose pressed into Laska's chest, feeling the warm and soft skin of her lover's breast on her cheek while the still sleeping elf grasped her tightly. As she felt Laska's hands sliding over her back, she wondered as she had done before how hands that wielded deadly weapons and were often used to break necks even, could feel so soft and gentle on her skin.
Unlike other experienced warriors, Laska's hands were not at all calloused at all by the weapons she wielded. To Rose's everlasting delight, they had retained their softness... She concluded it was probably an elf-thing.
But, Rose knew it was time to get up. "Laska?" Rose whispered, but got no reply. Rose shook her head. "That's what you get, hon," Rose sighed as she slowly traced her nails around Laska's belly-button. "I only had one glass of wine yesterday, you had six... bottles, that is," Rose said, once again wondering how Laska's body had been able to process the massive amounts of alcohol she had been putting in her body through-out the years.
Not even a soft tickling of Laska's belly-button, which usually had an effect, especially when the elf was sleeping, provoked any reaction this time. It was Rose's turn to throw in the towel and she knew just how escape from Laska's embrace. Slowly, taking her time, she traced one hand from Laska's chest over her neck until it rested just behind Laska's ear, enjoying ever millimeter of the journey. Gently, yet firm, she briefly pinched the very tip of Laska's ear. Immediately, there was a response.
Laska growled a little and broke the embrace, rolling onto her back and sliding away from whatever had dared to touch her ears in such a manner. It was a trick Rose had found out earlier when Laska had been drinking heavily the night before and wouldn't wake up to break from the embrace.
"Sorry, Laska," Rose said, and briefly brushed her lips against Laska's. "But you're simply too out of it at the moment."
That said, the half-elf rolled over Laska and stepped out of bed. She made her way towards the washroom to clean up. She then changed into her soft leather tunic and matching pants, and stepped out of the washroom. Then, she took her new locket from the dresser and slipped it over her neck, making sure Laska's lovely gift was in plain sight for all the world to see.
Just before leaving, Rose paused to brush some hair from Laska's face. Her hair always hung loose when she slept, and, long as it was, usually spread around the bed like a curtain of black velvet. She then put the covers over Laska's body a bit, kissed the tattooed elf on the forehead and left the room.
---
"Ah, miss Rose, good morning," Keldorn greeted as Rose stepped on deck. It was still relatively early and many of the others were still sleeping. Keldorn, Jan and Irylarr were chatting near the gangplank while Limryu seemed to be sleeping in a coiled rope. Rose blinked as he saw the revereeing male elf. It seemed like he had aged a century since they had left on the Swiftwind.
"Don't mind him," Irylarr smirked. "Limryu finally got away from Viconia last night and is enjoying his first tension-free night in a week. He's earned it, I guess."
Rose blinked again as she noticed arrows were sticking all out of the woodwork all over the ship. The mast, the doors, the deck, the crow's nest, even the cannon holders were riddled with arrows.
"Ah, yes," Jan said. "Imoen's been practising her sharp-shooting and has yet to clean up her mess. I really think we should barge into her room and drag her out of bed to clean it up or no turnips for a week."
"You're only saying that because she shot a turnip from your hand, Jan," Keldorn said.
"Hey, that turnip was a close personal friend!"
"Besides," Irylarr said, "she roomed up with Viconia again and you don't want that Drow angry with you in the morning."
"So, why are you up so early, miss Rose?" Keldorn said. "Surely Laska can't be wide awake after all the hard liquor she consumed last night."
"No kidding," Rose said. "She was out like a light as soon as she hit the pillow yesterday. As for being up, well, Laska can't cook breakfast for everyone, so I'm afraid I'll have to do it today."
"That is, um, great," Irylarr said, looking a bit greenish as she remembered Rose's last attempt at Spicey Gumbo. Or, as it really was : Over-spiced, over-salted, over-peppered, burned, charred, tiny bug-riddled mystery meal.
"Indeed," Keldorn coughed, not wanting to hurt Rose's feelings.
"Don't come anywhere near my turnips, Rose," Jan said. "I, um, like them pure."
"I've checked and the pantry is almost bare," Rose said. "I guess Laska's feast yesterday cleared everything out, so I'll have to do some groceries..."
"Sorry," Keldorn said. "You know what's we've decided. Nobody can go out on the island alone because of the pirates, and there's no one here to pair up with you. Both Irylarr and I are on duty and Limryu isn't going anywhere."
"I'm not on duty!" Jan yelled out, much to Irylarr and Keldorn's chagin. "Hey, I'll go with you. I could use the walk anyway."
"Thanks, big-mouth," Irylarr muttered under her breath while Keldorn grimaced, expecting another assault to his taste-buds.
"Thanks, Jan," Rose said as the two of them stepped ashore. In the meantime, Keldorn was praying to Torm for forgiveness for the white lie. He had meant it well, to both spare Rose's feelings and his own taste-buds. Unbeknownst to him, Torm only understood too well. None of the gods could stand Shar's cooking either, but none of them wanted to risk ticking her off. Who knows, Shar might place them on the menu.
---
"And how about some pears, Jan?" Rose asked as she rummaged around at the greengrocer.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Jan said. "Everything you cook tastes the same."
"Thank you, Jan," Rose smiled warmly, causing the gnome to roll his eyes and wonder how a smart woman like Rose could be so dense at times. He decided hanging around Laska must have been rubbing off on her. He briefly considered telling her the story of his aunt DitziDope Jansen, but changed his mind when he noticed the greengrocer had stacked his turnips all wrong.
"Amateur," Jan hissed under his breath. "His turnips will be squished and rot when he stacks them into a pyramid. Real turnip-lovers know they should be stacked into the form of a cube and..."
In the crowd, neither gnome or half-elf noticed a small boy in rags, maybe six years of age, approach them. Without warning, the boy scowled and tossed a bag of coins in Rose's hands, which she caught.
"There's whats I gots yesterday," the sandy-haired boy spoke in an impassive voice. "It's enough so you don't have to beat me and my sister."
"Wh-what?" Rose blinked. "Beat you? I'm not going to beat me... and you don't have to give me any money," she said and threw the bag back at the boy. The surprised boy blinked and let the bag drop at his feet.
"But..." the boy asked, "Aren't you are new owner?"
"Bet that's a question you don't hear every day, Rosie?" Jan chuckled. "Kinda reminds me of my uncle Reginald. Now he asked a lot of questions. 'Are these turnips mine?', 'Is this house mine?', 'Are Orcs dangerous?', 'Is it safe to cross this bridge?', 'Are cities dirty?' and, of course, 'Is it save to empty this red-hot glowing pipe over the tail of this dragon?'. Not surprisingly, that was also his last question."
"But... but, you have Chemry's pass around your neck! They only give those out to people who work for the brothel. I... I thought you killed Chemry when I saw the pass. You must be a great warrior to be able to kill that guy!"
"Pass," Rose said as she stared at her new locket. "B-brothel?"
"Yeah," the boy said, "Chemry was with the brothel and... rented out my big sister. We... we're slaves, you see? We were afraid we were going to be dragged off to the brothel now, but I hoped you'd be our new owner and keep us out of that place."
But Rose didn't hear the boy. Instead, her trembling fist clasped around the locket she so proudly displayed only moments ago. "She... regifted... A symbol for a brothel..."
"Hey, hey," Jan said quickly. "She didn't know what it meant. She probably just thought 'Hey, nice piece of gold. Pretty for Rose'. Don't blame her for it. Face it, Laska's dense when it comes to symbols but she meant well."
"I... I guess so," Rose said, but that she had been wearing a symbol belong to a brothel had had her undeniably seething.
Jan noticed Rose's barely hidden anger. "Laska's in trouble, isn't she?"
"Oh, yes..." Rose trembled with rage.
With one yank, she ripped the chain from her neck and stuffed it in the pocket of her tunic, thinking she definitely had some words to mince with Laska. Rose decided that if she would have known this morning she wouldn't have treated Laska to a kiss but would have shoved the sleeping elf right out of bed with a swift kick to her shapely rump following after that.
"So, you're not our new owner?" the boy asked. "Goody! But, if you killed Chemry, can you help us, then, Huh, huh? I'm Ason, and me and my sister Ginia no longer have parents. Can... can you help us from being sent to the brothel?"
"Ason," Rose spoke, biting down her anger, "nobody will be taken to a brothel when I'm around. You'll just take us to your sister and Jan and I will bring you to our ship. We have many strong and good warriors on board, and they'll protect you."
Hope, an emotion which had been absent from his being for so long, was seen in his eyes as he led Jan and Rose to the place where they had lived : a back-alley. Still, it had been given some of the comforts of home. A make-shift sheath of metal had been used as a roof where underneath two clean bedrolls lied.
"OH, NO!" Ason wailed suddenly. Immediately, Jan saw recent signs of a struggle. "They've already taken her!"
"I think we should call in the cavalry now and talk things through," Jan said.
"I could really make a remark about your chattiness, but we really don't have time for it."
"Hurry! You're strong warriors! You'll have to get her out before they brand her!"
"Brand her?" Rose blinked. "You mean..."
"YES!" Ason spoke. "Chemry wanted her without a scar, but those girls working at the brothel get branded with a red poker and then they're forever theirs... It's magic!"
"Oh, crap, the two of us are going in for a really stupid rescue attempt, aren't we?" Jan spoke. Rose merely nodded in reply. "Figures," he concluded.
---
"It looks just like a normal bar to me," Jan muttered as they stood at the docks, looking at a plain little inconspicuous bar.
"It's a front," Rose said. "Believe me, I can recognize an hidden brothel when I see one. It's a perfect location too. No doubt there's a whole complex hidden in that little bar."
"Impressive," Jan said. "You've got a keen eye, Rose."
"Well," Rose blushed. "The two prostitutes standing in the corner near the entrance were also dead giveaways."
"You bloody cheat," Jan chuckled. "Hmmm, a hidden brothel, eh? Well, that's just dandy. I remember my auntie Helen who had an entire amusement park hidden in a cave under her house. She used to make a tax-free bundle of the damn thing too. It had everything! Flying cups, sugercandy, bumpercarts, turnip mountain, Epcot Turnip... She called it Dorkney Land. Sadly, the who thing collapsed when two half-orcs tried to ram into each other with the bumpercarts and one of them hit the main support-column. The whole cave collapsed after that, but now she markets the remaining crater as a 'meteor crash site'. The tourists love it."
While Jan and Rose were talking, it became apparent that the two prostitutes, one male, one female, had noticed them and were conferring. A few moments later, the female looked up and strolled towards Rose.
"Wow, good eye," Jan chuckled.
A scented perfume reached Rose's nose long before the girl reached her. The lady of the night was a very young human girl with a chiseled look and wearing her long brown hair loose. She was wearing a low-cut out red dress and expensive looking cheap jewelry.
"Greetings Milady," she greeted in a posh accent. "I am Millicent. Do you seek entertainment for the night?"
Of course, Rose recognized a fake greeting when she heard one. It was a common practise among streetwalkers to reach a potential customer by trying to connect to their level. No doubt Millicent had judged Rose to be a noblewoman from the fine clothes she wore and adjusted her manner accordingly.
"Are you being held against your will?" Rose asked gently.
The girl blinked for a few moments while fear was evident in her eyes. "Why... n-no, milady. W-why would you ask such a thing like that?"
Rose said nothing, but instead fished her locket from her pocket and showed it to Millicent. The girl gasped as she recognized the locket, which formerly belonged to the tyrant Chemry. "Let's... talk inside," she spoke softly.
She led Rose and Jan into the small tavern. It was a bit of a small and ill-lit place, but what was the most striking feature in the room, were the five heavily armored guards standing in front of what appeared to be a tunnel going into the mountainside.
"Customer, ey Milli?" one of the more gruff guards spoke as he gave Rose the look-over, making the half-elf feel very uncomfortable indeed. "Down the hall, you know the way."
As Rose stepped towards the door, one of the guards stopped Jan in his tracks. "Hey, there, little man. Where do you think are you going?"
"Errm, taking a journey to the bowels of the earth? Ah, just like my cousin Saknoosen. 'Come zjoin withz me on a zjurney to zhe zhenter of zhe Earth,' he used to ask everyone in the street. But nobody ever wanted to go with him. So, he went on his own and discovered the ancient cities of the mole people, became their king for a while, but ran off after his mole people harem all wanted to divorce him at once and sue him for child support..."
"SHUT UP!" the guard shouted.
"He's my, um, servant," Rose said quickly.
"I don't care, madam," the guard spoke. "You are the only one going with Millicent, and that is final. Your servant is just going to have to wait outside."
---
It was only when Millicent led Rose into a well-furnished underground set of rooms that the severity of what she'd gotten herself into started to sink in. Not only was she on her own in a very dangerous situation, she would have to face several guards if she wanted to get Ginia and the other girls out to safety. But foremost, she was inside of a brothel.
From the time she was forced into the life of a streetwalker, brothels were always viewed by Rose and her friends as horrors beyond imagine. Brothels in Amn were something where women were treated as slaves... once in, you'd never come out again.
Some young women forced into the life Rose had led could cope more easily with the life than others. Often enough, Rose'd find some of her friends had been delving into Black Lotus to forget their troubles for just a few moments. Unfortunately, some of them had worked up quite a bill with the Shadow Thieves to pay for their moment of solace... and she had seen many of her friends being captured and sold to brothels when their tab had been too high, only to never see them again.
And now, she was inside one of the things she had feared the most. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she was not at all afraid. Instead, a sense of purpose filled her spirit. She knew that if Laska was here, she'd close this brothel down for good, and that gave her some strength. Rose concluded Laska's brashness must have been rubbing off on her.
Millicent led her into a well-furnished room, lined with oak-wooden furniture. In the middle of the room was a large round shallow pit in which a round bed inside and many soft pillows lied. Millicent sat on the bed and motioned for Rose to join her. She did so and sat next to her.
"You really killed Chemry?" Millicent finally asked, her eyes brimming with fresh hope.
"Errm, yeah, that was me," Rose lied. She knew very well that it was Laska who had killed Chemry, but she also knew she couldn't take away Millicent's hope.
"Good!" Millicent smiled. "Then you'll have no trouble taking care of the guards. There are only two here. And Galvana really is a push-over. A coward who hides behind her magic trinkets..."
"Galvana?" 'A mage?' Rose gulped and suppressed a shudder. 'This might just turn out to become a very bad day'
"Yeah, she runs this whole damn place for Desharik," Millicent spoke. "When the fun-loving pirates were driven away and the real pirates took over, me and the other young girls of the village were dragged away and branded... to work in this damn brothel." That said, Millicent lowered the shoulder pad of her dress, revealing a thin black symbol burned in her skin. "Looks painful, huh? It stung for weeks after it'd been put in. But it means we can't go farther than a few steps outside the brothel. If we do, we'll first feel dizzy, then our head feels like it is going to explode... and if we wait any longer, we combust... It's the magic that coward Galvana uses to keep us slaves. We can't raise a hand against her either."
"That's horrible," Rose said.
"Tell me about it," Millicent snorted. "Take a look at this room? Garish, isn't it? Well, especially since all we get is a moldy cot in the barrack's behind the guard-post. Galvana is there right now, preparing the ritual to brand that new girl Ginia. C-can you help us?"
Rose stared for a few moments.
---
'I so want to be somewhere else right now,' Rose thought as her heart pounded in her chest. She was just outside the hallway, peering around the corner. There's she spotted two bored looking guards standing outside of two double doors.
On Laska's insistence, Rose had been wearing a long dagger hidden in the side of her boot, but Rose decided against using it. She had very little practise with daggers, and both guards were brandishing halberds. Attacking them with a dagger was not an option.
But then she noticed the janitor had been sloppy. And so, she found her new weapon : a broomstick. The broom was remarkably well-balanced, and she twirled it a little to test its strength. Grinning, she was ready to strike.
Remembering all the lessons Laska had taught her, Rose jumped from around the corner and landed right in front of the startled guards. Without a moment's hesitation, she jabbed the blunt end against the neck of the right guard, causing him to choke and slump over. Quickly, she slammed the broom brush into the left guard's groin, causing the man to double over. She twirled the broom and slammed the blunt end into the back of the man's head, knocking him out as well.
Satisfied with her handiwork, she sped through the double doors... and came to an immediate halt. The room behind the double doors was so small she almost crashed into the wall. At least fifteen girls sat huddled together while one young trembling girl, presumably Ginia, was being held in place by a huge ball and chain connected to both her ankles. In the middle of it all, stood a tall red-haired woman wearing a purple pantsuit. There was a malicious look in her eyes... and even more maliciously was the red-hot branding-iron in her hands.
"So," the woman who was obviously Galvana spoke, "are you with the group that's been stirring up trouble."
Rose assessed her enemy. Laska had always taught her to observe before a fight, even though the elf didn't often practise what she preached in this manner. Galvana was taller than she was, and was wearing more comfortable clothing, which might add to her speed. She had a wide range with her poker and would only have to hit her once to brand her. In short, Galvana was quite a threat.
Composing herself, Rose took the symbol from her pocket and tossed it in front of Galvana's feet, hoping to intimidate her.
"You killed him?" Galvana seemed amused. "My sources say it was an elf who killed him, not a half-elf. Now, those idiots could easily mistake an elf for a half-elf, but they also mentioned she was wearing quite a bit of tattoos. You don't have a single one..."
'Damn,' Rose thought. But immediately, Galvana struck. Rose barely blocked the poker with her broom and felt the heat radiating from it. Due to the heat, her broom caught on fire, making her weapon useless.
Beads of sweat ran over Rose's face as she jumped back again and again as Galvana flailed wildly with the poker, grinning like a shark. "You will be mine," Galvana said. "Then I'll find your elf and make her mine too. You'll both spend your days pleasing the pirates of this island!"
"Never again!" Rose snarled and jumped away. Cringing into a crouch, she quickly fished the dagger from her boot and raised it to meet Galvana. She yelped as she suddenly saw, and felt, the poker heading towards her chest. She jumped aside just in time. The poker hit the wall, only searing her arm of her tunic, not her flesh.
Valiantly, Rose held her dagger, but noticed she had maneuvered herself into a corner. Her eyes darting from left to right, she looked for an escape, but could only see Galvana stepping closer and closer and closer.
"Prepare for a new life, little half-breed," Galvana smirked.
Suddenly, a strange ball which seemed to be made from men in armor crashed through the double doors and slammed into the wall, causing the five men in the ball to be scattered all over the room. Making use of the distraction, Rose jumped towards Galvana and slashed her dagger across her abdomen, making a shallow cut. Galvana yelped and staggered backwards, unfortunately slipping over one of the armored men. Galvana yelled out as she suddenly noticed she had let go of the poker and than it was now falling down. She screamed as the red-hot tip of the branding-iron slammed down right into her stomach. Rose turned away as the smell of searing flesh filled the air.
"Oh, look Boo!" the sound of Minsc's voice sounded as the hulking ranger entered the room. "We hit a strike!"
"Hey, Rose!" Jan chuckled. "I figured you'd need some help, so I went back to the ship and found Minscey walking about with nothing to do. So, we came right here... Thought Keldorn gave us a strange look when I told him we'd be going to a brothel."
"AAAAH, the PAIN!" Galvana shouted as she writhed on the floor clutching her head. A harsher, more desparate scream followed as the haughty madam exploded in flames.
"Whoa," Minsc said, "Do people normally catch on fire, Boo? I thought only firebugs did that."
"Ah, it's the magic," Jan said. "Fickle stuff, that..."
---
Keldorn and Irylarr were most surprised when Rose, Minsc and Jan returned to the ship with a group of twenty girls and some young men in tow. After Galvana died, the spell holding them was broken and it was decided that they'd be harbored on board the Swiftwind to save them from the pirates' wrath. Ason and Ginia were very happy to be reunited, and Rose was happier than ever that she'd been able to make a difference.
There was one manner left to attend to, though. Rose found that Laska had just gotten up and had washed herself. When Rose entered their cabin, the tattooed elf had just started to put the laces in her vest.
"Hey, Rose," Laska greeted and stepped forward to kiss her lover. She was most surprised when Rose brushed right past her. "What? No morning kiss?" she asked. "Oh, well. You've had your first adventure. Liked it?"
"Yes," Rose smiled. "But... I still have this incredible feeling, you know? I feel like... I can take on the world!"
"Ah," Laska grinned. "Adventure rush! A brush with death can do that to a person. You're still pumping adrenaline into your body."
"Does it feel that way for you as well, whenever you come back from adventure?" Rose asked.
"Most of the time, yes," Laska smiled. "But the first time is the most overwhelming and you really need to blow off some steam. I remember when I got back from the Nashkel mines some year back and there were these twin barmaids that I took to my room and... Errmm, better not get into that right now."
"Well," Rose offered Laska a sultry smile. "Remember that locket you gave me?"
"Yes?"
"Did you know what it meant?" Rose said, stepping to Laska and tracing two fingers from Laska's neck down into her cleavage.
"No?" Laska blinked.
"You've been a naughty girl, Laska," Rose said in a low voice, and suddenly grabbed the top of Laska's still open vest and yanked it down, "and you're going to have to be punished..."
"Rose!!" Laska yelled in mock-shock, a grin spreading over her elven features.
Making a sound that could only be described as a growl, Rose kicked the door shut and literally jumped Laska, causing both lovers to fall onto their bed. During the passionate moments that followed, Rose heard Laska make sounds that she had never heard her make before and would probably never he heard from her again : high-pitched girlish giggles.
That's it! Thanks for reading!
I'll be picking up Alone again on Wednesday, I hope. I'll be back to comment a little later.
If you're wondering why Galvana exploded, well, the spell was also designed to protect her from attacks, but seeing the spell now applied to her as well (she branded herself), the spell was suddenly assigned to protect her from herself. Call it a 'divide by zero'-error in the rules of the spell.
Have a nice day,
---Weyoun
