Marionette grumbled as she continued to do the paperwork, her sense of the passage of time had become warped as she took intermittent breaks to rest and recover. Although she did not need sleep normally she did find herself occasionally dozing off somehow. Every time she did she'd have a lustful dream. She figured it was a side effect of being in Tempest and tried not to think about it. It was hard though as the lustful dreams progressed over time. From innocent kissing to full on sexual fantasies. Every time about the same person, Racknar. Eventually the succubus returned to see how things progressed and told Marionette that the time was up.
“Alright little doll, you definitely help me catch up so it's time I fulfill my end of the bargain. Let's see here…” the succubus puts on glasses and pulls out a scroll. “Although he can find a vast variety of women and even some men attractive, like everyone he has a few kinks. We've got fishnets, which are fairly common. Size difference with him having a thing for smaller people he can lift, though he's not opposed to larger ladies. That has its limits obviously. Other preferences include green or blue eyes and red hair with freckles. Though the hair color is barely a thing for him. Let's see… for more unusual kinks we've got doll joints. So you're in luck.”
Marionette tilts her head. “Are you sure about that last one?” The succubus nods “Yeah. Also he's not entirely picky when it comes to race. As long as it's a feminine humanoid he's fine. Anything from a beast-kin to an elf to an automation. Not that knowing any of this will help you though.” Marionette’s illusionary face took on a look of confusion. “What do you mean?” The succubus then explained. “First of all I'm going to remind you that one of the first things I had you do when you got here was sign a non disclosure agreement.”
Marionette still looked confused. “Yeah, I can't talk about anything I learn while in the Nine Hells outside of the information that I gain as payment to prevent me from doing something like overhearing a weakness of Asmodaus and bringing it back with me or whatever.” The succubus nods. “Well you see, once this Racknar learns you made a deal to gather his kinks… well let's just say it's kind of a creepy thing to do. Then, while he's emotionally vulnerable from learning of your betrayal… well let's just say I now know what he's into. His soul is as good as mine, little dolly, and it's all your fault.”
Marionette is about to shout at the succubus when she suddenly finds herself transported to an area right behind the guildhall. She grumbles and heads into the building to see Davy and Krys'tal waiting for her. “Ah, your back. How was Tempest?” Marionette grumbles. “I signed an NDA, so I'm not really allowed to talk about it. I regret my decision for multiple reasons and feel like I've made a huge mistake.” Krys'tal hummed “I felt like it was a mistake from the beginning but since the contract said you'd be returned unharmed I figured it was yours to make. Something to learn from, to help you mature.”
Marionette sighed. “Yeah, I guess it worked. I definitely learned and matured while there. Did you guys pick a job to do so we can kill time while waiting on Racknar and Ariagoria to return?” Davy shows her the job posting to clear out zombies. Marionette looks it over. “Alright, I'll go buy my bag of holding and we can get started.” After a quick trip to get herself her new magic item the group goes south to a place called Clover. Once there they check in with the mayor who tells them that an old battlefield not far that was a massive graveyard with a mausoleum has recently started producing a large amount of undead.
“Basically what we need is two teams. One team consists of multiple parties that are currently at the outer walls of the massive graveyard and are working to keep any undead from leaving. While that happens a party will enter the mausoleum and find the source of these cursed undead. We already have a party coming in for that latter job and just need more people to help hold off the hoard while we wait. We just have to hold out for two more days.” Davy nodded “Don't worry sir, I'm a sorcerer with lots of AOE spells and my Shaterkin friend here has a bow with limited AOE capabilities. The rogue can then pick off any stragglers in the area we are guarding.”
The mayor nods and shakes Davy’s hand before the group head out to the massive graveyard that exists almost as a memorial for some war the group knew nothing about. Once at the other wall they saw adventurers of various types with a large array of different levels of quality of equipment. From poor noobs to more wealthy veterans of all classes of combat. Martials and mages, melee and ranges. A large number of people had taken on this job. Also there were a number of employees of the mayor and people from the guild who only served to track kill counts for each party so they could distribute pay afterwards.
The trio picked a spot on the outer wall and began helping to cull the massive amount of undead. Skeletons, undead hounds, zombies. Trash mobs that were honestly not much of a challenge, especially at the level their party had reached. The problem wasn't the individual monsters but the sheer numbers they had. Also, although easy pickings for adventurers, these undead could pose a threat to ordinary folks.
Marionette got started by tossing three daggers into the heads of some zombies killing all three of them. Then Krys'tal fired her bow three times hitting three targets that were some distance away from one another also landing headshots. The icey arrow exploded with cold energy damaging and slowing down undead nearby the ones she killed. Davy then finally got his chance to shine by flinging a fireball into a crowded area burning every undead in a twenty foot radius of where the spell landed.
Other adventures all sent in attacks at range. Arrows, daggers, javelins, crossbow bolts, and spells. Fire, lightning, and cold. A few people even tossed alchemy jugs and Molotovs into the zombies. Davy chuckled. “You know, if Racknar were here he'd tell us something about undead being weak to radiant damage or come up with a strategy so efficient we could single handedly handle the entire hoard and the dungeon.” Krys'tal let out a short laugh. “That or he'd just run in there with his chainsaw swords and Rip and Tear until the job is done. Zombies here are not infectious like the ones from the media of our world.”
Davy laughed as Marionette tossed three more daggers and killed three more undead. Krys'tal shoots three more ice arrows to take out three more as well, slowing down and damaging ones close to the target with some of those being killed due to previous damage. Davy follows that up with another fireball then right after flings out his left hand to fire five transparent balls of magic that each hit a different zombie doing damage. “I forgot I can quicken cast cantrips now. I always forget about my meta magic feats.” More blasts and shots keep hitting the area from other adventurers throwing spells and ranged attacks. Davy even spots a couple of axes get thrown.
Davy sighs. “I feel like this is going to be a long two days. I'll run out of all but cantrips after just a dozen or so rounds of combat. I'm not exactly made for stamina. I can recover lower end spells in a short rest but even a short rest is like six hours.” Marionette nods as she sends out three more daggers. “Well I'm not doing much so it's not the worst thing. There are plenty of people to cover the slack.” Krys'tal nods and hums as she fires three more arrows killing three undead each. “Yeah, magic missile is a solid cantrip and with quick casting you can double fire it. We'll be fine.”
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Davy nods as he launches a lower level spell hitting a group of undead with a lightning bolt, then quicken casting magic missile killing eight undead by targeting the five he injured the last time he used magic missile. “I guess you're right. It's just a shame I can't double up on meta magics yet.” Magic and mundane attacks continue to be launched by other adventurers killing zombies by the dozens but they simply keep coming as fast as they are being dispatched. “There's no end to these things, this grave has to run out of corpses eventually.” One of the other adventurers shouted.
Marionette continued to throw daggers as Krys'tal shot ice arrows into crowds. Davy once again shoots a lightning bolt followed by a magic missile. The area continues to be bombarded with attacks and after one more lightning bolt and a small handful of ice knife spells each followed by magic missiles Davy declares “I'm tapped out, down to cantrips. Maybe I should have invested in mana potions.” Several hours pass after that and the trio are beyond exhausted. They lay back behind the wall as others continue their attacks. The trio has no choice but to take a long rest in the middle of the night while the undead are still really active.
After getting rested the trio are right back at it with Davy starting off with fireballs once more. Quickly tapping himself out of mana within a few hours. “I am not equipped for long form combat like this.” Davy complains as he casts a magic missile twice every six seconds or so, taking out five undead every time. “We are actually making headway for the first few hours but after that all the mages are drained. Maybe if we set up a better rotation of resting or were provided mana potions for free.” Marionette lets loose some daggers. “We aren't here to clear them out per day, but to hold them back while another group takes out the source.”
Krys'tal nods as she lets more arrows loose. “Yeah, and thanks to having Infinite ammo we can keep this up all day till they get the job done. They should be heading in around now.” Davy grumbles more as he continues to fire cantrips. Then some mages focus fire to clear a path to the mausoleum. Davy watches as Sir Kenneth and his party goes through the open path and runs straight into the entrance. “Well looks like we'll only be at this for another hour or two at most.” The time seemed to drag by when finally it felt like the undead were thinning. The melee fighters then hop over the wall and start running to clean up the remaining undead.
Everyone takes time to check the undead for anything of value. Davy starts packing entire skeletons into his bag. “Bone dust is a common ingredient in alchemy, so we can get something out of it with a bit of work.” Other than that little more than scrap change is found as the weapons and armor are too damaged to be used and only good for melting down. That doesn't stop the trio from collecting it though because even if it's only worth pennies or a few dollars each it would eventually add up. Then the trio receive payment of one silver for every two undead vanquished. Chump change but with the high numbers of undead it added up.
Once everything was cleaned up and finished the trio found themselves three thousand argentum richer to divide amongst themselves fairly evenly. “Not a bad payoff for the amount of effort we put in but definitely not worth the time.” Davy laments as he looks over the coins. “Let's head back to Flowers, Racknar and Ariagoria should be back by now.” The trio then take the Clover gate to Flowers before heading to the guildhall once again.
Ariagoria woke up to an empty room, it seemed Racknar had already woken up and had begun washing up before they had planned on exploring Londinium a bit before leaving. She stretches herself out a bit before freezing as Racknar walks in with just a towel. Ariagoria covers her eyes poorly with her hands as she turns her head away. “Have some decency!” She protested. Racknar replayed by dropping the towel and gesturing to the chitin codpiece that naturally covers him. “I've been up long enough for my morning wood to fade, there's nothing to see.”
Ariagoria slowly put her hands down. “You know, you really are a jerk sometimes. If I didn't know better I'd suspect you knew what you were doing.” Racknar tilted his head. “What do you mean?” Ariagoria sighed. “Let's just say I'm beginning to see what Elizabeth could see in someone like you. You have a curtain charm and appeal when you aren't trying. I imagine it would be a different story if you actually tried to be flirty or sexy.” Racknar chuckled. “I'm an awkward and cringy flirt. Can't seduce a girl to save my life when I try.”
Ariagoria nods. “It's when you are not trying that seems to do it for Elizabeth. I can see now it's a collection of little things that add up combined to your total obliviousness to it. Should we get our bearings in this city before heading back?” Racknar puts on his silk robe and grabs his equipment. “Yeah. That was the plan.” The two then take their carriage around the city and take in the sights of the fog covered city before making their way back to the harbor to take a boat back to Gallia and start gate jumping back to Flowers.
As they sat in the boat trying to get comfortable Ariagoria let out a loud sigh. “You're a lucky guy you know.” Racknar looks over. “What do you mean?” Ariagoria laid down on the cart. “Elizabeth isn't the only one with unrequited feelings for you. The way Marionette looks at you… I'm sure she has a crush.” Racknar grumbled. “I'm not sure why anyone could be attracted to me. At least not physically. My being nice is because being mean for no reason serves no purpose. It's simply not logical.” Ariagoria then replies. “Humans aren't logical.”
Racknar nods as he lays down. “I try my best to put reason and logic before my own emotions. It's not that I don't have them. Though I do have difficulty feeling or expressing emotions.” Ariagoria sighs. “At least you are aware of the problem, that means you can work around it or solve it.” Racknar shuffled a bit. “Although I am good at voicing my opinions. I personally think you shouldn't make a choice simply because of a tradition. I believe people have the right to find their own happiness. As long as you aren't harming others in doing so. Although it is important to uphold an oath, one shouldn't be a prisoner to it. Charity, you should do something because it makes you happy.”
Ariagoria sighs. “An oath of chastity isn't required by the Church, I kinda fell into it out of habit. Hehe. Nun habit. Maybe I'll rethink things. Noble sacrifice is one thing but like you would likely say; what's the point of a sacrifice if it doesn't actually benefit anyone? What is actually gained by my oath?” Racknar than pointed out. “It's intended to put your focus on your work for God. Relationships can be a distraction from one's mission if you aren't careful.” Ariagoria then quickly retorted “Then the solution is simple, either be careful or find someone with a shared mission. A partner in every sense of the word.”
Racknar's fangs curl to mimic a smile. “Not a bad conclusion. I wish you luck with that. I'm going to take a nap.” Ariagoria rolls to have her back at Racknar. “I would like to request you consider the feelings of the two women who like you while you do. They deserve at least some form of response.” Racknar shuffled and dosed off. When the ship rocked he was woken up and off-loaded. The pair then gate to the border, cross it, go to a gate, then gate to Flowers.
Once there the pair head straight to the guildhall to wait for the other three who arrive shortly. “We have the gates, we can get to Londinium in Bramble in a few hours now. Then we can track down this guy with the swords of Arachne and hopefully convince him or pay him to hand them over. I'd like to avoid conflict if possible and I'd rather not kill him if he's not a bad person.” Davy sits at the table. “We had an interesting four days while we waited. Definitely have some catching up to do.”
When Davy says this Marionette shuffles and kind of hides farther away from the table. Racknar notices this and looks over to her. “Something wrong?” She looks away from.him and at the floor. Krys'tal hums. “She made a deal with a succubus and spent two days in Hell.” Racknar tilts his head. “As in two days passing here? That's two years. What was the deal for?” A new female voice then says. “For your kinks, what else would she ask of a succubus?”
The interrupting woman was a short petite thing with red hair and green eyes. She had black lipstick and dark green eyeliner with an outfit that seemed a bit out of place as it included a skirt and fishnets and looked almost like an attempt at a Gothic version of a school uniform. Racknar looked at her and squinted with his many eyes. He then looked at Marionette before getting closer and putting his hand on her shoulder. “I'm going to be honest, that's kind of creepy. But you are young and didn't exactly know any better. I forgive you, as long as you grow and learn from this. From now on, I ask for open communication between party members in all things. No going to outsiders for information on party members.”
Marionette looked up, still feeling shame, she nodded wordlessly. Racknar then goes over to the girl. “As for the beautiful lady who did me the solid of telling me my party member had betrayed my trust…” he then summoned his chainsaw sword and straight up impaled the woman. There are gasps and screams but then she shapeshifts back into her true form as a succubus. “Girl who's a collection of ticked boxes telling me such a thing out of nowhere, definitely a succubus. I'm not a moron. This was your plan from the moment you became aware of her desperation. Back to the Nine Hells with you.” She then vanished in a burst of purple wind.
