Martinez blinked in disbelief at Stille's revelation.
The priestess crossed her arms and eyed the pair sternly. "Well, what's it going to be? Are you going to ...ahem...quickly dispatch me ..and poof...my problems vanish? ", she challenged.
"We're threatening innkeepers now? This is low...even for us. ", protested Raoul.
The duelist ignored the half giant and considered how this would go down. If he was correct about his assumptions about the baroness and attack, then he was sure the creature must surely have an ace up her sleeve. The element of surprise was gone and she most likely had a readied spell, minions outside, or perhaps some unknown defense. He was sure she would not put herself at his mercy so foolishly. If he was correct and didn't attack, the monster before him could either escape or ply her magic on them unopposed. If by some incredibly small chance he was incorrect and refrained from attacking , then he would still look like a fool. He doubt this incident ,no matter how trivial or minor would remain in the room, knowing how chatty old broads are , news of his incompetence would leak to his future employers and current competitors. The fourth option was that he was incorrect and attacked, that would be disastrous. Not only would his reputation and standing as a demon hunter be ruined forever, but he would most likely be wanted by what passes as the law . Constables, soldiers, and even Royal Adventurers would most likely be sent to bring him to justice.
As Martinez puzzled over his course of action, he noticed the priestess smirk at his predicament. Was it a test or dare of some sort he thought ? As the duelist puzzled over her reaction, the pleasant looking serving girl returned with more wine , as requested by Raoul.
"Anna, please leave. Now is not the time. ", Stille blurted as she turned her attention towards the servant and began shooing her away.
That was all the advantage that Martinez needed. With the speed of an drug fueled cat, he retrieved what appeared to be a rectangular square slab of wood at his side. A quick pull of a hidden latch, and four bow arms popped from its side. Two preloaded crossbow bolts slotted into place as the duelist pointed his twin arbalest at the priestess and her servant. Although Raoul voiced his reluctance to follow Martinez earlier, the half giant emitted a low roar from his vast lungs. Glowing strands of force began forming from his hands and quickly formed a heavy staff as tall as himself. It gleamed and pulsed in his hands with some form of alien power.
"HAH! I have the advantage now, old woman. ", boasted the duelist. "Not so tough now are you? Especially with my dual action double crossbow aimed at your face and Raoul's staff ready to strike you down. "
Stille did not look amused and folded her arms together and stared at the duelist again. "How is this different from thirty seconds ago ?"
Martinez considered her statement , and tried to think of an appropriate answer.
"M..Mistress...what's going on? Why do they have weapons ?", asked Anna cringing in fear, before the duelist could answer the priestess.
Stille sighed and reevaluated her situation. She did not seem concern for her own well being, but the safety of her servant seemed to weigh heavily on her. She slowly unfolded her arm, and place them above her head. " Please do not let this degenerate to violence. Let Anna be. I surrender. ", she said reluctantly.
"Where have you been! ", roared the conjurer as he back handed the delinquent demoness.
The magician was in a long blue robe with several glowing arcane symbols on it. He did not look terribly remarkable or sinister, but his demonic servant certainly did. She was on all fours, and her body oozed lewdness, seduction, lust and perversity. Every part of her from her ample breasts, sensual curves, curled horns, dark mane, leather wings, and sinister tail , screamed the temptations of some forbidden erotic delight.
The slap did not physically hurt the succubus at all, but such a demeaning gesture stabbed deep into her abysall pride. The creature reared back and bared its fangs , while hissing angrily at her master.
The conjurer snorted at the futile gesture and took a step towards his servant. Despite the succubus's defiance, it shrunk back as he approached.
" Those damn Knights of the Husky and their allies the Clerics of Koryis are closing in on my lair, and I just discovered that I've been searching in the wrong place all this time. We are no closer to finding the Blue Mage's sanctum, and my foes close around me. While everything is falling apart , I find you hunting and frolicking carelessly at who knows where ! Useless creature ! I should have summoned something more obedient...", said the conjurer menacingly.
The succubus sensed the man's anger, and rapidly changed from a defiant to a more submissive mode. It literally purred as it approached the conjurer and rubbed her beautiful dark maned head against the hand that slapped her so dismissively earlier.
"...though I must admit, that you do have your charms. ",conceded the conjurer.
The magician enjoyed the touch of the creature's hair against his hand, and felt his own lust briefly rise with in him. Before he did something rash, he took a deep breath and reasserted his control of the situation and gently pushed his willing servant away . Although she was in the image of some lingering beauty from his dreams , to accept her embrace was to feel the wrath of his harshest nightmares. She was the perfect tool to confuse his enemies and to break their wills, but she could easily over come his own if he was not careful. Such a balance was one of the cornerstones of magic theory. To wield power but not to let it consume oneself.
The succubus growled and purred seductively despite the conjurer rejecting her once again. It was a game the pair played many times in the past.
"Sir Rollo is leading their group. I need you to find this man and ...break him, scattering the forces he leads in the process. ", smiled the conjurer. He then produced a scrap of clothing and presented it to his servant.
The succubus's eyes widened and she salivated in anticipation of the hunt. She sniffed the cloth and savored the scent , her whole body shivered from her perfectly formed nose , her pert breasts, to her leathery wings and tail.
The conjurer nodded as he sensed his servant was ready. "As you disperse my foes, I will relocate my base. There's a small town named Veb , approximately a hundred miles south of here. My research has indicated the sanctum we seek is located somewhere there. "
The succubus's slightly pointed ears perked up at the mention of Veb. It grinned widely, revealing her sharp teeth, she would soon return inadvertently to her favored hunting ground.
"You two broads can quit your struggling. Those are mage ropes. Made from the hairs of the dreaded disenchanter. You won't be able to employ your magic against us with your hands bound with them.", gloated Martinez at his two captives . After they had surrendered to the duelist and his half giant companion , the demon hunters took the pair to the common room. They then barred the door and bound them with various specialist tools typically used on infernal predators.
"We aren't struggling. ", stated Stille, while sitting quietly and ignoring the duelist's taunts .
Martinez scoffed at the beautiful old priestess. It was all so clear now. He examined her stern face, and noted that besides some crow's feet around her eyes, her skin was flawless. Although his prey was known to be able to shape change, something as arrogant as a succubus would never appear as anything but beautiful to her prey. In retrospect he admonished himself for not shooting her in the face with crossbow when he first met her.
"You must be livid to have your guise pierced so easily . You shouldn't be too hard on yourself though, many have tried to fool me in the past, none have succeeded. ", boasted the duelist as he continued to heap praise on himself.
"Errr... those forge halflings fooled you pretty good when they tricked you into that barrel and rolled you down that hill. ", commented Raoul but was quickly silenced by Martinez's withering gaze.
"Just to be clear, I told you I was the Baroness of Veb. Your legendary powers of deduction had nothing to do with my revelation. ", commented Stille.
"Please Baroness ... your petty insults are not becoming of the nobility. I would have thought spending a century pretending to be a member of the aristocracy would have instilled better manners into you.", scoffed Martinez.
"Lady Stille...I'm scared. Is this man insane? ", whispered Anna fearfully.
Lady Stille gave her servant a calming look, and turned her attention back to the preening duelist." You have me...oh mighty demon hunter. Now what? ", she demanded.
"Yeah boss ...now what ? If she's a succubus like you say she is ...then we're in the money. However ...besides looking like a milf, she's shown no signs of being a demoness. I want to add I like milfs...and if being a milf is illegal here...I'm leaving this god forsaken country. ", commented Raoul with no hint of sarcasm.
"What's a milf? ", whispered Anna confused.
Martinez snorted at the half giant and the naive serving girl and stared at the defiant priestess. "Time to play my trump card my dear Stille. I told you before that I can prove without a doubt that the baroness is a demoness in disguise. I compliment you on your iron will and your superb acting skills, but the charade is over ! ", declared the duelist as he retrieved a small locked box from his pocket.
The box itself was similar to a jewelry box, but Stille noted that similar models were mainly used by merchants to guard their most valuable treasures. Martinez smiled and opened the box, revealing what appeared to be a plain grey stone.
Stille stared at the rock for awhile and a look of curiosity broke her stern visage.
"Err...a small rock? You threaten me with a stone? ", puzzled the priestess.
Martinez noted the confusion in his prey and paused dramatically. The room remained quiet for awhile as the duelist waited for her curiosity to gnaw and claw at her.
.
.
.
"Errr..boss. Did you forget what you were going to say. Cuz you're looking pretty dumb just standing there with that small stone in your hand. ", noted Raoul after a long pause.
Martinez was about to kick his oafish side kick, but retained his composure. There was no need for his moment to be ruined by his brutish ally.
"This my dear Baroness, is a rock from the ruins of Almarth. I doubt you know what or where that is , so I will explain. ", began the duelist.
"Almarth, ruined city situated in the western part of the Knight Holds. Noted for its ability to drain magic and prevent scrying and travel spells. The ruins powers were great enough to prevent the demon Lord Yeenoghu from escaping during the battle of the Great Host versus the Great Horde. The area is similar to the plateau of Velmon/Rawk , the Iron Glacier of Khazag Narg, and to a limited extent certain areas in the Shattered mountains. ", recited Stille.
"Errr ...yeah. Well, with this stone, I will pierce your guise , proving to everyone here your true identity. Say good bye Miss Smarty pants demon babe. ", smiled Martinez. He walked forward and pressed the stone against the forehead of Stille. The duelist half expected wings and horns to sprout from the priestess , but oddly nothing of the sort happened.
"I don't see a change. ", commented Raoul as he gazed intently at the glaring priestess.
"Wait...I think its dusty. Let me try again after I clean it. ", sputtered Martinez as he wiped the stone against his shirt and pressed the stone against the priestess forehead once again. As before, nothing happened.
"Umm..is it broken?", queried the half giant.
Martinez was beside himself in panic. On numerous occasions in the past, he had used his Almarth stone to reveal demons. It cost him nearly 10,000 gold and the thought of his investment now useless drove him into a worse panic then the thought of imprisoning a baroness with no cause.
"Wait...bring your psionic called weapon over here. ", requested the duelist as he scrambled for a solution to his immediate problem. The half giant reluctantly agreed and presented the staff to his employer. Instead of accepting the weapon, Martinez pressed the stone against it . The weapon flickered and began unraveling into strands of energy. The weapon dissipated as quickly as it had formed a few minutes ago. The duelist breathed a sigh of relief, his investment was safe.
Raoul staggered as his force weapon was dispelled, "Hey dumbass...that weapon is a projection of me...I need to lie down ...get a drink. ", slurred the half giant as he stumbled his way back to the bar. Martinez began to protest , but thought he was a bit rash in his action. He should have picked something less important to dispel, but admitted the staff was a good test for his stone. It was sufficiently powerful enough and despite his companion's complaints , was easily replaceable.
This of course left him with the problem with the baroness. How did she maintain her illusion under the dispelling powers of the stone of Almarth? He turned to interrogate again and stopped. Panic rose in his throat. She was gone.
*WHACK*
Martinez fell to the ground , as the double images of an old woman holding what appeared to be a fireplace poker in her hand. She raised the iron rod again, and the duelist's vision sank into darkness.
The duelist's vision swam in and out of focus.
He wasn't sure where he was, what he was doing, or who he was at the moment. At the moment he saw a woman standing over him wielding an iron fire place poker or something. He looked at her closely and saw a vision of beauty before him, besides her grey hair she could have been a courtesan or perhaps an exotic dancer or something.
Martinez...his name was Martinez he remembered through his ringing skull. That was a good sign he thought. He was some sort of mercenary or something.
Wait...mercenaries lead pretty loose lives. Was the woman before him some sort of high priced prostitute or exotic dancer ? She had grey hair, she must have been pretty old despite her stunning figure. Was he a down on his luck mercenary ..was that the reason he was hiring old whores?
Wait ...thought the duelist. Why was she wielding an iron poker? Did he indulge in weird fetishes ? Was he into old broads who wielded bizarre erotic toys?
A low rumble from beside him jolted the duelist into reality. He glanced to the side and saw large man , no a giant of a man, bound and laying on his side. A bloody gash was on his head. "Oh great..I'm at the clutches of a crazy bondage obsessed whore that likes to punish her subjects."
The woman stared down at him. " Anna, can you shut the door on your way out. ", she said in a loud firm voice. "
"Yes Lady Stille.", replied a scared feminine voice . The muffled sounds of a door closing followed.
Martinez still wasn't thinking straight but cracked a smile. "Stille? Silent? Hush? ", cackled the duelist as he verbally translated the word stille form one of the northern dialects of Grom.
This silent woman or whatever her name was , ignored the duelist's statement and walked to a small table next to her. "A nice collection of toys you have here. ", she commented coolly.
"A double action arbalest...complete with blessed bolts. Mage rope. Silver plated knives. Gloves with cold iron knuckles. Some type of dust in a small sealed box with wards. Oh..here's a rarity, a metalline garotte. I wonder where you got that from. You boys came prepared. ", she recited as she examined the items arrayed.
The duelist smiled, "Oh yeah...its time to get funky . Wait...an arbalest? knives? Knuckledusters? ", he pondered to himself. Those weren't erotic toys, they sound like weapons.
Suddenly Martinez remembered who he was and what he was doing. He was a demon hunter, and he and his side kick had been captured by a succubus.
"The metalline garrote I had specially made from a gnome in Stormreach. It didn't come cheap. ", replied Martinez, attempting to buy time. He could feel his hands tied behind his back, most likely with his own mage rope. How did she escape he wondered? The bindings were specially designed to resist magic and Raoul was especially skilled at tying knots.
"So , now the shoe's on the other foot. ",commented lady Stille as she walked towards the pair.
"Well, what's it going to be? Are you going to ...ahem...quickly dispatch us ..and poof...your problems vanish? ", aped Martinez as the demoness approached. Those were the words she asked him earlier, and he hoped his amusing mimicry would evoke some mercy from the creature. He gave her his most cocky smile as well, perhaps his natural charm would work on her. Chicks digged his smile. Even though she was a succubus, perhaps she would keep him as a toy for awhile as he searched for a way out.
Stille looked at her prisoners sternly and pondered her course of action.
"Err ok ..that was a poor choice of humor. Look Miss Demon Lady , I understand the rules of the game. We're demon hunters, and we found you . You took us out, and now you're gonna use your Succubus sex killing magic on us. I get it , no hard feelings ok. We tracked you down, but didn't close the deal . You won , we lost. It's all cool, but I just have a single request. ", begged the humbled duelist , continuing to seek an opportunity to escape.
Lady Stille grinned and seemed amused at the pleading demon hunter. "What would you have me do?"
"Err look . I know you succubus's can change form and that crap to assume a more pleasing visage to your victim. If you're going to kill me with your sex draining magic, can you take the form of a blond or something? I have a thing for them. ", smirked Martinez , hoping to gain any form of advantage
Stille looked both shocked and appalled at the suggestion. She walked to the table and grabbed the silver plated knife she had examined before. She then walked to the duelist and kneeled over him. Martinez knew he was at a disadvantage but perhaps is she got in close he could give her a head butt or something.
As the demon hunter readied his attack, he judged that Stille was a few inches outside his short ranged gambit.
"Now that both of you are awake. First off. I am not a succubus, and I am both repulsed and shocked anyone could think I would devour my friends and neighbors. ", she stated calmly.
Martinez nodded and heard a low moan next to him.
"That makes sense. She doesn't smell like a succubus, but she does have a faint wiff of brimstone about her. That might be due to the proximity of the forest though, this whole town has a faint scent of it. ", said a suddenly conscious Raoul.
"Err...If you aren't a succubus , umm can you let us go? ", asked Martinez . He still wasn't 100% convinced, but saw an opportunity to escape and wasn't about to let it go.
"I am debating whether I should or not. You both admitted you were about to kill me, and were ready to loot and pillage my household afterwards. As a baroness , I am well within my rights to have you arrested and brought to charges. ", stated the comely grey haired woman.
"It would be our word against yours. ", noted Martinez . He debated to himself if a slow death in prison would be more preferable to a fast death in this woman's embrace.
"Yes, the word of a baroness who knows Lord Ricardo Belcadiz and is the god daughter to the Emperor Clovis, or the ramblings of a pair of scruffy demon hunter/bandits. I wonder whose word they would believe. ", continued Stille. Although she seemed proud of her boasts, the duelist noted a hint of reluctance in her use of "name dropping".
"Who's the hell is Ricardo Belcadiz?", asked Martinez, puzzled by the random name.
"Lord Quick , the Lord Eggbert guy I think. ", commented Raoul with a shrug. The elven Royal Adventurer was the public face of the Empire's judicial system, and was said to be a dangerous foe both martially and judicially.
Stille tipped her head at the bound half giant and continued, "Despite your unreliable nature, I will release the both of you . I just wanted to make our positions clear . Although , brigands like you are a blight on the land, I do require your services. The threat of a real succubus or similar creature is plaguing my lands and it is something I can't handle myself. I will put aside my personal distrust , and stay charges against you two. In return I expect you to continue in your quest to hunt down this demon.", the baroness commanded. Before Martinez could reply she nimbly slipped behind him and sliced the bonds .
"Errr...watch the rope, that stuff isn't cheap you know. ", commented the duelist annoyed but grateful that he had dodged death. His intuition proved incorrect and he was thoroughly embarrassed. He was sure that Stille was a demon and he was proven painfully wrong. The fact she released him, and he detected no signs that he was under a compulsion or geas poked holes in his demon baroness theory. Also the failure of the stone of Almarth to reveal her illusion was hard to explain. The duelist was completely humbled and filled with self doubt over his own competence. As he rubbed his wrists to bring back his circulation, he posed a question to Stille.
"Okay , we screwed up badly there, and for that I apologize profusely . Why are you giving us a second chance? We obviously suck at tracking down demons, why don't you throw us to the mercy of the Grommish courts and get some better trackers to assist you.", shrugged Martinez.
Stille considered his statement and paused in thought. She finally took a deep breath and explained. "Well, you two are apparently well prepared for your task. Despite your appearance, you seem very well equipped and knowledgeable about your prey. Also I am impressed by the research , deductions, and intuition you have displayed. I have full confidence that if your efforts were properly applied , you can track this demon down for me. "
Raoul looked puzzled, "Wait.. research , deductions, intuition? Were you hit on the head too? Cuz we got all three wrong , Wrong, WRONG. Actually Martinez screwed up. I just sniff out our prey and bash things. ", the half giant stated as he got up and began stretching his limbs and rubbing the dry blood off his bruised head.
Martinez was about to kick his side kick . Partially because he was insulted, but mainly because he was still wobbling at his feet, and the duelist wouldn't get a better chance. However Lady Stille stopped him in his tracks.
The baroness sighed and brushed back her grey hair, revealing a delicate twisted horn. She then grinned and revealed several razor sharp teeth. Finally a tail , literally snaked out from under her dress and playfully waved at them with uncommon dexterity. The duelist had never heard of a demon employing its tail to wield weapons, but he noted immediately it was coiled around a small knife, and then realized how she was able to escape the mage rope earlier.
"We need to have a talk. Let us retreat to my keep. ", commanded the fiendish baroness.