XOXOXO Rinse, Lather, Retreat
Punkin had cleansed herself and almost became spiritually unsoiled with the lakes serene surf. She dried and slipped into her purple leather armor as she retraced her path back to the coach. As she approached she could smell the scent of battle and unsheathed Patheon and raced forward only to find a pair of stallions and the aftermaths of an titanic battle. Three dead bodies, none of them Meris or Amberlee and blood splattered all of the place. Punkin looked at the black garbed trio and knew them at first sight. Luskans, assassins to be precise.
"What the hell did you do with my friends?" Punkin screamed as she kicked one of the corpses. She started to feel the tears swell up inside and couldn't hold them back. She prayed that this was a sick joke or a dream but she felt this was reality…a penance for her sins. Punkin pulled herself up and rummaged through the packages of Salandra's possessions and found the amulet. "I know that you'll prove yourself useful…at least in the sense that I'll always have a part of Meris with me." She grabbed the fresher of the two horse mounted it and directed it to go where it had come from.
XOXOXO How Sneak Into A Wizard's Keep
Punkin rode for what must have been three days straight with no sleep and still hadn't come across any sign of civilization. She grew weary of looking at trees and skies which constantly remembered her of Meris. "Will I be able to find out where you are?" Punkin thought, "I'll do whatever I need to…I'll battle the beasts in hell itself if need be to save you."
Suddenly, a great energy filled the veins of the young bard as she noticed a tall brooding tower over the horizen. It was thin and clapped together with black cobblestones and protected by a great moat. Punkin who had been known to hold her breath underwater for three and half minutes straight to escape danger, would have no trouble with the water portion. What threatened her was the insidious indigo cloud that made the heavens above the building it's throne and the lightning crashes that flashed around the structure its ally. Punkin came within a half a mile away from the building and pulled the steed up to come to a halt. She slipped off its back and reached for her blade with a tear in her ear.
"I'm sorry for this," she whispered into the creature's ear as she separated the animals head from its body.
She examined the tower. Six floors above and probably a few below. It didn't seem terrible forbading other than the silver coated pikeman that patrolled the gates, not one of the guards was below seven feet tall and if their gear gave reference to their strength than they must have been near godlike. They even seem to be well guarded in a guys most vulnerable spot.
"Damnable spears," Punkin spat as she paced a circle into the turf, "I wouldn't be able to get within three feet of any of those guards without taking a lance head to my heart. I knew I should have study archery from Ash."
Punkin started to run ideas through her head and rejecting one after another. She knew how to hide and move stealth fully, that was her trademark flair but this was more than a thievery scenario. She needed to find Amberlee and Meris, at least one of them without attracting a lot of attention if they were even here.
XOXOXO Going, Going, Gong
Meris Sensbane awakened into a golden room filled with the aroma of woman. Twelve female forms awaited the groggy wizard as he pushed himself heavenward.
"Please Godchild, allow us to pleasure you…" they all said in harmony.
"Where is my friend?"
"Godchild, do you mean the one that binds you?"
"No, I mean the one that helped defend me against an ambush."
"Godchild, she is in the dungeon…receiving her reward."
"Reward?" Meris darted to the door only to find it locked.
"The Eminent One is the only one the will be able to free you, Godchild."
"I'm no godchild…"
"Oh, but you are. You are flesh of The Eminent One's flesh and pedigreed to become his Chosen prince."
"I think you guys are confused."
"We are women, Godchild. Your women." They all said and circled around they juvenile wizard and held their hands at their side nearly in the likeness of soldiers.
"I have no need for women," Meris said escaping the ring and began to cast a spell on the door.
"You will not be able to escape- and why would you want to, you can have all you wish."
"I wish to see Punkin, my love." And at that instance the twelve reform into a dozen of perfect replicas of the short bard.
"Are we-" there voice was dead on hoarse, high pitched, and vibrant with a touch of fiery melody, "To your liking, Godchild."
Meris mind reeled at what happened and is spell died, "You aren't my girlfriend."
"No, Godchild, we are much more." They said as they surrounded him and gave no room for another escape, "We can please you in more ways that you can't even think of."
XOXOXO I Don't Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Amberlee Alagondar had been in this empty room for mere hours and hated it already. She was indeed more of a human, but she was still an elf also and her elven blood was boiling in her veins. The tower was a grim, ugly thing, squatting on the land like a sore. Even from here she could see the tree stumps and the fire-blackened earth around the black granite fortress where they had tore the forest from the ground. Nature here was cooped, confined and scoured off Faerun by these heathens. She wiggled in her cuffs and peered out of the window near her as a distant speck, high in the air, caught her eye. She was once as free as that bird. Would she ever have that freedom again? She sensed her claustrophobic feeling rise as though the walls were pressing in, suffocating her. Her binds were already creating blisters around her wrist and neck and she lay prostrate fervently seeking Tyr's guidance and wisdom, though she felt little comfort from her god.
XOXOXO Swim, PC, Swim
Punkin recheck all of her gear. She had healing packs and potions. Scrolls of Invisibility, Find Trap as well as Knock. Here trusty rapier, a pair of flare bombs that she created in Jaroo's lab and also Salandra's amulet. Other than the catlike reflexes, beautiful golden locks and amazing mental aptitude, she was outclassed. But her confidence wouldn't allow her to back down, she prepared to take a plunge into the teal water that haloed around the construct.
"It's now or never, Punkin. Go time, baby." Punkin psyched herself up and dove into the water and became engulfed with bitter coldness. Punkin knew she could get across the water but hoped the she could maintain some body heat before she reached the other side.
XOXOXO Girls, Girls, Girls
"Okay," Meris said crumbling into a ball on the ground, "Just get away."
"Why- are we not…womanly enough for you, Godchild. Perhaps, the half-elf that was brought here with you is more to your liking."
"NO!" But it was too late they transformed into the tall nubile curved paladin with soft ivory shoulders that began to beckon him and the melting softness of their silky skin that lined her slender, willowy frame with a pair of lithe thighs and lustrous calves cried for him, all free for his viewing. Meris still fought his inner urges.
"We can see you want us, Godchild."
"I don't not, I completely control of myself. Now, just get the hell away."