After finally being allowed inside, the group sent the horses to the stables and found an inn for them to stay in for the night. Dennis had to pinch his nose just do he can protect it from the foul stench of sex literally floating in the air. He could give less of a shit when it comes to the squelches, but the stench? He says "Fuck you" to that.
"Told you. Ever since this continent has been renamed to "Cuntry", it's not a big surprise to see this anymore." Bronn whispered to him as he patted him on the back. "I'm fine with fucking a bunch of whores, but not in front of everyone."
"Thanks, I guess." Dennis quipped dryly as he moves to a table.
After the party takes their respective chairs, he waves over to the tavern wenches and tells them to bring over the mugs of ale.
"So, are you gonna tell us why you're planning to sell the two of us out? Or are you just here to get drunk?" The elf told him, holding a refined tone despite the fact that the glare she was giving him.
"It's a lie that I had to tell just for us to get in." He replied curtly. "How else are we supposed to get in if you think about it. We can't just kill the guards and move in, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take."
"But you gave them a promise that you're gonna auction us off!" Torien yelled in a hushed tone. "How do we know that you're not gonna betray us?!"
Dennis opened her mouth to say a word, but quickly went quiet as the mugs of ale have arrived and set on the table. He uttered the wench a simple "thank you" and had her sent off before looking at the party again with honest eyes as he grabs a mug.
"I'm trying to get as much advantages as I can." He began before taking a sip of the Amber colored beverage. "I know it's a sacrificial move, but it'll be all worth it when we work up a plan. That maybe a promise to them, but who's to say it's gonna last forever?"
His teammates only gave him skeptical looks, but he didn't blame them, much less get angry. Sure, what he was saying could be absurd, but it's the truth. But even with the benefit of doubt, he'd still take it. The only thing he's begging for is for them to at least consider.
"OK." The sellsword reached for his mug and drinks it. "We'll take your word for it, but it won't be easy for whatever you're planning."
"We'll consider it for now." The elf beside him agreed and grabs her own. The warrior woman following like the rest of them.
"So..." Dennis looked at the warrior woman. "What's your name?"
"Valera Urst."
He nods and takes a swig once again. Minor as it was, he had to do it out of respect. If these are gonna be the people he's working with, he might as well know who they are.
"So..." Valera whispered into his ear. "How are gonna take down Ke--"
He quickly shuts her up by pinching her lips together, and it didn't take a genius to know that it means that they have to be quiet. After he removed the hold he had on her lips, he pointed to the lone Dark Elf sitting by the bar stool, watching the orgy.
"What's up with her?" Bronn said in a low whisper.
"She could be listening in. Look!" Dennis whispered back as he points to the ongoing orgy that litters the inn, and at the wenches walking around giving the orders of ale and food. "It's pretty obvious. She's a girl, a little bit on the petite side, but still a girl. Why isn't she getting gangbanged? It's obvious for the other two, but she's just sitting down, doing nothing."
The four of them nodded in agreement.
"She reeks like a Black Dog, but it's not the sex... She's one of them."
"No wonder she's getting away with just sitting down..."
Dennis looked at all three of them. "I need you to find ourselves a room, OK? This place has a second Storey, right?"
Bronn nodded at that. "But we have to be booked. We can't just sneak over there, and knowing them, they'll barge into our room to get them unless we make it clear they belong to us."
"OK, I'll handle it. Just drink like nobody's business, and I'll handle the booking."
Everyone agreed, and Dennis rose from his seat and walked over to the girl.
He can already tell that this was going to be a bad idea, but he had to take the risk. In the end, this empire needs to end, and even if it's a small contribution, he'll see to it personally. With that, he held on to the Dark Elf's shoulder, and asks her a question.
"Can you point me to the innkeeper? Me and my friends are looking for a room to stay in."
The elf only gave him an impassive look. He couldn't help but wither a little under her gaze, but he doesn't let it show. He already has a good idea on how to stop prying eyes.
"You don't need them." She said neutrally. "Just go up and pick yourselves a room, it's that easy."
Dennis rose a brow, and as if the elf had seen the same look a thousand times before, she pointed towards the orgy, and true enough, that the Innkeeper is there. His blood boiled a little, but he wallowed it to avoid suspicion. Yet, it didn't stop the pitiful look appearing on his face as he watched her gag on Black Dog dicks with the other wenches.
'How many?' He asked himself. 'How many wanted this to happen?!'
He stopped his musings as he couldn't help but feel the girl's gaze start boring a hole through his head, but he didn't mind as it somehow confirmed some of his suspicion. She could be watching them, listening in to their conversation with her pointy little elf ears, glancing at them with her pretty eyes while pretending to be nothing more but a girl that likes watching orgies.
"Thank you." He uttered as he quickly walked upstairs, his compatriots dashing from their seats in a hurry.
He gulped at that sort of action, and he could tell it was gonna bite him in the ass one way or another. Yet, he pressed on, and joined them on the way up. As he went up, he felt a shudder go down his spine, but it's probably for the better, because now he can confirm it.
She was spying on them.
"Since we have ourselves an elven spy at the ground floor, we're gonna have to be quiet." Torien whispered before taking a glimpse at Dennis, who is taking a rather large notebook from his bag and grabs a pencil as well.
"Can anyone read? Much less read and write?" He asked them all. They nodded and he sighed in relief as they all gathered around. "This is how we're gonna keep quiet."
He opens the notebook and flips across the pages, happy that this is a blank one. Then again, it's obvious since it's bound in leather, and the paper made in the exact same way how it was done in the middle ages. He was glad for the pencil too, as he needs to blend in as much as possible. The time will come where he'll tell the whole story to everyone, but not when there is a spy around.
He scribbled onto the paper, writing down the question to weaken the infrastructure of Ken. When he was done, he passed it to the others, and he watched as they wrote down their suggestions. He can admire there handwriting later, there's work to be done.
By the time they were done, he looked at all of the suggestions, and listed them down as it follows.
[Bronn: "We go to the dungeons and knock out the guards. Seeing the kingdom's state, it'll be safe to assume that the cells are crowded. If we get them out, it'll cause a distraction."
Torien: "We find the traitors! If what Bronn says it's true, we'll have to recruit and plan a distraction! It'll cause enough chaos to get us out, and if we're lucky, we cripple the Black Dogs."
Valera: "We find the wards, and the mages if they are present. We must take their spellbooks as well to make it easier for our allies to besiege this place."]
Dennis stroked his chin as he began compiling them. Seeing as these suggestions basically go together. Together as in, steps one, two, and three.
"All of these are gonna work... if we plan it out more of the between stuff." He mutters in a low whisper and tucks the book right under his pillow. "You can trust me with this one."
"Let's go get some sleep, shall we?!" Bronn yelled out boisterously, heading over to his own bed and lies on it. The rest follow suit and retire for the night.
They drift off to sleep, all except one. Dennis looked at the roof as he lied on his own bed, his mind processing everything. Other than that, he reminisced the days in his past and looked through the memories he had.
He looked through all of the hardships he had growing up, and meeting new people down the line... He remembers the shows he watched, he remembers his family, but it doesn't mean they're gone, he's just here. Adventures are an odd thing for him, and those are recorded within his diary, and compendium. He smiled fondly as he looks through the window to check if someone is spying on them.
He has to be vigilant, and he'll be sure to restore this Kingdom with everyone in the attempt, and he smiled in hope, but he also made a melancholic one. One for one person. He remembers her short, auburn hair, the winged eyeliner on her eyes, the soft features of her face. 'Rana' he says inside his head.
'I'm glad you didn't come with me. I wish you could've joined, but it's probably for the best. Me being a a guy, you being a girl... We'd be separated quickly.'
He kept on thinking, and his face dropped slowly on how he remembers her, and how he remembered him... It's been two years since then, but he still feels the blood fresh on his face.
He shaked them away and went to bed, for the future is the one thing he has to worry about.
Many people have dreams. You can control them, manipulate them... Sometimes, you don't dream at all. You just go through 8 hours of darkness, and wake up afterwards, as far as sleep is concerned. But dreams? Dreams mean differently to Dennis.
"Yog...!" He called out. "YOG!!!" He called out again.
He looked around in the blank empty space that is supposed to be his dream, but a few minutes later, it's no longer black, for the white space cracked... and something... moves in. Most people would shit themselves, piss themselves, or even scream in terror as they witnessed this terror, but not Dennis, for he sees an old friend.
If a gigantic, frothing mass of eyes, mouths, and tentacles counts as a friend that is...
"Hello, Wanderer." The Old One bellowed as his main, gigantic eye approaches the wanderer.
"What in blazes are you doing in here?" Dennis replied back as he stared at the crowned eye. "And why did you call me? It has to be something important."
"You seem eager."
"Old Gods like you don't care much..." He said, crossing his arms. "I'm an ant in comparison to you. Just tell me what do you need... If an Old God like you calls me over, it has to be something important..."
He heard him growl, but with the many encounters he has, he knows what it meant, and it didn't mean Ill will... Because by growl, it's more of a hum. A hum to the God as it looks around before looking around.
"I come here to give you advice, child." He said simply. "And a warning to take into note. The little war over there, will soon become greater."
He tilted his head at those words, and regarded the God with a questioning look. "I'll show it to you." He heard him say as he opened many of his eyes and showed him the future... well... two things of the future. He looked into the first one, and he saw a tall, muscular man with a smile present on his face, writing down a letter with a Quill. His appearance definitely peaked his interest as Dennis began looking at all of his features.
Obviously, he was tall and well built. Along with the tan skin he has, and the scar running down his eye, it's clear that he is a warrior. A warrior that can read and write, and with the smile he has, he can assume that he regards himself as some sort of... king. A king to say the least. The other was a very brutal scene. One that can only be described as the "Red Wedding" of this world.
He sees armored men and rag-clothed men, fighting within the dining halls of a castle, their faces strewn with anger, glee, and revenge as they both attacked the Black Dogs amidst the food, the whores, and the slaves. He knows what this means, and it traces from Bronn. If this is what the future shows, then he's right! The houses hold the Dogs in contempt! They hated them! But he asks himself this... Why would they do that?
Sure, the signs are obvious, but he can't help but feel another reason... The massacre was personal, very personal. Yet, he feels like they're not doing this for Celestine... Are they doing it out of personal revenge, he can't be sure.
"And just a side note: Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer..." Yog-Sothoth proclaimed. "They paid the price when the necromancer first arrived and struck... where were the armies? They should've struck when he was at his weakest... The dead that crawls the realm is the punishment for ignoring it."
"But what about the letter?!" Dennis asked. "What could it mean?!"
"Remember Aegon's conquest, and how he united all of Westeros. Rulers will often expand, wishing to claim new lands for their own. Vult wishes the same."
"You think he's gonna succeed?" He asked one more time.
"The legitimacy is there... but only a fool would follow him to the ends of the earth."
"But I wanna know if he wins?!"
"He will if you let him..." Then he secedes from his dream. "Now wake up, and see the earth. The spy could be there."
And with a bright green flash, he woke up.
He looked around frantically in the room, never leaving his spot as he looks through the window, the ceiling, every nook and cranny this place has to offer.
The rain outside didn't help with the atmosphere, and neither did the thunder. He has to be vigilant. Very vigilant.
He took a deep breath and sighed as he ponders upon the dream he had, and the visions that came by Yog-Sothoth's volition. The one with the knight's are obvious, but he doesn't know when, nor how it would happen, but he focused on the one with the "King" writing the letter.
Oh, how he hoped that it would lead to getting more allies instead of enemies. Sure, there's practically a civil war going on between Kazuma and Vult, but if he gets backed up by other kingdoms across the sea, it'll lead to chaos. Even if it's a third party, he'll take it. He doesn't want more things on his plate.
He closes his eyes and took a deep breath to calm him down. Letting himself drift away in pleasure as he reclines on the bed, relishing the moist sensation on his co--
A moist sensation on his cock?
His eyes jutted open in shock and quickly peeled the blanket off of him and lo and behold... it was the dark elf from earlier, gingerly sucking on his dick as if it was the normal thing in the world.
He looked up to the ceiling, asking any God to answer his question on how a dark elf is there, sucking on his human cock like it's just... normal... but alas, he has accepted that this is now happening. He couldn't complain, really. Would you complain if you're in the same shoes as him? Probably, but why would you.
But that didn't stop him from grabbing the gun and pointed it at her head.
"Just keep sucking." He commanded in a quiet whisper. "I'm the Guy with the gun, and if you even try biting it off, I'll shoot you in the head..."
With that issue in the Air, he watched the elf continue on her treatment on his dick. He watched as she bobbed her head up and down and even licking the shaft as she went on stroking it as well.
As far as the adventurer is concerned, he's in bliss, I tell you. He relaxed himself and laid the gun flat on his stomach, savoring the pleasant sensation coursing through him, but he knows there's more pressing matters to deal with. He grabbed a stray piece of cloth and bound it into ball, and hands it over to her.
"Put it in." He said and aimed at her head once again. "And get up. You know what to do."
And do she did. She grabbed the ball and gagged herself with it before climbing up to his frame, her legs spread apart as she aligns herself with his cock. She put herself down and whimpered as she felt it go inside, and she quickly went to work as she bounced slowly on his lap.
And he quickly seized her by the throat, the gag working well as it muffled her surprised yelps, and he made sure it stayed on. "Do you really thinkthink I'm that stupid?" He whispered into her ear.
She froze and her eyes went wide as she stares at him. Unfortunately, the shock caused her walls to tighten down on the sword sheathed inside of her.
"J-Jesus, calm down!" He hugged her tightly in an effort to put her on ease. Not really the best idea since he tore her plan apart.
Yet, she took the last laugh as she pushed him down to the bed, and freed herself from his embrace, and rode him like a beast. The foreigner flailed his arms, trying to push her off, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. She swiftly grabbed his wrists and made sure he was pinned down under her strength. She even smiled as she saw his face twist in pleasure, and how he gritted his teeth, trying not to moan.
"What's the matter~?" She cooed. "I thought you're gonna be the hero, but I guess I was wrong~." She cooed once more as she put a hand on his throat. "Moan for me, my sweet prince~!"
She squeezed lightly, and he defied it by grabbing a hold of her hand and pulling it away, but she put on a fight. She chuckled as she stared into his eyes. "Moan for me. Moan for me if you want to li--"
Whatever she was about to say was cut off, for she felt something hard hitting her head, and being pushed away by the second elf inside the room, waking up from her not do subtle demands from earlier.
"Explain it tomorrow." She told him icily as she stared at his erection. "Pull your pants up! If you think I'm gonna suck that like a whore, you got another thing coming!"
And do he did. Then he quickly went to work on the dark elf. Skillfully tying her up with her own garments and gagging her once again with the cloth ball.
"I worry with the fact that you know how to do that."
"Please don't ask. It's better that way."
With both of them sighing, they went with their respective beds and slept through the night once again, leaving the dark elf bound on the floor.
"Are you really sure this is your friend's house? It looks like nothing more but a cottage for peasants." A burly man complained as he steps inside. "This better be worth it."
"Calm down, Glyndwr. I tell you, I always come here for tea, conspiracies, and just loosening up." The white haired girl piped at him as she skips over to a chair and sits on it. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen."
"Shiromi, you're not helping! And what did I tell you about calling me by that name? It's Marthos, and don't you forget it!"
"Sorry, but that was the name you're born with! And just a fair warning, my friend is rather unpredictable~!"
The man sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Has it really boiled down to this? He wondered. Stepping inside a lowly peasant's house just to seek advice from a drunkard... advice on how to quell riots and a bunch of undead.
And just as his troubles bubbled more, another one added to his plate as he sees a man barge into the house, drunk out of his mind and drinking out of a flask. All tipsy and wobbly as the booze takes it's toll. Yet, that didn't stop him from looking at him, and spewing out a geyser of beer the moment he laid eyes on Shiromi.
"Bleatin' elk! Ai didn' 'no ye wur kamin ovah wit a fren!" The man burbled incoherently as he walks on over. "Wat du ye wan ya guber????"
Marthos shook his head in disappointment, and he just watched as he saw the drunken idiot joking around with the girl, laughing along with his horrid jokes. Yet, when he heard him cough... He could've sworn that it didn't sound... normal... it sounded clear, glassy clear.
"Forgive me for my introduction." If he wasn't concerned earlier, then he would be now. "Trust me, the only way to get eyes off you is to act like a drunk. That's how I was able to get away with locking my doors and writing my books."
"You write?"
The man nodded and he puts his flask by the table. "Some people call me Jack Connington, but they usually call the Duncan the drunkard. They couldn't bother calling me by the first one since they find that one funnier. Could you imagine?"
He shrank a little as he turned to him with a smile. "Call me Ingham." He said as he fixed his clothes and hair. "So tell me, Black Dog. What troubles ail you? Last time I checked, penis size doesn't matter. Especially if you can grab a girl from her home and rape her to her wit's end."
He sighed at that immature jab, but even then, he couldn't deny the turmoil he feels, and if he's willing to be honest, he's desperate for answers. If he's gonna get them from this freak, then might as well ask away.
"If it's about the Necromancer and his army, I'm afraid I can't help you."
Well, shit. So much for that question.
"I'm sorry, my friend, but it's clear who's gonna be the victor. Don't you see how the people were treated? I don't know how many times it's been said, but still. Do you really think the Black Dogs have a lick of a chance to beat this threat?"
"What about a way to kill him?" Shiromi piped in. "He's the mastermind here, so if we can kill him, that means we kill the rest of his army."
"If it's only that easy." Ingham declared. "Necromancer's don't fear death, they embrace it... they worship it. Necromancer's don't stay dead after all. If you drive a sword into his heart, he'll fall down. But he'll get back up, and continue on. Your best bet is a Dragonbone weapon."
Marthos tilted his head, but Ingham only smiled as he pulled out a dagger from his belt, and true to word... It was different... It was bone, but not just ordinary bone.
The two gazed at the dagger, admiring the intricacy built into the weapon. The admired the wire wrap on the femur handle, they gazed upon the silver guard, and they admired the bone white blade that shined beautifully with it's Steel edges mounted on it.
"I'd love to give it to you, but I can't. It's a heirloom from my family, and an heirloom from my father... Before you bastards killed him two years ago..."
He puts it back on his belt and took a seat at a vacant chair. "It's not too late to switch sides, you know." He stated as he reclined. "At this point, you need a miracle to save your ass. You don't even have a Kingdom backing you up."
"It's preposterous!" He yelled. "My allegiance belongs to them, and to them alone!"
"But if you're here for answers, then it's obvious you're desperate." The man interjected as he took a swig. "It's hard to remain loyal to a group that's falling from grace..." He said solemnly as he took another one before handing it to him. "Isn't it clear? Rebels, undead, and traitors. You have given more people in this land a reason to Rebel instead of supporting him in this war... And not only that, you have been ignoring this threat back when it was only a rumor... Give people a chance, they'll take it. Especially if the reward is greater than the risk."
And as to prove a point, he looked at the window, and judging by the Red lights and embers... A riot is gonna begin. Of course, the three went over and watched as rows upon rows of peasants and Rebel knights March upon the streets. All of them chanting the end of the Black Dogs before halting to an end.
From there, they see a force of Black Dogs coming in to quell the riot. Backed up by the imps, the gargoyles, the orcs, demons? They're there too. And they watched as the two of them clash at one another. Their swords ringing as they both go at the onslaught.
They watched as they see the peasants cracking skulls with their shovels and their axes, and they watched as the knights hacked and slashed against the imps and demons and surprisingly, it was almost a stalemate... They were seeing men willing to die to oppose the Dogs, even if it's such a small scale.
"Brave men, are they not?"