These hands' got blood on them.

As soon as I got in the building, a middle-aged, beautifully dressed woman came up to me.
“Poor dear! You look exhausted!â€￾ she said, and led me to the back part. “You’re an adventurer, aren’t you? Why not leaving that life of danger behind? I could get you a job in my business...â€￾ She made a signal to one of the scarcely dressed girls, who approached.
“That’s why I’m here,â€￾ I said. “I need the money.â€￾
“Yes, yes, yes, my dear! But you need some healing first; here, Bunny will take care of you.â€￾ Then she opened the back door and told me with a sweet smile on her face, “Indiana.â€￾
“What?â€￾
“Your name is Indiana.â€￾
“It’s not.â€￾
“It will be from this moment. Indiana, the kinky adventurer, the right combination between Willow’s passiveness and Bunny’s perverseness!â€￾ With that she left me.

“Hop in!â€￾ said Bunny. She took me to a room and in five minutes she healed me. As she was bandaging my wrist she commented, “She’s a nice person, you know? I mean, we lead a fine life...â€￾
“I don’t know,â€￾ I shrugged, “I’m in for some money and then I’ll be gone.â€￾
Bunny stopped and goggled at me, “Are you daft? You can’t do that! I mean, why would you want to do that? This is the most exciting lifestyle ever!â€￾
I stood up and looked at her “You mean that once you’re in here, you can’t get out?â€￾
“Well...â€￾ she spoke in undertones, “I suppose you can... if someone buys your freedom, that is... But you can never come back if that happens...â€￾
“What sort of jest is this? We’re not slaves! That’s nonsense!â€￾
“Suit yourself, I’m only telling you how it has always been,â€￾ she said. “Here, put on these garments.â€￾ And she gave me a provocative silky robe.
“I’m comfortable with my robe, thanks,â€￾ I answered coolly.
“No one will pick you in that thing! Here, don’t be shy...â€￾

While I was getting un-dressed I asked her, “I’m Eien. What’s your name?â€￾
She hesitated and then said, “Lucinda.â€￾ After a moment she said, “Eien is not a common name. It is elven, right? It means “eternalâ€￾ or “endlessâ€￾, doesn’t it?â€￾
I was surprised. “How do you know?â€￾
“My sister’s best friend is called Eien. Was called, rather,â€￾ she added, with a certain sadness in her voice, “she passed away quite recently. She was an elf... And a young one, too. Only 186 years. Strange, right? One would think elves last longer...â€￾
“How did she die?â€￾ I inquired, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
“Nobody knows, she had been looking very fragile lately, from what my sister told me in her last letter, ever since she’d been with... with---â€￾
“---one of our customers. I know,â€￾ I told her about my learning from Madam Jill in Caladon.
“Oh, but that’s my sister’s Madam, so you must know her!â€￾ she said, smiling, “Her name is Wilhelmina! Mandy for us!â€￾
“I’m sorry, but I never met the other girls,â€￾ I said. “What were you saying about that customer?â€￾ I asked her, while she was combing my hair.
“Oh, yes! Well, no girl would want to take this man, but Eien was bold, and so she said she would. Later my sister told me she noticed a strange glint in Eien’s eyes, as if she was mesmerised... But that’s her impression. The man was not long with her, and when he left, Eien didn’t come back to the main lounge. When they went to see her, she was lying on her bed, and said that she wouldn’t take more customers for the day, because she felt exhausted. The man never returned, but every day she was more and more fatigued.â€￾ Bunny paused and whispered, “She died a month ago.â€￾
“That’s... interesting,â€￾ I muttered. I had the feeling that there was something familiar and fishy in that story. Perhaps I should get back to Caladon once my business in Tarant was finished.

Bunny went to the door and peeped out. “Hey!â€￾ she called. “I think Madam Lil’s got you one already!â€￾ As I got to the door, I heard the woman seducing a customer, “...won’t get anything finer, sir, Indiana is the woman for you. Ah! There she is!â€￾ she ran to me and putting her arm around my waist, she whispered in my ear, “Smile, my pretty, give him the time of his life!â€￾ I walked forward and looked at the man.

It was Merloc.

[OOC=I think that, from now on, I'll only give my other characters italics when they're not really important to the storyline.]

 

Me seesed how it just sits der in mee hand and me sez.
"Wy nome not say ennyfing"
He still sits der.
"You talk now?!"
Sitst dair mor.
"Talk nows or mees nokks you wif me hed! Gukk!"

 

"Wer be da nome!!" Me moned.
[memory gets wiped blank (happens every week or so)]
"How me getst here" me sed konfewzidly.
Me den started walking down rode. It all luked veree strange.
"Wer me bee!!!" me showted verry lowdlee.
"Wer mes be!!!!!!!" Me showted eevin lowder.
Me den seed how man kummed owt of bilding.
He sed ."What are you doing half-ogre. You've just woken up my wife. I've a mind to tell your gnome boss."
[suddenly seems to remember something]
"Wer bee da nome!!!!!!!!!!" me showted as lowd as mee kan.
"Come with me ogre!!", he sed.
"Wy", i sed too.
"I'm taking you to the jail! A few months there and you should have learnt to keep your voice down."
"Jay...uhl? Wat be jayul!
"Let's just say you won't be seeing that gnome for very long." he sed krooly.
"Nooooo! Me see nome. Me keel yew!!!" me sed very angrilly.
"Help, mad ogre. MAD OGRE!!!!!!!!", he showted and started runeeng away
Me rund after heem and mee see how hee gow intoo neerist bildeeng. Me goesed in too. Wen me kummed in mee seed elf and lots of prittee ladees wering veree littil. Wun ladee was werring a dress. She was standing wif wun of da ladees and talking to da elf.
"There he is, madam, let Dronnig take care of him!!" da man skreemed wen me kummed een.
[BTW, the man is the bartender who works at Madam Lil's (He lives next door his boss :lol: ). Dronnig is an ogre who's always there (I think he likes Belle).]

 

Madam Lil was still talking to Merloc, telling him "She's a tigress, sir, you seem like an adventurous elf, you will enjoy the challenge..." I looked into Merloc's eyes and saw a sparkle of laughter in them. Suddenly a male voice boomed "Help, mad ogre. MAD OGRE!!!!!!!!" and, as if conjured up by those words, a formidable ogre, in a killer mood, burst into the place.

Madam Lil and the girls burst into what sounded like a single high-pitched howl and ran about. I remembered why I always preferred avoiding women. "There he is, madam, let Dronnig take care of him!!" the guy said. The ogre turned and look at me. There was a sad, almost desperate expression in his eyes and I instantly pitied him. I went to him and put my hand on his wrist.

"Stay with me," I said. "Keep your voice down, keep quiet and no one will hurt you, I promise."

[OOC=I've got you, my friend ]

 

All da ladies started to run arownd and skreem wen me kummed een.
"Hurgh" Me sed konsfusidlee.
Wy did evrywun skreem. Me dids not understand. Me looked arownd and seed da wun ladee was not skreeming or runeeng arownd. She den came kloser and put her hand onn my rist. Mee instintly felt calm. All me angur for da man went away.
She den sed "Stay with me, keep your voice down, keep quiet and no one will hurt you, I promise."
"Okay nise ladee, mee no how too keep kwiet."

 

I had only been laying on the sofa for a few moments when a woman in a dress came walking up to me.

“Welcome to Madam Lil’s, you look like positively exhausted. You should try hiring one of my girls. Trust me they will leave you feeling quite refreshed.â€￾ Well it would get in to a bed and out of the front “do you have any with a little spunk to themâ€￾ [/color]“I think I’ve got just the girl for you. You won’t get anything finer, sir, Indiana is the woman for you. Ah! There she is!â€￾ the lady walks over and whispers something to Indiana.

When the lady steps aside I notice it’s Eien, I stare at her and start to wonder “dose she only wares close when she knows I’m around.â€￾

Hearing a man outside yelling "Help, mad ogre. MAD OGRE!!!!!!!!" I sat up, soon after that I heard the door open and saw the ogre enter the room. I nearly flew out of my seat as I jumped up landing on the counter, sliding off and landing on the floor behind it.

After falling to the floor I drew my dagger in my right hand and lay there rubbing my head with the other, I must have hit my head on the floor.

"Stay with me, keep your voice down, keep quiet and no one will hurt you, I promise."

Is that Eien talking to the ogre. I wondered

"Okay nise ladee, mee no how too keep kwiet."

I think I’ll just lay here for a while longer.


[OCC: I’m Back]

 

The ogre was looking at me passively; I smiled at him reassuringly. I turned around only to find Madam Lil and the girls behind the sofa and Merloc... Gone again?

Beaming, I told Madam Lil, “Do not worry, this ogre is only here as a customer.â€￾
“A cu---customer?â€￾ she stammered.
“Yes. And I’m going to take care of him,â€￾ I replied happily.
“But my dear... It---He will kill you!â€￾ she said, visibly distressed.
“Oh, no, Madam!â€￾ I laughed as I walked to the rooms at the back, holding the ogre’s hand in mine, “I can assure you that there are many ways to please an ogre without suffering the consequences.â€￾

As I passed by the counter I saw a pair of boots. I turned around and said seriously, “As regards my other customer, you can tell him that he can wait his turn if his case was not urgent, or if he prefers, he can come while I’m with this customer. I could take both of them at the same time.â€￾ I looked up at the ogre. I hoped he wasn’t taking this in.

Before closing the back door, I said to Bunny, “Is it all right if I used the room you took me into?â€￾ She just nodded nervously. I closed the door behind me and took the ogre to the room. I noticed that his hands were hurt, and there were some burns too. “Merloc should learn to control himself,â€￾ I said to myself. When I’d found the bandages and some healing salve, I told the ogre, “Sit down, please. Can you tell me what your name is and what happened to you?â€￾

 

Soon after drawing my dagger I passed out…

I awoke to see one of the girls standing over me, “Hi there, you finely woke upâ€￾ she said. I could feel that a good bit of my strength had returned while I was unconscious. I was only out for a little while, but elf’s don’t require much sleep. I could hear the ogre talking about something. I got up and placed my dagger back in it’s sheath

“where did Eien go?â€￾

She looked confused. “...Indiana.â€￾

“oh… she’s in the back room.â€￾

“with the ogre!?â€￾

“there in the room around the cornerâ€￾ she said with a look of fear and disgust on her face.

It didn’t sound like any thing was going on but you can never tell “I think I’ll check and make sure she’s all rightâ€￾. as I walked in to the back room I could hear her saying something in a calm voice. I slowly opened the door to the room.

 

“Sit down, please.", me sitted down. Can you tell me what your name is and what happened to you?â€￾ sed da nise ladee.
Her voise was so calm an sooving. Almowst as eef she caird abowt mee. Eet maid me sad and hapee at da same time. Miksed emoshuns, sum of witsh I kuddent unnerstand.
"I... I... I be un ogur... an... an you be a nise ladee." Me sed slowlee.
"Me name is... uh... it bee... uhm... wait, almos gottit. It be Mog. No... dat rong. Eet bee, uhm... Noggf." me sed hesitintlee.
"Wat was da nekst kwestshin agen?"
“What happened to you?â€￾
"Oh yeah! Me nots bee eggzacklee shoor. Me mas chaseeng a man an he was meen wif mee. Den me kummed een heer wen me see how hee rund in here."
[OOC: Just in case you misinterpereted his feelings, he's not in love with Bunny. Just happy to have someone who cares about him.]

 

"I... I... I be un ogur... an... an you be a nise ladee. Me name is... uh... it bee... uhm... wait, almos gottit. It be Mog. No... dat rong." He hesitated, no doubt he was still confused for the experience he had been through. "Eet bee, uhm... Noggf."
After a moment he seemed to remember something and said, "Wat was da nekst kwestshin agen?"
“What happened to you?â€￾ I repeated, while tending to his wounds.
"Oh yeah! Me nots bee eggzacklee shoor. Me mas chaseeng a man an he was meen wif mee. Den me kummed een heer wen me see how hee rund in here."

“Well, Noggf, my name is Eien.â€￾ I took his hand and shook it. He seemed puzzled at first but then he shook my hand, and my whole arm, vigorously. Then he winced -probably because of the pain in his hand- and I continued healing him. Then I realized what he'd said.

“Tell me, Noggf, this... man you were chasing... Was he an elf? An elf with red hair? Or was he a big human?â€￾ But before we could answer, the door opened; even though it opened slowly, we both jumped. I saw Merloc's face appear behind it and so did Noggf, for his facial expression changed drastically and he stood up.

"Oh my... I hope we won't be in trouble," I thought, as I placed myself between the two of them.

 

"Hoo bee dis, Ee...I..." [pauses for a moment] "Ienn?", me askd wen me seed a man commeeng into da room.
Da man turnd too look at mee and den looked at Einen. And bak at mee agen. Der beed a ekspreshin on his fase dat I fink was disbeleef.

 

As Eien spotted me she moved between me and the ogre. She seemed to be protect him from me.

“Eienâ€￾ I glanced around the room quickly “is every thing ok?â€￾

I couldn’t quite figure out just what to think, so I kept an eye on the ogre incase he tried anything.

 

The library was huge. Bookshelves covered the walls, and there were a dozen tables littered with books. I sat down and started to read the nearest book. It was about technology. I put it away, and grabbed the next book in the pile in front of me. Also about technology. In fact, all the books were about technology. At least all the books on the table i was sitting at.

I walked over to the nearest shelf, and searched it for an interesting title. My search ended with â€￾Vampyreâ€￾.

â€￾A strange titleâ€￾ i thought. Just the word Vampyre.

I went back to the table, and started reading as the rain started pouring down outside. Soon i could hear the thunder rolling across the…

I realised that I hadn’t seen the outside of the castle yet. I walked over to the nearest window, and looked out. It was dark, but vampires have eyes similar to that of a cat. I had no problems seeing the plains outside. The castle was situated on the top of a hill, the only hill in sight. I stood there for a moment looking at the lightning and scouting for people that never showed.

When i turned back towards the table, I noticed that the books were gone. I peered into the darkness. Suddenly Drayne came walking out of the shadows between two bookcases, without making any noise at all. I jumped back and my back hit the window.

â€￾Oh, did I scare you? So sorry.â€￾

I quickly stood up, trying not to look like a complete fool with hands clinging to the curtains.

â€￾Hmmm, Vampyre. Did you know that this book has been in the possession of my family for thousands of years? An early attempt to explain us by a human. Of course, the humans had just invented books at that time. Even their written language was fairly new. It’s more of an exercise in writing than it is a book.â€￾

Drayne walked over to the table. And started to read the book.

â€￾Vampyres art a secretive race. Knowne to stay in the darke, and not comme out at day. Lately, the Vampyres have not showne themselvs. It is like they art gonne.â€￾

Drayne chuckled.

â€￾No use in reading it. Its 10 pages long and half of it you know. The other half is ridiculously inaccurate. Now, come with me.â€￾

 

"Hoo bee dis, Ee...I... Ienn?" Either Noggf hadn't recognised Merloc or Merloc wasn't the man Noggf was looking for. Either way, I felt relieved.

“Eien, is every thing ok?â€￾ said Merloc, casting a concerned glance at me.
"Yes, yes, come in!" I said as I put on the silk gloves Bunny had left for me. Protected, or rather protecting him from me, I took Merloc by the hand and closed the door behind him.

I felt utterly happy. I couldn't help smiling at Merloc as I said "I thought I had lost you and that I would have to travel across Arcanum to find you again!" I turned around and told Noggf, "This is Merloc. He's a friend. Merloc, this is Noggf."

I told Merloc about what Baihl Gwrha’l had told me, about the book, the diary and the weapon I had found; I also told him about the dead Eien in Caladon and what Noggf had told me.

When I finished I looked at him seriously and said, "I am here because I have no money and I want to get this thing identified. After what Baihl Gwrha’l told me and the story I heard, I decided to investigate about the book and the girl. I will understand if you want to part ways and stick to the adventurer, you might decide you can get more information if we... if we separate."

[OOC=I'm sorry, but I didn't really want to repeat the long story. I think this will do and you will understand.]

 

As Eien looked at me and heard my voice she recognize me, she suddenly got an excited face on her "Yes, yes, come in!". she put on a pare of silk gloves that she had with her. Taking me by the hand she led me in to the room and closed the door behind me.

"I thought I had lost you and that I would have to travel across Arcanum to find you again!" looking at the ogre she said "This is Merloc. He's a friend.â€￾ Looking back at me “Merloc, this is Noggf." I looked at Noggf “Noggf is it. Well… sorry about the incident at the inn. Every where I been today something’s tried to kill me, so when I saw you enter the inn I… kinda freaked.â€￾

After a short talk with Noggf, Eien began to tell me about what she had encountered in the tunnel and the weapon she found. "I am here because I have no money and I want to get this thing identified.â€￾ As she opened a cabinet door and pointed to a star shaped chakram â€￾After what Baihl Gwrha’l told me and the story I heard, I decided to investigate about the book and the girl. I will understand if you want to part ways and stick to the adventurer, you might decide you can get more information if we... if we separate."

“I think at this time the best idea would be safety in number. With what’s happened in just the past day I can tell you its not safe to be traveling alone in this city.â€￾

 

“Noggf is it. Well… sorry about the incident at the inn. Every where I been today something’s tried to kill me, so when I saw you enter the inn I… kinda freaked.â€￾
"Hi Merlokk?" me sed
Dey den talkd for a wile an den Merlok sed
“I think at this time the best idea would be safety in number. With what’s happened in just the past day I can tell you its not safe to be traveling alone in this city.â€￾
"We travvil togever!" me sed

 

Merloc wouldn't give up so easily; he said seriously “I think at this time the best idea would be safety in number. With what’s happened in just the past day I can tell you its not safe to be traveling alone in this city.â€￾ I felt suddenly safe and warm. "All right, then," I simply answered.

"We travvil togever!" said Noggf. I looked at him, eyes wide open. He just looked at me with his quiet, dark eyes. He didn't seem to be waiting for an answer. I looked at Merloc, looking for approval, and I found myself repeating, "All right, then."

I turned around and started removing my clothes. "No peeping!" I told them over my shoulder. I took my robe from the cabinet and put it on before getting the rest of my belongings into my pockets.

"Well, then, I guess we can get going," I said lightly. Taking Merloc's hand in my left hand and Noggf's in my right. We went out of the room and walked towards the exit... Only to find Madam Lil and a man with an elephant gun standing side by side. The man was trembling with fear and Madam Lil looked as if she was on the verge of prohibiting our getting out of the place. Apparently she changed his mind just before we got to where she was standing, as she moved aside.

I turned around and shouted at Bunny, "I will send you a telegram from Caladon!" just before going through the open doors.

Once we found ourselves in the street, I turned to Merloc and asked him, "What do you think we should do now? And where's your friend?"