Mad Maiden Ch6: Featherlily

Valery hated mountains. The party had now been traversing this mountain for the last few hours, and they were only half way up. Everyone else was in full clothing and armor, while she was still in her combat skirt and breastplate.

Cerin said the scouts found the Kaiju’s nest near the cliff face. Comino was driving the cart as usual with Val in the middle, and Clark is next to her. Mickey was ahead scouting and looking for danger with Kyle. Jin-Shi was walking next to the cart drinking while Eris sat in the cart drinking some tea.

“Ow!” Clark suddenly winces in pain attracting most of the people’s attention. “You okay der Clark? Not sitting on stick are you?” Clark smiled and waved Jin-Shi off. “No no not at all, I checked. It might be pains from sitting too much.” Val scowls at him “I have a feeling there might be something else wrong with him.” 

Comino nods “I’ll keep an eye on him.” A few minutes go by, and suddenly the wind starts to pick up. A screech is heard from the far distance. Clark is now clutching his hip in pain. Comino calls him out about it,

“Clark are you sure you are okay? You seem like you need assistance with whatever is going on.”

Clark shakes his head yet again when Mickey screams “WATCH OUT!” She dives backwards to the cart as a strong wind brushes by knocking Val to the ground. As she falls she also sees the path explode as a beak came down, striking the road just feet away from Kyle.

Standing up and unfolding her Scythe, she got her first look at the creature, and oh boy it was big. The Kaiju was perched on the cliff looking down at the party . It was green,  as tall as a castle and is wings were larger that her home town spread out. It's two giant heads had beaks that looked to be ten times larger than a typical lance, and just as sharp.

The rest of the party joins her standing side by side facing what could be their deaths. Comino states “There is no way we can fight this thing! It’s too big!” 

“That’s what she said.”

Mickey commands “Lets see if we can pot shot this thing until we can devise a plan.” Everyone (besides Val) then proceeds to pull out their range weapons and start firing.

For a while nothing was working. Arrows didn’t work, and they couldn’t get close enough to hit it directly without taking a severe amount of damage while trying. Val was at a loss for a plan too when she heard Eris say “Comino! Clark’s hip is glowing!”

To Val’s surprise it was. Comino, Val and Mickey rushed over while Kyle, Jin-Shi, Eris, and the clockwork soldiers continued to fight the Kaiju. “Clark! What is going on!?” yelled Comino.

“I’m not quite sure! My tattoo is glowing now instead of stinging, it’s just warm!” 

“Wait his tattoo is on his ass!? Why didn’t he say it was there!” 

Mickey slit the part of the garment where the tattoo was, and lo and behold there was a tattoo of some arcane symbol that Val didn’t quite understand. Comino looks at Val “Go get Kyle! Take his place and distract the Kaiju while he looks at this.”

Val nods and does as she is told. Running up to Kyle she shoves him back pointing at Clark and holds up her scythe. Luckily Kyle understood her and rushes over in time to dodge a blow from the Kaiju. Just a few seconds later Val saw an opening and got a really nice hit in, but regretted it immediately when the Kaiju swept it’s wing sending Val flying.

She crashed through the cart’s top and landed face down in rubble and wood. Hurt Val looked up to see the progress of the fight and how Kyle was doing with Clark. She was able to see Kyle trying multiple spells to no avail. However when Mickey came up and straight up smacked Clark’s tattoo as hard as she could, what she saw would amaze anyone.

There was a blinding flash of light and when it died down there stood a man looking around unsure of what just happened. the man stood around Comino's height with a long white beard that fell to 2/3's of his height. He looked to be bald and wrinkled with a flowing white robe with grey and black arcane symbols on it. Mickey, Kyle and Val were wide eyed at this event, while Clark was just surprised.

“Zelron!?” The man turns around and gives Clark the biggest smile ever. “Clark! Well done! I see you managed to figure out the spell I put on you!”

“Uh okay? Who the hell is that?”

Comino nods “Val makes a point. Who is this Clark?”

"He's my mentor, Zelron, Wizard of the Ages. He sent me to find the Featherlily, he also put that mark on my... place."

The old man chuckled, "Indeed it was designed to activate once you found Feathe-"

"SCRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Zelron turns around holding his hands up, “Featherlily my darling! How long has it been! Please relax these people mean no harm!” To everyone's surprise the Kaiju did indeed stop its attacks. It leaned down far enough to rest its head on the road as Zelron walks up and hugs the beast’s right snout.

Dumbfounded Kyle says, “Wait so all this time ‘Featherlily’ wasn’t a plant?” A clang was herd when Val dropped her Scythe. “FEATHERLILY WAS THE KAIJU THIS WHOLE TIME!?”

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Mad Maiden Ch5: The Hell is a Deertaur!?

Now that all was said and done the group began preparations for their upcoming journey. Those traveling would be Valery, Clark, Jin Shi, Micky, Comino, along with two people Val had yet to meet. The first was Kyle, the group's Storm Cleric and undead expert who claimed to have his zombie soldiers outside the city in case the Undrow attacked. Handy since the town gaurds have been barred from assisting them.

The second was a girl not much older than Val, who sat patiently drinking a cup of tea with an Estoc at her hip. She seemed to have the same armor style as Comino, but much more regal. When Val asked who she was  Comino told her, " That's Eris, she's my boss, she leads a small company of us that stay camped out to the east of the city. She prefers to keep to herself and let me do the talking."

Val rasied her eyebrow and stared at the woman, "Who opened and stared back with her fierce eyes and said, "Before you ask Girl, Know that I'm already betrothed." to that Val responded back to Comino with, "She's spicy, I like that."

As they prepped before the journey Valery and Clark were packing the cart with all the necessary items along with Clark’s self-made Clockwork soldiers. Comino gave Clark the earring so he and Val can talk;

 “So Clark what's the area we going to like? I heard you Teleported to a forest. What was that like?”

“Oh it was wonderful! It was quiet and there was always something to do with the Deertaur of the Snowtail tribe.”

 Val stopped confused, “Don’t you mean Centaur?” Clark shook his head, “Nope Deertaur. Half elf, half deer. Body shape of a centaur, so it separates them from the Faun race.”

In another world a tall lanky man with Val’s character in front of him is staring down a man in a bowler hat. “Are you sure that race exists? I never heard of it.” The man in the hat nods viciously while the man across the table with spiky hair, and Kyle’s Character sheet adds,

“Oh yeah there are all kinds of different -taur races. There are Centaurs, Deertaurs, and the Shetland Centaur which is kinda like a pony person.” The man in the bowler hat smiles widely as he started to look up an image of something.

 the man in the Bowler hat said, “Then there is my personal favorite the Mantaur. Half man and half another man.” The lanky one raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry? Wouldn’t that just be a human?” The man in the hat spins his computer around to show everyone at the table a creature that is, yes half man and half another man.

However this one’s bottom half is in the shape of a horse, but has human features. “Mantaur! Such majestic creatures.” (He then proceeded to go on about these for the next week. While the lanky man forgot that the man in bowler hat was his editor.)

The trip to the Deertaur village was a rather boring one. Val spent most of her time reading her books, while everyone else did their own thing. Clark did share some more stories about the tribe, when he wasn’t he was working on his clockwork soldiers. Eventually after a few days traveling the camp was in sight.

The large camp of the Snowtail tribe was in a clearing in the forest with a beautiful view of the mountains. The camp was spread wide with dozens of Deertaur. They looked very at peace with their forest being made up of Druids as well as a few hunters and gatherers refining animal parts and herbs. There even were some large, strong looking Barbarians who would be mistaken for the larger centaurs if not for their stag like antlers.

The party seeked out the tribe's chief in hopes they could get some clues to these voices Clark was hearing. They were led to a large tent near the middle of the camp. Inside they were greeted by an older svelte Deertaur with lean muscle tone beneath his smaller frame. “Clark! It’s been forever since I saw you last!”

Clark smiles “Indeed it has. Everyone this is Cerin the Snowtail Chief, and a good friend of mine.” Cerin bows to them “It is my honor to welcome you to my tribe once again Clark, along with your friends. However it sparks my curiosity why you have returned. Surely there must be a reason.”


Eris steps forward “We are here on behalf of ambassador Pervox. We were wondering if you have heard of an item called ‘Featherlilly?’” Cerin paces as he thought long and hard about that. “Unfortunately in all 100 of my years leading my people, I haven’t heard of such thing. I apologize.”

Mickey pushed the question further “Has there been any kind of disturbances around here or something that might be a clue for us?” Cerin nods to this “Yes. There has been a disturbance in the mountain. My scouts caught a glimpse of the creature and, my is it quite the beast. Tell me have any of you heard of or seen an Agyra Kaiju?”

The group shakes their head at this as Cerin proceeds. “Well it’s sort of an evolved pterodactyl, but this creature has the wingspan of a mountain, and two each the size of a village.” Val taps on Comino’s shoulder “It’s the best thing we got. Perhaps that could be part of it.” Comino nods “Your right. If this creature is near here there is a chance it could be connected. We will investigate this Kaiju for you.”

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Mad Maiden Ch4 : Unknown War

Being a little upset about Wisp touching her precious weapon, Valery was on her way back to Pervox’s house. Among the crowd she saw Jin-Shi was waving to her. “Ah der you are. Pervox and others were looking for you. Come with me.”

He reaches to grab her hand, but Val swats it away. “Sheesh whats got your panies in a wad?” Val thinks with a scowl, forgetting for a moment he couldn't hear her, and starts walking with him back to the embassy. Arriving back at the embassy Pervox and the party were there waiting.

Pervox stands up when she, and Jin-Shi walk through the door. “Miss Mortis! Thank goodness you are alright. We were worried when you didn’t return!”Valery cocked her head at him “What does he mean? How long was I out?” Comino, with the earring fastened back on, answered her with “You were gone about a week.” She turns to him in a snap “WHAT!?”

Jin-Shi cuts in to add “Yes we were going to assume they killed you if we didn’t find you today.” Mickey adds “Too bad he found you.” Val flashes Mickey a quick sarcastic smile while turning to Pervox and Comino. “Alright I completed your stupid mission. Now tell me what the hell is going on with this ‘Unknown War.’”

After a quick translation from Comino, Pervox began telling the story.

“A radical group of elite magically altered Drow from the days of the war 100 years ago have taken it upon themselves to destroy the elven kingdom. My team here recovered information on their members from the Underdark capital.

So far we have managed to kill one of them and free a slave of theirs, who is still recovering in my care today."  Pervox nods at Jin-Shi, who nods back and adjusts his double bladed staff. "We are currently trying to use a spell from Clark’s mentor that may help us discern their current whereabouts.

While I would like to lead the group myself, this city still has issues dealing with my people adjusting to the surface life; and so my current job is making sure riots don't break out. Considering Elven and Drow history this keeps myself and my soldiers preoccupied.

Because of this I also thought there would be issues if soldiers were sent out on these missions. So I saw it prudent to seek outside help to work with me so hysteria wouldn’t break out. If people went investigating the Elven soldiers and learned the truth they would panic.

It was hard enough to cover up the incident at the museum when they stole the artifacts from the First Elven War. " Pervox pauses and gathers his composure, "This mission has however become personal since discovering that my brother, whom I believed to be dead before I was born, Terzin Talinda, leads this group, calling them the Undrow.”

Valery had no words for what she just heard. The museum terrorist attack was actually the Undrow stealing the ancient weapons of the First Elven War, they are planning to overthrow the kingdom, and all of this was being led by the Drow ambassador's BROTHER!?

“Oooookay then. So our main goal here is to find and secure the elven weapons, while taking out Terzin and the Undrow? Sounds kinda expensive on your end Pervox. What about this spell you said Clark’s mentor had? Where can we get that?”

Comino speaks this to him but adds his own response to Val. “Clark has been having these strange urges to go where he arrived in this country. He feels there might be something there. As for the mission yeah that’s basically it in a nutshell.”

Clark steps up to add his input to the conversation. “My mentor cast a strange spell on me that led to a tattoo in an unmentionable location on my body. It has been whispering things in my head, and it’s telling me there might be something connecting this ’Featherlilly’ near the village where I Teleported near”

Pervox nods “So I’m sending all of you to follow this clue. It is the only hope we have right now of finding Terzin and his men.” Valery was still in a mental war with herself. On one hand she wanted to help to get whatever Pervox was going to pay them, but the other was that she still didn’t like him because of who he was.

Val asks for Comino to give Pervox the earing for a moment. When he puts it on he hears this; “You know I still really don’t trust you or any kind of Drow or ‘Undrow’. Your kind killed my family and ripped me from my childhood. I may not have the morals you do, but if there are people or things worse than the Drow I will slaughter everything I possibly can for one thing as payment.”

"And what would that be, Miss. Mortis?"

“Happiness. This world has nothing but pain, harsh memories and suffering. You know people in high places, so I want a way out.” Pervox nods his head as he takes off the earring. “I will do my best Miss. Mortis.”

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Mad Maiden Ch3: The Thief and the Reaper

After obtaining the Goblin Gotan's belongings and a map to the guild; Val set off to the lower end district of the city. She loved being at the shop with her adoptive father and all, but there was just this feeling of being at home around all these shady people.

Turning down a dead end alley way she came up to the sewer grate that was marked on the map. Opening it and climbing inside, surprisingly there wasn't a stench. Following the tunnels down the area opened up into what looks like a off the beaten path cavern.

There were a few other beings there in cloaks, playing cards and sitting near barrel fires. Down the hall were a set of doors with a few people in front of it. When she stepped up, one of them stopped her.

“Hold on there girly; I haven’t seen you around in these parts. What is your business here?”

Val handed the man a note, which she prepared a ahead of time. The note read; [I am here on a mission on behalf of Pervox. I was requested to speak to a man named Wisp. He was close with one of our party members, Gotan, a Goblin Assassin.]

The man told Val to wait as he went inside no doubt to clear the note with this man called Wisp. Eventually, the door man did return, and no longer carrying her note, but a longsword. “Alright hand over your weapon and come quietly.”

Val looked at the man with a questioning expression. The man was getting agitated. “Look I had a rough day. Just do what I say so we can go see the boss.” Val shook her head backed up slightly.
Suddenly when she felt a hand grab her wrist from behind, Val's mind went into panic mode.

Yanking her hand away she drew her weapon extending the handle to it's bludgeoning mode. She spun around and cracked the man who grabbed her upside the head. Hearing a yell behind her she spun again to block a downward strike by the door man.

Kicking him away and flipping a switch on her handle, her weapon unfolds into all its glory. Her precious in her hands as she waits for her enemies to approach. “Get her!” As the people charges Val quickly changes into a defensive stance.

“Shit. Five-on-one and these guys are sword and dagger users. To be honest, I can only hope they aren't good at fighting.” It's times like these where Valery hates being wrong. Some of them got a few good hits in, and Val has a few cuts and nicks.

The others however were doing a lot worse. One lost his leg due to a failing to dodge. Another got a few broken ribs from Val crushing their chest with her scythe's shaft. The last one was impaled from her deadly back swing.

That said, amidst this carnage her energy was dwindling.  These were no fresh recruits. Jumping back five feet and panting, she couldn't believe she was fighting for her life now, and NOT for pleasure.

Then out of no where, there was a quick loud noise and Val went stiff. “Huh!? I. . . I can't move! WHY CAN'T I MOVE!?”  She then felt a quick jab to her neck. After that there was nothing but darkness. . .

Val regained consciousness several hours later. As her eyes open she realizes she can't move her hands and feet from the chair she was now tied to. “Great. Now I'm tied to a chair. Not the most comfortable place I've been tied down, but eh.” 

Val lifts her head to the sound of someone laughing. In front of her sits a Half-ling man in black studded leather armor sitting on some sort of throne. Around him are piles and piles of weapons, armor, gold, treasure, potions and women.

The man is currently fiddling with an earring he is wearing, and holding . . . her scythe, but it was a lot smaller than she remembers.

“Fascinating thing this is. A pair of magically connected earrings with Detect Thoughts. I was wondering why you had all of these notes; ya must be a mute. However, it is nowhere close to this scythe you possess. A hand crafted Transformitive combat scythe. You are one of the rare ones who use this sort of deadly weapon.”

Val is glaring daggers at him. “And you are one of the very few people to ever hold my sweetheart. Wisp I presume? Leader of the thieves guild?”  Wisp nods at her.

“That's right darling, the one and only. By my understanding your name is Valery. Sorry that we had to meet under such a rash situation, but you did kinda kill my best poisoner, and cripple my best stalker. Not going to lie to you, that was a dick move.”

“Well good thing I don't have one. And I did end up fighting, so you can't call me a pussy either so ha!” Wisp just shakes his head.

“Alright lets get this over with. Your note says you were sent to me by Pervox himself huh? One: why is that? Two: how did you know where to find us? And three: why do you have the possessions of my small little friend Gotan?”

Val replies “Well I was sent here to solve some conflicts that have arisen. I found you through a map Gotan had in his possession.”

Wisp looks at her in shock. “That dumb ass goblin almost compromised my base with a FUCKING DETAILED MAP ON HOW TO GET HERE!!?”

Val shrugs “Eh I wouldn't say detailed, but yeah it was easy to follow. Anyway as for the little dumb ass, for what I was told he perished in a dungeon. I was sent here to return his belongings and resolve the tension between the guild and Pervox.”

Wisp listens to this and thinks about it. After a while he nods his head and finally answers. “Alright miss Mortis, You may go and return to whatever war you are fighting, Pervox is forgiven.” As he says this he snaps his finger and the ropes on Val's wrists and ankles untie.

“Good thank you. Now if you don't mind I'll take my armor and weapons and be off.” She says as she stands. Wisp starts to laugh at that.

“Ha you're funny there girly, as that wasn't part of the deal.”

Valery was not happy. “Oh? Well in that case then what will I hafta do in order to get my stuff back?”

Wisp looks at Val thinking for a bit, “And before you ask no way in hell your half pint ass is getting anywhere near this.” She says as she points to herself ,“I don't swing that way.”

Wisp just shrugs and says “Alright fine, but in exchange for your belonging you're going to owe me some day.” He proceeds to hand over her scythe and it automatically resizes for her height. One of his men comes along with a bag full of her remaining gear.

“Now that this is settled do not EVER come back. We will find you when I decide to call in that favor.” Val nods at him and walks out of the guild.

She unfolds her scythe again and hugs it “Don't worry baby, mama won't let any other ugly men touch you ever again. Now let's go clean you . . . thoroughly.”

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Mad Maiden Ch2: Testing

After a brief exchange of info, and Comino taking the earring, Val couldn't believe what she was hearing. An undercover war with the Drow? The government covering up battles with terrorist attacks? None of it made any sense! Now here she is on the front of the cart on their way to see Pervox, their employer.

Comino glanced at her “You seem a bit troubled. What is on your mind?” “Nothing. I'm just basically questioning everything I've seen now.” Comino nodded “That is the normal reaction I assume, but I warn you that was just the beginning. You'll be explained in further detail once we see Pervox.” To her right Mickey was walking

“If its nothing you can't handle just leave. To be honest I'd rather the scummy goblin over you any day.” Val looked back at Comino “I like her.”

It didn't take them long to reach the embassy building. This is where Pervox, the city's ambassador and their employer, lives. Pervox was known around the kingdom as a hero for securing a war victory against the Drow. People have herd stories of him being a pirate at some point in his life, but you wouldn't be able to tell now.

Helping around the kingdom and being a married man sure kept him busy. So Val, Comino, Mickey, Jin, and Clark each get out to go tell Pervox how the last mission went. “So let me get this straight. A wild goose chase led you guys into that dungeon? Why the hell didn't you all leave as soon as you saw the traps? To be honest Gotan getting crowned and the other turning into a kabob, is kinda what they deserve.”

Comino nods “I agree entirely. Now all we need to do is update Pervox and let him know we have you and my partner.”

As they walked in Val was awestruck. She was never inside the embassy building before, and she thought it was very fancy. Elegant chandeliers, beautiful artwork, and a lot of people in dress clothes hurrying about.

Val was a little uneasy though for the Paladin guards were giving her dirty looks all the way to the main office. Through the doors she had her first look at Pervox. At first glance he didn't look no more than ten years old. Granted he was dressed very professionally there was one aspect that Val couldn’t wrap her head around.

“He's a Drow!?”  Comino was quick to answer “Yes. Although I am aware of your past just listen to me for a moment.”

“You are taking orders from a person from the same race as we are fighting.”

“Yes but.” Comino feels a hand slap him in the face. “I don't give a DAMN about your regards to him. Deal is off. Now give me my earring back!” Val stands there holding her hand out to Comino. He notices they're causing quite a scene, and he can see Pervox walking over. 

“Now now ma'am there is no need to cause a scene we all mean you no harm.” Comino replies to Pervox rubbing his cheek; “My apologies, she doesn't take your kind well Pervox.” One of the paladins steps forward with a stern look.

“Not just his kind, but all that is good! She is pure evil sir. Why is she here?” Val smirks a the man “Oh sweetie you don't know the half of it.*Sigh* You'll never find the bodies.” Clark clears his throat, “Well you see that is part of the reason why we are here. You see that last mission you sent us on came up a cold trail, and in the end led to the death of two of our party members.”

Pervox's face drops as he sat down in despair. “I'm. . I'm sorry. I didn't know it would lead to that.” Val's expression changed as she could see he meant every word he said. Clark went on

“Well lucky for us we managed to find Ms. Mortis here, along with Comino's new partner. There is a bit of a problem however. We learned that Gotan was part of an underground guild, and we found things we believe belong to them.”

Pervox stands up then begins pacing, and thinking. “Usually we have new people go through a task, but we don't have time for that.” He looks at Val “Ms. Mortis, you may not like me and I wish I knew why, but would you please take care of this?"

"The guild would be more accepting of you more than anyone else here. Besides I'm sure they would like to know of Gotan's demise. When you return we shall proceed with our mission as I shall brief you then.”

She looks at him for a while thinking of everything she just herd. Even though he is Drow, he isn't like the drow she knows. It was upsetting that she would haft to wait until after this side mission to get a full explanation, but the ambassador just asked her to do a job personally. She looks at Comino smiling, and he smiles back. “She'll do it.”

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Mad Maiden Ch1: The Silent Reaper

Normally today would be slow, boring, and she would have a lot of time to read. That however was not the case ever since they were visited by a dragon lord. They had people coming in and out looking for top notch weapons and armor from there, but only having two people in the store at maximum they were rushing all day long.

Now late afternoon Valery Mortis is sitting in her favorite chair reading her books while her adoptive father works at the counter. “Jeez. You really surprised that lord with your Draconic Val. I'm too old for this kind of business.”

“I don't know why you're complaining. He was such a nice guy, and we're making more money in a day than we did in a week before he came here. Maybe now you will be able to afford that expansion you always wanted.”

“Ha probably. I always wanted to have an enchanter in the shop. Magic weapons and armor sell for quite a lot.” He takes a look around. “Hey, since you aren't doing anything why don't you go get me some more metal and leather? After that last rush we're almost out.”

Val happily nods, takes the money and heads off grabbing her weapon on the way out. The streets of the elven kingdom were busier than usual. Apparently there has been a lot of terrorist attacks on the government. First the governor’s house blew up, then relics from the museum were stolen. “Crazy world” she thought. She finally arrived at the smelters hut where a friend of her father was waiting.

“Ah! There is my favorite silent friend! What can I do for you Val?” He hands her a parchment paper and a quill. She writes [Hi Malek. Father sent me to gather some metal and leather. We've been very busy lately. Can I also have some of that oil for my sweet heart? Gives her a shine like no other!] He takes a second to read the note and nods happily.

 “Of course Val! Your shop is the talk of the town right now. That dragon lord you wooed sure boosted your popularity. Let me get some for your old man. Ill be right back.” She waits for the items by looking around. Malek has samples of all the metals he owns in a case in the main counter.

 He has almost everything from iron, gold, mithril and she was shocked when she saw a “Limited” sign by a shard of adamantine. He comes out with a wheel barrel with a sack in it. “Here ya go Val. I'll just send over the bill later got a lot of new ore to smelt from the mines.”

Val curiously points at the adamantine shard and tilts her head. “Oh, yes. That was a new metal I've always wanted to own. Hardest and sharpest metal in the world. Too expensive for you though ha ha, I already did the math for your scythe. 32,000 gold just for the blade unfortunately. Sorry Val.”

Val just shrugs it off, waves goodbye at Malek, and leaves with the wheel barrel. Arriving back at the shop her father was on the shop floor stocking up new swords and shields he probably just crafted.

“Ah there you are honey. Malek sure took his time with the order huh? Sure looks like he did; that's a lot more metal he usually gives us.”

“I was also checking out some new materials he has. He owns some of that Adamantine stuff now. Too bad its 32,000 gold just for the blade of my baby. Oh! I also added some of that polishing oil to the list I'll pay you back for that.”

“Oh wow. I herd of that stuff. Really serious material there, good for him! Here I'll take this stuff in the back, why don't you put the rest of these new merchandise in their cases?” Val nods and sets off to work, and the day drags on from there.

Hours later business finally slowed down, and Val finally got to read today. Her father was polishing the counter, and she was in her chair happily delved in her book. The peacefulness didn't last long however when the door chime went off, making Val sigh in annoyance.

“Hello and welcome to the 'Clean and Quiet Armory' How can I help you?” Val looked up to see  a gnome toward the front, a female halfling with a large hat and a.. . monkey?

The gnome looked like a wandering merchant, the monkey had his hands wrapped so might be a brawler, and the halfling carried swords and she can see a pistol or two.

“Great, be careful, one looks like a pirate and another fighter. I might have trouble with these four if they cause trouble” He replied with a simple "We'll see." As she went back to her book.

It was the gnome that started talking “Sorry to come in at such a late time, but my colleagues and I are in need to sell things and perhaps buy as well. We are working with the king and governor against the Drow terrorist attacks. Unfortunately we lost two members of our group and we have no need for their stuff.”

Val was paying attention now since the word 'Drow'. Her father replied “Oh I am sorry for your loss. Well hopefully I can help out as much as I can! Now lets see what we can do for you.” While her father helped the merchant the others were taking a look around, but Val was looking at the pirate. “Not the most attractive I've seen, but I'd still hit that”

A while later they finished their conversation “Alright I'll have these gauntlets for you by tomorrow, and here is your change” He hands the gnome the money and they set out. “What a nice group of travelers. It's good to see they have people fighting off those terrorists. Interesting to hear they are Drow.”

“Kinda has me interested in their actual goals, and what the drow are up too. They had a lot of stuff. What happened?” her father explained they had a goblin rouge who got a little too greedy with traps and treasure and had the crown of his head taken off. “Ow. Sucks to be that dumb bastard.”

“Yeah. The man I was talking to was called Clark. He was a very reasonable man who knew his way around a deal. I like him. The gauntlets were an order from that monkey fellow named Jin-Shi Wukong. Val would you mind closing up while I start on those?” She closed her book and nodded.

While closing she couldn’t get the idea of the Drow out of her mind. She hated that race with a fiery passion. It reminds her too much of her childhood before her adoptive father. “Father. Did they say they were looking for a replacement for that dumb goblin?”

“Not really. Just trying to get rid of his stuff. He had a really nice rapier. Why do you ask?” She didn't answer for a while which concerned him. “Val? Are you thinking of going with them? You don't even know them! I know you don't like drow, but honey please I don't advise it.” She looked down at her book again.

“Yes father. I'm sorry. Money is counted and on the counter. I'm going to bed early. Goodnight.” She closed her book and left the room in thought. Her father watched her go. Sighing he collected the money and closed the rest of the shop before turning in for the night.

The next day business was busy as usual. Val was still not used to this kind of rush, and neither was her father. Eventually as time went on and business slowed. As she was reading again the group came back lead by Clark again. He also had the monkey, the pirate, and a new one. A man in armor and dual wielding swords.

“Oh Clark, Jin, and Mickey right? Welcome back. I have your gauntlets in the back. I'll go get them for you.” He left while the others just stayed there. Clark waved to Val in politeness but she just scoffed. Her father came back With the gauntlets.

“Oh those are fine tank you sir! I shall use them in all my fights from here on out.” While not having good grammar The monkey was quite polite too.

Her father smiled “Not a problem sir. I'm just glad to see another satisfied customer. Are you all off on another mission?”

The new man is the one to answer. “We are currently recruiting a new member. Picked up a new healer a few weeks ago, but now we  need a replacement for our rouge. Do you happen to know where we can find some decent fighters? Name's Comino by the way, nice to meet you.”

The shop keep stared at him for a second or two “It's nice to meet you as well. Unfortunately I don't know of any good fighters. All I know is my daughter Val.” The group looks at Val who is hiding behind her book trying to concentrate.

Comino looks over her carefully “Is she any good? She really doesn’t look like much. Sorry if that was too offensive.” Val flips him off.

“She is very strong. Saved me from robbery after robbery. I think her confirmed kills are at 56 I believe?”

“65 thank you very much.”

“My apologies 65” Comino's expression changes as if now he is interested, Clark nods, impressived, Jin is drinking, and Mickey just doesn't care.

The shop keep takes a second to look at Val, then turns to them again. “Would you like her to join you?” Val's head snaps up “What?”

“I feel like she can do you all very good in your adventures.” The group looked at each other silently talking about it, when finally they said “Alright you're in. Welcome to the team.”

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Mad Maiden Ch0: Just Another Day

Today was just like any other day in the shop. Business was slow, the owner was in the back stocking the shelves, all the weapons were polished and she cleaned the store three times already!

Now with four hours left open she was here, sitting in her favorite chair, in the corner of the shop, reading the latest issue of one of her favorite novel series. “Ooklag Fa'thogis cultist hunter,” was a book written in Aklo about a shape shifting bounty hunter who hunts cultists of an evil deity.

"Ooh here comes a good part. I wonder how Ooklag is going to be creative with this higher up of the cult.'"She really liked asking these questions to herself. Being delved into the book she was thinking in Aklo of course as she was trying to understand the language more. She continued reading with her eyes widening in anticipation and excitement.

“Ooklag charged at his already tired opponent. Using his trusty blade he slashed at the priests stomach, disemboweling him. Using his powers he transformed his arms into tentacles and pinned him to the ground."

"Ooklag then proceeded to generate more tentacles and slowly slither one down the priests throat, causing him to start suffocating.  The man began flailing in panic as he tried to break free and cry for help. His attempts were futile as darkness began taking the priest. Soon his eyes slowly closed as he accepted his fate and death devoured him.”

"Ooklag satisfied with his kill slithered out of the man and began getting to work. Pulling out a dagger, Ooklag began slicing away at the man’s limbs one at a time. Pulling out his intestines like rope on a ship, and draining them slowly of all its innards!"

"THEN TAKING OUT ORGAN AFTER ORGAN HE LAID THEM ALL OUT, SKINNED THE MAN AND PICKED APART EVERY MUSCLE OFF EVERY BONE! STARTING WITH THE HEART AND LIVER HE TOOK A LARGE SNIFF OF IT AND RAISED IT TO HIS MOUTH TO-”

“VAL! What have I told you about reading those books with your earring still active! I know you enjoy them a lot, but listening to the noises of that language is frightening! I almost went insane in the back room!” Valery's head snapped up to see her adoptive father in front of her. Sinking behind her book she gave him an unsure smile.

"Sorry sir. I guess I wasn't aware I was thinking aloud. Especially in Aklo over the earring." The shop keep sighed “Sweetheart I told you time and time again, you don't haft to call me 'sir'. I adopted you for a reason, but whatever you're comfortable with is fine.

"Oh, and don't be sorry! I was only picking fun at you. You were into the book I understand.” He pats her head softly. “You're such a good girl. Don't ever change. By the way how are you doing on your Draconic? We have that order for that dragon lord to fill. We wouldn't want to insult him again now would we?

Val silently giggled ''Yep! I've been practicing day and night! Hopefully I can surprise him with my new skill! No worries!"

“Excellent” he shouts as he is looking around. “Say why don’t we close up early today and go out instead? Take a little break?” She happily closes her book making a mental note of her page. "Sure! I need to go into town for a new grindstone anyway. Got to keep my sweetheart nice and sharp!"

“Alright. Go change then go lock everything up. I'll close out the money since you don't like doing it.” She quickly jumped up and ran upstairs with her book thanking him as she left. Meanwhile the man was just starting to close out the money and take inventory when the bell went off on the door.

“Oh my apologies! We are closing early for the day. We will be open again tomorrow morning though!” He looked up to see three well built men and a woman in robes.

“Hmm what a shame. I thought you were open for a few more hours” one of them spoke. “Oh well I guess it doesn't matter. Now there won’t be anyone around to hear you scream.” Suddenly the largest man pulls out a longsword, the two other men pulls out flintlock pistols, and the woman has a strange book in her hand.

“Now if you would be so kind to make this easy. Hand over all of your valuables and all your money.”

“Great. I'm getting robbed, again. What else is new. Val you might want to get down here soon” he thought. “While I do appreciate the craftsmanship of fine weapons from around the world; I do not however appreciate them being pointed at me in a threatening manner. I can say the same for my adoptive daughter.”

The man scowled “You got a lot of balls for an old man. If you value your life and your daughters, I suggest you shut the hell up and do what I say.” The shop keep sighed “And if you value your lives you will take your leave now, or before my daughter comes downstairs.”

“Why” barked the man. “What is she going to do? I’ll just put her in her place like I always do to people weaker than me. Keep talking and I'll slit your throat. Now hand over the money!”

“Listen I'm about to start begging. I won’t even alert the guards. Please just leave.” Now the man was really upset. “I said SHUT UP YOU OLD SACK OF SHIT! Say one more god damn word and I'll-” He suddenly stopped when there were noises of footsteps coming from the nearby staircase.

Val came bouncing down the stairs in her combat attire and a large metal rod strapped to her back. She stops and looks around, then to the shop keep.  "Really? Again? Ugh is this all?" she thought.

“Yes Val. These are it” he said. The man with the longsword laughed. “HA! This is your daughter? She looks no older than eighteen, and just got back from school!” This caused Valery to look down. Now that she took a closer look at her attire he wasn't wrong.

Her shoes, knee high socks, combat skirt, corset and blouse did kinda look like a school uniform. "Huh. Better try and rethink my wardrobe a bit." The shop keep ignored this in his head. Now he was annoyed with the robbers. “Alright look. I just had the place remodeled. I don't want to spend my afternoon cleaning up blood from everywhere again.”

“OH? And who is going to stop us?” He walks over to Val. “Her?”

“Yes” the shop keep quickly said. “She will also enjoy every second of killing all four of you. She also won’t stop until she is fully satisfied. Gets her off.” The man looks back at Val.

“That's some really kinky shit there girly. How about we do this. We kill the old man, then take your precious little girl with us and show her real pleasure? I like me a quiet one, because they scream the loudest.” He bends down, now eye level with Val. “What do you say little lady?”

Now Val was annoyed too. She looked at the shop keep again, also making the others look at him too. "Turn away. I apologies in advance." He obeyed her. As the man in front of Val turns back there is a sudden sound of clanging metal and skin being pierced.

A sharp pain flew through the man as he yelled. He looked down to see the blade of a large scythe pierced through his abdomen. “What the hell-” was all he was able to say when Val pulled upwards splitting the man in half. Using the momentum of the blow she  turned and launched herself towards the other three robbers.

For the next several minutes all the shop keep herd was screams, gunshots, glass breaking, and laughter from his mind. Blood splattered on his shirt at some point too. Eventually silence filled the room and he decided it was safe to turn around.

Now normally the sight he witnessed would have made anyone else throw up their dinner, but it happened so often it didn't matter. There were pools of blood covering the majority of the floor.

The display cases were either broken or covered in blood splatters, body parts littered the ground, and Val? Val was standing there knees bent inwards, scythe held sideways, trembling, and slightly panting.

"Um. . . I may need an hour to myself. .. .then I’ll be down to help clean up."

“Go take care of yourself. I'll go find the solutions and brushes.” Val took off up the stairs with her weapon, while he went to look for the supplies.

Yep. Just another day at the shop. . .

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Mad Maiden

Original System: Pathfinder (Player)

Name: Valery Mortis (Val)

Race: Human

Main Class: Fighter

Occupation: Co-owner of a weapon shop, Mercenary for hire.

Archetype: Close quarters fighter/ DPS

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Homeland: World- Skape    Continent- The Reaches    Country- Girnel       Age- 201 AB

Personality: From back story, Val is mute and a sadist. She is aroused by pain both on and off the battlefield. She claims not to be a racist, but she despises Drow. She loves to get dirty with a fight, but also likes a quiet place to sit, relax, and read her books. Very flirtatious with most women. (yes she's lesbian, get over it).

Appearance: Female 5'5”, 130lbs, Flaming red hair with black highlights, light green eyes, D-cup bust, usually in her breastplate and armored combat skirt, Always has her Cloak of Heavenly fire on, knee high socks, and combat boots. She also keeps on a single earring enchanted with Detect Thoughts. The owner of this earring's other half shares a mental connection to Val.

Strengths: Very good close quarters fighter, High in health (Tank like), not afraid to charge into a fight if it's risky and easier to plan.

Weaknesses: SPEECH AND COMMUNICATION! Not good at long range fighting. Easily manipulated.

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