Dragon by the Tail

[Whitebrand]

Sharantir leaped to the pair's defense. The dark elf drew her own weapon and stood beside Yunessa.

"Your backs to mine," Brand said quickly. "Keep them busy!"

Yunessa and Sharantir both began to glow with a yellow light (Haste spell). The dark elves around them seemed to slow down noticeably...still dangerous but easier to anticipate.

As the crowd closed in, Brand let loose another blast of lightning. More of the dark elves were floored, but not as many. Dark elves had a natural resistance to magic and were on the alert now. Unless Brand wanted to completely blow his cover, this fight was going to be complicated

[Redfield]

Ellie crouched down, she let go of Oyuki's and Mora's hands gathering several large rocks nearby in case she needed to fight, or throw a rock or two for distraction but she wasn't going to get involved if she didn't need to. "Girl's keep your head down if you can, we don't want to be snatched away while there fighting" she looked to the other two with her, in a strange way she felt a little jealous, both of them had had drow take interest in them though none seemed to have taken note of her, she assumed it was because she was nearby brand. Ellie shook her head, pushing that thought aside as she watched the fight ahead of her, grabbing a large rock, arming herself if she needed to fight.

Yunessa blinked, her eyes taking a brief moment to adjust to the spell, she pushed herself to her feet, wobbling a little as she stood, hand firmly gripping the blade's handle. "They sure seem eager to fight" she noted, moving to the side as a drow man lunged towards her, she brought the hilt of her blade down on the back of his neck and he hit the floor with an audible thud sound. Yunessa stepped back, her butt bumping up against Sharantir and the knight slowed her breathing.

"Ok, this is going to suck" Yunessa muttered, her head tilted to the side a little, a drow woman leapt towards Sharantir, wielding a pair of bronze looking daggers as she slashed at the dark elf. "Careful" Yunessa stated, her eyes looking over the crowd, they weren't as aggressive as they were a moment ago. Brand's spell having made them a bit more cautious.

[Whitebrand]

The fight began to get ugly fast. The dark elves were earnestly trying to kill while Brand...the single strongest card they held...was holding back. Blood was being drawn...little nicks but they would soon got serious.

The moment Oyuki's hand was freed, the snow fae lifted both her arms. The battlefield was blasted with a wave of bone-chilling cold. Brand didn't seem affected at all but they dark elves' resolve seemed to whither under the sudden drop in temperature.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, my lady," Oyuki said with an icy calm. "Or anything that is yours."

A snowstorm swept into the battlezone and Yunessa and Sharantir found that the swirling white was giving them a route to escape.

Brand set off another lightning blast into the stunned dark elves.

"Time to go!" He said as he practically swept Sharantir and Yunessa into his arms. He raced through the storm to rejoin Ellie and Oyuki.

[Redfield]

"This way!" Ellie called out to the man "the alley should at least help deal with the numbers." The human girl says looking over to Oyuki and flashing her a smile "thats some good work." She gave the woman a thumbs up and with her empty hand pulled Mora towards the alleyway.

Yunessa eeped, there was a small cut on her cheek, nothing too bad but she had gotten a tad careless and she found it could have ended up being a lot worse, she ran into the alleyway giving Oyuki a thumbs up and she looked to Ellie "see this was a bad idea."

Ellie huffed "hey everything was perfectly ok until you wandered off, I am not to blame for this" she scolded the knight who suddenly looked a tad more embarrased. "The woman got away too" Yunessa shook her head straightening herself up looking back to the alleys entrance.

Ellie pursed her lips "I don't know if this is possible but someone ice up the floor so they won't be able to follow us that way." She moved forward looking Yunessa over turning the girl around to examine her injuries somewhat minor as they luckily seemed to be. The young knight panted taking the break from fighting as a chance to catch her breathe "at least we were able to get out of there." Yunessa's shirt was torn, exposing a portion of her breasts, but not enough to be indecent just entice and she didn't much care for the shirt anyway.

Ellie moved over to Sharantir, looking the drow woman over "I hope your not injured miss." She gives the lady a smile, moving around to squeeze at her butt, before stepping back. "I don't think we should linger here."

[Whitebrand]

Sharantir looked angry and swatted Yunessa in the back of her head. She was so any she berated the knight in her native language.

Brand immediately intervened.

"Enough," he said sharply. "She didn't know what a Matron Mother was. It's done. The important question is what do we do now? We don't have any allies in this city...although I do have a fellow who tips me off about the slave market from time to time. He won't stick his neck out for us, though.

"Have you seen enough?" Brand asked Ellie.

[Redfield]

Yunessa winced, rubbing the back of her head, she groaned a little "ok ok, I said I was sorry" the knight says, blushing furiously "I made a mistake I shouldn't have wandered off." The human shook her head moving to lean up against a wall, a small sigh looking away from the drow woman, she put the sword away and came to rest her hands on her stomach.

"It sucks, it took us so long to get here" Ellie pouted clearly annoyed by the situation, she wanted to stay but if they were in danger they might have to leave "and we haven't even been here a day." The human woman folded her arms and she moved to stand on the opposite side of the alley thinking for a a couple moments "ok so what exactly is the kind of trouble the knight has gotten us in?"

[Whitebrand]

"A Matron Mother is the highest secular authority in any drow city," Brand explained. "Each rules a noble family or House. The only ones who can oppose them are the upper ranks if the priesthood. Each house his its own armies and intelligence networks.

"All Houses are in constant struggle with one another for dominance. If not to be the strongest then to at least not end up on the bottom. If that woman was a Matron then anything she tells you to do isn't really optional. She can set her entire army and the forces of her allies after us if she wants to. Do...yeah. A lot of trouble. Especially when she finds out we survived her order."

[Redfield]

Yunessa clicked her tongue annoyed with herself for messing up in such a way and especially mouthing off at the woman since she clearly didn't understand the lady's position. The knight rubbed her hands together briefly, looking nervously over to Sharantir.

Ellie sighed shaking her head, this whole situation had her rather annoyed with the knight, she frowned raising her head to look over at the woman, she cracked her knuckles a bit, looking down the alleyway. She could see a road beyond the other side, away from where the fight had taken place, so she knew that was the way to go. The human pushed away from the wall "when regardless of the decision, it's not going to be made here" she states "too risky, we need to move out of this alley."

Yunessa nodded "I agree, no point staying in this place, trouble will only come for us" The knight noted, though she didn't look at the group, embarrassed by her actions. Ellie groaned shaking her head "ugh.....We could always visit a brothel or a spa" Yunessa slapped the back of the woman's head "sorry, but that's not an entirely good idea I guess, lets just get away from here at least" the knight states moving to stand next to Mora though this time she didn't try to take the woman's hand.

Ellie clapped her hands nodding, she was a bit conflicted over what she wished to do, but figured this was as good an idea as any. "Yes lets at least get moving now."

[Whitebrand]

"The brothel idea might not be that bad," Brand said. "They tend to be private and popular...and all of them have a black door to sneak clients out of in case of trouble. It might get us some breathing room. As long as we're careful about which one we choose."

"I just want to get off the streets," Mora said, looking around. She looked over at Yunessa. "You didn't know," she said. "Its wasn't your fault."

"I need to rest," Oyuki said. "It will be some time before I can use my power like that again."

[Redfield]

"Really?" Yunessa asked surprised, her head tilted to the side "I didn't know that I just thought they were....You know never mind." The knight blushed giving Mora grateful smile, nodding her head a little "I still feel pretty bad though" she muttered.

Ellie nodded looking over to Oyuki "you can rest once we get away from here" she gave the snow woman a small thumbs up before looking to Sharantir "ok you know your way around, so please lead us on." The lady gave the drow a gentle smile moving to stand besides the girl and wait for her to lead them to their next destination.

[Whitebrand]

"To a brothel?" Sharantir asked.

Brand nodded and the dark elf led the group through the back alleys...avoiding the dregs that they encountered there.

Unlike the surface brothel s there was no attempt to hide what they were. Male and female dancers performed in windows, some wearing little more than a few bits of jewelry. Music and sweet scents wafted out of the doorway. Dark elves and others went in and out of the building alone or in couples.

[Redfield]

Yunessa blushed a little, her eyes wandering over the dancers and she shifted a little "wow, this is certainly different" she stated as the group emerged from the alley. The young knight still somewhat uneasy around this kind of thing especially since it was so open down here. The human grinned a little , bowing her head slightly a small sigh escaped her lips and she cast a glance over towards Ellie.

Ellie tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips there were plenty to choose from with a couple even doubling as Inns. The girl pointed to one such establishment, a scantily clad woman dancing in the window. "How about that one" Yunessa looked nodding "it's also an Inn so we don't necessarily have to indulge ourselves and we can sleep properly if we need to." The knight noted grinning a little, moving back slightly to stand closer to Mora. "So lets get ourselves some rooms....For privacy as well I guess."

[Whitebrand]

"I have the coin," Brand said. "Let's go."

The inn was a cross between a spa and motel. The lobby actually had a large hot tub area that was clothing-optional. Most of the occupants were drow, but there were a number of others here too...humans, a couple of dwarves, and a dragonborn. Consorts of both sexes and various races were available...with their rates on a sign.

Plus a couple of minotaurs that looked like bouncers.

Brand paid for the rooms, pretending to speak for Sharantir.

"Would any of you like some company tonight?" The clerk at the desk suggested. "Some of your party look a bit...tense."

[Redfield]

Yunessa made sure to stick close to Mora and Oyuki, despite the pleasant appearance of the interior there was still an air of danger. The young knight looked about, she recognised some of the species, a cat girl serving drinks, a harpy in a cage and a couple of what looked to be succubi milling about the place here and there. Some looked to be there willingly but there was more than a few who looked like slaves. She sighed looking forward to the clerk and then to Brand blushing, she thought she mind not mind having company that night. The knight shifted she could feel a few gazes on her, some from the patrons and she was aware of why, her legs had been exposed but now her torn shirt showed off more than a little of her breasts, but she had to pay that no mind. She noticed her group got some looks from the observing succubi and she found she couldn't tell wether it was lust or hunger she saw.

"Maybe a girl for the knight" Ellie muttered, the human girl lingering at the back of the group though she still strove to speak loud enough for Brand to hear her. She shifted from foot to foot admiring the interior, this seemed to be a fairly high class place or at least well furnished. The human blushed a little moving her hands over her stomach, she was almost certain people were looking there way, in all likelihood to inspect the new arrivals. Yunessa blinked shaking her head ever so slightly "look, I mean thats not really necessary you know."

A human man approached the group, standing off to the side, he seemed to be dressed quite high class, not a slave but being human almost certainly not too high up in the social ladder. He looked to Sharantir and pointed to Oyuki "how much to purchase her?" Yunessa stepped in front of the snow woman "hey she's not for sale" the young lady says, the man turned his attention to Yunessa "be quiet" he states "how much for her?" He asked the drow woman again pointing to Oyuki once more. "Hey don't ignore me, she's not a slave and not for sale" Yunessa states standing firmly before the man, who recoiled a little before raising his hand ready to strike the blonde knight before him "be quiet" he snarled.

[Whitebrand]

Before Sharantir could do much more than scowl, Brand stepped forward and caught the arm. To drive the point home his grip became a tad bit tighter than it really needed to be.

"The lady speaks the truth," Brand said, adopting a dark elf accent. "You are in danger of offending guests of House Noquar. Be gone."

The dragon added a little twist to the man's arm, not enough to break anything...yet...but quite enough to be felt.

Sharantir just folded her arms, trying to look in charge.

[Redfield]

The man scowled at brand, clearly displeased and stepped back, yanking his arm from the drow's grip. "Yeah whatever you say" he says sniffing dismissively putting his hand behind his back. He cast one more glance over at Oyuki leering a little before turning on his heel and moving away, presumably to go and bother someone else.

Yunessa sighed shaking her head a little, flashing Oyuki a small thumbs up "glad that's over, good thing it didn't escalate." The knight says stepping back into the group. Her head tilted a bit.

Ellie grinned snorting a little "always good to see you in action" she muttered to Brand looking to Oyuki, placing a hand on the snow woman's shoulder "Ok get her to a room so she can rest a bit." She gave Brand a firm order, bobbing her head a little. The human stepped back, stepping to the side, she didn't intend to go up to the room at that moment and her hand pulled Yunessa close to her.

[Whitebrand]

Brand nodded and too Oyuki's arm in an almost deferential sort of way. Oyuki looked surprised for an instant before Brand paid for the rooms (plural, two to each room) and escorted her to hers.

"I think I'll rest too," Mora said. Then a bit of her impish self returned. "We warmed her up really good for you, milady," she whispered to Ellie with a wink.

Sharantir also made a move to follow after the dragon, but looked to Ellie. Her expression was difficult to read.

[Redfield]

Ellie allowed a small laugh to escape her lips and she gave the woman a small nod "then I guess I'll have to visit you sometime." She states before looking to Sharantir, giving the drow woman a small nod "I'll stay with Yunessa, you don't have to worry, we won't be down too long" she flashed the woman a small nod. An arm wrapped gently around the knight's shoulder pulling the woman in close to her.

'Wander what she's thinking' Ellie thought to herself briefly looking between Yunessa and Sharantir "i do hope your not up to mischief Shara, if so you might have to share with Yunessa here" She gave the woman a small wink, making no move to follow after them, though she did pocket one of the keys so she get into a room with Yunessa, the key making a silent clunk against the coins in her pocket. Yunessa blushed a little, but at that moment made no move either Ellie seemed to want her to stay after all and she once more found her eyes wandering around the room, it was still quite the sight to observe after all.

Ellie grinned her hand slipping down behind the knight and unseen to Sharantir flipping the blonde's skirt at the back giving a quick teasing view of the knight's pert rear and the underwear hugging it, to anyone who cared to look.

[Whitebrand]

Mora and Oyuki took one of the rooms and locked the door securely. Presumably Yunessa and Ellie would take a room, leaving Sharantir and Brand for the remaining room.

Nothing bad could come of that...

Yunessa's pert and well-toned rear certainly seemed to be drawing voyeuristic attention from the bar. A red-eyed woman...looking human except for the two horns on her forehead...actually walked up behind Yunessa's and gripped the knight's buttocks.

"I like your friend," the sandy-haired woman purred to Ellie. "I can give you a nice discount for me if you include her."

[Redfield]

The young knight sighed watching Sharantir and the others leave, she turned her head to Ellie, wandering what the woman had wanted with her. A squeak escaped her lips and her cheeks flushed as she felt someone grab her butt. She turned her head back to look at the woman and bowed her head a little "erm excuse me" she muttered, gently pushing Ellie's hand from her shoulder, her gaze looking briefly at the hand gripping her butt before looking back up to the woman.

Ellie blinked, she had anticipated attention but not this fast, why the others had only just left. The human blinked looking to the strangers horns and then her eyes a fair bit surprised. She bowed her head a little "erm hello, who are you?" Ellie asked keeping her tone polite 'does she want me to sell her or something?@ Ellie thought briefly shaking her head a little before remembering she was in a brothel. The human turned around stepping back, leaving Yunessa in the woman's grip for a brief moment, her eyes wandering over the stranger. She was a little nervous and she was sure that could be seen on her face.

Yunessa blinked looking between the two, turning as best she could to face the new comer, her lips pursed in thought and she shifted from side to side a little.