ghastlyInc

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Kagan Galegar

_{Husband of Aubree Lamay@Ellion and Adorabella Orchard@eclecticwitch
Interacting with Ehkota@Ellion and Gaelnesh@WeepingLiberty}

”...very well..” Kagan huffed, standing to follow the prince after being forced to sit through a rather long winded five point presentation of ”Fuck challenging my brother and the horse that very notion rode in on for this but do what I want anyway.”. Honestly, if it weren’t for the heavily pregnant gem shadowing the drakken, Kagan would have sworn that he only had romantic passions for his own verbal excretions. Still, that was as firm a ‘no’ as he’d been able to wrench from the princling and if humoring him a little longer meant he could take that no and walk the royal right to the hallowed gates of ”That sound like a YOU problem” then he’d happily do so.

Though...even he had to admit the princes congratulations on Aubree came as somewhat of a suprise. Well, two surprises, but right now Kagan could only deal with one at a time. ”...Did not take you for the type to wax poetic about children. Still, it is appreciated. Hopefully the same luck will bless your forth coming child.” He adds quietly, his stony expression not betraying the mental mathematics he was currently flipping through. Should not have bought those dogs...

--------------------------------------------------

The inner sanctum of the palace reeked of incense, the clouds ashen and so thick he could feel the smell clinging to his skin like a begger. That should have been Kagan’s firs real warning. It was the sort of mistake novice members of Krenta’s church made. Attempting to over power the stench of befouling flesh with anything possible. It never worked, the body was too keenly aware of the smell.Eventually most just gave up and accepted the smell of death which hung in the air, until it faded into the background of their mind. Suddenly he was glad that his gems were left behind. The redhead would have doubtlessly had some complaint. The small one probably would have just played with the smoke...which would have been an amusing distraction all things considered.

What he saw...Gods what he saw. Kagan had heard of the things GEMS did with their elderly. Homes designed specifically for their care. Herbs and medicenes ground tirelessly for the failing or half dead, all for a single day more of wasteful existance of lying in a bed stewing in ones own agony. But this? It was every obscene heresy the most creative Gem could conjure dialed up to the breaking point. He...(IT, he reminded himself.) IT was alive in the most mechanical sense possible.

Kagan was not prone to fits of religious delusion. He was orthodox, reserved, calm as the bodies he deal with. The notion of seeing spirits or even the gods was to be laughed away. But behind the lightless eyes of the corpse king in front of him, Kagan could HEAR Krenta scream. It was not a mournful scream either. It was a wrathful wail with the intensity to sunder a million worlds in but a second, and a fury that would kowtow Drun into a mewling pile of terrified flesh. All at the sheer mockery that was King Toran.

As Ehkota spoke (his words reaching nothing), Kagan wanted to scream. To rip the mace from his hip and transform the man into a wonderful smear on the carpet for even knowing about this. To burn this whole tainted city to its root and continue to the next. And the next.

emotional break down time :D

And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.

And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.

And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.

And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.

Until a thousand millennia from now his bones finally gave way to time and the only thing keeping the rampage from stopping was the sheer momentum of wrath behind it and naught but ash and bone to tear further asunder.

But his body would not move. Instead, he stood there. Stance calm and expressionless as the gods raged and coward in his mind. Only now becoming dimly aware of the equally dumbfounded expression on the talkative prince, his gaze laser focused on the bed. Kagan lazily turned his gaze to match his compaions, greeted with the sight of another (this unfortunately alive) drakken.

“I am the High Prince Gaelnesh, first born to the first king Toran and contender to the throne. With an official witness from the kinner’s Order, I hereby exercise my right as eldest son to challenge the king for his position as Drakka’s ruler. For the glory of Drakka.”

As the knife dropped (he refused to call this a stabbing) into the heart of the former king, things began to click away in Kagan’s mind. Ehkota’s inelegant attempt to get him to perform an illegitimate kinning. The thing affronting all of existence. The sheer gall of calling this a challenge. All a part of some bulked up little noble child whose mother should have had the good sense to squeeze him back out the moment his father released into her’s little game of sibling dominance.

All at the expense of his domain.

And as Gaelnesh issued his victory speech to him and the now singular prince of Drakka, he felt something give...and began to smile. A smile of pure joy, as though he were a child again. He’d only felt this way once before. When Warlord Harin had him agaisnt the wall and death was a near certainty. And now, this beacon of glowing joy was directed solely on Gaelnesh. ”I, Kagan Galegar...” He says, voice silk smooth and sweeter than honey, ”As an official member of the High Church of Krenta decree that the formal challenge to former King Toran by Gaelnesh Toranson is complete with no challengers. Long live the King.” He finishes with a small bow before turning to Ehkota.

”Darling I think we should attend to your bride. Best not waste your brothers time for now.” He says, gently placing a hand on the hornless Drakkens shoulder which, despite the light tenderness of the touch, held the weight of a Nymurmuris’ break tearing into the poor princes shoulder. ”By your leave your highness.” Kagan adds with a chipper bob of the head to the elder prince turned king before heading back the way he came, using the sum total of his will power to force himself not to skip gaily. Suddenly he was somewhat glad for the over abundance of incense whirling about the room. It made sure the biting wrathful heat rolling off him in waves limited to Ehkota’s senses alone.

He rather looked forward to coming back to the palace in the future.

TLDR

Kagan is getting tired of the run around by the nobles, but decides to humor Ehkota. When he discovers what the king has become, he goes from annoyed to saddened, to horrified, to furious, then Drun Dwarfing Earth shattering unreasonably fuck-ass mad. Once Gaelnesh stabs the corpse dad, something snaps and Kagans Sadism kicks in. He is currently a walking beacon of absolute glee.
Gaelnesh has made his first enemy as king! Yayyy.
We'll see you and your kin strung up by the entrails like gore filled pinata's for your heresy while we drag what few fools dumb enough to align themselves with you dragged through fields of white hot nails. And as you scream to the gods for mercy we will giggle 'no silly <3'

But for now, lets go deal with the gems.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Naji

Naji couldn’t help but letting out a small, mischievous chuckle as the rat flailed about like...well, something that was just hit with a disembodied eyeball to be fair. Atleast Colchain seemed to be having fun as the lizard dived to the newly stunned rat. Good lizard, you kill that thing. He was...tempted to intervene when the second rat coiled around, turning on the currently preoccupied lizard. Thankfully, his new boss seemed to be the proactive type, deftly vomiting (Ew, he noted for later) something at Danny before moving to back up her new pet. She also screamed at everyone else to keep the slime busy while she did her thing.

Scott then decided, that 'everyone’, was to consist of the three least combat oriented members of the party and not the glowy glowy murder bubble that was Danny. He sighs but gently floats down to Scott as the third pixie (Who he didn’t exactly remember meeting or getting the name of at the moment) hefted the dead rat into the path of the slime before zipping back over to them, huffing hard from the apparent effort.

”...Also I’ve been trapped in a cave. I’ve literally not seen anything.” Naji thought, deciding it was probably better to save whatever snark he was accumulating for later. “so… uhh… what, what is this plan of yours now?” the as of yet named pixie gasped inbetween breaths. "I think we can deal with this thing. There's three of us, isn't there? Between us we could try and lift that slime off the ground and- " His breath caught, and for a moment, the light went out of his eyes. Naji chalked this up to ‘your brain is currently dying. Please hold'. A buffer for hallucinations of sorts. Given the complexity of this little mind show, he was not about to call out its need to occasionally buffer. "...Well, I was thinking we lift it into the air and, well... drop it. Maybe onto something sharp, I don't know." He added finally, voice softening.

Naji examined the area around the slime and it made its slow trudge towards them, trying to find a nice place to deposit evil snot. With no readily available tissues in sight, he settled on a broken crop of stalagmites (or...were they stalactites?), hefted into the air at a slight angle by a pair of rocks. Well...it LOOKED easier to ram it into that than lift it high enough to drop it on a stable one.

”...Yeah ok. That could work. Follow my lead and go straight once you get a hold of the gooy thing.” He blurts suddenly, taking flight again, angled slightly away from the slime for a few second before charging the entity. Hopefully with the other two pixies behind him, arms outstretch ready to grab hold of the first available inch of slime that came in reach. Hopefully. If they were lucky they might even actually slam it into the waiting spike of the stala....the pointy rock that he wasn't sure the name of.

@CollectorOfMyst@ReusableSword@Zeroth

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Kagan Galegar

_{Husband of Aubree Lamay@Ellion and Adorabella Orchard@eclecticwitch
Interacting with Ehkota}

Kagan remained silent as Ehkota waltzed his way through his thoughts, only emitting a brief and disinterested grunt at the offer to eat as he took the seat opposite to Ehkota. He laced his fingers tightly together, never once letting the sour grimace of priesthood fall while the young prince talked to himself. This was the third time the man had ‘spoken’ with him, and it was as one sided a conversation as ever. Finally he received permission to respond, the Prince cooing brightly as he spoke of ‘making history’ and eying the kinner like he was about achieve sexual congress. The sudden, but slight, shudder that reverberated through the prince really did not help the mental image.

Not wanting to let his chance to actually TALK go out the window, Kagan calmly sat up in his chair. ”With due respect your highness.” He starts, voice cutting calm and cold against the royals trill excitement. ”Neither the church nor myself have any interest in the politics of history. Modern or otherwise. I am only here because, based on analysis of your request and fringe instances of religious cannon, that you’ve some-” he pauses for a moment, leaning forward slowly and locking eyes with the prince.

”And do permit me to emphasize the fringe nature of that Some; legimate claim to our services.” He reaches behind himself slowly, eyes taking note as the guard’s muscles tensed tightly before his brain registered what the Kinner had grabbed for. Kagan places a small worn leather bound notebook on the table, opening to a dog eared page with fresh notes scrawled on it before slowly sliding it to Ehkota for inspection.

”To abridge the explanation: Within the canon there is the Case of the Brothers Harkim. Similar circumstances, Elder brother not permitting the kinning of his elderly mother due to an inability to let go, younger brother seeking to circumvent the direct heir requirement.” He says in a quick, almost pointedly disinterested voice. The actual story was, frankly, a lot more eloquent than Kagan was making it sound. But part of him was pretty sure the artistry of a five page explanation of the brothers heritage and upbringing would likely bore the prince.

”Eventually the younger Harkim did find a wandering Kinner willing to perform the ceremony for him, on the condition that the younger issue a formal challenge to claim his brothers position. The argument being that, during such challenges, neither son stands above the other until proven otherwise. However, it is notable that if the younger brother fails, the kinner promises that both he and his mother will be shamed in death. Their bones and blood used in macabre mockeries of their honor while their entrails are yadda yadda.” Kagan says, crossing his arms and leaning back into the chair.

”The shaming requirements actually go on for a couple of pages after that.” he shrugs, not really wanting to explain the violations of orifices, egregious amounts of blood, and or implications about what would be done with the brain. ”At any rate, the younger agrees and then succeeds in his challenge. Becoming the direct heir and saving his mothers dignity in death. Everyone enjoys a happy ending and we enjoy a parable stressing the importance of performing Kinnings on family to avoid unnecessary challenges and messy familial conflict.”

”In short sir…” Kagan says, locking eyes with Ehkota once more and attempting to glare a hole into the mans soul. ”Should you agree to the same terms, I will be obligated to perform the ceremony in the same fashion. However, I do encourage you consider this option with care. This is not an exception the church is going to take lightly, and a considerable schizm WILL be its result.”

Kagan waits a moment, allowing Ehkota to mull his choice over undisturbed or ask questions before moving onto the subject of payment. Frankly, he was hoping the Drakken would decide the risk is not worth his time and back away. He’d have to challenge his brother either way, so why run the risk of eternal shame on death? Maybe once his optimism would pay off….he doubted it. Never did.

TLDR

Kagan explains roughly how to justify a Kinning being performed at the request of a non-direct heir. Yes, it can be done. But its a grade A dumbass idea that requires you challenge the direct heir. If you lose, both you AND your brother are shamed. High hopes Ehkota will decide that its just not worth it and he should just chill out and be a rich noble for the rest of his days instead of king.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Naji

Naji watched the dire rats swarm the slightly less than sentient lizard his new boss had acquired and said boss. Well, the melee both parties were currently in anyway. Spotting anything in the flurry of scales and brief haze of magic Scott was attempting was a little difficult. He took a moment to carefully eye Scotts movements while he attempted to cast, making sure to memorize the movements carefully. A lot easier to teach Ash magic when he had even a vague concept of how that worked.

Meanwhile he gawked silently at the battle, taking it in with a surprising calm. It was kind of like a bar fight really, and the chaos had a weird homey comfort to him. Danny, the poor bastard, seemed to be struggling with something before releasing a mighty shout of being short on the old magic triple A batteries. Couldn’t help him, since Naji was pretty sure he could only heal or shield things, if he had enough mana to do that at all. Scott was in the process of throwing shields on pretty much everything with a pulse, so that was probably also unnecessary on his part.

Taking comfort in the fact he was pretty much useless at the moment, Naji gave a small ”Nnnnnope!” Before giving his wings a hefty push. Launching himself into the air, albiet an alien sensation, put him hopefully high enough to be out of range of the rats, but hopefully close enough to swoop in provide support if needed. He did feel a little off kilter though, the eye he was currently holding onto perhaps being a little too much for him to fly with. With a shrug, he gripped the remaining optic nerve firmly before giving it an experimental swing....and chucked it with as much might as his tiny delicate body could muster at the nearest rat.

tl;dr

Naji watches the carnage. Decides dealing with it directly is nowhere near his job. Flys up to what he thinks is probably a safe distance. Throws scavenged eyeball at offending rat party.

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Kagan Galegar

_{Husband of Aubree Lamay@Ellion and Adorabella Orchard@eclecticwitch
Interacting with Aubree and Adorabella}

The puppy happily accepted the petting given to it by Adora, back half wagging due to the dogs inexperience with its own bodily responses and the sheer momentum of its tail. Kagan sighed as Adora attempted to brush off her desire for the book, his ambient annoyance palpable enough to quell the excited pup at his heels enthusiasm for a moment (though, only a moment as it began to wag again as soon as the wave had escaped its tiny attention span.) "Its a gift. Not a test." He says, picking up the book with a small grimace of disgust, looking it over before finally spotting a price tag on its side and dropping the coins unceremoniously onto the stand. The keeper barely looked up at him before snatching the money away, just thankful than the agitated Drakken had decided he was no longer in the mood to haggle. With little cermony, he handed the book to Adora gingerly, glaring down at the girl as she took possession of her gift. "There. You are offically gifted. Many congratulations." He huffs, the tiny puppy yapping at his heels in agreement.

Kagan stared down at the dog before muttering. "Please try to conduct yourself with something approaching dignity..." He grumbled, the pup looking up and continuing to wag side to side, heedless of the order. Kagan sighs, grabbing Adora by the shoulder and turning to leave. Bree was dutifully close to his side, which had not been expected, and the Kinner had to stop abruptly to avoid from slamming into the gem. She was staring, eyes wide and arms tightened around her newly acquired pet in a death grip, into a lightly murmuring crowd not too far away. "...If you kill that dog, I'm not getting you another one." He said, more out of a need to break the girls fugue than actual concern for the animal.

There was a...cursory attempt to figure out what had the girl so transfixed, but there was little to Kagan that really seemed out of place. The slave market was many things, but an object of concern was hardly one of them. Though it did atleast seem a bit busy today, and possibly the warning he'd issue earlier was causing the delay. Either way, Kagan wasn't in the mood to deal with Bree's paranoia, cultural dissonance, or whatever else might have locked her in place.

"We're done here. Move." He grunts, pushing both gems towards a more cleared exit away from the market and trying not to be entangled by the variety of dog and gem leashes hanging off of him. The latter of which he achieved only with mixed success
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Castle is generally a word which is synonymous with fortress with in Gem society, though generally considered a more refined wording. There is a preconceived notion that, amongst palisades, arrow slits, and barbicans there would be an equal, if not greater, presence of ornamentation, murals, carvings and other such minutiae of decor. Fine carpeted floors and arching fireplaces standing along side stalwart knights and bowmen. Drakken had missed this memo.

...Well, that was not entirely true. It was more apt to say that the Drakken had recieved this memo, read it. Read it again. Argued a great deal about the word ‘synonymous’. Engaged in a fist fight. Read it a third time. And then slaughtered the messenger and his family summarily because the meeting had run late and, frankly, everyone just needed the stress relief. After which, the adjourned for the evening (and then spent a long night arguing the definition of ‘adjourn’ because Drakken politics were basically a series of increasingly petty arguments).

And then the following morning all got up at the same time and decided, in a fit of celestial bodies aligning and no small amount of base instinct, proceeded to build battlements, barbicans, more battlements, enough arrow slits to constitute a ventilation systems, solid iron gates, and many many spikes. After which they would dig up the messenger, kill him again, and build yet more battlements. With flaming spikes this time so “they would go faster”.

In short, to call the royal palace a ‘castle’ would be insulting to castles everywhere. To call it a bastille would still come up short. It was a paranoid, blood soaked, war mongering races panicked fever dream of defensible ledges, sniping positions, choke points, and spikes that was held together through military superiority, liberal applications of iron, and sheer unassailable will.

Many in Drakka agreed it was probably the most beautiful building in the whole damned capital. Which, for any gem present, was not saying much. But Kagan probably would have agreed with them if it were not for the fact he and his gems were being ushered through a small side entrance to his (likely) unenjoyable meeting with one of the castles primary residence.

He was wearing his most priestly scowl, face resting somewhere between patronly disapproval and general piousness. He was going to deliver his assessment of Ehkota’s request plainly, elaborate on the potential consequences of going forward (good and bad) and hope to all the gods that the young prince had enough good sense to decide that dying like an idiot was simply not in his immeidate desires. As it stood? Kagan felt like it was a 50/50 shot....so by Drakken standards, things were going swell.

= summary

Kagan buys the book. Doesn't see whats so wrong with slave markets. They're like,...drakken starbucks. There is one on every corner. He then goes to the castle and is being ushered to his meeting. A long silly rant describing the obscenely defensibly nature of the palace ensues.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Naji

Naji stared blankly as Scott began to have a small break down before chuckling. ”Dont worry! I’m fine man, all this blood is the goblins. Sides..” He says, trailling off to take a small nibble of optic nerve. ”We’re all dead already. Or...dying probably. So it not like if I did it would matter at all right?” He asks with an...uncomfortably chipper tone. For all the starvation and exhaustion, Naji was still betting his bottom dollar that the whole world would melt away soon. As pre-brain death hallucinations are want to do, if TV had any truth in it anyway.

The amusement in his posture did not vanish as Ash turned her attention to him. He was about to introduce Danny when the wisp decided to do so himself, trying to calm the distressed Scott. ”...to be honest thought he was one of yours boss. So I just let him eat. Plus, kind of didn’t pose a threat to me getting my share while you were lizard taming sooo.....” He explains, allowing the rather plain logic to hang while he nibbled more optic nerve. Damn this stuff is actually half decent once you get used to it.

It was by this point he noticed the newest lizard (well, second newest), as had Ash, who whipped about to make sure her new pet was behaving itself before addressing the albino. ”....OH!” Naji says, popping up a little. ”Is this like, the ‘you all meet in the tavern’ situation?” He asks as the Lizard asks to join, begging for a little food as almost an after thought. There is a brief lull, the group either ignoring his outburst or not fully understanding it meaning. ”Ya know...the narrative contrivance that brings the players together for their first mission in a game?...Cause if so, Im cool with them joining and us heading back to camp. Unless your secretly a bad guy miss white lizard?” He asks, gore splattered form leaning out from behind Ash quietly and staring holes into the albino reptile. And incorrectly determining their sex, but that was neither here nor there at the moment.

”How do I insight check? You’ve got to tell me if your a bad guy if I insight you right?” He says, trying to read the newest persons body language for signs of obvious evil. Years of video game RPGs, and this is the spectacular display of genre savviness Naji could take pride in.

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Prisca Houndrut

Prisca Houndrut

Appearance

Race: Gem
Age: 18
Element: Earth
Height: 4'11
Bio:
Prisca was born in large mining town of Cohsenwig in the mountains west of Priscel Aldetine. Cohsenwig is, by Gem standards atleast, a hard place to live. Sure, the terrain and climate were hospitable enough, but the mines that were the life blood of the city fought its workers at every turn. Some even joked that Vivari herself liked to shift stones in the mountain just to make the jobs a little more challenging. Still, the opposition between miner and mine was a good natured one, if somewhat strained by the occasional accidental death.

Of course, with any town that works hard there is a tavern where they play twice as hard afterwards. Enter the Pryus’ Pucker, a crassly named bar and sometimes inn (most times brothel) that suited the city far to well. It stood in the middle of town, great oaken archways burned dark by a long forgotten blaze and plaster walls stained yellow from an equally forgotten reconstruction. It was the much beloved ugly boil of the town, as crass and hardy as the people who patronized it.

The Houndruts had owned the place as long as there had been a Cohsenwig, and they were as crass and rowdy as their namesake (the origin of which, they would only tell when a person was properly off their ass with drink). Nothing short of bloodshed was too good for their bar and it showed. For generations wine, women, men, smokable treats of all sorts would flow freely into the waiting arms of patrons, where after gold would promptly flow straight to the Houndrut’s pocket.

So, in short, not exactly a prim and proper upbringing was ever in the cards for Prisca. Not that it seemed to phase the girl in the slightest. The delicate complexities of a fine stout were far more interesting to the girl than any peice of rot a ‘great poet of age such and such’ could vomit out onto a page. And the fanciful sheer silks and perfumes of the local prostitutes (and sometimes their clients) were far more beautiful than the stuffy octo-layered garments of the nobility.

The Drakken were a rare concern, but Prisca never worried about them much. The people were common folk, and looked it, only the occasional noble girl getting nabbed (thinking they’d be safe amongst the ‘rabble’). Frankly, they could have the nobles. As far as Prisca was concerned, they were more delicate than sensible, and most couldn’t hold their liquor to save their life (which was the bigger problem during the reaping).

Feeling fairly secure that she’d not end up like some haughty high born bimbo, Prisca adorned herself with innumerable tattoos. Her body was her private canvas to paint her absolute right to freedom on, each streak of color happily applied to mock the poor saps who had the misfortune of turning into glorified breeding sows because ‘daddy’ happened to own a strip of land.

Turns out? Bad idea. Prisca on her own was decently attractive, but apparently the drakken reapers who rolled through town found the additional body art to be ‘Striking’. The only thing Prisca found striking about it was the grinding noise as she managed to kick one of the reapers square in the nose before they hurled her into the cart, dragging her away like some noble whore.
Adult Preference: Good either way.

So I was asked to make a Gem. I made the lest gemmy Gem I could Gem in such a short Gem.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Naji-Sleepy Pixie

Naji chewed the eyeball slowly and methodically, letting the odd texture and flavor roll over him slowly. It was as spongy as he expected an eye to be, soft with a small bit of resistance as your teeth slowly pushed their way through the flesh. And it was fit to bursting with fatty flavor, though sadly not fishy as he had hoped. ”Needs...hmm. Its beefy so maybe some greens? Peas would mellow this out really well...” He grumbles to himself, finally growing tired of the flavor and reluctantly swallowing his ‘desert’, the wisp next to him retched at his trip to flavor town. Some people have no appreciation for the more refined things in life.

He began to dig the second eyeball out, intending to give it to his lizardy savior. If she wasn’t going to eat it, it might make good bait for something else provided it kept for a little while. As he finally free’d the eye from its socket, his dinner guest stopped lurching to ask him his name. ”It’s Naji.” He chirps, eye held awkwardly in his arms while he beamed at the wisp. ”Pleasure to meet you Danny. Guessing you died as well?” He asks plainly, pulling against the optic nerve until it gave way with a small snap.

Naji takes a moment to examine the eye a little more, giving a half hearted attempt to try and remember how the biology of the whole thing works before giving up completely and slinging it over his shoulder, holding the optic nerve tightly to keep it from falling to the ground. He also notices that....well, in removing the eyes of something you kind of end up looking like an extra at a horror movie. Thin glaze of blood and gore aside, he did feel much improved over the last few days. Though...he should probably schedule a bath sometime soon. And a nap, if the status screen (now thankfully silent) was any indication.

The faint clacking of nails alerts his ears and Naji whips around to see Ash approaching her kills, the lizard from earlier and Scott in tow. Momentarily forgetting he looks like pixie version of an axe murderer, gives the trio a cheerful wave. ”Oh good. You got him to calm down!” He says, the eye of the goblin wobbling slightly against his movements.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Naji-Goblin Tartare taste like feet

@Rune_Alchemist@CollectorOfMyst@Zeroth@duthguy

Naji continued to tear into the goblin’s (former goblin at this point he supposed) leg. The flesh tasted like nothing he’d ever experienced. It was vile and delicious at the same time, likely a result of having not eaten for god knows how long. The smell reminded him of something a customer had once brought into the bar, Surströmming. It was some sort of canned fish from Europe or something, a ‘delicacy’ from one of the countries that...as he recalled mattered so shockingly little he purged the very name of it from his memory long ago. He wish he could say the same for the smell, the foul slug that came from the can reeked of the sea, decay, and old yeast. Like being stuck inside the bloated corpse of a whale. It had taken the better part of a week to get the smell out of his clothes, and even longer to banish the stench from the bar.

Thankfully though, the goblin only smelt like the back end of a warf. He tasted...like raw beef really. Stringy, raw, unprocessed, slightly off beef, garnished generously with Eau De Toilette by Goblinkind, but beef none the less. A faint blue sheen over his meal alerted to him to his new visitor, the luminous floating snot ball that had presumably fired on the goblins. ”....pleasure to meet you.” Naji chirped, slurring a lose string of muscle back into his mouth. It would...probably be pretty disturbing if this were not a life and second death situation.

”And I’m fine....She not coming to eat any of this?” He asks, dropping the now somewhat cleaned bone of the goblin’s leg. ”I mean...’s her kill. She should get a share..Hey, you think these guys are like fish?” He asks, looking over the goblin’s generously mauled face. ”You know...where the eyes are the good nutrient rich part? Lets see...." He says, idly digging a hand into the goblin’s eyelid. He gropes around inside for a moment, attempting to find the connective nerves before finally giving up and getting as good a grip as he could mange. He places his foot on the greenskins nose, giving a mighty grunt as he attempted to pull the eye out.

Prized Bride (A New Beginning)

Kagan Galegar

_{Husband of Aubree Lamay@Ellion and Adorabella Orchard@eclecticwitch
Interacting with Aubree and Adorabella}

”....The gift is whatever you wish it to be. Within reason.” Kagan says, polietly ignoring Bree as she scaled him to regain her balance. It was...a tolerable indignity, given the situation. That said, he did still have to stifle a chortle as Bree hobbled to the window to fix her make up, only to inadvertently flash the world. Teasing her about it would be immense fun, but now with the brand out of the way, he figured she would be more agreeable if he pretended not to notice the slip up.

Disappointingly, she did not seem interested in running the risk of it happening again and quickly rushed to his side, grabbing his arm and pinning the shirt between it and her chest. It was an entirely a pragmatic choice, he was sure, but he’d be a liar if he said he was not enjoying the proximity. ”...Seems your sister’s recovered. ” He says, gently placing a guiding hand on Adora’s shoulder, pulling the smaller Gem to his other side (taking caution not to accidentally graze either Gem’s new brand as best he could) before beginning the slow trek back to the market.

He would admit that he kind of zoned out for a while there, the concerns about potential bride theft now somewhat eased through his brides newly minted identification. He mostly let the Gems decide where they went, only occasionally intervening to drag one or the other slightly closer or to inform Aubree that, yes, that is in fact enough shirts.

He was finally released from his stupor when he attempted to move on from yet another stall, the worlds of the merchant only dully ringing in his ears as he assumed neither Gem would have much interest, only to faintly hear Bree weakly murmuring his name. He looks over the stall, sparing only a second to glace as Adora tiptoe’d to the next stall over to finger through some tomes.

It was the greatest nemesis to any red blooded Drakken attempting to aclimate a bride to their new role as breeder and slave. A cute animal. He almost sighs, slightly disappointed the redhead prooved to be somewhat stereotypical. ”...Very well..” He huffs, turning to the merchant. ”How much for one of the pups?” He asks sourly, glaring down at the gem as he prepared to engage in the most sacred form of battle in all of Drakka. Haggling.

“1,200." The Gem chirpped, Smiling like she had not just tried to rob him blind. In so far, Kagan was unimpressed. "600." He chuffs, slowly crossing his arms.

The womans smile darkened considerably, the mess of curls that constituded her hair bobbing slightly as she leaned forward. "You are lucky my husband is away or there would be a fight for such an insult. 1,000." She says, voice now low and husky with casual menance. A small grin managed to escape Kagan as he continued to glare, the woman was atleast versed in the basics of Drakken economic policy. Good for her.

Kagan pauses for a moment, as if considering the offer while he racked his brain, pulling at the vague echos of words he had heard while Bree hand talked (or been talked AT) to the merchant. "I imagine these hounds become difficult to sell after the first year.” He says slowly, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands flat on the table, his gaze now more level with the Gems. “Hard to train an older dog, and even harder to sell when they, quote 'could rival horses.' I've the luxury of time. You do not. 800."

The Gem chews her lip for a moment, briefly breaking the staredown to glance through her stock for a moment before retorting. "You'd be surprised how much a trained dog will go for. But, I'll make you a special deal, thousand and I'll chuck in the runt for free,"

Kagan stays silent, now legitimately mulling the offer over. He'd be stuck with the mutt, though considering it was to be Bree's pets that was hardly HIS problem. And he was getting less than his asking origonal asking price per mutt. If nothing else, the runt would make a decent enough meal if Bree grew bored of it. He huffs, not really able to think of a better offer before backing off the superior haggler."....deal. And an extra 50 to reward a shrewed business woman." He says, dropping the coin and the womans winnings on the table.

The merchant Gem beamed, reaching behind the counter and hoisting a small cream colored puppy into Bree’s waiting arms and tossing Kagan a leash. Kagan lashed the larger dog to the restraint, the little black and brown ball wagging its whole body at the prospect of new people and how interesting they smelled. Esspeically that big one. He smelled like when mom rolled around in that dead bird that one time.

Thankfully, before the narrative could be further hijacked by the musings of an adolescent dog, Bree managed to speak. The ”Thank you..” was barely audible between the trill of the busy market and the general layer of excitable dog currently attempting to merge itself with the Gem’s face. But...it was heard, And Kagan managed an exasperated sigh before standing, walking over to Adora with a small brown gleeful ball in tow. ”Just take responsibility for them. I will not be cleaning dog droppings.” He grumbles, the agitation in his voice not quiet matching the waggling mess at his feet.

Kagan leans over Adora, looking down at the small bound leather book in her hands as the newly acquired pet sniffs at her boots. ”Find anything you’d want.” He asks coldly, hoping she might be satisfied with the sight of a dog and just accept as her gift as well. Gods he hated big cities.

= summary

due to a technical error the post was lost. So here is the lite version.