Luthiel's Diary 8
General Summary
OMG, you would NOT believe this place, Erelhei-Cinlu is like, totally different than I imagined! First off, there's, like, a GAZILLION shops! Seedra was all, "Okay, maybe we can risk an inn," and she had this whole theory about how staying at the mansion would be, like, way more obvious. So this guard, who was kinda creepy, mentioned this place called the Succubus' Teat (ew!), and we were like, "Fine, whatever."
But getting there? Total chaos! We had to go through the commercial area, and it was PACKED. Like, every weird creature you could possibly imagine was there, and the shops? Clothes, shoes, everything! I totally bookmarked, like, two dress shops in my head for later, and these boots? OMG, to die for! We were going, like, snail's pace 'cause of the riding lizards – nobody else seemed to be using them, so we're probably gonna have to ditch them and walk.
And get this, there were, like, a TON of darkkin with these Despana badges. After a while, I started freaking out 'cause they kept looking at me funny. I was all, "Is my disguise not working? Am I, like, too pretty to be a convincing darkkin? Is my amazing soul just, like, shining through?" LOL. Then Griff, who's super-smart at being this grovelling "servant" named Griffin, points out that Seedra's Despana badge and all the others were, like, shiny silver, but MINE was just dull metal! Maybe the Despana are, like, super rich and don't do non-silver, or maybe it means something else? Ugh, so many mysteries!
The weirdest thing? Seeing darkkin doing, like, normal stuff – not just being all fancy nobles, but even as, like, street-walkers and beggars! So what that shadow-sword dudess said is totally true – tons of them have to, like, claw their way out of being totally broke, or just stay that way. And there were other humanoids and humans and even this creepy shadow-demon!
Finally, we got to the edge of the crazy shopping district and into the arcane area, where the Succubus' Teat was supposed to be. The crowds thinned out a bit, and the shops got, like, even weirder and fancier. And the buildings? Total nightmare fuel! All crooked and falling apart. Not like our pretty curves in Trustor, these were all bent and broken and just hurt your eyes. Seriously, darkkin have NO taste!
Seedra sent Griffin to ask some random slave where the Succubus' Teat was, and they gave him directions. No WAY we would have found it ourselves in this maze of creepy alleys.
So we finally get to the Succubus' Teat, and of course, there's this totally gross moving picture of a naked lady. Thorg was, like, mesmerized, which at least stopped him from being a total creep for a few minutes. Seedra sent Gertrude (who speaks elvish) and dragged Thorg with her to get rooms. They were gone FOREVER! When Kurog took the lizards around the back, we went in to see what was up, and they were totally hitting the bar hard! They even got us drinks, which I thought was kinda nice until I saw the SPIDER floating in mine! Nope.
We just soaked in the "ambiance" of the bar, which seemed way better than the spider drink. This darkkin lady, Maloria, who owns the place, said it was called Lolth's Kiss and you had to chug it all at once for good luck. Seedra actually DID it! She stayed standing, but she looked like she was gonna barf. I'm saving mine for, like, never.
So, Jude/Gertrude (after a LOT of persuading and some fake threats from Seedra) finally got us a room and the rest of the guys bunks in a dorm. Ugh. Our room is actually kinda okay, but Griff pointed out this creepy divination sensor thing in the ceiling, so, like, someone could be watching us! Awesome. I totally need a new silver Despana token, so we sent Griff out on the balcony to make one while pretending to clean that half-orc's armor (which, TBH, was NASTY – I think it's where all the stink is coming from!). Definitely needs a good scrub before I share a room with it.
Then, there was a knock, and this servant asked if we wanted dinner. Duh! We went downstairs to the bar, and they literally THREW some half-orcs out of their seats for us! The doorman was a half-troll – totally intimidating. They recommended the fish from the Sunless Sea, which looked weird but was actually pretty good. Turns out Jude/Gertrude spent the whole time trying all the "wine" (seriously, what do they even make wine from down here?). It was hilarious – she tried to go with some darkkin soldiers to this place called the Liquid Scream, which turned out to be a brothel! And she was gonna be the "entertainment"! She backed off REAL fast. LOL.
Once Griff made the new token, we put his next plan into action. We SO need more info about this city, but how? Griff thinks all the beggars are probably spies, and Seedra agreed, so no hiring them. Griff's genius idea? Buy a slave! He figures they'd be so grateful they wouldn't betray us and wouldn't ask too many questions. So Griff, Kurog, and I went back to the shopping district to buy a slave.
We found this creepy slave shop and asked what they had. I made it clear I was looking for BARGAINS – I wanna buy low and sell high, you know? The slaver brought out these three cheapos: a human, an elf, and a dwarf. The elf was, like, recently captured from Trustor! His name was Maedros, and I didn't recognize him or his name, and he didn't seem to know me either (probably the disguise). The human was Symon, a scribe but super clumsy, sold for some dumb reason. He had this House Everhate brand.
So, I bought BOTH of them! Symon 'cause he can probably tell us a ton about the city, and Maedros 'cause he's one of my people, and I swore I'd free them, so this is a start, right? We headed back with our new slaves AND these amazing lizardskin boots I saw (seriously, the BEST!) and this cute little black spider-silk dress I've been wanting FOREVER!
When we got back to the inn, it was TOTAL chaos! Apparently, Thorg started a bar fight and killed a half-orc! And the bouncer killed another one! And Jude/Gertrude got STABBED trying to "help"! Malora was SO mad, but Seedra gave her some cash and said it was the other guys' fault. Kurog was bummed he missed the fight and wanted to start another one, but Seedra totally shut them all down and told them to go to bed, especially Jude who could barely stand and was singing the most embarrassing songs. Seedra and I finally got to our room and barricaded the door. So glad for some peace and quiet!
Report Date
02 Apr 2025
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