Downtown Druid

Dantes and Televor moved through the tunnels between the Collared and the undermarket. It was busy, but not unusually so. It was common for the undermarket to be more active immediately before and immediately after a delivery from the Maw. Prisoners were placing bets as to what they thought would happen, trying to scrape together the materials they’d need to make a run for supplies themselves, attempting to make deals with the gangs to ensure they’d be guaranteed some food, or even just drinking because they knew they were as screwed on this drop as they had been with all the previous ones.

They passed by a couple of drinking halflings singing arm in arm, a group of haggling dwarves at a booth, and gave a wide berth to a group of five orcs that seemed to be going out of their way to start trouble. They reached the brothel, where Sevlyn was acting as the lure. She shifted into a dwarven woman with a beautifully braided beard, then a Kobold with rainbow scales of every color, and finally as they approached she became a young human woman wearing virginal white and an innocent smile.

Dantes raised up his hand in greeting. “Hey Sevlyn.”

She nodded at him and blushed. “Two name no name, have you come to pluck this innocent flower?”

Dantes chuckled. “No, that’s never really been my thing. I mean, I seduced a noblewoman’s daughter once, but that was business more than anything.”

Tel patted his shoulder. “How do you always know who's who? She could’ve been Syn and I never would’ve guessed.”

Dantes shrugged. “No idea, I just can.” He turned to Sevlyn. “Speaking of Syn though, is she in? I wanted to talk to her for a minute.”

“It’s always Syn lately, you never seem to have time for the rest of us,” said Sev, her playful pouting shifting briefly in his vision to show the pitch black eyes and white face of her true form.

“Syn doesn’t use weighted dice, or a third arm to hold extra cards behind her back.”

She pointed her head down, but kept her eyes focused on Dantes as if she’d just been scolded. “I would never do that.”

“Uh-huh. So is she busy or not?”

“She just finished up with a client if you want to head back.” Sev shifted into a dark skinned tall elvish woman wearing only two palm fronds.contemporary romance

“Thanks Sev, don’t worry, I’ll be back to gamble with you soon. I’ll just have to cheat back.”

She winked, and Dantes and Tel walked past her.

“I really wish my parents had each named me two different things too.”

Dantes shrugged. “It’s only useful in this incredibly specific circumstance, and it has its drawbacks as well.”

Tel nodded. “I mean, I’m grateful they agreed on most things I suppose.”

Dantes shrugged, “Doesn’t seem to matter. We both wound up in the Pit anyway.” He knocked on Syn’s door.

“Another client already? I’ve hardly fixed my hair.”

“You can fix your hair in a literal blink of an eye.”

“Ah, Dantes, come in.”

Dantes pushed the door open into Syn’s room. It was much the same as it had been the last time he was there, except a bit more disheveled, and whatever perfume she used to mask the scent of her trade had been more recently sprayed.

Syn herself was in the shape of a Naga, her bare human torso lounging across a snake tail that was coiled in a pile.

“Who requested that?” asked Dantes with an eyebrow raised.

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“I don’t give names, but let’s say there’s a dwarf that quite enjoys constriction.” Her slitted eyes darted to Televor. “Hmmm, I don’t know that we’ve met before, can I get your name?”

Tel looked a bit disappointed, “Oh um, it’s-”.

Dantes smacked him upside the head, hard.

“What the fu-” He stopped and blinked. “Oh.”

“Sorry Syn, that was a fair play, but we’re partially in business together now, and I’d prefer he not become one of your nameless.” They weren’t directly in business, but he wanted to soften the spoiling of Syn’s fun as much as possible.

She uncoiled and stretched languidly. “It’s alright, I didn’t expect it to come so close to working to be honest. Tel seems very smart at times, but also quite dumb at others.”

“You don’t need to talk as if I’m not here.”

Dantes looked at him. “I won’t save you again, that would be unfair to Syn and the other changelings.”

“Really? You’d let them take my name?”

“Absolutely. The changelings have all always been good to me, Syn in particular, I won’t disrespect them by denying them that benefit.”

Syn added legs, and molded herself into a short human woman wearing a plain dress, her hair up in a style that had been popular with noble ladies more than a decade ago. “That’s why we like you Dantes. You have a Fey’s sense of honor.” She cracked her neck. “I’m guessing that’s why you’re here.”

“You’d guess correctly. I still owe you a favor, I’m in a place to repay you now, just wanted to talk about what would be fair.”

“Hmmm, I have some thoughts, but what do you have to offer?”

“I’ll be coming into a steady supply of coin, I can get you a full barrel of booze if you wish, or I can probably maneuver my way into whatever other goods you might want.”

“No, goods don't interest me at the moment.”

Dantes cursed internally, but kept his expression neutral. Open favors were always trouble, a fact he’d often taken advantage of. If he could just trade goods, it made it an easy simple exchange, services were another story.

“Alright then. What do you need?”

Syn smiled. “The Orcs have been coming around and making trouble lately. Roughing up some of the other changelings, trying to get us to pay them for protection on top of what we already pay up to the consortium.”

“Bold, even for the Orcs.”

She nodded. “There used to be a kind of understanding with them. Since our services are provided to all the major gangs, they’ve always kept things neutral with us in an attempt to not rock the boat. Now that the Kings are gone, and Clan Stonedusts leader lost his arm and left eye, the Orcs are no longer held in check.”

Dantes frowned, last he'd heard it was an eye and a rib. “Why me? Why not take care of them yourself with your nameless guards, or have the consortium lean on them?”

She shook her head. “The nameless aren’t the most capable fighters, good enough to kick out an over excited customer, but not take on the orcs in any serious numbers. The consortium is putting off helping us, they seem to be wary of poking the orcs at the moment as well with how much things have shifted.”

Dantes nodded. This was his fault, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. A shake up would mean opportunities, he just had to find them.

“I’m just one man, Syn. This is a large ask.”

“I did save your life.”

“You did…” Dantes clenched his jaw. He kept his tally clear, he wanted to push for more from her than just to honor the favor, but he knew that wouldn’t work for either of them.

“I’m not sure they’ll work with me, but I’ll try.”

Syn nodded. “They’ll work with the Elf Slayer. I’ve heard more than enough bedroom gossip about their opinion of you to know that you have their respect.”

“Hmmm, maybe.” He scratched his chin. “I have a few things to trade for in the undermarket. Give me some time and I’ll give you an update when I have one.”

Syn nodded and began shifting into a tall thin elven woman with hair long enough to spread completely across the bed behind her, she turned her attention to Televor. “Were you planning on shopping with Dantes, Tel or would you rather spend a bit of time with me?”

Tel looked at her appreciatively, and swallowed. “Well, I had been planning on doing some trading first… I did pretty well with the dice the last few weeks and… and… hey Dantes, I’ll catch up with you later alright.”

Dantes nodded, unsurprised by the turn of events. “Fine, just remember that you still owe me for that booze I gave you yesterday. Try not to spend everything.”

“Uh-huh,” said Tel, already moving toward the bed.

Dantes shook his head and left the room, closing the door behind him. Orcs, he’d certainly dealt with them a lot in the past. His own father was a half-orc of course, so he had a good grasp on them culturally, but his ancestry could be as much a curse as a boon when it came to interacting with them, particularly when his quarter elf blood came into play. He’d figure it out, he’d made a deal that had saved his life, and now he had to pay it back. He wouldn’t leave the debt unpaid.

done.co