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If you click "info," you have a list of Nagaji names. They are Lv.2 Oracles, but you can promote them. I kept all of my NPCs one level LOWER than PCs, and stats were either all 10s or 14-14-10-10-6-6. They are Life Oracles, so they have Channel Healing. Ragdoll has Escape Arts maxed out. DEX and CHA should probably be 14s.
Jitterbug replies, "It was Elsa who fell off he roof, but Sister Bellum healed her. So all is well here other than he terrible weather—but you won't be bothered by it at all thanks to the Dawnflower's blessing!" Glancing at Cashara, she adds, "Do you think your cowgirl friend will let me cast on her? I guess the body-painting ritual made her uncomfortable. I get that these Shelyn-worshippers are different."
"Bless you," says Jitterbug.
Sockhop and Jitterbug smile and wave at Caledon. "Hi, Cal!" Jitterbug shouts excitedly. Sockhop says, "One of your Shelyn-worshipping coworkers couldn't make it to the party, so she gave us her tickets!"
Jitterbug and Sockhop giddily accept their assignment. Brother Seamus and Silkworm are about to leave to meet King Lewy. Anyone interested is welcome to join them.
Ragdoll seems to ponder the offer a moment, then replies, "I'm not sure how helpful I would be, but... training. Yes. Bridgette always trained me. As a soldier, as an escape artist... and my Captain often spoke of a day I would taste freedom. "But my escape plan would have failed if not for you. I'm accepting this not only because I am grateful. What you're offering me might be similar enough to my past that I'll be able to... adjust." She looks at a variety of handbags. She poses in front of the mirror, with on bag strapped over her shoulder... then tries another that straps to her belt. "Earthtones, or the lacy violet one, or the blue suede...?" She admits, "I could use a bit of help with choices. Even though Captain Bridgette was good to me, everything I wore or carried was given to me. I think it's for the best I start freedom of choice with purses. I'd be overwhelmed if we started at the dress shop."
Silkworm agrees, much to the delight of Jitterbug and Sockhop (who are both dressed in maids' outfits at the moment). "Just tell us what you need," says Sockhop. Jitterbug adds, "The commision is unnecessary. You saved our lives, and we are not seen as slaves under human law."
The girls await their orders with eager serpentine grins.
Sockhop replies to Cal, "King Lewy and Level 426 are polar opposites. As a princess, she was already outspoken when it came to her views on slavery. As King, she... I mean, he wanted to make real changes in boggard society. "He lost a lot of credibility when his son became involved with Level 426's 'top frog.' No one listened to Lewy after the affair became a public spectacle. Fiona never told me this, but some of her advisors would talk, and Jitterbug and I heard things and kept it to ourselves." Jitterbug sighs, "The Prince and Jacques getting together really broke Lewy's heart. But how do you think Lewy will feel about his son's death?"
Cal notices that Silkworm follows Sarenrae, and embraces the religions stances on redemption as well as pacifism. Being the princess-turned-king's guide, it wouldn't be surprising to Caledon if he were to discover King Lewy is a pacifist as well.
Ragdoll makes a lot of small talk. It seems that, for a young woman who has only known slavery, the life isn't all that bad. But then, the Frogazon (Boggard Amazon) Captain never made her do anything. The slave girls took on derogatory names that made them sound like playthings, but they never were. For reasons Ragdoll can't quite explain or understand herself, names like Moonitune and Sockhop were for the girls' protection. Silkworm and the others were owned by two separate Amazon Princesses. "There was Princess Luisa, and then there was the one my captain worked for—the late Queen Fiona." Alistair never heard of these princesses, but then, humans know very little about Boggard royalty. And some also know very little about Boggard physiology. Ragdoll's story eventually eludes to that... "The thing about boggard amazons is, if you have an all-female population, one of the ladies becomes a male. I mean, in every sense of the word. Lady Luisa became the Bearded Lady, and they call her King Lewy now. She... or he now... mated with Fiona. When an Amazon has two Amazon parents, it's supposed to be a really big deal. The daughter would be revered not as a Princess, but as a Goddess. But they had a boy—the Frog Prince. "He wasn't a real Prince though. So like his dad, he couldn't stay with the amazons. Lewy gave his slaves to Fiona as a parting gift, and because the slave-girls were dmsafest with the amazons. And all was well until Fiona died of a sudden illness. Lacking a will, her son inherited anything that wasn't legally Amazon property..." She goes on to reveal that the Prince only inherited the seven slaves. Ragdoll's captain feared the prince would abuse the girls, or worse, ship them off with his friend in the sex trade. Ragdoll volunteered to join the slaves, which is why she had the wig with the hairpins, and the skill to pick locks. Her Captain trained her to escape capture, and her choice to run toward danger to remove Alistair's debilitating nausea? She was trained to be brave—to put others' needs before her own. Ragdoll was a slave, but her Captain treated her like a soldier.
On the way to Brother Seamus', Silkworm tells a similar story of the Prince. When she gets to the part where everyone is on the ship, she says... "He said King Lewy is on this island. He sent mules to his father, but something went wrong. He needed new mules, and he needed to deliver them immediately and in-person. "Lewy was good to me. I don't know if Lewy knows about his son's lover. He's the kingpin of Level Four-Twenty-Six." Jitterbug corrects her spiritual leader. "It's pronounced four TO six. Something to do with the kingpin's forms." Sockhop says, "Yeah, I heard him telling his guard about his lover's human form. Too skinny, but good for business with the humans, he said." In the end, the girls aren't sure their story matters now. The Prince is dead, and they are safe. Still, Silkworm appears to be worried...
Some of the slaves gag at the odor eminating from the pukey stain on the wall. Silkworm manages to resist the effect, and—having now been freed by Captain Andoran and the Edge—casts Remove Sickness on Anabel. She says, "You and your gunslinger friend may wish to find a privy in the next quarter-hour. Our magic postpones symptoms." The silk-clad slave adds, "If you do not mind my saying, I admire your tastes." Anabel can't help but notice Silkworm wears a lot of fine silk for a slave. She is not dressed like a prince's concubine, but like a religious leader. Ragdoll replies to Alistair. "I wasn't about to run away from the man who freed us—at least I assume that's what you're doing. But even if you're planning to own us, I'm a pacifist, but not a coward. My last owner was a Captain of the Frogazon Guard." The girl rolls her eyes at the term. "In the Boggard tongue, the word translates to 'Amazon.' The Captain used to joke about the way humans add the prefix 'frog' to everything to do with Boggards." As our own Captain (of Andoran) finishes freeing the slaves, there is a stomping heard from the water. "Oh come ON!" Jitterbug cries out, "Why can't the Prince just die once like a normal person?!" What's left of the froghemoth stomps out of its watery grave, though it's not half as threatening as it sounds—it's not even half a froghemoth. All that remains is a pair of thick frog-legs and the lower third of a froghemoth torso. It walks to the dock, tromps through boards, and its oddly mechanical motion ends when the partial creature bumps into the wall behind the docks. Aside from bits of intestine and visible hip bones, there is something in the very center of the froghemoth's insides...
Emboldened by the gnome's words and actions (as well as the actions of "her humans!"), her fellow (ophidian) Oracles of the Dawnflower let out a healing burst.
The sphere of warm light envelops the enemy as well, but the creature is not truly alive, so it is not healed. Alistair sees his target is in flames, but not going down... yet.
Ragdoll grabs Alistair by the leg. Without the wig, the slave girl looks like a kid—well into her teens, but a kid nonetheless. She winces in pain from the attack, keeping one eye shut so her own blood doesn't blind her as it leaks from her vicious head-wound. She gasps out a few words. "That gun o' yours... you can k...kill it?" They end like a whimpered question, but the girl does not require an answer. She lowers her head, mumbles foreign words, and magic flows from her gentle fingers.
Alistair is no longer in any pain.
...
The girl wearing only stockings happily accepts the blanket, and helps her nude friend cover up. The girls slowly disembark the ship.
Silkworm, who seems to be the girls' spiritual leader, points out the wizard's mule. She thanks Caledon as she assists the last couple girls down the gangplank.
The black tentacles start to separate from the door. Some still twitch as they land; others dissipate as the fall. From inside, our heroes on the deck can hear a plop-plop-plopping, and some very wet splats. Girls scream, but not in pain, and the screaming is calmed easily. There are footsteps, the rattling of chains... ...then they emerge: Alistair and eight slave-girls. One has Hunter cradled in her arms. She is wearing many layers of silk, as well as three shackles: one on each wrist, and one on her ankle. Each shackle chains her to a different slave girl, but the chains have enough slack the the girls can move in formation. Only four are clothed. One is nude, one is topless, one is wearing only a shirt, and one is wearing only stockings. Their skin is like that of a snake, but have the shape of women—aside from the long necks, sharp ridges along the spine and chin, and lack of a belly button and hair. (One of the fully-clothed has long curls of red, blonde and black, but it is obviously a wig.) The one in silk sees some of our heroes are hurt. She says, "I live to serve." The girls bow their heads in prayer...
The slave with the wig says, "Yeah, I'm happy to serve new masters myself. The further we get away from that diamond-eating weirdo, the better."
Inside the Ship (Alistair & Hunter): The girls simply accept their fate, whatever it may be. Silkworm, who is fully clothed in many layers of silk. introduces the girls. There is Jitterbug, who is completely nude, and three others who are hardly dressed themselves: Sockhop (clad in stockings), Rackpat (topless) and Moonitune (bottomless). The other three, like Silkworm, are fully clothed: Ragdoll is wearing a wig made of long, curly human hair: red, blonde, and black. Mudpie is wearing nail polish on fingers and toes, and make-up on her lips, cheeks, and around her serpentine eyes. Toadstool's posture and frilly gown make her look more like a princess than a slave. The girls have scaled patterned skin, like snakes. Aside from a long neck, lack of hair (not even eyebrows) or a belly button, and some sharp ridges along the back and chin, they have a rather human quality to them. They smile pleasantly at the bird and the man who took a risk to set them free. Silkworm then says, "Thank you for freeing us. The Prince has not mistreated us." Rackpat adds, "We were certainly prepared to suffer when he commanded us to strip." Jitterbug says with a shudder, "I thought..." She does dare say it. Sockhop says in a consoling tone, "He had us strip slowly, but at one point he commanded, 'stop.'" Moonitune mutters, "It would have been nice if he had us put our clothes back on." Sockhop goes on, "But he just had us stop and don our chains. He said he could not wait. His men had failed him, and we needed to use magic to sail to the king in one day." Toadstool says, "By royal decree, we were not to be toys, but serve a more royal purpose. He offered us diamonds." Silkworm says, "Yes. That is what he offered us. But we were not fooled. A slave cannot accept riches. The diamonds were quite tempting." Mudpie says, "They had a sweet smell, like a dessert Mother used to make back when she cooked for the Boggard Queen. I waned to just lick the diamond... just once." Ragdoll says, "The Dawnflower would have forgiven us." Silkworm speaks in the tone of a leader, and a religious one at that. "We do not test our goddess' forgiving ways by knowing doing wrong, and the Dawnflower is the goddess of our former human owner, so it is known: a slave cannot accept a possession from her owner no differently than a doll cannot own another doll." Ragdoll shrugs. She looks at Alistair and says, "In the end, it was just another slaver messing with us. The Frog Prince asked us why we didn't accept his gift, then answered his own question. 'Cause they're mine, he said. And he ate all eight of the diamonds." Toadstool shakes her head. "He was dribbling the purple liquid center. What kind of a prince drools his food, even if it is an edible jewel of some sort? By the time the girls have said all this, Alistair is removing the final bolt. But the girls just sit there. Silkworm says to him, "I suppose this makes you our owner, though the Prince may have words with you over this. We will do as you command." Jitterbug asks Alistair, "Can you please command us to bring our clothes wherever you're taking us? I can't put 'em on with these stupid shackles, but Ragdoll can pick the locks with her hairpins later."
Inside the Ship (Alistair & Hunter): The girls are chained wrist to wrist to each other, and if that isn't enough their ankles are shackled. A long chain runs from the ankle of one girl, through an iron ring bolted to the floor, and to a shackle on the ankle of another girl siting across from her.
From a top view, the chains would form a "wagon-wheel" shape, though he chains do have quite a bit of slack, and this set up has only three of the girls' limbs shackled: both wrists (chained to an adjacent girl) and the left ankle (chained to a girl on the opposite side). The chains do not prevent the girls from moving their limbs... just from leaving the room, or moving three feet away from the ring in the center of the group. As Alistair looks around for a key to the shackles, Silkworm says to him, "It's sweet of you to try, but the Prince has the only key on the ship." Given Alistair's knowledge of how things are built, he knows brute force would work:
Alistair and Hunter:
Alistair is forced to crouch to avoid getting caught by the tentacles himself. The prince manages to escape into his quarters, escorted by his guard. As the door slams shut, Alistair can hear vomiting. As a lock clicks in place, a stench fills the room. It is coming from beyond the Prince's room, and Alistair recognizes this distinction smell. Biff Wellington gave the same odor shortly before he changed. ... As for the slave girls, they are truly impressed by the falcon's might as Hunter escapes. Silkworm cradles the bird in her arms, if he lets her. If he wishes to fly, she will open her arms for him. "This one is strong," Silkworm says. "Let us make him stronger." All of the girls hum. Their sweet singing voices light the room...
At this point, Alistair's vanish spell wears off. "Greetings," says the slave clad in silk. "I am Silkworm. Is this your brave bird?"
Hunter: The writhing tentacles cover the entire ceiling! They continue to constrict! The bird is too small to muscle his way out!
Below the struggling bird, a nude nagaji slave, sighs with relief as the Prince leaves the room—though her friend, clad only in a pair of knitted stockings, grabs the nude slave by the chin. She attempts to turn her friend's head upward. The chains limit her movement, but the nude complies. Opposite the nude is a slave dressed in many layers of silk, much like the scarf-dancing elf outside. She takes one of the scarves and gently flings one end toward the struggling falcon. "Take it, Songbird!" A topless slave says, "I don't think that kind of bird sings, Silkworm." "Of course it does not, Patty. But this creature is a sign." "Of freedom!" says the nude. "Let's call her Freebird!" says the stockinged. The topless one says, "She isn't free either." The bottomless slave says, "She also isn't a she." "He will be," says Silkworm. "He will be free!" One by one, the slaves rise up as far as the chains allow. The silk-clad slave again snaps her scarf toward Hunter. The lightweight material almost seems to float within reach of Hunter's talons. "Take it, Freebird!" says Silkworm.
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