Several minutes ago a maid had come into the parlor and put a plate of sweets in front of them on a table and some cups of tea. Telvin found the tea was alright, but the cookies tasted a bit stale as if they were made a while ago. He glanced up at the maid who was standing behind them looking as if she was just waiting for an order from them.

Sighing, he placed his cup down and looked over at Riley. She was currently leafing through an old book that had been left on the table. "What is the book about?"

Closing the book and setting it on the table, Riley said "It was about the Alysian continent of the Beastkin. It tells the story of an explorer that ventured deep into the continent and witnesses barbaric tribal behavior. As might be expected the book looks like it's filled with complete misinformation. It appears predominantly made up, as if the writer had never even explored the continent. For example he claims that they practice sacrifices. They do no such thing." 

"How can you tell that it's made up?"

"A pair of Wolfkin Brothers joined the Scarlet Mercenaries. They were from Alysia and would frequently recount to me stories about their homeland. Despite what most believe, the Beastkin actually have quite the developed society. They may be behind in technology, but they do have cities. People hear tribes and assume a bunch of roaming savages, but when a beastkin refers to a tribe, it typically represents thousands of people. Just as we identify the kingdoms, we live in, they identify themselves by the tribes they are in."

"Perhaps one day we can visit."

"I would like that." Riley said.

At that moment, the door to the parlor opened and in walked Mianda. The girl was wearing a light blue dress with a bunch of frills and was carrying two boxes both wrapped in green strings. Following behind her was Carol, who had changed into a maid's outfit. Telvin noticed the maid that was in the room gave Carol a look of annoyance and swiftly vacated the room.

Mianda said excitedly, "Sir Jack, I got a present for you while you were undertaking your journey."

A warmth spread through Telvin's heart and he said "You honestly didn't have to do that Mianda. You did me a big favor by watching over my family while I was gone." 

The girl blushed and said "I wanted too, as thanks for saving Carol and I from the goblins."

Placing the boxes down, she picked up and handed Telvin the smaller of the two. Taking it carefully from her, he pulled on the strings and unwrapped the box. Unfastening it, he found a pair of black leather gloves, on each finger was a magical symbol emblazoned. Taking them out, he could feel the magic enchanted in them. Holding them he used his Examination skill on them to see more information about them.

 

 

Putting them on Telvin found they fit his hands exactly. With each flex of his hands he felt a tingle of magic activate. "Thank you Mianda. This is a great set of gloves. Where did you get them?"

"One day this wild looking guy that had a beard down to his feet walked into the village and set up a small shop near the bakery. However, instead of money, he would only accept other things in trade. I gave him some cookies that I made that morning, and he said I could pick anything I wanted. I said I wanted something for an archer, and he gave me those gloves."

"What a strange man."

"He was a very nice man. When he saw your mom, he even gave her a carving of flowers."

"These gloves fit my hands perfectly. Is that box on the table for your dad when he gets home?"

"Yes, I got him something from that man as well." Mianda sat on a chair near Telvin and said, "Can you tell me about your journey Sir Telvin?"

"Sure, how about I tell you the story of the battle of the spider gorge?" For the next hour he told the little girl of the journey across the gorge. She listened fascinated with his story and he decided to embellish a little bit just to conceal the frightening parts not suitable for a girl her age.

"You really caught Riley by diving off a cliff?" Mianda said amazed.

"He sure did." Riley said, smiling. 

The door opened and the butler stepped in and said "Lady Mianda, Your father has returned and would like to speak with you in his study alone."

Mianda jumped up and seized the box and dashed upstairs. Carol followed and said "I will wait for her outside the study."

The butler simply nodded and looked at Telvin and said "Do you require anything?"

Shaking his head, Telvin said "No not at the moment."

"Alright. When the Duke has finished with talking with Lady Mianda, he will see you."

After sitting in uncomfortable silence for nearly forty minutes, the butler once again came in and said "The Duke asks you to present yourselves to him now."

They passed an angry looking Carol who was quickly walking past them. "What's the matter?" Telvin halted her.

She sighed and said "The Duke has upset Mianda. He apparently really disliked the gift she got him. I'm going to get her some warm drinks to help soothe her down." At that point she continued down the hallway presumably to the kitchen.

The butler tsked, and Telvin and Riley continued following him into a study. The butler closed the door behind them. A tall man sat writing at a desk, he glanced up and did a double-take when he saw Telvin. "My god you look just like Eric. Armoundis informed me, but I thought it was an exaggeration."

Walking into the room, he took a seat across on a chair in front of the desk and said "So I have been told quite frequently of late. But I assure you, I am my own person, not my father." Riley sat down next to him. "This is Riley Scarlet, my girlfriend."

The Duke glanced at Riley and nodded. "Mianda tells me you rescued her from some goblins."

"I did, but I wasn't there for her. In fact I didn't know I was related to her until I found out from my mother."

Duke Adam leaned back in his chair and said "You are from the time he was visiting the Elven Kingdom."

"It sounds like you are making a guess." Telvin glaring at him and said "Was my father, your brother, that promiscuous?"

"Lamentably my brother sowed his wild oats a great deal. All told, I have gathered evidence of nearly five hundred children from his time, most likely more given I don't know how many he sired on his voyages to the other continents."

"What happened to all of them?"

"The ones I found mostly ended up dead, either from the effects of the curse, or because of the poor decisions they made from the curse. Some are simply missing, I have no information on what happened to them. Still others are in prison for crimes they committed while the curse was unleashed."

"Or they ended up like the boy you sent to the empire? I found out they bled him like a pig." Telvin said.

A heavy sigh emerged from the duke and it looked like he aged several years. "I was afraid of that. That is really unfortunate to hear."

"Why did you do it?"

"I did what I had to do to save our family. My Brother would have burnt this family to the ground with his actions, so I had to hide away his children for they were walking time bombs. Unfortunately, the Queen got word and ordered me to send one of the women to the empire. I had little choice but to do so."

"Did they also order you to kill your brother?"

Levelling his gaze at Telvin, the Duke said "I have heard the rumors of that night, But I swear to my ancestors, that I had nothing to do with your father's disappearance."

"So you say. Yet you haven't even bothered to look for him since he disappeared."

"No. No, I didn't. I was so angry with him. For betraying the trust, I had in him. I had hoped that with him gone, that my wife would eventually look towards me again. Yet his loss has only broken her mind. Still I believe it for the best that he stayed away from us. The curse was too far gone to control."

Telvin was silent for a moment and then said "I found out recently that the goddess who cursed him was Tellus Mater. What can you tell me about how my father was cursed?"

"Not much, unfortunately. One day My brother came back from the last expedition he ever took alone. He would not tell me what happened, other than he had been too weak and had given into his desires. His temper grew unchecked, and he had to leave often just to avoid hurting people. But it was his lust that was the worst, when it was active he was unnaturally strong. He stopped at one village once, and for one whole week he fucked anything with a hole in that village, willing or not." 

"They could not flee, for somehow he sensed when they attempted to and then he would drag them back." Adam grimaced. "None of the villagers could bear to live in that village anymore. I sent them across the ocean."

The Duke continued after a period of silence, "What I was able to find among his possessions that he left, was that he broke some oath he had made. What oath I don't know, it appears to be related to seven beings. Who they are supposed to be I don't know, but from what I could tell, it appears the curse was actually two parts. One part was from this Tellus Mater, and the other came from someone or something else."

"I have the curse from this Tellus Mater, but I don't have the second part." Telvin said.

"That makes sense. You are still rational despite living so long with the curse." 

"Is that why you are sealing Mianda's curse?"

"Ah you also know of that? Did that Maid Carol tell you?"

"No, I actually told it from a noble."

"She is my daughter, despite being of my brother's blood. I would undertake anything for her. Having seen what would ultimately happen to her if I didn't intervene, I went to the King and begged him to allow me access to the modipod in the Temple of Alacanar to seal her curse away."

"The King agreed?" Riley asked.

"Yes, with several conditions. I will only tell this to you as you are my nephew, and I owe that much to my brother. If you wish to get the tattoos you must be prepared to make the same kind of sacrifices. Do not spread this information to others or you will die. Everyone you told will die."

Telvin looked at Riley and she nodded back at him. "I will keep it secret."

"The first is, of course, the money I need to donate each year for the curse. I make enough so that it's not a problem, but I suspect it will be hard for you. The second is The Queen likes to sleep with men while the king watches, on occasion she likes to see me fuck him as well. I must visit the queen at least five times per year. I won't go into details of those sessions, but they are far more perverse then you could imagine. Third is the King has arranged for my daughter to wed into the empire's royalty."

"When are they going to be married?"

"I managed to push off the wedding until Mianda is sixteen. Unfortunately, it is the emperor's choice who she gets to marry. Though the empire is now hinting that she should get married sooner. The final thing I was required to do is sign a contract for my life with the god Alacanar. At any point should the god decide he may take my life and soul and use it for whatever purposes he desires."

"I see. It's a good thing I'm not looking to get a tattoo. I'm looking to break the curse in its entirety. Do you know where a Temple to this Tellus Mater is?"

The Duke looked at Telvin and said "No. I too managed to find out who the goddess who cursed my brother was. Unfortunately, it appears something wiped out all her temples from the world. The only clue I have is that Eric must have encountered her temple in order to make that oath before he went on the expedition."

"Did he travel a lot before then?"

"He did, which makes it hard to guess where he encountered the temple." The Duke said "I've had each place searched multiple times only to come up empty." 

The duke opened up a drawer in his desk and pulled out an old worn leather journal. "Here are my brother's notes on the journey's he took. The only exception was his last expedition where he wrote nothing. Perhaps you will have more luck then I. If you do manage to find it, please help Mianda."

"I will." Telvin took the book and put it away. He stood and said, "I think I learned all I needed to." He went to the door with Riley following and turned back to the Duke and said "If I find out you harmed my sister, I'll be coming back a whole lot angrier. You keep an eye on her. Someone wanted to kill her before the goblins got her."

Then he exited and found the butler waiting for them. "I will show you out."

Walking down the hallway, they reached outside and found the sun was already going beneath the horizon. They quickly left the grounds of the mansion and were walking down the street. As it was getting darker several magic lights lit up the road.

"So do you want to grab something to eat before we head to this inn that Jack picked?"

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm starving, but we should get closer to the inn, I feel like the restaurants around here are out of our price range."

Telvin was about to respond when he felt something was weird. He stopped Riley and said "Do you hear that?"

Cocking her head, she said "I don't hear anything."

"That's the problem. It's a city. It shouldn't be so quiet." Telvin looked around and as he was looking several nearly unseeable figures cloaked in dark outfits rushed out and tossed out several orbs which blasted smoke everywhere blinding Telvin for a bit. In the dark haze he was startled when he saw a glint of a blade rushing towards him.

Before he could duck, a large fist struck the person wielding the blade. Riley roared "Telvin stay near me. I've got this." She pulled out her axe and swung it at the approaching figures in the dark.

Several figures in the haze attempted to attack them, with Riley blocking them, thanks to her presence detection ability. Soon the smoke had dispersed and Telvin regained his sight, and the figures began to dash away. Aiming at one Telvin let off an arrow that when it left the bow, turned into a streak of flames and pierced the man who shrieked as he burst into fire. He dropped to the floor and attempted to roll, only for one of the others to draw a knife and plunge it into the neck of the burning man. Then he jumped over a wall and away. 

"I think that was an assassination attempt." Riley said a bit out of breath.

"Why would they attempt to assassinate me? Could they have been hired by my Uncle?"

"Maybe."

They walked over to the corpse of the man that was still burning, and using a blanket from his inventory was able to smother the flames. The body was charred and the face was unrecognizable. In his throat was the blade the other had jammed in to kill his compatriot.

Riley looked at the clothing and sniffed it and said "No wonder he went up so fast, do you smell that?"

"What?" Telvin took the cloth and smelled an incredibly foul odor.

"That's Errais oil. It absorbs all light. Anything covered with it is hard to see in darkness. It is also very flammable. It's made from the blood of an Errais who lives in swamps."

Checking the stuff that didn't get burned, Telvin found some more of those smoke balls, along with some poisoned darts and the like. "Maybe we should go straight to the Inn and get some food there. I don't want to wander around here in the dark just waiting for another ambush."

"Yeah, that presumably is not the smartest idea."

They swiftly walked to the inn that was marked on their maps where Jack was staying. They entered the hotel and were greeted by the sight of a nude woman lounging on a couch where a painter was currently capturing her image on a canvas. 

Moving past them, Telvin led Riley up the stairs to the room Jack said they were in. Knocking, Veronica answered the door and led them into the room. Within they found Jack staring at Princess Falean.