{"sf1_id":934464,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Dago Malginn:Licensed Kinght Errant [1/2]","author":"ggbordello","words":7345,"posted_at":"2015-11-16T23:50:00.000Z","tags":["Character Development","Fantasy","Humor","Kobold","No-Yiff","Plot Development","Short Story","Story Progression","Story Series","Wolf dog"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/934464-dago-malginn-licensed-kinght-errant-1-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/934464","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=934464\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nIt is said that soon after the world was created, the gods waged war on\neach other for its dominance, they recruited all the living creatures big and\nsmall to do their bidding, the beast fought against beast and men fought\nagainst men, and the gods rejoiced in their own madness until the age of\nbloodshed lasted long enough for the flames to consume everything there was.\n\n\n\nIn the end only Love and Fertility prevailed, the only ones who refused\nto fight, their brothers and sisters had all perished, leaving them alone in a\ncrimson world.\n\n\n\nThus Love and Fertility walked the earth healing the soil, healing the\nsky and healing the seas, but they alone could not repopulate the earth, for\nall the male gods lay dead, at least for now.\n\n\n\nAnd so one day another deity was born from the spilled blood of all male\ngods, and as soon as he opened his eyes this new god called himself Lust.\n\n\n\nLust tasted the wind and caught the scent of the two goddesses; he ran\nacross the world and before two moons had passed he saw himself become the\nfather of all living creatures, the moons kept passing and the earth returned\nto its former glory, and so both men and beast rose again.\n\n\n\nDay and night Lust attended to his duties with the two goddesses, but\nsoon he found that his desires where too wild to be satiated just by them. The\nearth was ripe with life again, and his urges found plenty of suitable partners\namong his sons and daughters: the humans.\n\n\n\nLust visited the tribes and towns, the cities and the citadels, while\nadopting the form of a mortal he made no distinction between male or female,\nand the ones touched by his grace where gifted with the ability to produce\nmany, many children.\n\n\n\nFertility looked at Lust´s work with complacence, and rewarded him\ngreatly for his deeds when he eventually came back to her and Love, but Love\ndidn't feel the same way, in her heart the seeds of jealously began to grow,\nuntil she realized she now resented her own sister and her sons...\n\n\n\nWhat follows after this changes drastically depending on whom you ask, from\nthe common human folk on the cities of Red Valley to the dragon-worshippers in\nWindfall Rock, hundreds of different tales diverge from this point, all\nflavored with the local culture. A compendium of such variations would be\nenough to fill tome after tome, this study, being as lengthy as it is, shall\nfocus only in the similarities they share.\n\n\n\nThese similarities being of course, the rise of the beastfolk [...]\n\n\nHackeem Shamud- On why everything is so literally fucked up: A study.Few things gave Dago the same\nfeeling of dread as banks did.\n\n\nNo matter wherever they stood, they\nalways looked the same: Monolithic, soulless and with that ever present aura of\norderly evil that always loomed over his head once inside, he couldn't help but\nfeel the fur on the back of his neck stiffen every single time he crossed the\nentrance as if he had a gigantic gaping maw following him, ready to close in\nwith its fangs as soon as he looked over his shoulder.\n\n\n\nHe had felt more at ease on the\nwrong side of an ambush, multiple times. More that he could count anyway.\n\n\n\nHow many fucking times. He thought, striding through the hall and pushing people around as he\napproached the counter. How many fucking\ntimes I'm going to walk in one of these hellholes just to get milked worse than\na cheap whore? At least they get plenty of cock for their efforts.\n\n\n\nHe sent a surprisingly thin and\nskittish looking bear against a guard who was approaching to stop him.\nWell...at least not figuratively speaking like\nme.\nBoth fell into the ground and ended up entangled on each other like a\ncouple of lovebirds rolling in the grass.\n\n\n\nThe clerk had no time to say\nanything before Dago shoved a signed paper on her face, the same he had shoved\non the muzzles of the guards outside the bank when they had asked him to give\nup his sword, without knowing he carried a whole arsenal inside the huge sack\nover his shoulder.\n\n\n\n\"Just point me in the direction of\nthe representative\n's office, if you would be so\nkind.\n\" He spat, already guessing the answer despite having never been to\nthat branch before.\n\n\n\nAlthough she did look like one of\nthe local kobolds, the clerk\n's accent was as thick\nas the speech of sailor, probably an easterner for all Dago cared.\n\n\n\n\"Roight\nthere, sire,\" She said pointing at a door in the other side of the hall, almost\nin a whisper with the paper still on her face. \"passit and its on the third\ndoor on the left.\"\n\n\n\nDago was\nabout to go away without bothering with an answer, but he felt like he was\nbeing enough of an asshole already.\n\n\n\n\"Thank\nyou\n madam, I apologize for the inconveniences.\"\nHe gave a little bow in her direction and made his way towards the door she had\npointed, paying no mind to the crowd staring at him and at the two fellows who\nwhere now awkwardly standing up, looking embarrassed at each other and\nmuttering apologies as if they had bumped on each other by accident.\n\n\n\nAs the female kobold\nhad told him, the office he was searching for was the third one at the left.\nEven the layout never changes. He opened\nthe door.\nI fucking hate banks.\n\n\nThe representative\nlooked at him as if he had been just another employee who had just showed up\nwith a bunch of accounting books, his tired rodent eyes sparkled for a moment\nand then he began to make space on the desk, putting away quills, scrolls,\npaperweights and heavy tomes, making them disappear under his desk.\n\n\n\nI can't believe it took me this long to find a\nrat holding this position.\n\n\n\n\"You must be Mr.\nMalginn...\" said the rat as he stored a handful of papers inside a drawer,\nleaving the desk free.\n\n\n\n\"Unfortunately, that\nis the case.\" Dago ignored the hand extended towards him and took the sack out\nof his back and held it with both arms.\n\n\n\nThe rat retired his\nhand, undisturbed by his lack of response.\n\n\n\n\"Conrad Jacques at\nyour service, how can I help-\" and before he could say more, the sack fell over\nthe desk and rattled like a fully armored knight falling downstairs.\n\n\n\nStill unimpressed,\nthe rat began to examine the contents of the sack, taking each item with infuriating\ndelicacy and examining them with a jeweler's monocle he took out of his clothes,\nmuttering to himself in the process.\n\n\n\nDago watched him evaluate\nhis harvest, carefully pulling each piece aside over his desk as he was done\nwith them.\n\n\n\n\"Careful with that\none, the blade goes in flames when you take it out of its sheath.\"\n\n\n\n\"Oh, I see...ooh, Drakkan\ncraft indeed,\" Jacques nodded at Dago as he lined it with the rest, \"a\nremarkable feat to find one these days.\"\n\n\n\nFuck you. Why do I even bother?\n\n\nThe rat kept going,\nseveral ornate weapons lay now on the desk, some of them glowed on their own,\nsome had outlandish names carved on their blades and most, if not all, were\nstupidly impractical to wield, let alone to swing. One particular piece exuded a\nvisible cold aura that left traces of frost over the desk; it would have been\ncool if not for the fact that holding it for more than five minutes had the\nrisk to cause serious hypothermia.\n\n\n\nDago sighed; each\none of those fucking things was worth a small fortune on its own.\n\n\n\nBut no matter how\nmuch he brought them...\n\n\n\n\"I imagine that you\ndid not manage to secure a Wardstone, Mr.Malginn.\" said Jacques as he put his\nmonocle back in his clothes. \"There is no need to stress how important-\"\n\n\n\n\"Oh, I know, but\nthere's never and end on how fucking many do you want me to fetch for you, so,\nas you are well aware, I'm on a bit of a stretch here, you know? And since I\ndon't feel like you are milking me dry enough already, I say to myself:\nhey, why not pay Rowler \u0026 Sons a visit?\nI'm sure they would love to see me!\n\"\n\n\n\"You are well aware\nthat the matter it is well out my control, the intere-\"\n\n\n\n\"Shut the fuck up. You know it's not just the interests here,\" said Dago, pointing a\nfinger right between the Jacque´s eyes, \"and even if it were just for the\nfucking interests, and not by that cocksucker of Rogan adding more out of spite\nby the time I show up with the fucking things, I would have been done with this\nshit ages ago!\"\n\n\n\n\"This is certainly\nwhere being... timely with your deliveries would help your case, Mr. Malginn.\"\n\n\n\n\"Oh, yeah, BECAUSE\nYOU KICK A ROCK AND FUCKING WARDSTONES COME UP.\"\n\n\n\nDago was almost on\nhim, both of his hands clawing the fine surface of the desk, all the muscles of\nhis arms almost bursting out with anger.\n\n\n\nHe felt something\nstarting to burn in his left arm under the cloth of his shirt, from shoulder to\nelbow; there was no indication that something was actually burning there, but\nit hurt like hell.\n\n\n\nJacques almost\nlooked afraid for a moment, but soon it was gone, his calm demeanor seemed to\nreturn.\n\n\n\nI know you are shitting yourself inside you little\nturd I CAN FUCKING SMELL IT!\n\n\n\n\"That is certainly\nnone of my concern, Mr.Malginn.\"\n\n\n\nAnd you are damn well about to shit yourself on\nthe outside too...\n\n\n\nDago relaxed his\narms and got back, it was pointless. He looked at the marks on the desk; that\ndesk probably was worth more than his weight in gold and yet it was a pittance\ncompared to one of the weapons on the table, and much, much less compared to\nwhat he already owed.\n\n\n\nHe sighed.\n\n\n\"...Just...just discount\nthe fucking desk from my commission, I have a contract in the city that might\nactually lead to a something.\"\n\n\n\n\"I-I can let a\ncouple of scratches go pass, if it's any help.\"\n\n\n\nThe sheer absurdity\nof the suggestion almost made Dago lose it and roll on the floor in laughter.\n\n\n\nInstead he gave the\nrat a grin that showed a fang or two and went for the door.\n\n\n\n \"Whatever, it doesn't really matter.\" Fuck it, just fuck it.\n\n\n\"Mr. Malginn you\nwon't stay to...?\"\n\n\n\n \"I´ll come back later when you are finished\ncursing my cut, I'm not staying to hear whatever those trinkets are worth.\"\nI need a drink, and a fuck, and then another\ndrink after that, to hell with this shit.\n\"Just tell His Majesty if you see\nhim that he can shove every single one up his ass, I will be in the field\nfetching him some stones if he needs me.\"\n\n\nLeaving the bank\nalmost made Dago feel like himself again, damn but he couldn't help but burst\nout on these occasions.\n\n\n\nThe world outside was\nquite different to say the least, the façade of\nRowler \u0026 Sons stood out like sore thumb made of grey stone in\nthe midst of the glorified cave that was the kobold city, the already gigantic\nsquare structure looked even bigger when surrounded by the smaller, stranger\nbulbous local architecture scattered all over Bulwark´s Mine, the whole place\nwas full of multiple shades of green and brown as plenty of moss and vines\ncovered the buildings, most of them either carved in stone or fungalwood, even\nthe kind of people who flocked inside the bank felt out of place, being mostly traders\nfrom all over the land few of them were as short as the local populace. Going\ndeeper into the city, the sight of humans and mammal beastfolk became way sparser.\n\n\n\nDago took a map from\none of his pockets and tried to make sense of it, either kobolds had a great\nsense of direction or they were awfully incompetent at city planning, maybe\nboth, the streets looked more like veins and rivers flowing from one point of\ninterest to the other, not a nice place to get lost in.\n\n\n\nHe curled it into a\nball and put it back in the pocket, he was going to ask for directions and if\nhe stumbled with a bar on the way, all the better.\n\n\n\nGet myself some strong ale and some local ass...\nBoy or girl? Which will it be this time?\n\n\n\nHe recalled the\nclerk on the bank; she was kinda cute now that he thought about it.\n\n\n\nA girl, then.\n\n\nDago approached a\ngrey scaled kobold who had just bought some fruit in a market stall.\n\n\n\n\"Excuse me...eehm...\nsir, could you please point me in the direction of the Skallar Manor?\" He said,\ntrying to be as polite and non-threatening as possible, just in case he\nhappened to come across a shy one.\n\n\n\n\"Oh, that way sir,\nyou go a couple of blocks until you see a building that looks like a snail´s\nshell, once there you take the bifurcation to the left until you reach\nSkallar´s plaza, its named after the same family so you will surely find\nsomeone who can help you from there.\"\n\n\n\nDago eyed the young\nfellow as he pointed the way, some girly proportions... but undoubtedly a male,\nthe giveaway were the sharper ridges on the scales over his eyes, where mammals\ntended to have eyebrows.\n\n\n\nCute voice even in males...nice tush under that\ntail to boost...maybe I should go for a boy this time.\n\n\n\n\"Thank you sir, have\na nice day.\"\n\n\n\nHe kept checking up\non the natives as he walked among them, it was a bit difficult to tell the\ngenders apart at first sight, especially when most kobolds wore similar\nclothing, but that only added to the charm, most of them barely reached the\nlevel of his elbows, and that made his imagination work like a draft horse.\n\n\n\nNow he truly felt\nlike himself, out the anger and the frustration, in the same old horndog as\nalways.\n\n\n\nWhat the hell, you don't get to sample kobolds\noften. I'm doing one of each before leaving.\n \n\n\nHe started\nfantasizing; two nice rumps on a bed, their owners utterly spent and panting in\nthe afterglow, struggling to catch a breath before the next round...\n\n\n\nThe building with\nthe shape of a snail´s shell came into view, an assortment of kobolds and other\nspecies gathered in front of the entrance, it had no sign of any sort, but\njudging by the lack of drunkards and the amount of armed people walking in and\nout in groups it was easy to recognize it as the local adventurer´s guild, probably\nthe best place to get a guide if one planned to make an incursion into the\ndepths of the mine, kobold workers had a knack for uncovering all sorts of\nthings that were better left underground, or not, depending on the outlook.\n\n\n\nOr in the number of heads they have, in most\ncases.\n\n\n\nDago had no interest\non the mines, but he could use someone to watch his back out there, the roads\nhad their own dangers and lately they had been getting worse, he decided\nagainst it, at least for the moment, he would take a look before leaving the\ncity, and after having his fun.\n\n\n\"Do you have any\nbusiness here, wolf?\" blurted one of the guards, a tall Doberman clad in full\nplate armor.\n\n\n\n\"Let me present\nmyself, good sir, name´s Dago Malginn: licensed Knight Errant, I believe Herr\nSkallar has been awaiting my arrival.\" Replied Dago as he made a little bow.\n\n\n\nTo Rashi, the\nindividual standing in front of the gate didn't entirely look like a knight to\nhim, and sure as hell didn't look like a wolf either: the features of his face\nlooked softer, almost gentle compared to those of other wolves he had seen\nbefore, not even his eyes had a trace of those pin-point pupils that seemed to\ndistinguish them from their less temperamental brethren.\n\n\n\nAll he wore for\narmor was a sleeveless brigandine that covered him up to his knees and a pair\nof riveted leather greaves on his legs, the weapon that dangled sheathed from\nhis hip seemed to be a standard bastard sword. Any of the guards at the gate could\nhave played the role more convincingly.\n\n\n\nThe Doberman eyed up\nthe newcomer, frowning as if he had been thinking the exact same thing, yet it\nstill looked like he could see in the knight something that Rashi couldn't.\n  Maybe he was able to smell the breach that\nseparated them? Canines always placed a lot of importance in such things.\n\n\n\n\"Can you show me\nyour authorization?\"\n\n\n\nDago handed a piece\nof paper, and the guard took it, rising an eyebrow as his eyes went from left to right and back over the\ntext.\n\n\n\n\"You may pass...sir.\"\n\n\n\"Thank you, officer.\"From up in the tall\nmushroom Rashi could see the Knight stuff the paper back into his clothes as he\nwalked through the now opened gate.\n\n\nHe climbed off,\nmaking sure that the guards did not see him, there was nothing to do for now,\nexcept wait.\n\n\n\n\"It is not my\nintention to lecture you on the inner workings of local politics, Mr. Malginn,\nbut as you might imagine, the involvement of my family in the administration of\nBulwark´s mine, despite being very close to its own history, is still frowned\nupon by certain sections of the populace...and of the nobility, House Skallar is loathed\nby some of the older castes that go back to very founding of this settlement.\"\n\n\n\nHerr Octus Skallar\nwasn't an elderly man, he did not seem to surpass his forties, but he looked\nill, terribly ill, the furless features of his flat human face were skinny, and\nabove all, pale, his kin rarely fared well in places such as this one, at least\nfor prolonged periods of time.\n\n\n\nYou need to get out of this city more often,\nold man.\n\n\n\n \"We were in great measure responsible for the\nresurgence of trade after the mines stopped being the powerhouse of the region,\nwe brought prosperity in a time of uncertainty, yet since the time of my predecessors,\nwe have been forced to prove ourselves in the face of great ungratefulness. But\nof course, our contributions might very well be the double edged sword that has\nput us in this predicament, jealously is a powerful thing around these parts.\"\n\n\n\nSkallar took a sip\nof his tea, and Dago did the same\n. Not exactly\nwhat I needed, but you don't come across stuff this good nowadays.\n As soon\nas he put the empty cup over the table it was promptly filled again by the ever\npresent butler, a human that seemed quite a bit livelier than his master,\nconsidering he was probably twice his age.\n\n\n\n\"These days the\nmines are a great source of both opportunity...and trouble: certain sections that\nwere believed to be on their last legs in terms of production are experiencing\na resurgence the deeper the excavations get, but, in the same vein as my\nfamily´s success, that comes with a price,: there are a great deal of inner\ncaves that contain all sorts of forgotten wonders and dangers, as of late, the\nadventurers have been doing a great deal of exploration instead of just making\nsure nothing eats the workers, and this has become a point of interest for the\nHouses of the council...\"\n\n\n\n\"Do they want to tax\nthe adventurers?\" Asked Dago, this time he left just a bit of tea on the cup after\ndrinking it, the butler stood on his place, leaving it alone.\n\n\n\nSkallar waved his\nhand in negation as he tried to contain a coughing fit, it took him a bit to\nregain his voice.\n\n\n\n \"No...no, things don't work here quite as they\ndo where you come from, Mr. Malginn, we have been sponsoring them in their\nexpeditions, not\ntaxing them, you\nsee, it's a great deal of publicity for the nobility when a party under their\npatronage comes back exhibiting the spoils for all the populace to see, and it\nfills the natives with a sense of pride when said parties are lead by their own\npeople, as you might have noticed, it's rare for them to go without a guide with\na great sense of direction in the dark.\"\n\n\n\n\"I don't want to be\ndisrespectful, Herr Skallar, but I fail to see what my role in all of this is, and\nit is my understanding that the nature of our contract did not involve the\nmines.\"\n\n\n\n\"That was until\nrecent events forced me to postpone it... Ned, would you be kind enough as to\nhand us the map?\"\n\n\n\nThe Butler took a\npiece of folded paper from a drawer at his side and unfolded it over the table,\nshowing the multi layered cutout of a mountain, each passage and tunnel in all\nthe excavated levels of the mine were rendered in painstaking detail,\nconsidering how the mapmaker had to squeeze the complex layout of all seven\nfloors in just one piece. Much like the streets of the city, the routes merged\nand separated in multiple directions until they all met again in what Dago\npresumed to be points of interest formerly rich in minerals.\n\n\n\nSome sections showed\ninteresting deviations from the rest of the mine, as many openings and caves\nhad been discovered while mining, there was even an entire inner river flowing\nfrom the third level to the fifth before stagnating in a lake deep enough to\nreach the sixth level.\n\n\n\nSkallar rested a\nfinger on the easternmost fringe of the map, in the seventh level, gently\ntapping the spot as he spoke.\n\n\n\n\"This is a matter\nthat I can only trust to someone of your expertise, Sir Malginn, and if I was\nin need of your help before, I am even more so now.\"\n\n\n\nDago winced, there\nused to be a time in which it used to be far more frequent for people to refer\nto him as\nSir Malginn, instead of\njust\nmister Malginn, more often than\nnot in a mocking tone, but there was not a single shred of disrespect in\nSkallar´s voice, it was a nice gesture, yet a painful reminder.\n\n\n\n\"It has become a commonplace\nthat when a sponsored party ventures the mines, they get granted the custody of\na symbol to identify their allegiance in the eyes of the populace: it can be\nwhatever the house that finances the expedition wishes, like a banner or a\nweapon, but sadly, as of late, it has become quite the fad among the nobility\nthat said symbol has to be something of...great meaning... like a family heirloom.\"\n\n\n\nThe look on his face\nsaid it all.\nYou can see where this is\ngoing.\n\n\n\n\"The idea is that\nthe adventurers already put their skin on the line, so the one that contracts\nthem also has to be with them a least on spirit, as of late, the noble houses\nhave been trying to outdo each other, and I, in my foolishness, could not\nafford to be left behind.\"\n\n\n\nSkallar took a sip\nof tea, and massaged his temple with his free hand.\n\n\n\n\"Despite being\nperfectly aware that sending a priceless family relic down to the depths of\nhell is a-and pardon me the language-\nretarded\nidea, I do not give custody of personal relics to just anyone and send them\nmerrily to their doom. I contracted a perfectly capable and professional team,\nand provided them with all the equipment and logistics they could possibly\nneed, yet it seems that both me and that team bit more than we should have\ntried to chew...\"\n\n\n\n\"The team went\nmissing?\" Dago guessed.\n\n\n\nThe human shook his\nhead.\n\n\n\n\"The team was\nslaughtered.\" he said.\n\n\n\nThe finger pointed\nback at the spot on the map.\n\n\n\n\"This is where they\nfell, shredded to pieces by something lurking in the dark; nobody has dared to\nventure into this part of the mine since then, good news is: nobody in the\nother houses will try to recover the heirloom to ransom me for it, bad news,\nwell, it goes without saying.\"\n\n\n\nThen finding a guide might prove to be a\nchallenge.\n\n\n\nDago caressed the\npommel of his sword, as if making a reassurance to the old man.\n\n\n\nGuess I will have to scratch the bottom of the\nbarrel if I cannot find someone on the guild, but then again, adventurers are\nnot known for their long term planning, someone is bound to join this little\nquest.\n\n\n\n\"I see, so we seal\nthe deal after I complete this task, instead of our original arrangement?\"\n\n\n\n\"Do not take this\nlightly, Sir Malginn, I said I don't just send anyone to met an untimely end\ndown there, your task is to retrieve, not to avenge a bunch of mercenaries,\nunless it's inevitable, do not engage in unnecessary combat, once we get that\nout of the way we can return to our original arrangement, with a sizable bonus,\nof course.\"\n\n\n\n\"I understand, Herr\nSkallar, what is the nature of this relic you speak of?\"\n\n\nHis fingers tapped\nonto the pocket in his cloak, the almost inaudible clanging of the hip flask\nthrough the worn cloth reminded him that he damn well deserved a break.\nPerhaps now it's the time to refill this\nbaby.\n\n\n\nDago sighed as he\nsat on one of the benches in the guild hall; that day seemed to never end,\nfirst the dealings in the bank, then his arrangements with Herr Octus had\ngiving way to a glorified fetch task in the mines, and now this.\n\n\n\nSo far, his efforts\nto find a guide had been fruitless, Skallar had told him that looking for\nsomeone in the guild could do no harm, but now it certainly felt like a waste\nof his time, by now he could have already collapsed both drunk and spent in a\nbrothel´s bed, and the world would not have been worse for it.\n\n\n\nToo much to ask.\n\n\nBut instead, he had\nmet plenty of guides that outright shuddered at the very mention of the seventh\nlevel, no adventurer bands where currently operating in the area, and the\npeople who did go that far were merely watching over the miners along with\nelements of the city watch, apparently the very notion of going nowhere near\nthe zone where the party fell had become almost taboo, and it had only happened\nroughly a week before his arrival.\n\n\n\nOr that was the\nestimate of the ones that found the remains, four days prior a team composed of\nhumans from Red Valley and their guide had stumbled upon the most gruesome\ndisplay of carnage they had ever seen. They spoke of tore limbs scattered across\nthe floor and of half chewed corpses, opened and rotten like the carcasses of\nlivestock in the back of a butcher´s shop, of an indescribable reek that\nstagnated the air and a of a soft grunting in the dark that had made the humans\nrun for their lives without even considering to loot the dead, they had fled\nthe city soon after they reached the surface, leaving the relic of their\nsponsor behind their cheap motel room --a medallion, apparently-- and their tale\nin every tongue they came across.\n\n\n\nSo in the end not\none,\nbut two, noble houses were\ndishonored in a day, likely a great contributor on the fear that loomed over\nthe subject, besides the colorful descriptions of the state of the bodies.\n\n\n\nI´ve been doing this for far too long to know\nthat there has to be someone crazy enough to come with me, even if it's not a\nguide and we both have to make our way through that fucking maze with just a\nmap and a couple of torches.\n\n\n\nHe had to admit to\nhimself, there was no way in hell he was going down there without someone to\nkeep watch while he slept.\n\n\n\nHe got up, and made\nit for the street, that was enough for the day, he could worry about that first\nthing in the morning, or maybe it was already dawning.\n\n\n\nIt was difficult to\ntell in that part of the city, so far from the entrance of the cave.\n\n\n\nFortunately, one of\nthe guides had had the courtesy of pointing him to the nearest tavern, at least\nhe got that for his trouble, and who knew, guilds were not the only places\nwhere crazy people met to stab things in deep dark places.\n\n\n\nI know what I want to stab deep into some dark\nplaces, that's for sure.\n\n\n\n The tavern in question, The Inner Fire, was a cozy looking establishment located midway\ninto the opposite street that lead to Skallar´s Plaza, it was big, it was\nnoisy, and it was smelly, filled to the brim with the scent of alcoholism and\ndebauchery, among other things.\n\n\n\n Darling,\nI'm home!\n\n\n\nHe crossed the door,\nand was greeted by the chanting of the drunkards, by a horrible violinist that\nsounded like he was torturing a small animal, by the familiar cluster of\nstimuli that hit his snout with renewed force, this time complimented by the\nstrong presence of the locals, he looked around, and saw plenty of them among\nthe mammals and the occasional human, drinking, arguing, gambling, shouting,\nlaughing, crying, drooling, jeering, and touching each other under the tables\nwith little to no subtlety, it was a sight for madmen, and there Dago felt at\npeace, all the weariness of the day slowly slipped off his hide as he took a\nseat.\n\n\n\nIn front of a fire,\na female kobold danced for those interested in her, bare-chested, it was truly\na strange sight to see that unlike other lizardfolk, kobold females lacked\nbreasts and nipples, being as barren as the males in that department, Dago knew\nplenty of people that felt weirded out by such a thing, after all, what was the\npoint of\nnot having breasts? Even\nwith that, this particular female had other means to attract the attention of\nthe crowd, more specifically involving her barely clothed backside.\n\n\n\nNow that he was\nthinking about it actually, he had always considered funny the fact that there\nwas such a thing as a distinction of\nmammals\nand non mammals that included\nlizarfolk with breasts in the latter, they did not produce milk like other\nspecies, but\nthey were still mammaries,\noh the intricacies of the language... what practical purpose could they possibly\nserve if not to nurture the young? Clearly one of the greatest mysteries of the\nuniv-\n\n\n\nHe hadn't even\nrealized that he was already bottoming his tankard of ale; he stopped, and\nbashed it against the table, dumbfounded.\n\n\n\nWhen did I even order this?\n\n\nHis gaze went back\nand forth from the precious little kobold rump in the other side of the room to\nhis drink.\n\n\n\nClever bastards.\n\n\nHe did his best not\nto stare in her direction again.\n\n\n\nTwo inebriated\ncustomers left their seats by one of the windows, laughing as they both tried\nto sustain each other while they made a clumsy retreat towards the door, Dago\nmoved there with his tankard, and resumed his drink as he watched the people\npass in the street, his thoughts started to drift, ignoring his tired limbs as\nhe relaxed on his seat.\n\n\n\nIt was a sort of\nceremony, a certain preparation before the haunt for booty that he liked to\nperform when he had the opportunity, a slow buildup before the storm hit the\nshore, more often than not he ended up paying for his pleasure whether he did\nit or not, but his touch was still there.\n\n\n\nHe had a reputation\nfor these things after all.\n\n\n\n.......................................................................\n\n\nAll was good in the\nworld.\n\n\n\nHis head hurt like\nif it had been hit with a mace, every limb of his body felt tired as if he had\nbeen running through a field clad in full plate the day after, and his\noverspent testicles made him walk with long, careful steps as he got out of the\ninn, protesting any contact from his underwear or his own inner thighs, no\nmatter how minimal it were.\n\n\n\nAll was great in the world.\n\n\nThere was not a\nsingle soul in the street, with the ever present ceiling of the cave replacing\nthe sky, there was no way of telling that it was almost morning, yet Bulwark´s Mine\nhad just begun to wake up all the same, as if its inhabitants had the stubborn\nhabit of behaving like any other city.\n\n\n\n Dago walked, truly satisfied with himself for\nthe first time in months, he had got all he could ask for and more in last night´s\nhunt, it had been almost too good in fact, and he couldn't help but think in the\nback of his head that papa fortune would take his toll later down the lane for\nthat favor, but that old bastard could go fuck himself for now, it would take a\nlot more to get him out of his good mood.\n\n\n\nHe took a shortcut\nthrough a serpentine alleyway, licking his lips as he recalled his partners... such\nbold sweet little things, cutest couple he had come across in ages, specially\nthe male, now that one gave a gre-\n\n\n\n\"There!\" someone\nshouted, the tone alone said a lot.\n\n\n\nHe suddenly\nregretted the shortcut.\n\n\n\n\"There? Are you\nserious? Just look at this!\nThe little\nshit could have gone anywhere!\" replied someone, indignant.\n\n\nA third voice\ninterrupted.\n\n\n\n \"Enough! You there, YOU there, I here, MOVE!\"\n\n\nAnd before he had\ntime to back down, something short and green and red appeared from the turn in\nthe alley, and crashed squarely against his chest, making a muffled\nunf! as it unintentionally buried its\nface on his brigandine.\n\n\n\nDago got the\nfugitive by the shoulders, too surprised to squeeze free, and maintained him or\nher at his arms length.\n\n\n\nIt was a kobold.\n\n\nA fine specimen that\nwas for sure, from its now open green cloak he could see a slender, curvy\nframe, wide hips, and crimson scales in the parts uncovered by the clothing,\nthe squeal that escaped from under the hood as he tightened his grip was\ncertainly girly, but as it fell back Dago could clearly see distinguishable\nridges on the scales over his eyes, where eyebrows would be in mammals.\n\n\n\nGood thing I like girly types, they are fucking\neverywhere in this town.\n\n\n\n\"What the...YOU?\" the pupils\nof his brass reptilian eyes became two vertical slits as his jaw dropped, the\nscent of fear that surrounded him suddenly deepened to the point it became a\ndisgusting reek.\n\n\n\nI, what?\n\n\nDago was suddenly\naware of the tingling of armor that started to reverb in the alley.\n\n\n\nThe kobold shirked,\nrealizing it was too late to run, began to spout words in a terrified, almost whispering\ntone.\n\n\n\n\"Oh god, oh god, please don't let them catch me, I\nwill do anything, sir! Anything! I-I will give you money, I´ll work for free!\"\n His head went back and forth between Dago and\nthe turn in the alley. \"I-I´ll suck you off b-but please for the love of god\ndon't let them get me!\"\n\n\n\nJust because you owe me an explanation.\n\n\n \"Shut up and do as I say.\" He whispered.\n\n\nDago turned around\nstill grabbing the kobold by the shoulders, and pushed him to his knees, in the\nsplit of a second he had taken both his cloak and the kobold´s, and threw them\nat the side making sure the green one would be covered, he separated his legs,\nputting his groin right in the face of the fugitive.\n\n\n\n \"Your hands on my buttocks, now.\"\n\n\nHe was relying in\ntoo many factors, what if they recognized the color of the scales? What if they\ngot arrested for public indecency? What if the guard had seen his prey enter\nthe alley?\n   \n\n\nIn another second\nthe kobold got the idea, and grabbed Dago´s Buttocks with his hands, trying not\nto make direct contact with his crotch, the expression on his face was so\nmiserable it was almost funny.\n\n\n\nThe guardsman came shouting\nfrom the turn, sword in hand.\n\n\n\n\"STOP RIGHT TH...\"\n\n\nAnd froze in place.\n\n\n \"...the FUCK?\" an expression full of surprise,\nembarrassment and disgust crept in the Doberman´s face, he waved his free hand\nas if he had been offered a plate full of dung, and backed off a couple of\nsteps.\n\n\n\nDago made his best\nto look indignant as he shouted over his shoulder; after all he had been taken\nby surprise too, that guard certainly looked familiar.\n\n\n\n \"Is it that I can't enjoy the services of a sissy\nboy-whore IN PEACE, officer?\"\n\n\n\nDago had no idea\nwhether his little stunt would have him jailed too, but recognition suddenly\nhit the guard.\n\n\n\n\"Malginn...? Oh god,\ngross...I'm sorry... you can...ugh...continue.\"\n\n\nThe Doberman made a\ngesture as if swatting a fly that read a lot like: \"I don't get paid enough for\nthis shit.\" and went back from whence he came.\n\n\n\nBoth Dago and the\nkobold stood still as the clinging of metal moved away.\n\n\n\n\"OOOH, YES! Right there, right there!\" he shouted\nin fake delight, the clinging sound stopped for a second and then started\nagain, fastened as it faded in the distance.\n\n\n\nSilence crept in the\nalley for what seemed to be ages, the kobold was the first to speak.\n\n\n\n\"...T-thanks?\" \n\n\nDago glared at those\nbrass eyes, as the pain of understanding sunk in them.\n\n\n\n\"You just got out\nthe pan to end up in the campfire, pal.\"\n\n\n\nHe grabbed the\nfugitive by the shoulders, lifted him and then shoved his body against the\nwall, pinning him in place at his eye level, the kobold had no time to react\nbefore the impact got the air out of his lungs, and Dago shifted the grip from\nthe shoulders to the elbows, if he had any blades on him, he wouldn't reach\nthem.\n\n\n\n \"If I had known those where Skallar´s men I\nwould have handed you faster than you could stuff your mouth with cock, now\nspill the beans before you start regretting all of this.\" Said Dago, showing\nall his teeth in a slow growl.\n\n\n\n\"I-I don't know what\nyou are talking about, I just stole some bread!\"\n\n\n\nDo you think I'm stupid, you fucking lizard?\n\n\n\"You certainly look\nlike the desperate type, but I'm not retarded,\nsunshine.\" He tightened his claws enough to pierce the cloth and sink\njust a little in the soft scales beneath. \"You know me from somewhere.\"\n\n\n\n\"I just mistook you\nfrom someone else! I swear!\"\n\n\n\n\"Listen here, see\nthis sword?\" Dago pointed with his snout at the blade at his hip. \"If you don't\nstart talking, I will shove the pommel waaay up inside your butthole, and you\nbetter be thankful that I had a great time last night... because otherwise I\nwould threaten you with something\nmuch\nless forgiving, understood?\"\n\n\nThe kobold nodded,\nand the reek of fear became intolerable.\n\n\n\n\"Good, now let's\nbehave ourselves with some semblance of civility, kobold, if we have a deal, I\nwill need your name, not an alias, the real thing, I you bullshit me, I will\nsmell it.\"\n\n\n\n\"Rashi, sir! Rashi\nLagar!\"\n\n\n\n\"Good, now explain\nto me, how did you find yourself in this mess?\nIt doesn't take a genius to guess you are working for one of the other\nhouses.\"\n\n\n\nRashi´s body went\nlax, as if he had resigned to a fate in the gallows.\n\n\n\n\"I'm working with\nHouse Behrend... I was to spy on Skallar and determine if he was going to get\noutside help to recover his golden helmet, and....\" He hesitated for a second.\n\n\n\n\"And...?\" \n\n\n\"...present myself as\nthe only guide who would dare to get into the mines; Herr Behrend... tasked me to\nsteal the relic once it was secured.\"\n\n\n\nBehrend...Behrend... oh, the guy whose champions were\na bunch of pussies, go figure.\n\n\n\n\"Aaaah... I see, so in\nthis case you would have sought me out, guided me down the depths of hell, let\nme do all the work, and then cut my throat in my sleep so you could get your\nhands on a fancy helmet.\"\n\n\n\nFor the first time,\nthere was something else than fear in the Rashi´s face, the kobold stared away,\nand spoke between his teeth as he closed his eyes shut.\n\n\n\n\"I'm not a murderer.\" there was a trace\nof anger in his voice.\n\n\n\n \"So you would have left me wandering alone in\nthe dark until I starved myself to death,\nwow,\nhow merciful of you.\"\n\n\n\nRashi still didn't\nmeet Dago´s eyes, but the meekness returned to his voice.\n\n\n\n\"No! ...I'm...I´m better\nthan that...\" He sighed. \"At least that's what I like to believe.\"\n\n\n\nThere was a hint of\nguilt to his voice, it was almost contagious.\n\n\n\n\"Okay, okay...now\nwhy in hell would you go to the seventh floor when nobody in this town has the\nballs?\"\n\n\n\nThe kobold remained\nsilent for a moment.\n\n\n\n\"Because I'm better\nat what I do than any of those hacks out there put together.\"\n\n\n\nDago smirked.\n\n\n\"I find the fact\nthat you can boast in a moment like this to be incredibly cute, but there has\nto be something else under the rug that you are not telling me, come on, let it\nout.\"\n\n\n\nRashi gulped; if he\nalready looked resigned he looked even more so now.\n\n\n\n\"I'm under\ncontract.\"\n\n\n\n\"Under contract?\"\n\n\n\"...Yes\"\n\n\n\"That kind of contract?\"\n\n\nRashi nodded.\n\n\n\"You are kidding.\"\n\n\n\"I am not! They made\nme sign with my blood!\" now Rashi sounded indignant.\n\n\n\nDago almost choked.\n\n\nThis fucking guy.\n\n\n\"I'm afraid to tell\nyou, my friend, that you have been taken for a ride.\"\n\n\n\n\"I..?What?\"\n\n\n\"You have been\nfooled, tricked like a fair maiden, toyed with by a charlatan that seriously\nbelieved you can make one of those on paper; you are under no curse, kid.\"\n\n\n\nThe expression on\nhis face was priceless.\n\n\n\n\"Don't believe me?\nI´ll show you a fucking contract. Don't do anything funny or you will regret it.\"\n\n\n\nHe dropped Rashi on\nthe floor; the surprise on the kobol´s features quickly gave in to pain as he\nlanded unceremoniously on his rear end against the rough stone.\n\n\n\nLet's see if what you said earlier is true...if not\nI will smack your head against the pavement so hard you will meet the clear\nsky.\n\n\n\n\"This, Is a contract.\"\n\n\nDago presented his\nleft arm, and rolled up the short sleeve of his shirt up to the shoulder.\n\n\n\nThe scripture\ncovered his arm form shoulder to elbow, emanating a faint blue glow over the\nmixture of black, light brown and white that his fur had, it seemed carved over\nhis flesh, as if it had been cauterized with a delicate and merciless tool, the\nsigils were tightly arranged in a spiraling patter that wrapped around his arm\nlike the dye motifs that humans used to decorate their skin some times.\n\n\n\nThe process involved\nhad been very, very painful.\n\n\n\n\"Believe me,\nwhatever you signed; it's just on that paper.\"\n\n\n\nRashi gawked, and\nthen his face went from different emotions in the span of a second, from anger\nto embarrassment, from embarrassment to relief, and from relief to: \"How could\nI be so stupid?\"\n\n\n\n\"...fuck.\" \n\n\n \"Fuck indeed, and just in case you still have\nthe tiniest sliver of a doubt, do you seriously think that they wouldn't have\ndone something to keep your mouth shut? You got carried away so much you singed\nlike bird with a stick up its ass...or a sword pommel, in this case.\"\n\n\n\nDago offered his\nhand, smirking from ear to ear.\n\n\n\n\"Get up, buddy, I\nhave a profitable offering for you, and a round of ale to smooth things out.\nName´s Dago Malginn, nice to meet you.\"\n\n"}