From: acorboy@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (Andrew E Corboy) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [Pre-Sorc] Alicia's Release (New Character) Message-ID: Date: 8 Feb 93 20:15:10 GMT Alicia shuddered as as the biting wind cut into her naked flesh. The drops of ice cold water that splashed over the rails of the ship felt like pinpricks as they hit her. The shackles that held her wrists behind her back clanked as she moved and a dull throbbing pain coursed through her bare feet with every step. The faintest of wimpers escaped her lips as she stumbled slightly over a rough spot on the wooden deck. Indifferant to the woman's distress, the pirate jerked hard on the leather leash that ran to the iron collar magically locked around her throat. Alicia cried out as she lost her balance and began to fall, helpless to stop herself. Large, sweaty hands grasped her arm and righted her. Uraed, the Serpent's surly first mate, grinned down at the diminuative half-elf. "We can't have the Captain's little pet damaged, now can we?" He emphisized his words by idly fondling the captive's breasts. Alicia's vision clouded with tears, but she knew better than to protest. "Be more careful with the slut." "Aye sir." Her keeper replied, then waited until Uraed had moved on to deliver a slap hard enough to drown out the sounds of the ship and the waves. She could faintly hear him chastising her, but the voice had a tinny, surrealistic quality to it. "....bitch! If you EVER make me look bad in front of an offiver again..." Eventually the diatrabe ended, and with another jerk on her leash, Alicia's journey continued. By the time the pair reached the Captain's quarters, Alicia had managed to recover from the slap. As her keeper pounded on the stout oaken door, Alicia purposefully kept her gaze down toward the floor, the memory of several painful beatings reminding her of the penalty for looking the Captain of the Black Serpent in the face. The door swung open, and she found herself staring at a pair of brown leather boots. A silken and smooth voice that she knew all to well spoke. "Very good. Secure her to the ring on the wall, then depart." "Aye, Captain." Alicia kept her eyes downcast as she was led across the room. With practiced ease, her shackles were replaced with leather thongs, and her arms were raised above her. Her shoulders burned as she was lifted off the ground and forced to dangle an inch off the deck. Despite the pain, she did her best to remain still and not struggle. She knew that to do so would invoke the Captin's wrath, and the Captain was far too dangerous when angered. The smooth voice spoke again. "Oh, and be a good fellow and gag the slut. I'd rather not keep the crew awake with her screams." Alicia's eyes widened in terror and she sobbed once as she realized what he meant. Too many days of dodging the Generican Seaguard had been frustrating for the Captain, and now he wanted to 'relax'. Her eyes fell upon the coiled leather whip that was the Captian's favorite relaxation tool. Without a word, the crewman walked over to the sea chest in the corner and retrieved a handful of wadded cloth and a wide leather strap. Returning to the dangling Half-Elf, he easily opened her unresisting mouth and packed it full of the dirty cloth. The leather strap was then wraped around her head, locking shut with a quiet click. Her keeper tested his handiwork by firmly pinching Alicia's right nipple. Involuntarily she jumped in her bonds and cried out. But the gag served its function well, and all that was audible was the merest squeak. Satisfied, he turned to leave. "Anything else, sir?" "No, thank you. You are dismissed." With a sharp nod the crewman departed, closing the door behind him. Alicia squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation, but when no blow fell, she managed to work up enough courage to peek out and look around. The Captain was sitting at his desk, his back to her. He was still reading the logs of the merchant vessal that had been waylaid only a week ago, and showed no sign of finishing. Trying to take her mind off the rising pain in her shoulders and the mind-numbing fear of what would be done to her later tonight, she cast her eyes around the cabin. She spotted a full length mirror, set directly across from her. It must have been taken from the merchant, for Alicia had never seen it in the cabin before. She was shocked when she caught a glimpse of herself. Her long red hair hung in dirty stands behind her. Her normally slender figure had suffered from the months of mistreatment and was thin bordering on emaciated. Several ugly scars marred her pale skin, reminders of pains she had endured at her captor's hands. Two things disturbed her more than all the other signs of her captivity. First was the ugly black brand that had been burned into her left thigh. The hideous thing represented a Serpent swalloing its own tail, and marked her as property belonging to the Captain of the Black Serpent. Worse than that was the defeated look in her eyes. She recalled a time, only a few months ago, when she had been able to look into a mirror and meet her mirror-self's gaze with pride. It felt like decades. Now those once beautiful green orbs seemed as dull as glass. If a person's eyes were the mirrors to the soul, Alicia's had been crushed. She had become a slave in fact as well as name. It was too much. The pain, fear, and humiliation all pushed her over the brink. She began thrashing and writhing in her bonds, screaming as loud as she could in a frantic effort to seek release. Her gag muffled most of her cries, but enough escaped to arouse the Captain from his studies. Furious, he uncoiled the whip and began raining blows on the panicing Half-Elf. As the pain began to become unbearable, Alicia did something that she hadn't since she'd been first sold to the Black Serpent. She prayed. *Oh Bright Lady, free me from this torment!* The ship shuddered. Knocked off-balance by the impact, the Captain fell with a curse. Struggling to his feet, the master of the Black Serpent came to the realization that he had pushed his luck once to often. Drawing his sabre, he raced from the cabin, yelling for his crew to rise and defend themselves.... ******************************************************************************* ....The spires of Wevlyndale gleaming in the sun....the smoke and flame as the once mighty Elven city fell to the Orcs from without and trechery from within....weeping as her mother died in her arms, a victim of an Assassination Spell cast by the traitor Yerliz....fleeing through the dying city with a group of Orc Warriors close behind, eager to bring the daughter of the Mistress of Enchantment to thier master...the swirling colors of the WorldGate that was her only hope of escape....struggling to survive in the wilderness of a world not her own...stumbling into the camp of black clad men, and thier delight in having a mage deliver herself into thier hands....a dark room, magical slumber, burning ropes, voices, darkness....the slave block, humiliation and fear.... bound to a rack, unable to escape as the white hot brand descended toward her thigh....PAIN....screaming, the sickening smell of burnt flesh and the horror of realizing it was hers....staring up as the Captain's handsome face twisted into an evil smirk as he moved closer to his helpless captive.... "NOOOOO!!" Alicia shot up in the bunk with a scream. The Priest dozing in the corner woke with a start, and looked to his patient with concern. Moving over to comfort the sobbing Half-Elf, he gently put his hand on her shoulder, "Its all right. They can't harm you now. You're free now." Reflexively shying away from the man's touch, Alicia pulled the covers tight around her. As her sobs diminished, she thought back to the dreams that haunted her. "I don't think I'll ever be free of him." Three Weeks Later. Alicia gingerly stepped down the gangplank of the Capricorn. Captain Sulner and his crew had been kind to her during the remainder of the vessal's pirate hunting mission. The weeks of bedrest and ample food had done wonders for her health, and several baths courtesy of the ship's resident Cleric had washed away the layers of filth that her months as a slave had generated. Sulner had even gifted her with ten pieces of platinum and some fine clothes that had been confiscated from the Black Serpent's holds. What the crew of the Capricorn had been unable to do was remove the thin steel collar that had been sealed shut around her neck. Even the Cleric's Dispel Magic and Remove Curse prayers had proved ineffectual. Nor could the hearty seamen free her from the horrifying nightmares that assaulted her every night. The Captain was dead, slain in the battle by a crossbow bolt, but the memory of his deeds haunted her still. As she finally got to shore, Alicia vowed never to board another such vessal again. The motion of a ship on the waves had been irrevocably associated with pain and fear, and she felt slightly nauseous just thinking about it. No, she resolved, from here on out my destiny lies on the land. Her first priority was to obtain a spell book and perhaps find a teacher in the ways of spellcasting. Alicia had expended all of her spells long ago, and with her spellbooks long gone, she needed to obtain new ones immediatly. Captain Sulner had said that many mages congregated at a place in town. Putting the sea behind her, Alicia made her way towards the Dragon's Inn. -- Andrew Corboy & Jon Gad | Jon Gad's account recently died, acorboy@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu | And is only using acorboy as a | Temporary mail drop. He'd NEVER | illeagaly logon to it. Really. ;)