Spoiler: show
Praxis is divided into continents and islands, which are further divided into territories. Some belong to the Demon Lord and seek to spread their decadent, lewd lifestyle. Others belong to the Luminaire, Praxis version of the Order, which seeks to prevent human-mamono relations and the spread of Demon realms. Their increasingly militaristic, almost fascistic outlook is turning many from them. The Gentle Flame, an organisation preaching the gospel of Eiraiha among mamono and humans who want more out of marriage than just lewd sex. Other factions abound, but some territories prefer to remain neutral, or independent as inhabitants will loudly declare. Some of these territories detest mamono, others tolerate them as long as they do not corrupt, while yet again others will run Luminaire followers out of town.
In short, these territories are as varied as one can imagine, oft varying in disposition from town to town. Our story takes place, in part, in a little sleepy city called Mistburg a ways inland from the Pridolae Gulf. It's surrounded by the kind of woodland you find near the sea, where the soil yields to ancient dunes underneath and roots occasionally bring the gray sands to the surface. The town is surrounded by a wall that would barely reach a Jotun's bust-level and glitters in the sun's light due to the frequent mists coming off the sea. Two guards stand in front of each gate, ready to turn away unwanted elements or catch crooks.The town is open to any and all traders, but does not allow the sale of certain commodities. Poisons are illegitimate as is slave trade, or anything that would forcibly sway the town towards one faction or another.
Running through the city is the old road, which connects it to many larger metropolis and smaller villages. It is on the road that our tale truly begins. A traveler standing on a low rise between the town and a patch of woodland might see a large spot in the distance moving along the road. Miho shifted her backpack, which was thankfully still whole after her earlier ordeal. These lands were beautiful, no doubt, but some crazy mamono lived here... Her eye-stalks retracted slightly and her shoulders hunched at the memory. A kind of harpy with snowy plumage had swooped down and tried to bite her, only by luck had she bent over to remove a pebble from her foot's skirt. The damn woman had flown straight into her backpack and shattered her inventory of bottled beauty-slime.
This had given her time to rush into her shell as that nasty creature had to extract a few shards. Miho thought herself fortunate that the creature had flown off with a litany of curses, her shell was sturdy but needed some patching up after all this travel. She sighed as she thought of the lands where she had been born, a small island off the coast of Zipangu. Her mother had wandered there in her youth and had married her father, Miho missed them, but the wandering bug had bitten her something fierce and staying had not been an option. She did write to them, using the mail services which secretly ran the world as pops had told her. Pops had been a sailor, he said he'd seen just about everything on the seas and in ports. Miho and her sister had spent much of their youth listening to his stories, many of which he had played an important part in.
She'd hoped to find a nice guy to settle down with in the port she'd landed in, but bachelors were rare and most boys already spoken for by fierce little girls. She reached past the curtain and pulled out the travel guide she'd bought. Further along the road was a place called Mistburg. As both sets of eyes peered at the description she felt hopeful, such a large city should have a few nice men roaming about, right? She'd love to marry a man who could wrangle ornery Minotaur pirates with one hand as her father had, but would happily go for a kind one who didn't mind the slime. Her eye-stalks drooped as she recalled the disgusted remarks some had flung her way. She couldn't help it, even if she was carefully using as little as possible her body would be torn to shreds if she didn't smooth the ground a bit with it. People didn't care, they just complained about slipping in it.
As she entered the woods she thought she caught a glance of a girl peeking from behind a tree, antennae and a carapace marking her as a fellow mamono, but one even shyer than she. For when she gave a friendly wave and smile her observer dropped down and shuffled quickly away with a fearful look on her face. Oh well, nothing for it, she ducked into her shell often enough when someone scary was nearby. Like that soldier with the Luminaire outfit, he'd charged at her, a cute little Ureonggaksi with a cute heart-shaped pattern on her shell and spent the better part of a day hacking at the door. Something was wrong with him, mentally, she was sure of that. The cracks on the outer layer had been easy to mend, but it had made her angry. Had she harmed him? Had she said anything at all? No, but that bastard had wailed at her as if she was the Demon Lord and had personally turned his brother into an incestuous Alp.
Her left upper eye saw something and pulled her attention to it, in the clearing up ahead a man stood next to a barrel in a broken cart of sorts. He was trying to repair an axle with used nails and a dinky hammer. He looked grumpy, but not particularly threatening, so she slowly moved towards him and gave a polite cough. He was a little startled to see a girl standing next to him and dropped to his seat when he realized she was a mamono with a large shell on her back. "What in blazes??" He exclaimed.
"Pardon, but I saw that your cart is broken and thought you might need some help. I'm Miho Saerti, might I know your name?" He rubbed his eyes, which were a little bloodshot, then flashed her a grin before replying. "I'm Falkor, just a businessman in the trade of some exotic goods. I appreciate the offer, but I think I have this covered. I just need to get my goods to the next town and a few nails should hold it."
Miho shook her head. "Pops taught me a thing or two about axles, a broken one can't be fixed with nails as a single bump will splinter the wood further and drop your cargo." She held up a finger, detached her shell and went inside. It was cosy, if a little messy in here, but she reached the chest in the back wall and pulled out her small toolkit, a gift from her parents. The soft carpet of dense semi-dry slime felt pleasant under her foot compared to the sandy soil outside, but she wasted no time in getting back out. Falkor had repacked the nails and hammer and was looking at her. She suppressed the urge to make herself as small as possible, being looked at was kind of scary. She then took the parts of the axle and eyed them critically, woodcraft had always been a shared hobby between her and pops and she saw that this axle was just about done for, even if she managed to repair it.
Sighing, she smoothed the edges with sanding paper, drilled a hole in both and poured in a little glue. A standard peg went in and she pressed both parts together. "Hold this please." She instructed Falkor as she drew a ball of twine from its compartment on the side. With a little more glue she started winding the twine along the axle, not trying to make it thicker, but merely adding to its integrity. The cart was fixed in short order and Falkor thanked her. "I'm glad you came along when you did Miho, my cart looks a lot better. Would you be offended though if I ask what you are? I've not seen anyone like you before." Miho smiled, this Falkor might be a little rough around the edges, but he seemed nice.
"I'm an Ureonggaksi, a kind of mamono. I'm still eligible and I'm enjoying myself by doing some traveling."
He nodded at that. "Fair enough. I've got to be off though, but thanks for your help again."
Miho felt like crying then, he was not interested it seemed to her. He picked up on it though and flashed her his grin again. "I'm sorry but I have to deliver my cargo. If you want though we can travel along for a bit, till the next burg." This perked her up a bit and so they traveled along the road. Falkor asked her many questions about her shell, about where she had come from and so on. Miho blushed a little and felt happy for the first time that day. Just as they were topping a rise though the cart broke apart. Falkor swore colorfully, then picked up the barrel, even if it was too heavy to carry easily. By the time they reached the bottom on the other side he was puffing like a walrus on a tropical beach. Miho looked worriedly at him.
She'd not had much experience with men outside of her family, but she guessed he was not the healthiest person. His nose and cheeks showed signs of drinking too much and his belly showed a slight paunch. She sighed, detached her shell and motioned him inside. Ureonggaksi were strong mamono, so a little extra weight wouldn't bother her. She shuffled towards the city, which appeared around a bend in the road. The building style was so different from her parents' home. Her mom had dropped her main shell and added a few rooms as well as a lookout tower for pops near the village center, but her neighbors favored a design that relied on carved wood. Mom had eventually incorporated one beam with fluted ends above the door, so everyone called it The Snail's Mustache, much to her chagrin.
Here though a slate grey wall that sparkled in the afternoon sunshine surrounded tall houses that were composed of stone bordered by dark wooden beams. Heavy shutters encased the windows and a clock tower rose near the center of the city. Miho smiled to herself, this place seemed to be very nice and new. As she approached the gate, the guards barred her way. "Okay sunshine, state your name and species please. And tell us what your business is in Mistburg." Miho looked perplexed, hadn't anyone heard of Ureonggaksi in this region? Having given her name, she explained that she was an ureonggaksi, on a trip to sate her wanderlust and find a husband. She then clapped her hands. "I almost forgot, my traveling companion said he was a merchant delivering some goods to town, but his cart broke down and he's resting inside now." She dropped her shell and called inside. "Mr. Falkor, we're here." Suddenly, her door slammed in front of her face.
"Did you say Falkor?" The older guard asked, turning red, an ugly combination with the acne on his face. "That bastard's wanted for smuggling poison! Henry, grab this accomplice, I'll extract him." The safety of her shell denied to her and the guards threatening her caused panic like she had never had before. In a word, she slimed herself and shot off as Henry and his companion slipped on the slicked ground.
In short, these territories are as varied as one can imagine, oft varying in disposition from town to town. Our story takes place, in part, in a little sleepy city called Mistburg a ways inland from the Pridolae Gulf. It's surrounded by the kind of woodland you find near the sea, where the soil yields to ancient dunes underneath and roots occasionally bring the gray sands to the surface. The town is surrounded by a wall that would barely reach a Jotun's bust-level and glitters in the sun's light due to the frequent mists coming off the sea. Two guards stand in front of each gate, ready to turn away unwanted elements or catch crooks.The town is open to any and all traders, but does not allow the sale of certain commodities. Poisons are illegitimate as is slave trade, or anything that would forcibly sway the town towards one faction or another.
Running through the city is the old road, which connects it to many larger metropolis and smaller villages. It is on the road that our tale truly begins. A traveler standing on a low rise between the town and a patch of woodland might see a large spot in the distance moving along the road. Miho shifted her backpack, which was thankfully still whole after her earlier ordeal. These lands were beautiful, no doubt, but some crazy mamono lived here... Her eye-stalks retracted slightly and her shoulders hunched at the memory. A kind of harpy with snowy plumage had swooped down and tried to bite her, only by luck had she bent over to remove a pebble from her foot's skirt. The damn woman had flown straight into her backpack and shattered her inventory of bottled beauty-slime.
This had given her time to rush into her shell as that nasty creature had to extract a few shards. Miho thought herself fortunate that the creature had flown off with a litany of curses, her shell was sturdy but needed some patching up after all this travel. She sighed as she thought of the lands where she had been born, a small island off the coast of Zipangu. Her mother had wandered there in her youth and had married her father, Miho missed them, but the wandering bug had bitten her something fierce and staying had not been an option. She did write to them, using the mail services which secretly ran the world as pops had told her. Pops had been a sailor, he said he'd seen just about everything on the seas and in ports. Miho and her sister had spent much of their youth listening to his stories, many of which he had played an important part in.
She'd hoped to find a nice guy to settle down with in the port she'd landed in, but bachelors were rare and most boys already spoken for by fierce little girls. She reached past the curtain and pulled out the travel guide she'd bought. Further along the road was a place called Mistburg. As both sets of eyes peered at the description she felt hopeful, such a large city should have a few nice men roaming about, right? She'd love to marry a man who could wrangle ornery Minotaur pirates with one hand as her father had, but would happily go for a kind one who didn't mind the slime. Her eye-stalks drooped as she recalled the disgusted remarks some had flung her way. She couldn't help it, even if she was carefully using as little as possible her body would be torn to shreds if she didn't smooth the ground a bit with it. People didn't care, they just complained about slipping in it.
As she entered the woods she thought she caught a glance of a girl peeking from behind a tree, antennae and a carapace marking her as a fellow mamono, but one even shyer than she. For when she gave a friendly wave and smile her observer dropped down and shuffled quickly away with a fearful look on her face. Oh well, nothing for it, she ducked into her shell often enough when someone scary was nearby. Like that soldier with the Luminaire outfit, he'd charged at her, a cute little Ureonggaksi with a cute heart-shaped pattern on her shell and spent the better part of a day hacking at the door. Something was wrong with him, mentally, she was sure of that. The cracks on the outer layer had been easy to mend, but it had made her angry. Had she harmed him? Had she said anything at all? No, but that bastard had wailed at her as if she was the Demon Lord and had personally turned his brother into an incestuous Alp.
Her left upper eye saw something and pulled her attention to it, in the clearing up ahead a man stood next to a barrel in a broken cart of sorts. He was trying to repair an axle with used nails and a dinky hammer. He looked grumpy, but not particularly threatening, so she slowly moved towards him and gave a polite cough. He was a little startled to see a girl standing next to him and dropped to his seat when he realized she was a mamono with a large shell on her back. "What in blazes??" He exclaimed.
"Pardon, but I saw that your cart is broken and thought you might need some help. I'm Miho Saerti, might I know your name?" He rubbed his eyes, which were a little bloodshot, then flashed her a grin before replying. "I'm Falkor, just a businessman in the trade of some exotic goods. I appreciate the offer, but I think I have this covered. I just need to get my goods to the next town and a few nails should hold it."
Miho shook her head. "Pops taught me a thing or two about axles, a broken one can't be fixed with nails as a single bump will splinter the wood further and drop your cargo." She held up a finger, detached her shell and went inside. It was cosy, if a little messy in here, but she reached the chest in the back wall and pulled out her small toolkit, a gift from her parents. The soft carpet of dense semi-dry slime felt pleasant under her foot compared to the sandy soil outside, but she wasted no time in getting back out. Falkor had repacked the nails and hammer and was looking at her. She suppressed the urge to make herself as small as possible, being looked at was kind of scary. She then took the parts of the axle and eyed them critically, woodcraft had always been a shared hobby between her and pops and she saw that this axle was just about done for, even if she managed to repair it.
Sighing, she smoothed the edges with sanding paper, drilled a hole in both and poured in a little glue. A standard peg went in and she pressed both parts together. "Hold this please." She instructed Falkor as she drew a ball of twine from its compartment on the side. With a little more glue she started winding the twine along the axle, not trying to make it thicker, but merely adding to its integrity. The cart was fixed in short order and Falkor thanked her. "I'm glad you came along when you did Miho, my cart looks a lot better. Would you be offended though if I ask what you are? I've not seen anyone like you before." Miho smiled, this Falkor might be a little rough around the edges, but he seemed nice.
"I'm an Ureonggaksi, a kind of mamono. I'm still eligible and I'm enjoying myself by doing some traveling."
He nodded at that. "Fair enough. I've got to be off though, but thanks for your help again."
Miho felt like crying then, he was not interested it seemed to her. He picked up on it though and flashed her his grin again. "I'm sorry but I have to deliver my cargo. If you want though we can travel along for a bit, till the next burg." This perked her up a bit and so they traveled along the road. Falkor asked her many questions about her shell, about where she had come from and so on. Miho blushed a little and felt happy for the first time that day. Just as they were topping a rise though the cart broke apart. Falkor swore colorfully, then picked up the barrel, even if it was too heavy to carry easily. By the time they reached the bottom on the other side he was puffing like a walrus on a tropical beach. Miho looked worriedly at him.
She'd not had much experience with men outside of her family, but she guessed he was not the healthiest person. His nose and cheeks showed signs of drinking too much and his belly showed a slight paunch. She sighed, detached her shell and motioned him inside. Ureonggaksi were strong mamono, so a little extra weight wouldn't bother her. She shuffled towards the city, which appeared around a bend in the road. The building style was so different from her parents' home. Her mom had dropped her main shell and added a few rooms as well as a lookout tower for pops near the village center, but her neighbors favored a design that relied on carved wood. Mom had eventually incorporated one beam with fluted ends above the door, so everyone called it The Snail's Mustache, much to her chagrin.
Here though a slate grey wall that sparkled in the afternoon sunshine surrounded tall houses that were composed of stone bordered by dark wooden beams. Heavy shutters encased the windows and a clock tower rose near the center of the city. Miho smiled to herself, this place seemed to be very nice and new. As she approached the gate, the guards barred her way. "Okay sunshine, state your name and species please. And tell us what your business is in Mistburg." Miho looked perplexed, hadn't anyone heard of Ureonggaksi in this region? Having given her name, she explained that she was an ureonggaksi, on a trip to sate her wanderlust and find a husband. She then clapped her hands. "I almost forgot, my traveling companion said he was a merchant delivering some goods to town, but his cart broke down and he's resting inside now." She dropped her shell and called inside. "Mr. Falkor, we're here." Suddenly, her door slammed in front of her face.
"Did you say Falkor?" The older guard asked, turning red, an ugly combination with the acne on his face. "That bastard's wanted for smuggling poison! Henry, grab this accomplice, I'll extract him." The safety of her shell denied to her and the guards threatening her caused panic like she had never had before. In a word, she slimed herself and shot off as Henry and his companion slipped on the slicked ground.
Spoiler: show
Today was not a good day for Henry. It had started out bad enough when his landlady had thrown him out on account of wanting to turn his room into a baby chamber for her bun in the oven. He tried not to blame her, but she'd given no prior notice, she hadn't even known she was expecting till the egg dropped out of her and if he was to be honest that uncaring airhead attitude made him want to shout at her. He hadn't done so though as she and her family were each more than a match for any human in terms and he did not like shouting at people in any case. It did make his job a little difficult, but he made up for it by working harder.
He'd moved his things to the guard-post quarters that any guardsman could fall back on... Though not by choice as the custodian there was metaphysical in his approach to hygiene and seemingly unable to comprehend complaints pertaining to the mess. Some guards swore they heard movements at night as if from giant insects. Today had already been a bad day when Marco, belligerent old grouch that he'd always been, scared that young mamono so badly that some defensive mechanism had triggered, causing her to quite literally flood the area with slime. By the time they'd managed to stop slipping Marco looked like a classic demon from Zipangu, spitting curses instead of lightning or flame. "What are you standing around for? Get that damn slug!" Marco bellowed, so Henry made his way across the field. Marco pulled a horn from his belt and blew a series of notes that would call Junhilda from her patrol.
Henry liked the Jotun woman, even though she was tall enough to hold him like a doll and strong enough to earn the nickname of Battering Ewe. Not that he'd call her that to her face, the last guy who did ended up embedded in a wall. The explosion of slime had covered a wide area, but among the longer smears he noticed a trail where more slime lay than elsewhere, a sign that the girl had fled this way. A resounding crash came from behind him and he saw Marco get knocked skyward by Junhilda's body as she slid on the slime. He suppressed a smile, his senior colleague was not a nice person in his book, always bullying him and other junior guardsmen. He returned to the trail and saw that it got thinner the further away he got from the site, eventually becoming but a fleeting glimmer in the short grass.
Keeping his eyes on the trail he marveled at the distance, he'd never heard of Ureonggaksi before, but her appearance had belied her being this fast. Eventually the trail led to a storage shack with a rain barrel in front of it. Sobs were coming from within and the barrel shivered slightly. Was she really that scared? Most mamono would not be frightened by a human, especially an 'unclaimed one' as they called men not married to a mamono, but her reaction and the sounds coming from the barrel told him she was indeed scared out of her wits. He sighed and approached the barrel quietly, then knocked on the side. A startled yelp sounded from within and something started to emerge from the taphole in the cover, it looked like an eyestalk, and it was quivering. A squelching noise came from inside the barrel followed by unintelligible babbling and an increase in its shivering.
He sighed. "Miss, please don't be afraid. My colleague's a bit scary, but the guards here do not mean you any harm. Will you come out of the barrel please?" The eyestalk swivelled from side to side, then disappeared into the barrel again. "Miss, please, I mean you no harm. Please get out of that old barrel, it's not safe in there."
The barrel still shivered, but a small voice called out. "Can't. It's not safe out there."
Henry laughed and pulled the lid off, revealing the girl whose eyes were red with tears and whose dress was coated with some slime spats from her earlier accidents. "Look miss, I'm not going to eat you or anything, please come with me and I promise it'll be alright. You will need to answer some questions pertaining to that traveling companion of yours, but I think that's the extent of things for you."
She looked at him with trembling lips, then whispered. "..I'm stuck.." Henry laughed again and offered his hands, it took a little effort, but he managed to pull her out. That's when he noticed that her foot was looking a little ragged and she was wincing. The slime she'd shed must serve as some protective coating for her foot during travel. Without a word he scooped her up and slung her foot over his shoulder. "We'll need to let a doctor look at that foot miss, please hold on." She did, albeit with a blush on her cheeks, he figured she was a bit embarrassed. By the time they returned to the gate Junhilda had been trying to get into the shell for a while. Falkor had apparently barricaded the door, so now she was trying to crack the shell open, and not without success.
The girl in his arms struggled wildly, yelling at the Jotun guardswoman, pleading that she stop, but the pleas were too late. Like a thunderbolt from the heavens Junhilde's fists landed on a small fracture and the shell fell apart in three pieces.Personal possessions tumbled from the wreck and Falkor emerged, running like heck for leather towards the woods. Marco intercepted him and tackled him with a grace that seemed to deny his beer belly. The girl in his arms was sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to him for dear life it seemed. Henry felt sorry for her, but given that Falkor was one of the top ten wanted criminals in the area he was glad the bugger was finally caught. Junhilde gave him a querying look, then sighed and levered the largest piece off and picked up as many of the girl's possessions as she could find, laying them on the small table-like shelf on the most stable part of the shell's remains. The third one held a bed of sorts, though it could have passed as a padded bathtub.
He'd have to sort out this mess, but he had no idea how. Marco had trussed Falkor up and called Junhilde to carry the prisoner to jail. He then came close and glared at Henry, the girl in his arms and then Henry again. "This your idea of apprehending someone?" He spat. "Dereliction of duty more like! Clap her in irons and take her to jail." Henry shook his head.
"She 's wounded and as far as I'm able to tell she was unaware of Falkor's crimes." Marco swore.
"Boy, she carried him here in a fortress, then slimed us. She's a crook and I intend to throw the book at her. And at you too for ignoring my order."
Someone approached from behind and spoke softly. "Really? It sounds like you're overstepping your bounds again Marco..." That short speech drained the blood from Marco's face, and Henry's as he realized who was standing behind them.
Guard commander Sullivan was well liked by his troops but his second in command, Kiira, was feared for being a strict disciplinarian. A Dark Elf disciplinarian. She sniffed and raised an eyebrow at the girl still clinging to Henry. "An Ureonggaksi? I haven't seen one of you girls since I was a child, way away from here. Still it does explain the slime and the broken shell." She turned on Marco. "Your transgressions are inexcusable Marco! You know full well that destroying someone's home, even if a suspect is inside, is frowned upon by the magistrates and can't be done without approval from the commander." A blood-red tongue teased across her lips. "You did catch him, but it still looks like you'll need some disciplinary correction tonight." Marco nearly fainted.
Kiira pulled a scroll from her belt and invoked the magic on it, creating a dome shaped barrier over the shell, then ordered the guardsmen to follow her into town. Their posts were already filled by the next shift.
He'd moved his things to the guard-post quarters that any guardsman could fall back on... Though not by choice as the custodian there was metaphysical in his approach to hygiene and seemingly unable to comprehend complaints pertaining to the mess. Some guards swore they heard movements at night as if from giant insects. Today had already been a bad day when Marco, belligerent old grouch that he'd always been, scared that young mamono so badly that some defensive mechanism had triggered, causing her to quite literally flood the area with slime. By the time they'd managed to stop slipping Marco looked like a classic demon from Zipangu, spitting curses instead of lightning or flame. "What are you standing around for? Get that damn slug!" Marco bellowed, so Henry made his way across the field. Marco pulled a horn from his belt and blew a series of notes that would call Junhilda from her patrol.
Henry liked the Jotun woman, even though she was tall enough to hold him like a doll and strong enough to earn the nickname of Battering Ewe. Not that he'd call her that to her face, the last guy who did ended up embedded in a wall. The explosion of slime had covered a wide area, but among the longer smears he noticed a trail where more slime lay than elsewhere, a sign that the girl had fled this way. A resounding crash came from behind him and he saw Marco get knocked skyward by Junhilda's body as she slid on the slime. He suppressed a smile, his senior colleague was not a nice person in his book, always bullying him and other junior guardsmen. He returned to the trail and saw that it got thinner the further away he got from the site, eventually becoming but a fleeting glimmer in the short grass.
Keeping his eyes on the trail he marveled at the distance, he'd never heard of Ureonggaksi before, but her appearance had belied her being this fast. Eventually the trail led to a storage shack with a rain barrel in front of it. Sobs were coming from within and the barrel shivered slightly. Was she really that scared? Most mamono would not be frightened by a human, especially an 'unclaimed one' as they called men not married to a mamono, but her reaction and the sounds coming from the barrel told him she was indeed scared out of her wits. He sighed and approached the barrel quietly, then knocked on the side. A startled yelp sounded from within and something started to emerge from the taphole in the cover, it looked like an eyestalk, and it was quivering. A squelching noise came from inside the barrel followed by unintelligible babbling and an increase in its shivering.
He sighed. "Miss, please don't be afraid. My colleague's a bit scary, but the guards here do not mean you any harm. Will you come out of the barrel please?" The eyestalk swivelled from side to side, then disappeared into the barrel again. "Miss, please, I mean you no harm. Please get out of that old barrel, it's not safe in there."
The barrel still shivered, but a small voice called out. "Can't. It's not safe out there."
Henry laughed and pulled the lid off, revealing the girl whose eyes were red with tears and whose dress was coated with some slime spats from her earlier accidents. "Look miss, I'm not going to eat you or anything, please come with me and I promise it'll be alright. You will need to answer some questions pertaining to that traveling companion of yours, but I think that's the extent of things for you."
She looked at him with trembling lips, then whispered. "..I'm stuck.." Henry laughed again and offered his hands, it took a little effort, but he managed to pull her out. That's when he noticed that her foot was looking a little ragged and she was wincing. The slime she'd shed must serve as some protective coating for her foot during travel. Without a word he scooped her up and slung her foot over his shoulder. "We'll need to let a doctor look at that foot miss, please hold on." She did, albeit with a blush on her cheeks, he figured she was a bit embarrassed. By the time they returned to the gate Junhilda had been trying to get into the shell for a while. Falkor had apparently barricaded the door, so now she was trying to crack the shell open, and not without success.
The girl in his arms struggled wildly, yelling at the Jotun guardswoman, pleading that she stop, but the pleas were too late. Like a thunderbolt from the heavens Junhilde's fists landed on a small fracture and the shell fell apart in three pieces.Personal possessions tumbled from the wreck and Falkor emerged, running like heck for leather towards the woods. Marco intercepted him and tackled him with a grace that seemed to deny his beer belly. The girl in his arms was sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to him for dear life it seemed. Henry felt sorry for her, but given that Falkor was one of the top ten wanted criminals in the area he was glad the bugger was finally caught. Junhilde gave him a querying look, then sighed and levered the largest piece off and picked up as many of the girl's possessions as she could find, laying them on the small table-like shelf on the most stable part of the shell's remains. The third one held a bed of sorts, though it could have passed as a padded bathtub.
He'd have to sort out this mess, but he had no idea how. Marco had trussed Falkor up and called Junhilde to carry the prisoner to jail. He then came close and glared at Henry, the girl in his arms and then Henry again. "This your idea of apprehending someone?" He spat. "Dereliction of duty more like! Clap her in irons and take her to jail." Henry shook his head.
"She 's wounded and as far as I'm able to tell she was unaware of Falkor's crimes." Marco swore.
"Boy, she carried him here in a fortress, then slimed us. She's a crook and I intend to throw the book at her. And at you too for ignoring my order."
Someone approached from behind and spoke softly. "Really? It sounds like you're overstepping your bounds again Marco..." That short speech drained the blood from Marco's face, and Henry's as he realized who was standing behind them.
Guard commander Sullivan was well liked by his troops but his second in command, Kiira, was feared for being a strict disciplinarian. A Dark Elf disciplinarian. She sniffed and raised an eyebrow at the girl still clinging to Henry. "An Ureonggaksi? I haven't seen one of you girls since I was a child, way away from here. Still it does explain the slime and the broken shell." She turned on Marco. "Your transgressions are inexcusable Marco! You know full well that destroying someone's home, even if a suspect is inside, is frowned upon by the magistrates and can't be done without approval from the commander." A blood-red tongue teased across her lips. "You did catch him, but it still looks like you'll need some disciplinary correction tonight." Marco nearly fainted.
Kiira pulled a scroll from her belt and invoked the magic on it, creating a dome shaped barrier over the shell, then ordered the guardsmen to follow her into town. Their posts were already filled by the next shift.
Spoiler: show
It had been a trying day for Miho, having been attacked by a crazy harpy in the morning then discovering her boon companion was wanted for a very bad crime and then losing her shell. It was more than just a home or nest, humans and other mamono could just move on to a new dwelling, but her slime and demonic energies had been poured into making her shell. Her parents had helped with the tricky bits and had given a shell-warming party for her before she left. Now it was broken, her precious possessions damaged and she homeless like a slug girl. Her foot throbbed with pain, shooting across grass without enough slime really had really hurt her.
But what else could she have done? Ureonggaksi could technically swing a sword or hammer with enough force to pulverize bones, but they did not like fighting, preferring to take shelter in their shells. Failing that, some ancient instinct had made her slime the area before heading for safety, useful for staying alive yet causing her foot to be hurt. She had to trust in this guardsman for now, he smelled nice if a little worried. The commanding officer seemed nice, but the guardsmen were frightened of her, even the gigantic one. Was she some sort of Succubus? Miho had once heard that some Succubi would not just take spirit energy, but a person's soul entirely when angry. She hoped that this was not true though.
The city was very different from the ones she'd seen before, paved roads divided with patches of flowers and trees, even a few small gardens against the walls of the houses. Had she not been carried she would probably have wandered around for hours looking at the plants. Her stomach gurgled. Those plants looked tasty. Meanwhile her eyes were doing full circuits, something that would usually happen when she was thinking. She wondered how small snails kept their eye-stalks in line, if she wasn't paying attention hers seemed to have minds of their own. *spletch* Ouch! her eye-stalk had hit Henry, stinging her. She quickly apologized, though the smarting eye did relay a tantalizing view of his ear as it retracted. She'd wondered if it was strange to like men's ears? Pops had told her you could tell how honest someone was by the size of their ears and Henry must therefore be very honest indeed.
When they got to the courthouse Falkor was led to the cells and she carried to a small office filled with strange jars and a small woman in a white coat and purple gloves. "Maven, get those hands busy, we've got an injured witness." The officer called out, causing the doctor to motion her guardsman to deposit her on an elongated bed of sorts. She was glad her lower half was flexible enough for her to lie on her back or she would have slid off.
"Well, first time I see someone like you, but it looks like your tail is suffering from some small cuts." Maven picked up the end of Miho's foot. "You normally use some sort of slime for rough terrain?" Miho nodded.
"It's just my foot though, not a tail."
The doctor looked cross, then sighed. "Foot, tail, same difference. I reckon you need some rest and some food to heal it and replenish the slime. Just stay here and I'll have the kitchen bring in something." She then turned away and motioned the others out of the room. Miho did hear some whispered conversation, but her body was tired and she drifted off to sleep. When she woke, she thought she was back home with her parents as she smelled Nasi Goreng, a rice dish she loved. Yet when her vision focused she saw the friendly guardsman sitting next to her, eating from one plate and having another next to him on a side-table. He noticed she was awake and hurriedly swallowed. "Ah, you're awake. I hope you don't mind, but I was kind of starving and you were sleeping, so I started on my lunch already." Miho had to focus to prevent drooling, the dish smelled a little different, but promised to taste good.
Henry handed her the plate and a spoon as she sat upright, she thanked him and then dug in. He had a head-start on her, but nothing can beat a hungry Ureonggaksi when it comes to eating. She'd been a bit surprised to learn that some people could not eat as fast. Must be the hereditary benefits at work. In no time at all she had cleaned the plate, then gave a ladylike burp. Henry chuckled, so she blushed.In a few hours her body would have digested the meal and hopefully her foot would hurt less then. One prime benefit of being Ureonggaksi was that any cuts and such healed fast. Her slime-bladders didn't feel as empty either, so she would be able to move again soon if they let her. she turned four worried eyes on Henry, who had a grain of rice stuck to his cheek and asked what was going to happen.
"Well miss, Falkor will be led before the judges tomorrow morning and you'll need to explain yourself to them as well." She started shivering.
"But why? I didn't mean to slime the area..." He laughed at that.
"No, but you did travel with Falkor miss, and though I, Junhilde and captain Kiira think you've had nothing to do with his crimes the law does require you to be questioned." He shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, they'll just ask a few questions and that'll be that with some luck." He sighed. "The captain's told me a bit about Ureonggaksi and I'm sorry for what happened to your shell, with a little luck it might be salvaged though." Miho's eye-stalks perked up and the feelers on her ears curled inward a bit, just before she smiled. Henry admitted to himself that she had a very lovely smile indeed.
The next day he took her to the courtroom were Falkor stood trial. He gave Miho a friendly, if sad nod before turning back to the judges. "Well, I'm done pleading my case. Can't say I blame you for hating me due to that mishap, but I'd not have delivered that poison had I known what it was." The judges nodded almost in unison before motioning him to sit down.
They then called Miho to the stand and asked her about her involvement with Falkor. Though nervous, she answered truthfully, as the magically adept bailiff attested and even went as far as to say that Falkor had not struck her as an evil person. The judges raised their brows in unison, then scribbled a note on the case file. A few minutes later and they released her, stating that she was free to go as long as she stayed within sight of the city, in case more questions popped up.
Henry, Junhilde and her sister then took her to the remains of her shell, along with a pot of some organic paste that would hold the shell together as she fixed it. The carpet had to go though, being rent as it had been it's core layers had dried out. Scraping this off was hard work, but Miho managed it. She did not want help, because she had been brought up as house-proud in keeping her shell clean. She still lacked enough slime to fix everything and a draft came in through the cracks, but her shell would soon be restored. With a little help she took it into town and parked it next to the guard's quarters. A bed had been prepared for her in the women's section, but she was startled when a chitin-armored girl with a mop and a bucket started cleaning all of a sudden. Others swarmed the room and joined in with the cleaning. They resembled roaches, but had an air like housewives determined to finish spring cleaning each day.
The custodian of the quarters was woman-handled into a tub later apparently as Junhilde told her with a smile. Miho had never seen such mamono, but they were as friendly as they were softspoken. One had called herself a Cukaliki and had asked Miho to not make a mess. When the next day came, Henry helped her again by looking for cracks she'd missed. They finally got her shell repaired and she had laid the first layer of carpet slime. While it dried, she asked Henry to show her the stores. Using her savings, she bought some ingredients and cooked them on a small fire beside her shell. "Would you like to stay for lunch?" She asked Henry. He accepted and she was glad. Perhaps she could stay for a bit longer in this city.
But what else could she have done? Ureonggaksi could technically swing a sword or hammer with enough force to pulverize bones, but they did not like fighting, preferring to take shelter in their shells. Failing that, some ancient instinct had made her slime the area before heading for safety, useful for staying alive yet causing her foot to be hurt. She had to trust in this guardsman for now, he smelled nice if a little worried. The commanding officer seemed nice, but the guardsmen were frightened of her, even the gigantic one. Was she some sort of Succubus? Miho had once heard that some Succubi would not just take spirit energy, but a person's soul entirely when angry. She hoped that this was not true though.
The city was very different from the ones she'd seen before, paved roads divided with patches of flowers and trees, even a few small gardens against the walls of the houses. Had she not been carried she would probably have wandered around for hours looking at the plants. Her stomach gurgled. Those plants looked tasty. Meanwhile her eyes were doing full circuits, something that would usually happen when she was thinking. She wondered how small snails kept their eye-stalks in line, if she wasn't paying attention hers seemed to have minds of their own. *spletch* Ouch! her eye-stalk had hit Henry, stinging her. She quickly apologized, though the smarting eye did relay a tantalizing view of his ear as it retracted. She'd wondered if it was strange to like men's ears? Pops had told her you could tell how honest someone was by the size of their ears and Henry must therefore be very honest indeed.
When they got to the courthouse Falkor was led to the cells and she carried to a small office filled with strange jars and a small woman in a white coat and purple gloves. "Maven, get those hands busy, we've got an injured witness." The officer called out, causing the doctor to motion her guardsman to deposit her on an elongated bed of sorts. She was glad her lower half was flexible enough for her to lie on her back or she would have slid off.
"Well, first time I see someone like you, but it looks like your tail is suffering from some small cuts." Maven picked up the end of Miho's foot. "You normally use some sort of slime for rough terrain?" Miho nodded.
"It's just my foot though, not a tail."
The doctor looked cross, then sighed. "Foot, tail, same difference. I reckon you need some rest and some food to heal it and replenish the slime. Just stay here and I'll have the kitchen bring in something." She then turned away and motioned the others out of the room. Miho did hear some whispered conversation, but her body was tired and she drifted off to sleep. When she woke, she thought she was back home with her parents as she smelled Nasi Goreng, a rice dish she loved. Yet when her vision focused she saw the friendly guardsman sitting next to her, eating from one plate and having another next to him on a side-table. He noticed she was awake and hurriedly swallowed. "Ah, you're awake. I hope you don't mind, but I was kind of starving and you were sleeping, so I started on my lunch already." Miho had to focus to prevent drooling, the dish smelled a little different, but promised to taste good.
Henry handed her the plate and a spoon as she sat upright, she thanked him and then dug in. He had a head-start on her, but nothing can beat a hungry Ureonggaksi when it comes to eating. She'd been a bit surprised to learn that some people could not eat as fast. Must be the hereditary benefits at work. In no time at all she had cleaned the plate, then gave a ladylike burp. Henry chuckled, so she blushed.In a few hours her body would have digested the meal and hopefully her foot would hurt less then. One prime benefit of being Ureonggaksi was that any cuts and such healed fast. Her slime-bladders didn't feel as empty either, so she would be able to move again soon if they let her. she turned four worried eyes on Henry, who had a grain of rice stuck to his cheek and asked what was going to happen.
"Well miss, Falkor will be led before the judges tomorrow morning and you'll need to explain yourself to them as well." She started shivering.
"But why? I didn't mean to slime the area..." He laughed at that.
"No, but you did travel with Falkor miss, and though I, Junhilde and captain Kiira think you've had nothing to do with his crimes the law does require you to be questioned." He shrugged. "Nothing to worry about, they'll just ask a few questions and that'll be that with some luck." He sighed. "The captain's told me a bit about Ureonggaksi and I'm sorry for what happened to your shell, with a little luck it might be salvaged though." Miho's eye-stalks perked up and the feelers on her ears curled inward a bit, just before she smiled. Henry admitted to himself that she had a very lovely smile indeed.
The next day he took her to the courtroom were Falkor stood trial. He gave Miho a friendly, if sad nod before turning back to the judges. "Well, I'm done pleading my case. Can't say I blame you for hating me due to that mishap, but I'd not have delivered that poison had I known what it was." The judges nodded almost in unison before motioning him to sit down.
They then called Miho to the stand and asked her about her involvement with Falkor. Though nervous, she answered truthfully, as the magically adept bailiff attested and even went as far as to say that Falkor had not struck her as an evil person. The judges raised their brows in unison, then scribbled a note on the case file. A few minutes later and they released her, stating that she was free to go as long as she stayed within sight of the city, in case more questions popped up.
Henry, Junhilde and her sister then took her to the remains of her shell, along with a pot of some organic paste that would hold the shell together as she fixed it. The carpet had to go though, being rent as it had been it's core layers had dried out. Scraping this off was hard work, but Miho managed it. She did not want help, because she had been brought up as house-proud in keeping her shell clean. She still lacked enough slime to fix everything and a draft came in through the cracks, but her shell would soon be restored. With a little help she took it into town and parked it next to the guard's quarters. A bed had been prepared for her in the women's section, but she was startled when a chitin-armored girl with a mop and a bucket started cleaning all of a sudden. Others swarmed the room and joined in with the cleaning. They resembled roaches, but had an air like housewives determined to finish spring cleaning each day.
The custodian of the quarters was woman-handled into a tub later apparently as Junhilde told her with a smile. Miho had never seen such mamono, but they were as friendly as they were softspoken. One had called herself a Cukaliki and had asked Miho to not make a mess. When the next day came, Henry helped her again by looking for cracks she'd missed. They finally got her shell repaired and she had laid the first layer of carpet slime. While it dried, she asked Henry to show her the stores. Using her savings, she bought some ingredients and cooked them on a small fire beside her shell. "Would you like to stay for lunch?" She asked Henry. He accepted and she was glad. Perhaps she could stay for a bit longer in this city.
Spoiler: show
Henry stepped into the shell, which had grown a little larger since he'd first seen it. The soft carpet, made of some semi-dried slime that Miho could produce, felt nice and cool under his bare feet. Too bad that he had to deliver some sad news. Miho gave him a hug when she noticed him and bade him sit at the table, which now sported a stool of sorts on one side. He twiddled his helmet in his hands before putting it down. "I'm sorry Miho, but I've some bad news. Falkor's crimes were judged too serious for him to be let off the hook and he's going to spend some time atoning for them. On the plus side, he would have been executed had you not testified on his behalf." Miho looked a little sad, but he thought it strange... Had she not been interested in the man?
"I'm glad he's not going to be executed, but I think it's good that he gets to atone for what he's done." She sighed. "Say Henry..." She blushed a little. "Are you still looking for a home? I.. I don't mean to impose, but if you don't mind the slime... I have some room in here for you." He was dumbstruck at that, his jaw hit the table, she was interested in him.
"Miho, I thank you for the offer, but I'm just a guardsman, don't you want some hero like your dad?" She shook her head, blushing furiously.
"I just want my hero. You're the nicest man I've met and I'll be damned if I don't at least try to save you from those hiveminded Cukaliki." She covered her face and her eye-stalks retracted. "Sorry, it's just that their habit of finishing each other's sentences creeps me out."
Henry grabbed her hands and gently pried them apart. "Well, I'm honored." He gave her a kiss on her hands, noting how their flesh was slightly translucent. Next thing he knew she'd hugged his head and was smothering him in her breasts. "I'm so happy! Let's make a nice home together."
Four months later a ceremony took place in front of a much larger shell that had settled like a house on a plot of land. Inside, in a smaller room, a nursery was being made, testament to the small bulge of the bride's belly which would soon bear an egg. The groom had retired from the guard, helping his blushing wife to set up a beauty parlor and eatery that would attract visitors from all over. In due time Mistburg would become known for the slime-covered lanes on the roads, Ureonggaksi frequently traveling to, through and from the city.
One day an unusual couple would stop by, but that is another story...
"I'm glad he's not going to be executed, but I think it's good that he gets to atone for what he's done." She sighed. "Say Henry..." She blushed a little. "Are you still looking for a home? I.. I don't mean to impose, but if you don't mind the slime... I have some room in here for you." He was dumbstruck at that, his jaw hit the table, she was interested in him.
"Miho, I thank you for the offer, but I'm just a guardsman, don't you want some hero like your dad?" She shook her head, blushing furiously.
"I just want my hero. You're the nicest man I've met and I'll be damned if I don't at least try to save you from those hiveminded Cukaliki." She covered her face and her eye-stalks retracted. "Sorry, it's just that their habit of finishing each other's sentences creeps me out."
Henry grabbed her hands and gently pried them apart. "Well, I'm honored." He gave her a kiss on her hands, noting how their flesh was slightly translucent. Next thing he knew she'd hugged his head and was smothering him in her breasts. "I'm so happy! Let's make a nice home together."
Four months later a ceremony took place in front of a much larger shell that had settled like a house on a plot of land. Inside, in a smaller room, a nursery was being made, testament to the small bulge of the bride's belly which would soon bear an egg. The groom had retired from the guard, helping his blushing wife to set up a beauty parlor and eatery that would attract visitors from all over. In due time Mistburg would become known for the slime-covered lanes on the roads, Ureonggaksi frequently traveling to, through and from the city.
One day an unusual couple would stop by, but that is another story...
Of course, the fact that this character is the mother and adoptive mother of two recurring characters (she herself is also a recurring character) makes it a real shame that there isn't more interest. Miho wants you to read about her.
Why you guys made your chicks so damn cute! Also, could that unusual couple you're talking about... 