Head Games

‘Bleah!’ thought Tanner. ‘I’ll never get used to the taste of blood in my mouth’. Tanner’s shirt was a bloody mess of rags, and his chain mail was in terrible shape. The axe blow from the ape-man had nearly cut him in half in one fell swoop. That was the last thing he remembered, until Annah had worked some magic and he was feeling alive, yet awful.

Annah and Faolan got Tanner on his feet, and they slowly began their trek to the castle in the Underworld. Tanner felt horrible and was scared. He never liked trips here, but Faolan said that he needed to go, so go he went.

Surprisingly, Faolan got accurate directions to Madame Alexei’s manse. On the way there, they saw fellow humans. ‘What in the name of all that is good…’ thought Tanner. These people actually looked liked they belonged there. Tanner hurried past them.

At last Alexei’s manse came into view. Tanner went from feeling horrible to sickeningly awful upon arrival. The screams of the tortured arose through the air. One of the windows was smeared with blood. ‘Yuck. How can this get any worse’, thought Tanner. And then the window opened….

Alexei looked out with her forearms covered in blood. ‘I’ll be just a moment boys. And who is that pretty thing you brought with you? A gift? You shouldn’t have’, smirked Alexei. Tanner would have laughed, except he wanted to throw up now.

Two Ape-Men ushered the party in to a common room. Common in name only. The craftsmanship and quality of the furnishings of the room were sumptuous. He had never seen anything this exquisite. Not Miss Macon’s manse, not Madame’s, not even in Anglia City. Tanner would have begun to feel at ease, but the room reeked of evil things. Alexei joined them and sat down in a chair that in any other place would have served as a torture device. With a glass of wine in hand, she and Faolan began to speak of the dagger.

For some reason, Alexei began to look.. beautiful. Well she always did, any fool would say that. But this time, Tanner began not to be afraid of her. ‘What’s come over me?’

After awhile, Drake walked in the room. Tanner’s hair stood up on end, but the swordsman was… bringing refreshments? Drake was bearing a tray with five crystal goblets of dark red wine. Drake and Faolan engaged in banter about swordplay and a possible rematch. ‘Fine’, thought Tanner. ‘Let’s do it on our home turf the next time. Better yet, leave me out of it’.

Tanner also noticed a strange look on Annah’s face. It was the same look she had at the Golden Lion at Yule. ‘Well, Alexei could do that’. But, no, on closer examination, Annah was watching .. Drake? Now that was the oddest thing Tanner had seen. He had to stifle a laugh.

Faolan and Annah drank just a bit of wine, but Tanner...’well, I’m probably going to die here. I almost did it already. A day without a buzz is a day that never was.’ And so the wine went down to his gullet. ‘Not bad’ he thought. Not bad at all. Immediately, Tanner began to have a wonderful buzz. Not like miner water, but just really pleasant feelings. The world seemed to soften around him. He felt.. detached. He briefly noticed Annah looking at him. Not with the usual gaze. Everything in this place was weird.

Eventually, Faolan finished his talk. Tanner polished off another glass of wine. This was the greatest buzz ever. Annah grabbed Tanner and bade Faolan follow. With the use of the power stones, they were back at Madame’s. Faolan and Madame began to talk. Annah left, ostensibly to go see Miss Macon. Tanner just sat on a couch, enjoying his buzz. And then the oddest thing happened.

Madame’s place was a brothel, but one never saw many of the girls come out from their rooms. But for some reason, there were nearly 10 of them out. And all of them were paying attention to Tanner. Normally he would have to pay some gold for the attention of one of these women, but not tonight. They all looked at him like he was desirable. Even Madame was giving him the second look. Tanner decided to roll with it.

Tanner was reaching for some gold when a red head with skin the color of cotton pulled him in close. Her lips were as smooth as fresh butter, and better tasting. ‘And I won’t have to pay for it’, thought Tanner.

All of a sudden a sharp pain shot up his right arm. Tanner looked up, and Bator, the wench he rescued from the Underworld, had him in an arm lock. Arana pushed the red head to the side, and sauntered up next to Tanner. All of a sudden, Tanner was stuck between the two of them. Tanner reversed the arm lock and almost hyper-extended Bator’s elbow. She grinned lewdly at him. Faolan had said the denizens of the Underworld enjoyed a lot of pain in their love-making. Apparently it was true. Bator pulled him close and gave him a hard kiss, while at the same time biting his lip. The red head tried to push her way back in, but Arana slapped her to the side. Arana grabbed him by the hand, and Batar the other, and they led Tanner away off to a room.

The next morning, Tanner awoke. He was sore. There were bite marks, everywhere. He noticed some marks that looked like rope burns. ‘Did I…’, thought Tanner. Tanner was worn out, but he felt satisfied. He sat down for breakfast and started to drink some tea. Bator came up and whipped out a knife. Tanner was cut off guard. But Bator cut her hand and let a drop of blood fall into the tea. ‘It will clear your head of the Bloodwine’, she said. She smiled, and gave him a bite and a kiss.