Taldur

'Just dandy...' I muttered to myself, very much perturbed, eyeing the dim surroundings of the tent with distrust.

I had no idea who or what I was actually dealing with, and it put me ill at ease.

All I knew was that this host of ours knew more than I liked and could communicate with Roulette.

It was extremely worrying knowledge that did not give me a lot to work with.

In all discussions and trade, information was key to coming out on top, but right now we were meeting some wealthy sales snake unprepared and uninformed.

It was an unmitigated issue that could not be solved easily.

'Dammed rat and her gluttonous ways...' I whispered to myself glancing back at the downtrodden Roulette who was slowly trudging along behind Lescar.

Everything had been going swimmingly until Roulette had gone and gotten the munchies.

I was still angry at her for that and I intended to keep my threats.

Roulette was not getting any dinner, not unless she did something very praiseworthy.

Which was unlikely.

Clearing my aggravated thoughts I made way for the upcoming maneuvers and posturing that would surely take place, Not only Lescar would have to be on point here, I too would since I was the one truly deciding our course at large.

Shifting uncomfortably inside Lescar's hood I pushed the niggling thoughts and fears out, assigning myself three goals.

1. Don't reveal myself or my intelligence (if possible).

2. Avoid any binding contracts or deals.

3. Gouge as much intel as possible from sales snake.

Simple goals, but simplicity often held inside its plain depths, strength, and with so little data to work with it was best to keep things this simple.

I knew what I wanted to do, anything else that I might do depended upon how the upcoming encounter played out.

It was all up to my first familiar now, Lescar's acting skills were to be put to the test again.

Which was not the most comforting knowledge, as Lescar's ability to act was rather... unpolished.

Unmoving, I turned my attention upon my thief, turned adventurer, turned familiar. Lescar looked tense the feeling of primed stress oozing out from the bond I shared with her.

My representative really needed more practice, something I had planned to tutor her more extensively on before this mess had started.

Sure, she had performed admirably at the guild when entertaining the crowds, but she was far from perfect and had only had a couple of lessons with me back in my glade, a mere two lessons were not enough.

Lescar's skills were incomplete, I could tell just by looking at her.

My thoughts wavered for a second as I paused, uncertain.

'I had been an actor in my past life, hadn't I?' I briefly diverged before focusing again, 'Or was I a salesman?.'

Trying to accurately pinpoint my past life's memories was harder than trying to herd cats with autism, my efforts only drew up blanks or seemingly unrelated scenes.

One such random memory appearing particular vivid, a memory where I hugged a small... child? and promised something...

It certainly felt familiar...

I could not nail down the drifting recollection and after a brief moment of hesitation, pushed the feeling of uncertainty aside.

'Irrelevant,' I dismissed, the memories from my past life served little more than to better enable myself, any attempt to examine the precision of my own past life was a waste of effort, especially now that I was in a potentially pressurized situation.

'Eyes on the prize,' I chided myself, as Lescar pushed aside the various silken folds in her way before making her way deeper into the tent's shadowy interior.

We had to be on guard, even a nosy merchant was a credible threat this early in my plans.

"Keep calm little girl, and remember what I taught you," I whispered privately to Lescar.

Lescar's lips were set in a hard line, but she responded with a nod, the terse expression and doubt in her eyes being replaced with fire and steely conviction.

"I'm on it."

I smiled briefly in my blackened heart, regardless of whether or not Lescar was a capable actor, she had spirit and grit.

Two things I could appreciate, as whether we sank or soared depended entirely upon her and her willingness to succeed could make all the difference.

Moving into the deep shade of the tent, Lescar advanced, I wriggling deeper into her hood, hiding myself.

'I'm banking on you Lescar' I thought to myself in a hushed tone as I retreated into concealment.

'Succeed and push forward.'

With Roulette following behind them the two disappeared into depths of the cloth shelter, not a single soul noticing as the cloth seamlessly sealed behind them leaving no doors or folds in the immaculate structure.

Lescar

'It is really dark in here,' Lescar thought trying to peer beyond the vacuous dark surrounding her on all sides, 'and really big' she added onto that line of thinking.

The inside of the tent felt many times larger than it had been on the outside, a pitch-black that seemed to go on forever extending as far as Lescar could see.

Which actually wasn't very far, as it was just too dark, even for Lescar's enhanced night vision to pierce any further.

Lescar felt her skin prickle and goosebumps form on her skin, something was weird about this place, the unnaturally thick darkness just inside a simple if extravagant tent made her uneasy.

As Lescar tried to peer deeper into the inky reaches she heard a soft rustling sighing sound and turned around rapidly to spot the entrance to the tent just disappear, not close or seal, but vanish altogether, only flowing silks being any indication that an entrance had even been there.

Lescar took a sharp intake of air, before she tried to push at where the tent flap had been.

It was rock solid, the silky sheen now feeling more akin to that of pitless smooth stone, being unyielding and solid.

She would not be exiting through this... door... any time soon.

Feeling her heart rate pick up Lescar placed her ear to the rock hard silk trying to see if she hear the crowds from outside.

Nothing, she could not hear a single whisper, she could not hear even the slightest hint of human presence outside of the tent.

'Who the heck are we really dealing with?!' Lescar thought apprehensively slowly bringing her head away from the door.

Lescar's heart thumping away in her chest she clutched at her scabbarded sword habitually, she didn't know any mages who could do this, then again she did not know any mages in general or how magic really worked.

Lescar was considering trying to beat down the rock hard sealed entrance with her sword when suddenly a bright light shone upon her, making her blink.

Eyes fluttering as they attempted to adapt to the sudden light, Lescar studied her surroundings with a wide gaze and gulped silently.

A circle of light illuminated a small area around her, and gradually in a line, other spheres of spaced apart sourceless lights appeared, slowly laying out a path for Lescar travel down, the impenetrable darkness not being disturbed at all outside of these circles of light.

A clear invitation for Lescar to follow.

Lescar crossed her arms cradling herself unconsciously, this display and show of power made Lescar uncomfortable and made her want to have someone to talk to or have as company, 'the tent was creepy.'

What was really waiting for them at the end of this path? Lescar, hoped it wasn't a path to slaughter or anything so grisly.

A flash of unpleasant potential scenes played out in Lescar's head.

Lescar and Roulette being flayed alive, wild beasts tearing into their flesh, a group of men tackling her to the ground and forcing themselves upon her.

Lescar shuddered at the thought, anything could happen, she had no idea what lay waiting at the end of this path.

A single line of thought radiated from a certain invertebrate in a softly spoken whisper as Lescar grappled with her sense of trepidation.

"Keep calm, and try to remain rational, I am still here..."

Blinking, Lescar hearing the subdued voice of Taldur paused before taking a deep breath, trying to soothe her wild imagination.

Taldur was right, she should not let her fear get the best of her, Lescar was not an expert at leadership or even acquainted with leading much herself, but she still knew a few things about being in charge.

Anyone who appeared weak did not stay in charge for long.

Even if Lescar was just playing pretend she could not appear weak or easily afraid, she would do her best to remain stalwart.

Lescar stroked Taldur's coiled feathery body in thanks, to which the insect shifted slightly, still hidden in the folds of Lescars hood before sending a silent confirmation of acknowledgment.

"Go and do your best partner... I will tap in if I think you need help."

Taldur's voice returned to being dead silent and Lescar knew he would not say anymore unless he really had to.

While Taldur was certainly still present, his feathery body still wrapped around Lescar's neck, he had stated earlier that he would refuse to speak inside the tent unless absolutely necessary, only handing Lescar his voice or advice if he felt she really needed it.

They had no idea how the owner of the tent had found out what they had, and Taldur did not wish to potentially let them know more, the tent owners possibly being telepaths.

This meant Taldur would not be keeping her mind off the eerie atmosphere that inhabited the shadowy depths of this tent with his mutterings or the teachings the bug sometimes dished out.

But... she did have another to keep her company with her voice.

"This place is kinda scary," Lescar heard Roulette say as she sniffed at the air experimentally, any obvious sign of the rodents dispirited expression mostly dispersed as the rat curiously snuffled, "and it smells like old wet four-leggers too."

Even if it was just Roulette, at this moment, Lescar felt glad she had someone else to talk to.

Turning around partly to address her Lescar spoke to Roulette.

"Mmm yeah, it is kinda creepy but be sure not to blab out anything sister," Lescar ascertained, "we don't want to give away any undue secrets or else perhaps your suspended dinner could end up being extended."

"Uuuuuu..." Roulette mumbled with a petulant voice, responding to Lescar, "not that!"

Lescar didn't want to threaten Roulette with anything but she did want to remind the rat to be on her best behavior, if anyone was likely to leak anything to the tent owners, it would be her.

"Just keep it in mind Roulette," Lescar reminded, "these people might not be friendly."

Roulette nodded, whiskers wiggling.

"I won't forget," Roulette said in a slightly annoyed voice before she continued, "but this place is scary!"

The pale rodent eyed her surroundings with big round eyes, tail twitching all the while, nose wiggling slightly as she sniffed at the air again.

"I can smell blood," Roulette added, "and more of the wet four legger smell too."

'Blood?' Lescar questioned without saying anything, she did not like the sound of that, while Lescar could not smell anything obvious, Roulette's sense of smell was many times more powerful and sensitive than Lescar's.

But she also did not have a lot of options, the door was gone and the walls hard become as hard as stone and considering her host already seemed to want to keep her here with magic, the smell of a little blood was a trifling detail.

Her host really wanted to meet her, and did not mind preventing her from fleeing to do so.

With a steadying breath and a determined grimace, Lescar walked forward being careful not to stray too far from the path laid out before her, 'who knew what could be hiding in that thick darkness.'

Even if she was inside what appeared to be a tent, Lescar refused to be unwary, this place felt charged with a strange energy Lescar could not quite describe.

A sort of wordless tension and... excited apprehension?

It was unsettling and made her feel out of place for some reason.

Lescar made steady progress down the lit path, Roulette tiptoeing behind her, twitchily jumping at any slight breeze or perceived movement she thought she saw.

Lescar walked for at least five minutes without stopping, the bleak pitch scenery unchanging and vast, 'how big is this tent!' Lescar thought to herself as she trudged on.

There was no doubt about it, some sort of intense sorcery was going on here, which begged the question ever more blatantly, 'who was their mystery host?'

Lescar soon received an answer to that question when she stopped, having come to the end of the lit path with no more spotlights to lead her on.

For a few moments, nothing but the empty void was visible beyond the circle of light Lescar and Roulette were standing in. Then with a flash that almost blinded Lescar, a plush if plain wooden chair embezzled with bright ribbons appeared out of thin air with a round and soft-looking large pillow sitting next to it.

Not flinching at the appearance of these household objects Lescar eyed the mundane looking objects warily, circling them and coming to stand in front of the chair in the process, trying to gauge whether anything was off about these seemingly ordinary objects that had appeared from nowhere.

Lescar turned to Look at the pillow and saw that Roulette was already sitting on it, her long tail and sleek pale form fitting perfectly and comfortably on the thick pillow.

"This squishy-fluffer-ball is really soft and comfy!" Roulette said looking less apprehensive then Lescar was feeling.

Roulette had already moved on from being slightly nervous about her surroundings to complacent and relaxed.

'How quick to change colors Roulette is,' Lescar thought with twitching eyebrows.

Getting too relaxed in a place like this could be fatal.

Lescar was about to growl at the rodent for doing something so careless when an ageless yet light voice filled with mirth and cheer chortled from an unseen location that sounded close yet all around them.

"Hee hee! Welcome honored guests and potential patrons, we love to offer great hospitality here and are very sorry for the earlier inconvenience you experienced!"

Lescar was taken aback at the sudden voice and was about to speak aloud when the sniggering voice interjected again.

"Yes, hee hee! these silken halls tend to be a little more cozy and close-knit and-" The voice stopped momentarily as if reminding itself of something before it continued as if nothing had happened, "but some quick changes had to made for your arrival..."

Lescar narrowed her eyes as she heard the spoken words, she couldn't really tell, but it sounded as if her mystery host was leaving something out from its speech that it was in a habit of saying.

Before Lescar could think more in-depth or question the voice, the hidden man said in an offhand sweeping tone.

"Regardless deary please sit, we can not begin until everyone has taken a seat."

Lescar did not respond immediately, trying to find the source of the voice she turned fruitlessly trying to catch the hidden speaker.

Feeling harried and somewhat frustrated Lescar called out heatedly "Where are you? I thought you wanted to talk?"

"Hee Hee! Hee! Oh but we do deary..." the voice resounded while chuckling directly into Lescar's ear filling her with a chill sense of unease, causing her to flinch and swing about towards the voice, goosebumps developing on her skin as she did so.

She found nothing but more black void when she turned but the sense of alarm and chill didn't disperse so swiftly, her heart thumping away like an abused doorknocker.

Lescar sensed her hood shift and rustle as she felt Taldur's hidden form tremble, his antennae flicking slightly, the intelligent insect refraining from speaking but still tapping her on the shoulder in warning, a sense of peril traveling across their bond.

Lescar understood the nonverbal signal immediately, this 'person' was not someone to be trifled with.

It was not something she really needed telling though, the guy's voice gave her the creeps.

Speaking in an almost professional manner as it giggled the voice said happily as if nothing had transpired.

"Hee Hee Hoo! But before such dour things as business are discussed a good host entertains and offers refreshments, please partake if you will deary, then sit."

A tray of foods Lescar did not recognize appeared on a table that had just sprung into existence, they looked interesting but Lescar did not try any of them she didn't trust her strange and elusive host, anyone who refused to show themselves in a discussion was probably up to something, not to mention her skin was still crawling from before.

Seeing Lescar rejecting the food, the voice said in a mock hurt voice, "Not hungry deary? that's quite a shame I slaved away in the kitchen to make those you know! won't you take even just a bite?"

Standing still, denying even looking at the proffered snacks, Lescar refused to budge, she wasn't touching anything some dodgy shadowy man in a tent offered her to eat.

"No? that's just to bad!"

The voice had just an edge of displeasure in its tone as it said that, but the displeasure was quickly washed away by its unerringly playful demeanor.

"Well, deary! if you are not hungry let's begin the day's entertainment without delay! but first please sit..."

The area around Lescar went dark save expressly for the space both the seated Roulette and chair occupied, Leaving Lescar standing in the pitch dark with a sudden sense of disquiet.

Lescar quickly moved into the smaller lit up area right next to the opulent chair before calling out in a disgruntled tone, "Could you at least show yourself before we go on?"

She really didn't like this guy so far, he was off-putting, prone to manic bouts of random and out of place laughter that reminded her uncomfortably of her own slips into madness, and had so far, honestly been a rather terrible host despite the chair and food offerings.

The (presumed) man also had put Lescar so far off her game with his antics that she had not managed to get into her false role as 'the boss,' she being unable to control the situation at all.

Yeah, she definitely didn't like this guy at all.

Having been distracted by her own negative thoughts, Lescar snapped back to attention when the unseen man coughed in obviously feigned astonishment before responding to Lescar's prior request with laughter, his voice slightly shrill.

"Hee hee hee hee... haaaaah... NO!" the man burst out abruptly, interrupting his own chuckling, this time evident anger in his voice.

For a few seconds, the man muttered and made peculiar growling sounds that reminded Lescar of the rumble of a dying man's last breath, further reinforcing the idea in Lescar's head that this guy was unstable and more than a little looney.

Taldur didn't seem to appreciate the man's unbalanced behavior either and while the tips of his antennae tickled her neck he stated quietly finally having had enough to dare speaking with Lescar directly.

"Mmmm... Dandy... It looks like our negotiator is a tad nutty, be wary Lescar, try to keep him appeased if possible, he is clearly unstable..."

The cockroaches words were concerned and Lescar could sense a hint of worry in them, Taldur was regretting entering into this abnormal tent as much as herself.

Eventually, after a period of muttering and strange clicking, the unseen man said, his voice becoming light and playful again at a moment's notice with only a sliver of aggression in his tone.

"A showman doesn't reveal himself until it is time to perform and I can't do that until you SIT."

Lescar looked at the chair again her eyes narrowed, as she took in the erratic mans words, she really didn't like this guy's attitude or rather unsubtle threats and did not want to listen to him.

With this on her thoughts, Lescar tried one more time to get something out of the uncooperative man.

"Can't we ju-"

Without waiting for her to finish the man returned to chuckling and giggling while saying in a steady when compared to earlier, tone.

"Hee heee! ha ha haaa! Sit down deary we can't start until you are seated."

The echoing high spirited voice continued in a more even fashion as if waiting for Lescar to comply, refusing to answer any of Lescar questions and only replying with this when she spoke.

"Sit down deary we can't start until you are seated..."

No matter what she asked the voice refused to give her a different answer. Eventually, Lescar looked at the plush chair skeptically and despite her doubts was about to sit in it when the voice said suddenly, Lescar's choice apparently being too slow.

"Hee Hee! Hooooo... ehhhhh..." The voice slowed down before saying in an openly disappointed voice, still giggling albeit sluggishly all the while, "Heh... heh... heehhh... sometimes a little push is necessary."

Before Lescar could react, the chair she had been standing in front of rushed forward on its own accord and knocked Lescar's legs out from underneath her, catching her in its plush depths.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Ho! ahhhhh..." The voice cackled madly, "please sit and enjoy the play! It is so rare I get to entertain guests like yourselves!"

"Play?!" Lescar managed before her head slammed into the very soft contours of the chair, filling her mouth with fluff in the action.

"Pffft! WHAT?!" Lescar said aloud after spitting out a mouthful fluffy chair backrest as she struggled to get back to her feet, having been knocked face-first into the fluffy furniture.

Even if she was going to sit in the chair anyway, this was not ok!

Before she could regain her footing and stand upright, thick ribbons peeled away from the base of the chair and wrapped themselves firmly around Lescar's thighs and wrists, immobilizing her in the process and slowly dragging her into a sitting position.

"He- Hey!" Lescar began to protest but one ribbon-wrapped itself around Lescar's mouth, gagging her firmly.

"Tut-tut deary," that same mirthful voice said in an amused and only slightly annoyed tone, "a good audience stays for the whole show and you have yet to even see our opening act, why don't you be a doll and just sit still for a bit hmmm? We would be soooo Delighted!"

Lescar thrashed and fumed as the ribbons tightened and pulled her back into the chair, she hated this already! what kind of person just tied up a so-called guest!?

Straining with all her might, Lescar sought to tear free of her silken chains but didn't feel the restraining ribbons give at all and instead felt a rising sense of panic.

Which abruptly came to a stop when the insect around her neck twitched and slithered out of her hood, retreating instead into Lescar's shirt much to her alarm.

"O- Oi!" Lescar said in a high pitched mental tone as her eyes widened and Taldur slowly crept down past her slight bust, going unnoticed by the bearer of the voice.

"Just stay still," the bug muttered in a distracted voice, " I will attempt to undo the ribbons but try to keep our so-called 'host' occupied, I would rather we not be stuck so literally," the feathered creature finished uninterestedly as he shuffled through Lescar's shirt more intent on his goal than any dignity Lescar might want to preserve.

Cringing slightly as Taldurs spurred legs trailed over her torso, Lescar silently consented, she would have normally slapped at the invertebrate for getting much too deep into her personal space but was presently unable to move.

She felt Taldur make his way over to the left side of her waist where she could, with her head tied down, just barely make out the tip of Taldurs mandibles as he began to tug at the ribbons binding her thighs.

It didn't look like he was making fast progress, how long would she be forced to remain like this? she hoped it wasn't for too long who knew what else their host was capable of.

As Lescar turned her head during her struggle against gift wrappings she caught a glimpse of Roulette.

Lescar had been a little occupied with this crazy man so she had not been paying the large rat much attention.

Unlike herself, Roulette seemed to be at ease and also unrestrained, just sitting firmly on the fluffy pillow, she even had a large bowl of what looked like the same brown kibble from earlier at her feet.

Roulette was already happily nibbling away at the contents of that said bowl.

"Yumm!" Roulette practically chirped, the food distracting the delighted rat from her cross sisters struggle.

A couple of thoughts popped into Lescar's head as she angrily wrestled with animate furniture starring daggers at her oblivious rodent sister, the icy glare and fury going unnoticed even though the familiar connection as Roulette eagerly ate.

The first was that Roulette had not learned a single thing, and the second was why on Guiettes green world wasn't Roulette tied down like her?

Struggling furiously, Lescar bit and tore at her bindings with little success, feeling kind off annoyed at Roulette for being such a niny, a slight resentment against her casually sitting sister building in Lescar's chest.

As if it had heard her, the voice said with a laugh, "Hoo! Hoo! this furry little lady has been polite enough to sit on what I offered her unlike other less polite deary's, so I see little reason to keep her in place if that is what you are thinking 'honored guest.'"

The voice continued in a light-hearted if slightly wistful and subdued phrasing.

"Besides... old Greezly seemed to have liked the little 'lass.'"

'Greezly?' Lescar thought to herself being unable to speak through her gag, taking some interest in the hidden speaker's words even as she strained against her bindings.

Emphasis was placed on the word 'lass' as if the hidden speaker did not use that word too often and was instead quoting the words of another.

'Who is this Greezly? Was this speaker not in charge? Was there more than one person present?' Lescar turned her eyes about restlessly, still trying to peer beyond the pitch black for one or possibly more obscured figures but seeing nothing other than the contentedly curled up Roulette who was still nibbling away at her bowl.

By the way the voice was addressing this Greezly, the owner of the voice clearly was not Greezly.

Lescar's frown deepened as she internalized what she knew briefly.

Roulette had mentioned a big hairy man earlier, was this that same man? Lescar could not tell.

"Roulette-" Lescar began, about to confirm some more details but never finished the mental sentence as the hidden voice proclaimed avidly.

"Either way! it really is about time we got on with the show!"

In a grand and self appreciative tone, the sourceless voice happily said, "Without further due let the play of the ages commence!"

The lights that had been focused on Lescar and Roulette vanished leaving everything in darkness, but only for a few instants, the endless dark seemingly impenetrable.

Lescar turned her head straining against the ribbons, trying once more to spot something, anything that would allow her to focus, this viscous shadow was distressing, unlike the somehow more comforting dark of Taldur's forest.

All of a sudden a large area in front of Lescar had the darkness blown away, leaving nothing in it but a single figure, a single slender figure.

Lescar strained her eyes looking at the lone... man? up and down, her face shifting from fury to one of surprise and apprehension.

This... man, was enormous, but only in one way, he was tall, very tall, so tall that if Lescar stood next to him she would have only reached his long elbows.

Outside of the man's impressive height, the man looked rather lightweight, practically being just skin, bones and wiry ligaments.

He was wearing very vibrant clothes that screamed 'notice me!' clothes that Lescar did not recognize as of any local or even foreign styles of garment, the raiment being all of one piece that covered the man from head to toe smoothly, being like a painfully vivid barrage of colors on Lescar's poor eyes.

Lescar blinked at the bright colors before studying her tall host's face.

He did not have one, her host only had a mask as far as she could see.

The mask was an unpleasant looking thing of bone, what looked like paper mache, and melted wax, it was also brightly colored primarily being creamy-white with colored accents around the eyes and mouth, a large blue ball was also located where a normal person's nose would be.

Lescar thought the bulbous blue nose looked ridiculous but it did not take away from the faint menace the masked figure exuded as it stood with its arms spread wide in a gesture of welcome, Lescar still taking in man's bizarre appearance.

Around the jawline of the mask a small but pronounced mouth was carved into the wax and mache, uneven broken teeth jutting just barely out between the carved on lips, looking like broken toothpicks that had been shoved into the mask only to simulate the look of teeth.

The man's eyes were hollow and yet held weight, being simply two large etched out holes that peered into a darkness deeper than night, a gleeful mischievous spite in his gaze that lacked light or the gleam of humanity in the black holes that passed for eyes on the man's mask.

The masks shabby and disturbing design did not stop there, Lescar could not see where the mask began and the man's pure black skin ended, looking as if it had fused perfectly with his pitch skin with no seams, only the occasional weirdly placed clump of wax or mache breaking this smooth transition.

The man gave Lescar the impression of a type of person she had only heard about a few times that some royal courts apparently employed.

A jester.

But Taldur who's head was protruding just slightly out of Lescar shirt had another name for the unnaturally thin figure.

"It's a dammed clown," Lescar heard him mutter in a subdued voice as he continued chewing at the ribbons.

Lescar had never heard of the word clown but Taldur did posses a whole host of knowledge that Lescar had never heard before from anyone.

The disproportionately long-armed masked man or clown, bowed slightly to the tied up Lescar, the fixed expression of impassiveness turning into a leering grin as the mask shifted, broken teeth and spikes moving aside to reveal a second pair of even, but serrated yellow teeth.

Lescar was no longer sure if his mask was actually a mask anymore, that degree of flexibility was not possible on a normal mask.

The jester or clown? smirked and bowed low for a few moments as the two girls studied him closely, Roulette even stopping her nibbling to oggle at the tall weirdo.

With Lescar's and Roulette's attention focused on him the masked man straightened up and said in a smug if more professional tone.

"A long... and not so long time ago..."

The man began, being evidently the source of the voice from earlier, before the simple environment changed in an instant around the speaking man, becoming the image of a barren, but strangely reminiscent of carpet landscape, as the jester continued to speak unmoved by the shifting clothlike scenery.

"In the age before man, at a time where life was young, there lived a single beast."

A single red and black fluffy looking plush toy... snake? lowered from the darkness above the clown onto the barren carpet like scenery on a barely visible wire, before suddenly wriggling about and bursting into movement, its previously limp and lifeless state banished.

Unphased by the snake plush toy, the clown continued speaking almost reverently.

"This beast was a great and powerful creature of unrivaled strength and wizdom..."

Lescar watched the puppet thing slither around the narrating clown before climbing a rocky illusory outcrop and letting out a tiny roar at an offstage sunset.

"It could crush mountains like eggshells, could rend the sky like swatting a gnat and was alone in its claim over the land."

The tiny plush snake slapped a minuscule cotton rock with its tail, after which a few seconds passed and the rock split into pieces exposing the white stuffing inside prompting another tiny roar from the snake plush toy.

Lescar couldn't help but think that this was just a little cute at this point and kept watching despite her anger at the clown.

"Uncounted eons passed as the beast stood against time, unyielding, never being defeated, never being driven away from its home, its birthplace, its tie to the world."

The fake illusory sky began to flash as the sown together sun and moon rushed around at rapid rate demonstrating the passing of many days, months, and years, the snake plush swelling up with every cycle until it was no longer a tiny soft toy but a massive plush monster that even reached the clown's knees.

Still, it was kind of cute.

"The great beast knew no weakness save for one..."

The giant plush snake once raising its head high in pride, slowly lowered its head sadly, slumped to the ground.

"The creature longed for something more, to feel whole..."

Lescar felt one of her ribbons come loose and felt Taldur shuffle over to her other leg under her shirt, already beginning to work on that restraining binding.

Shifting slightly but not doing anything more, Lescar continued watching the display before her, the plush snake now turning its head wildly as if realizing something for the first time as the clown kept talking.

"It desired company... and children, but being alone it could not produce offspring... only hollow imitations that frustrated the beast with there mindless behavior."

The imagery and scenery changed and now the giant plush snake was now surrounded by hundreds of tiny plush snakes that each moved about on their own little wires.

The big plush snake watched the tiny snakes move about randomly and seemed disappointed.

"His creations being no better than the rocks it broke daily, the beast abandoned his creations leaving them to fend for themselves, feeling nothing but contempt and disgust towards its insufficient creations."

The big plush snake roared, this time with a not so tiny and adorable voice and the smaller snakes dispersed and fled, those that didn't were crushed by the bigger snake, their deflated bodies lifted off the stage by the thin wires.

Scattering in all directions the small puppet snakes slithered away disappearing into cracks and crevices as Lescar watched.

"Left to their own devices many of the abandoned creatures lacking will and mind perished, but a few with a spark inside their empty shells persevered, growing and spreading despite their creator's lack of care."

Lescar watched as some of the snakes grew arms and legs, fighting among each other for scraps and the weaker of their kins flesh, the false sun and moon zooming by over and over as the simulated time passed, some of the snakes even grew a third pair of thin scraggly arms and tiny teeth, now resembling sock puppets more than soft toys.

"Ignoring the remaining unwanted creatures, the beast stalked the land hoping beyond hope to find a mate, an equal, a partner in this otherwise empty world, tearing huge divots and gaps in the land in the attempts to find its other half, shaping the world, carving out mountains and valleys..."

The big plush snake thrashed and writhed diving through the illusionary floor before piling up massive piles of rather cotton-like rubble as it searched for something, the surroundings going from a flat barren landscape to harsh arid cliffs and steep falls.

"Of course, this destructive search yielded no fruits, the beast was still alone, save for the slowly spreading and growing imitations that crept and crawled, ever watching their creators pursuit of companionship but going unheeded and uncalled by their parent."

More of the tiny snakes slithered and clambered, their numbers having grown rather than shrunk, many now possessing stubby legs some even having longer more upright legs and postures, rows of teeth and long prongs that protruded from their heads being evident on some of the more developed snakes, including the ones with a third set of limbs that resembled sockpuppets.

"Many countless cycles passed and still, the creature was alone even though other life had begun to populate its hostile world, the great beast turning a blind and uninterested eye upon these creatures that it itself had birthed into this world."

Lescar felt the cockroach under her shirt undo another ribbon as the plush snake continued to ravage the land.

'Just two more to go,' she thought passively wanting to burst out of her chair already.

"They were not what it desired, they were not acceptable company or children, they would never understand."

As the clown eagerly continued describing the plush snake's apparent feelings Lescar flexed her right hand, Taldur was already working on one of the ribbons tieing her right hand down.

She would be free soon.

"Seeing naught but distractions," the clown continued animatedly, "the great beast turned its attention to the stars, failing to notice that over the innumerable cycles, its creations had changed, grown, adapted, the spark inside the creatures having burst into a small blaze that would not go out."

Lescar sat silently observing as the plush snake with its beady button eyes turned its head away in derision from the other snakes that crawled around it instead, looking up towards the phantom heavens.

Describing the plush snake's thoughts the clown echoed, "The beast looked out into the endless sea of void and light, wondering if it should abandon its home and search the stars, but it knew that without its home it would soon perish in the great beyond."

"Determined to keep trying, however, the beast decided that if it couldn't go out to find others like itself it would instead call them to it."

Lescar blinked as a beautiful display of aurora lights sprang into existence and the plush snake opened its maw not to roar or screech, but to sing.

It was an unrecognizable cacophony of rumbling and rising desire, something Lescar did not understand but rather felt in her heart.

A song that Lescar did not recognize as any type of spoken language but something deeper, more primal, filled with pure emotion and sorrowful need.

A call for help, a cry of desperate loneliness.

With almost a tear in the clown's void-like eyes he spoke solemnly, "Tuning its voice into the great beyond, the lonesome beast vocalized its desires in song, a soft keening that called others like it to itself, a question to the cosmos."

"'Is anyone else out there? please answer.'"

"Calling and singing the beast sung for millions of cycles as its abandoned children grew stronger, changed forms and became varied, their varying forms each being different and unique in some way."

The sun and moon rushed by at a blur and gradually the landscape changed before Lescar's eyes, its inhabitants save for the giant plush snake changing with it.

Lescar could see that the innumerable snake puppets no longer resembled snakes save a few, most having grown to be very different from their creator after thousands of years.

She wasn't exactly sure what this all had to do with anything, while she might have been enjoying the show if she wasn't chained to a chair, this whole thing seemed abstract and rather distant to herself.

'Why would this clown want to tell her this story?'

Lescar didn't have a clue but she knew she didn't want to be tied to a chair if or when she found out.

Speaking with an even voice now the clown kept telling the tale.

"A spirited few in which the inner fire burned fiercely even took to the sky's on wings of ash, dominating the land more than any other save for their powerful parent."

The same sock puppets that had grown a third pair of limbs were now soaring through the air on those very same limbs that were now wings.

Wheeling and twisting through the air as they darted past the great plush serpent, the winged socks took the air as their own, and reigned over the bright blue patchwork skies as its undisputed rulers.

"Still, their parent failed to notice its children's growing complexity and potency, entirely focused on its message of longing it broadcasted to the starry sea, ever calling, never getting a response."

The great plush snake looked up, still singing its song of longing, But Lescar didn't fail to notice as something slipped by the great snakes glassy almost blind eyes, darting to and fro the milky stain of a creature hit the fluffy ground before taking the form of a curled up... man?

Lescar frowned at this, she couldn't be sure but it resembled a human being more than anything else, but before she could think about it any deeper the clown explained with a cold and pained voice.

"But the great beast had indeed caught the attention of others like itself, but unlike the great beast, they had other motivations outside of meeting the beast."

The tiny pale featureless milkman stood up then stepped sideways and split in two, then fours then eights, then...

On and on the tiny little milkman divided until the number of tiny milkmen was comparable to the number of sock puppets.

Then the milkmen struck, and they were not gentle.

"Sneaking in undetected, these dirty filthy newcomers being weaker than the great ruler of the land avoided contact and instead warred with its unwanted children trying to claim their own territories and homes," The clown groused furiously before saying, "many of the natives being pushed out of their ancestral lands and eradicated by the scummy newcomers."

The milkmen ganged up on lone sock puppets before Lescars eyes, before moving on and ganging up on the next one, over and over the milkmen crushed individual sock puppets, gathering more and more land to their growing territory.

Sock puppets being trodden into yarn and stuffing as the milkmen marched onwards, the clown continued to tell his story.

"Many times over and over this happened without the great serpent caring, only those of its children who had taken to the sky on wings of ash or drilled through the earth being potent enough to resist the invasive scourge."

The milkmen and flying sockpuppets clashed, the winged puppets tearing milkmen apart with fluffy tooth and claw while the milkmen dogpiled and pummeled any puppet to slow or unwary to move out of the way.

The war between puppet and milkman raged on all across the visible scenery and Lescar was impressed and a little nonplussed at the demonstration.

She hadn't heard of any mages who could do this kind of scale at showmanship.

"It was only when the clashing of the invaders and its children took place before the beasts eyes that the beast took notice, but even then it cared little, the great beast assuming it was little more than a pathetic scrap between weak husks."

The giant plush snake looked down at the creatures battling below and around it contemptuously before the clown spoke once more for the plush snake.

"'What did it matter that such weak creatures fought amongst each other?' the beast thought until it saw something it had not expected from its failed offspring..." the clown said offering a question but not an answer as he paused for dramatic effect.

Lescar watched with bated breath as the battle went on, many being felled on both sides, but for every milkman killed two more took its place, gradually wearing the larger more powerful sockpuppets down until only a few remained.

One of the flying sock puppets, the largest of its kind its cloth wings torn, sundered by grappling milkmen, reeled back. taking in the corpses of its patchwork brethren, this single beaten and shredded puppets eyes filled with rage and glowed with an inner potential not yet tapped.

"Strength and will," the clown said simply, answering the question that he had just set up, "the small blaze inside the great beasts creations had grown into an inferno and could no longer be contained."

The single injured sock puppet, its tattered and broken wings dragging behind it let out a tiny yet substantial roar thick plumes of purple flames bursting from the enraged puppets linen maw, sending the milkmen scampering back in retreat as the purple fire licked at their heels incinerating any to slow to flee.

"Taken aback by this display of individuality and power the great beast stopped singing to investigate it's world and found it vastly different from how the beast remembered it."

Lescar felt the second last ribbon tieing her down, fall slack, Taldur had chewed through yet another one and was already moving onto the last one.

She was almost there...

Not noticing this, the clown maintained his scripted words, the puppet snake now sliding about and moving through the quilted plushscape.

"The world crawled with life and vitriol, verdant greenery and lush plantlife filling the previously barren landscape." the jester gestured towards the snake as he added, "Taken with how beautiful and precious the land was, the beast realized that it already had, what it had wanted for a long time."

"Offspring, company and a legacy beyond itself."

The giant plush snake lowered its head down towards some of its deceased sock puppet children and looked troubled and upset, or at least as upset as a soft toy with angry eyebrows sowed on could look.

Rearing its head and letting out a still slightly cute battle cry the giant plush bowled into the milkmen and began slaughtering the living milkstains with no effort, ripping and diving through the hordes of tiny milkmen as if swimming leisurely.

"Seeing its children it now acknowledged as true offspring in such dire straits, the great serpent aided its children against the invader scourge."

The remaining winged sock puppets that Lescar could see, having seen the serpent helping, rushed back into the fray engaging in another grueling and bloodthirsty battle of lost stuffing, splattered milkmen, and ripped off and weathered cloth.

This time however the puppets came out on top, the tiny milkmen fleeing for the patchwork hills getting harried and slaughtered by vengeful sockpuppets as their army shattered into ruins at the maws of the plush serpent and his children.

"Although glad for the help, many of the children had long since disowned the serpent as their creator and turned their backs on the one that had abandoned them."

The giant serpents head sagged as the remaining winged sock puppets growled and ignored it. only acknowledging the serpents great prowess and nothing more as far as Lescar could tell, the giant snake beginning to burrow into the fluffy false floor.

"Saddened by this but understanding, the great beast looked to the heavens one last time before it sunk back into the depths returning to its home and birthplace now comforted and surrounded by its children."

A scene where the enormous snake curled up on some sort of nest and went to sleep played out, the plush soft toy moving as if breathing deeply before the scene switched to one of the surface of the quilted cloth land that looked up at the starry sky as the sober clown articulated a few more sentences.

"But the last whispers of the beasts plea to meet with a worthy companion did not go unnoticed."

The scene now being one of looking up at a false sky, Lescar quickly noticed when something began to get closer, something creamy pale like the milkmen but much more so, and indefinitely larger.

"For across the vast ocean of stars another heard the call and answered with its own song."

Another song Lescar could only describe as alien and haunting hit her ears, a soft coo tinted with an edge of malice that much like the great snakes was filled with primal longing.

"A song of deception and lies, a song the great beast never heard or understood until it was too late."

Lescar didn't like this music, it was making her hairs stand on end as she watched the last few scenes play out.

"Following the trail of music this foreign creature of deception and lies approached the untainted sphere."

Large tendrils of pale flesh reached out slowly covering the entirety of the stage and actively made Lescar feel uncomfortable, the pale mass gradually swallowing up everything.

"And ever since then the world has known nothing but pain."

The puppets all disappeared or were pulled back up into the darkness by their strings and gradually the sown together and quiltlike landscape faded away.

Lescar was expecting the clown to keep going but he didn't, this was the end of his play.

She was honestly not sure what to take from that play, none of it really made sense to her, she assumed it was just some wild story the crazy jester magician had made up.

An orb of luminescence appeared beside Lescar once again bathing the two girls and cockroach in light as all three of them eyed the standing Jester.

The fantastical scenery of cloth and stitches had completely faded away leaving just the masked jester standing in the spotlight with trembling fists and a yellow-toothed grin more akin to a grimace.

"Hee hee! heh heh... So dearies... that was my little show! did you like it?"

"I thought that was great!" Roulette squeaked obliviously, not understanding the jester's words but answering with her opinion anyway, albeit an answer that only Lescar and Taldur seemed to hear, the jester remaining unresponsive until the rat did something visibly appreciative.

Roulette clapped her claws together in applause as the scenery faded and the tall jester beamed for a moment before he turned to face Lescar expectantly.

The jester continued to stare with a gruesome expectant look, Lescar still tied to the chair and gagged simply glared at him.

She, while unable to move and silenced found the jester to be nothing short of unlikeable, the performance may have been very enthralling and entertaining if she had actually voluntarily been able to watch without being tied down like a misbehaving dog, but as things were...

She had no words of praise.

"Mmmm! MMM!" Lescar snorted in derision through her confining ties barely containing her own laughter, doing her best to show her displeasure as she writhed, wanting to do nothing more than lash out at her awful host.

As she ground her teeth on the smooth but tough gag a faint voice in her ears stopped her with a hushed sentence.

"Settle down little girl I'm almost through these confounded ribbons."

It was true Lescar could feel that over half of the ribbons were already hanging loose enough for her to wriggle free, Taldur had almost severed all of the binding ribbons and was working on the last one that tied her left hand down.

She would be ready to move if things took a dive for the worse.

Which it possibly was.

The tall unnaturally thin clown turned its head on a full-tilt his head practically horizontal despite his straight posture, a moment of silence between Lescar and the bone-thin giant, Lescars last act of disdain seeming to reach a tipping point with the tall freak.

"You... you didn't like my play deary?"

The questioning words were muted but Lescar could tell there was a building pressure in his words, it looked like he hadn't liked the muffled insults and profanities that she had been trying to hurl at him through her gag.

Had that been a mistake on her part?

For a few dead quiet seconds, nothing happened, then...

A huge grin burst on the clown's masked face, his hands shooting out sideways as if brushing aside a bad smell causing a strong gale to burst into existence, howling past Lescar.

Still unable to move from the chair Lescar clenched her eyes closed against the supernatural gale before she heard a squeak, the sound of a metal bowl being flipped and its contents being scattered.

Forcing her eyes open Lescar called out, worriedly seeking out her ratty sister through the harsh wind.

"Roulette!"

There was no response and no sign of Roulette only a torn and bloodstained pillow where the rat had been sitting, Lescar could not sense Roulette anywhere not even through her familiar bond, the white rodent having just disappeared.

Roulette was gone.

Lescar felt cold for a moment, numb, did Roulette just die?

A couple of seconds passed then the clown burst out laughing clutching his belly and doubling over pointing with a single long digit at Lescars blanched expression.

"What?" the clown wheezed with mirth, "you think I wouldn't get rid of the furry one just because she was polite? what a stupid deary heh heh heh..."

The clown continued to chuckle and wheeze but soon straightened up again, he wasn't finished yet.

Lescar did not hear his next words as she was too fixated on the bloody pillow on the floor and the sense of numbness filling her, however, this was soon overcome by something hot, something livid with rage.

Having felt Roulette simply cease to exist for all he knew, Taldur was filled with an almost blind fury, and that burning hatred was pouring over into Lescar.

The excess power flowing into Lescar made time feel like it had slowed to a crawl, the clown's words becoming stretched and unheard as another more impassioned voice roared.

"Gone?! GONE!" The cockroach screeached in utter rage,"KILLED!! RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!! HE TOOK WHAT WAS MINE! UUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!"

The quiet whispers and rustling in Lescar head that she normally associated with Taldurs voice turned to wet clicking and rustling scuttling echoes full of agitation as the insect raged, his small hidden form trembling with anger under Lescar's shirt all the while releasing waves of compressed hatred that rebounded across Lescars body not quite escaping as she held it inside her forcefully.

She seriously doubted letting it all pour out would be a good idea while she was still tied down, that clown would surely pounce her in a heartbeat if he realized what was going on, it was only because Lescar appeared helpless that he had not finished her off yet.

But she was having a hard time keeping a rage and hate that wasn't even her own from overrunning her so these thoughts were hardly on her mind as she pushed back wave after wave of boiling anger.

Lescar felt herself becoming incensed barely keeping herself in check as vast amounts of energy poured into her from Taldur, the bug not bothering to monitor his energies as they went wild.

'UGHH... if this keeps up,' Lescar thought briefly as she grit her teeth under the strain, 'I'm gonna lose it again.'

She could already feel the alien tendrils of manic thought climbing up from the depths of her being yet at same time also from a far away place as the rampant energies inside her spiked.

She couldn't take much more of this.

"Taldur! stop!" Lescar cried out silently as she struggled against the burrowing emotions.

Perhaps having heard her, suddenly the rage cut off and Taldur reigned himself back in, his anger still burning fiercely under his barely controlled hate but now colored by a hint of regret too.

"No... I.. I'm sorry Lescar I lost it for a second there" The bug said with a restrained mental grimace still full of wrath, " I should keep a cool head, this creature could be beyond us..." The cockroach said before finishing gruffly, "we would be best served by retreating..."

After a pause in which Lescar felt the bug gather his resolve and his anger only deepen, Taldur spoke, "No," the cockroach's voice still edged with clicking and rustling was filled with a hard caliber as he followed up his earlier single word with this sentence.

"That woud be unacceptable," the bug growled the fire of hate gathering in the insect's voice once more, "we will 'kill' this fool clown, feast on his flesh and avenge Roulette."

Lescar, unable to respond and still straining against the excess energy, agreed with this sentiment but not the flesh-eating part, despite herself Lescar had liked Roulette, and if the little rat was truly gone she at least wanted to bloody the one who made her disappear before they made an escape.

A determined air settling over the bug Lescar felt some of the energy ebb out of her and dissipate as the bug brought himself fully under control, time resuming in its normal fashion as the power drained.

His words calm again Taldur said with an even but terse tone that didn't fully hide his deep loathing wrath.

"Be ready Lescar, I'm halfway through the last binding."

Lescar nodded shortly, some tears having leaked out of the corners of eyes from the intensity of emotions she had just gone through, the alien tendrils of thought already sinking back into the depths of her soul.

She was not sure if Roulette was gone forever or if this clown man had just taken her away somehow, either way, once she got out of this chair she planned to plant her blade between his eyes.

The freakish clown had either not noticed or not cared what had just happened and moved forward at the same pace each step slow and deliberate.

Approaching slowly, with ponderously gradual movements as the strong wind continued to blow, the jester or clown smiled at Lescar as he drew nearer, his demented grin lopsided as his head hung sideways.

"Ahhhh deary you should have taken the time to enjoy my play," The clown drawled waving a long spindly finger "if perhaps you had, your little furry friend might not be gone, but then it seems you have both poor taste and terrible manners so perhaps not."

The clown took a step forward, his already tall form stretching out even further, the broken gash of mouth in his mask growing larger by the second.

"It took quite a bit of effort on my part to set that all up you know deary... but to think you would treat it as a joke."

The clown took another step forward and the lights illuminating the surroundings began to sputter and flicker, his grinning mask more of an open gaping maw.

"I had to do a lot scarpering and scrimping to get this little play going and you deary- you ungrateful brat! just went ahead and dismissed it as a joke?!"

The clown was clearly angry at this point as it dropped the happy playful simpering voice for a deeper more threating tone.

Seeing the clown get closer with every passing second, and still having a single arm tied down, Lescar began to feel the pressure, there was no way she could fight this clown thing off with one hand and a chair tied to the other, that would be ridiculous!

Although pressured, Lescar was no longer scared or afraid, she knew who her enemy was now and she could see him, and if she could see him she could hit him.

More than enough of that potent energy from Taldurs outburst was still circulating through her body and she knew how to use it now.

Still, this was no time for dilly-dallying, the clown was only getting closer.

"Taldur you better hurry up on that last ribbon!" Lescar said internally still pretending to be entirely immobilized by the ribbons, "Our host is getting way to close for comfort"

"Almost there..." Taldur replied without changing speed at all, his unhurried movements full of purpose as his razor jaw worked like a serrated saw on the tough ribbon.

The clown was still over a dozen meters away but every single step covered multiple meters in a single stride and that twisted grimace was only growing larger, already it looked as if the clowns head had split open, the mouth of the mask parting to reveal the true face behind it.

Its true face was ugly.

It was a thing of inky black void that quivered and trembled, eyeless and featureless save for yellow needle-like serrated teeth that formed a slavering expression of both hatred and joy.

In a voice very different from its earlier one, a voice that sounded like wet rasping stone and grinding steel, the clown creature spat with a sick smile.

"Well if my little play is a just a joke, here is the punchline you brat."

The clown took one more step forward and in that single step covered the remaining distance, a single long arm raised as if to strike, the bony fingers now resembling the long claws of a roc* more than the fingers of a human being.

"I couldn't be happier killing another disgusting child of terra"

Not having a clue what child of terra even meant Lescar called out.

"Taldur!"

"I've got it!"

The last ribbon snapped and tore as Taldor pulled hard giving Lescar enough room to wrench herself free, pulling her gag out in the process as she lept to the side and rolled.

Just in time too.

The plush chair Lescar had been sitting on was smashed to splinters and fluff, the clown's taloned fingers shearing through it like paper.

"Hee hee! So, brat, you have a few tricks up your sleeves I see," the freakishly tall monster said almost happily shaking the splintered remains from his talons.

"Good, good! that just means we can put on another play of sorts."

The clown lifted a talon to its yellow serrated teeth that rippled on its pitch ocean of a face and whistled, the pitch high and piercing tore through the air.

The announcement of another performance.

"Let us commence! Hee hee hee hee!" the clown monster tittered, lifting its hands into the air as if conducting a grand opera, those same puppets Lescar had seen in the monster clowns last play albeit altered and eerie, appearing once more from the unseen dark heights of the ceiling, this time larger and sporting more spikes and blades instead of stitches and linen.

Lescar really didn't like the clown's choice in redesign, she preferred it when the puppets resembled soft toys rather than spikey abominations.

"Come let us perform!" the monstrous Jester crowed as he gestured grandly and pointed a single clawed digit at Lescar.

"Get her!"

Walking behind his minions as they charged forward at Lescar the jester leisurely strolled forward, still conducting as he did so.

The small army of wing bladed sockpuppets, spikey snakes, and one giant barbed plush serpent charged towards Lescar, they were going to reach her in seconds

"I hate clowns," Taldur said climbing back into Lescar's hood as the puppet horde neared.

Lescar couldn't help but agree.

"Fricken clowns!" Lescar spat as she drew her shortsword.

She didn't even know what they were and already she hated them too.