<br/>Over the next few weeks Lady Arisa ver Gelder grew to accept her new place in the home.  Her husband Master Fritz actually seemed to grow fond and rather enamored of the woman, especially since her sex drive seemed to be close to his own.  Those first few weeks were full of rampant carnality as Lady Arisa ver Gelder's confusion over who she was faded and her 'true' memories came back to her.  She'd never trained as a paladin, haunted house, she didn't know what that was.  It must have been some strange fever dream, brought about by the nerves of meeting her new husband and losing her virginity.  She took massive load after load from her older husband, eager to bear him a child, a son if she could.  She sensed that there were a few times when he may have been messing about with a maid or local peasant girl, but her own high sex drive seemed to keep him pretty occupied, and she took her place as the proper mistress of the house.  She grew to know her husband, know the secrets of his success over time.  He seemed open and willing to talk to her as they lay a-bed, his inhumanly copious seed flowing from her slit.  He told her how he'd made a bargain with otherworldly entities in exchange for his magical power.  How he'd used that power to accumulate a lifetime of wealth and influence.  But that he still needed a child to pass his legacy on to.  How he would not rest until that became a reality.  He seemed unflinchingly focused on that thought, on the thought of his legacy and truly it seemed he would stop at nothing till such a thing happened.<br/><br/>Two months into the marriage she consulted with a priestess and they confirmed that she was bearing a child, though expressed some concern that the life inside her was somehow... tainted.<br/><br/>A month later she lost the child.  But Mistress Arisa ver Gelder was adamant and doubled down on her efforts as soon as the healers said it was safe to resume sexual intercourse with her husband.  Twice more over the next few years she caught with child, but could not carry it to term.  Relations between Fritz and Arisa soured and darkened.  She caught him more and more with peasant girls and maids, and he became less embarrassed by such indiscretions.  Eventually he began openly blaming her for the fact that she could not bear him a heir.  But Arisa knew the truth.  It was not her, it was he.  Whatever demonic pact he had made in the past had tainted his seed.  Arisa knew of maids and peasant girls who had lain with him who suffered the same fate as she.  But he would not hear of the truth, and bringing it up, even suggesting it to him, sent him into a rage.<br/><br/>Mistress Arisa became desperate and was considering cheating on her husband, cuckolding him, so she could bear a child and claim that it was his.  But it had been too late, already his dark intentions had grown too strong.  In the middle of the night Mistress Arisa ver Gelder disappeared from her bedroom, never to be seen again.  Though her spirit knew the truth and ranged out away from the damned mansion, vowing to find a way to bring justice to her mad husband who had murdered her.  She ranged, ethereal, back to her home and watched silently, impotently, as her younger brother grew and came into womanhood.  The only peace she felt was the knowledge that her life had bought her family some wealth and power.  She watched her younger brother grow, marry a noble woman, and eventually bear a son.  A fine and healthy young boy that they proud parents named Valeros.<br/><br/>From Valeros's birth she whispered from the ethereal plane, unheard, yet she was always there.  Guiding the young nobleman as he grew and eventually took over the mantle of Baron van Ortensia.  He was married to a fine noblewoman as house Ortensia grew in power, including taking over much of the land of the late Gelder estates, which had fallen into ruin and disrepair after the lord Fritz ver Gelder had died with his last wife Tamilla under suspicious and rumored circumstances.  When Valeros's wife bore her first child, a healthy and beautiful daughter, the nobleman had only one name in mind.<br/><br/>"My darling," Baron Valeros van Ortensia said to his wife as she held the newborn girl, "My father had an aunt that died long before I was born.  Her name was Arisa and my family always said how her sacrifice was one of the reasons that house Ortensia came to power.  What would you think of the name Arisa for our daughter?"<br/><br/>"I think it's perfect my love.  Lady Arisa Van Ortensia.  Truly a blessed name."  She responded with a smile.<br/><br/>The ghost of Mistress Arisa ver Gelder had waited for decades for this moment, and knew that she was too weak to do any real harm to the child, but merged the last remnants of her soul with the newborn baby.  This child, she would grow to be strong, to be beautiful, to be a holy warrior.  She could bring peace to the haunted house some day... some day....some day.... some day..........<br/><br/><hr/><div style="text-align: right;"><em><strong><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;">Twenty some years later</span></strong></em></div><br/>Cowley Manor. The one dark spot in the town of Heroes' Hearth. Once the ancestral home of Lord Cowley and the others of his bloodline, the place had fallen into disrepair. The last of his family, a rumored mad mage by the name of Lord Fritz ver Gelder had vanished, long ago, in one night of screams...And the townsfolk had sealed the gates, muttering to themselves about witchcraft and sorcery and dark magic.  For years, the manor had been quiescent. Only the most foolish would venture into the place, itself, and, the stories went, those who did never returned. But now these nights, when the mist rose, there were reports of eerie lights. Of wails and cackling laughter. Phantoms had been spotted behind the great, barred gates.<br/><br/>For the townsfolk, of course, this had been much too much. All-too-aware they were out of their depth, they sent a message to the Order of the Blazing Sword, seeking a champion.  So as it so happened, Lady Arisa Ortensia - Knight-Errant - had been the first to receive the message. She'd insisted, in fact, and she'd certainly wasted no time arriving.<br/><br/>"So this is Cowley Manor," Lady Arisa murmured.  A soft, throaty chuckle purring from her full lips, the cool air caressing her creamy skin.  Her lips curved in a slight smile, as she leaned forward ever-so-slightly...The seams of her low-cut bodice creaking, from the effort of holding her full curves in check.  Finally a challenge. The lovely Paladiness had been far from home, these days.  Just the way she liked it. But roaming the borderlands, battling the odd orc raider party...It'd lost it's appeal after the fifth one. It was almost a relief to receive something unique, something interesting.<br/><br/>A distant cry for help? An opulent, crumbling manor~? Pleas for aid from the townsfolk? It had the makings of a valiant story.  More, it had the makings of something very, familiar.<br/><br/>It wouldn't be long, now - Wouldn't be long at all...<br/><br/><br/><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/bBjrGjF.png)</div>