<div class="floatright"><div align="center">"I've got my own."<br/>(http://i.imgur.com/NefK0Qc.png)<br/><br/><br/>The baths<br/>(http://i.imgur.com/4XMHf6p.jpg)</div></div><br/>Cinder wasn't especially surprised at how little resistance Virella gave her, especially once she got the elf down onto the bed.  Her sheets were still damp with copious pools of fluid from the night, or was it morning, before?  Something about being a champion of the dungeon and having survived it, it gave Cinder's juices a rather pleasant effect of working as an aphrodesiac.  Once she got her mouth on that tight elven snatch, there was really no chance left for Virella to resist, not that it seemed like she was really in any mood to do so.<br/><br/>What did surprise Cinder somewhat however was part of the way through their several hour long fuck session.  A fuck session that somehow managed to draw in at least three or four other people, Cinder sort of lost track.  She remembers the stableboy, she remembers the bar girl, she vaguely remembers the human with the red beard who showed up long enough to fuck her in the ass before fleeing.  She doesn't really remember the milf that ended up snoring lightly in the bed.  But the thing she does remember most is when she removed her magical dildo, returning her cunny to it's normal, non futa, state and offered it to Virella.<em> "Here give it a shot on this bar wench!"</em>Cinder said with all the enthusiasm of someone who wanted their friend to try an exciting leap off a cliff into a lake.<br/><br/><strong>"No thanks,"</strong>the elf had said with a grin as she began casting a magical spell.<strong> "I've got my own.  Or did you forget that I've been doing research into sex for the last decade?"</strong>With that glowing blue light flowed from Virella's hands and floated down to her mons where a magical cock sprouted.  Cinder oohed and touched it, and damned if it didn't feel like the real thing, even though the color was off.  Still Cinder wasn't one to let surprise bother her over much and quickly mounted the bar wench's face, grinding her clit into the woman's mouth as Virella pounded the wench's cunt with a skill and ease that spoke of having some practice with the motions.<br/><br/>So yes, Cinder could be surprised.  But when it was a pleasant one like that, she didn't seem to mind.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Virella didn't want to rouse from the now soaking wet bed at first.  Cinder had to remember that not everyone had the stamina she did, and roused her with the promise of a hot bath.  She begrudgingly agreed, especially after she tried to roll away and ended up putting her face right into a puddle of... well... someone's cum.  Cinder had already been banned from several of the 'nicer' bath houses in Dothenberg for lewd and lacivious acts.  But that was ok, it just meant she had to take the time to find the ones that didn't mind them, or at least mind them as much.  So she ended up taking Virella to one of the ones she was welcome in.  "The Whore's Bath" was a small establishment, and one that lived up to it's name.  Sandwiched between two different brothels in the red light district of Dothenberg, they were a women's only bath house that catered primarily to the prostitutes in the area.  It was a little on the expensive side, especially considering how small it was, but it was very pleasant and Cinder could often meet the most wonderful company there.<br/><br/>Most public baths had a steam room or sauna that you started in, some people even exercising in them to really work up a sweat.  Then a cool down chamber where a slave or paid servant oiled your body and then scraped it down with wooden blades.  Then either a shower or a massage and rub down with towels before the bather was allowed to enter the actual baths.  Most public baths weren't actually for cleaning, once you got to the baths, you were expected to have already been clean for the most part.  The baths were more for socializing, relaxing, and maybe some light<em>(but unfortunately for Cinder non sexual)</em>sport.  The bathing facilities at The Whore's Bath weren't too much different, though they were much smaller.  Upon entering one paid the attendant who gladly took a few extra coins to hold any personal effects in numbered baskets on the wall.  There was no sauna or steam room, but there were slaves with oil and showers.  Then at the back of the facility were two large baths, one with steaming hot water and one with water that was comfortably warm.  It was in the baths that had steam rising from them that Cinder and Lilly sat.  The fair skinned elf (though she had more color than Maeryll) seemed to be enjoying herself despite the red flush to her skin from the steaming water.<br/><br/>They had the entire place to themselves except for the rather sleepy eyed staff and slaves that were working.  Unsurprising really considering that it was two bells<sup><a href="#user_ooc">1</a></sup>past midnight, a few more bells and the sun would be rising.  Even whores needed sleep apparently<br/><br/><em>"So,"</em>Cinder said between gulps of wine,<em>"I think we need to visit your lab first. Maybe we should interview some virgins, just to be safe, and then we'll stop by the constabulary to see about any suspicious activity reports. Chances are the shapeshifter was using a form that is not from around here--a stranger. They also act funny around humans. So maybe somebody reported something and will give us a lead."</em><br/><br/>Virella frowned and took a small sip of the wine, though she seemed not to be too interested in it as much as she was thinking about Cinder's statement.<strong>"So, first of all, you know that you have to get special dispensation from the court to take a woman's virginity right?  And even then you can only get that if she's been inspected by a priest of Cyril and they judged that she's not of high enough beauty quality to be needed for the dungeon.  I mean, even though you're a former champion, the law is, um, I guess you'd say super strict about it?  We're not as bad here in Doth as like they are in Paricum, but the ramifications can be pretty intense.  You have no idea the amount of paperwork I had to do with each and every single virgin over the last decade."</strong><br/><br/>Virella took another sip of her wine and then continued,<strong>"As to stopping by my magical lab, that would have been a good idea eight or nine hours ago, but the academy gets really titchy about anyone showing up after tenth bell at night.  I'm sure the building is locked up tighter than a contestant's snatch before the dungeon's start.  I mean, we could try to rouse the headmage that's in charge of my building, but she already doesn't like me, and I'd rather not risk my job."</strong>She smirked slightly and added,<strong>"I really do like my job you know."</strong><br/><br/>She shrugged,<strong>"The con-post <sup><a href="#user_ooc">2</a></sup> I reported the crime to is in the sage's district, near my home.  I'm sure there'd be someone manning it now.  I never thought to ask them about any previous reports of suspicious activity when I went to report my missing work."  She snapped her fingers, a tricky feat considering they were all wet from the baths, "Oh, and that reminds me, the captain of the con-post said if you take my case you'd get the usual referral fee from the council for your time.  But I really want to make sure I've got you on this, and I'm willing to pay you five platinum dragons <sup><a href="#user_ooc">3</a></sup> to uh... I don't know.... keep you on retainer I guess?  I was going to offer earlier, but you sort of distracted me.  I guess it's safe to say that you'll help me find the thief, or at least my work, right?"</strong><br/><br/>The blonde elf put on a face that Cinder assumed was supposed to be slightly pouty and evoking of pity.  But it was a hard sell considering that not too long ago she'd seen the elven mage licking the ass of some random bar wench while Cinder was doing the same.  It seemed the girl enjoyed a bit of ass play, which, was kind of nice.  A lot of elven mages could be kind of stuffy.  That reminded her, hadn't Maeryll said she was going to the Academy today in that note?  Maybe she had decided not to come back to the Happe Bitche tavern and inn, then again it was entirely possible she was engrossed in some sort of research of her own.  Maeryll could be like that, in fact most people thought she was a cold hearted stone faced bitch most of the time.  But that's just the people who didn't know her.  So similar in some ways to Virella, and so radically different in others.<br/><br/>Oh right, Virella had asked if Cinder was taking the job.  She'd better answer, it looked like the elf was barely hanging onto consciousness, and long silent pauses while soaking in a hot pool might lead to a snoring elf mage soon enough.<br/><br/><br/><a name="user_ooc">.</a><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>note 1</strong> -  Bells, in this usage means 'hours'.  People refer to 'night bell' or 'midnight' as the start of a new day, and 'noon bell' or 'day bell' to mean 12 noon.  Any other time they'll say  2nd bell, and it's usually a given if they mean the morning or evening.  If this confuses you I can just use AM / PM, but this is more fun I think.  :)<br/><br/><strong>note 2</strong> - Con-post = Constabulary outpost, think like a local police station for a neighborhood<br/><br/><strong>note 3</strong> - 5 platinum dragons means 5 platinum coins, each of those coins worth ten gold coins or a hundred silver coins.  A retainer fee of that magnitude would be enough to pay Cinder's rent, plus the cost of keeping a room<em> (and paying for cleaning services) </em>at three different taverns <em>(as alluded too in the opening post)</em> for a little over a month.  And that's just the 'retainer' fee she's willing to pay, leading Cinder to wonder what she's willing to pay once the job is done.  Besides the obvious non monetary rewards that she'd already sampled of course.</div></div>