“I hear she wants to be<em>useful</em>now.” Deon finally entered the argument between the girls. Usually, it was bast to just lean back and watch them get into each other’s hair. But this time, he had an<em>agenda</em>: it was time to restructure this party. “Isn’t that right Beatrice?” He asked and looked up at the tiefling. His hand moved over his leg and then trailed up her tail, the tip of which was still wound around his leg, until it found its way under her skirt.<br/><br/>“I… yes master!” The tiefling replied as Deon’s hand teased the soft skin of her buttcheeks under her dress. Her dainty silk underthings offered little protection against the<em>sheer pleasure</em>his touch gave her. “I will be<em>so very useful</em>to you… and the others as well.” Beatrice finished smoothly. But Deon smiled at the small success of having managed to throw her off balance just a little before she caught herself again. Two could play the game of seduction. And only one of them had literally<strong>bathed</strong>in a<em>major potion of love and lust</em>the month before.<br/><br/>“We can’t trust her!” Lune interjected. “She is the enemy, she tried to kill us.” The scout had her knife out for cutting the food, but the way she held it now implied that she was more than ready to use it on something else.<br/><br/>“Everyone deserves a second chance, wouldn’t you agree Elora?” Deon asked the paladin at his side and she nodded emphatically. With a question like that, she couldn’t really say no, now could she? “It’s decided then, Beatrice will join the party as a probationary member.” Deon said and the tiefling smiled and bowed lightly to her master. Lune threw something behind her. Misty<em>spit</em>on the ground in front of the priest. “It’s<strong>decided</strong>!” Deon repeated and got up, glaring at Misty and holding her gaze as he did so. Elora was brushed aside as he loosened herself from the tiefling’s tail embrace and approached the barbarian. The dish clattered to the ground.<br/><br/>“<strong>You!</strong>You went into battle on your own, putting the party and yourself in jeopardy. You didn’t tend to your horse and gear. Then, after being<em>rescued and saved</em>you claim the biggest share of the loot for yourself. And now, you are being disrespectful to<strong>me</strong>!” Deon accused Misty, and it was clear that the final point was really the bone of contention.<br/><br/>The barbarian just looked up at him with a sneer. “I’m not going to battle with some<em>tiefling</em>witch in my back! And it’s not your party!” She said and Deon showed a teethy smile. True, it wasn’t his party, but perhaps it was time for things to change. “And I didn’t need to be<em>rescued</em>!”<br/><br/>“You sure did.” Deon replied. “The others can attest to that.” He knew that he was pushing the proud barbarian, but perhaps that was exactly what was needed in this situation.<br/><br/>“Yep.” Lune commented. “Helpless like a babe and bleeding like a stuck pig.” Even Elora had to nod, it was the truth after all.<br/><br/>“You are weak.” Deon concluded.<br/><br/>Misty jumped up at the accusation and flexed her impressive muscles. “I’m<strong>not</strong>weak.” She insisted.<br/><br/>“Strength is nothing if you don’t know how to use it.<em>You</em>…” He said and jutted an accusing finger out at the barbarian “…are<em>weak</em>!”<br/><br/><strong>“RAAAAAWRRRR!”</strong>Misty howled and reached for her axe. A move Deon had expected.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">combat</div><div class="spoiler_body">Turn 1<br/>Deon ⚔ Misty (heavy mace, strike to subdue, no penalty due to feat) = 7sub<br/>Misty ⚔ Deon (Greataxe, strike to subdue, -4) = 12sub<br/><br/>Turn 2<br/>Deon ⚔ Misty (heavy mace, strike to subdue, no penalty due to feat) = 2sub (Misty is staggered)<br/>Misty ⚔ Elora (Greataxe, strike to subdue, -4) = 12 sub<br/><br/>Turn 3<br/>Deon ⚔ Misty (heavy mace, strike to subdue, no penalty due to feat) = miss<br/>Misty ⚔ Deon (Greataxe, strike to subdue, -4) = miss<br/><br/>Turn 4<br/>Deon ⚔ Misty (heavy mace, strike to subdue, no penalty due to feat) = 3 sub (Misty is down)<br/></div></div><br/>He hit the barbarian on the biceps of her right arm with his mace, bruising muscles but avoiding to break bones. Misty roared and went for a low swing with her axe, trying to sweet Deon off his feet with the long wooden handle and he landed heavily in the dust, face first. She, too, seemed to hold herself back, even if her massive strength and brutal weapon made that rather hard to tell.<br/><br/>Deon picked himself off the ground, breathing heavily. He was beginning to see stars. He had timed his challenge carefully, when the barbarian was wounded and winded from battle, but she still seemed to be more than a match for him.<br/><br/>Elora tried to run up to separate the combatants but Misty swung her axe in the paladin’s direction, connecting solidly with the butt-end of her axe to Elora’s thinly protected chest. The paladin clutched her chest and smarting breasts, confusion and pain written on her face, but even Deon gestured her to stay away when she tried to come close again. He had started this, now he had to finish it. Otherwise, the barbarian’s loyalty would forever remain in doubt and he would lose face in front of the others, too. Carefully, he approached the whirling death of Misty’s axe and took another swing of his own, again painfully bruising the barbarian’s muscles. This time, his efforts seemed to pay off and she staggered for a moment before catching her balance again. She took another wild swing at him before he could get close again and his mace connected with the warrior woman’s meaty thigh from the back, which made her groan in pain and sink to her knees. He gave her another one – just lightly but right on the head – to cement his victory.<br/><br/>Deon stepped up to the barbarian with a superior smile on his face as the greataxe cluttered to the floor. Misty’s head was spinning and she couldn’t tell up from down. She was still massive of course, but he seized her moment of weakness to twist her arms behind her back and lower her to the ground. Keen on showing just how<em>useful</em>she could be, Beatrice threw him a piece of rope, and indeed he was grateful. The barbarian was so strong that he had doubts that he could control her without some external help. He used the rope to tie the barbarian’s hands tightly behind her back and then looked up at the other’s triumphantly. The odds had been admittedly stacked, but he had just defeated their strongest warrior in single combat.<br/><br/>“Elora! Bring me some water!” Deon commanded and the elf did so, despite her misgivings about being ordered around like some tavern wench. But the barbarian had hit her as well – without so much as a second thought – and whatever was coming to her was probably well deserved. Deon splashed Misty’s head with water, jerking her back into the here and now.<br/><br/>“Now! I claim my victory over you, Misty Thunderaxe of the Elk tribe!” Deon said. “I am strong and you are<em>weak</em>!” he emphasized the last word by pushing Misty’s head back into the dirt. It wasn’t high court etiquette, but Deon had learned that good diplomacy was not flowery words, but making yourself understood on the level of your audience. He pulled her head back and peered down on her menacingly. “Now say it: Deon is strong and Misty is weak!”<br/><br/>“Never!” The proud barbarian replied and spit out earth and grass.<br/><br/>Deon, who was sitting on Misty’s back, keeping her down with his own weight – and that of his armour – reached back behind him. The barbarian wore only a loose and rather short leather skirt for lower-body protection and he flipped it up to reveal her naked ass. His hand came down in a long arc and connected noisily. He had practiced quite a bit on Elora, but he was certain that it would take more than a few ‘love-pats’ to break the barbarian.<br/><br/>But he had time.<br/>