The pirates rummaged through the room. Taking everything that wasn't nailed down, destroying what was nailed down and getting drunk on the rum bottles they found in the corner of the room.
Lying on the floor in the doorway was the owner. A dark elven man dressed in aristocratic clothing and wearing a powdered wig. The man held an unbroken gaze at the ceiling and had a huge gaping wound on his forehead where dark black blood trickled out.
Standing at the table were Karma and Atlas flipping through the countless papers on the man's desk.
"What exactly are we doing here?" Karma asked
"The owner was a corrupt nobleman and Paladin. He used his godly authority to seize property from peasants so we're taking it back." Atlas explained.
"So everything here was stolen?"
"Yeah. Feel free to take whatever you like."
"Not really much here, except furniture and old papers."
"Oh come on. Look around, I'm sure you'll find something."
Karma navigated through the crowded room, nearly tripping over papers that were strewn about the floor in the chaos. She eventually made it to the opposite end of the room to a giant set of cabinets and cupboards. She opened one of the cupboards revealing nothing but a bunch of empty bottles. She opened the second to see an empty cabinet, with the dried husks of long dead bugs littered all over the insides. She then opened the final cupboard.
She was nearly thrown to her feet in surprise once she saw it. Lying there in front of her was a solid wooden puppet. The eyes had been colored on, the mouth could up and appeared to lead to the stomach and it had real life hair on it.
"It's adorable." She exclaimed as she took the puppet from its resting position. She inhaled shortly before exhaling all over the doll blowing away any spider webs stuck on it.
"I'm taking this." She said,
"What do you plan on doing with that?" Atlas asked
"Just wait and see. I have a plan for this little thing."
As the others finished up looting the place, they began to take the candles from off the walls and set the place on fire. Within moments half the room was engulfed with red hot flames. A cloud of thick black smoke covered the other half of the room. The pirates rapidly fled the manor as the unimpeded flames swiftly overtook the house.
# Bedroom
While Atlas and the crew were on deck fixing up the ship, Karma was in the bedroom with the doll. She had put out all the candles in the bedroom, and closed the curtains. Pretty much ensuring the room was nearly pitch black. She then set candles in a circle and placed the puppet in the dead center.
"You'll be alive soon you little cutie." She said to herself.
She then pulled out her spellbook and flipped through the pages. Eventually she landed on the page that contained the spell in which she seeked.
"Jezebel gives me strength. Bless me and my contemporaries and curse our enemies." She prayed
The candles which had once stood still now had their flames swaying omnosmusly back and forth and slowly changing colors.
"Goddess of Magic and sister of strife, bring this inanimate object to life!" She shouted.
The colors of the room changed as the candles grew increasingly larger. Their colors changed every other second. The flames then detached from the wickers and levitated above the puppet. Each of them then moved clockwise, first they moved slowly but they grew faster and faster and faster. Eventually they were all just one multi color halo hovering above the puppet.
The halo then motioned downward filling the ears, mouths, and nostrils of the puppet. Once the flames had completely disappeared into the puppet the doll still sat there lifeless.
"I don't understand. What's going on? Why didn't that work?" Karma said in a panic. Her eyebrows darted towards her eyes and she began to flip through the spellbook more vigorously.
"It didn't work because I live here." Said a voice from inside the husk of the doll.
"Who's there?" Karma asked
To her shock a Smuul Knight dropped out of the puppet's mouth.
The Smuul were a medieval race of tiny humans, who lived in small colonies in the corner of buildings.
"Oh, I didn't know you were there." Karma said
"Of course you didn't, you filthy pirate."
The Smuul Knight raised his sword to Karma shouting
"I know what you have done, maiden. You and your crew murdered my mentor, stole his belongings and torched his house! Now maiden! Will you surrender peacefully or will I have to take you by force."
"You're also a paladin?"
"Yes, I will fight for Sofier and keep her domain safe. Now surrender!"
Karma couldn't help but smile at the knight's arrogance while he simultaneously posed no threat.
"Maybe someone of your extremely short stature shouldn't be picking fights with much taller people." Karma giggled
"I hit way above my weight class harlot! I have given you ample chance to yield now face my wrath!"
The tiny knight pulled out a crossbow and launched a bolt at Karma striking her just short of her eye.
"Ou!" She screamed in agony
Without hesitation Karma stomped on the Knight. The armor crumbled due to the pressure. The once plump individual was now an unrecognizable red smear upon the hardwood floor.
"Well that takes care of that." Karma said to herself.
"Take care of mommy?" The now living puppet asked
Karma's heart filled with glee, her frown turned into a smile that spanned from ear to ear.
"Ah! Atlas come quick!" She shouted
Atlas came into the room to see Karma holding hands with the puppet as they both danced around.
"So that's what you wanted the puppet for?" Atlas asked
"Yes. Oh look at him look how happy he is."
"So what are you going to name him?"
"Dollson. Dollson Muso Sada"