Conrad, left outside Kyra's door ,without a room to rest his head decided to go squat with Levi.
He walked over to Levi's room. He tapped on the door.
There was no answer.
"Maybe he's sleeping already ". Conrad said to himself.
He knocked harder again and this time Levi answered from within. He came over to open the door.
Conrad beamed a smile at the bare chested man , trying to pacify him for disturbing him from whatever he was doing.
" I was just wondering if I could just lay down to get a quick nap".
Levi scoffed and shook his head with an affirmative no.
Conrad looked dumbstruck "Aren't we friends? What happened to the Bro Code! I thought it was Bro's before ho's ?! "
Levi looked nonchalantly at him and ran a hand through his beard. "Sorry dude. For me is Ho's before Bro's.Except ..." He grinned mischievously. " You want to join in??".
Conrad peeped through the door that was slightly ajar and saw a naked lady on the bed who was giggling behind the sheets calling for Levi.
" No thanks. I'll pass.Don't want to spoil the fun.
Conrad went down to the tavern to get another drink, feeling bored and lonely he decided to take a stroll through the village .
The village was abuzz with life. Inhabitants of houses had began painting their door posts with a reddish substance as their children of all ages loitered the streets. As he moved quietly along , he caught a quick glance of a fair maiden. Her svelte frame and carriage was exquisite. Her hair was rich and silky, and her lips, pink and full, just from afar. Enough to make a man melt.
He was already turning warm by looking at her.
In all she was attractive even as her face was covered by a mask and Conrad was mesmerized by her overwhelming beauty. He walked up to her and almost caught up to her when she walked away and gave him a seductive smile. He couldn't stop himself.Conrad had to meet her. He trailed her past the market until they came up a winding stairs leading to a hill .
"Wait! "Conrad called out , almost out of breath.
The lady stopped and came towards him. you called out for me she turned to answer subtlely , moving closer to Conrad She used her delicate hands to caress his chest and body as she put her delicate fingers to his groin.
Conrad felt this strangely sweet sensation but when he looked down so as to see her face she had disappeared leaving only a peculiar Symbol on the ground.
Conrad examined it. He needed to find out what it meant...
And who she was.
Walking slowly, he headed back to the tavern.
¥€¥€¥€¥€¥€¥€¥€¥€¥€€¥€
Avyanna sat by the window in her night gown looking at passers-by .
Nothing like some good ol' fashioned nosiness.
In her defence, She was bored and had nothing to so.
Avyanna was just about to make it a wrap when she caught sight of a unfamiliar entity.
It possessed the head of a goat but the body of a human. It walked briefly passed the other people who took no notice of it.
Intrigued, Avyanna quickly got dressed, and ran down. By the time she came out of the Tarvinn {Tavern and Inn }, the being had disappeared. She looked around but to her disappointment, it had vanished.
She turned around deciding to go back to her room when right in front of her was the goat headed being. Avyanna heart skipped a beat. It had dark , soulless eyes. Avyanna have expected It to consume her then.
"Umm... Can I get by here". The being tapped her on her shoulder. Avyanna shook herself back to reality.
It was a mask!
How could she not have noticed!
She shifted back as the man edged his way through the doors. Avyanna went to rest on the counter. "Eh ... Raina... Yes , what the hell was that!!!"
Raina was busy counting the money she had gotten for the day. "He's getting ready for the lupercalia. "
"The luper what ?"
"The lupercalia. That is what you and your friends came here for , right?" Raina said still counting.
"Yes. Something like that" Avyanna smiled unconvincingly.
Rain looked at her with disbelief.
'Roll for Deception.'
Eva tossed the die.
'2'
Raina nodded but Avyanna knew that She didn't believe her. Raina continued "It is a night of carnality. A night of frenzy And drunken revelry, where one can be free to be with anyone he/she wants with pleasure and orgasmic foreplay as the main goal to be reached. That is why we get so many customers this time of season."
"How does it occur?" Avyanna enquired.
Raina turned towards her and smiled. " Lupercalia is the most magically filled night of the year. It is a night of passion and lust but you can call it love , where our bodies are united with another , free to enjoy and indulge in all the sexual delights and pleasures the body provides as long as the night lasts."
Avyanna was getting more and more interested.
"You could come if you'd prefer ...
"To what?" Avyanna replied.
"The anointment at the shrine. It could bring a real insight . You could also bring your friends along. I promise it would be a life changing experience." Raina added.
Avyanna had already started off.
§℉§℉§¿§¿§¿§¿§¿§¿§¿§¿§
"No Way !"
"Why not?" Avyanna challenged.
Levi put a hand to his hip and placed the other on his head as if the person in front of him was giving him a migraine.
Because she was.
"Firstly , You got us lost in the first place. Now you want us to go to some freaky sadimachinist sexual ... orgy! Wait , that doesn't sound too bad. There must be some beautiful ladies...
Su ling gave John a - really - look.
" But I digress . " Levi came back to the point. "Anything with you always brings trouble." Levi stated finally.
Kyra stood by Avyanna's side . "Lets go. It might be fun."
Levi looked at Conrad for back-up.
He shrugged.
"I'm still against it." Levi argued.
"I actually thought you will be the one that would gun for it . Your so unpredictable and its so damn annoying!! " Avyanna scoffed
"Just give it a rest. You're outnumbered." Eva boasted to John
He held the die firmly in his grasp ."No. I'm not going to give up!
Su ling blushed. " Where did this determination come from. He looks so hot !"She leaned in and whispered to Eva .
" Dunno. The only time I ever saw him this determined was when he wanted to drink a six pack of root beer after eating an entire pizza dipped in mayonnaise at my 16th birthday " Eva replied shrugging.
'Roll'.
'1'.
"Yes!" Avyanna did a victory dance as Levi groaned in agony.
Avyanna smiled mischievously "I always have my way. " And sagged her finger play fully . " You better start getting used to that "
«¦»¦«¦»«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦«¦»¦»¦»
Kyra looked around.
It was already evening . The sun had started her slow descent to her hidden caves to welcome her sister , The renowned queen of The night.
The festival had already begun before they had arrived. Levi watched with unconcern, Conrad with amusement while Avyanna and Kyra with Anticipation.
The were a group of able bodies men and a bevy of beautiful ladies . The men wearing goat heads and the women decorative masks , so as none identity would be known. The five elders of The lupercal had been positioned on their seats as one with old graying beards had risen and taken hold of a bowl.
Avyanna felt a hand upon her shoulder.
She felt relieved at seeing Raina face.
Raina stood between she and Levi. "This is my favourite part . The anointment. Blood Markings are drawn up on the participants so as to welcome the spirit of lupercalia to take hold."
The old man now took the bowl of goat's blood and began drawing symbols in the men and women. Conrad recognized it as the symbol he had seen earlier when he followed that strange lady.
Then the elder took a pot where names where written and they where given to the women to choose their mates . The females cast their lot and they were given their successive mates.
After that, their hands where bound for another ritual to take place with only the initiated members. Conrad felt someone gaze upon him. He searched the crowd thinking that maybe he could catch a glance of who he had been searching for.
The crowd dispersed as the quad retreated back to the inn.Kyra rubbed her hands together . It was freezing.
"Aw Man! " Conrad grumbled "It so cold. Where am I going to sleep?!"
Avyanna began to whistle a tune and picked up the pace as Avyanna began to laugh. Levi stroke his beard with his head. "You can stay with me." He said at last.
Conrad was delighted and hugged Levi. "Thanks Man. I knew I could count on you!"
"Yeah, Yeah. Personal space." Levi pushed Conrad away with one finger.
Kyra was busy laughing to herself. Levi just had to ask her."What's so funny?"
"Nothing" She chortled. "You'll see tonight" She kept laughing, trying to hold herself together as she moved forward .
He shrugged . "Whatever. Its not going to get to me."
Two minutes later, he was still drilling Kyra on why she had laughed, as they were back at the tavern downstairs, drinking. Avyanna had her head on the table , half wasted, listening to him blab.