Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

[Tassadar]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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HP = 67, PP = 66, EP = 49, Status = Fine

"Most humans do not comprehend the difference," Grash replied coolly, betraying no hint of anger either in his tone or in his stance, "between what you and our banished kin practice and what we do with those taken as prizes. Unfortunately, I suspect that any effort that I might make would be wasted, given your tone."

The orc had allowed a hint of regret to slip into his voice, but as he continued his tone returned to its former coolness, at least at first, "as for the elves, what we did was hardly barbaric. They had forgotten, in their peaceful torpor, what made them strong. What made them worthy... What allowed them to face us as equals in the centuries before your kind ever walked these lands. They were blind to the poison that their sorcery inflicted upon the land, the very land that it stole power from to fuel, power that they were no longer worthy to wield. They were blind to the weakness that they bred, the coddling cowardice that allowed the aliens to take their "sacred" home from them even more easily than we did, its reclamation at that time possible only thanks to the work of the angels. They had forgotten what the histories they guarded alongside their petty magics represented, because they had given up the portions of it that made them worthy to call upon those histories.

"The elves had thrown away their soul, the soul of their people, and not to any demon or invader from the skies.... But to weakness and cowardice. The evidence of that can be seen plainly in how easy it was for us to take their "sacred" fortress from them. Our world can no longer afford that level of weakness, not if the abominations from the heavens return, and so we have endeavored to do what must be done. We will destroy the worthless things that others value, to remind them of what is truly of worth."

Grash had grown increasingly passionate as he spoke, to the point where his words were almost as heated as Eleanor's when she had been decrying the destruction that he had wrought, though he did not speak with anger as she did. The hellhounds would continue to circle around him and his increasingly nervous mount, their heads low and their teeth barred, their readiness for violence a reflection of her own anger. Kara continued to glare down at him beside Eleanor, her hands gripping the reins of her mount as she looked upon Grash with naked hatred, but despite her obvious distaste she would hold her tongue, allowing Eleanor to be the speaker for them as was her right.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"That's because most humans know right from wrong," Came Eleanor's retort, and left it at that as Grash continued his speech.

Eleanor, truth be told, was a simple woman with little in the way of an education on the history of the various races that dwelt in the world and so much of what Grash spoke about with an almost fanatical fervour flew right over the woman's head. That's not to say she didn't get the meaning of his words though. Eleanor understood the general gist of what the orc was saying; the elves had grown weak and complacent, putting too much faith into their own magical capabilities and grew ignorant of everything else. Or at least from the orc's point of view, anyway.

"And you think that's a good enough reason to slaughter and enslave an entire group of people?" Eleanor burst out once Grash had finished his speech, her voice thick with anger. "Did it not once occur to any of you that reasoning and perhaps allying with the elves would've been a better option? To pair your individual skillsets together to build a more powerful army to fend off the invaders? From what I've heard the aliens tore through most of those they attacked. Are you going to attack and enslave those people as well? And are you going to try to enslave me just because I use magic as well?" With that she brought an arm up near her face, and focusing a little spiritual energy she let a few sparks of electricity dance along her arm for a few moments. "Because if you are you best bring an army with you."

Though, as Eleanor's arm came back down and her hand came to rest on the rein of her horse she let out a deep sigh. And all at once the anger seemed to melt away from the woman, and when Eleanor next spoke it was with a businesslike tone. "That being said that part of my life is behind me now. If you had said this to me a few years ago I would've killed you where you stood. But, I am a businesswoman, and despite my disgust I have my honour to maintain. Our contract is still in effect, if you and your king still wants it, however, since this has come to light I will need to make a few alterations to the contract, so I can be assured that my hellhounds won't be used in any way that'll have a negative impact on my business. I'll also say now that I will only work this through with your king. If he does want to continue with the contract then we'll stick to the time schedule set up, but it will be him I'll talk to or the contract is void." Finally climbing down from her horse Eleanor walked over to Grash. "I'll keep hold of the money given to me already to cover the costs of my breeders and training, but I'll need the contract back so I can write up the new one when the time comes. I'll also provide three additional hellhounds for no extra charge, to hopefully put this mess behind us."

 

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Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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Grash offered a derisive snort at Eleanor's statement about right and wrong, making it pretty clear about how much he thought of human morality, but offered no actual comment on the subject. He would remain as rigid as ever as she again offered an outburst at his response, to which he simply sighed and shook his head. "It is, as I said, not something that you will understand. Not unless you are shown," he stated coolly, "the elves had become weaklings and cowards. They had no skills worth sharing that would make an alliance worthwhile, and their poisonous sorcery not only weakened the land but weakened the elves, who had once been its protectors.

"The aliens tore through your lands. They tore through the elves. They emptied Anudor, and the ancient human cities of the Amazon, the only humans we had ever been given reason to respect. The human cities in Crolia were protected, not by sorcery or by any force of its people, but by the efforts of the angels and the dragons, and the selfish machinations of your false gods who saw an opportunity to regain their worshipers. What they did not do, however, was defeat us. When the invaders from the sky came, not a single tribe fell to them. We killed them, all of them, and burned the monstrous womb that carried them to dust."

At that Grash fell silent, displaying no reaction whatsoever to Eleanor's display of magic, and then simply shook his head. "Your sins are too minor to be worth making an issue of, and you are a tradesmen before a warrior in our eyes. You would be treated as such so long as you do not get in our way," he explained in the same calm manner, his voice carrying no detectable threat, a theme that would continue despite the threat that Eleanor chose to lead with next.

When she dismounted and approached, however, the orc tilted his head. It seemed that her willingness to maintain the contract after some renegotiation surprised him, but Kara's reaction was far more dramatic, as the former slaver unleashed a strangled grunt of outrage and disbelief. She held her tongue for now, but it seemed that Eleanor's decision had not been taken lightly or favorably by her oldest ranch hand. "I suspect that you are probably lying," Grash stated earnestly, "or that your intentions are dishonest. But.... Your reputation is unblemished, so I will set my personal opinion aside.

"Know this, however. If you go back on your word, and try to take our coin without doing as you have promised, it will not go well for you. We do not value material wealth so highly as humans, but being wasteful is not suffered in orc lands. Nor are thieves. If your intentions, as I suspect, are to attempt something against our king, I will give you an honest warning. You will fail, and pay more dearly than you can imagine for it.

"However, if you are honest, you need not provide the additional hounds for free. Those extras at half price would be agreeable, since your own expenses would naturally increase with having to breed more of them. Is that acceptable to you?"

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

Eleanor glanced over at Kara as the outraged sounds coming from her gave away the woman's true feelings of Eleanor's decision. Though instead of throwing Kara a stern look Eleanor instead attempted to calm her with a look of reassurance, with a wordless expression of that everything will be explained later on.

"I understand, your concerns are natural after how I spoke," Eleanor spoke as she turned back to face Grash. "But I assure you I'm a woman of my word, and I want nothing more than for this to go as smoothly as possible. Like I said, I'd gain nothing from deceiving you and just taking your money. No doubt people would get word of it and I'd lose business, and if I had no intention of going through with this I'd just terminate the contract. But, this is a big business opportunity for me, and hopefully your king will accept my renegotiation terms. If not then there's no real loss. I'll reimburse you the coin spent and find someone else who'll take them off my hands.

"And you don't have to worry about the safety of your king. I'm not stupid enough to invite someone that important over just to kill him. I assume he'll have a fairly big group of bodyguards with him and even if I wanted to I don't nearly have enough hands of my farm to take out that many people. And again, if I did it would hurt my business.

"If you feel you want to pay the extra for the three other hellhounds, then sure, that's fine with me. Well, it looks like we're done here now." Eleanor would pause, waiting for the contract to be handed over before walking back over to her horse and mounting it.

"While I want this to go through I also want to have my ranch freed up as soon as possible, so let your king know that his hounds will be pre-bred for when he arrives, and that he can have his pick of ten if and when the contract has been signed. If you've no further questions I'll taking my leave now." Eleanor would wait to see if Grash would question her some more or if he'd take his leave, though either way once he had left she would wait for several minutes, watching him disappear into the distance before turning her horse back towards the ranch and wait for the inevitable questions to come from Kara.

 

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Grash would listen, and when Eleanor announced that they were finished would hesitate for a moment, but eventually would reach back and draw forth the contract for her. "Do not go back on your word, Eleanor" the orc stated gravely, "I do not think that you fully grasp the consequences that will fall upon you if you do." With that he would hand her the paper, and would then nod and wait for her to step away before mounting his horse once more.

"Goodbye," he would stated calmly, and then ride off again at his sedate pace while the hellhounds circled away from him, letting him pass. On the ride back after they had parted from Grash, Kara would trot her horse up beside Eleanor's and say, "So, what's the plan?" She seemed eager, expectant, and still full of anger in general.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

Eleanor looked around briefly, unsure of whether Grash decided to tail them just in case, though as her hounds didn't react to anything unusual Eleanor quickly assumed it was safe. "The plan is we proceed as normal. We'll need to hire some girls as soon as possible, tomorrow preferably, because I want to get these hellhounds bred and trained ready for when their king arrives. The less time those green-skinned bastards are on the farm the better, in my opinion. But don't worry, I haven't lost my mind yet." Eleanor added quickly with a sly smile. "The plan's a bit more detailed than that. Yes, we'll be breeding them their small army of hellhounds, but they won't be getting their hands on them that easily. You know me, I offer people at least once chance to change and the orcs will be no different, though I doubt they'll be eager to take me up on my offer. If they want the hellhounds then they'll have to release their elven slaves and return Gods-Reach to them. Of course, even if they agree to those terms I doubt they'll stick to it for too long. Which is why the hellhounds will be taught to slaughter any orcs they can if they break their word. And if they don't go for my conditions then we'll have some spare hellhounds lying around until we can find someone else who wants them."

 

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"I think they'll probably just refuse, but that doesn't mean they'll just walk away," Kara replied after Eleanor laid out her plans, her anger abated by the knowledge that they wouldn't be dealing with the orcs unconditionally. "I don't know if that command is going to be easy to train into them either.... But we can try, I guess. It's better than handing them to orc scum," she continued, her tone full of hate for the greenskins.

They would arrive back at the ranch unmolested, leaving Eleanor free to start setting up the breeding of the demonic beasts or do some other task first if she'd rather get that done later. The basic tasks of running the farm were all more or less done or in the process of being done, but she could start lunch, make a few basic repairs or bits of upkeep that she hadn't had time to do yet on the farmhouse, start expanding to make a pen or somesuch for her newly acquired feral stalkers or prepare land for the the crops that her new alraune worker, Daneira, had mentioned, or simply relax for a bit and look over her accounts.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for. I'll at least be able to keep a clean record then, and I won't have to worry about dealing with those bastards. And yeah, I expect their leader will try something, but fortunately we'll have a fresh batch of hellhounds to help defend us if it comes to that, and they don't know about the spiders residing in the forests around us. I'm sure I'll be able to convince them to help us if it comes down to it." Eleanor was glad to see that Kara had calmed down a bit after explaining her plan. Her doubts about the hellhound training was fair, and Eleanor herself shared some of that doubt as well. "If Fido was back I'm sure we'd have no trouble training them to do it, but he could be gone for a while trying to find Lani. We'll just have to rely on the rest of them and hope for the best.

"Anyway, I'm going to look for Daneira, speak to her about upping the security around her for when the orcs arrive before heading out again to see if anyone's available for breeding. Better to get that out of the way now after all. And thanks for coming out with me to deal with that mess, I'll see you later." Once the girls arrived back at the farm Eleanor gave Kara a brief run down of her plans before bidding the woman a quick good bye before leading her horse back to the barn and then towards the forest where she had seen the alraune earlier, unless Daneira could be spotted before then.

 

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Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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"I'm sure he'll be back soon enough," Kara replied reassuringly when Eleanor spoke of Fido's absence making training their new hellhounds that much more difficult. "I wouldn't put anything past that orc slime.... Whenever I, ahhh, met them in my previous work, they were always the worst," she continued, skating by her former work as a slaver gingerly. "We'd better have something ready in case he does try something," she would add, "I can be ready in the barn, with the rifle, if you want. I know Colt isn't much of a fighter, but Pris would probably be ready to bust some heads for you if we told her what's going on."

When they arrived back at the ranch and Eleanor announced her plans, Kara would nod and go with her as far as returning the horse to the barn before going back to her regular duties. Eleanor, in the meantime, would find Daneira seemingly idle in a glade just outside the boundaries of her ranch, sitting on a log with the captured feral stalker seated sedately at her feet. The plant-beast looked like an overgrown green house cat, sitting at the alraune's feet like that, and opted to raise its head up and glance towards Eleanor for only a moment before going back to its restive position, its feline tail twitching a few times before going still again.

"Hello!" Daneira called, waving brightly at Eleanor as she rode up. "What's that? And what's up?" she asked, gesturing towards the horse that the rancher was riding.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

After assurances that they'd speak more about the protection of the farm should the orcs turn violent when she got back Eleanor bid Kara goodbye for the moment once more before leaving her at the barn and made a short trek to where she saw the alraune earlier.

"This here is a horse," Eleanor replied with a smile as she entered the glade that Daneira was currently relaxing in, petting the horse briefly before climbing down. "Looks like he's settled down nicely, that's good. I wanted to talk to you about him, actually. I don't have much time because I need to head out, but I wondering if we could get around to breeding up some feral stalkers. It's a bit sooner than I wanted, but I fear we may need the extra protection around the farm. I'll save you the boring details for now but I've made a deal of sorts with some shady people that may turn violent should they decide they don't like my offer. There'll be the hellhounds that live here as well as the others bred for these people as our defence, and maybe some of the spiders that live in the forest as well as us, but the more fighters we have on our side the better the chance we'll have."

 

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"Oh," Daneira replied thoughtfully as Eleanor patted the mane of her horse. "Yeah... They tend to be pretty docile by default, but when the urge to lay their seeds crops up they can be pretty aggressive. This one laid his pretty recently, I don't know in what though.... He should be good if you want to breed more though. What's going to happen?"

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"Ah, that's good. That'll help us considerably," Eleanor relaxed for a moment as Daneira confirmed that they'd be able to breed more feral stalkers, though as the alraune asked her question Eleanor looked uncomfortable once more. "Nothing, hopefully. Though orcs might end up attacking us." Eleanor sighed deeply, running a hand through her hair before walking over to Daneira and the resting stalker and took a seat next to her.

"I never intended on endangering yours, or any of the other girls' lives, so if you want to leave her I'll understand. But the truth of the matter is I may, by one way or another, end up greatly insulting some scumbag orc king with an unfair contract proposal. I've never worked with them before, but from Kara's accounts and my recent experience with the one that arrived earlier they're all violent slavers, which I despise completely. So if they do attack us we need to be ready. Colt should be up for breeding with the stalker if you talk to her, she's never turned down a breeding session before and aids the hellhounds with their monthly sex. But, if it does come down to fighting there'll most likely be some casualties. I'd give my life to protect any of you, the other girls know that as well." Eleanor placed a hand on the alraune's leg and leant forward. "But, if this orc king brings his men with him, then it's going to take more than just a couple of women and a pack of hellhounds. I'll understand if you don't want to do this. I'd never want to see any of my hellhounds killed because of me, but we do what we have to do to protect our home and our loved ones, even if that means endangering ourselves in the process."

Eleanor then climbed back to her feet and dusted her behind down. "We have a week to organise ourselves before the orcs arrive. I'll be heading into town to hire some women, so you don't have to answer right away, but it would be nice to know if you've decided by the time I come back."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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“What’s an orc?” Daneira asked curiously, “and why would one attack… Well, here?” The alraune seemed innocently perplexed, but whether or not Eleanor wanted to answer her query in any detail would be up to her. The gravity of the situation would settle quite quickly when the rancher continued to explain what was going on, leaving her to ponder an answer while Eleanor rose and dusted off her backside. The alraune silently watched her go at first, but as Eleanor neared her horse she spoke up, “well, I did sign up… And you won’t be able to control these without me, not at first at any rate. I’m… Not really much of a fighter, but I’ll stick around anyway.”

Her decision made, Eleanor would be free to ride off to town, assuming she didn’t do anything else to delay her journey. The nearest settlements were fairly sparse, the nearness of her ranch to the practically impassible mountains bordering Badaria and to the Pass of Ghosts through which Imperial forces had so often invaded made it an unpopular place to settle, but the abundance of natural resources and the fact that it had long been settled anyway ensured that there were a few settlements nearby. One, an elven village that had little trade with outsiders, she knew of but had never been to. The elves were sometimes fairly xenophobic, and she being Badarian hadn’t earned an invitation, meaning that she didn’t actually know where the village was. There were a few other farms and ranches around, but the only major settlement was the walled town of Pithia.

Located on the border between the lands controlled by Therion and the domain of a lord named Aureus who was rumored to be a dragon, the town paid taxes to the lord but saw a great deal of traffic from traders, travelers, and caravans going to Therion or further East as well. It was where she went to sell her crops, where she advertised her more exotic products, and where she normally hired her breeders. It was a three hour ride if she kept her pace steady, but she could make it in two if she wanted to push her horse.

The town wasn’t the biggest, but it had been well planned out when it had been rebuilt a hundred or so years before, after a fire or somesuch had mostly destroyed it. Many of the buildings were built high and out of stone or brick, leaving it with a somewhat closed in feeling that made the opened market at the center of town all the more refreshing. There wasn’t exactly a place where she could go to easily acquire the services she needed to produce more hellhounds, but a little bit of asking had lead Eleanor to the town’s largest brothel, which had somehow managed to keep the name “The Clandestine Hall” through the years and maintain its reputation for excellent service. She had contracted a few of the girls there before, but always through the owner of the place, a man named Akros who was, like her, originally from Badaria.

The men and women working there were willing employees, not slaves, and that plus its relatively high class – at least as far as an establishment such as it could be – ensured that it kept its reputation and attracted Eleanor for the hiring of her breeders. When she arrived, she would be able to stable her horse at the waystation just outside of town for a denarius and then head inside to the brothel. It wasn’t busy just yet, still being before dinner when many of the patrons would come to spend their coin on debauchery and sin, but a few people were waiting in line when she arrived. Eleanor got more than a handful of interested looks from the half dozen men waiting for their turn to pick a whore for the night, but she could easily ignore the johns and head over to the woman waiting behind the desk to receive the brothel’s clients.

The Madame of the Clandestine Hall was a middle aged woman who had long retired from the profession practiced in her place of business, her dark red hair greying but her slightly weathered face still showing of the beauty it had had in youth, albeit now in a more refined and handsome manner. She was a woman who got straight to the point and had little patience for subtlety or shyness, but that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t friendly or polite. Madame Iliana smiled as Eleanor approached her desk, leaning forward and setting aside the smokeless pipe she’d been idly chewing on.

“Hello Eleanor,” she purred familiarly, “may I set you up for a good time?” It was her customary greeting, and it was always followed by some more particular offer, this particular instance being no exception; “We just hired a new boy, and from what I hear he does have some special kind of stamina! Think you can break him in for me? I’ll give you a special price for your, ahhh, assistance~” The older woman winked and grinned jovially, fully expecting Eleanor to refuse but putting on the act anyway.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"Don't worry, I wouldn't expect you take part in the actual fighting. Looking after the stalkers and guiding them is all I ask," Eleanor paused and grunted as she hooked her foot into the stirrup of the saddle and mounted her horse, turning the powerfully muscled beast back towards the farm. "And thanks for deciding to stay around. I'll be back around evening, hopefully with some new girls." With that the woman urged her horse into a slow trot back towards the farm.

For the next two hours Eleanor rode silently as she pushed her horse onward towards the town of Pithia, a town she had grown to know quite well, and quite like, in the past two years thanks to its frequent traders and merchants. Pithia had become a kind of home away from the farm for Eleanor, its people welcoming and its purposeful design a fresh change to the chaotic paths of the wilderness that she had grown accustomed to in her new life, and though she loved the freedom the outside had to offer Eleanor couldn't help but reminisce about her old life whilst in the comforts of civilised society.

Though Eleanor's journey to Pithia wasn't one of leisure this time, nor was it on a particularly joyous note, so as she reached the waystation just outside of town she climbed off her horse and silently slid a coin to the guard on duty. Entering the town Eleanor beat a familiar path through the winding streets, pushing past the numerous people until the sight of a familiar looking building came into a view. She paid no mind to the looks she got from the various men waiting in line, she had long grown used to the the looks her body had gained her, and if she weren't here for serious business Eleanor may have taken one or three of them on their offer.

"As enticing as that offer sounds I'm afraid I'll have to pass on it this time," Eleanor's words had come out a bit more curt than she had intended and, realising this, she sighed deeply and leant against the counter, inadvertently giving the gathering of men a clear view of her round ass. "Sorry Iliana, it's been a... busy day. Stressful. I'm just here to see Akros. Business opportunity."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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"No worries," Daneira replied, waving Elenaor goodbye as she remounted her horse and rode away.

Once in Pithia, and in the Clandestine Hall in particular, Eleanor would find herself taking a number of interested eyes despite that she ignored them. Though the madame would nod, accepting her refusal and the explanation for her slight snappiness, but as the curvy rancher leaned forward the sight of her rounded ass would draw attention from every man in the room. The nature of the establishment that they were waiting to patronize as a house of pleasure ensured that the half dozen or so men waiting their turn at one of the whores working there were thinking of only one thing. The sight of her plump rear, contained in the tight confines of her trousers and fully presented thanks to the posture that she adopted, only naturally drew the eyes of men looking for that sort of company. Though her attention was focused elsewhere and thus she wouldn't actually notice, many of the johns looked quite tempted to walk over and clap a hand upon her soft roundness, and none looked as if they would stop there if Eleanor were even slightly receptive to the idea.

Fortunately, her businesslike attitude would keep any of them from acting on their urges, and Madame Iliana would nod to Eleanor's request. "Of course.... He's in his office. You know where to go, my dear! Don't be a stranger," she replied brightly despite her initial curtness, and Eleanor would be able to go behind the desk to the door on the left. The hall on the right led to the stairs and to the rooms where the Clandestine Hall took its clients, and door on the right of the desk led to a closet that she had once seen someone accidentally walk into when looking for Akros' office, which left only the one door. The man within had probably heard her voice and the Madame's greeting, so the lack of surprise on his face when she walked in was understandable.

As per usual, the businessman was seated in the rickety chair behind his desk, the old bronze coin that he always carried being danced between the fingers of his right hand while the left sat face down on his desk. The daric, the popular currency of Anudor, was a rare sight in these parts, and the face of the noble on one side had been scarred to be almost unrecognizable, though the rune of the mint of the ancient Su-Ku-Ta capitol, Shry-Kuth-Lus, was still visible on the undamaged side. The coin had always been a mystery that Akros refused to explain, as the man holding it wasn't even Anudorian, but from the distant East, past the dense Pfitherian jungle in the more civilized lands of the Amazon. He was slightly older than she, in his early thirties if he was to believed, and kept his head completely bald save for the thin black mustache that covered his upper lip. His eyes, wide apart but narrow and slanted, were of a dark chocolate color and were seemingly perpetually alert. His name, another oddity, was old Badarian, Southern to be specific, but he had openly admitted after a few meetings that it was an adopted one rather than his given name.

Akros allowed his eyes to wander briefly, albeit only for a few seconds before journeying back to her face, and though there was certainly a bit of interest in his sweep over her well sculpted form she knew by that point that it was more a method of determining her mode than a hungry gaze. He had made a few casual flirtations at her during their first few meetings, but when should she have not returned them he would have ceased after a while. Regardless, he had always come off as a respectable and trustworthy sort despite the rumors that occasionally flitted her way about illegal dealings under the table, and the girls she'd hired from him as breeders had always been well looked after.

"Ahhh, good afternoon Eleanor!" he said in tone evenly balanced between politeness and friendliness. The man's accent, especially among the Crolians who tended to speak Badarian with more emphasis on hard consonants, was strange but charming in its way, though the softness that it gave his speech and the occasional slurs that it produced left it with a very slightly sibilant ring to it at times, especially when he'd been hitting the bottle. He hadn't today, fortunately, and after she replied to his greeting he would gesture with his left hand for her to assume the chair across from him and continue; "What can I do for you today? I hope that your... Stress.... Hasn't had anything to do with any travelers that have been seen on the roads these days?" He lifted a carefully sculpted eyebrow, and that was enough for Eleanor to know that he expected that some kind of trouble might be involved, especially if she were to be dishonest with him.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"Thanks, Iliana," Came Eleanor's reply after a few seconds pause, and standing up straight once more she nodded to the older woman before slipping past the desk and towards Akros' office.

Just like with the men in the foyer Eleanor felt Akros' gaze wash over her as she entered the room. Though unlike the hunger in theirs Eleanor knew Akros' gaze was more of a reading, to gauge her emotional state. No doubt to try and use it to his advantage, of course, though he had yet to give Eleanor a reason to distrust him despite the rumours that occasionally surfaced.

As she walked from the door to the desk she caught a glimpse of the coin dancing between Akros' fingers, A curious accessory to be sure, and one she had never gotten the tale of. And just like the coin the man was a mystery, one she was interested to learn more about, though without having to take her clothes off to do it.

"Good afternoon, Akros," Eleanor's greeting was polite enough, and while she had found herself amused by his accent during their previous conversations Eleanor had already been worn down by the events of the day and so her tone had a hint of unintended impatience. When gestured towards the chair Eleanor smiled and nodded, and took the seat. "The same as usual. I'm looking to hire a few girls for a couple of days. Got a big breeding project coming up." A look of surprise appeared over Eleanor's face for a moment at the mention of travellers. All kinds of people frequented the roads coming to and going from Pithia, the majority of them normal folk; travellers, traders, entertainers and consorts, nothing particularly worth mentioning. And yet Akros felt it pertinent to the conversation to bring up the subject regardless, which could only mean one thing to Eleanor. "If the travellers you're referring to happen to be green-skinned bastards, then yes, they have been a focal point of my stress today. Though ignorance has also played a part."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

Spoiler

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HP = 67, PP = 66, EP = 49, Status = Fine

"Mmmmhhmmm," Akros murmured in response to the rancher's explanation about her needs, quickly nodding again at her admission and adopting a slight grin. "I am sorry to hear that. Well, I suppose it is your problem... You will keep it from becoming my problem, I hope? I would much rather not see any of my girls ending up in the care of any, ahhh, green bastards as you put it," he continued calmly, a slight smile edging both towards pleasant and poisonous but allowing Eleanor determine which direction it favored. "Assuming that you can promise that, however, I think that I can still offer my services. Poor Gloria hasn't been getting much business lately, not since I took on a few new assistants. Will one be enough, or do you think you'll need two? Or even more? I can spare Anaise and Treyja as well, if you need more. Any more than that and it will start to cost extra."

All were names that Eleanor would recognize from previous breedings for her hellhounds. Gloria, a blond local Crolian girl, had been the first, back when she'd first come up with the idea of letting Fido reproduce and selling his offspring, but Coltia had just been recovering from a bad cold that had left her bed ridden for days and had been unable to offer her services as a mother, though she'd done it a couple of times since. Coltia only wasn't an option now because she would have to wait for her birth control to wear off first, and at that point it would probably be a guess as to whether it would be a hellhound or Pris who was the father given how often the two went at it. Slightly older than most whores, Gloria was in her mid thirties and her age was starting to show a bit, but that wasn't her main problem. Most of Akros' workers were on a cheaper form of birth control that needed to be taken daily, but neither that nor Coltia's preferred mix seemed to work on her. She'd had children by two clients who had to be given up for adoption before it became a policy to keep her partners from cumming inside of her, though at one point before Eleanor had moved there she'd apparently been hired as a concubine by a nobleman with a barren wife as well. She had taken somewhat hesitantly to the job that Eleanor offered, but after the first time she proved much more willing to come back for more, and had produced a few litters for Eleanor since then. She never needed more than one mating, and her litters were always the largest.

Anaise was the oddest one, who had actually requested the job when Gloria had been unable to at one point. The bronze-skinned Anudorian had probably taken the most apparent enjoyment out of the act the two times she'd done it, and as she was one of the whores who offered many of the more kinky services that hadn't been terribly surprising to Akros when Eleanor had told him of it. She was fairly flighty and liked to talk, being something of a gossip, but had done the job well and hadn't complained about anything. Treyja had been the coolest of the lot, another Crolian but from much farther North, and had been entirely professional in all of her endeavors while working for Eleanor, though that wasn't to say that she'd been unpleasant by any means. She had taken the breeding quite easily, and while normally he'd only gone two rounds to make sure it took Fido had staid on her through four orgasms, filling her to the point that she looked like she was ready to give birth and seemingly greatly enjoying every round. Whether or not the other hounds would take to her just as easily was yet to be seen, depending on whether or not she wanted to hire her again.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"You won't have to worry about that. The gestation period for hellhound puppies is relatively short, so I'll only need to keep your girls around for a few days. Just long enough so they can rest off the birthing," Eleanor smiled and nodded to Akros once more, and for the first time since Grash had left Eleanor felt calm, confident even. "I assure you that your girls will come back to you unharmed. And if those orcs arrive before the contracted time I have a lot of hiding places to keep them safe until my friends and I can deal with them."

Eleanor sat quietly and listened to Akros as he listed the available girls, be that through lack of work or enthusiasm. They had worked for her several times before now and Eleanor had no complaints for any of them, it was quite the opposite in fact. All three of them fit in well with her and the rest of the women under Eleanor's roof, she had even half jokingly mentioned before that should they ever want to give up the life of whoring that they were welcome to work for her. They turned her down of course, though the offer still stood despite it only being an idle offer. "Hmmm, Gloria's always been a pleasure to work with. The girls like her and she's always provided me with large litters of pups, comparable to Coltia really. Same goes for Anaise, her enthusiasm and joy she gets is on par with Colt's. You should see those two together, you'd swear they're sisters. And Treyja too, she's pleasant enough as well. Not as carefree as the other two, but that's a part of being a business woman."

As Eleanor gave her own commentary of the suggested women she took on a more relaxed demeanour; she loosened up and leant back in her chair, hers arms and legs lazily crossed with a hand idly gesturing as she talked. "I'll definitely want to hire Gloria, it'll be nice to see her again, and if she is lacking for work then this'll do her some good. I'll take Anaise too, Colt would be annoyed with me if I didn't hire her knowing she was available, and I'm sure she'll be interested in my new project. But if I'm having Anaise help with that I'll have to hire Treyja as well. Kara should like that, and maybe we can share some business tips again."

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

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HP = 67, PP = 66, EP = 49, Status = Fine

"Oh, I am aware," Akros replied comfortably following Eleanor's reassurance, "of the.... Briefness... Of the pregnancy. I just wanted to make it clear that my people shouldn't be involved in any sort of conflict that you get into. Not that I lack confidence in your ability to defend yourself, of course, but... Well, innocent bystanders do happen."

With the merchant assuaged, they would go on to discussing the girls who would be working for her, and as Eleanor requested all three women he would find the man quirking a surprised eyebrow. "Really? All three of them? Well, you know that's going to cost, but it's your prerogative. Would you like to talk to them now, or can I just send them over to your ranch tomorrow?" he replied bemusedly, though in truth Eleanor would make a tidy penny off of the exchange if the orcs did accept her demands. Even if she didn't, it would only cost her 25 denarii a girl, that total making up for the time they'd be off work after giving birth, the removal of the corruption they'd take, and the payment for their service. Seventy five denarii certainly wasn't nothing, but it was still her only expense besides food related to breeding her hellhounds.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Life on the Ranch (SirOni)

"I'd prefer it if we could start the breeding first thing in the morning so I'd rather they left with me today, if that's alright with you of course," Eleanor flashed Akros a soft smile as sat straight back up in the chair, their meeting drawing to a close. "And yes, I'd like to see them for a bit before we depart. I'm thinking of spending a bit of time in town anyway, a few errands to run while I'm here, so the girls will have time to prepare before we leave. If they're to leave with me today, of course. And of course there's your payment to deal with. Seventy five denarii for the three, yes? Would you prefer it now, or once the girls have arrived back safely?" If Akros would accept payment now Eleanor would take out her money pouch and count out the coin for him before handing it over.