Not THAT curious.

She suddenly realised she had sunk to the floor, and her hands were playing with the remaining clasps on her chest. Shaking off the weird, hot fog that had come over her brain, Xinae knew she had to save her friend from that perverted old man, and fast. She didn't really want to resort to **** - unlikely as it was, Naomi certainly seemed to be consenting, and it would no doubt cause problems in town if she attacked an elderly resident, no matter how ugly he was. Besides, he was moving the fighter around with ease, and was clearly much stronger than he looked. If she attacked and he overpowered her, then... a vision of Naomi and herself, both naked, panting and covered in soot and old man semen suddenly entered her mind. Better to do something to distract Garron from a distance.

Looking around the entrance, there were a lot of boxes of tools and equipment messily piled up - deliveries presumably. Perhaps if she made a loud enough sound it would snap Naomi out of it before she went too far. Checking in on her friend, she saw that Garron had now shoved a gnarled thumb in her mouth, and Naomi was simply kneeling on the floor, looking confused while his other hand went to a conspicuous bulge in his crotch. Fuck, it's now or never! Xinae randomly picked a box full of small complicated pieces of machinery and pulled it down, before silently clambering up the side of the building with cat-like stealth. She stayed up there, listening intently, until Naomi had left safely and was far away from the blacksmith. The man's parting words drifted up to her, something about seeing Naomi tomorrow, and meeting her "slutty lapdance friends" too. Yeah right creep, don't bet on it. And she wasn't a slutty lapdancer! It was just for a bet that got out of hand...

Forgetting her plan to return to Cal, Xinae stopped here and there to do some covert peoplewatching; were the locals acting strangely as well? She could feel an indescribable frisson in the air, but she didn't see any of the civilians passionately sucking on the tongues of men old enough to be their grandfathers. So was the effect focused on Garron? Or Maldon? Or Naomi (and perhaps Cal)? But how, and why? Realistically, they were just wannabe heroes yet to have a real adventure, so why would anyone waste some sort of high level curse (or whatever magic bullshit) to make a couple of losers unusually horny...? And Xinae had a pretty healthy sex drive anyway, but her body's reaction to seeing her paladin friend **** herself gave her pause - there was the possibility that she too was affected...

Xinae's thoughts were a mess of questions - top of the pile, how best to leave this place as soon as possible before things got worse? Cal's suggestions were, as always, extremely reasonable. Finishing a local quest would make them a reasonable amount of money in a day or so, much faster than taking a real job or waiting until the festival. More dangerous, yes, but at least it was a different, more predictable danger than the kind Naomi had just been in. Xinae, once again moving at speed via the rooftops, quickly found herself at the job board. It seemed there were three available - eliminating a large undead of some kind, routing a goblin barrow, and putting a permanent stop to the recent bandit raids by tracking them to their lair. She descended once again to ground level, and asked the town's questier, a no-nonsense older woman named Gertrude, for the relevant details. She'd discuss this with the others when they met back up.

In Xinae's mind, Naomi was clear of immediate danger, and Cal was with a non-threatening nerdy elf that she could easily overpower if it came to it. Needing to relax after all that stress and strangeness, she decided to return to the nameless tavern and have a few more ales for free - she'd show Bower her arse however many times it took. Returning to her seat from that morning, the cheeky thief settled into a position of complete relaxation and started clicking her fingers again and again, until finally a large shadow fell over her.

Bower towered over her, but her bratty attitude didn't diminish for a second. "Chop chop Bowbow, a Lady is not accustomed to waiting ya know." Her eyes closed, kneehigh boots on the table, a smug look on her face, Xinae was taken completely by surprise when Bower grabbed her bodily and tied her arms behind her back, tight. When she opened her mouth to shriek swearwords at him he shoved an improvised gag between her soft lips, finally silencing her. Sweating, with mad eyes, the large barman stared down at her petite body, as she scowled up at him viciously, trying to swear despite the leather strap. "Intimate friendship... yeah right. You din't pay for nothing, you picked on me all day, and you been tauntin and teasin me with that slutty little body of yours. Enough is enough!" He rubbed his large hands together, grinning maniacally. "You're going to pay for that ale, the hard way. We're going to do everything I been wanting to do to you since I saw you. And something tells me you might love every second of it... whether or not you'll admit it." He chuckled when the hostility in her big dark eyes wavered, just for a moment. "That's right, love..." His hand adjusted the crotch of his trousers, making Xinae gulp. "Our friendship is about to get very intimate." He reached down and lifted her with ease, slinging her effortlessly over one shoulder. As he carried her behind the tavern counter he casually grabbed her perfect round bum with both hands, squeezing the cheeks and mapping the top of her thighs with his fingers. Xinae kicked and made as much muffled noise as she could, but it was clear she was Bower's plaything. Her mind reeled as she thought of all the things the previously harmless barman might do to her...