To the clans home

You wake to a dull, throbbing ache radiating across your lower back, alongside a stinging sensation where the iron-hot guild brands were seared into your skin.

You find yourself crammed inside a small, cold iron cage, your naked body shivering against the metal bars. Blinking away the sleep and disorientation, your eyes adjust to the dim, torch-lit interior of a subterranean den or barracks room.

Footsteps approach, and a woman steps into view. She has the refined, exotic features of a Latin beauty, standing at an athletic 5'6" with smooth, sun-kissed skin and B-cup breasts. A light set of leather and silk garments clings to her frame, marking her as a senior member or keeper within the clan. She steps up to the cage, pulls a heavy iron key from her belt, and unlocks the latch, pushing the door open with a sharp metallic clatter.

As you scramble weakly back against the bars, your eyes wander across the room, taking in the chaotic scene unfolding around you. In one corner, a towering, stone-flesh gargoyle is entwined in heavy, passionate lesbian intimacy with a tanned blonde human girl barely an adult. Nearby, a lithe bunny-girl is tangled with a young Asian human—both of them looking barely over eighteen, breathing heavily as they lean against each other.

Catching your bewildered stare, the Latin woman leans casually against the open cage door, crossing her arms.

"So, they trapped you too, in this world" she says, her tone matter-of-fact and devoid of pity. She reaches out, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you upright out of the cage, giving you a clear view of your lower back in a cracked mirror on the wall: the fresh, raised tattoos of both the Everlight Guild and the Dune Stalkers clan branded permanently into your skin.

"You're the only human man part of this clan now," she continues, her gaze sweeping over your trembling frame with a mixture of amusement and warning. "Just listen to what they say; it's a lot easier for you that way. They mostly want you flat on your back if you catch my drift. But keep this in mind—if you're obedient and know your place, you'll be allowed to eat at the tables instead of eating out of bowls on the ground, and you'll actually be given proper slave clothes when we head out on a quest."

You stare up at her, swallowing hard as the weight of your new reality sinks in.

"Why do you even need human sex slaves?" you ask, your voice trembling slightly as you look around at the chaotic room. "Wouldn't they want to mate with their own kind?"

The Latin woman lets out a dry, humorless chuckle, shaking her head. "It's biology and bloodlines, little man. The beast-kin carry a hereditary malady that causes any natural pairings to produce almost exclusively female offspring, slowly starving the clans of a future generation. But more than that—just like animals back on earth experience seasonal periods of heavy heat, it's the exact same here. When the heat hits them, they need release, and humans are the only ones capable of satisfying it."

You cast a nervous glance back at the cracked mirror, touching the hot, raised skin of the newly burned insignia on your lower back. "Why was I given brands instead of standard tattoos?"

She gives you a sharp, knowing look, stepping closer to adjust your posture. "Because human male slaves sit firmly at the very bottom of the pecking order, and it's uncommon for a clan to even own one—most are kept in the capital where they can be rented out. A tattoo is just a tattoo and a brand is just a brand; they are both permanent marks. The difference is simply what they depict: one denotes a female sex slave, while the other marks a male sex slave. You are kept in the capital when it is mating season."

The Latin keeper pauses, crossing her arms as a knowing smirk plays across her lips. "Don't get too comfortable thinking you're just going to sit here and recover, either. Captain Rasha wants to see you. And she's not alone—her vice-captain is with her, and they're waiting for you now."

You are led by a drunk rabbit girl to the top floor, and one of the flirty bunny girls shoves you inside.