They try to join the party

They sat and watched for another twenty minutes. In that time, two more parties were allowed admittance. One was a cluster of drow women nearly legless from drink, leaning on each other and braying sharp laughter across the square. Shortly afterward, a statuesque female half-orc led two handsome and muscular human males on leashes past the guard. Aliara turned to Teysa with her eyebrows arched, and the paladin finally gave in.

"Ok. Fine. We can try to use our... our charms. But what do we do once we're inside?"

"Oh, you leave that to me," Aliara said.

As the bells pealed for the fifth and final time, Teysa and Aliara swaggered up to the door again. The stony giant was still standing there with his arms crossed. He looked as though he had been there forever and the market had grown up around him. He stared out at his visitors with the bored expression of one who knew that his job was, basically, to fill space, and who had no intention of doing more than that unless necessary.

The Eel had, at least, been generous to them once she'd heard out their plan. Aliara was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress made of black silk, studded with sequins in constellation patterns. Her sides were bare; the dress was little more than two pieces of form-fitting fabric, held together by corset stitchwork that ran up both sides. Her arms were bare and she wore silvery sandals on her small, shapely feet.

Teysa had chosen a more modest costume, but she still felt terribly exposed. The neckline of her dress plunged in a vee that nearly reached her navel; no matter how many times she pulled it tight around her upper body, her breasts threatened to spill their way free. The skirt reached her ankles, but a slit ran as far up as mid-thigh, and she tried to take small steps to avoid giving passersby to much of a show. Her tiny steps had the added benefit of preventing embarrassing falls. Her tall leather boots had square, chunky heels, but she still found them a trial.

Somehow she made it across the cobblestones and back to the club. Nothing had changed in the hours since they'd scoped it out. As before, the giant looked down at them with barely concealed disdain. "Private party," he thundered. "You on da list?"

"Oh, we heard so much about this place!" Aliara said, adopting a flighty giggle that Teysa found somewhat obnoxious. "We just had to check it out, isn't that right, Tey- Vayveen?"

"Oh, yes," said Teysa, without much conviction. Aliara shot her a sharp look, and Teysa rolled her eyes. "Oh, it sounds great!" she said, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. The giant was unmoved.

"Not on da list, you don' get in," he said and crossed his arms.

"Oh, move aside, Rouf," said a new voice. Teysa looked around wildly, then looked down. A gnome was staring up at her with the most lecherous expression she'd ever seen. His hair was black and curly and he wore a tunic with a staring eye on the front. "Look at these morsels, hm? They're exactly the kind of guests we want. Ladies, you look gorgeous this evening. Please, come on in." He held out one arm in a gesture of welcome.

The giant-- Rouf-- glowered at them and stepped aside. Aliara smiled sweetly at him and waved as she stepped past. Teysa followed with her head down at a high-speed scurry.

Inside, the room was a vast, low-ceilinged cave. There were no fires Teysa could see, but the air was hot and stifling. Shifting patterns of blue-green light filled the room, casting bizarre and tangled shadows on the walls. A heavy, thumping beat filled the air, along with a high and frantic piping that echoed off the walls. Small clusters of people huddled around stone tables or lounged against the walls. Teysa saw the glint of gold as money changed hands, dice clattered across the tables, and cards were shuffled and dealt. Most tables had a hookah sitting on them, and the hoses passed easily from hand to hand. Other guests smoked long-stemmed pipes or even snorted powders directly. As Teysa watched, an armored human sprinkled a row of fine crystalline flakes across the ample bosom of a scantily clad elf maiden. She smiled and pressed her jiggling mounds together as he lowered his head to inhale. Teysa shuddered at the debauchery on display.

Half of the room was given over to an elevated stage. Two dozen or more dancers gyrated atop it, males and females of all species. They spun around poles and cavorted on top of what looked like sculptures, climbing, dangling, twirling. Some of them caressed and kissed each other, or went farther-- Teysa averted her eyes from what she genuinely hoped was merely a highly illustrative dance move.

She grabbed Aliara's shoulder and the half-elf spun around quickly. "What's the matter, Tey?" she asked.

Teysa's first instinct was just to say "everything," but instead she swallowed and tried to look enthusiastic. "What's the plan?" she whispered. "Now that we're in this... this place."

"We make some friends," Aliara said. "Watch this."

She sidled up to the nearest table, where a bulky dwarf was shaking a pair of dice in his hand. Aliara clasped her hands together underneath her breasts, then bent down until the jutting shelf of her chest was inches from the dwarf's ear. "Don't you want me to blow on those for luck?" she cooed. He looked around, the anger in his expression melting when he caught sight of who had interrupted him. His eyes started at Aliara's innocent gaze and traveled downward, growing more lustful all the while. By the time he reached her feet Teysa could swear he was drooling. His beard crinkled as he smiled like a man who'd already thrown all sixes. "By all means, girlie," he said. "I could always use some luck."

"C'mere, Vayveen," Aliara said. "Let's give this gentleman a hand." She closed her thin, graceful fingers around his thick and stubby ones. Teysa saw no graceful way out, so she took a few steps closer and leaned down as far as she dared without falling out. Cheek to cheek with Aliara, she pursed her lips and blew gently across the dice. Aliara's eyes were closed in an expression of rapture. She blew for a few seconds, then tilted her head and planted her lips on the corner of Teysa's mouth.

"There you go, sir," Aliara breathed. "Now toss 'em!" The dwarf needed no further urging. He swept his arm across the table, sending the dice bouncing and skittering away.

Teysa didn't see where they landed, but whatever they showed, it must have been good luck. The dwarf pumped his fist and cheered, and a couple of hooded figures standing a little ways down the table hissed in frustration. A tall, gaunt man with spiraling red tattoos covering his face and arms pushed a stack of gold coins towards them, which the dwarf eagerly scooped up. He swatted Aliara hard on the bottom and pressed a coin into her hand. "Hah! You're good luck, beautiful," he growled. "Wanna stick around for a few more hands? I'll order us some refreshments."

"That sounds lovely," Aliara said, still in that same sugar-sweet voice. She draped one arm across his shoulders and leaned on him so that her breasts pressed against his head from above. He reached up to squeeze her butt, kneading it with his fingers through the soft fabric of her dress. Teysa tried to hide her distaste and sidled up to the dwarf's other side.

The dice made their way around the table. Teysa tried to pick up the rules of the game, but in the dim light it was hard to see what the dice said when they landed, let alone establish a correlation between that and the wins and losses. Money changed hands, and the drinks kept flowing. The dwarf took a huge inhale from a pipe and passed it to Aliara. She looked at it quizzically. "I dunno, sir," she said. "I'm not supposed to do this kinda stuff!"

"Oh, it's ok, dearie," the dwarf said. "It's just grinweed. I gotta keep me wits about me to play this game." Aliara's eyes flickered at Teysa and she nodded once, curtly, before inhaling. She broke into a fit of coughing that sounded exaggerated to Teysa's ear. "My word! It's strong!" she said.

Teysa took the pipe and hesitantly inhaled a little. It wasn't strong, not really-- but she followed Aliara's weed and coughed heartily, spewing smoke everywhere. The dwarf chuckled and took his pipe back. "You'll get a taste for it," he said, clamping the stem between his teeth. "It's good stuff."

When the dice made it back around to him, he handed them to Aliara. "Why don't you roll, sweet thing?" he said. "Here, I'll blow for luck." He leaned in over her palm and blew wetly, then abandoned any pretense and slobbered directly on her fingers. His kisses were rough and messy, but she bore up with good grace. When he had finished, she threw the dice with an expert flick of her wrist.

"Bones up!" announced the tattooed man, to general consternation but the absolute delight of the dwarf. "You are lucky, beautiful!" he said. "This calls for a celebration!"

"Sounds good," purred Aliara. "How about we cash out and go find somewhere comfortable to enjoy our winnings?"

The dwarf couldn't agree fast enough. He scooped his ill-gotten gains into a leather pouch, took Aliara by the hand and led her to a booth against the wall. A U-shaped stone bench ringed a table already filled with plates of food, steins of ****, and small piles of cash. A half-dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at Teysa as she slid onto the cold stone. The dwarf made sure that he was sandwiched between his two new friends. "Everyone," he announced. "This is, uh,"

"Vayveen and Tion," Aliara announced. "Nice to meetcha!" She gave a little wave that was not returned.

Teysa tried to size up their new neighbors without making it clear that was what she was doing. Three of them were dwarves, dressed identically to the dice roller, their long black beards braided and hung with beads and metal rings. One was human, a woman whose face was a network of scars around her one remaining eye. The last was a spindly figure, practically emaciated, with deep-set red eyes and a waving frond of tentacles where his mouth should have been. Its breath came in a hissing burble that made its tentacles wave like anemones. She looked away quickly.

Their host, meanwhile, was reaching into one of the satchels. He drew out one fist and opened it to reveal a half dozen crystalline lumps about the size of Teysa's thumb. He spilled these out on the table, then picked one up and rapped it hard against his metal plate. The crystal crumbled into a fine sandy powder, which the dwarf set about separating into lines. "Joystones," he said with a wicked grin. "Who's first?"