Yvonne reveals herself, and then reveals the other girl, in more way that one...

Yvonne

This must have been her. Claudia was stunned at the sight of her and she could see the scantily-clad tan woman at the water's edge was likewise. Yvonne's silky platinum blonde hair hung down to her slender waist, perfectly shown off by the clinging fabric of a slitted white dress with detached sleeves, which followed the contours of her body like a layer of potter's glaze up to the clasp around her neck... the narrowness of the upper chest showed off the sides of each of her large, pillowy bosoms. Her face was hard to see or describe without metaphors about the heavenly or angelic coming to mind... and that was to say nothing of the view of her from behind, or even from the side where her long, graceful legs were best shown off.

"I'm so sorry to make you uncomfortable, Miss Helvetii... but it is necessary, if you are going to be my friend Milena's maid of honor. I care about her very deeply, and the thought of someone manipulating her just breaks my heart." Yvonne said serenely. "I'll repeat my request... Just come here, very close to me... look me in my eyes, and tell me who your lord is."

This is the first example of a true encounter Claudia has seen - Helvetii knows something she isn't telling, and Yvonne must... convince her to divulge it. First, a reaction roll is made. Helvetii is "beautiful"... and the full bonus applies to Yvonne, because her orientation is not incompatible. She has no social status, however. 6, 2, 4 + 4 = 16, "very good". And conversely, Helvetii reacts to Yvonne... who has "transcendent" beauty, with a massive +8 bonus... in this case, her social status doesn't apply, only her appearance. 3, 1, 3 + 8 = 15, "good". She's well inclined towards Yvonne, but still wary.

Normally, a reaction of 'Very Good' is required to get another character into any kind of amorous, much less sexual, action. If the target has "Impulsive", a sex-related "Compulsion", "Lecherous", or "Uninhibited", only 'Good' is required. Certain characteristics (vows of chastity or marriage, incompatible orientation, or the "Impotent" or "Frigid" attributes) mean an 'Excellent' is required.

This is where Yvonne turns on the charm, however! She uses her 'sex appeal' skill, to which her bonus (of course) applies, opposed by Helvetii's will. On skill rolls, low results on the dice are better, because the object is to roll under one's modified skill number. In this case, that number is 23 (14 base, plus the transcendent beauty and fashionable outfit)... 3, 6, 5 = 14, a margin of success of 9. Helvetii has an exceptionally high will attribute of 16. 4, 2, 5 = 11, a margin of success of 5. Her reaction is moved up a level to 'Very Good' and she enters the 'aroused' state. Once a character is aroused they must make a will test in order to break the encounter off, for any reason. An 'Aroused' couple may defend themselves from immediate danger but must immediately return to their lovers arms as soon as they have even the slightest margin of safety! Since Helvetii is aroused her 'inhibition' is now tracked. This is analogous to a pool of hit points, for sexual encounters, and tracks how close a character is to the next phase of arousal and eventual climax. For females, it is equal to 25 minus the HT attribute. Helvetii has 11 HT, so her inhibition pool is 14.

The dusky dark-haired temptress gave a revealing gasp, which she tried to head off with a nervous chuckle. "Ahh ..! ...Ha, hah, of course, darling. Anything to put a noble lady's mind at ease. Just as I had said before, my Lord is Guillaume Lillewether." She crossed and uncrossed her legs nervously(?), shuffling her feet, but never breaking eye contact with Yvonne. The angelic blonde didn't blink, either... nor did she step away from Helvetii. When the other woman tried to take a step back, Yvonne didn't let her... with the step of a single long, shapely leg, her chest was pressing up against Helvetii and her face inevitably coming closer... until...

Helvetii makes an 'Acting' roll to lie. 4, 4, 5 = 13, compared to her Acting skill of 14 for a margin of 1. This might convince Yvonne if the latter didn't already have reason for suspicion. Yvonne swoops in and makes a test of the "Kissing" skill. Although she doesn't have ranks in it, the skill defaults to her Sex Appeal number minus 3, for a total of 19 (her outfit does not apply its bonus but her appearance does). 6, 3, 2 = 11, success with a margin of 8. This is an 'opening move' which makes other actions acceptable if Helvetii does not pull away. Normally, Helvetii could roll will in order to do so, but because her reaction has been pushed up to 'Very Good' she will not attempt to do so.

During a sexual/amorous contact, one or the other will have "position". This person decides which erotic maneuver is performed. Because she acted first, it is Yvonne. She uses 'Masturbation(female), and though she doesn't have a technique for this specific maneuver (which would allow her to put extra points into it, like a skill specialization), it defaults to her "Erotic Arts" skill - 2, for an effective skill of 12. 3, 6, 1 = 10, a success. Most erotic maneuvers produce stimulation points even if the skill roll fails, but more with a success. In this case, it is 5. Helvetii's inhibition is reduced to 9. For the first minute, Helvetii does not take an action in return, so she doesn't need to take a check to see if she gets any fatigue, but Yvonne does. She rolls 4, 2, 6 = 12, less than her HT attribute, so she takes no fatigue points (FP).

"What ARE you doing? This is quite... hey, stop that!" Despite her protests, the bronzed-skinned maiden made only the feeblest efforts to keep Yvonne's confident hands away from her hips... they curled around her back and grasped her waist firmly before sliding down to her overly-exposed, perfectly round little backside. And Yvonne squeezed - squeezed so hard that Claudia saw dimples from in her posterior cheeks, making the other woman squeal. Yvonne was just smiling serenely throughout all of this, though there was a hint of a wicked glint in her eye. That intensified, certainly, when her fingers slid all the way around and dove into the crack between Helvetii's back cheeks.

"We're both girls, you know!" The slender, mysterious lady shrilled. "Do you think... Do you think I would really... that I am some kind of..." her breathing was growing heavier and heavier.

"Was it my mistake?" Yvonne asked in a sultry voice that accented itself mockingly with an innocent lilt. "I'll let you go..." Trailing all along Helvetii's hips and waist, Yvonne's fingers slowly pulled themselves away. But the pair of shapely brown legs and dainty bare feet remained planted where they were. All was silent save for the dribbling sound of the fountain as Yvonne leaned in. When her face was inches from the other woman, she whispered breathily - "I've seen the way you are always following me with your eyes so keen... Go ahead and turn away, if this isn't what you wanted..." She pushed her lips against Helvetii mouth.

The detail provided in the present to Claudia was so fine that she could see Yvonne nibbling on Helvetii's lower lip, pushing her back and making her visibly weak in the knees. One of Yvonne's hands trailed down to the hand of the plaything she had reduced the proud black-haired traveler to. A red bloom of excitement could be glimpsed beneath the smooth bronze of Helvetii's skin as Yvonne's hand confidently took hold of hers and pushing it up against the noble girl's magnificent chest. Helvetii couldn't stop herself from emitting a hungry, wordless grunt of excitement as she felt her fingers sink into the soft, warm weight in her hand.

Yvonne will now "lay back", which gives her a +4 against getting any fatigue in exchange for a -4 on her pleasure-giving rolls, because her partner can no longer resist reciprocating. Because she has "position", Yvonne can (and does) choose not to let Helvetii use this option. Both will continue using the same maneuver. Helvetii rolls against her 'love-making' skill -2, an effective skill of 12. 4, 1, 4 = 9, success. With the -4, Yvonne's effective skill is an 8. 6, 6, 5 = 17. CRITICAL FAILURE. Yvonne (though receiving 5 points of pleasure) does something that alarms Helvetii and causes her partner's arousal to DROP one level. Unfortunately, this drops Helvetii out of the aroused state and she no longer needs to make a test of will in order to break away from the encounter.

As Helvetii's breathing grew heavier and she massaged and kneaded Yvonne's chest through the thin fabric of her dress, the tall blonde's hands were sliding down her petite partner's back and toying with the oh-so-thin strip of fabric covering her sex once again... rubbing a few dozen times before teasing the fabric to the side to reveal Helvetii's smooth slit. Through the scrying window, Claudia marveled that she could focus close enough to see the tiny hints of moisture forming between those tight brown petals.

Thus exposed, Yvonne allowed herself to slide her hands further up Helvetii's body from behind. Her fingers were firm and confident, pressing and rubbing at the base of that round little ass, up Helvetii's tingling spine, and over the base and sides of her neck... All of this only increased Helvetii's excitement until Yvonne's hands went up as far as her hair and began to caress the side of her head and face.

With no warning, Helvetii suddenly pushed Yvonne back! It seemed that Yvonne had found some place too sensitive, and though Yvonne tried to maintain her grip she was sent stumbling back, wobbling and very nearly falling thanks to her unstable footwear.

Embracing lovers are often treated as "grappled", as in this case. Helvetii rolls a quick contest of strength against Yvonne to get out of her lusty embrace! Despite being smaller, she has a higher strength than Yvonne (9 vs 8). Helvetii gets 1, 6, 2 = 9, a margin of success of 0. Yvonne rolls 1, 5, 4 = 10, a margin of failure of 2. On her turn, Yvonne will try to "grapple" Helvetii again by the head, so as to kiss her again. This gives a -4. Because she has no combat skills Yvonne is just rolling against her DX (effectively 8). 4, 2, 5 = 11, a failure. On her turn, Helvetii will try to shove Yvonne away. She has an exceptional DX score of 15. Further, Helvetii will sacrifice her ability to make defense rolls for the turn to make an "all-out attack (strong)" to increase the ****. She rolls 5, 6, 3 = 14, succeeding despite a bad roll. A "shove" is essentially treated as an unarmed attack which deals no actual damage but doubles the damage rolled for purposes of causing knockback.

Normally her unarmed damage would be 1d-2. In this case it gets +2 from the all-out. 1d6 = 3, doubled to 6. Because Yvonne's strength - 2 equals 6 exactly, she gets pushed back a yard (if she had taken 12 points of 'shove damage' it would be 2 yards, and so on). She must roll against her DX to avoid falling down. Because she is wearing high heels, she gets a -2 to this roll. 1, 4, 5 = 10; she barely passes. Helvetii then steps back. With 2 yards of distance, it will be much harder for Yvonne to embrace her, in a friendly fashion or otherwise. Because she is still aroused, Yvonne must make a will roll to do anything aside from embrace her again or stimulate herself. 4, 1, 3 = 8, a success. She tries to arouse Helvetii again through a "sex show" maneuver with her sex appeal skill -2 against Helvetii's will. Because this is her second time attempting to achieve this after messing it up the first time, she gets a -4, making her effective skill a 19. 4, 6, 5 = 15, a success margin of 4. Helvetii is 'benefiting' from a secret trait now, boosting her already impressive will to an effective 17. 4, 3, 6 = 13, also a margin of 4. This is a tie, which means the 'defender' (Helvetii) wins. She responds with a 'Fast Talk' skill roll at Yvonne, with an effective skill of 14. 2, 3, 1 = 6, a margin of 8. Yvonne rolls IQ. 3, 5, 1 = 9, a margin of 4.

"Why so modest...?" Yvonne said, clearly flushed and taking a deep breath herself. "Just an innocent embrace between caring friends. We're alone here, Helvetii. There are plenty of rituals involving bathing in the fountain... why don't we just have a relaxing bath together, and perhaps you can come visit my family's household later to talk about OTHER matters and help me, mmmm, put my suspicions to rest."

"You... You know very well that I'm scheduled to come as part of a diplomatic dinner with Bey Gujan's entourage in just a few days. I'll be there, but I don't know if we'll have time to speak." Helvetii was suddenly closed off and businesslike... Claudia thought she saw a hint of fear behind the stern mask she'd suddenly put on. With a wince, she reached down and pulled the bottom of her tight teddy back over her no-doubt-equally-tight pussy lips and squeezed her legs together meaningfully even as Yvonne struck a winsome pose that would've drawn most people regardless of any danger.

"Besides, before you started questioning my motives," Helvetii said with a defensive sniff, averting her eyes from Yvonne's entrancingly luscious curves, "I was trying to tell you something. I thought it best to come to you first, instead of your father. Your cousin, Sterling, has gotten herself into quite a lot of trouble out of willful stubbornness. I know you don't travel in much the same social circles that she does - but master Gujan is a great fan of all the roughest varieties of sport and tournament. Testing his skills and trying to impress some local girls with his exotic prowess in the melee is the real reason he came here, not more trade discussion. And he says that your cousin has been hanging around the Violet Lance Pavilion - the one where the lowest of the petty nobility and common armsmen hold their melees and competitions..."

Yvonne gave an impatient huff. "Yes, yes, she loves to do anything that proper society thinks a lady shouldn't do, especially fighting. Everyone already knows that she partakes in such vulgar spectacles, including her uncle, my father. It's unsightly, especially with that latest suit of armor she squandered so much of her inheritance on, but not scandalous." She inclined her head slightly and curled the corner of her mouth in a smile. "Are you trying to make me jealous, bringing Sterling up again?"

"No, no, this isn't a mere contest. My Master was so excited that he canceled all his engagements for this afternoon, because he said that there was an angry mob of witch-hunters there who'd descended on one of the nearby free-lance armourers... and when the man demanded a trial by combat, a noble GIRL had stepped forward and offered to be the champion. By what Gujan said, when the accused tried to decline her offer, the girl preferred some obscure explanation and said that he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to." She paused gravely. "I know it is not your area of expertise - but you should know, Yvonne, that such trials are with real, un-padded weapons.

A look flashed across Yvonne's face. Many might not recognize it - but after spending her whole adolescence in a bawdy house, Claudia did: the sudden anger borne of sexual frustration on account of a friend or relative's misbehavior. "That could be anyone. Surely my cousin isn't the only rambunctious young fool in the city who wants to play at being a boy? But - " Yvonne paused, and stared deeply at Helvetii, silent for a moment as the latter slowly backed away.

"That is... of some concern, my dear. But surely you see, I can't be seen going to such a place? It just isn't proper. Come back home with me, and we shall dispatch a couple of our daeva guards to ensure she stops stirring up trouble among the local street trash. Surely you have time for a quick refreshment before you have to return to your... duties?"

...

Before Claudia could perceive the answer given she felt a sudden, sharp pain in the side of her chest. Snapping back to reality, she saw that Donna, wide-eyed and curious, was leaning forward and had poked her in the ribs, MUCH too hard.

"You...!" Claudia balled her fists and glared at Donna, who didn't seem to get the hint.

"Sorry, Miss Clowdia. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You were starting to sweat and breathe really heavily like you were subject to a fever coming on, or someth- OWCH!"

Claudia makes a 'grapple' attempt on Donna, targeting the 'face' location. She makes a "determined" all-out attack, giving her a +4 bonus. After the targeting penalty she has an effective dexterity of 12. 5, 1, 6 = 12, just barely what she needed. Donna is surprised and can't dodge or defend herself.

Donna's line of questioning was cut off by her new paladin partner suddenly reaching over and pinching her cheek painfully hard. Donna did little more than whine helplessly. A slight tightening of Claudia's fingers brought her to her knees.

"I. Was. Listening. To. A. Very. Important. Conversation." she said, glowering down at Donna, who started squeaking "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry...!" repeatedly.

Because she was watching, Yvonne's "sex show" also affected Claudia. Until now, Claudia has not explored any feelings of same-sex attraction, so she is treated as if she had the "frigid" trait for the purposes of all female-initiated seduction and sex appeal attempts, and Yvonne's usual +8 from beauty is reduced to a +2. Thus, Yvonne rolls against her with an effective skill of only 11. 6, 1, 3 = 10. Claudia has been aroused regardless; Yvonne is just THAT alluring! For the first time in her life, Claudia considers the possibility. She must make a will roll to do anything except seek release. 4, 2, 6 = 12, just barely enough.

On the inside, Claudia felt like she was about to burst. For well over a year she'd been starving for sexual attention and release, having nothing but her left hand... she was giving Cardinal Velius blow-jobs on a near-daily basis but no matter how many times she'd asked, he refused to put it in her - and the old man just didn't have the imagination to do her much good with his fingers alone. Damn Donna, and damn Sterling! And damn Velius too, for that matter - getting her so worked up, so pent up, that she was even getting wet at the sight of two WOMEN going at each other!

"Come on, come on, get up!" Still not letting go of Donna's cute little cheek, Claudia pulled her along. "We need to get to a place called the..." thoughts of Yvonne's heaving bosom being squeezed by Helvetii's delicate fingers invaded her mind and made her pause several seconds. "The... Violet... Violet Lance Pavilion. Sterling has gotten herself into some real trouble there."

Angelo, who'd laid down, immediately leapt up and perked his ears. "Trouble?! Is the maiden in danger?" He went over and started pushing his head up against Donna's rump as the girl dug her heels in in response to Claudia yanking her about. With the way Donna's big blue eyes were welling up with tears (and Claudia wasn't even pinching all THAT hard), it seemed Donna hadn't understood a thing Claudia was saying. But Angelo hustling her along got her moving. "J-just let me grab my ass first." she said, motioning to the brown jackass munching on some tulips in the courtyard.