Chapter 1

Flush from the success of her first dungeon, Ariel was ready to celebrate. Her first dungeon for this character at least. Since she had been rolled up a short week ago, Ariel had been slogging through the low level animals and pests in the woods surrounding Berg’s Keep. After hitting level 5, she had joined a group looking to fill out their party for a dungeon crawl.

And now, finally, it was time to celebrate. Getting away from her fellow adventurers had taken some work: her plans required a degree of separation and anonymity from her adventuring party. But finally she had gotten away from the rest. The Roasted Pig stood before her. Its two-story wooden building was warn and weathered. Even the placard of the spitted pig smiling around the apple in his mouth was faded. But the Roasted Pig was sturdy and well maintained.

Ariel grasped the rough-hewn door handle. She recalled it took a bit of a yank to open. She pulled and stumbled. The door did not budge. A notification filled her vision:

Notification

You are entering an adult area of revelry and lust. If you enter your settings will be adjusted to permit adult themes and content.

She swiped away the notification with a gesture. New character, same old prompts to ignore.

This time, when she tugged, the door popped open, releasing the smell of roasting meat and wood smoke. A common room took up about half of the lower floor. There was a dark wood bar opposite the door. A hearth took up the right wall and a flight of stairs the left.

Rough wooden tables filled the room. The tavern bustled. Ariel made her way through the crowd and slid onto a bench. “Mind if I join?”

“Welcome. I’m Chayos. This is our crew.” Chayos was a level 24 immortal. He gestured encompassing the three nearest tables. “We just got back from Crusher Deep.”

A burly dwarf to Chayos’s right said, “And this time we didn’t wipe!”

“Definitely worth celebrating,” Ariel said. “It will be a few levels before I make that trip with this character.”

A comely lass moved toward them balancing a tray as she playfully dodged the overly familiar attention of the crowd. The barmaid’s name was Hulda; she was Ariel’s reason for being at the Pig.

“What’ll ya have?” Hulda asked as she arrived at their table.

“Stew and a pint of the dark,” Ariel said. Chayos and his team placed orders. Hulda sidled away from the press of Chayos’s team, not quite avoiding a pat from an NPC sitting at the next group of tables.

Hulda wore a leather skirt and top beneath the cheerful smile of her face. Her top displayed her bosom, the skin of her breasts almost but not quite spilling from the half cups that strove to contain them. While her figure was by no means flat-chested, her top’s struggle was more a statement of how she revealed herself than of an over-abundance of her bosom. She strutted across the room, thrusting her sexuality forth with a zeal that had Ariel’s heart racing.

It had been the same way when David first came to the Roasted Pig playing his level 30 tank.

After defeating a tribe of ogres, David had been looking for something different. They had won, pushing back the horde of ogres that had come to invade and ravage the city David’s party was based out of. And yes, the exhilaration of banding together and finding a strategy to win against those odds was unparalleled. But so was the fear from the close calls. And toward the end, as the population was reduced to ephemeral NPCs the immortals actually knew ... deciding which of his friends would end their existence as an ogre meal still haunted his dreams. Phoenix Rising did not pull any punches.

A week ago, a stint as a caravan guard brought David to Berg’s Keep and the Pig. That night, Hulda captured his imagination. Something about the way she flaunted herself appealed to him. She had no shame. She responded to the constant attempts at groping with a combination of flirtation and dancing away from the wandering hands. Yet she conducted herself with confidence and pride.

Hulda did have her limits. On that first trip, one of the immortals made some comment about how she was just a low priced whore. “You’ll be having none with that talk!” she had said.

“None of me!” She stamped her foot.

“None of your drink.” She tossed the contents of her customer’s tankard into his face.

“And none of the Pig. Out!” By this point, over half the ephemerals and some third of the immortals had drawn what steel they had. The offender made his ignominious departure from the Pig without resort to a test of his continued immortality.

Hulda shook out her shoulders. “Whoring’s no slouch of a job. Takes effort and skill. And I’ll have my respect.”

David knew he had to have her. If she were less intimidating in the moment, he might have paid her price right then. But what if his friends found out he’d fallen for a character in the game? He was not sure he could face that down. Although, he was looking for something different. Surely a feisty wench like Hulda didn’t face emotional challenges like the ones that haunted him. So he decided on a new character unknown to his friends—a character where he could afford to embrace his wildest fantasies. A character where he could be bold and unapologetic like the whore Hulda.

He had been there with the character creation interface spread before him. He had almost selected male without a thought. But this was going to be his brave character: the character that got to do all the things he wished he could do. When he thought of Hulda, he wanted her. But in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, it was more than that: He wanted to be Hulda. He wanted to be sexy like that—slutty and proud. And soon, a voluptuous goddess with sex drive set as high as it would go spun before him in the character creation wizard.

And so Ariel was born. And now he—or rather should that be she—sat trying to find the courage to ask Hulda how to hire her when she brought his food. “I want to fuck. how much?” might well work. Hulda was as direct as they came. But David could not just do that, and apparently even hiding behind Ariel was not enough to be that bold. But he—or at least vivacious, desirable Ariel—would do something.

And here came her food and ale delivered by a plump older woman. As she scanned the room, Ariel could not see Hulda. “Here ya go.”

“Goody?”

“Aye?”

“has Hulda retired for the night?” she said, a longing note entering her voice.

“Nay. My goodwench’s above making someone mighty happy.”

“Hulda’s your daughter?

“Aye, mine an Goodman Brown.”

“And you don’t mind that she—”

“Is a whore? Nay, couldn’t be prouder. She brings in most as much as the Goodman an I.”

Ariel gulped. Were Hulda’s parents forcing her? “You don’t ... she wants to do it?”

Goody Brown laughed. “Immortals and your silly notions. Whores Guild’d have no truck with that. And get Hulda to do something she don’t want?” Goody Brown threw up her hands.

She continued, “She comes by whore right natural. I did my twenty years in the guild. Good at it if I say so myself. Inactive now o’course, but got guild protection for life.”

“Whores Guild protection is a big deal?”

“Aye! Cheat a whore and ye’ll pay tenfold or more. Force a whore an not even immortality’ll save ye.”

“Who does the enforcing?”

Goody Brown looked puzzled. “Whores of course. Lots of magic in what we do. An a high level courtesan can topple countries in their anger.”

Goody Brown broke the ensuing pause. “So you fancy the goodwench when she comes down?”

Ariel nodded mutely.

“I’ll tell her. Ya got good money, she’ll seduce you right quick. Don’t worry none ‘bout your immortal notions. She’ll settle them too.”

Ariel took a deep swig of her ale. Her heart was pounding from excitement and nervousness. Relaxing sounded like a good idea. Although if she did not get around to flipping on adult mode until entering the Pig, perhaps she ought to go check settings and make sure the ale would have an effect.

She picked at her stew and listened to Chayos’s tale of Crusher Deep. It was a challenge for 10 immortals averaging around level 20. Normally Ariel would have been excited by the tale of how the party managed avoiding the final boss, a huge squid with magical regeneration, from dragging them into the deeps and drowning them as it crushed them with its tentacles. Tonight, she was elsewhere.

A warm hand stroked Ariel’s shoulder. “Ma said you want me. Would that be another ale ya’re wanting or somethin’ else?”

Ariel felt her entire body blush in embarrassment. “Not the ale.”

Hulda stepped into view and slid onto the bench next to Ariel. She placed her hand on Ariel’s thigh. “I’d not of guessed. Wouldn’t figure ya for the whoring type.”

Ariel laughed nervously. “And if I am ready to be that type?”

“Are ya?” Hulda’s hand slowly stroked down Ariel’s leg.

“How does this work?”

“Broad like, you pay and I make ya happy.” Hulda’s hand started the return journey. “What ya be wanting?”

“Well, I want to ... I mean um—” Ariel stuttered. She (or at least David) was not inexperienced in the bedroom. But that was with girlfriends. Hulda was a whore (and if her mother used that word it was probably even the polite term in game). It just seemed so silly, like paying for masturbation. Hulda was not even a real person.

But it was so hot. She would never in a million years hire a whore in the real world. She wouldn’t be caught dead doing that. Here it was still embarrassing, but this was just a game. She could always walk away. She had the privacy to indulge her fantasies. Here being embarrassed could just be a reminder that she was being a naughty girl. But she had to get past her nervousness.

Hulda’s hand continued its slow strokes while Ariel tried to find words. “How ‘bout this?” Hulda asked. “Ya willing to spend a silver thirty? Forty copper for a room, rest for me.”

“Yes, absolutely!”

Hulda’s hand moved faster. “To be crystal clear, you’re wanting me as your whore in that room?”

Ariel’s voice was soft, just above a whisper. “Yes!”

She felt Hulda’s breath against her ear as the lass leaned in close. “It’s not gonna be much fun with ya playing with sex off.” Hulda continued, “If you’re showing off for someone else, I’ll make it look good. If ya want real fun, fix your settings, girl.”

Ariel laughed. “Oops. I’ll fix the settings for sure. But how does that even work? I mean what would happen if I put my hand under your skirt right now?”

“Rule is ya stay outside clothes til money changes hands. We’re close enough though. Go ahead and try.”

Hulda opened her legs. Ariel gingerly reached out her hand. Her hand traveled up along Hulda’s warm thigh, under the skirt. She reached further and her hand met the dry, featureless skin at the junction of Hulda’s legs. Ariel pulled her hand back startled.

Hulda laughed. “Not much fun that way.”

“That’s freaky. So you’re not even anatomically correct? But if someone with sex enabled touches you, it’s all there?”

Hulda nodded. “Enough though. I’m more fun than pawing around in your interface.”

Ariel pulled up the realism panel in settings and flicked the big toggle next to sexual interactions. She didn’t bother looking at the detailed options that became available when she enabled the toggle. She figured the defaults would be good enough.

Several notifications appeared:

Notification

By default, your character’s hormones and attractions will influence you. Their lusts and desires will become part of your own. Just as their fear and excitement bring realism in battle, their passions bring realism in bed. Your character will influence you not override you. This can be adjusted in sexual realism.

Quest

First Time Quest: The whore Hulda has offered to show you what it’s all about. You can’t even bring yourself to name it, but perhaps that won’t stop you.

Cost: 1 silver 30 copper

Success: Experience and a good time. Perhaps you’ll even work up to admitting the dirty secret of what you’re really after.

Experience for playing with a whore? That was kind of cool. She guessed that aligned with the backstory. Connecting with your own desires and working to accept help to meet them might be the kind of experience that would help break the immortality curse.

Notification

by default, hiring a whore grants broad consent to them for sexual activity. You can adjust the defaults or specific consent for a given interaction on the Sex tag of the Consent and Approvals panel.

Ariel accepted the quest and acknowledged the other notifications. “Sorry about that. I think I’m set on the sex front now.”

Hulda ran a finger up along Ariel’s leg. Ariel felt a tingle of excitement trailing the finger. “O, that’s nice,” she said.

Hulda swung a leg around the front of the bench and straddled Ariel’s leg. Hulda’s chest was pressed into Ariel’s much larger bosom. Hulda grinned.

Her other hand wrapped behind Ariel’s head as her lips darted forward to find Ariel’s mouth. Ariel leaned into the kiss. Hulda’s lips were warm and firm.

“Much better,” Hulda said. “Is this what ya wanted?”

“A start.”

“Shall we continue up stairs?” Ariel nodded.

Hulda extracted her leg and slid off the bench. Ariel followed her up the flight of stairs and into a small room.

The room was warm and cozy. A mattress on a platform filled most of the space. There was a small table next to the mattress with a pitcher of water and two glasses. There was space for a small wardrobe and chair.

“Want I should help ya out of your clothes?” Hulda asked.

Ariel licked her lips. “Mmm, yes.”

Hulda removed her own top. Her perky breasts jutted straight out from her chest.

Ariel longed to cup a hand around one of Hulda’s breasts. She longed to clasp it as her fingers stroked along the outside. Hulda’s right nipple was engorged. She longed to grasp it between two fingers, gently tweaking as her palm supported the breast.

Before she could, Hulda wrapped her arms around Ariel. Ariel felt Hulda’s breath stirring her hair as her hand trail down Ariel’s cheek, down her neck, and gently teased the bulk of Ariel’s right breast. Hulda’s fingers made quick work of the hook at her cleavage.

Ariel’s insides tingled, and warmth gathered in her belly. Ariel felt the warmth of Hulda’s hand through her blouse as it again skirted her breast and traveled down her ribs, around, and across to the buckle of her belt. That hook too gave way, and Hulda was lifting off her top.

Ariel felt the press of Hulda’s breasts into her back, her skin against the whores. Hulda’s hands glided along her skin as the other woman circled around front to once again claim a kiss. While their lips tangled, Ariel’s bra succumbed to Hulda’s deft fingers.

Once that impediment was removed, Ariel was at last free to grasp Hulda’s breast. It fit just as she had imagined, warm and firm in her hand. Ariel’s thumb stroked against the pebble of Hulda’s nipple. Their kiss had become impassioned. Tongues tangled. Ariel’s left hand reached to cup the back of Hulda’s head. Her heart pounded. The warmth in her belly traveled down, igniting an inferno between Ariel’s legs.

Hulda broke the kiss and pulled back. She looked up into Ariel’s eyes. “This good?”

“Oh, yes,” Ariel said, dragging out the word. “Very much.”

“Thought so. Can see your need now.”

Hulda continued, “Bit more and we’ll have ya all unwrapped.”

Hulda sank to her knees as her lips kissed down Ariel’s belly. Ariel reveled in the other woman’s touch.

Now, Hulda was on the ground before Ariel. She began to unlace Ariel’s boots.

“Right foot up.” Ariel placed her hands on Hulda’s shoulders for support as she tugged her foot out of the boot. Hulda removed her stocking. They repeated the maneuver for the other leg.

The pants were easy with the belt already removed. Soon they pooled at Ariel’s feet.

“An that’d be that,” Hulda said. Ariel blushed; the whore had noticed her lack of under garments. Hulda’s breath caressed Ariel’s bush. Ariel didn’t know what she’d been thinking going commando. She had hoped to be undressed by (or truthfully to undress) Hulda. She was bound to be noticed.

Hulda didn’t seem to mind. The embarrassment just ran tingles of naughtiness down Ariel’s spine.

“Back ya go, onto the bed.”

Ariel lay down onto the bed. “This is comfortable! Soft!”

“Course it is. you’re payin good money.”

Hulda stepped up to the foot of the bed and stood between Ariel’s legs. “So, ya figure out what ya want?”

“You.”

Hulda laughed. “How?”

“You are doing fine.”

“With my hands until ya scream for joy?”

“And your mouth?”

“And mouth.”

Hulda’s hands made circles on Ariel’s belly. They wondered up through her cleavage, just gently brushing her breast. Then down around the belly again. Hulda stroked down her left leg, a finger almost but not quite brushing the thatch guarding her treasure. The journey continued up again, across the belly and down the right leg.

The circle repeated. This time, as Hulda’s hands traveled through cleavage, her palm rested briefly against the left breast.

On the next revolution, Hulda crossed from left leg to right just a bit lower. A finger stroked through Ariel’s fur.

“You’re teasing!”

“I should stop?”

“No,” Ariel moaned. “But you could go a bit faster.”

“An why’d I do that?” Hulda spread Ariel’s legs wider and sniffed deeply. “Smells like I’m doin just fine.”