User blog:Olatheij/The Ballad of Calice - Chapter 1

Our cloaked protagonist traveled for hours, looking for a place to rest in the alien town. He kept attracting strange glances from the strange people around him. As he looked around, he saw that they all looked humanoid all with variations of all looks and colors. Some had bat or bird wings on their backs, or wings for their hands. Some had horns protruding from their heads, others had multiple eyes and many more features that if he had stopped to look at each one, he would be at this town for many times longer than he needed to be. Unfortunately, he did not have time to, but he did pick up on a few key details...

They all had one thing in common. They were all female for some higher reason, and they all looked at the cloaked man, with eyes glowing with sexual desire. The internal unease built up in the man as he watched gazes shift onto soly him. He started walking faster through the town, the constant glances only escalating to calls to come over and lewd welcoming hand gestures as he passed building to building. A few of the women started to walk behind him, but kept a decent distance. As that space between the man and the growing group of women started closing, he speed up his walking. Walking turned into jogging, jogging turned into running and running turned into a full-on sprint for his life as he ran through the streets, the women staying on his heels the entire time with unnatural ease.

He could see refuge in the distance. The wagon that he had arrived in, with two horses attached by the muzzle. He went for it in large strides, but three monster girls appeared in front of it from seemingly nowhere. They aimed to trap him and have him cornered from his freedom. In a humongous effort, he jumped over them in a way that only fear-instigated adredeline could make possible. He, for a moment, thought that he would be free of whatever fate would have come to him, his jump leveling out as he was close to landing, ready to slide under the carrige and hop in like a batter going for home base. Alas one of the winged ones that circled from above had foreseen this possiblity, and tackled into the ground. Dazed, his vision faded in and out as many of the women then started to swarm him, filling his view until everything went black...

Then he woke up. He frantically looked around, only to just see the usual and familiar look of his bedroom. He frantically looked outside, only to see the familiar look of his village that he lived in. From the dirt roads to the electric lamps that were just invented, to the people and the wooden buildings, nothing seemed out of place. Relived he was in no danger, he went to go freshen himself up in the bathroom and prepare for the day.

Through the mirror, he could see his reflection despite the obvious wear on the frame. A decent height of 5 ft 7, light skin, brown hair that was combed forward, its tips just past his head. He had an average build, leaning slightly toward the lean side. Slight defined muscle showed through his shirt, gained by his daily workouts to stay in shape. He stayed staring at himself for about a dozen minutes, before shaking his head and going back to cleaning and grooming himself. He never did have the best attention span, but at least he was smarter than most of his peers around him.

Finished, he went downstairs into his small but nice and clean house and made himself a nice breakfast before going out to work in his blacksmithing shop nearby. He was an artisan, crafting weapony and rare items while dabbling in textile work, and he loved every moment of it.The freedom that comes from self-employment. The heart and soul he puts in  to follow his customers demands to the literal letter and stitching. The happiness on their faces when they see the quality give he charges so little compared to companies and fellow competition for. It is his day-brightener, and part of his reasoning to

He also loves the fact of how he never knows what one could ask him to fashion. Sure, he gets the occasional bad apple and ends up in the middle of a battle, but he has learned from experience and created plans for that occurance. His only requests of the client is that the materials and instructions are ready for him from the very beginning of an order. Magic users and mythical beings have also take a chance on this mortal, and left more satisfied than they ever thought. It was one of these higher level creatures that came to him with something particularly interesting, and a project that would change the course of his life.

He had already received the letters coming in, one letter arriving at his doorstep per day. From them, he pieced everything together. The old Demon Lord has been defeated by a newcoming that had risen up the ranks. This newcomer, a succubus, has become the new Demon Lord. At first, he thought this was a hoax since his major supply of revenue came from the mythical beasts that came through the door, simply because they as  wealthy with rare artifacts and gold as they were powerful and feared. However, his views quickly changed ashe saw those same creatures walking in, now looking more female with varying features. At first, he had no idea these were the creatures that had done business with him before. That facade was quickly broken once the newly formed women said his name and gave greetings of familiarity, then explained that 'she' has done business with the man before and were now 'mamono' which was the new term being used for the girls with the parts of monsters.

Despite this new development, his business remained just as profitable as before, maybe even more. The only difference is that now, he sometimes got lewd glances from his new mamono customers as the watched over his shoulder and snuggled with him when he took a break amidst work. It was a weird and new custom that everyone soon started doing as a norm, and he too eventually accepted this close contact as a normality. Throughout this change, the letters started coming more, each explaining with more and more detail each of each part of the garment, and each time promising that the material would be ready once the DL comes for the start of the making of what he concluded to be a royal dress, worn for only the highest of ceremonies. He was getting excited, his creative spirit flowing more and more with each detail he received. He arranged and pieced together the dress via sketches on his board, mapping out the estimated parameters before the material even came.

One day, while he was working on making jewlery for a black harpy, someone knocked at his door. Opening his workshop door, he saw a Slimy figure in a unexpectedly dry maid outfit carrying cleaning supplies. "Um, hello there. Have you come with a request?," He said bowing to the slime. The slime patted his head and held a book in front of him. "It is an archive that lists all the different types of mamono.You have been rewarded one of the first copies, courtesy of our new Demon Lord and Professor Cross. I was told it might be useful to you." She said as the man took the book. He opened the book and flipped flipped through it, stopping on a page when he saw one that looked like the maid and reading a bit. "Oh, you are a Shoggoth."

She nodded in agreement and peered into his home. "I have come to clean and get your workshop and home ready for our Demon Lord to stay," She said, waving the cleaning supplies around for emphasis. The man was confused, wondering why someone so grand would like to stay in his house. Nevertheless, he let the Shoggoth poke around and do it's duty of cleaning. Over the next few weeks, his workshop was closed as different groups of mamono came to do something to his house and is wardrobe. A wright and arachne came to fit him into new clothing fit to be presented. Pharaohs and Mages did a variety of spells on the house, claiming it was to either "purify" or "prepare" it, then saying nothing more whenever he asked. Orcs and Ogres routinely took shifts guarding the workshop to make sure no one went in as it was being remodeled as well. Giant Ants and Dark Elves remodeled the house foundation and plumbing, then added an entire basement level, making it look fancier that he would have ever thought it would be.

On the day of the visit, a high orc woke him up out of him. Kikimoras cleaned him and fitted him into regal clothing, an a Youko made him a meal for breakfast. Mamono were milling around but slowly filling out, putting up last minute art, enchantments, and drilling him on how to act in the presences of the Demon Lord and her Husband. Everyone finally left and let him be alone for the first time in days. He looked around aimlessly, not knowing what to do since he had grown accustomed to being surrounded by busy mamono. Finally, he decided to get one of the books off the newely built shelf. Midway through his book on Mermaids, he heard fanfare and screaming coming from out the door. He got up and peaked through the window, seeing familes flee in one direction as different mamono in white and purple armor ran in unison after. He closed the window immediately and dove for under his carpet, where he had hidden an escape tunnel in case a mamono invasion tookover his town.

Except, the Giant Ants had filled it in with dirt and hard solid sediment. Then again, he should of expected that in retrospect since his house was being renovated...

He looked franticlly in the places he had hidden weapons, teleporation spells, anything for emergencies. However, his house was cleanly swept through in preparation. His anxiety grew as his mind wandered back to the dream, his psyche horrified at being mentally broken through sex. Then came the knocks on his door.

Knock Knock Knock.

Completely terrified, he grabbed a knife and a laddle, and silently shuffled to the door, fully expecting the worst to unfold. The knocks came again, an impatients growing as he creeped closer to the door. "Is anyone home captain?" Came a confient and commanding voice. "Yes Mistress, I can sense the craftsman's spirit energy leaking through!" went another, sounding directly over the door. Finally, he had reached door and proceeded to yank it open, putting on his focus and power into one, single shot of the laddle. He closed his eyes and aimed high, hoping to at least knock one out to make a break for it. He heard the wooden laddle make contact, and a body fall to the side. Suprised, he opened his eyes, seeing a Dark Priest laying on her side, cupping the red spot on her cheek with one hand one of the armored shoulders tended to her. Quickly! Now as the time to make a r-

"When I requested for letters to be sent to the home of the known craftsman, I did not expect such a brute~" Came a voice to the side. The man turned his head to the side, seeing the most alluring thing he could have ever fathomed. Her body and face was covered in gold plated armor, but he could see the intricent curves all the same. She rode on a pitch-black horse that seemed to be just as imposing. Horns and wings protruded out through holes custom crafted through the armor. Although he didn't know what it was at the time, he could feel her overbearing aura all over, feeling pushed down under as if the gravity suddenly increased. Instead, he just dropped the laddle and knife he was holding, and recited what he was told to do in his head.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Welcome to my h-house your highness," he said awkwardly, bowing from where he stood. "Stand, craftsman," he heard her command, immediately going back to his upright position. "So, this is the one that the wyvern spoke up priest?" The armored ruler said, speaking to the one that was sitting on the ground, still massaging the sting out of her cheek. "Yes Mistress. May I request that I take refuge inside his house?" She said. The Demon Lord nodded, two soilders coming to help the hurt priest up then guide her inside. The craftsman cleared his throat, trying as much as possible to not look fearful. "Well then, do you want to come in to my house?" He said, opening the door to his inside. The DL shook her head and nodded to the solider beside her. The soldier came up the man with a chest, lined with patterns of silk and silver. "Inside that chest are the materials you will need to complete this dress," the soilder stated. "Our Mistress will reside in your home until then. Now begin."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">The man stared at the chest, then back at the soilder. "I don't think I can carry this entire chest by myself to my workshop...."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">Two other soliders came up beside him. One helped the other carry the chest to it's location, and the other took the craftsman by the hand and followed in suit. As he was lead away from his home, the craftsman looked behind him, seeing the Demon lord and a male knight came in behind her. The male knight looked human like him, but gave off the same eerie feeling as the Demon Lord. He must be just as powerful, the man thought to himself. Once at the workshop, he unlocked the doors and pushed them open, turning on the candle light to reveal the place. They were in the front of the workshop, mostly occupied with spaces to wait for products to be finished (be it his client was small enough to fit inside and not absurdly large). The blacksmith lead them to the back, where all the main tools were located. Everything you would need to create was here and primed, from doing Alchemy to making a simple knife. However, he would need the assitance of the client if he was to make a potion. It was one of the things he could not do.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Now, will you begin?" One of the three soilders said as they stepped to the side away from him, still watching his every move. "Any chance you could not stare at me so hard?" He asked. The three soilders shook their heads in unison. As the one in the middle stepped forward. "We were given orders to monitor your process to ensure that you are not conspiring to poison or weaken our Mistress."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"That...makes sense. Alright." The craftsman open the chest to see what he had to work with. Inside, there were different spools of silk, neatly arranged clumps of metal, and potions to enchant what he created. Beside the materials, there were specialized tools created specifically for use on this dress alone. Finally, underneath it all layed the blueprints and instructions for creating the dress to perfection. His unease that plagued him for the last hour or so began to melt away as he looked at everything, smiling.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">He began to make the dress that day, working into the evening to first prepare the individual sections of the dress. The metal sculpting was first priority, creating the pieces that would be woven onto the dress. For this, the soliders aided him in holding down pieces to ensure that each ridge was hit exactly in the way it needed to be. His pace however started to slow when it was early in the morning, his biological clock signalling him to sleep. He was urged on to continue, but in the end he had to stop himself before crushing his hand under the hammers and machines he used. He was carried back to the house and laid down in the basement, tucked in by the soliders as his eyes finally dropped down to rest.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">He was woken up later that day with repeated pokes on his noogin. He opened his eyes to see himself tied to the chair, bound with ropes on his arms and legs. "Finally, you have woken up," The priest said. She held up a box to his head and opened it, reveal small trickets and pictures inside the box.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"What's this?" She said as she took one of those things out of the box and held it up. It was a necklace with the order Lescatie emblem, and at the center a small picture of a picture of him and three other people. His eyes widened with suprise. Of all the things that were cleared out of his house, he did not expect his personal box to remain. "I didn't know you were from Lescatie," She said glaring at the craftsman. "Why do you have such properganda in your home? Our mistress found it yesterday hidden in the back of your drawer. You do not know how shocked it made her and her husband..."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Husband?" the craftsman asked.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Yes, husband. Now, how can be we sure that we can trust you, orderite?" He felt the glare bore into his skull as if he had done something wrong. "I lived there during my c-childhood, then moved here a few years ago..." He responded, looking at the box. "It was one of the few things from my childhood I took with me. You know, for sentimental value. I promise, I'm not in kahoots with anyone," he said, staring back at the Priest. After remaining silent for a second, she put the items back inside it's box and placed it down. She untied the craftsman then stepped back, anticipating an attack that never came. "I see, you are either truthful or bidding your time...just go eat your meal and continue your working."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">After eating a quick breakfast that was cooked for him, he was taken back to his workshop to continue his progress on the ceremonial dress. He quickly finished sculpting the shoulder wear with the rest of the metal left, then continued onto the dress. He took the balls of skill and the sewing tools provided and started making the main component. With help from a shoggoth, he was able to work the dress from top to bottom, stitching sections together like puzzle pieces as the request slowly but surely came to life. Soon, the dress was resting on a maniquinn, the metal trinkets on it gleaming in the yellow workshop light. However, after all this work, there was still one thing left to be done...

"You request what?" The priest said to him, in suprise from being caught off guard by the question. "I need the Demon Lord to be with me when I put on the spells. It's the only way I can make sure I do it the right way."

"Even if I did consider even asking such a thing, what makes you think that she would agree to it?" The dark priest asked back. "Well for one thing, I suck at alchemy so..."

"Then we can get a mage to be with you."

"Nope. It has to be the wearer of the dress. Only the wearer knows what is best for themself."

"Never! It is improbable!"

"Then I just won't finish it." He folded his arms assertively to prove his point. The priest just scoffed at him, trying to comprehend how mad he must be to do such a thing. Surely her Mistress will smite him with the blackest of lightning for even considering not doing the job, then lock him in a slime coated room! With tentacles! and bound by chains and-

"Well?" he reiterated, still staring. Whatever may happen to him, he certainly didn't seem to be budging now. Signing loudly, the priest huffed it up to the Demon Lord's bedroom. The craftsman waited several minutes for any indication, then left to wait after not gettinng one to wait. He sat by the dress and reviewed the stiching bored until a knock came from the door. "Come in," he said as several guards came through and lined up by the wall, followed by the Demon Lord herself in the armor she arrived in. "My priest tells me that you have requested my presence?" She said, her voice gaining an echo through the head-armor that hides her facial features.

"I wanted you to um...be in the room as me when I use the potions on the dress," he said. "I am not good at alchemy, so if I do it without someone watching...."

"Fine then. Go on and add the potions. You have already drawn me here with that silly question..."

With her half-heartedly watching behind him, he took a small and large paintbrush from his own set and dabbed both in one bottle, starting to coat the newly made garment in protective mana. The bristles and dress seemed to glow in the workshop light as he covered broader areas with the larger brush, then filled in the rest with the more precise small brush. If he finished one coat and the bottle he was using wasn't done, he would just add on another coat, and another until he either ran out of potion to use or was requested to stop. From there, he would move on to the second, more corrupted potion, and finally the red one that radiated whenever he touched even the bottle with his glove-protected hand.

After the last stroke with his hand, he gently placed the brush down and backed away until he was right in front of the guard. The final product looked almost as stunning as the DL herself, it's beauty increasing in the craftsman's eyes as the potions he spent careful ages on started to dry and set on the fabric and metal. "Is that it?" The demon lord said as two soliders came foward, poking and proding at the dress to ensure it is safe for their Mistress to wear. "The potions were the last thing to do. The dress should be ready to wear now, your highness."

"Very well. Priest, escort him back to his house to rest. The rest of you except for six, guard this dress. We will leave first thing after our second reason for being here..."

"Second reason?" The craftsman said, looking up at the Demon Lord as the Dark Priest took his hand and started to lead him away. He recived no answer on the walk to his home, seeing maids carrying items and clearing out the house of personal items for him to live in again. "My mistress seemed pleased with your work craftsman," She said as she waited for a kikimora carrying a lamp to pass before going inside and taking him to the kitchen. "She did? I could only see her eyes under all that armor..." He responded to the Priest.

"Yes, now you have one more task to do before we leave you with your reward." She sat him down and left for a moment, before coming back with a cloth for him. "Please, may you smell this to see if this smells like chloraform? My nose is quite fragile to certain scents and I want to be sure what it is."

"You're knocking me out!?" He said, jumping up and backing away. "Yes, I was not sure if you would like what wonders Mistress will have for your town, and if you are asleep it wouldn't take as much effort to calm you down." She approached him, still holding the cloth. "Please, just do this simple thing. Don't give us a reason to call you an orderite and have your chasity slain."

The craftsman stared at the Priest, then the cloraform, then the Priest again. "I would rather just go to bed," he said, taking himself up to his room and flopping onto his bed, making himself go to sleep. The priest's voice reverberated in and out of his ears, slowly dimming as he lost conciousness under his own will...

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">As soon as his sleep cycle allowed it he forced himself up, soon regretting doing that as a headache quickly formed in his head from getting up to fast. Still, he dropped the knife from it's hiding spot in his sleeve and waved it in one instictive slash. No one was around him. As is grogginess faded he was able to get up and analyze his surroundings. He had fully expected to be kidnapped or enslaved by the large group, but he was still in his own refurbished room, with the usual posters and art in supported of the Demon Lord hanging around. His lamp had been turned on and his curtains had been drawn, meaning that at some point someone had come in. He searched every inch of his room, refusing to believe that there has been nothing left for him, trap nor reward. Wait, where was his pay? <p style="max-height: 999999px;">While searching the closet, something cold and wet poked his back. He turned around branishing the knife in his hand. He saw a mindflayer, quickly drawing her hand back as she saw him get into a defensive state. "My my, did you really expect us to do something horrible to you while you have slept?" <p style="max-height: 999999px;">"It wouldn't have been the first time it have happened," he said, withdrawing the knife. "Of cource it wouldn't have Calice. I'm sure you remember that incident where a clan battle broke out in front of your workshop well."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Wait. How did you know my name was Calice?" He said, arching an eyebrow at the mindflayer. "Didn't you read that book the Shoggoth gave you? I can just reach into your ears and read your deepest thoughts like this..." two small tendrils extended out of her body, each one wiggling into his ear then calming down. "Right now, you are wondering where your reward for making the dress is. Well, your reward awaits you in Royal Makai Calice, or at least it will once it is completed."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Royal Makai? There's already a capital?" Calice said, wondering how the Demon Lord established a kingdom this fast. "Yes, what did you think our lord just slouches around and talks to mortals like you all the time now? Well she does that, but she still has important matters to establish, and as her subjects we all must move at full speed and spread her word as far and as fast as we can."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"I don't think there is a 'we' here," Calice responded. "Other than my reward, I'm still going to be staying here. This is still my house and workshop essentially."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"So you wouldn't mind the changes we made to your village? That's great then!"

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"What changes?" Calice responded as the mindflayer took them both over to his bedroom window, she pulled it open, showing the evening being illuminated with purple lights lining the village. Above, a red-tinted moon shined light down where the electric light didn't touch. The women that ran the vender had grown horns and a cow's tail on her butt. The children that ran around had tails, paws, and other appendages that varied from family to family. The entire place seemed emptier as familes had surely fled, but the increased amount of mana filling the air almost filled the void left behind. "What the fuck?" Calice muttered under his breath as he looked at everyone milling around. It was seeming awfully similar to his dream. "Do you love it? This is part of our thanks to your work. Because of you, our Mistress will have a nice dress to wear for special occasions and holidays, and now you, if you wish, can build a harem of your own. Or marry someone here. Whatever you wish.~"

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"But I don't want to marry anyone here!" Calice suddenly exclaimed, turning around to face the mindflayer. "I know there was a chance I wouldn't get anything, and that's fine. But I didn't want my village overrun! Just, maybe a cursed item or something at least."

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"I understand your reaction. Most human react like this when first hearing of this change. You will come around eventually, you just don't know it yet..." Her hand moved awfully close to his crotch, which he noticed and bapped away, to her dismay.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Come on, it is part of your reward. Besides, you must at least let me give you some fun before we go on the journey to Makai." Calice stared at her, trying to make sure he isn't in any immediate danger. She looked as peacefull as could be, sitting on the bed and patting the spot on her lap.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">He couldn't deny that he was already under the lewd affect of the mana she raidated.

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">He also couldn't find anything dangerous about her that she could possibly do. She could do them, but she wouldn't....right?

<p style="max-height: 999999px;">"Are you going to keep me waiting? We have a long night ahead of us~" She piped up, forming her hand into a onnahole. Reluctently, he stored the knife in his pants and went over to take his place on her. In a moment, she had his pants off and was willfulling stroking away at his exposed member, watching joyfully as his skeptically look sofened into silent moaning. It was going to be a long but pleasurable night for him.