A loud crack was heard as the largest man's fist made impact with the face of the bound one. The force of the blow knocked the chair over, which crashed hard onto the dark oak flooring. Nothing more than a groan was heard from the restrained man. The shorter and broader of the two large men bent over and set the chair back in place. “Careful now, Laris, don' want to put 'em down yet.” He said with a deep cackle. Laris looked down with a sneer at the swelling appearing where his fist hit their captive. “Jace, I'll do what I want… DeSere here owes us, you know that. We can have some fun with 'im while we wait for the boss.” 

The bound man spat a small bit of blood on the floor in front of Laris. He tried to force out words, but they merely came out as muttering under his breath. Laris leaned down and lifted the man's head to look him directly in the face. “What the hell did you just say to me, Vex?” Vex merely sneered. “My… information was good.” Vex managed to say weakly. Laris and Jace let out hearty laughs before taking turns landing punches on Vex. “Vex DeSere, yer information was far from good. The guards were there waiting for our men, when you said their shipment had almost no one.” Laris shouted. Vex's head dropped down as he hunched over after taking the blows. He lifted his head slightly, breathing heavily, his eyes now looking directly at Laris with a piercing glare. “I gave you what you asked for, which was the security of the incoming shipment. Nothing more, nothing less. It was what you asked for. Your failures were the fault of your own inability to think ahead.” Vex said in retort, his sharp words taking Laris back for a moment. Laris stuttered under his breath for a few moments trying to think of something to say back. “Is that what you think?” A calm a collected voice came from the door now opening behind Jace and Laris.

Vex raised his head to meet the eyes of a heavily worn looking old man. “Darius, please tell your goons to unhand me… A simple letter would've gotten my attention. This is a little much, don't you think? If you missed me so you should have just said so.” He spat with an extremely sarcastic overtone. Darius merely stared down coldly at DeSere, slowly shaking his head side to side. “Disrespectful as always, I see. You shouldn't be that way with your loyal customers… Do you have any idea how much I've lost in all of this? I know you knew better than to leave out that extra piece of information…” He said calmly before letting out a long sigh. “It would be common courtesy to give your loyal customers such information… And now it seems we are going to have to find someone else. Goodbye, DeSere, it was good doing business with you.” Darius turned around and waved his hand at his men, turning to leave the room. Jace wore a wide grin at the signal, “See, Laris! This is what we 'ere wait for.” he said with sadistic glee. Laris cackled under his breath as he walked towards Vex, cracking his knuckles in preparation.

Vex smiled at the two goons that approached him, “Now boys, don't you think you've helped me enough?” He said with a mischievous grin, his eyes looking at the items on the table off to the side. “Wha?” Laris grumbled in confusion. Vex laughed and kicked high off the ground, sending himself and the chair backwards, breaking the chair on impact. He laughed, standing and backing up as he slid from his bonds. “I'm almost grateful you two were knocking me around. I noticed how fragile the chair was becoming from the last few rounds.” He reached behind himself and pulled a rapier from a sheath that was laying on the table in the back corner. “So here, let me make a deal… Hear me out and I won't kill you now…” Jace and Laris raised their hands and backed up. “We're unarmed… Like we've got much of a choice.” Jace said, looking hopefully at Laris as if expecting him to come up with a plan. “Knock off the weird looks, I just want the two of you to move from the door and think on what I'm about to tell you. You should be thanking me, really, the men on that job were getting most of the pay, and Darius was about to cut his extra crew. Including you two. Think on that. If I didn't do what I did… there would be no job for the two of you.” Vex continued around the men with the blade raised in their direction, smirking at the fact that the signs of aggression quickly faded and turned into confusion. Vex's information seemed to pacify the men for now, but he knew he still had to make it out of the tavern.

Vex ran out into the hallway as fast as he could, running past Darius and ramming the old man into the wall as he passed. “Thank you for your patronage…” He called back cockily, while flashing an obscene gesture in the direction of Darius. As he made it out into the main dining and drinking area of the tavern, Vex was stopped by a few larger men, “Hey are you ok? You look really hurt.” A bearded man asked. “Please let me past, I'm in a bit of a hurry.” Vex said, trying to move around the men blocking him. 

“Stop that man! I will pay three hundred silver pieces to the first man that brings him to me… Dead or alive!” Darius yelled. Most of the taverns current patrons stood from their seats and turned towards Vex with looks of determination and greed. Vex merely scoffed and slid over the table while dodging a few sluggish attempts made to grab him. Vex readied his shoulder and rammed the door of the Winking Mermaid tavern open and ran out into the street. He turned to see a few of the patrons start to gather at the door to pursue him.

After looking around for a moment and weighing his options, Vex darted into the alleyway behind the tavern and started weaving around the junk lying throughout its path. He stopped at the corner to peek around at the oncoming adventurers that clearly took up Darius's offer. As Vex moved out of sight and went to turn around, he flinched from a sharp pain on his left hand. He raised his hand to see a strange black mark coiled around his ring finger. “What the..? Whatever, I have no time to deal with this right now.” He growled, frustrated. He turned to the right and began sprinting as fast as he could. He could hear that they were not too far behind him. It was clear he was going to have to think of a better solution soon. Down one of the side paths he saw a small boy that turned his way and began running in his direction. “Mister, mister! This way!” The boy called. Vex turned back and sped down the path the child was directing him towards. Vex ran with the child, who led him to one of the houses still in the dockyard. “Quick in here.” The boy said as he opened the door and began pushing Vex inside. “Kid… What are you?” Vex stopped and turned to see a woman staring at him in concern and confusion. “Riley… Who is your… friend?” She said quietly, still trying to analyze the situation. The boy looked at Vex and back at who appeared to be his mother. “Mama, he is hurt and it sounded like bad men were chasing him.” His mother's eyes widened as her son explained what he thought. “Is this true? Niles, come here quick!” She called out, as an older looking sailor came from the back room.

Niles looked at Vex suspiciously. “Riley… What's going on?” The boy looked at his father and pointed towards Vex, “I want to help this man, pop… He looked like he was in trouble.” Vex looked back and forth between the new faces, trying to get an idea of what was going on. He looked back at the door, thinking about the men outside. 'If they saw me, I'm sure they would have made it in here by now.' he thought to himself, looking around with as much calm as he could muster. “Sir, I don't know who you are… But you're going to have to tell me what is going on.” Niles said sternly. Vex looked back in his direction for a moment and said while partially distracted and examining the room. “I'm a merchant. An unhappy customer thought it was a bright idea to put a quick bounty on my head because he was unhappy with my merchandise.” Vex looked back towards Niles and let out a sigh. “ A customer who has a problem similar to someone being upset about a sword they bought not being able to shoot an arrow.” Niles nodded slowly almost taken back by how calm Vex was, after stating he had a bounty placed on his head only moments ago. “It at least doesn't sound official. He'd have to take it with the guard house on that. I'm sure they wouldn't justify a bounty over a bad product though. I guess you need to wait it out.” Vex nodded quickly in response, passively rubbing his left hand which continued to throb in pain. “ I appreciate your understanding and offers of assistance.” He said almost absentmindedly, clearly distracted by the pain. The wife turned to look at Vex and smile, “Well, it looks like Niles is fine with letting you stay the night, so no worries. We'll take good care of you.” Vex just nodded as he continued to fiddle with his hand.

It had been a few hours and Vex was sick of his situation, the residents of this household were the spitting image of the 'ideal' family. Vex looked back and forth and tried to play along, but felt oddly sickened by their loving banter back and forth. This was a different world than what he was used to, and it was well understood by Vex that he did not belong in it. As nightfall came, the family made their way to sleep, leaving Vex to sleep in their dining area. He raised his hand and set it on the table, his eyes widening. He knew the pain in his hand was spreading, but this had caught Vex off guard. The black markings on his left ring finger had spread over his entire left hand, and had even begun to creep up his forearm. The stinging sensation has developed into a burn and has begun to spread even faster up his arm. Vex sat watching it for at least a few hours before it made it to his shoulder. 'What is going on?' He thought to himself in confusion.

“I'm sure you know why…” A voice echoed in his head.

He stood quickly from the table and looked around, but saw no one. The burning was now accompanied by a heavy throbbing. Vex unbuttoned his shirt and looked down into the collar to see the markings were spreading over his chest at a visible rate. Suddenly, he found himself hunched over gagging and gasping for air. His head felt like it was spinning. What composure he fought to maintain over the last few hours began to whittle away. No one could see him this way, he thought to himself. He stumbled to the front door and left the home. As he closed the door behind himself, he stumbled down the front steps falling to the ground. He was now violently gasping for air, choking and gagging with bits of spittle splashing around. Vex forced himself to stand, looking around at the practically deserted streets. He walked slowly into the alleyway using the walls to keep himself propped up. He wandered around, trying to distract himself from the pain that worsened rapidly and spread over his body faster than anything he thought was possible.

The docks were strangely empty as well, which was good for Vex as he stumbled into the open and away from the alley way. He looked back at the Winking Mermaid that was once again visible in the distance. He shook his head violently as the pain intensified, stumbling towards the edge of the dock. Looking down, he saw that the markings were covering every visible inch of himself. His head was light and his vision began to blur. He did not know how much more of this pain he could withstand. Suddenly, he felt his legs give out and he fell backwards over the edge of the dock. Within seconds everything became black.

When Vex finally regained his senses, he reached up and held onto his head. “What is going on…” He groaned. His eyes were still closed as he felt around. Ropes, possibly fishing supplies, and the texture of what he would guess to be the inside of a boat. He opened his eyes to see that he was, in fact, lying in a small fishing boat. “Convenient…” He grumbled sarcastically, trailing off when he felt something odd under his head. He reached up to feel what seemed to be… legs. “I agree, quite convenient indeed.” A voice over Vex said calmly. Vex's eyes widened as he looked up. He tried to scream, but the sound couldn't leave his throat. He had been sitting in the lap of something he had never seen before, something truly unknown to him. It appeared almost human, but its skin was a scarlet red, with horns coming from its head that were around half a foot in length. The creature's eyes were a bright shade of amber, lit even in the darkness, almost as if they were burning. As it would breath, what seemed to be small embers and glowing ash would join its breath with every exhale. Though what haunted Vex more than its appearance was the look the creature gave him; the calm yet sadistic smile. It was a face that showed signs of a carnal and sexual desire being fulfilled even though it was merely watching him suffer.

“The curse seems to be almost complete DeSere, you won't be here much longer.” It spoke softly as it stroked the side of Vex's face. Its breath became hot as it panted in what appeared to be pure lust. “Oh, how I love the face you're making. You certainly are my favorite contract in a long while…” It continued with its voice filled with glee. Vex wanted to force himself up, but the pain was so bad he was left writhing in the lap of the creature. “You know, I don't normally feel the need to do extra… But I have certainly gotten my fill, and more, of entertainment from this all. What do you say I do you a small favor, say a little payback to someone who has wronged you recently?” The odd being said, in a strangely genuine tone.

“Everyone…” Vex quietly choked out without hesitation.

“Oh ho ho…” It cackled with intrigue. “Did I hear you right?” Vex managed to force a serious look his way and tried to speak, choking out what he could. “Darius, his goons, the adven… adventurers, the family… All of them. This curse you say… Give it to… Them.” He stopped to hunch over further, choking in pain. The being began to laugh, “Oh, even the family that helped you?” Even during the immense pain Vex just sneered, “They… don't deserve that happiness. No one does.” The ambiguous being raised Vex's head, set it back down in the boat, and slowly began to rise up into the air. “I will do this, and your answer has pleased me for more than you know. I can't let one like yourself meet this fate. I have other plans. As for now, enjoy your situation a bit more.” It continued to cackle as it reached out and snapped its fingers. The pain Vex was just undergoing had now reached a new high, causing him to sit up howling in pain, spit frothing in his moth. His writhing in pain became uncontrollable convulsions, rocking the boat side to side. Worse and worse the pain grew until he flipped the boat over and began to sink; he was in too much pain to even attempt to swim. He hurt too much to take a breath, or to even try to keep himself alive. Before he had lost consciousness, however, he felt a hand wrap around his throat.

The next thing Vex knew, he had begun to move through the water at an incredibly quick pace, being dragged through it all by his throat. Shortly thereafter, the hand threw him out of the water, where his body crashed into a large rock. He opened his eyes, still hurting all over, but saw the markings were gone. It appeared he was on a coast that seemed just hours from Adeluna. “How… How did I get here?” He said to himself out loud as he gasped for air. “Well, isn't it simple? I've brought you here. I come with a gift…” Said a now familiar voice that spoke with a soft giggle. Vex turned to see the creature from before reaching its hand out to his chest. A magical symbol appeared and released a dark wave of energy that seeped into him.

Burning. Intense burning like none he had ever experienced is all he could feel throughout his whole body. He had collapsed onto the ground, convulsing with no control over his body. He could feel his mind warping as he lost control over himself and his thoughts. Between blinks everything would go from looking fine, to everything appearing to be engulfed in flames. He lost sight of what was real and what was fake. The cool sand felt like ice on his skin as the infernal burning was terrorizing every fiber of his being. He rolled on the ground screaming, seeing the calm atmosphere and the fiery hell flash back and forth, faster and faster. This went on and on until even the mind-scraping agony couldn't keep him conscious, until any second his body could give out and he'd die of shock.

It was daylight when he opened his eyes again. He felt strange, and his vision was almost completely blurred. He forced himself to stand and stumbled to where he recalled the water being and looked at his reflection, his expression quickly shaping into shock and awe as his vision cleared, and he saw his fate. His appearance now mimicked that of the creature from the night before. His eyes widened more and more, as he tried to wrap his mind around it all. Then he heard a voice echo in his mind, “I hope you enjoy my gift, dear, have fun and entertain me.”