Pleasure Bound

by Alyson Belle

  New Skill: Enhance Illusion: Enhance an illusion created by another spell or skill in up to two of the following ways: double the duration, make 50% corporeal, change the size by up to 50%, add convincing sound/taste/texture.

  Perks :

  +25 Effective Spell Skill Level (Illusion)

  * Area-based illusions and glamours become twice as detailed and elaborate, making it even less likely that NPCs will see through them, as well as doubling the duration.

  * Single-target illusion spells can now target an additional NPC or player from a single cast.

  [Entrancer]

  The Entrancer is a Mesmer who focuses primarily on the arts of Illusion that mesmerize, entrance, cajole, and inflame her enemies, marrying the best aspects of an Illusionist to the natural charms of a Courtesan. They’re the masters and mistresses of a persuasive word, a beguiling touch, and a mesmerizing performance. Their silver tongues can pull the strings of emperors and move mountains.

  New Skill: Silver Tongue: Speak a single sentence, and a targeted NPC will believe it as the absolute truth for a period of 24 hours.

  Perks :

  +10 Max Charm Skill

  +10 Max Seduce Skill

  * The effects of any Illusion spells which alter NPC disposition or mesmerize NPCs are twice as hard to resist and twice as effective in their results.

  [Shadow Dancer]

  Shadow Dancers are Mesmers who turn their magical abilities inward to enhance their natural sense of movement, beauty, stealth, and misdirection. It’s sometimes said that Shadow Dancers are so swift and graceful that when they dance, they appear to be ten dancers at once, so fast are their motions. But the real secret of the Shadow Dancers is that their arts focus on creating shadowy duplicates of themselves who can move apart from them as easily as in tandem with them.

  New Skill: Sexy Simulacrum: Draw shadows together to create a shadowy duplicate of yourself which you can control with her mind and/or give orders to in your absence. The illusion is partially corporeal, can carry objects, harm enemies, and use the Shadow Dancer’s spells, and lasts until destroyed or dismissed.

  Perks :

  +40 Max Hide Skill

  * Reduced threat and increased AC from a shimmering cloak of shadows that always partially hides the true Shadow Dancer.

  * Whenever a skill or spell creates a duplicate of the Shadow Dancer, whether illusionary or corporeal, a second one can be created with the same capabilities as the first.

  [Sorceress] HIDDEN CLASS

  The dragonkin sorcerers of old were master magicians, casting spells through the raw magical essence of their otherworldly charisma. Choosing to become a Sorceress elevates a player beyond anything a mere Courtesan could dream of doing. (If you do not select this class now, it will be unavailable for re-specialization later, and you will not get credit for the server-wide first class unlock.)

  New Skill: ???

  Perks:

  ???

  It was tough to give up all of those other perks, but come on. No matter how useful any of them might be against Vierdimin individually, how could any gamer not pick Sorceress ? A hidden class with who knew what powers? And that teaser text at the end just cinched it. I was a great player, but I’d never had the chance to have a server first achievement before. No one had ever played a Courtesan this high, just like no one had ever picked Mesmer before, and no one had ever found the class quest for Mesmers either. It was the chance of a lifetime.

  But I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Last time I’d chosen without getting a second opinion, so now I discussed it at length with Topper, weighing the pros and cons of the Illusionist , Entrancer , and Shadow Dancer , each of which had interesting merits that could aid us in the fight against Vierdimin. In the end, though, we agreed that the Sorceress class had too much potential to pass up, if only because no one else had ever seen one or knew what they were capable of. The tantalizing line about “elevating a players beyond a mere Courtesan” implied some majorly cool perks.

  “It’s a roll of the dice,” Topper admitted. “But that might be just what we need.”

  I nodded resolutely and made my selection, touching Sorceress and agreeing to the confirmation window that popped up. As it faded away, I was surrounded by a huge golden shower of sparks and trumpet fanfare. “Congratulations, Sorceress!” sped across my screen, and a new dialog popped up showing the full class description. My pulse quickened and my jaw dropped open as I read.

  “What is it?” Topper demanded.

  “It… it’s freaking incredible.”

  [Sorceress]

  The dragonkin sorcerers of old were master magicians, casting spells through the raw magical essence of their otherworldly charisma. Courtesan Mesmers who follow in the footsteps of the ancient dragonkin take on many aspects of the dragons, as well as developing an affinity for their spells, allowing the use of alteration and evocation magic.

  New Skill: Dragon Rage: Fills the sorceress with the ancient power of the dragonkin sorcerers, transforming her into a physically intimidating dragonkin and dramatically increasing the power of her spells for up to 2 minutes.

  Perks:

  * Allows memorization and use of the Evocation and Alteration categories of Wizard spells.

  * Innate resistance to dragon-aspect elemental damage. +50 Fire/Cold/Acid/Frost/Lightning Resistance

  * Magical wings which allow for dragon-flight at level 65.

  I read the description and re-read it again, blinking in disbelief. Dragon Rage sounded insanely good, albeit probably with a long cooldown, and resistance to the most common damage elements was pretty handy… but the real, jaw-droppingly insane class perk was access to the Evocation and Alteration schools of magic. That was half the schools that wizards had access to! All I was missing were Conjuration, Divination, and Necromancy. Evocation was basically every flavor of destructive, damaging spell you could think of, and Alteration had all sorts of benefits… water breathing, transmutation, healing, flight.

  Flight. My eyes widened. And wings! I have wings now?

  As soon as I imagined wings on myself, a sharp pain at both shoulder blades caused me to cry out double forward. Gasping, I unlaced my shirt and let my top drop away, but this time there was nothing sexual about it. A pair of giant, scaled wings grew from my back and unfolded behind me, fluttering and twitching in the open air. They were reddish gold, scaled and shimmery like a dragon. I… I can feel them. It’s so weird.

  I took a few experimental flaps and cried out as I lifted off the ground, but I was so surprised that I quickly crashed back down to earth. But then I started laughing. I couldn’t wait to take these for a real spin.

  “Magnificent,” Fiero murmured, still on his knees in rapt attendance of me.

  “Holy shit,” Topper said. The profanity was uncharacteristic for him, but he was as shocked as I was.

  He didn’t get any less surprised as I described the rest of the class perks to him, keeping my breasts covered with my hands while I talked.

  “ So Sorceress was obviously the right class decision,” he said as I finished.

  “Yeah. No kidding. The only thing that sucks is that I’m going to need to find a new shirt that lets me use these wings whenever I want.”

  “I have an idea.” He dug around in his inventory for a moment, and came up with a roll of bandages. “I haven’t used these since I got my first healing spell. You can drape them around yourself.”

  I thanked him for the suggestion and quickly looped them around my waist and chest in a drapey X-pattern, like a loose toga made of bandage material. It was perfect. When I cinched the loops off, they were tight enough for support, but I could still release my breasts quickly for a Seduction when needed, and my beautiful new wings could easily unfold from my back whenever I liked.

  I stared at my hands in wonder, still reeling… if I could cast Illusion, Evocation, and Alteration spells, I was going to be unbelievably powerful. My Fey Blessing and Fiero’s crown together g
ave me an insanely huge 32 Charisma score and let me use it as a casting stat—which was like, demi-god level amazing—not to mention that I had a whopping 25-point bonus to all my spell skills…

  “Do you realize that at level 80, I’m probably going to be the most powerful caster on the server?”

  Topper regarded me with a strange expression, nodding slowly. “It occurred to me too. It’s amazing. You’re basically exactly the super-weapon we need to fight Vierdimin. And he can’t even touch you.”

  “So what’s wrong, then?”

  “I was just…”

  “Thinking about what Erlix said right before Wugduz took him out?” I sighed, grimacing. It had been nagging me in the back of my head, too. It was the one fly in this otherwise amazingly deliciously punch. Unlocking the sorceress class was the cherry on top of all the weirdness that Erlix had pointed out, and it was awfully convenient that I would just stumble my way inadvertently into so much power. “But why would Vierdimin want to pump my power? He can’t even hurt me.”

  “Maybe he thinks he can turn you,” Topper said quietly. The words hung in the air between us like an accusation.

  “No. Never. I wouldn’t join them in a million years,” I finally said.

  “Really?”

  “Of course not, Topper.”

  “He turned Haxor.”

  I hesitated under the weight of Topper’s searching gaze, but then I shook myself out of it. “I’m not Haxor.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re Kromgorn, but right now you’re stuck in the body of a sexy little Courtesan named Lacey. What if Vierdimin offered you a way out of this nightmare?”

  I frowned and stuck my chin out. “Even then. You and Jazzus and the rest of the Shining Army … You’re my friends, and you need me. That’s never changed. I wouldn’t turn on you for anything in the world. We’re going to rescue Jazzus, find Erlix, gather the rest of the guild, and hunt down Vierdimin together. And that’s final.” I wasn’t going to abandon my friends when they needed me most for any price. Especially not now that I was about to become our heaviest hitter in the guild—as soon as I got my magic skills up and got my hands on some Tier V spells, that was.

  Topper gazed at me a moment longer, and I felt like every inch of me was being stretched out and examined. Finally, he nodded, apparently satisfied with what he saw. “Good. Because we still have a long road ahead of us. You might be the strongest mage on the server soon, but we still need Jazzus for her Divination skills if we’re going to find Vierdimin, and Lefay is still lurking out there somewhere, along with whatever other Secret Order guildies have been able to level up while we’re busy.” Then he shook his head in disbelief. “Jeezus. Lacey the Courtesan. Who would have thought?”

  “I know, right?”

  “Truly, you bring honor to the sorcerers of old,” Fiero said. He held his tail between his hands like a nervous teenager, still entranced by the beauty of my transformation.

  I stretched my wings out wide, giving them another few flaps, and laughed at the gorgeous way they shimmered in the Fey Wild sunlight. But then I remembered our timeline, and grim determination stole over my face, replacing my mirth. These wings, these spells—they were tools, just like my sexual skills, and they were going to help me save my friends from what might be a fate worse than death. Jazzus was still captured, Erlix was missing, and Haxor was a traitor. There were so many scores to settle. And whatever game Vierdimin was playing, I was going to stop him before any more harm befell the people I cared about most. He could take Krom away from me, but I wasn’t going to let a little thing like being a girl get in my way.

  A cool wind blew through the multi-colored leaves of the forest around us, teasing my hair and chilling my skin. There was a newfound sense of confidence and power that radiated from my feminine form, and for the first time since I’d gotten stuck in the body of this silly, hyper-sexual courtesan, I felt both utterly gorgeous and incredibly powerful, and not the least bit ashamed about either. I turned and gazed toward the horizon, letting the breeze whip my make-shift shirt around me, and spoke under my breath. “If you are behind all this, Vierdimin… well, you don’t know the monster you just unleashed…”

  I raised a fist, feeling the tingle of raw magical power course through my newly energized veins.

  “…and I’m coming for you.”

  Lacey the Courtesan’s Final Character Sheet

  Lacey (PC)

  Sorceress (Courtesan) - Lv. 65

  Specialization(s): Mesmer/Sorceress

  Health: 2,925

  Mana: 4,225 (5,225)

  Specialization (Lv 30): [Mesmer]

  The Mesmer builds on the Courtesan’s inherent abilities to tease and misdirect her foes, injecting a dose of the arcane arts into the class. By focusing her raw charisma, she is capable of using illusion magic from the available Wizard Spell list to misdirect her foes, further enhancing her distraction capabilities, and can buff herself and her allies with alluring charisma-improvement spells. Mesmers have small talents in the use of arcane devices, as they’ve studied magic at a rudimentary level.

  New Skill: Sexy Shadow: The Mesmer creates an illusionary duplicate of herself which she can control with her mind and/or give orders to in her absence. The illusion has no corporeal form, but can use many of the Mesmer’s skills and last for several minutes (or until revealed as an illusion by an attempted touch).

  Perks :

  +10 Max Magical Devices Skill

  * Allows memorization and use of the Illusion category of Wizard spells.

  * Allows Charisma-based casting of all spells (for spells which would normally use Intelligence).

  Specialization (Lv 65): [Sorceress]

  The dragonkin sorcerers of old were master magicians, casting spells through the raw magical essence of their otherworldly charisma. Courtesan Mesmers who follow in the footsteps of the ancient dragonkin take on many aspects of the dragons, as well as developing an affinity for their spells, allowing the use of alteration and evocation magic.

  New Skill: Dragon Rage: Fills the sorceress with the ancient power of the dragonkin sorcerers, transforming her into a physically intimidating dragonkin and dramatically increasing the power of her spells for up to 2 minutes.

  Perks:

  * Allows memorization and use of the Evocation and Alteration categories of Wizard spells.

  * Innate resistance to dragon-aspect elemental damage. +50 Fire/Cold/Acid/Frost/Lightning Resistance

  * Magical wings which allow for dragon-flight at level 65.

  Primary Statistics

  Str: 3

  Dex: 9

  Agi: 9

  Sta: 3

  Int: 3 (6)

  Wis : 3 (6)

  Cha: 24 (32)

  Active Skill List

  Hide - Lv 4

  Charm - Lv 62 - Permanent charm, works on one PC and one NPC.

  Seduce - Lv 63 - Distracts 1-N NPCs by using sexuality.

  Kama Sutra (based on Seduce Skill) - Physically ties up an enemy.

  Motorboat (based on Seduce Skill) - Leaves an enemy disoriented for a while (~5 mins).

  Vejazzle (based on Charm Skill) - Dazzles and stuns enemies who see it.

  (Mesmer) Sexy Shadow (based on Illusion Magic Skill) - The Mesmer creates an illusionary duplicate of herself which she can control with her mind and/or give orders to in her absence. The illusion has no corporeal form, but can use many of the Mesmer’s skills and last for several minutes (or until revealed as an illusion by an attempted touch).

  (Sorceress) Dragon Rage: Fills the sorceress with the ancient power of the dragonkin sorcerers, transforming her into a physically intimidating dragonkin and dramatically increasing the power of her spells for up to 2 minutes.

  Passive Skill List

  Magical Devices - Lv 10

  (Mesmer) Illusion Magic - Lv 36 (Lv 61)

  (Sorceress) Evocation Magic - Lv 1 (Lv 26)

  (Sorceress) Alteration Magic - Lv 1 (Lv 26)

  Trait List />
  Unintimidating - NPCs are less likely to attack the character.

  Sex Appeal - NPCs are more likely to be attracted to the character.

  Blessing of the Fey - Int/Wis/Cha are raised by 3 each and all magic skills receive a 20 point bonus.

  (Mesmer) Charisma Caster - Can use Charisma as the base stat for spellcasting instead of intelligence.

  (Mesmer) Illusionist - Can cast Wizard spells from the Illusionist school.

  (Sorceress) Dragon Mage - Can cast Wizard spells from the Evocation and Alteration schools.

  (Sorceress) Dragon-Blessed - Benefits from dragon-category elemental resistances and flight-enabling wings that manifest at will. Can also use racial ability Dragon Rage .

  Stat-Influencing Gear

  [Fabulous Tiara of the Dragonkin Sorcerers]

  Epic Quality, Item Level 75

  This rare item was once the property of the dragonkin sorcerers, but was reconstructed by the prophesied one who has both the charm and magical skill to wield it, paralleled only by the beautiful dragon sorcerers of old.

  Cha +5 / Mana +1000 / Effective Spell Skill Level +5

  Unlocks Hidden Class : Sorceress

  Spells

  Tier I

  [Light] This spell generates a bright, floating light slightly brighter than a standard torch for a period of up to 2 minutes. It will follow the caster and move according to their mental commands to a distance of 15 feet.

  [Minor Glamour] This spell allows the caster to slightly alter minor features of their appearance, such as skin color, hair color, and facial features.

  [Dazzle] This spell creates a shower of multicolored sparks like a miniature fireworks display. It will not do harm, but has a small chance to confuse or blind an opponent.