Symbol of Eventide - A Knight's Padded Oath (Private for theJozza)

[Purestarfall]

Alison watched as Eliza made another diaper for her, this one looking a little bit more like panties than the old diaper she had on did. At least, she could make do with something that were just thick panties. Alison lightly blushed as she took the diaper and, without thinking about if she had to do anything else, slipped it into her legs before then pulling it up onto her. It was then that Eliza felt how comfortable it felt to wear all that padding, a comforting snugness much like if she was wearing a cloud, but dared not mention it to anyone else.

Now properly protected once more, she listened to Eliza as she stated what she...or rather they, did at this point. After the mage finished stating her view, Alison replied back to her a second or two later as she started to greatly calm back down and get some of her natural bravado bac at this point "I hope there is anyone that can fix it, but I don't know where to even begin...it might even still be impossible with how those ruins specially targeted me with magic beyond what humans can normally be affected with. But...it's fine. I'm just going to go back to doing what I was doing, albeit with me stuck wearing diapers instead of panties. And if you want to come with me...well I can't exactly say no if you'll provide my diapers and whatever other clothing I may need at this point. So...it's good to have you along Eliza!"

It was a pretty quick decision for her to make, honestly. But a simple one to make given that now she was going to need to have a constant supply of diapers big enough for her to wear now, but knew that they were otherwise rare as she had never seen any before this incident. Not only that, but she might also need some more specialty clothing to go with her diapers at her point, like pants that were made more roomy than normal at the seat of them so they could not only fit a diaper but obscure it from sight, if she couldn't find anyone else to handle that. So Eliza was pretty much her last hope for Alison to be able to still act as her usual noble and proud self to the world at large.

[theJozza]

"Really?" Eliza's eyes lit up in awe as she says that. "Oh thank you Lady Luster-stone. It's such an honor to travel with you! I've always admired you and I promise to do my best to help you find a cure for your affliction...oh um though on that note..." Eliza pauses and blushes a bit. "You might want to adjust your dia..I mean garment. You put it on backwards." Eliza says pointing at the diaper which did appear a little crooked. "Also it might not hurt to apply a little soothing powder to your skin," Eliza adds as she conjures some. "Just since you were in that enchanted one for so long it might have given you an unpleasant rash. Would you like some...assistance with that.." Thus began their unorthodox partnership

---

Traveling back to present day finds the two adventurers in much the same situation, albeit this time in a tavern washroom. Eliza stands before Alison, who's currently got her new diaper around her ankles, and is sprinkling a bit of powder into the waiting garment.

"There that should do it, your Ladyship," Eliza says, as she puts the powder away, a slight blush in her cheeks at the sight of her roommate half naked despite the fact that it's become something of a familiar sight now. "I'll give you some privacy and meet you back at the table." She steps out of the washroom, making sure to lock the door behind her and heads toward the table they'd staked out.

The two had come to Gilifred as it was the first city they'd encountered that could potentially have a healer that could help with Alison's affliction, though that wasn't particularly likely. At the very least Eliza was confident that she might be able to find some more solid leads on the situation in the city's library. What's more such a large port city was bound to have ample questing opportunities for the two of them to earn both gold and further their reputations. As she retakes her seat, Eliza debates checking the tavern's bounty board for any new assignments they could undertake.

[Purestarfall]

Alison was glad that Eliza was there to give help and advise on how to properly change a diaper, as it was never something that she herself had to really face. Though after hearing a bit of the mage's backstory, it was easy enough to know why she knew why she knew how to change one. The knight supposed that it wasn't that much different from changing a little child's diaper, only that the adult didn't have a tendency to fight back on getting one.

"Alright Eliza, thank you for the help. I'll let you go now, but can you go get us a room for the night while I'm busy with the rest of this please?" Alison asked her as they had happened to arrived at dusk, and now it was currently nighttime so they would have to wait until tomorrow to actually be able to do anything that they had come here to do at this point.

When Eliza had left and it was just her, Alison just had to sigh a bit to herself as she let out under her breath so that she was the only one that could hear it "I really hope I learn how to change myself soon. I mean I don't mind having Eliza in here doing it for me, but I just want to be able to not feel like a little girl doing one of these." With her small statement over, she then slowly but surely pulled the diaper up onto her. This time she would make sure that it wasn't put on backwards or anything wrong like that, and once she confirmed that it was then pulled on the pair of specially fitted pants that Eliza had made for her to properly fit over her diaper back up onto her. Once those were secured, she headed out of the bathroom and looked for Eliza at the front desk as she expected her to be finalizing getting their room for them at this point.

[theJozza]

Eliza was indeed fairly comfortable advising and even assisting Alison with her diapers. As the eldest of seven and with more little cousins than she could sometimes remember, she'd had quite a lot of experience changing little ones. In fact she would often share tales of her exploits as a caregiver to Alison, including one particular time when her third youngest brother had been so adamant about not having his diaper changed that he'd dove into the farm pond...of course the little blighter hadn't considered he couldn't swim... Such stories tended to cheer up Lady Luster-stone whenever she felt particularly distraught about her condition, and of course Eliza did enjoy finally being able to vent about her family to someone.

In any case, she was glancing in the direction of the bounty board, which she could tell even from her seat was quite full, when the innkeeper came over with a couple of plates of fish.

"Salmon for you and your companion, m'dear," he says, setting them down. "Will there be anything else?"

"Oh thank you very much," Eliza says smiling at the food they ordered. "Actually we were wondering if you had any rooms available. For the night at least, but we would prefer to stay the week if possible." Truth be told she and Alison hadn't really decided how long they'd be staying but Eliza figured it was better to hedge their bets.

"Got one left in the far starboard corner," the keeper replies pointing toward the stairwell in the right side of the tavern. "Five gold pieces for the night and 25 for the week. All though," he glances around for a moment and leans in closer. "it happens I may be in need of adventurers such as you and your friend and could be willing to work out a different arrangement if you'd be willing." Eliza's eyes widen a bit at the offer. On the one hand the man and his establishment seemed reputable, but on the other hand one of the first things they taught you at adventurer's academy was to be leery of such offers.

"I see well when my companion returns we'll discuss it and get back to you, sir," Eliza replies to which the innkeeper nods and returns to his duties. Eliza starts to eat and wait for Alison to return.

[Purestarfall]

As Alison returned to her table and sat down at her chair, she saw the cooked salmon and figured that Eliza had gotten it for them. Not that she minded at this point, she was a bit hungry herself so she would take it. She would start to eat it as she savored the delict smell that it gave off, as well as of course enough the taste that the well-prepared meal had. Even if Alison knew that sooner or later it was going to come back out and into her diaper in a more rotten form. But that fact wasn't something she wanted to focus on right now for obvious reasons.

"I expected you'd have still been getting a room for us. Were you able to pay for one that quickly?" Alison simply asked Eliza in-between bites as she did her best not to eat messy or show off any sort of inappropriate manners, showcasing that she still remembered and used her lessons that being a noble-born well. She had been drilled so much on how to present herself as formal and elegant as if she were a princess that she could do those blindfolded.

[theJozza]

"Oh well fortunately the innkeeper was the one who served us so I asked him then," Eliza says, while she also continues to eat. Naturally she wasn't quite as refined as Alison, but was far more so than many of her relatives. Moreover she had managed to pick up a few tricks and methods of etiquette from her partner, after all she wouldn't want to embarass Lady Luster-stone. "He has one room available and said that it would cost us 5 gold pieces for the night and 25 for the week." Eliza says with a slight wince. After all they weren't strapped for gold, but they had spent a fair amount to book passage to this port and had been hoping to spare their coins a bit before they found some work.

"All though," Eliza pauses as she remembers the second half of their conversation. "He did say he might have a task for us that could cut into the cost. Though I admit he was fairly vague about the details. What do you think Lady Luster-stone?"

[Purestarfall]

Alison would listen to what Eliza had to say about the issue before then telling her in a more hushed tone so that no one could overhear them "What I think is that we can at least hear him out to see what the task is. I say we ask him to do it in the open here and see what his response is. If he willingly tells us while we're sitting at this table in front of other guests then it's a safe bet that the task is on the up-and-up. But if he insists to go somewhere more private before giving us the details, then we go along with it anyway but with us knowing that it's suspicious in some way."

Growing up, Alison was made more aware that although her family did stay on the mostly legitimate side of running businesses, that they also were involved in a fair amount of crime-syndicates. More than once, Alison had been caught in situations that required her to stay abreast of all potential players, so for a knight she was much more skilled in how to read people and intentions. A skill that she still commonly used, and helped pass onto Eliza if the mage needed the help. After all, they were in this together now.

"Though we'll have to insist on it to wait a bit of it's anything combat related. Remember that I'm going to have to get a new weapon, as well as a new suit of armor...and make sure that it's well fitted for me to wear. And that takes time." Alison then told Eliza as she just had to make that point clear. She had lost all of her gear when the ruins covered her and morphed into that diaper and shirt, likely just having been utterly crushed by it, and since then had been relying pretty heavily on Eliza to protect her and to provide her with some simple clothes to wear. "Well let's just do it, motion the innkeeper to come here to talk with us." She finally told Eliza as she was ready to see what he wanted from them.

[theJozza]

Eliza nods along with Alison's plan. She naturally wouldn't want to get mixed up with anything illegal or immoral, but the little time she'd spent on the road had taught her that to be a successful adventurer you did have to bend the rules now and then. Besides, remembering that Alison needed to buy some new equipment was yet another reason they had to save their money for now. So she motions for the innkeeper who was in the process of serving another patron. When that was done, he walks over and sits.

"This is my companion Alison Luster-stone," Eliza says gesturing to Alison. "We have agreed to hear your proposal about earning our stay here."

The innkeeper nods and looks back and forth between the two. "Fair enough, but not here," he says, glancing around, while focusing on one table in particular. It's full of men where uniforms that all have the crest of a swordfish. "I'll send you a signal in a moment. I'd rather discuss this only around ears I know I can trust." He stands up and walks away.

Almost an hour later, a serving girl walks over and sets down two fresh flagons of mead and a plate of biscuits. "On the house ladies," she says, before whispering. "When you're finished meet him in the kitchen." Then she walks away. By now the tavern is mostly empty, but the one table with the men bearing the swordfish marker is still full. And seems to be getting rowdy.

"What do you think Lady Luster-stone," Eliza asks, while helping herself to a biscuit. "Shall we go?"

[Purestarfall]

Right as the innkeeper told them that the negotiations wouldn't be happening there, she just shot Eliza a quick glare that basically told the mage from visual clues alone 'Figured as such. Let me take the lead here.' And so they waited until they got the cue to go. On getting the plate of biscuits set down, Alison would take one and started to eat it as she ordered Eliza "You can take any of the biscuits you want. Stay away from the mead though, it's best if we don't go into this any bit drunk."

Once they were done with that, they got up and headed over to the kitchen. After checking to make sure that Eliza was following her and that they weren't being followed, she would enter the kitchen and look around for the innkeeper or otherwise just waited for him to make the first move. Of course, she had her guard up in case anything unexpected happened and thankfully her diaper still felt clean for right now so that was a small relief at least.

[theJozza]

Eliza nods, finishing her biscuit and then grabbing a few more as she tended to get hungry when she was nervous. She quickly follows Alison, bringing her magic staff along just in case. She follows Alison through the kitchen doors and sees the innkeeper seated in the center of the room, taking a long swig from a flagon. The girl who just served them, who Eliza notices actually bears a striking resemblance to the keeper, is standing next to him, and upon noticing them she pulls over two chairs. Eliza glances to Alison and then follows her to sit down.

"Apologies for being so vague, my dears," the innkeeper says as he sets down his empty flagon. "Gotta be careful with those bilge rats out there always taking one of my tables." He snorts angrily and spits on the floor. "You see, about two months ago a new guild showed up and bribed our scurvy harbor master into signing over his duties to them. At first it seemed like they were doin' a better job of keeping the port safe than he ever did, but then the blasted fees," he says the final word with particular venom. "started poppin' up. Those scalywags demand payment whenever something comes into port, cargo, passengers, even bloody fish, and that's where me problem is. See me brother catches all the fish and such that I serve here, but ever since those bloody parasites showed up he can't afford to bring it in normal unless I raise me prices, and that's bound to cost me customers. The poor lads are suffering enough with all these blasted fees. That's where you ladies come in." He pulls out a rolled up parchment and holds it out. "Me brother found an old dock that's hidden inside a house on the water's edge. Almost no one knows it's there. He'll be docking there two days from now with a huge catch. All you two gotta do is get it and escort it here without being seen...you do that and ya can stay as long as you want no charge."

Eliza listens attentively. All things considered, this feels far less ominous than she'd been expecting, considering they'd just be escorting a fisherman's catch. She glances over to Alison curious of her reaction.