Girls of Talislanta: Aamanet's Quest

From the journal of Aamanet:

In my wanderings to find the Dhuna who damned my soul, I travelled east to the Seven Kingdoms.

I made the acquaitance of Ashalea, a Batrean concubine working in a pleasure house in a quiet neighborhood of Cymril. She posed for this portrait before teaching me of the forbidden fruits of erotic pleasure.

She was very talented, but I must confess--during our night together, my thoughts were only for the witch who had stolen my heart and ruined my life.

Khryseis is a Cymrilian erotomancer--learned in the arts of using magic for pleasure, as well as using pleasure for divination. She is also somewhat of a shaman, able to find lost loves and remove minor curses.

I approached her out of desperation, to see if she could free me of the witch's curse. Khryseis read the lines in my palm and plucked three hairs from my unshaved head, which she burned in a brazier while chanting a spell. Neither of these rituals gave her any more insight into my plight, unfortunately.

She suggested something more thorough; more...involved. An ancient erotomancy spell which would help her delve deep into the darkest corners of my heart.

And so, I spent the night in her arms, opening myself to her as she opened herself to me, chanting breathlessly all the while. In the morning, I was given bad news: The witch's curse wasn't borne of magic, but of my own desire. Upon seeing that Dhuna bathing in the river (which seemed like a lifetime ago), I had cursed myself with lust for the witch.

My quest continued.

As lovely as Cymril seems, its roads aren't as patrolled as one might think. With that in mind, I hired a guide and bodyguard to see me further east into Kasmir.

By this time, my once-shaved head was growing thick with black hair, accented with some fine clothes donated to me by Khryseis the erotomancer, who took pity on my plight.

Attired thusly, I apparently made an impression upon Dashalla, who must have thought me a Zandir. She offered to guide and protect me as far as Kasir for half the price she normally asked, as long as I shared her bed each and every night.

It is a peculiar custom among the Danuvians to paint their bodies in black and crimson pigments, and I discovered that these pigments are actually juices of various plant life which stain the skin for weeks at a time. I also discovered that the Danuvians (or at least Dashalla) apply these pigments to body parts not normally seen.

Dashalla proved a very competent bodyguard, and an agressive bedmate. When we finally parted company, I had a pronounced limp in my left leg for almost two days.

The constant pain of walking after receiving Dashalla's attentions further drove home for me the darkness which had entered my life after the All-Seeing Eye turned its gaze from me forever.