I was sent by my order to meet with a man who was assembling a mercenary group for an important mission for the kingdom. Given the import, I selected to bring Figgy Puddin' as my sihirbaz, both due to his prior field experience and his quickness to follow orders.

We met at the Wanton Mullet. I arrived after several others, including a man, Han, with his dog Chewie, another man with knives strapped all over his person named Lohan, and a dark brooding warrior named Genco. I took my place on the couch, letting Figgy have a glass of water as he took his position on the floor at my feet. I swear that the dog looked at Figgy cross-ways, but maybe it was just my imagination. We were joined by a dandy named Enrique. Finally, our contact and another large man arrived and started telling us about the job when we were interrupted by a squat mean-eyed man named Turok entering and taking a chair.

Our job was to infiltrate a city of suspected rebels, where they were harboring an enemy of the state, Enrik, a sihirbaz that had escaped his yaka, and killed his handler and a quarter garrison in his escape. He'd kidnapped a young noble girl, Anika, and had stolen several magical artifacts, including a staff, book, and amulet. We also needed to keep the whole thing secret, so any witnesses would need to be killed. The dandy negotiated our price up to 50 gold each upon completion of the task. We were also given horses and a wagon of textiles to pose as merchants, if we chose. I received 3 more yaka in addition to the extra yaka that I always carry as a handler, and was told there were likely to be several bol sihirbaz in the city.

We chose instead to pose as bandits posing as merchants. As we started talking with the townsfolk, I made sure to misspeak a few times and cover by overacting the part of a merchant (as thought of by a bandit). The townsfolk were leery, but we made as if to sell our wares and leave. I did make sure to ask about incoming travelers and what time of year they would be most frequent, insinuating that it might be a good time for me to return.

We spent the night chatting away in the common room in the inn, where many townsfolk came through. Han had the bright idea of looking for scarred necks, like those that have previously worn a yaka. I happened to identify one woman that had the appropriate scarring, and a man that had the subservient nature of a trained sihirbaz without any scarring on his neck. I caroused with Enrique, and he left with a couple ladies upstairs. I stayed downstairs until everyone left, then made my way up to my room.

The next morning, we set out early to go see the statue that many pilgrims went to visit. We found signs of a hidden door, and when I had Figgy touch his hand to it, the door finally opened. We made our way down to a point that Figgy had to again use magic to open the way for us. Finally we made it to a large door. We opened the door, and Genco shot his bow and Lohan immediately threw a dagger, both hitting the same person, ironically. The other two people in the chamber didn't put up a fight as we rushed in and took them down. I collared all 3 with a yaka, but only one of them activated. I had Figgy heal her up, and she woke up. I gave her a little bit of obedience training and then she told me her name was Lucy.

We left Enrique in the library, and we went down a corridor indicated by Lucy that Enrik would be down. I gave her a reward, and we proceeded down to find Enrik. We found three rooms down the hall, two of them quiet but lit, and one with sounds of a man and woman making noise. We split up, and half of us broke in the door and charged in. Most of the group rushed through, while I stepped to confront a large stone golem inside the door and sent Figgy in to get a good shot at Enrik. I left Lucy in the hall with a steady dose of pleasure to keep her sitting still.

I neutralized the golem with a well placed kick, activating my anti-magic power. It shut down, and I pounded on its head for the next several seconds until it collapsed. After it was down, I turned and saw Figgy fling a stone missile at Enrik, crushing his head into pulp. He had already been disarmed by Genco, one on the bed and one on the floor next to Anika.

I retrieved the book and staff from a nearby desk, and we retrieved the amulet from Enrik's neck. We encountered a few other bol sihirbaz on our way out, which I collared. We cleared the little hideaway of people, then proceeded back to the town to do slaughter. We had heard a pop, likely a bol sihirbaz porting away, so we didn't know how much warning the townsfolk might have, or if the craven thing gave warning at all. Turns out that they had given some warning, and it took us a few hours to hunt everyone down. The older man that had been sihirbaz happened to know how to suspend people, so I collared him and had him suspend a few bol sihirbaz, and I collared a total of 5 (including the man and Lucy). I gave Lucy her new pet name of Fluffy, because she looked so cute and reminded me a little of a dog I had as a kid. I intended to train her myself. The others I didn't name; their new handlers would get to name them when they broke them.

Fluffy responded very well to training, and was very quick to learn. Of course, for the trip home I still set all the yaka to make any attempt at escape or moving from their assigned spot at night to make them experience agonizing pain and illness, but Fluffy responded much better to giving her pleasure via the yaka instead of punishing her. By the time we got back to the city, I had even managed to instruct her in a few spells. Yes, Fluffy was going to be a good sihirbaz indeed. And to think that I'm going to be paid for this, too. I love my job.