Nenetl woke up in that old manor house again, it was happening more and more often lately and they didn’t know why. They slowly pushed themselves up off the hardwood floor they had been curled up upon and stretched out, arms curling over their head and legs stretching out toes pointing, to work out any kinks and aches from sleeping on the floor. Slowly they clambered to their feet, rubbing their eyes and yawning. It was strange every time they woke up in this house, they never remembered how they had ended up here or what had brought them here. They just went to bed wherever and woke up here, a few times that had looked around the manor house searching for any reason that they might have been brought here, but they found nothing at all. The house was old but not quite in a state of disrepair. There was a bit of dust but not as much as one might expect, the furniture had been clearly well maintained but older clearly. The garden was overgrown with weeds but anyone could see that it had once been beautiful. 

 

With a languid pace Nenetl made their way out of the library and down to the entry way slowly pushing open the door and stepping outside blinking in the sunlight. It was one of the greatest mysteries of their life but it seemed that they wouldn’t get any answers here, at least they never had before. They let out a sigh as their eyes adjusted to the morning light and started trudging down the overgrown path towards the iron gate that creaked when they pushed it open. The Manor stood on the edges of town a good few minutes walk down the road to get back within the comfortable shade of buildings and the bustle of people. Apparently it had belonged to an eccentric merchant a decade or so back and when the merchant had passed away nobody had been interested in buying the place, Nenetl had heard conflicting reasons ranging from the taxes being to expensive for any native and the town itself being to small and out of the way for anyone with the kind of wealth to renovate and maintain the place to bother with it.

 

Whatever the true reason, the house stood alone on a small hill left to slowly rot away while the townspeople went about their business. Nenetl slipped into the streets proper and started to wander as they had for as long as they could remember, this little town was all they had ever known, never having much impetus to wander somewhere else, and besides that without good shoes it would be a nightmare to try and truck through the wilderness, never mind running into any monsters out there. Nope Nenetl was content with the life they had here. Some people said this town was boring but they always found something new and interesting to see and experience. Nenetl passed by one of the shops and stopped to look at themselves in the window’s reflection. They looked young with a round childish face and deep green eyes, a scraggly mess of black hair hung like a shaggy mop from the top of their head and further pushed their appearance towards a measure of androgyny. A few of the townsfolk had asked them about their gender early on but after being presented with mostly confusion from them enough times most people had just come to accept that Nenetl was Nenetl. 

 

They wandered the streets greeting the baker and getting a fresh bun still warm from the oven to munch on as they wandered. Where should they go today? The Library was small and had few books but it was quiet and they could badger the librarian with questions about whatever they wanted to know about, or they could go to the market and see if they could get treats and interesting trinkets from the merchants. There were also fields where some of the kids might be playing. There were always so many options for things to do and Nenetl was always happy to try out new things! A smile on their face, instead of doing any of those things they ran into one of the alleyways and finding a convenient stack of crates clambered up onto them and then onto the roof.

 

Nenetl plopped down on the warm clay tiles and stared up into the sky, there was so much about this world that they just didn’t understand. They had been wandering this town for as long as they could remember interacting with the townsfolks and experiencing all that life here had to show them. They stretched a hand up towards the sky to block the sun from their sightline. The world was just such an interesting place! They sat up slowly and looked out across the town from their vantage point. If they could spend the rest of their time here they would be happy. They watched the townsfolk go about their lives, they recognized most of them of course even if just in passing. But there were a few people that they didn’t recognize, they were different because they had weapons and armor. Who were they? Soldiers? Nenetl had heard some things about the army from others. But they didn’t look big enough to be an army, just a bunch of people with patchwork equipment, and they looked a bit messy.. Adventurers maybe? 

 

That was certainly exciting after all! They might have stories and interesting things to share with Nenetl. So they slid down the roof and dropped to the street below, taking off as soon as they were able to see if they could get close enough to watch them. It would be rude enough to just run and bother them of course but they could keep an eye on them and listen in to see if there was anything interesting going on! They slunk slowly through the crowd getting closer and closer to the adventurers who moved seemingly with purpose towards the only inn/tavern in town. Nenetl could hear them talking amongst each other.

 

“Are you sure this is the right place? Looks pretty podunk…” The female with red hair spoke quietly and it seemed that Nenetl was listening to a conversation that was already going on.

 

“The contract was clear that this was the place with the demon.” There was a scoff from another of the group.

“A demon would have turned this place to a smoking crater long before there was a contract. Look around, does this town look like a place that's being terrorized?” The man that spoke was shaking his head. “Some farmer probably got spooked by an odd looking beastie and called in the cavalry.” 

 

“And besides that if it was a real demon the paladins would have gotten involved.” There was a murmur of ascent from the rest of the group.

 

“Well whatever the pay is good so we just hunt down the monster and get to live it up for a bit eh?” There was a round of quiet ascent from the group as they passed through the door of the tavern. Nenetl paused, what was a demon? Was it a kind of monster? The adventurers seemed to imply as such, but they had never heard of such a thing before. It must be quite rare to draw some people to this sleepy little town! Nenetl absolutely would be sticking to these adventurers like glue, the only question was should they go inside the inn and try to eavesdrop more? Or find someplace they can settle in and observe for them to emerge and start hunting for the demon, whatever that was? 

 

They opted for the second choice and climbed up onto the rooftop opposite the entrance to the inn, settling in and watching the building. How long would they be inside? Would they be there all day? Maybe they were getting food, rooms of course people seemed to prioritize having places to stay from what Nenetl had seen. It didn’t make a ton of sense to them; they just wandered around, slept wherever was comfortable. Though they still woke up in the manor house more often than not so maybe they weren’t the best judge. They were perpetually interested in the goings on of the villagers and travelers, they were all just so very interesting! They leaned back against the chimney stack and watched the inn, at first they were content to just sit still and wait, but slowly as the hours passed and nothing interesting happened that little twinge of boredom started to twinge slowly through Nenetl’s being. They wanted to be active! They craved to do -something-, maybe they should check in on the adventurers? 

They hopped up to their feet and stuck out their arms to balance as they sauntered down the length of the house and hopped down onto a nearby cart and then down onto the ground.

 

Steadily they slunk across the street to the inn and peeked in through a window trying to see the inside where people were gathered at the tables drinking and eating but.. They couldn’t see any of the adventurers through the window, had they gone upstairs to a room? Nenetl stepped back from the window and glanced up towards the second floor, humm they could climb up there, it would be a bit of work but they were pretty good at scrambling and climbing when it came down to it. They drew up a breath and rushed forwards jumping up and seeking out handholds scrambling up the side of the building. It would take a bit to check every window but surely they would find them this way!

 

The adventures it turned out had taken a corner room and they peeked through the window hiding as best as they could out of view watching the group, most of them seemed to be chatting together and preparing thier equipment. Nenetl could see swords and various other bits of equipment they had seen only in the hands of guards and in story books! With almost starry eyes they kept watching as they talked over their plans, they couldn’t hear what was being said. The window was thick enough to block out the sound of quiet conversation but it looked like the adventurers were going to start hunting for the monster soon! 

 

With a mixture of excitement and trepidation Nenetl watched as the ground seemed to come to some consensus standing up gathering their gear sheathing their weapons and grabbing what the young enby believed to be everything they would to hunt down and find this monster, they marched out of the room and as quickly as they had scrambled up the side of the building did Nenetl clamber down to the street. They weren’t entirely sure why they were sneaking around, mostly they just figured the adventurers wouldn’t want a random person tagging along with them while they went about their business so, sneaking meant they could watch more of what was going on! They hid around the corner of the building watching for when the adventurers left the inn, the group had a grim seriousness to them. Somewhere between arriving in town and setting out on this hunt they had left behind their jovial companionship and seemed far more prepared for whatever might come now. Nenetl ducked back behind the wall as one of them started to turn in their direction. 

 

Nenetl held their breath and closed their eyes hoping that they weren’t noticed, and if they were they would be dismissed as just a curious local kid. That would be the best outcome. When nothing happened after a few solid heartbeats did they open their eyes and glance around, alone. They slowly shifted their weight and peeked around the corner. The group of adventurers had already headed down the street and were making some strides out to the edge of town. The little enby had to hurry to catch up if they wanted to stay hidden. They rushed from cover to cover, slowly slinking closer to the group. Trying to both stay out of sight and keep them within sight, it was hard they had never really tried to be all that sneaky before, but it was fun! 

 

The group was making its way out of the town and towards the forest, from what Nenetl overheard from the group they were trying to eliminate places where the demon might be. The Forest was a big potential location, but the little enby had heard them talking about checking the town and the old manor hours too. It was best to eliminate potential locations one by one. That plan made sense to Nenetl but they weren't a trained adventurer so they didn’t have the experience necessary to judge the plan on its own merits and could only do so based on how the adventures talked about and what they thought was a good idea. 

 

The first day was by and large fairly boring, they tromped through the woods looking for any sign of the creatures they were hunting, dispatched a few minor beasties that attacked and overall spent hours wandering around seemingly at random in the woods. It wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as Nenetl had hope it would be, But they were going to stick this out because the adventurers coming to town was the most interesting thing that had happened to this tiny town for as long as they could remember and they were not gonna miss out on something interesting happening because sometimes they did boring things too. 

 

When night started to fall the group hurried back to town. It seemed that the adventures had no interest in being out here at night time and Nenetl followed along after them eager to see something more interesting than just wandering through the woods. The group chatted amongst themselves in a low voice, low enough that Nenetl couldn’t really overhear what they were saying but they seemed fairly upset that they hadn’t come across the creature they were hunting for. Nenetl was confused as to why, did they expect the villagers to have lied? And just assumed that a random beastie was a [demon]? Or were they expecting some grand confrontation where the monster appeared before them with a dramatic swish of its cape and evil laugh. ‘Muahaha foolish heroes!’ or something? Nenetl was pretty sure that sorta thing only happened in storybooks.

 

They wandered back to town and the group started to spread out, Nenetl paused watching as the adventures split up and all started heading in different directions, w-wha! How were they meant to follow the group if they split up and started poking around separately?! They had to think quickly and rushed forwards clambering up the side of the building and onto a rooftop, if they stayed quiet they should be able to jump from rooftop to rooftop and keep an eye on as many of the adventurers as they could! The group was spreading around checking all over town now that most people had headed home for the evening so the streets were nearly deserted and the adventurers could poke around for anything they thought might be suspicious around town. 

 

It was fairly boring to watch them go about the town checking things and poking around buildings, eventually the group retired to the inn and left Nenetl feeling rather disappointed, of course they hadn’t thought that it would be all high octane excitement from the moment the adventures showed up in town but they had expected... something? They would just have to hope that tomorrow was more interesting!

 

Nenetl slipped from the roof and padded slowly down a familiar alleyway to a place they had set up a comfortable little nest for sleep. Pillaged blankets and cloth that was piled up under a tarp to protect them from the rain they crawled in and curled up with a yawn, with luck tomorrow would be a better day, far more exciting! They could only hope that it would be, that every day would be all the more interesting than the last, the world was such an interesting place and Nenetl wanted to experience it all, every little thing that this world had to show them. She stretched out a hand towards the sky smiling up at their fingers. They were happy, truly.

 

They dreamed of a round table surrounded by indistinct blurry faces, everyone had fancy teacups and they chatted and giggled, sharing stories all through the night. Nenetl talked about the adventures and the excitement in town and the others happily listened in. It wasn’t until sunlight started to peek through the windows that the dream ended and they opened their eyes, not in the nest they had made in that back alleyway but instead slumped forwards over a table in that old manor house on the outskirts of town. The blinked and slowly sat up a string of drool landing on the tabletop. 

 

“Bllhhh..?” Nenetl blinked glancing around the room blearily as the birds chirped in the garden. Were they back in the manor again? How had they ended up here again? They never knew. They rubbed their eyes and sat up properly, working to chase the sleep fog from their mind and the crust from the corners of their eyes. They slid out of the chair and properly looked around the room. It was so very similar from the room in their dream with the tea party. That was probably just a coincidence right? If they were sleepwalking or whatever they probably just projected the dream onto their surroundings or whatever, it was just a dream they could dismiss it no problem. They turned to make their way out of the room. They had been in the manor so many times they knew the layout pretty well, but this room was new when they stepped through the door out of the room with the table that some part of their brain dubbed the ‘tea room’.

 

This new room that they found themselves in was strange, like a library but instead of books each shelf held a doll, all kinds with all different styles of clothing and appearances. Each one was much like the rest of the manor, surprisingly free of dust and well maintained for what should be a house that's sat abandoned for a decade or longer. Nenetl walked along the shelves looking over each doll that they passed, some were dressed like villagers in simple clothing, others were dressed in far more fanciful clothing that made them look like princesses or nobles, and yet more had mock armor like knights or adventurers. It was a large and eclectic collection to be sure but each and every one of them was clearly appreciated by someone to be so well cared for and displayed like this. 

 

Nenetl reached the last shelf and there stood an empty spot, was a doll missing from the collection? They stared at the empty spot for some reason it summoned up a strange mixture of feelings within Nenetl, it was sad in some way that the collection wasn’t complete but at the same time it wasn’t really Nenetl’s problem now was it? If they spotted the missing doll around the manor then they would return it but if they didn’t then they wouldn’t go out of the way to solve the problem. The manor house was a curiosity indeed but it wasn’t that interesting and they were more than eager to get outside and hunt for more stimulating enrichment in the wider world. 

 

They pulled away from the shelf and headed outside down the stairs and to the front entrance sauntering into the warm sunlight and greeting the day with a bright smile, the garden was just the same as always and Nenetl sauntered through the old metal gate and down the road towards the town. Maybe the adventurers would be doing something interesting today! The weirdness of waking up in the manor was pushed aside it happened so often that it was just a mild curiosity for Nenetl and they were not that worried about it, after all nothing bad happened to them even when they woke up there so over time they had just accepted it as a quirk they had. Arriving in town it was a bright morning and many people were up and about. 

 

Nenetl waved to the shopkeepers they knew and chatted with some of the local kids who were off to play in the fields, they offered to have Nenetl join them but they declined, they certainly didn’t want to miss anything at all with the adventurers, what if they decided to play with the kids and the adventures found the monster that day? No no that simply wouldn’t do. So reluctantly they turned the kids down and took off through the crowd running to try and get to the inn before the adventurers left for the day to explore.. Wherever they were going to explore that day. 

 

Today was a little more interesting at least as they were going around town talking to the townsfolks about the monster, what people had seen and gathering information. It seemed that they had hoped it would be a simple beastie they could kill in the forest and now that they had failed to find whatever it is they were going to take the problem a bit more seriously? Nenetl wasn’t sure that was the best choice, a few stories they had heard seemed to say that one should be a bit more cautious but at the end of the day they were the trained adventurers and Nenetl was just a random person, and they hadn’t even spoken to the adventures themselves so any tactical problems they had with the adventures choices well they were just in the enby’s head. 

 

The day passed in a way that was slightly more interesting than the previous one had. There was at least a bit more information that Nenetl picked up about the group that day than the previous one at least. They were newly promoted to their rank but were rather quite skilled for their levels and had apparently hunted some kind of rare and terrifying monster that had earned them a fair bit of fame. There were three men and two women in the party, the men were a [Swordsman], a [Paladin] and a [Wizard] and the women were a [Cleric] and a [Ranger]! That was really cool Nenetl didn’t have a class, but they had heard that you got one when you were stronger so they hoped they got something cool when they got theirs! 

 

Eventually one of the adventures did spot Nenetl, the [Ranger], it shouldn’t have been so surprising in the end after all [Rangers] got skills that helped them with spotting small details, and someone like Nenetl who had no skills to boost their sneaking and watching to superhuman levels? Well it was only natural that they be caught at some point. They just hadn’t expected it to be on the second day! 

 

Nenetl had again taken to the rooftops like the day before but this time when they were following the redheaded [Ranger] she had suddenly turned and for a moment they had locked yes before Nenetl had turned tail and bolted. They weren’t completely sure why it's not like they were doing anything wrong and bolting like that was certainly suspicious and likely had shifted them in the woman's mind from ‘curious thing’ to ‘potential enemy’ so it was no shock that the woman gave chase and absolutely over took the little thing. Nenetl found themselves caught in an alleyway with nowhere to go but scrambling up a wall, the only exit blocked off by the redheaded adventurer. 

 

She didn’t look angry, really more just curious when she laid eyes properly on the enby. Nenetl wore clothes that could do with a bit of a wash, had a wild mane of black hair that poofed out around their face in a tangled mess, a round face that betrayed hints of childish features not yet grown out of and green wide staring eyes. They looked in that moment a bit more like a wild forest critter ready to bolt than a human. 

 

The adventurer straightened up and a smile spread across her face, not quite sincere but placating in nature at least. 

 

“Hey there, sorry I chased after you hun.” she raised a hand in a gentle sort of gesture. Nenetl had gotten past the initial panic and urge to flee fairly quickly however and had transitioned towards embarrassment. A blush had started to creep across their face and their mouth twisted up with consternation.

 

“s-sorry  m-ma’am I just, uhh.. Ran?” they weren’t exactly sure what the proper protocol here was, of all the conversations with other people that Nenetl had were far from this.. Potential interrogation and there had certainly never been a hint of confrontation to them before despite how seemingly nice the woman was being. 

 

“Right right, and there's not anything wrong with that, it's just.. Hmm okay how about this.” The woman stood up a bit straighter, the ghost of a smile still playing on her lips as she cleared her throat. “You aren’t in any trouble of course I just want to ask you a few questions okay?” 

 

Nenetl nodded slowly, that was fair they were investigating after all and asking as many people about things might give them a better idea of what to look for. 

 

“Uhm sure, what sort of questions?” That was a safer bet than just agreeing to answer anything that was asked of them. 

 

“Well have you noticed anything strange around town? Like something outside the norm?” That was a question that perhaps Nenetl had anticipated but of course they didn’t have a great answer to it either. What had changed that they could recall? The town had a flow to it that they knew well, people went out in the morning to the shops and market or the fields. Then in the afternoon they came back to visit the bars and inns then home again nothing overt they noticed had altered the flow. The only really strange thing around town was the manor house but that was strange and had been for decades right? 

 

“Ahm.. well nothing’s really changed much around town…” They tilted their head to one side, brow furrowed in thought. “The only strange thing really is the manor house but it’s been like that for as long back as I can remember.” They shrugged, but were very much eager for the conversation to be over, they wanted to watch. To see what was going on but not be an active participant at least, Nenetl wasn’t a hero and certainly didn’t have a sword or the know-how to swing one around beyond what the kids in the field with sticks could manage. Certainly not enough to get a skill for it there was a certain level of regimented training required for unlocking that skill. 

 

The woman gave them a slow nod. “The manor house huh, yeah that was looking like the only real option.” The women seemed unhappy with what Nenetl had to say but also not surprised. “Ah.. whatever anyway run along then and be careful it’s dangerous out there.” Nenetl nodded in response to the statement and forced a little smile across their face. 

 

“R-right! You too? Uhm.. be careful I mean the monster might be dangerous?” Nenetl wasn’t sure exactly what a [Demon] was but it certainly sounded dangerous enough, and it drew a whole team of adventures out so it had to be much worse than the usual sorts. The woman just smiled a little bit more genuinely this time and started to turn to leave. 

 

“Right we will after all we’re professionals, you stay out of trouble now.” She called as she stepped out of the alleyway and left Nenetl alone again. They let out a little breath and deflated in place. They had been caught and now they knew the adventures could spot them with ease…. They would have to be far far more cautious from now on. Since they obviously had no intention of giving up seeing what was going on. They just had to be smarter about it!

 

They peeked out of the alleyway and quickly spotted the adventurer heading down the street towards the inn. It was getting towards the end of the day so much like the last day Nenetl figured that they didn’t want to be out at night when monsters got a bit more dangerous. They followed along with a fair bit more caution and distance than they had before not wanting to be caught following them around immediately after being caught the first time. They crept slowly moving from house to house, crate to crate ducking behind carts and anything else that would help block them from view. Taking quick peeks to see the woman enter the inn.

 

Nenetl waited a while just to be sure that they would not emerge again, waited until the sun went down and then snuck off to find their cozy nest to hopefully sleep the night away without ending up waking up in the manor house again, especially if the adventures were going to be heading that way come morning the last thing they wanted was to be caught out in a place they probably shouldn’t be by people that were likely already somewhat suspicious of them for a variety of reasons. Was that maybe a little presumptuous? Perhaps, after all, Nenetl was human and aside from being both curious and had a habit of sleepwalking, had done nothing wrong. But would the potentially angry people with weapons think the same way? All it took was one mistake and it would be over for the enby and once they were dead ‘sorry I misjudged’ wouldn’t mean anything. They breathed out and curled up a little tighter hugging the blanket to their chest, everything would work out they had to believe that it would. 

 

That night they dreamed of a smiling face, it was a little too big perhaps but the features were indistinct enough to not bother Nenetl in their fog of sleep, words they didn’t understand danced against their ears and twisted through their mind. But despite that they were content and calm, everything was okay, everything would always be okay. The world was bright and interesting but also scary and dangerous but Nenetl didn’t have to worry about a thing. Their mind worked slowly in the dream fog and just as it was starting to get around to why everything would be okay they woke up.

 

Birds chirping greeted them and warm sunlight, They were back in the manor house again. They had hoped they wouldn’t today but the pattern was clear and a wish wouldn’t change that. Slowly they sat up and stretched, today they had woken up in a bed in one of the bedrooms up stairs. It was vaguely familiar but they had been in almost every room in the manor at some point so that didn’t tell them much. As they stepped onto the floor and moved to straighten out their clothes, but they found that what they had once been wearing scavenged rags and dirty clothing had been traded out for something new and clean, It was a comfortable pair of trousers and a hooded top with a colorful sash wrapped around their body. Where had these come from? Well they certainly weren’t going to complain about sleepwalking into some clean new clothes! This set even had comfortable boots. They took a moment to jump up and down and move about getting a feel for the boots and clothing and finding nothing at all wrong with it like the outfit was made of r them or something they simply shrugged it was strange of course but strange things happened sometimes and good fortune was something to not be questioned. 

 

They sauntered out of the room with a smile on their face and a bit of a spring in their steps. When something made them stop, a noise that they normally didn’t hear voices outside the manor house. Nenetl moved quickly to dart back into the bedroom they had just emerged from and just in time too as they could see through the banister and down into the front hall when the door to the manor opened and the adventurers entered the building.

 

The man in the lead with his sword drawn glanced around the entry way. 

“Man this place is creepy.” The rest of the party filed in after him, and his comment earned him a few scoffs and some gentle ribbing from the rest of the group at least until the [Paladin] hummed and muttered. 

 

“No he’s right.. There's something sinister here.” 

 

“Is it the demon?” The [Paladin] shook his head and let out a sigh. 

 

“I can’t be sure, but be cautious.” The warning obviously prompted some level of caution from the group and they gripped their weapons tighter. Nenetl shifted slinking slowly back away from the landing and holding their breath. No if they were spotted now the adventures would surely attack first and ask questions later. They had no choice but to remain quiet and hope they were overlooked. Or that whatever the demon was it showed up soon and prevented them from searching through the whole manor house. 

 

Nenetl crawled slowly backwards away from the door cringing with every creak and groan the old house made, sure that each little noise would herald a shout and the sound of boots charging up the stairs to attack them. The Enby shuffled slowly under the bed and froze. They could in the distance hear the sounds of the adventures poking around the house but nothing else reached their ears. Slowly they shifted relaxing a bit trying to find a more comfortable position where they were hidden, something felt off though they felt some weight pressing down on them and they slowly glanced around almost jumping out of their skin when behind them sat a face, pale and much larger than then, made of what looked like white porcelain, cracked and randomly stuck back together with an eclectic mixture of far to many eyes in all variety of colors styles and sizes, a smile that stretched far to wide on that face to be natural watched them. But for some reason that visage that should have been horrifying, failed to elicit the proper reaction in Nenetl they just stared at that face that peered at them from beside the bed they had crawled under. Eyes wide, would this monster hurt them? They were frozen just staring at the creature caught somewhere between wondering if they should be scared or not.

 

The eyes blinked and the smile twitched. Then it spoke, its words were scratchy and guttural like it was poorly simulating vocal chords with whatever it had on hand, Nenetl certainly couldn’t parse or even understand what was being said to them though.

 

“Haeaeh keouiet lyetettehnd noke, haeaeh merrddden.” But whatever it was saying it didn’t seem hostile and the creature just slowly moved away, towards the entrance. Nenetl wasn’t sure what to think. Was that the demon? Was that the monster? It was creepy for sure but it didn’t elicit much fear from the enby. It didn’t even hurt them, they just said something and moved out of the room.

 

Nenetel stayed there for a moment, and it was only when they heard shouting did they crawl slowly out from under the bed. Did that mean that the monster had met the adventurers? Will it be over soon? Maybe they could sneak out while the fight was happening! They slipped slowly into the hallways but saw neither hide nor hair of either of the potentially hostile parties. They made their way slowly towards the stairs and started creeping down towards the entryway, the door was getting closer and closer with every single step. They reached the bottom of the stairs and were just taking those few steps towards the door when an angry shout made them freeze and slowly turn. 

 

The [Swordsman] was glaring at them, sword gripped in one hand as he marched towards the entrance. 

 

“Figures it was you.” He snarled, “should have just killed you when we first noticed you, I told you!” He turned to the rest of his party who had stepped into the room.

 

The adventurers had angry looks on their face, The man was holding out a sword pointed at Nenetl, they backed up slowly holding up their arms brows furrowed and a look of confusion on their face. “This one’s been following us for days now! have any of you even [Identify]’ed them? They don’t come out as human! They must be a spy for the demon!” The adventurer was clearly angry but what they said confused Nenetl, not human? What did they show up as then? They didn’t get the answer because before they could do anything at all the man stepped forwards brandishing that blade, drawing it back and chopping for Nenetl. “Whatever you are, you die today monster!” 

 

Nenetl raised their arms defensively letting out a scream as the sword arced towards them biting into and then slicing through one of their arms biting into their shoulder and cleaving down through Nenetl’s body. Why? Why? Did this adventurer attack them? What had they done wrong? They fell slowly to the ground expecting pain to come, expecting to feel the bite of the blade, expecting to feel themselves dying but instead of blood when they hit the floor a spread of white fluff scattered away from the wound scattering across the floor, Nenetel was froze with shock, trying to figure out what was going on why they lay there missing an arm and a slice cut down their torso. They stared mutedly at the white fluff wondering what exactly it was and why it had come from their body, also wondering why aside from a deep seated ache in their body they felt no real pain. Why? Shouldn’t they be in agony right now? The adventurer was hefting their sword again with a strange expression on their face preparing to strike down at the fallen enby again to ensure they were dead? Nenetl just stared up at the man who was hefting that blade to cut them again.

 

Just then a loud resounding and exceedingly inhuman screech resonated through the halal of the manor, the volume made everyone save for Nenetl to cover their ears. The adventurers were glancing around suddenly nervous, turning away from where Nenetl lay on the floor; they were looking towards the doorways and windows. But none of them were prepared for what burst into the room. It was the same horrifying creature that Nenetel had seen in the bedroom, except it now stood in its full glory, as it raised up from passing through the doorway all the way up to its full height it easily stood at eight feet tall. With a face that looked like cracked white porcelain glared down at the adventurers with a half dozen eyes each with a different color and iris shape, purple and orange, gold and blue, animalistic slits and humanoid circles, a mouth stretched far wider than any human’s mouth could go and bared rows and rows of needle like fangs. Where hair should be a few hundred tentacles stretched out behind the monster those tendrils twisted slowly waving in the air like a nest of writhing serpents. Its body was spindly like an insect of white porcelain and black slime, hundreds of arms stretched from its shoulders and body, and all of them were just as incongruent as its eyes, hands with dozens of fingers sat next to hands with three fingers. Some arms had extra joints, some were the picture of pristine human arm. The monster looked like someone had torn apart a few dozen mannequins and dolls and haphazardly stuck them together to create this monstrosity. It screeched and spat words in an incomprehensible language. 

 

“khutebo wedensters! yakho paderebo? yakho hyretrudebo layhtebo ah e auktackhet mehs rhousesshol?” The monster hissed and spat as it struck forwards, the adventurer that had cut Nenetl tried to defend himself but his blade was grabbed and yanked from his hands his body thrown across the room where he crashed into a wall and slumped to the floor. The rest of the adventurers were similarly disarmed and tossed around like toys even as they tried to defend themselves with skills and weapon, in its fury they couldn’t much seem to phase the monster, even when one of them managed to land a strike on the creature's body the monster who just turned on the attacker and smashed them into the floor. All the while it shouted in a language that Nenetl didn’t understand. It was with muted horror that Nenetl laid there on the floor, watching the carnage. Idly they wondered if they should fear for their life but, a blade had nearly cleaved them in twain and they still felt.. Mostly fine, sure they couldn’t really move but they were still alive right? It was a strange feeling to be intellectually certain that you should be dead, but you just weren’t. 

 

They tried to move an arm but found that it wouldn’t respond, once the monster finished up with the adventures and had dumped them all unconscious in a pile. 

 

“yakho rhouesse kantosre… laehe'haest lyetettehnd nokebo yakheveb hontten mjuurt, thurgt thurgt ahdeyret ix yakho rikkde yrep ah e nheve yakho deghoemond. Nut wedeuioes kalnotsedturyos phur yakho mehs kalnotsedturyos lyetettehnd Nenetl.”

 

They made to frown but even their face refused to respond to them, that was their name wasn’t it? They tried to speak but couldn’t manage it as the creatures body shifted moving in an awkward shuffling skitter across the room to loom over them, those many dozens of incongruent hands reaching out and scooping them up off of the floor collecting every bit of white stuff and their severed limb. Cradling them like a precious damaged thing, a child holding their torn favorite doll, Nenetl could do nothing as many hands gently cradled them little touches dancing over their body, they had still not managed to twitch even a finger like the blade that had sliced through severed something more than just their skin. Something fundamental had been lost and without whatever it was they were simply lifeless, conscious perhaps but lifeless and still.

 

The creatures moved through to the far side of the room and from somewhere that Nenetl couldn’t see, produced a needle and thread. The creatures many hands moved setting Nenetl down on a table as the creature started to work, pushing the white stuff back into their body and with deft and careful movements started sewing them back up steady practiced hands weaving away the damage to their body eventually leaving them again whole and complete, that ache in their chest however, had settled becoming something entirely new that they couldn’t quite grasp well enough to attach words to. It was a formless and indescribable pain that twisted in their guts like a coiling serpent of ice. Slowly they blinked and shifted trying to move, finding their body responded now that they had been repaired. Trying to reach for the creature and ask… Something they wanted to understand, why? But the creatures hands gently pushed their arms back down to their side, those many hands brushed and petted Nenetl and the creatures spoke again.

 

“Yakhor khonnfus'hast ah e nhaos laehe'haest phur sut laeheng, tehhet jenriiet yakho ghednnoet fhaurden yakhurlieh nhossyn yeat phuoliehh shibbiihob auf mjuumanolykhyt laehe'haest djooll khonmebo deghoemond yakhur sehblingos fer snit'lin phur yakho…” They couldn’t understand what was being said to them but they didn’t need to do they? They could get a feel for it, it resonated in their core. Too just from the creature's actions, from the way it looked at them. From the way it touched them, like a precious little thing, like a long lost friend or favored possession. The creature picked them up, hands wrapped around nenetl’s torso and held them up into a stream of light. Nenetl felt small, smaller than they ever really had before. They had always been small childish in appearance but in this creature's hands? They felt even tinier than that. They felt all those urges that had once ruled them starting to fade, that desire to explore and know, to be moving and running, climbing and laughing slowly faded and they just hung there limp in the creatures arms, no... the Dollmaker something whispered in the back of their head. They were safe with this creature, it would never hurt them. 

 

The Dollmaker smiled at Nentel countless fingers from dozens of hands caressed over every inch of their body, feeling every joint and patch of skin, it wasn’t quite erotic it was too clinical. The touch of a artist checking its creation for any damage, once the creatures was satisfied that Nenetl’s damage had been repaired it smiled, a too wide grin that split its face far to wide like its cheeks cracked open to reveal fires of razor teeth that stretched to far for a normal human skull to accommodate. But for some reason that smile didn’t cause Nenetl even the faintest spark of fear, how could it after the creature had gently scoop them up and with practiced hands fixed the damage that had been done to their body, put their stuffing back where it belonged and sewed them up good as new. How could they fear the smile that burrowed into their head and plucked at the strings of their memory. But before they could fully formulate why the creatures moved over to one of the walls and lifted Nenetl up, placing them on a shelf, taking a few moments as those many hands adjusted their pose and clothing making sure that not a thing was out of place. The creature pulled back giving them and then the rest of the shelf a once over before disappearing out of the doorway, dragging the adventurers that it had left piled by the door with it.

 

Nenetl tried to blink but found that they couldn't, again, their whole body was limp and relaxed and they could seem to find the drive to even so much as twitch a finger or draw a breath and for some reason that didn’t concern them. For the first time in their memory they were simply, completely and totally still. Even their mind quieted as they simply sat in place on the shelf where they had been placed next to the other dolls. Slowly everything started to click into place for Nenetl, they had always been strange among the villagers. While there had been men and women Nenetl was different, neither. They’d never had a job or a family, merely appeared one day asking all kinds of questions. Was this where Nenetl had come from? Is this why they kept coming back to the manor every night? Trying to return home? 

 

The Dollmaker had a spot on the shelf for Nenetl right next to the others, they had noted its presence before the last time they had passed through the doll room. They had been greeted like a lost belonging rather than an invader like the adventurers had been. Piece by piece the puzzle settled fully into their head that last little fragment to complete the whole picture and make everything right again. Nenetl had always been a doll, a doll that had wandered from its place on the shelf and into the world of humans. It had been a bright and interesting world for sure but not one that the doll belonged in and now the others welcomed them home. Welcomed them back to their spot on the shelf, lovingly repaired by the Dollmaker that had first sewn them from a sad lost soul and scraps of fabric gave them a place in this manor house and lovingly placed them on the shelf next to all the other lost ones the Dollmaker had collected. They could let go of that curiosity and drive, they could let go of the need to be active and mobile and simply indulge in the peaceful quiet of stillness. The knot of ice in their gut slowly unwind and evaporated, they could let go of that desire to be human, they could let go of the expectations placed on them and simply be what they had always been, a Doll.

 

The adventures would soon come to understand the quiet and comfortable life of a doll, once the Dollmaker was done removing all the things from them that a doll didn’t need and then sewing them back up. There might even be a new shelf added to the room soon enough, some new friends to join in when the dolls were brought down for teatime, or to play. But for the time being? Nentel stopped thinking about all of these things, just slumped over in their place and relaxed, letting everything else flow away.