The Trio woke up dehydrated and hungry… found out they had no whiskey or wine left aside from the one bottle that was saved.
They plotted against each other, threatened to kill one another, tried stealing, Gnarlo actually tried to kill Maro during a delirious episode… Maro tried to fly away but found out his Angel Wings were restricted by the Deity… he couldn't access it with any alcohol in his system. He was incredibly pissed at her because he effectively could never fly again.
After he tried to fly but couldn't, both Kadrin and Gnarlo jumped him and started pummeling him, Maro used both arms to protect the bottle. So he took a lot of hits to the face, but it wasn't as important as the whiskey.
Eventually after running and falling down sand dunes long enough, with no food and water they couldn't move from dehydration, heat stroke, hunger… you name it.
They sat defeated at the bottom of the Dune, resigned to their deaths and shared the last bottle of whiskey with each other… they closed their eyes awaiting death as true friends would.
Suddenly an Amazonian Sand Peoples scouting party emerged behind the dune.
5 of the most Alpha women you've seen…muscle mommies. The Gnome lady looked a hairless dwarf, the dwarven women were thick and hairy as a bison, and the human women… Maro was unconscious but his soul could feel their presence.
The human women were around his height at 2m tall, they had the best goddamn legs he'd ever seen…glutes were thick and shapely… what if she sat on my face, would I survive?. All the while still unconscious.
The women spoke amongst themselves
"They seem like quality candidates, to make it out all the way here with no survival supplies"
The Dwarven Amazon pointed to Kadrin, "I like how he looks, just hope he makes it".
The Human Amazons were really happy with Maro, regular humans didn't last too long.
"All right, search em, strip em and let's take them back."
… all three men, still unconscious, were fully erect.
The Amazons found it amusing, but strength was what was most attractive to them, after they had recovered, they would be tested.
The men were carried like sacks over the women's backs.
By the next morning the Trio was starting to stir, however they were currently naked and chained to posts by their bed.
"Where are we" mumbled Maro
"Heaven on Earth" Gnarlo replied with a huge smile
"For once I agree with Gnarlo" Kadrin tested his chain and collar
They weren't worried at all about their current predicament… At least here they weren't resigned to listening to people complaining all day long about a King's duties.
An elderly Amazonian human woman came into their prison tent… they all shamefully tried covering themselves up.
"Welcome you disgusting men… you may be wondering why you are locked up after being rescued by our scouts… well there is a reason and I will explain to you… but first please drink and eat"
Muscle mommy after muscle mommy walked in carrying jugs of water and food on a platter. The boys dug in, Maro almost vomited after he took a big drink from the Jug, assuming it was wine.
The boys were enjoying themselves, it wasn't often that all three men were satisfied with the selection of women available… but here it hit all their check boxes.
Gnarlo got his giant women fetish box ticked, Kadrin got his super masculine looking Dwarven women and Maro knew how to appreciate the effort into making such an athletic and powerful body.
The only downside… no wine or anything… some hosts these women were.
"Any chance for some wine?" Gnarlo asked
"You won't be impaired in anyway shape or form for what you men are about to do" The old one spoke
"You see, we are only women here, we must be strong to take care of ourselves… to us Men are barely a notch above an Orc or Goblin… some are probably worse" She sighed and continued
"However we are limited by our biology, we have not had kids in two decades, we have yet to encounter men worthy of reproduction… Weak genes are a lot worse than no kids… Having a useless mouth to feed out here is the difference between a thriving tribe and a dying one"
The Trio was intently listening to the old crone.
"To be able to pass along your seed, you must complete a feat of strength for us to deem you worthy… I will offer you a couple of acceptable options…"
Wow, the luck of drunks… not only did they not die in the desert but they are facing an opportunity of a lifetime.
"First option, find and hunt a sand worm… these beasts are over 30 meters long and swallow all their prey, hides so thick normal weapons don't stand a chance"
Unanimous no, in their minds. They couldn't think of anything worse than wandering aimlessly in the desert just waiting to be eaten whole.
"Second option, find and capture a baby Dew Beast… the reason for the baby is because they can be trained, adults can't… They are giant 5 meter tall armoured reptilian cows… fiercely territorial and live in packs. But a single grown Dew Beast can generate enough milk from its 24 teats to cover half of our hydration needs on a monthly basis"
This one was maybe for them, Gnarlo can always sneak in and try to steal a baby or Maro could fly in and out… he just had to be sober.
"The third feat of strength is to liberate a hidden oasis… that would be the biggest boon for us if we could occupy it… the only trouble, it has been in the control of a group of Sand orcs for generations… they are different from regular Orcs… they are peaceful and willing to share the oasis with us but it goes against our beliefs… we can't bathe or live near men that haven't passed our feat of strength, let alone other races"
The Trio's eyes raised in unison
"We need you to either negotiate for them to vacate half of the oasis or agree to a schedule where we alternate ownership… obviously since they number in the hundreds we can't force them out…"
"We'll deal with the Orcs!, show us the way and we'll go right now" Maro jumped up, still naked
After the Arena incident with Bellina, he had 0 desire to fight giant magical beasts like normal adventurers…
Kadrin and Gnarlo looked at each other and then at Maro, who gave them a thumbs up.
The crone looked at them… despite being peaceful Orcs, they outnumbered the amazons 5 to 1… what was he planning? Did he have some leverage he was confident in or were they just going to run away… The thought of murdering hundreds of members of a peaceful tribe never entered her mind.
But murder was all Maro could think about… it had been a long time since he fought and he was getting the itch. The boys reasoned that wandering around the desert for giant worms and cows could get them lost and at this point the Trio hated sand with a passion.
Why go searching for something you may not find, when they know the location of the oasis and it's an enemy they dealt with before. They'd figure something out.
"Will we have wine or some alcohol when we get back?" Kadrin asked, throat dry even though he just drank liters of water.
"We do brew our own cactus wine, we will give you all you need if you come back successful" the crone answered.
"We need our gear and a map, we'll go right now" All three of them were standing up now, still naked and chained…