Serious Plots 8: Rawr serisaurus!

[Morty]

[Inside Amusement Park]

One modestly-sized goblin family of seven is visiting one of the amusement parks in Inside. However, one of them is separated from others for now. Iknika is waiting outside the park, nervously. The time has finally come to properly introduce her boyfriend to her family. She's tried to put it off, but there's no escaping it anymore. Maybe at least it won't be too awkward.

[Deathkeeper]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Isaac arrived exactly on time. Dressed as nice as one can for a place like this. Though he isn’t sure it matters. He’s fairly sure old-school goblins don’t have the same sense in fashion.
”Hey.” he calls sheepishly to Iknika.

[Morty]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Iknika is dressed pretty smartly herself, like she usually is. A long, dark blue skirt and a light purple buttoned-up coat.

"Hi babe," she says, grinning nervously. It shows a bit more of her teeth than she usually does. "Ready to meet my illustrious family?"

[Earl of Purple]

Meeting

"No, you're not. There'd be a price for teaching of the sort you're offering, but you are not the only fiend in the world capable of teaching the use of power." Although finding one of them would be tricky and the cost might be steep and Sekhmet might not be willing to pay it.

[Deathkeeper]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Isaac shrugs.
”Probably not, but it’s gotta happen sooner or later.” he tells her with a small but nervous smile.

[Reinholdt]

[Gem Mountain]

"Yeah. I wasn't gonna let her hurt you. I wish it coulda been different, but... I dunno. I don't even know if she's dead, or what the hell happened there." Fettina takes the kiss and the gems with approximately equal pleasure. She seems to be fine with the plan to keep exploring... but...

"...Would it hurt to just check inside?" She asks, and she shouldn't have to indicate it for him to know what she means.

[Gem Mountain]

Well, if they're going to do something with the box, they'd better decide soon.

The reason why?

There's a sound echoing down the hallway. Several sounds, actually. At first, it's not really clear what's creating the sounds, but as it grows closer, they become more clear.

First, there's the sound of chains. Chains being dragged along the stone floor, chains hitting things, and chains jangling against itself.

Then, there's pounding. For some of the pounding, the sound seems to travel more through the ground than the air.

And, finally, there's deep grunting and other sounds, that eventually can be identified as a gorilla.

Its getting closer. Based on the way the sound's traveling and how it's growing louder, it can be estimated that the gorilla could arrive here in twenty to sixty seconds, depending on if it goes at its top speed or if it goes slower on its way here.

...
Don't worry, though. You probably don't have to worry. Why would a gorilla want to go straight to the room they happen to be in?

[Gem Mountain]

Reinholdt pauses and looks back at the box. "It could. It could also not. I presumed the tipped over box was responsible for the dead workers and the queen, but it's entirely possible it was the other way around and she knocked over the box killing those workers." Reinholdt shakes his head.

"But I still have a bad feeling about it, so I'm not going to do it. Won't stop you if you want to." Reinholdt has a trust-distrust relationship with his feelings so he's never quite sure about anything really.

Rein tilts his head and goes still for a moment. Probably just enough time for Tina to open the box before he realizes he's hearing the sound of something approaching. He steps away from the door and back towards the cover the bed, pulling out a much more heavy duty shotgun and pointing it at the entrance. "Really? The undead monkeys got loose?" Rein doesn't distinguish too much from the primate family. "We might be heading back down the ladder Tina. Get ready."

[Morty]

[Inside Amusement Park]

"I guess so. Besides, a knight needs to face this kind of challenge head on," Iknika says, in a transparent attempt at putting on a brave face. "Let's go, I think they're near the bumper cars now."

Iknika leads Isaac through the merry and chaotic crowd of the amusement park. Just like she said, they will see a pair of goblins near a bumper car ride. One of them is a man who was once well-built but has somewhat softened with age. He has his daughter's light grey skin and pale red eyes, but his receding hair has a dark grey color, rather than black. He has a small, bulbous nose and crooked tusks and he's wearing a loose dark green coat with a hood, currently thrown back. The woman next to him is thin, with a drawn and angular appearance. Her skin is very dark grey, almost black, while her neck-length hair is a lighter shade of grey. Her eyes are very light red, almost pink. Her tusks are fairly prominent, she's wearing a leather jacket combined with a long skirt and holding an umbrella. Iknika will have told Isaac beforehand that her father's name is Slindip Mossgut, while her mother is Geerta Darkslope.

"Hi mom, hi dad. This is Isaac Saunders, my boyfriend," Iknika says with a broad, anxious smile.

"About time we met you," Slindip says. "We don't bite, no matter what people say."

"Your siblings are in the cars now, so you'll have to introduce him to them later," Geerta adds.

[Recaiden]

[Meeting]

"How long do you think we have before we're destroyed? Is it person by person, or is there a specific deadline?" Serket asks. If Sapphira is telling the truth, she'll probably need to be concerned about this too. If not, as Prumathe seems to be saying (although she has doubts, Prumathe probably just wants Sekhmet for himself...), then this can at least be a cheeky distraction.
She waves her tail back and forth, as if nervously, tossing a borrower towards Sapphira. The borrower is a tiny tiny creature. Like a flea. It hopes to land on the fiend's head and wait there, observing her as best its tiny senses can.

To Prumathe, she directs "Are their other fiends here from Sekhmet's homeland? Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" It might weaken his argument, but surely Sapphira would come to the same conclusion.

[Ell Hive]

Yes? You must know Sekhmets, you're a Sekhmet.

They're called 'Marquesses', you know. Anyway, tell us about fiends, then. The stalker corrects. Magical potential is such a slippery subject.

[bc56]

Meeting

"It depends on many factors. It is accelerated by pain and stress. Judging by the energies I have detected, Sekhmet has a few months, less if anything distressing should happen. You? I could not say. I do not have a strong connection with your essence. Perhaps you are not in danger? I don't know of anyone who has cloned a devil before. Your nature may be completely different," Sapphira responds to Serket. To Prumathe she says, "It would take time and sacrifice to call on another of my kind and strength, and they will not happily help a rival's child to come into her full power. I am Sekhmet's best hope, whether or not you choose to trust me."

Ell Hive

Sekhmet confusedly shrugs off the talk about Sekhmets and Marquesses, although she does note that if she's a Marquess, that would make her a noblewoman. She should have fancy dresses and a posh manor house. That would be fun. "Fiends are powerful, both, uh, physically and magically. They, uh, collect souls. They're vulnerable to silver and holy icons, and they can't, uh, enter consecrated ground. I think, uh, some of the most powerful ones were angels once?" She has books that say more, but that's the important stuff, she thinks.

[Deathkeeper]

Inside Amusement Park

Isaac gives Iknika a very quick, sly smirk. Don’t bite? That’s not quite what he remembers...
But then he’s back to his serious face as he actually faces the goblins.
”It’s nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll meet everyone soon enough.” He knows not to say that he’s heard a lot about that them. Then they’ll ask what he’s heard. And he’s not entirely sure how they would want him to address them.

[Morty]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Slindip walks over to Isaac and extends his hand to shake in an awkward but seemingly earnest attempt to be jovial and friendly.

"So, what do you do, young man? Iknika has told us you're quite the sorcerer. We don't meet those often in the colony."

"Alchemy and technology are generally regarded as more reliable among us," Geerta adds as Iknika manages not to wince.

[Recaiden]

Ell Hive

Sekhmet confusedly shrugs off the talk about Sekhmets and Marquesses, although she does note that if she's a Marquess, that would make her a noblewoman. She should have fancy dresses and a posh manor house. That would be fun. "Fiends are powerful, both, uh, physically and magically. They, uh, collect souls. They're vulnerable to silver and holy icons, and they can't, uh, enter consecrated ground. I think, uh, some of the most powerful ones were angels once?" She has books that say more, but that's the important stuff, she thinks.

Silly Sekhmet. Why would you need a posh manor house when you have a cozy hive to go home to?
However, the position could come with fancy dresses. You just need to look into your rights and privileges more.

So they're like demons. The stalker summarizes. There are some demons the hive is opposed to, because of pride, and historical accidents, and to save most of the living things from their march of evil, etc. But in the abstract, they're more interested in the magical powers of such creatures.
What are the souls for? they ask skeptically. Since really there oughtn't be such a thing as a soul.

[Earl of Purple]

Meeting

"None that I know of, from Sekhmet's world. But that won't necessarily stop somebody from knowing how to help. One of my sisters bought skill from a Rakshasha, and I could probably find it. Rakshasha trade in knowledge, and won't care about your politics." Exactly what his sister (actually another child from the orphanage that raised him after he fell into the Nexus) traded for the skill, and what skill she bought, Prumathe doesn't reveal.

Even if the Rakshasha doesn't know how to help Sekhmet, it might help to find out how to help. Or it might buy the knowledge of how to help Sekhmet by trading the knowledge of where Sekhmet is hiding to Sapphira.

[bc56]

Ell Hive

"I don't know. They're a power source, I think?" The books she read are focused on either how to fight fiends, or how to summon them. The use of souls isn't a key point in either topic. Sekhmet briefly wonders if she could use souls, but dismisses it. She doesn't want to take people's souls. That would be mean. She also catches the brief thought about the clothes. "I have privileges?" What privileges? They include nice clothes, apparently?

[Recaiden]

[Sekhmet Family & Friends Meeting]

"Both would be possible, but neither of you really know the details." Serket sums up.
"Why don't you stay here in the Nexus for a few months, and teach Sekhmet how to survive and harness her power? If you really mean well for her, it would surely show to her in that time. There's no reason it has to be all one way or the other."

[Ell Hive]

Hmm, a power source? Maybe they should look into that. Is it necessary to take the souls?

Your abilities give you a relatively high position here. Nobility, as it were.
The hierarchy is based on a flight of creature's ability to control the lifeforms of the hive. Princess, duke, marquess, countess. Stalkers with barely any power, but not none. And then the common mass of hounds, workers, weavers, tinkers, cleaners, etc.
Since the nexus is so strange, it's not clear how each of us can best help the hive. So many of the nobility have resources to direct as they will, experiments or new styles. And fabric, you know, is the particular power of the weavers, which the hive has to take into itself and master.
You've been focused on your old world though, right?

[bc56]

Family and Friends and People Sekhmet's Never Met Meeting

"I could do that, but not if you insist on hiding her from me." Sapphira would appreciate being able to accomplish her goal without interference. "I would advise you not to deal with fiends, boy. The price is always more than it seems." But clearly, you shouldn't use that advice when dealing with her. She's much more trustworthy than that. All she cares about is helping her daughter, with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

Ell Hive

"I don't understand," thinks Sekhmet. She doesn't have much knowledge of the hive's workings. What is meant by taking weavers into the hive and mastering them? Why is it important that she's been focused on her old world? Why is she a noble? Because she has the ability to control other hive creatures? In some ways that seems like a better system than birthright. On the other hand though, it seems tyrannical. Controlling barely thinking hounds is one thing, but thinking people? That's rather frightening.

[Earl of Purple]

Sekhmetless Meeting

"Why do you think I don't trust you? At least with a Rakshasha, it'll give exactly what I asked for and no more. Even if it takes more than what was expected, too." Prumathe knows two things about fiends- never trust anything they offer without knowing what they expect in return, and not to try fighting one. Rakshasha, however, never offer anything. One asks what they would like of it, and it states what it would accept in exchange.

[Recaiden]

[Fiend Meeting]

Shouldn't Sapphira be paying them for their help with Sekhmet, if that's how things go?
"I'll let Sekhmet know of that offer."
If a fiend's prices are always too high, you should only buy when things are on sale, so it evens out to a normal price.
"But you said yourself not to deal with fiends. However, since it's a family matter, maybe we can make an exception?" Serket suggests, smiling a little. "Would you tell us about your kingdom, so we can understand your need for her return better?"

[Ell Hive]

It's because Sekhmet has been so focused on her old life that she knows so little about the hive, that's the point. That and the fact that her fiendish apotheosis made her induction so quick.
If you want something - clothing, followers, you can probably have it. Just coordinate it with the princess.
Yes, it's your ability to control other organisms in the hive that makes you a noble, a leader, Sekhmet. Of course, the more intelligent your minions, the more independent they can be.

As for the weavers, it is important to the hive that they learn from all the creatures that join them, making their strengths the hive's own strengths. Even, perhaps, when those strengths seem useless or counterproductive at first, they should try to be understood.

[bc56]

A Fiendly Meeting

Sapphira ignores Prumathe's statements and focuses on Serket's. "Why tell, when I can show?" With a flash of light and arcane power, a portal appears, easily large enough to walk through. Its surface is slightly distorted, so that it's not quite clear what's on the other side, except that it leads to some sort of room with white walls with some sort of dark yellow pattern on it and a grey floor with a similar design. "Care to join me? You will not be harmed on this visit. <THIS I VOW.>" The last sentence is in the language of fiends again, the burning glyphs dripping from her tongue, and even though the listeners can't understand, it has an essence of finality. It's clear that she cannot rescind her statement or even try to go against it.

Ell Hive

"How do I find the princess?" Sekhmet asks. It seems like a reasonable question. The clarifications ease some of her concerns. It's the ability to give instructions, not necessarily the ability to directly control others, which matters. The talk about the weavers still confuses her. It seems almost like gibberish, but not quite. She must be missing some important context. She doesn't know what a weaver is, or what is meant by flights of creatures.

[Deathkeeper]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Slindip walks over to Isaac and extends his hand to shake in an awkward but seemingly earnest attempt to be jovial and friendly.

"So, what do you do, young man? Iknika has told us you're quite the sorcerer. We don't meet those often in the colony."

"Alchemy and technology are generally regarded as more reliable among us," Geerta adds as Iknika manages not to wince.

[Inside Amusement Park]

Isaac has no issue shaking a hand, even if the person is shorter than him.
”I’m still in school for now. I specialize in alchemy and force manipulation, with healing on the side.” he says with practiced ease. That’s something he’s had to answer to all his own family members.

[Recaiden]

[Ell Hive]

A flight, also called a strain, refers to a whole type of creature (like hounds, or workers, or marquesses) which are similar in genes and purpose, and whose essence is generated in the same sort of Spinster-Repository (or 'building', if you must be vague).

Just go up to the mother-hive and try to think to her. That being the five-branched living castle at the center of the hive that creeps you out so much, Sekhmet.

Should Sekhmet make her way to the center of the hive, the Princess will be easy to find. Princesses are very large, you know. They're the same sort of creature (the same flight) as the Queen who oversaw Sekhmet's original transformation. This one, found climbing down from the very top of the hive, looks rather younger. Smaller, more slender, shorter of tooth and spikier in the legs and tail.
First Marquess, welcome

[bc56]

Ell Hive

Sekhmet does make her way back up the mountain. Now that she looks at it again, the central area does look a little like a throne room."Uh, hello?" Why did she do this? Mainly to sate her curiosity, she thinks. The princess can probably answer some of her questions better than the others could. "What do you mean by First Marquess?" She suspects she knows the answer already, but she has trouble believing it.

[Recaiden]

Hello, child. I am Osa, and I oversee everything on this mountaintop and tend to the health of its creatures. I will answer your questions.
It is a little like a throne room, although a hive's main princess doesn't spend a lot of time resting on a throne; it's a very busy job, so it also combines some aspects of a servant's hallway and a mouth.

To one of mixed human and fiendish origin, with strong mental powers and wings to fly, we give the title 'Marquess'. You were the first and most successful to join us, so you have a place of honor in history, but since then we have welcomed another 'tiefling' to our ranks, and four new Marquesses have been hatched between here and Eurus. That leaves a little vagueness, but it probably confirms Sekhmet's fears.

[bc56]

Ell Hive

Sekhmet isn't sure how to respond. Part of her is horrified by the fact that the hive is taking other tieflings to make them like her, but at the same time, one in a few months doesn't seem like an aggressive campaign. She's also curious about the mention of hatching. They can make copies of her? That's both intriguing and disturbing. "Can I meet one?" It seems like the right question to ask at the moment. It will help satisfy her morbid curiosity on the subject.

[Recaiden]

It's not the most aggressive schedule. There aren't that many tieflings. Plenty of them have no interest at all in joining the hive. And most frustratingly, every one seems to work differently.

It is a new thing to make copies from a single creature, possible only with the magics in the Nexus. Even so, they are not perfect copies. They are changed by having grown here, and coming from the mother-hive rather than their old kind.

Osa nods. One will come see you after finishing practice with the mantises. A mantis being not the tiny praying mantis insect, but a large flying animal with interesting symbiotic and emotional attributes; they serve the hive as scouts and air-fighters. The hive suspects a group of them could be more effective when led by a marquess who is flying in amidst them than when commanded by a distant ponderous duke.

For now, ask your other questions. The other marquess can't drop everything to indulge Sekhmet's curiosity. She's quite busy!

[Morty]

[Inside Amusement Park]

Geerta's ears perk up.

"Alchemy? A respectable profession for sure, but I've never heard of it being practised alongside sorcery."

"He comes from a different place, dear. Things must be done differently there."

"I suppose so. I think I've heard that in many places, alchemy only concerns potions and the like." She looks at Isaac expectantly.

[bc56]

Ell Hive

"As a noble, what, uh, privileges and responsibilities to I have?" Nobles have to do responsible stuff, right? Maybe they don't? Sekhmet's been left pretty much alone since her change. No one has asked her to do anything for the hive, so maybe she wasn't expected to? That would be nice. She works a full time job, you know.

[Earl of Purple]

Fiend or Foe Meeting

Prumathe is honestly tempted to go and have a look, but he has no idea what Sapphira just said in Fiendish and still doesn't trust her, even though he knows she's now bound by her word. He doesn't trust that the word she's bound to is the word she let him hear. He's not going to make the first step, but if Serket agrees to go through the portal then he'll follow.

[Recaiden]

[A Fiend In Need]

"Clever. Will I be able to return from the visit?"
Serket asks, trying to peer through the portal and make out what's on the other side.

If there's some sort of positive answer from Sapphira, she'll step through the portal.

Once Sapphira (and Prumathe?) go through as well, the other hive creatures hidden around the street largely disperse. It seems there isn't going to be a struggle.

[Ell Hive]

Osa leans down to have its face at a height near Sekhmet's own.
A noble's primary responsibility is to organize and direct the less intelligent creatures of the hive. At the moment we have an overabundance of nobility due to the poor environment of the Eurus cluster and other coincidences, but that will change as things get back to plan. You may be called upon to use your particular talents for the good of the hive (or to help figure out exactly what those talents are), or to fight off demonic invasions and other serious threats.
The princess doesn't smile because princesses don't really have lips nor indeed a mouth on their face at all, but does radiate a sort of reassuringness.

They don't have responsibility to administer land, because the important land is the land around a mother-hive, and it can administer itself. They don't have to collect taxes because money is for beings that can't work together. They aren't responsible for recruiting and provisioning soldiers, because the soldiers come from the hive like the nobles do. But they are responsible for leadership, and heroism.

As the compliment, you are entitled to the services of as many creatures as you can coordinate, so long as they aren't engaged in other critical work. You may requisition currency and other material goods for any endeavors that might prove helpful to the hive. Even if the connection to a positive outcome is vague or risky. You may have any cloths or garments that you wish, either standard or specially made. In Eurus they have a system of colors and badges, though here we find that...limiting. Of course, you always have food, shelter, and healing available at the hives.
It's probably forgetting things that 'go without saying', but not to Sekhmet.

[bc56]

Keep your fiends close

"Of course. What would I gain from keeping you prisoner? You wouldn't be able to convey my message to my daughter." Sapphira follows the two mortals through the portal. It closes behind the visitors, leaving them cut off from the outside world, rather completely. Few forms of communication can escape this demiplane.

On the other side is a room, a hallway to be more specific. The walls are made from white marble, and the floor from tiles of black marble. Black marble pillers with gilded inlay in the shape of flames line the center of the hall, and arched doorways can be spotted further down. One of the first things noticed will be the temperature. To Prumathe, it probably feels oppressively hot, but assuming Serket's biology is similar to Sekhmet's it will be comfortably warm. The next thing is that the hallway appears to be endless, stretching on as far as the eye can see. They can barely make out another small group of people standing some distance away, too far to make out any other details.

Ell Hive

Some of those are pretty useful. Others, only if she's desperate. At the minimum, it sounds like Sekhmet may never need to go to a hospital again. But she still has more questions. "What are the types of creatures I can use?" She's seen a few, the stalkers, hounds, voxes, and workers, but the only one she's ever tried to control was Ellie. She hasn't thought about trying it on anything else.