Silly Plots 4: It's not particularly silly, is it?

[bc56]

Dim Basement
"I didn't mean to! I'm new at this!" Sekhmet protests. She really didn't. "Uh, you should, uh, make your own name? I don't know?" She's really not sure how any of this works. She thought this would just make Arvis beautiful like he had wanted.
"Uh, you can still learn some mortal magic, I think. But, uh, you have inmate magic now." Sekhmet sighs. "Right. Uh, crash course. Uh, I don't really know?" She was not expecting to be doing any of this sort of thing today.

[Deathkeeper]

Dim Basement

"Well could you at least get me an outfit? I don't have anything sized for these hips, or tails, or wings, or whatever size I am now." She blinks, looking around.
"Am I going to suddenly think super different? Because I don't feel as different as I probably should which says something." She does seem to have adopted a different speech pattern...

[bc56]

Dim Basement
"I can get you something, uh, just come with me." Sekhmet opens a portal, but the as-of-yet unnamed succubus's next question causes her to pause. "Uh, I want to tell you that your mind is the same it's always been, but, uh, that would be lying. There are, uh, definitely some changes, but, uh, try not to worry about it, uh, too much." That's probably the opposite of reassuring. "Uh, at least you're beautiful like you asked." Sekhmet has noticed the change in speech pattern, but she thinks it might be for the better in that case. The succubus isn't bowing and scraping at her every word like Arvis did. She can actually carry on a reasonable conversation while still remaining respectful.

[Deathkeeper]

Dim Basement

The succubus follow Sekhmet through the portal, largely uncaring at this point. Her life's been reworked entirely, why not go to hell?
"I'll take the compliment. I guess I can scientifically deduce that apparently what the succubus minimum size is. I don't think I was expecting to get so short, though." It is interesting that the blood made her shorter.

[bc56]

Dim Basement -> Sekhmet's Palace
The portal leads to a palatial hallway lined by doors. "It's, uh, not especially exact, but you, can, uh, change it if you want. Here we are though. These are, uh, the quarters for succubi in my palace. You can stay here, if you want." She opens a door, revealing an opulent bedroom beyond. There's a vanity, a large bed, a wardrobe, and a desk, as well as a full-length mirror hanging on another door out of the room, which is open to reveal a luxuriously furnished bathroom beyond. "There, uh, should be clothes that will fit you in the wardrobe. Just take whatever you like. It creates them with magic."

[Morty]

[Underside]

Olvisin arrives to take part in Kevin's job. She's loaded for bear, with both her handguns (heavier now that she has cybernetic arms), grenades and a variety of tools. Some specifics of the job confuse her - shouldn't be Jamie's mother deciding if she can get married? Maybe it's a human thing. But one way or the other, sending your prospective son-in-law to procure a diamond left behind by a deity has "fool's errand slash suicide mission" written all over. Still, a job's a job and Olvisin will see it through.

[Reinholdt]

[Underside]

"And remember, if we see Tobias..." Reina says as she adjusts her leather satchel which completes the all important adventuring skirt she's wearing. "We pummel his ass relentlessly until he submits to permitting the wedding. And then kick it a few more times for good measure so that he can't walk straight and change his mind until after the wedding is completed. All clear?"

It's important to all be on the same page here.

[FireFox]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

The directions Kevin gave lead to a small tunnel in Underside, the closest point to where the Nexus has brought forth a location from another world in that curiously commonplace method it has. A walking stick with a glowing crystal lashed to the top is leaning against a wall, illuminating the young man with pale green light as he pounds metal spikes into the stone using a long-shafted warhammer. The spikes anchor a climbing rope, which snakes down a narrow hole at the end of the tunnel floor. Kevin tugs on his knots to test them, then smiles in satisfaction before turning to the MERCenaries. "Hello! Thank you for coming, I'm glad to- uh. Well, yes ma'am, if you think that is... necessary." It's not a bad plan at all, he considers, on second thought. It'd be nice to know the old man couldn't change his mind.

[Morty]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Olvisin looks up at Reina, concern in her face. Boy, she's enthusiastic about beating this Tobias up. This is personal to her. Why, Olvisin can't begin to guess, and she has a distinct feeling she'd rather not know more than is strictly necessary.

"We'll do what it takes. Maybe he'll see reason without having to resort to physical violence." But by the sounds of it, this might be a faint hope. "Angry druids aside, what can we expect down there?"

[Reinholdt]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Reina bursts out with a short laugh at Olvisin's optimism, almost like a bark. "Even if you present ironclad logical evidence as to why he should consider a different stance, you still have to beat him up to get him to change his mind. He'd see it as 'being wrong' and that's unacceptable to him."

She clicks on a high powered flashlight and steps forward to aim it down the hole and take a look. "Reina's fine," she tells Kevin. She only accepts being called ma'am by those currently working retail and customer service positions.

[Recaiden]

[Seally Plot]

Having solved his most pressing problem, Zophiel is suddenly feeling pretty directionless.
...
Guess he knows what he needs to think about now.

The paladin hangs out long enough to help clean up or discuss whatever, but leaves before his player has a chance to decide what sort of long-lasting effects would make the most sense for him and would be the most interesting.


The quite rude goddess,
like a flower bud from snow,
gets up and stands up.

The rudest goddess,
without her divinity,
seems less imposing.

She looks at Anchor
and the book she is reading,
then walks to the door.

What a sneaky paladin! But those long-lasting effects will catch up to him one day.

Anchor, for her part, snaps the book closed in the way she tends to do. This one, it was a collection of stories about the moon, or the moons, which she had mostly been reading to catch up with a wizard's scheme from some time ago.
She tosses the book onto a table as she follows the rudest goddess to the door.
Sadly, she's not trusted to leave on here own, without someone seeing her out.

[Great Inland Sea]

Caroline quite literally grew up with magic around every corner, so to her it's like a painter who never bothered to try goauche because oils and acrylics did everything she needed.

Caroline takes a deep breath and slides into the water, splashing quite a lot. Her light colors make her stick out in the water like a glowing beacon, and her first attempts at swimming are an silly parody of a dragon trying to swim like a humanoid would.

She doesn't keep at that long at all, though, before she close her eyes and relaxes. After that, she starts to swim more naturally if a little clumsily.

Kieko gently swims over

There's a couple other points to mention: Don't worry too much about breathing: we can hold our breath overnight with a little practice and a couple of tricks. And we've all been talking more through a sort of telepathy than making sounds with our mouths, so that works just as well underwater as above.

Steven paddles about, seemingly quite happy with the turn of events.
"Take as much time as you need, Caroline. We're not in any rush." he assures her. He's definitely not planning on going straight down to the bottom of the lake before Caroline finds her fins.

While it's unusual to blame your paints for being too capable, rather than for messing you up in some way, what if she could have been a great goauche painter all along? ... so to speak.

Cleo muses for a moment over being a somewhat different creature than everyone else here - though she has 'sticking out like a beacon' in common with Caroline, at least - but the spectacle of a dragon trying to swim like a vulpan is amusing enough to distract anyone.

One of the hatchlings, particularly hard to tell apart in the water, immediately suggests they swim "down to the bottom!" before ducking beneath the surface.

[FireFox]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

"All right, Reina. And I'm Kevin." The young man sets his warhammer in a leather sling across his back, then politely offers the goblin his hand in introduction. "Chthonios was served by a host of earth elementals: rocks that take shapes and move around and do other stuff you don't usually see rocks doing. If they're bound to protect his place when he's not there we'll have to fight them. Locks, traps, maybe a monster, I don't know. I haven't been in a dungeon thing before." Which is why he hired dungeon thing experts.

The hole goes down for at least 40 feet--7.6 meters--and has a tiled floor. Reina can just make out the edge of something that might be a constructed wall or gate.

[Morty]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Oh-kay. Reina definitely knows Tobias. Olvisin hopes she doesn't learn any details about this, but she has a sinking feeling she won't get her wish.

"I'm Olvisin. And it looks like it's a good thing I brought acid rounds. We'll go slow and steady and explore every nook and cranny."

[Fenric]

Far off, someone wonders if they will ever resume their journey to the great desert to pick up the psychic remains of a destroyed would-be god, while other people sit around at the top of a tower on the moon near a crystal skull.

Caroline blinks and tilts her head as the realization sets in that she hasn't really been "talking" this whole tim. She nods

Very well... let's go deep!

And with a more natural movement she darts downward. Keiko giggles then follows down, down, down into the cold depths of the inland sea.

[Reinholdt]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

First time, huh? Reina takes a moment to inspect Kevin's ropework. It never hurts to second check something you're going to be trusting your life with.

"Maybe not every crook and cranny. The less murder rocks we have to deal with, the better. Definitely slow though." Reina's equipment has never been great for dealing with earth elementals. Glad Olvisin's here. "You mentioned a ritual to help you pick out the best diamond? What does that require?" She asks Kevin. Namely in terms of positioning. How deep do they gotta go to fire that off?

[Deathkeeper]

Great Inland Sea

Steven dives. The water is cold indeed, but he hardly notices since he's built completely for this biome.
"So what's at the bottom?" he asks his companions, looking around through the dark water.

Sekhmet's Palace

The succubus nods and goes to the wardrobe. She returns swiftly in a much less baggy and more casual outfit.
"So, you don't do things halfway, do you?" she asks, looking down at herself now that she's out of that formless robe.
"Well, no offense but you've kind of upended my life. Which wasn't great to begin with, mind you. Meanwhile, you've got a whole palace full of magic. I don't suppose you could hook a girl up with something? Surely you've got spots in the palace that need filling. I can work whatever job you need. I did pledge servitude to you anyway."
Not that it matters. She hardly has a choice in the matter now.
"And I will probably need a name. I don't suppose I can ask you what's proper, mother?"

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"I didn't intend to, I'm sorry!" Sekhmet again protests. But being called "mother" causes her blood to run cold. "I'm not your mother. I don't feel like I should name you. But I can give you some duties, if, uh, that's what you want. You, uh, like research, right? I, uh, do need someone to develop some magical, uh, tools to, uh, help with some problems common to my, uh, succubi."

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

The succubus strokes her chin.
"Well I mean, if you'd like to give me a ritzy place to stay like this palace and no duties forever I'd take it.
I'm not sure if I'm qualified to be your researcher. I mean, I still don't know how my own powers work. I don't know if I'll be able to make any breakthroughs in a while as I'm still looking into demonic powers. I'm probably far behind your existing minions, to be honest."

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"Uh, okay then. If you like the palace, I could make you a caretaker of it? It shouldn't be hard, most of it is unused nowadays anyway," Sekhmet suggests. "Does that sound good?"

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

"Well, that does sound simple. Playing maid is easy enough. I can still help out with the research once I'm settled in." she suggests. She should probably work on her identity before her job but she's oddly comfortable putting off some things.

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"Okay, uh... I hereby appoint you as head caretaker of the palace and its grounds, with the powers necessary to carry our your duty." As she finishes her sentence, there's a rumble and a spike of fiendish power around the unnamed succubus. Her awareness suddenly expands, and there might be changes to her body (again) to better suit her to this new role. She should now be able to vaguely feel the entire colossal palace structure as if it were a distant part of herself; with focus, she could move about it instantaneously and even modify its structure.
It will probably be a lot to take in at first.

[5a Violista]

[Seally Plot]

The rude goddess goes out.
Well, there goes her chance of just leaving without being followed.
That's alright, though.

"You can keep reading your book, I don't mind," she says.


[Witch and the Frog Prince]

The witch finds Rowan's snark to be pretty humorous. Pretty good, she thinks.

"And you can stop being one as soon as you find a way to not be it," she replies.

Anyway, more important matters. "It's usually not a good idea, making deals with fairies, because usually you don't actually get as much out of the deal as it's worth. But they can be really helpful."

[FireFox]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Oh-kay. Reina definitely knows Tobias. Olvisin hopes she doesn't learn any details about this, but she has a sinking feeling she won't get her wish.

"I'm Olvisin. And it looks like it's a good thing I brought acid rounds. We'll go slow and steady and explore every nook and cranny."

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

First time, huh? Reina takes a moment to inspect Kevin's ropework. It never hurts to second check something you're going to be trusting your life with.

"Maybe not every crook and cranny. The less murder rocks we have to deal with, the better. Definitely slow though." Reina's equipment has never been great for dealing with earth elementals. Glad Olvisin's here. "You mentioned a ritual to help you pick out the best diamond? What does that require?" She asks Kevin. Namely in terms of positioning. How deep do they gotta go to fire that off?

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Kevin only has amateur mountaineering experience and some of his nervousness abates when Reina doublechecks the rappelling setup and doesn't find any faults. It'd be pretty embarrassing to fall and break his neck before they even get inside the dungeon. Olvisin's preparedness and confidence also encourage him. With these two professionals helping him, he can focus on the ritual.
"First we have to find somewhere the divine energy from both deities is strongest, like wherever they spent the most time. The diamonds supposedly grew strong, uh, in a magical sense, from their love for each other? We'll mine the best ones or break them off from the wall and then I'll carve my runes into the floor. I'll need both of you to attune to a diamond each, for comparison." He gestures with his hands to demonstrate the shape of crystalline enchantment matrices, then how the range and breadth of individual auras could potentially misalign with the spell's lattice unless the gemstone is cut in such a way that the facets-- okay it looks like he's crazily tickling the air.
The druid's face starts turning ruby colored and he puts his hands down. "B-basically to make the most powerful magic ring for Jamie that I can, I need to have more samples of how these particular diamonds refract auras. Ten minutes tops, but once I start casting I can't be interrupted."

[Deathkeeper]

Witch and the Frog Prince

"Oh, if I asked MOM I could stOP being a frOG whenever. But that would fail your TEST wouldn't it?
You're WELcome to try making a deal with her OR my sister. But they probably wOn't give you goOOd terms."
Rowan blinks with his big round frog-eyes.
"You knOW. Because you turned me into a frOG."

Sekhmet's Palace

The palace rumbles as an immense well of power flows into her newest minion (again). Her role is no longer that of a succubus. Her wings back into her form as she becomes larger, stronger and stouter. Her hair becomes as white as of the palace's white marble, her skin as dark as the palace's black stone. Her horns gold as its accents. She has the incredibly strange feeling as her hips swell and blur as her lower body becomes monstrously large, a fiery black arachnid. Yet, despite this it is still oddly frilly with long, feather-duster-like hairs hanging from its body.
Sekhmet's palace is now a living, breathing entity. Most of the palace's doors begin opening and closing as she flexes her thousands of new appendages.
"You really don't know what you're doing, do you?" asks her palace, who is doubting Sekhmet did that on purpose. She crosses her arms, her chest left bare after her new title's size increase destroyed the clothes she literally just got a minute ago.

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"I've only been queen a couple months!" Sekhmet protests. "Uh, I'm sorry, but I think I accidentally made you the embodiment of the palace? You can, uh, get some new clothes too." Given the whole "embodiment of the palace" thing, she might be able to warp clothes to herself from anywhere in the palace. "I could still give you a course on succubus magic, but I'm not sure how much it would apply; I don't know what you are anymore, but I don't think you're a succubus."

[Morty]

[Underside - The Diamond Domicile]

Well, that's kind of adorable. This kid is really going the full mile for his girlfriend. Olvisin has no intention of ever getting married, but it still warms the heart.

"I don't know how much of an aura I've got, but sure. We'll make sure to keep anything down there off you."

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

The demon grumbles and goes over to the wardrobe again, pulling out a massive top fit for her new size and slipping it on in front of Sekhmet. It doesn't cover much but at this point she's much too busy being an extensively large building to care about fashion or modesty.
She's certainly not a succubus. She probably didn't even need the humanoid upper body, except that she already had that and nothing made by Sapphira could avoid having that feminine aspect given her taste.
"Maybe you should figure out what you can do before you start zapping people. I don't even know what I can do. We don't even know what I am!" she seems mad. Small bits of lava seem from her hide.

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"I thought I was just saying things. Apparently, uh, that was an actual position which came with powers and responsibilities, not something I just made up." Sekhmet looks carefully at her palace's body. "How did you come to that shape though? I didn't intend that, it just happened. The spider bit actually, uh, looks interesting. That's not, uh, common around here." Sekhmet briefly entertains the thought about how she'd look with spider legs like that, but refrains from trying the shape just yet. "I'm, uh, rather new at this. I'd show you around, but, uh, I think you know the palace better than me now." Sekhmet pauses. "Do you have a name? I don't know if the palace ever had a name. By the time I, uh, ascended the throne, it didn't."

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

"I didn't come up with anything! This is apparently everything that comes with the title." the palace shakes her extremely large abdomen.
"If you're new to this, it might have been something your predecessor set up. It's like...a mold. There was a spot open. When you made that declaration I got slotted in and baked into it. So uh, any reason your predecessor would want a minion that looked like this? Did you know them?

I have a name, but I don't know it. It's probably chiseled into one of my walls, somewhere."

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"I never met anyone that looked like that. If my mother had a minion like that, uh, I never met her, and she's gone by now." Sekhmet shakes her head. "I've never seen a name carved into any of the stones, but the palace goes on for miles. It could just be, uh, somewhere I've never been."