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

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"Uh, okay, if you don't mind." Alternately, Sekhmet could walk there. It's not that much of a problem. Either way, once they're away from Hekate, she stops to talk to Pan. "Pan, are you feeling all right? And you don't have to, uh, call me Highness. You can call me Sekhmet."

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

"Sorry, Sekhmet. Part of my new self. I have to serve I guess. I have to ask these things." Her form blurs again until her lower body is shaped like a horse, with a saddle and all.
"Hop on, Sekhmet."

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
"What? No, I'm not riding you!" Sekhmet protests. "I thought you would teleport us or something!" She doesn't like the idea of using a minion as a mount. "Please don't, uh, demean yourself like that for me." She's serious. She doesn't want her minions to act like slaves. Also she's still half spider, so riding a horse would be challenging (she could shapeshift back, but now she doesn't want to make it seem like she's changing her mind on the riding thing).

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

"The words came out of my mouth unbidden. You're going to have to work out all the rules built into whatever you turned me into. I don't think I can teleport you. Maybe myself." Pan shifts back into spider-shape and starts leading Sekhmet towards the throne room. She hasn't been there before, except she also has because it is her.

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
Sekhmet also knows where the throne room is, so the two of them can get there without much trouble. Once there, she sends out a psychic message. Rose? Braon? Please, uh, meet me in the throne room. There's, uh, something we all need to discuss.

[Rebonack]

[Sekhmet's Palace]

Rose was busy.

Maybe not busy doing anything that's strictly important but busy none the less.

Mostly updating her apartment to be a bit more friendly to... well... having a salamander for a butt.

Having that much back-end means tight twists and turns aren't very forgiving. As such, Rose has been engaged in the deeply important activity of rearranging furniture!

But then?

She gets a call. Not a summons, though. Just a call. Hmm.

Oh, hello Sekhmet! I was just moving some couches around; I'm back in the mortal world. It'll take me a while to attend on foot do you think you could extend a formal summons to me? she prays back.

Surely Sekhmet knows how to summon those under her.

Rose definitely knows how to do that! Mostly due to her background in diabolism. But surely the Queen of the Scorching Depths knows how to perform such a fundamental ritual.

[Ironsmith]

[Sekhmet's Palace]

Braon, being unable to leave the Scorching Depths or possibly even the palace itself, is a little closer.

She won't answer Sekhmet's call directly, but by the time she arrives in the throne room, it'll be clear the trip was long enough for her to get bored, since she's now trying to maximize the scandal she's bringing with her. So far, she's up to "being accompanied by a pair of succubi, the three of them openly, bodily flirting with each other".

Thankfully, she hasn't been there long enough to be truly inspired yet.

[bc56]

Sekhmet's Palace
Uh, okay. Rose Simon Faust, you are hereby summoned to appear before Queen Sekhmet of the Scorching Depths. A royal decree should work to summon one of her subjects.
Meanwhile, Sekhmet can sigh at Braon. Seriously? At least she came; Sekhmet has no real power over her, unlike Rose and Pan.
Both Rose and Braon will note a significant difference in the fiendish queen, namely that her lower body is that of a gigantic spider. She hasn't gotten around to changing back yet.

[Deathkeeper]

Sekhmet's Palace

The two newcomers will likely quickly notice the new fiend in the room. Mostly because she's an absolutely enormous drider-shaped fiend with the upper body reminiscent of one of the old guard succubi without wings but with skin colored like the marble of the palace, and a huge fiery spider lower body with long, frill-like hanging bristles.
Pandemonium waves as the other women enter.

[Rebonack]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

Sure that'll work.

Because Rose like making an entrance a deep burgundy rose blossom manifests on the floor, growing wider and larger until at last it blooms in a plume of lava, the gaiad standing in the midst.

The lava, thankfully, all ceases to exist pretty quickly.

That was probably something of a glamour on Rose's part just because she enjoys the theatrics.

For those unaware, Rose's upper body is that of a shapely human woman framed by obsidian armor. Her ears are distinctly cervine and her long black hair is studded with small rose blossoms, the largest and most conspicuous of which is tucked just above one of her ears. Her lower body is that of a salamander, a vaguely reptilian form fashioned from volcanic rock with a pair of draconic wings sprouting from its shoulder blades. A set of protruding teeth run from the front of the lower body all the way to the rear hips. Judging from the flattened tail the body is meant to be able to easily swim through molten rock.

She takes one look at the gathering (and the unusually large number of legs) and inquires, "Wowie, did I miss something?"

Lots of spider going on.

[Ironsmith]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

Braon's shoulders sag as she comes to the realization that she, with her mostly-humanoid body and reasonable height, was the odd one out in this meeting.

Oh, great. It's going to be one of those gatherings, isn't it?

She gives a little sigh and pats her companions on their backs. "Sorry, girls, but this is official royal business now, apparently." She turns them toward the door and gives a little smile. "I'll see you both tonight. Don't forget to bring the..." She pauses and glances over at Sekhmet, deciding to cater to the queen's sensibilities for once. "Well, you know what to bring."

After they leave, Braon turns back to Sekhmet and puts her hands on her hips. "So, what's so important that you needed to pull me out of an active investigation?" She asks, not bothering with introductions and wanting to get straight to the point.

[bc56]

Fiendish Staff Meeting
"Important investigation." Is that what they're calling it these days? "Uh..." Sekhmet struggles to find the right place to start, "Uh, hi everyone. This is Pan. She's, uh, the embodiment of the palace. This is Rose, uh, my captain of the guard and, uh, head minion, and this is Braon, uh..." Sekhmet has to think about how to describe Braon. "She's, uh, sort of like a spymaster, but it's complicated." Sekhmet pauses, tapping a few of her legs as she thinks of what to say next. "Uh, I thought you all should meet each other, and, uh, also we need to talk about the future a bit, I think."

[Deathkeeper]

Fiendish Staff Meeting

"Right, I'm Pandemonium. Pan is fine, though. I'm filling in for the last palace demon, apparently. I'm sure we'll get along." says Pan, wishing she could stop being so much bigger than everyone else in the room. She is, by all accounts, rather enormous.

[Fenric]

Down at the bottom is silt, as is usual for an area with no appreciable current as this sheltered little bay is. The floor is smooth and fairly even, sending up small clouds when disturbed. The hatchlings are probably a bit disappointed.

Caroline doesn't notice the cold at all, and giggles at seeing Steven's pupils dilated so far because of the dim light.

Oh my! Your eyes are just completely black! I am really impressed with how well we can still see down here, though.

Keiko swims slowly, looking around for anything tasty: remembering the toothy pike-like fish that live here. Away from shore, the floor continues to drop steadily before abruptly vanishing altogether perhaps another two hundred yards out.

[Rebonack]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

"There was a palace demon?" Rose asks, sounding a little surprised by that. "I don't think there was one when I was sneaking around back when your mom was still in charge."

If there had been then sneaking would have been way more difficult.

Or...

Maybe there WAS and her sneaking was know, but Sapphira didn't try to stop her?

When it comes to schemers it can be difficult to tell, sometimes.

Sekhmet is refreshingly straight forward in that regard.

She smiles up at Pan one way or the other!

"Did you need an update on the redemption efforts? Most of the lost souls are pretty keen on my offer so far. A second chance SURE beats getting tormented forever or eaten," Rose reports.

[Recaiden]

Down at the bottom is silt, as is usual for an area with no appreciable current as this sheltered little bay is. The floor is smooth and fairly even, sending up small clouds when disturbed. The hatchlings are probably a bit disappointed.

Caroline doesn't notice the cold at all, and giggles at seeing Steven's pupils dilated so far because of the dim light.

Oh my! Your eyes are just completely black! I am really impressed with how well we can still see down here, though.

Keiko swims slowly, looking around for anything tasty: remembering the toothy pike-like fish that live here. Away from shore, the floor continues to drop steadily before abruptly vanishing altogether perhaps another two hundred yards out.

It's a little disappointing that there's no caves or sunken ship or giant fish here.
But racing around tossing up silt is good too. That occupies three hatchlings, while Hana swims deeper, towards the shelf.

Cleo is probably scaring away the pike-fish just by being so strange. But maybe that'll drive one right towards Keiko, if they're lucky.

[Ironsmith]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

"And water is wet." Braon snarks, sparing a sideways glances at Rose. Who wouldn't want to avoid being tortured and eaten? That's got to be, like, Self-Preservation 101.

Though admittedly, Braon was having a little trouble with what Rose would probably consider "redemption". Being held against her will and forced to act a certain way chafed at her worse than...

Actually, she couldn't think of anything. It just annoyed her peerlessly.

"So anyway, Pan..." Braon begins, stepping toward the massive spider-demoness. "What exactly does a palace demon do?" It might have been more productive to ask Sekhmet that, but this had the added bonus of potentially making Pan look stupid.

[bc56]

Fiendish Staff Meeting
"Braon..." Sekhmet has a warning tone. These are powerful beings Braon is dealing with; she should try not to anger them. "So, uh, we think the original Pandemonium died before I was born. I didn't know the position existed until I accidentally promoted this Pan into it, but some of the, uh, succubi remember her predecessor." She explains to Rose.
Pan can probably answer Braon's question better than Sekhmet can.

[Deathkeeper]

Fiendish Staff Meeting

"I am the palace." Pan says dramatically.
"I am the caretaker of the Queen's seat of office, because I am her seat of office. Anything that happens within my walls, I will know. I perform her will.
Mostly that last one, too. I can practically feel the rules built into this position." she adds with a grumble.

Great Inland Sea

"We should stay together," Steven suggests. "We're all equipped to be down here, but that doesn't mean we can't get lost."
It's not like there's many landmarks this far down.

[Rebonack]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

Rose sticks her tongue out at Braon because she is a paragon of poise and maturity.

"That'll definitely help with security," Rose reasons at the explanation. "I can't be everywhere at once and neither can the guards. But the palace sure can be since... it's the palace."

Hard for the palace to be something other than the palace.

"Will Pan be reporting to me, or visa versa?" Rose inquires curiously.

She doesn't sound upset about the possibility of someone being placed in authority between herself and Sekhmet the way one might expect a devil grasping after power would. Rose's ambient level of Buttercupness insures that she's quite a bit more peppy about everything than she would be otherwise.

It's a good question!

Chain of command is important.

[Ironsmith]

[Fiendish Staff Meeting]

Braon sees Rose's tongue and raises her a thumbed nose. Poise and maturity this!

Her follow-up question is enought to make Braon go pale, though. Pan... is the palace. She could see and hear everything that happened inside her, likely all at once, including those conspiratorial whispers Sekhmet was so worried about.

It's the kind of power that makes a spymaster horribly irrelevant.

If Sekhmet got it in her head to replace her, Braon might just lose her best shot at returning to the mortal realm. She could be stuck down here for all eternity, or at least until her extended lifespan gave out and she died of natural causes.

Either way, agh.

"...You don't look much like the palace." Braon challenges, hands on her hips. She turns to Sekhmet and gives an annoyed huff. "Where'd you find this chick, anyway?"

[bc56]

Fiendish Staff Meeting
"Uh, I was thinking you both report directly to me," Sekhmet answers. "Rose, uh, you're more in charge of the, uh, personnel, and Pan, you're in charge of the, uh, facilities." All of Sekhmet's business-talk comes from watching a spy movie with Prumathe, so she's not very convincing about it. But she tried. "Braon, uh, I have a new assignment for you." Sekhmet avoids answering the question about where she found Pan.

[Deathkeeper]

Fiendish Staff Meeting

The fact that Pan is literally stuck with the palace's exact color scheme only makes Braon's comment more annoying. With a low rumble the floor starts to shift, the tile Braon is standing on lowering into the ground so she's a foot lower and has to strain even more to look up at them.
"That sounds lovely, my Queen."

[Lord Magtok]

Mountain Trip

Mountain Trip

Calm Reed catches the blade on her interlocked wrists. It looks easy, but St. Lazarus will notice the effort going into it. It's hard to spot, because part of it is supernatural; the burning elemental Essence coursing through her body. She seems approving of the strength of the blow.

"Good. Now let's keep going, but I'll push you towards the wall of the cave." The monk takes a step forward just as she said. "Feel the stone closing in around you and let it feed into your resolve."

"Feel the stone..."

Saint Lazarus grits her teeth and locks her joints in place as she's pushed towards the cave. There's a reason Calm Reed wanted them here for this. She's here to learn the Earth Dragon Style, and that means more than just hitting hard, it means being an indefatigable monster, an immovable object, a mountain. A mountain, just like the one beside her and all around her. Hard, unyielding, immobile, her feet locked in place like a dozen magnets are holding her there.

[Recaiden]

[Sekhmet's Palace]

...probably at a later time...

There'll be something between a knock and an announcement, that the goddess Message would like to visit?
And then she should appear just outside the palace. No fanfare, no dramatic magical portal, just a woman in sunglasses being there when previously there wasn't anyone.

[bc56]

Divine Visitation
Of course Message is welcome here. Sekhmet wouldn't even hesitate before allowing her in.
The palace floats in a lake of lava, a narrow bridge of black marble connecting the ashen shoreline to the white stone of the structure.
A devilish guard in forbidding black armor and a succubus in very little at all are there as the goddess arrives. "The queen has instructed us to bring you to her," The succubus explains. Neither of the two fiends look thrilled to be escorting an honest-to-goodness god to the throne room. Mostly they look like they're trying to hide how terrified they are.

[Recaiden]

This is a lovely palace. Old-fashioned, of course, but the black and white stones are wonderful, and the lava lake makes it seem appropriately hellish.

She's glad to see that Sekhmet has some non-succubi here. But then, she's also glad to see the succubus.
"Thank you. And don't be afraid." That's just advice, not any sort of godly command, okay?
Message has appeared in her standard form, a blend of her earthly Charity aspects. Straight black hair, fuzzy animal ears, two striped tails, golden fignernails. Cargo pants, checkered shirt, leather jacket, sunglasses. She does seem inhumanly lovely and clever and vivid, but that's beyond helping.

So, across the marble bridge!

[bc56]

Divine Visitation
Across the bridge, down a hallway, and through an ornate pair of double doors inlaid with gold. The fiendish escorts don't seem at all reassured by Message's words.
The throne room is beyond, grand and ostentatious, of course, but all attention is focused on the woman on the throne. Sekhmet is in her royal splendor, beautiful and terrible, clad in a gown of flame and jewelry of gold and diamond. She's answering some question for a pair of succubi when Message walks in. She finishes her sentence, then pauses. "I'm sorry, but, uh, this is important. Can you two come back later?" The succubi quickly vacate the room, along with everyone else who was waiting for an audience. "Uh, hi Message," Sekhmet stammers, "What, uh, what brings you here?"

[Recaiden]

"Ah, I could have waited in line for an audience, you know." Freaking out all the demons the whole time...
Message strolls up through the ostentatious throne room.
"Hello! Well, first, I came to give you my congratulations, Queen Sekhmet."

[bc56]

Divine Visitation
"Uh, thank you." Sekhmet seems a bit awkward. "So, uh, what do you think?" She stands up from the throne, it seems weird to be enthroned in front of Message. "I've, uh, been working on it." She's not even sure what she's talking about. Or what she should talk about. She wasn't expecting this visit.