Serious Plots 9: Srsr and srsr

[Deathkeeper]

[Iconquest]

Heather shrugs.
"Don't look at me. Of this friend bubble, I'm the only one mostly getting along with everything." This is possibly because Heather got two-thirds of a Mask while the Sister split theirs three-ways. Many of the former Buttercups that were fully changed and hit with Beatrice's name indicator have been quite content with themselves.
Heather still isn't sure exactly how her mind and Mask are getting along. Forever is a very long time. But it also gives her a long time to think about it.

[Rebonack]

[ICONQUEST]

"Oh right, the whole eating people thing," Snap mutters. "Are you sure you don't want to take the first one, Jade?"

Dandelion, meanwhile, affixes Hector with her typical intense look. "You settling in with everything, little dude? Bet we could get you to evolve if we beat up enough monsters."

Now there's a point!

How would Hector feel about having a giant poofy top-knot instead of a tail?

On the one hand, HANDS!

On the other, silly hair.

Give a little get a little.

As our heroes are passing near the improbable mountain a large shadow appears from above, rapidly growing smaller.

[bc56]

Iconquest

"No, you're actually more likely to hurt more people with your park thing. I can hold it off by eating corpses, at least." Jade looks up at the shadow, but since it seems to be moving away, doesn't pay it any mind. She looks over at Hector and Heather again. Full disclosure, I'm a kumiho. So..." A fox tail and ears pop out of Jade to demonstrate. "What's your thing?"

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Heather looks a bit confused. Not at the kumiho thing, of being asked what her deal is. She feels like that's pretty obvious.
"Um. Pretty much everyone else with the deerbutt. Only my woods are only one house's worth of land." At least she thinks it's about an acre. It's kind of hard to measure."
"Pokemon." Hector says simply without elaborating. He doesn't like letting his illusion down. "Um. I dunno, Dandy. I feel like the two of us have done enough changing but..." but he misses having fingers. Or, maybe not since he's technically never had them. You get the idea.

[bc56]

Inside: Xuracorp Tower (and everywhere else)
The owners of the skyscraper aren't important. They do some commodities trading or something. No, what's important is the fiery hellish fortress that has appeared on top of it, weeping molten rock into the streets. The elegant black stone structure looms menacingly over its surroundings.
Minutes after the castle appears, black gems the size of people rain out from it, embedding themselves across the city. From each, a voice comes, declaring, "Citizens of Inside! I have come to recover what is mine! I speak of my daughter, the fiendling who calls herself Sekhmet Brignole. Until she is returned to me, my armies shall overrun your city! But the one who brings her to me shall be richly rewarded!' Each crystal flashes with an image, the fiendling Sekhmet, shown from several angles. Then, as one, the crystals pulse with energy. The ground cracks around them, and from those cracks rise noxious gas and lesser devils of all sorts, monstrous creatures bent on destruction. "You have as long as your city is still standing to return my daughter to me!"


Inside: Market Street
Panic overtakes the market. Scrawny malformed devils are clambering out of rifts in the ground. Civilians are collapsing from toxic fumes and being set upon by the monsters. A fire has broken out, spreading from shop to shop in a violent inferno. "Help me please!" Someone shouts from the upper floor of a burning building. More screams can be heard from a pile of rubble nearby, where a hulking brutish fiend easily 20 feet tall is tearing down buildings for the sheer fun of it.


Inside: Skyways
Batlike devils fly between the towers of the Skyways. Glass windows are smashed open, and the monstrous creatures force their way within. A succubus laughs as she lures an unfortunate nobleman into her embrace, only to turn and throw him from the edge of the building, then to fly off in search of a new victim. A group of terrified bystanders crossing one of the sky bridges are pinned down by impish creatures who keep swooping at them and harassing them, tearing at their hair and clothes.


Inside: Hodgepodge Street
Great clouds of foul gas roil through the street. Shadows drift through them, those of distressed civilians and those of marauding fiends. A woman, her legs mangled and bloody, tries to crawl out of the smog only to be grabbed by a clawed arm from the murk, which drags her back with a feeble yelp. Something in the gloom is whispering dark secrets to those who will listen, and at least one bystander seems to have become enraptured by its alluring voice, unaware of the poison fog they inhale with every breath.


Inside: Pontius' Custom Constructs
Sekhmet's hammer rings out as it strikes the bronze plate she's shaping again and again. It's a pretty normal day at work. But suddenly there's a loud crash from nearby, and then a very loud voice starts speaking. "Citizens of Inside! I have come to recover what is mine! I speak of my daughter, the fiendling who calls herself Sekhmet Brignole. Until she is returned to me, my armies shall overrun your city! But the one who brings her to me shall be richly rewarded!' Sekhmet freezes, her blood running cold. She knows that voice. She looks at the other people working in fright and desperation. "You have as long as your city is still standing to return my daughter to me!"


Skyside: Shivernight Manor
The time of the ritual has arrived. A pair of cultists entered the manor not long ago through the secret entrance. They're here to aid in the ritual. One is busy painting a binding circle in whichever room Bluefoot wants to perform the rite in, while the other is practicing her chants.
Those in the house with supernatural awareness have been on edge all day. Ananias especially has been screaming and slamming himself against the walls of his prison. Ophelia too has been tense. The snake-woman actually strained against her restraints while she was being fed this morning. Something big is about to happen, that much is clear.


Outside: Sapphira's former prison
The black crystal that Sapphira left here months ago finally acts. With a pulse of energy, the ground cracks around it. With a second, it rockets free into the air. With a third, a nimbus of infernal power crackles to life around it, black lightning cleaving through the air. It turns in midair, slowly, as if taking aim, then begins to fly in a very purposeful direction... Towards Ell Hive nearby. Fortunately, it will take some time for it to reach, but it's constantly picking up speed as it travels. It will arrive soon if no one stops it.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside: Pontius' Custom Constructs

Pontius comes storming down from his overseeing platform as the voice booms out, his animated armchair moving quickly on its spidery legs. "Barricade all the doors! Get those statues animated, at least temporarily! Grab weapons and prepare to be attacked by anything! I will not give up any of my apprentices if all the demons in Hell were to offer my legs back, let alone if they try to take one by force! Stonemasons, reinforce the walls and especially the ceiling! Smiths, upstairs windows- see if these things burn. Carpenters, potters, everyone else- build more! Get as many ready as possible, I don't care how they look! Sturdy and strong beats any aesthetic requirements right now! Sekhmet, what can you tell us of your mother, what can we do to stop her?"

The apprentices do as bid, dropping tools and rushing to barricade the doors- often simply by having a partly carved statue drag itself in front of one and then ordering it to keep the door closed. There's twelve golems already ready to defend the warehouse, at least ready enough to animate and put to work. Five wooden, three stone, an armour golem, and three clay golems walking out of the kiln. The masons get to work, stone creeping up the walls as they shape the building's fabric to make sure it remains sturdy and a muscular orc wearing a leather apron rushes up a ladder to one of the windows and starts blasting fire at the nearest devils. If that doesn't work, she'll call out that fire doesn't work and ask for another ideas- which is rapidly provided when a crossbow is thrown up to her.

Skyside: Shivernight Manor

Bluefoot has designated a large ballroom as the ritual chamber, as it's wide open space is not yet fit for its intended purpose- the once-fine wooden floor has warped and rotted in places, and the ceiling is currently only waterproof by the addition of several tarpaulins stretched across the roof above. After his screaming disturbed Applebiter, Ananais had his voice temporarily placed in a bottle. Bluefoot will return it later.

She's had Sylvester dragged up to the ritual chamber, the first time her one time captor has seen the rest of the house, and is arranging the black candles herself. Each candle's wick is made from someone's hair, plucked from her head and one each from her handmaids. The iron dagger that has never been in sunlight remains in its box, currently tucked in the back of Bluefoot's trousers. Azurelle's skull is held by Applebiter, who doesn't particularly like handling the grisly thing.

[Rebonack]

[Icon Quest]

Lambslaural dances to the side with an "EEP!" as an anvil smashes into the earth nearby, no doubt the source of the aforementioned shadow.

Several MORE shadows begin appear.

"Um... I think m-maybe we should hurry and not be so close to this mountain?" she suggests, picking up the pace a bit.

Random objects falling from the sky?

Sounds pretty improbable.

Dandelion seems mostly unconcerned about the random falling objects. Just means she has to pick where she walks. "Evolution is a pretty important pokemon thing, little dude. Unless you're doing an Ash's Pikachu thing. Which would be lame."

Obvious Dandelion doesn't have a particularly high view of Ash.


[Skyway]

Geneva was here for pretty unremarkable (for her) reasons. Namely, investigating a series of bridges that have been popping up of late in these districts of the City disgorging what she had INITIALLY thought were just people in brightly colored environmental suits. Turns out those weren't actually suits and they're just odd? Odd but harmless, at least to everyone else. They seem to be content waddling around and repairing things and occasionally killing each other? It's all quite strange. Regardless, the bridges were predictable enough that Geneva has been able to get some useful data from them.

And then the devils started attacking.

Two things happen at once.

First?

A call to VIGIL headquarters informing them of the threat.

Second?

A flurry of pink pixels as Geneva shifts over into mew-mode. The hippogriff is by no means helpless, but when it comes to leveraging violence on something pokemon are pretty hard to beat.

Third?

A phone call to none other than-!

Sekhmet's phone rings. Should she pick it up she'll hear a familiar voice. "Sekhmet where are you right now are you safe?"


[Market Street]

Heeeeeeey! You know who lives here in a little apartment building above a ye olde flower shoppe?

Why, it's none other than Ser Pepper! She had been busy selling some fresh produce to one of the veggie merchants when...

Well.

All hell broke loose.

"FIENDS!" the gaiad thunders, stomping one of her back hooves in challenge. "You DARE despoil this place while DEFENDERS OF JUSTICE still draw breath? HAVE AT YOU!"

Then she clenches one hand, causing a javelin of living wood and eldritch magic to grow from her forearm as a swirling cloud of silvery dust springs from her satchel and plates the head of the weapon. With surprising strength for such a slight looking little creature the gaiad HURLS the javelin at the nearest devil! The weapon on its own is potent enough, but its edge is reinforced with an alloy of silver and mithril. Definitely not healthy for your average devil.

Meanwhile, a cloud of silver mist bursts from Pepper's apartment and begins racing toward her several blocks away.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Jade raises her arm and projects a domed shield over the party. "I can't maintain this large a barrier against too many hits, so hurry up!" She runs away from the mountain, tail streaming behind her. "Come on, hurry up!" Luckily, the deer ladies should be pretty fast.

[Reinholdt]

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

With a guttural engine roar, a hovercycle pulls around the corner of the street leading to Xuracorp. Slightly luminescent dark red streaks run along its sides, pulsing with raw energy. Atop is a black clothed and helmeted rider, her outfit clinging tightly to her frame and ensuring there was no mistaking the sexuality she naturally oozed. Ilpholin revs the idling engine, once, twice while she plots her path from this place to that tower, before suddenly taking off towards the building the castle was floating above.

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Indeed, Heather is quite spry even carrying a passenger. Besides, a large fox isn’t much of a passenger.
”Yeah, but what if it gets weird and messes with my head? Again?” Hector asks somewhat nonchalantly even as Heather hurries along.

[Recaiden]

[Outside: Sapphira's former prison]

The lands around Ell Mountain are continually overflown by lone mantises on patrol.
In a better hive, this responsibility would be given to sky-whips and retired dukes. But the essence of sky-whips was lost in the crash that brought them to the Nexus, and there are few enough dukes as it is. So it's mantises, with marquess Lokvah generally responsible for anything weird that they find. They are already on alert after hearing the message in Inside. Sapphira did swear to destroy them, and this seems like her making her move at last.

They recognize the black crystal that Sapphira left quite quickly. And they start with the standard response: launching an angry explosive bug at it!

[Inside: Pontius' Custom Constructs]

Spike checks in with Sekhmet through their telepathic link.
Stay safe. I can bring you some backup if you need it.
And at the same time, they call Prumathe on the vox to warn him about the situation.

[Inside: Red Zone]

A small team of hive creatures, honestly just as fearsome looking as the demons, swarm up out of the hidden entrance to Eurus.
A dozen six-legged Hounds race out, scything claws clearing a path through the minor dangers that infest the area. Three towering Striders come next, their crab-like legs poking holes in the dirt.
Six slithering Archers follow, not stopping for anything. One of them, accompanied by a pair of hound guards and an expendable weaver, gleams in the sunlight - the specially bred demonslayers are ready for use by now. This will be a perfect field test.
Their mission is straightforward: kill any demons they find.
They'll probably be arriving into Hodgepodge Street before too long.

A pair of unobservable Stalkers comes last of all, keeping well away from the others.
They have a more complicated job: help victims of demon attacks - unless they seem to have a potential useful to the hive. In that case, make them disappear.

And deep underground, a special team is being put together. Sapphira isn't going to sit back and let demonic minions do her dirty work forever. When things escalate, they need to be ready.

[Morty]

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

A Vigil team teleports as close to the tower as they can, depending on whether anything is disrupting teleportation near it. Wenomir is, predictably enough, leading them. Sapphira is going to require someone like him to face down, by the looks of it. And he could hardly resist the opportunity. The warrior has discarded his surcoat, wearing only the utilitarian chain shirt and the Answer is currently in its form as a bearded axe.

[FireFox]

[Inside: Market Street]

A woman in a blue hoodie and black yoga pants is buying special candles from a Tindalosian Houndgirl out of a footlocker in the space and time between two stores that don't actually have a gap between them when Hell is unleashed. The human redhead quickly exchanges a wad of paper cash [round coins would be rude!] and a scrap of paper with her phone number for a candle that's the scent of Tomorrow enwicked, wax-sealed, and bound in a square glass jar. The Houndgirl, spiky ears and other appendages pinned back in alarm, disappears into the nearest corner and pulls her footlocker after her. The woman turns around and starts running--towards the burning building. She puts the scented candle into her messenger bag and pulls out a handful of other items on her way, then calls up to the trapped person. "Are you alone or are there more people in there? If you jump, I'll catch you!"

[5a Violista]

[Inside: Hodgepodge Street]

A slimegirl happens to be in the area when the poisonous fog fills the area. (She is the standard translucent blue slime color, with pretty distinct red markings all over the surface of the right side of her body.)

Although she doesn't breathe, she can feel the toxins soaking into her body.

It feels gross.

And she sees several people, just standing there and breathing in these toxins. What are they doing?!?

The slimegirl goes up to one of the enraptured victims and shakes their shoulder. Hey! Shake out of it! Wake up! she wants to say.


[Someplace Right]

The catgirl is pretty excited when it works. "Yes!"
It worked!
They'll all be brought back now.

She tele—ports back to HALO


[The County of Art]

Redcurrant reads the angry note.
"If your creation can't survive without you, you're the worst kind of a failure of a creator."
They might not see eye-to-eye on this.

The second note does have a good point, she admits. If they learn to regulate better, that would be good for them. They might even be able to control flexibility and such, too, which would make up for lots of things at the expense of making the joints less strong.

Using the chemical signals and plant pathways that the plantwolves have been using, she asks the nearby one what it thinks about having new specialized limbs.
"They need water to survive, so they don't mind it. None have tried swimming yet, and salt water would probably be bad for them right now," she answers.

---

The plant-wolf responds in its thoughts, without any encoding, saying that it doesn't know. It knows it was supposed to come here, so it hopes to find out why it needed to come here.

It seems to be sure if it sticks around here long enough, it will eventually find out what its purpose in coming here was.

[Rebonack]

[ICONQUEST]

Welp.

Looks like it's time to swiftly run away!

Thankfully the gaiads are, in fact, pretty swift footed.

Swift hooved?

Something.

"Growing up messes with your head, little dude," Dandelion points out. "Pokemon puberty."

Except that unevolved forms can also make eggs? Pokemon reproduction is weird.

Regardless! Our heroes leave Mount Improbable and its strangeness behind! They soon come upon a rather odd road that leads off toward the four compass points. At the hub, where are heroes are now, the brick road is an artistic spiral of color: yellow, blue, purple, and red. According to the map our heroes need to follow the purple brick road to the north.

Not the yellow brick road.

If they followed that one they might encounter an animated scare crow or something.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Jade dispels the shield and looks around. "Coast is clear. Okay, follow the purple path." Easy enough, right?

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

”I don’t want another puberty! I already have a full set of memories of our first one!” Hector moans.
”Eh, what’s the worst that could happen? You blink and realize you’re even edgier? Purple is easy enough. Good thing none of us are colorblind.” Hector squints. He maybe used to be. It’s hard to keep colors properly sorted when you’re made of shadows.

[Arkhosia]

Inside: Xuracorp Tower

Spoiler

Show

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

A Vigil team teleports as close to the tower as they can, depending on whether anything is disrupting teleportation near it. Wenomir is, predictably enough, leading them. Sapphira is going to require someone like him to face down, by the looks of it. And he could hardly resist the opportunity. The warrior has discarded his surcoat, wearing only the utilitarian chain shirt and the Answer is currently in its form as a bearded axe.

In times like these, it's relatively rare to see VIGIL's Co-Commander in the field - and even rarer to get a chance to fight alongside him. Rare enough that Blanche couldn't pass up the chance to prove she could hold her own against the kinds of things he's called upon to face. It's why she's come along in full memetic body armor, rifle slung across her shoulder and pistol at her side. She's brought her medic's satchel too, though she doesn't expect much use of it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Telly's Chamber!]

"I believe you," Maiel says, and honestly, but he doesn't really care if Skyside is 'saved' one way or the other. Not quite tenderly, he adds, "Rest, now."

The old miner slowly lowers Tellysandra to her bed and, after one last look around, turns to go unless she says anything more to him directly.

[Telly's Chamber!]

Telly on the other hand sounds like she cares more than her words can express. But before she can say anything else she seems to have fallen asleep in her mask and dress. How she manages to sleep in that stylish metal mask is anyone's guess but perhaps she has gotten used to it by now.

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

Anika looks around the area they've teleported into as she appears alongside the other two. "So... are we taking down bankers or something? Or are the bankers the demons? Since I always suspected they were." Then she turns to look up a bit further.
"Oh. That isn't supposed to be there, is it?" The druid was in her full armor set which included the awesome claws she so rarely got to wear. Mostly since they were impractical as she had a hard time holding anything while using them but perhaps she wouldn't need to in this situation.

Then looking at it all, she gets an idea. "...hey, what if we just blew up the base of this building? I mean, it's pretty ruined already isn't it? Just a big bomb and the whole tower would just crash down into...." Anika pauses. "Ah, that's why we're not doing that." She would need to work on that plan a bit. She was sure this could be easily solved somehow.

[bc56]

Inside: Xuracorp Tower
The Vigilantes and the nymph arrive at roughly the same time. The tower looms before them, its formerly shining glass and steel frame blackened, warped and twisted by the molten rock flowing down its sides. The black stone fortress perched atop it seems to glare at them. Suddenly, there's a familiar voice, not aloud, but in their minds. Hello, so-called "heroes." I smell my daughter's essence on some of you. But you haven't brought her. I suggest you return with her if you value your lives.

Inside: Pontius' Custom Constructs
Sekhmet looks at Pontius with hope in her eyes. It would be so much easier and safer to turn her in. "Silver will, uh, stop her minions." After her metamorphosis, Sekhmet's been unable and unwilling to work silver. She's talked to Pontius about it before. "I can't use my powers, it will, uh, draw them here." Like moths to a flame. "We, uh, can't stop Mother. Uh, not here. We'd need to get to, uh, where she is and, uh, catch her by surprise." At the same time, Sekhmet sends to the Hive. I'm safe for now. And then her phone rings, but she doesn't answer. She knows her mother has her number and suspects she could track her somehow if she picks up.

Skyside: Shivernight Manor

The time for the ritual is here.
Bind the victim in the center of the ritual circle. Perform the chant. At the proper time, use the dagger to slit the victim's throat and let his blood anoint the saint's skull, mixed with the tears of the serpent. Then speak the name and the summoning will be complete.

Inside: Market Street
As one devil falls, a spindly devil with way too many fingers and toes drops out of a second floor window onto the gaiad knight. Its polydactyl hands grasp at her throat as its toes claw at her flanks, and it cackles through a mouth with more tongues and teeth than is strictly necessary.
The woman in the burning upper floor shouts back, sounding a little desperate, "I can't! There's rubble, I'm trapped!"

Inside: Hodgepodge Street
"Listen to me, little one..." A faint voice says to the slimegirl. The man she shakes just keeps staring blankly ahead. "What do you want to know? I can tell you... Everything.

Inside: Skyway
Sekhmet doesn't pick up. The call goes to her answering machine. "Hi, uh, this is Sekhmet Brignole. I can't take your, uh, call right now. Please leave a message, and I'll, uh, ring you back as soon as I can." A few windows down the building Geneva's in, something smashes its way inside. An inky black tendril gropes its way along the wall and wraps around the leg of an unconscious civilian, dragging her out the broken window.

Outside: Ell Hive
The living projectile strikes the crystal's aura and vaporizes in a burst of fiendish magic. There's some sort of magical shield around it protecting it from harm. It roars through the sky, still picking up speed.

[5a Violista]

[Inside: Hodgepodge Street]

The slimegirl turns her head, looking for where the voice is coming from.
Ha! Joke's on you! she wants to say to it. She basically sticks a tongue out at...the air. Regardless of if she wanted to ask a question, it's not like she could ask it anyway!

Since shaking doesn't seem to be working, she decides she'll have to drag him away.

She moves behind him, and wraps her arms around his chest, hoping that'll let her pull him.

. . .
It's
not easy.
Not just because she'd rather not consume his shirt by accident, because that's actually a minor concern.
It's actually kind-of difficult because she's not exactly...newtonian. A thixotropic Bingham pseudoplastic, she would say if somebody knew what that was. She's practically a liquid. Pulling on things takes quite a bit of work: and the harder she pulls, the harder it is to continue acting solid-like.

[Morty]

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

"It's a devil-queen doing as devil-queens generally do," Wenomir explains to Anika. "Her daughter warned us about her. We just need to get up there and defeat her. Remarkably straightf-"

Weomir is interrupted by Sapphira's voice.

"You have no idea how many times I've heard this."

He shakes his head and resumes talking to his squad.

"Maybe we can find a flying vehicle we can use. Climbing this tower will take too long, even if it's possible." He turns around when he sees Ilpholin's hoverbike. "It's Ilpholin. She couldn't resist facing down a devil of this caliber."

[Recaiden]

[The County of Art]

Redcurrant reads the angry note.
"If your creation can't survive without you, you're the worst kind of a failure of a creator."
They might not see eye-to-eye on this.

The second note does have a good point, she admits. If they learn to regulate better, that would be good for them. They might even be able to control flexibility and such, too, which would make up for lots of things at the expense of making the joints less strong.

Using the chemical signals and plant pathways that the plantwolves have been using, she asks the nearby one what it thinks about having new specialized limbs.
"They need water to survive, so they don't mind it. None have tried swimming yet, and salt water would probably be bad for them right now," she answers.

---

The plant-wolf responds in its thoughts, without any encoding, saying that it doesn't know. It knows it was supposed to come here, so it hopes to find out why it needed to come here.

It seems to be sure if it sticks around here long enough, it will eventually find out what its purpose in coming here was.

They definitely won't see eye-to-eye (it's hard when one of them can't be seen).

They might not need you. But are they supposed to be all alone?

How sad that would be, with only other plant-wolves for company.

There's another note, which has little to do with the plant-wolves.

What manner of creature are you? You're very beautiful.

---

Thoughts and chemicals arrive approving of the plant wolf. It doesn't know, but it doesn't need to know. It listens. It is a good wolf.
And, it is here to be judged, to see if plant-wolves as a whole are worthwhile.

It reaches the end of then tunnel, where a gate of glowing fronds opens upon a cavern. At the mouth of the cave wait strange creatures, a little like crabs, and a little like anteaters, and much bigger than a wolf, that watch the newcomer through the vibrations in the ground.

A clear message now: Come further in. Come to the water.


[Sapphira]

Outside: Ell Hive
Not unexpected. The crystal proved impervious to harm earlier, it was a faint hope that it would become vulnerable while moving.

It is a few moments later that another mantis arrives, pulled form its patrols. This one with a rider on its back, the marquess Lokvah.
She strikes at the crystal with what fiendish power she has, trying to shove it off course, and then to drain at its shield with a cold and hungry darkness.

Inside: Hodgepodge Street
The first of the hive's hounds bound into the district in search of demons to confront!
They slow down now that they're withing the fog, moving in a careful formation.
Perhaps the poison will start to have an effect on them in time, but they show no interest in whispering voices.

[Rebonack]

[Iconquest]

"Pretty sure the pokemon kind goes faster than the human kind," Dandelion replies with a snort.

On to the purple path!

The walk is pretty uneventful, for a time. At least until our heroes encounter a certain oddity that Zee had informed Jade of.

The neon geysers.

Now most people know what a geyser looks like.

Hole in the ground that shoots out water, right?

Okay, so this is like that. Except the fluid shooting out of the earth is about what one might expect from the glow sticks or wrist bands someone might have at a rave. It's impressive even during the day. It probably looks downright fantastical at night. There's a family of kobold tourists wearing loud floral shirts yapping at each other animatedly and taking pictures of the sights.

Our heroes could stop for a brief break since it HAS been a rather long walk. Or they could just journey onward and NOT enjoy the curious sights.

[The Skyway]

Sekhmet isn't answering.

There are several possible explanations for this. Maybe she's just busy. That's likely. Or maybe hiding.

What Geneva can potentially rule out is that she has already been captured. If Sapphira is anything but a liar then that would mean all these demons would be going away. So it's likely that Sapphira is still having her aims frustrated.

That's fine by Geneva.

She has more immediately pressing concerns.

Like people getting attacked by devils.

Geneva goes zipping downward, a bubble of psychokinetic force aiming to snap around the unconscious civilian and possible slice off the tendril in the process. She'll try to hoist the victim away from the creature, her mental voice broadcasting into the building.

~Is anyone in there still awake and aware? Your building is under attack. Please move away from any external windows and barricade yourself somewhere safe until Intersection forces can retrieve you.~


[Market Street]

Oh hey look Pepper just made a friend.

As soon as the thing touches her she reacts with practiced grace and speed, aiming to seize the creature by the jaw and-

-rapidly sink into the ground?

Just sort of vanish into the sidewalk.

Fast enough that the devil may end up getting its face slammed into the pavement. Ouch.

That silvery cloud of metal dust continues speeding down the road toward Pepper, flashing through a small mob of devils as it goes. The swarm of tiny magical gears happens to be made of a particularly blessed alloy of mithril and silver and maybe prove to be pretty uncomfortable.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Now that's interesting. Jade snaps a sample container off her belt and goes to grab some of the water in it, but otherwise keeps moving northward towards the valley. Of course if the others want to stop longer, she won't have a choice in the matter.

[5a Violista]

[The County of Art]

Redcurrant grabs the first note and reads it.

"If they choose to be alone, that is their choice and I'll respect it. If they want to seek out companionship, then that's also their prerogative."

After seeing the second note, she crouches down and places her hand on the ground. Grasses grow from the ground.
Once the grass is big and thick enough that it could possibly be obscuring something, she reaches into it and pulls out a white mask, with no eye sockets or other openings, and with vulpine features and ears.

She stands up, holding it. If someone wants to see it, they'll have to be somewhere with a line of vision, too; they can't just be hiding behind corners forever.
"What I am is rather new," she claims. Not quite as new as the plant-wolves, but creating them was literally the first thing she had done, so they're not much newer than she is. "Even I don't know what I am yet."
"This," she says, gesturing with the mask, "is me. When I find something that interests me, I give this out and take what I want."
Then, succubus-dryad gestures at her body.
"And this was another new thing that I had never seen before. Some kind of newly-created demon-forest fairy hybrid. With no idea what would happen, I gave her the mask, she put it on, and this-" now she gestures at her face, with both her free hand and her mask "-is what resulted." She twists to look at her tails...(?) no, there's just one demonic tail still. "I have to admit, I thought I had already seen everything, but after becoming this, everything feels new." Definitely worth her time just to do whatever and anything and everything in between.

---

The plant-wolf realizes that it likes being told it is a good wolf. Its bushy tail wags, and its thoughts are mostly filled with just feeling happy.

It, of course, enters the water.

Wood floats, so if they want it to be submerged, then they'll have to either drag it down or inform it so that it can go grab some rocks and hold them in its branches.

[Reinholdt]

[Inside: Xuracorp Tower]

They would most certainly hear Ilpholin's excessively loud hoverbike before seeing her. It doesn't help they teleported in right in front of her. "THE HE-!!" Ilpholin had predicted demons to pop up to get in her way and she was prepared to run them down, amongst other things. She wasn't prepared for Wenomir and Anika and someone else to zap into her path from nowhere.

The nymph immediately slams on the brakes, swerving hard and sending it onto its side, her leg slamming painfully into the ground as she skids, trying to slow the momentum. She yanks on the bike's structure, the vehicle folding and collapsing in on itself until it becomes a small cube, still careening, but much less likely to do damage if it hits anyone. Now lacking anything between her and the ground, Ilpholin tumbles and rolls, minimizing the impact as best she can.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside: PCC

"Got it. Jewellers! Get the silver ready! Melt it, all of it! Don't care what you were doing with it before just get it molten! Pyromancers, help 'em! Smiths, make it sharp and hard and do what you can! Alloy it with whatever you think's best for making weapons, just keep it silver!" The pyromancers bounce from the windows and rush to help the jewellers melt what little silver they have- Pontius rarely uses much precious metals, save in the last stages of finishing a golem off or for particularly expensive custom orders. Pontius doesn't know enough about phones or technology to help Sekhmet with the phone question, alas, but she could possibly ask some of the other apprentices if she should turn it off or dump it somewhere. The pyromancer's crossbow is taken up by a mason, a chunky dwarf lass with her chisel and a hefty hammer tucked into her belt, both marked with runes and glyphs.

Skyside: Shivernight Manor

Sylvester is bound in the middle of the circle, the room dark and lit only by the hair-wicked candles. When she's confident the room is dark enough and no sunlight is getting in- don't want to ruin the ritual by letting sun touch the blade at the last moment, after all- Bluefoot removes the sunless iron dagger from its box and raises it above her head. She brings it down rather violently into Sylvester's neck, screaming as she does. "Sakiril-Ess, Toktr Etsa Korrel, Kodira Myn-Erl, Nolvilik Kendek, Resyr Lokata, Okaril-Ess, Keyra Dogetal!"

[Deathkeeper]

[Iconquest]

"Yeah but what if it makes me think different things? Isn't that why we're here for you guys?" Hector whines.
It's a well known fact that kobolds love hot water.

Heather whispers to Hector who passes her a phone. Heather snaps a few photos before sticking it back into her saddlebag. She won't argue if Jade wants to hurry past.

[Recaiden]

[The County of Art]

Redcurrant grabs the first note and reads it.

"If they choose to be alone, that is their choice and I'll respect it. If they want to seek out companionship, then that's also their prerogative."

After seeing the second note, she crouches down and places her hand on the ground. Grasses grow from the ground.
Once the grass is big and thick enough that it could possibly be obscuring something, she reaches into it and pulls out a white mask, with no eye sockets or other openings, and with vulpine features and ears.

She stands up, holding it. If someone wants to see it, they'll have to be somewhere with a line of vision, too; they can't just be hiding behind corners forever.
"What I am is rather new," she claims. Not quite as new as the plant-wolves, but creating them was literally the first thing she had done, so they're not much newer than she is. "Even I don't know what I am yet."
"This," she says, gesturing with the mask, "is me. When I find something that interests me, I give this out and take what I want."
Then, succubus-dryad gestures at her body.
"And this was another new thing that I had never seen before. Some kind of newly-created demon-forest fairy hybrid. With no idea what would happen, I gave her the mask, she put it on, and this-" now she gestures at her face, with both her free hand and her mask "-is what resulted." She twists to look at her tails...(?) no, there's just one demonic tail still. "I have to admit, I thought I had already seen everything, but after becoming this, everything feels new." Definitely worth her time just to do whatever and anything and everything in between.

---

The plant-wolf realizes that it likes being told it is a good wolf. Its bushy tail wags, and its thoughts are mostly filled with just feeling happy.

It, of course, enters the water.

Wood floats, so if they want it to be submerged, then they'll have to either drag it down or inform it so that it can go grab some rocks and hold them in its branches.

Another note, asking what they think is an important question.

Are they any good at making choices? Most creatures aren't!

Most plants hardly make choices at all.

But then, the grass starts growing, and the mask is pulled out.
Feelings race through the writer: confusion, surprise, horror. They had been conversing with a mask? Some sort of object!?
And they quickly step forward and try to encoil the mask in a tentacle and snatch it away. At this point, Ein will probably stop being so hard to notice. The solid signal of feeling the mask move in one's hand is likely enough to pierce through the illusions and realize, why, they've been in line of sight all along, watching with those gleaming orange eyes.
At the same time, there's the sound of something scuttling by in another hall not-so-far-away, brushing the walls and debris with its bulk. Perhaps a plant-wolf lounging in the sun, if it has wolfishly keen senses, will notice more: a smell like the sea, the swish of a long sharp tail through the air.

---

What a good-natured creature they've found.
The water is warm, hot even, but not yet dangerous or painful, and in constant swirling motion.
Around the rim of the pool, the not-quite-plants fold inward over the wolf and the water, hiding the cavern roof up above.
They're more than capable of dragging it down. Bits of the ground beneath the water rise up like serpents to try to grab hold of the plant and pull it beneath the surface. If it needs air, it will find that the water mostly suffices.

All this is to get a close look at the plant-wolf. Botanically, how much is it like other plants they might know? How much of its wolfishness is due to this strange fairy magic?