Planeside 3

[Rebonack]

[Sylvanas]

Batteries.

Magdalene had figured those out. There were some machines that used them. Some of them had to be attached to holes in the walls to work again. Magdalene had tried poking at one of the holes once and it had felt like an angry aetherial had shocked the hell out her. So apparently someone had figured out how to bottle lightning? But there weren't any holes in the wall to plug the battery into, let alone holes with lightning running through them. And Magdalene was a bit skeptical of the idea of trying to catch a lightning bolt herself and stuffing it in the battery. Would that even work? She had no idea.

She's pretty happy about not getting stabbed, though.

A brief respite from being attacked is never bad.

Then the woman starts talking.

Thanks for the fire. And some other language she doesn't recognize.

"Whatever," Magdalene replies dismissively. "Not like I was going to let your stupid ass freeze to death. What the hell are you even doing out here?"

What's with all these people stumbling into the forest?

It's like it became easier all of a su-

Oh.

(Flower).

Maybe it IS getting easier. If Sylvanas is overlapping with the real world more then that's bad.

[Ironsmith]

Well, there's another plan sunk.

Marcie glances away, letting the royals share their resentments. She has no part in it. Neither of them have had it easy. Of course one hopes to find such unbelievable loyalty, but who can really expect it?

"...yes." She was hoping not to resort to them.
"I could engage certain preparations from our world, that would not be worth considering if Maesda were not in such straits, and you so important to it. I would be useless for anything else for some time, and you would owe us a great deal." That is to say, a great deal more than you would owe someone who merely saved your life. "But nothing so...personal."

"If you can agree to that, simply ask aloud to be healed."

[Brefaisil]

Arnbaith nods slowly. That... seemed a little easier to accept, at least in the abstract. He's been indebted before, and he's always managed to pay off his debts, even those which extended as far as his life.

The troubling part was Marcie's declaration that she would be useless for a while. He hadn't met Inari yet and so far as he knew, he would basically be cannibalizing their lifeline just to make him well again. And then... accomplish what, exactly? Arnbaith has been out of the loop for ten years. He won't be able to fix Maesda's problems singlehandedly, especially not with their only external resource gone.

"...Perhaps we should take some time to consider this." Breonite suggests.

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet nods. "Welcome." That was a well rehearsed line. She wonders how long they'll be able to keep up the polite facade. "I can have someone show you to some rooms, if you would like?" She's making a plan to have them observed, and intending to put her guards on watch for Slicer and Spicer too.

[Scorching Depths]

"You are most gracious, your highness." Aggravate bows again, prompting the succubi to follow suit. "Our most sincere thanks to you, for your hospitality."

Well. They certainly weren't going to tip their hand here. If Sekhmet has nothing else to say to them, they'll leave, following whoever the queen chooses to escort them to their rooms.

[Recaiden]

[Prison Realm]

"A? Who? If you can make me a goddess, how can you be confined to this cell?" She does not know that name, that group, and has no one to explain.
Perhaps its right, although if time doesn't really pass, what time is there to suffer in?
Things stop being sensible to Kiun. Is the reflection in the mirror, even? Or are her pink-black eyes the mirror it's reflected in?
Isn't Kiun a simple creature, really? She has a mission she's pursued her entire adult life, not knowing if it's achievable or what progress would be like, until it found that angel's weapon. Love and care are not the forms they are built for, and so she's alone, caring about her family in the way they don't care about anything. Even that is a hollow purpose, isn't it? A manipulation?
Wouldn't it be good to have a partner? Wouldn't it be wrong?

[Brefaisil]

Marcie gives another deliberate nod.
"Perhaps this was rushed."
"Queen Breonite, what of the other Lords in Maesda?" The king had been recommended to them, but Seth had clearly been out of the loop even longer. If there's someone here who knows what's going on, it may well not be him with his ancient knowledge, but someone who was well and active all those years.

[Ironsmith]

[Brefaisil]

"I know of twenty or so who are still in Maesda proper. Of them, three live here in Brefaisil: Lord Gryffaf Helmhewer, of Amberfield; Lady Fraochun the Weaver, of the Greaterwood clan, and Lord Alun Steelflanks, of Gwynshold." Breonite explains, her nose crinkling in disgust at the second name. "You may also wish to consult with Pontiff Ardanach; he is not a Lord, exactly, but he does take an interest in the goings-on below. Impressively so, given his current state of confinement."

[Earl of Purple]

Sylvanas

"Ah, you speak English. Uh, well... I got lost after leaving my Vault. Some of the heating systems failed, and I was part of a group selected to find replacements. We got attacked by hostiles, and... I ran into the woods. The King didn't want us to take guns, in case... well, in case we got attacked and they'd be used against the Vault. So all I had was a mop. One of the others helped me knap a tip for it, until we found something better. Didn't find anything before the attack." It's probably quite sharp, if it's been done properly anyway.

Prison Realm

Not even a god, in this realm, can open a cell from inside it. That is why I need your help. Do you want godhood, or a partner? Friends, maybe? The skull hasn't moved, though the reflection in it doesn't match Kiun any more, continuing to try and get her to open the door and let it out. The hounds will try pulling Kiun away, one trying to interpose itself between her and the mirror- but that won't stop Kiun from seeing the reflection, now it's probing at her mind.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet selects one guard demon and one succubus from among the courtiers to be the escort, but surreptitiously messages them to be on guard. She doesn't know what's going on quite yet, but she wants to find out.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

And away they go. The succubus will report back in a few hours, having picked up some activity she thinks should reach the queen's ears, but the quartet of demons don't actually do anything all that threatening in the intervening time; they're playing nice, for now.

In the meantime, Sekhmet still has the Afterglow, Liquid Love, and Courage from her encounters with Aggravate and his band; if she wants to get them tested or analyzed, she'll have time for that before her agent returns.

And Braon's still there, having seen the whole encounter. She's rather nonplussed by this whole series of events; aside from the fact that Aggravate clearly lied to Sekhmet, this encounter struck her as just "boring court stuff" and she doesn't feel a need to comment right away, though she is there if Sekhmet wants to consult her.

Finally, there's another perspective the queen might consider hearing: Gossamer. With a little more knowledge about Aggravate and his crew, she might be able to provide Sekhmet with some useful insights.

Or she might have another idea entirely for how to proceed. She is, after all, the queen, and has considerable resources at her disposal. She might consider her other servants and allies, as well.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet did, in fact, send the potions to a minion who could help. One of the part-fae succubus nymphs is an alchemist dryad named Teak. Sekhmet gave her the potions to research. Hopefully the results arrive soon, but first she needs to hear what the succubus she assigned to watch the guests has to say.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

The succubus returns after a few hours, hair ruffled and clothing disheveled. After taking a moment to collect herself, she relates what happened to Sekhmet:

"...not just tell her we need to use her portal?" Perfidy asks, unaware of the succubus eavesdropping on her.

"How do you think that would look?" Aggravate rumbles. "A quartet of foreign demons coming into her house and immediately asking to use a portal to get back to the mortal world? On top of being a request she's unlikely to grant, it'd just be rude."

"Forget rude!" Mendacity snaps. "The Lethean authorities could catch up with us any minute! Do you want to get us all mulched because you couldn't man up and just ask for what we need?!"

"Or even if they don't, what about the twins? Why didn't you say anything about them?"

"Plausible deniability." Aggravate replies evenly. "If they get caught skulking around here, I want to be able to say we had nothing to do with them."

"...Ugh. I hate this."

"I know, I know. But just bear with me, Mendy. We'll be back in the mortal realm before you know it."

"Well, I need something to take the edge off. Pass me that bottle of Cry, will you?"

"Absolutely not. We've only got so much of this stuff. We might end up needing every drop for bartering."

"Well, then what do you suggest we do, smart guy?"

Braon watches in fascination as the succubus describes the events that followed in loving detail, accompanying her explanation with a series of increasingly elaborate and animated hand gestures. The fiendling lets out a bemused "huh" every so often, with a look on her face that makes it clear she'd never considered combining those elements.

"...but they eventually ran out of cottage cheese and it wasn't as much fun with only the ice, so now I'm back here." The succubus concludes.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet sighs. Nothing the succubi do surprises her anymore. She'll inform her guards to increase patrols and tell them to be on the lookout for the twins. She doesn't dignify any talk of the portal with a response. It needs to remain a rumor and nothing more.

[Rebonack]

[Sylvanas]

"What the hell is English?" Magdalene asks, completely baffled. She knows the language she learned as a kid has a name, but she doesn't know what it is. That sort of knowledge hadn't ever been very useful to her. She mostly lived out in the wilds and spent her time killing zombies and monster and zombie monsters. Anyone who couldn't understand her could be safely ignored most of the time. The world was a wreck and she was mostly a loner. "And you lived in a vault? One of those sealed dungeon sections full of really strong monsters and loot? You folks must have some balls to stick out in a place like that."

Or.

Magdalene is thinking of a different sort of vault.

That's possible.

Maybe it's something different unrelated to optional dungeon sections but who cares, right? Lady's here now trying not to freeze to death.

"Okay so getting this straight. Your boss sent a buncha normies with (flowering) mops to go scavving and you got your asses kicked by the first batch of raiders you met? That the shape of it?"

This King must be a (flowering) idiot.

[Ironsmith]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet sighs. Nothing the succubi do surprises her anymore. She'll inform her guards to increase patrols and tell them to be on the lookout for the twins. She doesn't dignify any talk of the portal with a response. It needs to remain a rumor and nothing more.

[Scorching Depths]

Naturally, the guards comply. If the twins get into the palace, they'll be discovered almost immediately.

Meanwhile, the lab results will be getting back in the near future. In basic terms, yes, the liquid is exactly what the demons claim it to be (although they were slightly euphemistic about Afterglow and didn't tell her about its antiaphrodisiac properties). More pointedly, it should indeed work on the succubi, including her; in fact, some basic tests show that it works on anything, even otherwise inaninate objects, except for the bottles they're stored in. If Sekhmet ever wants to know what an affectionate pet rock feels like, they have one in storage now.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet is actually curious about the pet rock. She's heard of them, but never seen one. She might check that out later. She also wants to know how long the effects of the potions last.
Now, however, she questions why the Letheans would want to slip her liquid love. It doesn't seem like it would be useful to their goal of getting loose into the mortal world.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

Presumably, the duration is dosage-dependant, but it hasn't worn off so far, and Teak would be testing with small amounts, so presumably it lasts a good long while. Braon will point out the possibility that they may have been trying to butter up Sekhmet prior to their arrival, making her more likely to acquiesce and show them the way out- a plan they would have no way of knowing didn't succeed, so far.

Or Gossamer could have been lying. There aren't many places she could have gotten this kind of substance, and shifting the blame to some out-of-towners would likely result in her recieving a lesser punishment (and in fairness, that worked). Braon's already unearthed a small epidemic of malcontents; Sekhmet really only has Gossamer's own word that she isn't one of them.

In any case, the choice of how to proceed with this business is up to Sekhmet.

[Earl of Purple]

Sylvanas

"Uh... the language we're speaking right now? And, no. Not that kind of Vault. One-twenty's a shelter, built under a town called Yellowknife to keep people alive when the nukes flew and most people outside one died." There's a moment of embarrasment as the Dweller blushes. "Uh...no. I was given a mop because I was only an apprentice electrician. My superiors had better weapons- crossbows, machetes, and so on. I... I'm not sure how the others got on. Two came towards me, wrapped in... in furs, and leather, one had a bone club, and the other carried a pair of knives. I panicked and ran, and... didn't stop until I was lost." She's pretty sure she lost them, though. Or else they found her huddling in the snow and left her there to die, deciding she didn't have anything worth taking.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
Sekhmet has to think about this one. It seems unlikely that Gossamer lied, not if she specifically knew these fiends' names and that they were selling these potions. And they do seem to be plotting something. "Braon? Could you possibly go to our guests and see if you can learn their plans? Maybe wait until they're out of their rooms and then search them? I'm still rather suspicious." If it was so straightforward as buttering her up, they could definitely have found a different way to do this, one that didn't need help from someone inside to spike her drink.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

"What do you expect me to find? They didn't exactly bring trunks." Braon points out. "They seem to have arrived with just the clothes on their backs- speaking figuratively, of course- so what would they even drop off in their rooms that we haven't already seen?" She sighs and shakes her head. "If they're physically hiding anything, it'll be on their person. I could do some kind of interrogation if you'd like, something that might pointedly not involve you if you're worried about diplomacy."

While they're discussing this, another succubus has entered the room, holding a clipboard in her hands, nervously chewing her lip as she tries to piece together the delivery of some bad news to the queen. She's not the one that normally does this, after all.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"Braon, hold that thought. Uh, what is it?" Sekhmet turns her attention to the arriving succubus. She can tell the newcomer doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news already; she tries to smile reassuringly. It may or may not work.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

The succubus shuffles nervously now that she has the queen's attention. She opens her mouth to speak, but suddenly seems to forget how words work. After three more attempts, she turns the clipboard around and hands it to Sekhmet, hoping that would be sufficient explanation.

Said clipboard contains a check-in report used to keep track of various members of staff. Every so often, this particular succubus goes on patrol to make sure the cooks, groundskeepers, maids, and the like were all accounted for and doing their jobs. This latest report shows six unaccounted for; groundswomen, all of them. Too many to be coincidental.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"Guards!" Sekhmet calls for her guards. "Do we have any hellhounds? It's time for a hunt." She is quickly informed that they do, in fact, have a kennel of hellhounds available. To the succubus, she adds, "Can you go get something belonging to one of the missing succubi and then, uh, show me to where she would have left the castle?" And to a guard, she says, "Get, uh, one of the hounds. I'll tell you where to meet me later."

[Recaiden]

[Prison Realm]

Well, that almost settles it. She may not trust the skull very far, but she definitely wants to spite these dogs.

Over a few moments, Kiun's eyes lose their color, and become empty black orbs.
"You say you're very desperate to leave, right? More than I could imagine. So I'm sure you could find it within you to give me all three of those things, if I let you out.
She reaches out with her thoughts to rattle the cell door very slightly.
"Do we have a deal?"

[Brefaisil]

"I expect I will want to speak with all of them, then, if you or your men can direct me. Do explain us Ardanach's 'confinement'?"

Marcie thinks that perhaps the queen has gotten the wrong idea about why she wants to speak to them. Goings-on below, those won't matter, will they?

"King Arnbaith, I am sorry I could not help you more easily. When things are better..." she says, voice catching.

[Rebonack]

[Sylvanas]

"Yellowknife is a dumb name for a town," Magdalene points out, cutting right to the heart of the discussion. "Dunno what nukes are, either."

Some kind of monster?

Flies around and kills everyone who wasn't underground?

She's pretty sure some of the bigger, more avatar-y monsters could probably do something like that.

"So you hadn't ever been in a fight before and bailed. That's pretty normie," Magdalene concludes. "Well, you're stuck here now. This is Sylvanas, the Hart of the Forest. You're crawling around inside a god."

She tries laying that out as simply as possible because clearly this lady is kind of an idiot. Magdalene decides she should probably put down some ground rules to make sure the idiot in question doesn't get eaten or worse.

"This place is hungry. Everything here is. If the cold or the monsters don't get you then the hunger will, and you don't want to let the hunger get you because it'll never let go. But lucky you, I know the way out. You follow me, you stay quiet, you don't (flowering) piss yourself in terror, and we should be okay. We gotta get up to the top of the forest where the riftgates are. Can't gate out so deep down here. When we get up to the top you'll be able to see the other gods floating around in the void. Don't (flowering) look at them. Otherwise you just get stuck in another and I'm sure as hell not following you. Got it?"

[Ironsmith]

Scorching Depths
"Guards!" Sekhmet calls for her guards. "Do we have any hellhounds? It's time for a hunt." She is quickly informed that they do, in fact, have a kennel of hellhounds available. To the succubus, she adds, "Can you go get something belonging to one of the missing succubi and then, uh, show me to where she would have left the castle?" And to a guard, she says, "Get, uh, one of the hounds. I'll tell you where to meet me later."

[Scorching Depths]

The guard salutes and dutifully marches off to fetch a hound, delayed only by the need to ensure she's wearing a full set of armor in case anything goes wrong.

The succubus gives a little nod and goes off to do as was asked, finally returning with a half-finished clay sculpture one of the succubi was working on in her spare time. She was quite talented, apparently; even without any details, Sekhmet will likely be able to recognize her likeness... one of them, at any rate.

[Brefaisil]

"I expect I will want to speak with all of them, then, if you or your men can direct me. Do explain us Ardanach's 'confinement'?"

Marcie thinks that perhaps the queen has gotten the wrong idea about why she wants to speak to them. Goings-on below, those won't matter, will they?

"King Arnbaith, I am sorry I could not help you more easily. When things are better..." she says, voice catching.

[Brefaisil]

"You may recall my mention of 'indictment by the church' as being among my list of grievances." Breonite replies sourly. "No further explanation is necessary, I think."

Arnbaith puts an aged hand on Marcie's. "When things are better... I will be the first to congratulate you." He wheezes encouragingly, a small smile poking through his beard. "You seem a very capable, vigorous young lady. I will sleep more soundly knowing you are here."

Breonite quietly rolls her eyes. "(Flirt.)" She mumbles to herself.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
The guard was right to wear full armor, because the hound she leads back is an absolute monster, taller at the shoulder than she is at the head, magma dripping from its open mouth and venomous barbs protruding from its pitch-black coat. Sekhmet holds out the little statue to the beast. "Find her. Unharmed." The creature nods slowly, betraying its intelligence, and sniffs the statue deeply. "Now. Show us where she began her rounds," Sekhmet commands the succubus.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

The succubus does as she's told, leading Sekhmet and the hound to one of the many exits into the outer grounds, keeping well ahead of the lava-drooling canine the whole while.

If the hellhound does as it's supposed to and sniffs out the trail of the missing succubus, he's going to eventually stop behind some hellilies, right next to the hecarnations. There's a conspicuous red puddle on the floor here. Not blood... it's the wrong hue, wrong thickness, still not dry despite presumably being here a while, and smells completely wrong.

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

"You may recall my mention of 'indictment by the church' as being among my list of grievances." Breonite replies sourly. "No further explanation is necessary, I think."

Arnbaith puts an aged hand on Marcie's. "When things are better... I will be the first to congratulate you." He wheezes encouragingly, a small smile poking through his beard. "You seem a very capable, vigorous young lady. I will sleep more soundly knowing you are here."

Breonite quietly rolls her eyes. "(Flirt.)" She mumbles to herself.

You don't get many chances to flirt when you're sick and dying and not seeing any visitors. And I suppose to the King, they're all quite young.

"I look forward to hearing it, then."
Marcie nods once more and rises, seeing things with the King mostly concluded.

"I am sure that to everyone else, an indictment by the church is quite clear, but our churches do not operate the same as yours." Marcie says, as apologetic as can be.
"Perhaps Seth can explain it, for the benefit of a stranger like myself?" Did they leave him on the balcony?

[Ironsmith]

[Brefaisil]

"The pontiff speaks for the Lovers." Seth explains. "Or at least, as things stand now, for Absum. An indictment from him is tantamount to declaring, for all the kingdom to hear, that her majesty is acting against Absum's will." He crosses his arms and scowls at the queen. "Imprisoning the pontiff for that amounts to blasphemy."

"So does abusing his position as Absum's mouthpiece for politicking." Breonite replies icily.

[Recaiden]

Marcie deliberately shrugs.
So someone is definitely committing terrible blasphemies. Possibly both of them. Probably both of them, from what she's seen and heard of this place.

"And where does her majesty keep imprisoned blasphemers, exactly?"

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"What is that?" Sekhmet asks, pointing out the puddle. It seems relevant... And gross. Also it's nice to see someone's been planting flowers. They aren't really normal to this environment. Also calling the ground floor really isn't right. It's ashy, dusty, earth. Not an ideal setting for a murder investigation.

[Earl of Purple]

Sylvanas

"I didn't name it." She agrees, though. Yellowknife is a odd name for a town. "A world-killing bomb, dropped two hundred years ago. That's what a nuke is."

Her eyes widen as Magdalene explains, though she's not sure she believes it. It's probably Tribal superstition, some memory of the nukes going off in the sky and blinding those that looked at them turned into myth and legend or something. She doesn't sound much like a Tribal, though she's not got much experience with encountering them. She didn't think they had such flowery language, really.

Prison Realm

The door rattles, and the Hands of Justice start to swing their flails. They don't attack, just swinging in a threat and preparing to pounce if it looks like Kiun will open the cell door. My powers are limited. My energy reserves are finite, and whilst I have not used much in the time I have spent imprisoned, the systems I put in place to replenish my energies has fallen into disrepair and no longer works. I could grant godhood, or the other two gifts. All three would leave me totally depleted, and I would essentially die. Imprisonment is better than death.