Nicora, once again, really doesn't want to be here. She has this fear that each station is going to get progressively worse. But, given the alternative is a curse from Gorphat, maybe it won't be as bad as she fears. She even took time to 'trigger' her blessing before coming, so she's in mild discomfort once she reaches the statue. She bows her head to the state out of respect, telling it, "I am here to continue your path; as my promise made on the altar." She pauses there and eyes the statue, but doesn't expect any response.
Surprisingly, there isn't a response. The statue just stands there. The bandages are old and haven't been replaced in a while, so the stone statue is actually half-naked, but at least the green paint hasn't completely worn off yet. A long hall curves off to the right, going counter-clockwise around the base of the tower. Unlit lanterns are set on a shelf near the entrance, and it looks like the outer wall is made of shallow alcoves.
Nicora pats the arm of the shoulder with her right hand, then enters the station. She pauses near the lanterns and checks to see if they have flint neat to light one. And once she has a lantern lit, she'll check out those alcoves
The lanterns actually have oil in them, and there's flint to light them with. Given the nature of the undercity, it's a miracle that the lanterns haven't been taken, much less kept in good working order.
Nicora goes about lighting the lamp. "This is peculiar," she says to herself. "Why is this place kept up, and who is doing it?" After a few sparks, the lamp lights and she adjusts the knob until it's a medium-dull glow. Then it's off to the hallway with the alcoves.
The wall of the first alcove is covered in a detailed mosaic, depicting two scenes with one rendered in white and blue and gold higher up than the other, which is done in browns, reds and greens. At the very top of both scenes is a representation of Inala, with her arms spread out to form a canopy of sorts. Immediately below her is a bright scene of a female Eeee giving birth, surrounded by well-dressed attendants (some of which might even be Yodhinala). Below this is a more 'earthy' version of the same, with a lone Eeee woman giving birth in a dark hovel. Behind her are three baby-sized mummies, likely representing children that didn't make it. The Eeee are mostly done in silhouettes, but the brown one has a green lightning-bolt scar at the center of her torso.
"Is this a birthing chamber?" Nicora has to ask. She has a momentary flashback of her own, when in Inala's realm she gave birth as Snowcora. That causes her to shudder. She moves on to the next alcove.
The second alcove mosaic does not have an over-arching goddess. The upper, brightly done scene shows the white mother dressed in rich robes and standing to one corner, watching while servants (the gold color and feline profile making it obvious as to their nature) apparently tending to and raising the child from the previous scene. Below this, the brown mother with the scar is engaged in several tasks, from sewing to cooking to cleaning, and has her child with her at all times, either held in one arm or riding on her back.
"Showing two different forms of living, perhaps? How the rich and then the rest of us live?" Nicora asks the picture. "Or showing how the poorer suffer, yet grow stronger?" She's on to the next alcove.
The third set of scenes are arched over by Gorphat this time. In the upper one, the child has hurt its knee, and appears to be wailing or throwing a tantrum. The mother stands off in the corner again, while servants surround and tend to the child. Below this, the brown child has suffered the same injury, but is working alongside its mother instead.
"Struggle brings strength," Nicora deduces from the more obvious imagery. On to the next!
In the fourth set, the privileged child is older and dressed in blue and gold, surrounded by other likewise dressed children. It must be some sort of party, since there are tables of food and shiny gifts. Below, the brown child is playing some sort of game with other children, all of them looking a bit dirty and each sporting small green lightning-bolt scars here and there.
"Not as sure about this one. The marks must mean something; the green symbolizes Gorphat," Nicora notes. "Perhaps the next will tell." As before, on to the next!
The next scenes once more have Gorphat over them. The rich child is in bed, with a tall robed attendant (possibly a doctor, mage or Yodh) and golden servants kneeling and waiting, with no sign of the mother. Below that, the brown child is shown to be sick as well, symbolized by a green forehead, but rather than staying in bed it is with its mother, who appears to be kissing the green patch.
"The child that endured more is more likely to survive sickness," Nicora remarks. She knows that is true enough; living in Sylvania does tend to breed a hearty Eeee. She steps to the next.
The pattern continues through several more alcoves. Gorphat occasionally inflicts illness or some other obstacle upon the two Eeee. The white one is tended to by servants, while the brown one depends on its mother (who always bears the large green scar on her torso) but still isn't weakened. In one case, the brown one has suffered a broken arm! As each alcove shows them aging, they begin to have families. The white Eeee remains aloof, letting servants rear its children, while the brown one is shown to work, suffer and grieve; in one scene it is huddled over a clearly dead child and bearing the permanent green scar now - but there are older Eeee around it, also bearing that scar, that seem to be giving support.
For many of the problems faced by the Eeee, the white one simply uses golden coins to deal with them, and is scene making rich offerings to Inala. The brown one only occasionally is seen at Gorphat's feet, and never with an offering.
"Grim, but fairly accurate," Nicora admits. It's rather funny how her own upbringing is more of that of the brown child. Learned to survive and still enjoy life with little.
In the final alcove, the Eeee that went through life never dealing with pain lies on its deathbed, robed doctors and servants surrounding it, while overhead hovers the bust of the Barsunala Wraith, waiting to carry the spirit off to the Sea of Souls. Below this, the brown Eeee lies upon its own simpler deathbed, but is surrounded by Eeee that range in height (and thus age). Each has the green scar, and a silver line radiates out from the dying Eeee's head to each of the scars. Instead of the Wraith, the busts of Inala, Gorphat and Sunala hover above, each one holding onto a golden crown or halo.
"Interesting. I expected to see being surrounded by those loved, but not the three Goddesses too," Nicora admits. "Perhaps this represents a more balanced life."
The hall ends in a circular room. A raised stone in the center holds a bowl filled with the ashes of old incense. Two old chairs face each other across the bowl, one large and one little more than a stool. Neither of them are ornate.
"Ookay," Nicora says, not entirely sure what to do here. So, she looks for incense to put in the bowl. She already decided she would sit on the stool instead, it fits the place more. Plus, a Yodh probably sat in the chair, with the acolyte in the lower position.
There doesn't seem to be any fresh incense. Although it shouldn't be a shock - unlike the lamps, there's no reason for people of the Streets Below to use this part of the shrine.
So, Nicora sits down on the smaller stool and stares at the bowl, thinking. She uses the claw of her right hand to stir the old ashes a bit.
"Tell me, daughter," the voice of Gorphat whispers to Nicora, "what is the purpose of suffering?"
"To become stronger," Nicora answers; something she believes she has learned pretty well as of late.
"In what ways?" Gorphat asks. "What are the rewards?"
"Surviving greater trials. Gaining new friends. Finding commonality with others on the things we all endure. Finding the moments in life without suffering are that much sweeter. When you have to earn those moments; they mean more than if they are bought," Nicora answers, head bowed. "Your blessing in many ways helped me understand some of this, which is why I asked for it to remain and carry it proudly."
"There are simpler terms," Gorphat whispers, and Nicora can feel the goddess now, almost as weight on her shoulders.. or arms wrapping around her from behind. "Love. Empathy. Wisdom. Those are the rewards of suffering. Those things that must be earned and not given. Without Us, there is only decline and hollow pleasure. Hollow lives leading to hollow deaths. That is what We represent, and We are not worshipped for it, or lavished with gifts and offerings. We suffer too, as We must."
Nicora reaches up to see of she can touch the arms that might be wrapping around her. "When you put it that way, it seems so .. simple," she admits. "Your daughters. Us, suffer to lead richer lives," she says; feeling very strange to refer to herself as one of Gorphat's daughters!
There's nothing physically there, just.. the presence. "Will you love me, for making you suffer?" the Kindly One asks. "For making others suffer, and knowing their suffering?"
"I have pledged to be your lover; I asked for your blessings to make me feel pain in my womb, and I now walk your path, having recently emerged from your womb anew," Nicora says, head bowed. "I am scared, but I do love you. I accept what you will inflict me with and make me suffer so that I can be closer to you. I accept you will make others suffer, as I know the why of it now." She pauses there and inhales softly. "I want to be your daughter and be close to you. I love you, Mother."
"I want you to make me suffer, for it tells me you are near,/" she adds.
"There will be a price," Gorphat says, as if she were right in Nicora's ear. "You will be shunned, feared and reviled. You will inflict pain on others - on the innocent, on the guilty, on all without bias. You will destroy, in order to save. You have seen what this does to my Daughters. You have met them. You can remember these early lessons, and let them guide you, as they have Phlagaea. Or you can forget them, bury them under the bitterness of your lot, or become callous and indifferent to suffering. You are the last one, the last Yodhgorphat. The path you choose is the one that I will follow as well."
"I know, and I understand," Nicora says softly. She already knows how people fear the Barsunala, so she is not totally unprepared for this. There is another moment of silence form Nicora, then she says, "I want to be your Daughter, no matter the price."
"It will not be easy," Gorphat says apologetically. "I cannot carry you. And what you will see.. is harsh. We are not the source of all suffering - only suffering that can teach, or strengthen. The suffering created by mortals is so much more than what We would do. It grinds people down, breaks them - robs Us of our triumph. That suffering is our enemy, and it is powerful. We have not been strong enough to fight it. You will want to fight it."
"Growing up in Sylvania taught me much about the harshness that is in the world. I hope it will give me the strength to fight it now," Nicora says.
"You are also my champion, do not forget that," Gorphat whispers. "The others have given you gifts as well. But you must choose how to use them, and when. Spend time down here, where justice and love and wisdom are so hard to come by that many doubt their existence."
"I will, and in the trappings of your Daughter if you wish it," Nicora offers softly. "Or if required, the Shrine Maiden."
"Act out of love, whether helping or harming," Gorphat says. "Not pride or selfishness. When you are ready, return to me at the Third Station."
"What more must I do here in this station?" Nicora asks. "Or is the path now outside?"
"Here you learn the lesson, outside you apply it," Gorphat says. "It is not required. Few have gone out into the undercity, out of genuine fear. There are some who are little more than animals, and animals that walk like men are the most dangerous things there are. You don't have to go, or go alone if you do."
"If I go, do you wish for me to be in your bindings and gauze? Or will any form serve you?" Nicora asks next.
"Appearances do not matter," Gorphat notes. "But be aware that the Yodhgorphat are outlawed, and no longer carry the respect traditionally owed to a Yodh. They may be seen by some down here as bounties to be collected."
"Would that not help find those who are causing suffering?" Nicora asks. She could always go as the demon-form; her and Tulani, that is, she realizes.
"There are not always people causing suffering, or knowingly causing it," Gorphat notes. "People can cause their own suffering. Giving up hope is a form of suffering, and is the most common."
"That one I know well," Nicora admits. "Is there anything more You wish of me, or that Your Demon wishes?"
"I have faith in you," Gorphat says. "Hosheb is yours to call upon, if you have need.. until the time comes to walk the Sabaoth's Path."
"I have not seen Hosheb in some time; perhaps I will call upon him soon," Nicora says. "And thank you, Mother; for showing and helping me on this path." She then pauses and asks, "Is it true that at the end of the path I will become a creature named Scourge? I had a dream about such."
"Scourge is already a part of you, waiting to be born again," Gorphat claims. "The one who stands between worlds. Partner to the Wraith and the Shrine Maiden."
"Your special child, with Your mark upon its chest," Nicora murmurs; she's still terrified of becoming that, but it seems inevitable. "Thank you again, Mother."
"The time is coming to shine a Light for all of Babel to see," Gorphat whispers. "Prepare them for it."
"I will," Nicora says. "I will make You proud."
The presence seems to fade away, leaving the alcove just stone and old ashes again.
And Nicora rubs her forehead. "That was unexpected, and not as painful as I feared," she admits to the room. "Maybe becoming her Daughter will not be as painful as I feared."
The mosaics along the hall tend to hint that it will be exactly painful enough.
Nicora rises from the stool to see if there is anything further to see in this station. She also wonders, exactly, how to call Hosheb. She only did it once, as the demon.
And that time.. he just made himself known - as if he had been watching all along and just waiting for the opportunity to be useful.
And so Nicora thinks Hosheb, come to me, just to see if he does indeed come.
There's a buzzing sound from the far end of the hall, at the shrine.
Nicora blinks, wondering if that actually worked! So, she heads down the hall to the shrine.
Rattling through the debris outside the shrine is a horrib, apparently scavenging.
"And you had me thinking I summoned Hosheb," Nicora remarks a bit dryly to the insect. She keeps her distance, though, as those things can be nasty.
The horrib hovers up in and faces Nicora.. and then.. it bows.
"Ah, so it is you, lover," Nicora says with a grin. "Well, thank you for coming. I really should spend more time with you in the future."
The monster bug comes closer, it's claws clacking. It isn't exactly the sort of creature to have perched on one's shoulder though.
Nicora extends her right hand a bit towards it, watching warily what it might do and preparing to pull her hand back.
The creature perches on the chitiny-bone carapace of the shadow arm - and it looks almost natural. There were rumors that horribs could be trained, after all.. but nobody has ever seen such a thing.
"Aww, hello," Nicora says, looking slightly relieved. She even uses her left hand to lightly pet it for a few seconds. "You do love me, don't you?"
The barbed tail curls up around the arm and.. squirts some green venom onto the ground. Certainly it's a reaction..
Nicora grins; perhaps she's lost it. She even pets that curled tail lightly. "I can't let you inject me with venom, sorry," she tells it.
The mandibles clack and drool, and the wings flutter a few times. Is it laughing?
"Though I have let Hosheb inject other things before; and likely will again," Nicora teases it. she also ponders ... kenning it now that it is so close.
The horrib doesn't seem inclined to leave yet; it isn't even figitting. It may be at its most relaxed.
"Of course I don't know if Hosheb would want to ... rut me again. Do you know?" Nicora asks the horrib.
The insect clacks. Whatever the answer really is, the gist may be 'not here' if anything.
"Gorphat's temple? Or do I come to him in a dream?" Nicora asks the bug. She also prepares herself to ken the creature, but waits until it has a chance to 'answer' before she does.
Did it buzz at the mention of the Temple?
"Then perhaps I'll stop there on the way home," Nicora tells it. "Now hold still for me, I have something you'll like." Then she concentrates, trying to extrude the shadow slowly over the bug.
It's odd, since the shadow doesn't come from the palm this time, but the 'gaps' in the armor, so that it can cover the horrib clutching it.
And Nicora coos to the insect as she extrudes the shadow over it, then draws a breath as she eases the shadow into it, preparing herself for the rush to come.
The horrib is the smallest thing Nicora ever kenned. There's something odd and different - due to the time since the last time she kenned anything, or because of the horrib's alien nature. Even a hog was familiar at least. The insect tastes poisonous, and strange. There's no mind at all really, it's like... kenning a machine.
Nicora is fascinated by thing, and examines it in detail, before easing the shadow back to release it. She's not about to devour a servant of Gorphat! "Thank you, that was very interesting," she tells it.
The horrib shakes itself once the shadow releases it. This time the experience was weird enough for the creature that Hosheb's will isn't enough to keep it from flying off.
Nicora actually waves good bye to the bug, then decides it's time to go. "Tulani likes dragon time, after all," she mutters as she starts away from the station, "But maybe a short detour to the Temple of Gorphat on the way back. We'll see..."
Maybe it's in preparation for going out tonight at the Shrine maiden, or maybe it's because the bat is just crazy, or maybe a mix of many things, but Snowcora now enters into the Temple of Gorphat. She walks sliwly towards the altar, hips swaying back and forth, even though she knows pain may be in her future. "I'm here to visit you, my lover Hosheb," the pale human says as she slides herself up on the altar and sitting at a slight angle so her hairless body curves nicely. "If you will have me, take me to your nest, and allow me to serve you in honor of your service to me."
The buzzing that comes sounds like a swarm of horribs.. but it is only one: Hosheb, the half-Eeee, half-horrib divine monster of Gorphat. Several chitinous arms scoop up Snowcora, and the caverns of the Temple blur past in a kaleidoscope of multi-colored foxfire fungus.
"Hello," Snowcora coos to it as she uses a hand to pet its shell. All the while she finds herself thinking "What am I doing?!?!" The only answer she can come up with is keeping the demons happy and serving her, but who knows how accurate that really is.
"Mistress," Hosheb hisses from his monstrous mouth.. and then drops Snowcora! The fall is short, as the human lands on something elastic and tough. When it rebounds... Snowcora realizes she's stuck to it! More ropy strands appear and secure her wrists and ankles, as Greve scurries about the web. "Mistress!" it squeaks in a grabbity voice.
This is very unexpected! She wasn't expecting a web, nor the Greve! She looks around wildly, spotting the scurrying creature. "What are you doing here? Why have you bound me?" she asks, her voice a bit higher now, probably because she's worried.
"Mistress," growls another voice from behind-below, and a smoothly shelled head rises up between two ropy strands of the web, and rests on Snowcora's shoulder. Gronegk, Rephath's bloodhound. "MisTRESS!" gobble-bleats the voice of Ephasto, the explosion-prone demon of Zakaro.
"All the demons are here! Why?!?" Snowcora thinks in a panic. "Ah, well, hello to all of you! This is unexpected. I am honored you all wished to see me, but it was not necessary. Now if you'll let me up..."
"Rest, Mistress," Rugharo insists, a bit gruffly. Skekos and Chezek chime in with their insectile voices as well. "We will tend to you," the ovine and painfully endowed demon says, trying to sound soothing.
Snowcora bites her lip. "But I am supposed to tend to you too," she says weakly, then swallows. She then closes her eyes and tries to just breathe. She also repeatedly thinks to herself, "Idiot!"
Rugharo starts, using his broad tongue to lap at the marks of Inala tattooed upon Snowcora. The others follow suit quickly after. Hosheb runs his mouthparts lovingly over Snowcora's left hand, lighting up the green patterns there, while behind her Skekos does the same to her back (and has two tongues, or one split one, from the feel of it). Greve licks at the Shrine Maiden's eyes to trace over the daggers of Blakat, while Gronegk's long tongue tends to the cups and cross of Rephath's scales. Chezek kisses her, hanging upside-down from some convenient foothold and Ephasto.. well, his comically long neck gives him quite the reach, and his little avian tongue seems intent on tracing out every subtle silver line. Every mark glows where the demons touch and stimulate.
And once this begins, Snowcora finds herself less scared and more, well, /enjoying/ this! "/Wow, this feels really good, every bit of art to their Goddess is being licked. It's ... like being in a pile of odd khatta," she rationalizes. The fast she also ends up gasping out load and squirming also gives away to the demons that she's enjoying it!
The cavern is lit up now, and the light is coming from Snowcora. And each in their turn, the demons have their way with the Shrine Maiden. For some it's the first time, for others there's a familiar comfort. Chezek, the smallest of them, goes for the smaller entry, and the insect-fused demons seem fascinated by the softer parts. By whatever unspoken ordering the demons choose, at least they leave Ephasto to go last, the bizarre monster exploding at the peak of passion.
The experience is unforgettable. It's both enjoyable and painful at the same time. The insect ones hurt when they take her, their appendages being more spiny and hard than the more mammalian demons. But odd, Snowcora never asks them stop, and in some cases she actually encourages them; pleads with them to continue. She once claimed she was the demon-lover; and in this odd room she goes about proving it. She doesn't even think about the fact that many of the demons could leave behind nasty surprises; she's too lost in the experience and magic of it.
She isn't even fully aware of what's going on around her. When the web is chewed away, and she is lifted up by Hosheb again and carried through the caverns (while still being made love to by the monster). When Snowcora fully regains her senses, she's on Gorphat's altar again, alone.. but glowing like a beacon in multiple colors - including, somehow, glowing black. Her hair is like a burning rainbow.
Snowcora is actually cooing to Hosheb as they fly back, never mind she's in quite a bit of pain from being impaled on his almost stinger-like body part. And oh, when she awakes, she feels fiery. Not just in appearance, but the dull throb throughout her body from what just happens making her skin practically tingle. "Well, now I might just have to do that again sometime," she says in a husky voice; her eyes narrow and her lips drawn back in an almost feral smile. "Time to find Tulani and go into the undercity..."
Darkness has always been the lot of those consigned to the Streets Below. The only light that could be seen between the towers had traditionally been that of the purging flames of the Yodhgorphat. So when the fiery multicolored comet appeared, most panicked and prepared to flee. But no fire rained down, no clouds of choking gasses or swarms of insects. It was enough to quell the initial panic, and people began to come out from their hiding places to marvel at the shining woman riding on a dragon whose scales reflected her light in every direction. It was an awe inspiring sight.
Even WITH the mad cackling.
"If this doesn't signal to people things are changing, I'm not sure what will! Snowcora thinks evilly as she cackles and arches her back, showing off her radiating body, "Alas, I wonder how Thath will take these reports ... but then he is used to odd reports from down here I imagine." As she arcs past people, her Gorphat-tattooed hand is extended as she tastes the sickness of the undercity; the suffering, and perhaps even the hints of the depravity down here. She also realizes that this might stir up the cult of Dipthath ... and that may prove useful; they may soon know what old temples are still used by them. Snowcora is on the path of a Yodhgorphat, and scarily, she is enjoying it.
Not everyone is in awe, it seems. "We're being shot at," Tulani notes, as she angles between the arches of some causeway.
"Oh? I wonder who would be so brazen," Snowcora says as she arches her neck and looks about, trying to find the source of the projectiles!
The comet-tail of Eeee that had been trying to keep up are scattering now, as others have joined the chase - and of a decidedly less merry disposition. In the dark, their eye glows red, and the leader cries, "Bring them down! Our lady will feast on them!" A few more poorly aimed crossbow bolts fall short, or have lost too much energy with distance and clatter off of Tulani's armored rump.
"Looks like Dpthath has made a move," Snowcora remarks to Tulani. "Oh, will you now?" Snowcora now thinks in reply to their claim of being feasted upon as she eyes the Eeee trailing them. She smiles in an all too evil way and extends her Gorphat-marked hand. She remembers the feel of absorbing all the illnesses from the infirmary ... and she mentally reverses that feel; trying to gift their pursuers with all sorts of unpleasant ailments!
What comes isn't affliction, exactly. Turning around a tower, Tulani plunges through a swarm of horribs. They ignore the dragon, but fall upon the crazed pursuers!
"Don't you have to charge that thing up?" the dragon asks, "From sick people, I mean."
"Well, and here I was planning to drive them into a lust craze too!" Snowcora cackles with glee as the pursuers are engulfed. "Did you see where they came from? We should check their Temple."
"We could go back and ask them," Tulani says. "I'm curious to see them in an aerial orgy while fighting off giant bugs now.."
"Oh, well, I could do that," Snowcora says evilly. Her fingers are dancing around the gem in the center of her Flower mark.
As the dragon finishes the turn around the tower, there is a mess up ahead. A few of the Yodhdiphath (or wannabe-Yodhdiphath) are still fighting the horribs in the air like vampiric Yodhblakat. The others have largely broken ranks and scattered to the ground, where the bugs aren't following them. There are plenty of other people down there though, and they're running and flying and doing whatever else they can to get away from the crazy cultists.
And Snowcora cackles and rubs the gem floating baove her womb. She welcomes the rush and heat from it. Her eyes narrow and she focuses on those cultists, trying to let that rush flow to them!
Two of the vampires that were chasing a group of ragged-looking Nagai suddenly stumble, stop and stare into each other's eyes in wonder. Then they start biting each other in blood-lust. It's then that Snowcora notices something else: her eyes itch when she looks at the Yodhdiphath. Or rather, the Daggers of Blakat tingle. She can see their madness.
"Land by them!" Snowcora calls out. She wants to see this up close. What they are believing!
Soon there isn't anyone in the abandoned plaza below except for Yodhdiphath. They embrace in couples and threesomes and one seems content with the sole remaining leg of some ancient statue. Blood is everywhere, as the creatures seem more animal than Eeee. Tulani lands in the middle of it all, while the swarm above is dispersing. The bodies of those who were fighting the horribs never drop down though - the creatures haul them off to their lair, still alive.
"Look at you," Snowcora calls out to the bloody, writing, Eeee. "Animals! Beasts! Where is your lair? Where is the place I should purge?" she calls out to them. "I can make this /better/ or /worse/. Your choice." She punctuates this by /increasing the push of lust for a moment, making it overwhelming for a few seconds.
The one on the statue breaks away and lungers after Snowcora! It's a male, but after attacking the stone it doesn't look like it'll really be capable of enjoying anything for some time. The glow of madness is a very bright spark behind its eyes - so much so that Snowcora at first doesn't even realize that this one isn't an actual vampire.
And Snowcora's reaction is to use her shadow to try and wrap and bind it in its dark grip. "If you won't tell me, I'll pull it from your mind," she says darkly. It must be a sight, a glowing woman with oily tentacles exploding from her forearm and grabbing the Eeee!
The man shudders to a stop as the shadow grabs hold of him. As for the spark - since it's clearly magical in nature, Snowcora feels that she can dial it up or down as easily as the man's lust, thanks to Blakat's gift.
And Snowcora's eyes narrow, cutting back that craze flowing through the man. "You have one chance to survive," she says darkly.
As the spark diminishes, the madness seems to be replaced by fear - and then, something unexpected! "Kill me," the man begs. "Don't send me back to them. I can't.. can't do that again.." Above the man's head, Rephath's scales appear.. and keep shifting back and forth between guilt and innocence.
"I don't kill without reason. If you can help me find them, then I will let you free. If you leave the city, you may be spared their grip any further," Snowcora offers calmly and surprisingly without hatred. "I offer you hope, if you wish to take it. If you do not, then I will grant your request for death. Now, can you tell me where your Temple is? Who 'rules' it in Dipthath's stead?"
"The coven.. the coven.. I.." The man's eyes roll around in his head. "I know where.. it is. You can't go there. Nobody should go there! The thing is there, it takes your mind away!"
"I think he might need a bit of recovery," Tulani notes to Snowcora, in Sylvanian. "He looks like.. Butterscotch did."
"Do I look like my mind is easily controlled?" Snowcora asks the human ... and then tries to help him by trying to channel 'healing' energy to him instead of lust or insanity. She also doesn't think about how she's been controlled to some degree by the Goddses ... so. "I need to find the place, I need to destroy it," she says instead.
Asks the Eeee
"I.. nobody can resist," the bat pleads, although some of his panic seems to be receding with the healing. "You don't know.. you can't.. I ate my mother! They made me eat her and I did!"
"What is it that is there?" Snowcora asks. "Please tell me."
The man's eyes stop twirling and just stare. "It shouldn't exist. It.. it's deep underground, and.. they bring you to it. It's.. I don't know if it's in the temple, you can't think afterwards. They bring you and it.. eats your mind.. then you're one of them."
"How do I find it?" Snowcora asks. "Do I have to let them capture me?"
"FIND IT?" the man screams. "You don't! You don't! It's not.. You want the Yodhdiphath? The Temples? You don't need to see the thing to destroy those!"
"If it isn't destroyed, they might return," Snowcora points out. "But stoping them for now may be enough. Can you draw us maps to the temples?"
"Maps?" the man asks, sounding exhausted. "I know.. landmarks.." he admits, and with a sound of resignation asks, "You aren't going to let me die yet, are you?"
"Dying is easy, living is hard. But with living you have a chance to make amends for your actions," Snowcora says. "I can offer you sleep for now; and when you are ready you can give us the landmarks to look for."
"Do you need any more to question?" Tulani asks Snowcora. "There's a lot of blood here. I think some have bled out. It's making me twitchy. If we're keeping this guy, can I just.. deal with the others?"
"Sleep without dreams?" the man asks, looking at Snowcora worshipfully if she can give him that.
"I believe I can," Snowcora says.
"Thank you," the broken man says, and closes his eyes.
Snowcora tries to draw back some energy, draining the man until he falls deep asleep. After that ... well, she'll pick one of the less bloody bodies to ken ... and the Tulani can 'clean up'.
The least bloody one seems to be the biggest one; a vampire woman who could go toe-to-toe with a Yodhblakat. She's covered in blood, but it belongs to her partners. Even her fangs are oversized, sticking down past her lips. She seems determined to get sexual satisfaction out of the body beneath her, despite it no longer having a throat.
And Snowcora isn't kind or gentle to /this/ one, she /engulfs it harshly in shadow and /shoves/ the shadow into her body, instead of the gentler oozing-ken she does to those she likes. "/Seems most of my forms will be female. I'm okay with that, I'm happy being female,/" Snowcora thinks wryly.
There's something.. primal.. about the forced kenning. A draconic pleasure, even. At the end of it, the temptation to simply devour the bat is strong - but there's also a certain curiosity about how the crazed Eeee would react to what just happened.
Snowcora lets out a guttural chuckle as she explores this monster-Eeee in the most intimate way possible. And oh, to eat her would be divine. She would taste exquisite. But .. warnings from Kaira still hold true; the Bat has not completely given in to the lust of power ... and so she stays her hand and does not devour the Eeee, but releases her to see the reaction.
The vampire priestess collapses into a heap, and becomes violently sick, vomiting up blood and other bits from her various recent partners. She tries to crawl away from Snowcora, looking back over her shoulder with eyes whose glow flickers in terror.
"Aw. Are you scared of me?" Snowcora taunts. "A willing follower of Dipthat is running away from me?"
"Monster!" the vampire spits (literally) at Snowcora. "You're one of them. The ones from the mist.."
"Me? I'm the Guardian of this City," Snowcora replies as she wipes the bloody spit off her chest. "I'm not from the mists, but born of the anger of this city."
"You can' hide it," the Yodhdiphath says, and points accusingly at Snowcora's shadow-hand. Then with a mad grin, she turns her talons on herself, slashing open her neck to spare herself from the Shrine Maiden's presence.
"Well, it saves Tulani time in killing her," Snowcora says and shrugs. She turns to her draconic friend and comments, "It's all yours now. I have done enough."
The dragon makes something very disturbingly like a 'squeee' sound of happiness and bounds off, leaving Snowcora with the unconscious former conscript. Crunching, tearing and wet squishy sounds follow Tulani, along with the startled (but short) cries of the Yodhdiphath.
Snowcora looks over the destruction and feels ... content. The beginning Yodhgorphat has cut the start of the tumor from the city so that it may now begin to heal. Yes, becoming a Yodhgorphat seems even better now. Unfortunately ... all that excitement and lust control has made the Shrine Maiden a bit ... in heat again. Sigh The trials of this City!