As with the Third Station, nobody lives near the Fourth. There is little debris this close close to the Tower of Babel, and even some sunlight due to the shortening of the near towers that were caught in the Boomer. There isn't even any graffiti on the smooth angled walls. An examination of the door shows some scratches and gouges were someone tried to break in at one point, though.
Nicora has returned to her regular dress and coloration. Going through Babel dressed as she was at the temple would have been very dangerous. So now she stands before the fourth station; her answer to the lurking death within her body. "Someone tried to break in? That's insanity. Dangerous things are inside I expect," she remarks rather dryly as she inspects the door, looking for how it opens.
There aren't any handles.. or hinges or any other surfaces to grab on, pull or push. If it wasn't flat and in a recessed space it might not even be clear that it was a door at all. The symbol of affliction is the only deliberate engraving.
Nicora places her hand on the engraved symbol. "Open in the name of Gorphat," she intones, hoping it can tell she is afflicted and therefore will be allowed in.
There's a rumble, and a small cascade of dust at the door begins to slide open to the left. Behind it are stairs, going down deep and straight into the ground, with some flickering light at the very end.
"It's like going into the bowels of the world," Nicora remarks. As if on cue her stomach squirms a bit thanks to her 'cargo'. "Oh, don't start," she mutters at her gut, "You've done more than enough to get me in trouble..." So, shaking her head, she descends.
After the fifth step there's a click, and the stone door begins to close behind her, leaving the flicker below as the only light. Not that darkness really affects an Eeee though. The closer she gets, the more Nicora can tell that the light is made of multiple colors that keep shifting around.
"Great, now I'm trapped in here. All alone with my larve," Nicora mutters, ears flicking. The more nervous she gets, the more sarcastic it seems. So after pausing a bit to rub on the back of her neck, she continues downward.
The stairs bottom out into a short hall (really more of a platform), which is separated from the next hall by an arch of Sifran crystal. Beyond it is another stone door with Gorphat's sigil on it, but this time the symbol glows a bit. Green, naturally.
"Oookay, if I wasn't worried before, I am now," Nicora admits as she pauses under the glowing archway and eyes the stone door. "And ... I get to go through that door without knowing what is beyond it, or what to do here. Right." She takes a deep breath, then heads forward and places her hand on the sigil.
The door slides aside to reveal.. another door, just a few feet beyond. It also releases some severely musty air.
"Great; this is a multi-chambered passageway to keep stuff from getting out. I feel a lot better now," Nicora says to herself as she heads in and towards the next door. "Aaand the one behind me will close ... then this one will open..."
The one behind her does close, and the symbol on the one before her glows green afterwards. There's no symbol on the inside of the outer door at all though.
Nicora stands before it then rubs her forehead. She tries just touching the door next to see if it opens.
Once more there is sliding of stone, taking a bit long as this door is twice as thick as the others. Beyond it is an eerily lit chamber, a section of crystal providing the illumination. It appears to be a domed room full of.. giant clay pots. Each pot is painted with a silhouette of a curled up Eeee, and none of them are sealed or even have tops.
"I have a feeling this is where the Yodh kept all their diseases," Nicora remarks a bit worriedly as she steps into the room. "Or these are funeral urns. But ... that doesn't fit the duty." She looks for any sort of ... instructions on what to do next.
The door closes behind her with a thunk. There's some sort of pedestal in the center of the room though.
Nicora bites her lip. "Right, well. I'm here, and I'm not able to get out so ... Have faith. I'll be fine. This'll cure me of my larvae of horrible death, too," she tells herself as she heads forward to stand on the pedistal.
There's something engraved on the pedestal: Sunala's Kiss stirs with the air, sleeping where it stagnates. It needs many corpses, and creates more. Fire cleanses it, though Sunala object to the destruction of bodies. Nicora's sinuses are already beginning to burn.
Nicora's brow furrows. "That sounds ... bad," she remarks worriedly. "Maybe this is the place I should use to throw fireballs? But not all Yodh could." She rubs worriedly at her nose next.
Nose, eyes, then ears and throat, the inscription warns. Clear, then thick, then red, then black. Destruction must occur before the black bile comes forth, for that is the Kiss in its most contagious form. If the black flows, all within that Quarter must be burned.
"Right, it is work on burning the bodies," Nicora concludes from that warning. She holds out her right hand and has to think back to the scroll she found at the temple. She clears her throat, then recites the words from memory, trying to summon the fire to destroy the disease that lurks here.
Her voice comes out scratchy, as her throat becomes dry and inflamed. Her nose is running now and her eyes are blurry, and even her ears are throbbing. But she still hears the movement of stone, across the room. Another door opening?
Nicora rubs at her eyes and tries to clear her throat. Maybe there is another passage she can go through before this gets bad. Well, worse. It is already bad.
At least she isn't feeling weak or anything. And although her senses are being blurred, she still feels the way to go. Even through tear-blurred eyes she can see the glow of Gorphat's sigil, sharp and crisper and more real than anything around her.
"Time to go. This whole place ought to be burned," Nicora rasps as she makes her blurry way towards the sigil, hoping to soon be out of here.
Once she reaches the symbol, she hears (and feels) a stone door closing behind her. There's running water in the new room, falling from the ceiling into drains in the floor.
Nicora steps forward, blinking. Maybe its a cleanroom to get rid of whatever tried to attack her. She really wishes she could see right now.
Her stomach aches, and Nicora soon finds herself on her knees coughing up thick phlegm and a bit of blood as well. It's even flowing from her ears, which are ringing as well as throbbing. It only lasts for a few minutes though, followed by more activity from the eggs as they help her fight off the infection.
Nicora groans and shudders on her hands and knees. The coughing induces heaving; but as a vampire at least and one that hasn't eaten for some time, nothing comes from her stomach. "I see why having things that protect you inside if you is a good idea here. Is this to understand how it feels? It feels awful," the Eeee thinks. She even rubs at her throbbing ears, trying to ease their ache. Lage ears with an earache is ... not fun.
Once her eyes are clear, Nicora can see that the rest of the chamber beyond the 'shower' is dry, and has stone cot to help with recovery and some simple looking bowls and cups. The towels have seen better days, certainly. After all, how many years has it been since a new Yodhgorphat had to go through this? Beyond all of that is another door, with the green glow showing it's ready to be opened.
Nicora half-crawls her way over to the stone cot and flops back on it to rest, even if wet. As she lies there, she feels over her stomach; seeing if her 'friends' are still alive or not. "Right now I am very thankful to have you," she mutters, "I would be dead now if it weren't for you. Gorphat was right, I should have had faith that being made a clutch-host was for my own good."
The eggs squirm from the attention, and when they do.. there's a new sensation. Before, it seemed like the eggs were just loose in there, free to move. Now they feel anchored.
"IS this good or bad?" Nicora asks the room and sits up, seeing if she can see any pattern to their anchoring in her gut through her skin and fur.
There's nothing visible on the surface, of course. Even the usual 'lumpiness' seems softened, as if the eggs are too deep into her body cavity now.
"Maybe they're just locking into position so they can hatch later and eat me," Nicora remarks a bit grimly. Nothing to be done about it, though, so she sits up. After making use of one of the sad-looking towels, she heads for the next door ... then touches it.
The door moves like the rest have. At least the mechanisms still work.. it would be awful to encounter a door that was stuck. Beyond it is another short hall, ending at another door.
"I don't even want to think about a stuck door," Nicora mutters as she continues into the next hallway and towards the next door. If things go like last time, the one behind her will close, then this will open...
The stone airlock works as expected, the door behind closing and the one ahead getting the green-light. Beyond that door is a long corridor, lit by glittering crystal intrusions. Along one side is a series of life-sized statues of Eeee (including some of children) and even a few other species. All of them are contorted or showing signs of some disorder or pain, each with a glowing symbol on their foreheads.
Nicora enters the corridor slowly. As she walks, her eyes are drawn to the symbols on the foreheads of the Eeee statues. "What is this?" she asks the corridor.
The first statue is of an Eeee squatting and looking a bit emaciated. The symbol is definitely one Nicora has seen in the Temple though..
"That's .. odd," Nicora remarks. She reaches out and touches that rune, tracing it with her fingers. "Diarrhea?" she asks. "Worms?"
"Dysentery," comes a voice that is not Gorphat's. It goes on to explain the causes, those that are most likely to be affected by it and how it can lead to death. All of this drones on while Nicora suffers exactly what the disease feels like. So once more, fasting saves her just that extra bit of discomfort.
Nicora finds herself squatting and going through the motions to relieve that bit of unpleasantness; though being empty spares her from the worst. "Ugh," the dark Eeee complains and rubs at her gut. She stays in that position for a bit, until the discomfort passes and she moves on to the next statue.
There are a lot of diseases. The vast majority are found in the undercity, of course. Spasms from food poisoning, flesh-eating wounds from certain insects, and an endless array of parasites. The effects Nicora feels are magical (or divine) in origin at least, so there really aren't huge weeping ulcers breaking out on her back, or worms in her brain. The children's plagues aren't any kinder, involving pox of various sorts. Fnerfs can get phantom-leg disease, and Nagas a truly nasty parasite that causes them to shed their skin before the new set of scales are ready, leaving them raw..
And this all leaves Nicora wondering why she came in here and of her own sanity again. And worse, she does have her own parasites in her gut; only now deeper ... and possibly still squirmy! But on she goes, through each disease, suffering from it, and coming to know it. There is value in it, oddly enough, and that she has to acknowledge.
A glowing-symboled door waits at the end of the hall. There's no recovery room this time though, just a small shrine to Gorphat before the next door.
Nicora is thankful for that. She stumbles through the doorway and ends up kneeling before the shrine, grateful for some time to rest and recover. "Though agony ... there is no better way to understand than experience," she murmurs, "Thank you." She waits a bit longer to rest, then rises to go through the next door.
Another airlock corridor awaits, this time involving three doors. The final chamber is foul, literally a cesspit. There aren't any flies or other insects, but something must be renewing the filth every so often. The humidity is sticky, and some of the piles of composting decay are glowing slightly. The ceiling slopes down, so that in order to reach the door on the far side one will eventually have to crawl.
"Oh Gods," Nicora mutters as she surveys what she has to go through. "/It's just like the swamps back home. Just like them. It'll be fine," the Eeee tries to convince herself. Soon she's walking through the foul mess, looking incredibly nauseous as she goes ... and sooner than she would like, she's having to crawl through it.
Not being able to see the floor through the miasma reveals a new threat - shards of glass?! After just a few steps, Nicora can feel the small cuts in her feet.
"Okay, this is worse than the swamps," Nicora whines as she continues on, feeling the cuts. "And here come some infections for sure..."
The reactions are swift. Numbness, soreness, burning, swelling - and undoubtedly some parasites as well. As a Gypsy, Alptraum had seen his share of nastiness, including two cases of gangrene that left people with large chunks missing..
Nicora winces and continues on, even with numb extremities, burning, and other such pain. It's still better than being in here for much longer. "I really hope you guys can keep me safe," she mutters, presumably talking to the eggs in her gut. Whether than can prevent more parasites remains to be seen ... but she has hope. She also tries to not think about gangrene too much .. but it's hard to forget it, or ignore the possibility.
Her hands and knees are inflamed by the time Nicora reaches the small door, which opens aside into another recovery room, complete with flowing shower (of hopefully fresh, pure water).
"Oh thank the Gods," Nicora mutters as she crawls into the next room and delights in the shower. She spends a lot of time in that, trying to wash off the stench, cleanse the wounds ... and pull off anything that might have attached itself.
There don't appear to be any leeches, at least, but her guts squirm quite a bit. The accelerated immune response gives Nicora a fever (but the water is cool enough to help counter it) and a disturbing amount of pus from the myriad cuts. Some of the pustules do appear to have things moving in them, but once they burst the parasites go down the drain with the rest of the effluent.
"Ew, ew, ew," Nicora remarks, making a face as wounds drain, boils drain, and tons of other ichiness go away. Agaim she has to be thankful for her boosted immune system keeping her mostly safe in here. It doesn't protect from the grossness of it all, but at least it's better than what could have happened. Once she's mostly clean, she prods her own gut again, curious to see if her 'friends' are still with her.
They don't seem 'happy' but the horrib eggs are still active. After what seems an endless amount of foul-smelling fluids flow from them, the many cuts begin to rapidly heal, leaving itches behind.
And there Nicora remains in the water, letting things heal then, well, scratching at the itchy spots afterward. "I have a new respect for Phlagaea," she admits. "Tough woman."
Surprisingly, there is a fresh towel waiting for Nicora. Probably because Gorphat appears to be holding it.
This surprises Nicora. She slowly gets to her feet and approaches the Goddess. She feels, well, timid after what she just went through. Especially given how worse it could have gone. "Thank you," she murmurs softly as she reaches out for the towel.
Gorphat doesn't just hand it over: the goddess towels off Nicora, even fluffing up her hair (and tail, which is overjoyed at the attention). "All that you just went through is faced every day by every person in the undercity," the green goddess notes. "They are our people, more than those that live high up in the city. We are the only ones that care about them."
"I imagine some above care, but yes, the majority do not," Nicora admits, her head still bowed as Gorphat towels her off. "And I should have had more faith; the clutch within me saw me through those rooms; I needed them to survive. Being a host made me stronger."
"They like you," Gorphat claims. "There are those that seek out plague. Sunala's Kiss may become Diphath's Bite, if the undead begin to roam the Streets Below. But do you see why we must sometimes purge parts of the undercity? Not out of cruelty, but to destroy the birthing places of plague?"
Nicora nods. "And they have also been seeking out people to take. Children came to me. I have to find and stop that coven. If their numbers grow and they get plague weapons .... the results could be unthinkable, she says. "The larvae are also still alive ... so I will need to seek out other means to remove them before another week passes and they hatch, correct?" she asks, "Or does more lie ahead that require them?"
"You will need to remove them before they hatch," Gorphat confirms. "They will not be needed for the rest of the Path of Affliction, but it is for you to decide on if they are required for your own path."
"How do I remove them? I wish I could just lay them myself to get them out," Nicora admits, then drapes her arms lightly around Gorphat. "But having them has bonuses, and they remind me of you and make me feel closer to you."
Gorphat rubs Nicora's belly, and rests her head against the Eeee's shoulder. "The egg cases are connected to your body now. The larva can be killed, but are too advanced now to be reabsorbed by your body. They will need to be cut out."
Nicora actually licks" Gorphat's ear as the Goddess rubs her stomach, and the deep-squirming within results. "Cut out? The Yodhrinala?" she asks the green Eeee.
"If you wish, or you could do it yourself," Gorphat notes.
"Will they keep growing as your punishment?" Nicora asks Gorphat, then cups Gorphat's chin and kisses her, even though the last time put her in this position.
"They will continue to grow, at a normal rate, feeding from your blood," Gorphat replies, a little line of mucous trailing from her lips to Nicora's. "Do not wait more than three days to deal with them, Daughter."
Nicora licks away the line of mucus. "I will not, my Mother," she agrees. "Is there more you wish me to endure here? Or is there more you wish of me now? And ... what must I do to prepare for your next trial?"
"There is no preparation, you need only go to the Fifth Station," Gorphat claims. "This door will take you back to the undercity."
Nicora presses close to Gorphat and kisses her again. "But that means I would have to leave your presence," the dark Eeee says, sounding disappointed.
"I can only manifest for so long, Daughter," Gorphat notes. "This is not a holy day, after all," she adds, with a slight, gooey smirk.
"Can you blame me for wishing for all the time I can have with you, Mother?" Nicora counters with her own bemused smile. "Thank you for coming. I am certain we will speak again."
"Take care of yourself, Daughter," Gorphat says, and gives Nicora a kiss on the forehead before.. well, walking behind her and vanishing before Nicora can turn around.
Nicora rubs her forehead. Being around a Goddess makes her feel weird and say strange things. And worse, she now has to extract eggs from herself. Maybe Kaira could help do that. Maybe even the shadow could if she concentrated. It might be safer than Yodhrinala. Still, she has a day or so to think on it, so out the door she goes. The sooner she leaves this horrible place the better, really.
Flying feels weird, and not just because Nicora hasn't eaten. It does leave her very tired and hungry though by the time she reaches the Temple of Inala, and the hidden bunker. She finds Tulani there, still in her half-dragon form and curled up in the sleeping nest, while Mave is surprisingly nowhere to be seen - meaning she must have actually gone outside.
And so ... Nicora sneaks up on the sleeping-dragon nest. She crouches down, shimmies her butt, then pounces on Tulani! Hungry vampire invades helpless cat-dragon!" she declares ... right before sticking her tongue in Tulani's ear!
"Ahhh!" Tulani yelps, and coughs out a cloud of frost in surprise. "Hey, no fair sneaking!" she complains, and rubs at her ear. "I was up all night watching over Captain Crazy.."
"Our guest? He's still a few beans short?" Nicora asks of Tulani as she brushes stuff away from Tulani's neck, making her intentions very known.
The dragoness gives the bat a look, but holds her neck still. "Yes. Cyprian's been by again to try spells on him, but says he may be broken beyond repair, short of blocking out his memories."
"I hope he wasn't the parent of other kids I met recently, then. their parents were taken by the cultists," Nicora notes. She leans in and bites down on Tulani's neck. It's firm, but gentle, even if the bat's stomach is growling by now.
"What kids?" Tulani asks, trying not to turn her head while Nicora feeds (or know just how much blood the vampire's going to take).
Nicora eats for a bit, but knows enough by now to not make Tulani too sleepy (unless that was her goal). When her jaws release, she sits back, licks the blood off her lips, "The ones that visited the Temple of Gorphat, confused about a woman's cycle, and trying to donate their sister. I promised them I would try to find their parents. They were taken down by a fountain with angels. Though that isn't where the cultists are, of course. Just a landmark," she explains. "And oh, I have life-threatening parasites in me I have to get cut out within three days. They kept me alive in the last trial, but now they're a risk."
"Is that why you smell a bit off?" Tulani asks, sitting up now with the Eeee in her lap. "And what do you mean 'cut out' - how big are these things?" Now she sounds concerned.
"Small ball sized?" Nicora says, "I'm not entirely sure other than by feel. And what do you mean I smell off?"
"You just smell different," Tulani notes, and starts sniffing the Eeee with her silver nostrils.. which can be pretty chilling. The dragon homes in on Nicora's stomach. "Here," Tulani claims, nudging with her nose. "What sort of parasites are these? That's.. really big. Do you know when you were infected?"
"Well ... they're horrib larvae," Nicora admits and rubs her neck. "A couple days ago, but Gorphat made them grow faster. Why is long and complicated. They were necessary for part of a trial, but now they need to be removed before they hatch. Hatching is bad."
"I.. I never heard of anyone surviving horrib implantation," Tulani says worriedly. "But then they were always pirates being executed or else the horribs took them away. How are you going to get them out? With the dagger and the shadow?"
"That's one way. I could go to the Hospice instead and have a Yodhrinala do it," Nicora offers as the alternate way. "I'll survive fine as ling as I get them out in the next three days. Don't worry. Really. I'm worrying enough for ten people."
"The Hospice.." Tulani notes, and then asks, "Can't you suck them out with your Gorphat hand, like you did to the sick people at the Hospice?"
"I don't think so. Maybe? I could try," Nicora offers, "But then that means becoming the sex-crazed human..."
"Which can be scary, trust me," Nicora admits sheepishly.
"The Shrine Maiden is sex crazed?" Tulani asks, blinking blatantly. "Maybe you just need to sexually exhaust yourself first, then she wouldn't be that way."
"Well, she can be. But when she gets too in the mood, I force her to go to Rugharo. That demon can wear her out," Nicora admits. "So, your suggestion is to try as the Maiden first? Now?"
"Noooo," Tulani coos. "I think you should be the drake first, so we can try those new studs and make it so you won't even think about sex when you're the maiden.."
"Oh. So it's all about you and the modifications you did to me," Nicora says and crosses her arms.
"Ones we can enjoy together," the dragon purrs, and nuzzles under Nicora's chin. "Otherwise I'm going to make a grab at Cyprian.."
"What, do you think I want him?" Nicora asks, brow arched. "You really want to make out with someone infected like I am?"
"You may be big, but not big enough to pass stone-sized eggs," Tulani points out with a grin. "I know how parasites work. These aren't little worms or whatever. But if you want I can try to pull them out for you."
"Er, maybe later," Nicora says with a smirk. "And I guess I could become the drake for you." She rolls herself out of Tulani's lap and closes her eyes, focusing her thoughts on the male dragon form before pushing shadow out to consume her, and reshape her.
It's always a bit weird, even if the drake is one of the more familiar and thus 'easy' forms now. And during it all, there's a distinct awareness of certain things. Where the jewelry moves to, for instance - and now the eggs. Just like the rings and studs, they're separate but 'attached', so that they stay in roughly the same place within Draketraum that they were in Nicora. The connections don't alter either. It gives the odd sensation that the body is changing around them, rather than changing as a whole. And then the gold starts to have its effect, making it difficult to think about things all that clearly.
"Now I want to lay eggs. What is wrong with me?" Draketruam thinks for the few moments of clarity before hte gold, and the pretty Tulani, tend to distract him from weird thoughts and trigger more basic ones. These lead to some vigorous movement, some very loud roaring ... and the potential for scaring anyone coming near Mount Inala!