The path to the old shrine is overgrown and all but invisible - save for some broken twigs and signs of recent passage. It leads around towards the back of Mt. Sunala, following the base. At the end of it is a partially collapsed archway leading into the mountain, and one very worried looking Eeee pacing back and forth, as if waiting for someone.
"You look like a man waiting to kill someone," Alptraum remarks as he emerges from the undergrowth and debris, coming upon the Captain. "So, here is where you make the choice."
"Ah!" Soldano jumps, surprised to see Alptraum. "You're.. ah.. you're here for the.. thing right?" he asks.
"Actually, I am here to see what your decision will be. You still have the option to kill me," Alptraum points out as he rests one of his feet on a boulder. "The direction this city will go has to be made my its people, not by the child of a God, Goddess, demon, or pick your deity name. So, I'm giving you the choice." The Eeee even draws out the blood-bladed dagger, flips it so that he's holding it by its blade, and offers the hilt to Soldano. "If you decide to try to strike me down, I will not try to stop you."
"Are.. are you crazy?" Soldano asks, looking aghast. "I can't make that decision! Besides, I can't fight monsters. Who can do that? Well, I mean, other than you and your dragon thing." The Eeee was clearly not prepared for this sort of situation. "And this one especially.. it's different from the others. It walked into that shrine all by itself, like it was awake. I want to help the city, but I know my limits. Nobody is going to follow me into battle against the General."
"Nobody is really going to follow me, either," Alptraum points out. "I don't think you understand what I offered. My point was I am giving you the choice of the direction you want to go. If it really is to side with the General, then you can take the knife and kill me. I don't want to be seen as someone who is going to command or dictate things. Whatever I may be, I believe it letting people choose their path. Or put another way, you were instructed to kill me. I'm giving you that option. It's easy to say I had no choice; I just followed orders, or whatever. But that's not true. We all have choices. I want yours to be what you want, and what your heart says. Not out of fear of me."
"I'm not killing anyone then," Soldano says, a bit more firmly. "I if got this far and still had that thing inside me, I'd have killed myself. But killing you was never really a choice, not to me. If I'm expected to bring back your head or something, that's not going to happen. I worry for my crew, but I'm not letting monsters into Babel. The Boomer was enough, this city doesn't need another blow like that."
Alptraum flips the knife, then puts it away. "You would lead Babel better than you think; you keep to your morals, even when faced with horror," he says, then sits on the boulder he had previously rested a foot on. "A lot of people would have gladly killed me faced with that choice. They don't know me. You don't either, really. But, you see beyond the moment, and the consequences."
"I know your actions," Soldano says. "That's enough. You aren't the one making monsters, you're the one stopping them. Did you have a hand in saving me from my infection too?"
"Yes. But I don't advertise," Alptraum admits, then shrugs. "I don't want people looking to or depending on a supernatural being. Or using them as an excuse for something. I want people to believe in themselves first."
"Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire though," Soldano notes. "When you can't bring yourself to trust your fellow mortals, for good reasons.. maybe you need something bigger to rally behind? I don't know. I didn't even become a captain because I wanted to, just because it was the only thing open to me. You learn to fill the role."
"All I know is the Guardians have a supernatural leader they're willing to follow, out of fear or whatever.. but it's their advantage," he adds.
"I'm good at card tricks and picking pockets," Alptraum admits with a weak smile. "Hardly a hero. I'm fallible. If I falter, and the people believe in me, then they lose hope. Something you understand, I think. Even when you have no idea what you're doing you have to make your crew think you do. Otherwise everything really is lost."
"Well, I made the biggest mistake ever, and they still won't abandon me for it," Soldano notes. "So don't sell yourself short." He loots into the shrine, and shivers. "I'm glad to be done with these srinala.. but I'm afraid of this one. I was scared of the others, but they were monsters.. they didn't suddenly start acting like a person."
"The most dangerous monsters always look normal. Consider that a lesson learned," Alptraum points as he removes an old beaten necklace on a rough cord from his neck. "Here," he says and offers it, "Use this as proof you killed me. I've had that with me since I was born. It's all I had that pointed to where I was born. I wouldn't normally give it up to anyone, so it should work well as proof of my death."
"Uh, do you want it back?" Soldano asks, looking to Alptraum. "If I can bring it back, that is.."
"I would appreciate it. But, do not pressure it if it becomes a problem or risk," Alptraum notes. "It is ultimately just a thing. You're worth more."
"Should I pray to Sunala or anything?" Soldano asks. "Do you?"
"I talk to Sunala," Alptraum points out. "I've had tea with Her. You do what you feel is right."
"I'll wait here until.. one of you comes out," the Captain promises.
"You might want to wait further away. I have to summon Scourge too. But I'll call to it inside," Alptraum notes as he rises. "If we somehow make it through all this, I do have one commandment you must obey."
"What is that, sir?" Soldano asks.
"You buy the drinks at the bar some night," Alptraum says and grins. "When I can show my face in town."
"I'll buy you the bar if I can!" Soldano promises with a grin.. and then spreads his wings to move further away.
"And now I get to go have an argument with a pregnant dead thing. Yay me. What's wrong with a nice book and a campfire?" Alptraum mutters to himself in Sylvanian. Inside the cave he goes. But only far enough to not be seen when he, well, becomes just another fungus with a dragony shape.
The srinala reclines in the altar-chair, looking up at the statue of the goddess - possibly, since her eyes are empty white orbs. She turns her head to blindly gaze at Scourge when it enters, and says, "And so we meet again, for the first time."
"That is a terrible line. It cannot be again if it is the first time," Scourge points out. "And an obvious choice, this place. The place he was born."
"It is true, though," the srinala claims. "We have met seven times before, but have never been introduced. And I have seen your birth, as I sat waiting. Your mother, here in this chair. The priestess, tearful and praying in desperation over your small form. Trying to repair a flaw of this reality."
"I am aware I as a mistake," Scourge remarks dryly, "But I would rather be a mistake than a slave to you and to that island."
"To me?" the srinala asks. "I was not involved, and I know of no island. I am a slave myself. The General performed the proper rites, made the necessary sacrifices.. but she is a puppet, a thing. So while I am bound to serve her, no soulless thing can have my loyalty. As for you.. you are a victim of this world." She raises up a hand, and wiggles the fingers. "Here, flesh is a prison for the spirit, rather than the two being one and the same. And as you inherit physical traits from your parents, so too do you inherit spiritual ones. But your mother had not spirit to give you, so you were born with only half of what you needed." She moves her hand to point to the statue then. "She gave you the other half. The Barsunala. And now you have almost outgrown it."
"And your point being?" Scourge asks, "That I will die when I do? Something horrible? I have already accepted that outcome." It circles this creature now, eying it.
"Only that you can become the warden of your own prison, but the part that kept you alive is what is now keeping you captive," the srinala notes. "You were sent away, to a land where conjoined spirits like yours can thrive, weren't you? Of all the places you could have been hidden away, you were sent there. Perhaps it was not an exile at all. What is your name?"
"Does my name even matter?" Scourge asks. "It would have been Rikat, had I remained in Babel. In Sylvania they called me Alptraum, the Nightmare."
"And in this form, I am called Scourge," it adds.
"I am Legion, the Endless," the srinala replies. "Although my Master would call me the Mindless. She has as poor an idea of what I am as I imagine you do."
"You are just another monster from the realm of chaos for me to dispatch," Scourge remarks. "I suppose next you will offer me something."
"What makes you think you've ever dispatched me?" Legion asks. "Every instance of me you have encountered - the shoggoths - are still extensions of my body. All you have done is allowed them to be free of their prison-anchors in these lower dimensions. I decided to endure longer this final time, to get a better idea of who and what you are. I have nothing to offer you. But I do have a request."
"So you want me to get you out of that body so you can go back to chaos, then?" Scourge inquires as it continues to circle.
"Well, I expect you will do that anyway," Legion claims, not trying to follow Scourge's movements. "My request is that you destroy my Master, thus breaking my contract. It is torture to be exposed to this environment, even when controlling a puppet. As I said, she has command of me, but I have no loyalty to her."
"I intended to do that anyway, so that is quite a simple request. The General must go for the sake of this city," Scourge remarks. "And I allowed myself to be made into this ... thing in order to be able to do so."
And it was quite a sacrifice to become Scourge. No hands, no gender. Only a tongue and tail to manipulate the world, and forced to slither-move on all fours.
"You are closer to freedom from the tyranny of flesh in this form," Legion notes. "You should embrace it. Now.. what can I do to aid you in the General's destruction? I cannot act against her.. but I do not have to honest with her either. She thinks me too mindless to think me capable of deception, and I have no reason to let her think otherwise."
"What are her weaknesses? What will entice her to leave her sanctuary?" Scourge inquires as it continues its slithering circle. Its times like this Scourge really does feel more like an animal or demon than a person. "It is too risky to assault her fortress."
"She needs the right moment to move her forces out of the Mists," Legion says. "That will be on the day after the Apex of Life, which she calls the Apex of Unlife. The environment of the Mists can be extended just enough to keep its creatures from immediately perishing in your reality. If she cannot take the city by the end of that day, she loses the bulk of her forces."
"The day after my birth, amusing," Scourge remarks dryly. "So I must strike down her forces during that time. Do you know what best counters her control? I have access to certain ... things."
"The creatures will be under my control," Legion notes. "Her other forces will follow out of fear, or because she has turned them, and commands their bodies. Her lieutenants are dangerous, creatures like herself but with their own wills. They, like me, are not loyal. But unlike me, they have no future if the General's plan fails. The undead, I believe, you already know how to deal with. The living soldiers may be insane: berserkers."
"Mostly spirits then, if you control them? I can consume spirits if I must," Scourge answers as it slithers in closely, then draws upright until its snout is touching her nose. "But it sounds as if eliminating her first would solve the majority of the problems; her forces would scatter. And if you hate her so much, you will still control her minions for her, or can you refuse?"
"If she is gone, my pact is broken and I will withdraw myself," Legion claims. "The creatures will be on their own, but this world will reject them and they know that. Those not already fighting will return to the depths of the Mists."
Scourge licks the woman's face. "So, the best choice for the least bloodshed is to eliminate the General first," it remarks. "What can hold your creatures at bay?
"Look to yourself, Scourge," Legion suggests. "What hurts you? The creatures of the Mist are not flesh, and not spirt, but both at once. You are not so different, regardless of your form."
"Iron then," Scourge opines, "And other things."
"And I am nothing like you, I am still flesh," Scourge insists.
"I didn't say you were like me," Legion notes, and smiles. "Just like the creatures of the Mist. You exist in three dimensions of space, you can be destroyed, and you can communicate with one another."
"You can be destroyed too," Scourge notes, and smiles toothlessly.
"I was created a billion years ago," Legion notes. "Your past, for me, is just a direction to turn my gaze. I have served many, many masters, for I was created to serve. I prefer to be left to myself, in my comfort. All that you can see of me is my shadow."
"But you are quite familiar with shadows, are you not, Nightmare?" the srinala says.
"I can destroy a dragon old as well, and that likes to claim such things. So, my point is if you are being false with me, I can introduce you to a worse Nightmare than the master you currently serve," Scourge warns. "I would rather we be ... friends of a sort, than enemies. So I hope that you have been truthful with me."
"Friends," Legion says, with a chuckle. "Perhaps, when we meet again after the battle, in a very different place from this.. but an interesting one, to be sure."
"I mean it in the terms of neither of us are attempting to eliminate the other," Scourge clarifies. "What now? You wish me to rip this body apart?"
"It is enough that you have the intent of doing so," Legion claims. "I'm sure your mother would prefer less of a mess here. Is it your intent to exorcise my presence from this reality?"
"IS there anything more useful you can tell me? Or wish to tell me?" Scourge inquires.
"The place you call Mt. Dronnel is where your city will stand or fall," Legion says. "And zombies can't fly, nor can the creatures."
"Handy that I can, then," Scourge notes and again smiles toothlessly. "And yes, it is my intent to remove you from the place I was born before it is befouled. Not many places mean that much to me, but this place does."
"Touch me, then," Legion says.
Scourge's tail whips around and wraps around the creature, Legion.
And then.. the srinala goes limp. But not dead, not yet anyway. It's just a srinala, and to Scourge's sussing.. it is empty of any sort of mind or thought.
With the woman curled in its tail, Scourge goes to leave the temple and to take the mindless body to the Yodhsunala. They tend to Srinala, and that is now where this needs to go.
Once outside, it isn't hard to spot Soldano.. well, to sense him anyway, his anxiety glowing like a candle flame. There aren't any other minds nearby.. but near the top of the mountain, at the shrine, a few seem to be thinking about what's happening here.
"The demon part is gone. I must take the empty remains to the temple," Scourge calls out to Soldano in the distance. "You may go." Its wings spread, and up it goes to find someone to take the burden.
One of the minds thinking about the old shrine is closer than the rest, positioned at the back of the mountain, behind the Temple. It's an area Alptraum used to spend time in when he first came there.
Yodhusunala Megrasastis doesn't betray anything with her mind, beyond what is needed to guide Scourge to her.
Scourge's wings tilt and it glides towards the place where the mind lingers; a place he knows well from its time as Alptraum there. It lands several feet away, then sates, "Yodhsunala. I have a srinala to leave in your care. The last of the monsters have been exorcised, just this shell remains." Its heavy tail swings around and uncurls, gently placing the naked and almost-dead Eeee on the ground.
"Very well," the stoic Yodh says, bending down to pick up the limp girl. "Sunala will be.. pleased.. to know this."
"The shrine chosen was not harmed in any way in the removal," Scourge continues, "Though I am of Gorphat's womb, I respect Her sister's sacred places. Thank you as well for permitting my passage on this Mountain. In these times, we must all work together."
"Tell your mistress that She has our.. gratitude," the Yodh notes. "And when her daughter produces another of the slug creatures, we would like to study it."
Scourge chokes a laugh at that. "Her daughter will be doing such for the foreseeable future, it seems," it notes, "It makes her nervous and flatulent, but all honors Gorphat. There should be enough to give one to your temple." The creature then steps away and spreads its wings to depart.
The Yodh turns to carry her charge back up to the Temple without another word.
After collecting Alptraum's clothing (less one pendant), Scourge returns to Mt. Gorphat and the Temple there. Along the way, it notices more minds nearby than usual. There's a bit of anxiety among them, but not fear.. just uncertainty.
"Curious. Who would dare come near the temple?" Scourge has to wonder. IT needs to deposit the clothing wrapped in its tail, and shift to Yodhgorphat, if it is to great people. So, it tries to figure out where these minds are and if it can get in without being seen.
They haven't actually approached the steps leading up to the Temple yet, and remain in the shadows. One of them will have to get the nerve to go up eventually though.
And so Scourge just goes towards the temple. IT can leave the clothing in the room Nicora chose. Then it is a matter of shifting back to Nicora ... and donning her bandages.
Once the bandages are back in place, Nicora is once again feeling.. well.. Nicora-ish. "Did it go well?" the voice of Gorphat asks from the altar.
Nicora's gut gurgles and she releases a distinctively unpleasant sound and smell ... and her bandages covering her swollen genitals get a bit slimier. This makes her, feel, well, a lot more like Nicora. "It went better than expected, Mother. The last of the creatures is gone, and I know when the General will attack the city," Nicora replies as she now heads to the altar to take up her role as Yodhgorphat for those who seem like they may wish to enter.
"Then you are ready to begin the next phase of your training," Gorphat says, and appears before Nicora. "You've been seeing Inala again, haven't you?" she asks.
"Inala came to me when I was Nikky the Tail," Nicora admits a bit nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"And she likely did nothing useful for you," Gorphat notes. "It is all left to me to prepare you."
"She blessed Nikky to be the ultimate whore, capable of servicing any sized male," Nicora explains and shifts about more. The sound of being prepared comes across as more of a death sentence than anything, well, good.
"Distractions and frivolities," Gorphat claims, sounding put upon. "My Sisters are only concerned with the beginnings and the endings of life, while I am left to deal with all of the grubby, dirty in-between parts. They do not appreciate me!" Then in a flash she's smiling again. "But you.. You appreciate all that I have done for you, don't you, my Yodh? You've brought pilgrims back to me, by making yourself known at the recent gathering.."
Nicora tries to smile, though it might also look a little terrified. "Of course I appreciate all that you have done for me, Mother. You have made me represent you in so many ... creative ways," the Eeee claims, "And have shown me just how many different smells one body can produce. My body is your canvas." What else can she really say? Offending Gorphat is a very, very, bad idea.
Gorphat takes Nicora's head between her hands, putting her sticky thumbs on the furless Eeee's ears. "Then you will trust me for what I am about to do to you," she says.. and then sneezes into Nicora's face. It gets into her nose and eyes and (somehow) her ears!
"I trust you for ..." Nicora starts to say, then is completely startled by the surprise. Her eyes were still open, and with those thumbs on her ears, the canals open. And the shck makes her inhale, so in her nose it goes! "Oh Goddess, what did Mother just do!?" the shocked, horrified, and now very terrified Eeee thinks, "M..Mother?" she asks, sounding actually scared.
It's already affecting her. There's a mucous-like film beginning to cover her eyes and cloud her vision. Her sinuses are closing off.. and so are her ears, but that's probably just more congestion. "This is best for you, for time is limited," Gorphat says. "You believe your gifts are tied to specific forms, but that is an illusion. They are gifts of your spirit, and that does not change. This will help you to draw out those other senses."
"Mother, what have you done?" Nicora asks again in a panic, stumbling backwards. Her eyes blink and blink rapidly, trying to clear away the film. She snorts and tries to inhale hard to clear her sinuses. "I am sorry I let Inala bless Nikky," she continues, "It is just, it. She makes it feel so good."
"This is nothing to do with that," Gorphat says, although her tone maybe indicates that it is at least a little bit. "This is important for your preparation as Sabaoth," she insists. "Now, go out and tend to those who seek Our blessing."
"I can't see anything," Nicora admits, sounding actually scared, "Or hear my echoes. Or even make them?" As she speaks, her voice gets all the more 'burbly' and gurgllng as her vocals gum with mucus. "I'm ... I can't even smell. I ... you've crippled me."
"I have given you the chance.. and motivation.. to use your other senses," Gorphat notes. "Only through challenge do we rise to our potential."
Nicora draws in several breaths, making a disturbing gurgling noise with each one; the Eeee being a veritable mucus factory. She keeps blinking, hoping her eyes will clear, but they don't; they get worse until she can see blurry shapes and only those if they're within a few feet. Meaning she can't even see her own feet. "How long with this last?" she asks in a gurgly voice reminiscent of Gorphat herself. It's also during this she realizes she's pregnant like this. She hasn't been this terrified in a long time.
"Until you no longer need it," Gorphat says.
"Which means ... whenever you see fit," Nicora thinks, ears wilting. She shifts a bit again, eliciting another mucusy 'burp' from her nethers. One benefit, at least she can't really smell it anymore.
"The pilgrims await," Gorphat reminds.
"Before I go," Nicora gurgles, "May I kiss you?"
"Of course, my child," Gorphat says, and leans in close. There's now way to tell just what part of her is leaning in close though.
And Nicora shows her devotion by leaning forward until she can feel her nose touch Gorphat. The Yodh then kisses her and it is actually affectionate. "I will try to make you proud," she gurgles and licks her lips with a phlegm coated tongue. She then inhales, sounding awful, then starts to walk. It's slow and careful; she tries to use her toes and wings to feel her way.
"You can see, if you remember how," Gorphat tells her, before fading away. It probably would have helped to do something about the slimy spots on the floor.. but it wouldn't be the same without them. It's just a matter of being careful.
Nicora continues to walk, slow and careful steps and clutching toes. At least her bandages are keeping her from leaving too much of her own slime trail. Right now she wishes she sort of had Scourge's sussing sense, or spore breath. She could possibly 'see' with it.
Then again, isn't that what Gorphat was telling her she still had? There's a draft from the main entrance, which helps with navigation, so Nicora finds herself on the threshold of the Temple.. facing the long stairs down the mountain.
Nicora concentrates. She tries to feel those minds again, even without Scourge's body. As she focuses, she tries to descend those stairs to tend to the pilgrims lurking. She is incredibly vulnerable right now. She can't fly, so if these people mean her any sort of harm, she would be easy to capture.
There's.. a flicker? A sense of others, but not quite as specific as Scourge's sussing sense. It may feel a bit more like one of Snowcora's auras. It's enough, so far, to let her know that she's being watched.
"Hello," Yodhgorphat Scourge calls out, her voice sounding bubbly. To the point she has to lean to the side and spit some phlegm out. "I am Yodhgorphat Scourge, honored of Mother Gorphat. If you are here to pray to her or seek my services, then approach me." She says it amazingly formally, and the gurgle really brings point the home this is one infected Eeee; the kind that serve Gorphat. She's also still trying to find those minds, and count them.
Counting would be easier if she could hold onto any given point for more than a moment. But some are approaching, at least. Slowly.
"Please, approach. Fear me not," Yodhgorphat Scourge says, still trying to focus and find them. "I am ... mostly blind and mostly deaf. You must be close for me to hear, and have a hope of seeing anything of you."
It's easier as they come closer, but the impressions are still hazy. It's as if she is sensing one thing for one moment, only to have it change to something different in the next. But at least six are approaching her. Two of them are small, likely children.
Yodhgorphat Scourge crouches down, naturally causing another 'burp', through seemingly quieter. Perhaps so she seems less intimidation to those smaller. She even extends her bandaged hands. "Come," again she offers. "Offer your praise to Mother Goprhat and ask of me what you wish." She sounds almost kind. She's honestly terrified, though. She's never really been this vulnerable before.
The leader approaches, and kneels down in front of Nicora. Her hands are taken into his, which feel rough. "I am Fon, your grace," the man says, his voice raspy. "I and my family come to serve the Temple. I owe Gorphat a debt."
"Tell me of this debt," Yodhgorphat Scourge requests as her hands close on his. "And how you wish to serve Gorphat."
"I was stricken with lung-worms after falling into a stagnant cesspit," the man rasps. There's definitely a wheezing undertone to his breathing that Nicora can barely make out. "I was taken to Mt. Sunala, but they could only put me with the others who.. who could not be helped. But the Eighth Angel appeared, and drew the disease out of us all that night." He sounds almost on the verge of tears now. "I was able to look after my family again. I will do whatever you need me to do. I can work with my hands, and know the fitting of stone on stone. My wife can clean or prepare meals, and my children are clever and learn quickly."
"It is not safe for others to live here unless they wish to become Yodhgoprphat or Bargorphat," Yodhgorphat Scourge notes, "Do any wish to please utterly? If not, there is still work to be done here. The inner chamber needs much repair, and old murals need to be restored. I also may need help with my own hygiene as you see, I am ... blind." She pauses there to cough up one amazing loogie and spits it to the side. "There are other things you may do as well; such as prepare meals for others in the Streets; start a food kitchen. Perhaps a place just outside Mother Gorphat's Temple."
"We will do those things," Fon promises. "We will tend to you and the public areas.. but do you wish us to bring food to the Temple then, to be offered to others?"
"If you have to spare, yes. Times are hard and it is my duty to tend to those suffering," Yodhgorphat Scourge agrees. She is still trying to feel them out, to try to see more than a blur.
Fon is easiest, since he's touching Nicora. She can see the colors of his mind now. Certainly there is still some fear, but also honesty and.. something different. White, or silver. Hope?
"None of you need fear me. Though I know i cannot see, I can feel that ... I am repulsive to you," Yodhgorphat Scourge says, "This is my fate and I accept it with an hopen heart. It is my duty to endure and to help others endure by my example. I have been through much, and still survive. Find solace when you look upon me and know that Gorphat only gives what we can endure and survive. Have faith, and through that, help others have faith that they too can endure."
"We've seen the signs," Fon says. "You take on our suffering. Only Gorphat understands suffering. Only She cares up those in the Streets Below. We have not forgotten. She can be harsh.. but She cares, and does not turn away from us. Let the others know." This last is said not to Nicora but to one of the other figures, who heads back down the stair. And of course, Nicora's belly begins to squirm again.
Yodhgorphat's head tilts as she tries to figure how much squirming is going on in her gut. "I represent the sickness of Babel. This body. It will eventually heal, when our city does," the Yodhgorphat claims. "Is there any more you wish to pledge or ask?"
"Is there anything we can do for you now?" Fon asks. Given that his ears and sonar work fine, he's certainly aware of the activity in Nicora's gut. "My wife Sil is.. ah.. a practiced midwife.." he notes uncertainly.
"I doubt she can deal with my condition," Yodhgorphat Scourge notes, actually feeling embarassed; and her skin might be flushing green. "I have my own worm infection to challenge me. I do not birth other Eeee, but creatures to serve Mother Gorphat."
"We will assist you," Fon insists. "Do you wish to be inside the Temple?"
"If you can help me inside and into a chamber, I will birth it there," the Yodhgorphat agrees. Her body then proceeds to make a wet unpleasant sound. The pressure is also already beginning, as is a heaviness deep inside her.
Fon is strong enough for someone still recovering from a horrible affliction, and there's another person that comes to help on Nicora's opposite side. It must be Sil, from the sense of attachment between her and Fon. "Just give us directions," the woman says.
"Enter the main chamber. At the back there is a hall to the left. Follow it, then go down a flight of stairs. There are old chambers there to contain those severely sick; take me into one of those," Yodhgorphat Scourge directs. She's never felt this helpless before, to be frank. And birthing what is inside her while this crippled is even more terrifying. She may actually be trembling. The pressure on her insides only continues to increase as well; belly starting to distend.
The pair of Eeees are quick to get Nicora to the patient room. And even distressed she can sense that the children followed (of course they would). The other adult remained behind outside. "Have you done this before?" Sil asks Nicora as they get her onto the table.
"Once," Yodhgorphat Scourge admits; which is true ... at the party. The other time was in a dream and doesn't quite count the same. She's feeling heavier by the minute, and her body is burping at regular intervals. It is probably very good she cannot smell right now. IT's also starting to hurt. The pressure intensity getting to the painful stage.
Sil squeezes Nicora's hand to get her attention, and says to her, "Can you follow my breathing? I will show you how to breath."
Nicora's hand tightens around Sil's. HEr heard is racing. She can see a blur and hear little. She can feel everything; and her gut is squirming inside like mad and putting some major pressure on everything. Her mily eyes close and she starts to try and breathe, following Sil. "I can try," the Yodhgorphat hisses.
It turns out that Sil really is a practiced midwife. The breathing technique helps, and she also gets Nicora into a more comfortable position. There's a pause when the removal of the bandages reveals the scaly, dragon-headed tail and the extra teats, but nobody actually mentions them. When the time comes, Sil tells Nicora to push. This one certainly feels bigger than the first.
It's hard to feel too embarrassed right now; gods it hurts! The breathing does give her a focus, though. When the command to push comes, Scourge cries out and bears down, then her jaws clamp as she continues the pressure.
There's a moment of ultimate pain, and then.. relief! Even a rush of chemicals that makes the previous torment seem to have been not that horrible. Fon is the first to speak, saying, "It.. it takes after the father, I presume?"
"Eeeeeagh," Yodhgorphat Scourge cries out when she feels like she's being split open. It feels huge when it passes through the rings of muscle. It's such an amazing relief of pressure when it passes the rest of the way and a rush ripples through her. "Yes ... the father. I have been exposed to much; this is just another thing I must endure," the now sweaty Yodhgorphat burbles phlemy. "Where is it? What does it look like?"
"It.. looks like a small squishy barrel with.. ah.." Fon seems to be at a loss. "It's got a butt for a face!" one of the children notes. "Get it swaddled," Sil snaps. "You don't leave newborns just exposed like that."
Scourge tries to focus on them, the creature, then herself. Trying to see the condition of each. She also weakly feels herself for any damage to her lower region and where it left her.
Things feel.. loose. But no organs are spilling out, and with all the goo there's not likely to be any blood. There's a flicker of silver - not the same as 'mood silver' but more 'spirit silver'. It's enough to get sense of the creature. This one isn't expanding like the others though, at least not yet. Maybe wrapping it up in cloth has calmed it down?
"That's surprising it isn't growing like crazy this time," Scourge thinks as she sits up, feeling lightheaded and rather ... sticky. "She even opens her milky eyes to a blue. "If you work here you may see more of this," the Yodhgorphat admits. She also actually holds her arms out as if wanting the mutant thing.
A bundle is placed into Nicora's arms, and it wiggles and jiggles like no baby should. Tentacles brush at her face.
"Why do I actually feel good about this?" Scourge actually wonders. She's actually cradling the monster. Remembering something, she tries to guide some of its tentacles to a couple of her teats.
It takes some fumbling, but the creature gets the idea and latches on. "What do they need once they're.. weaned?" Sil asks. "I'm not sure if the hole in the top is a mouth or not."
"It can live off dirt and rubbish," Scourge claims as she settles back again. The nursing actually feels nice. The emptiness is unsettling, but it is better than the pain of when it was still within her. "Maybe that was the last one," the Yodh thinks.
"I'll get a.. pot.. ready for it then," Sil says. "Are there others already in the Temple, or a nursery or.. similar?"
"No, I have been meaning to set one in the lower chambers," Scourge admits. She's actually stroking the monster while it nurses on her.
"Are you going to name it?" one of the children asks.
"I don't know yet," Yodhgorphat Scourge admits.
"You should name it Blarf," the child suggests. "Stop that," Sil counters. "You have been wanting me to name your brother that since he was born."
Scourge actually makes a horrible-sounding phlemy laugh at that suggestion. "Very well, young servant, I will name it Blarf," she tells the small Eeee. The name is cute in its own way, and fitting. It also makes her breasts hurt less by draining them, so that is a benefit too.
"Do you need anything?" Sil asks Nicora. "Usually I make a tea for mothers.. but I don't have the ingredients with me."
"I ... no. I think I just need to rest. It was very painful," Scourge admits where she still lies and lets the monster nurse on as many teats as it wants. "How do I look?" she now asks then, "And be honest."
"Well.. you have no fur, your eyes and nose are gooey, you're covered in horrific tattoos and you have more boobs than me and my sisters combined.. and your tail keeps staring at me. The bodily fluids are minor, though. I've dealt with worse," Sil claims.
Scourge gurgles a laugh at that too, "I take pride in the work Mother Gorphat has performed on me," the Eeee claims. "Now, I wish rest. You may select a room near this one to clean as a nursery for this creature. You said you can clean and your husband knows stonework."
Sil sends Fon and the children off to see to things, while she rewraps Nicora's bandages. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you here all by yourself," she says. "But we won't be the last people coming here. The old Yodh didn't do a lot with pilgrims though.. mostly went out into the streets."
"It is difficult for me to go into the streets as I am. I cannot see, smell, and only barely hear," she gurgles, "I would need a guide with me."
"That won't be a problem," Sil notes, as she tries to make Nicora comfortable. "And we can always bring people to you instead."
"You surprise me, you are not repulse,d" Yodhgorphat Scourge says. She actually is surprised by this, but maybe there really is something comforting to see someone in worse shape than you are. It makes your problems seem less, maybe? What she feels is ... being sucked on, sticky, and oozy. She must also smell terrible, but that she is spared of at this time. So, she also uses this time to try to continue to feel the others too since they're remaining for the moment. "It seems that your making me the most vile and extreme of your daughters is bringing you new worshippers," she thinks to Gorphat.
"When you live in the Street's Below.. you develop a very strong stomach for things," Sil notes, and sounds like she's grinning. "I'll let you rest now, and.. prepare a proper bed for Blarf there."
"I'll be here oozing and nursing," Scourge gurgles. The Eeee then just tries to relax. Her lower muscles still ache, and she feels stretched to her limits (and not in the nice way Inala did it). All that does seem to feel good is the mutant creature she cannot even see suckling away on her deformed chest. She's like something out of someone's nightmare, and yet people are still coming to her. Life is strange.