Nicora awakens in her chambers to the usual sounds of Blarf nursing on her. The creature has gotten bigger.. such that Sil has replaced his pot with a mound of mulch (of which there is limitless supply in the Streets Below). The alien fungoid thing has even grown an extra feeding tentacle, so it can cover all of Nicora's teats plus get at the ooze from between her legs.
"Ugh, do you have to do that?" Nicora complains as she waves at and otherwise tries to get the monster to detach from her. Even in her condition it feels strange having part of that monster, well, stuffed up in part of her.
Blarf eventually detaches.. which of course leaves Nicora oozing and lactating again. In her odd mixed vision, the creature looks silvery with pulsating green veins.
"Oh fine," Nicora complains as she slides out of bed and sticks one of the tubes back up inside her. At least long enough so that she can go about dressing. "I don't think there is a part of me that doesn't ooze," she thinks.
"Well, you aren't oozing out of your eyes or butt yet," a familiar phlegmy voice seems to reply.
"Give it time?" Nicora thinks. She knows that voice all too well. Though glind, she looks around for Gorphat; probably looking rather strange with a fleshy tube trailing from between her legs.
The goddess is hanging from the ceiling, which looks.. disturbing, given the way her body sort of hangs off of her skeleton. She appears crystal clear, of course, while everything else is a smeared blur. "You've been going to the hospice," Gorphat notes.
"I have. I have been tending to the sick in your name and bringing you more followers," Nicora agrees as she sits on the edge of her bed. She adjusts the sucking tube again, then looks back up at Gorphat.
"Yet you waste one of your more precious gifts to them," Gorphat notes, smiling upside-down. "A sign of my.. abundance."
"I waste a gift?" Nicora asks, looking confused. "I don't understand."
"Your milk," Gorphat says. "Your slime. It has uses, for those who believe."
"I thought you ... gifted them to me in order to give me a challenge?" Nicora says as she rubs over the top of her bald head. "How is it useful to anyone else?"
"It IS a challenge for you," Gorphat notes, "but that does not make it a challenge for others. You are my daughter, and your milk is one of my blessings. No one has sickened from it.. but their may be benefits that have been overlooked, simply because they were already healthy."
"So I should milk myself daily and collect the oozings from my birthing passage?" Nicora asks, "I could increase it by inserting a few more worms."
"That would lose the effect," Gorphat notes. "It must be applied directly to the stricken."
"I shall ... remember that," Nicora says. "As disgusting as that sounds," she thinks. She rises and walks over, bow-legged, to where Gorphat hangs. ""I am honored you have chosen to visit, me, Mother. Does this mean you have approved of my work in your name?"
"I approve," Gorphat says. "I grow stronger as people have faith in me and my Blessings. You do not regret them, do you?"
"I find living as I do a very difficult challenge. I feel like ... a slug," Nicora admits. "I do not regret the work, no. It is more just ... hard."
"But you are finding the rewards, are you not?" Gorphat asks. "Service to me is difficult, it is true... but it is not all suffering."
"I'm blind, pregnant, and oozing," Nicora says and hangs her head, "But there is reward in seeing the sick well again, yes."
"Those who can will mate with you, and thus pass on their blessings to one of your special children," Gorphat explains. "Won't that be wonderful? More children, each with a special gift, born from disease."
"Except," Nicora says and reaches down, stretching out the already loose flesh there, "It is leaving my body a wreck. I can barely clench. I rarely feel sex outside of pain."
"Pleasure is the realm of my dear Sister," Gorphat notes, a bit of sarcasm evident in her voice. "Why should She draw benefit from the work of my Yodhgorphat?"
"So I am not allowed to enjoy sex anymore?" Nicora has to ask and rubs over her blind eyes. "You wish your daughter to be a gaping brooder?"
"You are allowed, but if the cause of your discomfort and lack of pleasure is due to birthing.. that too is my Sister's domain. Perhaps she has forsaken you."
"Is it your wish that I keep myself fertile and ... egged so that I can continue to birth in your name?" Nicora asks next.
"There is nothing you need do to maintain your fecundity," Gorphat says, and reaches down to tap Nicora's belly. "You could sire a hundred more before worrying about such."
"I have that many still within me? I must admit, Mother, the best pregnancy I have had was your sacred creatures, when I was full of horrib larvae," Nicora admits, "I felt honored to be carrying them and thus close to you always. A change of horrible death and suffering, along with a chance to exact vengeance on those who defile Babel."
"And so too will your new children have a chance to aid in Babel's rebirth," Gorphat promises. "You will be proud of them, I think."
Nicora laughs a bit and shakes her head. "I hope you know, Mother, if you had wished it, I would have willingly inserted more worms into my body," she says. "It is hard being your Daughter, but I am your Daughter willingly and will serve you utterly."
"And now, udderly as well?" Gorphat asks with a drooling grin. Even the Sisters can make jokes it seems.
Nicora sighs and grins, "Yes, that too. As much as I fear your touch and gifts, I also crave them. Each challenge you give me just makes me feel closer to you are more loved."
"Of course, my Sister will likely try to woo you back somehow," Gorphat notes. "Be wary of her wiles."
"Inala? Or the others?" Nicora asks. "I have already sired Rhugaro's child."
"Inala," Gorphat confirms. "She is aware of your alter-ego's forays into the pleasure dome called Inala's Paradise - which is run by a fallen Yodhinala. A heretic."
Nicora nods. "I must admit to you, Mother, I do enjoy going there," the Yodhgorphat admits. "I hope I have not angered you by going."
"You do not go there," Gorphat notes. "The rat does, or the cat. Not Yodhgorphat Scourge."
"This is true. I would not be welcome as I am," Nicora admits, "Except perhaps by those with more unusal fetishes."
"All of the love you need is here, in my Temple and just outside of it," Gorphat insists. "Inala has so much of you already, but I will not let her have all of you."
"Well, not all. I like that wish resides in the horrib lair as well," Nicora points out, grinning blindly. "And yes, you have me. This body is yours, as is my love." The Eeee then reaches out, takes be back og Gorphat's head, and kisses her on the lips without hesitation. She even licks off the drool on Gorphat's mouth. And worse, swallows it.
"Then I don't have to remind you," Gorphat says after the kiss.. and fades away, leaving Nicora in the world of blurs and glowing auras again. There's also a scream.. loud enough that she can hear it, so it may be close!
Nicora pulls out the tube Blarf still has in her, grabs her walking staff, and then tries to find her way out of that chamber and follow the direction of that scream. "What happened?" she wonders, feeling oddly unafraid. It is her temple afterall. She even leaves a trail of slime in her wake.
She can tell that Sil is nearby, and from the reddishness of her aura she is in some distress. "Mistress?" she calls out. "Be careful! There is.. a giant spider on the loose!"
"Giant spider? A grabbit? One of the demons?" Nicora thinks. "Withdraw to a safe chamber. I will find and deal with it. This is my Mother's temple, after all. Her power is absolute and I am the conduit," the Yodhgorphat claims. She focuses more on aura-senses now, trying to find a glimmer.
There is something.. animal. Several, and they're hiding. Maybe Sil surprised them.
Nicora's hands clench around the staff. She moves slowly, carefully now, and tries to follow the feeling of the aura to find the creatures. "Animals? This may be dangerous," she thinks.
They're in nooks and crannies.. and under some overturned chamberpots as well. Grabbits are big, and need big spaces to hide.
"I thought she said these were big?" Nicora thinks as she moves slowly, prodding over the chamberpots and poking into nooks.
One poke results in something grabbing onto the end of her pole and scurrying up it towards her hand.
"Gah!" Nicora says in a very undignified way. She waves the pole around like mad to try and shake it off.
This results in lots of bangs and shocks, but the Grabbit does let go, landing on Nicora's bare foot instead. This seems to be a signal for all of them to come out and swarm towards the Eeee.
"Blah!" Nicora screeches. She actually deploys the shadow to try and swat them all away and shield herself. "I hate grabbits," she thinks in a panic.
"Gift!" comes a stray, chittery thought. "Gift!" The grabbits keep there distance, forming a ring around the Eeee.. and start to dance.
Nicora ... looks horribly confused. "What gift?" she has to ask as she keeps the shadow deployed and swirling about her.
"Gift! Bandages!" the voice insists. "Bandages for Scourge! Gift!"
"Bandages? But then you have to touch me," the Yodhgorphat says warily. She still grips the staff so tightly her knuckles glow greed.
"But.. gift!" The voice seems to have a direction now, and Greve, the demon of Blakat, begins to appear from the shadows. If grabbits alone are bad, imagine one with bat wings and a mostly bat face. "Gift.. for.. gifting? Supposed to give gifts!" the demon claims.
Nicora slowly lowers her staff and draws the shadow back. "Don't you normally steal? Blakat never gives," she notes to Greve.
"Yes! Yes that is it!" Greve claims. "So gift.. gift is special, yes? Is sacrifice? Is token of affection!"
Nicora doesn't quite look convinced. But, she does set the staff down on the floor as perhaps a sign of trust?
"Accept gift?" Greve prompts, clearly not very socially adept - which isn't surprising. "Nice bandages! Silk bandages!"
Though she is somehow quite certain she is going to regret this, Nicora says, "Yes, I accept."
"Weave!" Greve commands, and the grabbits cease their dance to swarm over Nicora. Their spinnerettes get a workout, as they begin to slowly weave silk bandages around Nicora. Of course, since they aren't strips of cloth like normal bandages, what she's really getting is a sort of silk bodysuit with big holes in it. And she can't even really see how it's coming out.
"Don't freak out, don't freak out," Nicora keeps thinking over and over. Out of all the horrible things, having a bunch of little bugs running all over you is the worst. And she can't see it. Then she realizes she might nor be able to get out of it! Or how much it will even let her move.
It does pinch, too. The legs of the grabbits end in tiny claws, and those have to pinch Nicora's skin to get a grip, since there isn't any fur. "Very beautiful," Greve comments. "Catch lots of bugs!"
"Ow, ow, ow," Nicora says. Her skin is overly sensitive after all. "Catch lots of bugs? I don't want to catch bugs."
"Bugs are good!" Greve claims. "Eeee like bugs! Pull them off as you go by! Good stuff stick to you! Not stealing!"
"They're all crazy. All of them," Nicora thinks, eye ridge twitching. "Did Blakat send you?" she asks.
"No, come to see momma-bat," Greve says. "Bring gift, batbat gives Greve monster baby?"
"Wait, you want a child? Now?" Nicora asks. She isn't gurgly or swelling right now.
"Now? How does it work?" Greve asks. "You leave it and I come take it yes?" The grabbits have gotten up to Nicora's hips now. The 'suit' doesn't go past her knees, and since it's attached to her skin it's hard to tell what shape it is, since it doesn't move or anything.
"Well, I have to be ... with a growing child. Then you mount me and provide your ... seed to the child to give it part of your essence. I then birth it and you take it," Nicora explains. She actually tests to see if she can move her legs any ... and even tries to feel the suit.
It doesn't seem to be binding up anywhere. It's barely there at all, giving the thickness of the silk strands. And despite the 'catch lots of bugs' assertion it doesn't seem all that sticky.
Nicora also feels her gut, wondering if she is fertile right now or not.
"Ah, yes, yes, I see, I see," Greve claims. "No, no.. I do not, I do not. I wait? You call me when time is right?"
"I can call you, yes," Nicora does agree. She then pauses and asks, "Will you rut me anyway while you are here? Demons are ... my only outlet." And given she's got the constant feeling of need, she's looking for some sort of release.
"Yes, yes. How?" Greve says, scurrying over and 'standing' upright before Nicora, while the little (well, hand sized) grabbits continue to work. "You are not the Maiden. I remember how, that one time. Is it the same? Do I tie you up first?"
"Is it more fun for you if I am tied up?" Nicora inquires, "If so, then yes. Then you insert your reproductive bit in here." She even tugs at the loose flesh between her legs to illustrate.
"Fun?" Greve queries, hybrid head tilted. "Others need to work.. can't coccoon you.. but.." The demon wraps a silk line around Nicora's left wrist, then scurries back up the wall to secure it to the ceiling.
"The others seem to enjoy it a lot," Nicora thinks as her hand is slowly drawn up and secured to the ceiling via a silk cord. "Sorry, Mother, it seems your home is about to be used for sex again," she thinks.
Before much longer, Nicora finds herself suspended in the middle of the hallway by her wrists and ankles. Being a demon, Greve can spin silk from any of his appendages it seems, and it's strong enough to support the Eeee, demon and the army of grabbits. A few more strands make it more like a traditional web, as well, and give Greve more maneuvering space. "Do you like?" he asks Nicora.
"I'm strung up like meat," Nicora thinks, but given she suggested it ... she can't complain about it! "Uhm, yes?" she answers nervously.
The demon clambers around behind Nicora. The grabbits are at her various teats now, pinching as they move around. Greve starts to lick the top of the Eeee's bare head.. and feels like he's got more than one tongue.. or else something like Scourge's, that splits apart.
Poor Nicora's blind eyes go one larger than the other and she even ends up squirming about. "Oookay, I don't remember the tongue..." she thinks.
The 'licking' continues down Nicora's neck.. and then it wanders a bit, until she realizes Greve is trying to taste the horrib tattooed to her back.
"Ah, it it just a tattoo, marking me as," Nicora says, then goes a lot quieter, "Hosheb's ... wife. Or brood host."
"Wife?" Greve asks voicelessly, since his mouth is occupied. He's licking the 'stinger' now where it appears to plunge into Nicora's buttocks. The demon is upside down to do this.. or possibly sideways. All the Eeee can tell is that he rotated at some point.
"Hosheb's ... mate. I belong to him," Nicora tries to explain, feeling extremely uncomfortable about that admission.
"Unfair, I do not have wife," Greve notes, and starts exploring further with the tongue. He finds the rear entry, and probes it uncertainly.
Poor Nicora's eyes go big at the probing. What's worse is the squeak she makes sounds like she actually likes it. This of course makes her full-body blush green.
"Right hole?" Greve asks. One of the grabbits is at Nicora's throat now.
"Uhm, maybe?" Nicora says. "Both can be used for pleasure."
"Use both? Yes," And then Nicora feels one of Greve's 'hands' reaching into her. Then another, filling her both ways. And a third because there's a lot of wiggle room for one of those.
Nicora jerks in the webbing and cries out loudly! It's actually a sound of pleasure, too. Part of it does feel nice; it at least helps ease the feeling of need. That gets painful at times too.
Of course Greve wiggles his 'fingers'.. each of which, given that that they squirt silk also likely function for reproduction. "This is good?" he asks, while the grabbits wrap Nicora's chest. It may be that the silk is actually drawing off some of her leaking milk.
"Yyyy....eesssss," Nicora hisses out, eyes clenches shut now. It actually does feel good; relaxing some of the horrible tensing need that wracks this body. Most of the time it's like she has an unscratchable itch inside Inala's orb and deep inside her abdomen. For the moment, it is subsiding a little.
While Greve continues his internal massage (the implants seem to have his curiosity) the lesser grabbits begin to spiral out around Nicora's arms. They don't seem interested in doing anything with her face or head, at least for the moment. "How do I know when to stop?" the demon asks.
"Just keep going until I really cry out," Nicora offers in whisper. The urge is lessening by the minute as the creature 'satisfies' her body. She isn't even aware of the grabbit work at the moment; she's ... enjoying. Five more minutes pass and then the Eeee's whole body tenses up and she cries out in a burst of burbly chirps. It's one of the few releases she's gotten to completion! It feels like a lot of stress just melted away.
"Is that a cry?" Greve says, another set of digits massaging the outside now, while a fifth set seems poised to join the others. "Should I try harder?"
"No, no, that was it. You are done," Nicora says, panting.
Greve withdraws his strange appendages. It isn't clear if he enjoyed it or not himself, until he says, "I like the way you make noises and move around in the web."
"I'm sure I look like a caught bug," Nicora claims as she opens her useless eyes. "Are you going to let me down?"
There is an ominously long pause, before Greve asks, "Are you sure you want to be down?"
"Well, I have to be if I am to serve Mother," Nicora points out. It's also now she tries to figure out if the grabbits are still working.
The spider-creatures seem to be leaving her now, using the web that Greve created to reach the walls and floor. "I will release you then," the demon notes, and holds on to Nicora as he begins to sever the web strands.
Nicora tries to catch herself instead of just landing hard on the floor. "I wish I could see what those creatures did to me," she remarks to Greve. "I am blind, after all."
"Blind?" Greve asks. "Here, I loan you eyes," the demon says, and then Nicora feels two.. squishy marbles in her hands.
Nicora feels really ill now. She isn't sure what she is going to do with its ... eyes.
"Hold up to your eyes," Greve says. "Touch to them."
Nicora still feels sick ... but does as she's instructed. She really hopes they don't somehow replace her own eyes, but knowing the demns anything is possible.
Once the squishy orbs back contact with her own corneas.. Nicora's vision is clear again, even if a bit warped. Greve may not have multi-faceted eyes (although he does have quite a few of them) the effect is more of looking through a glass bowl - things are fine in the center, but the rest is like peripheral vision with a vengeance.
And so Nicora keeps them held there and tries to get a good look at her silk-covered body. "This is ... well, not the weirdest thing I've done. And at least I can see," she thinks.
It isn't like bandages. For one thing, it only covers the front in places. The lines aren't straight, but organic, crossing over and through each other and looking more like creeping ivy in design. And it's glowing. Or rather, the translucent silk is refracting the glow from Nicora's surface veins and arteries, diffusing it. It's strong on her torso, but that could be because there channels in the silk, drawing out the milk to form a separate network on top of the first.
"Okay, I have to admit, this is really nice looking," Nicora tells Greve. She's also equally shocked by what she tells the demon next, "Thank you."
"Gift is acceptable!" the demon says, sounding happy. It even does a little multi-legged dance.
"Very much so," Nicora agrees as she tries to take away the loaner eyes and offer them back to the crazy demon. She feels glum having to go back to being blind, but it is expected of her.
Things get blurry again as she offers up the eyes, which Greve reclaims and presumably pops back into his skull somehow. "I wait for your call," he says, then skitters back into the darkness. The grabbits are still around, somewhere. Nicora can feel a bit of their presence, although they may be far off.
Nicora shakes her head and sighs. She really does feel vulnerable and it is immensely frustrating. But at least she isn't spewing out monsters from her womb at the moment. "Sil? The creature is gone," she manages to burble out, "Please accept my apology for it scaring you."
"I heard a lot of.. noises. And you were talking to something?" Sil's voice cames after a bit. "I wasn't eavesdropping though!" she promises. "What.. what are you wearing? It's.. beautiful.."
"A gift from Blakat's demon," Nicora explains as she finds her walking staff. "That is the creature you saw. It only wished to speak with me. You were not in risk."
"A demon.." Sil squeaks. "Why do they seek you out? Is this something all Yodh deal with?"
"No, just me. I am helping arrange a way to fight Diphath and her army," Nicora explains as she now makes her way blindly back to her chambers using her staff.
"Oh.. do you need assistance with anything else, Yodhgorphat?" Sil asks. "Will you be going down to the sick tents again today?"
"I will be going there later, yes. I think I am going to get more rest first, or perhaps tend to the worm pools," Nicora explains. "I do not need your assistance right now. Please, feel free to rest some."
Sil bows, leaving behind some color streaks in Nicora's vision, and excuses herself to get back to cleaning.
"My life is a mess. A complete and utter mess," Nicora thinks as she makes her way back. One bright spot was some relief from the constant need her loins afflict on her. But ... even that relief is passing; she feels a bit tense again.
In her chambers, everything is as she left it. And Blarf greets her with a puff of sour-sweet stench as usual.
Nicora sighs, but is thankful she can barely smell. A few more taps of her cane and she flops down on her rough bed. An hour rest, then back to work. Right now the weary gets rest.