One of the reasons Penance hadn't made much headway into sorting the shelves is that most of the items used a different cataloging system from the one used for the 'dry storage' drawers and cabinets. Certain things were definitely clustered though - jars of powders and fluids shared symbols with larger containers sometimes. Crabs had begun to move these collections to one of the large work tables. The larger jars and bottles were usually murky, but occasionally had signs of movement in them.
In her search for anything that might explain what things actually were, Penance has been looking at everything that isn't a jar, until she finally hauls a large, squat wooden box to the table. "This doesn't have any catalog symbols on it," she tells Scourge after catching her breath. The one symbol that the box does have is the Wound, symbol of Gorphat herself.
Scourge's bare brow arches a bit. "I'm impressed you were able to move that," she admits as she comes over to take a closer look at this box. "Given its marking, we should take care with this box," she adds as she starts to check over this box carefully for other marks and locks.
There isn't a hinge, just wooden latches all around holding the top down. There are places where locks could go, but at the moment there are just some wooden pegs holding the latches closed.
"Well, it is not locked," Scourge observes. "I recommend that both of you back up, though. I am ... blessed to deal with many things and hopefully this will not be a danger to me."
Crabs and Penance move behind one of the dry storage cabinets. Because dried up diseases and parasites are safer than strange boxes, apparently.
Scourge shakes her head and laughs a little. "Interesting perspective on danger," she mutters as she starts taking pegs out, one by one, just in case the crate might blow its top open if the pegs are removed at the same time.
The pegs suffer from dry rot, and a few crumble instead of sliding out. There was probably something better for securing the latches at some point, but the last user may have lost them.
Scourge flips up one latch ... and if nothing disastrous happens, she'll flip up the others. Then if she's still intact, she'll open the box.
The worst that happens is that some of the latches squeal - the odd wooden hinges need oiling. It isn't ironwood, although the box itself seems to be (which could be part of why it was so heavy for something the size of a few stacked briefcases). With the last one flipped.. nothing happens, aside from a bit of dust trapped under the box cover puffing out from the sides.
"Aaaah!" squeals Scourge! Then she breaks into a giggle and and says, "I am joking. Opening it now." And thus, she opens the box!
Taking up most of the top of the inside space is a book. It's got Yodhscript on the cover, and after a moment Scourge can read it: For The High Priestess Only - Rites of Service.
This makes Scourge blink. "It's a book ... intended for me; the High Priestess," she tells the others. Reverently, she lifts the book out of the case and sets it on the table. This allows her to look inside the case before opening the book.
There is another book, bound it ptera-hide and tied together through eyelets - so something meant to be updated with new pages, perhaps. It's cover reads: Usage of the Implements of Piety.
Scourge lifts this book out and also sets it beside the first, then checks to see if any further books remain.
Beneath the second book is a leather-wrapped bundle showing signs of wear, along with a very old roll of gauze bandages and a small stoppered bottle of clear fluid.
Scourge takes out the bundle and unrolls it, expecting to find some rather scary implements contained within.
There some rather scary implements contained within. Mainly because they end in needle-sharp spikes. They resemble chisels with differently shaped heads, and also come with a small hammer. At first it looks like the chisels come in duplicate pairs, but one sets turns out to have barbed needle-tips. There is a small square-headed set and a circular-headed set, and there's also something that looks metallic - and Scourge can sense the iron. It's a wooden-handled brand, with the Wound surrounded by a circle.
"Ow," Scourge notes as she picks up and examines each one and wonders just what they were used for? The second book might actually say, so she sets the tools aside and opens the first page to see what it says.
The first page details the care and maintenance of the Implements, such how to clean and sterilize them between uses. After that there are helpful drawings showing how to use them. One set is for a form of 'tattooing' and the other is for creating scars. The brand is meant to be used with the clear fluid, which appears to be an acid of some sort. After showing who they're used, the rest of the book is a catalog - and the entries seem to line up with the items Crabs has been putting on the table. Some things are used with the tattooing tools, and others with the scarring ones.
"Oh delightful, they're for ... disfiguring others," Scourge notes, and actually sounds pleased about that for some odd reason. Wondering if the other book for the High Priestess says anything, she opens that one to look as well.
The first chapter heading is 'On The Preparation Of Acolytes' which has a breakdown of how to inoculate Eeee against the sorts of diseases that they may be expected to inflict on others. It comes with catalog entries for everything as well as instructions on how to weaken each strain for use in building immunity.
"This is very useful; it's how to make people immune to diseases, We should perform this upon those working in the tents outside," Scourge notes to the others after looking up. Pleased with chapter one, she checks to see what chapter two covers.
The second talks about the Implements, and contains patterns and descriptions that seem to deal with rank and specialization. Since Phlagaea didn't have any of these - nor the other few Yodhgorphat that Alptraum met - they probably haven't been used in some time. Some of the marks are quite complex, including a few that are meant to look like they're constantly bleeding wounds (using a specific sort of algae 'ink' that glows red and produces a blood-like substance if a certain ritual is performed first - and the ritual is included). There's no looking up things in a different part of the book - if something is required for a specific procedure, it's included in full, even though some of them repeat. It may be that they're meant to be copied out and handed to other Yodhgorphat to perform.
"That does sound useful," Penance agrees, just before Crabs asks, "What's 'munity? Isn't that something airship crews do when they want a new captain?"
Scourge huhs. "Also useful; rank markings for all of you," Scourge says with probably too much glee. She decides to look up what sort of marks that a mid-ranking Yodh, a full-fledged Yodhgorphat, should have. She also decides to see if the High Priestess is supposed to mark herself with something, too." The commentary around her causes her to look up briefly and laugh, "It's a word meaning a disease cannot affect you. This book has techniques for making people immune, or resistant, to many different things."
"Oi.. is it hard?" Crabs asks.
"It's not simple, no, but it is a very good thing to undertake. We need to identify the diseases still common, and specifically treat people unaffected by them to make them resistant," Scourge notes and taps on the book.
There seems to be a lot of leeway in what's appropriate decoration. For a full Yodhgorphat, there is the acid-branding and continuations of lower level patterns - which can be tattoo or scar style. Certain features require scarring though, such as the 'fringes' that use some sort of scar-dwelling worm creature that lives off of the bacteria in pus, of all things. For the most part, however, the choice of design is up to the High Priestess. The main distinguishing feature of a High Priestess is a visible blessing of some sort (of which Nicora has a few) along with whatever else she might want. There are a few things reserved for use by the High Priestess and nobody else though; a special purple fungus-ink for tattooing, and certain scalp scar patterns. There's also something about 'cuticle mites' for her claws, which actually give them toxic properties.
"Okay, this is very ... " Scourge muses, then looks up to Penance. "Would you like to be marked?"
"All my old markings washed away," Penance notes, and rubs her hand over her bald head. "Is there something other than the Wound I should have? Do the markings mean anything?"
"There is lots of leeway in the kinds of markings you can have. I have some ideas on ones I would do to you, if you wish it," Scourge says, "In addition to restoring your wound mark." She lifts the book up and goes to check the jars and the 'ingredients' for the markings, as well as the cuticle mites; those sound actually functionally useful, though they might make her claws ugly ... er.
A jar filled with bones corresponds to the symbols for the mites. The bones have something of an oily look to them.
Scourge picks up the mite jaw and peers at it. She then sets it beside the book and looks at the two with her. "Tell me ... do you wish to be marked?" she asks, "And in what ways or now ... much would interest you?"
"Well.. It shows I'm a Yodhgorphat, doesn't it?" Penance asks. "So I should have whatever you think is appropriate, High Priestess. There will be more Yodh soon, so knowing what marks to get could be important."
Scourge picks up the glowing fungus first and implements that will ... work with it pretty well. "Then sit on the table and I'll work on the first Wound mark. The second I will brand ... on your forehead," she explains, "Among other things."
Penance sits on the table as requested, and fidgets. "Should I lie down or.. spread anything?" she asks. Crabs also approaches to watch closely what Scourge is using.
"Well, do you want me to put something inside your nethers?" Scourge inquires of Penance. She then actually checks the book for any specific suggestions for, well, genital mutilation marking.
There's a chapter on female castration, but internal genital implantation is mostly covered in the section on inoculation. There is scarring mentioned as a means of sterilization however, in a chapter which uses the inverted mirror symbol to indicated 'anti-Inala' blessings.
"And while you think about that, lay back and spread your legs, please," Scourge requests as she picks up the implements used for tattooing. She uses the sharp tip to lightly scratch the shape of the Wound mark back over Penance' vulva, outlining it so the skin is a bit reddened for her to trace on it. Then she takes up the glowing fungal spores jar and after wetting the tip of the tattoo barb tool, she starts to slowly and carefully insert fungal spores under Penance' skin along that Wound mark 'tracing'.
Penance's eyes water and her teeth grind, but she doesn't whimper at least. Her skin is still very sensitive after the bleaching after all. She also bleeds a lot.. but Crabs helpfully wipes it away for Scourge, so she can see what she's doing.
It's slow going. As in it takes a couple hours to have actually traced out the full Wound mark by carefully inserting those spores just under the skin. It's also surprising how old slight of hand tricks comes in handy here. And nevermind she gets the benefit of getting to look at a ladie's nethers for a couple hours. She may be female, but she still likes females in that way too. And once she's done with the wound mark, she spreads Penance open and actually does a luminous spore implant around Inala's orb, right on its hood ... then down the edge of each inner lip so that they will glow softly once it all takes hold.
This time Penance does whimper and cry a little, but doesn't flinch at least - which would just make things more painful probably. Crabs tries to keep the canvas clear by using his tongue where possible. He's pretty clearly aroused now.. but that just means there is more potential skin to mark on him.
"That is done," Scourge claims and sets that aside for now to spare her from more tattoo pain. "Please, sit up, then lean forward and present the top of your head to me. She says this while she collects the large jar of, well, the so-called 'feather worms' in maggot form, and one of the scarring implements instead.
Penance bends nearly double to present her forehead, and bites her lip a bit. Her eyes are red, and her cheeks are wet from tears.
"Hold still, child," Scourge says, taking that scarring tool to make a series of small slits in Penance's scalp, right down the center-line. That's bad enough, but after each slit is made, she takes out a single maggot from that jar and carefully inserts it into that razor-cut skin-slit, tucking it in nice and deep so it won't easily fall out; it would need to be dug out.
This is a messy process, since cuts to the scalp tend to bleed a lot. Crabs is unsure if he should keep it out of Penance's face or not, so he asks Scourge. "Do you want me to wipe off the blood, High Priestess?" he asks. After all, it's not getting the way of Scourge's work this time.
"Yes, please clear the blood away," Scourge requests as she focuses on her work. It's vaguely disturbing that he's using techniques she observed the Doctor use in the pit to make precise cuts! And the cutting doesn't stop at her scalp, she continues down her neck, and fully intends to stop just above her butt.
Since Penance is bent over and practically hugging her knees at this point, the blood is slow to run down her back and sides, so follows the line where her wing vanes connect to her back. There's not a lot of blood, but Crabs does his best to mop it up. The rag he's using is fairly gory by then. "What are the odd maggots for, High Priestess?" he eventually asks.
"They will live within the scars and grow beautiful feathers all along this line," Scourge explains, then checks the book on instructions for closing the wounds and stopping the bleeding. This involves, well, sewing each one closed with a single silk thread each. It requires steady hands, and the deadened sensations of her right hand are annoying at this point.
"Would you like me to help?" Crabs offers.
"If you can, please do. Also think about what you might like. I do take requests," Scourge says a bit ominously. "Finish on her back and I'll start on her face." And with that, Scourge is nudging Penance to look up now. "Are you all right, child? I can stop any time, if you wish," she offers.
"This isn't as bad as the horribs," Penance claims. Her eyes look puffy now, and some of the blood still managed to run into them making them looking pink and bloodshot. She twinges whenever Crabs uses the needle on her back.
"Are you enjoying it?" Scourge inquires, voice soft as she caresses Penance's face.
"It.. it is a challenge, High Priestess," Penance says, and offers a somewhat shaky smile (while still wincing from the needlework). It's hard to claim that anything is too trying in the face of the High Priestess, after all, who has so much marking, scarring and extra bits to deal with.
Scourge picks up the tattoo tool and selects the red/ fungal tattoo 'ink'. "All right. Now ... pucker," Scourge says ... and once Penance does, she starts tattoo'ing Penance's pale lips with the blood-red fungal dye. And oddly enough, Nicora starts using one of her head tentacles to 'hold' the jar of the fungus while she works.
Penance's lips swell up, of course, and she tries to suck in constantly to avoid drooling onto them. The bleeding isn't as bad as on her head at least.
It's time consuming too, but by the time Nicora is done, she has glossy (though swollen) lips that look like well-placed makeup! Then Scourge switches up to the green dye. She places that in one of her tentacles. gripping it snuggly. Then the work begins again, this time with delicate lines along each of Penance's eyebrow lines, underneath as eye shadow, and even 'tear' lines down each side of her nose. Then it's on to the tip of her nose, outlining it with that green ink. It's a macabre and sort of scary-looking permanent makeup job, intending to make the Yodhgorphat both alluring and scary.
After finishing with the stitches, Crabs comes back around to watch the tattooing. "She looks a bit like a Savanite," he comments, and goes about wiping up the blood again. Penance is having a hard time not crying (which would interfere with the work under her eyes) and not sniffling (despite having pins pressed into her nose).
Scourge gives Penance a break now and then for her to recover. It also lets her to flex her hands to keep them from getting too sore. Once the Eeee finishes up with the 'makeup' work, she pats PEnance's cheek. "That is enough for today, unless you have other things you wish for?" Scourge says ... then taps her own head. "Well, except for one. This time Nicora gets out the brand and dips it into the acid (using her left hand and hoping it won't hurt her). If she can, then the brand will go in the center of Penance's forehead.
Penance does cry out when the brand makes contact. There's even a slight sizzling sound - but no smoke or blood. The mark is black, with a slightly raised outline of irritated skin, so that it is obviously the result of a brand. It just doesn't look burnt - the skin is hardening a bit where the acid touched it instead.
"Now we are done ... and it is your turn, Crabs," Scourge says as she taps a claw on the branding. "Do you have any ... requests?"
Penance sits back up and seems a little dazed from it all - which could from endorphins kicking in. Crabs has to climb up onto the table before sitting at the edge, and holds his tail in his hands. "Is there something for Mabb?" he asks.
Scourge taps her chin; she does remember Mabb's mark from her time in the pit. "I know of some things we could do," Scourge claims, then dips her head down between his legs and starts licking him to ensure he's still very aroused!
"Oh.. ohhhhh," Crabs says, and splays his toes at the licking. Possibly thanks to the horrib 'training' he's very quick to arouse. Or it's just that he's a male Skreek.
Scourge enjoys this, and of course keeps it up for a bit. Even her head tendrils get into the act by caressing and lifting, well, the skreek's dangly bits. But, she's mindful of how he reacts so that he doesn't peak (and thus lose the stiffness). So, when he's right on that edge, she stops. "Now I can work," she says, a bit evilly.
"Work?" the man squeaks. "What are you gonna do?" he asks.
Scourge picks up the tattoo needle and starts to work. Namely she does a stylized green swirl around the skreek's throbby bit, a stretched out symbol for Mabb, wish is really just the Wound with an extra tail. Unforunately that isn't all, as she switches to red nest and tattoos the tip to make it look like it has some bloody cracks in it. It's not like a few bloody cracks would ever stop a skreek from sticking that in someone anyway!
Crabs whimpers, and ends up biting down on his tail and clenching a hand around the root of his shaft to keep up the pressure in the face of the pain. "I st'll b' ab' t' u' i'?" he asks around his tail. He's got duties after all, until horribs are birthed from the female acolytes.
"Yes, it will work fine," Scourge clams as she sets aside the torture dev ... needle, then dips her head right back down and resumes her suckling and teasing. And this time ... she isn't going to stop until things ... release.
"Oh.. ah.. I'm.. that is.." Crabs starts to stutter. It's obviously swollen and inflamed where the tattooing was done, so there must be some really mixed signals going on.. but involuntary reflexes really don't care about what odd associations the brain makes, and the inevitable happens as a result. "Oooog!" Crabs squeaks.
And Scourge keeps a mess from being made. And when she sits back, she licks her lips. She's done far worse than that after all. "Now ... hand me your tail, please," Scourge requests as if what just happened was perfectly normal.
As Crabs hands over his tail, Scourge realizes the flavor was off. If anything, it reminds her of Hosheb's feeding fluid - which she only got to smell. But it would make sense that the horrib injections were doing more than just making the men ready to go. It is meant for feeding the larvae after all.
"Interesting," Scourge remarks as she licks her lips again. The bat then shrugs and picks up a scarring tool. Delicately, she makes four slits in the skin surrounding the tip of Crab's tail. After wiping away the blood, she inserts a maggot into each one, then goes about stitching them closed.
Crabs is nearly nose-to-tail as watches this carefully, right down to the placement of the maggot, and how it 'comes alive' once placed. "You said these will grow into feathers.. but.. uh.. what is a feather?" he asks with some embarrassment.
"Fuffy," Scourge tries to explain. "Look at a Vartan's wing sometime, it looks like what grows out of those."
"What's a Vartan?" Crabs asks next. Apparently you don't get many Vartans in the Streets Below.
"A bird thing," Scourge adds next. "You'll find out after it grows! It might itch a bit at first, though."
"I'm used to itches," Crabs says. "They help you find the ticks and fleas."
"And unless you desire more, I believe that is enough for both of you for now," Scourge says as she works on cleaning the implements and putting them back into their container pouch.
"So are those feathers on the top of your head?" Crabs asks, pointing to Scourge's tendrils.
"No, those are tentacles. "I don't have any feathers," Scourge points out and smiles.
"So.. which of these jars has the tentacle eggs?" the Skreek asks.
"None of them. These came from Blarf," Scourge notes, "Sorry. I don't think any of you can have them." She ponders for a moment, then asks, "Would you be willing to implant some feather-worms along the scar ridge outlining my tentacles?"
Rather than ask Scourge to lean down, Crabs stands on the table so he's taller than her and runs his fingers over her scars. "These scars are set," he notes. "I'd have to cut them out where you want to put in the feather maggots. Do you have really sharp knife?"
Scourge offers up the kit to inspect. "See if any of these are adequate?" she requests, kind of wondering why she's doing this at all.
Sitting back down with the kit in his lap, Crabs inspects the implements. He settles on one of the scarring tools, since it has barbed tips for tearing the skin. "This might work," he says, waving the nasty implement around. "I just have to stick and twist before pulling! That should let me gouge out spaces for the maggots." He looks way to happy about the prospect.
Scourge's ears splay and she winces at that prospect. "Gah, that sounds awful! Why am I doing this?!" she wonders, but what kind of High Priestess would she be if she didn't have the worst of the treatments. So, she says, "Okay, then go ahead. Both sides, lining each with the feather worms." The Eeee then grabs the table with her claws, digging them in!
"Maybe you could lie down?" Crabs suggests. "With your head at the edge of the table. That way the blood will run down and not get in your eyes."
This just keeps sounding worse ... but Scourge does lay down on the table, with her head at the edge of it. She almost says nevermind, but then that would be cowardly and unbecoming of the High Priestess.
It also means she can't actually see what Crabs his doing, other than setting the maggot jar next to her head. When the barbs go in, she can feel the pressure - scar tissue is a bit numb after all - but the twisting and sawing motion disturbs the underlying scalp, so she certainly feels that, as well as the brief, sharp pain when the plug is pulled out. This is followed shortly by a spitting sound and the sight of the dead tissue flying over her shoulder before Crabs extracts a maggot for implantation.
Scourge grits her teeth! She's surprised that it doesn't actually hurt ... well at first. When the pain hits she lets out a hiss of breath and digs her claws into the table for a moment. "Ow," she says afterward, watching that bit of skin go flying. It's now that she really understands a worm is about to be inserted into her head.
The sensation of the maggot attaching itself is almost lost, but it does use some sort of barbed hooks on its head to hold itself in. The first ones are going on the sides of the central line of tendrils. When it's time to do the spaces between them, Crabs pauses to ask, "Can you make them not squirm so much? They tried to grab my hand a few times already."
Scourge takes a moment to realize he means her tentacles, she was too busy focusing on feeling the maggot sort of burrowing and latching itself in. So, she takes a breath, concentrates, and tries to get the tentacles to still.
At the best of times, the things have minds of their own (which always make people unsure of where to look when facing the High Priestess). Making them move the way she wants isn't difficult, but making them be still is another matter. When they still twitch, Crabs asks, "Can I suck on them?"
"Yes, you can," Scoyrge remarks, trying to hide the frustration of being unable to keep them still.
So Scourge feels a Skreek tongue grab onto one of her tentacles and pulls it into Crabs' mouth, where he does suck on it. This.. feels pretty nice actually, and gets that tentacle to calm down. At least calm down enough that the Skreek can start excavating scar tissue from right next to it.
Scourge ends up ... cooing at the sensation! Well, up until the point that horrible tool starts working on the scar tissue again. That makes her toes wiggle, splay, and twitch.
Penance has recovered enough to try and sooth Scourge by rubbing her belly in a hopeful manner. The tentacles aren't spaced very far apart, so it's usually one or two gougings before Crabs cans swap tentacles. The previously sucked ones are less likely to try and attack him now as he works. He still spits out the plugs of old scalp, but now makes sure they don't hit Penance at least.
"I am such an idiot. Gah," Scourge thinks ... as she manages a smile to Penance, and even reaches over to pat her hand. "You did very well, child," she tells the freshly tattooed Eeee, while trying to ignore the wriggling feeling in her scalp as those maggots really hook in.
"I feel tingly," Penance notes. Some of her ink is already starting to glow, despite the redness of the irritated skin. Crabs doesn't comment, since he's busy planting worms. It isn't until he's done the final one that he says, "You scar very quickly, High Priestess."
Scourge blinks at this. "Do I?" she asks as she sits up, a little wobbly from the experience. "And one more thing you can do, Craps, there is a treatment for just the High Priestess, for my claws. Please apply it to my finger and toe claws," she adds, then looks back to Penance. "You're already starting to glow a little; it looks good."
"Really?" Penance asks. "I.. there aren't any mirrors in the Temple, High Priestess," she notes. Well, except for the one in the High Priestess' Quarters anyway.
"There is one in my room," Scourge notes as she reaches up to feel around her head.
Crabs reads the relevant entry in the manual, and looks at the jar full of oily bones. Meanwhile, Scourge can feel the 'pits' in her scalp already scarring up in an accelerated process. Maybe it has to do with the green component of her blood, or some other blessing.
Well, at least it means her head won't hurt at much soon! She picks up the other book and reads over the, well, parts bout modifying the orb inside the Yodh's gate a bit while she waits for Crabs to get ready. She looks up now and them, both from trying to not get too creeped out by what she reads, and to be ready when Crabs is.
"These will probably itch, and cause some discharge," Crabs explains. He's procured a paintbrush (there is a drawer full of them) which he dips into the jar to brush against the bones. "I need to brush them onto her claws now," he explains to Scourge.
"Itch? Discharge?" Scourge inquires, brow arched. Still, she said she would, so she holds out her hands, fingers spread to that each claw is easy to access.
Tongue sticking out in concentration, Crabs dabs the brush at the top base of each claw. After a minute, there's some redness and itching. "That's a good sign," the Skreek says. "They'll start producing oil soon. So if you scratch someone, they'll have burning pain.."
"What if she scratches herself though?" Penance asks.
Crabs looks the High Priestess in the face, and says, "Try not to scratch yourself."
Scourge grunts and starts shaking her hands a bit now that they're starting to itch! "Now you tell me," she growls at Crabs. "I may just scratch YOU."
The Skreek blinks.. then says, "I'm sure there's some special medicinal value. Like with all of your other.. uh.. excretions.. High Priestess.."
Scourge chuffs a bit at this and then gets off the table. It's back to cleaning the tools again, and putting them away. The books too for that matter. She'll take them back to her room and start copying out the immunization instructions to disseminate to the staff at the Hospices and the new Yodh, of course."
She feels something brush against one of her tentacles that's not another of the tentacles, and Penance makes a gasping noise behind Scourge as well.
Scourge pauses. "What?" she asks as she reaches up to feel at her head again. Of course the only mirror is in her room...
There's fluffiness there now, and it isn't the static sort of hair or fur or proper feathers. There's motion, a gentle wave that spreads and moves across the affected area. "They're.. pretty," Penance says, looking like she wants to reach out and touch Scourge's scalp. "They shimmer.."
"This ... feels really odd," Scourge admits as she leans her head down so Penance can touch if she wants. "What color are they?"
Penance brushes her fingers over them, and says, "They are silvery, but the tips of the.. fans.. glow in different colors."
"Huh. That does sound pretty," Scourge admits. "And you're going to have a stripe of it from your head, down to your butt," she tells Penance and grins a little. "Worth the pain and enduring?"
"Yes!" Penance blurts, and blushes at her outburst. "I'll be like the Procession.."
Scourge grins. "Suffering can lead to great things, as you see," she tells the girl and pats her shoulder. "Now, lets straighten this place up and all withdraw for a bit of rest.
Now that she can use the mirror, Scourge can see her new scalp editions. The 'feathers' really do seem more like fans made of individual flexible spines - aside from swaying, the sometimes feel about, or contract and extends. The skin has a silvery color, while the tips have tiny spots of glowing color. The colors sometimes all shift at once, and at other times ripple up and across the fan. Colors can move in waves across all of them, as if they were in communication, or they can all flicker and change at random.
"That is really pretty," Scourge admits and reaches up to brush at them and play with them. "And they don't hurt, I don't even feel the worms. These are more like ... symbiotes; they aren't causing my body any problems, just ... living with it and being pretty." She tilts her head this way and that as she keeps looking at them.
It's a bit hypnotic. But it means the books have been 'lost' in the archive for some time, because these would have been very memorable on any Yodhgorphat.
Scourge blinks and shakes her head. She then looks down at at her right hand. "Pity I can't put them in you to make you look better, eh? I don't think they would survive," she comments as she pokes the shadow-flesh a bit. "It's really surprising the things they had in there ... and lost. Some were very important ... others, well, rather scary," she mutters, then stands in front of the mirror and spreads her swollen Wound open until the ring'ed nub and its fleshy hood are visible. "Did others really .... remove parts down here?" she wonders. "Surely it was a punishment."
"Sometimes," Gorphat says, wrapping her arms around Scourge from behind. "Sometimes not. My Yodh have been many things over the ages. Calamity, salvation.. and arbiters that stand between those two extremes."
Scourge leans back against Gorphat gently. "Then what was the purpose to .. alter this, or completely remove it?" she asks and tugs on the ring through it; which of course makes her feel a strong pang of arousal.
"Fads come and go," Gorphat claims, pressing a sticky cheek against Scourge's shoulder. "There were times when the temple was full, and many Yodh had idle hands. So those who spent more time pleasuring themselves than thinking of other ways to serve Me.. had the distraction removed. Inala shouldn't be encroaching in My temple, unless I allow for it.. on My terms of course. At other times.. it was a challenge to overcome."
Scourge ahhs and lets that part of herself go, the swollen flesh closing back together with a squelch. "Now, that makes a lot more sense," she says as she looks over her shoulder at Gorphat and reaches back to caress Gorphat's neck. "Do you think I should do it?" she asks.
"Are you distracted?" Gorphat asks with a coo, "Or seeking challenge?"
"Your blessings distract me often," Scourge comments back and smiles, "But you know I always appreciate a challenge."
"Then I shall challenge you," Gorphat says, and licks Scourge's neck.. but her tongue feels bristly. And then it comes out completely, being a giant centipede. It crawls around Scourges neck once before working it's way down her body, circling each of her multiple breasts along the way.
Scourge squeaks! "I was just asking!" she blurts out and quickly reaches up to the bug, though her hand hesitates because it Gorphat's creature and she doesn't want to disobey her Goddess. The hundreds of legs as it circles each breast makes her squirm as she feels her stomach sink and panic growing!
"And I asked if you wished a challenge," Gorphat notes. "You seemed to agree.." The centipede is good at evading, and is already tangling down from her belly now.. using it's rear pincers to hold itself to Scourge's naval.
"Yes, I do usually embrace your challenges," Scourge squeaks as her ears start to tremble now. Her hand shakes too, but she lowers it so as to honor whatever it is her Goddess intends. She occupies her hands by reaching back and hugging around Gorphat's neck. behind her as the creature sways uncomfortably from her navel.
The pincers latch onto the orb, which isn't pleasant.. and then the mouth parts go work, nibbling away the hood. "Try not to move," Gorphat advises. "You wouldn't want to lose that ring, after all."
Scourge's teeth grit and she hisses out, her hips squirming some in spite of the suggestion to remain still. How does someone remain still when a bug is spreading your nethers open and nibbling on sensitive stuff inside it! The pinchers on her orb feel huge and sharp. Very very sharp. And then she thinks back to what happened to the buck. That's an unfortunate memory to have right now!
There isn't much more to clear... but then the two more heads grow from the centipede to either side, and bite into the flesh just beyond the outer labia.
Scourge cries out and her arm-hug about Gorphat actually increases! "Why do I ever say anything to Her?"
The pain makes it hard not to twitch or jump. But the chewing doesn't last long - it only seems that way. Probably because of the noises involved. The terrible pressure on her orb releases, and centipede drops off onto the floor. But there's a lot of blood.. which isn't exactly odd for Scourge. She's usually bleeding in that area after all. It's the itching that's new, coming from those two small wounds to either side.
Scourge's hands drop from around Gorphat's neck and she reaches down to push at those small wounds in her vulva to try and get out whatever might be eating it's way in! And she has to be careful about not scratching herself or getting any of the oil on the wounds! Argh! She isn't even brave enough to spread things open to see the damage done.
There's scar tissue forming to protect the wounds.. and then the fans sprout! The colorful, feathery fronds are just long enough to touch the newly exposed, very sensitive orb-skin. And they wiggle.
Scourge nnnnngs! She goes up on her toes and actually whines. Without her hod, the swollen nub is now very visible and it would be in range of those fans! She ends up dropping to her knees from the shock of both the pain, then the tickling onslaught on that nub.
"It is a good challenge," Gorphat says. "You will overcome it though. In time."
"Or beg you to remove it all," Scourge gasps as she falls forward to her hands now as she tries to focus and not get so aroused that she climaxes. Or worse, triggers her other blessings.
"It may seem nice at first," Gorphat claims. "But that will pass as well. Constant stimulation is painful. That is My signature on Inala's pleasure."
Scourge's reply to that is to tip over onto the floor and start to groan loudly and lewdly as massive waves of pleasure roll through her; the first of probably many before she ... adapts. She never really learns, she always pushes it a bit with the Goddesses and it tends to blow up horribly. It's a good thing she'll be spending time outside of the temple soon!