The walk back to the park where Alptraum arrived is just long enough for a quick lesson on Drakshasir tattoos and jewelry. The cheek tattoos reflect the military or civilian rank of a person, as well as group affiliation, while the style of the marks denotes which Pit Lord one is pledged to. The body tattoos record a person's accomplishments and accolades throughout their life, with left side being personal ones while the right side is for group merits, which can include family, business or military groupings.
Tattoos are applied by the priesthood, which also divide up by type: family, business or military. Most groups try to have at least one member in one of the priesthoods. "It is obviously important to maintain these records, as our skin is what remains of us," Vala notes, and glances at Alptraum's fur-covered form.
She also tries to explain the various civilian and military castes, and how a properly ambitious person must try to become accomplished in as many as possible. The terms don't always make sense to Alptraum without context though. Vala's current caste is Seeker, which is both a military and civilian one. It might mean something similar to 'student' but Vala doesn't know that term.
"You might have skin to record on, but at least I don't get cold," Alptraum quips as he walks along since flying might be a little, well, rude. "Where I'm from, there are seven primary religions, and many many smaller ones. They're also all very competitive, and people can't just switch between them in service." He pauses. "Well, most people. Some can."
"That seems non-competitive from my perspective," Valantajr says as they reach the edge of the park. Curious followers still keep their distance though. "You need to do things to please all the Pit Lords, so that they will compete for your service in Hell." She taps one of her earrings, and says, "I received this one for entering the service of Lord G'thethsasir," she explains. It's amazing how she can pronounce these names with a dry tongue, but it also glows brighter when she says the name. "Ear jewelry shows how far along you are in status to each Lord. They have different magical blessings. All of our adornment is for magic. Aren't yours?"
"No, mine are just for decoration. My magic is innate," Alptraum claims and puffs up his chest. He still feels a bit like a child though, being, well shorter. And then he demonstrates a bit of said magic. Well, mainly just extruding the shadow cloak to make himself all sort of shiny-rubbery-hairless-looking. "No jewelry needed to do this," he chirps.
"That looks.. odd," Vala admits. "None of can change now. No advancement, no new paths. We are stuck as we are. I don't see your magic hole." She looks around without actually turning her head away from Alptraum.
Alptraum withdraws the shadow, and has taken on Vala's coloration in his fur, right down to the tattoo styles and grins toothily. "It should be around here somewhere," he muses and starts looking for it, himself.
"Eeeeee.." Vala goes wide eyed at the change. "You.. you're me now? But.. am I still me?" It seems an odd reaction since it was just the tattoos and colors that changed. But she did claim it was the skin itself that was important, as if they wore their souls on the outside.
There's a bit of a crack in the air. It's not exactly visible, but desert air seems to be flowing from it.
"No, I'm still a guy, I just duplicated your color. Granted, I could probably duplicate all of you, but that would get weird," Alptraum admits and shakes, and his normal colors flow back into place. "I see it. Well, feel and hear it anyway. Just follow me," he requests, and heads towards that sensation.
"Is it invisible?" Vala asks. "How can you still be yourself after that?"
"Because I am always me," Alptraum claims, "I just change the trappings. And it's not visible per se, but you can feel the hot air that passes through it."
"My chest piercings protect me from hot and cold," Vala notes. "Why else would the be through my nipples?" So she reaches and grabs onto Alptraum's shoulder while he feels for the crack.
"Because they're also fun to play with in times of physical, er, I don't even know if you do that," Alptraum admits as he feels out for the passage, and even starts using all his senses for it.
Waving a hand around encounters something, and it's disturbing. His hand passes through the too-narrow crack, which means it goes flat first. It doesn't feel flat, but it looks strange.
"Found it!" Alptraum claims, and then grabs for Vala's hand to help pull her through too, while trying to seem like watching his hand go flat isn't freaking him out. "This will get really weird."
"What? Why.." she starts to ask before they sucked through. Going through together is weird, but once out the other end they haven't swapped jewelry.. but some of it seems to have gotten tangled together, chain-wise.
"You only brought one?" Kaira asks. "And why are you attached at the.. hip?"
Alptraum acks! on the other side. "Just ... hold still," he says quickly as he tries to un-tangle the chains without pulling anything too painfully. "I brought one to talk to you to prove I was telling them the truth," he explains in a very distracted and somewhat pained voice.
"I see," Kaira says. "What did you tell them the truth was?"
Vala is less concerned with the tangle than her surroundings. "This is not Hell!" she complains. "It is just some dead place full of cracks."
"That unless you helped link their world to a more stable one, they would cease to exist, of course," Alptraum says and gives her a very odd look. "You know, the actual TRUTH."
"Oooooh.. yeah, that, for the most part," the dragon confirms. "If these linked worlds collapse, there won't be a route to yours, and that will greatly inconvenience me. And you'll get snuffed out of.. uh.. sort-of-existence when the time comes. That little narrow slit is all I can manage through this route."
"Ouch," Vala says, but that could be from the unavoidable tugging at her crotch.
Alptraum mutters, "That's what she said." He then coughs and goes back to trying to untangle things. Then he gets annoyed and just starts taking out his jewelry.
This is what alarms Vala.. or at least turns her attention away from everything else. "What are you.. you are unlinking your chain!" she points out in a surprisingly high voice.
"No, it's breaking on it's own," Kaira claims, thinking the girl is talking about the chain of worlds. "What I need is to be allowed to set up a proper gateway between your echo and the core area," the dragon explains.
"Yes? So? It's just decorative," Alptraum points out and splays one ear sideways.
"That does not make sense!" Vala claims, and actually goes so far as to gesticulate to show how upset she is. "Your essence will spill forth if you unshackle your chakra!"
"He's not going to bleed.." Kaira begins to say, then stops as the gesticulating is causing strange ripples and colors in the air around the pair.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. If this worries you, just close your eyes," Alptraum says as he keeps on trying to get things undone and untangled.
"Aaargh, you must be an angel or something," Valantajr exclaims and.. closes her eyes and puts her hands down.
"Sooooo..." Kaira says. "Can I got open that gate now?" she asks.
"No!" Vala insists, still keeping her eyes closed.
"You need to relax, I'm not from your world, things work differently," Alptraum says as he finally gets things untangled, then starts putting himself back together before he'll tell her to open her eyes again.
"That is not something I would have imagined you could do quickly and just by touch," Kaira tells Alptraum. "Now convince her to say 'yes' to the gate. I don't like sand."
"You can open your eyes now," Alptraum tells Vala. "And see, nothing bad happened, exploded, or imploded, or fornicated," he says and sighs. "And please let her open the gate or she'll whine. And Lord, if you think you've heard whining before..."
"All I have seen is a wasteland," Vala claims, peeking with one eye. "How do I know this magic hole will not suck all of our essence into this dry place?"
"It wouldn't be opened to here," Kaira notes. "But to someplace useful.
Alptraum looks at Kaira. "I think her point is she wants to see the useful place first," he remarks.
"And Night Twin will show me, not the Destroyer," Vala claims. "I do not trust dragons."
"I can't open gates," Alptraum points out.
"I am not going to pull on my mane over this," Kaira says, and takes a deep breath.. which gets sand up her nose so she has to turn away and sneeze and snort to clear it.
Once recovered, the dragon says, "I will remain here as an anchor, so you can come right back to me Alptraum. You should be able to go to anyplace here you've been before though. Pretty sure. What spots do you feel the most connected to?"
"She's pretty okay," Alptraum explains to Vala, "Just arrogant, and things we're all stupid." Now, to Kaira he coughs and hmms, "Well, maybe the unicorn land. It's mostly safe. Or the picnic garden place."
"Those should be safe," Kaira agrees uncertainly. "You have to promise there won't be any rampaging though."
"Have I ever rampaged?" Alptraum has to ask.
"Not that I know of," Kaira says suspiciously. "Why haven't you?"
"I'm not a dragon," Alptraum points out.
"Well, nobody's perfect, but still.." Kaira says. "Keep this one whom you have not introduced from rampaging."
Alptraum looks at Vala. "Do you rampage?" Alptraum asks.
"I've had some training, yes," Vala claims, tilting her chin up a bit. "Before the world ended, that is. Haven't done any since then, of course. What is a picnic?"
"A picnic is a meal in a meadow where wooing, courtship, and diddling usually happens," Alptraum explains. "Also it usually involves annoying insects. The unicorn world is very peaceful, though the inhabitants are a bit odd."
"Do unicorns taste good?" Vala asks. "How big are the insects?"
"No eating people," Alptraum sighs and rubs over his face some. "The insects vary considerably."
"Do the insects fight back at least?" Vala asks.
"Sometimes. But no fighting. This isn't a fighting trip," Alptraum grumbles. "No violence."
Vala frowns. "What is the point of linking my echo to someplace dull?" she asks.
"Survival," Alptraum says flatly. "Violence might come later if you prove to be trustworthy. Right?" He kicks Kaira lightly in the butt.
"There are plenty of sorts who could use a firm hand to keep in line," Kaira notes when prompted. "Ask Mirasol the Unicorn. She's been to the staging area."
Alptraum nods. "There you go," he agrees. "Now, what were you going on about earlier about spilling essence?"
"Your chakra will spill out your mana if left unrestrained," Vala says, looking confused that she has to explain it.
"I have no idea what that means," Alptraum admits.
"I think she means your magic will leak out if it doesn't have a focus of some sort," Kaira suggests.
"That's silly. People don't store magic in their junk," Alptraum complains.
"They're mechanics," Kaira reminds. "They have magic but make use of devices to control it. So if you plucked out her jewelry, her magic would be uncontrolled."
"A crude explanation but within slashing distance of being accurate," Vala notes.
"That's still silly, given I've already explained to her my magic has nothing to do with jewelry," Alptraum sighs as he rubs his face again. "So, right, Unicorns."
"At least you won't have to worry about the dress code," Kaira says. "Now hold hands and click your heels three times, and remember your time in the Land of Milk and Honey but mostly Milk."
"You owe me," Alptraum tells Kaira and sighs. He flails his hand around a bit until he finds Vala's and takes hold. He mostly thinks about the unicorn land and the weirdness that went on there; nevermind he was a unicorn when there, and a filly at that. But at least it had a decent bar, and the people didn't try to kill you. An oh yeah, he sort of smacks his feet together.
There's a swirl of sand like a dust devil around the pair, and then that gives way to fairy sparkles..
Unicorns are fairly tall. So they're mostly at eye level with the drakshasi. Alptraum is short here too though. The horns add a bit of extra height as well. "They look murderous!" Vala says in appreciation.
"They're not murderous," Alptraum says and sighs, "Why are all of you so violent?!!?"
Vala smiles. "We are infernals," she explains. "We enjoy a bit of pain and suffering."
"Alptraum?" one of the mares asks, coming closer to the pair. It's Mirasol, although it's hard to tell the unicorns easily apart when you aren't also a unicorn at the moment.
"Well, that's a more likely answer to why you poke homes in yourself and stuff things in," he remarks and grins toothily. His name pulls his attention away to the unicorn, though. "Hello, Mirasol," he replies, "I'm just giving someone a tour to show them that yes their world can be linked to a nice place.".
"But.. isn't she a devil?" the unicorn asks, leaning in to whisper the question to Alptraum. "You haven't been a devil all this time have you?"
"No, and no. She's a fiend. And a friend," Alptraum says. "Sort of. She won't rampage."
"Oh good, we aren't really equipped to handle most sorts of rampaging here," Mirasol says, patting her chest in relief. "So are you here for some milk? Or something else?"
"Where are the more dangerous people found?" Vala asks.
Alptraum looks at Vala. "Well, you're the one that wanted to see a place. What did you want to do here? Look around, have milk?" he starts to ask, then just looks at Vala some more.
"I want to fight a unicorn," Vala says. "I want to have fun! Where does the milk come from? Isn't that for infants?"
"Maybe some milk will calm her down," Alptraum suggests, "Then maybe some unicorn wrestling."
"Please come this way," Mirasol requests, and leads towards one of the booths in the back. "We can arrange wrestling, I'm sure."
"Come along, and behave," Alptraum tells Vala.
Alptraum then follows after Mirasol.
"I am behaving properly," Vala insists as she follows. Although when they get to the booth she is more drawn to the view outside of the window. "Are we floating in the sky?" she asks.
"We are on our trees," Mirasol explains. "Those are floating in the sky."
"Sort of, yes," Alptraum agrees as slides himself into the booth. "As she says. It's best not to think too much about it."
Mirasol sits next to Alptraum, and ponders the height difference briefly before asking, "Do you want me to sit in your lap?"
"Wouldn't it work better if I sat in your lap?" Alptraum asks.
"I would have to lean back, but we can try it," Mirasol says, while Vala just looks confused.
Alptraum slides himself into Mirasol's lap. "It's a bar," he explains to Vala, "It's where you can get a drink." Then Alptraum demonstrates this ... by latching on to one of Mirasol's nipples and nursing.
Mirasol rubs the back of Alptraum's neck while he does so. "I.. do not understand," Vala admits while watching in fascination. "Is this because you are all ageless?"
Alptraum can't exactly answer while he's doing this. He does gesture to Mirasol's free other nipple.
"Some of us take comfort in it," Mirasol explains. "We cannot have children since we are.. you know.."
Vala looks uncertain, but then tries to find a good position to latch on from. It takes her some time to remember how it's done though, but once she gets into the groove of it she seems.. content.
Alptraum pats Vala's back reassuringly, then goes right back to nursing. It's nice, compared to the other he's often nursed on. Gorphat. That's not nice at all.
The texture of unicorn milk is definitely at odds with Gorphat's fluids. It also reminds him of why Willow is so popular, given the effect it's starting to have on him. Despite the comfortably edge-of-drowsiness, he's start to feel a bit aroused. This is noticeable especially due to the chains.
That little aspect causes Alptraum to stop. Getting aroused too much right now would be really uncomfortable. He looks over to see how Vala is doing (or not doing)
She looks relaxed, which isn't necessarily a good look. She's drooling, which means a certain amount of milk is involved, and her expression makes her look a bit drugged. Unicorn milk is very rich after all, and Alptraum doesn't know what the Drakshasir diet normally involves.
Alptraum rubs Vala's back a bit more. "That might be enough," he comments, then tries to ease the odd creature off of Mirasol's 'udder'.
There's a growl at first, but then Vala seems to snap out of it and lean back. "That was.. dangerous.." she says, but not in a displeased manner.
"Dangerous? Dangerous how?" Alptraum has to ask. "You looked pleased."
"Yes!" Vala says. "I was relaxed. My guard was down! I have never felt so.. so.." she apparently doesn't have a proper term for it. Maybe her kind don't get drunk. "... safe," she concludes, as if saying a dirty word.
"Yes? This place is very safe," Alptraum explains and one ear sticks out to the side. "You aren't going to get attacked here. I said I would show you safe places, did I not?"
"Rrrrr, that's not what I mean," Vala claims, looking frustrated. "It's.. we aren't supposed to feel safe! It means we will be taken advantage of, or go soft, or lose our ambition."
"Okay, fair enough I suppose," Alptraum admits and sighs. "So, about this Unicorn wrestling, then?"
"The wrestling pits are in the Cornucopia," Mirasol says. "Recently we have had some non-fey attendees as well."
"Oh? Who?" Alptraum asks warily. He looks to Vala and asks her, "Are you still interested in that?"
"Some strange ones, possibly Unseelee," the unicorn notes, and gives a slight shudder. "We are supposed to be friendly to one another, in honor of the Great Allied Army, but we weren't part of that group. Nobody in here was."
"So there could be monsters?" Vala asks, looking for more interested now.
"Well, it sounds like Vala here is interested," Alptraum admits, "So, we should head that way then. I won't get accosted by the stallions again, will I?"
"Only if you are going to wrestle," Mirasol says. "And you shouldn't do that while having wings. Things could get crunchy," she cautions, and moves the bat off of her lap. "Has your friend flown before?"
Alptraum looks at Vala. "Have you flown before?" he asks. "It's fun if you have wings."
"I have ridden in an airship," Vala claims. Given that the walkways and platforms in their main tower were transparent, it isn't likely that the Drakshasir suffer from a fear of heights.
"Well, you can hang on to Alptraum then," Mirasol suggests. "If you wish."
"Er, you want me to carry her?" Alptraum asks and peers at the larger creature. "Or do you mean just hold onto me on a ship...?"
"You could hold her from behind," Mirasol suggests, getting up and gesturing for them to follow her.
Alptraum slides out of the booth, then stands and offers a hand to Vala. "This way, oh doomed one," he jokes.
"You are supposed to make being doomed less attractive," Vala claims, but takes the hand and follows. Mirasol leads them outside, then across a rope bridge to another tree with a jump-off point.
"There's nothing to worry about," the unicorn says, then leaps off the edge to be swept along a current of air like it were a river carrying her to the giant cornucopia in the sky.
"What's wrong with things being attractive. Not everything need be all doom and gloom," Alptraum remarks as he leads along. The Eee then slips behind Vala and wraps her arms around her waist. Then without warning, he pushes and jumps off! Wings spread!
The woman does.. bark.. in her high-pitched voice that comes out under stress. Then she's laughing and holding her arms out like they were wings themselves. There's not much for Alptraum to do, as they just follow the current into the mouth of the giant horn structure to join Mirasol near the river.
At least with wings that's easy to do. It's just a simple glide; so he can focus on holding up the woman. He wisely doesn't comment on her weight, though.
"That was exhilarating," Vala notes, and looks around the interior of the massive horn. "It is bigger than Jak'sar," she notes, a bit awed.
"Not as big and creepy as the Dead City I once visited," Alptraum comments, "That one had an undead ship, and a talking head."
"I would like to see that also," Vala claims.
"It's not a place I can take you," Alptraum admits.
"We don't have talking heads, other the ones connected to bodies," Mirasol says. "I'm sure there are places that take advantage of our undead status, but most would rather try to maintain the semblance of life."
The unicorn points to a circular structure partway up the inner curve of the horn, and says, "That is the wrestling arena." And then she's trotting along towards it. Vala grins and lopes behind.
Alptraum rolls his eyes and follows after Vala. "They're all nuts. All of them," he mutters
Eeee aren't built for walking long distances. One of the concessions for having feet that can double as hands (they make for less effective feet). When he catches up, there is already a contest going on. Within a circular sand pit, a large unicorn stallion is throwing down with something that resembles a bull, but with a wooly lower half and blunt horns. Still, it looks heavy.
"Wow, they are huge," Alptraum admits, wide-eyed as he keeps close to Vala. "Where do people register to compete?" he asks Mirasol. "Vala will need to sign up."
Neither of the wrestlers is wearing jewelry (or anything else) but it probably isn't against the rules, so long as nobody knows they are actually magical artifacts. When asked about them, however, Vala tells the unicorn handling the scheduling, "They are personal magical items that I cannot remove."
"Well.. we'll need to match you to someone appropriate then.." the attendant mutters, and looks through sign-ups.
Alptraum watches the competition a bit more, and keeps eyeballing the stallion. That is until he's greeted by some lower uncomfortableness. The Eeee the smacks the side of his own head and mutters, "Control yourself, you moron. Quit ogling."
"What did you call me?" Vala asks Alptraum, as the stallion manages to get the bull-satyr thing out of the ring.
"I didn't call you anyway. I was commenting to myself," Alptraum remarks, "About the combatants in the arena."
"What about them?" Vala asks. "I did not expect the unicorn to win."
"Just commenting how strong they are. And Unicorns are stronger than you'd expect. You'd best be wary," Alptraum says. "I couldn't take one. Not in this body anyway. Maybe as a naga."
"What is a naga?" Vala asks, before being distracted by the proctor, who is waving a piece of parchment. "I've found one for you, miss. She's been waiting awhile now, too, so should be eager."
"Which one?" Vala asks, and proctor points out a tall, night-black elf woman with long white hair and pale silver eyes. "Syfilyvr of Astillon," the proctor names her. She's not as tall as Valantajr, but she does have a lot of attached jewelry and a disturbing smile. Like most elves, she's a bit fox-faced, but the dark skin make the already sharp lines of her face look a bit crueler.
"Oooo, yesssss," Vala says, hissing in pleasure. "Me likey."
"Dagh? She looks like me! Only, well, with all the boobs and such," Alptraum remarks, one ear skewing out sideways. "That's weird."
"That is a typical Drow, although there are variants," Mirasol notes to Alptraum. "Not a very.. popular.. species. She must be using magic to be able to handle the brightness here."
"Light doesn't bother me," Vala growls, and heads into the fighting ring before the proctor can even announce her. So he quickly says, "Valantajr of the Drakshasir, versus Syfilyvr of Astillon!"
The dark woman smiles and heads into the ring.. and immediately leaps up and kicks Vala in the side of the head. There's a flash of light from the impact, and Vala grabs the elf's leg and spins her around.
Alptraum looks at Mirasol and shrugs. "I'm surprised no one things I'm a mutant one of those, then," he admits. His attention, though, is grabbed by the sudden fight!
"There are dark fey that look a bit like you," Mirasol admits. "Have you seen Vala fight before?"
Alptraum shakes his head. "Nope, met her about an hour ago," he admits, "I know little about her."
The elf is flung towards the edge of the ring, but she lands on one hand and manages to flips herself back in before going out. This time Vala goes right for her opponent's face with a raking claw swipe. There are red lines left across the Drow's cheek, but they soon fade as punches Vala's gut.
"Well, they're both rather, ah, violent," Alptraum admits as he continues to watch. "So, people really think I'm like ... that?"
"No, not like violent," Mirasol says. "And you lack the horns and tail of an incubus. But 'cubi can look like anything they want to."
The two women are kicking up more dust than they doing any damage, despite the constant trading of blows. Neither one seems to even try blocking though. The glows and flashes from the impacts are probably from magical defenses.
"I'd last all of two seconds in there," Alptraum admits. "Any of those blows would kill me."
"They're both using magic for defense, but I'm not sure if they're using it attack yet," Mirasol notes, her eyes tracking the fighters. "There's a time limit for a round, so they may be trying to wear each other's defenses down first."
"I guess they don't really have to worry about dying, so they can go all out 'safely'," Alptraum comments as he continues to watch. "See, an underhanded person could grab and pull out the decoration."
Vala manages to get a grip on Syfil's shoulders and lifts her up. While the elf kicks at Vala's sides, the drakshasi brings her knee up hard between the dark woman's legs.
Alptraum winces. "Owwwwww."
Syfil laughs harshly, saying, "That's more like it!" Then she tries to gouge Vala's eyes out with her thumbs. Vala responds by biting down on one of the elf's breasts.
Alptraum rubs his face. "Good Lord," he mutters.
"So what is your fighting style?" Mirasol asks. "I always imagined Drow fighting with stilettos. In the dark. Or garrotes."
The two women are tangled and fighting on the ground now, raising even more dust.
"I'm not really much of a fighter," Alptraum admits. "Shadows and knives, I ... guess?"
"Not a lot of shadows here," Mirasol notes. Alptraum can definitely smell blood now, so someone's defenses have been breached.. it's just impossible to tell whose.
"I make my own," Alptraum claims, and demonstrates, by bathing himself in undulating weird darkness. "And someone is bleeding."
"Yeah, and they have nasty blood too," the unicorn says, and sticks her tongue out while crinkling her nose. "Bleh."
"Parts of me have nasty blood, I guess," Alptraum admits and draws back the shadow. "One hand, anyway. The rest of me is pretty normal."
"What's normal?" Mirasol asks, a bell rings to signal the end of the round. It doesn't stop the women though. "Anyone want to help break this up?" the proctor calls out. "Throw a bucket of water on 'em!" someone in the crowd suggests.
"I'll stop the fight," Alptraum says and sighs. So, he walks out and into the ring of death. He raises his hand, then kneels down and slaps his hand to the ground. Two darting snakes of shadow slither-explode outward and into the pile of fighting women; where it tries to wrap each of them up like a snake on the hunt and yank them apart.
"Hey, is this allowed?" Vala complains. She's got a handful of white hair that she's not letting go of. But it's not attached to its former owner anyway, so doesn't interfere with the intervention.
"Oooo, snakes.." the Drow says, and laughs. It's a lot more musical this time though. Both the women have some bruises and cuts on them.
Soon, the pair is pulled apart, and hoisted up, and upside down. "The round is over," Alptraum comments, though he's sort off staring off into space since he's having to concentrate.
"Gonna let us down then?" Vala asks.
"Will you two start fighting again?" Alptraum counters.
"Yes," Vala claims. "No," Syfil says. "It was fun though!"
"Lots of fun!" Vala agrees.
"But I can do without the dust," the Drow claims. "Take us to the bathing area," she tells Alptraum.
So, Alptraum dissipates the shadow and lets the two sort of flop down onto their own heads. "I don't know where that is, and I'm not a servant," he comments.
"You're supposed to be showing me around," Vala grumbles.
Sighing, Alptraum asks Mirasol, "Where are the baths? There are two dirty girls desperately wanting to be clean," he comments, straight-faced.
Mirasol waves from the edge of the ring. "Follow me!" she calls.
Alptraum follows after Mirasol, but he leaves shadow in his wake, which promptly coils about the two women and drag them both along!
There is a bathing and recovery area not too far from the ring. Of course it looks like a natural pool with a waterfall that pours out of a floating cornucopia that moves in a slow orbit about the perimeter. There is a small stone platform in the center with bathing supplies in elegant look bottles, and even an assortment of combs and brushes.
And Alptraum drags the pair along. "Well, now that I've dragged the two queens here," he quips, and lets them both go. Then he's even a gentlman and offers to help them up.
Vala doesn't seem to understand the gesture, and just rolls onto all fours and leaps into the water. The elf does understand though, and takes Alptraum's hand. "I remember you," she says.
"We've met?" Alptraum admits and looks confused. He does help her up anyway. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember if we have. I've met so many."
"We haven't met, I just remember you," the woman says, grinning. "You and your wolf friend came through Astillon, and left with Eluria before the Echo came. Weren't many more Echoes after that."
"Oh, right. That was a while ago, and a whirlwind trip," Alptraum admits. "And there shouldn't be any more echoes at all; the devourer is imprisoned."
"So what were you up to?" Syfil asks, and taps a finger on Alptraum's chest. She's a big bruise over her left eye that's still bleeding a bit. "Why're you all trussed up down there? Are you that girl's slave?"
"No, I'm no one's slave. Who would want me as a slave, anyway? It's just decoration," Alptraum asks and flicks one of his ears a bit. "If I recall, we were tracking down information on how to stop ol' Vorgy the stomach."
"Oh? So you weren't one of his servants?" the elf asks as she slips into the water. Vala is looking over the bottles and soaps with a look of intense concentration, while Mirasol just floats. She's unsinkable with her built-in buoys.
Alptraum shakes his head. "I'm sort of his jailor now, actually," he admits and sits at the edge of the pool instead of inside the pool. "And don't get any ideas about making me your slave, or something. I'm too sexy in a collar," he jokes.
"So you've worn a collar before?" Syfil asks, and pours the contents of a random bottle into her palm before rubbing it all over herself. "Ah, so that's who you do it," Vala says, and picks a different bottle to try.
"I've worn a collar before, yes," Alptraum admits. "Why do you ask?" He also can't resist and gets into the bath too; because why not? Also grabs himself a soap bottle to use.
The soap.. or whatever it is, feels very nice and smells pleasant. It also heals up the women's cuts and bruises. Mirasol floats over to Alptraum and asks, "Do you want me to get your back?"
Alptraum offers over the bottle. "Please," he requests and spreads his wings.
As Mirasol washes Alptraum's back, Vala and Syfil start comparing jewelry. "So this is the kinetic barrier?" Vala asks, pointing to Syfil's choker. "Yes," the elf answers. "I had to seduce a demon to get it."
"That's not right!" Vala replies. "You can't treat demons like that."
"Why?" Alptraum asks.
"Maybe you can't," the elf says, and cups her more substantial assets.
Alptraum rubs his face. "I sense trouble," he mutters.
"Demons are pure and incorruptible," Vala claims. "In that they can't be further corrupted. So can't be seduced. They may indulge in their lusts, is all."
"Then perhaps he just gave it to me in a way that made it seem like I was stealing it," Syfil counters.
"Feh, what could a demon possible see in a fey that is worthy of a gift," Vala says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Demons can be seduced," Alptraum comments, offering his opinion on the matter.
"Impossible!" Vala claims, turning on Alptraum now. "Why would you think that?!"
"Because I've done it?" Alptraum explains, looking confused. "I've also seduced Goddesses, so there is that."
"Goddesses are easy," Vala claims. "What demon have you seduced?"
"And what goddess?" Syfil asks, grinning.
"None you'd know, but Inala, Barada, Gorphat, Blakat, Zakaro, and Rephath," Alptraum answers. "And some of their demon servants; such as Hosheb."
Vala looks like she's been slapped. "Demon servants? To goddesses? Are they devil goddesses then?"
Alptraum nods. "Well, dark Goddesses, not angelic ones," he explains.
"Ah, but did you really seduce them?" Vala asks, coming nose-to-nose with Alptraum (by bending over a bit). "You said you weren't a demon. Are you a dark god then?"
"Demigod. Son of Sunala, the Goddess of Death," Alptraum answers and looks a bit crosseyed.
"Hmm, is she a dark Death Goddess?" Vala asks, still narrowing her eyes.
"I'm a dark goddess," Syfil claims, still grinning.
"Yes," Alptraum answers, sounding a little annoyed.
Vala straightens back up, and has a skeptical look still. She then glares at the elf, saying, "You are no goddess!"
"If you weren't all decked out in that jewelry, I could make you kneel at my feet and worship me," Alptraum mutters to himself.
"Which one?" Syfil asks playfully.
"I won't dignify that with an answer," Alptraum retorts.
"So does that mean you use magic to seduce with?" the elf persists.
"Of course," Alptraum comments.
"Well, if it's not attack magic then our defenses shouldn't activate," the Drow points out. "Unless there's mental magic too."
"I don't think he uses that," Mirasol offers.
"I don't think it qualifies as that," Alptraum says, "And I'm not going to try. I'd just ruin you for anyone else in these worlds and then where would you be?"
"Oh?" Syfil asks, coming closer. "Is it like those snakes you used on us?"
"Ruin me? That makes no sense," Vala claims. "If it isn't an attack, it cannot damage me."
"Not quite. I can also change my form," Alptraum remarks and arches his brow. "And ruin, as in no other male could possibly ever come close to satisfying you as well as I could."
"Satisfying me how?" Vala asks.
"My satisfaction requires a few different things," Syfil claims.
"Sexually. Though given your fittings, your kind doesn't engage it in much," Alptraum notes.
Alptraum eyes Syfil. "Like?" he prompts.
"Sex?" Vala asks. "That's supposed to be satisfying?"
"It is for most," Alptraum points out.
"Well, I don't have my blades," the elfess notes. "There needs to be a certain amount of mutual pain involved to flavor things."
"Nobody told me anything like that," Vala claims, a bit forcefully.
"What did they tell you?" Alptraum asks Vala. The elf gets a comment of, "You'd like Blakat, or Gorphat, then. They both cause pain."
"They didn't tell me anything," Vala claims. And frowns. "I never asked."
"Well, then that's your problem, isn't it? And given your fittings," Alptraum comments and gestures low at her, "I guess you'll never know, since those don't come out, right?"
"Of course they come out," Vala says, giving Alptraum an odd look. "But it would result in more chi building up from the chakra points."
"Well, then you can find out sometime," Alptraum says.
Syfil is giggling and not trying to hide it at all. "Ah, I see now," she says. "They siphon off their urges to power their foci," she claims.
Alptraum rubs his forehead. "You're all insane," he mutters. "Insane."
"We use our horns," Mirasol notes.
Alptraum notes to Mirasol, "You're insane too, just less freaky."
"We know to simply amplify our urges to gain power," Syfil notes.
"I'm.. freaky?" the unicorn asks, looking crestfallen.
"There's a problem with that power," Alptraum comments to the elf. "I could siphon it all off and remove all our urges."
"And you would never reach your limit?" Syfil asks.
"Nope," Alptraum claims smugly.
"Is that a challenge?" the elf asks.
"Nope," Alptraum remarks. "Just a fact."
So Syfil comes up and gives Alptraum the nose-to-nose treatment. "I'd like to test that," she says.
"We don't always get what we want," Alptraum counters, then licks her nose.
A white eyebrow raises, and then Syfil drapes her arms over Alptraum's shoulders and kisses him while pressing up against him.
Alptraum tries to look bored at this ... while in the background trying to pull a 'Toadstool', but siphining off any of her urges ... and sending them to Mirasol!
This results in Alptraum being ground between the two. And Syfil keeps pouring it on.. and shifts to biting Alptraum's lip and and pressing her nails into the back of his neck.
So Alptraum sends it both to Mirasol and Vala! In case they might get it on and spare him!
Vala gets an odd look on her face. She can feel something happening, certainly.
Mirasol is getting a bit panty now, and starts to nibble on Alptraum's ear, while Syfil is hip grinding now. The chains don't seem to bother her.
Alptraum is actively trying to drain the elf down to 'feeling like a wet fish!' sort of turned-on. As in not at all. He's also trying to just stand still and look bored. At least the transfer is keeping him from having chain pain!
Except that now Mirasol may be at her limit, and is grabbing onto Alptraum a bit more aggressively with hard fingers. Especially his butt.
So Alptraum is now trying to rump it all on Vala now that his butt is hurting! And he didn't even run into a stallion!
That's doesn't stop Mirasol though, and Syfil is still pouring it on and biting and clawing a bit more. Vala looks dizzy, and sits down on the central stone platform, and some of her jewelry is beginning to glow.
Alptraum hmms. He tries to broadcast it further out! To anyone who happens to be outside the bathing area now!
There may be range limits, since nobody is close enough to really allow for much dissipation. "Don't you want to give in?" Syfil asks in a husky voice. "I can do things to you that will... ruin you for others."
"Except you mean that in a literal physical sense," Alptraum replies in an amused and hushed tone. "Though, if I were your slave ... perhaps," he teases.
"Oh, my slaves never lasted long," the elfess claims. "Once I drew my pleasure out of them." She then bites Alptraum's ear.. the one that Mirasol isn't biting. The unicorn has bigger teeth, but the elf has sharper ones. Vala looks light-headed.
"Pfft. I seem to be lasting just fine, no?" Alptraum counters and grins. HE's then trying to convert the excess urges into more of an oppressive gloom instead! "What exactly is it you want, hmm?"
"Oooo, now that I like!" Syfil reacts to the gloom.. and seems to really get hot and bothered by it. She then bites the side of Alptraum's neck. Mirasol's reaction is to light up her horn to counter the gloom.
Aha! The unicorn will counter it, so it's a good drain off! And so he keeps up the horny to gloom conversion! "You okay over there, Vala?" he asks at one point. To the elf he does whisper, "I do admit I'm curious what you'd do to me if we were alone..."
"Once I learn your body I can do amazing thinks," she whispers back. Vala is quiet, and barely visible due to the competing glare and gloom.
"My body changes, though," Alptraum whispers, and soon demonstrates. The form of choice, well, the monstrous black naga he learned during the journey so long ago. It'll protect him from ear biting! Granted it also makes his body really squirmy and like dough when it's shifting...
Syfil tries to get her hands inside of the shifty mass while it's changing. "You're an incubus!" she claims. Mirasol is less thrilled by this change.
"No, I'm not. I'm unique," Nagatraum hisses out, and sticks a forked tongue right into Syfil's ear. The unicorn gets all tail-wrapped.
Mirasol's horn flickers, letting the gloom gain dominance for a bit, while Syfil just laughs and tries to lock her legs around Alptraum. "What else can you change into? Anything that I want?"
Alptraum chuckles and hisses, "Quite a few thingssSss. It is ssssomething I had to have eaten, or at leasssst tasssted before."
"So you have limits, unlike a real incubus?" the elf asks.
"I musssssst know the creature to be able to become like it, that issss all," Nagatraum claims. Then the shifting resumes! This time, well, he tries to take on a horrible form, like that of Hosheb! He knows those creatures pretty well! Plus, this is a weird place.
"A demon!" Syfil exclaims with joy. "Did you eat it? What did it taste like?" And then she has hands on either side of Alptraum's new head, and he feels a tingle coming from then. It starts to spread too!
"I didn't eat it, I slept with it," the bug-creature-traum claims and tries to pull its head from her hands!
"I'm not done yet!" the elf claims, and her hands seem glued in place. As the tingle spreads further realization comes: she's kenning Alptraum!
Alptraum immediately tries to use the shadow to push her out from doing that! She didn't ask! Humph!
"Now now.. what's this?" she asks, wiggling her fingers. "Dark and sticky feeling..."
Alptraum's eyes would narrow if he had eyelids. The push-out continues; trying to stop her from kenning him! He also shifts again, this time trying to just go back to his normal batform.
"Stop changing," Syfil growls, and eventually has to release her hold and shake her fingers as if they'd fallen asleep.
"Why?" Alptraum asks and arches his brow. He also relents on the gloom and doom; and hopes Mirasol is okay back there...
"I couldn't get a good ken!" Syfil complains. "How else am I going to properly play with your body?"
Alptraum grins fangily. "My body is transient. I did say I was a demigod. I can be most anything, and they're allll different. I can even be different genders," he comments. "Do you really what to play with a body, then?"
The elf's teeth are very bright in her dark face. "Well, I wanted to play with yours. I don't think I could get through Vala's defenses enough to ken her."
Alptraum smirks. "Which of mine, though?" he coos, amused. "I have many."
"Well, what are my choices?" the elf asks, her nails tapping around Alptraum's chest scar. But she's not pouring eros energy into him at the moment, but that probably hasn't helped Mirasol and Vala. "Stallion," Mirasol suggests.
Alptraum taps his chin, then smirks. "Ah, of course," the growls ... and his flesh goes all squirmy again; only to stop at a very dark-looking version of Bright; an actual unicorn male. Complete with two horns; the one on his head, and the one ... lower down (and still chained). Tightly now thanks to the side difference.
And with this, Mirasol roughly pushes the elf off into the water.
Alptraum ers and has to ask, "Are you okay, Mirasol?" Equine-ears flick, and that be-ringed snoot twitches.
The unicorn mare growls and starts pawing at the chains.
"Hey, be careful! Those were expensive!" Alptraum almost squeaks when fingers are roughly pulling at parts!
"Well get them off!" the mare barks.
"Aren't you supposed to be all chaste?" Alptraum asks ... well, teases. He reaches down and undoes the changing, slowly. Very slowly.
"I don't have to be chased, I'm already here!" Mirasol says, fidgeting. With the gloom fading, Vala is visible again. She's standing in the water and staring. There is steam rising up from her submerged crotch though. Syfil is laughing at how the 'pure and holy' unicorn is acting.
"Still don't believe I can seduce things?" Alptraum asks the elf. Vala gets the comment of, "Your crotch is on fire." And finally, he gets the chain off and drapes it around his down. On his head.
Once that obstacle is removed, Mirasol starts grinding into the stallion's lap. "It.. isn't that.. I don't think," Vala claims.
"Then you have a terrible std," Alptraum jokes, through he's soon squirming, and distracted, and finds the lower 'horn' free for only a short time before being eaten by the mare, so to speak.
And Mirasol is being really.. aggressive. Biting and bucking and licking Alptraum's horn and really pressing against him. "You're so pretty.." she whickers.
"You're horny," Alptraum jokes at the aggressive unicorn, while also siphoning off a little of her arousal and now tormenting the elf with it! Joking aside, he does start groping some, and stimulating the 'pure' unicorn in all sorts of impure ways, as well as sucking on her horn when he can.
This makes her a bit more fervent, and she's pretty strong too. Syfil gets up close and grins. "So you do like take-charge women, eh?" she asks, and rubs his horn when Mirasol isn't licking it.
Alptraum grins to Syfil. "Of course I do. The city I come from is very matriarchal," he quips. Soon he shifts the urges from the elf, back to poor Vala. Just to see what happens, maybe. It's hard to focus when you're got a mare acting like she's in estrus bearing down on you!
"So you just let them do all the work?" the elf asks. Vala looks uncomfortable, but is also watching things closely. As a unicorn, Alptraum is about the same size as Vala now.
"Well, no, though sometimes it's nice," Alptraum admits, then he moves to follow Mirasol's movements so that things internally actually don't move ... to see if it frustrates her any. Why? He's a jerk.
"But you do enjoy being cruel I see," Syfil notes. "Dark demigod indeed."
Mirasol keeps trying to change her pace, but she's got a natural rhythm that she can't deviate too much from, or else her breasts will probably try to fly free of her chest.
Alptraum smirks. "Sometimes," he concedes to the elf. "Plus I'm studded down below, which I hear feels quite intense to women." Soon enough he's back to inverse-rhythm with the mare so things are moving a lot.
Mirasol looks almost relieved, and can press against Alptraum again to keep things from flying about or banging into his face. Then she kisses him! This means their horns touch near the tip as well.
Forehead horns are awkward things, and it takes effort to align versus smack; but when they do touch, it's sort of an explosive mental moment that probably makes both see stars! It certainly makes other things want to explode.
So that's when Mirasol makes her move, or lack of it. She actually slows down, trying to encourage Alptraum to speed up.
And so Alptraum does, and starts sort of lifting her up with each forward push!
This makes other parts of the mare oscillate as well, transferring the impacts through her chest and back into Alptraum's. Did Willow's do that? She also seems to try getting their 'tips' to touch for longer periods.
There's a bit of using an edge of the natural pool for support and to lean back as he bounces the mare around. He's not trying to mess with the others as much now, he's a little fixated on getting to his, and her, popping point, and horn rubbing point, and ... well, it's basically feral unicorn rutting time.
A lot of waves are made as well, and the traveling waterfall douses them for a minute as it passes without really changing anything. And Mirasol really does seem ready to pop, since her horn is glowing again, and that glow is being transferred steadily to Alptraum's horn as well.
And soon, Alptraum just sees white. And probably releases white into someplace rather warm. He can sweat there is a lot of whinnying going on too! HE's not really sure what's happening, other than, well, he feels really, really good.
The blazing fire shooting into his brain does fade eventually, and Mirasol becomes rather heavy as she drapes over him. But things get a bit more problematic when he feels another set of chains slide down over his horn.
This makes Alptraum blink a few times. "Bwuh?" he asks stupidly as he tries to focus his eyes and see where those came from.
There is a figure standing over him. One with glowing points over its body. "They were getting too hot, so I had to take them off," Valantajr says. "I want to try the seduction thing now."
"Oh ... dagh," Alptraum says, and hos equine ears wilt. He's broken the crazy creature he was supposed to escort around. The sense of impending doom settles about him, heavier than even Mirasol.
Alptraum soon discovers how strong a drakshasi is, as Valantajr is able to pull Mirasol out of the way and lift Alptraum to his feet. "I am aroused," Vala states. "It is an unusual feeling. Show me how to harness it."
"Harness it? It's more about satisfying it. Harnessing it would be ... not satisfying it and using the annoying feelings from that to push you to do stuff," Alptraum squeaks. "Have you never been aroused before?"
"I've worn the collectors for as long as I can remember," Vala notes, tapping the chains she's draped over Alptraum's horn. "They draw off the magic for use in my other nodes. But now it is building up, I can feel it! Like.. pressure.."
Alptraum nods. "It can feel like that, yes. Won't your father be mad if you give in? I mean, you were chained shut!" he squeaks as he sort of hangs in her arms.
"Fascinating," Syfil notes. "It would certainly make for a unique form of battle magic."
"So?" Vala replies. "What difference does his potential anger make?"
"No chaos-humping!" Alptraum blurts at Syfil. "Mad parents are dangerous!" he tells Vala.
"I don't see why he would be mad," Vala claims.
"You're a virgin, right?" Alptraum points out. "Fathers are almost always obsessed with their daughters remaining such."
"I've never heard of that before," Vala claims. "Does it matter when you are dead?"
"Not the sort of things fiends would care about," Syfil offers. "Unless they are grooming a sacrifice."
"I'm not dead," Alptraum points out. "I can actually say ... I am the embodiment of your universe. In a literal sense."
"My universe is a unicorn?" Vala asks, while Syfil tries not to laugh. "If that is the case, aren't you already inside of me?" Vala asks next, and squeezes Alptraum's shoulder.
"No, you are inside of me. Specifically, my right hand," Alptraum remarks a bit dryly. "But fine! How exactly do you want to deal with your urges?" he asks. "The elf there often deals with them by torturing people."
"I haven't been trained in torture techniques yet," Vala says, and starts to rub herself down there. "How do you do it?"
"Well, there are several ways. The main one is what the body is built for. Then of course people learned it can be satisfied with toys, or even a mouth and tongue."
Alptraum explains.
"I want what you did with Mirasol," Vala says.
"Ah, so I see jealousy is a key aspect of your kind," Alptraum jokes. "So, uh, do your kind face each other or ...?"
"Are you asking if we attack from behind?" Vala asks. "Yes, sometimes we do. Assassination is a very competitive field, however."
"No, no, do you breed that way?" Alptraum asks.
"I haven't.." Vala points out. "So how could I know?"
"Surely you've seen it done before, or talked about it," Alptraum says.
"No, why would I?" Vala asks.
"Because it's fun?" Alptraum prompts. "Why wouldn't you?"
"That is a strange question," Vala replies. "I've never given it any thought before. Why would I?"
Alptraum rubs his chin. "If I do this, I'll probably have to let her have fun with me too," he comments and gestures towards Syfil. "With probably means letting her torture me."
"I'm already getting something from watching your awkwardness," the dark elf claims. "If you do not want her, you should just tell her."
Alptraum glares at Syfil. "I can make your life worse, you know," he comments darkly.
"My life has been pretty horrible, so it might be a challenge," Syfil notes with a toothy grin.
"I can find the cutest, most adorable and harmless creature in existence, and put your soul and consciousness in it," Alptraum says.
"Mirasol?" Syfil asks.
"This is becoming uncomfortable," Vala grumble-growls. "Do something."
"Oh, there are things more infinitely adorable and harmless than her," Alptraum argues with the elf. "So, any more commentary and you're going to end up a pet of some precocious child." Vala does at least manage to get his attention back some. "It's going to be uncomfortable to do something about, too," he claims. "But, on the count of three ... " he starts. Then without even starting the countdown he suddenly grabs her and pulls her forward; and he dips down and then arches up, and impales her newly freed bits on his secondary horn. Completely. He grinds.
Vala makes a noise somewhere between a bark and trill, then struggles for a moment before she figures it out. Alptraum can feel the energy saturation her. It's even penetrating into him, like slowly draining something with the shadow.
Alptraum doesn't even give her much time to 'adjust', he's moving within her slowly, but strongly. HE remembers his first time as a, well ... there was some pain to go with the nice feeling. HE's also somehow managed to turn her so her back is against the edge so that he has something firm to push against.
The girl is grabbing on with her claws and toes, and her jewelry is pulsing instead of glowing steadily. "Ahh, when do I.. breathe!" she growls.
"When you can," Alptraum growls. Which is odd given he's currently an effeminate-looking unicorn stallion. He's making the odd creature actually bounce some. "Is it painful?" he asks.
"Too soon to tell," Vala claims. "It drains my magic very slowly, but.. moves it around.. oddly.." It's possible that she has no concept of physical pleasure like this.
Alptraum tries to make it more enjoyable by adding in a little kenning of her body, through the unicorn waist-horn. Or it'll feel even more squirmy; one of those.
"Ah! What is that?" Vala asks, wiggling more as her jewelry flashes and flares at random. Her mouth especially is glowing bright blue.
Alptraum is getting a lot of feedback over the shadow as well, making it difficult to get a good ken. Vala generates a lot of energy it seems.
"Me. Demigod- remember?" Alptraum growls out and tone a serious of hard punctuated thrusts and bounces her upward. He keeps his other horn out of the way!
Vala's long tongue still tries to lick it though. She's finally figured out that she can move as well, and experiments with her hips. Her pelvis doesn't feel entirely solid due to the way she moves it. But it feels nice!
Alptraum has to ask, "Are your insides made of pudding?!?" Not exactly the romantic thing to ask, but then she's not a romantic lady! Heck, is she even a lady? He also tries rolling hips circularly. Because ... mixing up the pudding.
"What is pudding?" Vala growls. There are tiny sparks arching between her teeth at times, and Alptraums can feel some internal ones as well, since they seem transmit up his horn as if it were his head one. They're becoming more frequent.
Alptraum stops moving to see if the sparks stop. "How can you not know what pudding is?" he has to ask. "You know what pudding is, right?" he asks the elf.
The sparks don't stop, but it feels like hundreds of little fingers touching him in there now. So maybe more jellyfish than pudding. Or sea anemone.
"That's the stuff you squeeze out of eyeballs, right?" Syfil asks.
"No, you make it from ... " Alptraum says and sighs. "You two are so hopeless." He's also squirming from the weirdness.
At least they don't feel like they have suckers. But the zaps are starting to synchronize with Vala's movements.
"What is pudding made from?" Mirasol asks.
"Ow!" Alptraum blurts. "Why are you shocking me?!"
"Energy needs to be released," Vala says. They aren't painful shocks, just... different.
"And pudding is made from milk and cream. how can you of all people not know that?!?!" Alptraum squeals at one point when a shock its a particularly sensitive place. "Can't you just ground yourself?" he growls at Vala.
"Grind?" Vala asks, and starts grinding her hips more.
"No, no, augh," Alptraum growls and has to grind back, lest he feel ... okay, so it's a bit of a competition.
"It feels like a focus is forming," Vala says, becoming a bit more energetic.
"What does that mean? I feel less focused," Alptraum asks, and drools a bit. His tail is also probably smacking the elf behind him.
So Syfil tries to grab the damp tuft. Meanwhile Alptraum is starting to feel what Vala is talking about: there's definitely a pocket of magical energy developing in the area of interest. It's strong enough to have its own aura of brighter blue within Vala's general blueness, which dimmer due to the overlapping effects of her jewelry.
"Why are you glowing blue in your hoohoo?" Alptraum asks with his usual suave elegance. That tail is proving to be hard to grab, it's like a pig in a mudpit. Worrying as the blue, just in a different way!
"Of course I'm blue inside," Vala says, starting to pant more. Which is a bit like being breathed on by blue flashlight. "What color are you inside?"
"Darkness and red," Alptraum remarks. "In this body. In another I'm green."
"Weird," Vala claims, as her energy orb starts to move around a bit, which makes her eyes glow now, and causes her to produce a sort of keening sound that might be wheezing.
"Are you going to explode?" Alptraum has to ask. Because he is. And his hips are sort of taking over and going hard now, and he can't stop them. Also, too much blood is down below, and not in his head, so he's feeling woozy!
The inevitable happens, and he pokes the ball of energy. It doesn't explode.. on contact.. but it down suddenly flow into Alptraum, causing something else to 'explode' in passing. It isn't the expected sort of two-way orgasm, certainly.
Alptraum makes all sorts of strange and demented horse-y noises, including a lot of effeminate whinnying. His mane also puffed out like mad, giving him a rather punk-looking mohawk.
"Your horn is glowing," Vala says, looking more.. relaxed. "That was interesting and scary."
"Buh," Alptraum says and falls backward. He sinks; soon leaving just one part above water, like a slightly bent little tree.
It turns out both horns are glowing blue. The energy from Vala seems to be lingering.
Alptraum just blows bubbles from under the water.
Something buoyant presses against the back of Alptraum's head.. and then someone begins stroking his head horn.
Alptraum tries to surface in surprise! It's not like he can see well under the water. "Wha!?!"
"Whoa, be careful when you do that," Syfil says. Even above the water, Alptraum can see the blue glow coming from his lap.
"Why am I glowing?" he asks worriedly. "And what are you doing?!?" Alptraum asks Syfil.
"Your horn is glowing," the dark elf notes. "I wanted to see what it felt like." Then she licks it, causing a shiver to run down Alptraum's spine.. then back up again when it bounces off the blue energy below.
Vala is reattaching her chains, and looks at Alptraum. "It's not supposed to glow?" she asks.
Alptraum goes cross-eyed. "It feels weird. And no, I normally do not glow," he replies absently. "Well, one part isn't supposed to glow anyway."
"You just need to do something with that excess energy," Syfil claims. "Or pass it along.." she suggests, just before biting Alptraum's ear.
"Pass it along to who?" Alptraum asks, sort of squeaking from the ear bite! "You?!"
"Of course me," Syfil says. "A unicorn with glowing bits is just too weird. Especially a black unicorn. "It won't hurt.." she promises. "Not much anyway."
"What if it shoots fireworks though?" Mirasol asks.
"Oooo, that would be neat!" Syfil coos.
Alptraum eyes Syfil. "How exactly am I supposed to pass it on to you?" he asks.
"Same way you got it," the elfess claims, and licks Alptraum's nose. "Or I can perform a sexorcism. We'll need to tie you down though for that.."
"You just made that up," Alptraum accuses, "And I'm too big for you."
"Oh my, are you sure about that?" the elf asks she slips into Alptraum's lap and.. twists her hips back and forth to squeeze onto him. The blue energy has been keeping things ready. And it also seems to be making him extra sensitive.
"That I'm too big for you? I'm as big as your forearm!" Alptraum blurts out. "You might ruptu ..." Then he's just sort of hissing as the demented elf is impaling herself on him! It's like pushing a cucumber through a straw, without peeling it. And she's somehow managing it! Egad.
"It's better if it hurts a little," Syfil claims. "And I'm naughty, so anything you do to me is probably justified."
"You're insane," Alptraum squeaks! He tries to not think about, well, Nicora and what she likes. She's worse! And he's her! Ugh! And in spite of his protests, he's soon sort of buck-pushing and making things, fit. And bulge.
Syfil is doing things to his chest with her nails. It's a bit like soft kenning, just an extension of her sense of touch that drags through his skin a short ways. "You can go a bit harder than that," she teases, before tweaking one of his nipples.
Alptraum has to wonder; is he really this bad when he's a randy woman? But, since she asked, he does grab her hips to hold her, while his start to pound more than hard enough to make her entire body vibrate from the hips up. Which means things ... bounce.
"AH..ha.. AH.. ha.." the elf laughs, in time to the bounces. "Bet..ter!" she manages, and places with Alptraum's barbels some more while biting her lip.
Alptraum counters with hard-finger elf-nipple pinching (aka, clamping), while things bounce, which also means a lot of tugging! She wants it to hurt, so, okay!
This makes her throw back her head and howl, before trying bite Alptraum's snout.
Alptraum moves his head, trying to dodge the bite! Though the squeezing and tugging doesn't really let up! Soon a bit of kenning is also involved, mostly to add some weirder 'flavor' to everything, squirmy pleasure to go with the pain.
This just makes Syfil a bit more feral, and she's trying to bounce on her own, just to make the impacts harder. One of her hands stops nipple tweaking to reach up for that horn again. Her gyrations make her own pinched nipples stretch even more.
Alptraum lets her reach for the horn, at least. And he also taps back into known forms, and since she said she likes pain, he tries to add a few 'hosheb' inspired flares to the engulfed Mr. Happy; if he can remain focused long enough to do it anyway! And yes, still holding onto those nipples!
Things go a bit odd, due to that blue energy. For a moment, it feels like the barbs show up in Syfil first.
"Bite me!" Syfil growls, still trying to grab the horn despite thrashing around.
Alptraum has to let go of one nipple to bite! Grudgingly, he does so, and chomps a nipple instead!
"Aarrrr!" the elf growls, and.. bites the horn, not that Alptraum has lowered his head to bite her breast. Her teeth make on oddly musical sound as she works her jaw back and forth across the spiral.
At least the born biting isn't painful, though he has to be a bit more mindful of what his head does so he doesn't impale her! That would be unpleasant to be sure.
At least her nipple is salty. She does move on from biting the horn to biting his ear again though, which may or may not be safer.
Well, the horn is safer for him at least. He also actually nurses on the elf, though Inala's blessing likely doesn't work in here to cause weirdness.
Some of that saltiness could be from blood though. Who know what body weirdness dark elves have, especially after dealing with buxom unicorns and some of the other creatures he's encountered here. The elf is really starting to clench and belly-dance now though.
Alptraum just focuses on grinding like mad and seeing if he can get her to explode before he does! At least he's already had one 'advent', so it'll take a bit longer to build back up. Plus having to focus on maintaining weird additions, and not head-spearing her helps.
Things feel weird, with that magic churning around and making everything more sensitive. Of course, Syfil may have already peaked several times over, given the amount of energy she was putting out earlier. Although she might also be competitive about it all, and adding the extra muscle churning as a form of torture.
This goes on for a while, until he just can't hold out any longer! He feels things suddenly build, and the pop comes! And all he sees is sort of a fuzzy-white when the burst finally hits and he starts, er, draining. If he doesn't pass out, it'll be a miracle.
The magic seems to go with the flow as well, bringing on a bit more relief. "I'm beginning to understand how dominance can be one now," Vala observes.
"Bluh?" goes Alptraum. "Why does everything have to be about dominance?" he finally asks Vala.
"Because everything is about dominance," Vala claims. "What else is there in this odd existence?"
"Games and pleasures?" Mirasol suggests.
"What you make of it. As Mirasol says, there are other things," Alptraum points out and shrugs a little. He dislodges the elf, then wades away so he can shift back to his Eeee body. Things feel lighter, and less pointy.
Finally removing herself from Alptraum (and not suspiciously glowing), Syfil says, "We are all pawns in a battle between monsters and we cannot kill our old enemies. But we can still embarrass them."
"Counting coup?" Vala asks. "What if we don't have enemies?"
The elfess grins, and notes, "There's always time to make enemies."
"I'm beginning to wonder if any of these people should be saved," Alptraum mutters to himself and shakes his head.
Mirasol pats Alptraum's shoulder, and tells him, "Sorry for jumping on you. And don't mind Syfilyvr. She's being very polite for one of her kind. The thing about immortals is that they don't change much, even in death."
"You were fine," Alptraum notes, "And I deal with beings like her all the time in some form or another. It's exhausting. Dagh, even I don't change much because I'm too stupid to quit beating my head on things that aren't going to change."
"There is also the time factor," Mirasol says. "Syfilyvr has been in here for thousands of years, like me. Valantajr was probably devoured a few decades ago at best. The nature of the echoes reinforces who we are, when you relive the day of your death over and over and over, but always knowing that it's coming."
"Not anymore, though. Not since I helped imprison the dragon again and set up a release method for those bound in here since the ability to transport souls is sort of my innate reason for being," Alptraum says and shrugs some. "I know it was a bit haughty to say I was the Universe now, but for all intents, I am. It's my body that's bound to these pocket echoes now, and I'm the gate out when it's possible to be opened. And I probably also shouldn't be telling you that, either."
"Well, you also have to put up with Kaira," Mirasol says with a wink. "For most of us, it's been no time at all since the echoes stopped. It might not have fully sunk in yet. And there are those that worry it is temporary, and we'll all be back in the loop again eventually."
"Either way, we've mainly just switched tyrannical dragon overlords," the unicorn says.
"Kaira isn't that bad. Not compared to Vorgulremik," Alptraum remarks with a frown. "And if you're worried about the loop, there's a solution to that if you'd prefer it. Oblivion. I can have Kaira just activate the final spell and erase everything in here from existence."
"So, if that's preferable, I can have it done," Alptraum offers.
"I'd prefer to go on to a new life," Mirasol says. "I don't want to have a few years, then millennia of torture, a few more nice days and then poof."
"What about them?" Alptraum asks and gestures to the two other crazy people. "You're here because I applied my own soft-heartedness in trying to spare those in here, without even really finding out if people wanted to be out, or just have it all over. Kaira thought me a fool. I'm sure she still thinks of me as such, a gullible fool."
"She has her own mission," Mirasol suggests. "Nobody takes on trying to organize this chaos of recovering abuse victims without a mission. But most likely she only cares about those that eat souls and those that don't. If you're on the non-eating side, then you're worth saving."
"See, there's the problem. I can eat souls," Alptraum remarks. "I have a lot of the same powers to absorb the essence of another. Right now, though, she needs me if she wants to extract anyone from here. Who's to say, though, she won't try to obliterate me too when the time comes and it's all undone."
"She can only obliterate Vorgulremik," Mirasol says. "We're technically in his soul right now though, so if that goes.. we don't know if we all go with it, or get released. So working towards release is the best choice. And have you actually eaten anyone though?"
"You'd go with it. That's prettymuch certain," Alptraum apologizes. "And she could indirectly affect me/kill me off through trickery. There's no reason anything has to be direct. It's just something I'm aware of. And no, I've not eaten a person, only very simple animals."
"I don't think she'd try to do anything to you," Mirasol says. "You're a long-lived mortal, aren't you? Or.. no.. you're a spirit that gets reincarnated, right?"
"Well, we'll just go on to hell if we've been dutiful," Vala interrupts. "What else are you going to show me?"
"Mostly the latter, with a currently very long-lived body due to the bonding I have with the remains of an immortal creature," Alptraum explains and shrugs some. His attention and eyes turn back to Vala and one ear flicks. "What else do you want to see?" he finally asks.
"I want to see the staging area," Vala demands. "Syfilyvr told me it's like a big military camp."
"Er, Kaira would have to approve that," Alptraum admits, "But yes, that's possible. We'll try that next... It'll be less dangerous to me."