Summer leads the way deep into the bowels of the tower, past the level of Rostre's lab, and past the level where the Royal Mage is being held captive. Despite the glow of Summer's lamp, Alptraum can still spot the aura of the stones that make up the walls: layers of enchantments laid down over the centuries like the growth rings of trees.

The doe finally stops at what appears to be a blank wall along a curved hall. "He might be feeling cranky," she warns, then chants a cantrip and taps one of the stones, which glows slightly.

"Well, I could just kill him if you prefer," Alptraum offers. "I mean, you say he's OLD anyway..."

"I don't think you should kill him," Summer gasps. "He might have been one of the old Guild Masters." The brick stops glowing, and sinks into the wall, which starts to unravel to create a doorway. "What is it, Summer," a voice that sounds literally like gravel asks from the darkness beyond.

"Candy gram," Alptraum answers, but he's soon rubbing his chin. "OR is it spirit gram? Death-gram sounds really bad..."

"I've brought someone to see you, Master," Summer answers nervously. "Um.." she looks at Alptraum, unsure how to introduce him after his comments.

"Yes, yes, the Barsunala," the gravely voice notes. "Come in then. Don't forget your lamp girl."

"Alptraum Reisender," Alptraum answers for her. "Also the Barsunala. Not A barsunala, the barsunala." He then barks a laugh when the man already answered it.

Summer leads the way into what at first feels like a crypt. The furniture is made of stone, including a bed that looks like a sarcophagus. There are no windows, and when the 'door' is closed it isn't clear if there's any ventilation either. A cowled figure sits at a high-backed chair next to a table covered in odd figures and crystals. The man's wings look brittle enough to crack. "What can this old man do for a scion of the Kindly Ones?" the figure asks.

"Well, to clear the air up front, I'm not here for you. As in to kill you or anything. She and I were debating the situation the guild is in, and she suggested I speak to you. I promise, I'm quite harmless, if a bit bizarre. Also, it can't be good for anyone to live down here, the walls are saturated with enchantment," Alptraum remarks as he looks for a place to sit, then ends up sitting on the sarcophagus.

"This is an ideal location for me," the figure notes. "If Summer has not told you, I am Master Scravel of Earth. It rhymes with 'gravel' in Standard, but few Babelites notice. I'm.. well, I don't remember offhand how old I am. Days seem to fly by like hours. And what view am I to provide on this particular situation you are debating?"

"I bet I could tell you how old you are," Alptraum comments as he peers at the man. "We were discussing the issue of the Royal Mage we have above, and the risks his presence poses to the Guild here. I have offered to speak on behalf of the guild if it was needed to deal with the city as a whole, but she wants me to stay out of it."

"I suppose there are those in the City that think of the Royal Mages as a reminder of Babel's former power," the man says. "They can be ignored. The reality is that the Royal Mages only ever cared about power. They were monsters, running unchecked, and complicit in the dropping of the Boomer on Babel. Which wiped out almost all of Babel's non-Royal mages, and my own family. I know exactly where Pancrazio is within this tower. I can make his cell collapse and crush him if I dared. And.. at my age, I have to wonder why I don't."

"I can tell you why. He's tethered two at least two others. Parts of him have been grafted into them as anchors," Alptraum explains a bit grimly as he is reminded that he still has to deal with it. "But, you at least know his name, and that's helpful. What can you tell us about him? Do you know his areas of expertise, and what his tethers would likely be for?"

"Like all of the Royal Mages, he practices two Spheres, Life and Spirit," the still unmoving figure says. "I worked with him in my youth, helping in the construction of one of their laboratories. Taken by the boomer, though, so I can't offer you help in finding it. I wasn't meant to know where it was. They took many precautions. There were many cells in the building though, and it was underground. Not far enough though."

"No loss. Do you have any ideas why he specifically would come back? What would he come back here for?" Alptraum asks.

"At a guess, there is something in Babel that he needs to continue living," Scravel suggests. "His fields are Spirit and Life.. but not Mind. He could attempt to possess a new body, but that would not allow him to maintain his sense of self. That requires a substantial amount of grey matter, unless he has found a way around that. It's possible he knows of an artifact to do it, and it was kept hidden from the Sabaoth."

"Do you know of anything specifically that he had, since you worked with him?" Alptraum inquires, leaning forward to peer more, as well as listen for say, a heartbeat. "I can tell you they were also after bodyparts of, well, a replacement General."

"I was just a contractor," Scravel claims. He's got a heartbeat, but it sounds deeper than it should. His aura is also uneven. "It likely isn't involving Earth Magic, unless.. hmmm." The figure reaches into its cowl, and the sleeve slides away from smooth stone where his forearm should be. "Unless it is a place, and not an item."

"What exactly are you?" Alptraum finally asks, "You do not feel ... 'right'." HE's still peering. "A place, a place where? In the tower itself? Something outside that was spared? Summer, where was he caught?"

"I don't know, there were some captured at the Coalition Tower, so it might have been there?" the doe offers.

"Maybe. Only one survived the group I took down, and he wasn't it," Alptraum notes.

"Ah, this?" Scravel says, holding out his arm. "A gift of the Boomer. I was close enough that I was fused with a golem I was working on. No more flying, as I'm more gargoyle than Eeee at the moment. But it lets me feel this tower as if it were my own body, and know where the enchantments need to be reinforced in other parts of the city. If it were in the Tower of Babel, I would not know of it. It needn't be anyplace touched by Earth Magic, but that would limit where in the city it could be."

"Given enough magic, I could restore your body," Alptraum offers. "If it didn't need magic, then where would that limit it to?"

"Somewhere in the mountains, or on the Tower of Babel," Scravel suggests. "I doubt it would be in the undercity. But definitely not in any of the city towers."

"He wasn't in the tower, though. Not part of the group I caught there. Wouldn't that eliminate it?" Alptraum asks. "And why can't you sense the tower?"

"Sifran Crystal," Scravel replies. "It blocks most magic, even Earth Magic. And the mountains belong to the Yodh. If such a chamber exists, it would likely be very old and forgotten."

"Mm, true. It gave me issues as well when I was in there. I could not sense as far or as well," Alptraum concedes. "If it was the Yodh, which group was he closest to, if any of them?"

"Now, there is a place for forgotten shrines," the elderly mage says. "It played a role in the grand Dream Ritual, but as for what may be there, I couldn't say."

"And you can't sense anything regarding it? I have to go there at some point, but I could go sooner. I should have realized that would be a prime spot, since no active sect patrols it," Alptraum grumbles, then sighs.

"If there is any Earth Magic in use there, it is long faded or predates the Sphere as we know it today," Scravel rattles. "I can't sense enchantments more than a century old."

"Then you know how old you are," Alptraum points out. "I can, and you aren't missing much."

"The Yodh may not have a presence on Mount Dronnel, but they will surely have records," Scravel says. "Knowing where Pancrazio was captured may help. I can't tell you anything about what spells or curses bind him to others though."

"Bout you can tell us what he was like, and personality does tend to indicate what he might do to others," Alptraum points out.

"He was haughty, like all of them," Scravel says. "Like he knew a secret about you. He seemed to be the one in charge when I worked for him, though, assuming the others I saw were also Royal Mages and not something else. He was one of the younger ones then, or at least looked younger."

Alptraum mms. "That doesn't tell me anything I didn't know," he admits, and shrugs. "But, I can't really expect you to know more than that anyway. Regarding the other topic. If there was an issue with Babel and the Guild again, should I speak on behalf of those here, or stay out of it like Summer asks."

"The people of the city, to assure them they are not allied with the old Royal Mages," Alptraum further explains. "The populace actually likes me. Or at least I think they do. So I think it would help allay worry if it came to it."

"What if some of the mages are allied with them though?" Scravel asks. "The Guild is responsible for policing its own, and you should speak on behalf of specific mages instead, I think. The Guild does not have as good a reputation as the mages themselves."

"A fair suggestion. I'm friends with several mages here. And none of them have ever tried to kill me," Alptraum quips. "There are those here I'd trust with anything."

"And in case there is an internal witch-hunt, you will want to keep some distance," the elder mage suggests. "I am luckily a pillar of the community.. figuratively and literally.. so should be safe enough. But, I have no qualms about killing Pancrazio despite any precautions he might have put in place."

"I only ask you do not until we can be sure it won't hurt innocents," Alptraum notes, "Others do not need to die for your revenge; it would make you little better than he."

"I will wait, until I am hopefully given leave to carry out the inevitable sentence upon him," Scravel says. "But it won't be by crushing at that point, oh no. I will do it by inches."

"Don't be a sadist. I'm trying to improve Babel, and leave behind old ways," Alptraum chides and even waggles a finger. "And since I am here, do you have questions of me?"

"I have always revered Sunala. My household had a shrine with a full-sized statue," the man says, sounding melancholy. "The beauty of that statue is what made me choose the Sphere of Earth. I never did become a sculptor though, but I believe She spared my life by making me unto a statue myself. When you see Her next, give Her my gratitude."

Alptraum dips his head. "That I can do," he agrees. "And as beautiful as the statue is, I assure you She is even more so in person. And kinder than many stories may say. You may be very well right."

"That is a simple thing. If I cannot bring it to you myself, I shall ask Summer here to bring it to you. While wearing a maid's dress," he offers, and grins impishly at Summer.

"I will try to feel for anything suspicious on Mount Dronnel," Scravel offers. "I may be able to detect shadows within the echoes of nearby towers."

Alptraum nods. "Looking for absence of something can be just as telling as sensing something specific. Thank you," he says and rises off the sarcophagus. To Summer, he explains, "Gallisian maid, you know, short dress, no underwear."

"They don't wear underwear?" the doe asks in shock. "Mages need underwear for keeping spell components," she then claims.

"Too bad," Alptraum remarks and beeps Summer's nose. "We should leave this man in peace. And he's much nicer than you claimed."

"I didn't say he wasn't nice," Summer claims loudly, since Master Scravel is her boss (or at least the head Earth Mage for Babel). "Just that he was old and could be moody," she admits to.

"Is there anything I should make sure she does?" Alptraum asks and thumbs towards Summer. "I have no qualms about spanking her, either."

"Don't let her go outside the tower unescorted," Scravel requests. "She is exotic for Babel, and likely to draw unwanted attention."

"I promise that no one will do untoward things to her, except me," Alptraum offers, and just grins at Summer.

"Make sure she bathes properly then, as well," the elder mage notes. Maybe being partly stone augments his sense of smell or something. Or he gets her confused with Rostre.

She smiles like.. a forest, actually. Maybe due to her actual Earth Mage duties. There's definitely a soil scent, which is not something most Babelites would be familiar with.

"She smells like a compost heap," Alptraum claims. "Better than Rostre, anyway."

"No, more like wine that has gone to vinegar and some sort of astringent used to clean stone floors," the mage describes.

"She also now has boobs," Alptraum notes. "Courtesy of me. I have learned to regret it."

"I'll have to ask about those next time," Scravel says. "I hadn't noticed before."

Summer leans in close to Alptraum and whispers, "His eyes might have been watering too hard from the chemical fumes."

"She'll show them off. She is very proud of them," Alptraum comments. He also wonders if Summer forgot he was an Eeee ... and Eeee have big, and good, ears.

Scravel doesn't respond to Summer's theory if he does hear it. "She also brings me bugs," he says instead. "And distilled spirits."

"There was also something in the Mycon Cave that made me run around naked for an afternoon. Nobody could catch me."

"I wish I could have seen that. Maybe some day I'll turn you into a grok and take you hunting," Alptraum comments.

Alptraum nods. "Yes. Gorphat has a pet mushroom beast," Alptraum explains. "With tentacles."

"Do you need me to grow another one?" the doe asks, since apparently that's the only reason she can think of to send her a mushroom pet.

"What makes me fun.. or is everyone fun to 'mess with'?" Summer asks. "Is it part of being the Barsunala or part of being Alptraum?"

"Alptraum," Alptraum answers. "And it's fun because you react and usually hilariously. It's a nice change of pace in this dour city"

"Oh.. so it doesn't work on other Eeee then?" Summer asks, and then tries to tickle Alptraum. Given how hard her fingers can be, it isn't exactly pleasant.

"IT works fine on other Eeee, " Alptraum replies while staring at her while she does that. "Ow," he says.

"I'm not good at tickling," Summer admits. "What do you do to mess with Babelites though?" She looks genuinely curious.

"It's a secret!" Alptraum declares, "Come on, lets leave him in peace, eh?" He goes to try and find the door again to leave.

Once out in the corridor, the wall reassembles itself. It must be a pretty expensive door. "I worry about that door," Summer says once it's closed.

"Well, the enchantment is maintained by Master Scravel, so if he gets sick or passes out or something it might fail and he'd be trapped in there," Summer claims. "Or the tower would collapse."

"I don't do stone!" Summer reminds. "I only do plants. And I never even tried metal."

"That is just a bad pun," Summer claims, turning her nose up. "I don't know what happened with the mushroom. It might have been spores."

"Back to your room, I have to diddle you or something," Alptraum comments, then just starts walking!

They've barely started up the stairs when a screaming, ghostly apparition appears in front of them. "ALPTRAUM!" it wails, a vaporous mass with two glowing, slitted eyes. There's also a thud as Summer seems to faint.

"Must you scare people?! Now I have to carry that big-butt doe!" Alptraum complains, to see if Summer is faking it or not

Alptraum is already picking her up and slinging her over one of his shoulders. "I'll be there soon, Rsotre," Alptraum tells the smoke.

"What?" Rostre's messenger asks. "I'm not sscary!" the apparition claims before dissipating.

Alptraum pats the doe butt. "Come on hind's hind, we need to go see the booblizard," Alptraum quips. And off he goes. Hopefully to find her.

It helps that Alptraum can follow his nose, even without Summer to navigate. And the door to the lab is open, which helps. It the fumes also fully rouse Summer. "Ah!" she bleats.

"I brought your subject for the brain transplant," Alptraum claims with a straight face.

"Brain transplant?" the Spirit Mage asks, looking up from her big book. "I can do a spirit transplant. Like putting one's awareness into a flame, or a plant. It's very useful for medical procedures. Less stressful. But that isn't why I summoned you." The Naga then waves Alptraum over, which also wafts her odor towards him as a byproduct.

Alptraum heads over, still carrying Summer over his shoulder. "Yes, oh mighty booblizard?" he asks.

Rostre does not seem put off by the deer butt as she turns her book slightly. On the page is a drawing of something that looks like a unicorn horn attached to a mutant pelvic bone. There's no sense of scale to it however. "It's called Gorphat's Needle in the catalog, and is one of the missing relics," Rostre explains. "It got the name because it's supposedly very powerful for creating curses. But it also says it has been used for sealing contracts and life-pacts."

"That looks like a sex toy," Alptraum claims, "For a sadist. Do you think this was somehow involved? Why?" He doesn't recall anything like that mentioned in Gorphat's actual temple.

"Well, it stitches threads of fate, supposedly," Rostre says. "Threads. That's what made it come to mind."

"Well, that's a good reason to suspect it. So, that means he has that back whenever he came from, then? It's not like he got it in the city; those links were already there," Alptraum remarks, and starts patting on Summer's butt.

"There isn't a lot of real information on this relic," Rostre says. "Just anecdotal claims. But those are all about binding people together in some way. It got the name Gorphat's Needle because it could supposedly be used to transfer illness away from one person to another."

Alptraum nods. "Well, that's mostly basic life magic, isn't it?" Alptraum asks. "I don't remember any record of this in Gorphat's temple, but it's not like I've checked everywhere, and aside from the name may have no connection anyway."

"There isn't likely a direct connection," Rostre says. "But Life Magic doesn't transsssfer effectsss between people. So this iss a combination of thingsss, and likely not tied to any of the Spheress of Magic as we know them today. It could be an Exile artifact."

"Or an artifact that just predates Olympia," Alptraum notes, "I've seen some of those before."

"From the Age of High Magic," Rostre agrees. "It issn't clear what it isss made from or why it lookss like it doess. I think it iss a posssibility due to the thread-like nature of what we have ssseen."

"Well, if it's an acutal unicorn horn, I do know actual unicorns to ask," Alptraum admits. "They aren't stuck on pelvises though."

"Maybe it'sss a penile bone, or jusst something from an alien," Rostre suggests. "If it wasss crafted.. mussst have been by sssomone odd."

"I am not crafted," Rostre claims. "Unlessss you mean that you are odd to have crafted my chesst?" She does heft things as she mentions them.

"No, you are someone odd that makes things," Alptraum replies. "And you really should wear a bra."

"I do not have the sshoulders for such," Rostre claims. "Summer doess not wear one."

"They do not feel heavy to me," Rostre claims, and then makes them bounce up and down. "Naga are not used to having restraining garmentsss, after all."

Alptraum shakes Summer to make her bounce. "Having them is nice, though. I've had them before, and I miss them," Alptraum admits.

The doe bleats. Hopefully she isn't getting weird from having blood rush to her head.

Alptraum finally lifts Summer off his shoulder and sets her butt down on a table.

"Doesn't set me on anything nasty," Summer says, but only after she's already been sat down. So maybe the blood did have an effect.

"Barely there at all," Rostre claims. "A twig, a sssapling, where I am a mighty tree."

"You are a demi-god," Rostre claims, leaning forward and flicking her tongue across Alptraum's nose. "Sssurely you need more robussst women."

"I have a nice butt," Summer says in her defense. "And you don't have one at all. And I'm soft and warm. And fluffy."

"None of this is relevant to the topic!" Alptraum says and throws his hands up. "Was that what you needed to show me?"

"Yes," Rostre admits. "It seemed like the besst lead. Maybe sssomebody knowss more about the Needle."

"I'll ask around, then," Alptraum agrees. "Now, Summer, I needed to use you as the repair template, remember? We should see to that."

"Mainly heart. Come on, you can walk now," Alptraum reminds. "Lets go to a less weird place."

Summer hops down from the table. "Oh yes, yes, definitely," she says, and dances out into the hallway.

"Well, I'll be waiting!" the Naga claims. "And looking for more likely relicsss."

"All right, time to violate you down to the very core of your being," Alptraum tells Summer when he joins her into the hallway. "I do hope you like tentacles, and being entered from all over." He grins every so sweetly, and in the sort of what thast the Goddesses do whenever they have something horrible planned...

Summer's room is actually has a window, although any light from it is filtered through all of the flowerpots clustering around it. There are even plants hanging down from above it to form a green, flowery curtain. More planters are suspended from the Eeee sleeping perches even. It all makes the room smell too fresh somehow. The narrow bed does have exude a musky Cervani odor though. A desk and wardrobe are also crammed into the small space, which was probably part of a larger room at one point until a dividing wall was added. A big white rock sits in a bowl on the desk, which otherwise has journals and books on it.

The doe skips into the room and starts disrobing before Alptraum is even fully inside. "I hope my heart and.. organs.. work alright for fixing the other Cervani," she says. She's as slim as an Eeee under the loose clothing.

"You don't have to strip, you know," Alptraum remarks as one ear skews sideways. "And people might start suspecting you like me, or something," he adds as he closes the door and locks it, just in case. "You're the same species, just different sizes, so I should be able to use you fine as a template for how things should be structured. I don't think size will matter much."

Summer pauses as she begins to pull down her underpants. "Oh? Did you want to undress me?" she asks. "If this makes me sick I don't want to ruin my clothes, because it's another two days until Laundry Day. Size is the only difference?"

"For a large part, yes it's mostly just size. The major anatomica differences are even still mostly the same organ, just shaped differently," Alptraum explains while shrugging a little. "And you can finish your undressing, you don't need my help with that. As for being sick, it has never done that."

It takes another moment for her to get the pants off, then lick the rock on her desk before sitting on her bed and looking up at Alptraum expectantly with her big brown eyes.

"Why are you licking rocks?" Alptraum has to ask at that odd display. "Also, you looking at me like that makes it seem like I'm the monster about to devour an innocent child."

"Salt lick," Summer explains, then.. licks her nose. "Should I close my eyes or turn around then?" she asks.

Alptraum rubs his forehead. "That makes it sound even worse," he admits, "Am I really this exotic seductive, monster?"

"Well," the doe admits, wiggling her ears up and down, "it was sort of fun up in Mage Trilby's office. Mages aren't supposed to be intimate with one another, and you're not technically a mage so it's alright."

"I'm technically just weird," Alptraum admits and shrugs some. He also plops himself down on the bed next to her. "It's supposed to be fun, especially when it comes to that. Even moreso if the risk of getting knocked up is removed. Though, jury is out on if I could manage that with another species; I'm odd enough I might."

"Have you really tried?" Summer asks, wide-eyed (which is normal for a Cervani). "How thorough do you get when you change?"

"I haven't really tried. Why, do you want me to?" Alptraum asks, reaching over and beeps her nose. He drags that claw down and splats her palm against her chest. "How weird do you want it?"

"How weird is weird?" she asks, and licks her nose again. "I once had an accident with a growth spell and some vines. But I wasn't naked then. What do you think I could handle?"

"You've made love to a plant, then?" Alptraum remarks dryly. "I figured you were a pervert."

"No, I just got tangled up," the doe insists, crossing her arms. "Magic has it's own way of making you feel tingly though."

Alptraum nods. "Right, tangled. Just right. All tied up. Mmmhmmm," he says in a slow monotone while nodding.

"I was able to make it let me go before the pumpkins started growing," Summer claims. "Being squashed under a giant pumpkin would have been embarrassing."

"Or if they grew inside of you. It would be funny up to a point," Alptraum admits. "Now, right, the exam thing. Just relax and try not to get too horny."

"Wait.. you aren't going to make me grow horns right?" the doe asks, to be certain.

"Don't you want to do that anyway?" Alptraum prods. "Fine, fine, are you relaxed?"

Summer does a sort of a whole body shake-wiggle thing, then says, "I don't know. Is it really important?"

"No, not really," Alptraum admits, right before shadow-flesh-stuff shoves into her chest! Well, sinks in and squirms like hundreds of licking works crawling out into her from a central point.

Summer makes a wheezing sound as her mouth opens wide. Her heart definitely starts beating faster after that!

"That's not relaxing," Alptraum teases and sticks out his tongue. Silliness aside, he has to concentrate now so he can map out her heart in precise detail, along with organs in the proximity of her heart. It becomes less squirmy, and more licky, except it's like someone licking on the inside of her breasts.

"D-did you know that some organs have t-taste buds?" Summer stammers, for whatever reason. At least she isn't twitching, aside from her ears. And her heart is certainly giving a good performance.

Alptraum has his eyes closed at this point as he's concentrating on 'learning'. He might also be messing with her a little given the exploration goes lower, and things get all squirmy and pulsy inside her lower belly and between her thighs. Or maybe it's an intentional distraction? If she looks, she can probably spot her pelt squirming too.

"So.. so.. are we tasting each other but.. nnn.. not knowing it?" the doe babbles. And then grabs her breasts to try to keep them still.. or at least one, as her other hand presses on her stomach. "Nothing is.. going to come out is it?"

And her breast starts fondling her hand; that's a first. "No, nothing is going to come out. Just relax, I've been through worse," Alptraum chides, though it's in amusement.

So the doe releases her grasp.. only to grab onto the front of Alptraum's pants.

"What are you doing?" Alptraum has to ask and opens one eye. "This is very delicate work."

"Riiiight," Alptraum remarks. He goes back to the exam, and it goes deeper, and longer. Things feel hot, perhaps a little damp. Fluttery at times, and if every nerve near a fur follicle was suddenly super-sensitive. Any slight air movement feels like a full body fondle.

This results in a panting (and drooling) doe. But she's stopped babbling at least! Still being grabby though.

It probably doesn't help with the lower down squirming turns into licking, except from the inside out, through Inala's gate. And now that the doe is distracted, Alptraum himself starts to change, only this time not into anything Summer has probably ever seen. No, he's slowly turning into a semi-slimy fungus-dragon with far too many tentacle bits. (Though no bits where the doe is grabbing!)

This means she loses her grip (and Cervani have hard finger tips). She's a bit too distracted herself, and has her eyes closed.

And soon she's pinned down by the now Scourge, and being wrapped up in tail tentacles, as well as tongue tentacles, which are undulating and teasingly invading her everywhere. One even goes into her mouth!

That one gets licked back, and Summer starts squirming now that she's not sitting up. Her ears are semaphoring and she opens her eyes again, and this time a bit of the white can be seen. But she doesn't seem to panic. But there probably isn't much difference between that and her excited state anyway.

And the asexual dragon-thing is doing things to her that make all sorts of waves of enjoyment ripple and flow through her. Why, the tentacles invading her down below manage to side just right so that both passages fit in a way that is enjoyable; though the pulsing rolls inside is probably a bit weird. All of it is weird, really. specially the fact his body is all weirdly squishy all over, and damp.

It isn't clear if Summer minds or not, but she may also be hypnotized by the glowing parts of Scourge. She's an Earth Mage after all, and has worked with fungi before. She tries to get a hand inside Scourge's mouth to feel around, despite everything going on. Or maybe because of it, and she's just lost her mind.

Om-nom-nom goes Scourge; good thing he has no teeth. Or really much of anything else. The tail movements become a lit more forceful, and seem intent on seeing if it can make her twitch, squirm, and maybe scream. Though with her mouth full, the last bit will be hard.

She's already twitching and squirming, but now she starts bucking. No more being passive it seems!

And Scourge pushes right back. While it doesn't really get anything out of it, other than watching Summer really get off on it and enjoy it. Weird it is, but the fungus-dragon is disturbingly good at knowing how to move parts of itself inside her to rub things juuuuust right. And it simulates other sensations through sort of rolling pulses of its parts in her.

Well, she does do one thing Scourge can feel: she starts sucking on the tongue-tendril in her mouth.

Which of course feels nice. The fact it can also pulsate like it were filling her with goo (it's not), probably makes it a bit more disturbing, though.

Summer then makes grabbing motions towards Scourge's fringe of head-tendrils. And something about her is feeling tingly to Scourge as well: she's building up a magic charge, it seems.

Scourge lets her grab his head by leaning in and flipping those odd bits forward, curious.

Yes, she's somehow managing a spell! And it hits when she gets hold of a tendril. It.. feels weird. Almost like when Scourge's spores are in somebody, he gets flashes of what the doe is feeling, and there's some sort of probing involved as well. Fungi are half plant afterall, so it must be some sort of plant magic.

Scourge ends up making a weird sort of burble noise. Granted, at least it isn't gas from either end, since it has no, well, ends. It also ratchets up the sort of throb-pulsing assaulting the doe above and below.

This causes her back to curl and legs to kick a bit, and also intensifies whatever the doe is doing magically. It's pleasant, at least, and the effect has spread to Scourge's forelimbs now, making them tingly and warm. It's almost like a mild version of kenning.. without the shadow bits.

And Scourge sort of goes with it, and tries to adjust its movements to improve what it is feeling through whatever that weird link is.

There's an echo of what Summer is feeling that bleeds through, but mostly the sensation spreads out through Scourge's body, revealing what might be a nervous system - it branches out, certainly, with the sensations concentrated in the 'trunks' of the system. It even starts down its tail.

Scourge figures Summer is now curious about it. It does wonder if she would be so interested if she knew it was Gorphat's 'pet'. As if the mark on its forehead wouldn't be obvious enough of that. Still, it basks in the weird sensations while it continues to cause weird ones of its own. Hopefully Summer doesn't think of how that pulsing could be an ovipositor or something (it isn't!), but the sensation, well..

At times the magic probe loses strength, usually when the doe has crossed some threshold, which causes her body to go stiff for a moment. Then it proceeds again, extending down the tail to towards the tips.. and then there's a connection and Scourge is fully feeling Summer's sensations, beyond what the kenning is already doing. It's very electric.

And Scourge sort of loses its awareness for a bit in the bizarre sensations! He rides it out in delight, but when it does start to fade, he takes it as the cue to disconnect from Summer, invading tentacle by invading tentacle.

This leaves the doe very damp and panting, even though the experience was more novel for Scourge. It had never tried anything like this before! And certainly never experienced Earth Magic so directly.

"Gotcha," Scourge rumbles next to Summer's head, then licks her with a slimy tongue.

Scourge lumbers off of her, then and curls up so it can shift back into Alptraum instead of this weird beast,

After the shift.. there's still some of that tingle left. Earth Magic in a meat body feels very weird, but at least it dissipates quickly.

Alptraum rubs his face. "Blugh," he says. "Also, I had what I needed in the first five minutes. The rest of that really was to mess with you"

"Did you feel me communing with you?" Summer asks, still laying flat on her back. "I always wondered if plants could feel it or not."

"Yes, I felt it," Alptraum admits as he flops over on his side to rest some. "It was very weird."

"What did it feel like?" Summer asks, managing to get onto her side so she can see Alptraum better.

"Mostly like we were sort of joined and I could feel and see what you did," Alptraum explains. "Like one being instead of two."

"That's odd, I didn't get that from the link," Summer says. "I got an idea of how your body worked. Maybe that's part of it? Do you do that somehow with that body?"

"Do I do what? I was originally learning how yours worked, so maybe it was a reverse of that," Alptraum suggests, and manages to shrug from the floor.

"I mean.. what's that body for?" Summer asks. "Where'd you get it? What can it do? Is it really a mushroom-dragon?"

"Gorphat's creation, and is designed to survive in toxic environments, and even forbidden zones. Also, it can sort of take people over," Alptraum explains more. "So, yes, you snogged with a Gorphat thing."

"Take people over?" Summer asks. "That cave was full of so many interesting fungi! And they glowed too!"

"But.. you can't possibly get that tail thing in deep enough to puppeteer someone, can you?" she then asks.

"Well.. seems like it might be important, I suppose," the doe notes. "But it would be hard to test for. And I probably shouldn't try to cultivate one then."

"Why? I wasn't dangerous to you," Alptraum points out. "But, as you like. At least you have an interesting story no one will believe."

"I wouldn't tell anyone," Summer says. "That would ruin the surprise when you do it to them."

"Who said I would do it to them? If I tried doing that to Cyprian he'd probably pop something," Alptraum points out.

"So, what did it feel like doing that stuff to me with the the tentacles," she asks next, rolling onto her stomach now. Her tail wags about like a flag.

"Mmm, nice. Nothing mindblowing or intense; Gorphat doesn't like her creations to feel much pleasure, after all," Alptraum tries to explain. "So, it was just nice feeling."

"That's all?" Summer asks. "Doesn't seem very fair. It was.. really.. intense.. for me. Especially the start with the.. inside-out licking."

"Oh, that part wasn't Gorphat. That I felt and that part does feel pretty good," Alptraum explains. "The weird creatur was only the last part."

"I was enjoying your reactions, honestly," Alptraum comments. "It's fun to see the shock on someone's face, followed by the 'please don't you stop!' look." He grins.

"Well, you should give me a chance to do that to you then," the doe claims, raising her chin. "That's only fair after all."

Alptraum smirks. "You can't turn into some freaky creatures, though," he points out.

"Doesn't mean I can't get freaky," Summer claims. "I'm an Earth Mage after all. I can do a lot with herbs and spices."

Alptraum arches his brow. "And you wish to do this ... why? Is it because you like me, hmmm?" he teases.

"Well, yes I like you," the doe admits without any embarrassment. "But also because I could really go all out and not have to worry about scaring you or anything."

Alptraum laughs. "Ah yes, hard to freak out someone who deals with the Sisters. That's probably true," he admits and grins. "So, sure, go ahead."

"And if it's really good, can you get me some stuff from Gorphat's fungi cave?" the doe asks, tail really flapping.

"If Gorphat agrees to it, sure. She'll probably want something from me, though," Alptraum admits.

"But you like me enough to ask her?" the doe asks, smiling and using her doe eyes.

"But, you don't need to before I try with what I have," Summer says. "I just need to borrow some of Rostre's lab equipment. She seems to be the only one other than Trilby that has any, and you do not try to borrow lab stuff from Trilby."

"Why not? I bet I can talk her into it," Alptraum comments. "Rostre's stuff might be slime covered."

"Because I think Trilby uses her extra stuff to make potions and elixers and probably booze and Khattan-grade Mateh," the deer says.

"Ah, she's into her drugs then. Fair enough, she probably needs the stress relief," Alptraum concludes.

"I assumed that's why she shouts so much," Summer says. "So, how did I feel to you, anyway? Or should I ask? I probably shouldn't try to compare myself to others, unless I'm the first of course!"

"You felt like a young woman," Alptraum answers, "Also a bit, well ... you're a randy little thing..."

"Most of the men I know are Mages and.. well, I admit I was watching that Cervani boy sleeping when I brought medicinal plants to Trilby," Summer says. "So I had that gnawing at me too."

Alptraum laughs, "Eh, it's fine if you are. The young are! It's normal. And the cervani was good looking," Alptraum laughs, "Don't be so self conscious."

Summer drapes down over the side of the bed. "I do plants, this is my first adventure," she says.

"This is an adventure? Since when?" Alptraum asks, "If money changed hands, the only thing this would be is the oldest profession in the world..."

Summer begins to slowly slide off the bed to the floor. "I can't afford to pay you," she claims. "Unless you want to use my salt lick?"

Alptraum grabs onto Summer's tail to keep her from sliding off. "Salt licks aren't my thing. I lick other things," he quips.

"Moving is hard right now," the deer claims. "But when I recover I will come up with something to really.. surprise you!"

"You mean you'll shave yourself bald, paint yourself purple, and do an interpretive dance?" Alptraum inquires while grinning.

Summer pauses, then says, "Now that you've said it it wouldn't be a surprise, so no."

"Darn, I've always wanted to see that," Alptraum admits. He pulls Summer back slowly, then demonstrates what he meant about licking. It involves his head between her thighs, and an an act that could be loosely called kissing.

"Eeee! I will get you for that," the doe vows, but doesn't try to make fists or shake them appropriately. "Do you like me, or just how I taste?" she asks, squirming a bit.

Alptraum can't exactly answer that, given he's back to licking inside her. Gods, do Eeee have long tongues. It feels like he's trying to lick her navel from the inside.

The doe keeps squirming. She's pretty hot and bothered from before. And a bit musky, which you wouldn't expect from a doe. "That is.. long," she manages to comment.

Given who he has licked before, this is nothing. He is, though, seeing if he can make her more bothered. It's either that of his tongue can move like a snake and he's showing off.

Summer is flexing a bit in reaction, and has gone silent except for panting. Her tail might still be moving, but it's pinned at the moment. Unlike other sorts, she can't exactly flex and curl her toes either.

Alptraum is trying to adjust following the panting, flexing, and other squirming. He seems perfectly content with trying to work her all the way to an explosive sort of muscle-lock-seeing-stars moment. Especially when he gets his nose to start rubbing in just the right spot.

The panting stops, as the doe holds her breath and really clenches down. Her hips even arch up, overcoming whatever fatigue she may have been claiming.

And of course Alptraum tries to keep her right there. Egad, did he just coil his tongue into a corkscrew? It's either from Inala's training, or his experience, but he holds her there for what feels like an age. When it finally does end and her body goes limp, she feels two sharp pinpricks on her vulva. Then a sort of ... nursing? Egad, yes, he's vampire'ing her in her delicates! Well, at least it's new? And a surprise?

And this 'nursing' goes on for about five minutes before he lifts his jaws off. She's left with two tiny puncture marks that he licks over, then grins. "Well, that's a more entertaining way to be a vampire," he jokes.

"I can tickle you and find out. Or drop you in a pit of Barinala," Alptraum offers while running a single claw along her right thigh.

"I didn't drink that much," Alptraum protests. "And did that answer your question?"

Alptraum bites her knee for that. "If I like you," he comments afterward. "The answer is yes."

"Ooo, good, I like you too," the doe murmurs. "You're not as crazy as some of my friends, but they aren't here so too bad for them.."

"Do you do carnal stuff with all your friends?" Alptraum asks. "You and Trilby, hmmmm...."

"Nooo, they're all girls," Summer claims. "I never got to to be friends with the other Cervani doe on campus. She was in a different school, and was the daughter of the dean even. Talk about stress."

"I guess the guys in our group wouldn't have worked out anyway," she adds. "One was a Rhian."

"What's wrong with being with another girl?" Alptraum asks. "I ... hm, I would have no idea what that is like. I never went to any school."

"We lived in a beautiful tree dormitory on Rephidim," she says wistfully. "Then, on Caroban, we had to grow the giant pumpkins to live in while the rest was being built. I will never eat pumpkin pie again."

"I lived in a swamp infested pit where the townfolk would chase you with pitchforks, and the dead came back and tried to eat your heads," Alptraum commiserates. "Living in a pumpkin would have been an upgrade!"

"I don't know, a lot of zombies are probably vegetarians, statistically," the doe notes. "And you probably didn't have to worry about someone rolling your house off the island as a prank. Or when they start to rot. I guess I lived in a zombie. Zombie pumpkin. Did you have adventures?"

"If you count running terrified and wondering if you'd see the next morning? Plenty," Alptraum admits and rolls over onto his back. "You sort of learned to just live day by day. Do stuff. Try to avoid the regret of not doing something you wanted to, stuff like that."

"But.. you're a demigod aren't you?" Summer asks, straining to raise her head a bit. "What was the most dangerous thing you had to survive? I was in a Festival town, but got out before I was eligible."

"Festival town? I grew up knowing nothing about myself, and I attracted weird like fat people produce flatulence," Alptraum comments and puts his hands behind his head a bit. "We had plenty of undead scares, and were chased out of towns more than I can remember. Then there was that time that really angry father caught me trying to seduce his daughter. I don't think I've ever seen someone so round run so fast before. He was like a giant, angry bubble."

"A rich man?" Summer asks. "Festival towns are.. do you know anything about Western Nordika? It's all just wilderness, with a few settlements and towns. Airship crews would sometimes stop to resupply. The Festival towns.. uh. Well, Festival is.. it was supposed to be a big honor. If you get chosen, it means you're going to bring in the harvest and all. But really, it means you get hunted down and eaten by a carnivore. Probably someone you knew. They were usually the ones running things. The Air Mage on one of the airships spotted me though, and 'bought' me from my family for something, I don't remember what. Then took me to be formally evaluated and got me into the Collegia Esoterica."

"I told everyone I was from the Half Valley instead, once I realized the truth," she notes. "Nothing really bad happens in Half Valley."

Alptraum lifts his head. "That sounds absolutely horrible," he says, aghast. "I mean, I just ate you, but I was nice about it. I've never been there, but I'm sure I'll eventually make my way there. Anyone I should terrify?""

"I don't know," Summer says. "I've half-convinced myself it was just a nightmare or something. But back then, it was just how things were, and it wasn't bad. Girls would talk about which boys they'd want to come after them if they were selected. I don't know what the hunters actually felt about it. Sometimes they'd go off into the woods and just not come back, and we'd be told there were monsters out there, and only the Festival kept them at bay. Maybe they did get killed by monsters, or maybe they just threw themselves into the river. In the end, it was all about population control anyway, so I guess it didn't matter."

"I was only seven or eight I think when the mage took me out of there," she says.

"I imagine it bothered some of the hunters too," Alptraum comments. "I'm a predator of a sort, and I've always been uneasy with it, and how some people react to it. I imagine some didn't hunt, but instead just ran away with the girl instead to escape. For what it's worth, I'm glad you did make it out. Seems like your life has been pretty good since then overall. Well, except for being stationed here. I'm sorry. Babel is a crappy place to live."

"Part of why I came is because the mage who rescued me is here right now," Summer claims. "It wasn't easy in Collegia. I wasn't a prodigy or anything, and I was just a novice when the war came. I was a charity case originally, but I was asked before I took this post if I'd want to go back to Nordika and help scout for new mages. Now it's a priority, with so few of us left. But I don't want to go back there. I don't know what town I came from. Am I bad person for not wanting to go back there?"

"No. It was where you were born, but it isn't your home. A home is the place you feel safe and welcome; a place you want to be. That place ... was just a bad time in your life. There may come a time you will go back, but it will be when you're ready to deal with it. Until then, honestly? Don't even think about it," Alptraum says. "Right now you need to do what is best for you."

"We're supposed to have a Magic Faire but everything is too on edge in Babel right now," Summer says. "Nobody is looking for magical talent here at all. With the old campus gone and all of its mages, it's been years now."

"There's magical talent," Alptraum notes, "I can even sense it in some people. Anyway, my opinion would be, take a risk and have one anyway. It might help improve relations."

"We're still preparing for the invasion," Summer says. "I'm going to be helping with some part of it, but they haven't told me what yet, and I'm not supposed to tell anyone when I found out anyway."

"I know you're part of the preparations," Summer says. "But stuff you do here is supposed to be hush-hush too. Even Gusty only tells me it's important for defense against some tactic they think will be used."

Alptraum sticks out his tongue. "Or it's something being planned to be used against me," Alptraum suggests.

"The Mage's Guild allows for assisting in the takeover or destruction of city-states, especially after the war!" Summer gasps, and actually manages to rise up onto her elbows in shock. "If they wanted to do that, they'd just ban Earth Mages from working here and wait for it all to collapse."

"You have little faith in my people and their ability to adapt and survive," Alptraum remarks a bit dryly.

"The General is out to destroy the city though, isn't she?" Summer asks. "If it was some internal power struggle we wouldn't be doing anything. But you work with Cyprian, and Cyprian cares about Babel. So there's something going on to help defend it, but it's a secret, just in case."

"It's a bit more than that, really. Amenlichli of Aztepa wants to claim this area, more or less. The General is just one of the results from that," Alptraum explains and even gestures a bit with his hands.

"You mean the Zombie Goddess?" Summer bleats, looking alarmed. "I thought it was to do with stolen secret weapons like they used in the Candlemass Attack! Is that why there was a curse?"

"Probably. But yes, the Zombie Goddess is involved. She and I have had ... some negotiations," Alptraum admits. "Mostly me telling her to go stuff herself."

"Do zombies stuff themselves with straw?" Summer asks with a somewhat dazed tone. "So that they don't look.. thin? She isn't supposed to be doing things! Not like this! Babel isn't some hamlet. If the rest of the world knew this.." She stops there. And blinks. "Ah, right, they can't. Hush-hush. Now it makes sense."

"And what would the rest of the world do? Lets be honest, nothing. Unless people are directly threatened most are content to turn their backs," Alptraum points out as he grunts and pushes himself upright. "And I suppose I should get back to whatever I should be doing instead of corrupting the innocent forest maiden."

"They might join in, or they might attack first," Summer says. "But it wouldn't be on Babel's terms. I'm not so innocent not to see that. Everyone was afraid of Babel, you know."

"Not surprising. The Sabbaoth himself was her puppet, really. I wasn't particularly fond of Babel, either," Alptraum admits, and shrugs.

"No, I'm just trying to come to grips with how big things are," Summer says. "And still planning how to surprise you."

"I'll deal with the big things. You deal with ... trying to look at another guy and not think about how long their tongue might be," Alptraum quips.

"Long enough to ruin you for anyone else," Alptraum whispers to her, then licks her cheek.

"Tongues can't ruin things," Summer claims. Cervani do have long tongues themselves. But Alptraum's does leave all the fur on her cheek going in the wrong direction.

"Says the girl who just had an orgasm so hard she couldn't move for a while," Alptraum teases. "I'll see you later, then."

"If anyone asks I'm communing with my plants!" the doe calls as Alptraum reaches the door.

"I'll be your fungus again later," Alptraum quips, blows her a kiss, then slips out through the door.

Nobody else is in the corridor, but there are other rooms. It isn't clear if foreign mages would prefer ones with windows or rather stick to the interior ones. Or maybe Summer was able to get one because she had a genuine need.

Alptraum imagines most prefer interior to avoid glaring from passer-bys. Still, he doesn't spend too much time on wondering on that, he starts the winding walk back to Trilby, or so he hopes. He also does wonder who rescued Summer in the first place, but can't go prying too much after all.

The infirmary has calmed down slightly, probably because Trilby has retreated to her office, the door of which does do much to hide the fact that she's yelling squeakily at nearly an Eeee's register. She must be all lung inside.

"That girl needs to relax. Save the yelling for real doom," Alptraum grumbles as he heads to the door, and knocks.

The yelling stops, and the door opens a crack. "Did you bring the wine?" Trilby asks, until it's open enough that she can see it's Alptraum. She doesn't have her glasses on at the moment. "Did you bring any wine? Or something harder?" she amends her question.

"I brought knowledge of cervine anatomy. Does that count? What's going on now?" Alptraum asks, "Why all the yelling?"

"Well, come in then, and join the yelling," Trilby says. She opens the door enough that he can see Cyprian in there.. and Rostre taking up most of the space. The lab table looks like it has been disturbed, so that might be part of the reason for the yelling.

"What is Dagh's name is going on in here?" Alptraum asks as he enters and looks between all the mages. "I disappear to go do weird things, and when I come back, you're all yelling at each other? Do we need to have a group spanking?"

"No!" Trilby insists. "We are arguing about what to do to about my patients which are right outside."

"We can't do anything about the mage until the patients are safe," Alptraum says with a bit of finality. "I don't consider anyone expendable, even those I don't even know."

"Which is why we should not attempt to undo the.. curse.. or whatever it is, until we can deal with it all at once," Cyprian notes, and puts his fingers to his forehead. "We've already found traps in those two men out there while trying to restore their memories. Now, it seems those may have been misdirection, despite how serious they were, so that we wouldn't try to look for something subtle. So we need to move carefully. Rostre has created a curse-compass before, with a little more study of this.."

"Or you could just put that criminal in a coma, or take out his heart and keep it beating," Trilby counters. "I could do that! There's no reason to keep that thing down there alive and conscious."

"Ssss," Rostre hisses into the silence that falls. "We don't have a curse-breaker. Curses are not magic," she claims, and gestures for Trilby to keep quiet for a moment. "This is from an artifact. The rulesss of magic do not apply. Perhapsss those of religion will, however, if we cannot find the artifact."

"Yeah, religion. Where could we possibly find something or someone religious?" Alptraum comments with a bemused sort of snort. "Or access to the artifacts of religions common here. Okay, anyway, instead of worrying over what we do not have. What do we have, and what do we know, right now?"

"We know that Pancrazio is probably tied in to some of the others rescued from the pirates," Cyprian notes. "There could be others tied to them as well. All we've seen are Pancrazio's ties to the ones we have right here."

"We know about the threadsss though, and can probably detect them more easssily now," Rostre adds.

"We don't know what they do, and we don't know how he'll react to having any of them messed with," Trilby says. "But, it would be stupid for him to just kill them if we do mess with them, because then he's used up his hostages. We don't know if he can even do that. Or know what's happening. Or anything. He could have connections to eyes and ears too."

"More to the point, these threads bypass anti-magic shielding," Cyprian notes. "We don't know if it means he can tell where they are though."

"Okay, so one avenue that can be pursued right now is building a method to trace the threads further/detect them easier, so we can isolate how many are really. And I can try to find out about this device Rostre mentioned to me from her book, related to Gorphat and the threads of fate or somesuch. I know the Temple of Gorphat well, as well as the Goddess, I can pursue that angle," Alptraum notes.

"A miracle might be the only way to break this," Cyprian notes, nodding his head.

"Are you willing to have a date with Gorphat to ensure it?" Alptraum asks Cyprian and grins a little.

"A miracle!?" Trilby says her voice getting shrill again. "From the Goddess of Affliction?" It's possible that, as a healer, Trilby may find issue with that.

"She can heal too," Alptraum points out to Trilby. "I've seen her do it." As for Cyprian, he nods to him. "Well, yes. She might fancy you."

"Well, get her too!" Trilby says, waving her hands in the air. "She can probably snuff the creep safely, right? Oh, I forget, you want to keep him alive so he can be defanged and turned over to the Coalition!"

"For the love of ... calm down," Alptraum says to Trilby. "I can arrange things with them if we are being actually serious about it. And Sunala might, but more likely Rephath, though she might want you to spank her. And Inala, but she likes every male," Alptraum mutters and rubs his forehead.

"Sorry, I don't care about some crusty old criminal mage," Trilby claims. "I have patients. Victims! If we had a dozen Earth Mages we could turn them all into trees or statues, deal with the Royal Pain, and then fix them all before changing them back."

"Oh, if you want to turn them into trees, I know a tree in the Forbidden zone that could arrange that," Alptraum remarks.

Trilby turns on Alptraum. "Explain," she asks, her demeanor much more pleasant now.

"Or ... I could ask Zakaro to empower some of the mages you do have," Alptraum offers. His brow arches and he looks at trilby, "This was a bit back, but I do know there is an ancient sentient tree in there, I've spoken with it. It's the one that helped grow a tree at Mount Sunala. It also sent walking trees into the General's lair. She was mad about that one."

"And it can turn people into trees?" Trilby asks. "Normal trees, that we can actually work with? That aren't in a Forbidden Zone, or still full of chaotic wild magic? Can I examine one of these trees anywhere?"

"The one at Mount Sunala. I could get you in to see that one," Alptraum offers. "As for a real tree, I'd have to ask. I suggest first I check with Gorphat, it's closer. Failing that, I talk to the tree thing, the worst it can do to me is ask me to leave," Alptraum offers.

"Was.. was that a pun?" Trilby asks. "And I'd need to bring Summer along. I can't do much of an examination without her."

"Yes, it was a pun. And yes, Summer can come along," Alptraum says, "I just need time to arrage it with them. They can be grouchy."

"Aren't they doctors?" Trilby asks. She probably has the Yodhrinala and Yodhsunala mixed up.

"Not ... quite. The Yodhsunala are morticians. The Yodhrinala are doctors," Alptraum clarifies.

"And they're all up there in the same place," Trilby says. "And I've heard of Yodhsunala treating people. Actual Yodhsunala."

"They're all up there, yes," Alptraum agrees. He also raises a finger, noting, "And do please remember, I am of that Temple, I am probably a better source of information than rumors you may have heard."

"It's not a rumor," Cyprian says. "The Yodhinala had one of our mages in their temple, and called on a Yodhsunala to try and treat her. There was little love lost between the Yodhinala and Yodhsunala, ironically."

"Not that surprising. Most Temples do not like each other," Alptraum comments and shrugs. "Healing is not their specialty. Can they? Maybe. Yodhrinala are better at it."

"But Yodhrinala were illegal at the time," Cyprian notes. "Outlawed by the Yodhsunala themselves. But the Yodhsunala can heal. As can the Yodhgorphat. They just weren't known to do so, unless it was in their own interests. Humiliating the Yodhinala was probably in the interest of the Yodhsunala, or at least one of them."

"Of course. They are all tied to roughly the same origin source; they're all aspects of life," Alptraum says and nods. "I've spoken with all of them, Rinala, Sunala, Gorphat. Even Gepesea too. And no, I'm not just making up that to sound important, I have spoken with them all; I've been trying to guide them/reunite them into a better path than they were on.""

"They started out better, and were warped into what they are now," Alptraum says and rolls his shoulders in a shrug. "But there isn't enough time right now to really go into it in any detail."

"Ssssso," Rostre interjects. "I shall begin work on a detector. It should be sssimpler than the cursssse-compasss was."

"I'll check at Gorphat's temple on the mentioned artifact and if anything is known of it, then arrange things with the Yodhsunala," Alptraum offers.

"I suppose I'll make sure I'm ready to go when arrangements have been made," Trilby says. "And make certain that Summer is free to attend as well."

"I will arrange for more passive detection to be used around our captive, in case there are more surprises," Cyprian offers.

"Being mad doesn't change it, though. Better to save your energy for dealing with it," Alptraum offers. "If there's nothing else to be done here, I'll head on to Gorphat's Temple to see about the artifact and if anything is known there."

"Alright, I think we have our tasks to work on here then," Cyprian says, and claps Alptraum on the shoulder. "Thank you for helping, and.. please don't pimp me out to any goddesses if you can avoid it."

Cyprian takes his time thinking about this. "Hmmm, what do you get the man who has everything?" he asks.

Alptraum laughs. "Nevermind. I'll do my best to keep all of you out of it. I can deal better with their attentions anyway," he admits.

"You can't actually get sick though right?" Trilby asks. "She can't do that because you're.. one of them?"

"Oh, she can make me suffer if she wants to, I'll survive, though. It's all fine," Alptraum says and waves his hand.

"Well, I may check you over afterwards just in case," Trilby offers.. or threatens.

"Well, I'm off to the land of goo and bad smells, then," Alptraum says and waves as he heads for the door before he is waylaid again!

"You're going to Rostre's lair first then?" Trilby ribs at Alptraum's back. Mages.. their relationships are strange.

"Ha ha. I'll bring you a souvenir from Gorphat, Trilby," Alptraum threatens as he heads out the door now.

Temple of Gorphat
The actual Temple area was never used much, as the Yodhgorphat preferred the natural caverns behind it, and it isn't like they had many pilgrims. As such, it could easily be mistaken for a ruin. The vaulted ceilings are hidden by mold and grime, the altar is covered in Chibix guano, and most of the offering bowls hold stagnant water - those that are dry are cracked, of course. Behind the altar is a tall blank expanse of wall, the plaster long since rotted away.

The Yodhrinala working in the temple nod deeply to Alptraum, and the various newly minted acolytes (and their attendant horribs) seem to be helping them out. But nobody tries to interrupt him on his journey: if the Barsunala is visiting the Temple, then it's probably not for a reason mere mortals would comprehend.

Alptraum is still friendly to those that do nod and smiles. He also calls out greetings to some and even bows to others. There's nothing wrong with being approachable after all! It also gives him a chance to delay going into the temple to deal with Gorphat directly. Which is ... nerve wracking every time. He did give her control over his body, after all; and her Her domain, what he is, is entirely Her whim. But, he can only delay so long; soon he has entered into the disused temple nook and struggles with the urge to cover his nose. Amazing how it smells fine to Nicora, but horrible to him.

There's a rat at the altar. One of the new Yodhmabb hopefuls probably. She's naked, but on her knees and actually praying in Skeek. Alptraum can see Gorphat perched at the edge of the altar, smiling. "She can't see me," she tells Alptraum, but also holds a finger to her lip in an imitation of Barada. And winks.

Alptraum bows to Gorphat and also nods in the request to keep quiet about her. So, he goes up to a free spot near the altar to kneel down and bow his head in respect too. He'll let Gorphat 'induct' the new rat, or the like, and keep quiet about it!

The Skreek finishes, then notices Alptraum and smiles to him. It looks like her jaw was broken a long time ago, but.. looks like it's getting better? She makes the sign of the wound on her forehead, between greasy locks of hair, then gets to her feet and heads off into the temple again.

"I like this," Gorphat tells Alptraum, as she sprawls across the top of the altar. "Reverence. Respect. Gratitude," she says. "And she doesn't smell like Inala," she then adds pointedly.

Alptraum smiles and nods his head to her, and returns the gesture of the wound upon his own fore head in kind. He also remains kneeling before Gorphat out of well, both fear and respect. "You are as radiant and beautiful as ever," he sucks up to Gorphat. "And yes, I have had to deal with Inala; her kind of magic was needed for a duty, is all. Remember, beloved, she entices, I come to you of my free will. I gave you dominion over my body, too."

"Grrr, except when you have her energy in you," Gorphat notes. "What is it for? What is she having you do?" she demands.

"She wishes for some bunnies of her own, in trade for empowering my with the energy needed to combat some Royal Mage magic by summoning some beings I have in spirit into corporeal bodies," Alptraum explains. "And if you cannot control my body right now directly, just tell me what you wish me to be and I will be it."

"Bunnies," Gorphat says, her words quite literally dripping. "Because I have a pair, no doubt," she claims. "First.. did you seek me out just for my company?"

"For your knowledge on an old artifact named after you," Alptraum says, head bowed. "But it also gave me a reason I could visit without raising too much alarm. I have missed you dearly. Being with you, being one of Yours. Being Your High Priestess."

A damp finger reaches under Alptraum's chin to lever his head up. "Then look at me, not the floor," she coos. "What's this about an old artifact named after me?"

Alptraum does raise his head, and even dares to kiss Gorphat's hand gently, and then up to look into her eyes. "It is an artifact called Gorphat's Needle. A device for inflicting things upon another through threads of some sort. I know not if you even know of it; it may have just been named in Your honor."

Gorphat's eyes go cold. "In my honor, you say. A device. No, if it does what you say, it is something that is stealing from me and mine. The Yodhgorphat cannot be replaced by a device. Tell me everything."

"We are not certain, but we suspect it was used to bind a former Royal Mage to a group of others. We have found threads that connect him to various parts of the others, such as their heart, or their brain. We do not know what they are specifically for; but the only reference we could find even closely related to it was this device. I suspect it is some sort of escape plan he has, or a way to keep himself alive," Alptraum explains.

"I want to meet him," Gorphat says, sounding sweet. "Bring him to me. In Magog's realm."

"The mage? I cannot. He is currently bound in isolation; I cannot reach him that way," Alptraum admits and his ears wilt.

"I do not think I can pierce the shield they have on him that cuts him off from everything," Alptraum admits. "I can try, but I just wish to be clear it may not be possible."

"You say he has used this thing to connect himself to others," Gorphat says. "Then that is how you should get to him, perhaps."

"Possibly. It seems to circumvent normal 'mage' methods. Perhaps since our ... connections are also not according to their rules, I could manage it," Alptraum concedes after thinking about it. "I will attempt it soon."

"Good, as I'm sure some of the others would be interested in meeting him as well," Gorphat notes.

"Before I go, though ... I would be honored if I could spend some time with you," Alptraum offers, "As myself, or any of the bodies You own. Please. I miss your touch and serving you completely."

Gorphat smiles. "Well, there is one aspect of myself that has been a bit neglected," she claims. "But you'll have to find her outside of the temple, in my city."

Alptraum arches his brow. "An aspect that is neglected? Out in the camp around the temple?" he asks, one ear cocked.

Gorphat nods, and has a smirk. She isn't giving out clues, that would be Barada on a good day.

"Right. Well, that doesn't give me much to go on, but okay," Alptraum admits as he rises, then dusts off his knees. "I'll head out there, then."

Alptraum shakes his head a bit, ruminating on the capriciousness of Goddesses, then he turns and heads towards the way he came in.

Gorphat City
Really, it's more of a shanty town, but by the standards of the Streets Below it's pretty posh. Walls may be made of rags and any fabric too far gone to be used for clothing or bandages, but the roofs at least are pretty solid, and nothing is burning. The open nature of the place seems to carry to the occupants, who don't worry about things going missing - largely because they don't have anything that they aren't wearing. Almost everyone here are 'stripers' and family, or other volunteers that are less visible.

Everyone seems to have something to do out here. Most are doing something to support the hospital services, while others are.. taking a break. They're mostly Skreeks at ground level.

Alptraum rubs the back of his neck and has no idea how to even begin. So, he starts by simply trying to sense the area and those present to see if he can feel anything special.

The settlement is rife with Gorphat-ness, especially the large tents that act as hospital wards. The shanty town also has a good whiff of divinity, but that is just where the various families and hangers on and volunteers stay. Maybe someone set up a shrine.

Well, she did mention city, so Alptraum heads towards the shanty first, trying to sense out where that 'divinity' comes from.

There is quite a bit going on in the little village. After all, the Temple of Gorphat isn't providing food, clothing or any other amenities. There is a small market trading in rags, candles and such. There are also cooking stalls, with a lot of beetle-based cuisine (provided from a certain former Yodhdiphath lair in the Streets Below). There is also a good bit of not-rags going around, and barrels of fresh water. There's even a smell of baking bread. The scent of divinity is not far from here.

Alptraum huhs. This place had grown since he was last here. While he does head in the general direction of that sensation, he more often than not stops to check out stands in the market, or to wave to folk, or even stop and chat if anyone actually does try to. He's always been more of a 'person' than a religious symbol, at least to himself.

Alptraum heads that way, then. "Selling black candles?" he inquires, sounding curious more than anything. "Got simple light or is there more significance?

"This is a special candle!" the Skreek claims, smiling wide. He's got a green tooth amid the brown ones. It's fizzing. "De-vo-shun-all," he claims. "But.. it's not green. So maybe you can use it, 'cuz yer black and stuff."

Alptraum's left ear splays out sideways. "Well, you have a fizzy tooth," he first points out. "And I don't know if I really need a candle, but ... well, what does it cost?"

"Cost?" the rat asks, confused but also looking proud that his fizzy tooth has been noticed. "You can't pay for 'ligous stuff. That's scrafuligious. You just gotta like say a prayer for me."

"Oh, well, that I can do," Alptraum admits and even grins slightly. "That tells me at least you're not trying, to, well, scam people. I'll take it and convey your blessings until Sunala and ask that she remember you when your final days approach ... so that you may have a good place in the beyond."

"Ooo, that sounds noice!" the Skreek says. "Give her my best! From Fizzik. Fizzik the Candlerat."

Alptraum bows. "Indeed, Fizzik," he replies in kind, "I will." He also holds out a hand for said candle.

Just past the market is something that every market must have: a trash heap. It also seems to double as a playground for Skreek children, who find the softer bits to throw at each other. The source of divinity seems to be coming from deeper in.

Alptraum arches his brow a little and laughs. Ah, to be a child and have fun with simple things again! Ah well. He also gets a feeling this aspect just might be Mabb, given, well, all the rats. And garbage. So, he heads deeper in!

Some is singing behind a particular tall pile. It's not very good, as if the singer had a bad cold.

Alptraum tries not to laugh at the bad singing. Instead, he tries to sneak around the pile and get a look at the singer.

There is a somewhat thin Skreek woman bent over as she rummages through the pile. Her rags are not as nice as those at the rag shop, and she's got a bandage around the middle of her tail. She also wiggles her bare butt as she sings.

Alptraum tries to sense if this is the source of the Divinity. "Hello?" he calls out to her butt. It's a nice butt.

The Skreek stands up and turns around. She's got bright green eyes, and smiles with most of her teeth. "Oh my oh my," she says, with a throaty voice. She manages to say it without taking the hand-rolled cigarette from her mouth. "Tall dark stranger, here to steal my soul, hmm?"

Alptraum rolls his eyes a little. "Well, no, I'm not generally in the soul-stealing business," he claims with a bemused sort of smirk. "Alptraum the Barsunala," he says, "But you seemed to know that already. And you are...?"

"Depends," the Skreek says, and rolls the cigarette to the other side of her face. "That big black shaft fer me?" she asks, and reaches to stroke the candle with a finger. She definitely has a Gorphat like body odor.

"Hah, you want the candle, do you?" Alptraum chortles and then actually offers it to her. "Or was that suggesting a different shaft, hmm?"

"Let's see how good the candle is first," the Skreek says, and snatches the candle. She stubs out her cigarette on her tongue and tucks into the unruly next of hair atop her head. Then ship bites off the tip of the candle and chews him. "Hmm.. hints o' Chibix. Ear wax. Horrib hive wax. Rare.. fancy."

Alptraum makes a face. She's eating wax. Ick! He knows enough to know that tastes BAD! "Wow," he admits as he watches this. "I ... how."

"Survival," the Skreek says. "Can't be afraid to do whatever it takes. Wax is better than old leather. Can eat rag if you need to and it ain't too cold."

"Well, lots of things you can suck on," the Skreek claims, grinning. She's got black wax in her teeth now. "When you're starving, you try everything 'cuz being sick is better than dying, and who knows, maybe you'll get something out of it. You adapt. Life demands it."

"Well, I'm not arguing that at all," Alptraum says with a laugh. So, should I suck on you, then? Or are you going to suck on me?" Alptraum teases and then taps her right on the nose.

"Depends," she says, and then bites off another chunk of candle while looking at Alptraum, whiskers twitching at the nose boop. "Yeh aren't fragile are you?"

"Fragile in what sense?" Alptraum prods, curious. "I'm not fragile compared to Babelite Eee."

"Not in body," the Skreek claims, and pokes Alptraum in the chest with the rest of the candle. "Are you proud? Got an ego? 'Fraid o' getting dirty?"

Alptraum snorts. "Oh hardly," he says with a laugh, "I can get as dirty as any rat, or worse. And nah, not really proud, no."

"Hmm," the Skreek says, and then reaches her free hand down Alptraum's pants and feels around.

Alptraum squawks at that and goes up on his toes! "Well, hello there!" he laughs, squirming.

She pulls a big glop of chewed wax out of her mouth and sticks it in Alptraum's left ear.

Alptraum blark! That left ear twitches and moves all around! "What is that for?"1 he demands to know, but he's not trying to remove it.

"I needed a place to keep it 'til later," the Skreek explains. "Now.. take your pants off.. and close your eyes.." she requests, with a big waxy black grin.

Alptraum arches his brow again. He knows this is probably a bad idea, but ... it's also stupidly fun anyway. So, he does indeed remove his pants and sets them to the side. Then he closes his eyes and waits. And expects her to steal his pants and run off.

Now that makes Alptraum squawk more! It's not like this form had taken much that way, so it's a stretch, and a bit painful! But he doesn't try to stop her, or pull it out once it is in.

"Hmmm, you need to relax and adapt," the Skreek says, and tries twisting the candle from side to side to to work it in deeper.

Alptraum's lips draw back and he inhales some, and then actually does try to relax and let her push it in as deep as she wants to. "I don't usually take things this way," he comments.

Alptraum laughs, "Well, that's true." HE actually leans over some to try improve the angle as well as relax it a bit, well, more.

Alptraum ends up grunting in shock when he feels the end actually slip past his .. end. The sensation of feeling full is, well, quite there. Then the wiggling fingers ends up making him squirm a bit, and make little hissy notes.

"Hmm, so nothing else up in dere?" the Skreek asks, sounding a bit disappointed. "Plenty o' room goin' to waste."

"I don't normally put things in my butt," Alptraum remarks dryly. "Well, except for the occasional savanite shaft."

"You should use it more," the Skreek says. "Vampires probably don't use it for anyt'ing anyway." Then she grabs Alptraum and spins him around so she can push him back into the garbage pile.

"Use it for waaaah!" goes Alptraum as he spins and finds himself falling back into the garbage! Amazingly, he still has his eyes closed.

Alptraum opens one eye slowly. He feels all weird, probably because he's got a candle up his rump.

The Skreek looms over him, and.. does a little dance as she plucks off her rags one at a time. Apparently most of them were simply stuck to her. She's got a lot of scars.

Alptraum opens his other eye and ends up whistling. He doesn't mind the view. Scars are attractive too, and so this rat when it comes down to it. Honesty often is, and at least she's honest about being dirty.

One of her breasts is a bit droopy, but they look ample on such a skinny frame. Even under the matted fur her ribs are visible. "So, still thinkin' 'bout the candle?" she asks.

"Hard to forget about it," Alptraum admits, honestly, "But you're a nice distraction from it right now." He even grins and winks. "You're good looking, and I do mean that. I'm not saying it just so you'll jump me," he adds as his eyes travel down. He does worry she might be, ah, infected down there, though.

She doesn't look exactly healthy down there, but also a bit well worn too. Not as bad as the rags she wore though. "So, you think y'can handle me, eh, half-god?" she teases.

"Only one way to find out. Gonna make me as dirty as you?" he teases right back and makes grabby motions at her.

"Well, I am divine," the Skreek claims and then turns and sits on Alptraum's chest, her rear up against his chin. This also hides what she's doing to his crotch. He feels.. warm. And there are slobbery sounds.

Alptraum actually grabs her hips and lifts her rump up so that he can get his muzzle, and tongue, under and into her worn and unhealthy 'divine'. Why? Because he wants to, no more reason than that. And the warm slobbery elsewhere does feel nice.

This makes things more interesting at the other end, as the rat goes to town on his other candle. It feels like she has multiple tongues.. which might be possible. Or else she throat tentacles.

Alptraum counters by burying his tongue in deep and squirming it around. He may not have multiple, and part of him does fear for what his bits will look like when she's done ... but not enough of a worry to stop what he's doing! Or stop her.

She tastes like a Skreek.. and some other things. Things that may or may not have been stored in that orifice. He isn't sure what the tastes are from though. Could be beetles. Could be a yeast infection.

Alptraum doesn't really care, he's enjoying it, even the taste. He's even nibbling and snipping on it here and there.

There is.. a puff of redolent air from it. The wax on her teeth lets her get a grip on things for tugging as well. As if using her teeth weren't a bit odd to begin with. But she hasn't started chewing or anything, despite her stomach rumbling.

Alptraum coughs at one point, but it doesn't deter him yet! His tongue presses on, and his hips are, well, bucking a bit.

Bucking leads to more biting.. and some squeezing of the scrotum too. Which is feeling damp from the slobbering.

Alptraum mmfts, that's a bit painful, but he can't help it, instinct makes his hips move!

This also release more flavor and odor. And a few whacks from the tail, which is a bit like a bullwhip at that range. And while he can't see it, he realizes she's got everything in her mouth now.

This impresses Alptraum! How in the world did she manage that!? HE hugs onto her hips and counters by trying to bury his muzzle into her body and lick even deeper!

Even with an Eeee tongue, he hasn't plumbed the full depth. Because he's encountered an obstacle! It's got a rough texture. The gobbling sounds get louder.

Alptraum tries to curl his tongue around that object so he can pull it out! The sounds are also starting to worry him, is she actually eating his bits? He hasn't felt any pain?

It feels different certainly, with the jaw action and.. teeth. If blunted by wax. The blob in his ear is making the sound weirder than usual. It's also a stretch to get his tongue around the wrinkly thing, which also tastes a bit sweet and bitter somehow. It feels in there pretty well, and will take a bit of effort to dislodge.

Alptraum's tongue is determined, and so it he. So he's wiggling his tongue hard, trying to get it around whatever that is and pull it out. His hips are also starting to roll again, in spit of himself. It may feel weird, but it also feels good.

It comes loose! It's a hard and round and is starting to make his tongue tingle. His limited experience with solid food is a liability, but he's pretty certain it's something edible, like a vegetable or fruit.

Alptraum tries to pull it all the way out so he can clear her path! He almost wonders why she would have a fruit in there, but she did say she stored stuff, so ..

It comes out, and may be responsible for the odor of some of the queefs from earlier. It's some sort of pickled fruit or vegetable. It's very dark and wrinkly.. and presumably was pickled before going in, and not as a result of said insertion.

Alptraum sets that aside, and chalks it up to someone being weird ... and tries not to thing too hard on it. So, he goes right back to what he was doing, and sees how deep he can get!

He doesn't encounter any booby-traps at least, but does get Skreek claws pinching his bum as his paramour seems to be gargling on him. She also seems to be of 'how deep can it get' philosophy, and the answer is that Alptraum can feel her tonsils.

Alptraum also realizes he's close to popping, or so he thinks. It sure feels like it and he's squirming more. It seems to be easing off, then he's suddenly tensing up and he feels things below, well, semi-explode in the usual sort of intense waves that come with such things.

Now the Skreek is bobbing her head, just to make things worse.. or better, depending on Alptraum's perspective. She's also a bit slobbery at the other end, as Alptraum's muzzle is getting soaked.

Alptraum doesn't care about his muzzle getting soaked; he's still shuddering from his fall off that cliff! He's also hugging on her butt like mad, and his hips are really moving!

The Skreek is certainly encouraging him, by pinching on his upward thrusts to try and goose him further. She's also bouncing her own booty a bit, and is sticking the tip of her tail into Alptraum's other ear now, but thankfully not deep.. just enough to stroke against the fine inner hairs.

Alptraum keeps working her once his focus comes back; there is a whole lot of muzzle grinding and tongue, squirming in the rat! His hips are slowling though, and do eventually stop.

The gargling noise doesn't stop though, but eventually she pulls away enough to say, "Don't lose dat pickle, I saving it for later!"

Alptraum fumbles and finds that pickle, then does hand it over with a shakey hand.

The hand grabs it, and then there is a crunching sound. "Ah, fermented up nice!" the Skreek claims.

There's a burp, which is echoed at the rear end too. "Was I intoxicating den?" she teases him.

"You were certainly .. something?" Alptraum admits, not quite sure how to answer that politely!

There's some scooting around until the Skreek it nose to nose, still crunching on her somehow crunchy plum. Some of the juice drips down her chin (at least, it's probably pickle juice).

Alptraum reaches down while he has a chance to make sure he's still intact below! His expression is probably one of shock and fear at this point! It's fun, yes ... but egad! "So, am I dirty now?" he teases.

"Eh?" the Skreek asks. "Just a bit naughty," she claims. "Now if you wanted dirty you shoulda said so. I'd have dug up more bug guts and a carrot."

Alptraum arches his brow. "What would those be for?" he has to ask. Now he is confused!

"Well, you use the carrot up my bum while ploughing the fields, then after that we eat it. The bug guts are just for lubrication.." the Skreek starts to explain.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Alptraum blurts out. That was waaaay too much info. He's also trying to wipe his bits off.

"Need a rag?" the Skreek offers. It might one of the ones that was stuck to her previously. She also fixes the wax blob out of Alptraum's ear to chew on some more.

"Nope," Alptraum answers, then shifts, angles, and soon he's back inside her! "Just wanted to make sure I could do this," he remarks with a grin and a buck of his hips.

"Ooo," the rat goes, and looks at the half-eaten plum still in her hand, so stows that Alptraum's ear, and then starts squirming against him.

Alptraum focuses this time entirely on the rat, trying to make her squirm, moan, and enjoy herself. HE's not even paying attention to how he feels; it's all about 'the rat'.

The Skreek cackles and bounces, and starts messing up Alptraum's hair. Who knows what's getting into it from the garbage heap.

Alptraum isn't even worried about that; he can bathe! He keeps trying different movement rates, positions, and force, to see what makes her moan the most!

She's certainly flexible internally, and possibly a bit.. foamy? It's a difficult sensation to pin down. And she appears to like everything, even if she's more into cackling and squeaking than moaning. Although a lot of the squeaking comes from the more active end rather than her throat. She also starts to sit up a bit, splaying her fingers across Alptraum's chest. Her breasts get pushed forward more, with one bouncing more than the other.

So of course Alptraum gropes those; and massage-kneads! And he keeps it up; he wants to see what happens when a Goddess actually peaks! If he can manage it, anyway. There's a whole lot of circular grinding now too.

"Gonna make the carrot jealous?" she challenges. There's drool, but that could be from chewing the wax. "Ooo, brave to lay hands on me!"

Alptraum displays his flexibility and brings a leg up some to catch her tail. He transfers it to one of his hands; the other just keeps kneading. Then he bends that tail around and uses it like the carrot was suggested, he manages to push it into her tush and then pump with it somehow! All while his hips move.

"Ooo, tricky!" the rat says and laughs. "Gotta use does extra grabbers you got! Can you keep control of all dat?" Then she moves her hands a bit, and pinches Alptraum's nipples.

Alptraum tries! It may be awkward and weird, but he does manage to eventually synchronize everything somehow! The pinching does make him squeak, tho.

"Squeak like a ratty!" the woman demands, and then brings one of her own legs around so she can tickle Alptraum's armpit with her toes.

"I'm not a rat!" Alptraum blurts out, "I can't squeak like one!" Then he eeeees at the tickling!

"You just ain't trying hard 'nuff," the crazy Skreek claims, and wiggles her hindparts in counterpoint. "Gotta let loose! It ain't getting dirty, it not caring about gettin' dirty."

Alptraum's hips are certainly moving like mad and that he doesn't care! The tail-work he's using is ... well, he's impressed how much of her own tail he's managed to stuff inside her! She's like a bottomless pit! He does try to squeak again, though doing it like a rat ... he has to guess at that!

"Don' force it," she says, and leans forward again. This makes it a bit easier for Alptraum to use his hips. She also kisses him. Sloppily!

Alptraum kisses back and is still trying to make her pop! His hips are going to be sooo sooooore.

Alptraum growls and rolls over so he's on top. HE also pulls himself out of her, then her tail out of her. She's bent upward, and his shaft now goes into where the tail was, hard. And he starts to pound.

"Ahaha! Get me into the muck!" She actually wiggles and wiggles her toes near Alptraum's face, since she's bent double.

Alptraum pulls out after a few minutes and flips her over! Then he's right back into her bum and pounding; and shoving her face into the garbage!

Now she's bobbing back since she has her legs underneath. But she mostly just lets Alptraum pound away. She's got some cushion at least, despite being skin and bones most other places.

Alptraum is soon biting on her tail, and each thrust scoots her forward an inch or so. He also reaches around and resumes groping.

The tail tries to wrap all the way around Alptraum's mouth, but can't quite coil that tightly. She does try pushing back at least. She's pretty squishy, breast-wise, with contrast from her sharp elbows getting in the way.

Alptraum takes plowing the field literally, and tries to make a line with her in the muck. Why? Why not?

The children's game has wound up on the side of the heap now, and the just use the pair as a further obstacle in their running battle, but manage to not hit them at least. The Skreek's head is mostly buried now.

Alptraum thinks he peaked again somewhere in there! So, he switches holes again and goes back to the more traditional route. He also starts just spanking her because, well, rat butt.

The spanking makes her quiver! After the switch she also starts bucking her hips back a bit harder as well. Then faster and faster.

Alptraum growls and will not be outdone, so he tries to go even faster than her! The rump-smacking to gets to the point her butt is really jiggling.

Something pops. It's probably her, because there is a definite release of energy that shoots up Alptraum's spine and seems to explode out of his head. The remains of the plum shoot out of his ear, the wax blob melts.. and the candle melts.. and his hair shoots out with static electricity.

Alptraum squeaks! He goes stiff; this time his whole body, not just Mr. Happy. A few twitches, then he just sort of ... tips over.

At least he seems to be dry now, if a bit steamy in spots. And the wax is starting to congeal inside.

There's a smoking hole in the pile of garbage, but no sign of the Skreek. "You a friend of Mabel?" the child asks.

"Who is Mabel?" Alptraum asks as he gets to his feet shakily to collect his clothing. Also, to go find some baths. Ugh.

"Mabel is the lady in the junk pile," the kid says. "She watches over us when we play."

"Oh, yes, I am a friend of hers, then," Alptraum agrees and finally finds his pants. "She's nice, if a bit weird."

It's very puffed out. And given how long it is it probably makes for an impressive halo.

Moving is also a big awkward, due to the wax plug (although some leaked out when it melted).

Alptraum tries to pat it down. "Sorry for disturbing your game. I'll be going now. I need to ... well, I really need to get clean," he admits.

"But you'll just get dirty again anyway," one little girl points out. "But dere's a big vat they wash stuff in by the tents.."

"That'll work, thank you," Alptraum says and salutes. It's off to the vat to get clean, then. How he's gonna get the wax out, though; that's the real mystery...