It was a bit of a challenge sneaking out of the Mages Tower, but use of the shadow and some classic gypsy misdirection got Alptraum out through the 'back door' on one of the lower floors. There isn't a lot of traffic to deal with between the lower causeway and Cenesta Plaza (other than the Fnerfs delivering supplies to the tower, which let her sneak past the guard). Once in the shadow of the plaza, Alptraum finds herself at the familiar inn.

The Laughing Chibix
Deep beneath the upper decks of Cenesta Plaza where no sunlight penetrates is this nondescript looking room-by-the-hour hotel. It's only two floors, given the restricted space, and may be built into one of the plaza supports. There are no windows, as there's nothing to see outside, and the door is emblazoned with a cartoonish looking laughing chibix.

Alptraum knocks on the door frame as she enters. "Helloooooo?" she calls out. "Any weirdoes here?" Ah, the usual bravado when she's actually nervous. Because, well, the bat right now is a girl, from head to toe, and inside as well as out. Changing again and swapping clothing would have been tricky, as well as energy costly, so for right now anyway, she's decided to just be, well this. It's the lowest cost body. Nothing to do with actually being comfortable in it, or enjoying the curves and having breasts again. Of course not.

"Eh?" a voice replies from around the corner, and a still-a-bit-damp Lapi head pokes around. "Are you a Yodhsunala come to execute someone?" he asks.

"Not quite. Is Cricket around? I just have some news for her," Alptraum says, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"She's.. always around, I think," the buck says. "I never hear her coming and going, anyway. Do you know which door is hers already?"

"Yeah, I know which door is hers," the Eeee replies and heads on in since it looks like it's okay!

The Lapi eeps when Alptraum starts for the turn and vanishes. She just catches the door to his room closing when she rounds it into the main hallway. Nobody else seems to be wandering around, but she can hear activity in the common room at the end of the hall.

"Hey, it's not like you have anything I haven't seen!" She comments as she passes his door and even impishly knocks on it. Onward she goes towards Cricket's door.

The door is opened a crack, and a silver eye peeks out. "Yes?" Cricket asks. "Are you another of his special agents, like me?"

"Not quiiiiiiiiite, but sorta," Alptraum says and grins widely, "I'm hurt you didn't realize it immediately." She leans in and whispers right in Cricket's left ear. "I'm Alptraum. You know I can change."

"What?" Cricket blurts in surprise, then opens the door.. carefully this time, so Alptraum doesn't fall on her.

Alptraum wiggles the fingers of her ugly hand at Cricket. "For some reason, the body has wanted to be, well, a woman lately, so I've ended up somewhat stuck like this," she says.

"That's not fair!" the Yodhbarada complains after closing the door. "Now you look scary!"

Alptraum pulls her shirt down to expose one breast and the piercing in the nipple. "If you need more proof, I've got all my usual fittings, just the ones between the legs have to reposition a little for the anatomy," she says with a grin. "And am I really that scary?"

"You look like a Yodhsunala!" Cricket urgently whispers. "So yes! Scarier than a Yodhgorphat because those aren't likely to come after you and kill you!"

Alptraum hooks her hand behinds Cricket's neck and pulls her right into a kiss. That has to send some weird mixed signals to the Yodhbarada. "Bet that was different, hmm?" she asks when she lets go, then licks Cricket's lips. "Am I still scary?"

"Your lips feel different," Cricket notes. "Not so scary that I know it's you, and not an assassin. Yodhsunala don't make social calls after all."

Alptraum grins, "All of me feels different." And she punctuates that by taking Cricket's hand and pressing it palm up between her legs. She also waggles her brow. Apparently she's in either a weird mood or a pervy one. "I actually came to tell you there was a problem with treating the tigers. They had a trap woven between them that wasn't spotted and was triggered. No one died, but there were some serious injuries."

Alptraum actually moans! She gathers herself and ahems, "Yes, well, like I said. There was a subtle trap rigged. So, now we know to look for things like that too. They'll be fine, and so will the mages. It was just a bit of terror and craziness for a bit."

"This is terrible!" Cricket moans, and retrieves her hand to pull on her ears. "Was it because they're brothers? Was that the key?" she ponders aloud. "None of the others are related.."

Alptraum shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe? It's hardly your fault. The mages didn't detect it either and it's their area of expertise," she says as she pats Cricket's shoulder. "No one is blaming anyone."

"But I can't let them be hurt!" Cricket insists. "That defeats the whole purpose of helping them!" She really starts fretting now, pacing back and forth. "What did I miss? I don't know what happened between the crash and.. and they can't tell me either! They have a really bad sense of the past.. not just who they were, but.. just about anything they've been through. Like anything from before they were in the mountain!"

Alptraum grabs Cricket's shoulders and lightly shakes her. "Hey, stop it or I'll kiss you again," she threatens. "Everyone missed it, including myself. There was no sign."

"Because.. because.. because.." she repeats with each shake. "I'm a Yodhbarada.. I should be able to find stuff like that. I needs to examine them all again! Deeper! I'll need one of the sacred probes.."

Alptraum ooos. "Will you probe me?" she says rather suggestively, then leans in and playfully bite Cricket's right ear.

The girl squeaks! "I don't think they work on Yodh or.. demigods," Cricket says, and bites her lip. "The Sisters would never allow that." She does seem to start to relax a bit from the bite.

"Seriously, you did nothing wrong," Alptraum insists. She takes Cricket's arm and leads her over to a chair. It's Alptraum that sits, though, and she pulls Cricket into her lap. There Alptraum actively nibbles her neck and shoulder as a distraction. "So, relax already. Now that we know if it, I'm sure the mages will work out a way to test for it."

"But what do I tell the men," Cricket manages to fret. "What if they lose confidence in me?"

"They don't know yet. And it would all depend what you tell them. Now that it's known, before any more work is done I'm sure the mages will develop a new test. I can ask them to send one here for you," Alptraum offers. Okay, now she's groping a bit. One hand is cupping the young Eeee's chest and kneading one of them.

"Oooo.. oh.. a mage of my very own.." Cricket moans, and starts squirming a bit. "What flavor.. I mean.. sphere?"

"Depends on what is required to test for it," Alptraum offers. See, there's one more hand Alptraum has, and it's the ugly one. She actually slips it into Cricket's, well, pants, where she starts to massage and tease Cricket's 'Inala's Gate'.

"Eep!" the girl squeaks, too cutely. Even with dulled sense of touch, Alptraum knows where to go with it.. but it also starts to catch on the fabric of Cricket's bloomers.

Alptraum works around the bloomers and actually slips two fingers into Cricket. She starts massaging, it's gentle but also quite, ah, skilled where it rubs. Alptraum then bites down on Cricket's neck, near the shoulder, and starts to drink.

The girl starts to go limp. Then there's a knock at the door and it opens a crack. Mr. Fluff peeks in, saying, "Are you alright in there Miss Cricket? There was a scary Yodhsunala looking for you.."

Alptraum looks up from over Cricket's shoulder, with her mouth around that shoulder ... and her hands obviously doing naughty things. She arches her brow questioningly at Mr. Fluff. Her massaging with both hands continues, unabated.

Alptraum smirks, slightly. She's continuing, watching and feeling Cricket's reactions and trying to guide her right over into some pleasure. "Nah, just relax and enjoy," she murmurs around that bite. She even adds to it with a bit of shadow ... that blooms inside her gate, and sort of squirms along with the finger massaging.

"Ahaha!" Cricket blurts out. "I really like teenaged you, but this is good too! Like being back in the old temple!"

"See," Alptraum murmurs, grinning, "This is a way you can claim you experienced 'death' at the hands of a Yodhsunala, And .. kinda fun to do like this."

"No.. no this is our secret," Cricket claims, with a certain tone that hints that keeping a secret from other Yodhbarada is.. kinky?

"Only if you use your tongue on me after," Alptraum barters. She's ... really kind of getting into it.

"What, you want to share ... kissing each other?" Alptraum asks as she finally lifts off her bite. "I kiss your gate, you kiss mine..."

"Sharing.. huh.." Cricket pretends to ponder. "Are Yodh allowed to do that?" she asks, and giggles. "I don't think I'd want to be sitting down for that though. Who gets to hang from the perch?"

Alptraum slips her hands away and gets Cricket to stand. "Do you have a preference?" Alptraum asks as she actually starts disrobing right there. She wasn't kidding about the piercings; she's currently adored, though no chastity chain. Good thing at the moment!

Cricket sheds her robes (but does fold them with some reverence before setting them aside) and slips off her bloomers (which get tossed towards a corner). She jumps up, grabs a perch, then swings her feet up to grab it. Her breasts actually shift a bit towards the floor, something few Eeee can manage.

Alptraum grins as she watches Cricket. "You've never done this with others? I was sure some Yodh did this in the Temples," she jokes as she approaches, and checks if, well, things will line up, muzzle to gate for each of them as it were.

"Oh, in the Temples, sure.." Cricket says, and nuzzles as well after she gets a good grip on Alptraum's hips.

Alptraum is nuzzling too. This is disturbingly arousing. The nuzzling draws in close and closer until lips touch ... other lips. Then that kiss begins. Soon tongue comes into play and ventures deep into Inala's gate on the inverted Cricket.

Cricket is mirroring the action. But with her feet locked in place, she can't really squirm, just sway her hips forward and back. She tastes.. clean. Or maybe Alptraum's tongue just tastes things differently as a female.

Alptraum hugs around Cricket's hips and butt as she really, well, works that tongue in. The taste is different! Though she also realizes that other than Gorphat, she's never done this to another female as a female. And Gorphat is hardly a comparison!

Certainly it wasn't quite so reciprocal, as Cricket really wiggles her tongue up into Alptraum. And there's a bouncy motion when her boobs hit Alptraum's torso.

Alptraum wiggles her hips down to help out! It feels both nice and rather naughty to be doing this as effectively two Yodh. Though it's distracting, Cricket's lesser 'skill' means Alptraum can focus. And she's focused on working her tongue jaws in ways Mave taught her in some of the lessons on how to be a Bar (or Yodh) Inala.

It's certainly having an effect on Cricket, as she starts to really shudder. Her flavor changes to something a bit more salty too! She still tries her best on Alptraum, going more for depth than finesse.

Alptraum keeps on working, trying to really make Cricket shudder and fall into Inala's grace, as it were! Soon, though, Cricket's own kiss is starting me make her feel squirmy and she's starting to tremble and clench a bit!

One of Cricket's feet unclench for a moment, but she secures it again quickly. If Alptraum isn't careful, the Yodhbarada may lose her grip completely when she shudders again! Now the younger Eeee lowers her grip on Alptraum, grabbing her cheeks. There's not a lot to grab onto with an Eeee, but long fingers mean the grab covers more area.

Alptraum is having all sorts of fun and enjoyable bursts now which is making her wobble ever so often. It distracts her a bit, so hopefully gives Cricket time to recover. Of course when Alptraum can focus again, She really works her tongue. She's got it deep enough to lick, well, her womb entrance.

There's a squeak that travels along Cricket's tongue, followed by the girls legs suddenly having to bend so her feet can grab the back of Alptraum's head when she fully looses her grip on the perch!

Alptraum staggers as she now has to bear all Of Cricket's weight. So .. she waddles to a wall and leans Cricket on it for balance before she topples over. It's also riight about then her own bit of Inala's release kicks in and she's shuddering hard and her legs want to give out. Good thing that wall is there to lean on! She could get used to doing this. Maybe Mave would agree...

Things get a bit jumbled, and limbs need to be sorted out. Cricket has to pull out her tongue which just hangs out of the side of her mouth. "Outh," she lisps.

Alptraum pulled her tongue out after she did a really thorough licking as if cleaning Cricket out. Then she ends up giggling and shivering. "Ooooh, we might have to make this a regular thing," she teases her younger friend.

"Oooh? So you want a next time, do you?" Alptraum laughs. She's started sort of rub-massaging one of her own breasts a little, from chest out to nipple. She might be testing to see if she's having the 'producing milk' reaction Inala gave to many of her forms.

""They need regular milking by Otto, when she's not otherwise distracted by something else or using the slime trail to move across.

They seem a bit pert, but not about to lactate. Unless she somehow managed to suck on them, given that blessing seems to stick to the Barsunala. And then Cricket grabs one and squishes it around. "We don't get mature boobs in Barada's Temple," she notes.

Alptraum actually takes Cricket's head again and pulls her mouth close to one of her nipples! For ... science? "There's nothing wrong with mature," she comments.

Cricket is not used to dealing with breasts (she was pretty flat before Alptraum pumped her up), so uses her tongue a lot to start with, before trying to suckle without biting. She still ends up biting a few times. It feels nice though, other than that.

"There you go," Alptraum sort of purrs when she starts suckling. The bites cause her to squeak a few times, though. But ... after she gets Cricket to actually nurse for a couple minutes, she checks for any reaction.

Nothing so far. This form does not have the usual female blessings from Inala. Possibly because it's not a form that belongs to her or any of the Sisters - it belongs to Alptraum and Melusine.

Alptraum nods. "Right, that's useful to know!" she says with a grin. "So, feeling less nervous and worried now?"

"What?" Cricket asks, unplugging. "What's useful to know? And I still don't know what to tell the men. I can't not tell them something, and I can't lie to them."

"Just testing for reactions," Alptruam claims and shrugs. She gets up, a bit wobbly, and hunts for her clothes. "Just tell them the mages discovered a different form of a trap when treating the two tigers and need to adjust their process a bit. Everyone is fine, it was just a surprise. That is all completely true."

"Did the tigers say anything about the Lapi they were with?" Cricket asks, not quite moving towards her clothes yet. "Mr. Fluff has picked up on that, somehow, and has been keeping his ear close to my door, as it were."

"Not yet, they were still unconscious when I was there. They'll probably be awake in a day or two," Alptraum explains, and does start to dress.

"Hmm, I can hold off on saying anything until then," Cricket decides. "I really don't want the guys to worry about getting their memories back."

"Right, you can. And really, don't worry about it. It was handled, we learned. While unpleasant, it ultimately turned out okay," Alptraum repeats as she pulls her shirt on. "So ... please don't worry over it. You did a great job. I could not have asked for more."

Cricket sits on the edge of the room's small bed, and nods. "I'll just focus on finding the truth about the rest of them. Although hopefully Mr. Fluff will be sorted out by the tigers' testimony. I'm sure the mages wouldn't have trouble with a Lapi."

"Unlikely. Most lapi are pushovers," Alptraum agrees, nods. She walks over and runs her fingers through Cricket's hair. "So, am I still fun even like this?" she asks.

"Yes.. even if you look scary," Cricket admits. "I still like the teenaged version of you too though."

Alptraum grins. "Good, so I can play with you however I am," she says. "Maybe even as a Yodhgorphat..."

"Uhh.. you don't really mean that, right?" Cricket asks. "Yodh aren't supposed to mingle like that. Although killing one another is apparently alright if you're the Yodhblakat."

"I'm special, remember?" Alptraum points out teasingly. "You're stuck with me. I enjoyed that, Cricket ... and I do care about you. You're family now. I have a weird family."

"So am I one of your wives, like the High Priestesses?" Cricket asks, eyes lighting up.

"In a weird way, I suppose," Alptraum relents. "Unfortunately, I do need to go. I have matters to tend to at other temples"

"Ooooo? My Barada-sense is tingling!" Cricket says. "Which temples?" she asks, making big cute eyes at Alptraum.

"Well, I've influenced her a little. Not much, though. Time to change that," Alptraum says, now fully dressed and feeling more relaxed! She needed that, she was having the urge to jump someone. Whew. "If I hear any more news on the Tigers, I'll let you know. Or ... if I find I need your tongue again..."

"I'm trying hard to make the men here think I'm chaste," Cricket points out. "It's a not a lie because they haven't actually asked me. But.. they're all older than me by a good bit. Maybe some of them of them have daughters they don't know about, and that plays into it."

"You still are, technically. They're all men, I'm ... not right now," Alptraum points out and heads to the door. "Anyway, I'm going to get going."

Once upon a time, summiting Mt. Zakaro would be a very poor decision. Even airships that ventured too close would be attacked by naked, rune-painted madwomen. But now it's just.. quiet. The ancient Temple is a burned-out looking ruin, and the clicks and chirps of wild Groks can be heard past the treeline.

The groks oddly don't worry Alptraum as she approaches. She's used to them; she's been them! She can also fly. So her ears may track the sound, but it's not of much concern. As she approaches the entrance, she's overcome by an urge to remove her clothing. So step by step she's removing her shirt, then she has to pause and remove her pants too, and undergarments. All of that goes into her travel pack. She looks about, and finds an outcropping high up a wall near the entrance where she can ... hang that. For some reason, she just feels she should not enter the temple, clothed, ever. She draws a deep breath a few times ... and then steps just inside the burned out gate, hesitantly. And as she takes a step, then another, her body feels ... squirmy. And soon becomes far more curvy ... and pale ... soon to white. Then as if invisible brushes are attacking, runes draw and snake across her naked body now that she's within the temple itself. The first real steps of a new Yodhzakaro, into the Temple of her Patron. "Well, Dagh," she squeaks out, nervous.

"Wrong Temple, a voice remarks from deeper inside. The rubble makes it hard to figure out where it came from, and it sounds distorted in other ways. "I don't recognize you," it says next.

"Not the wrong Temple. I am here at Zakaro's request," Zatraum calls back. "I mean no trespass, or harm. It was Zakaro Herself that helped ... decorate me."

"Well, take the path to your left then, it avoids the worst of the damage," the voice instructs.

"Where are you?" Zatraum calls out next as she does move to take the left path through the rubble. "Are there others here?"

"Well, those are tricky questions," the voice says. "Now stop where you are, and I'll come to you."

Zatraum draws to a stop and just .. waits there. Her ears flick and twist as she uses the sounds of drips and air movement to try and map the interior of the Temple some.

The echoes are weird and unsettling. Zatraum has been in real haunted ruins back in Sylvania, and the vibe is disturbingly familiar. When her mysterious guide appears, it's by dropping down from the ceiling, hanging upside-down from an unburned beam. Zatraum hadn't detected them at all. An actual ghost would have stood out more. "Now, who are you?" the dark figure asks, hidden by its own wings so that only the ears, eyes and scraggly, damp hair that nearly brushes the ground are visible.

"An ally of the Barsunala, I am tasked to come help Zakaro's Temple, and have been anointed as such by Zakaro's hand through one of Her allies," Zatraum answers. "I do not have a proper Yodh name, at least not yet. I have come to officially join."

"Well.. then you should keep turn right here, and continue on until you reach the altar," the figure says, and then.. evaporates into smoke and soot.

"Interesting, I should have expected magic to be used here. That was quite good," Zatraum muses to herself. She does look right, try to sound a bit, then heads in that direction if she can sort of ping out an altar.

There is still a lot of debris in that direction, but nothing that completely blocks the passage. But some of it seems suspicious, as if it had been moved there from elsewhere, since there aren't always obvious gaps and spaces that it would have fallen from.

"I see you've tried to make this place worse than it is. This debris doesn't belong here," Zatraum calls out as she continues on, carefully. She's wary of the debris, and is careful to check for more illusions through sound, and even aura checking.

Everything seems real so far.. but the air is hazy with dust and smoke, clouding her conventional senses a bit. Eventually she reaches a chamber that seems partially opened to the sky. A round altar is at the center, with a smoking bowl in the center. Seated cross-legged behind the bowl is a Yodhzakaro, dark-furred with silver symbols on her fur. Her ribs are showing, hinting that things haven't been going well. There are several of the odd smoke-and-soot figures near the more intact walls of the chamber as well.

"Hello. Am I addressing the High Priestess?" Zatraum asks, gently, as she slowly approaches the altar. She's trying to sense the aura of this one as she does. She's also feeling her own shadow 'twitch' in response to the smokey figures.

"I'm the one that's still here," the gaunt Yodh says, her voice sounding like she's inhaled a lot of smoke over her life. "So, yes, I suppose." The smoky figures move towards Zatraum slowly.

Zatraum continues to close the distance. "My reason for being here is honest," she says as her eyes flick to the smokey figures, wondering if she should be prepared to defend herself. "May I ask your name?"

"I'm called Ashe," the woman says. "Or Sister Soot, if you prefer. I survived the fire here, and the Temple feels like an extension of me now. Don't mind my children." She gestures to the smoky forms. "They are fragile things. Smoke and soot are the ghost and corpse of fire."

"My arts are ... somewhat similar, though they do not derive from smoke," Zatraum says as she moves close enough to sit by Ashe. "I can see the first thing I should do to help is bring you food."

"How much food?" Ashe asks, tilting her head slightly. It makes a disturbingly dry sound when she does that.

"As much as you want," Zatraum offers. She actually reaches out to touch her too. "And I can offer other help, if you allow it."

Zatraum's hand touches Ashe, and the woman disintegrates.. into smoke and soot. The other figures do as well.. except there are now solid people standing in their place. Ashe, the real one that is, and another Yodhzakaro. The third revealed figure is a scarred Eeee male that looks like he's a former soldier, given his build. "What other help?" Ashe asks, sounding a bit healthier and looking less gaunt.

"Well, I would have offered some of my collected essence to bolster your physicality. Your construct looked ... on the verge of death. I could have ... helped. Restored some vitality," Zatraum explains and folds her hands into her own lap. "Now, though I ... I understand you are wary and concerned. But I did come in good faith, so I admit I am a bit hurt. So, what now? Do you three intend me harm?" It's at ther point Zatraum goes from trying to not be so on guard, to drawing shadow to just below her skin, ready to defend herself."

The trio keep their distance from Alptraum and the altar. "How did you get those markings?" Ashe asks, her real voice only slightly less tortured than that of her illusion was.

"Through magic and the influence of Zakaro upon the artist who applied them. They were placed at Her direction," Zatraum answers, simply. "The Barsunala has many allies and works with the Goddesses, and in turn some are chosen to join the Temples and work directly to restore them in a fashion. I am the one selected by Zakaro."

"I heard that the Barsunala has been upsetting the beetle cart in the other Temples," Ashe says, but looks skeptical. "What's your affinity?"

"Shadow and darkness," Zatraum replies as she lifts her right hand. And thus, darkness and shadow does ripple out from it, and from her. It swirls and ripples out around the room like smoke, but moving in rather unnatural ways and with far more of a solid feel than smoke may have.

"I fine affinity, but I may be biased," Ashe says, and runs a hand through the dark fluid. "No held spell, no artifacts.. so you're not a mage, which helps back up your claims." She looks to sole male in the room. The man is big, and has scars. "Not Yodhinala, Tabyr, so no reason for you to be afraid." Despite the harshness of her voice, she still manages make that last word sound like it was being delivered via a twisting knife. The other Yodhzakaro giggles.

"No, not a mage," Zatraum remarks as she draws the shadow back to herself, and it swirls a bit about her for either modesty or defense. "The Barsunala does have dealings with the Mages, but only in efforts to ease the tensions between them, the cities, and the Temples. I am not involved in such." She pauses and peers a bit at the man. "Bad experiences with the Yodhinala," she asks.

The growls a bit. "His larynx is paralyzed, along with his nethers," Ashe says. "He should be dead, but Sister Echidna found him. He fell victim to the former Avatar of Inala. Probably the only reason we've kept him."

"That could be repaired," Zatraum comments as she continues to look at the man. "The Barsunala has taught me a few of his skills, at least."

"He's fine the way he is!" Echidna says, her voice shrill even for an Eeee. "This is how Zakaro wants him, or She would have undone the damage when I revived him."

"I would more say it's his choice. And an offer to prove my good faith, if you wished to test it," Zatraum comments. "Healing is not Zakaro's focus or purview; that falls to the older Gods ... or variations of current. Such as even reviving, which is Sunala's domain, is it not? It is She that rules Life and Death."

"We wasn't dead.. just very nearly dead and unconscious, and had his pants tangled up around his ankles," Echidna claims. "We can't punish an unconscious, nearly dead person for trespassing on Holy Ground, so I had to revive him!"

"And did you punish him after reviving him?" Zatraum inquires, and arches a brow.

"He serves us," Ashe claims. "Willingly. Of course, if he leaves he'll be hunted down as both a military deserter and a pirate."

"Well, the offer stands if you want me to try and fix him a bit further," Zatraum says, and shrugs. "I came as Zakaro has been reminding me I was expected, so I could refine an ability that allows me to maintain two versions of myself at the same time by taking up my place here, as it were. And in turn, train the Barsunala in similar."

"Hmmm," Ashe ponders. "So.. you want to visit the real Temple then," she says. "I can't remember when we last had an initiate, so we'd better ask Sister Ora." She then comes to the altar, and puts her palm down into the smoking bowl to extinguish the last embers.

Zatraum approaches a bit closer, but still keeps her distance. "Who is Sister Ora?" she inquires.

"She's our History," Echidna say, turning to walk backwards as Ashe leads them deeper into the ruins. "She's really Sister Oral, but she prefers Ora. She's ancient."

Zatraum doesn't comment on how Sister Oral would be more fitting for a Yodhinala. She follows the trio, keeping a reasonable distance and trying to sense auras and others that may be here.

Either it's just them, or there are others that are masked somehow. Eventually they exit the ruins and reach.. a tree. It looks dead, but it's got its own little courtyard so must have been important. Ashe stops and sticks the end of her staff into the ground and gives it a twist.. and nothing happens, but the others seem to be expecting this.

"One of the old trees given by the Sabbaoth," Zatraum observes. "All the temples have a variation of this."

"We aren't gardeners," Ashe claims, and the ground beneath them changes. It's still ground, but now it's softer, and soon it's like a liquid that they're sinking into . "Hold your breath before your head goes under," Ashe advises.

Being engulfed in weird is at least something Zatraum is mostly used so, so she's not panicking! "I just know its history," she claims to Ashe. "And its actual purpose, which was not altruistic."

"I'm not familiar with that word," Ashe claims before they go under. The seem to be sinking for a good ten seconds before Zatraum feels her feet poke through into air, soon followed by the rest of her. Her feet actually touch a floor before her head is free, so she needs to squat down to be entirely free of the goo-dirt.

Ten seconds IS a long time when you can't breathe. So, there is a bit of a panic when feet hit the floor. She actually grips onto it and does try to squat down quickly. "It means doing something out of the goodness of your heart and not for some sort of gain," she finally answers on the other side.

"Oh, like for your child," Ashe says. Tabyr has the hardest time of it, being the tallest. It's pitch black, but sounding out the area shows they're in a sloped tunnel heading downward, where there will be room to stand up after a dozen paces or so.

It's a good thing Eeee can see with their ears or this would be unsettling. It's of little difficulty to walk along with the group in the darkness. "Something like that, yes," Zatraum agrees.

Once they've reached a place with overhead space, Tabyr lets out a sigh of relief. With his damaged voice, he must be dependent on the sounds of others to navigate. There's a slight curve to the path as well, and given how long it is they're probably heading back under the Temple when they reach a large door. Zatraum is pretty sure it's made of thistlebark, so would be a very expensive door as well. Instead of knocking, Ashe seems to kiss the door, or at least a very specific part of it, and then there's a click of it unlocking.

"The offer stands to try and fix your throat," Zatraum tells Tabyr, knowing how hard it has to be if you can't echo-locate. The thistebark door makes her twitch, though, since it's about as bad as iron! The kissing especially makes her sort of shudder. "That is an expensive door, and unpleasant, door," she comments idly.

"If you want to keep secrets, it's very handy though," Echidna says, and Ashe pulls back and withdraws her tongue. Tabyr steps forward then and pushes the door open. There's light on the other side, though thankfully dim, and a lot of fluttering noises and shadows. "Don't dawdle," Echidna tells Zatraum. "The door closes quickly." The she crosses the threshold with Ashe.

Zatraum doesn't dawdle. She doesn't want to get hit by that door ... so hurries through!

She can feel the whoosh of air as it slams shut behind her. The dim light of lanterns shows a more natural looking cave. It doesn't have any of the useful glowing mosses and lichens of those in Mt. Gorphat, but the rock looks damp, and water drips in places. Echo-location is all but impossible though, due to all the noise and sound shadows. Also real shadows, as the place seems to be infested with large, white moths.

Zatraum starts trying to listen and probe for auras here, trying to figure out just what is here, and who.

The moths have auras, which makes it difficult. Moths shouldn't have auras. No other insects have had them, so it must be some sort of enchantment. The others are moving on ahead, but at least they have clearer auras to follow. Although they do come to an abrupt stop after awhile. Zatraum remembers the tramp-laden backdoor to Gorphat's Temple..

Zatraum continues to follow the others. "Traps. Of course. All the Temples have had them thus far," she mutters. "Some worse than others."

There are lot of animals here, Zatraum can feel. In the dim light she can make out dozens of.. Eeps! They've blindfolded though, and seem to be tethered in place, but still present a mine-field of sorts. Ashe gestures for silence, and leads the way. She seems to be quietly singing a song in her voice that in no way should be singing. The cadence is that of a lullaby though, and the Eeeps she passes do seem to become more lethargic (and safer to pass).

Zatraum is both amused, and impressed, by this use of Eeps. Also, not terribly surprised by it. Creatively odd traps are to be expected in these weird places! She continues onward, quiet, stepping lightly, and continually probing for aura to mark the life around them.

There's something with a bright aura ahead.. and above, towards the cavern ceiling once they're past the Eeep-field. Not an Eee aura at all.

This makes Zatraum try to look upward and actually see what it is versus trying to just sense it. "What is above us?" she asks.

"The ceiling," Ashe says, not looking up. But Zatraum sees the goggle-eyed Eep-Eee hybrid demon, Ephasto, looking down at her. He winks one bulbous eye.

"If you want to believe that," Zatraum quips, and grins a little. She wiggles her fingers up to Ephasto.

The demon just winks back with his other oversized eye. But soon he's left behind as the cave narrows, then opens up again. The new area is well lit, and the stone has been carved into fancy columns that give the impression of being in a Temple. There's nothing to interfere with Zatraum's senses now, and she can sense the auras of about a dozen Eee in the vicinity. Instead of an altar in the center of the chamber there's a well. A few of the inhabitants peek out from behind the stone pillars.

Zatraum's brow goes up. "There are more here than I expected," she concedes as at least a dozen unique auras sort of ping around her. She even waves a little to a few that dare peek out at her.

"They're all too old to leave," Ashe explains. "Those that could.. did. May or may not still be out there, unless the mages got them. Ora is this way." She keeps leading towards the far wall, which has a relief of Zakaro carved onto it, and some of the original paint still.

"The mages in Babel aren't hunting anyone anymore," Zatraum notes as she follows along. "They actively work with the Barsunala, and are led by 'The Avenger'."

"And the Coalition is just fine with us as well?" Ashe asks, as she turns to head between two of the pillars into a short hallway to another room. This one has a huge sand-pit in it, with the sand formed into a model of Babel's towers. Some of them are just piles of sand though.

"That can be dealt with, if desired. There are contacts in the coalition as well. The Barsunala is actively trying save what remains of all the Temples and let them come forward with the future as part of it. We're all Eee, and the city should be for all of us," Zatraum comments. "And yes, I know that is an entirely foreign idea, but the the Barsunala is a unique sort of Eeee." Her head tilts a bit as she peers at the sand model.

It's not as detailed as the city model in the bowels of Mt. Gorphat, but probably isn't meant to be an exact representation so much as something to practice on. Is a tower of sand can be held up, then one of stone probably can as well.

"Has he got the Yodhblakat tamed then?" Ashe asks. "Heard he was doing stuff with them. But they aren't direct competition to someone." They pass through another short passage into a new room, and Ashe breathes some life into one of the lanterns there to illuminate the place. It looks like a library, with plenty of shelves but no books. Instead there are little wooden carvings of Eee busts, some more skillfully done than others. Each has some of the odd Zakaro-script on them. Someone coughs from deeper within.

"He has them well distracted and thus not causing problems," Zatraum quips. Her commentary fades, though in this new room; her attention more drawn by the busts and the inefficiency of that being used as a 'book' or 'scroll' analogue. She at least doesn't comment on them; she has some manners. She does, however, comment, "I suppose if you also decided to kill me down here, no one would be the wiser, given all your wards."

"Meh, that'd be more trouble than it's worth," Ashe claims. "And a waste. Zakaro sent you, so if She wants you dead She'll give us a sign. Ora is in the back, I can hear her coughing. That's a good sign. Means she's awake and still alive."

"And harder than you'd think," Zatraum thinks with regard to the meh comment. "If she wasn't, then what would have been the point of this trip?" she asks instead.

"She might still have been helpful anyway," Ashe claims as they navigate the maze of shelves. There's light at the end of the last row, and heat from a stove and the smell of what might be tea (or medicine). They arrive to find an elderly woman hunched over a piece of wood that she's got half-carved into a rough bust already. It takes her a moment to notice the company. "You can't have any of my tea!" is the first thing she says to them. She's gone bald in a few places, showing that the symbols are tattooed into the skin. She's also very saggy. Zakaro really is the last Sister one would expect to require her Yodh to be naked all the time.

"I am not here for your tea," Zatraum replies, calmly. "I am here at Zakaro's request. To join, and to help bring the Temple back into part of the City life again. She reached out to the Barsunala, who then selected me to be the liaison and new member."

"You look too pretty to be a Yodhzakaro," Ora says. Nothing wrong with her eyes. "And familiar, too. But you got the marks, an' they look proper. Help me up!" She reaches out an arm that's both bony and saggy.

Zatraum reaches out to take that arm and help her up. "If I'm too pretty, I'm sure things could be done here to make me look more appropriate," she offers as if it's perfectly normal and fine.

"Nothing wrong with pretty!" the old woman says. "I was a looker in my youth." She points to one of the nearby shelves. "Can't reach the top one. I want the third bust from the end."

"I promise I won't bust it," Zatraum quips as she heads to the nearby shelf. She counts three over from the far side (assuming that is the end), and takes it down. That she brings back to Ora.

The woman takes it and reads the markings, intoning, "Zora! Wake up!" Nothing happens, so she starts to shake the bust until it says, "Stop that! I'm awake. This better be important."

Zatraum smirks, rather amused by this. Golumns, sort of. Living books. Reminiscent of the weird map that started the whole mess in a way.

"This woman wishes to join the Sisterhood, and has been anointed by Zakaro Herself," Ora explains and turns the bust so the wooden face can see Zatraum. "Well, that's different," the head says.

"Nobody joins from outside," Zona claims. "Yes, but when they do what is the procedure?" Ora asks again, and shakes the bust a bit. "Will you stop doing that?" the bust complains. "I'm trying to remember, so go sit on a Skedat and spin you old crone!"

Zatraum rubs her forehead a bit, and sighs. "Maybe I should just leave," she finally says.

"Some books are like this, is all," Ashe claims. "You have to be patient. They know a lot of things, they just need time to find anything specific.."

"That's not really a book," Zatraum points out. "More like a homunculus, or simulacrum."

"The full initiation doesn't apply here," Zora says. "She's already marked and presumably blessed? She's got an affinity? Hey, I don't call you names! I was the History a few generations back you know."

"Yes, she has an affinity," Ashe tells the bust. "A fast one too, good control."

"And more than I've shown," Zatraum mutters. "And it wasn't calling you names, merely identifying what you exist as now," she does say at least a bit louder. "And why not try to locate the dagger?"

"It would be difficult, there's a lot of rubble and it's just the hilt of a dagger," Ashe explains. "The blade is a spiritual thing, not good for cutting things."

"So? The Barsunala carried a knife like that. Still does, he just gave it a real blade," Zatraum comments.

"Does it still work? There were only seven of those things, one for each Temple," Zora says. "Can you get the Barsunala to loan it to you?"

"It still works, and yes, it's likely I could borrow it. It's been, well, modified some over time. It now has a blade forged from dragon's blood, and acts as a prison for a collection of rather nasty creatures," Zatraum claims.

"Is the blade sharp enough to draw blood though?" Zora asks. "I don't know how sharp you can make dragon's blood. But if it's in the shape of the originally spirit blade that should be fine, as it's the important part."

"It's plenty sharp. Imagine an obsidian blade, it's like that," Zatraum explains. "And the blade does match in shape of the original intangible one."

"That will work then," Zora says. "Go the well, and use the knife to make a cut on your palm. If the blade cuts, then Zakaro accepts you and you can say the pledge and let your blood drip into the well."

"That requires me to go get the knife," Zatraum claims. "Which I can of course do. Just noting it as I'll need a guide back out and such to go talk to him."

"Depends on who is handling them," the bust claims. "Anyway, get one of the daggers, go to the well, cut your palm, say your pledge, drip drip drip into the well. Bring something to clean and wrap the wound of course, and have you been fasting?"

"I also need to be taught the pledge," Zatraum admits, "And it sounds like ... fast."

"The pledge is personal, between you and Zakaro," Zora explains. "It's something you speak from the heart, or whichever organ you most identify with. Fasting means not eating. You should be fasting before the ceremony. Although the amount of fasting varies."

"To not get sick and vomit into the well," Zora replies. "If you vomit into the well, you get sent to the Yodhgorphat."

"Has that actually happened?" Zatraum inquires. "I hear they are a welcoming lot, you just have to get used to the smell."

"It must have happened at least once or they wouldn't make you fast," Zora explains. "If you void your bowels you just have to clean it up yourself. That almost never gets into the well, except on the rare occasion of explosive rapture."

"Or more likely it's to deal with people who aren't used to seeing blood. Specifically, theirs," Zatraum says and nods. "I should be able to manage this fine."

"The purpose of the ceremony is to accept a piece of Zakaro's power into yourself, and sometimes that can be overwhelming," Zora claims. "For some, it is too little to let them channel Her glory. For others it is too much for their body to handle."

"They join Zakaro, who clearly loved them and wanted them to be with Her," Zora says. "Usually the body just ruptures fatally. But there are legends of those that exploded, and from their blood the first generation of Eeps arose."

Zatraum thinks that is entirely made up nonsense! But knows better than to say that, of course. "I see. When you say rupture .. do they suddenly gain weight or something?" she asks.

"They just.. inflate, I suppose," the bust claims. "You would need to find an older bust for any details."

"So, just a vague claim or tale, then," Zatraum says and lets it go. "I could use a private room to try and contact the Barsunala and see if he's willing to loan me his dagger for a bit. If he agrees, we'll work out how."

"Can I go back on the shelf now?" Zora asks. "Yes, my arms are getting tired of holding you," Ora replies.

Zatraum reaches out for the bust since she'll probably have to return it. "No, I just need a quiet room and some privacy," she claims.

Zatraum shrugs a little. "Half an hour maximum, maybe? I just have to contact him and work out what can be done," she says. "So, a short chat as long as all your wards don't cause me problems reaching him."

"There are no barriers to Death," Ashe claims, and then bows to Ora. "Thank you for your help, History."

Zatraum collects the bust and carries it back to the shelf. She also tries to give it a thrill while walking be having it tucked in her own chest. Why? Because the idea seemed funny. She busted it.

Zora is quiet though, and the aura is fading fast. Given that the Yodhzakaro she's seen so far haven't been characteristically pudgy, she's got the biggest bust in the Temple that she can tell.

Zatraum sets the bust onto the shelf and returns quickly. "All right," she says, "I'll chat with him and see what can be worked out. Maybe he'll surprise me," she says.