When returning to Mt. Zakaro, Alptraum stopped at an old toppled statue to stash his clothes before turning into Yodhzakaro Aster. Once in the ruins of the old temple though, she quickly sensed that she was being watched - and that the watcher seemed a bit angry as well.
Aster draws to a halt and folds her arms. "I can feel you watching me, and that you feel that someone pissed in your breakfast," she remarks rather dryly. "You may as well show yourself."
Tabyr steps out from behind a stone slab. The big barzakaro is frowning (but that seems to be his default expression). "Something wrong with guarding the area?" he asks, arms crossed over his chest.
"If you're doing it in a mood that someone can pick up a mile away, yes, kind of. You were easy to pick out," Aster replies in kind and shrugs. "Just staying visually hidden isn't good enough. You need to keep your mood neutral too, or that is just as much of a beacon for many."
"It's supposed to keep people away," the man grunts. "I still don't trust you."
"Why?" Aster asks. "What have I done to earn distrust?"
"You are clearly a Yodhinala," the man insists, and just gestures to her. "No others look like that. Even the ones they place in the noble houses."
"Related to a Yodhinala, I am not one," Aster comments and waves her hand. "There is no crime in one's mother having been one."
Tabyr's voice starts to get raspy as he talks, and he has to pause to massage his throat. With his other hand he starts signing, "Why come to Zakaro?"
"Because I have gifts and I was asked to come," Aster answers in sign in reply, possibly to some surprise. "I'm not 'proper' enough to be Yodhinala, after all. I may as well use my abilities where I would be more accepted."
"As if the Yodh here have any choice," Tabyr signs, with slashing motions to display his anger or frustration. He then starts heading towards the hidden door, gesturing for Aster to follow.
"Everyone has a choice. In the end it's all in how you look for the choice and if it's any better than what you do have," Aster comments. "I had nothing to do with what happened between the Yodhinala and the Yodhzakaro. Or you."
The man grunts, and signs, "Just between me and Inala's Avatar." The get through the ruins to the hidden door, where Tabyr stops to lift it up.
Aster pauses. "The only person that can control what you do and how you let the past control you, is you. You can either let the past define you, or find a way to move on. I decided to try and help Babel find a new path forward; it was more productive than being angry. So I joined up with the Barsunala and his crazy crusade, which leads me here," she claims and pats him on the shoulder. "I'm not your enemy."
"The Avatar cheated though," the man signs. "Took my voice and made me a eunuch." He then waits for Aster to head into the low-headroom tunnel.
"The Barsunala could fix one of those, probably," Aster says and signs. "The other, though, did it really matter?"
"It hurt a lot, from the poison," the man signs. "I would have died if the Yodhzakaro didn't save me instead of killing of me on sight."
"How damaged are you?" Aster asks.
"They had to remove the poisoned tissue below," Tabyr signs. "They tried to save my throat first, which is why I am alive and can talk a little."
Aster winces. "Everything removed?" she inquires. She does attempt to, well, feel. But isn't pushy about it.
The man pulls back, and bumps his head on the low ceiling. "Pledge that you do not hide a horrib's sting behind your beauty," he signs.
Aster holds out her arms. "I'm naked. I can't be hiding anything," she points out with a sigh. "And I'm not that beautiful, but if it helps, I do not hide a horrib's sting."
"That will suffice for now then," the man says. It's probably why he's the only one in the Temple that's allowed to wear a loincloth though. When they get to the field of Eeeps, he seems to expect Aster to lead the way.
Aster arches her brow a little at the man. "You know them better than I," she points out, but she attempts to walk through that group as quietly as she can without disturbing them.
"You should put them to sleep," Zakaro notes in Aster's ear. The Eeeps auras were 'calm' at the moment, but some were drifting into agitated colors.
"You do realize I have little training?" Aster mutters. Still she attempts to just induce calm ... or at least limbo, by extending out the shadow to engulf the Eeeps. She doesn't try to ken them, though, as that just might arouse them.
Keeping them in stasis certainly reduces the chances of one of them exploding and setting off a chain reaction. Tabyr remains silent of course, and just follows where Aster walks.
"You don't need to hate me," Aster comments to Tabyr as she carefully makes her way through the shadowed idiot birds.
"If I don't have someone to be angry at, I will have to be angry at myself," Tabyr signs once they are clear of the flock.
"For?" Aster asks as she stops in the passage.
"Being seduced when I was supposed to be killing," Tabry signs.
"Do you have any here you are close to? Spend time with?" Aster asks.
"I serve Ashe," Tabyr signs, using the gesture for 'burned' and 'dust'.
"The leader, that fits," Aster says, and nods. "She doesn't like me, either."
"She does not harbor false hope," Tabyr signs, before they head through the stone gap into the main sanctuary.
"And I don't bring it," Aster counters and continues onward. "Would you rather the Barsunala himself come?" she asks.
"I don't trust in the pantheon," Tabyr signs. "They did not save Babel."
"Neither does he, which is why he's saving it, himself," Aster points out.
There are a few people shuffling about in the Sanctuary, mainly sweeping the floor and polishing the stonework. Ashe isn't present, so must be in a different area of the Temple.
"Can someone let Ashe know the meeting has been arranged. They agreed meeting on Mt Dronnell would be the best," Aster comments as she moves further into the sanctuary.
"I will fetch her," Tabyr signs, and heads off between two of the carved pillars.
Aster moves to an emptier part of the sanctuary and looks about, at others and how they are reacting to her presence.
The older Yodh continue with their work, while the relatively younger ones seem to be edging closer to her nervously.
Aster tilts her head at the younger ones, and arches her brow. "Yes?" she asks.
With the invitation, they come closer. "Are you really sent by Zakaro?" the closest manages to ask.
"And the Barsunala," Aster says. "I know, I know, I do not look like one of you. It's already been made clear I'm not welcome," the new Yodh admits and shrugs. "But I am here to help as much as I can."
"And you can actually do things?" the next one asks. "We've never been able to," she adds. The two women both have odd features, like heterochromic eyes and odd patterns in their wings.
"Do?" Aster asks, her head tilted a little. "Like ... ?", she asks and waves her hand, and in its wake she sends the shadow out to curl, ripple, and interweave between the women.
"Yes! That!" the first one says. "We can't seem to summon miracles no matter how hard we try."
"If you were accepted, you must have some sort of ability. What did you learn from your induction and oath? Aster asks.
"Well.. nothing happened the first time," the first admits. "We're twins, and marked.. so everyone sort of assumed we must belong to Zakaro."
On closer inspection, they two seem to mirror each other. One has a green eye and a blue eye, and the other a blue and a green eye, as if they got mixed together in the womb.
So, Aster grabs them both, and kens them both. At the same time. SLURP.
The women freeze.. but that's part of the process. And Aster didn't even bite them! The pair appear to have surface mutations and nothing more that Aster can detect. The process does draw the attention of the others in the chamber though.
And when it's over the shadow withdraws as if it were never there. "Thank the Barsunala for that trick. It's his; he just taught it to me," she says and shrugs.
"What.. was that?" The question comes not from the still recovering twins, but from Ashe, as she crosses the space withy Tabyr following.
"Something the Barsunala taught me. How to learn about someone, from the inside out," Aster explains. "Every injury, oddity, and difference they may have."
"What for?" Ashe then asks, looking over the stunned twins.
"Well, it then allows for doing things like funneling raw life magic back into them to repair wounds, or if you have enough, regrow missing limbs, that sort of thing. That's his purview, though, not mine. I can't channel like he can," Aster says, "I can just tell if someone is who they say they are, and what."
"Does that come up often?" Ashe asks, looking genuinely curious. "People not being what they seem, that is."
"Not that often, but it can also identify those infected with one of Amenlichli's black hearts or worse, too," Aster says, "And it can be used to turn people into things like groks, or hogs."
"And people want to be turned into animals?" Ashe asks next. This is clearly not something the Yodhzakaro have dealt with before.
"It's a way to punish people. He learned it from a powerful witch in Sylvania," Aster explains.
"I know, for example, the Barsunala used it to turn a Barinala who was hunting people and selling them to high society for torture ... into an ungly female skreek who now has to spend her days as a breeder," Aster says, and shrugs. "He became that which he abused."
The tale of karmic punishment gets more attention from people. "We can't go about punishing people," Ashe notes, loud enough for everyone to hear. More quietly, she asks Aster, "So what is this about the meeting being accepted?"
"The Avenger has agreed to meet with you in a few days on Mount Dronnell. Just him and one other. You are welcome to bring whomever you wish," Aster explains. "He was a bit exasperated for them being blamed for everything even though they stay completely out of politics. As he sort of put it, we're hired to do a job, that's all we do. We have no desire to harm the Yodhzakaro in any way."
"That is not what the former avatar of Inala claimed," Ashe notes, sounding uncertain. "It is possible that it truly was Rephath who was behind the claim," she admits.
"Well, it's something you can discuss with him. I imagine you and your guard Tabyr will be going? I think you could bring more, the Avenger did not care from what I was told. Just as long as you have no intention to kidnap him."
"I will think on whom to bring along," Ashe says, but is looking right at Aster while she says it. "Is the Avenger's tongue loosened by the sight of a comely female?" she asks. "Our available men are not so comely."
"I have no idea. From all I've heard his mood and opinions are inscrutable," Aster admits, arches her brow. "Are you planning to manipulate him?"
"I merely wish for him to view us in a favorable light," Ashe says. "We are not exactly trained in the art of seduction after all."
"Then speak to him politely and as an equal. I think that is all that is required for him to see you favorably," Aster suggests. "He's very .. mmm. Stern."
"Stern? You've met him then?" Ashe asks.
"Me? No, not at all. I have just been informed by the Barsunala a bit," Aster explains.
"Hmmm," Ashe ponders. "Any other insights on the Avenger? How does he feel about the Yodh in general, for instance."
"He's .. faithful for what I've been told. So, I expect he respects the Yodh for the most part. Also very tall and rather intimidating," Aster explains.
"Intimidating.. I expected that," Ashe admits. "So long as he isn't quiet and brooding and just stares at you instead of conversing.."
"He does that too, unfortunately," Aster admits, "From what I've been told. And his eyes glow."
"Glowing eyes.. red?" Ashe asks.
"Green," Aster says.
"Oh.. that's pleasant, actually," Ashe says. "I like green."
"I have no idea who he would bring with him," Aster admits, "Nor did the Barsunala. Though one option is a crazy spirit mage. Or their very grouchy life mage."
"You make it sound as if mages are all.. odd," Ashe says.
"Odder than Yodh by all accounts," Aster says, and even grins a little. "Oh, one thing I did get from the Barsunala, though I don't see how it's useful. The Avenger has a thing for humans."
"How odd," Ashe says, brows raised. "He must find life in Babel a bit understimulating then. I've never seen a live human."
"There's one that works between Gorphat, Inala, and Sunala," Aster notes, "But she's not been seen for some time."
"We can't afford to feed one," Ashe notes. "I hear that they eat a lot."
"And they're weird looking. And don't do well in cold," Aster ticks off, "And are hormonal."
"So what do the Yodhsunala, Yodhgorphat and.. well, there aren't any Yodhinala anymore.. do with it?" Ashe has to ask.
"References to the old pantheon and triad, I think," Aster says. "And there may be some Yodhinala around. There are rumors, anyway."
"And no, I'm not one. I'm related to one. My mother was one," Aster adds and gives the large Barzakaro a look.
Tabyr remains expressionless. "Well, I'll weigh my options, especially if there are going to be crazy mages in attendance," Ashe says.
Aster just gives Tabyr an annoyed look, and jiggles her boobs at him.
Tabyr just rolls his eyes. It's not like he cares about such things anymore.
Amusingly, Aster could make him care through some aura manipulation, but she won't. "Well, that's all the real news I have," Aster says. "Is there anything more you need from me or need me to relay?"
"We'll meet on Mt. Dronnel, at the old fort in two days time," Ashe says. "You can pass that along, Aster."
"And otherwise stay away?" Aster asks. "It's been made fairly clear I am not welcome here."
"You are Yodhzakaro," Ashe says, and then turns to glare at Tabyr. "You belong here."
"I'll relay your message to the Barsunala, and see if he has anything further for me to do as well, then," Aster says. She steps back and bows. "And oh, I think one of the matters that will be discussed is around the former Royal Mages. They were the cause of many issues for the Yodhzakaro as well as the mages. So, you do have common ground."
"Even I don't know what all they've stolen from us in the past," Ashe sighs. She then turns and pokes Tabyr as the two head back to the side passages.
"Have you been assigned a space yet?" one of the barzakaro ask Aster.
"No, just looks that tell me they'd rather assign me a coffin," Aster comments.
"There hasn't been a new Yodhzakaro in some time," the man says. "They're old and afraid, but will come around eventually. How private a space do you need?"
"Well, fairly private would be preferred," Aster admits. "I have magic and such to perform, as well as sensitive talks."
"I know just the spot then," the man claims. "An old meditation and prayer chamber." He gestures for Aster to follow as he heads for a space between two pillars.
"No one has fluffed those pillars in ages," Aster quips as she follows along. "Won't some be upset if i use such a space, though?"
"There are plenty of spaces, and few Yodhzakaro," the man claims. "Even I don't know the full extent of the tunnels and chambers here." They pass through both natural and carved sections of tunnel, and the first place that Aster gets shown is a storage room. "Candles, cushions, jugs, blankets.. if you need it, you should be able to find it here."
Aster peers into the storage room and nods. "Not food, but I know that is in short supply," she says.
"There is an communal meal twice a day," the man says, and leads on further down one of the cave tunnels. "Do you like soup?"
"Depends on the soup," Aster admits. "Hopefully that will be changing soon too."
"Mostly mushroom soup," the man says. The further they go, the quieter things become, with even the echoes seemingly muted. "Your affinity is shadow, I was told," he says to break the quiet. "This is the shadow shrine, which nobody uses anymore." He brings Aster into a moderately large space. The walls have been carved and worked to make it seem like something in a building. There's an alcove with an old figure of Zakaro that the paint has all but flaked away from, and the floor is covered in Rugh-rat hides to further deaden sounds.
Aster drapes her arms over the man's shoulders and slither-covers him in shadow. "Yes," it is," she purrs in his ear, too. She withdraws it quickly, at least. "This is quite a large and nice room for someone as low in the rank as I am," she admits as she peers about. "It will do, but I will feel awkward."
"Awkward?" the man asks with a bit of a squeak in his voice after the hug.
"Or rather, targeted," Aster clarifies. "You've been the most welcoming person here."
"Well, the barzakaro are charged with taking care of the Yodhzakaro as best we can," the man claims, puffing his chest out a bit. "And some of the Yodh are frankly prone to jealousy. It's.. part of being a Yodhzakaro, really."
"What's to be jealous of me?" Aster asks, and shakes her head.
"Youth and talent," the man says. "You have actual power, which means favor with Zakaro. Many of the Yodh here never managed more than tricks."
"Not significant power, though," Aster points out. "But I suppose. I'm also risking my life and limb to save those here."
"Risking? Is there some danger you're in?" the man asks, turning protective.
"Well, I do go out into the city, and work with the Barsunala. Neither is particularly safe," she points out.
"I don't know much about the city nowadays," the man admits. "Is it bad?"
"It's better, actually. Places are becoming safer, and there are shopping areas people visit without armed guards now," Aster says. "Plus weird places that do body art and decoration."
"I never went into it aside from simple errands," the man says, shaking his head a bit. "Perhaps I will visit again once we are certain that nobody will kill us on sight."
"Has anyone been killed on sight?" Aster asks.
"We don't know," the man admits. "Those who've left never returned. So either they never intended to return, or didn't have the chance to."
"And this was mostly the young that left?" Aster asks.
The man nods. "And those with a lot of talent," he adds.
"Then it was most likely their intention to not return," Aster admits as she settles herself down on some of the rugs, kneeling.
"I'll leave you to your meditations and prayer now," the man says. "I'm Kush if you need anything you can't find in the storeroom," he adds before backing out of the chamber.
"Thank you Kush, I will try to not take advantage of you," Aster replies as she settles in to meditate (or nap!) It's been a busy day.
After a few moments of silence, Zakaro says, "I've got some new ideas for you to try out."
"That isn't ominous at all," Aster mutters as she shifts around. Turns out old rhugrhat rugs are itchy on bared backsides, even with fur! Itchy on the outside, now itchy on the inside!
"You'll get used to the itchiness," Zakaro assures. Then claps her hands together and grins disturbingly. "But that's not important! Exploring and exploiting new abilities is! You just need to go a bit deeper into the mountain to another chamber similar to the sanctuary."
"Er? What exactly do you mean by that? Go there how?" Aster inquires warily. "Walk?"
"Well, there will also be some climbing involved," Zakaro admits. "It's a useful space that has lots of pillars and such for casting shadows. It's.. old."
Grumbling, Aster gets back to her feet. "Okay, how do I get there from here?" she asks.
"Follow the little ball!" Zakaro replies, and her body shrinks down into a glowing ball.. with bat wings. "This way Aster! This way Aster!" it squeaks and flits back out of the chamber.
"Oh this won't be annoying at all," Aster mutters to herself at the bizarre antics. In spite of her better judgement, after the weird ball she goes!
The warning about climbing didn't include any warning about the squeezing. Sections of the route involve cracks and crevices as well, which are not pleasant when wings are involved. It's also wet and dark, the light from the sprite making it more difficult for Aster to actually adjust her eyes. "It'll be easier on the way back!" the little guide promises cheerfully.
"Only if I'm in a different shape," Aster grumbles; she's tempted NOW to be something different! She mostly keeps her eyes closed at this point and goes by sound instead. There are points she wishes she was greased and/or slimy to fit with how things catch. Ow.
There's more water running down the walls, until the floor sort of ends in a wet tube. "Just hop down!" the guide chirps. "It's a fun cold wet slide!"
"Cold and wet is not fun!" Aster complains. She wraps herself in her wings and well, hops in!
It's not quite vertical, but does twist and turn and thankfully has water-smoothed walls, until there's a final drop through open space into a deep pool of water.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Splosh. Blub blub blub. Once the water parts a bit later, there is a lot of sputtering and cursing as Aster comes up for air.
It takes a bit to find something to grab onto that isn't slick with water, and thus pull herself up out of the pool. The sound of the falling water makes it hard to get a definitive sense of the chamber's shape, but the echoes at least indicate something big. Then the sprite zips into what may be the center of it all and brightens. The gallery has a lot of shocked stone, so bits of quartz glitter in the light, and there are also plenty of shadows from pillar-like structures running from floor to ceiling and some tumbled over at different angles.
"I hope I can find my way back out," Aster comments as she drags herself out of the pool and, well, drips. She even spends a moment sort of shaking herself to get as much water off as possible. It's one of those times where being completely furless would help things. "Why did we need to come all the way to this place?" she asks as she shivers.
"For one: the ambiance!" Zakara claims, sitting on one of the fallen pillars. "For.. two? Second? For another reason: it provides an incentive for creative methods of egress. Mostly though because it has good shadows and sparkly bits in the walls."
"You just turn into a bug and climb out," Aster claims, as if that were perfectly normal. "So, you wanted to come here because it's sparkly? And not because you planned to turn me into weird things, right?"
"I don't need to turn you into weird things," Zakaro says, one finger upraised, "because we're here to see what you can do without turning into anything. So.. let's start with something easy! Hopefully easy, anyway! Interesting either way."
"Which is ... ?" Aster prompts.
"Well, shadow stuff!" Zakaro says. "You've mostly been focusing on the Life aspect for changing shape." The goddess hops to her feet and steps behind a pillar, so that she's in shadow. "Now, come stand over here."
Aster looks a bit suspicious at that, but she still walks over that way and moves into the shadow as well. "Look, dark!" she declares.
"Yes!" Zakaro says, then points to the shadow cast by the next pillar over. "So.. stick your shadow through this one and out of that one."
"Errr? I'm not sure I can do that," Aster admits. She holds up her right hand and produces a sort of shadow spike so she can stab the darkness! Or really, just poke at it while trying to envision it coming out over where Zakaro pointed.
It doesn't seem to work.. but maybe the distance needs to be covered. But eventually a spiky black bit sort of appears in the target location. "You never tried this before?" Zakaro asks.
"No, because I don't think of this shadow and my shadow as remotely the same thing. I've always thought of mine as almost like a liquid," Aster admits.
"It still has properties of shadow though," Zakaro says. "Now.. make it into a mirror image of yourself over there! Either just a shadow or how you make physical bodies. Both could be useful."
"One costs a lot more than the other," Aster points out. So, she focuses more on just a shadow image of herself on the other side. Sort of like squeezing a person out of a tube, or something; using the shadow spike as the conduit of a sort.
It looks weird at first, like a tiny Eeee shape that gets inflated like a balloon, but in the end it's a reasonable copy, connected to the dark side of the pillar by the shadow extension.
"Not bad," Zakaro says, tapping her cheek with a finger. "Can you make it move or talk?"
"I did not expect that to actually work," Aster admits as she stares at the weird sorta-balloon. Walking and talking, well, she's pretty sure she can do that. So, movement first. She tries to get it to just walk in a small circle first. If that works, she tries to get it to just wave and say 'hello'.
The lips and mouth move, but since it lacks lungs it just sort of 'burps' instead. "Try talking into the shadow so it comes out as speech on the puppet," Zakaro says. "You could talk into your right hand or something, maybe."
"That's just weird," Aster claims. So she makes almost a shadow-muzzle-cover instead. And she talks into that instead! Of course all she says is "Hello" again.
It's not loud, but it's certainly audible to an Eeee. "Oooo.. much better," Zakaro says, then smiles really wide. "Of course.. it would be better if you could see and hear through it too, wouldn't it?"
Aster arches her brow a little at that. If she could do that, she could have sex with herself! Hmmm, there's a thought. Anyway, she shakes her head out. In order to see and hear, well, she tries a similar trick with shadow over her eyes and ears, just so she's not getting two inputs at the same time right off. That would be trying.
It takes a few tries to get things.. organized. It's a bit like looking and listening through tubes at first. But eventually Aster sees herself, before Zakaro steps between them and waves her hands in front of the clone's face and makes 'woo woo' sounds to see how well focus and directional hearing can cope.
The clone's ears move and tilt as she tests how well hearing works. She's be surprised if she retained full Eeee range like this; their ears are really complex and she's not sure she can duplicate it that well.
"So, how good is it?" Zakaro asks, and pokes the clone on the nose. Since Zakaro isn't any more physical than the clone, it actually makes contact. Boop.
The clone fakes a sneeze! "The hearing is off. Not surprised, though. Eeee ears are difficult to duplicate exactly. I don't think I could get as precise an echolocate through them. Not without a lot of practice," the clone claims. "And I can't really taste anything right now. Or smell."
"Oh.. that gives me another idea!" Zakaro says, turning back to the real Aster, so that Aster now has a blurry view of Zakaro's back. Without proper hearing, it's hard to focus visually on things. "Your Trinity forms have special powers, don't they?"
"Yes?" Aster replies. The clone is squinting, trying to make out that back, even though squinting probably won't help at all!
"So have you tried channeling any of those into other forms before?" Zakaro asks.
"I ... doubt that would work. But, which one would you like me to try channeling? The human has all the weird lust aura abilities, for example," Aster says as she ponders. Those are also probably the safest to try to channel.
"Scourge's spores," Zakaro says. "Even if you have to be Scourge to do it, you should still be able to blow them through shadow extensions."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I would need to be Scourge to do that. Will your sister be mad if I used that form for you?" Aster asks.
"Unlikely," Zakaro assures with a fanning motion of her hand. "I'm not part of the Trinity."
"Gorphat is grouchy," Aster points out and shrugs some. So, she plops herself down on all fours so she can go into the shadow ... and become, well, lesser Or at least more of an animal; she has sorta useless paws in that form after all, has to walk on all fours. But, at least it has no gender? Is that a bonus or a detriment?
Once out of the shadow.. Zakaro runs her fingers over Scourge's aura-tentacle-fringe. "I want a dragon. So, try extending your shadow through to the other shadow again."
"A genderless weird one like this?" Scourge has to ask. Again it goes back into sort of a shadow-muzzle. It's kind of feed-bag-shaped really. Then she's trying to extend through to the weird clone on the other side with the shadow. Why, she tries to burp spores through.
A little cloud puffs out from the clone. There's nothing for them latch onto though, but it works. It's the first time using the shadow as Scourge really.
"Huh," Scourge admits, muffledly. "I did not expect that to work, but it did." This leaves poor Scourge blinking.
"Want to try something potentially harder and weirder now?" Zakaro prompts.
"I probably shouldn't, but ... sure," Scourge ends up agreeing in spite of its better judgement.
"Wrap your shadow around your tail," Zakaro suggests. "And try to reach it into the the shadow like you did with.. the shadow," she says. "You know what I mean. It probably can't reach to that other shadow, but.. maybe it can if you really try?"
"I ... you want me to see if I can reach through the shadow with something non-shadow. Well, bear in mind this body is weird. It might work, it might not. I don't ... eh." Scourge claims, then frowns as it ponders. So, it now engulfs it tail in shadow and attempts, to, well, poke it out the other end.
"It's made out of shadow to begin with, sort of," Zakaro claims.
At first it doesn't seem to be working, but then it begins to feel like pushing through mud. And on the other side it is very cold. It's the cold that makes it seem like things are being stretched out, but the tail begins emerging from the other shadow after a moment. "Try picking up that rock near the base," Zakaro says and points.
"Yeah ... not much feeling, I don't know..." Scourge says, distractedly. So, it tries to split the tip on that end and grab the indicated rock. It has to watch since the cold is making feeling much else difficult.
There's a bit of a delay, but the tail splits and wraps around the rock. "See if you can pull it through the shadow now," Zakaro instructs. "If it doesn't work, try surrounding it with the shadow first."
"I ... " Scourge starts to say, then shrugs a lot. It tries to pull its tail back through while holding the rock!
It's a like trying to pull a fist through the neck of a vase, and won't come through with the tail.
So, it tries wrapping it in shadow first. Given it's inorganic, Scourge doesn't have a lot of hope ... but gives it a go; maybe it'll work like oil?
It takes a lot of shadow before it can be dragged through, and it takes a lot of effort. The rock feels like a boulder and takes longer than just moving the tail. When it comes out again, it's so cold that the damp surface has frozen.
"Aaaagh!" Scourge complains as it drops the rock. Soon it's shaking out its own poor cold tail, then tries sucking on it. Which is also odd when you have no throat.
"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" Zakaro enthuses. "It suggests there's a space behind the shadows, doesn't it?"
Scourge starts to talk, then remembers it has its tail in its mouth. So .. ptooie! out it goes. "Sort of. It's not exactly convenient to use, or practical," Scourge points out. "But for small things it could kinda work, as long as I could see it somehow."
"So, can you become shadow yourself?" Zakaro asks. "It's a living shadow after all."
"Completely? I doubt it. Aside from the risk, I don't think the Barsunala wraith that is bound to me would allow it," Scourge points out.
"That is correct!" Kaira suddenly pops in to declare. "That would require a degree of shadow symbiosis that is not possible at this time. Plus, the dagger can't be converted and would have to be left behind, along with any other physical items."
"What's that thing?" Zakaro demands, pointing at the phantom mini-dragon.
"A living spell. And one of the many spirits that live within me, sort of. Within the dagger anyway," Scourge explains. "This one is designed to be a God-killer."
"It seems rather small for that, doesn't it?" Zakaro asks, and pokes at the dragon, who hides behind Scourge's head, the sticks her tongue out at the goddess.
"She's any size she wants to be. Smaller is just less energy," Scourge comments. "I mean, I have whole worlds contained inside something the size of a small ball."
"And you can summon spirits from it?" Zakaro asks.
"Yes. Within reason. Most you would not want to summon," Scourge says.
"Hmmmmmmm," Zakaro muses. "Can you summon them anywhere, or just near you?"
"In theory, anywhere I'm focused. I think I can even copy their bodies onto mine, though I've not tried that yet," Scourge says.
"But.. could you send them through the shadows, and see and hear what they do, or control them?" Zakaro asks.
"... Maybe? They feed off my energy though. So I'm not sure how bad that would drain at distance, or if it could," Scourge admits. "Kaira, any idea?"
"If you can extend the shadow where you want the spirit to go, and it was just as a spirit with no physical or visible form, it should not take much effort," Kaira muses. "I can try now, following your shadow, if you want."
"Go ahead, my trouser snake!" Scourge declares.
"Not form-appropriate, Scourge," Kaira quips before vanishing. A moment later she reappears on the head of the Aster projection. "That is really weird. It is not what I expected to be behind the shadows."
"Was it a bunch of naked skeeks in vertical wheels?" Scourge asks.
"It was.. reversed," Kaira says, "but not like a mirror."
"Explain?" Scourge requests.
"Well.. uh.." Kaira starts, and begins waving her paws around. "So.. a shadow has no depth, right? It's the only truly two-dimensional surface. But.. that changes when you go up a dimension. So the shadow of something with four physical dimensions would have three-dimensions.. and that's what's on the other side. Shadows are three-dimensional and made of light, and this world.. exists in their shadow.. sort of."
"I don't get it," Scourge admits with a frown. "Does that at least tell you what are inherent limitations?"
"Well.. you wouldn't want to stick your head in there," Kaira says. "For spirits following your shadow, it's fine. But there may be another way around the energy cost of manifesting dagger spirits.. probably. It's something that Zakaro knows more about than I do."
"Do you?" Scourge now tries asking Zakaro.
"Well.. it must be talking about Territory," Zakaro suggests. "Those can be real places but also quasi-real places. Places where it may be easier for your spirits to have more of a presence without the cost."
"Well, the sorta real places are probably easier for them to exist in than a real place. They don't have to interact with anything real that way," Scourge agrees after thinking a bit about that. "It might also help with the 'distance' issue, since it's not a real distance."
"So you need to try and summon some in a Territory," Zakaro suggests. "Having extra fighters in a situation is handy, after all, if you can pull your enemy in as well."
"Except is any fight in such a place even useful, or is it more like a vivid dream?" Scourge asks. "I'm not sure how useful things done to others than myself in that place would have any permanence."
"You've gotten tattoos and stuff that carried over," Kaira notes. "Some of that may be your own power though."
"That was exactly my point. That is me reflecting those. I could just as easily not I suspect. But for OTHERS I brought there, I don't know if there would be any permanence to it," Scourge says, and sticks out its tongue(s).
"Well.. you'll just have to experiment," Zakaro says. "Territory is something you always have with you, no matter where you are physically. So, first you need to practice pulling people into it. Then seeing if changes you make there carry though outside of the territory."
"So, I should try turning Hexen into a girl, then find out if he really did become one?" Scourge jokes.
"That could be difficult to check though," Zakaro says. "And distance may be a factor. You should start with people that are local, and may not notice the transition from normal surroundings to a territory.. you can get them someplace you're already really familiar with."
"What, like do something weird to Tulani? She would eat me," Scourge says, aghast.
"It doesn't have to be weird," Kaira points out. "You've got that doctor mouse, who already has dream adventures with her cousin. Or the crazy snake, or the horny doe. Hey! There's an idea! Take Honey Bunny to see Jacoba. If she gets knocked up, then you know stuff can transfer."
"I'm not sure she'd want that, would she?" Scourge asks. "Tricking people into getting pregnant is not a good thing to do!"
"You could just be up front about it," Kaira points out.
"True, I could. But then I'd be stuck watching others boink ... which can be a bit frustrating," Scourge claims.
"There's a whole harem of does to play with," Kaira notes. "Or you could throw the unicorn into the mix. She's popular!"
"So you don't have trysts with your spirits?" Zakaro asks Scourge.
"Not usually," Scourge claims, "Since that gets really weird. I've never even slept with Kaira here."
"What?" Kaira asks in surprise. "I suppose your sexual memory only works when you have the actual bits. Good to know!"
"She doesn't seem that attractive," Zakaro nods in agreement.
"Not true. I would if she ever showed any interest, but," Scourge says and shrugs. "And obviously not like this."
"We've.. done it!" Kaira claims. "Several times! I even made a sexy form for you! That big-breasted milk-mare couldn't have made you forget me!"
"Are you sure?" Scourge asks, and squints.
Kaira's cheeks puff out and a bit of smoke escapes her nostrils. "You're teasing me!" she claims.
"Maybe you'll have to remind me sometime," Scourge claims, innocently.
"Or I could make all of your transformations come out purple," the dragon-spirit grumbles.
"Could not," Scourge counters, grins. "I thought you didn't even care about such things."
"I care that you don't remember," Kaira says, pouting.
"Or maybe I am teasing," Scourge reminds.
"Anyway! Is there anything more you want me to try in this place?" Scourge asks of Zakaro. "Also, what kind of dragon would you want?"
Zakaro raises her eyebrows at all of this. "He hasn't slept with me yet," the goddess points out. "But it seems as if turning into a shadow isn't possible yet. A shame. That would have been useful. Now I can only think of purple dragons! Well.. a dragoneep."
"Something with ridiculous eyes and a tiny brain?" Scourge asks.
"Eeps are halfway there already, they just need thicker skin and wider throats," the goddess points out.
"Dragons don't need more than tiny brains, I'd imagine," she then adds.
"You don't sleep with anyone, do you?" Scourge asks of Zakaro, then to Kaira it asks, "You're not actually mad, are you?"
"That depends on your apology," Kaira replies.
"What sort of apology do you want?" Scourge asks.
"I've slept with many a man and woman seeking power," Zakaro says. "At least in the Lore I have, and it took considerable effort to woo me."
"Ah, so little interest in me, then," Scourge says and bobs its head.
"You're the Barsunala," Zakaro says. "I'd expect you to seduce me. You've slept with all of the others, haven't you?"
"Well, yes," Scourge has to concede. "But I don't seek power."
"That's for mortals," Zakaro claims. "Sometimes I just like to grant power though."
"So, are you asking me then to try and sleep with you?" Scourge asks.
"Are you suggesting that you wouldn't?" Zakaro replies.
"Well, it helps being wanted," Scourge counters. "Even Rephath asked me to spank her..."
Zakaro laughs at that! "Oh my! I would loved to have seen that!" she says. "And all I want is a dragon as an offering. I feel so dull."
"I could seduce you as a full-sized dragon male, which might make for some rather tight ... fitting," Scourge teases.
"Well, that would fulfill the offering part," Zakaro agrees. "As long as you also wore a bridle and saddle, of course."
"That would be extremely kinky. Are you kinky?" Scourge teases, and grins. Which looks rather frightening given lack of teeth.
"I just want to ride around a bit first," Zakaro claims.
"You can technically call the other as riding me too," Scourge points out, straight-faced.
"Not as epic though!" Zakaro claims.
"If you manage to get me to fit in you, that would count as pretty epic. Have you seen a male dragon?" Scourge asks.
"Babel isn't exactly overflowing with dragons," Zakaro points out. "There were the ones the Tower used to make, but they didn't work out. That's how we got the Eeps."
"They make Rhians look small," Scourge says simply.
"Never seen one of those," Zakaro claims. "Just Eeee."
"They're larger in that way than an Eeee forearm. Or more," Scourge clarifies.
"Ah, so big," Zakaro says. Then blinks. "I'm a goddess you know. That doesn't really matter, since I can be bigger or smaller too."
"That would make it less epic. You want to be epic, right?" Scourge teases a little.
"Me being giant-sized isn't epic?" Zakaro asks, eyebrow raised.
"It's too simple!" Scourge declares!
"Too simple?" Zakaro says, her other eyebrow raising up now. "Then I could simply be a dragon for it," she counters.
"But that's not nearly as epic as you taking a dragon while looking like an Eeee," Scourge argues back.
"I have to be the prominent figure," Zakaro insists, crossing her arms. "If I'm hidden under a dragon, or on top of a dragon, I might just seem to be an ordinary woman!"
"An ordinary woman wouldn't survive riding a real dragon," Scourge points out. "Size doesn't determine prominence; what you do does."
"Being seen determines it though!" Zakaro claims, throwing her arms in the air. "I have to be seen dominating the dragon. Wait, do you have a dragon? Other than the little blue one."
"Have, and can be. I actually have quite a few," Scourge counters. "But the dragon would be me."
"You? Then I'd be dominating the Barsunala, and Sunala would be livid," Zakaro points out.
"Not if I was a dragon! It's not the same thing," Scourge points out. "Sunala doesn't mind me being Gorphat's pet like this."
"In private, probably," Zakaro points out.
"Still, having a pet dragon wouldn't be bad," the goddess notes, one finger to her lips.
"Well, fair, I'm rarely ever seen like this," Scourge has to admit. "And these days Gorphat seems to have lost interest in me as well in all forms." It shrugs a bit. "But, anyway, it doesn't have to be anything either, I'm just ... well, strange I guess. Sometimes I find it fun to be a pet."
"Only the most powerful pet would do for me!" Zakaro insists. "I'm all about power after all," she points out. "Gluttony too."
Scourge laughs. "For me it's all about, well, having fun," it admits. "And getting to do things most do not."
"As a dragon can you eat all of the other pets though?" Zakaro asks. "Unless you are all of the pets, in which case it will have to be the demons. But you aren't supposed to face them until you take the Path.. frustrating!"
"I like the demons, I don't want to hurt them," Scourge claims with a huff!
"Can you at least turn my Eeeps into little pot-bellied guard dragons?" Zakaro asks.
"I ... I would need a pattern to try and do that," Scourge admits. "Kaira?" she asks next. "Anything like that in storage?"
"Pot-bellied dragons?" Kaira asks, and goes quiet for a bit. Two meshed gears appear over her head and turn slowly as she searches.
"Are frogs alright?" Kaira finally asks, the gears vanishing. "Fire Toads, which are pretty big. And eat garbage."
"Well?" Scourge asks of Zakaro. "Frogs are fat."
"The have telescoping necks," Kaira adds.
"That's a weird frog," Scourge admits.
"Do they go off if disturbed?" Zakaro asks.
"Well, if they're hungry they are easily disturbed," Kaira notes. "And they're usually hungry. And they have little heads with big mouths."
"Why do you even have those in there?" Scourge has to ask of Kaira.
"Because Vorg either ate some, or someone knew enough to create them," Kaira notes. "Or maybe I knew them. Hard to say, not all of my knowledge is organized."
"So you admit you're disorganized," Scourge croons. "Anyway, if you want something like that, well ... it's probably possible. It would take a lot of life magic to do, though."
"Oh? Hmm, where do you normally get it from?" Zakaro asks. "Sacrificial virgins?"
"Er, no. An ancient artifact," Scourge answers vaguely.
"I have artifacts!" Zakaro claims. "Somewhere!"
"This one isn't yours," Scourge notes. "It's older than Babel."
"Is it something you have then?" Zakaro asks. "You don't need any of my sacred treasures?"
"It's something I have, yes. I do not need to borrow anything of yours," Scourge agrees. "Though, if you are offering...."
"I've protected them from even the Royal Mages," Zakaro claims, and looks a bit sideways at Scourge. "There are traps, and puzzles.. and.. other things, probably"
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to look at them," Scourge claims, "Though it sounds like you don't remember where they are!"
"I'm just that good at hiding things," Zakaro counters. "There's a map, of course."
"Of course there is. Where?" Scourge inquires.
"Ah! It's tattooed on the Yodhzakaro of course!" Zakaro claims. "Each should have one symbol from the map."
"That would be impossible to assemble," Scourge says and sighs. So much for that!
"You can copy them onto parchment or the floor or something," Zakaro claims. "Or ask the archivist."
"The problem is, though, once copied you would not have the order needed to make sense of it," Scourge points out. "And the number of combinations of symbols would be crazy."
"If you don't use magic to sort it out, yes," Zakaro claims.
"I don't use normal magic," Scourge counter-points out! "Were you suggesting the archivist would just know what the map is?"
"She's in charge of the special sigils," Zakarao notes. "She probably knows the order. She might not know it's a map of course."
"She might not remember she has feet, either," Scourge opines.
"It's more important that she remembers useful Lore," Zakaro points out. "Trivial things like feet and eating can be delegated."
"Er, not really, but ..." Scourge starts to say, then gives up. "Is there anything more you wished me to try down here ... or do now I have the fun of trying to get out?"
"So long as you can set this place as one of your territories," Zakaro says, "Then you are free to leave."
"Why do I need this place as a territory? Are you wishing to meet me here for trysts?" Scourge inquires.
"It's hard to get to, and good for shadows," Zakaro says. "And it's pretty neat."
"You still need to try and trap someone after all," the goddess notes.
"It's like a bizarre tomb," Scourge claims. It wraps itself back in shadow so it can shift back to Aster. And when the shadow withdraws, she stretches a bit. "There, less of feeling squishy. Well, except for my chest, and that makes half your Daughters mad."
"Because you look well fed?" Zakaro suggests.
"Because I have a chest like a Yodhinala. One of your guards hates me and I expect will try to kill me," Aster explains as she looks up, and pings for possible exits.
"It's normal for Yodhzakaro to be competitive," Zakaro claims. Aside from the water slide, there might be a passage at the far end, leading.. somewhere.
Aster starts walking that way and gestures for Zakaro to follow if she wants. "I hope not lethally competitive," she admits.
"Depends on what's at stake," Zakaro says, admiring her claws. "For higher positions, it's normal to challenge for them."
"You do realize I could wipe them all out, yes? I do not want to be in that position," Aster mutters.
"Well, your position here is.. hmm.." Zakaro says, then looks thoughtfully at Aster. "Yodhzakaro Aster the Outreach Mediator."
"Attractive mouthpiece," Aster summarizes, and smirks.
"You'll be asked to get on your knees for the barzakaro with a title like that," Zakaro teases.
"I'm surprised none have asked for that yet. They mostly avoid me," Aster points out, shrugs. Onward she continues.
"They respect power, and usually don't have any of their own," Zakaro explains. The other passage seems to be mostly level, but angles upward and curves tightly after a few paces.
For now, Aster follows the path that heads slowly upward. "Well, don't worry, I won't try to break or steal the guys," she promises. "Though I'm tempted to introduce some of the women to the body art salons in town."
"Are they expensive?" Zakaro asks. "The Yodh were in charge of keeping the mundane treasury."
"Depends. They trade in lots of things," Scourge says, "Mostly I think they'd have fun. They're the body decorating sort."
"There was treasure?" Kaira asks, perking up a bit from where she sort of floats near Aster's shoulder.
"The tribute flowed into our coffers when our services where in high demand," Zakaro brags.
"Is there any left?" Aster asks.
"You'll have to ask whoever seems to be in charge," Zakaro says. "Probably Ashe."
The ceiling of the spiral begins to get lower as Aster progresses, now brushing the tips of her ears and wings.
Aster solves that by flattening her ears out and wrapping her wings down for now. Hopefully it doesn't get much shorter!
It doesn't get lower, but does get narrower. Pretty soon she'll have to resort to going sideways.
"Ask Ashe if there's gold or other precious metals," Kaira requests. "Even iron is useful."
Which she will. She doesn't want to shift into anything else until she absolutely has to! And isn't sure what would help anyway, except for not having wings.
It still spirals upwards at least, until it opens into a dark chasm. Though a sounding shows the passage continues on the other side, about ten feet away.
Aster looks to see if she could fly across at all. Is there any width whatsoever?
"Ooo, the mountain shifted," Zakaro says. "That would have been.. hmmm.. a long time back!"
It takes a bit of time and a lot of thought to figure out how to cross this chasm. But, with the shadow on the other end, she tries to actually loop a tendril of shadow through the shadow on that side and the shadow on this side ... into sort of a weird pulley-thing. So when she pulls the top, the lower moves. She holds onto the lower and tries to pull the top. If she gets the shadow set up anyway.
It takes some effort to get it right, there was one slip along the way where the tendrils moved lower where they were looped through the regular shadows. But Aster was still able to grab onto the opposite opening and pull herself up, then had to try and squeeze sideways into it.
"Aren't you glad for my teachings now?" Zakaro says.
"Mostly," Aster claims, and grins, "But I also wouldn't be DOWN here were it not for you!"
"I'm just following you," Zakaro says. "My guidance is for helping you develop your skills. Have you ever tried to eat someone in order to transport them, and reconstitute them at a destination?"
"Why?" Kaira has to ask.
"No, and I'm pretty sure that would kill them. And it would be far too close to being a shadow dragon. I doubt Kaira would approve," Aster says.
"Better to just manifest spirits from the dagger," Kai says. "If you need to pull an army out from under your skirts."
"That sounds like an Inala party trick," Aster deadpans.
"Ha!" Zakaro barks in laughter. "That would be an interesting party!
Luckily the passage doesn't spiral back to the chasm again. The slope gets steeper but remains fairly straight.
"Her gate has seen more traffic than the ports of Rephidim," Aster quips. Then she has to pause and think about that. She's probably not far behind given how, er, wanton she is in many forms.
So, up, up, up she goes! Hopefully not with all her hopes and dreams.
After going nearly vertical.. the passage ends! There's a wooden panel of some sort blocking further progress.
So, Aster pushes on it!
There's resistance, but it moves. "What was that?" comes a muffled voice.
"Troll Inspector!" Aster calls out.
There's noise now, of things being moved around. Then the panel is pulled away and barzakaro Kush is looking down. "What's a troll?" he asks. "Are we the trolls?" another male voice asks. Soon there are three men looking down into the gap at Aster. Zakaro has vanished of course, and Kaira is hiding behind Aster's hair.
Aster is now puling herself out of the hole. "A troll is a weird blobby bag of flesh that haunts tunnels deep underground in Sylvania," she explains in grunts as she climbs out.
The men try to help her up, with two grabbing her shoulders while the third tries to lift her up by grabbing her breasts. Although that one is really pulling or lifting..
"Those aren't handles," Aster remarks, dryly.
"Oh.. should I let go then?" the man asks once Aster is on her feet. "Why were you under our floor?" Kush asks. The barzakaro aren't young men, most of them nearing 'middle-age' for Eeee.
"Probably," Aster says and arches her brow a little. "I was taken down into old passages that went deep. The easier way out was this passage."
The breast fondler reluctantly releases Aster's assets. "Under our floor?" Kush marvels. The chamber she's in is a bit like a barracks, but with only three men in a space that looks like it could accommodate many more. Although there's no sign of Tabyr.
"Yes, there is a narrow passage under here. I don't really recommend it. It just goes deeper and to dark places were monsters play," Aster claims. "But don't worry, I'm sure they won't come out when you're sleeping."
The hole is covered once more by the panel, and a cabinet slid on top of it. Why there's a cabinet when nobody wears clothes is a mystery. "Well, you're here now!" Kush says, and gestures around the chamber. "Welcome to the Lair of the Barzakaro! Not to be confused with the Lair of the Barzakaronies."
"The what now?" Aster asks, looking rather confused by the second lair comment. "It doesn't seem like much of a lair..."
There are some cots, and at one point perches but the scaffolding for them seems to have rotted. "A Lair is where you.. lair.. about," Kush says. "It's where we sleep."
"And make out with each other?" Aster has to ask, and grin.
"I make wood carvings," the boob-grabber says. Kush explains, "No, we don't do that. Since the Barzakaronies broke up, we just sorta do housekeeping around the hidden temple."
"What the heck is a Barzakaronie?" Aster has to ask, again.
The men examine their feet for a few moments. Then Kush explains, "It was our band. Until the xylophone broke under mysterious circumstances.." He casts suspicious glances at his cohorts.
"It was Tabyr, I think," the wood-carver suggests.
"Why not fix it? Or get an accordion?" Aster asks, "And is it okay if I'm here since I'm, well ... seductive."
"Are you gonna seduce us?" Boob-handler asks, looking hopeful.
"We don't have all the pieces, a the ones we do have are not in good shape," Kush laments. "It's very hard to get the right kind of wood, tuned properly by an expert carver. Zoshi isn't bad, but he's not that good a carver."
"People would get mad if I seduced you. Tabyr has already made it clear he wants to kill me," Aster explains and shrugs. "Can you play anything other than a xylophone?"
"We used to have some silver spoons," Kush says, "but they vanished after the attack on the outer temple. The Yodhzakaro prefer illusion music, which we can't do. And Tabyr's not here. Not one of us. He's just a pet Ashe likes to keep around so she can tell herself she has control over something."
"She has control of the entire Temple," Aster points out. "If she ever chose to exercise it."
"Well, she hasn't officially made a claim to be High Priestess," Kush notes, leaning against the wall. "Nobody else wants to either. High Priestess Shazaka died in the attack. She was pretty good though."
"Her affinity was lightning," Zoshi adds.
"Do you want Ashe to take up the role?" Aster inquires. "Does most of the temple? I know she doesn't want it."
"She's the strongest of what's left of them," Kush says, "but we can't force it on her. Seeing Shazaka fall despite all her power really shook her, I think."
"Strength does not mean surviving. Bad things can always happen," Aster says. "Even demi-gods struggle; I've seen such."
"Maybe this meeting with the Avenger will help somehow," Kush says, and runs his hand through his hair. "If it gets Ashe to take the position, then that means she sees a future for us."
"Are you worried about the Avenger?" Aster asks. "What about the Barsunala? I mean, I sort of work for him too at times."
"Well.. both of their attention is on us," Kush notes. "That has to be a good thing, right?"
"Is it? What do you even know of them?" Aster asks. She finds one of the nearby cots and plops her butt down. She also gestures for the one who was holding her chest earlier to come over.
"I'm Bahb," the youngest of the barzakaro says as he sits down next to Aster.
Aster simply reaches over, takes the back of his head, and pulls him in to mush his face against one of her breasts. To see if he can figure anything out, of course!
"Well, everyone knows the Avenger," Kush says. "We all saw him on the night of vengeance. And the Barsunala is trying to save the Yodh, one temple at a time."
Bahb tries pinging into Aster's breast, which makes it tingle, then he moves on to the nipple to start licking.
Aster pets the back of his head when he starts licking. "Well, that's true at a general level. Have you heard anything else, though? Or any rumors you might want clarified?" she asks.
"Hmm, there was a dragon and naked, painted or tattooed human around the time the Yodhdiphath cells were destroyed," Kush says, looking upward. "There might have been some big magical things going on, but we're warded down here so wouldn't know. I think I heard that the Royal Mages tried to come back and got wiped out instead. That's.. reassuring and frightening at the same time."
"Actually all true. The Barsunala took on one of the top Royal Mages, and destroyed him, completely. Granted that was a crazy mess outside of the city, though," Aster answers. "And that doesn't even take into the account the ones he hunted in the Tower depths with his own personal demons."
"Demons?" Kush asks. "There was talk here of summoning demons as a last resort, if the hidden temple was discovered."
"The Barsunala is a strange creature, and is the warden of a prison of monsters, so to speak. He can use them sometimes, if they behave," Aster says. She looks down at Bahb and notes, "Try sucking."
Bahb gives a thumbs-up gesture and starts sucking! At least on one. The hand he was gesturing with ends up kneading Aster's other boob.
"I don't suppose he has a coven of witches that want to join us?" Kush aks, with a nervous chuckle.
"Not that I know of, though he can probably find some," Aster claims. "Better," she tells Bahb.
"An infusion of new talent is what we need, after the others left," Kush says, clearly distracted now by Bahb's antics.
"Not if you ask Tabyr," Aster comments while she's sucked on. "He accused me of being Yodhinala. Can you even imagine?"
"Mmm, I've imagined Yodhinala before, certainly," Kush admits. "Tabyr is.. well.. castrato. I don't know why he holds the Yodhinala responsible though, they were all but wiped out before his injuries."
"Because it was the Avatar of Inala that did that to him," Aster answers. "Though I am fairly sure he deserved it."
Bahb switches sides, nodding in agreement.
"If you've imagined them, I look nothing like one, correct?" Aster asks of Kush.
"Given his personality and lifestyle, it was going to happen eventually," Kush suggests. "Practically a pirate." He moves around to try and get a better view of things.
The suckling does start the milk flowing, since Aster's body is technically Mave's younger version.
"Is it normal for pirates to get castrated?" Aster has to ask. She also pulls Kush down on the other side of the cot. There she drops her hand in his lap and, well, massages.
Kush's body hasn't forgotten how to react to that sort of attention. He coughs into his hand, then says, "Maybe before they get hanged."
"Well, it would help you with your problem right now. I know some people that could arrange it," Aster teases Kush, and grins.
"Uuuugh," Kush goes, trying to focus. "Ashe caught him, so we own him. Her call if he lives or dies for violating our sacred airspace.."
"No no, I mean I could get you castrated," Aster teases.
"How would that help?" Kush squeaks, since Aster has a good grip on him at the moment.
"You would get less distracted!" Aster claims, and starts ... rubbing.
"I'm not distracted," Kush claims. "I'm very, very focused right now." Aster can feel his heartbeat, which is pretty excited. "Mmmph?" Bahb goes unintelligently.
Aster comments, offhandedly, "You know, there are three of you and I have three ways I could help you relieve stress right now." Totally in a non-Yodhinala way, sort of voice. Right.
"What's that?" Zoshi asks. He'd been polishing some wood. Rapidly polishing.
"Well ... " Aster says, "I'm not sure I should."
"Uhhh, what?" Kush asks, maybe having missed the question.
Aster disengages Bahb. Then she shoos him off the cot long enough to push Kush down. She doesn't even ask before she climbs on top of him, straddles, then ... well, soon he's being stroked with a very different part of anatomy wrapped around him. She leans forward and gestures for Zoshi. "You stand in front of me ... and Bahb, you're on my back, just try to work your, ah ... part into my backside," she tries to organize, then licks her own lips. "See? Three openings, and three of you..."
It's an awkward setup (and may strain the durability of the cot), but they mostly manage it. Bahb has the easier part, compared to Zoshi, who has to avoid being head-butted in the groin by Kush. It does mean that Aster is the one controlling all of the action though.
And the totally not-Yodhinala does surprisingly well. It's a bit slow, but she's surprisingly good at tending to all three all at once. It also at least keeps the noise down soon, mostly cot-creaking.
The relative quite doesn't last, at least for Bahb, who really starts grunting back there. Zoshi makes odd whines, while Kush.. well, Kush is most smothered in Aster's cleavage right now. If he's making any noise, it's muted.
Aster doesn't stop, or let any of them go until they all, well, go. And she's using every trick Mave taught her as well to give them all at least something to remember for a long time since it's unlikely they would get anything like again for ... a long time.
The timing is about right, as they all go off at more or less the same time. Bahb and Zoshi start collapsing almost immediately afterwards.
Aster oofs! And realizes she didn't plan that out as well as she should have. So there's rather a struggle to extract herself from the pile of people. "If anyone asks," she wheezes, "That didn't happen."
Kush just moans a bit, before saying, "Why would anyone ask?"
"More reasons for Tabyr to hate me," Aster answers, simply.
"He hates everyone," Kush claims, his eyes drooping. These guys do not have the stamina of youth apparently.
"Well, I should get going. If anyone asks, I wasn't here," Aster says as she heads for the nearest door.
There's no door, per se, just another winding tunnel. Eventually it leads to a familiar junction, where Aster can return to the meditation chamber or back out to the sanctuary.
Aster heads to the meditation chamber to plot out her next moves, as well as check how much energy she has left. She's been pushing it a bit, and is worried she's over-doing it.
It feels like she's at about three-quarters. Scourge is a special form that uses less energy than would be expected, but all of the shadow shenanigans added up.
It's actually more than she thought she'd have! So, recharge isn't critical right now, but ... it never hurts, either. She'll need more energy for the meeting and the like anyway. So, back up she goes and she heads back out to the main sanctuary to let Ashe know she's going out to let the Barsunala know how the meetings went.
"Extend our gratitude for arranging the meeting," Ashe tells her, looking tired. "I'm allowing a moderate amount of hope for myself."
Aster reaches out and mimes drawing a smile at the edges of Ashe's mouth. "Then smile more, show hope," she offers. "Things will work out, I promise. Things can only go up, right?"
"Well, to leave the temple certainly," Ashe agrees, pointing upwards.
"I'll take you out for celebrations sometimes when everything goes well," Aster promises. "Back as soon as I can." She heads for the exit ... but can't help herself and blows Tabyr a kiss if she spots him.
Tabyr doesn't respond, but follows Aster with his eyes.
A bit of help from Ephasto makes the passage through the Eep minefield a bit easier for Aster, but the corpulent feather balls still all stare at her.
"You're all going to be frogs, FROGS!" Aster cackles at them when she's finally past. She also promptly sticks out her tongue and goes, "Nyeh!"
The birds start going 'Eep' back at Aster!
And that's when Aster gets out of there!
A bit trekking through tunnels that make her stoop over, and she's at the secret door, and soon out into fresh air. And somewhere nearby, a stash of clothes!
"Hot damn!" Aster says as she hurries to find those hidden clothes. Which also means going back into, well, Femtraum once she does. Since they're sized for the smaller and decidedly female frame.