Silly Plots 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Recaiden]

[Rescue Mission]

No footsteps, no echoes, but there is something in the air. And when you check with magic...Well look at that, an invisible lurker! The shackles coil around them and snap tight. The instant they do, the two hounds turn to face Cassandra, growling, mid-claws raised threateningly. The half-demon waves her arms and shakes her head in a fairly clear gesture for 'Stop!'.
The half-demon who hired the pair, that is. Caught by the golden shackles, now perfectly visible, is another such creature: a little smaller, chest plates a little less-developed, but obviously the same sort of being.

The questgiver is now flipping trough her sketchbook, looking for the page where it specified that they were rescuing her three companions. Surely this is all just a misunderstanding.

[Summer Tour]

"I didn't really have time to-."
"..."
"Sorry."
Alexis hangs her head, chagrined, though the snakes scarcely move an inch.
"But, but, look at these webs! They're beautiful."

[Morty]

[Rescue Mission]

Fayyaad snaps to look at the caught half-demon, but then their quest-giver's gestures catch his attention.

"Is this one of your companions? Why didn't we see them at first?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Rescue Mission]

Cass lowers her hands, letting the magical binds fizzle out.

"Apologies." She says shortly.

[Recaiden]

Yes, there it is. 'partner and our hounds'. The quest-giver flips forward and writes out an explanation.

Yes.
We always are hidden. Unless something like those happen, we have to try to let you see us.
Too difficult for her.

As the partner demon is released the hounds both settle down. And the next time one blinks, she nowhere to be seen.

The quest-giver heads towards the door and the way out. Fayyaad was right, no point staying here any longer than they need to. They can just retrace their steps, past the smoldering guard robot, up the stairs, through the lasers, and down the tunnels to deliver the rescuees home.

Spoiler: Assuming everyone comes along and doesn't disturb anything in the ruins

Show

The group ends up at a junction in the sewers. A tunnel one way leads off to the demon hive, a ladder leads back to the surface. One of the hounds bounds away and returns with the rescuers' reward. A large sack of clinking gold coins is dropped at Cassandra's feet, and four little potion vials are set down beside it.

"Thank you."
"We appreciate their safe return."

Hounds are hounds, but the sneaky humanoid ones are difficult to replace.

[Morty]

[Rescue Mission]

Fayyaad breathes out. He'd been half-expecting something awful to happen at the last minute. But the misunderstanding seems to have been cleared up quickly.

"A job well done, I'd say. We're glad to have been of assistance."

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

"Well, thank you. They did give me a crown for my webs, after all. You can apologize by pampering me on my web or our tent. I know you have very good hands for massaging sore abdomens." she says, mostly kidding but also would totally love that, turning around and waving her enormous abdomen at Alexis.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Rescue Mission]

"Yes that was... very straightforward." Says Cassandra, sounding as surprised as Fayyaad feels that something spooky didn't happen at the last moment. "We almost died twice, but still... straightforward."

[Recaiden]

[Rescue Mission]

The half-demon looks at Cassandra curiously. She is disappointed, right?

You want(ed) things to be complicated?

They could arrange that.

[Summer Tour]

Is Alexis blushing, or is that just the aura of heavenly fire reflecting on her face?
She heads over to the tent flap, apparently taking Sarina completely seriously. Or at least playing along really well.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Rescue Mission]

"No, it's quite alright. I think I'll manage, says Cassandra wryly, giving the half-demon a cautious glance. You can't really be too careful with demons and wishes, especially unintended ones.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Sarina skitters behind Alexis, smile returning. Oh, it's always lovely that one person in this world takes her seriously. Even if it's only one.

[Recaiden]

[Rescue Mission]

How strange these lonely surface-dwellers are.
The half-demon gives them a last wave, turns back to her hounds, and vanishes from sight.
The hounds themselves wait until the heroes have departed before bounding the last few hops home.

[Summer Tour]

Alexis carefully zips the tent shut again, and runs a hand along Sarina's exoskeleton. What a shame to have frightened her like that. But, as suggested, surely she can make it up to her.
Better hang up this curtain here, for some privacy...

Next we see them is probably breaking the camp the next day, ready to head up away from the ocean. Sarina doesn't mind being ridden again, does she? They've a good distance to go.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Indeed, Sarina has gotten quite used to the saddle. Far more than the actual centaurs in town, if we're being honest. Though Alexis may wish to cook them up breakfast first. She'll be grumpy if she's lugging all their gear around on an empty stomach.

Speaking of which, her little time magic didn't make Alexis bring anything that wouldn't pack well, did it? She can only carry so much without being overburdened. "So uh, where's this crater?"

[Recaiden]

Yes, there was a breakfast. Pancakes and fruit and fish, plus some mice for the snakes.
Alexis's ability to magically conjure foodstuffs out of coincidence and law really cuts down on how much you need to pack and carry.

"It's north-north-west of here, between the 'Green and Riverside."

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Well, after some strapping of tents onto Sarina, they're off to the crater, leaving behind their tracks and the shimmering webs as the marks of their presence on the beach.
"So uh, what did the sharks want?" Sarina asks.

[Recaiden]

"They wanted someone from the surface world, who wouldn't have an opinion already about their underwater problems. Though it got pretty complicated, one thing led to another - a whole adventure, in the end. And of course I got a chance to tell them about Alkania. She's not a very sharky person, but I think some of them listened."

Off they go!
Is Sarina going to build a fancy spiderweb each place they visit?

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

"Oh, well. Sounds like you did a good job, then." Sarina says, a bit in awe. She's not very good at public speaking.

She probably won't be making such nice webs. It would wear out her spinnerets, even if she has a priestess to heal them. Off they go!

[Morty]

[Rescue Mission]

Fayyaad looks after the departing demons before turning back to Cassandra.

"We can split the gold halfway, and maybe the potions too. Depending on what they do and how useful they are to each of us."

[Recaiden]

[Summer Tour]

Maybe just a simple giant spiderweb across the top of the crater.
"Uh...yeah, I think I did."
Alexis says. She hadn't really thought about it.

In due time they arrive at the crater: a hole in the land maybe 65 yards across, a dozen meters deep, distressingly circular. In rainy times it's partly filled with water, forming a pond with a little island in the very center, but right now it's dry.

Sarina might feel that something is about to happen. Has happened. Will already have been happening. Something timey-wimey and probably confusing. Alexis for her part just dismounts.

[Rescue Mission]

Two of the potions are large pyramidal bottles marked with a healthy cross symbol, containing syrupy red. Healing potions, quite effective ones.
The other two are short round unlabelled things containing a roiling inky purple-black. Harder to identify, but it turns out to be concentrated liquid demonic energy. The applications should be obvious.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Sarina looks around, and folds her arms. She doesn't unpack, as she can't reach all the straps.
"This place has some serious mojo, Alexis. What did you say made this place?" she asks, going over to the crater itself to peer over the edge.

[Recaiden]

Alexis starts unpacking the things she was carrying and then goes to help Sarina. She knows how awkward getting those bags on and off can be.
"An angel falling from heaven. Being thrown, technically."

The ground in the crater sparkles, studded with tiny flecks of brazen metal. Once in a while, sparks leap from one cluster to another. Careful not to trip and fall in.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Sarina gulps, thinking of Roth. She leans out to get a good look at the center of the crater.
"How often does that happen?" she asks. Was the angel made of metal? Curious...

[Ashen Lilies]

[Rescue Mission]

Cassandra frowns, becoming visibly tense as she realizes what the bottles of demonic essence are.

[Recaiden]

The angel wasn't entirely metal, but its wings were.

"For us, we haven't had any like that yet, although one did just disappear."
"For other people, it seems to happen pretty often. Something like 30% of angels will eventually lose their post or nature." Alexis explains. It's a pretty tough job.

There's something about the central mound, a lingering sense of not.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

"Well, I hope your plan is to see it from a distance because going in there seems pretty unsafe. What did you want to do here?" she asks.

[Recaiden]

"I wanted to see it!"
Alexis has already hopped over the lip of the crater and is racing down there, quick as is needed to not fall.

"What is it that you're so worried about here?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Sarina jumps in surprise, but without knowing what else to do she jumps after Sarina and skitters after her.
"It just feels weird. I think it's a spider thing. There's some kind of power here, for sure." she insists.

[Recaiden]

Sarina following Sarina. Curious. Fitting.

The nature of the experience that created this place is, more specifically, 'no longer being what you are'.
As the two approach it is re-enacted in sympathy, a wave of transformative energy sweeps out from the disturbed impact site. The obvious shape for each one to settle in, once they are not themselves, is that of the other.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

Poor Sarina. All that effort to master spider-ness and now shifted to a gorgon-curse. Not the full curse, perhaps. Alexis had lost her killer eyes long ago. Sarina is still quite short and plump, though with more of Alexis' nymph-blessed curves. This leaves her unfortunately with a top that's too tight and a discarded saddle the only thing resembling lower body garments.

She falls immediately onto her large-but-comparatively-much-smaller rear end, curling up and covering her face in terror and the sudden, maddeningly loud hissing. It doesn't help since her head is now a nest of star-spangled vipers, all very confused, hissing, and giving Sarina complete sensory overload from all her new eyes. She lays there, whimpering.

[Recaiden]

Probably she can get back to 'normal' and make use of that spider training.

At first glance the priestess might look much the same. Tall, pale, elegant, terribly beautiful. Even before that trouble with her eyes getting righted she was like a masterwork statue come to life. But then you notice that her face is different: sharp, taut, cold and expressionless. And what's that on her neck and shoulders? Hair in its waves of blue? Her legs had been long, but not so much longer than all the rest of her, banded with white and black fur. And there weren't so many of them. At her back is a long rounded bulb, quite unlike the broad saddled spider-half that she rode in on.

"..."
"I guess...you were right to be careful."
Alexis admits.

It doesn't seem to have bothered her very much, the transformation. Perhaps it was easier to reassert who she is, when she only needs to glance down and see the aura blazing around her arms. Perhaps its that she spent so much time longing for an escape from her wretched perfect body and, even though she had been coming to terms with it more and more (what she could accomplish with Message, how Sarina acted, and in another way, the nymphs' gift giving her mirrors and the look of her own face-), there's a strong tendency to view this is a miraculous freeing success. Sure, the senses are a lot to take in, but that's the sort of thing she's used to in her meditations.

She tries to Sarina to help calm the snakes, but she has no practice moving all those legs, and the enchanted shoes that help her keep balance at the best of times don't fit at all onto these feet. Alexis immediately trips and tumbles head-over-numerous-heels down to the bottom of the basin, sounding a small cry of alarm.

[Deathkeeper]

[Summer Tour]

"Alexis!" calls Sarina, and she struggles to get up, scrabbling down the crater on her hands and knees in an attempt to reach the tumbling drider.
She neglects making any form of I-told-you-so.