Deviant IC

[MikelaC1]

Very well then, I accept your offer Left unsaid that by accepting it, she has bound Caprista to it as well...and she holds out one of her many hands to shake on it.

[Ridai]

Falnax grasps her hand and shakes it. There is the feeling of this being a small, but significant moment. Perhaps marking a step up in the marilith's budding career as a seductress?

"Good, very good. Once the souls are collected, we shall celebrate this new page in your lives fittingly, among the luxuries of my chambers in my Queen's fortress, not out here among swamps. Then, you will be introduced to your new Queen and receive your marks." Ny'Tasha can feel that Caprista is torn. Heading into Zuggtmoy's fortress is incredibly dangerous, but the excitement to be had... However, being led before Zuggtmoy is where even the succubus draws the line.

[MikelaC1]

Then I guess we'd better have him in our power before it gets too far. If it does happen, our story is that we are independent, but were captured by Juiblex and branded by him, and only managed to escape...and that if she can remove it and put her own there, we would be grateful Truth be told, Ny'Tasha doesnt care whom she ends up serving, Juiblex gave her nothing and if she transfers to Zuggtmoy, it's nothing.
So how do we go about collecting these souls, what do you want us to do?

[Ridai]

"A trivial task. The souls emerge from the pool and are divided by their quality. The more powerful the soul, and the deeper the fall, the more valuable it is. You can see it and feel it. I have pens prepared for different classes of quality. You should have no trouble. Finally, you get to do the honors of sealing the souls in their respective gems, one for each pen." Ny'Tasha is handed gems of differing quality and size, though all expertly cut, to serve as soulstones (which can draw in soul energy by the wielder just willing it), the one for the high quality souls a truly impressive ruby. They watch the souls form, mortals of all walks of life, young and old. Sometimes quite young, innocent souls deeply corrupted and thus especially sweet, Ny'Tasha notes as she watches the soul of a mindbroken teenage girl with an unseeing stare emerge and get sorted into the high quality pen. Caprista uses the opportunity to plant herself in Falnax' lap as they harvest, stradling his body and admiring her new (second, lesser) master, utterly uncaring about the remnants of tragic fates walking by. There are dozens of souls emerging from the emptying pool, all of them doomed to the Abyss, knowingly or unknowingly.

[MikelaC1]

As has been the case lately with all of her dealings in the Abyss, Ny'Tasha is uncomfortable with what is being done with the souls, feeling that there is tremendous waste occurring. However screwing up this assignment is not in her best overall interest and she works to diligently collect the souls, learning how to identify their power...the issue of which gem is most valuable is easy given her appraisal skills and special gemsmithing focus. She watches Caprista ingratiate herself with Falnax, her looks back at them implying her eagerness to join in their activities

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+34)[43] appraisal
(1d20+37)[38] bluff
(1d20+32)[45] gemsmithing

[Ridai]

Ny'Tasha proves that she can distinguish the gems expertly, that she can judge the souls with great accuracy, and divides them accordingly. Each time she stores one of the souls in a gem, she gets a quick impression of how their lives and souls were ruined, often ending the lives of capable or admirable people in ways entertaining to demons. Most demons would revel in this experience, which is likely why Falnax let Ny'Tasha do "the honors", as a generous gift. If Ny'Tasha wants to, she finds that her knowledge and skill with understanding these soulstones allows her to use them much more efficiently, losing far less soulstuff in the transition of the soul into the gem, but also reducing the impressions and errant soulstuff she can suck up. The last soul she absorbs is that of the mindbroken young woman. Even if she absorbs the soul more efficiently, Ny still gets the impression of her life, vividly. She used to be beautiful, talented, beloved by many. Ny is reminded of the young female paladin-to-be (who now also worships Tishtina... how does she know this?), having had so much potential to be a remarkable follower of Tishtina (making Ny remember her short, but wonderful time with the young male paladin-to-be on the prime and her visit to Arborea). Then Falnax engineered circumstances to beat her down, breaking her spirit far enough to accept a deal with Falnax to get out of the horrible situations she was forced into, only that her escape was hollow, ending with monsters capturing her out in the wilderness, first slaking their lust, then their hunger with the young woman, her soul plummeting into the Abyss as a final insult. Falnax has marked the soul as something he would enjoy personally, later.

With her work done, Ny'Tasha impressing Falnax with her aptitude, the glabrezu takes the gems, and teleports all of them to his spacious chambers, filled with decadent luxuries, three collared succubus slaves of increased size with no apparent will of their own devoutly standing ready to serve their master, Caprista telepathically pointing one of them out as a former student of hers, showing amusement at her fate. The two demonesses find themselves on the spacious bed, straddling Falnax between them. The three of them are presented with cups of wine, the expensive drink "enhanced" with tormented soulstuff (which Caprista seems to relish). "Don't worry, these sluts are simply a sign of what happens to my enemies and incompetent servants. They never were like you. No, you are meant for far greater things as my left and right hand. Please me, and your lives will be that of royalty." Falnax caresses the demonesses in his arms, something in his voice having a luring quality to it, one lesser demonesses have unknowingly succumbed to in the past.

[MikelaC1]

With Falnax deep in hypnosis, Ny'Tasha whispers quietly to Caprista....So, what should we be asking him? What sort of information do you think he has?

[Ridai]

Caprista proceeds to telepathically interrogate Falnax for information, gleaning strategic positions, number and types of forces, future plans of Zuggtmoy he knows, and even what he himself has planned in terms of corrupting souls.

Afterwards, she looks to Ny'Tasha. Anything you'd like to do with him now? We could easily have those gems for ourselves. Ooh, maybe we imbue those three succubi over there with some different brand of loyalty and some will and make Falnax their puppet? They have the perfect cover, the succubus gleefully lists, then notices something. It seems our master is getting eager to meet you, I can feel it in my brand. You couldn't because yours hasn't been altered yet.

[MikelaC1]

You can have all of those, I just want to keep this one indicating the highest quality ruby and yes, lets set these succubi up with the power to break Falnax, Then off to see my new master.

[Ridai]

Ny'Tasha can feel the souls within the ruby, which in themselves already would be worth a decent amount to certain demons. Once again, that one soul that caught her eye before does so again, clearly standing out even among the high quality of the others.

Caprista and Ny'Tasha quickly go to work, Caprista shows the marilith how to break through the mental barrier that was beaten into the three succubus slaves, piecing their minds back together (with total willing obedience to the two demonesses). Ny finds it an easy process and as she works, she finds almost incidentally that she can touch their minds very easily, inducing admiration, perhaps even worship, with absolute ease. Caprista is too caught up in her work to notice. Once the succubi are "functioning" again, they weep, entirely vulnerable to their new mistresses, remembering all that has been done with them, Caprista and Ny'Tasha ingratiating themselves with them further and slowly guiding their pent-up terror towards Falnax, training them in the techniques to control him to the deepest level. At the same time, the two demonesses of Juiblex' court program Falnax to have absolute obedience for them and the three succubi (in that order), understanding every of their voiced desires as something he thought of on his own and wants to do, he will love everything they will do with him, also never laying a finger upon them unless they will it. The three succubi relish this chance to get revenge indefinitely, easily earning Caprista and Ny'Tasha their deepest gratitude and loyalty. They know the court inside-out, having witnessed many a thing a normal succubus would have been never shown for fear of betrayal, and they will enjoy making a lot of them burn while enriching themselves.

Caprista teleports Ny'Tasha back to their chambers in Juiblex' fortress, congratulating her on her superb work. She also presents her with new silks, much better than the ones she had, adjusting her looks until they are absolutely flawless, and finally, attaches a little golden and gemmed addition to her circlet of persuasion, boosting its efficacy. "For the best companion and student I have ever had," Caprista says to Ny'Tasha, smiling lovingly (and a little submissively, despite her words), embracing and kissing the marilith in a way very unusual for a demon (Ny also feeling a certain nervousness from the succubus).

Once Caprista has dressed herself in some of her best silks as well, they head to Yargorath's chambers together. "Greetings, my master. I have prepared Ny'Tasha as you desired," Caprista says, bowing deeply as the aboleth rises out of the huge pool that is part of his chambers, eyeing the demonesses thoroughly. Ny'Tasha has never been this close to one of them, now being able to see the slime that keeps them hydrated, also noticing that Yargorath has many more tentacles than what is normal for his kind.

"Yes, you did wonderfully, dear Caprista. I expect no less from my favorite." The aboleth beckons Ny'Tasha closer, until she can feel the water beneath her scales and is only a scant few feet away from the creature, well within reach of his appendages, though he does not touch the marilith. The marilith feels Caprista's gaze on her, though is unsure what goes through her mind right now. He does a motion that reminds Ny'Tasha of a nod. "Yes, good, very good. I am glad that you are finally freed of those brutes and finally can embrace your true potential and place. I trust Caprista has given you a taste of what it means to work for me, yes? How did you like it?"

(Ny'Tasha can now use Charm Monster as a supernatural ability, with a DC of 10 + 1/2 HD (which is essentially the equivalent of spell level here) + Cha. Her circlet of persuasion now functions as a +6 item instead of +3)

[MikelaC1]

Caprista has indeed taught me many things, and my divorce from the rank and file of the mariliths is best thing that could have happened for me, it has allowed me to see many things in a new light. And make different plans. Now, how can I serve you?

[MikelaC1]

As she lies there, Ny'Tasha considers many things. Not the least of which is the removal of the horrible brand of Juiblex. Obviously, the aboleth was within his rights to do so or he would not have done it, but Ny'Tasha still wonders about what the reaction of Darkness will be. Yargorath still (nominally at least) serves Juiblex...but perhaps the relationship is not quite what Ny'Tasha thought it was. Another part of her mind considers her new relationship with Caprista. She is, of course, unaware of the power that Caprista has activated in her, but the connection she now has with her is so much deeper. Only aware of both Tishtina and Nocticula as concepts and ideas, she would not be able to classify their relationship into either one of those two types of love. In fact, the very concept of love is foreign to her, she is a demon after all. It will now be interesting to see what Yargorath has in mind for her. The aims and goals of the aboleth were never a consideration for Ny'Tasha before, seeing as she was too busy serving Juiblex, but now they will be. She wonders as well what the reaction of Yargorath will be if she and Caprista are able to succeed in igniting a civil war between the mariltih and the balor.

[Ridai]

(Note that what Caprista feels can still be one-sided, as you like. The succubus has completely fallen for Ny, even if the latter does not feel the same, which also makes it a lot easier to lie to her or manipulate her, if desired)

As Ny lies there, she looks at her tail where her brand was. After what Caprista did with her, it feels like a haze around her mind is slowly being pulled back... and when she blinks, she realizes that the brand is still there. Altered, marking her as Yargorath's subordinate, but it is unclear if that still means her soul is at Juiblex' and Darkness' mercy. Remembering the moment it happened, it also was strange, like her body and mind just went into auto-pilot all of a sudden, recognizing a very subtle manipulation, perhaps stemming from the brand that lasted until Caprista's jealousy took over. Even with the manipulation, no harm was done to Ny, quite the opposite, and she still is valued highly by Yargorath, with all the comforts and authority that comes with it. Yet he did play her mind like an instrument...

Looking at Caprista, Ny can feel her obsession and almost desperate love, like she were clinging to a lifeline keeping her from drowning. The succubus is vastly better off than most demons in Juiblex' blighted court, but apparently things aren't all rosy for her either.

The succubus returns to her senses, and the look she gives her once more reinforces the power Ny has over her. Caprista may not even realize it yet, but there is little she couldn't do with the succubus, though it remains to be seen if things are actually better now for the succubus, as she hoped they would be with Ny'Tasha. And there is that bit of jealousy, driving her to always exceed Yargorath in the marilith's mind.

"Our ma-... Yargorath was very pleased with you. You are now his number 2, and wishes that we work together the next time we are summoned to praise him. He has given us leave to improve our talents at acting as one, and to corrupt and gather souls as we see fit. I offered some of the gems and that also pleased him greatly. As such, we are sitting comfortably and safely." The succubus smiles deviously, though while alone with Ny, unnoticed by Caprista, a certain softness always creeps back into her expression. "Would you like to rest for now, head to the prime material, or should we get to work on Azoth?"

[MikelaC1]

Ny'Tasha considers her brand in a new light, her senses now more able to deal with things properly. It turns out that she did not have as much to celebrate as she thought she did...and Yargorath is as much of a schemer as Darkness was. She's not sure that she is much better off than she was before, and the plan to instigate a civil war is now looking a lot better.
The idea of heading to the Prime is really attractive to me, but there is the small matter of not being able to get there on our own. I still need spells or scrolls and if it isnt a mission for Juiblex, hes not likely to hand them out without a good reason. Azoth on the other hand is right here and we can go after him easily
She does have one mission she would like to attend to on the Prime, but she doesnt want Caprista around for it.

[Ridai]

Caprista says "I can get us there. I could also get you scrolls, if you'd like..." The succubus is trying to go for the inflection of If you do a little something for me, but doesn't quite manage to go through with it, her weakness for the marilith already at work. If Ny would have to guess (and judging by her Sense Motive), she could perhaps get the scrolls from Caprista for free, or for a little attention, but she would definitely not have to grant another favor or anything remotely in that ballpark of cost, if she plays her cards right.

(Your choice what you'd like to do first, and how you deal with Caprista if you want to go to the Prime)

[Ridai]

After a few minutes, Caprista teleports away, reappearing a bit later, two plane shift scrolls for Ny'Tasha in hand, giving them to the marilith without hesitation.

[MikelaC1]

Ny'Tasha teleports back to Caprista after finishing with the Tishtinians. I can see know why La'Tishta told me about that place, I see many things more clearly now. So, have you seen any potential targets?

[Ridai]

Ny'tasha's question is answered partly by seeing the succubus finishing with a little snack. Evidently, the form of a buxom and helpless farmer's daughter was more than enough to lure in a garden variety group of three in the vicinity of Rennador, who are currently being drained in a way most enjoyable for the succubus. The gems of her necklace give a brief glow, souls being stored in there, either to present to her master, or for later play/consumption, the bodies crumbling to dust. They leave behind most standard magic items, total worth not quite reaching 10k.

Caprista, in her human form with its appropiately ripped and sullied clothes that mend themselves after a moment, answers "We have two juicy options. One is a group of assassins trying to pass as merchants that turned in for the night at a roadside inn down the road. Not very hard to get, since they'll all be sleeping and vulnerable, but perhaps a nice morning snack. The other is a group of part-time adventurers, part-time slavers that are heading to the lair of a medusa, seemingly looking for an exotic pet to sell to people with unique tastes. Sounded like they were tracing an exquisite one."

[MikelaC1]

The adventurers sound like the better target, and maybe this medusa will prove to be an interesting ally. Or if she cant be convinced to become interesting, her lair will probably prove to be a trove. Lead the way

[Ridai]

Caprista touches Ny and teleports them to what at first looks like an overgrown cliffside. It takes a little moment to realize that there is an entrance to a cave hidden amongst rock and greenery, perhaps purposefully so.

This is the medusa's lair. It was pretty easy to figure out the location I gleaned from the minds of the adventurers as I followed them. If my assumptions are correct, the group should have arrived here quite recently... Caprista looks around, Ny and the succubus finding traces of passage. Caprista also scans the cave entrance. Seems like we have a medusa with aptitude in magic. There is a hidden spell on the entrance that will warn the medusa. Caprista teleports herself and Ny past the spell, into the dark cave. At first, the cave doesn't look all that promising, just basically an opening in the rock. Ny notices a spell trap, which is loaded with a suggestion that makes people assume there is nothing there and leave. Another rock has been pushed aside, revealing a path deeper into the cave. Circumventing the trap and heading on, they see the first evidence of a medusa presence. Petrified mortals in various poses. It would be easy to assume that these are her victims, placed there out of malice and to erode the will of anyone who would attempt to enter. Caprista does not pay much attention to them. Ny notices that these mortals were most likely part of a rough crowd, either evil adventurers, slavers, assassins, that sort of thing. They are predominantly in poses suggesting aggression, some looking surprised. The petrified mortals are all naked, probably having been stripped of items and clothing by the medusa afterwards. Ny finds and circumvents another trap among the statues, one designed to induce terror.

The demonic pair come to a crossroads of sorts, a small cavern with multiple levels and pathways, water streaming down the wall in the far-right corner, cascading into a natural channel cutting the room in half and disappearing into a small opening in the wall. On the "ground floor", there is a path to the left, two opposite of Caprista and Ny. Higher up, there is an opening leading to the right, as well as a difficult to see hole hidden among stalactites.

[MikelaC1]

Ny'Tasha first scans the whole cavern with her see invisible on the off chance that the group has not yet passed through here yet and is still waiting. If that yields no information, she will attempt to listen to see if there is anything other than the waterfall

Spoiler: Listen

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(1d20+29)[32]

And finally she will teleport to the ground floor to see if there are any tracks\

Spoiler: Search

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(1d20+31)[35]

[Ridai]

Nothing is picked up by the see invisibility, given that her true seeing already covers the range of her darkvision. Beginning to look around in the cavern, Ny'Tasha finds scant few in terms of tracks, but does notice an oddity in the rock around the waterfall, suddenly seeing that there is another path leading behind it, which was disguised from her true seeing from her original position. There seem to be some drying tracks leading down that path behind the illusory wall. With her supernatural hearing, the marilith also picks up distant voices in the other tunnels, though the position is hard to pinpoint from the cavern. Apparently, the party split up, some of them later having found the secret path. That or those who went down the hidden path lied to the others by not mentioning it. Or the others are on the way to the hidden path. Hard to tell.

[MikelaC1]

Ny'Tasha questions Caprista to find out if she has access to divination spells and if she does, if she can cast one to find the path choice that will lead to the medusa the fastest. If she does not have such spells, Ny'Tasha picks the path behind the illusory wall.

[Ridai]

"I do, in fact. Comes in handy, not to mention the entertainment value." Ny'Tasha gets the uncanny feeling that she has been part of said entertainment value at times in the past. The succubus begins to cast and a few moments later, she nods towards the path behind the waterfall.

Heading down the winding path, they hears voices, soon see light, as well as moving shadows. There is a shout that is suddenly halted, followed by the noise of stone across stone. Quick steps get closer to the demonesses, along with swearing. "The damn pendant's not working!" one shouts.

"Leave this place and never return," a female voice says with a certain coldness, but the owner of the voice, likely the medusa, has the unfortunate circumstance of possessing a soft voice that is hardly suited for the commandeering tone she is going for (though it is a good effort despite that). Not the kind of voice Ny perhaps would have expected from a nefarious medusa. The demonesses peer around a corner, glimpsing two mortals hiding at the edge of a corner, one a human man armed with a large sword, the other a female drow armed with spells. Both seem to be focused entirely on the corner.

Caprista looks to Ny'Tasha, wordlessly asking her how she wants to deal with this situation.

[MikelaC1]

Ny'Tasha communicates telepathically with the two mortals, including Caprista in the "broadcast" so that she will not be taken by surprise by what is happening. Back away from the corner, we may be of some assistance to you.

[Ridai]

The mortals are startled by the sudden voice in their heads. The drow is first to spot the marilith and the gorgeous human... farmer's daughter? The human follows suit soon after, starting "Who-" but the drow quickly makes him shut up. Both are visibly alarmed and wary of the powerful demoness, weapons half-raised, signalling compliance as they move away from the corner, but also that they don't trust blindly (though with a marilith opposite of them, they likely are scrambling for an escape plan). Caprista, in her charming human guise, just smiles to them.

[MikelaC1]

We might be able to help one another. I heard you screaming that a pendant you have didnt work? What was it supposed to do? My assistant here is quite a sorceress, maybe she can take a look?

[Ridai]

They are supposed to prevent petrification. I checked them myself, they should work. But this medusa's stare just entirely ignored them. The drow answers. Caprista steps forward and bends forward a little to take a look ("incidentally" giving nice views to the mortals in front of her and Ny behind her). The disguised succubus then telepaths to Ny only Those do look like legitimate charms against petrification. They didn't know how right they were when they said what an exquisite example of her kind this medusa is.

[MikelaC1]

While Caprista checks out the drow's pendant, Ny'Tasha "checks out" the human warrior, and makes sure he sees that she is checking him out and that she apparently likes what she is seeing.

Spoiler: Bluff

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(1d20+42)[59]

[Ridai]

The warrior needs a moment to realize what Ny'Tasha is doing, which at first confuses him. But it is a testament to Ny's beauty, charm, and skill that she can at least partially take the warrior's mind off of the medusa lurking around the corner. He had been casting a few glances into Caprista's deep cleavage (given she's a human and thus in a way "more attainable", and wearing a dress that is rather tight around her generous bust), but with Ny's advances, he does start to calculate his chances of having fun with the demoness as well after this whole mess is over with. His gaze traces her curves more and more frequently in between checking to see if the medusa is coming after them.

Meanwhile, Caprista has managed to get close to the drow, her portrayed submissiveness and relative innocence lowering the drow's guard, the dark elf (behind her appearance of superiority) liking what she is seeing.

Please, please, please tell me I'll get to have fun with her, Caprista begs Ny'Tasha, not even trying to disguise her lust and hedonism.