Lysindra's Legions (IC)

[MikelaC1]

We will try to track him back to his lair, cave, whatever. Maybe we will get lucky and find some sort of treasure trove, I know you adventuring humans like those sorts of things and even if we dont, I imagine his cave will be given wide berth by anyone familiar with the area. It may be hard to tell by the lack of difference between day and night, but we've been travelling for hours, and you're going to need rest soon And with her saying so, Kara notices that yes, it has been a long day and she can feel its nearing the end of it.

[Ridai]

"Sounds good, I'm starting to run low on juice anyway. I'm actually not that big on treasure in itself, I'm in it for the action, but it gives me edges I need. I'm just a weird human, after all." Maybe the lair will have a somewhat acid-free place, too. The gish helps with following the tracks. And maybe, just maybe, she'll have a little time to get to know Zy'Tara better. Kara has always wondered what marilith are like, seeing one in the flesh and in action, it's just too beautiful and wondrous. Plus, she has Zy'Tara to thank for saving her life.

[MikelaC1]

The pair track the dragon back, and find that he did indeed hole up in a cave. They enter and then Zy'Tara casts a blade barrier on the cave mouth and a second one in the interior mouth for good measure. That ought to keep things out
Meanwhile, Kara has discovered the dragon trove and it is considerable. Kara claims to be not in it for the money, but even so, she has to be somewhat awed by the stacks of coins and jewels, as the marilith joins her.
Abyssal coins or abyssal tainted. No demonic cult will deal with the Helldiver except Nocticula's and knowing they have you over a barrel in that, you wont even get 50% on it. Too much weight in my estimation. Now the gems and jewellry are another story
As well, Kara notices that the acid is completely gone. It had been slowly receding in the mountains, and now in the cave, it is non-existent.

[Ridai]

Seeing how the acid is gone, Kara promptly prestidigitates herself free of all acid, making sure to aim it into her mouth, nose, and lungs as well, caughing up a nice big chunk of collected acid. "Phew!" Without asking, Kara just begins to moves another prestidigitation across Zy'Tara to remove errant bits of acid (which takes a while, given her total length, starting with her torso, then moving onto her coils). "Well, hardly surprises me. Most dragons don't have great hoards and when an adventurer does manage to find a real one, they usually retire because of their ludicrous moneypiles."

The Helldiver makes a dismissive gesture towards the pile. "Just gimme whatever you feel is fair for the coins, given the circumstances, and we'll split the gems and such evenly. I mean, the upgrades I can get with the money are nice and all, but my personal training blows all of those out of the water for the most part."

[MikelaC1]

The coins are of no interest to me, and as for the jewellry, if they are for the arms or hands, we can divide those, the rest is yours as you wish.

[Ridai]

"Works for me." Kara glances at the marilith. "So, since you saved my butt, some attention is in order. How are you feeling about a quick massage to get those muscles loose? I can also just go to sleep ASAP so we can get going again as soon as possible." Given Kara is a warrior and knows a thing or two about having more arms than most people, she knows (roughly) how to tend to tired muscles. She'll have to improvise with the snake coils, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[MikelaC1]

As long as you allow me to repay the favour

[MikelaC1]

Zy'Tara looks for a long time at Kara, the Helldiver is not sure if there is some sort of mental communication going on that she is not party to, but it seems that way. Eventually Zy'Tara lets go of her, and with how relaxed Kara is, she is able to fall asleep, and sleep soundly (knowing those blade barriers are up to turn anything into mincemeat) through the night
The next day, before leaving, the two dig through the dragon hoard, looking for gems and jewelry. They are pretty easy to find, even buried under the coins (and Kara can actually feel the taint that Zy'Tara referred to) and after dividing with the marilith, Kara is left with about 25 assorted gems and 5 pieces of jewelry (I leave it to you to decide what they are specifically), she is not an appraisal expert, so she will have to wait for her return to the Prime to get an idea of what she has.
(you can take coins if you want, and do have a contact with Nocticula if you want to make a bit more)

[Ridai]

Kara leaves the coins and stashes the gems and jewelry. Checking the duration of her acid immunity, she renews it if necessary and re-ups her buffs. Before they go, she turns to Zy'Tara. "Hey," And she plants a quick, but passionate kiss on her lips. "Thanks for the experience, I'll cherish the memory." And to be honest, Kara would not mind a marilith friend, Nocticulan or not. "Shall we?"

[MikelaC1]

The spell does need to be renewed, so far in the mountains the acid does not seem to be prevalent, but its always better to be prepared and as Elinon said, the casting from a Teacher scroll is simple.
The pair set out again, moving higher into the mountains, the climb does get harder but not impossible. As they climb, the clouds begin to get heavier, obscuring lead vision but not impairing their speed.
At one point however, the cloud banks clear a bit and Kara sees a most outstanding spectacle. They have reached the top of the mountain, and as impossible as it is, a castle is perched exactly on the peak. Not built into the peak, not around the peak, its as if some giant hand came down and placed the castle exactly on the top spire. There are no bracing beams, no support poles, just a castle balanced on the point of the mountaintop. Anywhere else, its completely impossible, but this is the Abyss.

[Ridai]

After Kara cleared her various head orifices of acid, took a deep breath, and got a good look at the ludicrous scenery, her grin stretches from one ear to the other. "This is amazing." Using the opportunity to see what a castle's underside looks like, she also looks for any sort of door to knock on (even if only temporarily during a jump), otherwise, she is confident she can probably jump onto the walls.

[MikelaC1]

There is a clear path to walk to the front door and it seems like Zy'Tara thinks that is the course to follow. As they move up, Zy'Tara imparts a bit of a history lesson. This is Castle Zentira, that was at the headwaters of the Zentira Sea, back when the sea didnt go from ocean to ocean Kara knows that at one time, the Zentira divided North and South Enicom (think like the Mediterranean) but the two continents were still joined at the eastern end of the sea. In the Battle of Enicom probably the largest battle in the Gods War you know the whole land was blasted, separating the two continents and allowing the Zentira to stretch from the Klintas to the Marilitas, and in the course of that devastation, it was believed that the Castle just sank into the waters. In fact, it sank into the Abyss, due to some demonic mischief, not sure why they did it, but then with many of my kin, you dont often know why they do anything and it "fell" to this point right here, where it has remained for a thousand years

[Ridai]

Kara's grin somehow grows wider. "This is ridiculous and I love it. So this is Ke'Vokulli's home?"

[MikelaC1]

The pair walk up the "path" that leads to the front door. To either side of the door stand two armoured figures, in head to toe plate mail metal. They do not even appear to have faces behind the masks. One looks at Zy'Tara, speaking in an emotionless, almost metallic voice
What do you want? The other one, looking at Kara, in the same sort of voice, says No mortals allowed.

[Ridai]

"Aw, don't be like that. We're looking for some Kotep-helping demons and would like to ask Lady Ke'Vokulli if she knows anything about that." Kara starts chuckling as if she heard a very funny joke, speaking through her giggles. "Besides, would a mortal even make it this far? I mean, come on, they barely get old enough to learn how to tie their shoes!" May as well BS the guards if they're like that, raising her four arms to underline her words.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Take 12 on Bluff check (47) to make the guards think Kara isn't actually a mortal, just looking like one. Modifier for ridiculousness of the lie reduced by 16 (so even if it qualifies for the most outlandish category, the targets only get +4 on Sense Motive against her). Kara can lie through truth-detecting spells and the like.

Also Take 12 on Diplomacy for 47 to convince the guards about letting them speak with Ke'Vokulli.

[MikelaC1]

Zy'Tara is busy conversing with the other guard in Abyssal, her voice soft and melodic, his voice cold and metallic. Kara isn't quite sure what the issue is, but she can gather it has something to do with her, the way the two gesture at her. Her own efforts are proving to have no effect, its not possible to bluff an automaton that is only following orders. Finally, Zy'Tara lifts all 4 of her arms, clearly trying to prove she is something other than mortal, and the guard finally relents, opening the door for them.

[Ridai]

Kara grins to the automaton in front of her. "See?" And Kara happily walks into the castle alongside the marilith. "Nice going," the gish compliments Zy'Tara. "First time being a freak of nature helped me socially."

[MikelaC1]

I told them you were a lesser marilith and still waiting for your other arms. We aren't "born" with 6 arms, we only have two and the others grow in as we gain in power. The tail, well, you're a lesser marilith.
Walking through the castle is like walking through a museum; furniture, artwork and décor from a time a thousand years ago. It really is as if a giant hand had plucked the castle from its place on the Prime and moved it directly here, the castle shows no sign of battle or cataclysm, everything is perfectly in its place, undisturbed, albeit a bit dusty. There are a few skeletons around, but they are not the animated kind, obviously residents of the castle when whatever happened, happened. Apart from that though, the castle is empty, almost eerily so. The boots of Kara echo through the rooms as she walks.

[Ridai]

"I could live with that. Would be a pity about the sexy tail, though, even if legs have their charms."

Kara takes a look around, rarely getting to see relatively undisturbed ancient history. Usually it's all moldy and crumbly and filled with nasties. She tries to see if there are any trails in the dust (especially that of giant snake coils), otherwise she suggests trying to find a throne room, a training area, or the royal bedchambers, in that order.

[MikelaC1]

There are many trails, those of snakes and various "other" things, the nature of which Kara can only guess at...and in the Abyss, probably wildly out of tune with what really made them. The tracks do not follow any sort of pattern, and most of them are covered with many more layers of dust, its obvious that its been a long time since new ones were laid down. Shes upstairs, we just have to find the stairs and leads the search through the various rooms of the lower level. Once the stairs are found, she leads the way up and through the halls up there to find the bedroom, and opens up the door.
When Kara heard that they were going to find the most ancient and eldest marilith Ke'Vokuli, she probably had the mental image of an old woman, with rusted swords and a tail worn smooth and dull by the years. When the door is opened, that image is completely shattered. Ke'Vokuli is even more beautiful than Zy'Tara, and if looks are the only way these sorts of things can be judged, she looks younger as well. And far from having rusty old blades, hers are bright...and quite sharp looking. The colors of her tail are even more vibrant than those of Zy'Tara, Kara cannot image what the impression must be that Ly'Sindra makes, having seen Ke'Vokuli and she isn't even divine.
Honours Ancient Ke'Vokuli, my name is Zy'Tara and this is Kara, we come seeking your advice and counsel.

[Ridai]

Kara didn't really have illusions about demons growing old (she may not know much, but she knows that much), but is still stunned at just how much of a difference there is between Ke'Vokulli and Zy'Tara. She spreads her arms and courtseys to the ancient marilith, feeling it's an appropiate gesture to a clear superior, while keeping her senses on the marilith and her stance ready to react. Things a warrior would notice and perhaps appreciate.

"Honors, Ancient Ke'Vokulli," Kara echoes Zy'Tara and means it. Hopefully her practice with Ly'Sindra's name helped her not butcher Ke'Vokulli's. "We seek demons possibly in league with Kotep, and hoped you may have heard about such a thing." May as well state what they are looking for straight away.

[MikelaC1]

What is a kotep and what sports are demons playing?

And so, the madness begins.

[Ridai]

Kara scratches her chin. She is beginning to see how things are. Very literal and no somewhat recent knowledge. "Kotep is the god of evil magic. Some demons are helping him. Do you know about them?"

[MikelaC1]

Evil magic is Hecate's portfolio, I don't know this Kotep person, but if he keeps fooling around with Hecate's domain, shes going to vaporize him and your problem is solved.

[Ridai]

"Wellll... how do I put it..." Kara considers for a moment. "Do you know where this castle came from?"

[MikelaC1]

A sly look comes over the marilith's face. Of course I do, the Gods were battling, there was a huge battle, the Battle of Enicom, and Demogorgon took the opportunity, during the confusion to rip this castle from the ground and deposit it here...but then the madness of his two brains took over and he forgot about it.
And now the question is begging for Kara...is Ke'Vokulli faking her "insanity" or does it "come and go".

[Ridai]

"So... turns out the old gods lost the war, and Kotep is the new god of evil magic. And some demons might be helping him. Despite Kotep being more in line with devils in terms of morality than demons."

[MikelaC1]

Demons helping the new god of magic. That would explain something. I seem to remember...seem to remember...seem to remember....flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere

[Ridai]

"Demons helping the new god of evil magic, yup. Can you tell us where they are?" Well then. Time to basically repeat the question and see hwo the response turns out.

[MikelaC1]

Soft creamy mints in real chocolate

At this point, a succubus pops into the room. Flashy a cheeky grin at Kara (and showing plenty of cheek at the rear), she attends to the marilith. She needs her rest when she gets like this. I could keep you entertained while she recovers? The succubus is wearing a small symbol of Grazzt, and most people who know demons well know that next to the succubi of Nocticula, the ones of Grazzt are the most inventive in that regard.