Seaside 4: Where Every Week Is Shark Week

[Rebonack]

[Lots of Crab]

The seraph can feel it.

Zee can feel the song of this creature perishing. There used to be other voices, other stories, but now it's just a single, lonely song in the depths. Her heart breaks for the the creature. She can feel a spark of intelligence rattling around inside it, but it's simple. The crab can't understand that her species is going extinct. And surely it would go extinct, if not for a chance meeting with adaptation given flesh.

~I leave you with a gift to your children. Improve. Overcome. Survive. Flourish. Feel my Glory and sing your song anew.~

Before she breaks her connection to the giant crab, she leaves a final instruction to the Glory she leaves behind.

Touch the eggs. From the stories of hundreds of crabs she's met along her journey, Zee weaves a mate for the colossal crab, after a fashion. If no suitor arrives to court in the Deep Dark before the time for breeding is past, the eggs will be provided with stories they need to begin their own songs in earnest, to live their own lives. The resulting offspring likely won't grow as large as their island-sized progenitor, but they'll still carry half her story into the future. They will, however, be fantastically diverse. For a species that's perishing, finding new paths to walk is the key to survival. The story of the island crabs will still end when all is said and done, but the future will be much brighter for her offspring.

The seraph breaks away from the giant crab, allowing the colossal beast to continue her trek into the Deep Dark while Zee heads toward the shore.

A chance meeting. But a chance meeting that will snatch a truly unique story from the jaws of extinction.

Zee feels pretty good about all this! Good enough to sing to herself as she continues her journey to the mainland. Her good mood is soured, however, when she catches a scent in the water. Faeries and dragon's blood, freshly spilled. An instinctual snarl curls at her lips as she turns to follow the smell to its source.

[Sea Dragon's Cave]

A little over a year ago, goblins had stolen her hatching out from under her nose at a playground Inside. They had taken her only child, her precious Navanaxinermis. They had taken the joy from her life and left her to languish, her heart wounded. And now they have come to finish the job.

They had fallen upon Nymmurah while she slept fitfully, bypassing the wards with which she protected her home by some vile faerie magic. There hadn't been a battle. The horse-sized barghest that had torn out her throat at the playground was here, and once again it had maimed her horrifically. She could feel herself slowly bleeding out, blood running down the worn stones of her cave and into the sea. But they didn't kill her, no. No, the black death hounds had a much crueler fate in store for her.

The nightmares brought her son with them.

He was twisted, more like one of the black hounds than a dragon now. Angry, dark fur covered him, wispy and immaterial like a storm cloud. Half of his face had been chewed away, replaced with darkness and an irregular jumble of smouldering red eyes. The sight of her child so corrupted pulled a sob from Nymmurah's throat. They had plunged a knife into her heart a year ago. And now they were twisting it.

"Why don't we just kill her, boss? She looks like good eating," one of the hounds speaks up, a nightmare with a bottomless black pit in place of a face.

"Dragon souls are tough," the horse-sized horror speaks up. A thing of oily darkness and green lichlight. It has two mouths, one stacked on top of the other, teeth shining like steel. Its every motion is accompanied with the sound of dragging chains. "They make powerful faeries, but you gotta break 'em first. So that's why we're here. To help break in our new pack-mate, Nax. Finish her off, pup. Rip her heart out."

The barghest that used to be a wyrmling takes a few tentative steps forward, glancing between alpha and the dragon. He speaks, his voice plaintive. "I... I can't. She's my mom."

"It hurts, pup, but you gotta sever the old ties," the hulking barghest barks back. "Kill her and that old connection dies with her. You get a little less dragon and a little more faerie. You're part of our pack now, pup. Act like it!"

Nax swallows and nods, stepping closer again, his canine mouth opening.

In a moment, Nymmurah's resolve is steeled. "Let me protect you, dear heart, one last time." And then she focuses her magic inward and bursts her own heart. A gasp. A sigh. The dragon falls still. Nax reaches a paw toward the corpse, nudging at it. "M-mom...?"

The pack of cu-sith looks on in shock. "Damn. Dead, just like that. What a waste of time," the alpha snarls. He and the other barghests begin closing in on the hound that was once a wyrmling. "We'll just have to rip that part of Nax off ourselves. Feh. At least this damnable day couldn't get any worse."

With a sudden cry of alarm and pain, the pack of cu-sith recoils as the cave is filled with radiance. Like a star rises from the sea, a seraph strides into the cave, water hissing as it boils off her scales.

Eyes widened with panic, the alpha shouts, "Spread out before she can-"

A wave of searing Glory erupts from the seraph's mouth as she sings a single word of annihilation.

"Αλήθεια"

****

The cave floor is littered with burning heaps of bone, sticks, and dog hair. Gossamer, unable to abide the Light of Truth, has evaporated like dew in the sunlight. The corpse of Nymmurah has likewise been immolated, scoured as it was by faerie bites. The jaws of the barghest take, and leave little behind.

Nax, or what's left of him, is sprawled out on the wet stone. The faerie flesh has been burned off him, leaving only a badly injured wyrmling behind. He gasps in pain, gulping down breaths of air as he struggles to stay concious. With one good eye, he gazes up at the seraph looming over him, sorrow on her face. "Are... are you an angel?" he manages to wheeze out.

Jezekiel looks down at him in silence.

"Can you help my mom?"

The seraph shakes her head.

"She... she killed herself. So I wouldn't," Nax stammers. "I was gunna kill her because Carchoroth told me to," he gives a little hiccup. "But she saved me. D-didn't she? I wouldda turned into one of those dogs."

"She did. And you would have," the seraph replies. Nax can feel her words wash over him. They feel like warm sunlight and a cool sea breeze.

"The dogs... they took most of me..." Nax says. "I'm dying... aren't I?"

"Yes," the seraph states, sorrow in her voice.

"I'm scared," he says, his voice shaking with a tremor. "Will you stay with me?"

Without a word, the seraph lays down next to him, swaddling him with a wing.

Silent minutes pass.

"You smell nice..." the little wyrmling mutters as consciousness finally leaves him.

[A secluded beach]

Zee steps out of the waves, water dripping from her hair, and walks to shore. Clasped in her arms and draped over her shoulder is a bronze wyrmling, whole, healthy, and asleep. The normally white scales of his under-belly have taken on a metallic black hue, but otherwise he appears exactly as he had before he was stolen by goblins a little over a year ago. Zee crosses the beach to a large, overhanging rock, and kneels. The wyrmling is set gently in the sand as the unremarkable human towels herself dry and puts on the clothing she had left behind. She smiles down at the little slumbering dragon.

A daughter. And now a son.

"I keep collecting little dragons ravaged by fae," she whispers, gently caressing the wyrmling's face. "It was the only way to save you, Navanaxinermis. The fae had taken... too much. I make you my child, or you die. And I couldn't watch you die. Not when I could do something about it." She picks up the wyrmling again, draping him over her shoulder. He mumbles a bit in his sleep. "Is it because I'm a Glory of the seraphim? I just have to birth putti because that's what I am? I really hope not. I want to believe I'm doing this because it's right, not because I have some instinctual impetus that drives me to."

The slumbering wyrmling does reply as Zee rises to her feet and begins the trek back toward the nearest Riftline station.

"I hope Raril isn't going to be upset that I made another baby without his help..." she mutters.

[Earl of Purple]

Lots of Crab

Even going extinct, even as large and old as this one mammoth crustacean is, she's still healthy, sturdy and she shows no sign of dying any time soon. This might not be the island crab's last trip to the breeding grounds, though a lot can happen in half a millennium.

The crab carries on without Zee, headed to the Womb of the Sea, where, unbeknown to her, she'll birth half a hundred new species, smaller crabs maybe, but a hope for the future. A future of very large crabs. In a year's time, the crab will reach its destination and lay its eggs. No males will turn up; none are left. It's just her and one daughter, only just matured. But when the cycle comes around again, she won't be alone, and her children will multiply and adapt and change.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

Now Ilphlin wanted his opinion right away? Tuo nods as if been asked a yes or no question. "...sure." He answers, holding himself very still as Ilpholin gaze lingers on him.
"Sweet! Let's have a fel of a ride then. Climb on up!" Anika says as she once again shifts forms, turning back into that huge pather-like creature.
It knees before them, letting them climb up upon its back again. Tuo seems just as nervous as before, especially as Ilpholin likely would be insisting on sitting pressed against him. Had it really been wise to let these two demi-goddesses rule his life for the unforeseeable future?

The snake-priest waves farewell as they leave, then turning to go back to his eternal fight to save the temple from the jungle surrounding it...

Operation Sea Slug

The group stands back as TNN approaches, all except Zoth the jackal-headed golem who is still wordlessly standing his ground.
Titania will find that the hatch is, much like her own bunker was, tightly sealed. There seem to be little choice but to break through it as there seems to be nothing to hold onto. It just looks like it wasn't designed to be opened from this direction.

A plasma beam will cut through the unenchanted material though, revealing a ladder leading down into a large stone chamber.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Ugh. What a bland answer Tuo. He's the very definition of a virgin sacrifice. While they're fun to tease to a point, there needs to be at least something else there to make them stand out from all the others. Ilpholin thought she saw it when he stood up and volunteered for two 'Demi-gods'. But maybe that was a fluke on his part. Well he still has time.

For now, Ilpholin waves goodbye to the priest. He wasn't so bad once you got past the racism. And the fascination with snakes.

Ilpholin will climb aboard Anika, sitting to the front and getting a good handle while she can. "Hold on to me tightly," Ilpholin tells Tuo, clearly expecting him to sit behind her. She's already felt him up a little so she doesn't really need to sit behind him again.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

He swallows, climbs up on the great panther and then carefully clings onto Ilpholin.
The ride down is more gentle this time around, especially the end of it when the panther simply stops and waits for them to climb off as they reach the outskirts of the village before turning back into a humanoid.

"So I guess we return to the mainland now, huh?" Anika asks.
"I need to talk to my family first." Tuo requests. "I need to at least say good bye."

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"Of course," Ilpholin agrees. "Family is important. Go let them know. Hey if you're really lucky, you'll find a beautiful mainlander and bring back grandkids for them," Ilpholin says with a smirk, watching him go off before turning to Anika.

"We should probably call it a day when we get back huh? I dunno about you but I'm getting tired. I mean I didn't even get my beach nap." There was supposed to be some bare sunbathing going on, not bear surfing. "We can reconvene another time and chase down that staff piece that I mapped out. Maybe take the horn with. Not sure how to use that thing yet." Certainly something to be discussed at a later date.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

Titania doesn't have a laser cutter on her that would work on this, but she does have her plasma rifle. Despite her ammo being fairly limited, she'll fire at the hatch until it is weak enough to just be ripped apart with her bare hands. She'll make sure everyone stays back though as the heat from the rifle will be enough to burn if they are too close. Once the hole is made, she'll lean over the entrance and look down. "...Hello?" She calls out, just on the off chance that she made enough noise to awaken whatever was within. Or that alarms might do the same.

[Shadowcaller]

Operation Sea Slug

There is no response.

If she peers down, the room below appears empty, at least as far she can see from here which is only a stone floor heavily inscribed with runes that even to Titania are unmistakably demonic from the short lesson Sargera gave her on the subject.

If she does decide to descend further she will find that the entire room down there is carved out in a similar fashion. It's a small bunker-like space that has three noteworthy things within it.

First is a stone table in the middle of the room with four seats around it. There is nothing particularly remarkable about it expect the fact that there are number of markers, set-pieces and small stone bricks laying around the table. It might remind Titania of board games if she ever seen any. They seem as ancient as the rest of the room but seems to have been used recently.

Second, is a open, empty, sarcophagus standing next to a small hole in the room. There is no indication where the hole might lead but the sarcophagus is extremely ornate and like the pieces on the table appear to have been used recently.

Third is what could be considered the center piece of the room, a grand set of doors that looks as ornate as the sarcophagus nearby. Like the floor it's heavily inscribed with runes and also has some kind of text written above it which Titania won't be able to read.

[Tropical Island]

"Are all women like you out there?" Tuo asks rhetorically as he leaves before either of them can answer.

Anika nods in response to Ilpholin's suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Pretty tired myself after all that swimming. We can just lay back and prepare a bit before we go and explore more for more demon eradicator tools. Maybe we can even find a demon base around here to smash."

[Deathkeeper]

Operation Sea Slug

Descending into the room with Titania, Will shudders unconsciously.
"Oh great, demon looking stuff and vampire beds. Wonderful." Will looks over the huge doors, but he's careful not to touch anything. He can't help but feel like he's out of his element. What is he even doing here? How is he supposed to be useful in the face of all of this?

[Earl of Purple]

Flotsam Beach

There's a few new items arriving here at high tide. Amongst them are a broken oar, a wooden figurehead of an elf holding a sword, random bits of wood and planks, and a box of beaten copper.

[Felandria]

Flotsam Beach

Felandria is walking along the beach, because it’s a rare warm winter day.

She spies a wooden elf thingy, it looks neat, and then she almost but doesn’t step on a metal box.

Her eyes dart between the two things.

Well, the elf thingy is an elf thingy, but the box could be anything.

It could even be an elf thingy.

She picks up the box and attempts to open it.

[Earl of Purple]

Flotsam Beach

The elf thingy is a ship-front thingy. It'd make a good decoration, if one had a house big enough to display it. Oh, wait.

The box is tricky to open- it's watertight, which is why it's not sunk. Opening it reveals a mostly-empty jewellery box. There's a silver ring inside, decorated with elegant lines and delicate knots, set on a padded black velvet cushion to prevent it rattling around.

[Felandria]

Flotsam Beach

The elf thingy is a ship-front thingy. It'd make a good decoration, if one had a house big enough to display it. Oh, wait.

The box is tricky to open- it's watertight, which is why it's not sunk. Opening it reveals a mostly-empty jewellery box. There's a silver ring inside, decorated with elegant lines and delicate knots, set on a padded black velvet cushion to prevent it rattling around.

Felandria examines the ring, it is very pretty.

Ooh!

This is pretty neat.

She looks around and shrugs before putting the ring on.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

Only the fun ones Tuo.

"Yeah. And I really need to prepare for that fancy Spooktober party tomorrow too." Not Magtok's. That party was like the frat kid's basement with random infectious diseases floating about. The good one! You know it's a good party if it explodes into a full out war.

"I do have a hunch about a demon base around here somewhere. There were quite a lot of demons coming out of the ocean to hit one island. Ask Wenomir about it if you want. But there were so many. I think they might actually have some underwater temple going on. Which would be just awful. I'm going have to figure out how to tweak my mods so I can fight underwater." There are some terrain types that are just prohibitive to her at the moment.

[Earl of Purple]

Flotsam Beach

Result: 9.

When she puts it on, the ring sizes to fit- a sign its magical. In addition, various-coloured hazes drift across her vision. Each haze is a different smell; the brighter the colour, the more potent the smell.

That's the ring's only effect, but if she gives it to anyone else, please let me know- this is the effect set for Felandria, but other people might get other effects.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tropical Island]

If he only knew how many boring ladies there were out there!

All four of them!

"That's clever thinking." Anika compliments. "We'll find the creeps in their little hole and stomp them out." She grins eagerly. "But what about those mods? What sort of stuff can they do? I never saw much of them." Enhancing your body like Ilpholin did sounded pretty cool, druids were doing it all the time by lending nature's power. Though for some reason a lot of her peers didn't seem to approve of metal-improvements, which Anika though was weird. Metal also came from nature, didn't it?

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"Well you're not supposed to see them," Ilpholin explains. "Aside from the weapons with silver coating, they're all internal functions. Toxin filtration, regeneration and repair, muscle augmentation, cerebral enhancement, bone structure fortification, etc. Faster, more flexible, hit harder, think smarter. A lot of people pay for flashy nonsense like... neon hair or something pointless like that. I just went for what could make me better to get back up to par again." Ilpholin looks away from Anika for a bit, musing about some past thing.

"I admit I'm not sure if I should have passed on the eye replacements." There are a lot of useful eye modifications.

[Felandria]

Flotsam Beach

Result: 9.

When she puts it on, the ring sizes to fit- a sign its magical. In addition, various-coloured hazes drift across her vision. Each haze is a different smell; the brighter the colour, the more potent the smell.

That's the ring's only effect, but if she gives it to anyone else, please let me know- this is the effect set for Felandria, but other people might get other effects.

Ooh, pretty!

This might come in handy someday.

She takes the ring off and stows it in her pocket, then grabs the elf figurehead and heads home.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

"Vampire beds?" TTN asks, confused for a moment before she recognizes the sarcophagus. "Could be a mummy." She points out, trying to be helpful. She'll take pictures of all that she sees before raising her voice. "Sargera? I think you need to see this. The doors look...important." She calls out before leaning down to shine a light into the small hole. The light is attached to her head though, so it is likely going to be an obvious target if anything is inside it.

[Shadowcaller]

Operation Sea Slug

The gnolls soon pour into the room and carefully have a look around. Tammy and the imp are going straight for the sarcophagus while the others seem to act like Will and stay away from the most dangerous looking objects in the room before the warlocks have a chance to analyze them.

Sargera only have eyes for the door however, moving towards it as if in a trance as soon as she laid her eyes on it.

"Wow!" Tammy exclaims as she gestures wildly around the room as if unable to focus on just one thing in here. "These runes were hiding all the awesome magic in here! This is a hibernation chamber! So cool!"

As Titania illuminates the hole, she can see two things. First, that the hole is making a 80 degree degree turn downwards with daylight visible at the bottom. Second, that the flashlight is revealing that the glowing motes they saw on the outside are visible through this little little tunnel and furthermore that they are leading straight into the room.

"No... this is a guard post." Sargera remarks absentmindedly as she appears preoccupied with studying the text on the door. "This door..." She pauses as she turns towards them. "Two staffs were made, one for the queen of night, one of the queen of day. The foundation of the empire." Sargera speaks breathlessly as she keeps fidgeting with the pages of the book she is holding on to. "This is just-" Sargera gestures the door. "This claims it leads to her. The maker. Lannereth Fenora, the Warlock." She finally makes a dismissive at the room. "All this is just to guard her, she is hibernating down there. This is all a part of her bunker complex."

The rest of the group is silent, either of awe or out of ignorance as they have had no clue what any of what she just said meant.

Instead, Sargera is going to make the conclusion for them as she turns back to the door. "Titania, knock it down."

[Tropical Island]

Back on par? Why would- oh. Well...
"Yeah, I don't think you need any enhancements like that. Besides, being able to fight is sexy in itself. Looking pretty is one thing, but looking pretty and being able to slay dozens of demons on ones own..." Anika let's out a wolf whistle. "That's just hot."

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will has maybe a fraction of an idea of what Sargera just said. But it definitely sounded very important.
"Um, if she's hibernating down there, won't she be pissed if you break all her stuff?" he posits to their leader.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

"Yes, I must admit to some hesitation. I know nothing about magic or gods, but I would at least ask if it is a good idea to simply break down the door. Is there no other way?" TTN asks. Even so, she'll pull out a small combat knife and a light pistol to pass to Will, fully expecting to break down the door regardless. She'd feel better with him having a few more weapons on him just in case. "What is supposed to wake her from her hibernation?"

Raider's Cove

Early one morning, just after dawn, Ithuriel will hear the Horn she'd given Brokenfang a while ago being blown. Whenever she arrives, she'll find Brokenfang waiting at the top of the little cliff above her cove, wearing just a pair of loose shorts as she suns herself. She had no idea how long it'd take for Ithuriel to arrive, but she had a large platter of grilled meat, a couple bottles of wine, and a blanket.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

It doesn't take long at all for the angel to be summoned. In a brief burst of cold and fir needles, Ithuriel steps out of a portal in front of Brokenfang, groaning and rubbing her forehead. "Now? Why now? Ugh, Wings, I swear if you've timed this to-"

She pauses and stares at Brokenfang. Then she looks down at herself, at the water slowly dripping from her hair, at the towel she loosely and hurriedly wrapped around her waist before running into the portal.

Oops.

"Okay, I'm going to assume this was just really bad timing. There's no way you knew I was in the shower...right?"

[UncleWolf]

Raider's Cove

Brokenfang cracks open an eye, then her other eye, and then props herself up on her elbows in order to look at the freshly showered angel. "...no, there wasn't a way but then again I've always been fairly lucky." She says with a slight smirk to her muzzle before patting the blanket next to her. "Toss that aside and get some sun. Our business can wait until after we've both ate, drank, and relaxed. You can probably use a break if all the commotion I've heard going on in your city is true."

And just to try and make things less awkward, the shorts are cast aside without a second thought, not that there's much revealed thanks to the Wolfen's fur.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

"They don't hurt," Ilpholin says, failing to hide a grin. "But you're right. Power is sexy. Displays of power more so." Hence why watching someone murder demons is such a turn on. Besides the fact that it's so satisfying to watch demons fall. "And dominating someone powerful like that just feels exquisite." Ilpholin closes her eyes and shudders a little just thinking about it.

"If they're hot on top of that, it's just like... a confluence of perfect traits. The type of thing to make you reconsider whether it's time to start making heirs." It's not. But the Xar'cha line must remain strong, so that'll always be an issue to hold in consideration.

Ilpholin sidles over to Anika to run her hand suggestively down her back. "I especially look forward to seeing you in action." So far they've only discussed demon murder! Neither have had a chance to show off their stuff to each other yet.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Raider's Cove]

Stripping off what little clothing she's wearing is meant to make things less awkward? In fairness, Ithuriel looked about as awkward and uncomfortable before as she does now. It's not like she couldn't have managed to resist the call long enough to throw something on, but she'd figured it was Ambriel (in which case hopefully she'd get to see his jaw drop at the sight of her) or someone in Intersection (in which case it'd be important and she could explain herself easily enough).

With everything going on, being completely honest with herself, she'd rather forgotten she left Brokenfang with a horn at all. And now she's just standing there, staring at Brokenfang, water slowly pooling at her feet, holding her towel. Awkwaaaard.

...

Okay, look, it's more awkward if you just keep standing there dithering.

With a sigh of defeat, Ithuriel discards her towel and lies down beside Brokenfang. "Just finishing for the day, so thankfully you've caught me at a point where I do have time to take a break. You're right, it's a mess there at the moment."

[Shadowcaller]

Operation Sea Slug

The other gnolls actually seems to inclined to side with Will and TNN, or at least to proceed with more caution.
Sargera seems to have none of it however. "She would be more infuriated if we didn't." She declares as she looks over the group with a fierce gaze. "Lannereth devoted her entire life and more to her people. If she knew what they, we, had been reduced to she would become enraged and more importantly, do something about it. All knowledge of the empire that we've scrapped together over the years pales before what she knows. This is when we must seize the opportunity and-" Her eyes suddenly narrows and she stops herself mid-sentence to gesture towards Titania. "Demon."

Indeed, the Bolo might suddenly find that something is pressing against her back.
Will will see that a naked gnoll with black fur and raven wings with matching color have suddenly appeared right on top of TNN and raises itself into the air the moment its spotted. "I wouldn't awaken my master if I were you, thousands, if not millions, would surely die as a consequence." Her eyes, appearing as burning coals gaze upon Tammy for a moment, only to stare Will the next. "Among your peoples especially." The demon licks its mouth almost as if it wanted to eat him. Not clear in what sense of that word. "Take whatever you want from here, especially if its me, just leave my master be." The gnoll grins and to Will it will suddenly appear as a alluring human woman with skin and wings as black as the gnolls was, and just as little clothes.

[Tropical Island]

Anika nods, not shying away from Ilpholin's touch as she caresses the nymphs arm. "Yeah, uh, I had kinda hoped there would have been a demon camp to raid here, or at least something else to fight." She didn't quite get that domination part, but she figured it was just the exhilaration of beating a tough foe, which she understood all too well. "Maybe we could spar? I had wanted to see you in action as well."

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will scowls. The lower parts of his brain might be excited by the sight, but his judgement remains clear.
"I might believe you, but maybe you should be more specific instead of issuing vague comments of threat. You sound like- well, it's vague." he says flatly.

[Reinholdt]

[Tropical Island]

It's a fairly similar sensation to be sure. "Spar? I never did understand everyone's constant fascination with testing whose sword was bigger and more skilled." It must be a VIGIL thing. Something must be contagious in the air up there.

"That said, one can only stay in practice fighting dummies and simulations for so long. There are not enough assassination attempts up here on the surface. I'll take you on." Gotta stay in shape to deal with the demon threat.

Ilpholin gives Anika's rear a quick squeeze for emphasis before stepping away and walking a few paces down the beach. Once a reasonable distance has been established, she'll turn back around and do a few very short limbering stretches. "You know, most people go to beach parties to not fight. Why are you so wonderful?"

[UncleWolf]

Operation Seaslug

TTN stands very still when she feels the demon against her back. Her sensors and senses hadn't noticed the demon at all before now, which meant either there was a lot of magic in play, the demon was innately able to thwart her capabilities, or some measure of both. None of it was a good thing to hear. Even less pleasant to hear for her was that the demon apparently wanted out of here with her Mistress left to sleep. What sort of servant would wish that sort of thing? Sure, TTN's programming made her able to process her own decision making and there was some debate on whether or not she had free will or that she was only programmed to believe it, but either way she would never imagine leaving a friend or Commander to rot in a prison. Even one of their own making.

"You're scared, aren't you?" TTN asks, her voice emotionless, as if she were stating pure fact rather than asking a question. "Your master is the same sort of Warlock as Tammy there, isn't she? If she's summoned you, then she can make you do whatever she wants, but only if she's conscious. With her asleep you get relatively limitless freedom, but that ends the moment she awakens. You want us gone, preferably with you, so you can continue on without having to fulfill any other tasks." She reasons. "Using such an exploit in your commands is clever, smart, and to put it frankly...one of the things I most despise." She admits before activating her defense fields on their max setting.

The electrical nodes on her surface flare up, crackling to life with enough power to kill most mortals with ease unless they're heavily shielded and armored in return, but the demon itself might withstand it to a degree. Hopefully it is surprised or stunned long enough for TTN's upper body to pivot at her waist as she turns to try and grab the demon's face and then slam it into the door they're not supposed to open.