081: We will drag the dream into existence

[Sierra]

<@El-Cideon> With all business on Pandemonium thankfully concluded, Rosemund warps the ship home--with one additional passenger. Adelie sternly instructs her monstrous canine companion to watch over all the leftover experiments tottering around her tower and then happily hops onboard with her new friends. You appear outside of town, above the treeline on a bright spring day, and Adelie gasps in shock at the very ordinary vista of a normal day on the material plane. "Sunlight!" she exclaims with wonderment and fright.
<Steph> "Praises to Pelor," intones Stephanie.
<Julia> "And a gentle spring breeze," Julia says warmly.
* Franceska snorts, looking out at the town in the distance.
<@El-Cideon> "Yes, er, there's a lot of it here," Rosemund acknowledges. "I thought we should appear out of town because of, ah, most people are rather afraid of ghosts."
<Steph> "Not to mention flying, teleporting ships."
<Franceska> "Given a choice between the two, I suspects ghosts would be more terrifying."
<@El-Cideon> "Yes, I am not certain the town guard would take it very well if we appeared inside the city walls," she admits. "It might suggest that they are not doing their jobs. So should I head to Julia's, or will we set down and walk into town?"
<Julia> "Don't forget the zombies," Julia says, patting Battersby's flank. "Anyway, lets go to my tower so we can drop them and Adelie off and then we can go find Allister?"
<Steph> "Ghosts are terrifying reminders of our own mortality," agrees Stephanie. "Yes, let's. Well, I'll meet you in town? I've got to do some shopping before we head off to the the most horrible place conceivable."
<@El-Cideon> "Of course!" Rosemund steers the ship over the trees and out towards the tower. The surroundings of Julia's tower are conspicuously tidy for once--it looks like someone's taken care to pick up dead wood, clear the path to the door, and the roving bands of skeleton cats now patrol with impressive coordination and precision.
<Steph> This established, Stephanie floats away!
<@El-Cideon> "Whatever happened to your poor cats?" Adelie wonders, rather too aghast at undead for an undead necromancer.
<Julia> Concealment would be better than coordination. "One day I came home and they were there. I'm not quite sure how that happened, to be honest," Julia admits morosely. "Come Battersby, Friday. Lets get you two inside," she says, leading her zombies to the door where Battersby can choke up the hallway with Bedford and Friday can go downstairs to the catacombs.
<@El-Cideon> The interior of the tower is very neat and clean. Almost suspiciously so. Thing can be spotted in a corner of the main floor, obsessively scouring the flagstones with a toothbrush and muttering with fanatic repetition what sounds like a mantra: "Mistress is always watching, mistress sees all, mistress knows all, mistress is always watching..."
<Julia> "Hello Thing, I see you've been busy," Julia says innocently. "This is Adelie, she'll be staying for a while. I'd like you to please treat her kindly."
<@El-Cideon> Thing yelps in surprise, then turns to address you with a cringing, almost simpering expression. "Yes, I've been very good, see, see?!" he says with a manic need to please. "You have a demon for a friend," Adelie points out unnecessarily. "Will I have to keep an eye on him?"
<Julia> "Probably. He usually misbehaves when I'm not around to keep an eye on him," Julia admits. "This just looks to be a phase he's going through," she gestures at the sparkling clean tower. Leaning forward she says in an indulgent voice, "Yes Thing, you've been a very good boy, taking care of the tower while I've been away."
<@El-Cideon> Thing sags with visible relief, as though some expected disaster has been mercifully averted. Adelie nods. "I'll make sure he doesn't cause any trouble," she promises. She gestures in the air and a spectral dagger materializes in her hand. "I know all about what to do with bad people!" she adds brightly.
<Julia> "Just play nice until we bring Allister along. He's much more engaging company anyway," Julia tells her, heading back out so she can head into town with Franceska and Rosemund.
* Franceska just waits at Rosemund's side. After all their travels, home really isn't as bad as it seemed originally.
<@El-Cideon> The zombie artist is found, as always, in his studio, this hardly being the time of day he can safely go out. He currently appears to be sketching views of the temple of Pelor, at night.
<Steph> Stephanie trickles in moments later, propping herself up on Rosemund's shoulder and peering at the newest works with interest.
<Julia> "Oh, it looks so different at night, doesn't it?" Julia says, looking over those sketches.
<@El-Cideon> It's very odd to see the structure devoid of people, not to mention bereft of the sunlight it was constructed to bask in. It looks a lonely place, but perhaps this impression is tempered by knowing it'll all be reversed come morning?
<@El-Cideon> "An empty house is always a thing of strangeness," Allister agrees.
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund nods quietly in agreement.
<Steph> Of promise, Stephanie would usually think. "We met someone who would like to meet you!" she says, deciding to brighten the mood instead of poison it.
<@El-Cideon> He turns and raises one colorless eyebrow. "A portrait subject?" he presumes.
<Julia> "Yes, we're entertaining a ghost who has devoted herself to creating thinking and feeling undead, much like yourself. She hasn't had much success, so I think it would be good for her to meet someone like you. Though I'm sure she'd be amenable to a portrait as well!"
<@El-Cideon> "We aren't thinking of implementing the process on any widespread basis...are we?" he wonders, standing up.
<Franceska> "No."
<Steph> "Personally, I'm hoping you can disabuse her of the notion."
<Julia> "It'd be a nice option for people who were interested, at least," Julia says.
<@El-Cideon> "It may be that I could convince her of some better sense," he admits. "Huh, no one asked *me* if I was interested," he says to Julia. "I should have liked it if they'd at least asked." He looks around the group. "Have you brought her with you, then? Is she hiding? Ghosts are famously sneaky characters."
<Julia> "She's back at my home, since it'd be easier to sneak you there than her here, at least with the aid of some nicely concealing robes!"
<@El-Cideon> Allister takes a voluminous and unseasonable cloak from off a wall peg and wraps it around himself. "Of course," he says. "Lead the way." Back on the ship, Vigilia sits pensively at the prow. "If you could see me back to Azure as a last favor once your local business is concluded, it would be appreciated," she says upon your return. "I would like it somewhere quiet and restful for...perhaps rather a long time."
<Franceska> "We are aiming to return to Azure as it is, so it would work well," Franceska muses, before asking curiously, "Did you feel better afterwards?"
<@El-Cideon> "Better is not the proper word," she answers as the ship lifts off again, with her archon companion buzzing around fretfully and keeping a close eye on her mood. "But I feel as though something is complete, and that is satisfactory. I have now to determine a new direction for myself and I suppose that is a liberating reality, if a little frightening."
<Franceska> "Huh. You don't say."
<@El-Cideon> Vigilia gives Francesca a quizzical look in response to this laconic statement.
<Julia> Dropping off Allister at home and ordering Thing to cater to his and Adelie's needs in her absence, Julia soon joins the others on the boat.
<Steph> "Gotta make a living somehow, right?" muses Stephanie. "No need to be too worried, though. I'm sure someone strong like you'll find things she can't ignore soon enough."
* Franceska shrugs, and glances over at Rosemund. "People keep on saying... well, pretty much the opposite of satisfaction or completeness."
<@El-Cideon> "Some people just have different ways of saying those things," Rosemund guesses. Then she suggests: "Ah, could we spend the night at home before we move out again? I would like a chance to relax at home at least a little before we set out for probably the surest contender yet for worst place we have ever been."
<Franceska> "I don't mind."
<Steph> "I can't think of something that deserves more procrastination."
<Julia> "I don't mind waiting either," Julia says.
<Steph> "We're all so agreeable. I'm scared."
<Franceska> "What is the worst that could happen," Franceska deadpans.
<Steph> "We could stay home. Forever. Lulled into indolence by the familiar."
<@El-Cideon> Vigilia opts to spend the night on Rosemund's roof, professing herself more comfortable out of doors than confined to any one room. Everyone else passes the evening in the comfort of their own familiar beds (or in Stephanie's case, perhaps just wherever she decides she's tired enough to sleep wherever she's wandering this evening), and after more or less eventful rests gathers again at Rosemund's for the next leg of the journey.
<Steph> "Dreams," says Stephanie, snapping her fingers when she sits down at the table. "Hit me."
<Julia> "Well..." Julia hums a moment. "All things are transient, shall we say. And should I attain my desired immortality, it seems I will have to see the end of a great many things." She looks around the town outside the window and bites her lip worriedly.
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund seems half in a daze until acknowledging Stephanie's greeting with a sudden start. "Whyever would you want me to do that, Stephanie?" she asks with a blink.
<Franceska> "Do it, maybe you'll feel better," Franceska mutters.
<Steph> "Shut up, Franceska."
<@El-Cideon> "If you really lived forever, would you not by definition see the end of everything eventually?" Rosemund asks Julia. "I am not sure whether that makes it worthwhile, myself."
<Franceska> "So my dream offered me to take over hell."
<Steph> Stephanie snorts. "What's that? That sounds way more exciting than my dream."
<@El-Cideon> "You should turn this offer down!" Rosemund insists instantly.
<Julia> "Well, an opaque 'end of everything' is hard to conceptualise, isn't it?" Julia says. "The end of a civilization though... well, there's promise in what comes after, but it's certainly traumatic isn't it?"
<Steph> "Why should she? If she takes over Hell, maybe she can reform it," replies Stephanie, lazily. "By ordering all the devils into a bottomless pit, maybe."
<@El-Cideon> "But do they not already live in a pit?" Rosemund presses.
<Steph> "They crawl out of it! They should stop that!"
<Franceska> "Normally I'd banter but it just made me depressed."
<Steph> Stephanie blinks. "Really? Do you want a drink?"
<Franceska> "It cannot possibly hurt."
<Julia> "What was yours, Stephanie? Since you've heard ours."
<Steph> "Oh. It was..." Stephanie scrunches up her face, as she rummages around for a bottle of wine in her bottomless bag. "It was like someone's entire life. I can't sum it up that easily, but imagine living in this highly regimented city? Like something out of Mechanus, it was. All boilers and machines everywhere. Everyone has their role and purpose, which they do. Kind of militarised. Nobody
<Steph> saw the outside world," she reflects. "I was a worker trying to make everything safe, since things were breaking all the time. But eventually, I became the captain. And I found out that wherever the city went, it was leaving behind this giant trail of destruction."
<Steph> She pauses. "It felt more real than real life," she acknowledges, pouring a glass for both herself and Franceska. "I can't explain it. We seem to just flit around places. Righting wrongs here, exploring there. But we're barely taking part in society. All the little things I used to worry about don't really seem to matter anymore," she says, leaning back in the chair. "If something troubles
<Steph> us, we can just teleport or fly away, or solve the problem with violence or money- how can I put it? It would just be stupid to imagine getting killed by, say, a steam explosion, or a piece of falling iron now."
* Franceska nurses her drink, sipping from it slowly.
<Julia> Julia nods understandingly, having a hard time imagining such a death for herself.
<Steph> "But that was an everyday thing to those people, and they didn't seem to have strong champions." Stephanie purses her lips. "All of a sudden, I can't help but realise how abnormal we all are."
<Franceska> "It's hard to excel when you're all cogs in a machine. In some form."
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund fidgets a little in her seat. "Mine was sort of about...I am bad at explaining abstract things, I think it was about how people are born into one shape, and for a lot of people that shape tells them who they are supposed to be, but maybe that is not exactly right for everyone?" She takes off her had and fiddles with one of her horns. "I suppose it should not be a surprise that my dreams are saying things like this, because I might have thought it if we were not so busy running around all the time."
<Julia> "Well, the people we're hunting were like our equivalents in the last generation," Julia muses. "And I'm sure there are a few abnormal types working for the palace."
<Steph> "A few less, now." Stephanie shrugs. "Why are we all having these dreams in sync?" she says, after a moment.
<Franceska> "That's the thing," Franceska tells Rosemund, frowning. "I dreamt about that too. This woman that keeps on stalking me was raging about us being made all the same an expected to all act the same way. But that really only works for outsiders, not humans."
<@El-Cideon> "Which woman?" Rosemund asks.
<Julia> "There's no such woman in my dreams," Julia shakes her head. "Just a very old king. It's almost like he's sort of mentoring me, really."
<Franceska> "I told you about her. I can't see her, but she started out torturing me or, maybe, just watching me while I get tortured. Then she started rescuing me. And she's naked." Franceska shrugs. "I can't see her face."
<@El-Cideon> "I am not sure I like the sound of this person at all," Rosemund says to Franceska. For her own part, she adds, "There is always in angel in my strange dreams...but that happens sometimes in my normal ones too."
<Franceska> "It's not that kind of dream."
* Franceska sighs. "If I had to guess, she would be someone who might belong in Hell but hates Hell? Which... qualifies so many I wouldn't know where to start. She does act pretty authoritative and has long black hair, but if I actually met her at any point normally, the dream is preventing me from making the connection."
<Steph> "Did we always have these dreams whilst staying at home?" wonders Stephanie, scrunching up her forehead.
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund thinks about this and eventually nods. "Well, I do not know about everyone else, but I only remember my dreams when I have slept very comfortably, and that happens most in my own bed," she ventures.
<Franceska> "So you want to spend another night here?"
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund shrugs. "I know what it is that we need to do, whether a dream tells me or not!"
<Julia> "I certainly can't recall any similar while travelling. But I don't think we should force them... it seems more like they come at breaks between our adventures, when one thing has been resolved and another awaits," Julia says.
<Steph> "Mmm. Let's see how things are once we're done with Hell. After all, we might all die and not be in a position to worry about our dreams soon enough."
<Franceska> "If I die, my dream probably becomes reality."
<@El-Cideon> "Do not say that!" Rosemund insists. "Franceska, if you get stuck in Hell, I will come and drag you back out of it," she promises.
<Steph> "It might be different if we actually get killed in Hell," replies Stephanie. "They might have soul-catching... things."
<Franceska> "I won't ask you to go that far, but do please avenge me?"
<Julia> "Vengeance can at least be assured," Julia nods.
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund shakes her head. "You do not have my permission to stay in Hell forever. I will not allow it!"
<Franceska> "You know, that choice I was offered in my dream? It was pretty easy to make, but it also made me wonder how short-sighted the choice would be."
<Stephanie> "What did you choose? You never mentioned," notes Stephanie.
<Franceska> "I never did. But I could reshape everything in my image, or destroy their assembly lines. And given how horrible it all was, making all those compliant enslaved devils, it's what I would normally do. But then what happens? The demons from the Abyss run amok, unchecked?"
<@El-Cideon> "Most decisions that you do not think about much and settle on very quickly are probably poorly made," Rosemund ventures.
<Franceska> "I'm pretty sure I'm not expected to answer right away. Even if I had any idea at all how to submit my answer to my stalker."
<Julia> "Even if you did rule hell, how could you be assured you wouldn't be deposed after a day?"
<Stephanie> Stephanie frowns. "It's a hypothetical yet impossible situation, so I wouldn't worry too much about it," she says. "How do you even become master of hell? You'd need to kill all the devil lords! How do you even scratch one?" she wonders.
<@El-Cideon> "You will just have to lie in wait for her the next time you go to bed at home after we get back," Rosemund suggests. "Now you can be ready!"
<Franceska> "It might be hard, since if it's not torture, it's sensory deprivation," Franceska muses. "Unless you mean to fake being asleep?"
<@El-Cideon> "I do not know," Rosemund admits. "I am really just guessing."
<Franceska> To Stephanie and Julia, she says, "Presumably by usurping all the assembly lines for the devils."
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund frowns. "I am not certain I understand, Hell is a factory?"
<Stephanie> "In a manner of speaking? Souls go in, devils come out, all the outer planes are like that."
* Franceska shrugs. "I'm also not really sure why she actually wants my help. Ah, yes, it was. I can't say if it was allegorical or literal, but I suppose we shall soon see."
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund nods. "Alright. Um, there is something I would like to speak to the high priest about before we go. You do not have to come along. Actually I would rather speak to him privately. But after that I am ready if everyone else is."
<Stephanie> "We'll wait at the ship, then."
<Franceska> "Oh. Speaking of that. I was just wondering if there was something we overlooked from the very start."
<Stephanie> "Hmm?"
<Julia> "Hmm, do you think Battersby or Bedford would be more visually imposing to deter opportunistic devils?" Julia wonders to her comrades.
<Franceska> "Why steal that specific weapon? Just vanity, or does it have some forgotten legend about it?"
<@El-Cideon> "It does carry Pelor's blessing," Rosemund points out. "It is very effective for smiting all kinds of evil creatures!"
<Stephanie> "Ah." Stephanie clucks her tongue. "It's very old... um... I really should know this," she mutters.
<Franceska> "Not to put it down too much, but the weapons we've come across the planes are very good at killing all kinds of creatures."
<Stephanie> "There must be something about it. I bought a couple of holy daggers just yesterday," reasons Stephanie. "There's blessings and there's blessings, and all. Rosey, perhaps you could ask the priest while you're chatting?"
<@El-Cideon> "It is definitely symbolic of divine patronage," Rosemund adds, in that case. "Maybe that is why it is important to her?"
* Franceska frowns. "Galina had been staying well clear of her former allies, and keeping her goals and whereabouts hidden. So why risk this level of exposure? Is it really just symbolic value, or does she actually require it for her plan? As some focus, perhaps?"
<Stephanie> "It could have a divine connection to Pelor? If you need an outrageous quantity of divine power, or the means to contact a god directly, something like that might come in handy?" guesses Stephanie.
<Franceska> "Can't any god just close that connection off from his end?"
<@El-Cideon> "I would not think you could be very much of a god without being able to do that," Rosemund chides Franceska.
<Franceska> "So just ask. In fact, detail what we know of Galina's plan and ask how it could be used in tandem with it?"
<Stephanie> "Well, maybe he already invested it with a lot of power," replies Stephanie. "Once gods do that, they can't change it. I mean, I can drink a potion of healing if it's made by a cleric of Pelor or a cleric of Hextor and it'll work."
<Franceska> "Perhaps. Once we do catch up to her, it might open up options. Sundering it to stop her plans would be easier than an all-out battle."
<Stephanie> "Hey, that is an option," muses Stephanie.
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund nods. "I can ask about this," she agrees.
<Franceska> "Good. I will walk you over to the temple, then."
<@El-Cideon> Rosemund's audience keeps her away for perhaps an hour. She does not volunteer anything about her own personal business inside, but once aboard the ship with everyone else, she shares the following: "High priest Alford was very insistent that no god deserving the name could let someone use one of his blessed weapons as some kind of sneaky backdoor way of obtaining divine power," Rosemund says. "It is a very potent weapon, but even then it would be less effective for someone who does not adhere to Pelor's tenets, which I would say Galina clearly does not! He is not sure how it could factor into her plans, but then again we do not know fully what they are so it may be I could not explain that part well."
<Stephanie> "She could be delusional and thinks she does," muses Stephanie. "Or she's hoodwinking someone who does into doing her work for her."
<Franceska> "So it remains a mystery, then," Franceska muses. "Alright. Are we leaving the ship on Azure? I wouldn't want to bring it to Hell with us."
<@El-Cideon> "That might be best?" Rosemund speculates. "We can see if the Furies have a plan to get there without us risking our own ship."
<Stephanie> "Let's see what the mercenaries say about which part of Hell we're going."
<Julia> "I'll pick up Bedford and we can go," Julia says.
<@El-Cideon> After a brief stop at Julia's, Rosemund takes the crew back to the plane of Air--but this time directly to your destination, no surprise visits from sky squids or anything! Truly this is a device of wondrous convenience. Vigilia makes her departure with polite thanks, heading back to the Union temple, and then Rosemund steers the ship to the edge of town where the Furies' similar vessel wanders. There's a handful of people out on deck when you arrive: the company's red-haired harpy officer is busy shooting down clay targets animated by the watery-haired fencer woman. The many-scarred priestess, Crier, watches and cheers encouragingly where appropriate. Elsewhere, two enormous white wolves bask in the perpetual daylight at the prow.
* Franceska waves at the pair on deck in greeting.
<Stephanie> "I'm really glad they're not mad at us about the killings," remarks Stephanie, hovering by the side of the ship.
<Julia> "I suppose that's expected in their line of work?" Julia says, leaving Bedford to guard the boat as she flies after Stephanie with far less grace.
<Franceska> "We can act professionally with each other," Franceska responds, wearing Apotheosis.
<@El-Cideon> "It was just the one killing, actually," Rosemund points out. Actually, though, the wolves look up and raise their hackles in Franceska's particular direction as you draw close. Lieutenant Skinner looks almost inclined to turn her bow against intruders until she recognizes who you are. "Oh, you guys," she says without much enthusiasm. She's dressed in some long leather coat that hardly looks to have been treated since being stripped from its original owner; the harpy radiates an odor of sweat and musk even from afar. Crier's address is much friendlier, though. "We were wondering when you'd show up! The boss was getting impatient. 'We can't sit around here waiting forever,' all that stuff."
<Franceska> "A diversion to Pandemonium ate much of our time. We did get to see a great deal of horrible things, however."
<Stephanie> Stephanie snorts at that, but puts on her smile anyway. "Like the prison that fused with a murderer! Truly, the planes have no end of terrible fates."
<@El-Cideon> "I'd expect you'd find a lot of that there," Crier says with a nod, unperturbed by stories of any number of terrible things from the look of her. "I expect you'll want to talk to Masuko to get our plans in order." She turns to the blue-haired dandy and issues a friendly order. "Hey January, go tell Her Grace and the el-tee we're in business!" The other woman nods and disappears below deck. Crier strolls over to the wolves and shushes them with a stern look. "Sorry about that," she says to you. "Somebody told them who killed their master."
<Franceska> There's really nothing she can say to that, and so Franceska just changes the topic to get them back on track. "Where is Masuko?" she asks. "And should I confer with him before talking to the Duchess, then?"
<@El-Cideon> "Oh, he's probably in bed," Crier says brightly. "It's early here! At least by the town's reckoning." A heavy tread on deck soon announces the Duchess's appearance. Her Grace presents a forbidding sight for those who haven't seen her before, a well-built woman of extraordinary height covered all over with thorns of black iron. She wears nothing, because it's unlikely much could survive contact with her body. Masuko trails behind, looking freshly roused but alert. "We're ready to go to work?" the Duchess assumes instantly.
<Franceska> "We are, Your Grace. What plan of action would you suggest we follow?"
<Stephanie> "That's why we're here. To begin with, can you go over your intel?"
<Julia> Julia just smiles at the mercenaries, not really having anything to say herself.
<@El-Cideon> Ismaela looks to Masuko to fill in here. "We've located your target's residence," he starts out. "It is predictably well-secured and we've not made a personal intrusion upon the premises yet. We have not met the mortal woman you particularly seek, but all gossip confirms she remains actively in his service, most oft in residence but occasionally dispatched to Avernus for maneuvers. Of course, we will be acquiring her at his personal residence, as your contract with our company stipulated the devil's vault contents would constitute our principal payment."
<Julia> What a handy contract! The benefits of knowing a lawyer are clearly self evident, Julia thinks.
<Franceska> "Would it be possible to plane shift out after securing her?"
<Stephanie> "What is our method?" asks Stephanie, folding her arms. "A swift attack aimed at wiping out the defenders in one swoop? Or a covert approach?"
<@El-Cideon> "I mean to learn as much as possible about the interior layout of the cornugon's mansion before the assault proper commences," Masuko says. With a nod to Stephanie, "To that end, I have engaged the assistance of my church, which is not without representation in Baator. I can secure our attendance at a social function involving your target. I would of course not only be entitled to an entourage, but *expected* to bring one." Another nod in your direction. "If at all possible, engage the target or his supporters to learn whatever possible. Charm sufficiently and it may be we can obtain an invitation inside under guise of offering martial services, which of course he highly values. We know somewhat about his principal servants as well."
<Franceska> "What about my father?" Franceska asks Masuko.
<Stephanie> "What do they do for social functions in Hell?"
<@El-Cideon> "Is that to be a secondary objective of this mission?" Masuko asks Franceska. "His position is lucrative. He may not wish to leave." Crier pipes up for response to Stephanie's question. "Oh, mostly brag about to each other about all the souls they've corrupted lately, and eat unmentionable things, I'd wager. Hope you have a strong stomach!"
<Franceska> "I want to arrange a chance to see him in private before that function."
<Julia> She might be accustomed to all sorts of foul things, but one thing Julia can't abide is bad food!
<@El-Cideon> "Martial finances are a chief concern of his position and our business is of obvious relevance," Masuko says. "I am sure that an excuse can be made to find ourselves in his presence." Masuko looks over your group for a long moment before adding, "I suspect the question superfluous, but I must ask: none of you have visited Baator before?"
<Franceska> "I don't remember my visit. But I presume the key is acting with authority and projecting the confidence that you are where you are supposed to be?"
<Julia> "No. Lots of other awful places, but not Baator," Julia confirms. "But I have a giant nightmare skeleton," she gestures over to Bedford on the other boat.
<Stephanie> "I'm a good girl. Why would I ever go to Hell without a good reason?"
<@El-Cideon> "To other mortals, assuredly," Masuko agrees. "But with the baatezu, the key is deference. They know that they are superior to us and must not ever be contradicted on this point. We will have papers authorizing our presence in Minauros. Keep them with you at all times. They will not afford you respect from the baatezu, but they will guarantee that you are not immediately perceived as prey. Uninvited visitors should expect only infliction of the most gruesome blasphemies, but invited guests are to be wooed and corrupted more subtly. This is our safeguard." He nods in recognition of Julia's companion. "An admirable mount."
<Julia> Yes, she really should learn how to ride properly one day. Although give undead lack the instincts of normal horses she's not sure how much would translate anyway.
* Franceska glances over at Rosemund, asking, "What about my friend? Should she stay behind altogether?"
<@El-Cideon> "I am not staying home!" Rosemund insists. Rosemund, curiously enough, has opted to keep her hat off after leaving Amaranth, and her full quasi-demonic splendor is readily apparent. "Fiend-blooded mortals are not an uncommon sort," Masuko says. "I trust she has some tanar'ri ancestry that makes you worry for her reception?" "I do not!" Rosemund feels obliged to challenge, though no one looks very convinced by the denial. Crier adds encouragingly, "Hey, I like the new look! Nice wings."
<Franceska> "She follows Pelor, and a succubus cursed her into changing shape. I can't think of someone devils might want to kill more."
<Stephanie> "Eh, it's inches off metres to devils," replies Stephanie, shrugging. "They hate us all like you hate the planes; without discrimination, right?"
<Franceska> "I'm partial to Air."
<Stephanie> "That's the exception that proves the rule, obviously."
<@El-Cideon> "You must not openly bear the devices of any celestial deities during our visit," Masuko insists. "Official papers or no, I would not risk the provocation. As for her appearance, I should think that truth a better shield than to obscure her appearance. Should anyone see through a magical facade, suspicion upon us could only be worse." Masuko thinks silently for a moment, and then adds. "It no doubt goes without saying that Baator must be a disturbing place by conventional mortal standards. I must insist for the security of our mission that you not interfere with any thing you see that might normally strike you as unacceptable or immoral. You will instantly mark yourself an unwelcome interloper for contradicting the lawful authorities in any way to pursue some self-righteous agenda. Do your best to ignore whatever disturbing sights you might encounter in the streets. In fact, I think it best you not leave your lodgings any more than strictly necessary."
<Julia> "That makes sense," Julia says. While the Abyss is like the most violent and despicable prison, Baator is like the most insular and clannish town full of cannibals, perhaps.
<Stephanie> "I think we know what we're getting into on that score. Please don't worry about us. We aren't going there to start a crusade."
* Franceska nods, asking, "How long will we be spending there?"
<@El-Cideon> "I will have to inquire of my primarch of the cornugon's projected schedule when we arrive," Masuko says. "He is eccentric, and disliked powerfully by his social equals for his success, but this does not equate to the life of a recluse. Hopefully it should only take us some days to find an opportunity to make our appearance; at worst I should expect something within the month." A final addition occurs to him: "Gossip is that all of the cornugon's principal servants maintain actively adversarial relationships to this Miss Cook. Any that accompany him to the event might be made to serve our designs through envy, though I would not suggest we be too open in making our intent plain. They would only be happy to turn obvious infiltrators over to their lord for favor if they knew our actual plan."
<Franceska> "Of course."
<Julia> "We should stock up on supplies if we expect to be there that long," Julia says. "Better to prepare our own food, yes?"
<Stephanie> "Good idea. Let's go for one more supply run. Are you ready to leave at any time?"
<@El-Cideon> "Make what purchases you must," Masuko says. "We've preparations of our own to make that should keep us some hours. Crier, January and Verda will be accompanying me. Most of us are temperamentally suited to the area." He gives Crier a sidelong look. "Others are merely tactically necessary."
<Stephanie> "Well, we'll see you soon enough, then."
<@El-Cideon> ~