Sylican morning

[Ebiris]

"Oh, in that case yes I can tell you it all straight from the horse's mouth," Alicia nods readily. "Seira attempted to infiltrate Noir Jardin while Empress Sulia and I made a diversionary assault. Lixer sent an avatar into the fray - if you're unaware, creating an avatar takes weeks up to a year depending on a deity's strength, so how he had one already is a mystery to me. Regardless I killed him before we tangled a while with an avatar of Glasya which was also present," she gets to covering the broad strokes of the event.

"Lixer's forces seem to be a half and half split of devils and undead that I noticed, but his elite servants seem to be entirely undead based on what Seira and I observed. She was challenged by a group of nine liches supported by a projection of Lixer inside the fortress while his avatar took the field escorted by eight liches. They were slain but their phylacteries were unaccounted for, so they may be a threat in future. Or perhaps not depending on where they were kept... during the battle Glasya brought in her vanity project of a flying warship made out of the Hag Countess's spine. I hurled it out of the sky at Noir Jardin, apparently at the same time as Seira was setting off a volcano beneath his throne."

"With the recent transfer in ownership perhaps weakening her bonds, that ended up being enough for Zariel to slip loose entirely. The green hellfire Lixer had conjured over Avernus was now being challenged by white flame no less deadly. Glasya's avatar quit the field there while Seira descended deeper under Noir Jardin and found Lixer and Zariel stalemated as they hurled their power at one another. She distracted Lixer enough to tip the balance and forced him to flee, before she and Zariel left as well. That's around when my side of it also departed, though it looked like everywhere around Noir Jardin was going up in flames the last I saw. I can only hope the liches' phylacteries were consumed in the cataclysm."

"So that's our story of adding to Hell's recent troubles. What's been happening in the Abyss?"

[Ebiris]

She hears Seira's sending and replies, 'Not at the moment, I'm catching up with Romiel and then going to Jovar to see Xerona. Please pass on my regrets?'

[Anastasia]

Your story is listened to, taken in and considered. "Bel would have dealt with that more directly and forcefully. I do not believe Lixer is fully in control of his Dukes yet, nor certain elements that were not purged due to necessity." Romiel considers, "You chose a wise time to strike." Drumming his fingers on the windowsill as he considers, "More of his infrastructure must have been damaged than I thought, Bel's contingencies may have been extensive."

"I was not aware of the limits of avatars, but I would lay that at the feet of his dread father," Romiel continues, mulling it all over. "Also, that ship has a name, but I cannot recall it. I do recall it has a sphere of force as a defensive measure, can be controlled from afar and slowly repairs itself as if a living thing. We sent a strike force to try and destroy it - ultimately unsuccessful, but we came close. It has unnatural toughness and endurance, then even after wiping out the crew, it acted to Glasya's will. Only one agent made it back."

Gaze skyward even now, "Did it survive your treatment of it?"

After that answer Romiel goes on. "So Zariel is free? What became of her?"

[Ebiris]

"Grandakalos, Glasya called it," Alicia supplies. "It did have a force-bubble shield but I was large enough to still wrap my fist around it. It damaged Noir Jardin on impact but seemed unbothered itself and was able to right itself and fire on me with some sort of ray cannon. It left the field when Glasya's avatar did."

"We've currently left Zariel in Ilmater's care at the House of the Triad. She fell unconscious after she and Seira escaped and hasn't recovered. Likely won't without outside help. That's something we're looking into now."

[Anastasia]

Huh, that's different. A quiet prayer from Ebony as you listen, notable for what it says. 'Alicia give me strength.'

[Ebiris]

That sounds more weary than scared. Alicia projects back a sense of supportiveness and encouragement.

And back in Sylica her avatar sorts things out with Syala to arrange a spa day for Ebony when she completes her current assignment.

[Anastasia]

'Alicia, give me strength as apparently Benyen and Dana are a match made in....a Heaven, though I can only wonder which.'

"Too bad," Romiel says, "She invested a good deal of resources into it. We aren't sure if it's anything more than it appears, but we'd like to eliminate it from the board. Still, though, Zariel," Romiel murmurs aloud, "That's a complication. Can I help you with your quest with Zariel?"

[Ebiris]

"Do you know much about her before she fell?" Alicia asks. "Any old friends that might be glad to see her back and help her on the road to redemption? Beyond that to actually heal her we need to simultaneously mend her soul and divinity. Ilmater and Empress Sulia are both on it so she can't really ask for better care, though we need those with similar souls to hers - Seira has some ideas for that, as well as a spark of divinity wrested from an evil deity. That'll be the real challenge but we're due a consult with Seira and Sulia on working out targets."

[Anastasia]

"A little," Romiel says, "We didn't move in the same circles - she was higher ranked and busy," Romiel admits. "But I can make inquiries. Is Zariel's return a secret? I will be discreet if it is." He looks up, "I hadn't heard anything about it, but the House of the Triad often confides with the Hebdomad directly on things of importance."

"I would fear many of her friends are in warmer climes, as she was," Antenora says, "I understand that the time of Torm's fall was an unmitigated disaster thanks to the God-King."

"You're not wrong, but some still carry the banner of what Torm was," Romiel turns to Antenora, "I will see to that as well, if you wish."

[Ebiris]

"It's no secret," Alicia shakes her head. "In truth it does Seira, Sulia, and I good to have our actions there be known. Though her current location doesn't need to be spread wide - what we did to Hell can be done elsewhere after all. Anyway, if you can find any relevant contacts there it may be helpful once she's up and about again. In the meantime though, what was that about Malcanthet and Zquujaj?"

[Anastasia]

"Malcanthet has been sending out more feelers to mortal agents than usual. That's one of her big patches as that's one of the areas succubi specialize in, but she's being more aggressive and more open lately." Antenora's expression turns a touch frosty as the mention of the succubus queen, while Romiel pauses to withdraw a particular document. "Here's the notable ones: Elimnar the Returned, a mortal thief and derring-do of legendary skill who has returned to his mortal world after a centuries long vanishing. Alyssa Songsteel, a mortal who has seemingly mastered several circles of magic beyond mortal magic in an instant and commands a wizard's guild. Rackal Longres, a mortal dragonman who was thought lost fending off a tarrasque centuries ago and has returned to lead the empire he established."

"All three sound like mortal paragons, movers and shakers that will mold their Primes for generations," Latha points out, "A theme?"

"Possibly, or merely the Succubus Queen aiming for quality," Romiel says, "We did a lot of work to get this information, we know it's reliable. Something's spurring Malcanthet along is the common consensus, she wants or needs more allies for reasons unknown. There may be an Abyssal war brewing."

[Ebiris]

Alicia commits the names to memory and asks, "Does that tie into Zquujaj, then?" she asks.

[Anastasia]

"No, but Zquujaj is showing signs of rallying his troops. It isn't clear what for - one would assume another attack on Avernus, but there are plenty of demons who would fight him because of his origins," Romiel reports, "We have no real assets with Zquujaj right now, he's uncannily good at identifying potential traitors or spies. So our information is only known by second hand reports, but reliable ones, as they come from Graz'zt's personal intelligence services."

After a beat, "We're seeking information if the two events are related. It is not impossible Malcanthet and Zquujaj are going to go to war, or may be forming an alliance to oppose another force. We just don't know enough to say decisively."

[Ebiris]

"I've been mostly focused on Hell between Benfal and Lifasa's liberations, so I'm not so up on Abyssal happenings," Alicia admits. "I know Seira likes to keep tabs on Zquujaj so I can check in with her if she knows anything. The time is certainly ripe for them to attack Avernus, but internecine war is never far in the Abyss too."

That seems to be about it on that subject, so... "We'll let you get back to your work now Romiel, it's been good to see you again though. If we turn up anything related to those two I'll send word, for now though we'll go to Jovar and see what else we can learn about Chronias's radiance."

[Anastasia]

Next move, then?