Advancement

[Ebiris]

Yes, we need targets/hooks.

[Anastasia]

Soon enough Marchalu comes forth, "Some of the information you wanted about Malcanthet, ma'am."

[Ebiris]

"Thank you Marchalu," Alicia says, the two of them getting comfy in one of her studies, a pixie-sized seat for her spymaster as the two sit surrounded by tomes that aren't actually all that ancient, the recently written books nonetheless collecting information from all over in convenient format for one wishing to brush up on the arcane. "Lets start from the top, shall we?"

[Anastasia]

A nod, a small pair of glasses put on. "You're aware of Malcanthet's layer of the Abyss already, first?" After getting acknowledgement of that, "Information about Shendilavri is deceptively simple, as it has many visitors for an Abyssal realm. Accurate and insightful information is another tree altogether. Her palace is the most likely place to look, but most better intelligence suggests that the best projects are hidden deep underground, in what..."

A pause to adjust and read again, "Ah, in what are underground caverns of flesh and pleasure and beauty. A side of the realm that not even most of the succubi there see. What few accounts of them I saw suggests all of those three descriptions are accurate." Here Marchalu's lips press together, "Not entirely unlike some of what Semyaza wanted from Benfal."

[Ebiris]

"You often see similarities like that, regardless of ideological differences," Alicia says. "Right now we're not able to commit to a full on assault on Shendilvari so this makes more background than anything else. Still lets go through what you've learned, it may prove useful to know in any event."

[Anastasia]

With a throat clearing, "One known cavern is directly beneath the palace, though the distance is unclear. Hearsay suggests that it's some sort of treasury or repository." Marchalu reports, "The earth will not part even for earth elementals who approach it, and only Malcanthet can teleport into it and back. If those defenses are sufficiently powerful, excavation may be the only answer. Which would mean you need to hold her palace, which as her throne of power, means you've essentially won any war. More, a few whispering winds disturbed the branches to say that there's also guardians, as expected."

[Ebiris]

"Yes, if we're in a position to explore there the whole balance of power has just radically shifted," Alicia agrees. "It's something for a victorious party to clean up, not the target for a quick and daring raid."

[Anastasia]

"There's the prize of information here - rumors of a cavern that deals with souls, also sometimes conflated with the palace, but I think that's misinformation or misunderstandings," Marchalu goes on. "I believe you're interested in that one in particular."

[Ebiris]

"It would be useful," Alicia agrees. "But in the short term we're focused on interests outside of the Abyss, like Jade's castle on Limbo that we attacked recently. We want to nip at the flanks before we're ready to go for Malcanthet's head."

[Anastasia]

"Well," Going on and shuffling papers, "Our best lead is Rosewater. Believe it or not, it's in Hades. Her succubi have been busy - we just don't know exactly where on Hades. What's worse, people who go there seem to forget the details. It may be something like a memory altering spell or anathemic knowledge. The yugoloths," A frown at that, "Are good at secret keeping, and no one's a foolish enough stag to think that the daemons aren't being paid off to cooperate."

[Ebiris]

"With a name like Rosewater it may have a connection with the Styx," Alicia says. "I heard about a fortress of Lixer's on the ethereal plane that was doing something similar recently. What do we actually know about it?"

[Anastasia]

Another shuffle of papers, "Precious little. We think it's come up within the last decade, but we could also be wrong. There's ancient things in Hades no one but the worst of the 'loths know about. The sky there's rose and gold, rather than the gloom of Hades otherwise. Otherwise? No one really knows, be it hidden by magic or anathemic knowledge."

[Ebiris]

"We'll have to investigate more deeply to try and ferret out the location, either with exploration or capturing succubi or lilitu that could be connected to it," Alicia says, that being as far as they can go without knowing where it is. "What do you have next?"

[Anastasia]

"Well, there's all the piecemeal efforts we find - a succubus here, a lilitu there, a thrall after." Marchalu says, "Relatedly, Mial was wounded in an assassination attempt. What scant evidence there is suggests Malcanthet did it, but it's thin as moss gruel."

[Ebiris]

"Oh, poor Mial!" Alicia says. "I should ask Empress Sulia about that, I enjoy visiting her gallery when I'm in Brightwater."

Hello, Sulia? I just heard someone tried to assassinate Mial. Is she alright?