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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8494498" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center">Queries about a Quarry - 12/24/21</h2><p>The cobblestones were slick with the water from the downpour. The brimstone laden rain, ran over the dirty stones, adding more filth to the roadway. The acrid smell of the muggy air was in no way an improvement to the denizens of the Lower Ward, who covered themselves in yellow stained leathers, or worse, were soaked in stained linens. All in the effort to prevent the rainwater seeping onto exposed skin and staining it instead. For the poor, it was a hopeless battle, but everyone fought it, nonetheless. Overhead, from behind the clouds of rain above, darkness was falling. Soon gangs of kids would ply their trade, selling light for folks looking to get around in the deepening dark of the metropolis. For Sigil never truly slept. The mortals might, or might try, while fiends and celestials would occupy their sleepless time as only immortals could; seeking business or diversions to fill the hours.</p><p></p><p>To the figure making their way along the street it was probably a bit of both. They made sharp clipping sounds as they strode on the wet stone, while they threaded their way through the dirty rain with a parasol of leather skin over their heads and a dark leather cloak concealing their body. Several bands of lightboys stepped up to offer the cold comfort of cheerless light. But upon seeing the face underneath the parasol, each one retreated back into their alleys with terror in their eyes, and faces pale as ash. But not without regret, as while the danger was clear, so was the temptation of jink and the smell of something sweet and forbidden, lurking under the leathers the figure wore. A smell far removed from the acrid smell of the rain.</p><p></p><p>The deluge continued unabated, as the figure worked themselves through the streets. Most of the city’s denizens had already found shelter from the storm, leaving the streets with only the occasional soul running an errand of need. Finally, the figure turned onto a small avenue, devoid of passersby’s. At the end of the road, a blacksmith’s forge was still at work, where the scent of hot brimstone was mixed with iron, ready to be forged into greensteel. But next to it, a lone fiend, covered in sharp barbs all over its body, stood and shivered in the rain as water dripped off each spike like a grim fountain. They stood next to a yawning gate with a wicked polearm in hand, ostensibly to keep undesirables from passing through, and descending the stairs beneath the street.</p><p></p><p>The fiend looked at the figure approaching, and squinted. They then spoke in the sharp tones and harsh cadence of Baator’s native tongue while their lips curled into a cruel smile. “Someone is working their way up the ranks,” they said between chattering teeth, as they made a mocking flourish towards the stairs descending. The figure did not acknowledge the lesser fiend before them, and instead strode with confidence down into the bowels of stone.</p><p></p><p>The passage down was unlit, as it curled deep underneath the streets. The figure shook and closed their parasol, shaking droplets of dirty water away from the leather. They then quickly lashed a leather cord, strapping it closed and then turned the tip, down on the flagstone and used it as a walking stick. The handle was carved to look like a closed fist, with long nails, and veins that seemed to pulse in the shifting light. The hand that clutched it was fine and pale, with long dark nails at the end of fingers covered in rings. Finally, the stairs opened into the main bar of the Tenth Pit.</p><p></p><p>Within, platforms hung from above where winged fiends drank, laughed, and relaxed. Flames across the spectrum of colors lit the room into quadrants for Baatezu, Tanar’ri, and Yugoloths, and a section where all three could mingle if they chose. Along one wall was a desk before a passage way leading downwards, where a Malebranche drew up contracts for fetes of pain below. In the center was a bar, where libations from across the planes were served. The stacks of rare bottles, went to the ceiling, as mephits flitted about pulling down one bottle or another and flew them to a grey skinned figure standing at the base of the stacks, whose luminous, unblinking eyes stared at each fiend in the room. As it did so, it waved their hand, and a mephit would fly off with the desired beverage and deposited it on the table. It otherwise stood there uncaring, until the figure approached and looked into its eyes and waited.</p><p></p><p>The bartender cocked its head for a moment and returned the look with a bored gaze. It then motioned with its hand to a door in the corner of the room. Without a word, the figure pivoted and strode towards it, as it cast off its cloak with a flourish revealing a feminine figure, as her cloven hooves made light clipping sounds as she moved across the room. Her long blonde hair was in braids, and decorated with beads of bone, while she looked about with dead eyes of solid white. Jutting from her back were the remains of wings, burned down to the bone. Yet they still flexed and moved as they would in life. Behind her, four tails swished side to side like nervous snakes, each ending with a stinger ending with a sharp barb. With her cloak over one arm, and her parasol in the other, she pushed open the door, and ascended the stairs beyond.</p><p></p><p>They led to a landing, full of furnishings of fine dark wood, and upholstered in soft red velvet. The furniture seemed to hang in mid-air over the bar, clearly seen below. The fiend smiled and walked on the invisible stone and made her way towards a couch in the center of the room. She was about to sit, when the stones on another wall parted exposing a concealed passage, and revealing a tall statuesque woman. She might have passed for human, if it weren’t for small horns crowning her head and the black feathered wings on her back marking her an Erinyes from Baator. She entered the room with a bemused look which slowly melted into a smile and opened her arms.</p><p></p><p>“I was told that a Tanar’ri wanted to make a deal and look who it is; Teiazaam! It has been a while,” she said, and she crossed over towards her peer looking Teiazaam over approvingly. “And you have done well it seems. I can still smell the smoke of your promotion to the Lilitu. Shall we drink to celebrate?”</p><p></p><p>The Lilitu smiled, “Why not Aerina? I am surprised to see you here in Shemeska’s employ. I expected to meet her and not an Erinyes as my contact, much less you.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina shrugged, as she walked to a sideboard, and poured from a crystal flask, a dark red liquid into a pair of glasses. She took them both and offered one to Teiazaam as she spoke, “My mother, Invadiah had a good run for Glasya, but she failed to meet expectations. Such a b*tch she was. Her demotion was delicious to watch but of course, reality set in as the infighting for position had begun. So, I decided to take some time away from the fracas left behind, and let things sort themselves out among my sisters before playing the game again.”</p><p></p><p>The Baatezu waved her hand nonchalantly at the lounge, “So I came to Sigil to relax, and learned busy Shemeska has been, and the how those finely manicure paws of hers are in so many interests. But lately she has been reluctant to do any deals face to face, and even if she were, doesn’t have time for every bargain or request. So, I offered my services as a liaison and am now, trading for information.” The Erinyes clinked her glass to the Lilitu’s and took a sip of the liquor. “But a little mephit told me that you are here on business for Jade. What does she want from the Marauder?” and Aerina gestured toward a pair of opposing couches, which she lay upon one of them with a fascinated smile.</p><p></p><p>“My mistress wants someone found…again. She has offered a number of soul coins from her collection to make that happen.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina arched an eyebrow, “Again? Is she growing forgetful in her lustful dotage?”</p><p></p><p>The Tanar’ri smiled at the jab and Teiazaam, reclined on her own couch as and took a sip from her glass. She licked her lips and asked Aerina a question, “Do you remember, when we last saw each other?”</p><p></p><p>Aerina nodded, “Yes. Jade had invited me to watch as Zekeal lost a bet on the corruptibility of Aasimar. He was put out but amused. I heard that he was busying squeezing a mephit for ink…literally…to take notes. I also seem to recall you were at your best as you broke that lily to retching her humbles and her reducing her to tears, and all to the delight of your mistress.”</p><p></p><p>“A fun assignation at the time,” Teiazaam smiled. But it turns out, Jade has more than a passing interest in that lily.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina arched her eyebrow at that, “That is telling. Jade has never been one to linger on a conquest; even one at her behest. Mortals are food, tools or trash; nothing to revisit twice.”</p><p></p><p>The Lilitu shrugged and sipped at her drink, “That’s what struck me. But this seems less about the little mortal’s fall, and more about her kin.”</p><p></p><p>“Go on,” Aerina said looking at Teiazaam with interest.</p><p></p><p>“Several years ago, she went positively savage with rage, as someone was supposed to keep an eye on her whereabouts, and they…lost her. Since then, she has spent a lot of influence trying to find that trollop again.”</p><p></p><p>“And let me guess? You were a traded favor?”</p><p></p><p>“To a Shator,” Teiazaam said grimacing.</p><p></p><p>Aerina almost spit out her drink, “To a <strong>Gehreleth</strong>? What possessed her to do that?”</p><p></p><p>“As one of her favorites of the moment, I could only guess that she was desperate. The humiliation I suffered at that Shator’s hands was almost more than I could stand, considering they had nothing useful to say.”</p><p></p><p>“And anyone could have told her that—”</p><p></p><p>“—I did scream that as I ran out of her boudoir to fulfill her demand.” The Lilitu responded with a hint of anger on her voice. “Fortunately, she was more interested that I obeyed, and less about my recalcitrance.”</p><p></p><p>“My mother would have plucked my wings down to the pin feathers, and then pierced my flesh with them just for looking at her in the wrong way.” Aerina took a sip, and frowned a moment. “What do they do to Succubi?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s the orchids, or you get chained to a column and get to do nothing but watch others have fun for as long as deigned necessary.”</p><p></p><p>“And so rather than that…you endured the Shator instead? Remind me not to visit. But I detect a bit of contempt on your voice. Are you not here for your mistress? You wish to perhaps…return the favor?”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam gave the Erinyes a wicked smile, “Jade is making mistakes, and they are making Malcanthet look bad. The way I see it, she needs to spend more time in her garden with her orchids.”</p><p></p><p>“Indeed…telling me this is quite the risk though is it not?”</p><p></p><p>“Hardly. You could ask any Lilitu or Succubus under her and they would say the same, even at the best of times. Jade sabotaged her predecessor in a gamble for Malcanthet’s favor. She knows everyone plots against her.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina shook her head. “Abyssal politics at its finest. So, what did <strong><em>you</em></strong> want from Shemeska?”</p><p></p><p>“Ah the heart of it. Jade wants to find that Aasimar. She seems to have fallen into a portal has made her remote to normal scrying.”</p><p></p><p>“Did you have a means?”</p><p></p><p>The Lilitu pulled from her bosom a small vial, which held red flakes, mixed around golden fibers. “When I bathed her, I took some hair and blood.”</p><p></p><p>“Such initiative!” the Erinyes said taking the vial and peering at the contents, before returning it.</p><p></p><p>“Not really. I admit that Jade has us gather and catalog something from all our assignations.”</p><p></p><p>“Even that Shator?”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam shivered and shook her head quickly at the memory. “Even that one. The old hag did teach valuable things…once upon a time.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina swirled the liquor in her glass a moment, “But you didn’t answer my question: what did <strong><em>you</em></strong> want?”</p><p></p><p>“I can find her; it just will take some coin. But I know that the lily’s <strong><em>kin</em></strong> are what is really important. I need to learn more about the Aasimar.”</p><p></p><p>“Information needs information in kind.”</p><p></p><p>“Jade has many secrets…many that she has kept from Malcanthet. I think Shemeska might be interested in a couple of them. But my time in Carceri was not spent with only Gehreleths. I learned some things about a particular ‘lolth. One named Shyl—”</p><p></p><p>Aerina raised a hand to her lips and just barely shook her head as she spoke; “I don’t want to know. But you are playing a dangerous game if you want to use <strong><em>that</em></strong> as leverage.”</p><p></p><p>“I’m no fool; its currency and nothing more. I placed the information in a sensory stone in the Civic Festhall. Provide me the information I seek, and I’ll tell you the stones number, and where in the memory to find what you want.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina swirled her glass and narrowed her eyes at the Lilitu, “Such a shame you were born on the wrong side of the conflict; I would have loved to have you as a partner.”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam stuck a long finger nail and stirred her own beverage, “Well…there is something about being your own mistress that is appealing. All the glory, all th—”</p><p></p><p>“—Risk?”</p><p></p><p>The Tanar’ri nodded, “Besides, I rather like you as competition. My own kin are so…boring. And I admire your professionalism on the side,” she put her drink down on a table, and stood up. She slowly approached, and straddled the legs of the Baatezu. She wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her peer, and gently stroked and preened the dark feathers. "If…you have some free time, I would love to waste a bit of it.”</p><p></p><p>Aerina, looked into the dead eyes of the Tanar’ri, and ran her own fingers through Teiazaam’s blonde hair. “I would be willing to make the time. But I think you…should consider visiting some of the…more select services we offer here first.”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam had a flash of anger cross her face, which quickly faded. She then looked at Aerina with confusion, “You would let business steal away this moment?”</p><p></p><p>Aerina smiled, and gripped Teiazaam’s hair tightly. She used her great strength to pull the Tanar’ri close. “Hardly,” she whispered. “I just want to see you…stimulated. Several of your kin have been here asking about that very trollop and where she might be. But we could tell them nothing about where she is. However, there is a Baatezu here in the bar that might <strong><em>know</em></strong> more things about her, if not necessarily her kin or her location. So, while I can lead you in the door…you might need to suffer a bit so I can casually ask questions for you.”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam smiled as she let the Erinyes maneuver her head and torso, until it was her that reclined on the couch, and the Baatezu now lay on top of the Tanar’ri. “And who is this…fiend?”</p><p></p><p>Aerina ran her hand over the cheek of the Lilitu and smiled, “A Kyton by the name of Nastanal. He happens to be a master of the rooms below.”</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam’s eyebrows both lifted as she looked into her lesser’s eyes. “This will work better, if I am one on top,” she kept her hands on the Erinyes’s shoulders, and wrapped her legs around Aerina’s own. As she did so, she slowly pulled her tails from beneath her, each of the stingers oozing a bead of poison in excitement.</p><p></p><p>Oblivious Aerina shook her head, “Now now, this is my place of employm—” and the much stronger Teiazaam pulled the Erinyes’ head into her bosom and held it there with an iron grip. She smiled, as Aerina’s screams were muffled by the Tanar’ri’s breasts, as the Lilitu’s tails flailed at the open backside of the weaker fiend. Each tail left the mark of a brand on her backside, which disappeared as quickly as they were formed. Each brand caused the Baatezu to shudder, and her writhing became less and less violent. After a dozen or so lashes, the Lilitu released her embrace on the no longer struggling Aerina. Her eyes were glazed in confusion, as the Lilitu’s spell took a firm hold on the hapless Erinyes. “As…as…as you like my…my mistress,” Aerina stammered with an excited smile on her lips.</p><p></p><p>“I’m sure you’ll forgive me for this…or return the favor more likely. But I’m only doing this because I really do like you.” Teiazaam said as she opened her legs, releasing the Erinyes, and sat up. Aerina, slid down off the couch, onto her knees and then prostrated herself on the floor, her wings flat on the stone, and from between the Lilitu’s legs, she looked upwards with hunger, her eye shivering with a mixture of terror and delight.</p><p></p><p>Teiazaam nodded and her grin widened. “Now…I think you were going to let me work you over, so I can have a…professional conversation with this Kyton. Shall we go?”</p><p></p><p><strong>Session notes:</strong></p><p>It's been a while since we graced the filthy streets of the Lower Ward. Much of this was very much 'off screen' of course. But as I was writing it, I was well...triggered?</p><p></p><p>What I am is a sucker for continuity. I was reading <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/shemeskas-planescape-storyhour-updated-20june2021.352957/" target="_blank">Shemeska's Story Hour</a> and I realized that, coincidently a lot of the story there, lined up with Myrai's story. Both are set post faction war for example. And reading up on some of Shemeska's misadventures, it inspired me to build up an underling to deal with the little people, and not write in Shemeska herself. It makes logical sense; Myrai isn't important enough to be on Shemeska's radar, but trading information about her 'Manged' pupil is an amusing piece of currency. Honestly the idea of trying to write in the skin of that loth terrifies me; I'm not sure I could do it justice.</p><p></p><p>So <a href="https://www.enworld.org/members/shemeska.11697/" target="_blank">Shemesksa</a>, if you read this, consider this an easter egg to your story, which has been an inspiration.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8494498, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER]Queries about a Quarry - 12/24/21[/CENTER][/HEADING] The cobblestones were slick with the water from the downpour. The brimstone laden rain, ran over the dirty stones, adding more filth to the roadway. The acrid smell of the muggy air was in no way an improvement to the denizens of the Lower Ward, who covered themselves in yellow stained leathers, or worse, were soaked in stained linens. All in the effort to prevent the rainwater seeping onto exposed skin and staining it instead. For the poor, it was a hopeless battle, but everyone fought it, nonetheless. Overhead, from behind the clouds of rain above, darkness was falling. Soon gangs of kids would ply their trade, selling light for folks looking to get around in the deepening dark of the metropolis. For Sigil never truly slept. The mortals might, or might try, while fiends and celestials would occupy their sleepless time as only immortals could; seeking business or diversions to fill the hours. To the figure making their way along the street it was probably a bit of both. They made sharp clipping sounds as they strode on the wet stone, while they threaded their way through the dirty rain with a parasol of leather skin over their heads and a dark leather cloak concealing their body. Several bands of lightboys stepped up to offer the cold comfort of cheerless light. But upon seeing the face underneath the parasol, each one retreated back into their alleys with terror in their eyes, and faces pale as ash. But not without regret, as while the danger was clear, so was the temptation of jink and the smell of something sweet and forbidden, lurking under the leathers the figure wore. A smell far removed from the acrid smell of the rain. The deluge continued unabated, as the figure worked themselves through the streets. Most of the city’s denizens had already found shelter from the storm, leaving the streets with only the occasional soul running an errand of need. Finally, the figure turned onto a small avenue, devoid of passersby’s. At the end of the road, a blacksmith’s forge was still at work, where the scent of hot brimstone was mixed with iron, ready to be forged into greensteel. But next to it, a lone fiend, covered in sharp barbs all over its body, stood and shivered in the rain as water dripped off each spike like a grim fountain. They stood next to a yawning gate with a wicked polearm in hand, ostensibly to keep undesirables from passing through, and descending the stairs beneath the street. The fiend looked at the figure approaching, and squinted. They then spoke in the sharp tones and harsh cadence of Baator’s native tongue while their lips curled into a cruel smile. “Someone is working their way up the ranks,” they said between chattering teeth, as they made a mocking flourish towards the stairs descending. The figure did not acknowledge the lesser fiend before them, and instead strode with confidence down into the bowels of stone. The passage down was unlit, as it curled deep underneath the streets. The figure shook and closed their parasol, shaking droplets of dirty water away from the leather. They then quickly lashed a leather cord, strapping it closed and then turned the tip, down on the flagstone and used it as a walking stick. The handle was carved to look like a closed fist, with long nails, and veins that seemed to pulse in the shifting light. The hand that clutched it was fine and pale, with long dark nails at the end of fingers covered in rings. Finally, the stairs opened into the main bar of the Tenth Pit. Within, platforms hung from above where winged fiends drank, laughed, and relaxed. Flames across the spectrum of colors lit the room into quadrants for Baatezu, Tanar’ri, and Yugoloths, and a section where all three could mingle if they chose. Along one wall was a desk before a passage way leading downwards, where a Malebranche drew up contracts for fetes of pain below. In the center was a bar, where libations from across the planes were served. The stacks of rare bottles, went to the ceiling, as mephits flitted about pulling down one bottle or another and flew them to a grey skinned figure standing at the base of the stacks, whose luminous, unblinking eyes stared at each fiend in the room. As it did so, it waved their hand, and a mephit would fly off with the desired beverage and deposited it on the table. It otherwise stood there uncaring, until the figure approached and looked into its eyes and waited. The bartender cocked its head for a moment and returned the look with a bored gaze. It then motioned with its hand to a door in the corner of the room. Without a word, the figure pivoted and strode towards it, as it cast off its cloak with a flourish revealing a feminine figure, as her cloven hooves made light clipping sounds as she moved across the room. Her long blonde hair was in braids, and decorated with beads of bone, while she looked about with dead eyes of solid white. Jutting from her back were the remains of wings, burned down to the bone. Yet they still flexed and moved as they would in life. Behind her, four tails swished side to side like nervous snakes, each ending with a stinger ending with a sharp barb. With her cloak over one arm, and her parasol in the other, she pushed open the door, and ascended the stairs beyond. They led to a landing, full of furnishings of fine dark wood, and upholstered in soft red velvet. The furniture seemed to hang in mid-air over the bar, clearly seen below. The fiend smiled and walked on the invisible stone and made her way towards a couch in the center of the room. She was about to sit, when the stones on another wall parted exposing a concealed passage, and revealing a tall statuesque woman. She might have passed for human, if it weren’t for small horns crowning her head and the black feathered wings on her back marking her an Erinyes from Baator. She entered the room with a bemused look which slowly melted into a smile and opened her arms. “I was told that a Tanar’ri wanted to make a deal and look who it is; Teiazaam! It has been a while,” she said, and she crossed over towards her peer looking Teiazaam over approvingly. “And you have done well it seems. I can still smell the smoke of your promotion to the Lilitu. Shall we drink to celebrate?” The Lilitu smiled, “Why not Aerina? I am surprised to see you here in Shemeska’s employ. I expected to meet her and not an Erinyes as my contact, much less you.” Aerina shrugged, as she walked to a sideboard, and poured from a crystal flask, a dark red liquid into a pair of glasses. She took them both and offered one to Teiazaam as she spoke, “My mother, Invadiah had a good run for Glasya, but she failed to meet expectations. Such a b*tch she was. Her demotion was delicious to watch but of course, reality set in as the infighting for position had begun. So, I decided to take some time away from the fracas left behind, and let things sort themselves out among my sisters before playing the game again.” The Baatezu waved her hand nonchalantly at the lounge, “So I came to Sigil to relax, and learned busy Shemeska has been, and the how those finely manicure paws of hers are in so many interests. But lately she has been reluctant to do any deals face to face, and even if she were, doesn’t have time for every bargain or request. So, I offered my services as a liaison and am now, trading for information.” The Erinyes clinked her glass to the Lilitu’s and took a sip of the liquor. “But a little mephit told me that you are here on business for Jade. What does she want from the Marauder?” and Aerina gestured toward a pair of opposing couches, which she lay upon one of them with a fascinated smile. “My mistress wants someone found…again. She has offered a number of soul coins from her collection to make that happen.” Aerina arched an eyebrow, “Again? Is she growing forgetful in her lustful dotage?” The Tanar’ri smiled at the jab and Teiazaam, reclined on her own couch as and took a sip from her glass. She licked her lips and asked Aerina a question, “Do you remember, when we last saw each other?” Aerina nodded, “Yes. Jade had invited me to watch as Zekeal lost a bet on the corruptibility of Aasimar. He was put out but amused. I heard that he was busying squeezing a mephit for ink…literally…to take notes. I also seem to recall you were at your best as you broke that lily to retching her humbles and her reducing her to tears, and all to the delight of your mistress.” “A fun assignation at the time,” Teiazaam smiled. But it turns out, Jade has more than a passing interest in that lily.” Aerina arched her eyebrow at that, “That is telling. Jade has never been one to linger on a conquest; even one at her behest. Mortals are food, tools or trash; nothing to revisit twice.” The Lilitu shrugged and sipped at her drink, “That’s what struck me. But this seems less about the little mortal’s fall, and more about her kin.” “Go on,” Aerina said looking at Teiazaam with interest. “Several years ago, she went positively savage with rage, as someone was supposed to keep an eye on her whereabouts, and they…lost her. Since then, she has spent a lot of influence trying to find that trollop again.” “And let me guess? You were a traded favor?” “To a Shator,” Teiazaam said grimacing. Aerina almost spit out her drink, “To a [B]Gehreleth[/B]? What possessed her to do that?” “As one of her favorites of the moment, I could only guess that she was desperate. The humiliation I suffered at that Shator’s hands was almost more than I could stand, considering they had nothing useful to say.” “And anyone could have told her that—” “—I did scream that as I ran out of her boudoir to fulfill her demand.” The Lilitu responded with a hint of anger on her voice. “Fortunately, she was more interested that I obeyed, and less about my recalcitrance.” “My mother would have plucked my wings down to the pin feathers, and then pierced my flesh with them just for looking at her in the wrong way.” Aerina took a sip, and frowned a moment. “What do they do to Succubi?” “It’s the orchids, or you get chained to a column and get to do nothing but watch others have fun for as long as deigned necessary.” “And so rather than that…you endured the Shator instead? Remind me not to visit. But I detect a bit of contempt on your voice. Are you not here for your mistress? You wish to perhaps…return the favor?” Teiazaam gave the Erinyes a wicked smile, “Jade is making mistakes, and they are making Malcanthet look bad. The way I see it, she needs to spend more time in her garden with her orchids.” “Indeed…telling me this is quite the risk though is it not?” “Hardly. You could ask any Lilitu or Succubus under her and they would say the same, even at the best of times. Jade sabotaged her predecessor in a gamble for Malcanthet’s favor. She knows everyone plots against her.” Aerina shook her head. “Abyssal politics at its finest. So, what did [B][I]you[/I][/B] want from Shemeska?” “Ah the heart of it. Jade wants to find that Aasimar. She seems to have fallen into a portal has made her remote to normal scrying.” “Did you have a means?” The Lilitu pulled from her bosom a small vial, which held red flakes, mixed around golden fibers. “When I bathed her, I took some hair and blood.” “Such initiative!” the Erinyes said taking the vial and peering at the contents, before returning it. “Not really. I admit that Jade has us gather and catalog something from all our assignations.” “Even that Shator?” Teiazaam shivered and shook her head quickly at the memory. “Even that one. The old hag did teach valuable things…once upon a time.” Aerina swirled the liquor in her glass a moment, “But you didn’t answer my question: what did [B][I]you[/I][/B] want?” “I can find her; it just will take some coin. But I know that the lily’s [B][I]kin[/I][/B] are what is really important. I need to learn more about the Aasimar.” “Information needs information in kind.” “Jade has many secrets…many that she has kept from Malcanthet. I think Shemeska might be interested in a couple of them. But my time in Carceri was not spent with only Gehreleths. I learned some things about a particular ‘lolth. One named Shyl—” Aerina raised a hand to her lips and just barely shook her head as she spoke; “I don’t want to know. But you are playing a dangerous game if you want to use [B][I]that[/I][/B] as leverage.” “I’m no fool; its currency and nothing more. I placed the information in a sensory stone in the Civic Festhall. Provide me the information I seek, and I’ll tell you the stones number, and where in the memory to find what you want.” Aerina swirled her glass and narrowed her eyes at the Lilitu, “Such a shame you were born on the wrong side of the conflict; I would have loved to have you as a partner.” Teiazaam stuck a long finger nail and stirred her own beverage, “Well…there is something about being your own mistress that is appealing. All the glory, all th—” “—Risk?” The Tanar’ri nodded, “Besides, I rather like you as competition. My own kin are so…boring. And I admire your professionalism on the side,” she put her drink down on a table, and stood up. She slowly approached, and straddled the legs of the Baatezu. She wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her peer, and gently stroked and preened the dark feathers. "If…you have some free time, I would love to waste a bit of it.” Aerina, looked into the dead eyes of the Tanar’ri, and ran her own fingers through Teiazaam’s blonde hair. “I would be willing to make the time. But I think you…should consider visiting some of the…more select services we offer here first.” Teiazaam had a flash of anger cross her face, which quickly faded. She then looked at Aerina with confusion, “You would let business steal away this moment?” Aerina smiled, and gripped Teiazaam’s hair tightly. She used her great strength to pull the Tanar’ri close. “Hardly,” she whispered. “I just want to see you…stimulated. Several of your kin have been here asking about that very trollop and where she might be. But we could tell them nothing about where she is. However, there is a Baatezu here in the bar that might [B][I]know[/I][/B] more things about her, if not necessarily her kin or her location. So, while I can lead you in the door…you might need to suffer a bit so I can casually ask questions for you.” Teiazaam smiled as she let the Erinyes maneuver her head and torso, until it was her that reclined on the couch, and the Baatezu now lay on top of the Tanar’ri. “And who is this…fiend?” Aerina ran her hand over the cheek of the Lilitu and smiled, “A Kyton by the name of Nastanal. He happens to be a master of the rooms below.” Teiazaam’s eyebrows both lifted as she looked into her lesser’s eyes. “This will work better, if I am one on top,” she kept her hands on the Erinyes’s shoulders, and wrapped her legs around Aerina’s own. As she did so, she slowly pulled her tails from beneath her, each of the stingers oozing a bead of poison in excitement. Oblivious Aerina shook her head, “Now now, this is my place of employm—” and the much stronger Teiazaam pulled the Erinyes’ head into her bosom and held it there with an iron grip. She smiled, as Aerina’s screams were muffled by the Tanar’ri’s breasts, as the Lilitu’s tails flailed at the open backside of the weaker fiend. Each tail left the mark of a brand on her backside, which disappeared as quickly as they were formed. Each brand caused the Baatezu to shudder, and her writhing became less and less violent. After a dozen or so lashes, the Lilitu released her embrace on the no longer struggling Aerina. Her eyes were glazed in confusion, as the Lilitu’s spell took a firm hold on the hapless Erinyes. “As…as…as you like my…my mistress,” Aerina stammered with an excited smile on her lips. “I’m sure you’ll forgive me for this…or return the favor more likely. But I’m only doing this because I really do like you.” Teiazaam said as she opened her legs, releasing the Erinyes, and sat up. Aerina, slid down off the couch, onto her knees and then prostrated herself on the floor, her wings flat on the stone, and from between the Lilitu’s legs, she looked upwards with hunger, her eye shivering with a mixture of terror and delight. Teiazaam nodded and her grin widened. “Now…I think you were going to let me work you over, so I can have a…professional conversation with this Kyton. Shall we go?” [B]Session notes:[/B] It's been a while since we graced the filthy streets of the Lower Ward. Much of this was very much 'off screen' of course. But as I was writing it, I was well...triggered? What I am is a sucker for continuity. I was reading [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/shemeskas-planescape-storyhour-updated-20june2021.352957/']Shemeska's Story Hour[/URL] and I realized that, coincidently a lot of the story there, lined up with Myrai's story. Both are set post faction war for example. And reading up on some of Shemeska's misadventures, it inspired me to build up an underling to deal with the little people, and not write in Shemeska herself. It makes logical sense; Myrai isn't important enough to be on Shemeska's radar, but trading information about her 'Manged' pupil is an amusing piece of currency. Honestly the idea of trying to write in the skin of that loth terrifies me; I'm not sure I could do it justice. So [URL='https://www.enworld.org/members/shemeska.11697/']Shemesksa[/URL], if you read this, consider this an easter egg to your story, which has been an inspiration. [/QUOTE]
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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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