Content warning: Filler Chapter. Also, Incineratus means something along the lines of dead by fire and exists now as ash, but that's a very loose translation
"-And he was stark naked!" The Balor snarled, slamming its (His, as the demon liked to identify as. Considering every time they advanced through the ranks they gained a new form, gender was more a concept and perception by the masses if it wasn't a personal point of preference) fist down onto the table, rumbling and growling. A succubus nearby sputtered slightly, having sucked some wine down the wrong tube before turning her head and tucking the back of a hand against her mouth. After a moment to regain her composure and eavesdrop a little longer to confirm a description, she excused herself from the pit around the bonfire and stepped away, raising her hands to weave them through a teleportation spell that sent her to the blasted tree that served as one of the less known doors that led to Sigil.
Tenterni sighed contently as he sprawled out in his bath, the milky waters swirling about him at a scalding temperature and warming him nicely. It was a fancy thing, marble and inset into the ground as he watched illusions play across the ceiling that depicted and recounted previous points of history in the mortal world. To his left, two succubi were grooming each other with little more than their tongues and giggling all the while, even as a grey scaled figure sat on the edge of the bath and kicked her feet through it. She was small, for now, grey scaled and an ash grey with matching shaggy hair and claws her progenitor would have been proud of.
"See, my little ashling? These mortals are terribly prone to making their own mistakes, to jealousy and hatred. They covet each other's things."
The experimental creature rumbled, frowning as she squinted upwards. "... They... fight lots?"
"Yes, my little ashling, they fight quite a lot." Too perfect lips curled upwards as the incubus reached out to gently pat one of the rough, scaled feet, marveling at how the concept made her perk up and positively beam despite the lack of lips that covered her teeth. The door to the bath opened and he glanced towards it to note a somewhat dirt smudged succubus stepping in and dipping into a low bow.
"My Lord Incineratus?"
"Tenterni, please. Incineratus is... Not the name I chose for myself. What brings a lovely little thing like you all the way from the front?" Wings shifting and pushing against the bath, the incubus shifted and partially stood to study the newcomer properly and tisk. "You poor thing, come and join me in the bath. You look to need it more than I."
"I found him. I found the mortal you took an interest in." She drew herself up and strutted across the tile floor, shedding the scraps of fabric that she had counted as her clothing before stepping down into the bath. The incubus clasped her hands gently and settled her down into the milky liquid before sitting down next to her and starting to gently sponge the grime off of her with a soft smile.
"Tell me more, my dear."
"This... Ball-spawn?" The ashling muttered, frowning as she watched the pleased and sated succubus flit out through the window, clothing tucked under one arm. "Fights?"
"Hmm~? Oh. Yes, quite often." Tenterni lazed back in the tub as the two succubi that had kept to themselves finished draining the tub and cleaned the last of the grime from it.
"Can... I fight?"
"Goodness, no. Not yet, at any rate. Wait until you are a little bigger, at least. I want you to be able to bend steel like one of the silicone toys before you can leave here. That way, you have a sporting chance."
The experimental creature frowned, nose wrinkling as she hunkered down, claws flexing. "But... I wanna."
"Tell you what." Tenterni turned slightly to better watch his little chunk of demon and devil all wrapped into one as the bath began to fill with a milky white liquid once more. "Beat up your brother. If you win, then I will let you go to the mortal realm to fight the bhaalspawn. You need to choose a name as well, my little ashling, before you go."
She perked right back up, beaming at that.
Viconia was... Not having a good day. First, the ship she and the bear had been on had set out from the harbor with a new captain and, after bearly a day, gotten attacked by Gith. What made matters worse was that not only was it attacked by gith who were looking for a sword of some kind that had reportedly been on the ship until recently, it was then attacked by sahuagin. The latter force drove the former off even as the ship sank, and now she was in an underwater city with only a bear at her side and her equipment on hand.
Wilson looked at her curiously as the sahuagin finished their spell and began to talk, and she shook her head before doing her best to remain attentive to what they asked of her.
The bed was too small, and he knew right away that he was splayed sideways across two by how it felt like there were pillows against one side and blankets against the other. The bhaalspawn opened his eyes and grimaced, trying to dismiss the ache in his bones as he took stock of the room. Hexxat was awake and leaning against the wall to keep an eye on where their group was settled as well as an eye on the doorway. Edwin and Imoen were settled into a corner, while the top of xzar's mop of slightly curly graham coloured hair was visible just over one of the footboards as if he had dozed off while leaning back against one from where he had sat on the floor. Haer'Dalis snored contently from a few feet away, also stretched out over two beds.
"You should go back to sleep."
"Thank you, Hexxat, but I feel like I should stretch before I do. What happened? The last thing I remember I was focusing on changing back." He sat up, pressing a palm against one eye and rubbing it in circles. As he moved, pain flared across his side and he glanced over to see where a line of what felt like stitches were covered by bandages.
"You did, and then you collapsed. Xzar tended to your wounds." The vampire pushed herself off the wall and made her way across the room before smiling slightly. "You killed a demon. That was impressive."
"What's more impressive is that I didn't die while doing it. I have a question, though. Vampires can mentally dominate people, right?" Damiondred gingerly felt at his side, trying to determine how many stitches he had needed. A few across his shoulderblade and a handful down his side, it seemed. "Could you pull someone's mind out from where they've retreated to escape trauma?"
"It... Is a possibility. The mind retreats because it cannot cope, so you would have to deal with that. Such things are damaging to the mind."
"I want you to try with Imoen. I want my sister back, it's what I've been working towards and I don't want her to get killed because she couldn't defend herself. She's a powerful mage in her own right, we could use her fighting with us." Dark eyes flicked up to briefly rest on the two in the corner, before he nodded. "It will hamper Edwin less, as well, if he doesn't have to lead her along by the hand."
"Very well. When do you want to try?" The vampire followed his gaze, frowning. "Surely when you have rested and healed more?"
"No, there's no time like the present. I don't run on that much sleep anyways."
"Six hours will start to hinder you as you begin to cast the more powerful spells, Leader." Xzar blinked blearily up at them as he turned and peered over the footboard. "An hour per tier of power the spell requires, 'lest there be a work around though they must oft be inspired. Casting under duress works best for a sorcerer of Baeloth's like."
"I'm told you stitched me up. Thank you, Xzar." The bhaalspawn managed a slight smile, watching the necromancer as he stood up.
"We were given a jewel of light to scatter shadows dark as night. Should we chase them, do not fight for what lies behind outstrips our might." Xzar produced a glowing gemstone with a flourish, bowing slightly.
"Speaking in rhymes now? I wondered what happened after you stopped using so many euphemisms and referring to yourself in the third person. Second person? In plural." Reaching out to accept the gemstone, Damiondred turned it over in his hand as the necromancer yawned and shrugged.
"We got bored of them, largely. Perhaps in time we will cease to rhyme."
"How long has everyone been out, Hexxat?"
"Some ten ish hours, by my best guess. The sun set on the surface a few hours ago."
"Wait, you can feel that from here?" The archer frowned, before rubbing his temples. "Of course you can. Vampire. Otherwise how would you know when to come out without risking it. Let's try and rouse Imoen then, and see if this works."
"If that is what you want." She nodded before following him over to the corner. Edwin's head snapped up as he grumbled, coming into consciousness before rubbing his eyes.
"Yes, what is it now, that you should so disturb me? (I was just getting to the good part in my dream, too. Tch.)"
"We're going to try and wake Imoen up." Damiondred reached and winced as some of his stitches pulled, shifting to swap hands and gently shake his sister awake. Her eyes opened, but nothing much else changed even as he pulled her to her feet. "Hexxat?"
"She should be sitting for this, in case she falls over."
Nodding, the archer gently pulled Imoen over to one of the small beds and sat her down, settling beside her and holding her hand. He glanced between the two before focusing on Imoen as the vampire leaned down to meet her vacant eyes with her own red ones that gained a luminous glow.
"Imoen. That is your name, yes? Hear my voice, see my eyes, and follow both out. Your brother needs you."
The pink-clad thief twitched slightly, turning slowly as if to look away before stilling once more. Hexxat waved a hand in front of her face and then shook her head, glancing at the archer. "I thought it would work. It seemed to start to, but then she must have shaken the effect off."
"She reacted though. Maybe that loosened her grip on nothingness enough that I can pry her free." Damiondred shifted to turn his sister's face towards him, searching her eyes and then leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. "Immy. Imsy, my sister from... Apparently the same mister. Immy we need you. I, need you. I know scary things have happened, and that I couldn't protect you from them but... I can't do this without you. We're going to find Bhodi, and Irenicus-"
She flinched slightly, and closed her eyes as the archer wrapped his arms around her and rocked gently. "-I know, he hurt you. He hurt me, too. But, you have to listen to me. You're braver than that. You rescued Scar when he was fleeing the assault on the flaming fist headquarters in Baldur's Gate. You survived the poisoning after that, you survived the attack and you survived what that bastard did to us the first time. We're going to find them, and we're going to hurt them. We're going to take back our souls but I can't do that properly without you. I don't want you to get killed because you couldn't fight. C'mon, Imoen, we need you."
The thief remained limp against him, and he sighed as he released her.
"... We tried. We'll try again tomorrow."
While I understand that being able to quicksave and reload on death is a powerful power, the first time I ever fought that demon I died. I also think that cutting the story there and saying 'the end' is a cheap escape. I damn well started this fanfic, and I'm damn well going to finish it at the end of the game. I don't see him using it that often, because he -remembers- what happened. He -remembers- dying. He -remembers- what it physically felt like to disintegrate into a thousand thousand sparkles of golden light as his consciousness fades. While right now, he doesn't have the emotional depth required to truly feel the horror at that, it's only a matter of time before he does. Being dead inside is as much a help as a hindrance, considering he's acting largely because he promised to and not because he purely hates at the moment so things will hit him with less of an impact than they used to, but he also doesn't personally care as deeply. Everything's a tool that will further his goal with the right application. Emotional heart to heart's are also impossible, which may be why Imoen did not, in fact, come out of it yet. In good time though. I have plans.
Gave you all a sneak peak of what's happening elsewhere that I've been playing with off and on the last month. It likely won't come into play until after Irenicus is dealt with. Questions? Comments? Consistency issues?
Leave a message after the tone,
-KD