Love's Labors, Part 9
As you study the situation... you decide it's time to shake things up.
Someone like Nevati is at her most dangerous when things are going according to plan. And so far, you've allowed things to progress at her pace. There's also the matter of this hidden watcher to consider. A threat of unknown ability, one that could strike from concealment at any time, doing who knows what.
Given an opportunity both put Nevati off her game and to ensure that she's alerted to the threat she hasn't detected yet, you feel it's the best move you could make. True, you're not entirely sure what the result will be... but fortune favors the bold. And for all you know, hesitation in the hopes of playing it safe could prove even more dangerous in the long run.
You glance back at Ceriss, who is watching Nevati with pained concern. It's obvious that she's noticed the young wizard's exhausted lack of sleep as well. She has to realize just how badly her defection has hurt Nevati. Which—given Ceriss' own kind nature—is hurting her in turn.
All the more reason to bring the wizard under your wing as quickly as possible, so you can put an end to all this pointless pain and utterly nonsense repression.
Briefly, you consider having the two elementals hang back. But you decide against it. With them working alongside you, Nevati is bound to encounter them sooner or later. And that's if she doesn't simply deduce that something happened to them, just from your presence here while you were supposed to be off in the village.
No. Better to make everything clear from the outset, rather than have their capture be revealed only after some measure of trust has been established.
Gesturing to the rest of your group, you step out from behind the pillars. You walk confidently across the large, vaulted chamber. Into the light cast by Nevati's spell. The fire elemental is the first to notice your approach. She shoots to her feet with a small yelp, causing the other two to whirl as well. Nevati's eyes go wide at the sight of the two demonic-looking figures approaching, with her other two familiars trailing—guiltily—behind.
"Wh-wh-what?" she stammers. "C-Ceriss? Aila? Tala? Wh-what are you d-doing with...?" Her voice trails off, and you can see horror enter the young gnome's eyes as she realizes what has happened. That she sent her precious familiars into a trap.
Tala can only stare at the ground in embarrassed silence, fidgeting in place. But Aila speaks up in her usual breathless patter. "I'm really really really really sorry Nevati, but you gotta understand it's really not what you're thinking because he's not really a bad guy and Ceriss still cares about you and if you'd just give him a chance you'd see how amazing it really is and I'm sure we can work it all out if you just give it a try, honest!"
The air elemental looks hopefully over at her mistress, and you hear the worry in her clumsy plea. How desperately she doesn't want Nevati to be angry at her. But, at the same time, how much she wants to share the wonderful things you've shown her with the one person that means the most to her in all the Planes.
Nevati, for her part, wears an expression of despair and dismay. Not only has her oh-so-impulsive venture not yet found what she's searching for to help save Ceriss... but it has also led to the corruption of two more people she deeply cares about. You can see the weight of the terrible realization crushing down on her, leaving the bookish young gnome even more lost. Even more isolated. Even more out of her depth.
"They're here because they're worried about you," you quietly tell her. "I understand why you tried this. You were looking for a way to help Ceriss, right? But it's not safe here. And we wanted to make sure that you didn't get hurt trying something rash. We should talk about this somewhere else, where it isn't so dangerous."
Nevati stares at you with complete incredulity, like she can't believe what she's hearing. "I... I c-can take c-care of myself!" she insists, waving a hand in the direction of the path she's carved on the way to getting here. Her gaze occasionally shifts back toward Ceriss, only for her to flinch away, fidgeting. Unsure of what to say to her crush-turned-demonic-agent.
"I know you can," you say. "But that's no reason to take unnecessary risks. The defenses of this crypt are ancient, and I'm quite certain they encompass more serious threats than just the skeletons you've faced so far. After all..." Here you gesture to the pillar where the watcher is using to conceal themselves. It's time to make your play to really shake things up. "...you haven't noticed yet that you were being spied on, did you?"
Nevati whirls, glancing back over her shoulder, even as you all hear an angry curse spat out from behind the large stone support. A moment later a dark blur launches itself out into view, sliding with eerie grace into a tense crouch, her body like a coiled spring as she watches you. She appears to be an orc, though a bit shorter and wirier than most. She wears a ragged, threadbare cloak, with a huge broadsword strapped to her back. But instead of the vibrant green that most orcs' skin usually is, her complexion is unnaturally pale. A chalky, lifeless white.
She angrily bares her fangs, as she glares at you with glowing red eyes. "Traitors!" she hisses, clearly agitated by the sudden turnabout. "You call yourselves servants of Kovora... yet expose me to the very enemies who have invaded and defiled my mistress' refuge? Stay out of my way! You shall not shield these foreign trespassers! They must be brought before my mistress, to face judgment for their grievous crimes!"
The vampire pulls the sword free from its place on her back, hefting the large metal weapon as though it weighed no more than a feather. You raise your eyebrows a little, recalculating the situation. Vampires are, potentially, some of the most powerful undead there are, and are very difficult to permanently destroy.
And this one speaks of a mistress.
Out of the corner of her eye, you can see Nevati making the same calculations, her own intellect evaluating the situation just as yours is. Her unique metal staff is already in her hand, its mechanisms already extending itself to its full length as glances back and forth between the two threats she faces. Still fearful of both... but when she looks at you, you do detect a growing uncertainty. A growing doubt. Wondering why you, an enemy, warned her of the threat she hadn't even realized was there.
Before you can say anything further, the vampire makes her move, exploding toward Nevati's group with astonishing, inhuman speed. She swings her sword down, aiming for the air around the runic circle that wards the small campsite. The blade impacts with a titanic crash, a shockwave washing over you as the barrier reacts, crackling with a furious storm of pale blue energy at the point of impact.
The vampire's eyes widen slightly in shock, as her attack utterly fails to breach Nevati's ward. Then the gnome thrusts out her staff, while simultaneously inscribing a few quick runes in the air, unleashing a blast of golden light aimed straight at her attacker's chest.
But just before it hits her, the vampire explodes into countless bats, swarming around the barrier. Her sword spins along with them, arcing as though held in a telekinetic grasp. She re-congeals on the opposite side of the barrier, catching her blade and spinning to hammer the ward again in a single smooth motion.
Nevati's fire elemental responds with a blast of flame that explodes outward in a wide arc, forcing the vampire to leap away again. Impulsively, the fiery young spirit leaps out of the circle's protection, her flaming hair trailing behind her in long, twisting arcs as she chases after their foe, tossing out blasts and whips of flame as they dance between the pillars, often ricocheting from one to another.
"No, Kaili, don't!" calls out Nevati in a panic, clearly worried that her reckless familiar is in way over her head against this foe. Without a second thought she runs toward their rapid-fire duel as it weaves in and out of sight behind the pillars, leaving the protective circle to chase after them while casting a new spell, her water elemental following close behind.
Ceriss is also casting a spell, getting ready to intervene herself, while Tala and Aila immediately charge toward the battle themselves without hesitation. However much they have come to enjoy the pleasure you've taught them... it hasn't changed their fundamental concern for their friends. And there's just no way they can stand aside if Kaili is in danger.
As predicted, everything is devolving into chaos. A crazy melee that could go in any direction at any moment. If you want to make any tactical contribution to steer the course of the wild clash, now would be the time. Obviously, for your mission to succeed, you'll need to ensure that your prey come out of this intact. But beyond that... what is your top priority for this fight?
You could focus on capturing this vampire, ensuring that she does not report back to her "mistress", leaving her in the dark for at least a little bit longer. Given how slippery you've observed her to be, that will be no small task, but if you work together with Ceriss you could probably manage it. It would require all your focus to pull off, though.
Alternatively, while you don't intend to let anything happen to Nevati's group either way, you could contrive to make your defense a bit more... dramatic... than strictly necessary. If you protected one of them, possibly at risk or even significant injury to yourself, that would doubtless shake their initial impression of you even more. It'd expose you to danger, and if damaged you'd have to burn some amount of your accumulated lust to recover... but it could be quite the poignant way of making your case.
Then again, if you wanted to push a more carnal approach, you could also arrange to give Nevati an actual taste of what she's rejecting in ignorance, once you're sure she's safe. Make sure to catch her with your aphrodisiac touch at some point in the fight. You don't think you're in a position to completely capture her—not now that she's alerted, and with all this chaos going on—but you could probably manage to inflame her lusts and increase her yearning before she escapes. Maybe even for all three of them, if you burned some lust to call up a few tentacle monsters as well.
Either way, you'll need to weigh the tactics you want to use to ultimately ensnare Nevati, along with this "mistress" that has still to reveal herself.
Capturing her minion would leave her in the dark, giving you extra time. But it would also be the most aggressive move toward her mistress in the long term. Protecting them might not be quite so aggressive... but would still place you firmly against this "mistress", in defense of Nevati. Conversely, if you went with an aggressive seduction—perhaps even in a way that pulled some of the heat off the vampire—it could leave the most mystery as to your true motives.
In the end, you have only a moment to decide. How will you play this?
