Queen of the Damned (Host)

[Tassadar]

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

Always more to do. Even with her people freed, it seemed to Nerzalil that she'd never earn her rest. After they'd fled through the gate two years ago, all that remained of her race had traveled here, under her guidance. To this festering pit that the locals called a jungle. Half of them had been killed, their insectoid appearance clearly hostile to those that lived on this world, along the way. They'd had to wipe out no less than three towns for food and breeding stock to help replace their losses, and those they'd taken hadn't lasted the journey. Strangely, despite the hostile environment and the constant clinging wetness that hung in the air, she had to admit that it felt.... Homey, to her and her kind.

But now, they were here. Home. For now.

Unfortunately, even now that they were here, they were not without troubles. Food, while easy enough to get in the short, term, would likely become a problem if they didn't find a way to produce it on their own. Hosts for their larvae were also becoming a problem, as the ones they'd brought through the gate and acquired on their journey had 'expired' before they got here. There were still too few of them to truly be called a hive, and she was still forced to control her people. The locals knew nothing of their presence, here in the dense jungle, but Nerzalil knew she couldn't count on that protection forever, not if she wanted her kind to thrive. Still, with just over five hundred members, they weren't yet large enough to attract attention to themselves.

Or, so they'd thought. With a sigh, she exited the cavern in which she stayed, one of many her kind had appropriated for shelter from the constant rain and danger of natural predators that would hunt even for their demonic flesh. Of late, her kind had come under attack while foraging for food from creatures that seemed to share more in kind with the plants around her than with the native intelligent life of this world. Her kindred had captured a few, but despite their sincere efforts, the Shadow Demon larvae hadn't been able to take hold in the plant-creatures. What's more, the creatures clearly outnumbered her and her kin, and their immobile brethren were all over the jungle, and seemed to attack her people whenever they could. There hadn't been any losses yet, but Nerzalil knew that she had to find a solution to that problem swiftly, lest it grow to be more than a nuisance. The place where the plants congregated was known to her, and it contained a dozen or so trees with blackened bark, clearly having been corrupted by some magics akin to this which her peoples demonic slavers had used on her own people. The only question now was, what was she going to do about them?

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Nerzalil sat in the empty main chamber of the hive and sighed. This was not what she had hoped for. Her hope had been for a world easily accepting, or at least easily conquered, so that this chamber, for the storage of souls before the Change, would be filled with… ‘breeding material’. The bug-girl stood, her body the same colour as the coating of black chitinous stuff her kind had made over the walls of the largely natural cavern. Granted, things were still going much better than she had a right to wish for – her kind had gotten away from the demons, found their way to this forest, and survived for two years without real issue from the inhabitants of the world. Still… that had cost them many sacrifices. Their numbers, their history, their home, their culture…. Her own body was a living icon of what had been sacrificed, as well as her armour; the ceremonial icon she wore had been defaced, the chest protruding obscenely, the work of a clearly amature hammerer – but it was a sacrifice necessary to stop her new, oddly twisted form from being crushed while wearing it. She had known that there would be sacrifices from the moment that she had surrendered her kind to demonic ownership… a decision that had not been hers to make.
Nerzalil could only hope that her kind could still be able to be called Shadow Demons when her repentance had come to pass.

She contemplated the issue of the plants as she passed one of the beetles at work, shoring up plaes where the black covering over the walls had become thinned. It was almost as if the universe was trying to counter balance their luck – managing to escape the Demons had been a miracle, and now they were only experiencing problem after problem to compensate. All the inhabitants of the world proved hostile to them, the females they had managed to acquire kept dying (they were so darn frail; for some reason, their bodies wouldn’t come good after they made snapping noises… and they kept complaining even when you fed them once a week!) … and now, like some cosmic joke, they had found themselves sharing the same area as a group of clear female humanoids… which they apparently couldn’t fertilise. And, in order to find that out, they had needed to aggressively attack a group of the plant girls, giving the Shadow Demons another enemy to worry about; one that lived adjacent to them, outnumbered them, had the home ground advantage, and couldn’t even be used for breeding.
Fuck.
Nerzalil would have much preferred being on good terms with the locals. She had held wild hopes about the world on the other side of the portal, that the people there would accept her kind openly, give them a little pasture to live on and a couple of unimportant females for them to expand their population with. She had, of course, been prepared for a more realistic reception, which had been exactly what the big bugs got. Still… they had already seen one miracle; they had dared to hope for a way to escape the Demons – and it certainly was daring, given that some of the bastards could peer into your head whenever they felt like it – and, in the end, it had paid off for them.

When it came down to it, they really couldn’t afford to get caught up fighting the plants. An all-out attack would lose them too many shadow demons, if it succeeded at all; simply defending against them would tie up demons that needed to be gathering food, or hunting more fertile humanoids. No, the best resolution here was a peaceful one, as unlikely as it was for them to achieve it. The fact that they were unbreedable could prove be as much a blessing as a curse; they had no reason to fear the Shadow Demons for the one reason that truly made them dangerous to everything else. Of course, the Demons were also invading their forest, which would presumably not help things…

Nerzalil made up her mind; she would have to at least try to stop her species’ screwup from turning into an unnecessary, all-out war. She would have to intercept a group of the creatures; waltzing right into their main gathering when they still considered the Shadow Demons hostile was just asking for trouble. She would need a small group of her own with her; there was no reason for Nerzalil to risk herself too unnecessarily… not when her kind still needed her. Her instincts said to beat the sap out of the first group of plants they ran into, then leave them with a message of peace to give to their masters… but what she had learned of the way the creatures in this world interact told her that she would be better served trying to skip the ‘beating them up’ part. It was curious that out in this corner of the world they would find demon-corrupted plants like the ones that the plant-people seemed to be working with. Then again, Nerzalil never had been told where the first and second invasions had come through…

Her kind would have to be told not to aggravate things between the two groups. She found a spawn she knew to be reliable (and grimaced internally at the fact that she could identify personality traits of individual spawn… sacrifices, sacrifices. At least they weren’t giving each other names yet), and had him spread the message that they were to run from aggressive groups of plant people, only engaging when necessary. Watching them communicate through such a torturously slow and convoluted method like talking was downright painful. Still, it was good to see them coping with individuality. They’d had two years to get used to freedom, and more time than that to come to terms with independent thought, so they were fairly self-sufficient. It only seemed like yesterday that they couldn’t eat without being ordered to, and now they were able to hunt by themselves, follow basic patterns – she had even seen signs that they were starting to learn to use judgment. It was a sacrifice of their normal way of doing things, of course… but it was an absolutely necessary one.

Her course of action decided, there was no time like the present for its execution. Nerzalil gathered a small bunch of allies; hopefully enough to deal with anything in the jungle they might encounter, including their targets themselves, but without disrupting any of the actions at the hive: a Stag, and a pair of Spawn. She headed out of the cavern and into the light of day, heading towards, but not into, the location they had been known to gather. If they couldn’t succeed in ending this without making enemies of the plant-women, perhaps they could solve another of their issues. War, Nerzalil mused, always brought with it an excess of fresh meat.

…Or, well, vegetables.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

It took a while for word to spread among the hive, as some had to branch out to the other caves where her people were staying, but after about an hour Nerzalils instructions had spread throughout her people. That done, she assembled her small squad, the stag and pair of spawns, and headed out of the cave herself. Her and her trio of fellow shadow demons were hardly inconspicuous among the dense jungle undergrowth, but there was little that could be done about that. Now, Nerzalil had a choice ahead of her; Given that she didn't want to waltz into the plant creatures grove, she would have to find a group of the mobile, sentient plants in order to treat with them. She had a number of options on that front, though not a one of them was pleasant.

Firstly, she could head South a ways, into a valley which she knew held a great many of the plants, but a lot of them were unable to communicate, being mere mindless beasts. Still, it did have the greatest chance of running into the plant creatures, and she and her people had proven able to deal with them in earnest combat without too much trouble. If she took her band South-West, she'd be wandering through the jungles, and while it was possible she would find a group of sentient plants, it was equally possible that she might find a wild beast, or worse, a roving Fey. If the Fey discovered that her people had made their home on this world before they had sufficient numbers to defend themselves...... That thought, that her people might be totally exterminated despite all she'd done, haunted Nerzalil, at times. Or, perhaps she could go to the North. It wasn't as dense with the plant creatures, but there was also a small human settlement, and such offered the chance that she might find a few captives that might be used to help swell the numbers of her people.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

There were two legitimate places for Nerzalil to search for plant-people, barring wading right into the middle of their largest known gathering. Heading out into an area where there was a chance for a fey to appear was far from something Nerzalil would do, not without at least one Stag Rider to unanimously tip the balance in their favour, and cut down any fey might try to run. Even then, the chance of having her kind exposed before they were ready made it far from worthwhile. She had been told about how the Fey had fought in the first two wars, and seen it firsthand in the third; they would cut apart anything demonic on sight… and would happily extend that to her own demon-changed people. They had an army capable of heading off the initial and second invasions; she had a group 500 strong, not even a fraction of the demonic host that the fey had beaten back. She tried to keep fear from herself, so that she could always make good judgments for the sake of her species… but in regards to something that could, and happily would, wipe everything she had worked so hard to save off the face of the world – well, her decisions were always on the side of “excessively paranoid”.

Heading into the valley was the obvious choice for trying to find the plant people. She was even fairly guaranteed to cut down a number of mindless drone plants in the process, which could only help her diplomatic standing. After all, back when her kind still had their hive mind, killing a small group of Shadow Demons would be a good way to demonstrate someone’s power without actually angering her kind. By all accounts, the non-humanoid plants were mindless – so, surely, it would work the same way...

Then there was the human outpost. The advantages of hunting near to it were obvious; her kind needed breeding material, and other than the fey – which she was far too cautious to risk interacting with – the humans were her kind’s only viable target. Of course, that was not what she had set out for; going solely by the merits of her own mission, the valley was the better choice. But… if things didn’t go as she hoped, and the plants couldn’t be convinced, she was going to need to deal with them, and that would require an army. While Nerzalil certainly hoped for things to go well, she, as always, expected something considerably less favourable. The chance of encountering the sentient plants might be lower, but Nerzalil and her small guard set out toward the human’s outpost anyway. There was not much point in being stealthy, but she nevertheless asked caution of her brothers; their current group was far from cut out for a serious battle with the humans. The sooner they were discovered, the less time they would have before the squishy natives sent out a force to remove them from the human-claimed section of the woods, and thus the less time they would have to look for the plant-women... or any human female unfortunate enough to run into them.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

Her decision made, her shadow demon minions loyally follow her into the jungle, heading toward the lands surrounding the small village. The trek takes an hour for the group to complete, Nerzalil leading the way until she recognizes the markings of repeated human passage. They had found the humans hunting grounds, which also happened to border on the territory belonging to the plant creatures, who also hunted the humans for the same reason Nerzalils people did. Her and her shadow demons traveled along the trail cautiously, searching for any signs of prey that she might try to capture, until she spots a pair of figures up ahead. Two night elves, both women, crouched in the bushes up ahead, looking in the opposite direction. They held bows at the ready, and a large beast with spiky antlers was slowly approaching them, grazing on the leaves to its side and glancing about with dull, dark eyes. It was forty feet from the pair, who were themselves fifty feet from Nerzalil and her companions. The path was straight, narrow and surrounded by dense brush, which would be difficult to move through without causing a great deal of noise, but would also give cover in case the pair checked behind them.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Demonrats! Nerzalil cursed in her head. They had found good prey, to be sure, and even managed to maintain the element of surprise – that was surprising, honestly; she was more used to being on the other end of the people jumping out of the bushes with weapons. Despite that, the well forested nature of the jungle they inhabited was going to ruin a true surprise attack. The females of te purple breed of natives were engrossed in their current activity. (She was beginning to develop a sense for the different species of this world; the squishy mammals apparently changed colour to suit their surroundings, much like the stalkers back in hell, except the adaption seemed to take a much greater amount of time.) Nerzalil wasn’t too worried about them turning around, the chance of that happening on a whim wasn’t too high – but the two women would undoubtedly be quite alert while hunting, meaning the slightest sound her group made would tip them off. And there was a lot of foliage for them to make noise with.

They could possibly wait until the humans went for their kill, trying to jump them when they were more distracted - but that would just put them further away, with more jungle to trip over between them. No, she had the element of surprise while she was hidden here – and so she would stay hidden, right here. When she chose to attack, it would be at range. The primary concern on Nerzall’s mind was how they would react to being suddenly attacked. Being a hunting group rather than a true attack force, there was a good chance they would flee rather than fight; the more overwhelmed they were, the more likely they were to turn tail… and the Shadow Demons weren’t the best at catching the more nimble inhabitants of this world. As she watched the hunted hunters hunt their hunt, the insectile female briefly considered trying to lure them by rustling some bushes, or draw them in by using one of their number as bait, but quickly decided against it. The prey would most likely spot the Shadow Demons far too quickly, even with the jungle’s thick foliage for cover. There was still a likelihood of them running even with one Shadow Demon appearing, especially if it was her armoured self - and the others didn’t need to be put unnecessarily in the line of danger, not for this.

As getting her following Demons into a flanking manuver would have likely taken longer than the hunters would be still, she kept them with her. Quietly, she gave them orders with her permanently serious, if still notably female voice; an inhuman, low buzz underlying anything she said. “When I strike, use no finesse. Catch the females and pin them down… but do not shy from killing them if they start to seriously endanger your lives, and I am unable to help.” Turning to the stag beetle, her set of orders was different. “Fire with me, then get into the fray. When the spawn have them pinned, use the growth properties of your fluid to create carapace around their limbs and bind them together.”

So advised, their current leader turned to the pair of humanoid hunters, raising her arm to take aim in much the same slow, calculated way they themselves took aim at the antlered meat-source. Neri aimed at the legs of the nearer woman. She would have far preferred to put the shard between her prey’s eyes, giving it absolutely no chance to escape, just as the human hunters did with their own prey. That was how her kind –used- to hunt. But, due to the curse the demons had forced upon them, the Shadow Demons now needed their prey to have a live, female body through which to pass the shadow seed into the woman’s soul. Nerzalil took aim carefully, hoping to have enough time to line up a good, clean shot before attacking. Still, if they fired before she expected them to, she would immediately fire off two shards though the palm of her shadowy carapace, the fluids flowing around her body briefly glowing a luminescent white as she did so. Immediately after her shot, she headed towards the focus of her hunt, arm still up and hand open, aiming to release more pressurised pieces of magically propelled chitin-shrapnel. Should the hunters turn and look at Nerzalil, she would fix one of them with an unwavering, intense stare, her somewhat alien face set with an overwhelming intent to further her species' cause.

Orders:

Spoiler

Nerzalil: 'aim' for a round if that's a possibility, piercer (3 engery) on both night elves, hypnotise on the second and thusly probably less damaged one, advance full movement towards the enemy (9 ft).
Stag: after Neri attacks, SD fluid ball, advance full movement towards the enemy (I think it's 9ft).
Both Spawn: after Neri attacks, run (double maximum movement) towards the enemy (should be 22ft with sluggish's nerf, I think).

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 41/44, Status = Fine

Rolls

Spoiler

Perception (Enemy): Failure.
Attack (on NE1): Hit.
Attack (on NE2): Hit.
Damage: 6 + 9 - 4 = 11 damage.
Mind Check: Nerzalil wins.
Damage (Stag on NEs): 2 + 5 - 4 = 3 damage.

Her plan, at least so far, works perfectly. The two night elves don't even notice the shadow demons as they prepare to attack, so intent are they on the buck slowly approaching them. Indeed, it is the animal that spots her and her minions first, turning to run away in a bounding charge through the woods. The night elves curse loudly, but remain where they were hiding as their prey flees, leaving Nerzalil with two easy targets. They both shriek as shards of material shadow pierce their calves, and stand wincing to turn toward her. Nerzalils eyes immediately focus on one of the women, and her body goes slack immediately. The effect was only momentary, and she couldn't do the same to the other one yet, but the ability was just about the only good thing she'd gained from her deal with the demons. The non-injured elf, seeing her friend stand slack-jawed and helpless, readies her weapon to face the two shadow demon spawn that were ponderously charging toward her. They didn't get close yet, and before they could reach the pair of women they were both hit by the blast fired by the stag, which was itself slowly heading toward them. The ball impacted and spread the shadow demons vile fluid across the two woman, burning their purple skin and staining it blue. This seemed to snap the hypnotized one out of her stupor, and with the shadow demons still fairly far away, they had plenty of time to try and do something, like escape.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

(Correction to Neri, due to having one trait too few: Gain Strong of Body. I was tempted to go with Quick for the current situational benefit, but in the end, I figure she could use a boost to the base stats. Other good traits can wait till after she has some exp to spend… Sheet has been updated, I -think- I remembered to change everything relevant.

Wait… the other one isn’t attacking, so I got the surprise round… and used hypnotism in the surprise round… meaning I stopped her from taking an action in a round where she already couldn’t act?
…Well, that was smart of me.
*HIT* *HEAD* *ON* *KEYBOARD*)

Doubts edged into Nerzalil’s consciousness even as the attack began, questioning her choice of timing, tactics, suggesting how others strategies might have gone – but she pushed them all aside. They were all uncertain, giving the quarry the opportunity to escape before the shadow demons could even try to catch them. At least this way, they had definitely gotten some hits off, though Nerzalil doubted it was quite enough to cripple the natives’ ability to escape yet. She was glad that the surprise and ferocity of the attack had apparently stunned one of the humanoids. The conviction and penance that her actions now carried certainly seemed to instil varying kinds of rapture in some of those who viewed her - one good result from the horrific situation that had caused her conviction in the first place. Of course, the paralysing effect of her gaze was caused by forces more supernatural than simple charisma… but Nerzalil was none the wiser, having managed to confuse one for the other.

She took even more note of the other one drawing her bow. That was good; if she was attacking them, she wasn’t going anywhere, at least not quickly. For a brief instant, Nerzalil battled with the idea of having her spawn raise their armour, but ultimately chose not to. The time taken to raise it would just slow them down, and possibly spook their prey even more than they already were. No, it shouldn’t be needed, and would just give the natives more time to escape. Besides, the shadow demon intended to keep their focus on her, rather than the spawn fighting against the matted carpet of plants to reach them.

A second volley of sharp midnight shards flew from her hand, slightly larger than the last. Nerzalil was beginning to get a feel for how much damage the humanoids of this world could usually take – after seeing so many of them accidentally broken – but it was still like manhandling larvae. Twitch a little and you’ve got a handful of mush. She tried to aim for their legs again, but given the stance of the one using the bow and the undergrowth, it might not be quite possible. If it wasn’t, Nerzalil would intentionally miss the shot; there was no point in hitting them in the head, or a vital organ… and if they still had working arms to fight with, they might be less inclined to run away. And, failing that, with any luck the constant pelting of shards would force them to hide behind what cover they could find, unable to leave for fear of being cut down... hapless fruit for her allies to pick.

Spoiler

Everyone but Neri: continue, doubletime.
Nerzalil: full movement towards the archers, piercer at 4 energy targeting both, either going for legs or intentionally missing dependant on the level of cover it seems like the elves have.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 46/62, PP = 41, EP = 37/44, Status = Lightly Injured

(XD I'll still give you the extra free round on that one.)

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (on NE1): Hit.
Attack (on NE2): Hit.
Damage: 8 + 5 + 9 - 4 = 18 damage.
Attack (NE1): Hit.
Damage: 4 + 5 + 5 + 10 - 8 = 16 damage. Armor at 32/40 TP.

Nerzalil and her minions advanced toward the pair of night elves, one of whom was still staring about in confusion due to Nerzalils supernatural charms. The other is about to turn and flee, but upon seeing her partner still stunned, she grunts and turns to fight just in time to receive another shard of shadow in the thigh. She and her friend both wince in pain, but the one who'd been about to flee still raises her bow and unleashes an arrow at Nerzalil. The shaft flies true, striking her in the abdomen and sinking in easily past her ceremonial armor. It doesn't hit anything vital, thankfully, but it hurts nonetheless, and the shadow demon can feel a trickle of blood running down her side.

Her minions shuffled toward the night elven women, not moving fast but at least closing the gap. The two spawn were within 6 feet, nearly striking range of the two women, while the stag was still 23 feet away.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Nerzalil allowed herself to flinch as the arrow sunk into her, glowing white fluids leaking from around the arrow where it had pierced the glowing organ visible between parts of her armour and her carapace. She could have endured the substantial pain without any reaction – it wasn’t the worst she had taken, and certainly less than she deserved - but the natives might be more inclined to continue the assault if they thought they actually had a chance. She fell to the ground, removing the arrow while hidden in the foliage.

She could have continued forward, using the plant life to cover herself, but with her glinting armour Neri figured it simpler to stay put. Her spawn shouldn’t need her too much for this. If they couldn’t manage to pin the ‘humans’ now, they certainly should when armoured up. There was a chance that they would be startled by her fall, but unlike the archers, they knew well her tolerance for damage. Even if they realised she had fallen - unlikely, far away as they were - they should continue to follow her orders and capture the two humans. She would join them in a few seconds anyway, when the hunters were hopefully beginning to be pinned. And, in the off chance that the spawn couldn’t catch the two humanoids... well, the females were fairly injured – hopefully enough that she could kill them before they had chance to retreat.

Orders:

Spoiler

Spawn: make the rest of the distance and grapple!
Stag: approach, legs set to ‘run’. In so much as one of these can run, anyway…
Neri: Feint faint!

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 46/62, PP = 41, EP = 37/44, Status = Lightly Injured

Rolls

Spoiler

Attack (Spawn 1 on NE1): Hit.
Attack (Spawn 2 on NE2): Hit.
Both night elves have been grappled!

The stag ambled forward, not really all that fast, but it was doing the best that the little creature could. Meanwhile, her two spawns bore down on the two women, who were swiftly buried under the insect-demons. They started struggling immediately, but the two spawn seemed to have a slight advantage over the injured women.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

(I haven't changed Neri's sheet for the new rules yet, but she's only moving so that shouldn't be an issue for the moment. If I had time to do it now, I would, but...

- also, should I be changing it for the SD's, too? Although I think the weapon change only affects Riders...)

Almost moments after she had fallen, with a audible confirmation that her kin had reached the females, Nerzalil rose again. The sight would have almost been comical to a different observer, the humanoid insect dropping to the ground only to rise a bare second later, but to her two prey the only thing it could do is sink their hopes further.

“Armour up!” She ordered the moment she had stock of the situation. They wouldn’t be able to progress any in pinning the humans while they expanded their carapace, but the added weight and defence should make the hold inescapable. Neri herself, as well as the beetle continued as quickly as their respective limbs could take them. The two Spawn might not need help – but on the other hand, they also might.

Orders:

Spoiler

Spawn: armour 20! You said you weren’t keeping track of monster EP, right? =P But seriously, armour 4.
Stag and Neri: advance.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

(Nah, I'll change the monster stats.)

Rolls

Spoiler

Grapple (NE1): Shadow Demon wins.
Grapple (NE2): Shadow Demon wins.

Her spawns quickly cover themselves in a layer of dark armor, and even though the two wounded night elves struggle valiantly against those holding them, they fail to make any headway toward escaping. As Nerzalil and the stag closed in as well, the two recognized defeat, and slumped into their captors arms. Both female night elves glared at Nerzalil as she approached, largely ignoring the spawn holding them, and she realized that by being the only one to speak, she made something of a target of herself. Still, they had their prey in their grasp, two healthy females, and they hadn't been discovered. As Nerzalil got closer, one of the two women spoke, her voice harsh and filled with contempt; "Release us, or our kin will hunt you down and kill you for this unwarranted attack, demon. There is nowhere in the jungle that you can hide."

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

(No real actions, again, so I haven't updated Neri. But I've got time to now, so she might be right by the time you get to this.)

Nerzalil approached the defeated natives with a fairly unreadable expression, despite the victory. Rather than getting into vengeance-sizing with the ornery hunter, Neri gave so little response that one could almost wonder if she had even heard. She did have orders for her comrades, though.
“Strip them. Make sure they don’t have anything dangerous or that you don’t recognise.” The female Shadow Demon would watch carefully, determining if they had anything worth keeping… while also being quite willing to violently pacify either of the women with harsh blows if they struggled too much.
The stag beetle, uncaring of the captives’ protests, began to glue each of the females’ limb’s together. “You should probably keep that mouth shut, if you don’t want to suffocate.” are the first words Nerzalil gives towards the pair, followed by the beetle covering their mouths with the lightly glowing, white fluid.

After a quite short interval, the fluid had hardened into a fairly powerful resin. She would have to question the two later, about their kind and anything that could be used to give her species an advantage… which would probably involve a good deal of torture. She could have killed the one who had spoken out, or at least pretended to be about to; that would have presumably given her a significant foothold towards cowing information out of at least one of them - but, of course, she also needed them alive and breeding; that they would be used for bearing larvae was non-negotiable. Harming the fragile things - hoping that they would have enough self-preservation to shy away from her blade, rather than jump on it and free themselves from the mortal realm (and her grasp)… was not a risk she was willing to take, not with such little knowledge of their culture.

There was another problem still; her mission had not been completed. She still had to try and find one of those plant beings, if at all possible. But she couldn’t just leave the human(oid)s here…
“Both of you, carry these two back to the hive. Put them to use… personally.”
That little reward to the two Spawn was said with a grimace. It was such an individualising thing to do, emphasising a difference between one Shadow Demon and any other – an act more suited to the typical demons than her kindred. But, though they were without the hive mind to share the victories and rewards of one to the many, each Shadow Demon still tended to expect some spoil of victory from their conquests. Not giving them some special treatment for their usefulness would just make them resentful, as Nerzalil had unfortunately already determined with a few Shadow Demons through trial and error.
Then there was the fact that she was effectively telling them to have sex with the females – a disgusting thought if there ever was one, but something her kind (, herself included,) now wanted to do nonetheless. She, along with the rest of her insectile breed, were of one mind on the matter (or, at least, she certainly hoped they were): they would not allow the demon curse - 'gender', and 'sex' -, to destroy their essence. The new malformation present in her kind had to be fought… in so far as it could be fought, anyway.

Neri was well aware already that her people’s new desires were inescapable. Getting singled out by demonkind, as the 'leader' of her rebelling kin, was not the most pleasant experience possible… or was, depending on how you wanted to look at it. Her body had been the one most centred on, the most freakishly misshapen; a beast reshaped into an icon of feminity, muscle compacted, bulk melted into curves, pointless and excessive mammaries on an insectile body, her guts turned out as a whole bodily system for the production of offspring formed... the almost-parasitic attachments her kin had gained between their legs were nothing in comparison. And that was before the bitch had disseminated the remaining Shadow Demon species as slaves to the highest bidders, the only requirement being that Nerzalil and her kin were suitably tortured for their transgressions...

At first, it was just senseless, usually quite violent rape, brutal and pleasurable… something easy both to hate and resist that would certainly give her release quickly enough. Then came magics, to drive her to impossible heights of lust, or pleasure, or to simply control her mind for a moment, forcing her to do demeaning things against her will. Sometimes her punishment was even more torturous, her hardy body’s regeneration stretched all too close to its limit. These were all things she expected; all things that could not break her impressive resolve.

But when a more cunning demon had briefly gotten his hands on Nerzalil, she was forced to admit some ugly truths. The raping and mutilating for the enjoyment of others stopped, all other influences stopped being used, and she was shut away, forced to be alone with her new body for all hours of the day. It itched. It ached. It begged… no, demanded. No brutality could tear at her mind as much as her own form, and while she resisted for a time, that ended when the demon owning her visited her while she fought with herself. He spoke to her, forcing her to notice some thoughts that were spinning through her head… by this point, she wanted[/I\] him to rape her, to release her from her own body’s need without needing to dirty herself – a way she could get off without needing to have given in to her own body’s desires. He gave his word that, if she was to tease him by playing with herself, he would take her violently. Still considering that to be rape inside her own head, Neri hesitantly did exactly as he asked – except the demon quite happily broke his word, telling the slave that he was not going to rape her one way or the other.

The Shadow Demon pleaded with him to take her, before her hands, unable to stop once they had started, drove her to orgasm… but he simply watched until she came, having lost to her own desires – and unable to deny that she had been forever changed by the demon queen’s curse. She had previously in her enslavement cried tears of pain, reflexive tears at demons that used her throat – but this marked the first time in her captivity that she had cried tears of shame.

Thankfully, he did not strike while the iron was hot, and her psyche recovered. Losing to the new desires inside her, Nerzalil learnt, was only a temporary thing; she was not lustful all the time, masturbation – as humiliated as she was to be giving in to her desires – would satisfy it (well, largely)… it could be worked around. So she had lost to her new addiction, so a part of herself was forever changed… so what? She had already allowed herself to be horribly humiliated and demeaned simply by surrendering her people to demonic rule, when she should have fought to the death. If she could cause herself to suffer through that for the survival of her species… spending eternity with this new desire, (and regularly ‘humiliating herself’,) was nothing.


…Back in the realms of the current day, Nerzalil was leaving herself without any backup bar the beetle, but it was not herself she was worried for – although perhaps it should have been. The first two females they had captured in a while, getting safely back to their burrows; that was what she deemed important, enough so that she almost considered postponing her mission immediately to instead escort the Shadow Demons back… or at least give them the beetle. But no, she would need the stag to bind any other natives, if she was to come across them before she found any of the plant women. Her mind made up, Neri sent the two spawn on their way… then set about modifying their scuffle a little. Remove the shards of shadow and cover the impacts in the ground they made after cutting past the native women, clear up her own blood from the fast-healing arrow wound she had taken, tearing some holes in the women’s clothes with her swords and leaving them in the humanoid’s bloodstains. She was making it seem as close as possible to an attack from the hostile plant creatures in the forest… or failing that, slavers trying to make it look like an attack from the plants; just as long as it didn’t point to her kind.

She wouldn’t be able to continue looking around here too much longer, that was certain. The pair she had captured would be missed, eventually – and then someone would come looking for them. Creatively re-imagining the fight had taken some of that time… she didn’t know exactly when the hunters would be expected to return – hunting was something that took a quite variable amount of time, after all – but she didn’t want to spend more than another hour searching for one of the plants (or more prey). This might give Nerzalil, and the more animalistic Shadow Demon form accompanying her, a slim chance of running into something useful... but she wasn’t willing to risk any longer than that. There were plenty of plants in the jungle; she could always hunt for one some other time.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

(Short post is short, but that's a tough act to follow, so to speak.)

The two women were quickly striped to their violet skin, searched, and bound by the stag, their legs locked together, their arms stuck to their sides, and their mouths sealed shut so that they couldn't scream. They hadn't said a word since they'd been captured, and their mouths had remained tightly shut, giving her no reason to exact any physical punishment upon them. As she'd briefly reminisced on her experiences with coming to terms with her new bodily needs, the two spawn had worked upon her orders, carrying the two night elves away, back to the hive. After they had gone, the Shadow Demon Queen quickly went about disguising the sight of the battle, trying to make it look convincing in case pursuit was quick to follow the tow huntresses. Her shards of shadow disappeared on their own quickly, and the rest of the area was quick enough to disguise, even when she took her time to make sure of it. She knew, however, that in this jungle, it was unlikely than any tracks would last more than a day, and even if they did, signs of some new creature were rarely wise to follow, lest it turn out to have teeth and claws and endless hunger. Such traits were common among the local, unintelligent wildlife.

That done, Nerzalil took her stag, for the moment her only backup, and started the hunt anew, hoping to find one of the plant women. After another few hours, she found herself drawn to a small glade, in which sat a single woman. She was easily six feet tall, and had long flowing golden hair that reached down to her waist. Her skin was the color of pale cream, unusual given the surroundings, but much more unusual was the womans most obvious, but also most alluring feature: Her wide, white feathered, bird-like wings. She was utterly naked, and bathed in a small spring that turned into a stream, the water running down her perfectly shaped body alluringly, even to Nerzalils alien sense of aesthetics. The demoness couldn't help but notice the womens curvacious but highly athletic form, even if it was wondering how many larvae she could bear before she expired from exhaustion. Her back was currently to Nerzalil, but the distance from the edge of the forest was at least twenty feet, not any distance that would be quick to cover for Nerzalil or her stag, if she wanted to try for another ambush. It was beginning to get late, and she knew that it would be best to get back to the hive before dark, so unless she wished to try and make another catch, it would be best to make her way home.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

(Either Pale has secretly conspired with you to add a character for her into my thread, or Neri is perving on an angel. I’m almost tempted to attack just to see how she would do, but I don’t think Neri would be that callous.)

Narzalil watched the winged human for a moment with interest… both tactical and otherwise. Tingly feelings flowed through her body like the water around the beautiful woman’s waist, down each curve of her flawlessly shaped form… Nerzalil quickly cleared her head of that distracting thought. Damn ‘tingly feelings’…

The new breed of human would hopefully make as good a stock for breeding as it looked… though as the plants had taught her, such things were never certain. Still, failing that, the woman would be a nice target simply for the morale boost a beautiful, captive woman can be to a group of rather sexually deprived demons. While most of her kind could happily make do without any partners… some, herself included, still felt a desire for more. It was considerably weaker than the general desire to get off, and perfectly overcomeable, but to some of her kind it did take a toll… and, their current leader suspected, to some it was bad enough to slowly be driving them mad. The demoness always tried to select those with the strongest desire for a partner to be the first ones to ‘access’ any captives… after the initial impregnation, of course. Unfortunately, she was beginning to suspect that being more frugal with access to the females would help keep them alive…

If the Shadow Demons were still pure, perhaps their minds would all be equally strong, enough so to feel no desire for a partner. Of course, this loss of purity was another sin to attribute to the original independently-thinking member of their species, and current ‘queen’… by (temporarily) abolishing the trial of a hundred, flawed Spawn were being added to the Shadow Demon species. She didn’t allow them to breed – All-Devourer knows if their flaws would propagate to their offspring using this strange method of reproduction, and it was better to stay on the side of caution… but of course, even the most perfect of their kind was still blemished with the disturbing concept of gender.


While the winged human might have good returns when captured, Nerzalil was doubtful that she could actually take down the creature. The female was in this forest, by itself, and acting as calmly as if it was bathing in its own home. Neri had learnt pretty quickly that this forest really had it in for females, so for her to be as calm as she was, the humanoid had to be quite powerful.

The creature was an unknown to Neri; to attack it now would be taking a serious gamble. She needed to watch and understand it, it’s strength and capabilities… but she was hardly equipped to scout it herself, not in this gaudy gold armour with her glowing organs all exposed for the world to see. Something lower to the ground, darker, better able to hide would be preferable to leave watching the girl – and Neri had just the beetle.

Of course, nothing could ever be simple – even if the beetle managed to learn something useful while watching the other creature, the chance of the ambling bug getting back to the hive before a predator had it for lunch was… not high. Either she would have to give up her chance to learn more about the creature entirely, or Neri would have to stick around to escort the beetle back… though that didn’t mean that she had to stay where the possible prey could see her. Ducking behind the cover of a tree in case the female looked back, Neri quietly whispered orders, crouched and face to face with the stag. “Keep an eye on the woman, but do not attack, or chase if she takes to the air… the armour makes me too noticeable to observe the woman myself, but I will be here, waiting for you. Run to me if you are attacked, or destroy yourself if she seems to be too powerful for me to beat. Do not stay long.”

Neri doubted that the stag would actually learn anything of the female in the time it had, but it was better than simply ignoring it and leaving. This way, if the stag beetle learnt something, it would be one more bit of information that they didn’t know about the female’s breed of human - information to make better decisions later. Risking the beetle was unfortunate, but there was no way to learn about an unknown without experiencing risk while doing so.

Her orders given, Neri left the beetle and quietly travelled a few steps further, hiding herself where she could not see the winged woman (, and hopefully, the reverse was also true), while also being at least two dozen feet away from the stag.

(EDIT: Okay, I think I've made all the nessesary changes to Neri's character sheet.)

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

(No Pale, sadly Just a random angel, bathing in the water.)

Rolls

Spoiler

Stealth: Nerzalil and her stag lose.
Perception: Nerzalil fails.

The woman didn't seem to notice Nerzalil or her stag as she issued her orders to the diminutive shadow demon, and the insect-like creature followed her orders to the letter, as always. Despite having gained a degree of individuality, the shadow-demons were still perfectly obedient to Nerzalil, and she didn't doubt that, without her, the hive would fall apart within a few weeks.

The stag crept forward eagerly to the edge of the clearing, and then moved among the thin underbrush toward the oblivious, winged woman. However brazen this female might be, to be bathing here without a care in the world, Nerzalil knew that she had to watch out herself. She was right that this jungle was singularly unkind to members of her gender, and many of the beings inhabiting it were hardly picky about what they went home with. So, as she slid a few paces away and crouched in the bushes, waiting, Nerzalil kept her ears open. All she heard over the next few moments was the melodious humming of the angel as she bathed, the sound rising above the usual sounds of the jungle to fill Nerzalils thoughts with peace, slowly relaxing her as it filtered through her mind.

So pacified was she, that she didn't notice that the sound was getting closer until the white-winged woman was staring down at her with a pleasant smile on her face. In her arms, she held the stag Nerzalil had sent to spy on her, the fairly large bug comfortably laying in her arms and chattering pleasantly as one of her hands stroked softly across its belly. The organ the creature used to reproduce was poking out of its shell, but the woman holding the beetle ignored it completely as she smiled down at Nerzalil. She spoke in a perfect, song-like voice, the forest around them seemingly going silent as a result; "Greetings! Why do you not join me, stranger? The water is perfectly pleasant this afternoon, and a welcome respite from the heat of the jungle. Your little friend here was afraid, and I could hear his terror when he was discovered. You should be kinder to him, lest he harm himself in his fear, as he tried to do before I picked him up."

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Shit.
That was Neri’s first, worried thought as the woman - holding her beetle - showed up in front of the Shadow Demon. By the creature’s own admission, she had supernaturally calmed the mind of both Neri and her more animalistic kin. The insectile woman had been wholly unprepared for such a possibility… let alone the even more worrying prospect that the winged female was able to see her thoughts, like she supposedly had felt the stag’s. If that was the case, given what the pair of bugs had been plotting for her, there was no way the winged woman was legitimately friendly – she could only be toying with Nerzalil, not unlike the modus operandi of most succubi Neri had met, and which the female shared a supernatural degree of beauty with. The ‘queen’ of the shadow demon species was scared out of her wits – a fairly legitimate reaction given that she was the irreplaceable keystone of her kind’s survival, yet so very mortal… and faced down with a threat she didn’t understand, able to pacify her without issue, as it had already proved.

The shadow demon might be being toyed with… but toyed with was still alive. She had been around succubi long and frequently enough to be able to emulate, and even understand them, to a degree – they weren’t her favourite breed of demonic forces, usually subversive and indirect, steeped in layers of sincere and insincere sexual appeal… but if the creature was going to act like a succubi, the demon would respond like a succubi. After all, they were usually more lenient when communicating with creatures they considered equals. …Of course, it took Nerzalil a few moments of utter, stammering terror before she reached that decision.
”I… I was, just… sorry, -dear. I’ve never seen something like you before, and while you are far more beautiful than any of the dangers I have found so far, in these woods you really can’t be too careful…”

The big bug stood, immediately stretching her arms back behind her, slipping her body into movements and poses most able to enhance the sexuality of her form, her back arched to push out her chest and simultaneously push back her hips. Even after the stretch ended, she kept a subtle jut to her body, more than her normally relaxed stance would have. ‘How to move like a slut’ was probably one of the least disgusting skills Neri had been forced to master; most demons like their slaves to be alluring at all times – especially when showing them off to guests – and so she had been forced to pick up on it fairly quickly.
The technique had uses beyond just turning people on, however; moving with sensuality was one of the most convincing forms of body language for conveying confidence, among demons at the very least - and it was for that purpose that the Shadow Demon now employed it. Most-all Succubi knew this well, and watching them had drilled the lesson into Neri’s head – a woman that can move with a jiggle, and look comfortable doing it, will always appear to know what they are doing. When people thought you knew what you were doing… well, that was a valuable tool all of its own.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t introduce myself right away, but knowing, as I do now, that there’s nothing keeping me from the water... well, after the hours I’ve been wandering this jungle, even you come second to how pretty that spring looks.” Nerzalil continued, then slowly walked to the water; slow both to increase the allure of her walk, feet being placed in front of each other, in line with the middle of her body so that her hips would roll with each step… and because her mind was working frantically to build a cover for herself, in case the winged woman pressed her.

Nerzalil was taken enough by her thoughts and keeping up the walk that she very nearly ended up stepping directly into the water, still wearing full armour. She looked down at the golden, artistic piece covering her, and faltered. This was a very… open… place to disrobe. Even though she was comfortable walking around without anything on, the act of removing her armour in such a public place was highly embarrassing to her – for a good reason. As hard as she had tried to hammer it into a shape that fit her new chest, the armour’s chest piece was still a little tight and awkward to wear. It left her most sensitive chest area sore, and she had gotten into the habit of rubbing that soreness out of her breasts after taking it off…. which quite quickly turned into a desire to rub elsewhere. One she usually sated.
Still, no helping it now…

Neri removed herself from her armour. It’s wasn’t the fastest, or simplest thing to do; it had to be taken apart, piece by piece, an ancient and unpliable strap needing to be removed each time; some of them were more freshly added, made from woven plant material, simply because the Shadow Demons couldn’t find any better, pliable materials to keep the armour together with, and didn’t have the resources to tan leather. Finally, the last piece came free, pulled off her chest with a bounce; the humidity of the jungle had half stuck the thing to her body.

The flesh of her nethers, treacherous as it was, already began to itch a little; her body had gotten used to her routine, and was pre-empting her touch, growing warm in anticipation. She had been cooped up for a few days, organising demons to one task or another, and thusly had no reason to wear the armour – and so, no reason to… take it off. It didn’t help that her anxiety at needing to avoid a fight with this assumedly dangerous creature caused the sensation to be even more potent. Still, though she was admittedly a little… ‘pent up’, Neri expected that her judgment wouldn’t be hindered. Still, her body was beginning to show of signals of excitement as she entered the spring with a sigh, nipples hard even before they touched the cool of the water.

“Oooohh… finally. I haven’t seen good, clear water in… too long. So, what brings you to these overgrown woods?” Nerzalil might be a bit horny, but she was hardly dehabilitated; she moved the conversation away from herself, and hoped to keep it there as long as she could.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

Spoiler

HP = 62, PP = 41, EP = 44, Status = Fine

The woman cocked her head, still with a kind smile on her face, as Nerzalil seemed to fumble about for a moment before speaking. She didn't seem at all bothered by her reaction, but she didn't seem that much enticed by it quite yet either. "Indeed! It is a dangerous place, here in this jungle, at least for mortal-kind." She watched Nerzalils sensuous posing with the same smile, so strangely serene, as she continued stroking the stag she held in her arms. As she walked toward the spring, a glance over her shoulder revealed that the winged womans smile had turned a little bit more appreciative, and she hoped that it was because her lessons on "how to move like a slut" had paid off.

She followed her to the water, still stroking her stag beetle, which by now was making very strange, pleasurable sounds, and watched Nerzalil strip with an increasingly pleased smile, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. She heard the woman sniff softly as she became totally nude, and the blush increased slightly, just before the woman laid the stag out on the ground, putting the beetle-demon down onto its feet. She followed Nerzalil back into the water, her white wings spreading high as she lowered herself into the water, and said; "Ohhhh, nothing important really. It is in my kinds nature to wander."

She cocked her head slightly, leaning back in a pose that was just as alluring as any Nerzalil had seen from a succubus, but infinitely more natural. Smiling broadly, she continued; "Just as it is in your nature to wish to return me to your kindred, so that they may get a child upon me. It is too bad that you do not possess the equipment to do so yourself. That would have been.... Interesting. And something of a reward for your valiance in the defense of your ailing kind against seemingly impossible odds, which is to be commended. It would be nice if you stopped attacking the local mortals though. They have enough problems in these jungles, without having to worry about shadow demons coming to kidnap them in the night, or when they're off hunting." Her words were completely nonchalant, conversational even, and she kept a slight blush as she beheld Nerzalil in front of her, still smiling as though what she had just enumerated wasn't exactly what she didn't want the other woman to know, or to have to talk about.

 

[Host]

Re: Nerzalil (Host)

The shadow demon was mildly perturbed by the look she saw on the female’s face when she turned back; she had only been hoping for a feeling of respect, not outright lust. Neri would rather not touch the creature in any way if she could help it… but at the same time, if the winged human was thinking more about her body than the logic of her existence… well, that was worth the discomfort.

And then, well, then it all turned to shit.
The winged woman didn’t have time to finish its first sentence about Neri’s kind before the Shadow Demon reacted in blind panic. She was caught between a rock and a hard place; the winged human could not be allowed to leave with knowledge of her kin, to spread through the cities and empires of the dominant species of these lands. This was far different to a simple village peasant escaping a frantic attack; -they- had no way to substantiate their claims, and while a general unrest might grow in some forest villages, the demons were hardly any different to the other horrors of the jungle; nothing would be done, not if her kind were careful enough about it. This native, however, had quite possibly a full knowledge of her kind’s number, hiding places, and abilities, including the parasitic method through which they reproduced – enough to rouse a power of this world into wiping them from the land before they became more difficult to remove.

Humans were the enemy. It didn’t matter whether they had pointy ears or round ones; green skin, or furred hides… they were all united by a singular need to destroy her kind – and why wouldn’t they be? Even removing the paranoia they seemed to have about things with forms dissimilar to their own, she was invading their world. Bar the plant things, who were just too downright alien to be a breed of humanity, and seemed to feed on humans besides… no thinking natives of this world could possibly be friendly to her kind, knowing what they are. The winged human’s ‘kindness’ could only be teasing, batting around prey before killing it - or a lack of understanding about Nerzalil’s true nature.

Nerzalil didn’t have much hope that she could beat the creature; its capabilities were unknown, but had to at least extend to reading her thoughts and pacifying her with little effort. The Shadow Demon ‘Queen’’s death would mean the end of her kind just as surely as an attack from one of the human’s nations would. However, in battle, nothing was certain – but letting the winged human leave with knowledge of her kind, well, there was no doubt in Nerzalil’s too-paranoid mind that the information would go straight to the pointy-ears’ empire, and from there the fate of her species was sealed.

She had done so much to keep her kind going. She had given her honour, her body, her mind; everything she had was theirs. She had endured torture, war, and exodus from her native world. And one damned mindreader was a few wingbeats away from destroying it all, her kind run into the ground just as they finally had a hope of recovering.

In the space of an instant, her mind flooded with pure terror, Neri attacked with everything she had. Normally, she fired shards of darkness through her hand, the projectile forming quickly in her arm and shifting its way down, until fully, physically manifest and propelled at a target. This time, Neri didn't wait. The carapace covering her right arm rippled as it was repurposed, thinning visibly as, in an instant, it formed into a single piece of razor-sharp chitin, close to the size of her own short-swords. She propelled it immediately, ripping a hole straight from her shoulder to her palm. It was, by far, the largest and fastest-propelled shard she had ever attempted to produce… but it was also the most she had ever needed something to die. The agony in her right arm caused her to flinch the moment the projectile had left her body, but Neri was far from done. Her swords were by the shore with her armour – too much of a detour to reach. Her right arm hung uselessly, barely twitching in response to her attempts to move it; she might not have internal bones, but the shard had cut through some important biological machinery, and her glowing-white blood was flowing out of the hole in the base of her hand to stain the water. Nerzalil’s mind hadn’t taken the time to process the effect of her attack; the angel might have dodged, or just flown out of the way. She was crippled, weaponless, without armour, nauseous and dizzy to the point of near-retching.

Neri’s left arm reached into the water and picked up the first decent stone it could find. If the winged human was still visible, she waded towards it. There was only one thought on the Shadow Demon’s mind.
She has to die.

Actions:
Piercer 25 - *Crosses that out* 23; full movement towards the angel. (Takes 20 HP damage, 43 EP used. 42/70HP and 1/48EP. ...By my calculations, anyway. I had thought that players regen their stats after each encounter, but I forgot that they don't if they roll an extra encounter.)