Re: Chasing Godhood (Blueslime)
Blue:
"Oh yes, even with a single session, I learned a lot," Nala said. "It did not take much to notice how vulnerable I was to you. You've had many chances to destroy me. I cannot deny that. I suppose I should be thankful that you find my continued existence to be useful, or at the very least amusing. Sadly, you're not the first being that I would owe my life to, in that sense."
At the commentary about leaving her mark on the night elf's rump, Nala could only smile sheepishly - though for her, this was more a rueful, indulgent look of a natural domme who was admitting to enjoying being in a sub role. "Mmm~ it's not the marking that I'm opposed to. Just the timing. Though I can forgive an inspired act in a moment of passion. Especially given it's someone like you. Gorgeous and sinful, but with plenty of redeeming qualities."
The elf leaned in close at that point and rubbed her nose and lips against the nape of the demon's neck. Feeling a bit closer to Esmerala, though recognizing that these feelings could all be manipulated. It was then she recalled that she had completely forgotten to use her own powers in the heat of the moment. She had been too concentrating on her own learning and the yearning for the long-denied, orgasmic pleasure. She blushed a bit at this, but quickly forgave herself. There would be plenty of time later to experiment, and she had learned much.
After drying themselves on the river bank, donning her skimpy robes, and folding the sheets between them, Nala brought up the subject of the demon prisoners. She was inclined for the most part to agree with Esmerala's assessment. The jungle was a brutal place, and with the Abbaddon Demon King sending assassins against her, Nala did not want to deal with a possible revolt. Still, summary executions might leave a bad taste in the mouth of the more meek-hearted citizens of Kyederon, even after all that they had been through.
"You make a lot of good points, but I must not be seen as making this decision on my own. I am thinking of letting a tribunal of the people who were here for the past three days to decide the fates of each demon prisoner - though you and your two knights will be exempt. That may rankle some, but Dmetrius knows what you did to allow us to retake the town. I must ask though, what specifically did you do during the three days that you impersonated me?"
Tass:
“Gorgeous and sinful aren't redeeming qualities themselves? I'll have to rethink everything I thought I knew about you!” Esmerala declared melodramatically, fanning herself as if feeling faint.
Eventually the subject of prisoners and what to do with them would come up. Esmerala would, after giving her input, nod to Nala's reply. “Fair enough. I don't suspect any of them will live through that, but the formality of it will appeal to some.”
At the other question, Esmerala would give a grimace that mixed a grin and a frown. Even with that expression, she didn't hesitate long to reply; “What I was told, essentially. In your form, with my knights as Demetrius and Violet, I handed Kyederon to my king's forces, who were ready at the other end of a gate I'd set up in a warded glen a short ways from your walls. Most of your people never even realized what happened before they were being rounded up from their beds and relocating. Leading in principle only with Dviklien around, I couldn't do much to keep my kin from having their way, but I did what I could.
“For one, I sabotaged the portal so that Dviklien couldn't start shipping your enslaved people back to New Abaddon. I told him it was a faulty focusing crystal, and he bought that since I'd taken it from a local cave. Whenever someone was starting to look too weak from regular feedings, I made sure they ended up in my bedroom so that I could let them get a rest.... Spiritually, at least. Your own people knew you weren't a succubus, after all, and our first session gave me enough of an image of you to impersonate you even in bed. Nobody figured me out, and I mostly kept from feeding until you were in the area. That was about when I knew I wouldn't need my disguise any longer.”
Blue:
"I will need you to display your power in front of the people. To show exactly what you did and to therefore clear my name. If you're worried about looking as if you're cooperating with me too much, I can have Violet make it look like she'll execute you if you don't comply. I'm sure she wouldn't have to act too much in that case, and you can look like a prisoner acting to save her own skin. Later on, after the other demons have gone through their tribunals, I'll let it it be known that a plan had been enacted to sabotage the focus crystal. If I'm to salvage trust with my own people, I need to let them reach the conclusion that they WERE saved from worse than death - even if they don't realize that it was you who had a hand in that. Whenever you are prepared to drop the charade, I'll let them know the truth."
As they neared Kyederon again, Nala considered, and then said "Actually, can you impersonate me now? You'll still be on the leash, so the people who saw us leave with you in your natural form will now be able to put two and two together."
Tass:
Esmerala would nod in agreement to Nala's command. “Whenever you'd like to arrange that... Though even I can't help but be a bit wary if Violet has a blade to my neck. Still... I suppose I've no right to complain.” She would simply comply immediately when Nala asked her to do it right then, and within a few moments she would be staring at a perfect clone of herself save for the clothes, Esmerala being still nude.
The sight of the two of them walking into Kyederon, needless to say, turned quite a few heads as Nala escorted her demonic charge through the town, nude but wearing the elf's own form. Where she wished to go from there was up to her, but Esmerala had quite carefully arranged her face into a frown, the expression quite convincing in conveying the idea that she didn't want to do what she was doing. A few looks of dawning comprehension would appear on a few faces, but many would simply continue to frown at the sight. Passing Grabbik as he went to the town well, Nala would find the goblin gazing in awe as a number of lewd fantasies obviously played out in his mind.
Blue:
Nala lead 'herself' through the town, heading for Demetrius' quarters. She was all the time looking around for signs of Violet, thinking to herself what likely places her lover would be when she was not at the witch elf's side. She would knock politely at the door to the Badarian mage's lodging, and wait for a word from the inside to enter, though if he took some time to answer, she would try the door herself and move in, announcing herself as she entered. Though she was not feeling entirely negative, she made sure to wear a stern expression as she entered. She wanted to discuss a few things with Demetrius - the tribunals, the logistics of the town's recovery, and of course, his silent subversion of her wards on him over the past two years. He was certainly not one to complain about being manipulated in the bedroom, but she found it cowardly that he would not mention to her about his shrugging off of her mystical allure.
Tass:
Violet tended to spend as much time as possible around Nala, but when she wasn't at the elf's side she didn't have anywhere in particular that she tended to be. Such occasions were fairly rare, and when parted from Nala Violet simply worked wherever a hand was needed.
Demetrius, on the other hand, was pretty easy to find. His personal quarters, a luxury afforded him for his status in the community as one of its key founders and due to the fact that he had set up most of it with magic himself anyway, was where the Badarian mage usually ended up spending much of his time. Knocking at the door, sure enough his voice would call back; “Come in, I left it unlocked.” The mage's lab took up much of the first floor, though a small corner had been sectioned off for a dining table and general work area.
Demetrius was, on Nala's entry, busy working at a bench he used to petrify his insect specimens, carefully applying his process to a freshly caught moth which possessed poisonous fibers in its wings that it could blast out in a cloud that could cause inflammation and itching in anything they touched, or blindness if you were lucky enough to catch a burst of them in the eyes.
He wouldn't glance up at her entrance, and would thus miss Esmerala standing behind Nala in the elf's physical form for several moments. When he did, he would give a double take and stare for a moment, his shrewd gaze apparently calculating something that might not have been that different from Grabbik if his wandering eyes were to be believed. Then, suddenly, he would quickly utter a spell under his breath while turning to face the two Nalas, and if she didn't lash out in reply she would find a harmless scanning wave passing over her, the mage's way of knowing which one was which.
“Mmm.... I had wondered when you would make sure people saw that. Glad it was sooner rather than later. I suspect that this isn't a social call though, so what do you need?” he said conversationally, tilting his head and resting back against the counter he'd been working at while folding his hands in his lap.
Blue:
As soon as the door was closed, Nala loosened the tautness of her grip on Esmerala's chain considerably, holding it at the extreme of it's slackness as she walked over to Demetrius' bench. She took a look at the specimens there, with neither great interest nor the repulsion that some people would reserve for such a hobby. She was a mage herself, and did her own research. She could respect what it was the the Badarian did in here, even if she had no real appreciation for his subject matter.
"It's nice to see that we've both managed to get back in step with our research so soon after our harrowing misadventure," Nala said. "Though doing so does cause for some friction with the townsfolk. I've come here to say several things to you..."
Nala slid in front of Demetrius, between him and his bugs, getting very much inside of his personal space, though he seemed prepared for this, having leaned back in his chair and put his hands in his lap. Still, she liked it when she took the aggressive stance with him and him pretending not to get turned on by her presence.
"First, I need to arrange a time for us to speak to the populace. The goblins, the arachne, and especially the people, will need to be there. It's time to do some explaining, and I want you there to put in your part. I want Charlotte and Amanda up there with us as well, and any chosen representatives from the town that you think appropriate, as those will be the loudest voices demanding an explanation.
"The second thing is that I intend to have a tribunal set up. Amanda and Charlotte and three townsfolk will judge the fates of each demon individually and publicly. I want the people of Kyederon to decide their own brand of justice. Considering that you and I have failed them for three harsh days, it's only fair that we re-empower them. I will be exempting Esmerala and her two servants from these tribunals, for reasons which you already are mostly aware of."
Nala waited for Demetrius' reactions to these two points, wanting to get this part of the conversation out of the way before she broached her final topic.
Tass:
Demetrius would take Nala's entrance into his personal space in stride, merely watching her casually. His demeanor was generally professional unless she opted to turn her charms upon him, at which point he would quickly break down in preparation for a night with her, and her overall demeanor and Esmerala's presence together did not suggest that the latter was likely.
“I don't think making that happen will be too much trouble. A lot of people want answers to a lot of questions about what happened,” he replied evenly to her first demand, and then allowed her to continue. Her plan to arrange a tribunal would earn little more than a nod from the mage, and from there Nala would again have the opportunity to continue.
Blue:
Nala left the air between them hang in silence for an extended time, suggesting to him that she had perhaps expected more of an opinion from him than simply a nod. If he did not say anything else however, she would inhale deeply and tap her fingers on the table, casting her glance sideways for a moment, seeming to study his bench a little more as she spoke again.
"Very well. So we'll get that set up for this afternoon. The arachne have had a whole night and morning with which to use the prisoners as breeding tools. So I've lived up to my bargain with them. Plenty of eggs for them... Now we get to my final reason for being here. As I said, I managed to get right back to my research. And it's come to my attention that you've failed to be honest with me for quite some time now. You obviously have no objection to being with me in a carnal sense, which was always to aid me with my noble arcane pursuits - just as I have helped you collect your specimens on many an occasion... but yet, you haven't told me that you had countered my enchantments..."
Here, her eyes turned back on him, and she gave him a scrutinizing look, to see how he responded to her accusation.
Tass:
When Nala's eyes turned back onto Demetrius, she would find the man gazing back at her stoically, his face set as if he expected a fight out of this. "Well... I am a little bit surprised that it took you this long to figure that out," he said emotionlessly, "but I guess eventually is better than never. I suppose you'll want to know how I did it?"
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