“I...” Scinnari says, pausing as she skims the sheet, “I- My apologies, lord, you- I am sorry for doubting you.” She bows before you as she finishes her apology, and you put your hand on her arm as she rises.

“Indeed. We evidently need to talk, though.” you observe, and Scinnari stiffens slightly.

“Lord?”

“About what happened the other week.” you continue as if you hadn't noticed.

“I didn't get anything else out of the miner, lord.” Scinnari answers, “I did tell you.”

“Not... that, as it happens.” you say with a small smile.

“Lord?” Scinnari repeats, looking slightly nervous.

“Relax, my dear, I am not upset over your... admittedly bold actions in coming to me on this matter. In fact, I am /pleased/. I told you I want you to be honest with me... And I would like you to continue being so. You were honest there, you informed me that you had a problem, and I informed you why it was not.” you say, stepping closer.

“Then what, lord?” Scinnari asks. She looks like she's on the verge of stepping back, but doesn't.

“I am aware that you... your life has been somewhat... chaotic, lately.” you say to her. She starts to pull away, taking offense, but you cut her off. “No... It's true, isn't it? You've gone from serving a mistress in the hells, your own interests, and myself... To only two of those.” Scinnari halts as your words strike home, and allows you to take her hand. “A... significant change. Dare I say, the second most significant one in your life, perhaps. It is only to be expected that you are affected by it.”

“I- I am sorry, lord, I won't let it affect m-” Scinnari begins... contritely of all things! Seriously!

“Scinnari!” you interrupt dangerously. She cuts off, and you continue. “I thought we had reached an agreement regarding.... honesty?”

“Lord? I didn't-”

“We are both aware that it has been affecting you, or else you would never have been, for instance, wounded by a desperate assassin.” you say with a gesture at her calf, and the pale scar of the healed wound. “It's quite alright- I can understand, and I do not mind.” you add in a much kinder tone.

“I... am sorry, my lord.” Scinnari falters, and you quiet her with a kiss.

“It is alright. You are... trying. Adaption is difficult. And beyond that, there's the recent events with Cygnariassis... Do not /worry/. I understand.” you whisper in her ear, hugging her close. After a moment she returns your embrace.

“Thank you, my lord. I'm sorry, but I can only view... I cannot help but view Cygnariassis as a threat-” Scinnari whispers, sounding unhappy but relieved.

“I understand.” you repeat, pausing to kiss her again. “I could calm your worries with reassurances... for a time. Then they would just redouble. Your paranoia, while admirable in the pits of Baator, is slightly misplaced here. Instead... I figured we should /do/ something together... I recall you admitted to possessing some... debts to attend to, and I have started gathering preliminary information, should you wish to deal with them.”

##########################

Your spies, along with the occasional personal excursion, have been quite enlightening. The Order of the Striking Sky, a rather odd name, in your opinion, is a mostly non-denominational (with leanings towards Heironeous) union of various do-gooders. Paladins, clerics, warriors, or simply 'holy' mercenaries. (Again, something you hold in some contempt.) Based out of an ancient semi-decayed castle to the east, and ranging far and wide, in terms of their actual efforts. About two hundred and fifty members at the moment, with about fifty constantly residing within their fortress. And only about half of those are actual battle-ready combatants. Not terribly daunting, presented like that.

On the other hand, the organization they've labeled the 'cabal of the black flame' is much more difficult to get information on. They are believed to be based somewhere in the Gray Wastes, probably Boulderfall, one of the few mapped locations of the region. This is still rather unhelpful, as the Gray Wastes are ever-inhospitable and hostile to travelers. Scinnari, however, is certain that these are them, though, and that your information is correct, that these are the ones she wants. Sadly, she can provide no other information beyond their obsession with demonology, and the obvious difficulties that have been had in eradicating the cult for good.

>>14386099
Perhaps we can have Scinnari scrawl some deadly half-truths about demons and devils in a tome, age it artificially, then hide it in an old tomb and spread rumors about it around the area the cult is supposed to be in. The tome itself, of course, would have very subtle tracking spells cast on it... perhaps even a spell that magically (and invisibly) marks anyone who has touched it.

The Order is much easier. Cibach Azal, hero of Freeport and slayer of a dracolich... perhaps he would like to inquire into joining such a thing?

What think you, peoples?

>XLII

wow... I remember back when dragon quest first started. bravo GM

Ask Scinnari which she would rather go after first. This is her show, after all, and we need spare no expense.

Begin working up profiles on every single member of the Order. Infiltrate it with magical observation and mundane spies. Find drunken, boastful, or greedy individuals within it who are willing to talk about their compatriots. Infiltrate and review their own records, personally if need be.

Considering the fact we can devote an entire empire's resources at it we can probably have a nearly complete listing with dossiers and profiles of all major members within a month or two.

I have nothing really to add at this point. I'm good with whatever until more action presents itself.

“So, my dear, which would you prefer to attend to first?” you ask as Scinnari finishes reading through your files. She pauses, and seems to be considering.

“The demon-worshipers, I think, my lord.” She says after a moment. “It would, among other things... Well, Zevaana might regret giving me up to you less, if we get it done.” Scinnari says. “Though I expect she'll probably- She's hardly likely /give/ /up/ on attempting to make more profit off of this situation. Within the bounds of your agreement, of course.” Scinnari adds hurriedly. You nod absently.

“Undoubtedly. I am aware.” you reply calmly. “So how do you wish to pursue them? The Gray Wastes are notoriously unpleasant- Simply managing to live within the region is fairly impressive. And, before you ask, I did check. They have... I am reluctantly driven to say 'fantastic' defenses against magical observance.” you admit. “Perhaps a demon-lord or something similar.”

“To be expected, my lord.” Scinnari assures you, “They've evaded divine and infernal retribution for several centuries- They would not have managed that without such protection...”

>>14386645
Boots on the ground time, then.

>>14386237
The linked plan above for getting our first catches, then we scoop them up and torture/use domination and other things to pry cult structure, numbers, organization, placement, methodology, backing, rituals, any sort of codes... anything we can find, we pry it loose from their minds. Without a place to strike against we can hardly do anything, no?

>>14386645
While we go after the demon cult, select some loyal but not particularly evil people (humans who serve Lord Prestor and Mza, as spies) to attempt to have infiltrate the Order of the Striking Sky. Not necessarily as actual members, although that would be good if we can manage it; they doubtless have a sizable support staff, and having people on it would still let us pull off quite a bit more. We'll want people in place when we go to annihilate them in a few years.

Don't tell our spies exactly what our plans for the Order are, or who their fellows in infiltration are. Give them the impression that we're just doing routine spying on all kinds of powerful groups everywhere, and they are a small part of that. That way they won't be able to tip of the Order if something goes wrong, and will have an easier time working with them without the sort of crippling guilt that some people get when they're ultimately going to kill the people they've come to know as friends.

>>14386810
We may want to begin spreading our spy network anyway.
It will mean more information flowing in to us, and it will help provide veracity to any captured spy's story that its simple routine information gathering by Mza.

>>14387007
Good idea, but I was under the impression we were constantly expanding it anyway.

If not, we should be. Knowledge is power.

>>14386044
Be ready for the likely backlash of declaring Azyra our heir when showing her appearance openly. Domestically, we should have enough propaganda, secret police, and what have you that we'll be able to spin it rather well- Lord Prestor, being a super-powerful sorcerer, has apparently gone a long way to make sure that his heir is a powerful one. And if she's a little unusual-looking, well, so what? He himself isn't exactly a standard ruler, and look at all the prosperity he's brought! Surely if he says someone is worthy to be his heir, she will be. Lord Prestor knows what he's doing.

Internationally... we can probably expect a bit of loss of friendliness, as reasonably intelligent people who haven't spied on us terribly well immediately twig to the fact that we're a red dragon fucking an erinyes. We might lose some business. If there are steps to be taken which can secure our trading somewhat, it would be good to take them. Fortunately, our relations with Tashz and Beren are secured by firm agreements with people who won't be interested in dropping us over a revelation with this, so unless things get really, really bad we should be all right. I would expect a spike in the number of assassination attempts/adventurers, though. Be ready for that.

>>14387067
I agree on the first part, but the second not so much. They will assume we are SOMETHING, sure, but I don't think red dragon would be the only thing. As for a drop in business? Doubtful. Money doesn't care too much about what your daughter looks like, and Seffy is ruling openly as a red dragon yet still running a trade state. Tashz openly consorts with dragons and has dragon blood in their lines.

There will be some serious international suspicion I am sure, but you're blowing it out of proportion. Uptick of adventurers, assassins, and spies to be sure. Anything else? I doubt it. Rhasaver doesn't much like us to begin with for sinking their navy, Tashz loves us, and nobody else will care.

>>14387067
I would expect a spike in assassination attempts/spies/adventurers regardless of if it was obvious what our daughter is.
Also, being known as a sorceror-king, we're allowed a little leeway if our daughter looks a little...off.

But you do bring up a good point; we need to make sure that our internal security is strengthened, and that our international trade agreements are strong.

The easiest way, you determine, to identify members of the cabal with any degree of certainty is to bait them. Hiring some assistants from the dwarven stronghold on Mza, you erect suitable wards, and begin construction of an 'ancient' tomb near the edge of the Wastes. Dwarves, suitably motivated and sufficiently supplied, are capable of working quite rapidly. They are also willing to work, on this, at least, without much information on the purpose. You rebuff a few questions, and overhear speculation on the purpose of a brand new 'ancient' tomb, but they don't seem to mind the secrecy, and most of their guesses are that you somehow plan to trick some plundering adventurers, something that they are surprisingly totally alright with. A few explanations poke at your ancestry; perhaps an ancient demon-worshiping ancestral specter that you want to finally put to rest, or other similarly odd things, but nothing close enough to worry you.

Once completed, a matter of nearly a week, you make a brief trip to the location, and indulge in some brief dabbling in necromancy- Scinnari isn't terribly fond of it, but it's only short-term, and both easier and less likely to give information away than the binding of demons. Crypt suitably 'inhabited', you make a final expedition to plant the tracking book you created, and to utilize your Orb of Storms to engineer the accidental 'reveal' of your tomb- cliffsides and slopes sliding away under torrential downpour and thundering wind. Finally, the exposure and rapid erosion of stone, finally bringing the tomb to proverbial light.

Scinnari, of course, is eager to take part in this herself. After a suitable display for the emergence of the 'tomb' to leak, she begins spreading rumors in the surrounding region of the tomb of an ancient mage and master of the lower planes. The results are, as always, predictable. Unable to actually scry upon the location, adventurers show up and are brutally murdered by the traps and guardians you left. The process repeats itself for almost three weeks, before an enterprising band of stalwart grave-robbers finally succeed, albeit with significant casualties. The tracking tome is gathered, along with what gold and artifacts you grudgingly sacrificed for this venture, and they depart victorious. Your attention stays with the tome over several days, scrying and following it as it changes hands...

The final change is somewhat disturbing. A merchant the adventurers sold the book to sells it to, from what you can detect, an invisible presence. You inform Scinnari, and she teleports to provide on-site observation. Her report is somewhat unsettling.

“Vale Thessa...” Scinnari communicates to you telepathically. Surprised.

“Who?” you return, requesting clarification.

“A... A member of the order from some time ago. She... She's nearly six hundred years old, now, if this is really her.”

“You would know, I cannot see.” you inform her, “Still, tell me who we are dealing with here.”

“Wizard. Powerful. She can summon huge amounts of demons... comparatively at the drop of a hat, but that was with an artifact. One she can't have now.” Scinnari replies, somewhat distracted. You can see her in you scrying, firmly watching the tome floating in mid-air, or, presumably, the person holding it. “It... May be unwise to pursue this further-”

>>14387121
It has been what, twenty years since we sank the navy? It has blown over. You know how brief mortal memory is. Everyone is already suspicious and there are rumors flying around everywhere so I doubt our daughter looking a little off is going to do more than raise eyebrows and cause more spies to be sent. Really really really doubt it will effect trade or diplomacy at all.

>>14387162
"I never expected it would be easy, dear."

Why can't we see? Crystal balls let you truesight through them, and that spell is /well/ within our abilities if we can trap souls.

Presumably she will take this tome somewhere for study. We should get on-site with Varra and Asha. Varra can track and Asha can support. Did we properly break the bard? If so, bring him too.

Ideally we will get an opportunity to strike in transit, but it's possible we'll have to pull a Seffy and go all ceiling-dragon on them.

>>14387242
But the whole purpose of this was to trace them to a central gathering place; striking while the book is in-transit would scrap the whole plan.

Though, the idea of creating new 'ancient' tombs sound like something we might want to do, as training areas for our spies and as an elaborate playground for our daughter.

>>14387242
If we let her get back to whatever safehouse full of demons they have we're going to be at an even bigger disadvantage.

I suggest dropping in a dozen elite holy ones and our three mindbroken adventurers, plus ourselves. We can then pop the ring we crafted for Scinnari's rescue... the one that locks dimensional travel or teleporting within a radius.

No demons for her, mwahaha!

>>14387293
Nah, the plan was to capture one and extract the information at our leisure. After all, anywhere she could go with this thing is a place we can pry from her mind with detect thoughts, domination or, if needed, the Watcher.

We should hit her before she gets to safety. Quickly scry all around and make sure she doesn't have backup close first, and if it's clear drop in with a bunch of lizardmen and our elite group.

>>14387295
That's actually rather clever. Then we have a high-powered wizard-or-potentially-lich as a captive and- Wait, that's not really good, either. Well, it could be productive, but I'm not sure.

We want information from her, particularly how to get at the rest of the order. Perhaps how they established their fortress, how they've warded it against scrying, and how to get around it, and whatever else would be useful for eradicating them. (Just ask her, let her thing of the things, and let the SS/Watcher pick the thoughts from her mind as she thinks of them, prompted by our questions! Then we launch her into the sun.)

>>14387162
What happened to the artifact?

Also, what do we know about the politics (or lack thereof) in the Abyss? It's a whole quagmire, and if this demon summoner is of particular standing or has alliances/agreements with certain demon lords/princes, we need to know about them. It's nowhere near the issue that it is with the Hells, but it's something to be wary of.

“I hardly expected it to be easy, my dear.” You reply calmly. “I shall attend to a few preparations- Please, please, my love, do not get into trouble.” you add, “I know you hardly intend to, but I would be most upset if you were injured. Contact me at the first sign of trouble.” You break connection and move to assemble a honor-guard of minions.

##############

“She is leaving the town... I am surprised she has not teleported.” Scinnari informs you. The group of lizardmen you've ordered are assembling, as well as Asha and Varra.

“Very well. Keep track of her, if possible. Otherwise, we can follow the book.” you order. “What was the artifact you mentioned?”

“Artifact?” Scinnari asks surprised. “Oh, it was a device for magnifying summonings and conjurations. Among other uses... Either way, it was destroyed in the... I believe them to be known as the 'demon wars', a few centuries ago. As she was, I had thought.”

“I see...” you reply. “How was it destroyed?”

“Sundered on an altar of Heironeous.” Scinnari replies. “It was considered the turning point of the war, but that's hardly relevant now.” Something about Scinnari's words sound as if she's not being evasive, but merely would vastly prefer not to talk about it. Of course... the time for this war matches up with the date of her Fall. You allow her to change the subject. “You are prepared?”

“If she intends to summon, I am prepared to lock her down. Antimagic devices shall also be present in abundance.” you confirm.

“Very good. If you are prepared to teleport... She's left the town- Of course you know.” Scinnari replies, evidently remembering the fact that you can and are tracing the book and her. “Warn me before you intervene...”

[dice 1d100]

rolled 63 = 63

>>14387657
Scry all around first to make sure she doesn't have bodyguards following secretly.

Otherwise... let's do dis.

One way we could boot internal security, is to bring our kobolds to our new inland. Have the lizardmen, act like overseers, while the bolds act as troops and workers.

>>14387657
Our big 3, ourselves, and as many adamantie-equipped elite fanatics as we can manage.

rolled 2 = 2

>>14387691
Sadly, I'm on the opinion that our bolds are no longer alive. At least the ones we were over at the time. Granted, they might have records of a red dragon and such. Either way, I doubt our little guy is still alive.

Also, remember, that Cygnis was working on a way of making Freeport actually more legit. She might have gotten rid of a lot of less than reputable things in Freeport.

>>14387727
You are hereby forbidden from rolling again.

Hey, it's dragon quest.

>>14387727
Well we will never know until we look, but in the meantime lets focuses on this.

>>14387657
Shit, this is like, her fall, and all that, isn't it? Even going after these demon-types probably brings up some unpleasant (or possibly pleasant, therefore guilt-ridden) memories in Scinnari.

I'm... I suppose accidental redemption of a fallen angel would be awesome to brag about, but ?I don't think we actualy want to do it, do we?

>>14387826
Of course the fuck not. Why would you even think that? That's right up there with giving the Watcher a body or releasing Twice-Bound for lulz in the "stupid ideas" section.

rolled 21 = 21

>>14387862
Well hold your horses there matey. It is stupid to think we can make her "un-fallen" to the point that she goes back to angel/redeemed point. However, I wonder if we can bring her to solely serve us. It's possible. I think something along the lines similar to redeeming her would be possible. I believe that lies in the book of Exalted Deeds.

>>14387826
Hah. No.

Seriously, just no. It wouldn't even give "bragging rights" because it would be bad in every possible way.

>>14387897
You mean good, right?

>>14387891
Don't be stupid. I mean, seriously?

Seriously?

It's a bad idea and you should feel bad for even considering it.

>>14387891
If you mean redemption in that "we break her completely free of the Hells" then sure, since that's good for us.

If you mean redemption in actually becoming more angel-like and shifting her alignment (or anything along those lines), then fuck no.

>>14387891
How about not.

rolled 67 = 67

>>14387940
No, just the breaking of her bonds to be honest.

>>14387959
That has nothing to do with redemption. That's just breaking her free of the hellish hierarchy, and that ain't going to happen without epic magic. Plus, we already plan to do that in the future anyway.

The only thing we do during these outings is cement our bond stronger and free her of her past. And by free I mean kill everyone who she used to know and laugh as she sacrifices their souls.

>>14387996
So, we dont have epic magic? Then what exactly is our power-level here?

>>14388038
If you absolutely must put some sort of D&D marker on it, we'd be casting 6th level spells or thereabouts, but we've created things stronger than that before (e.g. putting Mind Blank on our magic items).

>>14388038
Our power level is "you are a dragon with a fuckton of money". Most of what we do is money-powered.

>>14388111
Even before we converted to non-standard casting we were above that IIRC.

WD has confirmed we could do epic magic with enough prep time and stuff to focus the ritual. I wouldn't mind looking into research to sever Scinnari's connection to the hells and have her draw power directly from consuming souls instead.

But, really, right now our epic magic shenanigans should probably focus more on not becoming unmade ourselves.

>>14388129
Then, is there a reason we arnt trying to up our power? Just other things to do?

>>14388147
Dragons level up with age. Though we really should look for shit with permanent buffing Int and Cha on it. Especially if it takes us over 25.

Regarding grey wastes: Wait, see what happens. We need more intel before we move in.
I'm tempted to go there ourselves and overfly the area with the Watcher, but that's just asking to be shot down and Anti-teleport-field'd

>>14388038

<9000

Redemption for scinnari? That's silly. We like her because she's our evil waifu who knows her place in the hierarchy. Stop being silly.

>>14388209
So what youre saying is, stay away from screaming blonde guys.

>>14388143
We kept Cygnis so we could take her lifespan. Can we do that now, please?

>>14388433
Hm, is that what we took her for? I thought we did that just because we're f*cking evil and we kidnap people and break their spirits so we have a nice throne ornament.

>>14388467
That's correct. There is one guy who can't stand the thought of us doing anything for the roleplaying value though.

>>14388467
That's why I did it, dunno about the rest of y'all.

>>14388491
"Who disagrees with me."

More because: 1) Fucking WAIFU quest, seriously? And 2) The ticking silver timebomb that might find out, even if it is purely by luck.. which gold dragons are in spades.

“I think we shall be coming presently.” you inform after a few minutes scrying. “When she reaches the bottom of that descent.”

“Very well, lord. I- If you intend to kill her, I would... appreciate it if you would allow me the privilege.” Scinnari replies.

“Of course.” you reply, “I could hardly refuse and still claim I was doing this for you, my lady.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Scinnari replies, and you prepare your troops for teleportation. You begin casting, troops standing at attention, ready for imminent combat, and prepare yourself for transit. Teleportation seems to take inexplicably long, and you hear a distant cry from Scinnari, somewhat garbled...

You emerge into the field of battle with your troops just in time to take a lightning bolt to the chest. It arcs through you, spreading out to half a dozen of your lesser henchmen, some of whom survive. You do as well, though your chest is in agony, and your muscles twitch at random. As you manage to focus on the combat, you see the wizard, presumably Vale, warding off Scinnari's longsword, and chanting eerily. You decide to take part in the battle- You activate the device you brought, interdicting teleportation in the vicinity. Escape or summoning, neither are possible any longer. Without access to minions, and too pressed to actually cast spells, Thessa is quickly brought down, pinned by your minions. You dispel her, then turn to survey the damage she has done while your soldiers restrain her.

>>14388506
Yes, fucking waifu quest. We've only just begun on our harem!

As for using Cygnis to increase our own lifespan...only if we're going to lose her otherwise (if I can't have her, NOBODY can!) or if we're likely to die sometime soon. I kinda doubt it.

Three lizardmen brought low by the lightning chain, Varra injured- Her short hair looks much longer, standing on end, and it looks like part of her shirt has been subsumed by her melted flesh around where the lightning struck her. Despite the rather painful looking wound, she seems to be moving only slightly stiffly, bow undrawn but ready, and watching the surrounding woods. Asha... Still seems to be alive, if barely. You signal for a lizardman healer to assist her, ignoring Varra's scornful look of disapproval.

“My lord, are you alright? You look injured...” Scinnari asks you in your mind. You turn to face her and Thessa, and respond in your mind.

“I'll live, though some won't. Can you explain what happened?”

“You said you were coming, my lord, and she suddenly seemed to be aware. She started casting spells- I managed to prevent a few spells, but she got at least one off. You arrived... almost a minute after you said you would.”

“I see.” you reply. “Did she know of your attack?”

“Yes.” Scinnari replies, “She would not have been able to... cast while I fought her, were that the case.”. You nod, turning to deal with the wizard...

“My lord, did you bring the crystal? Given the option, I would prefer to kill her now.” Scinnari asks in your mind, an earnest... Almost a fear of completion, you think, detectable in her mind.

>>14388578
Bah, using Cygnis for that would be wasteful of so much mustache-twirling potential, if we are going to be stealing the lifespan of anyone, it'll be clutches of dragon eggs.

>>14388602
Now granted, we could make those clutches Cygnis'. I would be totally fine with doing that.

So it seems we teleported into the middle of a shitstorm, or were they prepared for us? In either case we seem to have things wrapped up.

Bind her hands and gag her. No spells for her.

And I didn't know we could steal Cygnis' lifespan. What's up with that?

>>14388615
That would be hilarious, especially if we can mindbreak her to the point where she is pretty much totally ok with that.

Better still, joyful to be allowed to serve her glorious overlord with her offspring, as Asha is. Or perhaps was, depending on how quickly that healer works...

We did bring the Watcher, didn't we?

>>14388619
Eh, she probably just had that teleport-delay-and-predict spell on as a standard precaution. Wave the Watcher over her and ask it if it can read her mind clearly. If it can, let Scinnari kill her. It's what she wants and we're doing this for her after all. Make sure she does her soul-thing so the person can't be resurrected.

After we get back to the cave let's see to both our wounds and ask her what her history was with this woman.

>ask her what her history was with this woman
Seconded like the fist of the north star. I want to hear this, and it will slowly help Scinnari open up to us as she tells us about the old foes she kills one by one.

Kinda worried about Asha. She has been a good little assassin and breeder after we 'educated' her. Would hate to lose her early.

>>14388691
She was getting kind of old, we ought to admit, and really, what was her use beyond breeding? She was a caster of middling potential.

I'm not sure if Azaldon is up for that kind of thing, but if she survives this, perhaps we should, you know...


Allow her to retire? Horribly against standard overlord protocols, but perhaps we could take her off active duty and allow her to live out her remaining days in peace and semi-luxury?

We need to find out where she keeps her stash of magical books and items. Further magical power? Yes!

Reproducing with Cygnis should be morally reprehensible to us. Sex as a method of trickery an dominance like we did was more in line, but I doubt our devil waifu would enjoy an adulterous consort.

I do like the idea of stealing the life of her children though. That is deliciously evil, and exactly what I did in my Sims 2 game. Of course, we'd have to arrange for a similarly-aligned dragon to do her...

Maybe if we ever get the Watcher a body, it'll be in exchange for doing Cygnis and giving us the eggs.

>>14388810
I'd like to use her as a sort of cult matron and morale booster for the kids. She is only 40 right now and you remember how spry her grandfather was at what... 80+? She probably has 5 or 10 more years of field work in her then can settle down to be a sort of matriarch figure whose utter devotion to Lord Azaladon is something all try to emulate.

>>14388836
Adulterous implies that we are devoted only to her.

We are not. We have stated it before. If we wish another, we will take her. That does not diminish Scinnari or her place.
WE are the master.
WE are the owner.
WE take want we wish.

>>14388836
Plus... I think Watcher was female. For what that's worth...

>>14388847
True, but honestly monogamy is looking more and more attractive here. We haven't exactly been a sex fiend or anything, and seem to value loyalty and trust more than random debauches. I don't see taking Scinnari as our sole waifu/mate as out of the realm of reason.

>>14388868
>>14388847
>>14388836
I'd want to produce at least one purebred red dragon for the sake of doing our genetic duty. Seffy is all scarred up, but maybe there's another red in a volcano somewhere.

>>14388880
Got a problem with scarred muscle girls?

>>14388880
Problem with that is the Binder taint.

>>14388880
The Binder would be able to talk to it. That concerns me.

That is, in fact, my sole significant objection to leaving progeny all over the place, and the only reason that I don't back sexing everything that moves and can't resist us for shits and giggles.

>>14388888
She wouldn't have any scars if she used more armor you know...

>>14388880
>red in a volcano somewhere
And he's male! Christ, it's like you people don't even pay attention! (Joking.)

>>14388896
>>14388889
No.... I'm pretty sure T/M-B said no to that. I think the crystal was just bullshitting us.

Personally, I think we ought to indulge as we want. Not to excess, of course, but Scinnari doesn't get to limit us. As far as I understand, most of our chastity previously was because we didn't know enough about the Binder.

That said, I'd prefer not to 'anything that moves', but I deem indulging ourself to be acceptable.

That said,

>>14388889
>>14388896
I thought the Many-Bound told us that the Binder couldn't talk to our children?

>>14388920
>That said,
Damn and blast! Ignore the second iteration.

>>14388920
I'd rather not turn this into Harem and Debauchery Quest. Scinnari is enough for me. ManyBound said the Binder could talk to our kids normally but not through powerful wards like mind blank.

>>14388956
Harem quest, no. Debauchery quest, well, I would be rather in favor of a bit of debauchery as long as it forms a backdrop rather than dominating. I mean, it's good to know that as a proper villain we're making full use of our power to enjoy ourselves in every way possible.

>>14388920
She's not limiting us, we just don't choose to be a dragon slut. I'm fine with our devil as sole waifu, maybe Cygnis if we want a taste of dragon every now and then but that seems to upset scin so whatever no big deal. Don't feel like getting our dick wet is enough to warrant fucking up relations with the one person who could topple our empire with ease.

>>14388987
Speaking of which, does our disguise form have a waxed mustache to twirl? If not, we should get on that.

>>14388987
What would be the point to this? It doesn't help us, actively harms us, and is completely against how the character has been played so far.

I vote single-mate fidelity in the Waifu Wars. Let the arguments commence!

Sex for power, manipulation, or personal gain?
I'm up for that.
Sex for fun? ... ehh, that'll turn this into fetishquest, I'd like to avoid that if possible.

That said:
Investigate losses, see if Asha's still alive. Ask Scinnari exactly what our goals here vs. this Cabal.
Strip that mage naked and disjunct her, run the Watcher over her once, then allow Scinnari to make a donation to the hells.

>>14389032
Waifu wars? ... you're joking, right?
We're a dragon for fuck's sake, we don't have waifus, we have SLAVES and THRONE ORNAMENTS. We don't romance and seduce people, we LOOT them for our hoard.

I don't know how Azaldon's sex drives work - at the moment he seems exclusively attracted to Scinnari, though presumably he'd sleep with anything Female with Charisma over 15 and the Evil subtype.

>>14389070
You obviously haven't been following the quest long, then. Azaladon seems pretty chaste as far as dragons go. Hell, as far as just about anything goes. He's only had two partners in over 100 years, one of which he only dicked to tire out and capture.

And yes, I'm completely serious about the Waifu Wars. Much blood was shed in WW 1. WW2 was even worse.

It appears we are approaching WW3 now, the apocalypse awaits us. Even now both sides are arming their Waifu Missiles and preparing to launch alpha strikes.

>>14388999
>>14389032
I don't think it bothers her that much, and I don't think simply being monogamous would eradicate it completely. She'll always be slightly paranoid. I think we're golden as long as it's clear that whatever interactions we have with anyone else, she is the only one we truly /love/.

Plus, you know, it's all logical and reasonable, but I think that being monogamous simply for fear of offending Scinnari is too... timid, for Azaladon. He's been pretty strict on the 'Nobody gets to dictate anything to me.' line.

>>14389102
Azaladon is chaste largely because of his driving need to control everything. If fucking other women would have caused Scinnari to become less loyal in the past, we avoided it for that reason. Reproduction needed to be avoided because of Binder concerns. And of course any woman that we can't control has been right out. Most of those problems can be at least partially overcome.

Azaladon isn't chaste because he loves Scinnari or because he doesn't like sex, he's been that way because he values sex less than power.

>>14389116
>
Plus, you know, it's all logical and reasonable, but I think that being monogamous simply for fear of offending Scinnari is too... timid, for Azaladon. He's been pretty strict on the 'Nobody gets to dictate anything to me.' line.

You misunderstand. It's not afraid of offending Scinnari, it's choosing to grant her something she wants. We could have multiple consorts, I don't think that's even up for debate, but choosing not to is a clear statement and a large reward for her loyalty.

>>14389116
I'm fairly neutral here but one thing bothers me:
>I don't think it bothers her that much
Yeah, that's bullshit. Did you see how she went medieval on Cygnis? Or her behavior lately?

Shit is rocking her world without her even wanting it to.

>>14389181
We need to get Scinnai under detect lies and ask her if she's jealous. =3

>>14389181
Hey, she might learn to enjoy it, devils love to have inferiors to take their anger out on, punish for their faults, or whatever. I'd bet she'd learn to enjoy it, given enough demonstrations that only she holds our love as a person. (and an hoard item.)

Most of her world-rocking is the fact that she now has a daughter and a no longer working for Jezz-whatsit. She's probably uncomfortably reminded of her service in the heavens by the singular devotion we're expecting of her.

>>14389202
Now THAT'S paranoia, and bullshit. Less control freak, more suave dragon lord please.

We did Cygnis to incapacitate her. That is all. We don't need to do her again. And in any case, we're kind of busy INTERROGATING AN EPIC-LEVEL SUMMONER!

Tie her up and gag her. Have no less than 4 guards watching her at all times. Do not let her see Cygnis if we bring her to the castle for torture, because I can totally see her freeing Cygnis to fuck us over.

So, how is that 'Loot all of her magical things' coming?

Maybe we can find something for our horde in her treasure rooms? Or replace her in her cult..

>>14389218
seconding this

>>14389226
>horde

It's spelled "hoard." A "horde" is a mass of people, generally soldiers. Like "The Orcish Hordes."

>>14389290
What, you don't think we can find equipment for the troops?

“Allow me to check.” you reply, and speak to the crystal you carry with you. “Is her mind bare to you?”

“It is. Now that you have removed her protection, at any rate.” the object you tentatively identify as watcher replies.

“Would you get any benefit from further exposure to her mind?” you ask. The crystal pauses, and you inwardly sigh as you prepare for an obnoxious or otherwise unhelpful answer.

“Only to what is in her mind is in the future.” the crystal replies. “I know what it is now.”

“In that case, Scinnari, by all means. Feel free to do so.” you say aloud. Scinnari nods abruptly and readies her sword, walking forward to Vale. Your lizardmen ease out of the way from where they were pinning her, wresting the wizards arms behind her, and drawing her up to kneel before Scinnari. You break your silence to place a dimensional lock on the wizard, but otherwise observe impassively.

“Thessa, do you recognize me?” Scinnari asks tauntingly. Despite her efforts to keep her voice mocking, it's overlies a core of pure anger, harder than steel and hot as the sun. A rage to put many to shame. At Scinnari's signal, the wizard is allowed to speak.

“I didn't until just now. I recall few that would have such a personal interest in me, though.” Vale replies, remarkably calm for someone who has just been thoroughly disabled. “Have you seen Aleksander recently, my lady dev-” Scinnari's reaction to the name is abrupt, twitching as if to run Vale through, then forcibly calming herself as she instead gestures for the lizardmen to present her the wizard's left hand. Thessa pales as it becomes clear what Scinnari intends, and manages to make quite a bit of noise, despite her replaced gag, as Scinnari separates her fingers from her hand. She then takes the flaming sword from one of your lizardmen and sears the bleeding stumps shut, taking a horrid pleasure in every feeble attempt the wizard makes to escape.

“I could just leave you like this.” Scinnar taunts, an exceedingly ugly tone in her voice. “Unable to cast. Where would your life go? How would you end up?” she asks, viciously slapping Thessa as her head slumps. “What would all those demons you've bound and summoned do, without you able to defend yourself?” Through what looks like a titanic effort of will, or perhaps running out of breath, Thessa manages to stop screaming into her gag, aside from a few whimpers. “Is that what you want? Or would you consider death, here and now, to be a kinder fate?”

“I have-” Thessa manages a strangled gasp, “I know I have.. Nothing you can do... to me- Could compare to what-” Scinnari interrupts her with another cruel blow, this one to the chest. You believe you hear a rib crack. Thessa emits pained gasps for several seconds before responding, “My soul is bound for- for the same hell yours is...”. Scinnari looks simply murderous at that revelation, but controls herself enough to speak in a flat tone.

“Then allow me to take some /small/ solace in the fact that I will send you there.” Scinnari replies. Without pausing, she levels her sword with Thessa's chest and runs her through, stopping only when her longsword is almost halfway through. Then she merely twists, watching with vicious pleasure as Thessa attempts to scream but merely coughs blood. Only when the last light leaves Thessa's body and she goes limp does Scinnari remove her blade, wiping it on what little of Thessa's clothing remains clean enough to do so. She seems to search for words before speaking.

“If this was all, I think we should return.” Scinnari finally says in a very neutral tone. “My lord.”

Okay, we should get info from Watcher on what was in her mind. Defenses, demons, and so on.

>>14389607
And loot! Delicious loot!

>>14389558
Take everyone home. Put the crystal down and talk to Scinnari first about who that was, and what happened. Don't push very hard, tell her it's okay if she doesn't want to tell us now but we would like to know in the future.

Then point out we're about to ask the crystal for information and that it's probably going to taunt her with whatever it was that happened in the past. Make sure the understands and is ready for that.

If it gets especially vicious give her a hug and hold her hand. :3

>>14389558
>“My soul is bound for- for the same hell yours is...”. Scinnari looks simply murderous at that revelation, but controls herself enough to speak in a flat tone.
That seems damned bizarre, considering that she's a demonologist and Scinnari is a devil. Demon-types are almost inevitably bound for the abyss.

...unless Scinnari was somehow destined to fall to the Abyss? Or Thessa was part of a LE demon cult (no, surely that's fucking impossible...)? Regardless, that line makes no sense to me and I want the Watcher to explain it. Later, when Scinnari isn't with us.

Anyway. Recover our minions; heal those who can be healed, take the bodies of those who cannot. Leave little or no evidence that we were ever here, if possible. Take everything back to base, including the body, which we don't want anyone recovering and raising/using divinations on.

Then have a few words with Scinnari. See if she's willing to talk about it.

If she's not willing to talk about it, leave her alone for a while and get everything Thessa knew about this demon cult's current activities from the Binder. Explicitly do not ask about Scinnari's past. Make sure that Scinnari knows that we are explicitly not asking for now, but will expect to be completely filled in at some point before both groups are annihilated.

>>14389663
Might as well ask with Scinnari present, she could possibly tell us things the Watcher decides to "omit". Besides, that way she will know we aren't asking about her and are waiting for her to tell us.

We should tell her that we would like to know before this whole business is through though.

>>14389726
Let's question the crystal if she wants to, otherwise, let's go hang out with her, hold her hand and <3 her. Prove we care and aren't using the crystal to learn about her behind her back. Perhaps suggest spending some more time with Cygnis, as Scinnari seems to really enjoy being a domme. (Or at least, it would distract her. And the sadist in me says we need to get Cygnis into that dress.)

>>14389769
Eh, I'll agree with all of that except the Cygnis part. Remember what happened last time when she was /more/ stable? Ugh. I don't even want to think about what would happen currently. Plus, this whole exercise it to get her mind off Cygnis.

We can take her to the hot springs in our lair and splash around with her if we want to relax.

Bring the body with us. loot it. toss what's left into one of our convenient magma garbage disposal units.

>>14389769
We can't prove that we aren't using the crystal to learn about her behind her back. I mean, it's not like she's with us 24/7. We could be chatting it up with the Watcher pretty much whenever.

That said, some affection for Scinnari couldn't hurt. We might also give our lizardmen, who just died for us, some respect as well. I mean, sure, they're just mooks, but a show of honoring our dead mooks would probably go over well with the ones who are still alive.

>>14389800
A wall of the fallen in the tunnels leading to their quarters. We can make it a /reward/ to die in our service. If you die for the Great Lord then you are remembered forever by future generations. Even death will hold no fear for them then.

>>14389769
>And the sadist in me says we need to get Cygnis into that dress.)

Eh, the sadist in me says we can just leave it with her and see how it works out. Ah, Sympathy, such beautiful magic. It's so much better if we just leave her for a while, then come back to find her voluntarily wearing it.

>>14389823
Yes! YES! We could suggest it could become a daily ritual for our lizardmen to read from the Wall of Honor.

Ask Scinnari if she has further business in the Grey Wastes.
If n, return to base.
If y, ask Crystal about the defenses, staffing, warding, location, and LOOT of any places of interest relevant.

When back at base:
Spend time with Watcher and Scinnari asking questions. Make sure Scinnari knows beforehand that Watcher will try to emotionally torture her with her past, but inform Scinnari that we're interrogating Watcher with her present to prove we aren't investigating her 'behind her back'.

>>14389800
I gotta agree with showing that we do take some interest in the well-being of our mooks, even if it's only cursory.
A good evil overlord does not scrimp on maintenance of important machinery, whether that is purely mechanical, or of the political/organizational kind.

>>14389823
>>14389837
Do we want to make the Wall of the Fallen simply for those that die in our service, or for those that show exemplary dedication to duty and service?

>>14389921
How about both? The wall is for all who died in our service, to be remembered forever. For those few who showed amazing bravery, loyalty, duty beyond all reason, ect. we will have a special section.

The Wall of the Fallen will have names read out every day, but for the Wall of Honor it will be expected that all our lizardmen memorize every name on it. It will be the highest honor to have your name engraved there.

>>14389921
Perhaps both? The ones who die in our service being actually killed rather than old age, of course, but with a special sort of honour reserved for those who deliver exemplary service against particularly troublesome odds/foes.

>>14389921
...Both? Given we plan to become basically immortal, I'm sure we'll rack up enough on the first that inclusion on it becomes virtually meaningless. May as well have a more exclusive backup list.

>>14389921
are those abandoned Catacombs still down there near are lair? perhaps we could use that to entomb minions which served us well? i dunno, sounds particularly unlike us.

>>14389946
>>14389947
>>14389948
Wallmind.

>>14389955
No, they aren't. Besides, we don't have enough room to entomb minions like that and it's a waste of space. If they do their job well enough to be engraved on the exclusive part of the wall then there probably won't be enough left of them for burial anyway...

>>14389981
We could always eat them. Become one with your god and all that...

>>14389946
>>14389947
>>14389948
Wallmind.

Sequential, too. They must have happened within seconds of each other.

“Of course.” you reply. Your troops gather around, and you enact the enchantment to return your force to your home. A moment later you stand in the tunnels of your lair. You pause to dismiss your lizardfolk, and order healers to attend to Asha and Varra before departing with Scinnari. Scinnari seems nearly emotionless, and you lead her into a side room, unwilling to discuss this in Cygnariassis' presence. Scinnari leads the questioning, and begins as soon as you are alone.

“Crystal. Where did she go?” You do not need to relay the questions this time.

“Judging by your /rather/ brutal murder of her, I would say she did not go anywhere.” The crystal replies blandly with a hint of vicious satisfaction. Scinnari does not visibly react, aside from a slight pause before she asks her next question.

“Was she lying when she said she was bound for the hells?” Scinnari asks again, undeterred.

“She did not. She said she was bound for the same hell as you were.” the crystal replies, chiming, smug, and unhelpful as ever.

“/Is/ she?!” Scinnari nearly shouts. The crystal is unphased as ever.

“She... did not lie.” The crystal replies. You pause, to make sure that Scinnari is finished for the moment, before asking a question of your own.

“Where was she headed prior to us waylaying her?” you ask.

“To the fortress of her organization, the place you know as Boulderfall of the Gray Wastes. She was returning overland when she heard rumor of your bait, and paused to acquire it.”

“How has her cabal fared in the intervening years?” Scinnari asks.

>>14389999
That would taste awful, though.

No, cremation is fine. The wall is enough.

“Quite well, as it happens. Their membership is on decline at the moment, but their enclave is more established than ever. Certainly your dear love's efforts failed to do any lasting harm... I suspect they may be having problems at the moment, though.”

“Problems? Explain.” You say almost exactly as Scinnari similarly demands an explanation.

“It is possible the demons she was responsible for binding and enslaving in Boulderfall were released with her death.” The crystal says. It pauses, almost long enough that you ask it another question. It interrupts as you open your mouth, though. “However, judging by how much warning you gave her, I'd find it very unlikely if she did not have time to unbind and banish them before she deceased.” Again, Scinnari does not seem react, features almost... wooden.

“And why was- Why did she believe her soul bound for the hells?” Scinnari asks. You note the faintest of quavers in her voice.

“Because she believed she had negotiated with your lady Glasya for certain... accommodations.” the crystal replies acidly, “Among the least of which was the information from which she engineered your... downfall.”

Scinnari almost flinches at the word. She looks as if she wants to give the crystal similar treatment as she gave Vale, but instead turns and storms out of the room. You pause, tempted to follow, but know you should secure the crystal first. You teleport to your storage place, and prepare to leave, but it speaks again.

“Or at least, she /believes/ she is the one responsible. Now tell me, Binderspawn, what shall you do? Trade her the torment of knowing ignorance so you can remain honest in her eyes? Or defend her with your silence? Ask her, Binderspawn. /Ask/ her. Does she love you more than she loved Aleksander? Can she ever?”

Tell Watcher to shut up or we'll dump it in a magma flow. And it can say farewell to ever getting a body back.

Also, I'm for whichever choice would see if she loves us more than "Aleksander" (whoever he is). She's our waifu, after all.

>>14390027
>Does she love you more than she loved Aleksander? Can she ever?
What does that matter? I don't see how it's relevant. She is ours, now. She can love us more, or love us less... but she's still ours.

>>14390027
"Then how about I ask you, you impertinent piece of quartz: Does she love me more than Aleksander?"

>>14390062
I think that's premature. With time it will all be revealed, we don't need to force the issue early. I'm pretty sure the crystal is trying to force our hand specifically because it's early and will create discord and misery if we push it now.

But what the fuck is it saying about the rest? Thinks she knows? Ignorance? Wat?

>>14390098
Sigh. Really? You know that you can't trust the answer either way, why ask it? It will just say No. (with a secret but attached, like "but she's rapidly starting to", but it won't say that part) or "maaaaaaaaaaybe"

>>14390094
Agreeing with this one.

Though the whole 'tell her' 'don't tell her' part, I think we should tell her that the crystal may have omitted some parts, that Vale only believed herself to be the only one to engineer Scinnari's downfall. But we both know how the crystal likes to twist things around, and be careful that it doesn't worm its way into her mind.

>>14390027
That crystal needs to tell us if she DID unbind and banish her minions or not. It was there at her death; it shouldn't need to taunt with likelihoods. It knows.

If she unbound and banished them, we'll need to move on the cult quickly, before everything we're able to glean on them goes out of date as they scramble around with their demonologist's death. If she did not, we have time.

Either way, Scinnari is probably a higher priority. Go after her, get her to talk to us. Remind her that whatever she says, we value her honesty a great deal and wish to hear her genuine feelings on this. If she can't reveal her heart to us, who has stood with her for decades on end even when she could not stand by herself, who the hell can she talk to? No one, for all eternity? That's bloody miserable. Cut loose and spill, Scinnari; you'll feel better afterward.

And if it turns out that she still loves her old boyfriend more than us... well, so what? That just means that Scinnari, like so many other parts of our hoard, belonged to someone else once. But now she's ours, and will be forever, even if she remembers him with more fondness. We didn't command that she give us her greatest love; we commanded that she give us her devotion. As long as we have that, I'll be satisfied whether she loves us or not.

>>14390183
I'd say no to asking her if she loves us more than her former lover at this point. I mean, really guys? In this emotionally vulnerable a state? But yes, comforting her is a big yes.

Pssh. Don't let the crystal play you like that.

But yeah, it totally knows if she unbound the demons, because she would have known. Get a straight answer to that. If they are rampaging about then we need to hit hard and soon.

"FAR too obvious, crystal. It doesn't matter if she loves me more, all that matters is ME. Considering the treatment he gave her, I'm quite certain I care for her more than he ever did. And I'm quite certain we'll last longer. Perhaps as a result."

Laugh at the crystal, chide it for its foolish attempts to tug on our nonexistant heartstrings.

We need not her love, only her loyalty.

>>14390229
I also think it's too soon to bring up the topic of love openly and that we should go talk to her, but her emotionally vulnerable state works for us rather than against us IMO.

>>14390229
I didn't actually mean that we should ask directly if she loves us more; as we've discussed, ultimately that's a trivial question with an irrelevant answer. I was just pointing out our logic for why it doesn't matter, should it come up during the course of what I would HOPE would be Scinnari telling us something for a change instead of keeping everything that she actually gives about so damned secret all the time. It's starting to get annoying.

>>14390242
For now at least. In the end we'll have both her love and her loyalty, because that's just how we roll.

>>14390262
If I read; 'Scinnari bows her head, "Yes, lord."' with no personality or commentary one more goddamn time...

>>14390242
>>14390183
I disagree with both of you, in that love can be a powerful element of loyalty. We should try to get both. It just won't do to have any part of her possessed by another, on that I think we are all agreed.

>>14390242
I wouldnt mind some love

>>14390027
>Does she love you more than she loved Aleksander? Can she ever?
"At this point? Probably not, Watcher. But you already knew that.

For the future? Of course she can, but you knew that too."

>>14390356
This. This is our answer to that smug, glorified chunk of rock.

>>14390356
YES!
Tell that insufferable piece of crystal off!

>>14390376
It's actually pretty good answer. I don't mind if we say that. Make it so that the crystal sees it can't fluster us.

“At this point, I doubt it, Watcher. We both know that. For the future, though? Of course she can. But we both knew that too, didn't we?” you answer calmly, struck by the inanity of defending your attachment to one of your possessions to another. The crystal does not reply.

“Still, if you keep this up, I might decide to make your new storage location somewhere more secure. At a guess, I don't think you'd like being sealed in solid rock.” you add once you're certain the crystal has gone silent, “Now answer clearly: Did she release her demons? You know; Answer.”

“Ah, the bold threats. By all means, feel free.” The crystal replies nastily. “You are no more different from what you were made to be than I am. Yes, she did banish them. That works for your benefit, of course, not that you know. So long as you move against her in the next two and a half months, you will catch them unawares, barring accidental discovery.”

“Accidental discovery of /what/?” you demand.

“She summoned the demons and bound them to certain task. They were then sealed away where they were bound, to prevent them from talking initiates into freeing them, or from allowing accident to break their binding circles. They will check on them, barring change of their procedure, or, say, accidental discovery that their wards, interdictions, and primary magical defenses are non-functional, in eighty three days.”

You stare at the crystal, waiting for some further attack, but it remains silent. Satisfied, you teleport out and, after a brief spell of concentration to trace her choker, set off after her. You catching up to her after a few minutes; She's walking briskly through the tunnels, head down, watching the ground. You match paces with her next to her, and she looks up after a few moments.

“Lord? Do you want something?”

>>14390356
Follow it up with:
"And now tell me something that I know you know; you were there as she died. Did the summoner banish her demons, or are they rampaging through the order's base?"

"I hate to have to remind you, but remember that one of the impertinent rock's few joys left in it's life is causing chaos. When it's answers are perfectly tuned to get an emotional response, those answers are subject to scrutiny."

>>14390440
>“Lord? Do you want something?”
Victory sex!
... Also, any other objectives left for you in the Grey Wastes?
Finally, you know how that crystal likes to screw with your emotions. Try to ignore it. It did say something unusual, but it was probably just trying to introduce strife between you and I, my jewel. I threatened to sink it into the volcano, and that shut it up.

>>14390440
Ask her if she wants to do something romantic - go and torture a small village, then sell their souls to the hells, stitched together as one monstrous abomination of spirits.

Ask what she knows about the cult so we can plan an assault.

And since everyone in the cult will use infernal sorts of magics, we could probably fashion devices to protect the Lizardmen from them - and then use the Lizardmen as shock troopers.

>>14390440
I think the general feeling was to assure Scinnari that we value her honesty, and try to comfort her.

Also, I'm not sure if the Watcher was toying with us when it said that the Vale only *believed* she was the one responsible for Scinnari's fall. Well, of course Vale would have believed such; especially if it were true. It might just be using subtle word changes to make us go down incorrect paths.

>>14390440
"Indeed, two things. First, the crystal waited until you were gone to speak further. It said your nemesis believed she was responsible, implying that she was not. I trust that by this point, though, you know to take anything it does not explicitly state as a lie.

Second, I wished to walk with you, should you find it amicable. By all means, continue, but perhaps at a slower pace."

Just walk with her in silence for a while, then start up a conversation on something complicated and unrelated, like the laws of baator. Get her mind off of it gradually. Before we're done, however, make sure we tell her that we will not press her for answers now, but we do wish to know eventually. When she is ready to speak, or when we need to know, whichever comes first.

>>14390440
"I want many things. Chief among them, at the moment, I wish for you to be less troubled than you are."

Try to get her to talk to us for a change, instead of hiding everything that she's actually feeling and only letting it out when she's totally losing it. That's not good for her skill, her reliability, or her heart. She needs some serious therapy, and no one else is going to be giving it to her.

>>14390588
>giving therapy to devils.

We are the best dragon ever.

>>14390626
Disciple of Azaladon, Red Dragon Prestige Class:
Skill Focus (Devil Procurement) +10
Skill Focus (Devil Seduction) +10
Skill Focus (Devil Romance) +10
Skill Focus (Devil Marriage) +10

>>14390644
Skill Focus (Half-Devil Rearing) +10

>>14390579
>>14390582
>>14390588
I like these. I also second pointing out to her when we tell her that of course she would have believed she was behind Scinnari's fall if it were true, and remind her of how the Watcher has twisted things in the past.

Instead of discussing devil politics I suggest we hold hands and walk around talking about Azyra's Debutante Party. We still need her opinion on a lot of that and it's a pleasant, complex topic that will take her mind off the current subject.

But yeah, if she's willing to talk about her past now that takes priority, and if not we need to make sure to tell her that we want to hear about it before this is all over, but she can take her time with it.

Hey, Writer Dude. Can the Binder just wipe us clean? Please? Azaladon the great.. will simply cease to exist, and we can rebuild our power in a lair full of gems and bits and pieces. And there will be no.
more.
fucking.
Waifu.

>>14390716
Except we'll still have waifu fags who will shit themselves over the next semi-agreeable female npc.

>>14390762
Jesus fucking christ. "Let's walk around and hold hands with a devil and talk about our daughter's ball!"

>>14390799
She wants a pony.

We aim to deliver. SUMMON THE DIRE UNICORN!

>>14390816
Fiendish dire unicorn.

>>14390839
IN FULL BARDING!

>>14390853
The barding is now diamonds!

>>14390862
>>14390853
>>14390839
>>14390816
blackmageerection.jpg

>>14390871
Your erection is now diamonds!

>>14390886
...
...
...
Owie.

>>14390886
So it's the hardest erection known to man? I'm okay with this.

Do something romantic like torture Cygnis some more.

Come in as Cibach, looking wounded and emaciated, assuring her that you just managed to escape barely from the dungeon where they had you chained up and tortured.

Once she bites Scinarri comes in and taunts her and you both laugh.

>>14390939

Say they keep you around so they can use the crystal, apologize that they... used you... to read into her mind.

>>14390939
Or better yet, fake kills him.

Then when she flips out, get up and start laughing.


...but no, don't do this. Funny as it is, it serves no real purpose. Yet.

>>14390951
Yes, definately. That'd be hilarious. Break her spirit.

>>14390951
That's rich.

Then have victory sex in front of her.

But yeah, we might want to save it for later if not. Not for too long, though. It's just that torturing the one she thinks is a threat sounds like a good way to reaffirm our stance on Scinnari.

>>14390971
At the unfortunate cost of screwing up the potential plans to turn Cygnis into a mobile dinosaur artillery platform crewed by our scaly servants. SKINS, FUCK YEAH!

>>14390989

Nah, we already blew that during the second phase of taunting. Now the only way to turn her into anything more than hoard furniture is by good and proper torture/mindfuck, which Scinnari can nominally deliver but not right now, when she's still too unstable.

I bet once we're done with the cult and the paladins she can get around to that, if we still feel like it.

>>14390989

Binding. But we need to apply mindfuckery beforehand to ensure to get over abject hate.

>>14390989
*Skinks.

>>14391012
Precisely, hence moving now will likely scew things up for us.

>>14391026
We can mess with her so much she doesn't know if she loves us or hates us.

>>14391059
I'm okay with this.

>>14390951
Wait. We could do it then teleport out the moment it was over. She'd be sitting there, doubting her own sanity.

>>14391180
Now THAT'S a good reason to go through with this!

Hour and a half, WD. Come on.

Thinking of all sorts of shit we could to to make poor Cygnis start believing she's insane.

We could dress up a zombie like our Cibach alter ego, just have it stand around the room, and when there, act like it doesn't even exist. Bonus points if we can find a spell that lets us phase through matter and we walk through it a couple times.

>>14391337
ha! i like the way you think!

>>14391337
Better! An illusion that positively reeks of undeath - and happens to be a vampire. Tell them we were raised as one by Orcus, who is an ally of Scinarri for some reason - and that it's all Cyggy's fault. Why did she damn us like this?

>>14391337
EXTRA bonus points if we can make it invisible when it is being directly observed, so it can only be seen in the corner of your eye and such.

We could also do her brother up the same way
and some of the mortal friends she had in the church

>>14391363
I prefer the mindfuckery that has less direct interaction, personally.

>>14391371
>>14391337
Perhaps a voice that speaks to her when she's alone, damning her for betraying [her brother, Cibach, Arman, whatever], and abandoning them to such a horrible fate.

Make her terrified of being left alone.

The zombie thing kinda works, actually. Plus, it adds another layer of hoard protection in the unlikely case of someone finding our stash.

>>14391371
>magnificent bastard.jpg

>>14391337
>>14391363
>>14391371
>>14391375
>>14391396
>>14391397

/tg/ sometimes, you frighten me. And I'm perfectly fine with that. Stay classy friends.

Okay, so we rig up an illusion on the senses. One of an undead rendition of Cibach first, standing there. Repugnant to all her senses, but unmistakably Cibach.

The first day we visit her, ignore the illusion entirely. Claim to not see it. Maybe even wave our hand through it as proof.

It just stands there, staring at her unblinkingly. Swaying slightly, breathing. But not reacting to anything.

The second day, it begins to speak. Softly at first, while she's asleep. On the edge of consciousness. It asks her "Why? Why did you do this to me? I loved you" etc. etc.

The next day, it disappears. It stays gone for an entire week.
But then, while she's sleeping, it comes back. And this time her brother is there too, done up in the same fashion. Asking the same questions. Blaming her, accusing her. Nothing she does makes them go away - until finally we arrive. Our very presence seems to make them less real the closer we get to her. She'll begin to crave our presence out of fear, and then we can begin to foster that.

Every time we leave, more show up. More people she knew. More accusations. More terror. They come, they go. She's never sure when they'll be there. She becomes too terrified to sleep, terrified that if she looks away for even a moment, they'll be back.


Step one for how to break a dragon.

The first of many, many steps.

>>14391397
Would need to be a fake zombie tho, our devilish mistress doesn't like undead.

>>14391337

This isn't going to help break her.

She's not stupid, and we've given her enough time to know she's not crazy; just filled with regret. We start pulling these shenanigans and she's bound to notice we're just dicking around with her- and that will raise her resistance against us getting to her through every-other means at our disposal, as well as give her a measure of personal satisfaction and power through seeing through our 'ruse'.

So no. We have to play this straight. She's not going to 'break' like that.

Oh god. Sympathy enchantments stack, don't they?

Cast it on ourselves. After she's wearing the dress, after everything else, cast it on ourself. Occasionally find reason to touch her, (accidentally, enraging her into attempting to attack us, etcetera.), let her notice... And wait for her to to slowly get inured to the others, (possibly assisted by our canceling them slowly, one by one,) until our presence is the only thing that gives her pleasure.

We could always run these ideas by Scinnari and see what she thinks.

>>14391490
She approves of all of them, because they are all negative towards Cygnis.

>>14391490
You mean "We could always run these ideas by WD and see if they actually have a chance of working."

>>14391466
hmmm.... interesting... subtle, yet could be very effective... my only problem with it would be the time involved, but hey, stockholm's syndrome doesn't develop overnight, amirite?

>>14391504
Actually, it does.

I like the idea of the zombies of people she knew, just, standing around for hours on end, silently judging her with their cold dead eyes while unable to be seen directly.

Shit, we're going to have to do this at some point. But first we troll with the sudden death and disappearance trick.

>>14391421
I would strongly prefer to avoid relying upon things other than our own words, albeit enchantment-strengthened, and the circumstances of her prison to break Cygnis. The sympathy things, fine; those are gradually boosting her self-loathing and accustoming her to being a prisoner. Something like playing around with illusions of dead people, though... that's just getting silly and trying to drive her mad without direction. And she's not silly enough to fall for it- at least, not until she reaches the point that she's so unstable that we wouldn't need it anyway.

>>14391534
Plus, you know, bangin' Scinnari in front of her. Perhaps while she silenced and paralyzed, so all she can do is watch. If that doesn't make Scinnari viciously, sadistically happy, I dont' know what iwll.

“I most likely do not have to remind you, but feel I should, that sowing chaos is one of the few things the artifact delights in.” you observe. “Not only does it twist it's words both to hurt and mislead. It's words are deliberately edged, and only vaguely true. For instance, after you had left, it qualified that she only /believed/ herself responsible, and was not. Again, though, it's obviously doing it's best to confuse and obfuscate the issue.” She does not respond, remaining silent, and you follow along the same.

“What do you want?” Scinnari repeats at length.

“Among many other things, for you to be less troubled. Less paranoid, less worried. Scinnari, I understand your... reticence, but it's hardly necessary here. In Baator, in Malbolge, you hid your feelings. If a superior was embarking on something foolish, you allowed her to do so, and would hope that it leads to her downfall so you can take her place. If her foolishness would lead you into risk, you attempt to dissuade her. If someone attacks you, you do not show weakness, except to lure in your enemies. You /never/ show it to your allies- It's a tool to control you or a weapon to use against you, and such power over you cannot be permitted.” You pause, and continue walking in silence, allowing your words to sink in. After a few seconds, you continue.

“But you aren't. You are my chief consort and trusted right hand- I care about you. I want you to be happy- While I wish I could curb your secretive nature, and perhaps your jealousy- It's occasionally endearing- You are mine and I would wish you no harm. Likewise, how could I possibly replace you?” you pause again, watching her face out of the corner of your eye. A bitter scowl flashes over her face, and is gone. “Ah. I assure, you, they would /not/ replace you. However you thought of, the obvious fact remains that I don't love them as I love you, or they are not as capable or loyal as you are. I can provide further elaboration, should you desire it.”. Again, you continue in silence. You find her slowing, and you slightly coming in to the lead. You take a small gamble, attempting to steer the course when you reach the next junction in the tunnel. A moment's hesitation, but she follows. You continue in silence, leading towards you lair. You do, however, halt short of it, gesturing to the bubbling pools on either side of the entrance. Scinnari again hesitates, but accedes, joining you within the larger one. You bask for a moment in the boiling heat and strong currents, and after a few minutes she seems to as well.

“Scinnari...” you whisper, moving over to sit on the pool's shelf beside her. “It is rarely healthy to keep anything secret from everyone. I think... before we complete their eradication.... I will have to ask that you tell me.” Scinnari flinches away at your words, and starts to rise.

“I... With your permission, my lord, I wish to be alone.” Scinnari say impassively, moving to exit the pool. You twist your tail out of the water, barring her exit, preventing her departure.

“I cannot give you that.” you answer, “As I said, I do not need it now. But I hope... I wish... That perhaps you can find it in you to trust me. But for the moment... If you can allow it, I wish merely for your company.” Scinnari shivers under your tail, but does not resist, sitting again beside you. After a few minutes she shifts, leaning slightly on your flank, and you silently curl your tail around her.

“She...” Scinnari begins, and you do not react, allowing her to continue. “Was one of many. She... the cabal summoned demons, launched raids on the surrounding region. Mortals... are not prepared, not capable, of combating demonic hordes. Those few that might have posed a threat were scattered, isolated, outnumbered. Outposts... Towns... Villages.... Small cities were sacked, put to the torch. Their souls taken, disappearing from the earth, the hells, eaten or captured, dragged to the abyss.” She shivers, despite the boiling heat of the water and air, and almost glances at you before looking back down, continuing.

“Aleksander... The name she mentioned... was a prince of a small kingdom. He should not have survived, he should not have been bold enough to face the demonic hordes, he... Nevertheless, he did.” Scinnari continues, struggling to continue. In a way, your listening silence is worse than if you were encouraging her, or demanding she continue. She takes a few deep breaths, and manages to start again.

“He allowed it, on the condition that we would not be able to return. I did... not know why, nor did anyone else, but it seemed a worthwhile price to pay, to oppose such... 'evil'. I agreed, and was banished to the Prime. What I would do afterwards... I didn't know. No... I thought I would be allowed to return, or I would become a servant of His, a cleric on the Prime.” her voice twist in agonized bitterness, but still you do not interrupt. At length, she manages to continue again.

“We... managed to stall the damage, oppose it, but not halt it. We could fly, we could meet the demons with equal powers, if not equal numbers, and with... with us visibly backing Sash- Aleksander, other kingdoms, principalities, they stood a chance.”

Her story drifts on, and you listen silently. She slowly fell in love with him, and he her. It continued to grow, despite their being forced backward, unable to do anything but give lives and ground. Eventually, he was granted a vision of this artifact- Some titanic piece of abyssal magic that allowed users to summon far more than they should be able to do so by themselves. Obviously, it was necessary to destroy the device, but to do so entailed a certain fatal cost- Like any true servant of Hieroneous, the good prince refused to delegate such a task, even at the cost of his own life. She implored her god, to no avail, to command him to stay, to shield him from harm should he do so, anything...

I like how Azaladon always sounds so insincere whenever he's not pretending and/or threatening, regardless of his intentions.

He set on on his quest, and her lord commanded that she not go along. She could not obey, to see his last moments... To abandon him to his fate-! She refused, denouncing Hieroneous for not taking a more active role in the matter, and so on. A tragic descent, as she bitterly comments, one that undoubtedly is preserved on stage somewhere. And in the end, Hieroneous would not answer her, would not even acknowledge her, as if she had fallen too far to even be worth his notice. Likewise, Aleksander did not believe her, for she had lied, stolen... Her blackened wings, her loss of sanctity seemed to be a final confirmation of her betrayal, her masquerade as his ally, and he refused her.

But Jezirba... Found her. Ashen wings, no holy powers, no god to serve. Jezirba found her, and pointed out how there was an alternative. She could continue as she had been, opposing the armies of chaos. She could gain back powers, powers greater than those she had lost, perhaps even regain his love... or gain vengeance upon him for his betrayal. Even cast out of the heavens as she was, she refused. She would not deny the temptation, but she would not give in to it. Until... Jezirba finally managed to prove it to her. Hieroneous had set her up, to be face with an impossible choice, he had know how she would choose... All because a mortal prince was a greater follower than an angel of celestia.

.

.

[Alright, this is about it for the night. I'll be around for a little while longer, but no more Posts are forthcoming. Sorry for keeping you all here so late (or, if you're West coast like me, early.)]

>>14391694
This story is entirely unsurprising and largely old news. Dammit, I was hoping for actual reasons that Scinnari would be so vulnerable to reminders. I am left with little in the way of emotional curative powers other than the line "get over it", which is unlikely to be effective.

Well, with that out of the way let's go torture Cygnis, next time.

[Not to diss your writing, but we kinda knew all of that already so eeeeh... lost its punch]

I'm for ending it here. Things I'd like to concentrate on for next thread:

- Paladin order. Hunt them down, exterminate them. Preferably swiftly and brutally.
- Break Cygnis a bit further.
- Azyra's ball, blah blah blah.
- Continue investigations into those spies from the United Cities or wherever they were from.
- As discussed in chat, look into researching and developing a copy of the Mindrape spell. This can be used to help our mind games with captives, create quick-and-easy loyal servants, remove the memory of us from the minds of others if we need to, many other things on top of that, but perhaps primarily, we wouldn't need Watcher/Spinel ever again.
- Possibly look into summoning and binding other servants via calling them through Planar Binding and the like. We've seen how effective Farandas can be (and I think we still have a wish left from him, too), so having at least a familiarity with such beings, if not outright alliances/deals, would be of great help.
- Track down Lorekeeper. This is the big one. I really, really want to hunt this guy down. We've been continually distracted by Scinnari's woes for a couple of threads now, and while I'm not against a certain degree of side issues regarding her, I'd like to keep it in the background for a bit rather than front-and-center.

>>14391694
Let's go eat a few clerics of Hieroneous. I hate waifu quest, but that's a fairly royally dickish thing. A bit like Lucifer, actually.

Let's go eat a LOT of clerics of Hieroneous.

ALL THE CLERICS.

All right. On Scinnari: She really needs to get over this. She's been nursing this grudge, dreaming of her past, for a solid four centuries. That's getting ridiculous. I understand that she didn't have a lot else going for her when she was hanging in the hells, but guess what? She's practically a queen now! Life is good! Time to stop moping about what's lost. We'll help her with slaughtering everyone she wants to kill from her past, sure. But she'd damn well start living in the now. She has a daughter now, and a master to whom she has sworn her devotion. Neither of us benefit from her staying emotionally wound up about these long-lost issues. She can get a little bit of closure through violence, but really, she shouldn't even need it; she should just throw herself at her new life and let the past get washed away as meaningless.


Torturing Cygnis is fine for next time, but we should really be focusing on the basics- abuse, inflicting sensations of guilt and helpless on her through words, convincing her that she deserves to be a prisoner- rather than trying for flashy gimmicks like apparent hallucinations through illusions and acting. Those are just ridiculous, and even with her mind clouded Cygnis is still powerful enough that she might see through them.

>>14392030

Don't care that much about Azyra's event, but make preparations for some international and domestic backlash as described earlier in the thread. And also for people that we invite here to be shocked and even revolted- which Azyra will take an emotional blow from. So that will need some guarding against.


We should attempt to track down all the other Bound that we know of with our spies. I fail to see the downside to knowing where any and all of them are.


Prepare to exterminate the demon cult as described earlier; we should have some time, but there's no sense wasting it. Get everything that Watcher has on their operations- press for this- and attempt to annihilate as many of them as possible in heavy-handed strikes. Eliminate them entirely before moving on to the paladins; send infiltrators to the paladins in the meantime as previously discussed in this thread.


Once the demons are gone, THEN we'll exterminate all the paladin types. We might have to call in additional assets to manage that efficiently, but I'm sure we'll be able to handle it. External assassin contractors, what have you. We can work out the details once we get to the time.

>>14392030
I'll agree that she needs to get over it, but I can kind of understand. She's gone from eternal joy and perfection to (literally,) hell. For all we know divine or immortal beings like her have perfect memories, or their memories never fade, or, hell, they could just feel emotions much stronger than we possibly can.

That said, yeah, she should get over it. Perhaps torturing Cygnis will help remind her to live in the present, not past.

>>14392040
Backlash is easy to manage. All we have to do is start spreading the stories of how as a sorcerer-king, we are in fact descended from dragons in addition to our great magical powers. Maybe imply the same sort of thing about Scinnari. Thus, we can argue that Azyra looks different because of magical power + draconic heritage on both sides of the family, which just happens to have combined.

Weeeeeeeeell..... We always have options....

Specifically, it'd probably be pretty easy to mindrape Cygnis into loving us thoroughly, and replace Scinnari with her. The sort of utter horror Scinnari seems to have at the thought of being replaced (particularly as Azyra's mother) is kind of... delicious. But I'm probably being too evil

>>14392217
No. Cygnis is a tool, and if the enchantment is broken then we'd be well and truly screwed. Scinnari already has our trust.

>>14392247
But if she took Scinnari's place, our right hand, she would not be very likely to have her enchantment broken.

Well, maybe we should save it in case Scinnari ever betrays us again, but here are the specifics of what we could do:

Scinnari and Cygnis switch places. Cygnis is mindraped [spell] into thinking that she loves us, we seduced her and turned her to The Dark Side (tm), and she's our willing consort (and inferior). Most of that could probably play off of her current mind- She did love us, and she does realize she's our inferior,at the moment. Cygnis is gold, so could use shapeshifting to assume Scinnari's form, and Scinnari is kept forever mute and chained to our throne.

Spelling it out, I'm actually pretty okay with this, though we'd need a pretty huge betrayal to justify it. Wouldn't have to deal with Scinnari's BS anymoer, though.

>>14392316
...

No. You're missing the point. In Scinnari, we have a capable consort for who the chance of betrayal does not rest on an enchantment. I'm willing to put up with jealousy and some bitchiness in exchange for that. Trust and loyalty is what you should be after, not a fucking gold dragon. We're a RED. Has forty-two threads not been enough to get that across?

And on top of that, we don't betray our daughter. Nor will we have any need of contingencies in the event of a betrayal by Scinnari, either, because we just went through a side quest to get practically everybody except GLASYA HERSELF to say "hands off" as far as Scinnari's orders and mission goes. And if an archduke of Hell decides to take a personal interest, then we've fucked up in more ways than just this.

>>14391694
Is there something she's still holding back here? Why so much anger directed at Vale? Has she really spent so much time brooding about her one sided love and fall from grace that her anger and hate has festered to the point that she considers everyone remotely involved with the event to be worthy of torture and death and then more torture in the hells? It's going to be impossible for her to get over this if that's the case, and it could make her something of a liability in situations dealing with her past.

we should have a night of reckoning. after observing the remaining cult we should destroy them in one night. Leave no survivors to escape and continue the cult or warn others. bonus points if no witnesses. Let it be as if they whole cult vanished from the face of the earth. Leaving those who notice to speculate what force they angered for such a swift and utter destruction.

We can ask Scinnari what she wants to do after the demon cult is annihilated. She seems so bent on this task she may feel without purpose after she finishes her task.

Not sure if we can but we could try to slowly try to get Scinnari to get over her past. Ideally try to get rid of some of her bad habits she picked up from hell namely the paranoia of being replaced.

>thread over
>no andthentherewassilence.jpg
accidental slip or plot clue?

paranoia++;

>>14392511
>We can ask Scinnari what she wants to do after the demon cult is annihilated.

Better to ask her how she wants the demon cult annihilated. It's obvious that killing Vale was wholly unsatisfying for her. If we'd been better prepared we could have trapped Vales soul and let Scinnari take it apart at her leisure. We should make sure we know of the members of the cult she would want to receive extra attention and be ready to ensure that even death is not an escape.

Ugh, I go to sleep and people actually start saying Cygnis would be half as useful and awesome as Scinnari to have around? For shame. And all her jealousy and hangups are what we are currently working to resolve.

Scinnari consort is best consort. She has been more of a boon to us than any other being in the story, Cygnis included.

>>14392511
>Not sure if we can but we could try to slowly try to get Scinnari to get over her past.
I was under the impression this was the entire point of the whole exercise. Help her get over her past, secure her love and loyalty in the future.

>>14392511
Not only wipe out the cult, but we should strip their headquarters of anything of value. I'd consider adding it to our hoard, but the potential danger of such items might require that they be stored in a secured vault.

I fully expect that wiping the cult and the paladins won't give Scinnari any solace and she'll finally realize she has to get over it hereself.

>>14395121
I don't know. If it somehow leads to a confrontation with Alex (or his spirit /w new celestial lover optional) then catharsis is a definite possibility. Especially if we are there to help her think through it at the time.

>>14396276
>confrontation with Alex
>he sees what she's become and who she serves now
>curses her from beyond the grave
>catatonic Scinnari
let's just hope it doesn't come to that. . .

>>14396381
>implying he would be able to do so without counterspells fucking his shit up, or break enchantment loling at the curse

>>14396381
My biggest fear would be that it turns out to just be some eff-huge misunderstanding, and they have the option to live happily ever after. Which would be bad for us.