
The people of Dry Gulch gawked and whispered as a procession of guards led a succubus in the direction of Siress Vandyss' office. Kanae couldn't help but feel like a criminal caught by authorities. Only recently did she repel Jhene and Elaine, but it wasn't as if the people knew them face. They knew only whispers. Still, she was an outsider. A foreigner, whose appearance and manner of speech more so than that of her race, looked like she could only have come from the north. Savir's isolationist attitude had left many wary and ignorant of anything not Saviran. Hopefully, the city's mayor was more learned than their people.
A crescent administrative building loomed over Kanae from the end of the plaza, its glowing whitestone gleaming with gentle light. Clerks paused to get a gander of the succubus surrounded by guards, only to hurry off upon recalling they had work to do. Kanae and her escort strolled over the mosaic of a coiled black serpent in the ground, made from tiles of whitestone, jewels, and painted over for a matte finish.
The guard captain kindly opened the door to allow Kanae in, but the rest of his fellows stood at attention for half a second before dispersing. They didn't follow her in, but the centaur officer did. She didn't know what to expect inside, especially not a fleet of administrative clerks scribbling into parchments behind their desks. Hundred quills scratched against dry paper.
Everyone was too diligently engrossed in writing. From a quick glance, she made out names, numbers, inventory of goods, and more. Unlike the people outside, no one person looked up from their work to look at Kanae as she passed them. One piercing look did make the hair on the back of her neck stand. She lifted her gaze to the second floor and found a female lamia in her late 30s, leaning against the bannister. The woman bowed her head courteously and turned around.
By the time Kanae and the guard captain reached the second floor, the lamia woman was gone. He escorted her down a hallway laid with a beautiful, exceedingly long crimson rug with golden tassels on the sides.
"Siress Vandyss, I have brought the succubus as you requested!" The guard captain announced and didn't seem to dare knock on the door.
"The succubus may enter. You may leave," a husky yet feminine voice answered from within.
Even though Siress Vandyss couldn't see, the centaur man performed a deferential bow at the door. He urged Kanae not to keep the mayor waiting and left the way they came. She smelled fragrant fumes coming from inside. As soon as Kanae opened the door, a wave of gas burst out and a sweet herbal scent filled her nostrils.
When the smoke cleared, Kanae laid eyes on a large bedchamber furnished with such extravagance to rival an Ortesian lord. Whitestone busts, which she only recognized as Savir's sultans past and present by Sultana Dudula's likeness, sat on pedestals near the ceiling in recesses within the wall. Instead of a bed or frame, a giant round cushion rested on the floor at the center of the room, currently without its occupant.
Siress Vandyss Ounara, Mayor of Dry Gulch, laid leisurely on the ground. The entire length of her red and black banded serpentine body unwound in a half-circle around a waterpipe, which she held one arm of the instrument between thin smiling lips. She was clad in an extremely long red robe designed for someone of her race but clashed against dark brown skin. Emerald trinkets adorned her frilly obsidian hair.
"Join me, will you? This particular cultivar is my favorite," Siress Vandyss insisted in a heavier Saviran accent than most.
Kanae took a seat on a cushion across from Vandyss and grabbed a pipe resting on a notched golden stand. She raised it up to her lips, hesitated after noticing the siress staring, and finally taking a long and deep drag. A pleasant feeling unlike any from when she smoked in The Diamond and Bravost spread through Kanae's body.
"You like? I only bring this out for important guests, so I try to invite ones of repute as often as possible." Vandyss smiled widely.
"Let's get straight to the point. Why did you ask me to visit you?" Kanae asked.
"Ah! Anyone could mistake you for Saviran with such a straightforward attitude. If only you weren't a succubus, whose race should be dead for centuries now. You wish me to be frank?" Her tail twitched and creeped an inch closer to Kanae, but not in a threatening gesture… more inviting, whether or not the owner realized it. "You and your friends are strangers here in Dry Gulch. On the very same day you arrived, you plundered the depths of the Under Roads and two more of your kind seized the minds of my people. Granted, you did battle each other and came out the victor. How can I be sure this isn't a ploy to get into my good graces? How can I be sure you don't intend to do the same as they in time? They say trust is a two-way street, but I see it as a single road where we approach from opposite ends. Can we count on each other not to backstab once our backs are turned, to step aside to let the other through, or will we barrel through like brutish bulls and butt heads?"
Kanae was beginning to understand what kind of person Vandyss was. Paranoid, just like Sultana Dudula. She had been given a chance to earn the siress' trust, but had to figure out herself how. Only one thing came to mind. Sighing, Kanae reached into her bag and pulled out Cockcalibur. She placed the sex toy in an empty golden bowl.
"You… have decided to show me your pleasure-maker?" Vandyss cocked her head quizzically.
"NO!" Kanae groaned and turned red. "It's a powerful weapon. Watch."
Wielding Cockcalibur, Kanae willed the artifact to transform into the many different penises that had their way with her in the past. In fact, seeing them again was getting her in the mood…
"A-Anyway, the two succubi we fought off were Jhene and Elaine, daughters of Queen-Mother Zariah, and followers of the Cult of Lust and Depravity. They were after this and sacked the Emerald Palace for the keys to it. Archmage Donnu asked me to retrieve whatever relic we find here and keep it from their hand. The Dervish Five also attacked but for a different reason," Kanae explained.
"What?" Vandyss gasped in fright. "The Emerald Palace, attacked? And the sultana?"
"Safe. She's probably a lot more paranoid than before, if that's possible." She recalled their poor first meeting despite saving the palace."
Vandyss breathed a sigh of relief. She puffed a few times from the waterpipe in quick succession as though to drown out her worries.
"It must be strange, yes?" Vandyss began with the pipe still in her mouth. "That there are those who can be so loyal to Sultana Dudula despite the paranoid mess she has become. Before I became Siress of Dry Gulch, I was a humble and lowly member of East Saviran Trading Company. I bred ronoas for traveling merchants. In order to kickstart my business, I needed capital. Feed and stables get expensive, you know? No one cared for a small trader with a copper token. One day, I chanced upon the sultana and her royal guard in the desert. They were on their way back to Bravost from The Diamond. Two of their ronoas had perished from dehydration. I gladly offered two healthy ones of mine, at no cost. Like the benevolent leader she was, the sultana compensated me for twenty times their worth! She could have taken them from me by force. Gods know the Harpy King would."
"Sounds like the sultana used to be a great leader." Kanae mused aloud, contrasting Vandyss' image with the now frazzled woman she saw at the palace.
The lamia took the pipe out of her mouth and tapped her lips. "Very well. Perhaps you can be trusted. This is not something I can trust adventurers with. But you have already discovered the Under Roads and taken its plunder. Archmage Donnu has ordered me not to allow these roads to be collapsed. He believes the paths underneath Dry Gulch may lead directly to the Mutt of Avanesse' domain, and that we can use it to our advantage."
"What's so special about an Under Roads passage to Avanesse? Can't you travel easier on the surface?"
"No." She shook her head. "Dry Gulch is the edge of Sultana Dudula's sovereignty. Any farther west and the Mutt will sniff us out. Worse, Avanesse has seemed to grow… volatile as of late. There have been sightings of more than just the two succubi you faced. But if this road can safely lead us across, we may possibly use it to strike a blow. To that end, I would like to hire your services. As adventurers. Chart the Under Roads, find a way through the other end, and report back to me."
For such an undertaking, Kanae asked Siress Vandyss for time to confer with her companions. The mayor of Dry Gulch gave them a whole month to think about it. They clearly weren't in a hurry.
Claudia and Alicia were awake by the time Kanae returned to the tavern. Edina had returned, too, with pockets bulging from all the coins she won. When Kanae explained exactly what Vandyss had told her, only Petyr and Renya had strong feelings on the matter.
"If it were up to me, Kanae, I'd go straight to Elusis instead. You're trying to find Red, ain't ya? I also have a score to settle with the Harpy King. It might have been my father's dealings, but a Rown can't let any business go unfinished," Renya said.
"I disagree," Petyr interjected sharply. "Your petty debts can wait. Avanesse and the Cult of Lust and Depravity have proven themselves the greater threat. We've dealt Jhene and Elaine a harsh blow, and they must be reeling. We go straight to this Mutt, as they call him, and finish them off. Afterwards, we can give our full attention to the Harpy King."
"Anyone else want to chime in?" Kanae tried to open the floor to the rest of her companions, but they shrugged.
"I'm only with Petyr just so I can grind my foot into Jhene and Elaine again. I won't complain if we go the other way though," Claudia explained, and Alicia nodded in agreement.
"I'll go wherever leads me closer to the Necronomicon. But since we got no leads, I'm just gonna play follow the leader." Edina waved an uninterested hand.
"Well… since I need those keys, I cast my vote for Avanesse!" Kris exclaimed.
All eyes turned to the eccentric explorer who had invited herself into the Amethyst Hall's business.
"To Avanesse then," Kanae decided the final vote. "But before we go, I want to return to Bravost to inform Archmage Donnu and get his help with possibly contacting Aidenhall. The rest of you can stay here if you don't want to travel through the desert again. I won't be long."
Edina perked up and said, "I'm coming with!"
"As will I. If Riley is still in the city, I want to speak with her again." Petyr rose to her feet.
Claudia, Alicia, Renya, and Kris elected to stay put in Dry Gulch to await their return, and in case Jhene and Elaine decided to attack again.
The journey back to Bravost was fraught with boredom and bickering between Kanae's two companions, whose arguments once again stemmed from the Necronomicon. All was well in the Emerald Jewel of Savir. By the look of it, the Dervish Five hadn't attacked. They were possibly gone for now.
In the dead of night at the Ordane Museum, Kanae bullied Seif and Panner into calling Archmage Donnu away from the Emerald Palace. The dark elven mage wasn't happy about leaving the sultana's side, but brightened up upon seeing Kanae return from Dry Gulch. She explained everything that happened in the underground mining city, leaving no stone unturned for the sake of bridging an amicable friendship with Bravost's leadership.
"I see. I am glad things turned out well, despite how bad it could have gotten. You may keep the artifact, Kanae. I'm sure it is safer in your hands than ours after what happened at the palace. I also… do not want to lay a hand on that thing…" Donnu grimaced at the sight of Cockcalibur in her grasp.
"Good choice." Kanae grinned, returning it back to her 'sheath'.
"Siress Vandyss has quite the gall to task you with charting an expedition into the Under Roads. But she is a loyal servant of Bravost and is correct on the matter. We cannot allow these transgressions to continue. A strike at Avanesse is necessary, and so I sanction you to enter the Under Roads. You will not go alone though. Seif, Panner. You two shall accompany her. Put together a crew of trusted archaeologists and expendable goblin miners to join you," the archmage ordered.
"Yes sir!" Seif and Panner stood at attention, then bolted out of the office to do as instructed.
Expendable miners? This didn't sound like a simple expedition to chart underground passages anymore.
Kanae noticed Archmage Donnu's brows knitted tightly, like something had crossed his mind and bothered him deeply. He excused himself and was about to leave until she intercepted him from entering his portal.
"Before you go, I was hoping you can help me with something. I haven't been in contact with my superiors in a long time now. I don't suppose you have any magic that can help me get in touch with them?" Kanae asked.
"Right… It nearly slipped my mind that you are still outsiders…" Archmage Donnu squinted suspiciously at her but ultimately relented. "It is not in my power to do that. I'll need to gather some help first. Meet back here at night."
Until then, Kanae, Edina, and Petyr traveled into the bazaar to gather provisions for the expedition. They didn't want to go unprepared and starving. They never did find Riley or Dryoak Consortium members. The organization could be laying low after their last encounter. At one point, Petyr wandered off into the markets. Kanae and Edina couldn't find her until she randomly showed up near a vendor with a bag of Saviran hard candy.
The trio got their things and went back to the museum, where Archmage Donnu and a few robed spellcasters were waiting. All of the office furniture had been pushed up against the wall. Magical runes arranged in a triangular formation were drawn into the ground with some kind of powder or chalk. One of Donnu's people stood inside a circle at each point, channeling magic into the center triangle.
"Fascinating. A ritual combining multiple spells into a single point," Petyr said in awe.
"Hey, ritual magic! It's like that one time I constantly sent hordes of undead at the Ortesians with help." Edina bounced giddily after taking a shot at Petyr.
"You guys know what they're doing?" Kanae whispered.
"Yes, but only because I've witnessed attempts to. Not even the most magically-inclined houses of Ortesia could achieve this level of fine spellcasting," the high elf explained.
"You know of this ritual, Ortesian? Watch carefully what your kin cannot and marvel." Archmage Donnu smiled proudly at the three forging a localized veil of magic within the space inside the runes. "Now, Kanae. Step inside and picture the ones you wish to speak. A projection of yourself will be sent to them. I will be watching carefully in case you intend to plot Bravost's demise with your leaders."
Kanae took a deep breath and entered the triangle. Magic taken form tickled her skin. Tiny wisps flitted by, vanishing in and out of existence. She focused her mind on who to meet. Soon, Mitty and Titan were taking form. She quickly emptied her mind before showing everyone in the room her dirty thoughts. Archbishop Patrice Starbourne slowly came to mind.
Soon, a foggy and almost ghostly appearance of the high elven woman took shape. Patrice wasn't dressed in her archbishop regalia. Instead, a nightcap adorned her head. She wore a long and white nightgown that reached no farther than her ankles. The archbishop looked ready for bed, and she carried a big book with the title, Geological Wonders of Mount Suvius.
"Archbishop! Hey!" Kanae shouted.
"Huh— AHHHH!" Patrice turned around and jumped three feet into the air, throwing the book over her shoulder.
"It's me, Kanae. I'm contacting you with the help of some people in Bravost." She gestured over her shoulder to the spellcasters and Archmage Donnu.
Patrice's eyes clearly tracked the others in the office with disbelief, shock, and anxiousness in her eyes. She quickly recomposed herself and cleared her throat.
"A warning would have been nice! Ahem." Patrice put on a more polite and professional tone, which was in stark contrast to her bedtime appearance. "Archbishop of Radevic, Patrice Starbourne. Pleased to meet your acquaintances. I hope the Knight of Amethyst and her subjects have not misbehaved in Bravost. To whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
Donnu bowed deeply. "Archmage Donnu, my lady. I am her Majesty, Sultana Dudula's personal bodyguard and steward. May I commend your knight and her comrades. They thwarted an assassination attempt on my monarch's life, and for that I am eternally grateful. Would that we could meet under less tense circumstances, but please, I did not enact this spell to meet with you. It is Kanae who seeks your audience."
Kanae chewed her lower lip. Archbishop Patrice originally sent her here in hopes of subjugating Savir under the Commonwealth of Sin. Obviously, neither of them could mention that unless they wanted to provoke a war with Bravost right here and now. The other objective was to find the Knight of Red.
The archbishop's gaze turned expectantly at Kanae, awaiting her report.
"We're still searching for Red, but tell the Grand Eye to rest assured. We will find her. For now, we've found a tentative ally in Bravost. A civil war between them, Avanesse, and Elusis is starting to look inevitable. To make things worse, the Ortesians and the Cult of Lust and Depravity are siding with Avanesse. There's a good chance that entire country are cultists. Luckily, thanks to some help, we're staying one step ahead of them. I even got this!" Kanae showed her Cockcalibur.
"Amethyst… why are you showing me a molded penis?" Patrice sighed.
"IT'S A POWERFUL WEAPON! Two daughters of the Queen-Mother tried to take it. Thankfully, we got to it first." She groaned aloud.
The high elf stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. Amethyst, your… " Patrice chose her next words carefully, and her eyes very briefly darted to Archmage Donnu. "Your objectives have not changed. Continue as planned and as you see fit. I urge you to try and wrest Avanesse from the Ortesian and the cult's control. If you cannot, I trust you to do what is necessary. The empire's influence must be wiped from this continent if we are to prosper. That is all. Oh! Before you ask, your children are doing fine. Particularly Mikki. I especially adore her gusto for seeking knowledge."
A smile crossed Kanae's lips.
"Thanks." Kanae felt a weight leave her shoulders.
"Don't cut the connection just yet!" Edina jumped into the center. "I'm looking for the Necronomicon. Think you can convince Marwin and Eliza to search the Illuminant Repository for information on that? All we know is that it's somewhere in Savir."
"By the Supreme One's beard, you seek to obtain that dreaded grimoire? Hm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmm. I would not be a true scholar to let such an ancient tome sit buried under a mound of sand. My academic mind has taken interest. I shall partake in scouring the archives with them. If that is all, I bid you a good night. As for Archmage Donnu, may this be the beginning of a friendship between Radevic and Bravost." Patrice nodded and flashed a grin oozing with political curiosity and intrigue.
The archmage responded in kind with the same gesture and offered, "We shall see."