Amdirlain’s PoV - Culerzic

When Amdirlain appeared on the plateau’s lip, she was under an angry molten sky, unchanged from the last time she'd seen it. Flames formed from mottled combinations; dark, angry reds and bitter orange raged from horizon to horizon. Though the flames provided far more illumination than Earth's midday sun, they didn’t illuminate the plains below.

The cloud bank’s top was barely an arm’s length below where she stood. The dark surface churned and boiled as it stretched outwards, the image of a violent sea waiting to consume an unwary traveller. Even as that thought came to mind, she spied more souls plunging towards it, not knowing what fate awaited beneath.

Welcome back to the Abyss. Aren’t you glad you came, Amdirlain?

Years ago, when she’d first reached the plateau’s top, Amdirlain had wondered at the stones' strange behaviour with the arriving souls. Now, within the rock, she could hear the corrupting melody that was the lure of this region of the Abyss. To those souls not firmly attuned to the aspect of this place, it served as a promise of sanctuary, only to consume them upon arrival. Just as above the clouds, the impaled damned sounded like a wild celebration in progress far below.

The perverse nature of the Abyss reacted to what the corrupted souls craved and had stolen from others. Each region competed to lure them close enough to grab them by the throat and drown them in demonic energy. That energy had been what had formed B; given life by her presence, it had absorbed the negative emotions and memories from her mind to gain sentience. Gestating demons told her the truth, B had never been part of her life—she’d merely sipped enough from her awareness to fake it.

Setting her old state aside, Amdirlain focused on the now. Though there were no overhead succubi patrols, she added concealed eyes with Protean. Being focused on the music in her immediate surroundings still left the risk of something spotting her unnoticed from a distance. The 360-degree view didn’t make the scenery any better, but it let her listen to the closer songs' details. Among the floating energies were the familiar ones she’d used to increase her resistances, but now Amdirlain only rated their music’s strength as gossamer wisps.

The first trickle of Mana separated from her surroundings and, thankfully, left the foulness of the Abyss outside. After such a long absence, regaining Mana provided a strange warmth beneath her skin, like medical contrast dye, but a whole body flush as it started ‌filling her Mana pool. The emptiness of her Mana pool started to vacuum up the surrounding Mana and cause a shiver of energy in True Sight. The closest clots of energy winked out with the Mana charging their presence drawn away.

Later I’ll have to see if there are energies able to improve my resistance levels

Amdirlain started towards the plateau’s interior and slowly allowed the focal range of Resonance to increase. At first, she heard scratching whispers below the plateau’s corrupting Song, but before she reached the first pit, the lurkers’ predatory music was evident. The music’s foundation sound was similar for each, ripe with spite and rapturous hunger, but the strength and vibrancy of aspects varied. From the change in the closest songs, ‌the lurkers were aware of the swirling Mana caused by her pool refilling.

[Demon: Scouring Plains Lurker

Level: 3

Health: 75

Mana: 30

Defence: 28

Attack Power: 18

Combat Power: Claws [Ap] (6), Acid Shot [B] (17), Hunting Group Mind (9)

Details: As a Lurker gains levels, they can form a group hunting mind with those close enough. You seem to have a thing for beating up on poor hive minds. ]

And I’m pretty sure it was you that looked like a disco ball, Gideon.

Focused on the shell’s music, Amdirlain injected her focus with a sighed note. Though she barely gave it the force of a whisper, it split the Lurker’s shell from head to broad tail. The weight shift had its teeter on the pit’s lip before its flesh slipped from its outer shell and plunged past others attracted by the surrounding Mana’s behaviour.

The slip that had crushed the tree had her start a proper Song, and as the next neared the surface, she added Lingering Song. Her music created a zone of pressure that filled the pit and pulverised the half-dozen stronger Lurkers following it against the pit’s bottom. Those not immediately slain quickly died from being squeezed out of their shells.

[Combat Summary:

Scouring Plains Lurker x7

Total Experience gained: 2,100

Ostimë: +1,050

Ontãlin: +1,050

Lingering Song [B] (14->15)]

With her Mana Pool having refilled enough to exchange some messages, Amdirlain held off approaching the next pit.

“I’m out finally. How’s motherhood been treating you, Ebusuku?”

It took a while before a reply came, and when it arrived, Amdirlain caught the chaotic themes that overlaid the Spell’s structured music. The shifting energy in the music invoked Limbo’s whimsical changes to Amdirlain’s mind. Ebusuku’s energy in the words rang with relief hidden behind happiness in her tone.

“Amdirlain, why am I not surprised that’s your first question? In case you couldn’t keep track of the time, it's been two and a half years—you had us worried.”

“Parents always want to talk about their children, and I’ve been looking forward to asking you.”

“Gail’s a little rascal, and she’s growing fast, but I’ll talk about her later. What’s your situation?”

“I’m on Culerzic, and I can feel the Planar Lock’s tension across my skin. I’m still recovering Mana presently, so I’m limited to the number of Message spells I can cast.”

“So glad you’re out of there, Amdirlain. Culerzic, okay, it's workable. Obviously, not as good as if you’d ended up on Ternòx, but I can at least get you some support. How did it go with the vines?”

“The vines’ wounds left me with unpleasant scars that I’m still healing, but Ki cycling is helping with that. So far, I’ve cleared up from fingers to mid-forearm and smoothed out others, though Protean hides them. Where did you send that Message from, its energy is odd?”

The response that came back was nearly instant, and Ebusuku sounded suspiciously relaxed. “I gated to Limbo, didn’t want any ‌signal flares giving you away. Send me an image of where someone can meet you; I’ve got someone to guard your back available.”

“What did you have in mind, Ebusuku? It’s not exactly safe.”

“Not for you either, since you’re Planar Locked. A Celestial agent, and they’ve been in the Abyss helping with other investigations for a couple of hundred days. If I tell them you're locked on Culerzic, they’ll simply come looking for you. I know they’ll ask for an update on your situation and I won’t lie. Please take their help.”

“They can keep doing whatever has them in the Abyss.”

“They’re already in the Abyss with their boss’ permission to learn the ropes in case you ended up there. Now, your choice. Do you meet up with them and make their job easy, or let them wander alone?”

Gritting her teeth, Amdirlain considered her options. “I won’t say no to backup even if I’m a lot stronger than I used to be. Why were they risking themselves in the Abyss on a just-in-case?”

The sly notes of amusement in the reply made it clear she’d made Ebusuku’s day with her acceptance. “You’d risk yourself for others, Amdirlain. They’ve got more knowledge of Culerzic than you do, and can watch your back for a while, pass on details, or even play fetch between planes if you don't want to risk gates for others to pass you gear. You left me in charge remember, and keeping some stubborn people safe is like herding chaos sprites.”

“What’s their name?”

“I don’t know what name they’re using at present. What did removing the vines do?”

“They’re all gone, and I can hear True Song again. You’re being evasive, Ebusuku.”

“Shouldn’t mistake the agent then, since Isa can hear music beneath Sarah’s item; it’s an improvement on what she used to block your Analysis—it also gives fake details to imprints. They’ll be able to catch you up without all the back and forth these spells require.”

Though tempted to argue, Amdirlain used a different Spell to send an image of her current location. It was only a fraction under four minutes before the male figure appeared. Only slightly taller than herself, she had to angle her gaze slightly up to meet his yellow-slitted eyes. In form, he was a bald humanoid with greenish-black skin clad in an umber-hued hide shirt and pants. Bare-footed, his long toes ended in sickle claws that dug into the ground with the first shift in balance.

The vicious false facade of music was a tinny distraction from the inner melody that instantly surged with relief when he saw her. That inner tune wrapped her worries in a gentle embrace and smoothed the bitter music provided by his appearance.

“Glad I got started learning when I did.”

[Name: Tor’m Altha

Species: Cambion

Class: Hunter / Fighter / Scout / Wizard

Level: 23 / 23 / 23/ 23

Health: 1,702

Defence: 240

Melee Attack Power: 72

Combat Skills: Claws [Ad] (23), Unarmed [Ad] (5), Sword [Ad] (4), Long Axe [Ad] (28)]

Amdirlain counted to ten before she spoke and wished she’d waited longer, hearing the concern in her voice. “You were supposed to be waiting on another Plane.”

“Wherever you are is the only place I’m happy to wait. If it came down to your worst-case situation, I wanted to be ready, not keep you waiting. Erwarth and the others drilled information into me before they set me loose. Whatever you have planned, I can help and bring in extra equipment or grimoires for your studies while you’re keeping a low profile,” replied Torm, and Amdirlain caught his natural expression in the smile he gave her.

“How do you see this working?”

“One day at a time. I figured I could at least pass along the local information I have so that you could plan. The others said the situation is constantly in flux, but the fundamental power structures of Culerzic, from Moloch down, is likely to remain intact without a major war.”

“I know Culerzic is one of the abyssal planes with infinite space. How does he control a plane?”

“He controls lots of it through proxies: named demons, weaker demon lords, apparently a few Fallen. Though he doesn’t control all of it, he’s just the principal power of the Plane. He grew strong fast, took out the previous Demon Lord, and continued to accumulate strength since.”

“I know a bit about that,” commented Amdirlain. “My bossy big sister said you’d been here a while. Any safe-ish locations handy?”

Torm held out a hand, and above his long clawed fingers, an image of a makeshift stone shack sitting on a rocky plain appeared briefly. “Shielded from ears; line of sight for kilometres; it's a disposable investment of time and Mana. The local wildlife can get annoying, but they’re not strong enough to break through the wards.”

Amdirlain immediately teleported, and Torm appeared beside her. The outer ward parted around her presence, unable to oppose her magical strength, but Amdirlain sensed nothing triggered in reaction to her breach. They were already inside the strongest barrier, and Amdirlain recognised the stealth effect that blended the shack with the heat-blasted tan rock surrounding it. True Sight revealed more wards against eavesdropping and scrying.

Torm casually lifted a stone slab from the closest wall and stepped clear so she could see within. The interior was a single room with a large, hip-height, green stone block in the middle; around it sat a mix of carved stone chairs in various shapes. “Can’t stay here long; it’s one of several shared locations, but didn’t want to say more out in the open.”

With nothing catching her attention after repeatedly checking the wards, Amdirlain moved inside and settled for a backless stool. Though the nearest chair was an awkward shape for any humanoid, Torm perched on its curved frame after he’d replaced the door.

“What sort of tasks brought you here?” asked Amdirlain.

“I was learning how to move about safely and stay unnoticed, in case you ended up here or on Hrz’Styrn. Erwarth and the other Lómë solars taught me initially, but I learned more working with the Celestial agents here.”

“Knew they had a network of agents in the Abyss, never learnt what they did.”

“They serve various purposes depending on the alliance of powers they serve. Sarah refers to the group I’ve been working with as the underground railroad.”

“They free slaves from the Abyss? What do they count as a slave, with stronger demons oppressing anything weaker?”

“The Lómë knew of the Dao because the Sisterhood purchased mortal slaves from them. Demons like to torture souls, but mortals to torture and corrupt is a greater prize.”

“You’re here rescuing people?”

Torm’s slight shrug had Amdirlain cup his face in her hands; the remembered searing sensation she’d ignored last time didn’t occur. With a smile, he caressed her forearms and earned a smile in return, and notes thumped with passion within his music’s core. “Sarah’s item holds my energies below the surface of the flesh.”

“That’s good, but you risk yourself here freeing slaves. Don’t tell me my motivations have lured you away from your boss?”

“I’m here to support you with his permission. He felt it was only fitting, given all you did to help others, including my liege. Where is the Justice in letting one who has not earned this fate suffer?”

“How did you get a connection with these Celestial agents?”

“We discovered shared interests when I made enquiries with Ebusuku’s guidance. I’m glad I got in touch with them; their experienced agents have been beneficial in educating me.”

“Torm being sneaky.”

“There are times I can be sneaky; this is an ongoing military operation,” corrected Torm, but his music developed wary notes. “One function of rangers in such operations is to act in environments requiring stealthy combatants to accomplish the mission.”

Amdirlain leaned forward to kiss him, and Torm intercepted her motion with a finger to her lips. “The agents refer to Culerzic as the home of twisted desires. The gathering spots of the damned vary wildly but have one thing in common: the damned either took a wholesome desire too far or gave into one already dark. Eventually, their focus on that desire thoroughly corrupted them, with their regard for whoever they hurt becoming abandoned or lost along the way.”

“I’ve got a strong enough Willpower to control my desires,” protested Amdirlain.

“You have that advantage over me, beloved.”

The word provoked a broad smile from Amdirlain. “I promised myself I’d kiss your brains out for killing Apollo.”

“Guess I should have resurrected him and killed him a few more times,” laughed Torm. “This Plane makes my skin crawl. I’d gladly accept your reward, but somewhere clean of such a miasma.”

Letting out a badly faked sigh, she gave him a pout. “I promise I’ll behave then.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.”

“I’d rather you hold me in other ways.”

The teasing gleam that appeared in his gaze Amdirlain caught as easily as the shift in his Song. “You’ll have to learn enough True Song to cleanse an area, as Isa and the Lómë have done to link grottos. Would that even work with a single singer?”

I told Livia about that memory, but not anyone else. Do I tell him now or when I get out of the Abyss?

“Oh, I need to prove myself now, do I?” huffed Amdirlain, in mock affront.

“Already well and truly proven. Honestly, I’d rather kiss you where only you matter, and I’m not distracted by such foulness.”

“And if that opportunity never came?”

“Be steadfast, and it will.”

Amdirlain groaned and leaned forward to rest her forehead against Torm’s. “I want to kiss you until you're begging me to stop, regardless of what’s around us. However, since you want to wait, I’ll behave, but only under protest.”

“Noted, and I’d also rather be kissing you than for either of us to be here.”

Amdirlain listened to the warm notes that started to drown out other themes within his music and slowly straightened. “Maybe I should say I’ll try to behave. Though this is your fault. You know that, right?”

“Why my fault?” asked Torm calmly, unaffected by her teasing.

“If you’d been waiting outside the Abyss, our reunion would have been very different,” laughed Amdirlain. “I’ve memories of Orhêthurin using True Song by dancing, and I figure I should practise that for someone.”

“You already move like you're dancing. Some individuals found it difficult to keep their eyes where they belong‌.”

The amusement in his tone earned a raised eyebrow from Amdirlain. “What do you mean?”

“You and the Lómë both move gracefully, but where they move like predators, you glide in a way that accents your feminine nature,” observed Torm thoughtfully, though Amdirlain caught his hidden amusement.

“Are you saying I strut?” teased Amdirlain, glad her skin didn’t show her flush of embarrassment.

“I said glide, though there is a great deal of swaying involved as well,” corrected Torm. “It’s not just my admittedly biased view, as I overheard more than a few guards mention it. It wasn’t something that I noticed the first two times we met, but it was certainly apparent during your last visit.”

Amdirlain stopped to consider what might have changed and eventually groaned. “That stupid Erotic Dance Skill.”

At her pronouncement, Torm blinked in surprise. “You have what?”

“Erotic Dance, it's a ‘come hither and watch me, baby’ type Skill. I gained it trying to entice demons' attention while I set them up for Ebusuku and me to kill.”

Torm’s warm laughter didn’t fit the place, and he choked it off the instant Amdirlain glared at him. “Acquiring some skills has passive effects; the theory I’ve heard is it helps maintain the skills, even if you’re not actively progressing them.”

“Does Sarah’s gadget keep out telepathy as well?”

Torm nodded and motioned beyond the doorway. “There are various breeds of demons that possess telepathy, and I can’t always be on guard. The enchantment gives them a false front to overhear. Why?”

“I won’t ask you to take off whatever ‌Sarah created for you. I’d planned to ask you to show me your memory,” stated Amdirlain and smiled when Torm coughed. “Or were you thinking naughty thoughts?”

When he coughed again, Amdirlain laughed, and Torm gave her an amused smile. “Sorry, no access to those memories for you ‌anytime soon, but you can watch through plenty of beings’ eyes before then, I’m sure.”

Amdirlain's continued bright laughter certainly didn’t suit their surroundings, but she didn’t suppress it. Torm stood to meet her when she rose, and Amdirlain enfolded Torm in a hug. His initial awkwardness in responding had a direct cause, and Amdirlain removed her wings. With his muscular arms wrapped around her, Amdirlain rested her head on his shoulder and sighed happily.

Eventually, the pleasure of his proximity added a spike of warmth she couldn’t blame on ongoing Mana absorption, and Amdirlain stepped back reluctantly. “Why don’t you tell me more about what you're doing?”

“The work has a few aspects: recon, resource gathering, and liberation. Finding slaves is the easiest but also the hardest part. There are markets around the cities, but seeing them in that state makes it hard to be patient. However, it is more difficult to find where they’re taken after leaving the market. We gain abyssal coinage to purchase them if we can, normally from destroying demons and trading their possessions.”

The thought of demonic slave markets revolted Amdirlain and added an edge to her reply. “Purchasing slaves just continues the cycle.”

“Demons aren’t mortals—unless they’re all destroyed, this will continue somewhere. Our work is to rescue who we can, find out how they got captured, and seek to stop that from occurring again. We also don’t always pay for them; if we track down isolated demons with slaves, we’ll raid them.”

“Continually plugging the leaking ship.”

“I know from experience a vessel big or small always gets water inside the hull; someone has to bail,” replied Torm. “I don’t deal with the markets—not enough experience passing as a Cambion. Destroying demons is one activity to gather coins and materials, but the wildlife and plants yield materials others sell.”

“Let me create a base for us like I’d intended to use in Pandemonium, and I can set wards in place to stop any attempts at scrying. Ebusuku said Isa has been making True Song crystal with the Lome?”

“They are indeed making crystals. I’ve seen a sample Erwarth brought back and thought it looked exactly like the crystal in your Domain. Gail says yours sound prettier.”

“She must have excellent taste then,” declared Amdirlain, lifting her chin with exaggerated smugness. “How far out do these barren plains stretch?”

“Thousands of kilometres in all directions from here. The Zealots’ Maze is the closest landmark, and it's nearly 5k that way,” Torm said and gestured towards the room's opposite corner. “You could fly continually for a year and still not reach the nearest point of the Cliffs of Lust.”

“I’m glad Sarah trained you to use a proper measurement system.”

“Metric snob,” huffed Torm.

“Too right, mate,” retorted Amdirlain and caught the sudden ecstatic notes in Torm’s music. Not sure why she’d gotten such a response, she continued. “I’ll teleport us both then.”

At his nod, she teleported them out across the barren plains in random hops for a time before she settled to the ground. The solid, tainted stone’s music beneath her feet promised a lack of hollows such as she’d heard on the plateau. In contact with the stone, she stretched her awareness into it through Inventory and excavated a section nearly three hundred metres down.

[Inventory [Ad] (12->13)]

Turning to put the wind at her back, Amdirlain drew the stone section from Inventory and Disintegrate turned it into dust. The fine mist wafted away, and she confirmed that its originating point wasn’t apparent before she proceeded. A section at a time, she continued to enlarge the space, and with the reach stretch, Inventory regularly increased.

“Mana is swirling around you at present, but I can’t see any Spell doing that,” noted Torm.

“It’s a Psi technique. As for the Mana, my pool was bone dry; now it’s guzzling Mana,” explained Amdirlain. “When did you take Wizard?”

“I’m a baby Wizard. I plan to combine it with an evolved Class. So far I’ve only learnt the initial tiers of a few lists, but as you pointed out, spells are useful tools. Venturing here, I needed to have less reliance on objects.”

“Just as well then that I helped you gain those affinities. Have you learnt any more?”

“Aggie helped me gain Spatial, but I’m learning five Spell lists presently. No lists exist for the court affinity as far as I’m aware, at least not as far as anyone has seen fit to share.”

“Don’t blame me that the rest of you aren’t as mentally adaptive,” teased Amdirlain. “I’ll get rid of this stone while my Mana recharges and then set concealments before we move again.”

It didn’t take long before the stone was dust, but Amdirlain already had enough Mana for her immediate needs. With personal concealments set over them, she teleported them into the space she’d opened below.

Torm looked around and took in the area she’d carved out. It ran twelve metres‌ long, three wide, and three high—slightly larger than a shipping container. Unhindered by the darkness, she marked the distance and cut out two ceiling-high archways at the three and nine-metre points on the long sides.

“Aside from the stone’s colour it feels like my last home already,” drawled Amdirlain.

“Rasha said you had a chamber, but he hadn’t seen it. I didn’t think it would be small from Ebusuku’s tale of her trial.”

“I’m fibbing—the chamber was a lot bigger, plus it had grass, a pool, and two fruit trees,” admitted Amdirlain. “Couldn’t eat the fruit or I’d have ended up like Sage and the others, but it was nice to meditate. I’ll set up some initial rooms, but hold off expanding it too far until I have the Mana to ward it properly.”

“How big were you thinking?”

“I need room to practise and study, and space to move around without feeling claustrophobic,” replied Amdirlain. “Once I have Mana, we can contact others and bring in materials to make the warding easier. Perhaps a pretty crystal chandelier will drive back the stone's abyssal corruption and make this place feel nicer.”

At the amused smile Torm gave her, Amdirlain set to work.