Compared to other areas of the Stronghold, the library appeared always deserted. The Sister on duty had shown up eventually, but immediately after providing some grimoires disappeared again. With nothing to do but study and wait, Julia broke the cardinal rule of getting in on a poker game: deliberately sitting with her back exposed to as many doors as possible. Though Julia sat near the edge of the open space, it was only so she could face out the large balcony doors. Their opening offering a line of fire to practice throwing spells outside without endangering the books. If a Sister flew through her practice range, so much the better.

After cycles without occupants in the library, the new arrival was immediately apparent, attracting Julia’s attention. Her arrival, and differences, prompted Julia to use Analysis. An attempt to get it to provide only known information returned the barest of details from the exotic-looking Succubus.

[Name: Ebusuku

Demonic Species: Named Succubus

Details: This Succubus is from the lineage of Naamah, daughter of Lilith. The home plane for these Succubi is Ukuwohloka. Those rising from Naamah’s lineage are born rather than formed from corrupted Souls entering the Abyss.]

[Analysis [Ad] (22->23)]

That’s better than the swath of unknowns being returned.

Unlike many Sisterhood Succubi, Ebusuku wasn’t in uniform and was very different in appearance. At a fraction under one hundred and sixty centimetres in height, Ebusuku was the shortest Succubus that Julia had encountered. Skin of ebony, a black shade so intense it drank in the surrounding light, gleaming white of teeth and eyes made her features pop in contrast to the dark flesh of her form. Her brown irises were mortally normal and deceptively vulnerable compared to the hard skin tone.

Sheer black hair in the tightest of curls formed a cap over her scalp. A thin mohawk of small horns parted it, forming a firebreak down the middle of her skull. The darkness made her features appear as if carved from fine ebony by a master artisan. From the clean lines of her forehead, and the broad curve of her nose, to the wide strong cheekbones. The tight lines of her face led down past generous lips to a rounded chin. Though lean, her body still possessed feminine curves alluring to the eye and carried an inviting lushness of flesh even while she held herself - in every instant - as if poised to strike.

What she wore was as unusual as herself as far as the Sisterhood's standards went. It seemed more a collection of weapon harnesses than intended as clothes. It was obvious she wasn't wearing them to accent or conceal, given what little they covered and their positioning. It was a look as far different from the all-encompassing tight leathers that the Sisterhood wore as possible and still be wearing anything at all. Yet for all the half dozen weapon harnesses she wore, there wasn't a single hilt apparent; though the aura of Spatial mana seemed to cling to every one of them. Almost fully exposed, Ebusuku's state wasn't naked or vulnerable, nor was there an air of paraded sexuality in her posture; rather, she was simply nude and didn't care who looked at her or how. The minimal amount of clothing she wore seemed in keeping with the theme of her wings, as instead of weapons they were as close to simple bat wings as Julia had seen, without so much as a claw from the elbow joint.

True Sight showed no overlap in perception, Ebusuku was exactly how she appeared. Abyssal heat didn’t clot within her, instead it wove through every fibre of her being. She wasn’t a corrupted Soul, a trapped Fallen, or tricked Night Elf. Ebusuku was a pure creation of the Abyss itself, its Heat, Chaos and Corruption provided a form to move about.

Her settling on Julia was obvious, though instead of immediately approaching, Ebusuku stopped and observed Julia from near the door. While continuing to form the mental pattern for the next spell in the grimoire, Julia amused herself tallying Ebusuku’s physical tics, from the twitching of wings to tapping of hilts. After minutes spent waiting, Ebusuku moved closer to Julia, but then settled back into utter stillness.

The behaviour reminding Julia of a wildlife documentary showing a cheetah stalking its prey. Almost boneless, flowing motions followed by stillness then stalking closer still. Each time the distance closed, Ebusuku’s footsteps struck louder and she fidgeted more. Except she always took care to remain in what should have been Julia’s blind spot between her wings.

“Trouble?”

The word purred in puzzlement as it nuzzled the air when Ebusuku was finally only a few arm lengths behind Julia.

Julia just straightened calmly before turning on the backless seat to face directly toward Ebusuku.

“Did I do something wrong?” Julia asked calmly, unable to resist a teasing poke after cycles of study with no words exchanged.

“I was told to speak to a Succubus wearing dominator leathers with that ‘Use’ name. Is that not you?” Ebusuku asked.

Her soft words carried an edge that made Julia’s skin crawl.

[Danger Sense [M] (1->2)]

“That is indeed me, on all counts,” said Julia, letting Zen State settle around her awareness as danger clawed into existence.

“Next time I say your name, answer to it.” commanded Ebusuku, the words still soft somehow hissed like dry ice skipping across water.

“It seemed you were asking a question, Senior.” Julia replied, the sudden menace in their voice not ruffling the calm in her own.

“I am not a Senior. For blight’s sake, find a ‘Use’ name you can relate to that will not cause confusion in battle. If the Castellan hadn’t told me herself, I’d find it hard to believe now that it wasn’t a dumb joke. She assigned you to my command. If you wanted to start off on the wrong wing beat, you’re going about it right.”

“I’ve been apparently staring at pages for too long. I’ll keep an ear out for a better ‘Use’ name,” said Julia, the flat unconcerned reaction drawing a frown from Ebusuku.

{{She’s got a pole up her butt like you. You could pull yours out and beat her with it. }}

“Do so, or I’ll give you one. We’ve operations planning to attend since the Lady has decided it is time to start with our revenge. We’re among those selected for operations to pull teeth and leave destroyed demons in our wake.”

“I’ll just return these,” Julia said. As she stood, gesturing to the two grimoires in front of her.

“Leave them. Let whatever fuck up pulled Library duty sort them out. I’m Ebusuku, normally I work with my sisters; instead, this time, I have you. With how oblivious you just were, you’ll likely end up dead.” Ebusuku said, the edged tone scathing.

“You tapped your sword hilt forty-two times while you were staring at my back.” Julia said, the words causing Ebusuku to twitch and touch her sword again.

“What?”

[Sense Motive [Ap] (23->25)]

The simple word carried a raft of hidden questions, and none of them seemed confused. Zen State and Sense Motive made it clear Ebusuku required immediate clarification, the more detailed, the better it might be for Julia.

“Your sword hilt, you tapped it forty-two times in total. You stopped three steps in from the door when you spotted me and took additional steps forward on seven different occasions before speaking. The more I ignored you, the more your left-wing fluttered before moving forward again. Each series of steps was slightly louder, yet shorter than the previous series. Did you give up trying to attract my attention?”

Julia had let her state keep her voice calm, its tone a crisp report carrying a clean intent of stating only facts.

[Acting [J](12->15)]

“Perhaps Trouble is a proper ‘Use’ name for you after all, little corrupted,” Ebusuku said, the edge of danger having left her voice.

“Corrupted?” Julia asked, not having heard the reference directed towards a Demon previously.

“The Castellan said you were ignorant. You are a Soul converted by the cliffs in Culerzic. Are you not?”

“That was my original home Plane.”

“I prefer to work with those of my kin. Give me a reason, and you’ll wish to be back in whatever brothel let you ooze away, just like the discharges you’ve had to clean out.” said Ebusuku, her tone conveying that she felt set upon.

Assumptions much. Is that how she feels or merely acting?

Is she trying to seem as mercurial as the other Succubus I’ve met before?

{{I miss Naz’rilca already. Can we see if we can find the dust patch impressed with her charred arse? }}

Unlikely B, if she was inside the gatehouse, I doubt we’d find anything. Why don’t we hunt for her instead? We’ll see if we can cope with existing on the Plane of Ijmti. Maybe we’ll get lucky and take her out forever.

{{I’ll hold you to that! }}

“May I ask why you’re not a Senior?”

Julia let surprise colour her voice as even without Analysis, or True Sight Ebusuku felt dangerous, beautiful but oh so dangerous. Rather like having the restrained power of a giant tiger with its sheathed claws centimetres from your eyes, knowing it would only take a flex to destroy you. Where Naz’rilca had been dangerous, she was wildly and completely unpredictable; Ebusuku was far worse, for she possessed patience, instead of immediately pouncing on perceived vulnerability she stalked her prey.

“The Castellan considers those among the Lineage of Naamah to be not quite official members of the Sisterhood. We’re their irregulars, you could say. For whatever reason, she’s decided you’ll fit with us best. It won’t make you popular with anyone. I suggest not wearing the Sisterhood uniform or insignia while with us. One warning is all I’ll give you.”

Not an actual instruction. Oops, I’ll misuse that later. Though not official members, that’s fine.

“Why aren’t you official members?” Julia asked, curious about the apparent division within the Order’s ranks.

“None of us may take classes the Progenitor does not allow. Though she is an ally with Lady Balnérith, she has never permitted one of her line to take the Order’s Prestige Class, so we’re only considered partial members.”

Okay, I think I know why the Castellan tossed me in with them. Since I told her I had Blood Monk immediately, she’s handled it as a distinct class. I wish she’d just thrown me out instead.

“So you just join the Sisterhood because of the alliance?” asked Julia

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Why become part of it at all? Friends close and enemies closer?

“The others understand why we’re irregulars, and they don’t even like us for it. In your case, I’m sure their hostility will rise to new heights. Have fun.” Ebusuku said, her voice rich with amusement, as she ignored Julia’s question.

Julia felt a spatial force shift reality about them, and suddenly they were standing in a gallery overlooking a massive stone platform a few hundred square metres of space. Uniformed Sisters below were examining regions of an embossed map that seemed formed from the stone surface. The elevation of the regions literally having grown from the table, fortresses in various bays stood well above the surrounding landscape. Little quad hulled vessels were showing on the stone waters around them, and it reminded her of the fleet near Setimet.

The landmass was massive. If the largest fortress was Setimet, and it was to scale, it covered an area bigger than four or five Australias put together. Yet the fortresses ranged in size from larger than paired fists, down to barely a thumb sticking from the stone. If Setimet was one of the smaller ones, that made the land mass perhaps thirty to forty thousand kilometres across at least.

“The model looks very detailed.” said Julia, looking it over and spotted some other coastal zones showing fortresses in their bays. Some looked differently sized to the first she had spotted but were similar shapes.

“The Castellan put together the shaping spell. One thing she does well is accuracy.”

“Those fortresses in the bays look identically shaped.” Julia said.

“Lack of imagination, only the size of them varies. They’re all named after our target, twelve in total from the smallest Setijen, up to the largest Setisankh,” Ebusuku said. Though when she named them, Ebusuku only pointed to the former on the table’s edge closest to them.

“What are the other fortresses called?”

“They’re not for us to worry about. I’ve spent some time within Àluga where our assigned targets are situated.”

Julia gazed over the map, hoping to determine which was Setimet. With no marking to show which Fortress was Setimet, Julia opened up Telepathy and listened to the other Succubi. While most were plotting one conquest or another, none unfortunately, were outside the sheets. Except for Ebusuku and herself, all the rest appeared to be regular members of the Order.

“Is this all of their home Plane?”

“No, they don’t control all of Àluga. More area on the plane is underwater than there is land to use.”

“Where do you plan to start operations? What are the instructions? Besides killing anything and everything.”

“Outer ridge from Setijen, we’ll skip around hitting smaller locations first. Kill, destroy, maim, or steal. That pretty much sums it up.”

“Preference?” asked Julia, noting the options that Ebusuku had left off the list, though potentially maiming was torture.

“I prefer never leaving an enemy behind.”

The tone of Ebusuku’s voice sharpened with the pronouncement even as she gazed down onto the table below them.

“So destroy it is.” Julia said, nodding in complete agreement with Ebusuku’s attitude.

“Perhaps you have promise after all, despite your origins and ignorance.”

“I am presently ignorant but willing to learn. Any specific targets around Setijen?”

“We’ll hit production works and caravans, destroying everything we can. Normally the Gods stay out of politics and factions in the Abyss. We’re going to teach this moron why it’s best they keep it that way. When they spread out patrols to keep their Domain safe, we’ll pick them off. Whenever there are too many grouped up, we’ll move to areas left exposed, focusing on quick destruction before moving again. Other teams will be in Àluga. Our focus is that section,” Ebusuku said, a relaxed gesture directed Julia’s gaze towards a section of the table immediately beneath them.

“What about the fortress?” asked Julia, pointing at the small outline of it in the bay.

“It anchors defences in the region. I doubt we’ll be able to get inside, but if we can, we’ll see what damage we can inflict.” Ebusuku said, a wistful longing in her voice while considering the destruction.

“So, do the fortresses serve that purpose in each region?”

“They do but are likely safeguarded as best they can for that reason. He named every one of them after his own sizeable arse.”

“Not a fan of Divine powers?” Julia asked, glancing at the Succubus now leaning on the railing beside her.

The rude noise from Ebusuku made her view clear even without the roll of her eyes.

“My family has been here longer than all of them, but they think they’re important. Grandmother thinks some worlds are merely traps laid by the Titan for them, yet they see them as playgrounds,”

“An old grudge perhaps.” mused Julia, wondering if the Titan had it in for the Greek Gods given they were the only pantheon having lost members.

“No idea. Initially, I plan for us to start with the mines on the far ridge inland from the Delta. Then we’ll sweep towards the coast as far from the fortress as we can get while inside our assigned zone. After we hit the coast, we’ll Teleport back towards the mine and reassess the next line of attack.”

“Did the Castellan assign these?” Julia asked, nodding to the rope lines being set out to divide the map. The one around the small region assigned to them already in place. Succubi drifted across the stone, setting markers in place as they went, a few showing the Sisterhood symbol, more displaying the symbol of Set.

Guerrilla warfare?

“Yes. How can you tell?” asked Ebusuku, her gaze leaving the map below them and fixing on Julia.

“She’s about the only organised Demon I’ve interacted with besides a Hag.” Julia said, giving a shrug as what seemed obvious.

“Fallen! They are all that way. The Progenitor teaches it was more relaxed before they, or ones such as you, arrived.”

Progenitor, from her details I take it that’s Naamah.

“Sorry for messing up the show then.”

“If I wanted you sorry about something you’d be aware of it. You’ve Dominion, I’m told.” Ebusuku said, an edged smile curving one side of her mouth.

“Yes, why?” asked Julia, her tone clearly curious as she wondered what the Succubus was planning.

“Then you’ll either get a lot of practice running while you play bait, or something will catch you to kill you.”

Oh, she thinks it will put them into challenge mode like that bug at the docks. It might not turn out that way.

“Or Demons will drop to the ground in awe of me,” Julia said.

B giggled, as memories of the Hollow before her Willpower increase came to mind.

“Lying to yourself is a dangerous habit; expect things to go wrong. Because they will,”

Maybe I should have left that power off the imprint I provided.

“So, you want me to piss them off and have them chase me into whatever trap you have planned? What happens if they all fall at my feet?”

“Then destroy them; they certainly won’t be worth my time,” Ebusuku said, a dismissive shrug made her feelings clear. “Wait! Why would you try to get them to urinate? I don’t know of any demon breeds that can.”

“A phrase I’d heard among mortals for making someone angry,” Julia said.

“Yes. Do exactly that.”

More experience for me then.

“When do we leave?”

“As soon the last arguments are over. We have the region with the fewest settlements to destroy; no one is interested in it. They’re arguing about chances to get prime pillage regions.”

{{No fair! I want more toys. }}

“What happens if we finish everything in our area?” asked Julia, noting the lack of settlements in what seemed the region around Setijen.

“You think this will be a competition speed slaughter?”

“I guess it depends on what the locals are like fighting wise. Won’t the stronger Demons be off where they can have the most fun?”

“After a while, any fun gets boring. Some just hole up wherever and watch the local Souls torture themselves. Less competition to ruin their day. After a while, if you’ve seen one self-evisceration you’ve seen them all. Even sex becomes going through the motions. I’ve heard tales of a Named battle lord who undertakes mercenary work just to give himself something to do.” Ebusuku said, her tone bemused.

If that’s Lêdhins, it seems what he does is weird.

“I’ll keep that in mind. So, we’ll have to deal with a bunch of smaller settlements, resource gathering, and production specialists, I take it. While the teams up near Setisankh will have to deal with that massive city if that’s the main fortress,” Julia commented, deliberating gesturing to one that actually seemed slightly smaller.

“No, that one is Setithi. The one called Setisankh is further along the coast, past the mountains he has his palace on. The fortress there is for his personal guards and favoured, so of course it is the biggest,”

Cycles exploring a fraction of Setimet, and it’s not even in the top two.

“What’s the area we’re assigned like? The map shows the contours but aside from the settlements not a lot of other details,”

“Hope you like swampland,” Ebusuku said, gesturing down to their region of the map again. The graceful flex of her fingers carrying BrÍn hand sign within, and Julia didn’t know if it was a trap or a test.

#Watch how they group about the table. Those that seek to disadvantage others stand the closest to their foes. Their organisation at times provides them focus of whom to mess with next.#

“Really?” asked Julia, directly her apparent attention to the table and seeing the bowl fashioned by the ridgeline. “All our region is a swamp?”

Oh, joy!

{{Told you it’s more fun being wet! }}

“Lots of stinking swampland, the river heading towards the bay, that’s just the main watercourse, but our assigned area is all swamp once you get below the ridgeline. Every settlement between the inner ridgeline and the bay is within the swamp and built up off the ground. The settlements aren’t the only places we’ll find Demons to kill though, spiders, hounds, and many other things inhabit the swamp. Most of those species won’t care about the overlord of the region; they predate his arrival. The Demons within the settlements are the only ones we care about. Though Souls of Petitioners and Damned alike fill the Plane, Damned remain where they fall,”

[Abyssal Lore [Ad] (13->14)

Planar Lore [J] (2->4)]

Petitioners are the faithful of the Gods, so Set’s faithful are roaming about this Plane. I thought he’d gather them up from what Usd’ghi said. More of the Dedicated, perhaps? Faithful, but still Set making it clear how little he actually cares about any of you.

“Are these the only operations planned?”

“This is just some of them. He holds positions on several Planes. This is just the Order members assigned to Àluga.” said Ebusuku.

Julia looked over the hundred-odd Succubi visible to her in the Galley and the lower floor. Some of them had appeared as Julia gazed over the map, while others had been present when they arrived, already intent on their own planning.

“So lucky us, we get the swamp.”

“Could be worse.”

“Do I want to know?” asked Julia. Deliberately allowing curiosity and concern to lace her voice.

“If you mess up the jobs I need you to do. I’ll see you get reassigned in short order. I’m sure you’d enjoy swimming through endless underwater planes or through poisonous acidic clouds.” said Ebusuku, her tone clearly not concerned which eventually resulted.

“I can’t swim and still need better resistances.”

Wonder if it would let me use Flight underwater? Haven’t improved resistances for a while. Need to fix that.

“Then again, maybe you wouldn’t. Try to keep up with my orders then.”

Ebusuku's voice had grown smug while drinking in the attitude of those assigned to various segments. Julia noticed her gaze sharpened the most when resting on places where teams looked set to disagree.

She’s like a hunting cat looking for a weakness in her prey.

“Opportunities Ebusuku?” asked Julia, her soft voice not carrying above the bustle of noise that had risen within the room.

“Perhaps, sharp eyes, perhaps,”

More BrÍn hand sign filled Ebusuku’s gestures while they watch the proceedings, but she answered no more questions aloud. Julia kept careful track of the information Ebusuku only provided in hand sign, not wanting to confirm she knew it as it hadn’t been on her imprint. Too much of it was concise insights into foes found within the swamp, and Julia stilled the questions she wanted to ask.

Venomous Spine hounds, Swamp raptors, and Fetid Lurkers were the most common dangers, and while only bestial types, they seemed to have dangerous abilities. The hounds could fire the spines that gave them their name for twenty metres or more, and they burst on impact to cover the target with acidic venom. Swamp raptors sounded like giant monkeys given wings, many additional arms, a rounded head set about with eyes, and a maw that could open wider than her torso. The Lurkers she described were a close match to those in the scoured heights of Culerzic. They had smaller pincers, but instead of acid they spit pure Abyssal corruption that carried diseases able to destroy even Demonic flesh. They at least wouldn’t continue to pursue past the edge of whatever they called their home territory. That was if she didn’t run afoul of the possessed groves, corrupted water weirds or earth elementals, not to mention the wingless drakes, and giant snakes among other dangers hiding within the place.

Julia didn’t know if Ebusuku was aware she knew BrÍn hand sign, was continually testing her for reaction, or had already learnt something from her body language. Of concern were the details provided about the threats that continued to increase Julia’s Demonic Lore. The moment the hand signs had started, Ebusuku’s mind had become opaque to Julia’s awareness.

Demonic Lore [J] (14->15)

{{She keeps levelling it. Tell her to put her fingers inside you instead; then she’ll freeze them off. }}

Fuck off!

{{Go ahead, make my day! }}

“Why do you keep wiggling your fingers that way?” Julia asked, letting her tone seep genuine curiosity.

[Acting [J](15->16)]

“Culerzic has many BrÍn living there. Are you telling me you’ve never learnt their hand sign?” Ebusuku asked, stopping in mid-gesture.

“No one ever taught it to me. The first BrÍn I met was on this Plane. Why do you use these hand signs?”

“Not me, we’ll use them. I hope you learn fast,” said Ebusuku, her tone carrying more than a touch of frustration.

[Sense Motive [Ap] (25 -> 27)]

Oddly, she’s frustrated with herself, not blaming me. How weird for a Demon.

So, apparently she assumed that in the one hundred years she expected me to be on Culerzic, I had learnt it.

Go truth! No one taught me, a knowledge point for the win.

Sense motive is jumping ahead. Does it have a synergy with Zen State’s intuition?

[Skill Lore [B](8->10)]

Synergies for Hidden, or just hidden synergies between skills. Most people read body language intuitively unless they were on the spectrum. Opening her Profile, and reviewed it with a new perspective, and saw potential links between skills and powers she hadn’t considered before: Stimulation and Dominion; Agile, Zen Movement, and Erotic Dance. Julia still didn’t understand why Claw and Bite remained separate from Unarmed Combat.

Maybe because I’ve never actually tried combining their attacks into the style Farhad and I were working on, yet Protean’s attacks benefit from Unarmed Combat.

Something to consider doing if it will make me more dangerous.