Through the eyes of an inquisitive spider

"Now that I think of it... How come you haven't mistaken the demon for a human yet? Or a monkey for that matter, given your inability to distinguish basic facial features." Lyla asks, dangling from one of the myriad hanging vines surrounding the group, light blue moss poking through the fibrous ropes and clinging to her fuzz as she skitters and swings ahead. "Hey, I'm not that bad. And besides, it's hard to miss the demonic energy pouring off her." Demonic energy... Lyla glares at the demon, swinging her legs as she strides by the dragon. "I see nothing." "Can you see Mana?" "I can feel it." "That's because you're attuned to it. You're not attuned to demonic energy, so you can't directly sense it." "But you can?" "I know what to look for. The energies tend to nudge each other in different ways." I bet she's cheating.

"You know, calling me human might not be as far off as you think." The demon chimes in, walking backwards through the foliage to face Lyla. "The details tend to get lost in the chaos of family heritage, but my mother's side has a large variety of species, some of which may have been human or similar. Pretty common for us humanoid ones actually." "Please explain how a human and a solid crystal being can possibly have a child. I am genuinely baffled." "You and me both." Seriously?! I need answers! "But some races can find a way to make it work with anything. How do you think stone-golem type demons came around?" This doesn't help! I have more questions!

"Why is it so quiet?" The dragon asks, peering around and through the dense curtain of vines. "What do you mean? Seems fine to me. You're plenty noisy as is." Violet eyes squint at the rude spider, who waggles her pedipalps tauntingly in response. No idea what that expression means, but I'm pretty sure it's funny. "There's no animal life. No birds, no insects, nothing. Not even in hiding. This place is empty of anything but plants." Huh. Now that you mention it... "Now you see why I always follow the migration. Always so boring this way." The elf mumbles, still tightly bound to the dragon's back.

"You don't sound very asleep to me." The dragon chides, raising her tail for a thwack. "If I sleep any more I'm pretty sure I'll pull a muscle. Let me be awake for at least a few minutes in a day." "Fine..." The dragon concedes, making sure to turn her squint his way as she does. "Why do they migrate anyway? Weather?" "I assume so. I've never really checked. Again, this route is much more boring." "Does the plant-life not do anything for you?" "Not my area. I have a sister who would die to learn even a speck of new information about moss, but I'm far more interested in things that move. The way they behave, what they eat, how they react to change, it's all so fascinating. Plants on the other hand mostly just sit there and look pretty." Wow. This guy is as opinionated as me.

Through the eyes of an inquisitive demon

"Hey, Gol Dhee?" "You call?" "What does your name mean? I see the names you give everyone else have a direct translation, but not yours." The ape tilts his head in thought as he matches his stride to Diala's. "I believe it means one who is golden. It was granted by the emissary, so she will know best on the matter." "You never asked?" "Names are an intriguing concept to me, though I find more interest in learning how others view it rather than the literal intent. What of you? You have many names, no?"

Ah... How embarrassing... I introduced myself with my full name thinking these guys would have fancy names just as long. I probably look so pretentious now... I'm pretty sure Aleph is the only one here who actually knows demon culture to begin with. "Well, names have a lot of meaning to demons. There is a long history of true names being abused to assassinate high ranking demons, especially on my father's side of the family. Because of this it has become tradition to obscure and hide our true names, and to use official names in public. Or in my father's case he just named me something impossible to say so I can't even screw up and tell someone by mistake."

Gol Dhee slows his gait, confusion evident on his face. "How does one name themselves something impossible?" "He did tell me my name once, so it would register as a true name. I barely heard it because of the barrier he put around me though. Either way, I can't speak that bright." "Hoh... A strange people you are." "I won't deny that."

Through the eyes of a frustrated dragon

Flutter, flutter. "So any idea..." Flutter, flutter. "Any idea where..." Flutter, flutter. "Okay, seriously! Why does this thing have to fly right in my face like this?!" Aleph swipes at the small bird-like creature, devoid of all depth and colour, as it flits and flaps, assaulting the dragon with an uninhibited curiosity. "Let me see." Fluffy asks, probably just looking for an excuse to sit up. "Ah, those. I call them shadow forms. They're a common but harmless nuisance this deep. I tend to just ignore them." That would be much easier if it didn't keep pecking my eye...

Following his advice she ignores the pest... to the best of her ability. Steadily, the vines grow sparse, opening up and allowing light to filter in from above. Lyly hops to her perch as her footing dissipates, the group now stepping into an open world of crags and spires, reaching above and below yet never allowing the ceiling to touch the floor. Blue cores slowly weave through the stalactites above, casting ever-changing shadows across the horizon. Moss covered rocks bloom white in the light with soft petal like protrusions which bustle in the winds, fading into a solid black, glass-like surface in the shade, amplifying the contrast in the lighting. "Ow!"

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Aleph snaps her tail at the shadowy pest flittering away, having poached one of her scales. Her tail cleaves dead centre through the critter, only for it to deform and wrap around the blade like ink in a pond before regaining shape and flying away. "Huh... They never did that to me. Just a lot of pecking usually." "Fuehehe, maybe it likes you." Shaking her head in frustration, and a particular spider along with it, Aleph huffs and continues forward, letting her paws sink into the thick layer of fluffy white moss as they head towards the crags. The group follow a path within the sinusoidal terrain, trodden low and flat from millennia of migrations and passers-by.

Chomp! "Well this seems familiar." Aleph peers down at the pale amalgam of vines and petals wrapped harmlessly around her leg, trying its darnedest to eat well above its weight class. "They're actually kinda cute when you're not panicking about the neurotoxin spreading through your system." "Oh, these ones don't have any toxins. They just bind you in place." "Huh... Then how do they-" Tear! Crumble! Chomp! "Oh..." "You guys okay in there?" Didi asks from outside the bulging mass of earth now encompassing them. Dirt and pebbles crumble away from the mass, revealing a pale white shell of pulsating vines and petals wound tightly into a bulbous dome. "Yea, it's just trying to constrict us. Nothing too concer-" Pshhhh! "This just really isn't my day."

Deciding that having her feet coated in rancid smelling acid is a good time to try escape the mass of carnivorous vines, Aleph unsheathes her bladed tail and separates the plant from its roots. The scent of expired vinegar wafts outward, practically wilting the surrounding moss as the floor is coated in colourless liquid. "Hop on, we're flying over this." With a shrug, Goldy leaps atop her back, catching Didi in a piggyback shortly after. Crack! Aleph leaps, bubbles of violet dissipating from her feet, and reforming at her wings as she soars up and over the mossy bluffs.

As she flies higher, the world seems to push against her, rejecting her ascent and causing substantial turbulence. "Can you not fly smoother?!" "Something is weird! I keep feeling resistance!" At this rate I'll just fall. I need to push up... more... mo- The world inverts. One flap of her wings sends them flying upwards as gravity switches to launch them higher. Quickly turning her body, Aleph manages to land on her feet, the coarse earth grating against her scales as a crater forms from her landing, and startling a strange crab-like critter with gloriously flamboyant feathers which proceeds to engage Lyly in some kind of hostile pedipalp waggie-off which can only be understood by those of the anthropoda phylum.

"Muscles, pass me my journal. I have something to mark off my bucket list." What even... Oh, whatever. Aleph slumps down, ignoring the nonsense around her as she decides to just check out for the day. "Goodnight." "Huh?" Lyly pauses her engaging conflict to address the dragon. "But it's only-" "Goodnight." "Ah, yes... Goodnight..."

Through the eyes of an intrigued ape

Gol Dhee lifts the small satchel hooked to the emissary's harness, peering inquisitively at the charred-black leather as he brings it to the warrior of green. "How has this endured the heat where none of our other equipment could?" He asks, handing the bag to the warrior, who wriggles his arms free of his bindings. "I bought it from a trusty merchant on the lower floors. Seems like she undersold it since it took that blast head on along with me. Drake leather is really something else." Pulling out a notebook and crudely made pen, the warrior begins scribbling something completely illegible to Gol Dhee.

Starting from a circle in the centre of the page, lines are drawn and joined together by symbols wrapping and webbing into a spiral of patterns. "A drawing?" The warrior glances at Gol Dhee, nibbling at his pen. "Guess nobody's taught you how to read Aoan. I can teach you later if you want." "Hoh?" Turning his eyes back to the satchel he glances the contents. A set of ornate vials winding up to form a helical dome with vividly bright ambrosia held within, a perfectly round stone seemingly dripping in crimson which oozes essence, and a strange eye-like orb with mechanically patterned veins pointing towards an iris which seems to always be peering back.

"You keep strange things..." "You mean the eye? It's a memento from my master. They give the strangest gifts..." "So I see..." His eyes catch on a familiar golden glint within the bag, pulling it out to see the pendant given by the illusion of his father. I had thought this lost... "Is that yours? Why was it in my bag?" "I am unsure..." "What's inside it?" Inside? It can open? Gol Dhee examines the pendant, eyes fixed on the subtle groove along its seam. Pressing in a nail he attempts to pry it open, only to be met by a piercing gaze from an imperceptible direction and a silent yet comprehensible message. You are not the one to open this locket.

Gol Dhee and the warrior of green share a worried glance before he stuffs it back in the bag. "You may keep hold of it." "Hey..."

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"What manner of critter might this be?" "It looks similar to the Progenitor's homunculi, but... I've never heard of one this small." "Nor I. It seems they are indeed keeping secrets from us. And that object it's holding... it bears Aether." "Collecting Aether like this would be a violation of the treaty. We should inform-" "Not too hasty, young apostle. Remember who we're dealing with. We will inform our superiors during our regular reports without alerting the locals. For now we keep quiet. After all, it's not like they can just send an adjudicator to solve this for us, we have to give them something to work with. We should at least gather more evidence of any further violations. In the mean time, why don't you see about following this critter home. We cannot leave this layer yet, but I would still like to see the the source of this scale dealt with." "Understood."