"I find that adding a little humour makes the central point-"
Her eyes glow and then she's there, claws slashing as commerce is continued by other means!
I don't think she thinks much of
your humour, OL.
A-ow!
Guh-! I've been knocked back into a semi-human-. My head is still snake-shaped, best the rest of my body-.
So now you fit in with the local aesthetics even
more.
"What are you doing?"
Kon's crested the stairs and is taking a stance. I try shaking my head, but his eyes have gone up to sun-on-the-horizon.
Let's not have another meltdown, shall we? OL had enough trouble fixing the previous one.
"A little humour makes the central point more memorable, but if I have offended you-"
Does this type of snake have the ability to spray venom? No? Okay, change what type of snake I am, load the venom glands and try and tempt her closer.
And to be fair, Diana
did laugh at his joke.
"-then I am sorry. The fault is purely mine. Please tell me what I must do to make amends."
She ignores Kon to glare at me, clearly still unhappy.
To be fair, her ignoring Kon is probably a good thing, as he's not got nearly the same level of arcane defence as OL does, what with his kryptonian nature.
"The people of Kahndaq are-."
Claws in the chest!
...Well, it's not like you're really
using those lungs right now, are you?
"They don't worship me any-"
And spray! Get as much as possible in her mouth and up her no-
Aw, up the
nose? That's gotta sting something fierce.
Agh! A slash wound, but she was too distracted to give it her all.
-se!
If she
had, you might well have been sliced snake fillets.
Ah, I've got a small amount of ambrosia left over as a gift from Hephaestaean, put it in a pressurised tube and squirt it down her throat and then back the heck off because I'm not actually sure this is going to-
Sekhmet hisses, wiping her muzzle with her teeth showing!
Going for the 'pacify with booze' route, eh? At least you used the
good stuff.
-work come on come on!
She shakes her head, blinking and staggering a pace as the alcohol reaches whatever passes for her blood steam.
Let's hope she doesn't start speaking in
cat memes.
"I will not forget this."
Then her facial structure begins to change, cheeks widening and muzzle flattening and fur changing from dirt yellow to dark grey. She blinks for a moment, the rearranges her robe to adjust it to her more feminine frame.
Okay, that calmed the lady down. Let's hope she feels like being a
happy drunk.
She makes a lapping motion as she tastes the high strength alcohol I just sprayed her with, then appears to become aware of me.
"I know you. You're Adom's friend, the Orange Lantern."
Presumably by word of mouth amongst the pantheon. Which makes me wonder just
what she's heard about him...
"Yes, divinity."
I bow politely-. Then find myself snake-tongue-first in cat boob.
Well, if you've got to go, that's probably one of the most
fun.
"And you are the one to whom we owe this restoration of our estates!"
I retract my tongue, but not before tasting her health and vitality. There's a sense of retreating tiredness, and injury recently healed-.
Now, now, OL. Don't you know it's
rude to 'taste' a lady like that?
And a finger on my forehead pushes me back.
"I think that you have tasted enough of my teats."
And a very nice set they are. She must be very proud of them, given the way she's showing them off.
From slightly further away, yes, I see that new and vital fur is growing over patchy older fur, new meat and fat pushing shrunken skin back to healthy dimensions.
"I am glad to see that you're well. I wasn't sure exactly what affect restoring Adom would have on the domain of the Kahndaqi gods, but it looks like a positive one."
And the ambrosia surely didn't hurt either. 'Nectar of the Gods' and all that.
"It has been." She looks out towards the rest of the city. "We have not quite been fully restored as yet, but as more people reach out to their older gods, that will come in time."
The advantage of modern communications technology. She doesn't need to displace Allah from Kahndaq. A few worshippers here and there will be plenty to keep her in good condition.
As long as one faith's followers don't turn hostile to the other's. But with Adom as a big stick to discourage that, I don't foresee more than one or two incidents...
"I had a few ideas about speeding that up, but I'm afraid that I have more urgent business to attend to at the moment."
"Even when this place was nothing but ruins, I still had eyes everywhere. And now there is so much more to see." She turns back around as Kon strolls over to stand besides me, checking my wounds as he does so. "What is this business?"
Cats are an extremely popular pets, after all.
"Can we get to Erebos from here?"
Bast turns to look at Kon. "Nephthys has not fully reawakened, and I don't think that the other gods with authority over the dead could take you there. Is it passage between the realms that you seek?"
Ah, well. Nice to ask, but I guess there's no dodging this side-quest. Best not to leave Nuala in whoever's hands anyway.
"No, that would just let us skip a stage. We need to know about a couple of elves who came here while acting as couriers. If you can tell us who they were buying from or transporting goods to that would help a great deal."
"Why should I share their private affairs with you?"
Because whoever took her might come looking for
your locals next.
"Because the male else, Cluracan was lucky to escape the people who successfully abducted his sister Nuala, and he's asked us to free her. Our only interest is in securing her safety."
"And not in the undoubtably underhanded dealings of the merchants? They are my city's lifeblood."
What do OL and Kon care? As long as it isn't directly in their faces, they can overlook it.
"In your realm, the trade laws are what you make them. The material world is in such disarray that enforcing any particular law at this point is impossible. Unless they are trading with people infected with the Anti-Life, in which case I will attempt to persuade you to authorise me to kill them."
I pointedly look towards the city.
It would hardly even take that long.
"After a certain point, I suspect that your city's recovery will be made easier by trade treaties with other realms, rather than enabling single individuals to sneak in and out. I would be most happy to act as your emissary, or to guide your emissary to receptive ears."
"I have already had an offer on that subject."
Heh. Give you one guess who that is.
"From the Japanese? I half-expected that. My advise would be to turn down direct inclusion now that you've got another option, but be open to cooperation. And make sure that the other gods are prepared to transfer power to Amon if anything happens to Adom, because at the moment he is your brand and this could all reverse if he dies."
"That's a sensible idea, but I wasn't referring to them. It seems that pantheon of the Aztecs have undergone a similar rebirth to the pantheon of Kahndaq. Do you know anything about that?"
...Huh.
I guessed wrong. Aztecs, huh? Mexico must be finding new faith in these times. Or rather,
older faiths.
