"A little of both I like to think," Lenalee quipped with a humorless smile, and then when Casilda professed a preference not to know why some of her servants had been slain she simply accepted as much.
After that Lenalee would simply nod solemnly and turn to depart, leading Edmund and Mari from the demon priestess's chambers to find Lovisa waiting nervously outside. The lightning witch offered the knight a reassuring smile, and to her question she replied; "It went fine, and yes, a guest room would be nice. There are some things that I would like to.... Discuss, with my associates here." Breathing in a sigh of clean air, Lenalee was surprised at how relaxing it was being free of the strain brought on by Casilda's presence, the sense of forced relaxation and the slow edging towards a more passive state that had filled the room in which the powerful demoness had stood being far more insidious and potent than the witch had been prepared for. Had that gone on any longer than it did, it might even have started working on her despite her magics designed to counteract it. Her thoughts on that allowed her to miss the eyebrow that Mari quirked and whatever connotation that had caused it, though for the moment her mind was centered mostly on the task at hand rather than any potential uses for such a bedroom besides a suitable secret meeting place.
"Very well!" The knight replied cheerfully. Her transformation upon being informed of the successful conclusion of Lenalee's meeting with Casilda seemed both instant and nearly miraculous. The stresses and concerns that seemed to have weighed on her more and more as they traveled together simply vanished, replaced with that same cheerful expression that she had worn when the Badarian sorceress first met her. "The rooms are back down the stairs, but hopefully the trip down is a bit easier on you than the trip up was!"
Lovisa would proceed by leading them back down the stairs of the circular tower to the third floor, this time entirely at the asthmatic lightning mage's pace. It would prove quite a bit easier in terms of exertion, but it was still a relatively long walk. Once they had arrived at the third floor and the doors which the demon knight had previously indicated as living quarters, Lovisa tossed them open to reveal that a hallway lined with probably a dozen doors and double the amount of lightstones bisected the third floor of the tower, with a large window in the wall opposite the two doors they had entered.
The demoness would lead them to the first door on the right, swinging it open as she had the original two, and revealing a roomy, if sparsely decorated, guestroom, similarly well lit with the same sort of magical stones that lit the hallway. At the far side of the room was a bed that might've been considered massive if the group hadn't seen Casilda's own much larger mattress mere moments prior. In addition there was a sitting couch in front of another window opposite the door and a stool next next to a writing desk furnished with parchment and a magical quill in one of the corners near the bed. Another item of note was a hanging rope which led upwards towards a pulley attached to the ceiling before running back down the wall and vanishing into the floor.
"The room is all yours for as long as you stay here. If you need anything simply pull that rope," Lovisa nodded her head to indicate the pulley system near the bed, "and a servant will come as soon as they're available. We have a second guestroom as well if you'd prefer not to share this one between the three of you, but I assumed you wouldn't want to be split up. Should you prefer to have it, I can lead you to it now. Or if there's anything else you'd like before I return to my duties," she offered. But if Lenalee decided that she didn't want the room or anything else for the time being, then she needed merely dismiss the knight and the demonic woman would comply by giving a respectful nod before leaving and closing the door behind her, and as a result leaving the sorceress alone with her allies to plot and plan and speak as she desired.
Lenalee couldn't help but break out into a grin at Lovisa's sudden cheer, the demon knight's friendly joviality having been what had drawn the lightning witch to her in the first place, and she casually replied; "Well, lead the way then!" From there she would follow the knight, traveling down the steps that had been such a pain to ascend proving much more pleasant, and after only some minor discomfort in her knees and lower back Lenalee and her companions ended up following the demon knight into a hallway lit by magical stones. She had seen such items before, in the halls used by the Inquisition, and for a moment that left her with the threat of a panic attack as those particular memories surfaced in a more intense and intimate manner than they ever had before.
Images flashed across Lenalee's vision, the horrors that she had been subjected to as a child while under similarly heatless and too-pale glowing stones that had hung suspended from the ceilings of stone corridors. Her breath began to come in short, soft gasps as her mind was transported to another place, and even though she managed to keep walking mechanically to keep pace with Lovisa so long as the demoness kept moving Lenalee's efforts to hide her sudden onset of distress were hardly potent. Phantom pains, inflicted artfully by men and women who had gone through the same until they had begun to secretly long to inflict the same upon others, shot across her body, mind, and spirit alike as she relived a few choice tidbits of her time in their care on fast forward. It was probably the worst place imaginable to have a this sort of attack, but as the images and accompanying sensations got worse and worse by the second Lenalee found tears streaming down her cheeks, and after only a few seconds of walking down the fairly short hallway, if her distress hadn't been noticed it likely would be when she suddenly stopped and gasped in pain.
Doubling over and leaning an elbow against a wall, Lenalee had to fight the urge to vomit as she continued to be gripped by the leftovers of what the Inquisition had left her with. Her eyes continued to stream tears even though she held them tightly closed in an effort to get herself under some sort of control, and that battle took the better part of the next two minutes, during which she responded to no external stimuli short of being struck by someone. Whether she shook herself out of it or someone slapped her back to a more sensible state, Lenalee would suddenly break out into a very well-faked smile and wipe the tears away from her eyes before she lifted her head to meet the undoubtedly confused looks being sent her way.
"Mmmm, don't worry about that! It just kinda happens to me sometimes!" Lenalee said quickly, her tone as jovial and reassuring as she could manage at the time, and if Lovisa hadn't opened the door into their room yet she would add; "Well, lets see our quarters! Open the door!" Lenalee would very enthusiastically refuse to speak of what had just happened beyond assuring her three companions that she was alright and that nothing was wrong, and either way she would try to get into the quarters that they'd been given by Casilda as quickly as possible.
Once inside, (and assuming that Lovisa's explanation doesn't change too much in content from what just happened,) Lenalee would give the room a once over and nod to Lovisa's explanations. "Oh, I think a bit of privacy would be good, but only a bit~ Is the room next to this one open, by any chance? I'm sure that Edmund and Mari won't mind doubling up~" she said, shooting a teasing glance towards the two rogues she had brought in with her. "It isn't needed right away, of course! I'd just like a few minutes alone with these two for starters, and then I think I'll wander around a bit!" she continued quickly, giving only a brief opportunity for any of the three to offer a reply to her quip.
Before Lovisa could leave, however, Lenalee poked her on the shoulder and said; "As for you... When do you have a block of free time next, hrm? If I'm going to figure this place out, I'm probably going to need a bit of help from you... Assuming Casilda doesn't work you to death of course!"
It didn't take long for the group to notice that Lenalee was suffering from more than just the stairs as she went through her breakdown in the hallway, as while Lovisa had been moving relatively slow for her sake the mage's attempts to hide her distress simply weren't acted out well enough. The knight would be the one to ask; "Are you alright? We can rest here if you'd like." She didn't seem to want to pry about it though, at least, and was willing to accept Lenalee's attempt to wave it off despite obviously not being convinced by it. The mage's companions seemed willing to similarly accept her desire not to speak too much about it. Mari, for her part, fixed her with an understanding look that bordered on being knowing. Though Edmund, with much less empathy in the situation, looked at her more like she had sprouted a giant tentacled phallus from her forehead and it was currently wildly spinning and thrashing through the air.
The demon knight opened the door in order to show them their lodgings soon afterward, offering her explanation as if she hadn't witnessed the visible effects of Lenalee's mental battle with her past. At Lenalee's teasing quip regarding Mari and Edmund, the man simply rolled his eyes and Mari adopted a look of disgust almost as if she'd been slapped across the cheek by the imaginary tentacle from earlier. "I would rather sleep on the floor in the hallway," the rogue remarked.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'll be taking the couch," Edmund retorted. The two were ready to let it drop there though, both clearly aware that it wasn't the time or the place for an argument.
"It's the room across from this one. First on the left as you enter the hallway," Lovisa would brightly add after the two had finished. She initially seemed content to leave it at that as well, but moments before Lenalee was set to continue speaking her lips widened into a mischievous grin and the knight added; "And if you'd like, you can always just share my room and bed so that these two can each have their own~"
"Casilda rarely requires me," Lovisa would answer later, when the mage asked about her availability. "But after being gone for several days I've got to make sure that nobody was slacking and that responsibilities haven't piled up in my absence. You know how some goblins can be," she cheerfully added. "As soon as I'm done with that I'll come and look for you, if you'd like," the knight offered.
Lenalee shook her head at Lovisa's offer to rest, gritting her teeth briefly and forcing herself to stop shaking so that her voice wouldn't as she replied; "That won't be needed, we're right outside the door!" That Lovisa moved on from the mage's concerns afterwards was greatly appreciated, and the disgruntled look that Edmund shot her was comforting in its own way. Oddly enough, Mari's look of understanding was by far the most infuriating of the reactions of her companions, and she had to bite off a scathing outburst as she moved to walk into the bedroom they'd been given. She might understand intellectually that the rogue meant well, but it was still Lenalee's gut reaction to find her empathetic gaze condescending, and try as she might it would take several minutes to shake the feeling.
She was glad enough for the distraction offered by the bickering between Edmund and Mari, even though she didn't find it as amusing as she had hoped she would. Even so, she forced a smirk onto her face at their brief exchange, and would nod to Lovisa's directions without offering further comment. Her addition, however, caused the lightning witch to quirk an eyebrow, and though she was still distressed enough that she had to force it, Lenalee still managed a passably flirtatious tone as she said; "Oh? I think I like the sound of that! Where are your quarters, by chance? I might have to sneak over later if I want to get any peace and quiet~"
Later, when the knight was about to leave, Lenalee would again affect a grin, this one knowing, and after the demon's explanation she would reply; "Don't I know it! Sure, if I'm not here I'll probably be wandering around somewhere, but you probably know the place better than I do. I'll see you later."
That would be the end of her conversation with Lovisa unless the knight had something else to say, and once the demon was gone Lenalee would wait for a second or two before going over to the couch present in the room and sinking down onto it, huddling into the corner and setting her staff aside. She would land with a thump and let out her breath in a long sigh, her eyes closing and her hair forming a protective curtain around her face once more. Flashes of the corridor outside and the one she'd been in a long, long time ago played before her eyes repeatedly, brief glimpses that awoke crippling surges of emotion and phantom pains, the physical wounds associated with them having healed years ago but the psychological scars being as strong as ever.
It would take another few minutes of silent battle with herself before Lenalee could push the images away from her conscious mind enough that she could consider herself functional, and she would again respond extremely sluggishly to any external stimuli until she had finished. When she did, she would endeavor to answer any questions that Edmund and Mari might have asked if such was needed, and whether she had to speak or not Lenalee would cast a minor spell that would allow her to sweep the room for any enchantments or active spells.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 78/80, Status = PTSD, Detect Magic
Rolls
Lenalee's Perception (Checking for magical stuff): 18 + 10 + 24 = 52
Mari's Perception check (Checking for nonmagical stuff and people listening at the door): 3 + 31 = 34
Edmund's Perception Check: (Checking for nonmagical stuff and people listening at the door): 18 + 22 = 40
"End of the hall on the right, no need to knock. And I hope you won't mind that I prefer to sleep in the nude~" the knight replied with more amusement in her tone than seduction, although her humor was joined by a certain hungry glimmer in her eyes, one that Lenalee knew well from her dealings with succubi, as she scanned the curvy witch once more after her comment. Later on, though, she would adopt a much more serious expression as she noted; "It's not such a huge place and I should be able to find you easily enough so long as you're not wandering Casilda's workspace. See you then!" Her cheerful farewell bid, Lovisa then turned and exited the room, leaving Lenalee to deal with the aftermath of her own traumatic memories.
At least as best she could when surrounded by both Mari, who was obviously worried about the mage but at the same time clearly uncertain as to what she ought to do to comfort the Badarian, and the less-than-empathetic Edmund. The latter went so far as to, the moment that he was certain that Lovisa had departed the hallway outside, demand; "You're not seriously flirting with that... monster, are you? She acts real nice, sure, but there's no way she's any better than the bitch she serves, and she's just as likely to work her demon magic on you as the other is. You'd be safer trying to jill off with the business end of an unsheathed sword!" His comments earned him a quick rap on the arm from Mari.
The olivine rogue seemed of the same mindset as Lenalee when it came to confirming that they weren't under any surveillance, and she would nudge and nod Edmund into watching the door before herself beginning to search the room for cracks and holes that a spy might watch or listen to them through, and began doing so a short time before the lightning mage managed to calm herself down enough to cast her spell. Lenalee, after she recovered, weaved her magic without any interference, quickly revealing that there was no anti magic field on the room, and discovered soon after that the only items that she could detect as giving off that signature magical aura were the lightstones, though no more or less than the ones which lit the hallway, and the quill, which the mage was able to quickly identify as possessing a simple spell to allow it to write on parchment without needing to be dipped into an inkwell.
Mari and Edmund, after their own tasks were concluded, would give simple shakes of their heads in order to convey that they had found nothing, but chose to wait until Lenalee's own understandable paranoia was sated before saying anything vocally which might alert some surveillance method that they had not missed or a magical one which they would've been unaware of.
"I was hoping you'd say that~" Lenalee would quip back, growing calmer for the exchange even if it wasn't enough to stave off the attacks that came once she nodded a goodbye to the demoness and was left alone with Edmund and Mari. While the latter's efforts to comfort her would be largely unhelpful despite their admittedly good intentions and fairly low level of intrusiveness - it wasn't as if Mari could even tell what was bothering her in order to offer platitudes that the cynical mage thought would be quick to come if she could conjure them - Edmund's outburst actually helped immensely. Her combined annoyance and amusement allowed her to shunt her memories aside a little bit faster, and when she cocked her head back up and grinned at him a few moments later her smile was quite genuine.
"Flirting? Is that all that was? But Edmund, you are too much the gentlemen in the company of hungry monsters!" she said lightly, and then gave a soft laugh and wiped away the last of her tears. Looking up again, Lenalee would continue; "Firstly, not only will I continue to flirt - aggressively - with Lovisa, but I'm probably going to sneak off later and do all of the things that mommy told me never to do with anyone but whoever my dear surely-not-a-sadistic-alcoholic husband turned out to be once I was old enough to sell at that particular glorified slave auction. Secondly, lets see... Who in this room is, A, competent and sorcery and, B, had demons whispering in her head since she was old enough to go out into the backyard on her own? Oh wait, that's me, isn't it? And thirdly, I'm growing more and more confident that the deal they're trying to sell is the real story, both because of them and because of other sources of information that I happen to have~ So, that makes Casilda less of a monster and more of a misguided idealistic idiot who got in way over her head. Lovisa thus qualifies as the friend of said idiot, and since said idiot is quite possibly listening in on us right now, I think it might be good if you stop with the racism and make with the checking for any listening devices."
From there the seep would begin, Lenalee checking for magic while Edmund and Mari went around looking for more mundane signs of potential eavesdroppers. She discovered, identified, and then noted the magical quill and its ability in her search, but then discovered nothing more and let out a sigh. Letting out a sigh of her own, Lenalee would walk to the center of the room on unsteady feet and then say; "Alright, come here and gather in. I want to leave as little room as possible and make this quick before it burns up too much energy." Once Edmund and Mari stood close as she'd instructed, Lenalee would point at a nearby piece of furniture and give a low hum before, suddenly, it would be enveloped in loudly crackling electricity that would distort any listening device in the room. Then, a brief chant and the three of them would be surrounded by a mostly opaque force field that would encase the three of them in a box that would - hopefully at least - all but completely mute all incoming and outgoing sound. From there, one last hum would fill that box with a thick, damp mist that would completely obscure them from sight, the combination of spells theoretically allowing them to talk in private.
They couldn't see one another, but a lowly muttered; "yup" would confirm that they could still hear one another, and from that point Lenalee would let out another sigh before saying; "Welp. That's about as much protection as I can offer. Soooo.... Maybe we can get through this without leaving any corpses, which would be my preferred result, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. If we want to make that naive fantasy a reality, it's going to require getting through a few locked doors and likely quite a few magical defenses, on which I'm going to need both of your help. There's an artifact that's the source of Casilda's power, a gem, which I can disable if I can get my hands on it. Maybe. It's what contains the daemon she talked about before, which I met a while ago when Mari came to my valiant rescue, and it's hidden in a clock somewhere, I think. I'm still working on a plan, and will need a better idea of the layout of this place before I can come up with anything better than what I've just laid out. Taking on Casilda in a straight fight is a no go, and trying to assassinate her would most likely turn out worse. So, any questions?"
The spells, in order, are Static (Lightning lvl 1) Force Barrier (Force lvl 4) and Roiling Mists (Water lvl 2) and are being used mostly for fluff purposes. Lenalee will try to take a recharge break after this, but leave them on for now. Detect Magic will be dropped at the end of the search, obviously.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 70/80, Status = Less PTSD, Maintainan' Dem 3 Spells.
Lenalee's latest series of spells went off without a hitch, leaving her comrades and her safely in the obscured magical walls she had erected. The former knight and the rogue played their parts, huddling in and allowing Lenalee to quickly give her opinion of the situation without interrupting her. From the looks on their faces, it was easy for the lightning mage to tell their opinions on a few of her words without them ever opening their mouths. Both wore skeptical masks at each suggestion that the lightning witch wanted to avoid spilling blood and that the desire included Casilda, there was a gleam in Mari's eyes at the mention that her power source was hidden inside a clock, and both raised their eyebrows when Lenalee mentioned that she'd been conversing with Casilda's daemon.
"Really starting to wish that the Badarian education system's lessons on faeries and demons and all this other magical bullshit had more varied stances than 'they're myths' or 'they're bad and you should report any appearances immediately.' On the bright side, my less formal education did include a bit of lockpicking and general sneak thievery," Edmund supplied.
"Me as well. I even have experience with some of the more sinister devices that demons employ with their locks, courtesy of Artmirst," Mari added.
"So no locked doors or traps are going to keep us out, and you've got the magic part handled. Lover girl said something about a mess hall, right? Shame we can't slip something into the food. Wouldn't have to be deadly, if we could just knock most of them out we'd have a far easier time with doing this whole thing and getting out of here," the former knight suggested.
"Not a solid plan with demons. I do not know if most even ever need to eat in the more traditional sense, from what I saw it seemed almost like they only did so for their own pleasure. I have also seen the greater demons shrug off things that would have killed most any human, so it is not impossible to say such a thing might not affect them at all even if they did eat it."
"I miss fighting things that had the decency to die or at least stop fighting when I shot them or stabbed them," Edmund quipped.
"Yes, well, more importantly, Lenalee, you think her power source is in a clock? Are you thinking the grandfather clock in her room? That ticking and tocking seemed unnatural and it makes sense that she would keep it close. If we could get her out of her room for a little while one of us might be able to slip in and search it, and maybe even grab the gem," Mari tentatively suggested.
"If it's guarded by a mixture of magic, locks, and other traps there's no way one person is going to be able to do it or even the two of us together, and I don't think the demon bitch is going to be distracted for long by either one of us non-magical types, she seems to have her eyes elsewhere. I think Lenalee's right, we need to figure out what we're up against first, what's going on in the other floors, and exactly how many demons we'll have to fight our way out of if this all goes bad."
Mari didn't seem to have it in her to admit that she felt Edmund's point of view might have been right, so she simply skipped that part of her final reply. "So how are we handling the scouting? Shall we split up or simply wander the floors as a group?"
Lenalee listened to Mari and Edmund's responses to her plans without interrupting either of them, and once they were both finished she would reply; "My education actual did cover all things magical and mysterious... Or, well, some things, and I'm confident I can disable whatever defenses Casilda might have set up given enough time. That clock is probably a good place to start, now that that's mentioned, but I wouldn't be too terribly surprised if she went and hid it somewhere else. Demon, and all that. In particular it's a gem inside of a clock, and it's likely to be warded in all manner of ways, so plucking it out of the thing with a quick spell probably wouldn't have worked.
"I can't say that I much like the idea of splitting up, but at some point we'll have to. Stick together for now, at the very least, and we play it by ear when we get up there. If we get separated, try to act like nothing's wrong if you're not in immediate danger or stay out of sight otherwise, and get back down here. I'm not as sneaky as either of you, so if I end up getting thrown in the stocks or something you'd better be free to come and rescue me!"
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 70/80, Status = Plannin', plottin', and waitin', along with maintainin' Dem 3 Spells. (I'm not fooling with the EP upkeep atm because I think this still qualifies well enough for talking as a free action)
The olivine rogue seemed oddly soothed at the conclusion of the mage's directions. Although her body language suggested it was more from resolve to face the coming challenges and struggles rather than any particular faith in what Lenalee had been able to come up with while she lacked so much information. "We would not leave you here," Mari confirmed before adding in a quip with a small smile, "but if I have to rescue you twice in a week I am going to start charging you interest on those favors you owe me."
Edmund was about as agitated and tactless as ever. "Fifty-fifty here, I'd say," he remarked, and his delivery was so straight that it was difficult to tell whether he was joking or not. "No idea how much time we've got 'til your knight in shining armor comes looking for you, so I think it's time to get this show on the road." Mari seemed to have added all she had wanted to as well, and unless Lenalee had more to converse about then she would be allowed to begin her scouting without delay, at least from the other two.
"Why not start charging interest now? I wouldn't mind~" Lenalee replied flirtatiously to Mari. There wasn't any more time for such lightheartedness, unfortunately, and with a sigh Lenalee nodded at Edmund's statement. They only had so much time. "Be careful what you say, and guard your thoughts too. These are demons we're dealing with remember," the mage continued with a sigh, and then dropped the various spells she'd cast in her efforts to give them a bit of privacy. From there it was time to start exploring, and Lenalee would lead the way with eyes closed, even the memory of the hallway threatening to send her into another state of distress. She wasn't really sure where to go first, but remembering how much she'd been huffing and puffing on the stairs she decided that maybe a tour of this floor would be good before she started wandering around on the next floor.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 80, Status = Healthy.
With a few nods from Mari and Edmund and the dismissal of Lenalee's spells, the three were ready to go. There wasn't much of interest to be discovered in the hall itself, and even less to be found with the sorceress's eyes closed, although Mari proved willing enough to help in leading her so that she didn't hit any doors or walls. If she did happen to peek around, she would notice that beyond the two doors that Lovisa had confirmed as guest bedrooms there were four more doors, two on either side of the hall, spaced far apart from each other, followed by another six, similarly with three on either side, spaced much more closely together at the opposite end of the hall, which did put the total door count at twelve. There was nothing really lavish or interesting about the hall, its flooring consisted of marble tile which wasn't decorative beyond a checkerboard pattern, and its doors, while crafted with the sort of precision that few without a spirit wielder's power could manage, lacked any engravings or extras.
There was little to see beyond that unless she wanted to begin bursting into demonic dorms and bedrooms. While it was an option, whether or not Lenalee wanted to risk it was a choice all her own to make. She might be helped some by what she could hear from the outside, if she did decide to go down that path. The first door on the left past the guest bedrooms was responsible for the most active source of noise, and if she were to listen near it then the lightning witch would hear lewd moans and grunts belonging to far more than four different people. At the door across from it she would hear faint chatter, though she wouldn't be able to make out any words. The next two doors were silent except for the noises of different footsteps moving across the floor in the room to the right. The next rooms would seem completely silent, including Lovisa's, except for the one across from the room that the demonic knight had suggested was her own, and if Lenalee listened at the door she could hear a rhythmic wet, suckling noise.
Whether the sorceress chose to further her search or listen at any of the doors or not, though, she would be free to check the third floor's outer walkway at her own leisure. It, thankfully, was free of the lightstones that inspired those terrible memories of Lenalee's tortures at the hands of her inquisitor wardens, and was instead lit by natural sunlight shining through the arcs made by the open columns that acted to support the floors above. The occasional breezes of fresh air that wound through those same columns didn't hurt, either. And a quick look at the walkway would quickly reveal both that Lenalee could make a full circle around the outside of the third floor and that there was were multiple items of interest on the walkway, specifically windows.
It seemed that each and every room on the third floor had at least one window, and the larger rooms appeared to have two. If Lenalee so desired, she would be able to try peeking into any of the bedrooms and getting an idea of what laid inside if she liked, though obviously it went both ways and anything inside those rooms would be able to peer out and might spot her as well if she wasn't careful. If the sorceress wanted to do that, she was free to try. Otherwise, she was left to decide whether she wanted to try to explore the fourth floor, which Lovisa had noted as Casilda's personal laboratory and off limits, or go down to the second, which had been mentioned as the kitchens and communal eating hall.
Lenalee would, perhaps prudently, decide not to burst into any of the other rooms while taking her tour of the floor on which she and her companions were to be housed. A knowing smirk would appear briefly on her face when she passed the door that had a chorus of pleasurable cries coming from behind it, and again at the rhythmic suckling noises coming from the room across from Lovisa's, and would then hurry out of the hallway with those accursed lightstones and out into the open air. The balcony proved much more pleasant, and interestingly all of the rooms seemingly had windows peaking inside that Lenalee would be able to peak into... But she would obviously be seen lurking if she did.
"Wait here a minute and pretend like you're talking if anyone comes by, I'm going to take a quick look around" she said to Mari and Edmund, disengaging from the former after she'd helped guide the lightning witch out of the hallway. Her sense for mischief and her curiosity were beginning to distract her from the traumatic memories that had just nearly crippled her, and with a smirk she would begin casting a pair of spells, one meant to distort the sounds of her footfalls and the second to leave her invisible. Mari and Edmund were undoubtedly more naturally skilled at this sort of thing, but magic would allow her to do nearly as well for the purpose of scouting.
Humming to herself, Lenalee would begin walking around the outer circle, carefully avoiding anyone else who happened to be around. Though it wasn't for any real purpose, she went right first, and glanced into the room from which she'd heard the sucking noises curiously first. Unless she found a particularly interesting sight in the room, however, she would continue on and look in each room in turn, seeing what was to be seen and pausing again at the room she'd heard voices in. After glancing around to make sure that no one was around, if she was alone Lenalee would cast another quick spell that would allow her to hear through the window.
Lesser Strength to buff Body, Invisibility, and then Eavesdrop if all of ye conditions are met. Whether or not any of it matters is up to you.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 74/80, Status = Invisibility, Eavesdrop, Lesser Strength (+20 Body), The odd feeling that I calculated that buff wrong but having too much of a headache to care at this particular point in time.
Rolls
Nah, no rolls. There's no way any of the people she's spying on are going to notice an invisible mage against the light sky and light outside while they're doing what they're doing, and the ones who aren't occupied plainly don't have the stats to manage it.
Mari was clearly less than pleased to be left in a demonic tower with only Edmund at hand, but neither raised a complaint as Lenalee went to sate her curiosities. Her spells were once more cast without any hitches as she found no interference natural or otherwise to keep her from weaving her magics, which in the end left her more prepared for making the long circuit around the third floor outer walkway and more able to hide herself from anybody who might be looking out of the myriad of windows. Unfortunately, her first stop would likely prove not to be of great interest to the mage, as the figures in the room across from Lovisa's own turned out not to be anybody the lightning mage recognized and the bedroom itself looked identical to the guest bedroom she had been given.
Either a woman or an incredibly effeminate man with long, straight black hair sat on a couch positioned next to the window that the mage was peering through with their back to the Badarian as a tattooed woman with shorter, dark green, curly hair and a pair of breasts to match the mage's own skillfully took the other figure's cock into her mouth. Both were obviously demons, judging by almost stereotypical horns, wings, and spaded tails, but while the giving demon certainly seemed skilled, there wasn't much beyond voyeuristic pleasure for the Badarian woman to pick up from the figures engaged in the act or the act itself. There was one useful bit of information Lenalee might take from the room, however, in the form of the two sets of darksteel plate and a darksteel greatsword and darksteel halberd carefully discarded on the floor.
Unless she did end up deciding to stay and watch the act through to its conclusion and see what else the two might have planned for their little tryst, she would look into the next few windows to find them empty beyond furnishings, with the first two similar again to the guest bedrooms and the second a much larger room filled with bunk beds and two small storage chests at the foot of each. The next room, the one that the majority of the noise had originated from, was identical in furnishings to the dorm that came before it. Completely unsurprisingly after having listened at the door, there was a large orgy occurring within.
In one corner of the room, a female demon knight, immediately recognizable as she had only bothered to remove enough of her darksteel to expose her crotch, with dark lavender hair easily hoisted a goblin woman up and down her summoned cock, which appeared far too lengthy and girthy for the creature it was being used on, like a cheap sex toy. The goblin, her belly incredibly distended either with young or cum, appeared to have long ago given up consciousness, as her eyes had rolled up into her head and her tongue simply lolled out of her open mouth which allowed rivulets of drool to escape to her chin.
Another demonic woman with hair made up of all the colors of a fire was on her hands and knees and receiving the attention of no less than five male goblins. She wasn't fully undressed either, the skimpy red dress that made up her clothing had its skirt bunched up around her waist so the ones underneath and behind her could double team her ass and pussy, meanwhile two fought for the attention of her mouth while one settled for a free hand. Another demoness in similar garb was bent over a bed with a hellhound panting over her, having already knotted her if one were to judge by the lack of movement on the part of either, and she was in as bad a state as the goblin who had partnered with the knight. Finally, scattered across the rest of the beds were another few groups paired off consisting of a total of three female goblins and four males.
Once she was done watching the show, she would find that the next window looked into the guest bedroom across from hers empty and furnished as her own had been. Making a counter clockwise circuit she would end up passing the doors that led into the hallway, along with Edmund and Mari who apparently did not see through her invisibility and merely waited agitatedly on either side of those doors, and then the window into her originally assigned guest bedroom. Moving on from there, the next window she peered into was another dorm, though it looked less like a functioning bedroom and more like a Su-Ku-Ta merchant prince's harem room.
There were at least eight women in the room, all of them obviously demons if one were to judge on beauty alone, three of which wore skimpy crimson robes while the other five wore attire that looked more like lingerie, which was of the sort that would be found on the expensive escorts who usually served the nobility, than any sort of practical wear. Lenalee's next spell allowed her to hear the conversation the women were holding inside, but it would turn out to be largely banal in nature. They mocked the lowly goblins, while admiring the hellhounds and knights. They spoke of sex at great length, including ranking who in the tower was the best and who they'd like to try next.
Despite the nature of their conversation, which was more befitting newly matured, giggling schoolgirls than demons looking to conquer, a few interesting verbal tidbits would be shared. Lenalee soon discovered that Casilda's knights apparently didn't fraternize much with the other demons. They were pragmatic and stuck to consuming energy from the goblins whenever they needed that particular service, and if they desired sex simply for pleasure and fun then they sought out each other. This was apparently a great point of frustration to the assembled succubi, who had bets on which of them might take each knight first. But even their time with goblins was noted as being rare, and one among the demonic women theorized that it had something to do with the way they were empowered to knighthood that must've allowed them a method of regenerating their energies without taking them from another. That change in subject caused the women to begin chattering about which among them Casilda would use her ritual to raise to knighthood next, which saw another betting pool formed before Lenalee's very eyes.
But that topic didn't last for very long either before they began to gossip about the mage of Eden who had supposedly been brought to the tower. There were many rumors about her, Lenalee soon discovered. They ranged from the believable to the absurd, the first group including the notion that the Badarian human was actually of demonic blood, which itself was at least far less ridiculous than the idea that one posited which was that Lenalee was the sister to Casilda herself. They did, at least, have some true information about her. They spoke of her defeat of Dreadbeak, at which point one bemoaned his loss as he was 'the best goblin fuck she'd ever had,' and of her destruction of some of Casilda's own knights, which a few regarded as impossible until one exclaimed that the Badarian woman had complete mastery over lightning and had devastated a large portion of the human town with it, which caused a few intrigued looks. By the end of it all, a third betting pool covering who would manage to bed the mage of Eden first was formed with a prize that immediately added up to a hundred denarii to the winner.
When she was done eavesdropping, the mage would find that the next window looked more like a kennel than a dorm, and five horse-sized hellhounds made themselves comfortable among bedding as nice as the goblins had which was placed on the floor. The next two windows consisted of empty bedrooms, and the third was Lovisa's empty room, which proved even more spartan than the guest bedrooms with the only furniture being the bed and a desk and stool. With that, the lightning mage had peeked into every single room on the third floor and had managed to avoid being caught, at least as best as she could tell. With that, Lenalee would be free to return to Edmund and Mari and guide them to the next floor for them to explore, unless she wanted to make another stop instead.
Her tour of the first floor was quite entertaining, if not particularly useful. She only watched the woman sucking off the other figure for a little bit, admiring her technique but not feeling any need to watch it for the moment. She did notice the two suits of armor on the floor, indicating that the two were probably knights, but that wouldn't matter much to Lenalee as yet.
Moving around, she ended up at the window to the door behind which she'd heard an orgy, and to not any great surprise she found quite a few demons going at it. It was a fairly impressive collection, a small horde of goblins, a hellhound, and several demons of varying apparent levels of power. It was another interesting sight, but another one that the mage wouldn't spend too much time watching before she moved on.
Circling around the tower, Lenalee would find a harem of succubi and paused to listen in with another magic trick. The subjects were more amusing than interesting, though the note that the knights mostly kept to themselves was an interesting thing. The betting pools that popped up were amusing, particularly the one concerning her, and she idly considered using another trick to walk through the wall and asking which of the succubi would split the pool with her if they wanted to win right away, but the presence of Mari and Edmund waiting for her was enough to keep her from going that route... For now.
Finishing her circuit, Lenalee approached her comrades only for an idea to occur to her. Glancing around to ensure that any demons weren't around, she approached and whispered into Mari's ear if the coast looked clear; "Nothing too interesting to report. I'm going to take a quick look on the next floor, hold on another minute." She would then quietly head toward the stairs leading up to Casilda's private level, but before ascending them would cast a spell to search for magical effects that might be present in case some countermeasures had been put in her path. She would be much much more careful with this one, and even if she got upstairs she wouldn't open any doors. Should she get up without any trouble, she would go still and stop her breathing should anyone get too near to her, and wouldn't let herself get anywhere near Casilda given that the demoness could probably detect her quite easily even with her invisibility.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 71/80, Status = Invisibility, Detect Magic, Lesser Strength (+20 Body)
Mari gave a slight jump when the invisible sorceress whispered into her ear but quickly recognized the sorceress's voice and settled down. "I am beginning to believe you are just looking for reasons to leave me alone with this pompous ass," she muttered under her breath, more amused by the thought than serious but drawing an annoyed look from Edmund, who had apparently caught what Mari had muttered but not what Lenalee had whispered or even that the mage had lurked by them in her invisible state, all the same.
The sorceress made it up the stairs without issue or running across any sort of magical protection laid by the demons and had no trouble at all sneaking around without detection because there was nobody in sight. That wasn't to say that Casilda had left the fourth floor entirely unguarded, however. The lightning mage's earlier choice to cast her detection spell proved to be a wise one, as it prevented her from blundering into an a magical ward that extended two feet out from the walls all the way around Casilda's laboratory. Its effects were obvious to her thanks to that same spell, and after a few moments of investigation she discover that it was designed to disable spellcasters and spirit wielders and strip them of their powers, though it didn't have any mechanisms against an intruder physically passing the barrier. Casilda seemed to have put her faith into a locked, steel door — which, again thanks to her spell, Lenalee quickly recognized as having an alarm effect on it — to handle the physical aspect of her laboratory's security.
The mage could make an entire circle of the exterior walkway without any risk of touching the ward if she so liked, but she would soon discover it to be windowless. Unless the Badarian sorceress had a more creative plan in mind, her only options for breaking into the demoness's lab would hinge on being able to remove the alarm from the door and pick the lock without the use of her magic.
Mari's muttered comment about leaving her alone with Edumund drew a quiet snort of laughter from Lenalee, and his reaction to it only inspired another. Opting for a bit of extra mischief, she would reach down and give the rogue's rear a quick pinch before darting around to get behind the former knight and do the same, after which she would bound off with a spring in her step.
That spring faded once she reached the top and found not one, but two sets of fairly impressive magical barriers to her entry. The first, which seemed to wrap around the whole of the tower, was a proper ward that would have left her unable to use her powers inside of it, which must have been disabled when she had worked earlier. Problematic, but not a deal breaker given that she had Edmund and Mari. The second was a simple alarm on the door, a minor trap that Lenalee could easily deal with even through the ward, and she doubted that the conventional lock would be able to keep Mari and Edmund at bay. So... They could get through security, but not right now.
With a sigh, Lenalee would return downstairs, and after glancing around to be sure that no one was watching, release her spells and appear before Edmund and Mari without so much as a word of warning. In quick clipped words she would report her findings, and then suggest that they finish the tour by going downstairs. She wouldn't enjoy the walk back up, but if she took the stairs one flight at a time it wouldn't be too bad. Probably.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 71/80, Status = Making her way downtown, walking fast.
Mari jumped slightly at the mage's pinch of her toned, though pleasantly rounded, rear, which drew Edmund's attention for long enough to leave him wide open to similar treatment from Lenalee. Even the magically disinclined knight figured out what was going on after the lightning sorceress pinched his muscled backside, though he didn't do anything about it other than swear under his breath and mutter about magic. As such, Lenalee was left to her own devices and able to wander up the stairs and make her discoveries on the fourth floor.
She was similarly able to return to her companions and release her spells without being sighted or molested by demons, although that wasn't to say that she wasn't molested at all. A few seconds after Lenalee had reappeared, gave her report, and reunited with Mari and Edmund, the former's hand collided into her ass with an audible clap and gave a few firm squeezes. "Repayment for the pinch, with some of that interest you owe me," the rogue explained. Before Lenalee could get in any sort of response, however, a second hand fell onto her unoccupied cheek and gave a few gropes of its own. A glimpse to her side revealed that her latest molester was Edmond.
"Everybody was doing it," he offered with a shrug, at which point Mari glared at him almost like a territorial dog trying to stare another away from a meal. The former knight seemed completely unfazed by the rogue's response to his actions against the lightning witch's ass, however, and with a cocky grin he gave Lenalee's rear one more squeeze before letting go and starting down the stairs. "Let's get this over with then," he suggested. Whatever response that Lenalee might cook up, from there the three would be able to descend to the second level of the tower at their own pace.
The second floor proved to have as many windows as the third, and if Lenalee cared to peek through them she would quickly discover that the second floor was sectioned off into two parts: mess hall and kitchen. The kitchens were staffed by four gray-skinned demons, two male and two female, which Lenalee recognized as stalkers, who were moving to and fro working on a variety of dishes, though the Badarian couldn't discern exactly what they were cooking from any spot outside the windows.
The mess hall, on the other hand, was packed. There were three rows of long tables with stools on either side, about half of which were occupied. There were no fewer than twelve full-blooded demons in the room with two wearing the robes of sorceresses, five wearing nothing or close to it, four wearing leather armor, and the final one proving to be Lovisa who seemed to be having a meeting with the ones wearing leather. Beyond that, the lightning mage counted eleven goblins engaged in everything from eating to arm wrestling to cards. Whether Lenalee wanted to walk into that setting or explore elsewhere was entirely up to her.
Lenalee let out a startled gasp when Mari's hand suddenly smacked against her rear and began to grope her plump cheek, the sting and surprise fading quickly as the sorceress turned to the rogue and grinned. She was about to offer a quip when a second hand loudly clapped against the other half of her round rear, causing her to let out another startled gasp as she glanced over at Edmond. Having a hand from one of her companions groping each of her cheeks gave the lightning witch an idea that brought a mischievous grin to her face, one that only widened as she noted the territorial glare that Mari was giving the man.
"You two... Are just incorrigible~ Keep fondling me and I'll have to drag you both back to our room so that we can work out those issues," she said teasingly, and then gave a slight pout as the hands were removed from her rear. Nodding, she would lead the way down the steps to the next level, and would to her surprise find Lovisa in the cafeteria, speaking with a bunch of demons clad in leather armor. She would shoot the knight a nod if she were noticed, but should the knight continue her conversation Lenalee would idly enact the spell she had used previously, allowing her to eavesdrop without being noticed doing so. It wasn't a bit of magic that was particularly easy to notice being cast or maintained, and even if it was she could always say it was merely curiosity.
Glancing around, she found the cafeteria unsurprisingly quite full of demons. There were plenty of full demons, sorceresses and half or mostly naked demons who were probably succubi, and the four leather-clad figures who were talking to Lovisa likely being guards. There were a bunch of stalkers busying about, apparently responsible for making the food, though she couldn't imagine why the stealthy demons were given that particular responsibility. Maybe it was just how demon society worked? As familiar as she was with the spawn of Hell, Lenalee wasn't particularly familiar with how their social structure worked beyond that goblins were on the bottom.
And, speaking of, there were plenty of those around. Playing cards, eating, arm wrestling, there were eleven in total by her count, and they made the most noise of all the groups present. It was tempting to try and engage them, particularly given how much she enjoyed them in the bedroom, but now wasn't the time to think about that. Still, however... Maybe she could learn something, even if she was actively listening in on the conversation between Lovisa and those she was speaking to.
Glancing back at Mari and Edmond to have them follow her, she picked a couple of goblins who were arm wrestling and sat down, seemingly interesting in watching them. When noticed she would shoot a grin at the diminutive green demons, and said; "Hello... Mind if we sit here a bit? I've been walking around a bit too much lately so I'm a bit tired, and could use a little relaxation. My name is Lenalee, and these two grumps are Mari and Edmond." She kept her voice mostly friendly, but also added a tiny hint of suggestiveness that the goblins, being in her mind a race of perverts, would probably catch on to. The lesser demons were easy to talk to, especially when they thought they would get laid, and if she could learn something useful from a tiny bit of flirting it would undoubtedly be worth it. At the very least she might get a gauge for how many servants Casilda had, and their general mindset.
Lenalee: HP = 50, PP = 70, EP = 71/80, Status = Eavesdropping.
Lovisa did notice Lenalee's entrance into the mess hall, and offered an enthusiastic wave and mouthed some words aimed at her that the mage made out as 'a few more minutes.' Once the knight had returned her attention to the soldiers, who themselves gave the Badarian a few lingering, curious glances before returning their own focus back to the conversation at hand, Lenalee was able to cast her spell unnoticed by the targets of her attention and eavesdrop on them. The conversation turned out to be a relatively boring discussion about tower security and patrols with no specifics being given about numbers. There were a few particular points of interest that Lenalee might have considered valuable though: the first of which being explicit orders to not bother Ren, Jan, the dead inquisitor's former servant, or the baby they cared for, but to expand their patrols to ensure that an eye was kept on them as well, and the second being that the demons were increasing their patrol frequency because of the encounter between the inquisitors and the mercenaries and the increased presence of humans in the area.
While the full-blooded demons in the room might have been content to leave her to her own business without too many stares or looks, the goblins' attentions toward Lenalee were a bit more rapt, and Mari and Edmund received some looks as well. It was easy to tell by the way they stared that most among the diminutive demons would enjoy a chance at her and her friends in the bedroom as much if not more than she would enjoy the same opportunities. Their focus on her even caused the two that had been arm wrestling to completely forget the competition they were in and nearly let go of each others' hands, at least until it became obvious that she was approaching to sit at their table at which point they were so eager to show off their strength to her that they resumed their struggle so intensely that the veins running along their biceps and forearms looked ready to burst from stress.
Two others, who had been waiting for their turn to have a match with the winner of the competition, had little else to occupy their attention and so they chose to simply stare lasciviously at the sorceress and her comrades. The ones playing cards, of which three were females, and a few of the remainder, including another goblin woman, who were eating their meals were apparently interested enough in their own tasks to only cast the occasional lewd glance at Lenalee and her group. But while the sorceress may have been unphased by it all, Edmund and Mari cared little for the attention of any of the goblins and didn't try to keep the distaste out of their expressions.
There was one goblin whose looks toward Lenalee weren't purely lust, however. He looked at her with eyes full of cunning and empty of empathy. It looked less like he was undressing her in his thoughts and more like he was trying to formulate a plan on how he might manage to get her dress off and her onto her back in reality. He was wiry and short even relative to his kin. He was also the one to answer. "There're very few places I'd mind you sitting, myself," he easily replied, earning him a few looks from the other goblins which could only be described as a combination of annoyance that he had come up with the line instead of them and that he was trying his luck with the curvy mage first. "Will help you relax too, but don't know I'll do much for how tired you are," he added cheekily.
At that, one of the goblins in the arm wrestling match claimed victory by slamming the other one's hand into the table so hard that it left a dent in the wooden top and Lenalee heard a barely audible crack, though it wasn't clear whether the noise came from the table or the goblin's hand. "Rog is the strongest!" The victorious goblin, apparently Rog, seemed to proclaim his might more for Lenalee and Mari's sakes than any of the present goblins. Before he could say anything else aimed at the sorceress though, he had two more challengers vying to be next against him in an effort to defeat him in front of the sorceress. The goblin who'd spoken originally didn't take much interest in the competition, however, and instead continued. "You the mage of Eden that everyone is going on about then?"
