<div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Sorry for the length. There's only one NPC, but she has a lot to react to!</div></div></div><br/><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Sashi wrote:</cite>"Aye...by any chance do you know where I can find a decent tailor?" she asked curiously.</div></blockquote><br/>"Tailor?" says Yuki. "In the marketplace there's a man..."<br/>She pauses to think, but cannot recall his name.<br/>"A human with long blond locks. Works from a white tent with a black sign. He's your man."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Minndrillia wrote:</cite>"As you already know, the White Wyrm Gyriax is the one behind this Winter and the so-called "Free Kingdom'." She begins. "Most of the area taken by Gyriax has been divided up into territories for other groups. The White Wyrm is at the top of the heirarchy, followed by his closest followers, then any group with enough power or money to stake some sort of claim. They fight each other for dominance while Gyriax takes tribute from any group that holds their own domain...."</div></blockquote><br/>At first Yuki only half-listens to the conversation. She's overhead plenty of drunk mercenaries and mad cultists discussing the future of the Orev Valley during the week she's been here. She's well familiar with the slavery-based fuedalism practiced in the Free Kingdom, whose elite see the valley as a pie to be sliced and served...<br/><br/><br/>Yuki's mind wanders impatiently to her breakfast.<span style="font-style: italic">"How can it take this long to prepare <span style="text-decoration: underline">raw</span> eggs?"</span>She's tempted to just go into the kitchen and get them herself.<br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Minndrillia wrote:</cite>"One thing bothers me though.The elevation of the valley, not to mention it's latitude, should make it impossible for this jungle to exist. And as you said, the plant and animal life in that jungle are abnormal. Many of the beasts appearing in the frigid areas of the valley are unnatural as well, not appearing until the winter began."</div></blockquote><br/>When Mindy says this, she grabs Yuki's full attention. Yuki has asked the very same question herself many times. As of yet, she has not heard one good answer; even her brainy cousin has so far been at a loss to explain how a teeming jungle could grow on the side of a mountain.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Minndrillia wrote:</cite>"I hope I'm not right about this, but this could mean Gyriax has the power not to merely change the weather, but to reshape whole ecosystems. Gyriax may ancient and extremely powerful, but this seems beyond the abilities of even a dragon like him. The phenomenom in the valley wouldn't be so perplexing if it was a naturally occuring ability in older, true-blooded dragons. He must have found something, or someone, that is giving him this power over nature."</div></blockquote><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Alyssa wrote:</cite>"I've had much the same suspicions," Alyssa says, nodding in agreement. "In fact, I have a theory regarding the source of Gyriax's power, though it's rather troubling... I fear that the white dragon may have allies among the demons."<br/>"The creatures of the jungle were more than simply foreign; they were alien, almost demonic. Their appearance and behavior more closely resembled the demons of scripture than any earthly beast. And otherworldly influence could explain the jungle's sudden appearance- even a brief exposure to the Abyss has been said to warp mind and body, and twist the laws of nature."</div></blockquote><br/>"The Abyss..." echos Yuki darkly. Despite her own demonic heritage<span style="font-size: 80%; line-height: 116%;">(or maybe <span style="font-style: italic">because</span> of it)</span>, anything having to do with the Bottomless Pit deeply disturbs her.<br/><br/>"That shouldn't be possible." she pipes up, inserting herself into Minndrillia and Alyssa's conversation. "Demons can enter this world only rarely."<br/><br/>"Even if Gyriax has 'allies' among the demons, they'd all be far, far Below. How could he bring so many up? How could anyone, even an arch-summoner?"<br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Minndrillia wrote:</cite>"...perhaps..." She started, pacing as the gears in her head started. "The connection between Gyriax and the demons are the Nezibolgia? They don't worship any particular deity, so there's a good chance that part of their cult follows an archfiend. Sometimes, they make others preds out as 'living deities' and give them willing sacrifices. Gyriax himself could one of these 'living deities', which could give him access to demonic allies.</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"The cult?" says Yuki, somewhat dismissively. "The Nezibolge are dangerously voracious, sure. But they're just a bunch of violent wackos. The ritual devourings are just stagecraft... the boasts of 'limitless power' are...are a ruse to draw in new members..."<br/><br/>Doubt begins to gnaw at Yuki even as she says this, and her voice trails off into silence. She hopes that she is right, that the cultists are nothing but violent wackos. But, she has to admit, the Nezibolge using dark sacrificial magic to call up the Lower Planes is the best explanation she's heard so far for all the shit she's seen up here.<br/><br/>It would also help explain the terrible dreams...and the nature of the Jolly Barbazu's management.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The armored tiefling glances at Auralia and, for the first time, she sees not a deadly foe but a balancing force, a helping hand. Perhaps even a trusted ally. (--but never a friend. They may share a goal in common, but they're still un-alike by every other measure)<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Rihyan wrote:</cite>"The demoness that had me enslaved was a half dragon succubus, a half white dragon succubus. Whether she was actually of Gyriax's get I don't know, but if she was, it kind of proves the demon connection."</div></blockquote><br/>"I would not be surprised at all if this Jinnai were of Gyriax's brood." says Yuki. "I've heard that the Wyrm has a 'taste' for succubi...and he's sired more daughters than anybody can count."<br/><br/>"Actually, at least one of his daughters is right here in Armel; her name's Xels. She's one of the higher-ups in the cult."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Alyssa wrote:</cite>"Abyssal corruption would also explain the recent behavior of the Rubinovan wards," she continues. "When the Order of Rubin first settled in Orev, they foresaw that the Vermifor Caverns would one day become the source of a great evil. The founding priests laid a series of powerful wards upon those caverns to seal the evil power within, and swore constant vigil should that power ever break free and threaten the valley.</div></blockquote><br/>"Well shit, what are we talking about here? Caverns so deep they reach all the way to the Underworld?" says Yuki, who doesn't know much about either caverns or the outer planes.<br/><br/>"I always knew there was something wrong about this valley. Some reason why it went uninhabited for so long..."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Alyssa wrote:</cite>(the sad tale of the destruction of Rubinova ten years ago)</div></blockquote><br/><br/>The five eggs and cup of suva arrive from the kitchen as Alyssa finishes her story.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Yuki takes an egg from the bowl, pops it into her mouth and swallows it whole with ease. The outline of the egg is clearly visible descending her long, pale neck.<br/><br/>"Hm." she says flatly to Alyssa with a shake of her head. "You're lucky to have been spared. Being digested by a demon is one of the worst ways to go."<br/>She gulps down another egg. "--Or so I've heard. Never experienced it myself."<br/><br/>If Alyssa waits for kind words from Yuki to help calm her nerves, she had better not hold her breath. Yuki doesn't<span style="font-style: italic">do</span>sympathy.<br/><br/><br/>After a moment of consideration: "...Why<span style="font-style: italic">were</span>you spared, anyway? The attack happened a decade ago...you couldn't have been much more than an ankle-biter at the time, no?"<br/>"Was it because of your own abyssal taint?"