<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/d6/Succubus3.jpg)</div>Having watched much of the battles thus far with the aid of her Lord's divination magic, Alactra found herself growing rather excited at the reports.  Though Lord Galyxx had gone with him on their hunt for the master planar assassin, Grimjaw, Lord Methu alone had proved sufficient for the task of both locating and utterly demolishing the Archfiend Astral Stalker.  It wasn't accomplished entirely without aid, as he had apparently stopped by to acquire a few short-lived magical boosts from his own high priest, as well as having dipped into whatever power he had gained by having the memories of his former life restored to him, but it was still incredibly impressive nonetheless.  Not merely to defeat such a skilled and notorious assassin, but to do so by sneaking up on him, to ambush him while he himself was laying in ambush for another, and to tear him apart so completely that the assassin shattered apart from the force of his blows without even getting the chance to mount a counter-attack...  Yes, that was a truly impressive feat.<br/><br/>Though, something about that description, shattering apart like glass, did leave her a little suspicious.  There was one particular species of outsider, native to the Plane of Mirrors, with an unusual ability...<br/><br/>"My Lord, can you open a window to Lord Methu's current location?"  She requested, leaning in close to whisper to her Master, in order to not interrupt the other Archfiends around her.  "What he destroyed may have been a<em>simulacrum</em>.  I'll be able to tell if I can simply take a close look at the body."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Alactra can make the check to know what a Mirror Mephit is even if she rolls a 1, so that's the basis behind this particular concern.  If Vholdran opens up a window as she requests (and assuming said windows can allow others to look through them as well), she'll take 10 on a Spellcraft check to examine the body.  It's DC 27 to identify if it was a <em>simulacrum</em> before it was smashed apart, which Alactra can make easily by taking 10.<br/><br/>Edit: Though, reading up on Vholdran's ability, it looks like his Abyssal Gaze of the Seer power doesn't quite work that way.  He can only form them up to 20 feet away, and then can move them up to a mile away at a rate of 40 feet per round.  I suppose the best alternative would be Methu and Galyxx bringing the body back, in that case, though if it's really him, it will probably discorporate and be absorbed into the plane before too long.</div></div><br/><br/><hr/><br/>And then the hated Solana and her angelic cohort arrived, and Alactra was left even more impressed.  She knew that Solars were among the mightiest of the champions of good, and this general of the heavens was herself an elite among their number.  Additionally, Planetars were powerful enough in their own right to be a threat to practically every variety of fiend but Balors and Pit Fiends in one on one combat, and this Johan was also an elite among their number...  And yet, with her opening move alone, Torahime had already felled both of them, and done so quickly enough that even Lord Vholdran had had to move quickly, using his own innate ability to<em>plane shift</em>to pull the unconscious Solar directly into the castle's dungeons.<br/><br/>That also confirmed to the fallen archmage that the inside of the castle had become a demiplane in and of itself, which once more spoke to the power of the artifact at its heart, the Casket of Souls.  If she could become a proper Archfiend on her own, prove to be her Master's equal, or perhaps even his better, then she couldn't help but wonder...  Could she get a seat at the table as well?  Usurping Vholdran's seat was clearly off the table, given the way this little gathering of fiends had gone already, but perhaps she could do something to prove herself worthy to stand among them...<br/><br/>Ah, but what mighty competition they were proving to be.  Echidna and her children took to the battlefield as well, and Alactra was intelligent enough to recognize just how effective War's speech was proving to be at motivating everyone on their side.  It was a bardic ability of some sort, to be sure, and quite a powerful on.  Even back in the throne room, simply hearing him speak had set her heart aflutter and brought a slight flush to her face... though, admittedly, that exposed, erect shaft of his might have had something to do with it as well.<br/><br/>Still, even in spite of her succubus blood starting to call to her, the Fey'ri did her best to focus.  It wouldn't do to miss the show Nyag'thon was putting on, after all, transforming her Paladin plaything into a truly horrific monstrosity, or to miss how much of the rest of the angelic strike force was being systematically demolished between Echidna, Ungrath, and those duplicates of Torahime.  Ungrath in particular seemed to be racking up the biggest kill-count, not that she expected anything less from a creature with so many tentacles and other natural weapons to bring to bear.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Sadly, Alactra's enjoyment of Anasil's instantaneous destruction of the enemy general was cut short, as more angelic prisoners were teleported in.  Her Lord gave his command, and she obeyed, picking up one of the unconscious Archons as three creatures that she identified as elegantly-crafted mockeries of Dao genies entered the throne room at her Master's bidding.  It was simple enough to carry the unconscious bodies down to the rather sizable prison that her Lord had crafted through his link with the castle, and from there, perhaps she would at least be able to amuse herself by waiting until Alactra woke up, then taunting her with her loss...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Torahime Actions</div><div class="spoiler_body">Torahime's three duplicates can finish off the remaining Trumpet Archons by double-teleporting around them, so I won't bother rolling for those.<br/><br/>Tracking the remaining Astral Devas, we've got one still alive on Ungrath but badly wounded, all seven alive on Echidna but one dazed, and all six alive on Nyag'thon but the one carrying her is blinded and generally in a rather bad way.<br/><br/>That said, Ungrath only rolled to attack six, so either there's an extra one on her who's at full health, or there's one Astral Deva unaccounted for alongside the four Lantern Archons...</div></div>