How is a Lamia like a Cat?
Log Info
- Title: How is a Lamia like a Cat
- Emitter: Cryosanthia
- Characters: Mikilos, N'tsssa
- Place: A15: Mithralla Merchandise: Library
- Time: Thursday, December 30, 2021, 3:06 PM
- Summary: Mikilos is relaxing in a magically heat pool and combination sauna, near his library. It's definitely not good for the books, but he has a couple here. His hounding house-guest, N'tsssa the lamia, shows up looking for a particular reference tome, which he has in a pile. She's at first angry, then intrigued? Is the male elf attempting to seduce her? She is trying to charm him, and that isn't going well. Her spells have failed frequently, apparently. She joins him in the water and splashes about, discussion the lamia curse in a flirtatious sort of way. She inquires whether she can bring her whole tribe, and even though they -only- number around a hundred, he declines. A couple dozen would still be too much, four would be fine but they'd have to convince the watch. N'tsssa suggests charming them, and attempts to charm Mikilos. He rebuffs both, then turns N'tsssa into a cat. She runs off, so he turns into one to chase her.
-=--=--=--=--=--=-<* A15: Mithralla Merchandise: Library *>--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Built back into the mountain, this room is cool and dry. Arcane globes provide soft illumination, and fire sources are strongly discouraged. The center of the room holds a pair of long tables, and a cabinet holding a crude card catalog. Many bookshelves are carved directly out of the walls, while stout wooden structures hold even more. Academic texts are of course in large number, but the shelves also hold a range of novels, poems, play scripts, and other works of entertainment. However the majority of the works held here are journals, diaries, letters, maps, and travel logs, organizied by location. Alexandros is the majority, but a vast number of exotic locations are represented. With minimal seraching, one can find a firsthand account of life most anywhere in the world.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Mikilos 6'8" 180 Lb Dawn Elf Male Tall male dawn elf, rosey blonde and handsome. N'tsssa Lamia Female An orange scaled, angry matriarch of a lamia clan. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
On the mountain about the manor sits a large patch of white. This time of year, most assume it to be a patch of snow, but a closer look would find a wall of massive quartz crystals, not quite clear enough to see through, but allowing most light to pass. Behind this wall is a sheltered patio, out of the wind and weather, but offering fresh air and a view of the landscape. Today it also offers a large pool of clear water, feed from a pipe in the wall, and heated by elemental runes, the water stays quite warm before draining out the far side.
The tunnels leading to the patio are long and winding, not intended for the general public, but familiar enough to those who reside behind the manor.
Currently Mikilos lounges in the pool, stretching slowly as the heat works through sore muscles and aching joints. He -is- over 100 years old, a few aches are to be expected. Several books sit beside the pool, the thick vellum unbothered by the humidity.
Not quite a sauna, but serves the same function.
"Mikilosssss!" An intemperate voice calls, speaking an ancient and corrupted tongue, "Where do you hide in this maze of a manssssion? I sseeek book sseven of the possst Millennium Kingdom history, yearss 566 to 721."
There's an accompanying scrape of scales on stones, the sound of a heavy snake moving over the quartz crystals. N'tsssa, lamia matriarch and demanding house-guest appears on the patio. She halts at the sight of the hot tub. Her tongue flicking out. She blinks, a rare act for her.
"Mikilos!" She says, still sounding angry, "Do you try to seduce me?"
The heat and humidity waft her way. The clear water calls. She repeats herself, but it's funny how a change in tone completely alters things.
"Mikilossss. Do you try to ssseduce me? Sshould I turn into an elf?" She almost purrs the words, "Oh there isss the book I ssseek."
A lot of snake is heading for the pool.
Mikilos yawns and stretches, blinking heavily as he rouses. "Well, if it's working, so be it. But it's just been a while since got the piping system hooked up. And once got everything working, just had to test it out. But yes, book seven is here. Were you referencing anything specific, or just next in the series?" The elf sits up in the water, but slides to a slightly lower section of bench, remaining mostly submerged.
N'tsssa slithers over and into the pool, coil after coil curls over the edge, displacing less water than one might expect, until she actively makes herself sink. A small wave rolls out of the lips of the pool. She turns and leans her back against the side near the dawn elf, and struggles a bit to get her humanoid rear-equivalent on the underwater bench without slipping off it.
"Both." She hisses, staring, "There are referencesss, Taara leading the sshadow elvesss asstray. That she liess to them. How she curssed them. I look for detailss if thiss iss our currse or another cursse. The Caracoroth curssse ssseemsss more likely."
She shrugs, "and it isss next in sseriess." She leans back, letting her elbows supporting her, stretched out as if she has feet, which she doesn't. The end of her tail hangs over the edge of the pool opposite. Waaaay over there.
Mikilos nods abesently, having read over the text in question not too long ago. "I agree, Caracoroth seems the likely source of the curse, though I've found nothing but speculation as a reason. However, I do have to wonder, does it really matter? The reason behind the curse, at this point, or who made it, will have little impact on it removal. Assume Caracoroth is confirmed to have placed the curse. So then what? Ask him very nicely to lift it? Ask anothr god to step in? Both are about as likely. A deity might aid an individual, but a race wide curse is the sort of thing that could spark another Gods War."
N'tsssa splashes, turning in the pool to lean closer to the Dawn Elf, on the verge of brushing against him with some part of her. Contact would be bad, even if she is in control of her abilities, it could encourage her to use them. "Issss there not a Gods War happening? The abjuration on thisss city, the ads for the Dead God's Sssociety?"
She's been reading the local news, somehow.
"It isss a time of upssset, a time to change thingssss." The lamia leans on the edge, "You have the sstatue to Eluna and not Taara." Mikilos nods. "Strife and tension, but not colossus strideing the horizon, crushing mountains beneath them. Which might make the timing worse. There's also the issue of the 'curse' itself. How many want to change, versus how many would rather remain lamia? I certainly don't know the numbers, but expect they're not zero. Even a few who want to remain could cause major issues." And while he doesn't have a statue to dark magics, there is a third alcove. Unfinished and blocked off, but still present.
"Yesssss." N'tsssa sinks back against the wall, "who isss the blocked ssshrine for?"
Seems she must ask about everything. She does owe some answers, "Sssome, mosst, the weak oness with the ungainly formss and the unrelenting hunger." Which gets her on a topic.
"You are sssure human meat isss not for sssale here? There are hobgoblinsss, they eat humansss. Bugbearsss eat humansss. There wasss chili in the colisssseum that had human meat." How did she find -that- out? She asks eagerly, "There will be another contessst sssooon?"
Mikilos smiles faintly. "Meat from any sentient creature, human, elf, xorn, demon, is generally frowned upon in society. I'm not sure when the chili cookoff is, I've entered for fun, but usually don't pay much attention." He considers a few moments. "Getting a god to lift the curse is unlikely at best. Even a group of master magi breaking it would likely cause major backlash. Seems better to cure individuals who want to change, on a case by case basis."
"A simple polymorph could cure most of the symptoms, but a dispel or countersong would bring the problem right back. A dispel of the curse could pull apart the weave of the magic, but most are too eak to impact the threads, and the weave itself could pull tight once again. However, a Disjunction does pull apart the threads of magic, it cuts them. The weave would be broken, never to return. The spell can work on even the most powerful of artifacts. But, not with repercussion. Dispelling godly magic tends to draw the ire of said god. And the artifact is typically destroyed. I'm not sure forcing the curse apart would leave a person behind at all, let alone a cured one."
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "she casts Mage Hand to make the book float in front, then 'cast' her SLA Charm Monster on you, DC19 WILL" GAME: Mikilos rolls will: (12)+17: 29
N'tsssa listens, bobbing her head then lifting a hand out of the water. A quick wiggle and an eldrich hiss and Book Seven of the Post-Millenium history moves out of the stack of tomes and hovers in front of her. It opens to the first pages.
She turns, fixing a stare onto Mikilos. Her eyes sparkle, light twinkling in them. Her voice is low and seductive. There's a sensation of something magical happening. "You can tessst that on one of my sssubjectssss. You ssshould let my tribe come ssstay here. There issss the whole mountain."
Her tail wiggles, "the disssjunction will work when the mage prissson didn't?"
Mikilos tsks and smiles. "How many times have you tried that? How many times has it worked? How many times were you able to just ask instead? I only control a very small section of the mountain. How large is you tribe?"
He considers. "I'm not at all certain a Disjunction will work, let alone work well. It's an option, but not a good one. I think the better choice would be a ritual polymorph. Like most spells, the common version is designed for combat, cast fast, at anything, into a wide range of things. But, it only changes what the target appears to be, not what it truly is."
"I think can craft a spell that would only work on lamia, only turn them into elves, take time to cast, but change what they truely are, and thus the change would last forever, not just for a lifetime, but after death, and on to future generations."
GAME: Cryosanthia rolls 1d20+15: (8)+15: 23 (N'tsssa k/arcana) GAME: Cryosanthia rolls 1d20+15: (14)+15: 29 (N'tsssa spellcraft)
"Many timesss!" N'tsssa hisses, indignant ... that it didn't work? That she was caught. "You are a frusstratingly ssstrong willed male."
Her tail lashes and splashes, enough of her moving she causes some ripples on the water. She sinks lower, down to her bust, glares at the water for a little bit. It isn't charmed either.
"Lesss than a hundred. We occupy a temple. Ussse the sssacred room for combatss. Mosst are half-feline. Othersss birds, and goatsss. Ssssome ssnakess, like me."
There's more ticking of her tail as she considers the spell description. She taps some fingers on one hand, clearly pondering an aspect... of something. "Yesss."
"A ritual... future generationssss. I ssee." She rises up, water streaming off her, "Who wasss that other elf that wass here?"
Mikilos considers, and shakes his head. "Too many. My mansion is large, but more than a few dozen would be a problem. Can hold hundreds for a meeting, but accommodations to live here just aren't present." He blinks. "Which other elf? Belhan? Ravenstongue? Val? Sandy? I think you know the first two. Valadhiel is a ranger I've known for years, passes thru now and again. Sandy is a sorcerer from the city, runs a clothing shop. Used to be a powerful adventurer, but mostly retired now,"
She seems disappointed by the news that the mountain isn't big enough, signaled by a hiss and rougher motions of her snake coils. "Ssssee? The Charm wassss necessary."
"Valadhiel. Ssshe isss the one. Sssandy I have only heard disscusssed."
There is a surge of movement from her, and water from the pool as she turns over and is suddenly face to face with Mikilos. N'tsssa pins him to the edge of the pool, arms to either side, chest to chest, coils holding his legs. "Make me into the elf you desssire and we will have babiesss!"
Her voice is husky, her eyes hypnotic. No magic compulsion, and she's seemingly serious, "then I can eat them."
Mikilos schools himself to stay still, mildly surprised, but not really afraid. Considering a moment, he leans forward and kisses her lightly on the tip of the nose. "No eating babies. Certainly not my own. My magics can only change what you appear just now. Will need time and work to make a deep change."
N'tsssa blinks again, flicking her forked tongue over her nose, remaining softly pressed against Mikilos. The parts of her that are soft and not scaled, that is. "I wasss joking. I would not eat our babiesss."
She tilts her head, "no babiess at all? Even disscarded oness in alleyways that cry and keep all awake a night?"
She's joking still. Probably still joking.
N'tsssa nods and curls back to her seat. She follows with some more arcane gestures, another spell that is recognizable as her version of an alter self. She transforms into the dawn elf vision she created last time, the combination of Mikilos and Ravenstongue. "Will I look like thisss after the deep change?"
Mikilos frowns mildly. Jokes are supposed to be funny. "Not even those. As for how you look, how any would look, is part of the work that needs done making the spell. Retain general features? A mental image by the caster? By the target? Some combination? Likely best an image held by the caster, targets mental image might shift, a caster tends to have better mental focus. But if that's how you want to look, is an option."
N'tsssa notes Mikilos' frown, and frowns herself. She wiggles in a way that suggests she still has a tail, it ends up adjusting her feet. Her combination mental imagery seems quite solid, exactly like before, excepting clothing. This time she's without.
"So it iss posssible."
She looks thoughtful, which translates into biting her lower lip, "More than a few dozen iss to many. So two dozen? I could bring two dozen of my besst here?"
The lamia wiggles her fingers, "Ssome of usss can do magic. We can asssisst, or you need ssstronger wizardsss?"
Mikilos tries not to stare. Clothing free wiggles are... interesting. "I don't know yet. I think I'll be able to cast the ritual myself, it should be much stronger than a regular polymorph. But will take time to work out the specifics." He considers several moments. "Two dozen lamia, inside the city, will attract trouble. At the very least an inspection from The Watch and pointed questions from the Society. It can be done, but will cause problems. Three or four will likely just draw attention. But, if have a solution, a cure, ready to go, can assure the authorities the dozens aren't a force of invaders, but curse victims waiting to be cured. Changing their perceptions can be important."
N'tsssa sets her hands on the underwater seat, pushing her shoulders up and arching herself in a coy way. She has a lot to stare at, and a classical form, like a grecian statue. It's very easy to see where she incorporated the half-elven influence.
"Ssso. Four. Firssst. To experiment on? More, if the cure worrksss?" She's biting her lip again, "You would want weaker onesss, to tesst, or the sstronger sso we know it workss for everyone?"
"I cannot jussst Charm the Watch to obey? They did not ssseem that important."
Mikilos smiles, shifting a little in his on seat. Not just the ladies can pose. He really sshouldn't, doesn't exactly mean to, but once the idea is present... "Clever, to help research the cure. If it works on any, it should work on all. Should. As for the watch, a member might be weak, but a member might also be strong. But most importantly, they have many, many members, well trained to work together. Like bees? A single bee is annoying, but an entire hive can be deadly."
"Yessss, beesss" N'tsssa snickers, covering her mouth with her fingertips. A mouth that currently doesn't have fangs, and never seems to be shielded when it does. "We ssend the dumb onesss to get the honey. The travellerss or the lowesst. Beesss."
There's more of a lean, Mikilos' pose has caught her attention. She works her shoulders back and forth, "doesss the Watch dance where the criminalss are to each other?" She shimmies in place, jiggles, "Three sstreetss over, one back."
She continues the non-snake, snake-dance in silence a little longer. "Ssend an airsship? Teleportsss do not work eassily? Four, can come through the city?"
Mikilos snerks, watching, but trying not to stare. "Maybe some of the Watch members dance, but not while on duty." He frowns. "I have no love for airships. They work, but I do not care for them. Telportation doesn't work inside the city, but can jump from and to the front gate. Better to be open and clear in enrty, give no one reason to question what we're doing. And, having an airship fly up to the old temple might scare the tribe into something rash. Best just a few approach to let them know all that has happened. Or do you have a way of communicating with them?"
"No." She sinks back, watching as Mikilos tries not to stare, and making some small splashes to get him to look some more. She hangs her arms on the edges and sits low enough the water half covers her breasts.
"They would not attack me." She says definitively. She blinks a little, works her lips, her breath exhaling in a hiss, "They might attack me. If I was ursssurped in my abssence and the new leader did not like it."
She hisses some more, "You have the sspells? To see and ssspeak at range? They ussse pools of water?" The current pool... would make for a very unusual call.
Mikilos considers. "I can cast such spells, but would need to know the person am casting at. However, easy enough to get a scroll of sending for you to cast, send a message to your Second or whomever, Sending also allows them to send a reply." He considers. "I really should make a gem or something, let whomever holds in make a Sending, once a day or some such. Comes up often enough to be handy, while simple enough to craft without too much effort."
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "she tries Charm Monster again, DC19 will save :)" GAME: Mikilos rolls will: (8)+17: 25
"Yesss! Make me one!" N'tsssa hisses, her voice taking on serpentine aspects, despite her elven form, as she demands a service. The charm monster fails.
The charming monster tries again, with her other charms and not a spell, swimming to pin Mikilos against the wall of the pool once more. This time, there are no rough scales, only softness.
"Pleasssse. The gem of ssending and the ssending and we will bring four more here after I ssspeak to my sssecond." She's nose to nose once more.
Mikilos hesitates before slowly standing, wrapping his arms gently around her, murmuring softly against her ear... a spell.
GAME: Mikilos casts Polymorph Any Object. Caster Level: 17 DC: 29 GAME: Cryosanthia rolls 1d20+7: (4)+7: 11 (N'tsssa Fort)
Mikilos continutes to hold gently in his arm, even as the change rapidly takes place, stepping to the edge of the pool and setting the now grey cat down on dry land. "You need to stop trying to enscroll me. It's annoying. I know it's hard to focus just now. Hold still. and I'll change you back."
'Raaaooooowrrrr!' This is my voice? Hissss! That's still the same. She arches her back, doubling in size. Cats are generally not a fan of water and apparently Cat'Tsssa isn't either. She yowls a second time and then goes galloping off in a sideways hop-hop-hop that felines sometimes do.
Off to steal someone's lunch, mayhap. She listens even less as a cat. They are known to be disagreeable animals.
Mikilos is hardly surprised. Had hoped for a calmer reaction, but so be it. Stepping out of the water, the mage murmurs a swift cantrip to dry off, then grasps his amulet to pull another spell, shifting himself into a feline of similar size to Cat'Tsssa, his own fur a few shades more orange than his regular hair. Playing as a cat for a few minutes might prove fun.
Bonded object casting, leading to bounded cat objects. A grey and an orange, chasing each other throughout the mansion.
One of them up to evil cat tricks, best left unspecified.
