UN Teleconference Emergency Meeting

[Kender Bard]

Libre's prediction had been correct; he was settled in a comfortable sitting room with Twilight, Dusk, and the royal telepath, Hermes. Timble had insisted on coming with him and was settled in a seat near Libre, staring off into space.

Libre had given Dusk and Twilight a sketchy idea of what was going on without going into too many details; they were somewhat informed but it would save Libre from repeating himself completely.

Together, he and Hermes began to reach out to tap at Leaders, reaching out mental hands to pull them into the conference, or to their personal Minds.

~Let's get started~ Libre announced to each one in turn as he began to bring them in.

Cascata responded swiftly, looking a little confused and apprehensive. Thavan was next to respond.

"What's all this about?" he asked.

"We'll find out shortly, Thavan," Cascata told him to save Libre from having to do so. "Dusk, dear, you look well. I hope you and your family are fairing fine. Oh and congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Thavan."

Thavan preened at that. "Thank you."

[Devon]

Trevor responded as soon as he was pulled into the conversation. "Emergency meetings never mean anything good. Still it is good to see all of you again."

[Darastrix]

Dusk smiled and added her congratulations before speaking to Cascata. "We're doing well. How are your families?" she asked, turning to include Trevor in the question.

"This will be brief, I hope," Lord Cross stated once he was drawn in. "We've been hearing reports of sightings of strange creatures, and after that rat business, I want to make sure we have a few contingencies in place."

[Kender Bard]

"It should be," Libre assured Edward. He hadn't yet heard back from Milady Willows' telepath. The man had seemed a bit flustered--perhaps there was something going on now in Humontis? He gave a final reach out and tapped Schuldig as well. "The strange creatures you're receiving reports of are likely demons."

"Surely not!" Cascata gasped.

"Good fucking Worg," Thavan growled. "First faeries, now demons?"

[Darastrix]

"That'll give you a fractured pelvis," Schuldig stated as he entered the mental conference with Lucifer. "Nagi said he's sorry he can't pop in," This was directed mostly to Libre, Cascata, and the Flameharts. "He's having to go with Crawford on a demon-related errand."

[Devon]

"My diplomat Sage said he received a vision from Efil, he is currently in Naurorod trying to track someone down now. But from what he told me, the demons are indeed back," Trevor said.

[Darastrix]

"Lord Crawford likewise received a vision, from Etaf," Lucifer stated. "And we've already had run-ins with at least two demons in Khelek."

[Kender Bard]

"Good, then it sounds like some of us at least are aware of what's going on," Libre sighed out. "And it's good to know my sister wasn't the only one to receive a vision."

"Well I'm still confused," Cascata said. In person, she had gone a bit pale. She well remembered the last time demons had shown up on her doorstep and she trembled a little.

"What's important to know is that Morilanta recovered the means of summoning the demons," Libre announced. "The Forces seem to have reached out to some seers for help. Through them, they are reaching out to select individuals to help against the demon scourge. How eludes me. The messages related to Flame were not wholly instructive, though that might just be because it was Soahc who delivered the vision... I'm not even all that certain how bad the incursion is."

"Where are they being summoned?" Thavan asked.

"Naurorod," Libre replied. "Ann has been made aware so I'm quite certain she's prepared her clans for the influx."

[Darastrix]

"According to Lord Crawford's vision," Lucifer put in, "this incursion is worse than the last. Before, they used unhallowed ground and the tear was relatively simple to repair. What has been done now is of a more permanent nature. From that, it may be assumed that what exists now is essentially an open door. And if any lords are freed, considering the past and what Dispator once suggested to me--setting the nations upon each other through guile and strategy--chances are good that at least some will be considering conquest."

[Deleted]

Layla finally joining the conversation sounded confused and a little upset. "Please forgive my tardiness, I was otherwise engaged." She said apologetically. "Did I hear something of Demons are running unchecked through the lands?"She asked " I thought it was just the mountain."

[Kender Bard]

"That vision seems to match up with Flame's, more or less," Libre replied, giving Layla a welcoming nod. "The question is now, of course, what to do about it. The Forces have a plan that they're putting into action, but for whatever reason, they're acting through mortal messengers to deliver these rings. And then nobody seems to know what's expected of the ring bearers or what the Forces will do next once they have been handed out. And we have no idea how long that will take... We've delivered three rings, but we still have eight more to go.

"Some will be easy to deliver--for example, Schuldig, we have one for you and Locket. But some will be extraordinarily difficult... Forces! We have a ring for someone named Kamilla in Grandisle of all places. I have no idea at this present moment how we're going to pull that one off in a timely manner. Soahc helpfully supplied Flame with the information of which nation the ring bearers are in, and a vision of what they look like and a name, but beyond that... not much more to go off of."

"So that begs the question again; what do we do for now?"

Twilight leaned forward. "I think it's clear. We inform our guard, try to give them an idea of what they'll be fighting and the best way to protect against the influence of a demon. We should also inform our populaces in a manner best conductive to not inspiring mass panic but allowing them, too, to better guard themselves against possible attack."

Thavan frowned. "So you're certain we're talking about an open door analogy here? There's no way we could just gather our armies and go kill every demon swarming around the volcano and call it a day done?"

Cascata cleared her throat. "I think that if it were that simple, the Forces would have simply given instruction to that end. Clearly, they feel the need for something more elaborate; something they cannot or will not explain in detail to their mortal messengers. So I agree with King Twilight. We need to think first of how best to keep our people safe. Then, from there, we need to devise a strategy to expediate the Forces' plan."

[Darastrix]

"Unfortunately, not all demons make their race obvious," Lucifer stated. "The pair Schuldig and Nagi encountered looked no less human than a horned Beast elemental, though their...race became more obvious after being splashed with holy water."

"Holy booze," Schuldig corrected, leaning against the 'wall' in the mental space. "And they don't all exactly have the same abilities, either. We had a run-in a few years ago with one that I guess had been hanging around since the last time. She could make herself look totally human. Nice trick for someone with wings, purple skin, and a scorpion tail. Packed some fucking strong venom, too. One of these others had some sort of venom that caused confusion, not death. So think of them as...faeries from hell. They seem about as varied. Splashing them with blessed whatever seems a good way for finding out who's human and who's not, but temples aren't gonna be totally safe. Dunno if it's a matter of individual strength or what, but they can enter and walk around without bursting into flames or whatever else people think about demons in temples."

He cocked his head at Libre. "As for Soahc's rings, I might know some of the ones getting them well enough to give 'em a heads up and tell them to stay where they are so there's less explaining to do when you get to them. And off the top of my head, you've got a couple choices for getting to Kamilla. I'll give you those thoughts later, though."

~The more people that know of potential subterfuge, the harder it is to keep it quiet.~

[Kender Bard]

"I wasn't aware they could enter temples," Libre admitted, looking troubled.

Cascata nodded. "Regardless, the priests will be our greatest defense against demonkind, I think. We should ask people to not hesitate to submit themselves or their loved ones to some liberal dashing of holy water if they have any suspicions."

Libre didn't respond to Schuldig's comment but he did give the other mind a bare nod of agreement on the score. They would talk later.

[Deleted]

Layla felt more of less speechless. She didn't have any help she could offer. So all she did was nod her agreement, and make a mental note to bring this to the Scion's attention when she had a chance. "So I take it then we haven't found an effective way for killing them then?" She asked to clarify.

[Darastrix]

"Let me clarify: they are not immortal," Lucifer replied. "They can be killed. Schuldig and Prince Kazimir have successfully dispatched demons in the past. The issue is that aside from a vulnerability to holy water, which seems to burn them like an acid, though not necessarily fatally, they are varied in both their abilities and weaknesses."

"Plus you get to deal with what they leave behind when you DO kill them," Schuldig added. "When Dispator was killed, he kind of melted into an acid that ate through some folks' boots. That scorpion-tailed one I mentioned turned into some kind of cloud. Dunno what it would've done if we'd touched it or breathed in, but I doubt it would've been good. So even if you kill one, it still might get the last laugh."