Interlude DCCXXI: The Devil You Know
The Devil You Know
Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
Drakefort, Painted Mountains, Eastern Approaches
Jon Redfort shook the small jar, glaring at the small demonic figure within. Red skinned and sharp-toothed, its tiny fists smashing against the hardened jar in pure rage. The thing was the very picture of the demons that one might find along the margins of certain pages of an illustrated copy of the Seven-Pointed Star. Only this was not a demon, but rather a devil, an imp to be exact, and it had committed crimes out of all proportion to its small stature and, according to his Scholarum adviser, its lowly position in the hierarchies of of Hell. The thing had tainted countless healers' supplies and it had been clever about it. The patients had seemed to recover every time, only to take ill even worse a few days later, sowing fear and mistrust. Thank the gods he had not offered healing to any of the local tribes yet. That would have set afire the very feud he was struggling to stomp down on.
Establish Healthcare Services in Painted Mountains Progress 5/9
Lost 3,000 IM (Destroyed supplies and investigation costs)
A task for someone else to handle for once, the knight thought, taking the jar with him into the his solar, which the harsh light of midday made worthy of the name. The letter he had received by raven was very specific about when and precisely where the investigator from Sorcerer's Deep would arrive, a precision he had learned to associate with magic, though he did not know precisely who would be taking over. Someone from the Inquisition probably, surely not a Companion, their time was too precious to be handling petty fiends, even ones as skillful in their malice as this one had been.
At precisely noon the shadows of the courtyard shifted and from them rose a black-armored figure, an unmistakably female figure. Unlike the likes of Balon Swann, Jon was not really one to pine for a woman who preferred the sparring ring or the archery range to more ladylike pursuits, but that did not mean he was blind.
Waves of ebony hair framed a pale elegant face and eyes black as midnight... currently glaring at his prisoner in contempt. "An imp... lovely," she said under her breath, though the knight had the strangest feeling the words had been meant for him to hear just as much as the greeting that followed, wherein she introduced herself as Lineah.
"Foolish mortal," the imp screeched. "Your master deals with Hell. She will devour your manhood roasted upon a spit..."
"As crass as always," the women sighed, only when Jon looked at her again a pair great wings like blood-specked ash had grown from her shoulders. "The King does not deal with Baator, though there are some within its mechanisms fortunate enough to be able to pledge their service to him, in place of less... honorable lords."
Jon was not exactly sure what the courtesies were to answer to that, but he was rather achingly aware that courtesies would be required. Judging from the way his heart was pounding he had a sinking feeling that would he open his mouth without thinking it through, some compliment of her face or form would slip through. You would think the admission she was a devil would make her seem less attractive not more, but then if that were the case there would be fewer sinners in the world.
"My Lord, I would he happy to explain how I and my sisters came to serve the King and why. A lord of your importance should certainly not be kept in the dark, least of all about what goes on in your own keep," Lineah continued matter-of-factly. "I think it is best, however, to deal with the cause of your recent misfortunes first. Imps make for atrocious company at the best of times..."
Starting like a squire woken from a daydream, Jon quickly handed the still protesting prisoner over. That was bound to be an interesting conversation, if nothing else. The knight struggled very hard not to think of what else might come of this.
OOC: The reason the erinyes is not more annoyed by Ser Jon's obvious gawking is that she gets to torture an imp to find out where it came from and how. This update is about more than the possibility of lords throughout the realm trying to gain the affections of the Sisters of Vengeance though, it's a bit of a glimpse into those minor fiend troubles that are normally abstracted away that we talked about recently.
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