B4 – Chapter 10: Cures and a ruse

The next few hours were a flurry of activity. The streets were empty, as the citizenry had been told to head to the closest basement and listen for any sound of breach. They took the orders seriously, and it led Tristan to believe that perhaps they had been assaulted from the underground before. The guards were in full force, and the Demon House Guards were amongst them, giving orders and acting as focal points of coordination – demonstrating their possible millennia of experience.

Tristan was led to one of several areas designated for quarantine, and over the duration of the day and into the night, he was busy drinking down essence elixirs and re-casting Cleanse on the populace brought to him. He was able to listen in to the reports as well – the guards had fully swept through the tunnels and cleared them out, capturing all the infected they came across by breaking limbs.

Thus, Tristan’s job was two-fold; healing and cleansing. He exhausted the whole city’s supply of essence elixirs before getting halfway through the populace, and resorted to his personal stash of essence elixirs, which were far more potent and restored much more of his essence. Something he ensured to comment to one of the House Guard nearby. “I’m spending a lot of my personal resources for this. Make sure you tell your master that.”

Felicity for her part refreshed the disguise on Tristan and then went to go and cause a bit of mischief inside the city. Nothing nefarious; just tilting paintings, knocking over objects in houses, and being a cat-like menace; a poltergeist who left nothing but headaches in their path. She returned here and there, sharing her exploits.

By the time the Fingers of Night were far overhead, Tristan was notified by one of the Demon House Guard that the severely infected were dealt with. He performed one more use of Cleanse on himself – despite the five day recommend period of not affecting himself with the spell being violated. A necessary risk, he thought. He also had the time to slip to the privy and discuss his plan with Felicity, to which she expressed ecstatic joy. He opened his Pocket Dimension II, and she wriggled her way inside before he allowed it to shut.

An hour of air, he thought as he followed the Demon House Guard that had been accompanying him. That guard escorted him back through the city and to Lord Dalphatroux, who tapped her armrest on the throne as he approached and stopped at the marked position on the floor.

“You have done my city a service,” she stated. “One that I am thankful for. I still wish to meet this Lord Winterbloom. How quickly can you arrange a meeting?”

“Right now,” Tristan said as he spun his crucible, and poured his essence into his amulet holding the storage spell. He ensured to taper the flow as the rift opened in the air next to him, having it face the front. Felicity was in there; but her head was as big as Tristan’s. In fact, it was Tristan’s.

She spoke in his voice, which was a little unsettling, and in Elvish. “Hei, Demon Lord!” (Hi there, Demon Lord!).

Tristan cleared his throat, speaking in Demon’s Tongue. “I can translate. Lord Winterbloom greets you.”

The Demon Lord leaned forward on her chair and grinned, “How is this possible, mercenary Marius?”

Felicity speaking as the Tristan face duplicate, spoke once more in Elvish. “Well obviously because I’m amazing, and the best artificer of all time! You should bow before my amazingness!.”

Tristan suppressed a slight chuckle and fake-translated. “An artificed item that allows for realmwalking based communication. A gift from the Lord of the Fey Realm.”

Dalphatroux smiled sweetly, “Lord Winterbloom…tell me of this plan of yours that involves Marius here.”

Felicity chuckled, and Tristan was a bit in shock of just how perfectly she emulated him and copied his mannerisms, speech, and intonation. “It’s ingenious, and my wonderful fairy dragon companion, Felicity, came up with it! My minion Marius here can tell you all about it.”

Tristan ‘translated’ once more, “He says that it is my charge to tell you more about the plan.” He turned to Felicity-disguised-as-him and spoke in Elvish, “You’re doing great, but say something really complicated that I can pretend to translate.”

Felicity nodded, “There is a dissonance in the quietude of the vexing fairy dragon who should be causing a cacophony of chaotic mayhem. This ruse is a respectable resolution to my boredom.”

Tristan spoke in Demon’s Tongue, “I informed Lord Winterbloom that I have explained the plan, and he expects your participation in his scheme to destabilize Duberceix’s rule, since his panacea elixirs and contracted mercenary – myself – have helped to save your city from a dire fate.”

Debera’s face darkened ever-so-slightly, despite the diplomatic smile gracing the corners of her lips. “Then tell Lord Winterbloom he can count on my support. Duberceix will fall, and we will assist in the matter by acting as this uprising as you, Marius Lestrange, have proposed previously. Please convey to Lord Winterbloom my desire to establish friendly diplomatic relations with my Demon House and his Fey Realm, as the Dalphatroux House is prominent when it comes to inter-Realm affairs.”

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Tristan turned to Felicity and rapidly translated into Elvish, finishing with, “Thanks for doing this. You did amazing.”

“This was fun! Good idea on the ruse.”