(I really hope you're right about this person, Tamamo.)

It's scary. Maybe I'm a bit of a hypocrite, suddenly caring when my own safety is torn away, but it's- Ego death is still a form of death, who am I and how do I know I still am that person?

I was never really afraid, not of death, because I know I'd reincarnate. Except now- It's soul nonsense. So I don't know. I know some assholes would say this kind of fear is 'good for me' or 'a bit of perspective'... Ugh... 

If she lost someone...

She can see the outline in her head. Desperate hope and hopeful desperation, lines not crossed but outroght ignored, fury and spite at anyone who says 'wait, that's evil'.

Well, that's awful. I did not volunteer for this though. Like- It's better than pointless blood sacrifice, but not by much, from my perspective...

She isn't sure what comforting thing to say about that well actually she can generate a maximally comforting thing to say but it would be a total lie completely made up for purposes of manipulation.  And the concept of personality death... actually bothers her personally for some reason?  She'll focus on what she can actually help with.

So in terms of other things Areelu might try next... given a few months to a year to buy one or steal one or make one, Areelu can get a crystal ball that can do a scrying that pierces through illusions like a true sight could.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't already have one nor do any demon factions she's allied with.  I've heard rumors of a variant of the spell sending that will let her send a geass or maybe a suggestion (I'm not sure which) with the sending.  Do you know what sending is?  I've also heard of a variant of the spell dream that can send any spell with it, I think that might be Lamashtu cleric only?  But Areelu might have the spell, witches get some cleric spells.  She doesn't have any high level cleric lamashtu allies or servants she could get to cast it for her.  Are you following so far.

She's probably message-suggested me. I knew that line of thought was weird- About past lives, forgotten memories-

Sending is normally 25 words, I haven't ever heard of any tricks to get more words in.  You normally get a sense of who is sending you, but I can almost see how a few tricks around that might work, I bet Areelu could make it seem like your own thoughts.  Suggestion normally makes some course of action or thought on the target creature that fits into a sentence or two and is at least somewhat reasonable sound much more reasonable.  …There is a lot you can fit into "somewhat reasonable".

She knows that very very well from personal practice.

She might be building up to a more critical suggestion by getting some other suggestions in place first.  A suggestion cast by Areelu will last 20 hours, 40 hours if she extends it.  Maybe a few extra hours if she boosts her casting strength beforehand?  You might get a few minutes free of an existing effect if you get Protection from Evil or Protection from Chaos cast on you, but probably not, Areelu's spellcasting is very powerful and hard to resist.  Likewise if you step into a Magic Circle Against Evil or a Magic Circle Against Chaos.

...I'll keep all this in mind. And try to hold very firmly that mind control is a thing and notice if I'm acting weird, I guess... I guess there's just not a lot you can do if a strong wizard is after you, specifically.

I should probably conserve energy and go soon. And it'll be harder to contact you at longer range. I think I'm near the edge of this place...

You don't need anything? Things to help others with, even?

I... I'm trying to collect information to aid the crusaders against the demons.  Except if they knew I was succubus they wouldn't trust me.  If your God personally informed you that you could trust me, that would help a lot.  Was it Desna?  Desna was the reason I was able to repent at all... anway, I think with short of a commune with a trusted God the crusaders won't trust me, faking repentance is like the 4th or 5th most common scam succubi like pulling on people.

My goddess, if I have one, is Tamamo. Chaotic... Either Neutral or Good? Probably Neutral. She likes foxes, she makes Tirran kitsunes like me, she likes... Sex and pranks and performance art and protecting people and taking down hypocrites.

...That's bad. People don't trust Tirran kitsunes much either because we tend to run the range of Chaotic, good to evil. Freeing slaves and gaslighting people into doing evil at the extremes. Well- It's a bit complicated, but yeah.

I personally trust Tamamo, chaos or not. And it would be way harder for someone else to replicate the... Feeling of Her. She'll prank me but she won't REALLY betray me.

They probably won't trust a revelation you got from your God then.  And even if they would in principle, succubi might try layering on suggestions and other magic to fake a divine revelation, so if it happened with any succubi recently near you they won't trust it.  Desna at least knows about my situation, so if you can get one of her priests to commune about me that would help?

Back to the question or Areelu... I've heard rumors her power is tied to the Worldwound.  Or at least, the mythic semi-divine aspect of her power is, she is probably still a very high circle caster even independently of the Worldwound, even if the rumors are mostly true.  Anyway, at the speed you were flying... I don't know how long it lasts, but even an hour or two at that speed should get you past the Wardstone containing the Worldwound.

Half an hour... The worldwound also gives me more energy. No new capabilities, but freer use of them. I probably should leave though, if she's less free to act away from it.

Thank you. We're both... Trying. May we continue to do a bit better than before.

I don't know if you have any need of supplies or resources, the northern border of the Worldwound is held by Cheliax.  They are Asmodeans, but have a treaty in place.  Do you understand what that means?

-No. Oppressive regime?

Asmodeous sounds evil.

They worship the Lawful Evil Ruler of Hell, Asmodeus.  Like their God, they keep the letter of their deals and contracts, while trying to manipulate and abuse the contract in their favor.  I think the ones at the Worldwound are maybe relatively better, since the Worldwound defense treaty is important to them in the long term, but still, you should be very careful if you stop by any of their forts for aid.  I think also by the letter of the treaty they are allowed to charge you a standard rate for any aid they give you past the very bare minimums?   If you don't need immediate help, you might want to cross the Wardstone border, then head south along it until you get to Mendev.  Also I think any of the Worldwound defenders, whether Chelish or Mendevian or Lastwaller, will be suspicious and want to examine you with detect magic and other divinations without your illusions active.  Maybe you should just keep going if you can, get entirely away from the Worldwound and people won't be as paranoid.

I was headed east. Maybe I should just keep going. This place clearly needs a lot of help and it seems cowardly to just abandon it... Way, way more help than I can manage alone... I know from experience that throwing myself into doomed causes tends to break me. And also I have to consider whether the lady who is probably Areelu Vorlesh will menace any friends or allies I find... The one problem with that is, I'm not sure I can maintain anti-scrying illusions and anti-discern location illusions while surviving alone, they're kind of expensive.

There's no way I'm dropping my illusions. And the more people who see me, the more ways for her to hear about where I am and what I've been up to...  Maybe I should invent a whole new persona but I've always been bad at that kind of thing...

You'll need illusions that trick detect magic itself, and if anyone learns you've concealed yourself against the standard divinatory checks they will be even more suspicious of you.  But I don't think you can afford the risk that Areelu finds you while they are down.  If you could convince someone powerful, maybe Lastwall's leadership, of your story, they might be interested in the possibility of using you against Areelu, maybe setting a trap for her.

I figured out illusions that hide from my own arcane sight... I'm not sure how to CHECK if it's the same thing.

...I don't generally trust powerful organizations to have sensible responses to things.

Cheliax will look for some angle to advantage their Diabolical masters.  And Mendev is weary of this war nearly to the point of breaking.  But Lastwall at least carries out their procedures and protocols consistently and reliably.  Too reliably for me to work with them though, they would never let a succubus get anywhere close to being trusted.

...And Tirran kitsunes have no such pre-determined bias against them, I suppose. I think, we are, fundamentally different things than demons.

I don't know Lastwall, though, and that sounds really very scary and stressful. I'd almost trust priestesses of the gods at home, but... I don't think Lastwall follows those, probably.

I meant to ask about that, do we have time do talk about more details?  You sound like you aren't from this continent, is Tirra a nation in Tian Xia?

I'm fairly negative on energy regeneration while talking to you but it would be worse later, and- I want to talk to someone, and you're guaranteed by Tamamo, so even if it's maybe unwise I want to continue talking. It makes you a little crazy to run for days and not talk to anyone.

No, I don't think so. Tirra is a planet. How many planets circle this star? I'm quite sure there should be six others. A molten one, a gas giant, three ice balls, and a small rocky distant one.

I'm not exactly sure.  There is Castrovel, the planet the elves come from, Eox, were everyone is dead or undead, oh, and I think Triaxians come from a planet near this one.  The planet we are on is Golarion.  If you've ever heard of Rovagug, the ancient Qlippoth the Gods sealed away, this is the planet where it is sealed.  I think there are at least a few more inhabited planets circling this star.

Definitely not my home planet, then. The Light Gods are the nine sanctioned deities of Tirra. They're all good if maybe not all Good.

Or the original home planet, either. (...She keeps quiet about that bit, unsure why even to herself. Perhaps it's just habit.)

I’m not sure what you need to know most urgently.  Should I tell you about this planet’s Gods?  Or maybe more about Areelu and her abilities?  Or about the Worldwound itself or the Abyss which connects to it?

...I don't know. I guess I'm not sure. The Worldwound seems very - cursed. We have places like that, 'cursed lands', most of Tirra is at least slightly cursed and some places are much, much worse, but it's not actively getting even more worse. Slowly getting better if anything.

The Worldwound isn’t getting better, if anything it’s getting worse over time, the rifts to the Abyss are spreading.  It took a miracle to make the Wardstones the first time, so the Wardstone defenders can’t get more and they can’t spread them much further without critically dropping their effectiveness in containing the demons and rifts.  Once the rifts cross the Wardstone line it will spiral out of control very quickly…

Probably the Gods step in again at that point, they don’t want Rovagug to be released, but their intervention may be simply smiting everything in the area, since any such intervention will be a compromise between the Good Gods and the non-demonic Evil Gods.

This re-contextualizes some old myths for me. They say the Light Gods could have averted a Cataclysm, but did not, choosing instead to shatter the dark gods in that moment where forces came to culmination. To accept a terrible, awful price in order to create a world where Good is united and Evil is not. That Evil and Good gods would be working at cross-purposes... It would be like...

Okay DOES SHE trust Arue though.

Yes. Have faith in the fox, Tamamo.

Like the old Great Powers and their arms race, building weapons that could destroy the world because it would be intolerable for the other guys to have them when you do not, they could tell you to sit and roll over and you'd have to and we can't LOSE, so let's play brinksmanship with destroying the world and send thousands of people off to kill each other in foreign wars instead.