Lol noob.

Says the god who is ALSO BANNING MY PRECIOUS VIBRATORS. 

GO DIE IN A FIRE.

Okay, ow, that kind of smarts. Usually Calistria is a little easier to get on side than this. He can vibe with vengeance. It's just that she's preoccupied with this fucking lust thing and suddenly that's a liability.

Tell me about it.

Did I ask your opinion?

She's out of intervention budget to spare, but Nidal is starting to show some cracks. 

She'll leave this part to Calistria. 

Calistria assassinates the head of the new vibrator inspection agency. They go to Hell.

Wince.

Nobody deserves that.

No, nobody does. 

You're doing good work here. She's discreetly incorporating a few of the new vibrators into the personal effects of her officers where that would be less costly than trying to seductionproof them in other ways. Irori is helping. 

This isn't a place where she has a unique advantage, but she has seen an uptick in useful intelligence out of Nidal. A handful of outright turncoats who were able to escape the country, but more to the point the noble families are spending resources on getting their hands on vibrators and not using those resources on Evil. The additional strain of registering all the magic items in the country is lessening opportunities for Nidal to seize important purchases, tying up the resources of Zon-Kuthon's church with busywork, and causing internal unrest due to squabbles over status. Calistria's vengeance is only making things worse for the internal structure and has thus far been mostly members of Zon-Kuthon's church.

A whole noble family has been Maledicted in the inevitable internal purges, and they were some of Zon-Kuthon's more competent people. It's not something to celebrate, but should be noted.

Zon-Kuthon's hold has weakened, just a little, and this has been the result of play mostly from just Milani and Sunaira. 

They should really be talking to Cayden and Shelyn about followup. 

Sunaria inspects the escapees.

One of them is a tattoo and scarification artist who couldn't help making her designs more beautiful than the Nidalese church approved of. She has Nidalese kinks, but is trying to unlearn them. 

Iomedae, I estimate it's worth this much to inform this particular woman of the Lady of Blackberries.

I'll cover it.

She'll cleric her later. This one doesn't need powers to matter just yet.

She's beautiful for someone from Nidal. 

Her face has been badly burnt, but the way it healed looks more striking than ugly. That's her most obvious feature until she smiles. Then it's clear that her teeth have been filed into points. It's harder to notice that she covers most of her body with her clothes, or that she's missing both her pinkies. She hobbles; she's been lamed. Her eyes are milky and grey, more like a corpse's than a human's. 

But with a walking-stick in her hand she still stands taller than most people in the room. There is a presence to her. Something that even Nidal couldn't entirely stamp out of her. 

So. The Lady of the Blackberries. 

She's needed. She knows the aesthetics of Nidal. She knows what its people find striking. She knows how to subvert that, make it slip in Zon-Kuthon's grip. She just needs time and resources.

She will have both, and a Regenerate if she wants one.

She does not, thank you very much for the offer. Just get her to Absalom and don't make her walk too much.

Her passage will be paid for. It costs far less than a Regenerate.

Eventually...

Weal or Woe if I answer the door?

Weal. 

She goes and opens her apartment door.

The scars take her aback. 

"You're the priestess of the Lady of the Blackberries?"

Ember taps her free hand against her thigh.

"I - uh - yes. Who are you?"

"Ember Scar. Formerly of Nidal. I have something that I need to discuss with you."

She doesn't fidget. She has the affect of a stone statue. 

This woman's teeth are sharpened. Good gods, how does she eat without suffering intense pain?

Kumi's heard stories about Nidal, but it's different to meet someone from there in person. 

She offers her hand. "I'm Kumi."

Ember looks at Kumi's hand like it's a turd.

"What am i supposed to do with that?"

 "You... shake it? I guess they must not do that in Nidal."