Outside a house of guards...
Sigmund figures he should just give up now, before he inadvertently reveals more things.
"Oh, well, screw everything. Sorry to wake you up."
"Run along, then. And don't loiter around here, either. It's bad for business!"
Sigmund leaves quietly, heading over to the alley.
"Shit failed. So, if you decide to engage in open combat it's up to you. I can try to burn down the place, though," he says with a look of defeat on his face.
"Burn their house down?" Kevin asks, not so familiar with all of Sigmund's little devices. Sigmund, glad to have at least something pleasing to show, brandishes the lighter.
"Yes, Morton gave this to me. It can produce flames!"
Kevin, however, not satisfied with Sigmund's momentary surge of joy, tries to kill the buzz. "Are you sure that's going to burn down the entire house? Before they come out and whoop our ass?"
"No, I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything by this time. I'm just proposing alternatives. Because the alternative in which we pay twenty-four gold coins to the shopkeeper in exchange for the books is far away from our reach."
Just as the conversation hits a low point, Niklas slinks out of a nearby sewer, gracing the assembled undead with a most interesting stench.
"What's all this now?"
"Whatever you want. There are two armed and armored guards that prevent us from getting the books our master wants. We are four, but we aren't properly equipped. You choose what you want to do."
This defeatist attitude does little to deter Niklas, who immediately has an idea.
"I've been meaning to try this stuff out."
He concentrates for a moment, trying to shape something like a chair-sword out of thin air! He tries rather hard, but little happens that he can see. Dang.
"Aw, it would have been so cool if you could have made a chair! Then you could do that exploding thing all day long!"
Scott, in the meantime, explains how unimpressed he is with Sigmund's choices lately.
"Seriously? You admonished me for being a pyromaniac, and now you are doing it because it's convenient? Hypocrite. You owe me something for my time."
Sigmund doesn't really like that tone of Scott's, to be honest.
"I complained about the possibility of setting ourselves on fire if we had to actually throw something lit. And at the end I agreed with you, but told you to be careful. I don't owe you anything for your time, we were all discussing what to do."
"Chill the fuck out. At least we're achieving something by burning this house down."
"Be careful not to burn me or I will break you," Niklas adds. It is kind of important, as, while his limbs are chiefly made out of that black material that the ship was crafted from, the central, important chair that he believes his consciousness resides in is not. And he wants to keep a pretty face, you know.
"Thinking about it better, Niklas may be caught in the flames, and that can't be good. Any ideas on how to approach this?"
Sadly, though, there are few.
In the kitchen of the shrieking ship of Shriekpot...
Morton, supposing there are few better things for him to do, goes on to read the Handbook of Demonic Conduct, as the den is right in the next room and he is all shiny, and thus unsuitable for display outside. He opens up the tome and commences his reading.
As the title says, this is indeed the Handbook of Demonic Conduct, 1st edition, and, as the introduction informs, it serves as the one-stop guide to behaving around the mysterious, seemingly omnipotent forces that one encounters when delving into the realms beyond the simply material. It goes on to inform that contact with demonic entities is not really something to be terribly concerned with - in fact, most of the demons the author has ever contacted have been quite reasonable, and always ready to strike a bargain of some kind. And none of them, as far as the author knows, can really be classified as malicious. Greedy, perhaps, and devious, but none of them really mean you any deliberate harm unless you break certain rules they enforce, like wandering beyond the outer segments of their realms, which may or may not lead into places beyond - the author doesn't have personal experience with the wrath of a demon, but a certain demon has once explained to him that several have met such fates in history, and that trying to travel through their realms without their permission is a bad idea.
The first chapter, appropriately enough, describes contacting a demon. It is very technical, and is absolutely filled with various diagrams and circles, as well as practical tips on portal creation - Morton guesses he sees what they're going for in most of them, and, were he in an experimental mood, he's pretty sure he could duplicate the simplest ones - the verbal "mouth" portals, which don't actually allow a demon to pass into this world, and merely serve as an avenue of communication. However, he's also equally sure that the most complex ones would take several days and a very steady, sure hand to inscribe, and who has that kind of time?
The second chapter then revolves around the first impression one can make. Apparently, demons seem to most appreciate a businesslike, yet accommodating attitude toward themselves, and will treat a person with respect if they adopt such an attitude. Two things that are inadvisable are groveling - this informs the demon that you are a 'mark', and they will seek to give as little to you as possible while taking as much, sensing your desperation. Particularly suspect are requests for 'supreme power', which betray the one who asks as a woefully inexperienced individual. But despite all that, one also shouldn't display bravado or impose demands, which most demons find quite annoying, as they are near-omnipotent, while mortals most certainly are not. The most important thing is to be polite and respectful, but also give an impression that you are here to conduct business. And to do this, one must realize what demons really want.
The third chapter, then, deals with what demons want, and states simply that their primary need is for souls. Since a single living being, by definition, has but a single soul, crazy rituals notwithstanding, this severely limits one's dealings with demonic entities, as in most situations only a single deal can be made. Luckily, though, some also have other things they will accept. For instance, the Demon of Fear responds positively to entertainment, while the Aspect of Greed (though contacting said Aspect is inadvisable, as that particular demon is the most likely of all to stiff you on a deal, being the Aspect of Greed and all) is rumored to accept spreading of its influence as payment. And certain demons have certain whims as well, rather unrelated to soul gathering, as they can be a rather bored bunch, particularly if you approach them during daytime in the spring, when they receive the least visitors. If you're lucky, you might not need to give up your soul at all if you play your cards right.
Morton takes a look at the book and finds that there's still quite a bit left, though most of it is a catalog of known demons and their modes of operation, while the rest contains several passages on the thematic nature of demons and notes on traversing demonic realms, as well as an extra chapter on gods. He also notices Erin stroll into the kitchen, then exit moments later with a mug and leave his presence.
On the outskirts of the City of the Dead...
Darren, rather happy about the wealth of information he has obtained, thanks Danielle.
"Alright, thanks," he says, glancing at the way the streets seem to slope in a particular direction.
"Glad to help you."
"Well, I'll be going now. Any other dire warnings?"
"Not really. Then again, I could just follow along with you for a while. I'm sure there'll be something along the way to warn you about. A float around town will be good for me, anyhow."
Her disembodied head bobs in a not entirely serious manner as she smiles at Darren.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 562516 times)