Ahead of the Storm - Day 18

Krestible, Five Months Ago

The three adventurers entered the central building, unaware that one of the seemingly dazed citizens staring at them was not what she seemed, but rather a cleverly-disguised female. She was used to disguises, and though they usually were more visually appealing than this one, most of them felt the same to her - after all, they served the same purpose: to help her get what she wanted, without anyone knowing who "she" really was.

This particular situation was quite a bit more special than those others, however - this time she wasn't so much getting what she wanted, but helping these three individuals get what they wanted. Little did they know that the Demonomicon itself wasn't all that dangerous (except for the power of the spells within it)... The eerie aura about the city, the strange transformation of its citizens, the "trap" placed upon the door so obviously that they would be sure to spot and dispel it... All of these were her own creations, simply to have a bit of fun while she waited for the three to arrive in town. The whole point of this was to give them the Demonomicon, after all - and so long as that happened, who cared if she had a bit of fun with them on the side? She just hoped they were smart enough to have Eadfrid pick up the actual book - she'd gone a bit overboard with the death traps on that one.

Part of her wished she could just give them the book face-to-face, but obviously that wouldn't be possible - it would raise way too many questions and suspicions. Even if wearing a disguise, she might be recognized... Certainly not by Eadfrid (he likely wouldn't know her name if it were tattooed on her forehead), possibly not by Soulerio either... But Scatterspells, she had no doubt he'd eventually be able to see through her disguise. Perhaps not at first, but after a bit of time to think it over. They'd known each other for so long now, after all... And for some reason, Scatterspells still scared her a bit - he always had. That was likely why she had also found him so attractive, something about his dark inner energy, his raw intensity... She almost felt bad about having lied and mislead him for so long. One day, he'd finally learn the truth - maybe then he could forgive her.

Ah!! An explosion - hopefully no serious damage done. It's all for effect, after all - it wouldn't do to actually cause serious harm to any of them - not today, anyway. Oh, and there they are coming out of the building, looking so nervous, almost as if expecting an ambush! How cute... They probably tried to teleport out of the building directly, only to be surprised when it didn't work. Her doing again, of course - she wanted visual confirmation that they had the Demonomicon, so she'd made it so they'd have to exit the building before leaving.

And there the book is, in Soulerio's hand - excellent.

Wait a few moments, another teleport attempt... and poof! They are gone.

Definitely excellent.

The book is now in the right hands, she can only trust that they will follow its trail to its eventual conclusion. She had faith in them, particularly Scatterspells - she knew they'd learn what she wanted them to learn from the book.

And she had to trust that, because she had other business to attend to...

A whole new set of heroes to manipulate and lead along their own destiny...

Who knows, maybe one of them would be as attractive as Scatterspells, too?

The hidden woman smiled a sinister grin, then plane shifted away...