Bootilina suffers many additional indignities for being a little (at least metaphorically) person

Bootilina waddles away in utter shame.

Her powers had grown weak from a lack of feeding (being the bottom bitch on the totem pole meant she only ever fed on the scraps and leftovers these days), but the fact she couldn't even magically charm a guy to jump her any more was a new low for the down-and-out demon.

"Maybe things will turn around soon," the succubus sighs as she continues on her trip to Merridan.

The rest of her journey to the city is pretty disheartening. She runs into a few more people on along the way, but the poor, naughty, needy demon isn't able to seduce or charm ANY of them.

The first was an old farmer who had to be in his 90s, whose libido hadn't even been all that great back when he was young (and Bootilina had been much, much more beautiful, at least by traditional standards).

The second was a middle-aged merchant with a high-pitched voice who had tragically been kicked in his... well, you know... by a mule when he was a young, virile man, and was now traveling to Merridan in the hopes of a literal miracle.

The third was a gang of teenagers out playing, or, as Bootilina calls them, 'the REAL demons.' They had been the cruelest of all to her, calling her mean names like 'Fatty Fatty Boombalatty' that totally didn't make her cry and run away. No sir.

Bootilina sniffles and wipes her eyes (just because of allergies!) as she finally arrives at Merridan.

It was nearly nightfall now.

She pauses and thinks for a moment.

Just how the heck was she supposed to get past the city's barrier?