Exposing the imposter.

Getting out of the cave is slow going, as the bodies of the fallen soldiers and mages, as well as the body of Maricara, are retrieved, and carried out. Once outside, you get the group to break the camp down as fast as possible, using the cloths used for the tents to help carry the bodies back to Phebis. However, as you leave the mountains behind, and return to the fertile valley that is the heart of Phebis, one of your spies, who is on horseback, rides over to you.

"Your highness!" The spy tells you. "Thank the gods you are safe! Is that the Amazon Queen? I thought she was still in the occupied village!"

"We've discovered that the queen in the village, is a demon in disguise." You tell the spy. "What is the situation in Phebis?"

"The situation has gotten worse, your highness!" The spy tells you. "They've taken t he Phebian princes!"

"What?!" You ask the spy. "How did it happen?"

"Akina believes they came from the harbor overnight." The spy tells you. "Some of the witnesses say that they saw a few tall people walk towards the keep, looking like fisher folk. Somehow, they snuck past or knocked out the guards, on their way to **** the princes, while they slept. We did nae know it happened until earlier this morning."

"Did they leave anything?" You ask the spy.

"Aside from finding darts like these on the necks of some of the guards," the spy tells you, taking a dart, and a scroll from a pouch, "they left a note on the bed of the oldest prince."

"Sometimes," Cielina tells you, "my sisters use darts, fired from blowguns. We coat with a substance that can put our targets to sleep, before we take them captive, or sneak past them."

You take the darts and the scroll from the spy, giving the dart to Cielina, while you unwrap and read the scroll. In general, the imposter queen handed out an ultimatum to the Phebian King in light of the successful **** of the princes. If he does not pay them the ransom in young men and luxuries, then they would slit the princes' throats. You hand the scroll to Cielina, who examines it carefully.

"That other succubus tried to imitate my writing," she tells you, "but it is not as smooth or elegant as the real me."

"She's trying to provoke the Phebian militia to attack." You tell her. "I saw the succubus I killed use the blood of captured village or caravan women to open a gateway to the Netherealms. The other succubus must be trying to open bigger gates, or a series of them, by making more blood spill."

"What do we do?" Cielina asks you.

"We expose her," you reply, "before she can put her plan into motion."

"Shall I summon some of the support staff to retrieve the bodies of our fallen soldiers?" The spy asks you.

"Aye," you tell the spy, "bring the bodies of our fallen soldiers to Phebis. If the Phebian King has already assembled his remaining forces, then our army will not be far behind them."

"By your will, your highness." The spy replies.

As soon as you feel the bodies have been safely returned to Phebis, you take what is left of your strike ****, as well as the real Cielina, over to the fishing village. By now, you can see the flags and banners of your army assembling alongside the Phebian militia. Fortunately for you, the impostor Cielina has the Amazon soldiers facing the combined forces, leaving an entry into the destroyed village from the East open. You manage to ride the strike **** to a safe distance from the village, before dismounting, and arriving at the village by foot. In the distance, you can see the impostor Cielina, on the balcony of a two-story house, getting the Amazon soldiers into a defensive position. However, before you can expose the impostor, and find the Phebian princes, you and your strike **** are **** to wait near the village chief's house, while the real Cielina grabs any of her spare weapons and armor pieces that the impostor didn't use. A few minutes later, she comes back out, having put on a pair of sandals, with straps going up to just below her knees. You see that she has put on a leather suit, with the skirt going down to a spot above her knees. She's put on a leather belt, with a dagger on each side. However, with the impostor wielding her flamberge sword, the real one has grabbed her small round shield, and a javelin.

"How are we going to expose her?" The real Cielina asks you.

"I believe my court mage, Vessa, knows the way." You reply, looking to Vessa.

"I have a spell that can remove the succubus' disguise." Vessa tells Cielina. "We'll need to act fast, once she's exposed."

"And we need to find the princes, too..." you add in, hearing the sounds of incoming rocks, fired from catapults, "...and fast."

You hear the sounds of charging soldiers, followed by the sounds of nature magic being used, then the sounds of a barrage of longbows being fired. Your eyes catch the impostor Cielina walking quickly downstairs into the house, so you lead the strike **** to it. When you get there, however, you find the door has been magically shut; an obstacle that the real Cielina finds out, when her feet hits the barrier, and the magical rebound sends her flying back.

"Leave it to me," Vessa tells Cielina, "I'll get it open."

You watch as Vessa works her magic, saying a series of magic words, while magical energies begin to form in her hands. When she finishes her casting, she fires the energy at the door, making the barrier dissipate. Then with a battle cry, the real Cielina charges at the door, despite your plea for her to stop. She kicks the door down hard, only to come face-to-face with the impostor. You rush in after, only to find that she's already prepared the floor for her gateway summoning. The two Phebian princes, still in their nightwear, are tied to the floor, laying on their bellies. The impostor herself brandishes the flamberge on her main hand, placing the tip of the sword on the back of the oldest prince's neck.

"I must commend you on banishing my sister back to the Netherealms, and rescuing my hostess." The impostor Cielina tells you, eyes now glowing in the color of the succubus in disguise. "But you are far too late to save your people now. The more blood they spill, the more power I have to open a gateway large enough for a big archdemon to lead the invasion."

"And you are going to pay for what you've done to my lifemate!" The real Cielina replies, pointing her javelin at the impostor. "For every sister of mine you get killed, your kind will pay back tenfold!"

"I like to see you try!" The impostor tells her, removing the crown from her head.

You watch at the impostor tosses the crown at the real Cielina, who blocks it with her shield. All of a sudden, she casts a fireball at your royal guards, who tighten the formation quickly enough to then deflect it with a shield wall. However, the distraction is enough for the impostor to charge a the real Cielina, knocking her down with a kick to the gut. You help Vessa get to her feet, so that she can begin casting her spell. However, the impostor Cielina is two steps ahead of Vessa, waiting for the royal guards in front of you to duck the beam of magic energy, before she hurls a wooden chair hard at Vessa. It hits Vessa in the face, before you can react, stopping her spellcasting cold. Then as you scramble to help Vessa up again, the impostor fluidly strikes down with the flamberge. You watch in horror as she impales the hearts of the princes, one-by-one. Quickly, their blood fill the pentagram, giving the succubus all the energy she needs to open the gate. With a demonic laugh, and a flash of magic, she opens the gateway. The **** of it obliterates the house, sending you, your strike team, and the real Cielina flying a good distance.

You don't know how long you were knocked out from the blast of energy, and the sturdiness of home-building wood, and the earth itself. However, when you're able to regain consciousness, you see that it's total chaos. You can see how intense the battle is now, with the big demonic gateway in the distance, and the flow of demons coming out of it. In the center of it, is the succubus that was disguised as Cielina, brandishing her own whip. When your hearing comes back, you can hear the sounds of the Amazon women scrambling to the real Cielina's side, as she rallies her sisters. The royal guard that remains are now protecting you and Vessa, as she and the other mages now work to pool their magical energies together, to close the gate. You now scramble to get on your feet, and retrieve your sword and shield. You feel the pain from the **** of the blast, but you also know that you can't stop now. There's a demonic gateway that needs to be closed, and a succubus that needs to be taken out.