Your First Lead - A holy conspiracy and arranging a meeting with a lust demon

A few days after Amelia's thoroughly enjoyable visit comes to an end you start to wonder if maybe your Sister was being overly cautious, non of your contacts seem to be able to find anything about any larger organised cults in contact with an actual Arch demon. The closest any had come to having any contact with any demonic entity was an amateur occult group who'd inadvertently got some genuine summoning magic and were now desperately serving the lowly imp they conjured to prevent its wrath. You consider letting your contact know to pass on the message that the worst the imp could do is start a small fire, and that its impervious demonic hide meant hitting it more time with blunter farming equipment rather than being immune to any weapons made by mortals.

However, your doubts are soon put to rest when a robed maniac bursts into your club claiming to represent the great Devourer and that your wicked plans to thwart him would soon come to an end. Admittedly the threats and the ominous message feel a little hard to take seriously as the man's words are muffled as his face is being pressed into the floor by the two bouncers restraining his arms.

"The Great Devourer, I can't say I'm familiar with their work, what exactly is their purview?" You ask still leaning against your reception desk as you had been when the man burst in.

"Purview?" The man's muffled reply comes as he turns his head so he can at least look over at you.

"Yes, what flavour of the hells do they lord over, what do they represent and want to spread to us, mere mortals?" You ask feeling more and more like this is rapidly going nowhere.

"Errr..." The man replies as he thinks about it. "Well, he devours?" He offers weakly.

"Devours what exactly?" You reply with a sigh.

"Things," The cultist replies. "Great and many things," He continues doubt starting to creep into his own tone.

"Not exactly the stuff of demonic nightmares, is it?" You counter, starting to feel sorry for the man as you see his fervent fanatism crumbling under the lightest of scrutiny,"

"What do you mean, being devoured is horrifying, who would want to be devoured," The cultist replies his tone sounding more and more uncertain by the moment.

"I don't know, Vanessa here was devouring a part of me earlier today and I think we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience," You reply glancing over at the cute dwarven lady carrying a tray, who blushes at your comment her cheeks the same shade of crimson as her hair. "And haven't you ever gone down on a fine maiden, worshipping at her sweet garden, devouring every splendour it has to offer like condemned man partaking on their final meal?" You continue with a wry smile.

"I wasn't too popular with the women in my village," The man replies sadly, even the two bouncers look like they feel more sorry for the man than the professional anger and contempt that they had before hearing this.

"Shocking," You say shaking your head and massaging your temple. "So to recap you represent the Devourer, who is upset at me for something and you were here to put an end to me?" You say causally. "But you don't know much about who your demonic patron is, let alone what I might have done to ire him," You continue.

"When you put it that way, it does start to sound a little silly," The cultist replies.

"Why did you even join up with this group?" You ask.

"Felt like a good way to meet new people," The cultist replies sadly. "I thought I could make up for my lack of social grace and standing with raw enthusiasm," The man continues now realising the overall feeling around him is one of pity.

"Ok, so here are your options," You begin straightening yourself up and standing over the man, "I destroy you here and now and maybe your soul goes to the devourer and hope he rewards enthusiasm over actual deeds," You continue. "Or, in exchange for the names and details relating to your cult and its other members, I'll comp you an evening here and you can enjoy the company of one of my lovely staff members and by the end of the night, you can rethink your life a little and see if we can get than enthusiasm working on something more worthwhile?" You conclude.

"Ok, so there's scary Mary, she's actually quite nice despite the name..." The young cultist begins before you hold up a hand.

"How about we get you somewhere more comfortable, and some food and drink and we can start writing down these details," You say softly, nodding to the two bouncers who nod and pull the poor cultist to his feet and start leading him into one of the private rooms.

You shake your head as you turn your attention back towards the front of the club where through the open doorway you spot a familiar figure trying to look inconspicuous while still keeping the expected level of contempt on his face. "These things do always seem to come in pairs," You mutter to yourself as you make your way out of the club.

"I knew your club had its reputation for all things debased and debauched, but is it common for your clientele to attack you?" High Priest Markson asks as you take a seat beside him on the bench across the street from your club.

"Normally it's after they've lost something or have to accept the terms of the game they put themselves forward for," You reply with a casual tone. "No this is something new, Some mad demon-worshiping cultist thinking they could get on their demonic patron's good side," You continue.

"Nice to know there are limits to how far down you'll drag our fine city," High Priest Markson replies, his tone still hard and seemingly uncaring but you can see in his microexpressions that this attack unsettles him more than he lets on.

"As nice as it to get a personal visit from such an esteemed member of the clergy," You reply with a coy smile.

"Who knows perhaps I still hold out hope you'll see the error of your wicked ways," The high priest replies, his tone softening slightly as you fall into the comfortable antagonistic back and forth you're familiar with.

"I just give people an outlet to do what they'd do on their own without rules or any sort of guidance to keep them going too far," You reply with a smile.

"Indeed, as much as it saddens me to agree," High Priest Markson sighs, his acceptance this early on catches you off guard, you were expecting a good two to three minutes more of back and forth before finally getting down to what he was actually doing her.

"Well, now I know it's serious," You reply shaking your head.

"Somethings coming, something big and unpleasant," The High Priest says ominously. "Got the same bad feeling I had when the dragon princes were starting their reign of terror," He adds in a serious tone.

"Yeah, some Greater demon is trying to disrupt the order of things," You reply with a solemn nod.

"Seems as though the others are making use of the disruption to sow their own chaos and try and strengthen their own positions," High Priest Markson confirms. "One in particular is making my life difficult already," He adds bitterly.

"How so?" You enquire hoping for something juicy considering it involves senior clerics and demons.

"One is sponsoring a rival, some young upstart vying for my position, believing they can accept a demon's help and be bound by some unholy promise to be cashed in later down the line," High Priest Markson explains, although you can't help but feel a little disappointment it such a simple and unscandalous reason.

"Anyone I'd know?" You reply while you cast your mind back to think of anyone whose name might stick out.

"Paladin Jillian Pedmore," High Priest Markson replies. "From some old noble lineage, so she thinks she is incorruptible or can simply fight her way out of any deal she's made," He continues shaking his head. "She's claiming I of all people am too soft on the likes of you and is using that as a platform to climb the ranks of our esteemed order.

The name sounds familiar, you seem to recall it featuring proudly near the bottom of the usual letter condemning your or your club and on occasion both at the same time. You're reasonably sure that years ago before she took the various vows she did she would visit the club with some friends.

"So I take it, you'd like my help with this prideful paladin," You reply with a smile practically guessing the rest of the sales pitch.

"The gods are fond of those who are able to help themselves," High Priest Markson replies with a knowing smile on his face. "Besides I think you'll appreciate the solution I have in mind," The High Priest adds with a grin.

"Oh, will I now," You scoff.

"There's a lust demon that's been masquerading as one of my order's loyal shrine priestesses for some time now," High Priest Markson says with a confident smile.

"Really?" You respond with genuine surprise.

"Don't act so surprised, you cater to your flock's baser desires to keep them in check, and I do the same by allowing, Lillith to have her fun with the acolytes and clerics who can't resist their temptation," High Priest Markson explains in a casual tone. "Besides better the demon you know, than have one more ambitious try and corrupt my order," He continues.

"If you can't eradicate the problem, you find a way to work with it," You reply with a smile.

"Precisely," High Priest Markson responds. "Now Lilith should be mostly cooperative, but she still might want something from you for her assistance with dealing with Paladin Jillian, but I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work," The Priest continues as he stands up and straightens the outfit poorly concealing his robes of office.

"I've no doubt," You reply giving the High Priest a wave. "When the time comes I'll make sure the Paladins fall is nice and public to ensure she's too toxic to support," You add picking up the parchment the priest left on the bench. A quick scan of the document reveals it's Lilliths work schedule with a line underscoring a certain time of the day.

"The church appreciates your contribution," High Priest Markson replies before disappearing into the bustling crowds.