birthing the dreamstone and trading it, a corrupted ally, a new deal

Ambriel wakes up and recognizes the symptoms of pregnancy.

"well, that was fast... at least it's seems that part was true."

She stays in the room. As the place seems to be elsewhere, she decides to try to pray... to see if she still has a link

as she prays she can feel no connection to the heavens... or anything outside at all. even the magic of her demonic choker seems to be dormant and cut off

"well, has to be expected i suppose"

So she eats the meal, and then she starts to wanders outside her room.

it feels kind of boring in here, the other rooms occupied by sleeping or **** people of various races. Ambriel gets another glimpse oft the mindflayer tending to one of them, a human woman that is tossing and turning on her bed, with the illithid doing something magical to her

Ambriel goes back to her room and waits, checking her stuff, taking care of some maintenance on weapon and armor

thankfully it does not take long. after a short time she can feel the contractions set in. but the birth is quick and rather simple. when everything is over ambriel sees a small, pure gem between her legs, shimmering in all the colors of the rainbow

After that rather easy delivery, Ambriel tries to clean herself and the gem.

then she goes outside her room, if there's someone to talk to.

Ambriel can find the illithid rather easily. as she finds him he is gently feeding some food and water to a female human in his care. the woman seems very absentminded, she is clearly not here mentally

"Hello, that went well. The gem is rather beautiful."

he looks up quickly

"Let us see if it does what it is supposed to do."

he holds out his hand

Ambriel gives the gem to him

the mindflayer holds the gem gently, putting the other hand on the forehead of his patient. with some incantation a flow of mana goe from the gem to the patient and she falls asleep, lying on the bed

Ambriel watches silently the mindflayer taking care of this patient, hoping that the gem will help to give rest.

examining the girl, the illithid finally turns to ambriel

"Very well. This might help me cure the patients. The gods know what the forest is doing to them."

he waves ambriel to follow him

"I'll give you the tear as promised."

Ambriel bows

he leaves the patient room and walks towarsd the locked room

Ambriel follows, but would stay in the corridors if he ask to

her host leavese the door open, inviting amvbriel in

Ambriel follows in

it seems there are some living quarters, cozy little rooms that have only the necessary furniture. Xan is taking a small box from a table, handing it to ambriel

"The tear is inside. Once you are ready i'll bring you back to the real world."

Ambriel bows, and takes the box.

"thank you, i wish you good fortune on your entreprise with theses poor souls."

Ambriel goes back to her room to gather her stuff and be ready for the return

the illithid waits in the center room, a sigil already on the ground

"Step in the center and i'll send you back to where i picked you up. But be careful. The rapevine and its host are still there. I presume waiting for you."

"thanks for the warning"

And Ambriel stands where it was told

Ambriel is teleported back to where she left. to her relief she can see Cherub nearby. but upon a second look the construct looks deteriorated, most of the original parts seem gone and the plant mass that became part of him is now grown over and into most of the body. upon ambriels arrival he raises, turning slowly into her direction

Ambriel waves at Cherub

"Hello Cherub, glad to see you, you seems to have change a little. I hope it'll be good for you."

Cherub seems unresponsive, except for his movement, and then one of the vines that Ambriel already saw whips forward to catch her

Ambriel tries to avoid fighting Cherub until she can know more

"Damn... Cherub, are you controlled by something? or is it still you in there?"

Ambriel tries to calm down Cherub (or what's controlling it), using her Compel ability

"Please calm down and communicate, we can sort this!"

cherub becomes somewhat slower, halting its advance, but the controlling vines still lash out looking for prey

the creature tries to shake of the controlling effect in its turn

it seems that her magical effect only had a short duration as a few second later cherub strides towards his former master again

Ambriel analyses Cherub to better see what exactly had taken control over him

with the intensity of the vines Ambriel knows that cherubs body is taken over. from the dim light shining through the cracks his core is still active but the light from it is significantly diminished. most likely it is where the plant has taken root

Ambriel is intrigued by what could have hapened to Cherub, she guesses it would have been infected during one on the previous encounters

the vine, sensing a potential seedbed forces cherub to attack and subdue its victim

Ambriel doesn't want to get down without a fight

the attack is sluggish and ambriel can evade it effortlessly, giving her a chance to act

Ambriel draws her scimitar and trues to cut the vine, hoping to not hurt much Cherub

the attack cuts of a chunk of vine but also hacks away some cherubs body, exposing a bit more of his mechanical innards. much of it has been replaced by the parasite already

the next attack is a sluggish and **** as the first

the vines hit ambriel, leaving a whipmark on her, but the armor took most of the damage

"Sorry Cherub, hold on in there"

Ambriel hacks again onto the vines

ambriel stabs the creature at the core, the magic of her weapon burning out the plant. the vines flail in agony before they succumb. it seems all holding the body together was the plant as it slowly crumbles to the ground, leaving a cracked core exposed. the formerly round sphere lies amidst the remains of the body, the root of the vine still embedded in the crack of the feintly glowing orb

Ambriel carefully and delicately pulls out the last remains of the vine. the light flickers but ultimately it stays, pulsing weakly inside the fragile glass ball

"Hold on in there buddy, i'll try to get you back"

Ambriel takes with caution the sphere and put it into some clothes and in her bag. She hopes with some materials and time CHerub could regenerate its body

then she looks around for some good dead wood that could be used for that

looking around she realized she has no clue as to how that would work. she needs an expert on bodies, constructs or souls. lucky for her she has knows someone for each of these

Ambriel knows that either the Namtaru or the Pitlord could help her, but each would have a price. She feels that she already paid much to the Pitlord and doesn't want to throw him another chance. So she take the flute and call for a servant of the Namtaru

with soft, light steps the elven girl, ambassador of the namtaru, approaches from between the trees.

"You called?"

she sits down on a tree stump, looking expectantly

Ambriel bows

"hello. Yes, my friend construct has been infected, i saved him, but it seems to need a new body. I hope that could be okay to ask."

"Your .... construct friend? And it needs a new body?"

she gets up and pokes around in the remains a bit

"I see. It looks like there is not much left? What makes you think they are not completely gone?"

"there's still a light shimering in the orb. I hope it's mean that"

"Show me!"

Ambriel takes the sphere out and shows it

the girl leans over, examining it

"Indeed. The soul of your ... friend... is still there. What you'd need is a soulless body to transfer the soul. I do know the ritual for that transference and i am quite expert in it. For matters of my mistress.... But a body is usually imbued with a soul upon birth. To birth a soulless body you'd need a medication i can provide. You can guess by now how you'd have to provide the body for your friend i assume. You find someone suitable you'd want to be his physical predecessor. Once you have conceived a child you call upon me again and i'll be of aid in the process of revivifying your friend. How does that sound?"

"I was guessing that something along that line would been asked. But okay I accept that deal."

"Good. Go on then, and once you're pregnant you can call me for help."

she gets up

"Anything else you need of me for now?"

"I think that would be all, thank you"

she pulls out a small vial of a bag on her belt

"Drink this when you are with the partner of your choice. It'll make sure you conceive."

Ambriel takes the vial and bows.

After handing ambriel the vial, she turns and leaves

"What a day!"