Lilith silently contemplated how to respond to my offer. I had a feeling she was going to deny it, which didn't bother me. I would have been surprised if she had accepted it, so I came here prepared for my first few words to her to be met with a bitter, hostile response. So I reviewed what I knew about Lilith. I did so by recalling the entry I had seen of hers in the wake of my tremor-sense power activating when I entered the manor.

When I reviewed the information I had about Lilith, I was shown it in the format such columns take when created through the Identify power. And so it felt larger or like I had somehow learned more now, than when it was first shown to me via tremor-sense.

[Name: Lilith Bloodcaller

Class: Illusionist, Level 15

Species: Half-Demon, succubus mother, dark-elf father

Faction: Bloodcaller Family

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Personal Vice: Lust

Status: Healthy, curious

Lilith is in fact innately magical. As a half-succubus, she has illusionary abilities and alteration abilities, and as a half-drow, she has minor mind magic at her disposal.

Class suitability: Lilith could make for a skilled sorceress. And, if she were to worship a deity of lust, she'd make a good inquisitor. She's too chaotic to make a good monk but she could make for a talented brawler, thanks to her succubi abilities.

Magic suitability: Illusion.]

This is the most detailed information I've gathered this way to date... and so many things related to it are things I exert only the lowest tier of influence over. I realized, after seeing all of the knowledge about her I already had at my disposal. It invoked a feeling of power in me, one that made me smile. I can't wait to see just how much I can learn about someone using identify or tremor-sense in the future when I have even greater power. I told myself.

I examined the sanctum more thoroughly now that there was this awkward moment of quiet while Lilith considered what to say. We stood just inside of a huge, circular chamber, but not one so big I couldn't see the end of it.

Qu'Ren and I stood, alert, just within this chamber's sole entrance or exit. At what appeared to be a makeshift shrine of some sort, stood Lilith. She was facing us, and anger and curiosity burned in equal measure in her scarlet eyes.

Lilith was surprisingly short. She stood not much over a meter tall, the average height of the humans I had seen to date. She was undisguised at the moment, and her appearance differed from the Lilith I knew of from her children's memories. Mostly for two reasons: a particular aspect of her face, and the wings that spread out from her back.

She shared some of the basic features I had seen in the majority of dark elves I'd met to date, the startling white hair of dark elves, and the dark complexion that many knew them by. But she had other, more unique features as well.

Lilith had a burned face. Her face was burned in a way that split it perfectly in half. One half of her face, the right half, had the haunting beauty of many older dark elves, the smile lines of a powerful woman in a deeply matriarchal society used to getting what she wants, sharp bone structure that drew in one's gaze, and pillowy lips that at the moment were pouted as she angrily considered my offer.

The other half of her face was burned. From the top of her forehead, but not high enough that it affected her hairline, there was a series of horrendous burn scars that went down to the bottom of her chin. This chain of scars, burnt tissue, and reddened flesh was odd because it didn't affect her hair, nor did it affect her neck. It was centralized entirely on one half of her face. It was clearly magical in origin. And probably old magic at that, because there was no aura coming off of it.

Lilith wore plain, white robes, which was another odd thing about her since the fashion of Undermoon revolved pretty heavily around dark clothing with liberal usages of spider motifs. They covered her from the neck down, and she seemed comfortable in them.

A pair of wings spread out from Lilith's back above the robe. One of her wings was a normal and perfectly healthy-looking feathered wing of a succubus, and the other was a skeletal, atrophied thing that also appeared to have been burned somehow. The wing was burnt down to the bone, so it was like seeing a part of a skeleton of a bird, grafted onto a living creature.

She might have had a dark elf's face and complexion, but she definitely had a succubus's curves. She had a healthy chest with two treasures that clung to and pushed against her robes, drawing eyes to them like a pirate to plunder. She was short, but not slim and slender like Qu'Ren. She had an equally attention-grabbing rear end that I imagined would draw many admirers to her, if she was the sort to be more active in the public eye.

She had a calm, but frustrated look on her face as she studied us.

The chamber was empty aside from the six of us. It also didn't have an abundance of furniture. At the center of the floor I could see the thin blue lines weakly radiate off of the impression of a white pentagram etched onto the dark stone floor at our feet. A summoning circle. I observed, clearly a master of deduction since this illusionist had controlled demons under her thumb, demons that apparently weren't part of her family.

At the far end of this huge chamber rested a gigantic bed, seemingly constructed for creatures of much larger frames than Lilith herself. I quickly came to a realization, even as I snuck my way into Lilith's mind and made a copy of all of her lived experiences, for later analysis and began a slower pace study of the memories than I had grown accustomed too.

It's probably for her bodyguards. Her demonic pets. I told myself, after examining the thing and then looking at the hulking bodyguards Lilith had protecting her. Her bodyguards were one of the more striking features of the chamber, aside from her herself.

As if it were Lilith's aspiration to be a full demon someday, probably a demon queen given her ambitious army of warriors, and the fact that her bodyguards were demons. A pair of the things protected her, and they were powerfully built.

The two things had the basic frame of tall humanoids. They had the appropriate limbs, the right basic size, and the same basic makeup as a bipedal humanoid. But they were clearly nightmarish things.

Their skin was the same scarlet red as freshly spilled blood, they held powerful-looking daggers in each hand, had draconic looking wings, and had the heads of large crocodiles, snout, fangs, and all. Their forms were covered in thin armor which hid much of their red skin but didn't look particularly protective.

I looked in their direction, and actively used identify on both demons.

[Note: Since Identify has been used on two creatures at once, this notification will contain information on both of them. When only one thing is stated, it is true for both creatures.

Name(s): At your current level of influence over the knowledge domain, you cannot learn an extraplanar's true name using Identify. But you'll have the needed level soon. And when you do, a lot of knowledge will open up to you.

Class(es): Rogue, Assassin, Level 5.

Species: Breeder Demon

Faction: Bloodcaller Family

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Personal Vice: Lust

Status: Healthy, Bloodthirsty.

These two breeder demons are not very inherently magical. They possess powers like telepathy, which most of their species do, and possess no noteworthy suitability towards any particular kind of magic. They are present in this world as summoned minions of Lilith and thus obey her commands.

Class Suitability: None of the classes you have at your disposal, aside from maybe warlock, if you decided to take them, boost their intelligence, and then grant them a class.

Magic suitability: Evocation]

Breeder demons huh? That's a kind I've never heard of. Are they angrier, more bestial incubi? I asked myself, after learning about them. But I knew better than to waste this moment speculating when I could get an answer.

[Hey system, can you grant me the new species knowledge notification for "Breeder demons"?] I asked the system, the most persistent of the voices in my head. It didn't leave me waiting.

[New Species Knowledge Notification: Breeder Demons

Breeder demons are a medium-tiered type of demon, alongside wrath demons and sentinel demons. Breeder demons are unusual for demons because they aren't the result of any specific sin and instead were invented by the Heart of Darkness. Their purpose is to infect mortal worlds with demonic creatures and prepare entire planets for demonic absorption.

These demons are obsessed with impregnating those who can be impregnated and the only other thing they love doing is destroying those who aren't infected by demonic influence and who can't bear children. Like most demons, they are skilled in combat and are brutal opponents, exhibiting creativity in combat that they don't show anywhere else.

Breeder demons can evolve into more common demons like incubi and succubi if given enough time to grow in strength and infect those free of demonic influence. Breeder demons are also commonly summoned by half-demons, especially half-succubi, as both a source of recreational entertainment and as skilled defenders. Breeder demons summoned by other demons or half-demons, obey their masters fanatically.

Breeder demons, in their natural state, tend to be nearly mindless and driven on either by commands given to them by their controllers or, if uncontrolled they follow two basic instincts. The first instinct is an instinctual drive to infect anything they can with demonic lifeforce. The next need they feel is the need to destroy incorruptible things and people.]

They are... surprisingly primal. I thought, after willing away the notification. They also aren't as valuable as I had hoped they'd be. I don't have many demons, and if I gather... rabid ones like them I'll be putting my other minions in danger. I thought, saddened by the realization that they'd be less useful than Raverangos or Aggothas.

Lilith opened her mouth to speak, having considered my offer. My attention immediately returned to her. And I began to think.

Tristan took a breath and then began to speak.

"So I too want us to get through this trial. We even know the details of the next trial and it won't take long, which is great. But first, we need to get through this one. I have built a plan based on what is known about the harpies local to the desert. I even know which of the harpies in one village is most likely to give her soul to you! I'd have given you this sooner but I only finalized this plan yesterday, so I couldn't." She said, at first excitedly and then apologetically.

My eyes gradually grew wider the more she told me. When she was done explaining I smiled at her and responded to her elevator pitch.

"Tristan, that's amazing! What is the actual plan though?" I asked, curious to hear more details about it and what I'd have to do to make it a reality. She chuckled evilly when I asked her that, an unusual thing for her to do which piqued my interest.

"Well Althos, you have to become a raider." She told me, her two scarlet eyes shimmering intently as if enjoying the thought of me being an evil raider. "The plan is simple. Right now there is a harpy village in the middle of the desert that is left alone by nearby predators and humanoids. The harpies there live a lazy life and don't have a formalized government. They possess an annoyingly utopian and utilitarian lifestyle." She explained.

"I have a few harpies... 'under my thrall'," Tristan began to explain. I chuckled when she said that. "Under her thrall" in this context meant that she took a few of the bird-women as lovers and was trying to act like I wasn't aware of it. She continued on, ignoring my chuckle.

"Who have begun to mold one of the few ambitious harpies in their community to move into a position where she can gain power. The last thing this harpy needs is for her community to come to believe in her ability to protect them. Once she proves her strength to the rest of her peers they'll hold a public, immediate election, as is custom for them because of their poor memories, and elect her to be their queen. But no one attacks them." Tristan said, confidently. And now I chimed in.

"So wait, the plan is for me to cause a ruckus and for her to defeat me?" I asked, sensing that this is where it was going. Tristan smiled, but she shook her head at me.

"No Althos. Not quite, it's a bit more than that. The plan is for you to give her an excuse to be a hero, and when she does they'll name her the leader. They just need help giving her an excuse to be one," Tristan said, happily.

"Once you have her soul you need to disguise yourself, and then raid the village. They might flee, or they might defend themselves, but either way, you need to kidnap a few of them. Once you have taken... 5 or so of them with you, retreat. And not long after you do, she'll pursue you." Tristan was explaining this as if it was the simplest matter in the world.

"What you need to do after that is simple. When she finds you, create and give her an illusion of your head. She'll return with it, and with the harpies you kidnapped, and be hailed a hero. And then she'll be elected her village's leader. Which fulfills the conditions for the quest." Tristan told me. She had a proud smile on her face.

I looked at her, proud of her for coming up with this plan. But I did have one question.

"You did a great job Tristan. This is so easy it shouldn't take more than a few hours." I exclaimed, genuinely proud of the work she and her harpy lovers had done to build this up over the last few months. She beamed me a brilliant smile.

"But that's only one soul identified, acquired, and community taken. I need two." I told her, curious as to if she took that into account. She grinned at me, this time, less proudly and more slyly.

"Oh Althos, there's more to the plan than that. That's just for soul and community number 2. For community number three there is a girtablilu community that I've made excitable over a ruin close to where they live. In their culture becoming a dungeon-master, after one swears an oath to do so, is considered a means of becoming a formal, recognized leader. The ancestor of the last formal leader of the group is bitter that he isn't the leader and I doubt you'll have to work hard to get him to sell you his soul." She explained, confident and ready to answer questions.

"The ruin isn't hugely dangerous. I went there myself and added some traps to make it harder for unaided girtablilus, so all you have to do is go in, secure the man's soul, and then help him through it. Once he's at the end he'll become the dungeon master, you'll secure the third community, and we'll just have to wait for Ayla to win her election." Tristan bragged, secure in her faith in her scheme.

"With this... a significant chunk of the desert becomes controlled by us or our servants, I gain the ability to promote devils beyond imps, and we can go ahead and begin the third trial." I said, shocked that the beginning of the next phase of the war might be so close. Especially since the third trial would be the shortest trial by far. Making an alliance with another influential leader would be easy. I thought to myself with a smile on my face.

I stood up from my seat and smiled at my priestess. "This has been... refreshing and helped me refocus. Let's do this." I told her, feeling energy and enthusiasm surge through me. I copied all of the contents of Tristan's mind and absorbed what little I didn't already have, quite easily. And then I got a notification that strengthened my conviction.

[Quest Progress Alert:

3/3 ambitious individuals identified.]

YES! Finally, we can go ahead and knock this out. I roared in my mind, eager to gain more devilish powers, followers, and more mortal worshipers.

I have a feeling she's gonna try to reject my offer... what should I say if she tries too? It wouldn't make sense for her to do that, she knows what I am. She can't possibly think she can get out of this unscathed if she doesn't listen to me can she? If anything she should be happy I didn't just attack her. I thought, in the span of the moments before Lilith began to speak.

"Althos, why are you here?" She asked me, flatly. Her voice still possessed that seductive pull, and it was as easy for me to ignore as it had been when she last spoke, a few moments ago. I looked at her curiously and considered how to answer her question. I... guess I'll just tell her the truth? I mean... this is a situation I have total control over. I already have her memories within me. I told myself. In fact, each passing moment brought me a greater degree of knowledge about Lilith.

"I'm here for your family. And you. Half of your children, the younger ones, are outside and unconscious. I'm gonna make them my worshipers. And I'm gonna do the same thing to you." I told her, honestly. She looked to her conjured demons, and I could hear her heartbeat rocket up, as she prepared to make a mistake.

I shot my hands up, aiming using my fingers, and immediately fired two flesh-to-stone spells at the breeder demons. The indistinct beams shot out of my fingers even as Lilith prepared to give her demonic minions an order. And now for a distraction. I thought, grinning internally as my mouth opened and a sound began to escape it.

"Wait!" I shouted, startling her, and caused her to freeze up. My beams collided with the wings of her conjured minions while she was recovering from being startled. Trickery would be proud. I thought, smirking as I watched the unexpected attack begin to affect the demons.

The breeder demons began to roar as their flesh turned to stone, but the process was quick, and their roars got cut off when the spell petrified their mouths. The demons fell to the ground, but the statues didn't shatter from the impact.

"Shit!" Lilith roared. She immediately turned back to face me and rose her hands in my direction. I chuckled as her aura flared to life, the air around her turning a bright shade of yellow. I looked at her and began to speak.

"Are you sure you want to do this Lilith?" I asked her, my voice calm. "This doesn't have to end in violence." I told her, my eyes taking in every centimeter of her.

I heard her heart continue to race, but slow down a bit as she considered what to do. She was still, her hands raised in my direction as if she could stop me if she wanted too. I didn't make another move towards her. But I did begin to speak.

"Listen... I win. This little scenario of yours? If you do what you're about to do next you don't win. Don't get me wrong, I'd understand it if me knocking some of your children unconscious upset you, but take a second and think about what you're about to do. What do you envision happening here? Talk to me. Talk me through your gameplan." I said, my voice filled with faux-concern.

A silence filled the chamber. Behind me, Qu'Ren stifled a chuckle. Lilith was silent, but there was a look of visible anger on her face. Understandable, really. I can't blame her for being mad. I mean... she won't remember this, but in the moment I think it'd be wise to offer her something to placate her. Maybe if I heal that scar. She'd be happy to be rid of that thing. I told myself.

When the chamber was silent for nearly half a minute I began to speak once more. This time with something resembling a peace-offering. One that was based on my ever-increasing knowledge of Lilith.

"Lilith, it's time for you to talk to me. What can I do to heal this wound? This wound that I inflicted." I asked her while taking responsibility for my actions. Her facial expression softened a touch, though it was still furious.

She kept her hands raised, kept them pointed at me, but she did speak. "You can start off by explaining, in detail, what you're doing here." She demanded, her voice still touched with her rage and frustration. I chuckled.

"Lilith I'm here because I want to conquer the city. But I didn't want to do it in a conventional, violent sense. I'm here because I gave Qu'Ren and a group of her allies a quest to take the city for me, to make the city worship me. And in exchange, I'll restore in them the long-lost ability to shape-shift. The ability the first elves possessed." I explained, beginning to tell Lilith the truth about my objectives here. Her eyes opened in shock.

"I came to this estate for the express purpose of converting you all into my worshipers. I thought your whole family was warriors, rogues, rangers, and other martially skilled warriors. I had no idea you were a half-demon or an illusionist until I set off in your manor. It was a very pleasant surprise." I said, telling her the unabashed truth.

And what I did to your family was done before I knew that. But it's fine because no one is actually hurt. Or... no one will be hurt when I'm done. They'll wake up stronger than before, actually. And in fact, I could heal your scars, Lilith. If you wanted me too." I told her, honestly. She reacted immediately to that. I also accentuated that statement by filling her mind with illusionary images of her children, healed, and with assorted vestigial traits resurrected within them. And images of her at her most beautiful, from before she was scarred.

"What...? Really? You can... heal me?" She asked, shocked, as her mind was filled with foreign but appealing images depicting her and her family at their strongest. For a moment she was dumbfounded, and debating what to do. Which taught me something valuable: I was beginning to gain a grasp on how to control battlefields and fights.

I looked at her, with a smile on my face. "Lilith, if you stop trying to fight me I can heal your scars. Honestly, I could do a lot more than that." I told her, confidently. And then a question came to mind, which I immediately asked her. "Lilith... what do you think gods are?" I asked her, curious if I was inadvertently about to learn why she ignored my offer.

She looked at me and considered my question for a second. And then she told me something deeply telling. "Aren't gods just powerful people? People who are, admittedly, incredibly powerful but still little more than people." She said, her voice containing a childish ignorance, but one that made a certain kind of sense in a world wherein gods were basically the stuff of the most ancient myths.

So that's why she was willing to take a risk... she didn't understand, couldn't understand really, the differences between us. I thought, suddenly understanding her a lot more.

I guess I need to show her. I thought, not having really had a chance to do so yet.

"Lilith... I'm more than just a powerful person. I can do things that you can't imagine. And I'm strong enough that I can afford to end this confrontation. Would you give me a chance to demonstrate my powers?" I asked her.

My explanations for my actions had taken the wind out of the sails of her rage, and now that she heard that she had a chance to be healed, and realized that her family wasn't hurt in any real capacity, she took a deep breath and set her hands down. She was about to nod, when a thought entered her mind and she suddenly remembered something.

"Can you please unfreeze my pets? It was... very difficult for me, an illusionist, to conjure them and I'd very much like them back. If you're 'strong enough to afford to end this confrontation', whatever that means, can I have my pets back?" She asked, exhaustion creeping into her voice. I laughed and rose my hands in the direction of the demons.

"Sure. Sorry about that, I didn't want us to come to blows." I told her, laughing as I undid the spell.