Felina blows some warm break into her hands as she walks. It's damned cold. Gotta love winter. She's cloaked and hooded, not for secrecy, but for the insulation provided by this non-enchanted garment. She wonders how quickly this will go. She's not impatient, exactly--everything clear with Diamond, so she has time, and would certainly make time to fulfill a departed friend's wishes, anyway...but it's damned cold.

Just down the street from the shivering Serinian, there lumbers a most disillusioned-looking behemoth. Its beach-ball-sized eyes open only about halfway anyway, but today the lids droop even lower, and his head hangs unhappily.

"Guardian Topaz?" It inquires this of her in a voice that betrays its visage, a welcoming tone of deep, rumbling bass.

"Ether plane version, yes." Felina turns to look up at the creature, taking her hands politely away from her face and folding them under her cloak for warmth. "May I help you?"

The behemoth nods, a lengthy gesture for a beast of his size.

"I am Thran. Lady Lei sent me to wait for you, and to tell you that... you should go to master Metsaf's inn. His articles will be given out there..."

Felina bows a little. "Thank you. Your willingness to be out in this weather is quite appreciated."

The behemoth nods again. "I have a thick coat, little one. You may walk beneath me, to get out of the snow, if you like." That said, Thran turns and walks off towards The Wretching Dragon.

Felina is glad to take the offer, and does. It's a relief, especially since his legs are windbreaks.

---

"So," Felina inquires of her double after a long while, "where would we find Lord Ludolf at this time of day?"

Mara glances up from her soul-searching, just long enough to smile a despondent smile at Felina. "Didn't he get something... a book, was it... from Kaies's will? If it was the book he'd been begging for, he'll be nose deep in it somewhere. Probably the archive."

Felina nods. "To the archive it is, then." She looks over to Mara after a moment. "I won't let anything happen to you this time, you know."

Mara smiles a little less.

"I'm not worried about me, my love. I'm just..." she sniffles, "... having a very bad day."

The archive, at this point, is only about a hundred yards from where they walk. The streets are oddly quiet, but as Kaies was a well known figure by the end of his life, much of it can attributed to mourning his loss. Strips of blood red cloth hang over almost every single door in town.

Felina nods. "Need another hug?"

Mara opens her mouth. Closes it. Shakes her head. Nods.

Felina stops. Hugs her. "It'll be okay, Mara-kuru. I promise."

Mara keeps her eyes dry this time, but it isn't for lack of motivation to cry. She can't remember ever feeling so lost, in her entire life, as she does now.

A youngish fellow, demonic of appearance but casual of dress, stops when he catches sight of them some distance a way. He produces a pad of parchment and a pencil and begins to scratch upon it, watching them closely.

Felina pets Mara's curly hair gently, but narrows her eyes just the littlest bit, then closes them. Listens for whatever is going through their watcher's mind. She's far too on edge not to notice him.

The mind of this person is partially masked, though tangible in spots that seem somewhat like this.

"... will get me noticed by the others if I can get this back... have to know about this... Felina Dey... uru..."

Felina holds Mara for a bit, giving their friend more time to gather information but not ready for him to leave. She finally indicates him to her double with soft telepathy, on a low level that can only be achieved with those you know best. Being freaking powerful doesn't hurt, either. She wordlessly notes what she's hearing and seeing. "Shall we pay him a little visit and see what's up?"

Mara doesn't look at him. "Lemme at 'em. I feel like... venting."  She smiles at Felina, a hint of her normal, cheerful expression hidden deeply therein. "You first, or I?"

Felina smiles. "Let's make sure he deserves it first. If so, there can be much ass-kicking." That said, she releases Mara and simply walks towards the demon. "Excuse me, sir, but my curiosity's gotten the better of me...what's so interesting in its square that it gets committed to paper?"

The demon-boy looks up at her after a second, not noticing her at first for his absorption in what he'd been doing.

"Uh, nothing," he replies, holding the paper against his chest. "I was just leaving."

Felina tilts her head, relying on that strange mixture of "cute" and "hey it has power let's poke it with a stick" mentalitie that she gets around here to help things along. "A pity. I was very curious, you know."

The boy smiles at her briefly, opens his mouth... and bolts. Mara vanishes, making several short hops that carry her at speed to the other end of the street, though each time she reappears she favors her strong leg a little harder. 

Go ahead and get him, Felina, Mara speaks to her, the voice in her head sounding a bit pained, I think I just want to watch this time.

"Will do." She actually doesn't know yet that whether this kid is a spy or has hormones...she's certainly encounterd both. For now, tackling is to be avoided if possible. Timing down... Her crystal flashes, hand snapping forward into a small barrier hole. If this goes right, she'll simply grab the paper from the running boy and pull it right back through, trying to shove open his fingers a little telekinetically so as not to damage it.

It works flawlessly, to an amused clapping from Mara and a yelp from the boy.

"Don't look!"

The paper in question, though ripped a bit, bears a strikingly accurate sketch of Mara and Felina as they had been, there in the street a moment ago. In fact, if they had been making out, the sketch would be completely true to life.

Felina laughs. "Sorry about that, kid." The tear in the paper mends as she walks over and holds it out to him, politely doubled over, since he hadn't wanted it to be seen and all. "Nice sketch."

The demon, for his part, looks as if he'd like to crawl into a hole. Which he promptly does, after fleeing, sans sketch, down an alleyway.

Mara-Kuru makes her way back to Felina, and stoops to recover the paper. The slightest smile cracks along her curious lips.

"We must look 'really' good together, my love," laughs the Sendiran, her nose scrunching just so. "I should give this to Ludolf. He would follow me around until doomsday."

"I'd imagine so, yes. Though maybe you'd better wait on that until after we have our golem." Felina smiles, a little bit. "Else he won't be able to take either of us seriously. You know, without a lot of those loud, obnoxious thoughts that people try to keep quiet and you want to kill folks for?"

Mara pokes Felina's shoulder with a gentle fingertip. "It's not their fault we can hear them. Everybody is allowed their private little fantasies." She glances down at the paper again, tilting her head this way and that. "Speaking of Lord Pervert, we should probably get going." She looks over to the archive, a squat, library-esque building only a few dozen yards away.

Felina pauses, reminded for the moment that Mara's really much smarter when than she is when it comes to things social, then shakes it off and nods. "Right. Poke at a naked copy of Mara. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." Grins a little, starts back off in that direction.

Mara follows her, singing softly to herself and generally feeling quite a bit better, though noticeably leaning upon her cane now. 

Inside the archive, most of the services have been shut down. A few people are gathered in solemn groups, though Ludolf is not among them. Just a bit of his off-color bald head can be seen through an ajar door, in the back.

"Miss Mara, Lady Felina," says the librarian, a pleasant looking brownie of middle age, "how can I help you today?"

"We're simply looking for Lord Ludolf, ma'am, thank you. Is he around?"

The brownie twitters lightly. "Back room looking at naughty books I imagine. Or trying to summon something. Because it's you, feel free to go wherever you like. Mara's friends are always welcome."

Mara smiles at the brownie. "Thank you much! I'm going to peck his head." She taps her knuckle on the librarian's desk. "Like that."

Felina smiles, and bows just a little. "Thank you." She looks to Mara. "Shall we?"

"Quite," Mara answers, taking the lead to walk along the inner aisle. The room where Ludolf sits - thankfully looking into Kaies's book on planar dynamics - is a smallish office, bearing a nameplate for the scholarly medium himself on each wall. Bookshelves sit against two of the four walls.

"Hello, lord Ludolf!" Mara chimes upon entry. "Can we borrow you for a minute?"

Ludolf looks up at them, his eyes sharply focused into a smug expression. "I suppose so. What do you want? I'm quite busy."

"I'm sure, but re-prioritizing does so keep life interesting." Felina tilts her head a little. "We were wondering whether you'd be willing to make a golem for us. I did ask about, but I've been assured that you're the best."

"Hm." The medium returns to his book. "Whoever told you this lied to you once. I am the best, but I don't have time to pander to you. The door is behind you."

Mara pouts, glances at Felina. "Wanna hit him? I won't tell."

"Don't tempt me, dear." "Oh, come on. The conversion and splay of matter in cross-planar transfers is just a lot of common sense once you get down to it." She's referring to the chapter he's poring over. "I could provide some hard data and help you run some experiments on those theories, if you'll help us. I certainly have training." Head tilts the other way. "Besides, the golem's supposed to be a duplicate of Mara-kuru, an interesting project if there ever was one. What's a scholar if not an artist as well?"

Ludolf scoffs, loudly, three times. 

"I am no such thing as an artist. An artist is a boorish boob, standing around proclaiming greatness by doing nothing at all."

"So skip that line."

The ugly little medium growls beneath his breath. "I have no time to take independent jobs from poor folk, least of all smartassed poor folk." Ludolf slams shut his book, his sizable black eyes blinking independently in irritation. "As you can see, I am quite busy. There is nothing you could tell me that I'm sure I don't already know, Felina Deyono, and as popular as your twin is, she has the brain of a boot. She is all but useless outside of a playpen."

By now, Ludolf's posturing has gotten loud enough that a fair-sized group of the archive's patrons have gathered at the doorway, to see what the hubbub's about. Most of them sport irritated looks, but none have entered the room just yet.

"All of you get out of here, this isn't a lecture class. And you two," Ludolf looks squarely at Mara and Felina, "go get your other medium to build a golem for you. Oh, wait." Smugly. "Nevermind."

Mara just stares, unsure as to whether she should be hurt, shocked, mortified, or furious at what she's just heard.

"That's uncalled for. Leave Kaies out of this, and you obviously don't know Mara-kuru nearly as well as you think." Felina's expression is a dramatic departure from its former amiability. There's a glint in her eyes that's reserved for those who are going to have something broken at one wrong statement, though her voice remains soft. "I would have otherwise pointed out that assuming I'm poor is incorrect, and then offered you a fair sum of money. But just for that, I have a new offer. Make us a worthy golem..." She steps forward and places a hand on Kaies's book, a pale yellow light flashing once from beneath her palm. She smiles without humor... "and I'll put the letters in this tome back in the right order."

"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Ludolf swats at her hand with his stubby fingers, trying to get hold of the book again. He looks down at the letters. "How did you... nevermind that. Replace those letters this instant!"

Mara isn't even watching. She's just... shaking, sort of, her mind a complete blank.

Felina closes her eyes, smile gone. "I gave you my terms for that." She nudges at Mara with something like a mental pat or embrace, mixed with a note that he's just a jackass and shouldn't be heeded.

"I will do no such thing..."

The instant between his voice and Mara's cane smacking him upside the head is all but negligible.

"Ludolf, you dick! Stop posturing and just do it!" Her voice lacks the playfulness that it usually does, and honestly, sounds quite a bit more like an irritated Felina than her own.

The medium glares at her, rubbing the red mark on his head.

"Get out!!"

"Well, I can't say you didn't have it coming." Felina shrugs, conveying a mental image of a stadium of wildly applauding people to her double. She taps boredly at the cover of the book. "Did you know that someone actually broke a wandering encryption like this once? It only took him thirteen thousand years, too." Religious fanatics are weird.

"And I'm sure he's in a better place now. Listen to me, you vile little dunderhead, I am not bending on this. I have neither the time nor the inclination to waste my efforts on crafting a likeness of this twit. Now fix my book and get out! Set up an appointment or something legitimate."

Felina shrugs, turning to the door. "Have fun your book. I'm sure that my brother can help us, anyway, Mara."

"Close the door, Felina," Mara whispers, her eyes hidden under the hair that's fallen over them. There's something unusual in her tone, as if she expects not to be questioned on the matter.

Felina looks over to her double, nods. The door swings shut, and the lock latches.

Mara's cane clatters to the floor. "Ludolf," she whispers, "I've been very kind to you for a long time. I've put up with your roving eyes and snide comments, listened to you badmouth my friends and all the nice people here. I never asked you for anything."

Ludolf doesn't seem impressed. "So what?"

"So," Mara supplies the answer, "if you don't help me now, I'm going to hurt you." She looks up, tears glistening in her eyes, tears that match the feeling of shame brewing in her mind for resorting to such a thing. "Please, don't make me do that."

Felina just pulls her hood over her face, folding her arms and leaning against the door. This is Mara-kuru's business, and she has no intention of interfering until she thinks it's needed, on either of their behalves.

"I am not going to..."

Ludolf's words have barely left his mouth before Mara's cane meets his face again. And again.

"Ludolf," she whispers, "please. This hurts me more than you." Whack!

"Alright, alright, stop it!" Ludolf begs off at last, nodding vigorously. "Just tell me what to do, all right!"

"We simply need an uninhabited copy of Mara-kuru," Felina notes softly. "If you do this, I'll unscramble your book and pay you well."

Ludolf just nods. "Fine, just get out and let me get my tools together." 

Mara sniffles, but stays quiet.

"Fair enough. Ready to go, Mara?" Felina's voice is quiet and gentle, trying to calm her double. This is interesting...usually she's "bad cop."

Mara nods, and heads out the door. The lock slides open before her without direct intervention, and she heads out into the library. The people out there part out of respect for her, most having guess what happened.

Felina's quiet a bit once they leave the building. Until... "You okay?"

Mara nods a bit. "I'm fine. I did not want to hurt him, but... I think it was justified, my love."

"I think so too. Actually..." Felina glances over to her double, smiles a little. "I'm proud of you in a demented sort of way. That you didn't let him just push you around."

Mara nods just a little. "I don't know how long we'll be able to trust him. He's smart, even if he is mean. He'll figure it out."

"You just beat the crap out of him, and he's smart enough to know that we're capable of a whole hell of a lot more." Felina looks ahead again. "A few well-placed threats should keep his tongue in check, I hope. If not, we'll figure it out."

"I'm glad you were with me. I probably could not have done it without you being there... but what to do now?" Mara looks at her double, her eyes dry at last. "I'm afraid that we may be in a lot of trouble, really."

"I think it just proves you're tougher than you think. And yes...I'd have to agree." Felina frowns a little. "I didn't bring any really useful toys with me except a sword, so I need to head back to the ether plane and retrieve some things before the situation heats up here. You're certainly welcome to come, though I'd tell Kaishen first if you intend to do that, so your signature doesn't just suddenly vanish under these circumstances."

Mara's face lights up at this. "That would be... do I get to see Saea, um, your brother, again?"

"Sure." Felina nods, smiling a little. "I try not to keep him in the dark on what's going on, even if I do tend to leave him out of the severity of it. Besides, he often has good ideas on tricky situations, and this qualifies."

"That would be wonderful. I'll go back and talk to Korliss, and let him know. Kaishen might be kind of hard to find if he's trying to be stealthy, you know." Mara-kuru looks down at her cane for a moment. "You don't have to come, if you have something else to do. It will not take too long, my love."

Felina shrugs. "There's no reason to think a few minutes will make a difference at this point. I'm not in an awful hurry." She smiles a little.

"Alright! Let's just... go. I don't feel like walking." Mara winks at Felina and vanishes, bound for Korliss's Keep.

---

Not more than twenty minutes later, the astral Felina steps quietly toward's Lord Ludolf's energy signature, stopping when she's in his general vacinity.

Ludolf is exactly where he he was before, only this time he's got a sizable bandage on his head and has thrown Kaies's book across the room. At the moment he seems to be gathering arcane-looking tools.

"Too soon. Why did they have to come to me?" He glances down at his sack, full of sharp things and brushes. "I'm not being compensated well enough for this at all."

For quite a while, nothing happens. Ludolf goes about his business as normal, until, about twenty minutes later, his door opens again.

"I said no... ah. Come in, come in."

The creature that enters his office is at once an abomination and a thing of great beauty. Deep green of scaled flesh and white of long, lustrous hair, it might best be described as a mer.

"The constructs were here," the creature, obviously a female based on its voice, begins. "Did you do anything out of the ordinary, Ludolf? I have heard that it was quite a scene."

Ludolf grumbles irritably. "I tried to send them away, but they wouldn't listen to me. But they are fools, I doubt they suspect anything."

The mer holds out a scaled hand, waggling short claws.

"For a learned man, you are a true boob. Whatever they asked you for, comply without another gripe. Apologize if you must. Blame it on gas. But if they know that you are my ears and eyes, you will die."

Ludolf laughs. "They wouldn't kill me. They are in good standing..."

"Maybe they won't," the mer interrupts. "But maybe I will. You cannot compromise this. Now get to it, and report back to me as soon as you can. And be quick, as they may be watching already."

Without a further word the mer is gone, leaving Ludolf to sigh in relief and head out the door, tools in hand.

Felina, remaining extremely quiet, waits until the creature is well gone, then steps closer to Ludolf, looking over his shoulder and looking for some indication of what he's doing.

"Let's see," he mumbles to himself, "I'll need an open space... but private still... her house should do." Ludolf steps out the door, though he can't help but feel like something is amiss. Shrugging it off, he heads for Mara-Kuru's Estate.

Felina had meant to poke right into his head for this, but traditional espionage is safer in some respects, even if it increases the duration she's out and about. So if he's heading off to make things obvious anyway, she just follows for now.

---

Amilei's muscles burn against an uncommon exertion, begging her to slow for a rest as she races towards her father's keep. That -thing- in there was certainly not Mara-kuru. It felt more like a lesser construct of some sort.

The vampiress puts it out of her mind. If Felina was already put into danger, then there is a good chance that others are as well, and her father's safety weighs heavily upon her mind as she rounds the last bend on the road to the keep.

And nearly collides with an emerging Lashrael.

The mer's eyes light up at the sight of Amilei. 

"Ah... thank you. I was not looking forward to searching for you."

Amilei hisses, fangs bared again. 

"Why are you here? You had better not have harmed my father...!"

Lashrael just shakes her head. "I don't have time for threats. You will be coming with me, now." The mer charges, curved khir daggers flashing in the light. Amilei barely has time to breathe before their impossibly thin edges slash through her wrists and throat... not the way to kill a vampire, but a perfect method of crippling one nonetheless. The vampiress crumples to the streets with hardly a sound. 

"Perfect. Another lump to drag about," grumbles Lashrael, "I have better things to do."

Felina reappears on one of the town's higher rooftops, wondering absently how long it will take Rei-ono or his per mer to find her. She's still wearing her father's cloak; it would be too obviously baiting them not to. She closes her eyes, excusing her presence by searching the area for information about the current state of affairs in general.

Cold and snowing is the quickest way to describe the situation. It is so cold in the streets of Wu Yuan that even the succubi are wearing warm clothes as they strut about. It seems calm in general, though a faint scent of smoke wafts through the air. In the distance, towards the citadel, the flicker of fire can be seen at brief intervals through the snow showers, and closer than that, a large-ish mass of energy can be felt issuing from within the Wretching Dragon.

Shit...I checked there not ten minutes ago! Plan forgotten, Felina's next jump is into the lobby of the Wretching Dragon.

---

It had been a nice night. Day. Whatever. Peaceful and restful. That never lasts long. But Felina is near her full mental and power capacities now. For once things hadn't struck at the worst possible time. She scans the area telepathically. Stars...that is the trick of having so many powerful creatures in one place. There are dozens of areas blocked to her telepathy. Most small, and only three that she doesn't manage to breach and scan after a few moments each. She tightens the clasp of her cloak, that its masking ability will kick in to its fullest. What would she do without the thing? Get in a hell of a lot more trouble, that's what.

Three places remain unpierced. Two are some distance out of town, the third somehow doesn't look as suspicious. One is unknown. And one is Ahmin Rei-ono's former stronghold. Considering the circumstances, a quick flight/vanishing act takes her to Ahmin's Citadel.