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Fire Cream
3f2037
>You're overthinking it. You're the dungeon, you get to choose what you keep in yourself. Just answer "yes", and nobody's going to question it. You'll have plenty of time to talk to Moriko later, in a more comfortable and private location.
I am overthinking this. And yes, the full story can wait. The tour of the hidden valley, the raw mana experiments, the imp attack... I've tried to confess far too many stupid things to her in the heat of the moment.
>Tell Moriko you liked and accepted her for who she was and she didn't have to change.
Exactly this sort of thing!
"Yes, we'll keep the imp." I announce.
Moriko looks askance at me. "I thought you said you'd prefer 'more useful creatures' than imps?"
>Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Moriko. We should keep this one under investigation and study its behavior. We might begin to understand why and how it follows your echo in the earth pulse.
"There's something odd about this one and I need to get to the bottom of it. I think it's the one that finished off the imp bully. It's rare for them to take so much initiative too, they're usually pack creatures. You may be influencing the earth pulse if you're attracting echoes like this."
Moriko doesn't look happy but she nods. "I understand."
>However you address this with Moriko, you should probably be careful she doesn't get the idea she can, like, get rid of her demonic side by killing the imp. That doesn't sound to me like it'd end well.
"I know you don't like demons, but it's going to be a denizen of my dungeon and I need you to make sure it stays alive."
"I wouldn't do anything less."
>You could put a pair of cute little bows on it, and a leash, give it to Moriko, and tell her that you expect her to obedience-train her new pet!
That's disgusting.
>Can you give us a recap of what this imp is, exactly? Or, examine it first, do some magic analysis or whatever?
Moriko had some stigma against her due to her demonic blood in her homeland. However, it's also what gives her an affinity for shaodw and the earth pulse that forms the foundation of her family's fighting skills. Something that happened during the night hag dream intensified Moriko's rejection of her demonic blood, creating a fissure in her spirit. She has slowly been getting weaker since then, and there was growing evidence it had somehow been split off from her as a shadow creature.
This imp is probably her shadow, or at least her shed strength may reside in it.
>Can you communicate with imps, at all? Maybe it's time to get the imp's side of the story. In private, obviously.
>Hmm, is it that it wants to be Moriko, or just to be like her? To gain her acceptance? Maybe you could see if it has any skill with that makeshift hammer.
>Maybe you can investigate its link to her, see if there's something wrong with the way it was formed that you can repair.
>Once you get some facts, talk to Moriko in private and tell her what you've learned, and ask what she wants to do. Tell her you don't need to know details about her past, the only thing that matters is the present, and this... "separation" has weakened her.
It will take a while, but I'll investigate it properly once we're back at my dungeon. I'd just better not wait too long.
>We don't have a resurrection slot for it, but... maybe it shares Moriko's?
>Can you bind the imp like you did Doyle?
It's a soft limit, but exceeding it means that resurrection will be much rougher on all my denizens. I should be able to improve it once this month is up, I think it's worth the cost. I will bind it once we return.
>You could also, potentially, see if you can grant Moriko's wish to be rid of her demon blood, by shoving it into the imp and then severing any connection. Could you do so in a way that prevents Moriko from losing much power?
Of course I can do that, but it would be cleaving apart her being. Unless I was to put something back in its place, some weakening is inevitable. If it helps her achieve a state she desires, that is extremely helpful for her recovery, but in the short term there's not much to be done.
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