The Scorching Depths

[Keeper]

Vaults

Salt. Something from the sea, perhaps? Or maybe tears. Jace isn't feeling adventurous enough to imbibe strange fluids so back on the shelf that one goes. He'll have to cast his magic sight over it later.

His curiosity is piqued by the tankard though so with Sekhmet's permission he'll ignite one finger and start cutting through the chains to see what's up with the contents.

Zebes gently blows some breath through the tube. If it just produces nice music than he'll put it back on the shelf, content but a little confused as to why a demon queen would have it.

[bc56]

Vaults
Sekhmet nods, Jace can cut the chains off the tankard.
But meanwhile, Zebes blows air through the tube.
It produces more notes of the song, now louder. A joyous, raucous tune blows out of the artifact, its crystal surface resonating with every note. This isn't a song for hallowed halls or dark times. It's a simple, cheery, folksy tune one might hear in a tavern.
And it is toe-tappingly catchy. More than that, it is supernaturally toe-tappingly catchy. And even when Zebes stops blowing, the music doesn't stop. It just keeps getting louder.
Sekhmet is already swaying to the beat and smiling.

[Keeper]

Vaults

With a few flicks, Jace cuts through the chains. But other things are happening...
"Oh Apsu it's happening." Zebes is giddy. Elated. Practically screaming.
Not because of the song, of course. Only indirectly. It's only taken twelve years but he's finally going to get to do this! Okay, don't mess it up. Zebes takes a deep breath and bursts into song - but not the one coming from the impromptu glass flute.
Zebes breaks into a countersong, a slow and thoughtful tune about changing the future and sharing happiness that he hopes will cut straight through the supernatural music produced by the rod.

See if that doesn't work Jace can just suck the air out of it but that's not NEARLY as fun as him finally getting to use this ability.

[bc56]

Vaults
A slow, thoughtful song cuts through the jaunty tune.."Huh?" Sekhmet looks around confused. "For a moment there, I felt like... Dancing?" She shakes her head to clear it.
Meanwhile Jace opens the tankard to reveal that it's full of beer, with a frothy head as if it had just been poured. "That smells heavenly," Sekhmet comments, "Is that holy beer?"

[Keeper]

Vaults

Zebes looks immeasurably pleased with himself.

Jace though looks incredulously at the mug.
”Holy beer? Like Cayden’s?
…is that safe?”
He looks at least a little tempted to try it.

[bc56]

Vaults
"I have no idea," Sekhmet replies, "It's beer, and it's holy." She's tempted too. It looks so good and the holy aura would be delectable for a demon like herself... Assuming it doesn't horribly burn her instead.

[Keeper]

Vaults

Jace shrugs.
”Well cider is more me and Zebes’ thing but I can’t pass that one up.”

Jace takes a pull. When else is he going to get this chance?

[bc56]

Vault
In short, it's the best beer Jace has ever tasted, putting all other brews to shame. Whatever his preferences in beer, it will match and excel at them.
"May I?" Sekhmet asks once Jace is done. She's curious, and it seemed safe enough after he drank it.

[Keeper]

Vault

Jace smiles and hands the tankard to Sekhmet. "Sure, if you think it's safe for you." he would have guessed no, but if she wants to try it...

[bc56]

Vault
"I can, uh, survive just about anything, and I'll only have a sip. I'll be fine." Sekhmet raises the other side of the tankard to her mouth and takes a small sip. "Ohhhhh that's wonderful," she says with a dreamy expression. She takes another, larger swig, then sets the tankard down. "I feel all full of warmth and *hic* goodness and *hic*... *Hic* ... Uhhhh..." Sekhmet breaks into hiccups. Her balance is clearly off. "I think that, uhhh,*hic* my poison resit... resisan... *Hic*. I needa sit down, the room is spinnin'." The demon queen plops gracelessly onto the stone floor.

[Keeper]

Vault

Wow that was instant. Jace looks around and opens the door to see if there's any guards around.
"Uh, the queen just passed out drunk. Is there an infernal infirmary?" he calls.

[bc56]

Vault
The door in question is several feet of solid stone and only opens when commanded by someone with the proper authority, so checking outside will be difficult.
"m not passt out yet," Sekhmet mumbles from her place on the floor, "jus can't *hic* stan."

[Keeper]

Vault

"Well, getting that drunk is normally a little dangerous but I'm quite sure you're made of sterner stuff."
Still, he's going to be stuck with her for three hours if he doesn't do something, so he goes back to the cabinet and starts casting his gaze over anything that seems to ping as restoration magic or possibly something helpful for demons.

[bc56]

Vault
"Never been drunk like this *hic* before," Sekhmet slurs, "Think I'll jus *hic* sleep it *hic* off." The stone floor is plenty comfortable for that. Well, since she can't move, it is.
The cabinet contains many things. The bottle of demon blood might help, but who knows. What Jace probably needs is either a powerful antidote or something that will make Sekhmet throw up. Anything he gives her might have further side effects, especially if he gives her the wrong thing. And who knows if the contents of these bottles are stable.
How does he go about the search?

[Keeper]

Vault

Jace is going to have to go through the bottles using his magic sight and Zebes' magic nose looking for things that ping as restoration. The demon-focused elixirs are unexplored territory for him so experimenting on Sekhmet would be...ill advised. Best to go looking for an obvious solution before checking the unorthodox methods.

[bc56]

Vault
Three potions ping as restorative: a twisted green bottle in the shape of a snake, an unmarked clay jar sealed with wax, and a cylindrical baby blue bottle with a yellow glass stopper.
Without knowing exactly how they work, even these potions carry some risk.

[Keeper]

Vault

Jace nods to himself. The snake bottle might be some sort of antivenom. It wouldn't apply to this particular situation but he can't be sure about that.
Jace casts a spell upon himself that gives him a temporary better understanding and sight of magic weaves as he delicately unstoppers the green and blue bottles to examine them with his gaze and Zebes' nose. He has to get a better grip on what they're supposed to do before he starts feeding anything to a queen willy-nilly.
The clay jar is left out for now only because it's harder to reseal.

[bc56]

Vault
Sekhmet has passed out now.
The green bottle contains some sort of restorative with snakey qualities. It's definitely not an antivenom, best guess, it might be optimized for curing skin conditions, but maybe it will work for this?
The blue bottle contains potent regenerative magic. That's probably more promising but not a guarantee. At least it doesn't have any apparent affinities besides growth and regeneration.

[Keeper]

Vault

The snake potion doesn't seem applicable to this situation. The blue bottle seems possibly helpful. It might at least stop cell death if Sekhmet's condition worsens.
Without a great option yet he will crack the seal on the jar and check that one too. He can always apply some heat to re-melt the wax afterwards.

[bc56]

Vault
The fluid in the jar is a faintly glowing milky white and has a very strong aura of purification. That sounds like something that could probably cure alcohol poisoning.
But demons are naturally corrupt, right? And Sekhmet is the Archfiend of Corruption (although not particularly good at it). Would it work, or would it hurt her even worse than the holy beer?

[Keeper]

Vault

Well the beer was locked shut and this stuff was only sealed with wax, probably the least likely thing to stop a creature of hellfire. So Jace is going to have to experiment. He goes over to Sekhmet and tries to get one drop of the purification solution into her mouth. If she has a particularly violent solution he can probably use the blue potion to repair any damage it does.

[bc56]

Vault
The droplet glows brightly with golden light on the Sekhmet's tongue and slides down her throat, but she doesn't seem to react positively or negatively to it.
Is it safe? Maybe? It's hard to say for sure but small amounts seem to be safe.

[Keeper]

Vault

Jace puts a few more drops of the potion into Sekhmet's mouth and waits for a development. He doesn't want to overdose Sekhmet so he is going to play this very slow. He would feel very stupid if he managed to kill a queen with too much medicine.

[bc56]

Vault
Sekhmet swallows the next drops of potion equally easily.
She seems fine.
Is she glowing faintly? That's got to be a trick of the light, right?

[Keeper]

Vault

Jace stops and backs up, sighing. That's PROBABLY a good sign. Probably. Definitely time to stop, though.
He'll keep that blue potion at the ready for if he needs it. This has been a weird ten minutes.

[bc56]

Vaults
Slowly, Sekhmet's eyes slide open. They're solid golden orbs rather than her usual black. "I feel... strange. What did you do?" She slowly stands up. There's a silvery tinge to her hair that shimmers in the torchlight.
"I've, uh, never been drunk like that before. I'm not sure what happened."

[Keeper]

Vaults

"You were getting worse to the point you passed out so I took a small risk and gave you three drops of one of the other potions that was a restorative. This one wasn't locked up by your mother so any effects it has on you are likely temporary. From the light you're giving off I would assume it was made with something celestial..." Jace explains, hoping Sekhmet isn't too bothered by his risk-taking.

[bc56]

Vaults
"This is, uh, strange," Sekhmet comments. There's an itchy spot on her wing. She reaches back, feels something there, and pulls it off. "Ow!" That hurt!
In her hand is a pure white feather with a faint golden tint. "Uh, what exactly did you give me?" There are a few other feathers stuck to her wings, but no new ones are appearing, so it's probably fine.

[Keeper]

Vaults

"I could identify its effect but not exactly where it came from. Judging from the effects, I would say it is some sort of celestial essence. Angel blood maybe? I've never seen one cut up close so I wouldn't know what color it is. Either way you're far too powerful of a demon for it to overtake your demon-essence in a meaningful way. If it could your mother would have locked it up much tighter. I imagine the effects will fade within an hour. Which certainly beats the risk of a queen suffering alcohol poisoning."
Wouldn't that be an embarrassing headline?

[bc56]

Vault
"Angel blood? It, uh, might be. My mother killed a few angels in her, uh, time." Sekhmet examines herself a little more closely. "Are you, uh, sure it couldn't? You said I had three drops, but, uh, I'm glowing and sprouting feathers." If she drank the whole thing, would she... no, that's ridiculous. It would probably just kill her. Right?