After Renya and Petyr caught up, they joined the grateful caravan whose precious cargo desperately needed to reach its terminus. The twin-headed carrion swarm didn't leave entirely and continued to circle from above. At the very least, Kanae and her party's presence deterred any more attacks.

The passengers only suffered cuts but nothing life threatening. The wagons and carriages, on the other hand, took a beating. It turned out they were shipping loads of food, water, and mining supplies to Dry Gulch. When the leaders of the caravan finished taking a head count and repaired their vehicles, they recommenced their journey right away.

While sitting in the back of one wagon, Kanae slowly drip-fed water into Kris' mouth until she stirred awake. The demon woman came to with her usual enthusiasm without missing a beat despite passing out.

"Oh, man! I really thought I was going to be a goner there. I brought some dweller mollusks with me from Suvius, but aha… They didn't agree with the dry heat in Savir. Kanae, you sure know how to run into me when I need help the most. Maybe you're my guardian angel!" Kris praised while sucking her waterskin in large gulps between pauses.

"You really need to rethink relying on me… We might not run into each other next time when you need help! What are you so far from Artaggon anyway? I thought you were headed north in search of something," Kanae said, fondly recalling when they parted.

"Ugh! Get this, Kanae!" She threw an arm around her shoulder all buddy-buddy about to spill some bar talk. "The compass, it leads me farther north than even the Hellfire Badlands, right? I traveled through a vast desert never charted before, running from scary monsters you couldn't believe existed, and almost starving… four times! I found an ancient tomb buried in the sand. Its corridors stretched on forever until I came to a stop in front of a gate. Damn thing wouldn't open no matter what I did. There were strange symbols all over it and a single circular slot. Took months of research before I learned that the slot needs a key, and I can find such a key in Savir. So, here I am! Traveling the length of the continent wasn't easy though…"

Kanae exchanged knowing glances with her companions around the wagon. The slot-like key, could it be… She retrieved the cylindrical stone relic from her bag, and Kris' eyes widened with glee.

"Something like this?" Kanae asked.

"Yes! By the Supreme One's ass, how did you find it? Now I can open—" Kris tried to swipe it out of Kanae's hands, missed, and face-planted on the bed of the wagon.

"Sorry, Kris. I don't think this is the key you're looking for. There's others like it. This one opens a vault that we think is under Dry Gulch. The symbols on it even say so," she explained.

"Symbols?" The eccentric explorer glanced up and gasped.

Kris rummaged through her many bags strewn around them. She tossed a book over her shoulder, nearly hitting Edina in the head. She emptied an entire knapsack full of ancient trinkets that belonged in a museum. Pouting, Kris sat there with her arms folded until a bulb went off in her head. The explorer reached inside her tunic, pulled out a weathered journal, and turned it to a page sketched with symbols similar to the one on the cylindrical stone key.

The sisters, Claudia and Alicia, finally took interest. They drew close enough that they were head to head with Kanae, staring down at Kris' book to get a better look.

"I made sure to trace over them before I left. Figured someone might know what it says. I didn't expect it to be succubi though!" Kris grinned.

"You two reading what I'm reading?" Kanae asked.

"Library," Alicia whispered.

"Does this mean whatever your explorer friend found is another Under Roads? Crazy to think the dwarves and Cult of Lust and Depravity extend across the continent," Claudia said what they were all thinking.

Whatever this library was, Kris seemed intent on getting to it. Why? She didn't look the type to be a hand-wringing, evil villain. Their travels together in Suvius were mostly good fun. Kanae brushed the thoughts aside and sighed. The library might just contain a bunch of information pertaining to the Under Roads.

"So does this mean your guys' key won't open the tomb?" Kris asked dejectedly.

"Our key won't. I think you might just get your key soon though." Kanae glanced in the direction where they had come— where Jhene and Elaine, the Mistresses of Subjugation and Pain respectively, were going to be coming from very soon.

By now, they probably realized Borthas was empty and the keys in their possession didn't open what they needed. The two were likely on the way here. Kanae and her companions would be ready for them this time.

The giant mesa that was the Nose of Hekaton casted a long shadow over them as the caravan neared the geological wonder. Kanae expected Dry Gulch to have been a mining settlement on top of the mesa or built just outside of a tunnel. It was neither.

A massive gate that must have been the work of stone masons and decades in the making towered over them, carved and chiseled from the rocky surface of the mesa itself. The entrance looked to be about a hundred feet tall and fifty wide. Nothing about the simple yet grand architecture suggested it was Saviran, which Kanae had seen to be extravagant and showy as was the case in Bravost. The gate felt very… dwarven.

Some ways down, a garrison built in the same fashion into the mesa side stationed numerous guards. Watchtowers hosted lookouts scrutinizing the caravan's advance, with crossbows in hand and ready to fire a volley of bolts at a moment's notice. Many were eyeing Kanae and her party.

"Halt!" Saviran soldiers rode up to them upon ronoas. The flightless, two-legged dire beasts were armed with muzzles fixed with a long and sharp blade for battle. Twenty guards already had their weapons unsheathed, prepared to lay down their lives for the mine.

Petyr was about to rise and meet them in battle until Kanae motioned her against it.

"Not every encounter is a fight!" Kanae groaned.

"Have it your way. But I know when a battle is inevitable. Don't come crying to me afterwards." Petyr sat back down but didn't take her hand off the warhammer.

When Kanae turned back to the soldiers, several of the caravan leaders were arguing with the officer in charge in her defense. They explained that Kanae and her companions had defended them against a swarm of twin-headed carrions, but none of the guards were having it.

"C-Can I butt in?" Kanae interjected nervously.

"Men, defend the mine! For Sultana Dudula!" the officer cried and raised his saber.

"Damn it!" She casted Mass Charm, placing the officer and his nearby guards under her control. "Why did I even bother trying diplomacy? Two other succubi will be here soon. One is a hobgoblin and the other a human. Increase your soldiers' presence and fend them off as long as you can."

"Yes, my lady!" He saluted and started barking orders to his fellows.

Kanae returned to her seat, only to have Petyr's mocking smirk waiting for her. She rolled her eyes and ignored the high elf. That might not have gone as she expected, but at least taking control of the guards would buy them time.

As the caravan rolled through the gate unimpeded, Alicia grabbed Kanae's hand and squeezed. She held Claudia's in the other. Darkness engulfed them. Their eyes adjusted to the dim light illuminated by lanterns hanging from wooden rafters and sconces on pillars. The deeper they went, torches were replaced by iron braziers and stone lanterns. Creaking wheels echoed up and down the large tunnel. The road was a surprisingly smooth ride which descended into the depths of the mesa. No, it seemed deeper.

Soon, the echoes joined a cacophonous chorus of steel chipping away at stone and nails being hammered. Hundreds of laborers braced the walls and ceiling with thick, wooden beams. More still took their pickaxes to side tunnels, excavating stone and dirt by the cart fulls.

Everyone winced when the wagon turned the corner, and a bright light at the end of the tunnel blinded them. It wasn't their lives flashing before their eyes, and neither were they on the verge of death. Their pupils, which had grown accustomed to the dark and dilated widely, at the light beaming back at them. In reality, it was really only as bright as the star-lit sky under the Saviran sky.

They emerged from the tunnel to a subterranean city bisected by a chasm and raging river below. A single bridge, wide enough to hold a bazaar and buildings, connected both sections of Dry Gulch where each half had been built against the giant cavern.

While nowhere near as sprawling as Bravost or as tall as the spires of The Diamond, the mining settlement Dry Gulch was a magnificent city on its own. The architecture of dwarven pragmatism and Saviran extravagance mashed together into an odd blend. Aqueducts had been converted to roadways for vehicles and carts. Modular warehouses, similar to the ones in Ha'Vavish and Tortuga, were built upon with sandstone and whitestone blocks to serve as housing for the thousands teeming lives in the city.

Much of the light came from glowing whitestone supplemented by lamp posts and burning braziers every few yards on the street. Warm light from inside buildings was evidence of people making a living down here. Although still dark, Dry Gulch was about as bright as night in Bravost.

"If Savir has another city named opposite of what it actually is, I'm gonna lose my shit. There's nothing dry about it!" Edina huffed.

"Mmmm! Feels like home down here!" Claudia breathed deep and let out a satisfied breath.

"Did your sisters and the Queen-Mother live in a similar place?" Kanae asked curiously.

"Yep. Deeper than this one though. The only way in and out of ours was by flying. It was how we stayed hidden from the surface for so long," she explained.

A ramp led off the ancient aqueduct road, bringing them down to a wide open concourse. Carriages and wagons pulled to a stop. Stagecoaches unharnessed their burden beasts and guided them to water troughs. Again, the caravan thanked Kanae and her companions profusely before wishing them well and leaving.

"Where do we even begin? This place is huge! It's also stuffy… I already miss the dry heat." Edina took off her cloak and grimaced.

"We have to look fast. Damn it. I should have dragged Seif or Panner along. They probably know more people than we do—" Kanae noticed Petyr wandering off. "Where are you going?"

Petyr walked up to a gilded carriage, much larger than the other vehicles around it. Actually, the damn thing looked like a small house. The last time Kanae laid eyes on something like this, it was during the…

The war! The carriage was Ortesian in make. It was built with all the hallmarks of excessive gold and unnecessary size. The sides had been scratched. Seemed like a few people were trying to scrape the gold bandings off.

Without warning, Petyr bashed each of the carriage's wheels. Passerbys ducked their heads and quickly moved on, making a wide berth away from them. Some of the guards considered intervening, but stopped upon realizing they didn't want to become acquainted with her hammer. When the paladin finished trashing the vehicle, she heaved a content sigh.

"This has Arnault Pyrelle's stink all over it, and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to ruin his day. I doubt the man himself is here, but his people must be. We have Ortesians on our hands." Petyr glowered.

"The Ortesians have been trying to get friendly with Cerberus and Avanesse. We know both of them are basically Cult of Lust and Depravity worshippers. It doesn't surprise me that they're skulking around here after we found out about the vault," Kanae said.

"Sh." Renya lifted a finger up to her lips and side-eyed the concourse. "We're being watched. Nobody make a move. On my signal, Alicia follows my lead. Ready…"

Renya vanished. She dashed through the concourse, intermittently blinking in and out of existence with her enchanted boots to avoid obstacles. Alicia unfurled her wings and gave chase.

Unwilling to wait around and twiddle their thumbs, Kanae and the rest shook off the shock and followed after. Someone farther ahead of Renya shoved people out of the way as they darted down the streets. The pirate lord's intuition was right. They were being watched.

"Hey! Why… Why are we running?!" Kris panted as she struggled to keep up.

"Kris? It's going to get dangerous for you, so stay back! We can meet back up later!" Kanae exclaimed.

"But we just met up again! Can't we get a drink first before chasing people down?" she asked breathlessly, falling farther and farther behind as the pursuit went on.

Before long, Kris disappeared into the panicked crowds. Kanae couldn't afford to slow down and wait for her. She, Petyr, Claudia, and Edina picked up the pace. Renya and Alicia were much farther ahead.

The chase took them through multiple blocks of Dry Block and into the bazaar on the bridge. Whoever they were chasing knocked down fruit stands, fired magic back at them, and shoved people in their way. They eventually reached the opposite side of the city, where the pursuit led them into a descent towards the rushing river.

The cloaked figure hopped onto a platform and pulled a lever that brought them to the riverbank. They then fired a bolt of magic to destroy it, but Renya fearlessly dove off. She was about to fall into the water until Alicia swooped in and caught her.

"For fucks sakes! She's crazy!" Edina yelled.

Together, they lifted Petyr down to the riverbank. Their other two companions had darted into a tunnel, outside of which carts and mining equipment collected dust. This section of the tunnel looked freshly excavated.

Inside, a hole in the cavern punched into an Under Roads corridor. Renya and Alicia had cornered the runner in front of a stone gate. High elves milling about jumped to their feet when they saw them.

"You dumbass! You led them right to us?" one shouted.

"I-I didn't want to be succubus food!" he cried in terror.

"It's the vault!" Kanae gasped after a quick glance at the symbols around the door.

Everyone froze at the sound of muffled commotion outside. Panicked cries and explosions erupted upstairs. It couldn't have been because of Kanae and her party. The guards hadn't given chase either despite running through the city. If it wasn't them… then it had to be none other than Jhene and Elaine.

"We're running out of time. Beat them out of the way if you have to. We need to get into that vault!" Kanae boomed.

Amethyst Hall fanned out to face the Ortesian cell. They put up a fight, but the sight of succubi and their former Lord-Major in arms together left them severely demoralized.

"I'll stall. You get that vault open!" Edina summoned two death knights and raced back to the entrance.

The high elven force was no match against the knight once declared as the empire's greatest. They especially didn't stand a chance against two Queen-Mother succubi and Renya's many clones.

Kanae ran up to the vault and, with the key in hand, perfectly slotted the cylindrical stone relic into the receptacle. There was resistance from all the sand and dust in the way, but she slowly turned it into place. The symbols on both the key and door glowed bright blue. Stone groaned loudly as the doors screeched down. A wave of stale air burst outward.

The room seemed to yawn as it opened, like an ancient beast whose slumber had been disturbed. Resting inside the center of the dark, unfurnished chamber was a pedestal. Petyr shuddered and backed away.

"I'm not going in there. It reeks of sin," Petyr muttered.

"We'll be out here making sure the Ortesians stay unconscious!" Renya gave a thumbs up.

Kanae entered with Alicia and Claudia close behind. Petyr was somehow right. There was a weird kind of scent in here. Magic permeated the air, making her feel the kind of goosebumps one would get when they were about to have sex.

They approached the pedestal cautiously, wary of any traps that might have been laid hidden. Fortunately, there was none. Nothing… except the pedestal and…

"A dildo?" Kanae, Alicia, and Claudia sputtered in unison.

"What the? This is what Jhene and Elaine are looking for?" Claudia picked up the sex toy and waved it in Kanae's face. "OoooooOOoh! Behold, big scary dildo! Hahahaha!"

"Stop that. It's unbecoming." Alicia reprimanded her sister.

The dildo was a modest six inches in length. It bore the shape of a normal human penis of regular girth, uncircumcised but with the foreskin peeled back, and oddly warm to the touch.

"Is it enchanted?" Kanae asked.

"Dunno. I'm getting nothing from it like I do with my enchanted paddle and whip. Here." Claudia dropped the dildo into her hands, and a menu popped up.

More than that, a wave of magic from Kanae's being channeled into the dildo without her doing anything. Seductive whispers, distant and near, teased her from every direction. When they finally stopped, she felt a strong desire to stick it into her pussy.

[Cockcalibur: Brandish the might of any cock you have ever taken and transform it into the wielder's desired phallus. Borrowing such an organ will temporarily form shared senses with the weapon and whoever it is connected to.]

"EXCUSE ME? I COULDN'T GET A NORMAL WEAPON?" Kanae cried.

"What does it do?" Alicia asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

"Uhm… Well…" She delved deep into the copious memories from having been thoroughly fucked, and a few came to mind more brightly than others.

But if Kanae needed a weapon, then something large and not so unwieldy would have to do. Cockcalibur began to grow in size and girth, greater than she had expected until she wielded a very true to life dreadmourn dick in both hands. Titan's dick.

"Kanae, you horny minx!" Claudia gasped. "Far away from home, and you still can't stop thinking about that dreadmourn."

"It's not what you think! I-I-I was just thinking of something that I can swing!" Kanae's face turned red hot.

"That vault better have something good, because we could sure use a miracle out here!" Renya shouted from outside.

They raced out of the vault and came faced with an army of charmed Dry Gulch citizens. Jhene, the hobgoblin succubus, flew close to the cavern ceiling and hurled Edina to their feet. The squirreling was beaten badly. Kanae helped her friend up and glared back.

"Shit. You beat us to it?" Jhene asked through gritted teeth. "Sis, what do we do?"

Darkness rolled across the cavern ceiling like a starless night.. Alicia almost took a step back in fright, but caught herself and brought her foot forward instead. She looked into Kanae's eyes and nodded, reaffirming her resolve to fight, even against her trauma. The human succubus amalgamated from the pitch black smog with a peeved frown.

"We pry it from the pretender-queen's hands," Elaine manifested from the dark and said calmly.