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Even if Lilith were at all welcome in the Abyss, it is truthfully the very last place she wishes to revisit. As a mortal she’d felt nothing but disdain for the place, and as a Devil…well. Suffice to say she would rather avoid the plane as a whole whenever possible.
She is certain that Woljif feels much the same about Hell, so she arranges for their meeting to occur in Golarion, on neutral ground.
Lilith arrives early; the tavern she has chosen is known for its wine, and for all the trouble she is going to, she might as well treat herself where she can. She wears an illusion so as not to attract attention, and sips at a glass of expensive red as she waits for Woljif to arrive.
Woljif, of course, is far less punctual- and less subtle, as well. The startled, suspicious looks the tiefling earns when he finally bursts through the door are all returned with a cocky smirk, and shadowy smoke dances around his feet as he strides up to the bar as if daring someone to try stopping him.
Despite Lilith’s own opinion of the Abyss, she has to admit the place seems to be suiting Woljif well. The confidence he presents appears far more natural than she remembers, and it’s difficult to miss the way his attire glints with newly acquired jewels. The barkeep makes no attempt to disguise his wariness as he fetches Woljif’s order, but the tiefling simply gives the man a sharp grin of his own and allows the shadows around him to deepen and expand. They rise through the air and dance over the bar until the man stumbles back in fear, not even bothering to ask for Woljif’s coin, and Woljif watches him retreat with a chuckle.
Some things, however, never change. When Woljif finally throws himself into the seat next to Lilith, he immediately leans back in his chair to kick his feet on the table and shoots her the obnoxious grin that speaks of an incoming headache. “Well, well, if it ain’t the chief! Been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Having fun?” Lilith asks drily. She summons a small wisp of fire and flicks it towards his feet, forcing Woljif to remove them from the table as he rolls his eyes.
“So what if I am? I don’t come up here all that often anymore, and mortals are so much easier to scare than demons. Lemme enjoy myself- and don’t you judge me for it, neither! Not when you and Regill are down in Hell drinking fire from your enemies’ skulls, or whatever it is the two of you do for fun.”
“Devils do not drink fire. And if we did, I doubt we would drink it out of skulls.”
“Right. My mistake, thinking that dying would give either of you a sense of humor.” Woljif takes a long drink from his mug and fixes Lilith with an expectant look. “But like I said- it’s been a while. What’s the reason for callin’ me up now? I’m bettin’ it’s not a good one.”
Lilith raises an eyebrow. “What ulterior motive could I possibly have for meeting up with an old friend?”
Woljif throws his head back with a sharp bark of laughter. “And here I just accused you of not being funny! We’re not friends, and I know you too well for you to try that kinda talk on me.” He shakes his head, scratching at his chin as he regards Lilith quizzically. “You’ve got a deal for me, don’t you? Let’s hear it.”
And that is why, despite Woljif’s bothersome antics and incessant chattiness, Lilith still has a lingering appreciation for the tiefling- he always did have a way of cutting through to the quick of things.
“The closing of the Worldwound was not a favorable event for many demons,” Lilith says without preamble. “Lately, we’ve had to deal with multiple instances of demons who want to… re-open the wound, for lack of a better description. What they’re trying to do is impossible, of course, but their attempts are still giving us a headache.”
“’Us’ being you and your Devil pals,” Woljif interjects.
“’Us’ being me and the Legion of Hell,” Lilith clarifies, taking another sip of wine. “There is an order to the way these things are meant to work. The Worldwound contradicted that order. I fixed it. And I must say, it is quite annoying that so many demons are trying to undo my hard work.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Woljif says, clearly unimpressed. “But where’s the part where any of this concerns me?”
“You know everything that goes on in the Abyss these days, don’t you?” Lilith prods, and Woljif’s eyes finally brighten with understanding.
“Ah, so you want me to snitch on the demons who are out there breaking your little rules!” He thinks on this for a moment, and his smirk widens. “Now get to the part where any of this benefits me.”
“Do you really not see that for yourself?” Lilith asks. Woljif just rolls his eyes again, but she ignores him as she continues explaining things which should be extremely obvious. “To us, chaos is…well, chaos. But to you, chaos is something you can use. For example, you happen to be in possession of quite a few demonic artifacts, don’t you? Not only that, you have a means of moving those trinkets between the planes. If you are the only one to have such things, they are quite valuable. But if these demons succeed in any of their plans…”
“Then I’m out of luck. That’s your angle?” Lilith waits expectantly, sipping at her wine, until Woljif finally huffs and admits, “Okay, you’re not wrong. But still…snitching to Devils is a big deal. I’m not shakin’ any hands ‘til there’s something better in it for me.”
Lilith raises an eyebrow. It seems that over the years, Woljif has finally managed to become less foolhardy. Good for him. Luckily, she is willing to wager that he is just as opportunistically greedy as ever.
“Very well. The demons spearheading these attempts likely hold some amount of power- and some amount of wealth. Consider this: you tell us who these demons are and where we can find them. We send our forces to rip them apart. And then you get the first pickings of whatever they leave behind. Gold, weapons, jewelry- all yours for the taking. All in exchange for a bit of information.”
Woljif’s tail flicks back and forth, betraying his excitement even as he pretends to take his time considering the offer. “If those are the terms…I’d say you’ve got yourself a deal, Chief.”
Lilith smiles. “Deal.”
The torches lining the tavern walls flare brightly when they shake, bathing the room in red light. In the distance, the barkeep mutters darkly to himself and disappears to a back room, where Lilith suspects he may stay for the rest of the night.
“Pleasure doing business with ya, Chief,” Woljif says breezily. He drains the rest of his mug and jumps to his feet, tipping his head in Lilith’s direction as he prepares to leave. “Come down to the Abyss sometime if you ever miss causing trouble. Just bring the skull cups next time- I know you have them.”
Lilith sighs and waves him away, turning her attention back to her wine and the prospect of a quiet, peaceful evening. “Help me put the right demon’s head on a spike, first. After that…I’ll see what I can do.”