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The flames of the Elemental Plane of Fire are as varied as fireworks. There are reds and oranges a plenty, but whites, blues and greens are all mixed in, too. The elementals who help me with my dragon machine come to greet me.
They are young, playful elementals, "We are here!" they say, and they try to touch my beard and singe it. My shield holds them off, and I laugh, but even at this young age, their play style is definitely rougher than that of elementals of other planes -- the plane of fire is not a place to travel languidly.
"You are here, but it is not the right time on the Material Plane." I say. Nonetheless, I hand out goldfish that I have brought along, and the young elementals squeal in delight. Sense of time is not strong in the plane of fire, but sense of reward is. I always bring plenty of gifts to the plane, and fish are highly prized.
There is a city of Effreeti, much as there is a city of Djinn on the Plane of Air. But the city of the Effreeti is a place of intense evil, so, while I have friends in the city of the Djinn, I seek outcasts from the city of the Effreeti. I travel to the edge of the realm, to a place where fire admixes with smoke. It is not an area favored by the Effreeti, but a few take refuge here -- those who can't tolerate the norms of the Effreeti. Some of these outcasts are intensely dangerous to me -- they are here because they are even wilder and eviler than the average Effreet -- but the one I seek is outcast because he is less seeped in evil. Effreet are sensitive to slights, and have a long memory for vengeance. In my adventures I have inadvertently helped this Effreet right some wrongs, now I will call in a favor.
"Effreet Nazul!" I call out as I approach his habitation. There is no answer. Some of the young elementals are still with me. I send them to look for him. Sometime later, Effreet Nazul comes striding out of a nearby "smoke forest." We greet, and I offer him a large green-shelled lobster. He has not seen one before. He takes it, and the heat from his hand transforms it into a red-shelled delicacy. He smiles, and is pleased.
"You bring me more surprises from the Prime Material, Baron. You know my love of novelty. Now, what brings you to my humble part of the world?"
"I have a matter that concerns a dragon. I would like you to act as intermediary."
"Why me?"
"This is a Red Dragon who lairs on the Prime Material near my domain."
"Umm... formidable, indeed. The Reds who still lair on the Prime Material are the most worldly. They face danger every day, and are hardened by it. They are the most experienced in dealing with threats. When they come to the plane of Fire, they are treated with the utmost respect by the other inhabitants here. It is wise for you to seek an intermediary. Who is this Red?"
"I don't know. I've faced off against her for years, but never got close enough to learn her name." I said.
"Well, that is certainly a first step. We must know that. She will certainly know yours. We can find out which dragon deals with you."
Effreet Nazul waved up a minor fire elemental and talked with it briefly; the elemental scurried off.
"What would you have me ask this Red to do?" asked Nazul.
"Leave it's lair. Find a new one, far away."
"Sounds simple enough to communicate. So the question then becomes: Why should she do it?"
"Mankind in the area is changing, advancing. Her lair is no longer safe. It will not be safe for the children she is about to raise."
"You speak of her benefits. What about those for you?"
"For me?" I pause, and decide the simple truth is fine, "For me it is an affair of the heart: there are women involved."
"Women, you say? Then you are fighting for something worthwhile. My fellow effreeti are slow to understand the ways of strangers, but I know that for you Prime Material humankind beings women are always worth fighting for!... I have that right, don't I?"
"Always!" I say with a grin.
"Well then. Let us be about this business."
"I will return to the Prime Material Plane and summon you through. You can go into the lair and we can begin our discussions."
"Enter the lair of a strange Red on the Prime Material? No, thank you!" It was the Effreet's turn to grin, "She is as dangerous to me there as to you. No, we shall invite her to come here, to neutral ground, the Elemental Plane of Fire."
"This is hardly neutral ground!" I snort.
"She spends her time on the Prime Material, right? This will be neutral ground for her, too."
"Will she come?"
"There is a proverb on your plane, 'We won't know until we ask.'... Did I get that right?"
"You did, Effreet Nazul. You're knowledge is wide, indeed." The effreet looked pleased, this one definitely enjoys flattery.
Time does not flow equally on the planes, so I was not surprised when an answer came back rather quickly. I would not have been surprised if it felt like months, either.
"She has consented to come, my Baron, but brace yourself, for you have chosen a wondrous being to request audience of!"
I did not like the sound of that, at all. If this effreet was in that much awe of this dragon, how much of an intermediary was this effreet going to be? But, I didn't have long to worry, the dragon was on the scene just a few seconds later.
"So, Woman Stealer, we meet face-to-face, at last." She was far from home, but her power was still palpable. She was also a formidable sight, as well. On this plane her scales all glowed, each in a slightly different hue, and all changing and shimmering. My first thought was of a chameleon experiencing some mind-altering drug. Her wings are large and well-developed, and her eyes deep-set in a large head. No wonder that Champion of my early life had disappeared without a ripple...
'Woman stealer' she called me! Well at least we had a conversation opener.
"My lady dragon, we meet at last. What women do you refer to?"
"The women that my worshippers bring to me, that you take away with your peculiar machine."
"Those of my kind that you would eat? Yes, I take them. I take them to save them."
"Save them! Hah! You squander them, silly human! You don't know what you have in those women, do you? Taken properly, those women can be distilled for an essence of femininity that is unequaled on all the planes!"
Oh my goodness, this is an affair of the heart for both of us! For moments, I'm speechless. "You... are still seeking a mate?"
"Yes, human. And you have been interfering with that search for years now. That is why I have hexed those villages. Soon those people will blame you; drive you off, and I will get my maidens again."
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