In the midst of the chaos that had wrecked havoc upon the world, Livana had believed that it was time that she got away from the hustle and bustling enterprise she had crafted by her own hands and see what the rest of the world was up to. Of course, her timing proved to be impeccable as Revaliir had just gone through hell and back and the city of Iria was no exception. As she walked among the street, garbed in a fine dress of onyx and carried above her a parasol of similar color, her eyes were ever-shifting. They drank in the sight of the once-proud city where people would flock to be in awe at the collection of gifted minds the world has ever seen and now they were trying to clean up and put away the recent event behind them. Debauchery certainly wasn’t a strong enough word for the happenings, at least from what she had eavesdropped on days before her arrival. Gods and mortal meddling; were the two absolute things that went wrong with the world nearly every single time. At this point, she pondered why anyone would follow them further after this.

Tiptoeing elegantly around various debris, Liv made it to what appeared to be one of those fancy libraries Iria was famous for. Perhaps a book there would capture her fancy, or more so, someone in there that could entertain her for just a bit. Boredom was growing in her and quick.

Making her way in was no trouble at all, but it appeared that the place had already been ransacked. Pity. The demoness decided to look around a bit longer before abandoning this place. There was something that stirred her interest, although she couldn’t place a finger on what exactly. All she could hear as she traveled furthered into the disarray library was soft chattering of some unknown language…

The normally-chipper arcanist was looking quite glum and somber. Myouga had been lucky enough to avoid the spiked wine when it arrived in cities all over Revaliir, but the Iria she came back to was devastated. Things were worse than when the ancient dragons emerged to wreak havoc on the world, but only because it was damage to the city's knowledge and institutions than the architecture. A lot of people had fallen under Luxurium's spell, and those who didn't were trying to get things back to normal. She personally went to visit the libraries to see their condition, with each being worse than the next. The places were totally wrecked and ransacked. It was hard to look at. "This is terrible. Just terrible." There wasn't a better way to say it. The small oni heaved a deep sigh as she picked through the trampled scraps and torn up bindings that used to be books. "Hope the Mage Academy's alright." She wasn't feeling very hopeful though. Picking up as many bits she could gather, Myouga tried to see if anything was salvageable.

"Dirt's all over the words, it's impossible to clean up. Half of the front cover from this is torn off. It's an older edition, so unless there's another copy elsewhere it might be gone for good…" Muttering to herself in Ataiyan, the dismal results kept coming. Copying all of these into new pages would take a lifetime. Myouga wasn't the only rare visitor who came to see this place's sorry state. There were a few others she didn't recognize talking among themselves, probably tourists. Standing up, she dusted her clothes off and put her hands on her hips. "Maybe I should find somebody who can use magic to restore things that have been damaged. I don't know if it'll be possible with so much missing. It hurts to see these rare and valuable books ripped up like scratch paper." Slapping her face lightly with her hands, she tried to cheer herself up. Some pastries with a tall caramel latte topped with a mountain of whipped cream would hit the spot. Food always helped when you weren't feeling great. It wasn't how much you ate, but whether or not it tasted good. 

She turned around to head back out when she crossed paths with a tall, elegant lady wearing all black. "Oh! Sorry–didn't mean to run into you." She wasn't in the mood for her usual cheeky smile and chatter today. There was a bit of dust sticking to her white smock and over-sized puff of a hat. The arcanist gave a pained half-smile as she moved aside to let the lady through. 

As she ventured further into the messy hemp that was once a beautiful and kept library, the demoness felt something wrong was lurking from the results of the maddening of the world as of late. Her intuition may have been proven valid from the shattered remains of what appeared to be bottles and the scent of a foreign, yet alluring wine that puddles around the shards. Curiosity getting the better of Liv, she retracted her parasol and latched it shut before her slender form reached down and dipped a finger into the liquid. “All this over a bit of wine…” It was a bit comical and she saw no harm in her next move- she brought the finger to her lips and her tongue tasted the contents.

One taste was all that was needed, however.

Immediately, she found herself liking it. Adoring it. Craving it.

Her hazel eyes dilated slightly as a look of euphoria befell her. She needed more, but despite the yearning, she couldn’t very well bring herself to lick it up from the floor like some savage. Nay, she would do well to find intact bottles and hoard them for herself. Her attention turned back for a quick moment over the voices she was following. Perhaps they had more, in which case she would relieve them of that intoxicating liquid. Liv stood right back up and moved with a quicker pace and a renewed purpose.

But it did leave her to be less attentive and she found that out the moment another person got in her way. A smile, perhaps a bit eerie in nature towards her guest, crept up from her. “No no, forgive me, sweet one. I…wasn’t paying attention.” This was no more than a distraction from her new goal, and while she would have toyed with the woman a bit more, Livana wanted desperately to find the person or people that were here, stockpiling on her wine. While it was possible for the woman to have some, a quick inhale of her scent led to disappointing results. Her smile shifted into a deep frown before she finally decided to move on. “Pardon me, but I must find more of that exquisite wine. I know that they are hiding it here from me.”

As she was passing by, she immediately saw movement from the corner of her eye. A shadow moved swiftly in between the bookshelves nearby. “Those bastards!”, she shrieked, ruining any remaining portrayal of elegance she had left before darting through the bookshelves, one by one frantically.

“Where are those fools?! Where is my wine?!”

Myouga had lived long enough to know when to oblige. A shiver ran down her spine as she gave a nod and stepped out of the lady's way, her eyes lowering to reduce direct contact. As the woman passed by her, the arcanist's attention was caught by the mention of wine. Oh no–surely she couldn't be…? Her palms began to sweat. It didn't take long for the lady's composure to collapse into mad hysteria. Pressing herself into a nook formed by some broken shelves, the small oni watched in terror as the screaming began. The symptoms were a dead ringer: addiction, withdrawal, violent and irrationally destructive behavior. She thought things had finally blown over with the spiked wine here. Did that woman get a sample somewhere before coming in? The arcanist shuddered at the thought, and wanted to get out of this gloomy place as soon as possible. But the scholar in her, against her better judgment, was curious. If there still was some of that cursed liquor left, then why shouldn't she destroy it?

There was nothing she could do for the lady now that she had a taste. The least she could do was damage control. Talking things out wouldn't work as addicts responded to reason like lightning to rubber. Turning herself invisible, Myouga used her winged armor to fly after the lady in black at a safe distance. People who were drugged had a sixth sense for finding their fix, so it would be possible to search for any remaining bottles still hiding around. On second thought, destroying the wine probably should be done out of sight. In the amount of time it'd take to make an escape portal, she'd be knocked unconscious. And as awful as it was…Myouga did want to know more about how long the wine's effects lasted. Figuring out how much of it was the drugs and where the curse began might shed some light on how to cure those who had their first drink. Pity she didn't have any potions to detoxify or nullify magic on hand, though getting somebody so fixated on Luxurium to drink it would be a challenge. Hopefully there wasn't any of the stuff actually nearby to make matters worse. …Hopefully.

Her mind felt numb and foggy towards anything other than that sweet nectar that was the Luxurium. She didn’t feel like she was in control of herself any further and from the sight of her now, those that did know her would have been appalled. Gods knew if only Greiger had been around, he would have suggested that she kept away from tasting the vile drink. But right now, she was like a child without parental supervision that wanted sugary treats. Only the thing she desired right now she tore through the place was more of that Luxurium.

Much thought about the previous woman had slipped through her mind as she followed the strange whispers. She wasn’t mad, she knew that there were more people here and that they were hoarding all of her wine. Those whispers grew the further back she traveled but the damage she was causing at this point- knocked over bookshelves and flipped over furniture, had ceased since she needed to concentrate on sheathiness as she approached. Her eyes lingered towards the door at the end, which was opened with a shaky hand and left wide open. The backroom seemed to be an archive room of sorts, which would be odd as such would be locked away from the general public. Despite her attempt to sneak in, Liv’s cloudy mind told her body to march about, now smelling the delicious wine in the vicinity. But what she also didn’t account for was a net dropped on top of her. It was heavy enough that she was forced onto the ground and it had strange symbols etched onto the stones at the ends, likely runic. She struggled but couldn’t get the damn thing off her and before long, figures from the dark deeps of the room gathered to her position.

“Another thief! She’s after our treasure!”, one of them spoke in a scratchy voice. The figures emerged as men that would normally be seen at the academy- scholars, researchers, and professors of the esteemed city. Only their raggy and disheveled appearances screamed something completely something else. Plus the aroma of the wine reeked from their very pores. “We need to do away with her in the name of the Death Goddess! Only then will she give us more treasure!”

The other madmen hollered in agreement and scattered off to collect various tools while a couple of men stood by to watch over Liv as she continued to fight feebly against her constraint.

“Gimme the wine, you fools! Or I will rip your heads off with my own hands!”