Do not be confused by the pretty face. She is is the Devil.

Or, one of the aspects of the Devil.

So, she is evil. And a part in the Grand Scheme of Things. Scarlet was given authority to teach a harsh lesson: hell and heaven are here, and now. You make them be, here and now, and let God worry about the afterlife.

Those who learn the lesson, are enlightened. Those who fail, are doomed. So, do not expect to get away on top, or to get away at all. The Devil is not here to give you leisure, fortune or happiness, she is here to teach you that you have to work for those things.

The Seven Twisted Wishes are her main tool of 'teaching'. First, she will not offer the Deal to nice, virtuous and caring people. Because you see, the only way out of The Deal is to make a completely unselfish, no-strings-attached virtuous wish that benefits someone -else-, someone who is good and deserving of good things.

No, you can not squirm out of the deal by wishing fortune upon your partner in crime.

The basic rules for the Deal are:

- You can not wish for more wishes; they are seven, and that's it.

- The Devil will deliver exactly what you wish for, to the letter.

- You can not wish yourself out of the Deal; there is one escape, it was mentioned above, and the Devil will not talk about it.

- You can not wish the Devil out of existence to get revenge.

- You can not wish for things the Devil does not have itself; no wishing for omnipotence.

- You can not wish for 'all your wishes to become true' because it violates rule 1 in spirit.

- You CAN 'undo' a wish, reverting things to how they were before you made the wish, but the wish is spent anyway.

- You have seven days to make all wishes; you can blow them all in seven seconds, or in seven hours, but exactly seven days after the Deal is struck, all unspent wishes expire.

- If you die while having unspent wishes, those are forfeit.

- After the seventh wish, or your death, whichever comes first, your soul belongs to the devil, with all the implied 'eternity in agony, forever in hell' doom to come. And until you die, your soul belongs to the Devil.

Now, to the little bits:

All wishes are twisted. While adhering to the letter, the Devil will change and pervert the spirit of the wish enough to make it you un-wish it; or maybe, die. The bigger the wish, the higher the stakes.

Please, please do not plot things like Oh, I will get the Deal and have my God/Angel/Superbeing Friend rescue me. If you pull that stunt, I will pull back the whole thing. If you don't want to risk your pup, I understand, but also, I will not have my pup made a fool with a cheap shot. When you sign up the deal, you forfeit supernatural protections. I ask players of Gods/Angels/Archmages/Suchlike to acknowledge this. Taking a step further, if you have a debt or bond of life or soul to such super-being, the Deal will not catch; your life or soul is not yours to gamble away, and Scarlet will mention that 'you have an earlier commitment of your resources to another business'.

The Devil deals in harsh lessons and enlightenment thru suffering. If you do not want the Deal being offered to your pup, just say so, and we can work out an IC reason why your pup is 'unsuitable'.

I expect her to offer very, very few Deals. One, because it is technically violating Bar rules. Two, because she needs to find the kind of selfish/naive/evil/greedy person who would take the Deal.

So, if you want to drive your pup into trouble and some hard-earned wisdom, tag away.

If you want to just chat with an evil (but polite) being, tag away.

Thank you for reading. Game on.

To tell the truth, Lucifer could have taken Teja to San Francisco first, then make a great production of a plane trip to the park she was planning to visit.

But... it's not what she wants.

What she did want was to help the Ostrogoth have fun, so upon crossing the threshold of Milliways, they appear on a white-sand beach, looking inland towards the largest amusement park in the world.

(And anyone who says otherwise is obviously jealous of the magnificence of Cedar Point.)

It's a mild-warm mid-morning, a big bright sun in the sky.

The elevator door opens to a wide hallway, carpeted and tastefully decorated. The Devil leads the way along, opening the door marked 108.

The road itself ended on a sturdy shed a half mile behind; from there, a steep path climbs following the cascading mountain stream, just far enough from it to not be slippery with droplets of water; each curve of the way offers a view of a miniature rainbow lit up by the morning sun.

The cabin is built with classic, durable Old World workmanship combined with modern conveniences; a satellite dish on the roof and a central air unit by one wall reveal the presence of such upgrades to modern comfort. A wooden swing hangs from dual chains on the porch, swaying gently in the breeze. The lake that feeds the stream is perhaps fifty yards from the cabin itself, the scent of cold, fresh water mixing with the pine and grass on the wind. A raccoon drinking from the lake looks up, then scampers away, chittering in displeasure at the intruders into its domain.

Florence, capital of the region of Tuscany, is a city which bustles with industry and craft, commerce and culture, art and science. The motorway A11 to the sea joins it to Prato, Pistoia, Montecatini, Lucca, Pisa and all the resorts on the Tyrrhenian sea.

The city lies on the River Arno and the climate is temperate but rather variable, with breezy winters and hot summers. Right now, late afternoon, it is a pleasant low 80's.

The door reads '616'. Tommy was taken for the night of his life.

The door opens into a large comfortable apartment. Rainfall patters against the windows and obscures some of the view out of the city, but even blurred the lights are there.

The apartment is huge... taking over maybe half the space of that building floor, and having stairs up and down too. Every piece of furniture is elegant and tasteful, every bit of decoration speaks of wealth most people can not even dream about.

The Devil is on the couch, half-brooding, or lounging, or... who knows? Waiting for a guest, maybe.

She is not moving, not bothering with pretending breath or much of mortal seeming. It is a strange night, and far from over.

Seattle, The Emerald City.

The door opens into a large comfortable apartment. Rainfall patters against the windows and obscures some of the view out of the windows, but the city lights are visible.

The apartment is huge... taking over maybe half the space of that building floor, and having stairs up and down too. Every piece of furniture is elegant and tasteful, every bit of decoration speaks of wealth most people can not even dream about.

"Welcome, dear... to my little refuge."

The door opens into a large comfortable apartment. Rainfall patters against the windows and obscures some of the view out of the windows, but the city lights are visible.

Lots of city lights. A city. A real city, full of real people.

"Welcome to Seattle."