A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 48: Librarian

The ghost sighed. "But my foolish alter-ego wasted the chance that mother and I gave him. He came right back to this dull place, and now, I can never leave. What a nuisance. Well, I suppose that I could use new company. The Forgotten served her purpose in diverting me, now Caleldir's lovers can do the same. So leave this place, 'Caleldra', Slasjowskew, and Storm-Fist. I have no use for you. As for you, Selene, mother of my child, Ashyr, and Althaia, you are mine now."

The younger drow removed her hand from the older's. She had only been held back long enough for Goelon to finish his speech. His words about the three women being 'his' did not seem to phase her. This was made evident by her continued confident approach. She stopped just within reach of him, but did not try to touch him. Crimson eyes drank in the sight of him. "That was quite a torment you subjected this imposter to." Selene said in a soft, rich voice. Her eyes flicked up to his face. It was a vaguely sexual expression, but not at all dominant. "You might keep a better eye on your toys, darling. She presumed to try to take control of the situation and of our child." She informed him. "She did not. But she did say she knew a way to turn you to Caleldir. He can leave, can he not? Would you submit to his weak shell to have the chance to leave this dull place?" Her head tilted to the other side. It was not a threat, nor even a suggestion. It was simple curiosity.

The others in the group remained oddly silent, watching as the drow interacted with the ghostly librarian. Althaia was slightly flattered that Goelon wanted her to stay with him, but not inclined to let him make her. She liked Caleldir, not this alter-ego of his. This cruel creature was the sort of thing she normally smote. Well, that she normally wanted to smite. She was still pretty new at this... But, he was not attacking, so might as well wait and see what happened. Caleldra, for her part, was more cowed by this place than she expected to be. She had her revenge all nicely lined up, but suddenly found that she was not quite as confident that she could take him as before. Meanwhile, Slasjowskew was looking at the books, wondering which of the tomes the librarian would miss the least. Probably none of them. But, he could still plot how best to get away with a few of the priceless volumes. And then there was Storm-Fist. He stood silent, paying close attention to the interaction in front of him, trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on here.

Goelon's glowing eyes flitted down to Selene. "You have a spark in you that I like." He smiled sinisterly. "I see an artful cruelty in you that I must compliment. You like my productions? That silly woman thought that she could save me, that she could turn me back into Caleldir. If I was the same now as I was back then, I would probably try to twist the three of you similarly for your suggestion." He yawned. "But I am too tired now for that."

Selene met his gaze with that ever-present confidence. It did not seem to scare her that he could have tried to twist her for her 'suggestion.' She doubted that he would harm his daughter; a hybrid destined to be everything that fate had stolen from Caleldir. How could her hurt her in a way that she had not already been hurt? For he was just one ever-living master of cruelty, a 'corruption' that was forced upon him. Selene was cruelty, born and bred for generations that went beyond even his existence. That perspective was the reason for her confidence. She returned his smile with one of her own wicked expressions.

He turned away from the group. "Whenever Caleldir dies, and he turns back into me, why do you think that I am so desperate to return to his flesh? After twelve centuries, I have realized that being me is not pleasant. I am fragmented and inconsistent, tormented and bound. But to be Caleldir is to forget my own existence, to become that dull little monk spawned of greatness and yet utterly insignificant, a disappointment to fate itself. To watch myself regress into a mere ignorant child with but three decades of memory, blown by the vagaries of fate from one kidnapper to another." He shuddered. "Corporeal beings and their disgusting perversions. I cannot understand how he enjoys being touched at all, let alone what..." He sighed. "Now, I am back in my own spirit, and I wonder: which do I prefer? To let Caleldir exist, or to exist myself?"

Spinning around, his visage become horrifying. "Tell me, spawn of Duskhaven, why should Caleldir be, and I not?"

Selene flinched; she couldn't help herself. Her eyes flashed hostile before she could regain control of herself. It was exceedingly difficult after that to look at his face, but Selene endeavored. She was a drow noble, dammit, and trained as such. This would not be her first showdown with someone who outclassed her.

Don't show weakness. Don't anger him. Deep inhale. Slow exhale.

"Do you not feel physical pleasure?" Blurted Ashyr's voice, finally. Lolth, no wonder he was crazy.

The ghost-king became visibly angry, the entire library taking on a hostile edge. "Watch your tone, woman!" He scolded her. "Caleldir may love you the most, but I merely tolerate you, and do not wish to be reminded of the disgusting physical relationship you have with my alter-ego. Your cousin is wiser than you: let her do the talking." It was pretty clear by this point that Selene was the only person in the party who the ghost actually liked: if anyone else said anything he edged closer to attacking everyone.

Selene carefully ignored that brief exchange. "I did not suggest that we save you, Goelon Duvainor. I asked if you wanted to be saved." The way she said the word 'saved' seemed to leave it open for debate whether it would be considered a rescue at all. He was powerful, capable, vastly intelligent, immortal, terrifyingly beautiful... and just happened to be quite evil. For Selene, that was more feature than flaw. She almost envied his position, if she ignored the part about being eternally trapped. "Your words make it seem that you do want to leave. Ask yourself: which torment is worse, darling? To be trapped in a young body and mind so unlike your own in power? Or to be trapped here without stimulation beyond mortal toys that will break and become boring? It is a choice between promising potential and exhausting stagnation. To be able to manipulate the world or to watch mostly powerless as it passes you by."

A smile spread across her face - a truly wicked expression. Her next words were very, very soft. "I know which I would take." And what she would do the next chance she got if she were in his place. That was assuming things were the same going out as they were going in, which was almost never the case.

Even though Goelon Duvainor seemed to enjoy talking with Selene, he still seemed seconds away from losing patience with everyone and just stomping down on them. If he did, it was guaranteed that it would be a much harder fight than they had had with the Animator. "An interesting question you pose, Selene." The Master Librarian pondered. "Do I chose the power I have now, or lose it all for far greater potential?" He closed his eyes, which made him look far more like Caleldir already, and sighed. Then, a broad smile crossed his face. "You are right. I will slumber once more, and gradually fade away, allowing Caleldir his birthright." With that, he shuddered, and fell to the ground, fully materialized, the glow gone from him, and seemingly dead.

Selene was not exultant when she saw that broad smile spread across Goelon's face and his final acceptance of his fate. Her face was passive, observant, and maybe a bit sad. She'd done it. She'd convinced someone not to be evil. It was as good as killing that magnificent creature of wickedness. By his side, what agonies could they have wrought? Selene could easily see herself here for years, absorbing lost knowledge while making toys of her erstwhile party until they were broken shells of what they used to be. But it was mere fantasy. The pregnant drow knew that it would be terribly unfulfilling. She could not truly enjoy Goelon as he was: powerful, and powerfully disgusted by sex. Selene wasn't as bad as Ashyr, but she was still a creature with sexual needs. And she had a child to think about. There was no way she'd let two generations of Hissael-spawn to grow up cloistered in the Monastery. It was not to be -- never to be.

Frustratingly, there was the smug sort of satisfaction that came from the artifact on her head.

Caleldra clapped her hands. "Excellent!" She floated over to the corpse. "I must say, I never expected him to go down without a fight." She sighed. "I suppose that my plot for revenge on him has come to naught, I mean, it is not like you guys will let me kidnap Caleldir to pay him back for all those things his alter-ego did to me." She looked contemplative for a moment, before putting her hands on his head. A slight glow enveloped him, and Caleldir shot upright, clutched his forehead, and fell backwards, unconscious, but definitely Caleldir, and definitely alive. Even more alive than normal, somehow. "Heh. That should do the trick." Caleldra rubbed her hands together, and floated away. "He is all yours, Duskhavens."

"No. We will not let you kidnap him." Ashyr said firmly. She ignored her cousin and brushed past her to go to Caleldir's unconscious form. The ranger quickly knelt beside him and gently pulled his upper body into her lap until she cradled him in a protective grip. She didn't care what the rest of them were doing. Ashyr fully intended on sitting there until Caleldir woke up. It wasn't so much for his sake as it was for hers. "Gods, I missed you." She whispered to him in her native tongue.

A light sigh came from the pregnant drow as she watched all this unfold. Then she turned and began to wonder away lost in thought. Ashyr looked like she needed some space.

Althaia gave Selene a sidelong look, eyes glowing with detection. The drow's alignment was shifting more and more towards Neutral. Or so the spell stated. Normally, the nymph would congratulate the drow on her new-found 'heroism', but she felt that this was not the proper time for that. No, Selene was clearly going through too much for her to butt in.

Caleldra was not so sensitive. Then again, she did not care about Selene's 'alignment' anyway. No, she was going to ruin another Duskhaven's mood for another reason. "Not to interrupt your touching reunion there, older Duskhaven, but we need to get going. This library is cursed, after all. Redundant, but true. Linger too long and something nasty might show up."

Hardly had the fetch given her warning, when she was proven correct. A deranged laugh echoed throughout the monastery, shaking the architecture. [Listen to my adopted child, invaders.] The Incomplete intoned. The shadow portal opened beyond Caleldra, and the tentacles shot out and bound her fast, wrapping and wrapping until the fetch could not be seen any longer. The shadow girl peeked out of her machine dimension to stroke the bundle. [You have greatly angered me, Forgotten. You permanently broke the hold I have on my Librarian. That is not something that I can forgive.] The bundle squeezed down. And down. And down. And then, there was nothing left. The tentacles unbound and Caleldra was gone.

The drow would have loved a quiet moment to spend in introspection. The Library would have been a perfect place at one time. But not today, and especially not right now.

Growing up in the Underdark had conditioned the both of them to act quickly and decisively when threat arose. As soon as the both of them heard the strange voice of the one who kidnapped Caleldir in the first place, the drow immediately met each other's eyes. Selene signed a question even as she began to sprint back to her cousin from where she had wandered. Ashyr responded quickly and concisely.

Althaia screamed out and lept at the apparition. The Incomplete grinned, the smile a white gash across her featureless head. The tentacles elongated into spears, shot out, and killed the nymph instantly. Or would have, if Caleldir's ritual had not activated in time to save her. [Two down.] The Monastery A.I. stated. She turned towards Slasjowskew. The Yuan-ti paled, and vanished. The Incomplete laughed, the sound rumbling the building again. [The coward flees my domain! So, he did have an escape route planned.] She turned towards the remaining four. [Now, shall I banish, imprison, or destroy you?]

Storm-Fist put himself between the two drow and the shadow goddess. "We meet again, Cursed Divine." Looking over his shoulder, he threw an order. "Drow, take your lover and flee this place, I will keep the Monastery busy. Last time it took her three days to bring me down. I will buy you all the time you need."

The apparition turned its full attention on the huge man.[ Always the hero, my old toy. You really think that you will be able to keep me from destroying the drow and imprisoning my old programmer?]

"Yes." Storm-Fist stated, throwing a thunderous punch towards her.

When Selene reached her cousin, her hand clasped the other drow's shoulder. Ashyr had since pulled Caleldir away from her lap and was waiting on the mage's magical help. Then, from her new position at his feet facing him, she grabbed onto one of Caleldir's ankles and rolled into his body to use momentum more than strength to pull him over her shoulder. With a soft grunt the ranger got from her knees to her feet and began to run back the way they came, skirting around the battle between evil bitch and Storm-Fist.

As it turned out, Storm-Fist's boast about being able to hold off the Monastery A.I. was not an idle one. After a few seconds of the huge man throwing electrical kicks and punches, it was clear that he was on the same level as the dragon-princess from last week, his strength and speed being downright staggering even for his size. The Incomplete could not break her focus on the giant in order to go after the drow, and so, even with having to lug Caleldir around, they were able to make a clean getaway, making it to the door to the secret passage without incident. It did take few nervous seconds to re-open the thing, but after a moment the drow discovered that it opened automatically when Caleldir's unconscious form was leaned against it.

The journey back down to the deep factory was a silent one; the sounds of the almost certainly epic battle in the library dulled rather quickly, and the sounds of the machinery below seemed to have quieted, although they could still be slightly heard. At least, it was quiet until Ashyr heard R.I.S.A.'s panicked tone interrupt the silence. [Oh no!] she moaned. [Cieraela has vanished from inside my dimension! Stolen right out from under my nose!]

"What was that?" Caleldir asked groggily. "Oh, my head... it feels as if parts of my mind were ripped out and messily rearranged..."

Upon hearing Caleldir's voice, Ashyr quickly set him as gently as possible back down onto the ground. She managed to only jar him a little bit -- the size difference continued to be quite awkward. "Caleldir." She panted with relief.

He looked around. "The old researcher's connection corridor. It has been awhile..."

"Thank the goddess you're awake." Maybe that wasn't the best phrase to use under the circumstances. Not that Ashyr was paying much attention to what she was saying when expression her gladness that her mate was back in the realm of the conscious.

Caleldir raised one eyebrow. "Which goddess? The evil spider one who almost certainly loathes me, or the artificial one that I helped build that is currently trying to hoard me along with all her other programmers?" He stood unsteadily to his feet. Well, he was clearly feeling good enough to snark. Then again, Caleldir always felt good enough to snark, so that did not mean all that much.

"Perhaps Eilistraee watches over us." Ashyr responded with a soft smile, though in her mention of goddess, she wasn't thinking of a specific one. It was just something her people said, ofttimes not even thinking of whom they were referring. Not everyone actually worshipped Lolth or even thought of her in their day-to-day business. Lolth's daughter seemed better fitting for the people involved. Ashyr found herself thinking about Eilistraee now and then, especially after Caleldir mentioned her the first time. Their alignments didn't match, but they were surprisingly similar in other ways, the chaotic good drow goddess and Ashyr. Selene ignored the exchange about goddesses. Her magic was not divine, and Lolth was a little... chaotic for her tastes -- though the younger drow did quite like spiders. That more than anything was the reason for her often arachnid-themed garb.

"Now, Eilistraee, that makes sense..." Caleldir mused. "Although, I assume that she would be more interested in you than me. Of course, I have my own God, who maybe is still watching out for me."

"Hurry up and recover. There's a psychotic A.I. - the one who kidnapped you -- and she'd trying to kill us. Althaia is dead. Slasjowskew disappeared. Cieraela has been taken from R.I.S.A, apparently. Your female body double is... dead? Maybe? I don't fucking know. She rearranged your head first so the not-god is no longer tied to you. According to her." Selene really hoped that the fetch didn't do something more sinister to him despite saying that she wouldn't.

Caleldir turned towards her to listen. He went gradually paler as she listed off the casualties they had suffered. Until the last one. "My... female body double?" He asked in confusion. "I had one of those? I... do not understand..." He clutched his head again.

"Yeah, female body double. A terribly evil fetch and not at all a good surprise when we thought she was you." Selene grumped.

"Selene, his head already clearly hurts." Ashyr admonished irritably. She gently brushed errant hair out of his face, which caused him to relax slightly. Crimson eyes watched him closely. The ranger was tempted to use a healing spell on him, but she had a feeling that this was something he could only recover from with time.

"Hmph. Just hurry up." Selene told her. "We need to fall back somewhere safer and regroup." The younger drow may have been acting surly and blunt, but her eyes were as focused on Caleldir as Ashyr's were. Selene, however, didn't feel in necessary to be so close to him.

He sighed. "Well, this has all gone fabulously. At least I can retrieve Althaia from the Ethereal Sanctuary once we get out of here. Until then, let us head to the Archmage's quarters. The Incomplete will not be able to attack us in Birchborn's domain. The little Archmage was too instrumental in creating her (and R.I.S.A.), far more than I, and even in her madness understands the underlying programming. If we lay low enough that we do not awaken her from her dreaming, we should be able to recover."

Having decided that, Caleldir turned towards the factory below. "I am recovered, except for feeling unusually light in body. Let us hurry!" He began to run, but propelled himself into the air. "Wha..." He gasped. He was floating. A look of confusion hit his face, and then a knowing smile. "Heh. It appears as if some of my ghostly-self's power is leaking into me! I feel more powerful than I do in the moments before I lose control after I die!" He spun around in the air, and then zoomed down the stairs. "Most of this power-up is temporary! Let us make the most of it!"

Both drow came to the same conclusion that now was not time time to stop and talk, and they could hardly carry on an easy conversation while running. Especially not at the speeds Caleldir found himself able to go. They kept up well enough, however. It was so much easier to run without a limp Caleldir slung across her shoulders. Ashyr used her increased carrying capacity to take Selene by the hand and haul her along behind the two of them. The poor mage could sprint short distances, but she was nowhere near used to all this running they were doing. She wouldn't admit it to Ashyr (and especially not Caleldir), but she was glad of the help.