A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 74: Chats

Author's Note:

A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.

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Episode 74: Chats

Just as Althaia mentioned to Ashyr, Caleldir and Selene had found time to go together to meet up with Caleldir's friend.

Gurzan was busy doing what he often did while in a city: sitting in a well-lit corner of the tavern contemplating life while holding a half-finished cup of mead. It was then that his ears pricked and he turned around. "You still do not move quietly enough to sneak up on me," he said to Caleldir. "And I see that you brought along the more aristocratic drow too. I do not believe that we have met."

Selene trailed behind Caleldir, after walking next to him in silence across the city. But when they got into the tavern and were noticed by the Orc, she moved around in front of her nymph companion. "Selene of House Duskhaven," she supplied in her usual proud tone she used whenever speaking her name. Selene didn't try to shake his hand (that wasn't really a drow tradition, and Selene was yet unused to being introduced to people the "right" way on the surface.)

While Caleldir would probably have tried to introduce the two of them more formally, he was cut off by Selene being Selene. So, instead, Gurzan merely nodded. "Cousin to one Ashyr Duskhaven. Ranger lass. Good at killing harpies. I know of you."

Selene nodded once, then slid onto a chair opposite the ugly orc. This was supposed to be a social visit, she understood, and didn't want to endure that standing up. Not when her feet already threatened to get sore with all that walking across cobblestone. "She has spoken of me, then?" the drow asked when she got comfortable

"Not as such, no," Gurzan said. "Leastways, not to me. My information is from Caleldir. All very flattering things. I told him that he was a mushy romantic and not being honest."

She shot a questioning look towards Caleldir. "Dare I even ask?"

Caleldir smiled sheepishly. "Well, I did not give the details on our... first meeting, and he could sense that. Instead, I just talked about how beautiful, accomplished, and intelligent that you were. And also that you were with child, and I was the father."

Gurzan nodded. "I thought the situation fishy."

"Ah. Our meeting would not be considered the best, I admit. But it is true about him being the sire of my child. That is not... 'mushy romantic.'" She said the term with a little crinkle of her nose, not liking how it sounded. "And of course the rest of it was no fabrication as well." This was said with a small smile, but it was unclear if she was joking or not.

"No fabrication, of course," Gurzan agreed. "Your looks, breeding, and intellect are all the best. I can sense your arcane might from across the room. No, the mushy romantic part was the fact that he refused to tell me the truth of that first meeting. May I assume that you, well, took advantage of him?"

Selene gave him a long look before responding. She wasn't sure if he would fly into an orc rage or something if he knew what she had done to his friend. So she chose her words wisely. "... It is true that I had some misplaced anger, which I took out on Ashyr. Caleldir was collateral damage."

"No need to be excessively decorous with me, highbred child of Lolth," Gurzan said in a neutral tone. "I puzzled out what had happened. I know Caleldir well. If I may be undiplomatic, he seemed to have fallen for his rapist. As I figured that he would. Too many of his crazy stories were about begin kidnapped and ravished by exotic women, and ended with 'and now I am a married man, so farewell Gurzan!'" Caleldir looked rather embarrassed, but the orc continued. "So, it finally happened to him for real. Not surprising, I say."

"It was not so 'romantic' as that," Selene responded with a frown. "But that was when the child was conceived. Which was... not my intention." An even angrier look crossed her face, and her eyes fell to gaze at the table as she tried to rally her expression back into neutrality.

"I sense that this is a sore spot," Gurzan said dryly. "I would say 'young folks these days', but both of you are older than me, if only chronologically. But no, I figured the situation out. I was a bit peeved with you, but I am glad to see that you two have moved beyond disfunction."

"Do not worry. By your surface world standards, I have payed for my sins tenfold. But yes, you are right. We have long since passed having issues with all that. Even Ashyr has forgiven me." As she said this, Selene managed to get her expression back in order. As an afterthought, she caught the attention of a tavern maid and ordered herself some bread. This establishment looked trustworthy enough at which to eat.

"I recommend butter and honey with the bread," Gurzan noted, before returning his attention back to Selene. Caleldir was being rather quiet, looking from one of them to the other. Gurzan continued. "Well, I at least thank you for making an honest man of him." Gurzan said in a tone that was hard to read whether or not it was being ironic. "Or whatever the drow equivalent of that is. I know that the two of you will have a truly extraordinary daughter. I am still a little bitter about Caleldir choosing you over my daughters, though. No offense."

Selene didn't know how to respond - or even what Gurzan meant by 'honest man.' Yeah, Caleldir seemed pretty truthful. It was probably his nymph blood. Her expression faltered when he said that he was bitter, though. Caleldir, with part orcish children? The thought made her shudder. A little offense was taken. "You would have him give up a chance to be a prominent member of a prominent house?" she said, instead of calling attention to what she felt was 'ugly genetics.'

"My wife is a Queen of the Fae," Gurzan said simply. "Veela, sometimes called a 'Brilliant Harpy,' she is. A relative to both harpies and the many races of nymph-kin. She can turn into an eagle larger than a hippogryph. She functioned as my ranger companion before she became my wife." He sighed. "House Duskhaven may be great, but it is far from the kiss of the wind, the caress of the sun, the great open book of the heavens, the twinkling beauty of the stars. You are right; your house is greater than mine. But I envy you not the cold earth." He then smiled. "But pay no attention to a disgruntled old man. I've thirteen daughters, and hoped to marry a few of them off so they would stop bothering my wife in the nest. It was probably selfish of me."

Selene blinked. How did an orc get a veela to... Whatever. It did not matter to Selene. "Talk to Ashyr. I'm sure she'd welcome them all with open arms." This was a derisive remark, and it was aimed at her cousin rather than at Gurzan or his daughters. "She lets about anyone-" Selene stopped herself mid-sentence as she realized that she was about to bring up a subject not spoken of in polite surface society.

"I have considered it." Gurzan said dryly. "I know your cousin's habits and predilections. Well, if Ashyr wants to try her luck seducing a veela, she is welcome to try. I am sure several of them would be game. They are Fae, after all." He sounded at once weary, fond, and amused. "But enough about all that. I assume that you have a lot of questions. First of all, no, I was not always this ugly. That is just my age catching up with me. I am eighty five, in a race that seldom lives beyond forty, after all."

"Clearly, having a fae companion is good on one's lifespan." Selene commented. "I have chosen wisely in that regard, then. You also seem much more intelligent than those with orcish blood that I have met. Zarag comes close, but he's forced to speak very simply for the sake of his people. Does your wife have something to do with your intelligence, or were you born with that?"

"I was born with my intellect," Gurzan commented. "For years I wish I had not been. Orcs are awful. They are stupid, smelly, stupid, evil, stupid, ugly, stupid, and stupid. My early life was terrible. I could not wait to get out of there." The old orc spoke with a lot more passion than was normal. "I mean, I am not fully orcish myself, my mother was a human slave who... was... broken when I was a very young child. So, I admit to having had little regret about... the way I started my career." He grinned ferally. "I am sure a drow can appreciate a little well-placed vengeance, eh?"

"As a drow, I don't know the meaning of 'a little' vengeance." She said with a slow, wicked smile. The bread came, and Selene did as Gurzan suggested and asked for butter and honey to go with it. That did sound quite appetizing.

"Oh, a little vengeance," Gurzan said carelessly. "One hundred fifty seven dead, including the uncle that murdered my father and raped my mother to death. And everyone else in the tribe over the age of eight. Burnt the place to the ground. I was not as mello back then as I am now. At ten years old, I was something of a terror."

Caleldir looked pale. "You never told me this story..." he whispered.

Selene laughed aloud at Gurzan's words - her reaction very different than Caleldir's. "It sounds like ten-year-old you didn't know the meaning of a little vengeance, either!"

"Well, I did not come from a very forgiving culture." Gurzan sighed, the mad light gone from his eyes. "Orcs are similar to drow in at least that way, despite the innumerable other differences. I hear that you have had trouble with your brothers launching a rather messy coup? Well, orcs are like your brothers, minus all the redeeming qualities like intelligence, good looks, and personal hygiene."

"Sometimes the intelligence is not such a good thing to have in one's enemies, orc." Selene sighed. "There comes a certain... creativity with that. My brothers can do worse things to a person than raping or killing them."

"I imagine so," Gurzan allowed. "At least stupid foes are very easily outsmarted. It was child's play to outsmart them. Which was how I took on so many." Gurzan shrugged. "Anyway, from that point on, I decided I would become the anti-orc, and started down the long road to becoming the dour fellow you see now. Managed to become less violent and chaotic. Never quite got the hand of altruism towards people I do not know, unlike bleeding heart here."

"We have a lot in common there. Though I was never anything near chaotic." And then Selene had the bread and honey in front of her. If she had anything more to say, it was completely forgotten in the face of warm, fresh bread and honey.

"You at least share the same strongly Lawful aura," Caleldir commented. He seemed a bit mortified at being called 'bleeding heart'. He had ordered some fish when Selene ordered the bread, and followed her example eating.

"-mmm," Selene began to say before she swallowed her current bite. "But that can mean a lot of things in different cultures."

"Lawful Good are all the same," Gurzan agreed. "Lawful Neutral, not so much. But at least our type know the value of discipline, tradition, and order. Better than anyone else, I would wager."

Selene responded with a noncommittal grunt. He just assumed that she was Lawful Neutral, even though she was a drow. Yes, this had recently become true, but... it wasn't all that easy to admit to yet. And she wasn't about to argue the uncomfortable issue with a stranger in the middle of a public place.

"I think that he was referring to himself in that sentence, Selene," Caleldir commented. "Not you, so no need to be upset about it."

"About what?" Gurzan asked.

"She is determined to be Lawful Evil like a good drow." Caleldir said with irony.

"She is not?" Gurzan asked.

She frowned harder, and suddenly paid quite a bit more attention to her bread than was strictly necessary.

"Huh, I seemed to have found another nerve," Gurzan mused. "I apologize, my lady, I did not mean to cast aspersions on your drow-ness."

"Is that you mimicking my speech patterns?" Caleldir asked.

"Maybe," Gurzan said noncommittally.

Not sure how to respond to all that, Selene continued to act as if her piece of bread was the most important thing in her life. Well, as a piece of fairly delicious food, it could honestly be considered for her top five list. Gurzan had been totally right about the toppings.

Finally, Gurzan downed the rest of his drink. "I like this tavern," he said in a pleased tone. "Good food, good drink, good company. Sometimes, the simple things are best."

"It's alright," Selene responded, looking around. It was nothing compared to some of the places in her homelands. "There aren't scantily clad males around to wait on me." Her lips turned downward in a displeased frown, but couldn't remain that way for more than a second. A small, amused smile quickly replaced that frown.

"We could probably talk Caleldir into something." Gurzan replied without missing a beat. Caleldir looked appropriately mortified at this. "Me though, I am a married man, and probably not someone you want to see shirtless anyway. Not with drow sensibilities on masculinity."

"No, you're right, I think I'll pass," Selene said with a brief chuckle at the image in her head. Having Caleldir serving her mostly naked was a tempting thought in her head, though. A thought for later.

"I am sure we can think something up once we retake Duskhaven," Caleldir dryly commented. He could tell that she was thinking about him in a state of dress similar to what Althaia had worn when they first had been traveling with her: stripperific, it was called.

"We don't even have to retake Duskhaven for that. I know some places," Selene informed him casually. "Not that it actually matters. I complain, but I think my cousins have ruined most men for me."

"It is a good thing that I do not really qualify, then." Gurzan commented. "These cousins of yours... would you be able to use some help taking them down?"

"Not sure what one old orc could do for us." She said honestly. "And I assume you wouldn't want to endanger your women. They kill people, shred souls, and - well, it is distressing to watch."

"I may look old, but I am still pretty good in a fight." Gurzan commented. "Stronger than ever, actually. And tougher too. Just more... tired. I really need to spend more time at home rather than wandering the world. And you are right: I would not want to risk my daughters against them. Still, had to make the offer. Give me an excuse to see the Underdark again."

"Again?"

"I have been everywhere." Gurzan said noncommittally.

"Everywhere is a bit of an exaggeration, I would say." Caleldir interjected.

Gurzan just shrugged. "Many places, then."

Selene made a soft noise that was noncommittal as Gurzan's words. She had not been 'everywhere,' and she was nearly twice his age. "-Wait, how are you stronger than ever? Is that a fae thing, as well?" Selene certainly would have liked to survive well past the time drow were supposed to.

"Yes, it is a Fae thing. Talk to Caleldir about it. I am sure that he could hook you up with straight-up immortality with enough time."

The drow looked over to Caleldir, something akin to wonderous greed in her eyes. She had always assumed... "Well, we certainly have time. If we're not killed in the next year, we have at least another three hundred years." He gaze slid to Gurzan, and turned questioning. "How long can a shorter lifespan creature go on with Fae help?"

The old orc shrugged. "No idea. I ask my wife, and she just tells me to stop asking silly questions and come back to bed with her. I assume that having a lot of sex with a fae keeps their mates alive and young. I shed years after visiting her. A method of keeping their spouses much longer than they otherwise could, considering the large number of monogendered fae who usually take mates from mortal races."

"Why does everything come down to sex around here?" Caleldir complained.

"That makes sense. -and don't you complain, darling, you know you like it when it comes down to sex." Selene turned back to Caleldir with a small, wicked smile.

"Yeah, but hearing Gurzan talk about it is... awkward." Caleldir admitted.

"Why- oh, its a surface thing. Right." Selene began to ask, but then realized who she was talking to. "That is one subject that is not awkwardly skirted around in the Underdark." The drow commented as if it was one of the most baffling things in the world.

"Or among happily couples," Gurzan agreed. "You were not in that category before, so I did not bring up the topic. But, you are no virgin now, far, far from it. Certainly more partners than me, and I have... never mind."

After that, the conversation drifted to other things. Gurzan continued to prod and tease Caleldir in his deadpan way like an overly affectionate, yet stoic, uncle. He also gave Caleldir completely unneeded sex advice on how to please multiple women. It was usually veiled and euphemistic, but it still embarrassed the nymph-kin to an extent that shamed his race. After some time of this, and a lot more eating and drinking, Gurzan and Caleldir said their farewells, and Caleldir and Selene returned to the palace while the old half-orc wandered off too... wherever he was staying.

Outside the tavern, Caleldir turned to Selene.

"Well, your thoughts?" he asked simply.

"He is not bad, for a half-orc," Selene responded honestly. She had thoroughly enjoyed watching Gurzan embarrass him, too, but she wasn't going to tell either of them that.

"I suppose that is high enough praise," Caleldir accepted. "All things considered. Let us head back for today."

--

That night Althaia made her way back to her room. She felt rather tired, but happy. She had long longed to be a member of Civilization, and now she was the leader of one. Certainly, it was tiring, but Althaia 's chaotic nature thrived under order, she chafed with too much 'freedom'. For she had tasted the 'freedom' of no responsibilities or attachments, no obligations or duties, no cares or trusts. It was not freedom at all, but slavery to the base urges that she despised about her kind. Now she had structure and system to her life, and though it was exhausting, she finally felt fulfilled. That certainly did not mean though that she could not do with a little relaxation and indulgence sometimes. No doubt she would eventually want a vacation. But for now she was coming to revel in her newfound responsibility. For the more responsibility she had, the more responsible she would become.

Thinking along those lines, the nymph opened the door to her room to be greeted with an interesting sight. A rather pleasant one, actually.

As Ashyr said, both she and Tsabdrin were laid out on Althaia's bed. Ashyr was still fully clothed in what she usually wore under her armor: a loose tunic and trousers (not that that was necessary since Althaia gave the female drow their rings). She was leaned against the headboard of the bed, with Tsabdrin leaned against her and his head tilted back against her shoulder. He had trousers on, too, but unlike Ashyr, his scarred chest was bared and there was a black cloth covering his eyes. His arms were twisted behind his back and presumably bound with rope. There was a look of sheer pleasure on the part of his face that was uncovered - Ashyr was running one of her hands across his exposed neck and chest.