A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 75: Inflitrate

"Three years ago, my small diplomatic retinue and I were sailing in waters far to the northwest in the hopes of establishing a trading route with the people there. But we did not arrive before we were assailed by the most beautiful feminine chorus of voices. At first, those voices lured my captain away toward jagged rocks near the coast. My Will was greater than that of the singers, however, and siren's songs were familiar to me. We took a page from ancient storybooks and filled our ears of wax that the voices would not penetrate our minds. My ship went on the offensive then. Though many of them scattered, we were able to capture one beautiful redhead, chain her with cold iron and sequester her to a holding cell within the brig. The men, and, I admit, myself, were unwilling to destroy even such a dangerous woman, for she seemed to embody beauty itself - though it was a savage beauty.

"I forbade anyone but myself to go near her, since her voice did not affect my mind. Visit her I did, and we quickly came to understand and confide in one another. I discovered that she had a name, Mirjana. She had family, and a long lost home. Mirjana's family included five other rusalka, who had been driven away from their original cave. They saw themselves not as evil spirits, but forces of vengeance in a realm where men saw women as possessions and toys. They were compelled to punish men, even if they were forced to do it in a place where the men had not wronged them. In exchange for this information, I told her of the problem I had within my own city. Violent gangs of people had infested the caves and sewers underneath Port Afron for the fifth time under my rule. No solution I had discovered was permanent."

"That wasn't your only problem." Rostimira interjected with a smirk. "Go on, tell them what your other problem was."

Phanuel actually looked incredibly embarrassed and uncomfortable, and his words became stumbling and awkward. "My blood- ah, I inherited-"

"His cock was barbed. No woman would have him, and he was beginning to suffer." Rostimira happily filled in for him.

The aasimar studied the ground hard, and his face darkened with his shame. "I admit, I failed to concentrate just once during my conversations with Mirjana. I was not in my full armor, and wore only trousers and a loose tunic. She is a beautiful woman, my body responded, and she noticed its hellish shape."

Caleldir stayed quiet throughout most of the story, shuddering when Faust talked about a barbed demon-penis. Probably not something they should tell the little alchemist about. She was already not that fond of cocks as a general rule, and the idea that the mad Faust had been close to... well, that was something that would not go over well. "You could have tried to seduce one of the catfolk," he suggested. "Their females can deal with barbed... never mind. That was a long time ago." He sighed. "Althaia was sure to design your present instrument a little better. So... you can thank her for that."

One of Phanuel's eyebrows quirked upward at Caleldir's suggestion that he seduce a catfolk. He put his hand out flat about five feet above the ground, the average size of a catfolk female. And it was a more than a foot shorter than Faust had been. A good foot and a half, now. He wasn't the only one who made a hand motion. Mirjana looked ready to laugh, and then held her hands in front of her, a good ten or more inches apart. Selene, at least, needed no more explanation than that. Despite wanting to keep up an annoyed, regal act, the drow couldn't stop the short burst of laughter at the mental picture. Catfolk would not be able to handle the tiefling's 'equipment' even if they were used to barbs. It occurred to Selene that the human was fortunate the party came to save her.

That was an... impractically huge tool, Caleldir realized. About 6-8 inches was, for most ordinary women, about the best size. More than that could cause damage. Or so he had read. Althaia had decided to give Phanuel...

Caleldir violently shook his head. Why was he thinking about Phanuel's cock? All around this was a topic that he was not entirely comfortable with dwelling on for a long time. "Well, you do not have to worry about any of that now."

"Anyway." Faust cleared his throat. "Soon after that incident, we realized that we could assist in each other's problems. I could return Mirjana's original home to her sisters, and keep the men of the northeast from taking it over again. In exchange, I would take home her and five of her sisters to keep my city safe. From then on, we agreed that there would always be six living in the cave underneath us now. Their absence from that rocky coast also assured my sailor's safety, for a trade route was later established there. It was a good deal for both of us, but I still managed to convince them to do one more thing. In my moment of weakness, and to my great shame, I also got her to agree to let me... visit them, now and then, when life proved to be too stressful."

"We did not particularly relish the task, but his cock was not cold iron, and was not able to hurt us," Rostimira explained.

"And that is why they are here, and likely why they felt entitled to your body, Caleldir, since I - the last one who had a deal with - had a similar understanding with them. Without the breeding, obviously. Or perhaps they would have acted like this no matter what I ordered. I apologize for all this. I thought I would be able to keep them from harming the innocent. It was clear from the beginning that they planned to leave eventually, and leave their daughters behind. I just thought it would take much longer than it has. I did not count on someone like you." Finally, the story seemed to be done, and Phanuel waited patiently for any questions that might arise.

"You did not relish the task? I thought that you would..." He decided not to pursue that line of thought further. "Given Rusalka biology - only able to reproduce with fae-blooded men (or at least, that is what they told me...) - I do not entirely begrudge them that they seized on me like that." He shook his head. "Nor do I hold the bargain against you. It was well made even if we ended up running afoul of it. And I can see how it is useful to have them in the undercroft rather than less pleasant creatures. Mostly, I confess to being leery of the deal for two reasons: one, I do not want to go around having sex with every pretty fae lady that desires me, since that is stunningly close to 'all of them', to my chagrin, and also because I do not want any daughters of mine to be... well, typical rusalka. I want them to be good people, and rusalka are not really that, as beautiful as they are." He sighed. "But the deal was made, so in the end I am duty bound to go through with it. They do have a right to have me, and I should not have shirked that duty."

He suddenly laughed. "Wow, I sound like a whiner. I am avoiding having sex with beautiful, desirable women and treating it like an unpleasant duty. I am sure that just about every man in this city would hate me right about now if they heard me."

"As far as I know, what they told you is correct. None of them have been pregnant, despite ample opportunity." Phanuel confirmed.

"What is wrong with being rusalka?" Rostimira pouted. But even her pout somehow managed to be smug. She began to try to join Mirjana in her entanglement with Phanuel. But when she got close enough to him, she made a face and changed her mind. The aasimar gave her a disapproving look, too, but by then she had already decided against her actions.

Watching the aasimar and rusalka interact, Caleldir though that probably that natural aura of good that made it unpleasant for the very evil to be around an aasimar. Which as Mirjana seemed not to be having any problems, meant that that particular Rusalka was probably not as evil as her sisters. Which bore out with his own observations. Not that she was good or even neutral, though.

"What is wrong with being rusalka, as a race, is nothing. It is just that you are an unpleasant, sadistic people. Part of that is biology, which you cannot help and do not begrudge you, but you also seem to revel in it." He sighed. But a smile played about his lips when he saw the realization on Phanuel's face that he would be a potent chick magnet now too. At least he did not give him fae blood.

"They were not my first choice in partners, either, Caleldir. In fact, they were the absolute last resort. I would have liked -" he began to say, but cut himself off. "Well. Suffice it to say that I understand why you feel the way you do. Not to mention how exhausting that sounds. Men who would hate you are fools who do not know what they are envious of." And now Phanuel was quite sure that he'd have the same problems with attracting every woman he met. It was a thought that he didn't much like.

"Now, then." Phanuel said as he lifted himself off of the chair. "I will see that these trespassers go back where they belong and leave you in peace. Come, girls."

Rostimira looked disappointed, and Katia relieved. Or at least she was relieved until Rostimira turned to give Caleldir some parting words. "I will not forget your promise. Tomorrow, you are mine." The she turned back to the aasimar. "Tonight, Phanuel...?" She let the suggestion hang in the air.

"No. Never again Rosti." Came his firm response. He spoke to them as if they were particularly precocious children, and he was tired of their games. "Katia... what happened to your hair?" Then the door was shut and any further conversation was muffled beyond understanding for both Caleldir and Selene.

Caleldir put an arm around Selene. "Well, that ruined that moment." He said wryly. Still, his biology had not minded all the promises of sex, and so he still had a potent erection. But he was not going to bring that up to Selene.

The drow turned to Caleldir and slipped back into his lap the way she had been before - straddling him so they could speak face-to face. The moment had indeed been ruined, but she still found the position nice. And, with a little time, a moment could be rekindled. They would just have to start from the beginning. Selene hadn't even dismissed her clothes yet. She did notice his continued arousal, but decided to ignore it for the moment.

"I do not want to go down there with you." She informed him softly. She also didn't like the idea of being away from him, for whatever reason. Selene didn't want to even try to understand it; the drow had a feeling that she wouldn't like the answer.

"I do not blame you. I do not think they want you down there anyway." He sighed. "If it just a matter of personal pleasure, do not worry for me down there at all. The rusalka are... overwhelming, but they are nice enough to me for my tastes. It is more the moral and spiritual aspects that cause me distress. Which I am sure you do not want to worry about, given that you do not share them. But I am sorry that I will be... away from you like that." Honestly, if theirs had been a normal relationship, it would have been the cheating that sunk his spirits the most, but he was not sure what Selene's thoughts were on him being with other women. She viewed things from perspective that was entirely alien to his own.

Selene sighed. "You're only fulfilling your side of the contract... Even if that whole situation is strange even by drow standards." She didn't sound entirely happy about it, but neither was she angry at him. Which was interesting, since she had definitely been angry about the other time he was forced to promise some time to a certain mad dryad. Selene decided to stop thinking so hard about that; she was confusing herself.

"Strange even by drow standards?" Caleldir inquired with amusement. "Then it is strange indeed. But my opinions on it do not matter that much."

"Yes. Even by drow standards. Generally, our males aren't also ghosts who are themselves, but not."

Caleldir smiled broadly. "I had not thought of it that way. I suppose everything becomes strange when evil alter egos are involved. I ask you, what do you think I should do about the rusalka? How should I deal with them? I mean, I cannot go against my word, but I did not make that bargain. Goelon did." He noted the unhappiness in her tone. He was not entirely sure what to make of her emotions. Jealousy, perhaps? That seemed like the rational emotion at the moment.

"Tell them tomorrow that it is your last time with them. If they don't listen to you, get Goelon to say it. And if he won't say it, well, he can just be the one who breeds with them..." A random thought occurred to her then. "Would that make their children different than if they caught from you? Does Goelon have your seed, or a evil ghost version of it?"

"Your suggestion is good, but when it comes to the final point: just having Goelon have sex with them, well, that is not really a solution to me. The reason is because his children would still be mine, just like his body is still mine. It is not the sex itself that I dislike, but the fact that I am giving them children, and the fact that I do not want to sleep around on you and Ashyr. And Althaia and R.I.S.A., I guess. I seemed to have picked up more long-term sexual partners than I ever intended to have. Including a 'relative' and an A.I. I helped design." Wow. This really was strange even by drow standards.

"Well, your strange morality doesn't change the fact that a deal was made, and you have to go back down there." A wry smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "I'm not sure I'll even know what to do with myself alone up here. Ashyr's probably not even going to be here in the morning, and even if I cared to spend time with Althaia, she's going to be too busy. The library deserves exploring, I suppose." She rested her arms on Caleldir's shoulder as she more or less thought out loud.

He returned her wry expression. "I suppose it does." He chuckled. "Find some rare human books and the entire day will be over before you know it." The smile faded. "I am still wondering about Ashyr, though. I almost think she is running from something. Perhaps a subconscious desire to get the wildness out of her system before we head down to the Underdark and give her a massive load of responsibility? Because once we take Duskhaven, she is going to be as busy as Althaia is now. Which is very busy, I am sure you have noticed."

"I do not know exactly why Ashyr is doing this." Selene said with thoughtful concern growing on her features. "She was about the last person any of us expected to be Matron. There were sisters ahead of her who were groomed for the position, and who didn't get themselves in trouble so often. Whereas Ashyr always seemed unable to stop herself from exploring new things and people no matter the consequences. I find myself hoping that this worsening of her... Free spiritedness... Is just her way of working it out of her system. But I really don't know.

"Sometimes I think..." Selene trailed off. She had started to say that Ashyr might not be a good Matron at all. Though it may have been a legitimate concern, Selene did not want to speak badly of her cousin. "No. I have seen her show responsibility. She can be wise, and she can certainly make people loyal to her. She will be... Different. And that's probably a good thing."

"I tend to think that things will work. I get the feeling that, when she needs to, Ashyr will come through and do what she needs to. And yes, she will definitely be different. Speaking of which..." Closing, his eyes, he concentrated on the Humanoid Polymorph ring. He shrunk down a few inches, and his color scheme inverted, white skin to black, black hair to white. He opened his red eyes and grinned. "This will be my appearance in the Underdark. Think I will fit in?"

A smile grew on her face. "No." Selene responded with a short laugh. "But at least they won't question you at first glance" Her hand reached out to touch his dark face, run a thumb against his lower lip, trace the line of his jaw. Her eyes met his, and though they were now as red as hers, through his eyes she could brush against his consciousness. Definitely still the Caleldir she... Something.

"You will need to be taught more proper behavior, as we mentioned before. And not act so damned good all the time." She didn't actually look annoyed at him for that. Her features had gone serious, though.

"Not act 'Good'?" He asked with slight confusion. "I mean, I can behave more humble and subservient, but less good? How do I even go about that? Do you mean that I should just not lecture people on morality? I think that I can do that. But what else would I have to do? Declare my thirst for the blood of surface elf infants? Or would that be a bit over the top?" He was joking of course, but not entirely.

Selene shrugged. "Just... Don't act like you care for people. Do what you can to protect a Duskhaven who hasn't recently betrayed and murdered a whole bunch of other Duskhavens. But beyond that, if someone sees that you care about anything other than your own personal gain, they will exploit it. You don't have to act evil." She shrugged. "Oh, and mercy isn't generally something we do either. But that doesn't mean we'll go so far as to destroy people who can still be useful to us. There's a balance to be had, I've discovered over the years."

"So... basically I just have to be rather apathetic towards non-Duskhavens, and be sure that my 'sympathetic' attitude towards Duskhavens is seen as being pragmatic rather than honor driven. I suppose I can do that. And if I do not kill someone, it is not out of mercy, it is out of a desire to make use of them later. So, basically I do everything I do now, but be colder about it." His expression went hard and withdrawn. "I can do that." He said in a flat, unemotive tone. "I will simply drop the 'good' part of my alignment and go for a hard-ass Lawful Neutral. I find that few societies tend to have problems with Lawful Neutral people (except rebellious ones) since those types usually care more about tradition and doing things the proper way than they do about shaking things up."

"Lawful Neutral should be sufficient to fit in. It will have to be, since I suppose that that's what I actually am now, too." At least she was willing to say it aloud without immediately becoming morose or grumpy. It was becoming easier to come to terms with her alignment sliding each day - that night especially, now that she had the chance to talk through it with someone she trusted. This would have alarmed the old Selene. Now, not so much. Which was the nature of alignment change, she supposed.

"Although, I doubt that most drow go around scanning for alignments." Caleldir pondered. "I mean, it is an unreliable spell anyway. Unless you are a very high level paladin, when used on mortals the magic tends to reflect current mindset more than true morality. And when used on more magical creatures, it scans essence rather than predictive behavior. So, unless we have some Antipaladin running around the Underdark smiting the non-evil both of us should be fine."

"No antipaladins that I know of." Selene said with a shake of her head. "Duskhaven is more diverse than most cities in the Underdark, since we actually trade with other regions in addition to keeping the deeper drow lands protected from the outside. I suppose you, darling, would call us progressive."

"I am not certain about calling Duskhaven 'progressive'."Caleldir frowned. "Progress is a rather subjective term. An improvement on other drow cities though, certainly. I can give Duskhaven credit for that." Caleldir was by nature a crusader, but he was a patient one. If Duskhaven was tolerable despite obvious problems, he would be content with slow change rather than rapid, for the most part.

"We don't have many people who could call themselves 'good,' but neutrality abounds as well as a higher concentration of non-slave, non-drow races than normal drow cities. Of course, the drow are still the rightful ruling class and are generally evil. Which is not to be confused with stupid and uncooperative, as I'm sure you've figured out." The Mage explained.