A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 78: Sparring

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 78: Sparring

It was now the final night of regularly scheduled visitors. Selene's turn. In the back of her head, Althaia wondered if Selene was actually going to show. Ashyr had said that it was likely, at least, but she was aware that the prickly aristocratic drow was not all that fond of her. So, she would just have to wait. And start another book. This one on harbor design. Did every human ruler need to be expert in all these things? Probably not, but that seemed to be because most human rulers were lazy.

Dressed in a stately gown (why not, when clothing could be changed in a thought?), Selene made her way down the hallway and towards Althaia's room on the other side of the castle. Her expression was icy - annoyed, even - but Ashyr had managed to convince her to spend the night with Althaia. Bribery had turned out to be quite a useful thing. The regal drow stopped in front of Althaia's door and lifted a slender, elegant hand to gently rap her knuckles against the wood.

"I have come," said Selene in a soft voice that still managed to be firm.

The knock came just when Althaia was not listening for it. That was normally the case, it seemed. In hindsight, she should have realized that the footfalls in the corridor at very least did not belong to a human (too quiet). And the way that they had stopped just outside her door should have been a dead giveaway. But, by surprise she had been taken all the same.

"Please, come in!" Althaia said, leaping lightly to her feet and crossing the room to open the door. The nymph was dressed in the usual way of her after-hours: a simple white gown.

Selene had been polite enough to knock on the door, but she was not polite enough to give Althaia a greeting when she opened the door for her. The drow swept into the room with only a passing glance at the nymph and her white gown. "You had something to say to me?"

Althaia sighed. Yep. About as expected. "I did. How much did Ashyr tell you of the conversation that I had with her last night?"

"That she had an interesting conversation," Selene responded. Her crimson eyes studied the room, and she ever went so far as to look behind curtains and into closets. This was actually a pretty standard procedure for Selene when she first entered a room in which she would be staying for a while.

"So, no specifics then," Althaia nodded. "The first thing I wanted to talk to you about was a spell that I am working on. Divine magic, of course, but I would still like your opinion on it. Specifically, any holes in it."

Selene turned to observe Althaia, interest sparking in her eyes. Magic was magic, and interesting even if divine.

The nymph picked up another scroll from her desk and activated it. Like before, she shrank down and color-inverted, until she was a slightly tall, inordinately beautiful drow woman with solemn blue eyes. This was a more complete version of the spell, a full, permanent polymorph. Althaia would have to use another scroll to polymorph back to her former self.

"Well, how is my disguise?" she asked in Undercommon, speaking in the crispest, most courtly accent of that language. "I added a limited Omniglot effect to the spell, so as long as I am in this form I will be able to speak in this tongue to this level of skill. Not sure if the ability will bleed over once I polymorph back."

Selene waved her hand to cast a couple of spells that presumably enhanced her perception. Then she walked up to the nymph-turned-drow to touch the skin of her neck. "It seems acceptable. I take it this means you plan to spend some time in the Underdark in the future?"

Even if Selene's praise was far from effusive, it was at least genuine praise, and from Selene, that meant quite a lot. Althaia seemed quite pleased. "More than that, actually." She replied, still in Undercommon. "You see, nymphs are not a nation or civilization, and despite them referring to each other as 'sisters', they are not really family either, for the most part. Aelsuna has a long-term plan to change that, but I need your help to do that. And so, I ask that you allow me to join your House and that you and Ashyr allow me the name 'Althaia Duskhaven'."

The drow's eyes fluttered in confusion. "You... want to be our sister." She blinked a couple more times. This was just about the last thing Selene expected. "You will tarnish our name with your surface world ideals. What, then, would we gain by calling you sister?"

"Power," Althaia said simply. "And what drow ideal is superior to that? I offer you my own strength and ability, and those of my children. Since Caleldir is to be House Consort, I would have children by him. Probably not too different from what your own daughter will be, actually, given the sire. Some of my daughters, and hopefully sons, would be light nymphs, but I also wish to create a race of dark nymphs, using Caleldir's gene-forge learned skills. That new race would be birthed in House Duskhaven, and after a few generations, we would be invincible. Until then, we would remain silent and stealthy, not revealing our true power. I would also propose a fusion of drow and surfacer ideals: taking the strengths of both. From your world: Cunning. Ruthlessness. Ambition. Secrecy. From the world above: Loyalty. Trust. Unity. Mercy, where useful." She grinned somewhat savagely. In her current form, she looked like some avaricious drow matron plotting the annihilation of a rival. "As I said, what drow ideal is held in greater regard than a ruthlessly pragmatic pursuit of absolute power?"

Selene let out a slow breath and turned to find a seat on the couch. This was a lot to process. "I do not think you know what it is you ask. When we are not yet powerful, we cannot have a Paladin deciding to kill people - especially from other, strong houses - when she sees something that she thinks is wrong. There are quite a few standard procedures that you will not be able to stand by and watch. Wars we can't afford could be started. It is a recipe for disaster."

"I am not going to advertise my class, nor go around killing people," Althaia quickly assured Selene. "Nor will I pick fights. If I did join your House, I would only attack those that I was told to. Also, I am a quick learner. So, if you are willing to teach me How to Drow, I am willing to learn. I simply will not do evil, I will not seek to change it by brute force. My plan will take centuries or millennia to complete. I cannot jeopardize that by seeking to free all the slaves in the Underdark on day one."

"So you would sit and watch what you would consider atrocities? Can you do that for a 'greater good' that won't be accomplished in almost anyone's lifetime?" Selene asked as she leaned forward to stare intensely at Althaia. The drow was challenging her, but it was actually a good sign. She didn't say 'no' outright, after all. Selene was at least considering the proposal.

"I am immortal," Althaia said simply. "I can wait a long time. As for 'just watching atrocities', well, if I mostly hang out in Duskhaven itself, or even confine myself to the manor, I hopefully would not have that much to witness."

"That is true. If you do not go to parties thrown by other Houses, you will be spared most of the objectionable sights. You should stay away from anything but the streets, too... and some of the shops. Could you stand being cooped up there, after you have only just gotten free of the nymph pool?"

Althaia shrugged. "The Underdark is more than just drow." She said. "I can occupy myself in the wilds down there if I am bored. Lots of very deadly creatures to hunt I hear. Plus I am rather certain that there will be semi-regular trips back to Port Afron."

"That is what Ashyr did when she could not stand the city," Selene said with a nod. "Perhaps we will set up a portal system to go back and forth. We will need to do so if we want to hold both cities."

The nymph let out a long breath. "A portal system would be useful if we ever get the resources to do so. I think that R.I.S.A. was trying to figure out how to build one of those with her pocket dimension as the hub.

Selene's gaze became unfocused as her mind went towards the logistics of portal making. But she soon shook herself mentally and refocused on Althaia. "I think adoption is possible, legally. It is not often done; the drow are possessive of the House affiliations, and careful who they want to trust with their name. I will research the matter when I return home, and until then we have time to decide if this is what we really want."

"No need to make your decision now, of course," Althaia agreed. "Just by the time that you either reclaim Duskhaven or call me to help with the reclaiming of Duskhaven. Either way, I will make it a point to turn myself Drow whenever I am in the Underdark. In the meantime, if you know of any books on drow manners and society, I would appreciate the information."

"I know of one or two such books. It isn't the most written subject, but my sire's library must have something. If we do decide to adopt you, I will take the time to train you." A small, wry smile crossed her expression. "You'll probably be less trouble than Ashyr was when it comes to House relations."

"Mostly because my approach to House relations will likely be roughly the same as that of an attack dog on a leash: none unless I am being aimed at them," Althaia said wryly. "I am assuming that Smite Evil will be useful more often than it isn't when fighting other drow."

"Smite Evil will be a rare and valuable skill," Selene agreed. She paused as a thought came to her while she began to question herself on how she felt as Althaia Duskhaven. "Just how many offspring do you plan on having with Caleldir. A race of dark and light nymphs? You must be expected to..." She trailed off before she got too far. Selene wanted Althaia to respond before her imagination got too carried away.

"I will not be doing most of the mothering," Althaia replied. "I need other nymphs for that. But I do plan on having quite a lot of children myself over the next few thousand years. How many?" She shrugged. "Not so many that we start drawing unwanted attention."

"Not so many that we start drawing attention..." Selene repeated. "For the past five hundred years, Duskhaven has birthed about once every fifty years for each fertile female, and that's considered almost too many if we hadn't been so small to begin with. The other Houses will start to wonder if you still reproduce past your four hundredth year... but by then we'll likely be strong enough to do what we want. Within reason... But all this can be determined later, I suppose, if we do accept you into Duskhaven." Selene sighed and thoughtfully played with her skirts.

"Well, a lot of my children, perhaps more than half of them, would be of the surface variety." Althaia mused. "And the drow would not have to know about them. Since Light Althaia and Dark Althaia could be treated as different people. I will just have to be very, very careful when moving between the surface and the Underdark that I am not caught. And only one every fifty years? That seems really low..." She shrugged. "Then again, that is still six or so in the course of a woman's childbearing years. But you are right. These specifics can be adjusted over the centuries."

"When we do not mature until we're in our thirties, and the older children are expected to care for the younger, it makes sense to space our offspring out so far. I was not raised by my mother, of course, but by Ashyr and Tsabdrin. And they by their older sisters. That way, the mother is free to go into negotiations with -" Selene paused before she explained the whole cycle and the reasons behind it all, as she was on the verge of doing. All were things for the future. She didn't want to waste her breath in case adopting Althaia never came to pass.

"Having a lot of adult children does make that seem more reasonable." Althaia pondered. "Maturation in your thirties? I was fully adult in about a quarter of that time. Probably something Caleldir is going to have to adjust if I am going to be in the Underdark." She suddenly looked worried. "I hope that he can do that. I will have to ask him about that sort of thing tomorrow."

"Yes, it will be questionable if your children are adults at ten. Other drow children will barely have managed to speak undercommon fluently. If it can't be fixed, then I'm sure we can hide them away in R.I.S.A. For thirty years. Hmm." That didn't seem very good for the children's development.

"Or just leave them on the surface for a few decades." Althaia proposed. "Personally, I think that averaging in at human speeds of development is a good compromise between elven and orcish rates. Adults at 16-20, sent to the surface to learn from around 10 years old to about 40. But once again, I will have to ask Caleldir how possible that is. It may be worth wondering about that sort of thing for your own daughter since she might mature a bit faster than other drow. Not physically I think, but mentally seems likely."

"Yes, she is already growing at an alarming rate. I should not even be showing - even with all the magic I've had to throw around - and yet:" Her gown melted away, leaving her in a diaphanous sleeping gown. There was the slightest of bulges that wouldn't even be visible to someone who didn't intimately know Selene's body. She ran her hand over her abdomen and sighed. "I hope that I will not be too large too soon. I need to be able to help..." She trailed off yet again. Worrying about that would do her no good.

"That seems fast even by human standards," Althaia said in concern. "You may want to ask Caleldir to do a diagnosis on that. If he can without access to the geneforge." She smiled wryly. "I am going to need him to either rebuild or we need to recapture that thing."

Althaia took a deep breath. "Anyway, that is everything that I wanted to talk to you about. Was there anything that you perhaps wanted to ask or tell me?"

"I don't think I have anything to say to you..." Selene responded. Her mind was already too full with the proposition the nymph had made.

Althaia shifted her weight a bit awkwardly. "So... what would you like to do know? Look over the spell details of this polymorph? Take a hot bath and have a massage?"

"A warm bath and a massage sound nice, I must say," Selene said as if it was a painful fact for her to admit.

"Then I will draw the water for you." She gestured towards the bathroom and muttered some incantation. The sound of running water came from the next room. One of the first things she had had remodeled, actually. The one luxury she really could not do without. "I hope that you do not mind if I join you in the tub..."

"Who is going to massage me, if you do not?" Selene asked with an elegantly quirked eyebrow. She stood, and even the nightgown faded away from her form. Then she walked towards the bathroom to observe the magics involved with Althaia's running water.

There had been plumbing here before, but Althaia had massively improved it. Now the tub was set into the floor and large enough to admit four people comfortably, or more 'comfortably' if they did not mind sitting in each other's laps. It was a relatively simple affair, cold water piped in, with a spell on the faucet to heat it up, and another couple of spells on it to allow the whole thing to respond to magical commands rather than relying on machinery.

Althaia was naked as well now, and still very drow-looking. She smirked a bit at Selene, in a rather good imitation of Ashyr, actually. "So, should I turn myself back to myself, or stay like this?" She asked.

"We should probably ensure that all aspects of your drow body work," Selene responded in a perfectly businesslike fashion. She admired the workings of the tub as it filled, and when it was done she tested it with a toe. A quick spell altered the temperature to something more satisfactory to the pregnant drow before she slid into the water entirely.

That remark earned a giggle from Althaia. "I cannot argue with that logic." She replied in an equally serious tone, having managed to compose herself somewhat. She spun around gracefully, feeling the difference in balance and heft in this form. It was a permanent, full transformation, not a mere temporary spell after all, and so felt different from the more ordinary shifting she had done before. She slipped into the water next to Selene and stretched out like a cat, displaying her obsidian flesh rather nicely. She had pretty much the same proportions as before, just smaller overall.

Selene couldn't keep her eyes from admiring Althaia's form. The nymph had been only one detail short of perfection, by Selene's estimation. And that had been her light coloration. But now that she looked like the most perfectly formed drow that ever existed, and the actual drow couldn't help but start to get ideas for just what she wanted Althaia's new body to do.

Apparently, Althaia decided to enhance the effect a bit, so she dropped that veil over her blinding looks. It might have been the first time anyone who looked exactly like a drow had had that particular ability. Selene's mouth watered with the almost over-stimulating sight of drow Althaia without her veil of normalcy. Had she felt like spoiling her dignity, she would have pressed her body against that tantalizing nymph as quickly as possible. But her dignity was stronger than that.

"So where's that massage?" Selene asked. It was a nice excuse that kept her aloof pride intact when she really just wanted the Paladin's hands all over her.

"I am sorry, Selene," Althaia said in a sweet, almost servile tone. "I will get right to that." She slid herself behind Selene and began expertly kneading her back, rubbing the kinks out.

Seeming determined to drive Selene right out of her dignity, Althaia started by expertly - but professionally (no bad touching!) - massaging Selene's back and shoulders. And neck. And hips. She did not seem to acknowledge the moans that Selene was giving, keeping her caresses distressingly non-erotic, but only barely. Perhaps her fingers linger overlong here or stroked a little too gently there.

"So... just a massage, right?" the nymph asked innocently. It was very funny to watch Selene struggle against her own arousal like that. Althaia guessed at what her probable excuse would be. "I could cool the water down if it is too hot for you," she cooed into Selene's ear, each word thick with the promise to heat it up instead.

"Just a-" Selene began to say, but let out a long breath. This bath was too hot. Yeah. That was the reason why she felt warm and tingling all over. It wasn't because there was a teasing nymph caressing her in that gloriously wonderful fashion. She wasn't just fantasizing about a couple of those fingers knuckle-deep in her pussy.

Who was she kidding?

Selene shifted around to face Althaia, and her hands went directly for her breasts. Meanwhile, her mouth went to draw her tongue against the nymph's obsidian neck and ears, tasting her perfect flesh.

Althaia let out a satisfied sigh at this development. One of her hands finally went to Selene's womanhood, stroking her labial lips like a cat for a moment before she slid several fingers inside. Her other hand returned Selene's own gesture by going for her breasts.