A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 86: Frehelvi

When he tried to look where Ashyr and the children had been, he saw nothing but empty gardens.

Inside her dimension, Risa tapped the three children with sleep magic, causing them to fall snoozing on the bed. They were in one of the spare rooms, it seemed. "Even drow children do not have much in the way of spell resistance." She observed. Not that it mattered. In here, her caster level was thrice that of a mortal archmage. Some of her 'maid' avatars picked up the children and carried them away. "They will be well taken care of." Risa assured Ashyr. "Now, about this close-eyed man your kinsman was talking about. Do you know anything at all about him? I am drawing a blank."

---

Around the time Ashyr and Risa were violently looking for his prize, Varas was cheerfully striding through the caverns outside of Duskhaven city, headed for a minor depot owned by House Frehelvi. It was in a nearby smaller settlement where he knew certain women of that House to be currently doing business. It was one of their smaller places of business, but he preferred it that way. Less attention. That would make it harder for Ashyr Duskhaven to find Caleldir before the deed was done, and he was enslaved by a House too powerful to attack. Now, no doubt those Duskhaven boys would be under attack right now, and probably not pleased about that fact, but he had taken out one of the returning Matron's most important companions, and just about ruined her current base, so he felt he had done his contract's worth. When he got back, he would offer his services as a guard, promising that other such attacks could not take place while he was on guard.

For now, though, he was far enough outside Duskhaven that the annoying A.I. Caleldir had had with him would not immediately pick up on him pulling the unconscious man out of the bag. At least, he was reasonably certain of that. He did not actually have a way of truly knowing what the artificial demigoddess was capable of.

Some time later, Caleldir woke up, feeling oddly groggy. And like he was shackled. His eyes snapped open. The lightless caverns of the Underdark greeted him, as did chains on his wrists and ankles. He was also wearing a rather ragged drow nobleman's outfit that he had decidedly not conjured.

"Good to see you awake, a close-eyed man said to him, smiling oddly. Caleldir grimaced, before trying to conjure a lockpick. "That will not work," the man said. "I sealed your invisible tattoos and put some magic-sealing invisible tattoos of my own on you. No conjuring of clothing or weapons, spells, or other such crafty little tricks for you. I also sealed Goelon, so right now, if you die, you will be as dead as people of this world normally are. Which is pretty dead, considering that there is a mad artificial goddess that wants your soul, and will snatch it up and put you back in her toybox the moment you cease to breath, Caleldir Hissael, 'Master Librarian.'"

Caleldir blanched. "How... how do you know all that? Who even are you?"

The man kept smiling. "I am Varas the Mercenary. I know whatever I need to. I can do whatever I need to. And I need to sell 'Caleldir Blackdawn' as a slave to House Frehelvi. It is a disguise, of course, but with your looks and borrowed pedigree, you will be worth some substantial gold. I even managed to partly bring out that nymph aura you have, and seal it that way. I think that most females who look at you will be very desirous of you, Caleldir. I think I can get more money for you that way, as long as the effect is subtle. I think that you like that sort of attention, so you can thank me."

"I will not," Caleldir said in as dignified of a tone as he could manage. His mind was spinning with ideas on how to escape.

"You cannot escape a bag of holding," Varas said cheerfully. "I have a few bottles of air in there, so you can make yourself comfortable in the bag until we get to the Frehelvi depot. Now, everything you are planning on saying right now is tediously dull, so back in the bag you go! I only pulled you out to turn you into a normal drow. Well, a supernaturally pretty normal drow." With that, and before Caleldir could do anything, Varas pushed him back into the bag.

---

Miles of twisting passages later, Varas pulled Caleldir out again. Immediately, he gagged him. "We are almost there," the mercenary said cheerfully. "You can walk the rest of the way."

Caleldir was not fond of being gagged. He was not fond of being unable to talk. He was really, really, truly not fond of having all his powers sealed. Except his least convenient one. If he were a full nymph, he could blind people. But as things were, he could only attract them. And he did not want that. Somehow, he had to get away from this mad shapeshifting mercenary before he was sold into slavery. He really did not want to be a slave to a drow that was not a nice as Selene.

But they were already here. Or very close. Caleldir began struggling. "Futile, Lord 'Blackdawn'." Varas said cheerfully. "Those manacles are enchanted."

Taking a deep breath, the handsome drow man turned into a moderately attractive drow woman dressed in nondescript merchant-class clothing, opening her still-green and still too-large eyes for the first time. "I also needed to become Vlonrae, because it is easier to do some business as a female," she(?) said cheerfully. "Now come along." The woman, closing her eyes again, yanked Caleldir's chain, pulling him stumbling after her.

The Frehelvi outpost was stationed on the outer wall of a large-ish cavern. Slight dampness and the roaring sounds of a waterfall filled the air, emanating from the back of the space outside the outpost where water flowed through a shelved ruin long abandoned by whatever society built it. The outpost was little more than a dead end passage that was bricked over enough to make a sturdy door that no more than one or two people could walk through at a time. It served as a place for slave raiders and bounty hunters to drop off their newly acquired merchandise without having to bother with going all the way back to Duskhaven. It worked well for people who preferred not to be spied on. Well, no one in the Underdark liked to be spied on, but this particular place was for the excessively paranoid. They had a lot of guests.

It just so happened to be the day of inspection for that little outpost that Varas/Vlonrae chose. Which was the point. Three large reptilian mounts decorated with the colors of Frehelvi were tied outside. Directly inside, a tall drowish woman with a domineering attitude was talking to another drow who looked very similar, only slightly less domineering. A well-informed drow would know the one behind the counter as Sbatvyrae, younger sister to the Frehelvi matron - Felynvaniss - who was, of course, the other woman there. There were another couple of younger-looking male drow who couldn't have even been past their first century, but were at least old enough to be considered adults. The two of them lounged around the place looking very bored indeed. This conversation between sisters had likely lasted a very long time.

The place went silent when Vlonrae walked into the room with that beautiful male being pulled behind her. Felynvaniss' crimson eyes lit up at the sight of the two of them. Her younger sister's reaction was very similar, but Sbatvyrae seemed to be reacting to the Matron's delight, and not the arrival of the unexpected but completely welcome guest. In the next moment, she tried to mute her expression again. No need to make Vlonrae think that she could get away with charging them far more than necessary.

"Vlonrae, darling!" Felynvaniss exclaimed, less worried about being cheated in such a way. She wasn't looking at the mercenary, though, she was looking directly at Caleldir with an unmistakable hunger in her eyes. With quick step she strode over to Caleldir and took hold of his chin in order to look at his face more closely. "Please tell me you're selling us this lovely creature!"

Caleldir glared daggers at everyone with his vibrantly blue eyes, especially at the woman who took hold of his chin.

"I am indeed, my lady Felynvaniss," Vlonrae said in her usual tone. Well, usual combined with a saleswoman-like pitch. "I heard that you were looking for such a man. Meet Caleldir Blackdawn, the lost son of a drow noble house itself lost to history. I was surprised to find such a rare specimen so far from his isolated home. You remember the Blackdawns from history, right? Well-bred, intelligent, eccentric, lived far away and had strange customs. Cut off from the rest of the Underdark a while back. I think that they have some faerie blood in them, well, more than the usual, given this specimen's looks. You will have to take him strongly in hand, though. He is an exceptionally cunning, stubborn, and willful fellow. Hence the gag, else he would be making a lot of noise. But, well, just look at him! Have you ever seen such a lovely creature? If someone is willing to temper that fire, he could be incredibly valuable. Especially because of all the lost Blackdawn knowledge he has."

Vlonrae gave the Frehelvi a smile. "Well, shall we bargain?"

Greed lit up in the Matron of Frehelvi's eyes. Oh. Oh yes. Someone like him would be absolutely perfect for Dinoryn. And it was quite a pretty amount of coin that the other Matron offered for such a catch. And two weeks early, on top of it all. The eldest daughter of Dinoryn would have her century present well before her celebration, and would probably even have him trained to a point where she could show him off! As all this sped through her mind, she turned Caleldir's head to either side, then ran her hands down the front of his body. She even grasped firmly -- but not so much that it would be painful - at the fork of his legs to check his 'potential.' All seemed to be in order. Of course, later, she planned on making absolutely certain. But, for now: Price.

"I will give you five percent more than your usual fee for bringing me such a perfect subject, and in such haste." She had only just received the order for someone like that male recently. The next thing on her list after this inspection would have been to try to contact Vlonrae. This was why Frehelvi worked with the strange woman, and why Felynvaniss was so willing to pay the extra coin. She very much wanted to keep Vlonrae around.

Besides, she was sure that all the coin she was going to get out of Dinoryn would make it well worth a measly five percent.

Sbatvyrae, still standing behind the counter, clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the Matron offering extra money unnecessarily. Then others would expect the same! But there was a reason why Felynvaniss was Matron, and why Sbatvyrae never attempted to usurp her. Yet. So the younger female held her tongue and contented herself by drumming her fingers on the stone counter. She had to admit, though, that Caleldir was awfully pretty.

Internally, Varas grinned. Of course, externally Vlonrae was keeping that same not-quite-smug closed-eye smile. Normally, a 5% increase would have been negligible, but given how much the mercenary charged for things, and the fact that he had been aware of exactly how much Frehelvi was going to pay for a specimen like Caleldir, the bonus was quite decent. "Then we have a bargain. But I do have one final warning: Caleldir here had some significant skill in the arcane arts, far more so than you would think possible, and I had to put some seals on him to keep him from spellcasting his way out of capture. So be careful with what magic you use on him: do things wrong and you might unseal his spells, and you know how hard it is to keep a sorcerer, especially one who has mastered silenced and stilled spells, as a slave or a prisoner. He is powerless now, and I am confident that my seals will hold, but the Dinoryn will want to know about that, I assume.

"And with that, I will hand him over to you. You will want to take him in hand before I release him." After making sure that the Frehelvi had Caleldir in hand, Vlonrae snapped her fingers, resulting in the manacles falling off. "I take my leave then. Send the money to the usual place. Always good doing business with you." And with that, Vlonrae/Varas strode out, confident as usual that she would be paid exactly what he was owed. Nobody ever tried to cheat him/her, not even in the Underdark. Because no drow was stupid enough to try.

Throughout the negotiations and inspections, Caleldir kept up his defiant glare. It was not really an intentional expression, since, if he had thought about it, Caleldir would have been quite aware that such defiance would earn him nothing but trouble. It was more because he was too annoyed by the situation to really affect any other attitude. That, and he was still plotting his escape. The problem was that he was shorn of all his weapons and spells right now. He had also lost his get-out-of-problems-free card.

"Sbatvyrae, get him a collar," the Matron ordered. Felynvaniss was quite pleased that the bargain didn't take too long. She really wanted to take this son of Blackdawn back to a cell and 'sample the goods.' Quality control was very important, after all.

Her younger sister did as she was asked, of course. She strode over with quick step, strangely finding herself more and more attracted to the male as she actually got a good look at him. By the time she snapped the collar around his neck, Sbatvyrae was just as eager as her Matron to get Caleldir in the back room. She hoped that her sister would allow it. Actually, she almost certainly would. It was so much easier taking an unwilling male if there were two women there.

The younger female locked the collar with a quick spell. "Now you can't run," she said in a mocking whisper in his ear. "Until we sell you, you will be bound to this place. The further away you get, the more pain you will be in." It was quite the nice bit of magic that they bought from Dinoryn. Expensive, but useful for valuable slaves such as Caleldir.

But Sbatvyrae still grabbed the slave just before he could run. It was usually amusing to see the slaves run for the first time. Especially when they got just outside the range of the collar and began writhing on the floor. The slaves screamed. The Frehelvi laughed. Good times were had (by those not in collars.) But, at the moment, both drow women were too impatient to go through all that.

"Boys. Watch the front," the Matron ordered. Then the two women dragged Caleldir into a back room and into the first cell they came across. It was cut directly into the stone wall, and its only furniture was a hard, yet decently clean mattress. Caleldir was lucky. Some of the other cells were far less fine than this one. Or perhaps he wasn't lucky; it was plain just what kind of slave he would be. He was there for pleasure and pleasure alone, whether he liked it or not.

Because it amused them, the women tossed him roughly into the cell, entered it themselves, and shut the door behind them. It, too, locked with a bit of magic that only they could manage. Frehelvi trade secret. They stood there with cruel grins on each of their faces, watching to see what he would do.

Now that he was free to talk, part of Caledir wanted to go ahead and casually say 'I am a fake, you know,' then spill the fact that he was not a Blackdawn at all, but instead the child of a leShay and an Archfey, but he could not think of a single way that could go well for him. So, he decided to stay in disguise. Not that he had much of a choice anyway. So, here he was, limbs and tongue free, in a cell with a nice bed and two overly amorous slavers.

Caleldir sighed, and sat down on the bed, crossing his arms.

"Are you sure you would not rather each have me to yourself?" he said sweetly. "I mean, surely it would be better to enjoy me solo, right?" He did not expect them to take the bait.

The matron looked almost offended, while her little sister simply laughed at the absurdity. As if he'd be able to overpower one of them any better than he'd be able to overpower two of them. They were slavers. The women were used to going out and overpowering people, even if they were nobles. And they had all their magic at their disposal, while Caleldir was reduced to nothing. On top of all that, the Frehelvi were well known for their clear enjoyment of ganging up on their prey on the battlefield and in the bedroom.

"Look, sister mine," the younger drow said with voice dripping condescension. "He thinks he can outsmart us."

"I think we'll prove him wrong," Felynvaniss said as she began to stalk toward him. "I'm sure he won't feel so confident when we tear those clothes off."

"I do believe you're right," Sbatvyrae agreed with a wide, cruel grin. "Shall we do it the hard way, or the easy way?"

"We'll let him decide," the Matron said as she drew ever-nearer towards their new slave.

Caleldir laughed humorlessly. "If all my normal tools were at my disposal, I could effortlessly get out of here. But I do not have all that much to work with right now. Just doing what I can. I am a Lord, not a slave. Do not want to be a slave. I think you can understand that desire at least."

"Too bad, little 'Lord,'" Felynvaniss mocked. "Lords become slaves as soon as their Houses cannot protect them. You should know this."

Then she lunged and tried to grip at the clothing covering his upper body. She didn't do so as fast as she could, however. The older drow wanted to see if he would try to dodge out of the way.

True to form, Caleldir leaped nimbly out of the way. He would feel marginally less guilty about this if at least he made an attempt at resistance. It would be idiotically foolish to try to outright attack and subdue them, but the two of them clearly liked playing cat-and-mouse with him, so might as well provide some entertainment.

"Yeah, I know I am just delaying the inevitable," he groused as he rapidly dodged again. "But if I just crumple on the first attempt at subduing me I would shame my House. Do not hold my initial recalcitrance too much against me."

Obviously, Caleldir knew that he could not keep this up. But he was being honest in his analysis: he felt that giving in easily was a shame. And he was getting quite fed up with this sort of thing always happening to him. Enough to really pull out the rather foolish amount of snark.

And then the game began. The two women purposefully let him slip from their grasp time and time again. But each time, he paid for it in at least a shred of his garments being separated from him.

"If I did not know better, I would think that this 'game' amuses you," Caleldir said in a deeply sardonic tone. A bit surly as well

The drow could only amuse themselves this way for so long, however. Eventually, about the time that Caleldir was left in not much more than a loincloth, the Matron looked to her sister with an implied order in her eye. The sister caught on immediately. That was when they began to try to capture him in ernest.

He continued to try to get away, but it was only a matter of time before Sbatvyrae grabbed him from behind and held him tight against her body. The other drow stalked up to face him, her crimson eyes drinking in the sight of his exposed body. A hand pressed against his chest to feel his lean muscles. As she leaned forward to bring her lips to his ear, her hand traveled downward over his abdomen and to his dick, where she began to squeeze and fondle him over his clothing. "Perhaps we should keep him to ourselves. Teach him how a slave should really act. How long do you think it would take us to break him?"

Sbatvyrae chuckled darkly. "A week at most, I'd say," her tongue drew a line on the outer edge of his other ear. Her teeth followed, biting down just enough to be slightly uncomfortable..