A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 91: Retaliate

The awestruck daughter of Dinoryn followed behind her suddenly very powerful not-so-mild-mannered pleasure slave. Very different was Goelon from Caleldir. Parts of the school breaking off into pieces gave her an odd mixture of pleasure and worry. She loved watching the fear flash through some of the people's eyes. She hated what would soon be her beloved school getting cracked and torn. She was relieved when, upon really looking at things, no real damage was done that could not be healed in a cycle or two. Strong and precise was her new agent of superficial destruction.

"Now, run in fear, puny little mortal mages! Scream in terror in the face of my unhallowed light!" At least the drow were not Good-aligned since the spell was also a Smite Good. Because of course it was. Goelon had found it deliciously ironic to smite good-aligned fools with light. Throwing everything into his light show, he floated out of the courtyard into the Underdark, lightning and frozen fire crackling around him, randomly ripping up pieces of school around him (nothing structural) and telekinetically tossing people into random, dangerous spots. Any mage who was an actual nuisance to him he just hit with Silence and Paralysis.

Jhul was mostly an observer, but she provided a couple of quick counter-spells to keep anyone from doing anything at all to stop their rampage and departure. Not that Goelon seemed to need even that much assistance. It was simply good to make it look like she was part of the destruction and intimidation rather than just tagging along. She still feared that her power paled in comparison to the male slave's, both in appearance and in actuality. Lolth. What had her mother purchased?

In the process of leaving, Goelon found Hael'yss, picking her up in a telekinetic fist.

"Hello, spider-daughter," he said cruelly. "How powerful do you feel right now? Say goodbye to your spiders." The creatures dropped from her, withered, mummified husks. The look on Hael'yss's face was quite something. Raw terror such as she had never known before coursed through her. "Do you think you are really all that special anymore? Think my 'mighty opinion' of myself unwarranted? I could pop you and your entire family like maggots in a golem's fist, animate your slaves as zombies to rape your corpses while binding your ghosts to their rotting immobility and send your very souls to Oblivion and Eternity, pass the reach of Aralolth's feeble power. What would matter the mysterious motivations of your House then, eh? Spider harlot?" He brought his supernaturally terrifying face close to her and breathed the essence of Death on her. "Killing you would be too good. I will instead bind nightmares to your Soul. You will curse that you must sleep: for you will do so in the tender mercies of the Outer Realms."

Jhul was fairly certain that the glorified spider farmer wet herself. And the moment of mourning despair when she realized that her pets were all dead... Jhul shuddered a little with delight. That was not the worst that horrible cunt would endure. Important House or not, Hael'yss needed to be made an example of. Other houses needed to feel that it was safe to send their sons here.

Pausing for a moment, Goelon sighed and put a potent spell of protection on Hael'yss: mostly on her womb, but also to prevent her from harming herself while under the effects of his torturous spells. Caleldir would be mad at him if he let his unborn children die due to suicide or miscarriage by stress, after all. The Ghost-King then carefully hurled the nearly catatonic drow into the shorn-off corner of the cavern wall where she could lie naked and helpless, tormented by terrifying illusions. After some fifteen minutes of raging around, he flew over the gardens. Taking in a huge unbreathing breath, he sucked in the lifeforce from every plant and pet there, then reanimated many of the animals into shambling, harmless but horrible undead. The place was a brilliantly lit desert with only rasping corpses dragging their way towards the ruined school.

"I'll be back," Jhul-une hissed as they finally flew out of the front entrance. The words echoed and crawled through the ears of the terrified drow within. Somewhere, there was a familiar scream of frustration. Oh, how her mother would be pissed. Pissed and worried.

As soon as Goelon left the premises, he fell unconscious. And turned back into Caleldir.

They had a bit to go before they could rendezvous with the Duskhavens. Jhul was slightly tempted to drag Caleldir into a little nook and wait for him to wake up enough that she could ravage him one more time. That power his other self had displayed had been downright erotic. But no. He'd had enough sex that decade. Century, even. So, instead, she buffed herself up and carried him until he was able to wake up and lead her the rest of the way to wherever the Duskhaven matron was staying.

After about an hour, Caleldir woke up to find himself being carried by the suddenly stronger Jhul'une. "So... Goelon did not do anything too terrible, I hope?" He said weakly. He levitated himself out of her arms and settled down onto the stone floor of the vast cavern. "My alter-ego can be quite cruel. Much crueler than me. Not that would be off-putting to a drow like yourself, I have found." He sighed. "At least Goelon tries not to do anything that would devastate me." He looked over at Jhul'une in the dark, trying to gauge her reaction to events.

"He was fascinating," Jhul commented in honest. His alter-ego was quite the impressive specimen. The only way he could have been more impressive was if he was actually born noble drow. Jhul'une was still having a bit of an issue coming to terms with that. "And quite restrained. I think I could repair all the damage that was done in a cycle. He did terrify Hael'yss. That might take additional effort to amend." That was said with a cruel grin, making it absolutely clear that Jhul was pleased by that turn of events.

"Ah. That is good to hear. So... to the headquarters of Duskhaven-in-Exile. Sornamal's Estate, I believe that that is. Or was. I have been... out of it. On the other hand, I can be scried now. They should be able to contact us shortly."

Looking at Jhul'une, he hesitated. On one hand, he was once more rather sick of sex. On the other hand, Jhul'une probably deserved at least a little... "Should we head straight there?" He asked her. "I mean, once you transfer my ownership, I will belong to the Duskhavens again. Do you want to... you know... one last time?" He himself was torn about the prospect, for a great many reasons. It was probably not a very good idea, but he had to make the offer.

Indeed, he was being scried. The moment that the Mind Blank spell on him was removed, Risa's frame vibrated. The biological AI grinned. "The Master Librarian has been freed." She said with great happiness. "It seems that he has persuaded the Dinoryn heir to remove the seals."

All the same, Risa did not make her move until Caleldir was out of the Dinoryn school. After all, she had been assured of the wisdom of not interfering. But, since he was on the move, that meant that the time to move was now. And so, she began streaking off across the Underdark at a phenomenal rate.

The escaped daughter of Dinoryn looked in the vague direction of Duskhaven, and the little estate on the cliff where she now knew the true matron to be staying. Not that she could see either place from where they stood. They would have to travel down the road for a while and turn a couple of wide corners before those landmarks were finally in view. A long way to go for a couple of exhausted people without a little pleasure to energize and motivate them. She turned a thoughtful gaze toward her pleasure slave. One last time would probably-

"Master Librarian!" Risa said enthusiastically. "I made a new body for myself! I have fully transitioned into a fellow organic being, and can exist outside my pocket dimension now!"

Jhul almost blasted her with a few spells, but the light of recognition in Caleldir's eye made her hesitate.

To Jhul'une, Risa appeared to be a lovely drow woman with dark grey skin, faintly glowing purple eyes and very long shimmering luminescent hair. She wore an unusually scanty outfit and bore a clerical staff. But she was clearly not merely her assumed appearance, even more so to a woman with eyes practiced for the arcane like Jhul'une's. She was a divinely potent manifestation of outright alien magics and eldritch arts.

Caleldir was stunned. "Risa? But... how..." He looked over her carefully. "You fused the AI core with an artificially grown body based on the original Risa subroutine's conjured flesh," he guessed. "The AI core fusion allows you to move outside of yourself. Elegant and clever. I am enormously impressed."

Risa licked her lips. "I do hope that you can show me exactly how impressed later," she said with all the innuendo of a succubus. "I am anxious to try a certain experiment to see if my programmed and conjured DNA is reproductively compatible with yours."

Looking a bit self-conscious, Caleldir glanced over at Jhul'une, then cleared his throat. "Risa now is not the time for that. I still belong to Jhul'une."

The AI blinked, then really turned to the drow. "Well then, I am at least partially at your service, my lady. If my creator belongs to you, then the part of me dedicated to following his commands must belong to you as well. I am Risa: Roving Intellectual Security Animation. The one you know as Caleldir helped build me. I serve him and his children."

Jhul looked at a loss for words.

The creature was his servant.

He helped make her

Lolth, her 'pleasure slave's' power was really being squandered holed up in her room and her office. Jhul swallowed, but then gathered her strength and courage to give this 'Risa' a classic regally suspicious Drow glare. As was the traditional mode of greeting a stranger in the Underdark.

"Yes. He does belong to me," she claimed. It was a claim she had been making for the past couple weeks, though now it seemed a bit strange to say. "You will have your work cut out for you in a couple of years, I imagine."

Caleldir blushed and Risa looked confused. She was unable to read people's minds outside of her pocket dimension after all (unless she used the normal spells), so she as of yet did not know about what had happened.

Jhul continued, ignoring the expressions. Everything would be revealed soon. "Take us to Lltkahril's Estate, then. I have-"

Again her thought was interrupted before she could complete it. Another person, this time what looked to be an actual drow, sped across the road about a meter in the air. This drow Jhul'une recognized when she came closer.

"Risa," said Selene Duskhaven in a slightly irritated voice. "You really should have waited for me. Or at least taken me with you."

"Selene!" Caleldir said with relief. "Am I glad to see you. A... lot has happened."

"Sorry, my lady," Risa said contritely. "I know that I should have waited, but I could not wait. I do not like being away from the Master Librarian, or not being able to scry him. I had to be here."

Really, Selene couldn't fault Risa for what she had done. When Risa indicated that Caleldir was finally free and unsealed, Selene herself had practically sprinted to her father and made him cast enough spells on her that she could fly far faster than she would have been able to accomplish on her own. It had been rather undignified. So beyond those brief words of complaint, Selene did not chide the A.I. further.

Selene turned her gaze toward Caleldir. Her expression was distant and could be interpreted to be uncaring. But her mind briefly reached out and touched Caleldir's, and all the warmth of her love could be felt for a moment. She broke that gaze quickly before it spilled over to her expression. They had an onlooker, after all. Selene didn't want Jhul'une Dinoryn to realize the depth of her affection for Caleldir.

The A.I. turned her vibrant purple eyes towards Jhul'une. "What do you mean, my work is cut out for me?"

Caleldir cleared his throat, then hesitated. Waiting for Jhul'une to speak, should she wish to do so. Or try to defer the topic.

"Just that; you will have a lot of people to protect and serve. I will explain all to your Matron, Selene, when we are back at your sire's estate," Jhul told them. She didn't want to retell those events more than once. The memories were painful and painfully embarrassing.

Selene looked toward Risa for a moment, then back to Jhul before replying. "Our matron is on a mission right now." And had been since before the party the cycle before, which was worrying. Downright terrifying was the fact that they could not scry her. It seemed that they could either have Caleldir or Ashyr. Not both. "But we will take you someplace safe and quiet. You both look quite harried. Then you may tell all, and we will recount what is necessary to the Matron when she returns."

"Alright." Jhul agreed.

"Risa? Time to go back home... This time, take all of us with you."

"So... Master Librarian..." Risa began. "How much do we want our current mistress to know?"

"You can let her know about the pocket dimension," Caleldir assured her.

Risa clapped her hands. "Good! This will make returning to the Lltkahril Estate that much easier. Since Ashyr is doing something she does not want me viewing, apparently, she left my figurine behind. I can port to it through my planar demesne." Opening a purple portal, she gave Jhul'une a cheeky expression. "After you, mistress."

Jhul chose to trust the strange roving whatsit and step through the portal that was made in front of her. Duskhaven needed her. She knew how the Academy worked. She was willing to cooperate with them. Even still, there was that pit of nervousness in her stomach from her century-long lesson of how no one could be trusted. Not even family. Especially not family.

Caleldir stepped through the portal. "So, what is Ashyr up to again?" he asked Selene as he entered the pocket dimension.

--

A good tracker Ashyr was, though her true talents were suited better to a forest these days than to the ugliest parts of her city. It just so happened that all the information came together on the day of the Dinoryn Century party, which Ashyr took to be a good sign. There would be fewer nobles out and about, fewer people to recognize her. So, before Selene left to the party, and before Ashyr descended the stairs into the city proper, the two of them helped each other with disguises that were both parts magical and mundane. Both of them ended up looking quite a bit plainer than they actually were. Because what drow would pay any real attention to a plain person?

The disguised Ashyr picked her way through the city, heading straight towards the slums where the current scum of the earth - the one who had stolen her mate - was reported to have hidden himself.

It was a particularly run-down, wretched corner of Duskhaven. To say it was the low-rent district would be something of an understatement. Every city had its little forgotten corners where the criminal element gathered and drow cities were no exception. Varas had decided that this would be the best place to hole up. Not because he could not afford better accommodations, but because this was the best place to lay a trap. And so, he had let slip rumors of his appearance, rumors that a tracker of Ashyr's skill could not help but notice.

So it was that she found the hatch of the suspiciously well-preserved corner of Duskhaven (suspicious to her eyes - another, less observant person might not see it.) With an arrogant little smirk, she lifted the hatch in just the right way so that it would not squeak. In almost complete silence, she dropped down into the little room. Her grin widened to become something positively murderous. She would confront Caleldir's kidnapper, find out where her beloved was, and make the enemy wish he was never born.

Instead of being against one wall, the bed was sitting in the very middle of the strangely large chamber. On that bed, a tall drow male sat in a meditating position, back to the hatch. The room was lightless, of course.

"Good of you to join me, Ashyr Duskhaven," Varas said in a soft, cheerful tone. "Your brothers have been looking for you." Moving in a jerky, unnatural fashion - pulled around like an unusually graceful marionette lifted about on invisible strings - he rose off of the bed, put his feet on the ground, and turned to face her. Sort of. His eyes remained firmly shut. A strangely serene smile remained on his handsome face.

The grin on Ashyr's face froze. It had occurred to Ashyr before that this was a good place to set a trap. She would hardly be drow if she didn't suspect such a thing. But now... well, this was definitely a trap if this guy knew her by name. This was a bit of a careless situation she had trapped herself in. But no matter. This guy was strange, but not beyond her ability to defeat.

"Is that who you are working for? My brothers?" she asked in a venomous voice. Mentally, she prepared herself to summon her swords and do battle with the strange drow(?) male. "Where is Caleldir?"

"You think that you can beat me," Varas said serenely. "I am afraid that you overestimate yourself. If the ancient ghost was powerless against me and if the artificial goddess could not track me, well, what chance do you have?" His smile grew a bit bigger for just a moment. "I work for many people, but your brothers most recently. Not very savoury types, but if I had standards, well, I would not be a very good mercenary, would I? Everyone has a price; mine is just listed out plain for all to see." He turned his back to her. "Your cousin Selene will find your prospective consort soon," Varas replied. "The Frehelvi sold him to House Dinoryn, who gave him as a gift to their heir. Selene is on her way there now, is she not?"

Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers. The trapdoor clicked shut and locked itself. "I tell you because this is, of course, a trap. Which you knew as you came down here. Love really does make you weak and stupid, it seems."

In this case, he was absolutely right. Love had made her kind of stupid. Well. She would have to be especially ferocious to make up for it. At least she now knew where Caleldir had gone. The frozen grin on Ashyr's face became a snarl of hatred. He could overcome Caleldir, he could hide from R.I.S.A. Mentally, he must have been strong. Physically... well, she would find out. Her hands flexed and her blades popped into them. From her readied crouch she leaped forward towards the male with his back turned. At that moment, her intent was not to kill but to subdue. A dead person couldn't really regret being born, could they?

As it turned out, a man who spent most of his time with his eyes closed did not actually need to be facing towards his enemy to see them. Varas nimbly flowed to the side, away from Ashyr's strike.

"You are supremely skilled, ranger. Your weapons, Yin and Yang, are the items of legend. I would claim them for myself if they were not soulbound to you. But your weapons make your movements easy to track. How can anyone with an eye for magic fail to see such power as it flashes through the air?" The mercenary did not strike against her, just dodged.

Ashyr rolled and turned back to face him, reassessing the situation. So... was that how he saw things? He could track their magical energies? He at least wanted her to think that that was the case. That was a bit of a problem because only the most mundane of humans were non-magical. Even if she dismissed Yin and Yang, he would be able to track her. But, if her powerful weapons made her that much easier to see... and if he didn't have blades of his own anyway... Ashyr dismissed her soulbound weapons and lunged for him again.