Drow's Dilemma Ep. 112: Concubines

"Well, we're hoping that, in the next couple of days, your duties can be paused. Remember a conversation we had long ago? About you being adopted into Duskhaven?" Ashyr asked.

Selene stepped in for her cousin with a more official air to her words. "That offer is still valid, and we hope that you would consent to becoming our adopted sister next week when we will also officiate Caleldir as the permanent Duskhaven Consort."

"I would still be greatly honored for that to happen, although I will be doing so in my real identity as Nymphen Paladin of Aelsuna and her Servants rather than in my old drow disguise. I do not have a last name, after all, and Althaia Duskhaven has a good ring to it." Althaia gave both drow women a tight embrace. "I greatly look forward to the ceremony. And to having Caleldir be Consort."

--

And so, time passed. Caleldir spent his time chasing down various women involved in The Event and setting up for Selene adopting Ylene as Familiar. With Risa and Dahlia's help, he ended up pouring a massive amount of magic into the Catgirl, giving her a staggering level of power.

There were quite a few preparations to be made during the week that they gave themselves. Ideally, things like this would be planned for at least a month. That was one benefit of being on the surface now, all disconnected from the more extravagant things that were often expected at the ceremony such as this, in a house such as Duskhaven; there weren't as many things they could do. But there were a couple. The large meeting hall was emptied of the huge table and instead filled with smaller tables for finger foods and drinks. A decorated platform was erected at the back of the room for the ceremony itself to take place. On that platform was a finely carved table with a soft mattress where Caleldir would lie for the duration of the ceremony and most of the party.

Then there was the entertainment to secure. Normally, there were sex slaves scattered around such places. The slaves, however, had all been freed by order of Eilistraea. Selene worried about this for a couple of days before Ashyr suggested just using the seduction. "They would probably like that sort of thing," she guessed, "even if they're forbidden from draining any one person too much." This seemed like a good second choice, and soon they secured around ten succubi to service the party-goers. After that, it was simple enough to hire extra cooks to help their goblin cook. There were even some former slave musicians that were happy to play for a good wage.

Near the beginning of the preparations, as soon as announcements were made to the public, Abanonda Blackdawn arrived with a flourish to request formally on the behalf of House Blackdawn that Caleldir Hissael Blackdawn be recognized as the honorary member of their House that he was adopted into of old, and that Blackdawn should be there to give him away on behalf of their long-deceased and greatly honored Matriarch Nirza Blackdawn. There was no good reason to deny them this right. Quite the opposite in fact: as their presence would help enormously. So the long-sundered House was invited to the proceedings.

Consequently, at the end of the week, a respectable party was organized. All the noble Houses were invited, along with several priestesses and other, more recent additions to the crater the refugees called their temporary home. The doors of Duskhaven Manor were opened to the invitees. It was familiar to all who had attended such ceremonies with Lolth as their goddess. The only exception was the dress code. Or lack thereof. Everyone was encouraged in the invitation to wear simple robes en route to Duskhaven and to remove them during their time at the ceremony and party. The high priestess insisted; Eilistraea was a fan of 'holy nudity.' (Servants were the only ones with clothes, and even those were minimal and strictly practical.) Quite a few found this strange, but the drow were used to public nudity and sex.

It was on the second day before the ceremony after Caleldir had finished with bonding Selene and Ylene, that the new consort-to-be approached Selene and Ashyr with a bit of concerned curiosity. "Err... I see that there is a mattress to be put on the platform where the ceremony takes place. What, exactly, does this ceremony entail?"

Selene looked up at Caleldir from her place at her desk. Ashyr blinked herself awake where she had been lazing about on the comfortable couch that was placed nearby. Althaia, for her part, kept reading, though her ears seemed to have perked up.

"Oh, yes. The mattress." Selene said as if she had anticipated the question.

"What was- the mattress," Ashyr began to ask what Caleldir had just said but caught on when Selene responded. "It's for the usual thing, of course. Besides sleeping," she said with a wicked grin. Ashyr knew very well that Cal wouldn't like this part.

"It is for your part in the Ceremony, Caleldir," Selene explained more helpfully. "Your part is not a complicated one. First, you are led down the hall by Abanonda Blackdawn. Then you will lie down upon the mattress - at this point, everyone on the stage will be nude, and ideally most people in attendance as well - and all you will have to do is to be sure to maintain your erection as several of us and the High Priestess couples with you."

Caleldir blinked. The part about having sex with 'several of them' was expected, though he was not a fan of the implications, but the bit about 'and the High Priestess' was unexpected. Very unexpected. He looked pained. "Umm... wait, what? I knew the High Priestess Hadlyn Oliriy would be officiating... but having sex with me? Umm... why?"

"That is part of the process," Selene explained patiently, ignoring Ashyr's snickers. "It is the right of the High Priestess to sample every Consort that is pledged to each house and it has become Very Rude if she doesn't take that opportunity. She will bring you to orgasm but will ward against your seed spilling into her. That seed is for the Matron of the ceremony, Ashyr, in the hopes that it will give her a better chance to catch from you. If she does during the ceremony, the resulting child is considered Blessed."

"Then any adult female in the house gets to have you, which I think is also a politeness thing?" Ashyr asked Selene, who nodded in agreement. "So Selene's proxy, Ylene, Riia, then Althaia, since it goes by age, right?" Another nod.

Caleldir looked rather baffled. "Now, do not get me wrong, Hadlyn is extremely attractive and has been nothing but kind to me since I started working with her, but perhaps we can not have that part of the ceremony? It seems several levels of wrong to have the officiator have sex with the Consort. I mean, I thought that the whole point was that, once I was Consort, I would be off-limits to Drow from other Houses? Though, really, I am not sold on the idea of me having sex with anyone in front of such a large gathering. Sounds completely indecent."

"I like the idea," Althaia interjected.

"It is part of the ceremony," Selene said firmly. "And, at that point, you will not yet be Consort. Technically, it will still perfectly legal for you to have sex with anyone. Anyway, the High Priestess is there to ensure that the Consort is suitable for the noble house. She needs to see that the Consort can keep himself erect and subsequently orgasm in high-pressure situations. That... has already been something that you have proven you can do, but... It's just How Things Are Done. We are already sacrificing traditions during this event. It would be dangerous to sacrifice more."

"Like the sex slaves. And the gift of slaves by the partygoers," Ashyr supplied. "Instead, there will be succubi and the Houses... well, they'll figure something out."

"And I think that it is a matter of, as Consort, you cannot have sex outside the House without the Matron's permission, if I understand the rules correctly," Althaia added in a slightly anxious tone, looking towards Ashyr, implications clear.

"Yes, I can let him have sex with other people if I say so," Ashyr agreed, stifling a naughty grin.

"Written permission is best," Selene added.

This all seemed to give Caleldir a twitch. "I need to give this matter some thought," He finally said with a sigh.

In the end, he did agree to the ceremony, although, with his agreement, noted that he was doing so 'under protest.'

The day just before the ceremony, Selene had organized things so completely that there was nothing left for Ashyr to do. Usually, that suited Ashyr just fine. As it was, however, she was actually starting to feel the pre-ceremony jitters. She huffed a long sigh for about the hundredth time that hour before looking up in the corner that she always addressed when trying to talk to Risa in her dimension while her physical body or manifestations weren't present.

"R.I.S.A? Where was that lodge you set up for those Dinoyrn drow? I think, as their Matron, I should probably... you know, check up on them? Get to know them a little?" It was an uncertain question. Ashyr never took initiative when it came to her Matronly duties.

[Technically, none of them are actually from House Dinoryn], R.I.S.A. said serenely. [That said, I am setting up a nice dormitory for them in the Underground of my favorite Mountain. Well away from the Succubi, of course. Right now there are... fifteen young women there.] R.I.S.A.'s voice was just a bit smug.

"Fifteen! That's more than I expected. How many of them... well, how many of them are eligible for adoption?"

[All fifteen, hopefully,] R.I.S.A. replied. [Once I have some words with Caleldir about the situation.]

"R.I.S.A, you know there are only so many that we can realistically handle. What I meant to ask is how many of them are pregnant." Pregnant before Ashyr even got to have one son or daughter from Caleldir. Jealousy spiked in her breast only momentarily. It was enough that Selene got the first honors. Normally, the fact that Caleldir would sire many children before Ashyr got her chance didn't even phase her but missing her son and the ceremony jitters were putting her in an odd mood.

R.I.S.A. was silent for a moment, then Risa appeared in front of Ashyr. She had an unusually apologetic look on her purple face. "I am sorry for the insensitivity," she said softly. "Eleven of them are pregnant. The others... seem to wish that they were, though." She gestured along the pathway. "Shall I take you to their cavern?"

"Getting access to Caleldir more permanently. I can sympathize." A thought occurred to Ashyr that made her grin. "If only he could be in more than one touchable form at once - like you, Risa. There are only so many women that one male can handle at once. Even a nymph. But having more than one of him..."

The thought distracted Ashyr enough that she had to shake away her arousal and try to remember what they had been talking about before. "Their cavern... Uh, yes. Take me to them, please. Among other things, I think meeting them will make me feel better."

"The best way to have more than one of him would be... hmm..." Risa considered the question as she began walking up the mountain trail in the direction of the Cabin they had used for their vacation. "It is not possible to clone a demigod, I am afraid. But we can definitely use magic to give him multiple bodies for some time. A few hours at a time, I think. And I am also working on less costly time dilation abilities. We could use that to give him more time to do... things. Anyway, it is not so much access to Caleldir that makes the not-pregnant drow upset about their situation: it is the promise of being able to join House Duskhaven. Most of the students of Dinoryn lost their Houses in the collapse. It seems that the minor noble houses suffered the greatest losses: the major noble houses had resources to keep themselves from dying wholesale, and the commoners heard the Call of Ellistraea much earlier."

As she talked, she took Ashyr up the path, diverting off it to a new road she had created that went to a cliffside where there was a big set of stately looking double doors in a sort of drowish design. Though while the seductive women remained, the spider motif was replaced with a moon motif. So, a classical Dark Elf design, really. "Ah! Here we are!" Risa said cheerfully. "Do you want me to announce you? Go with you? Introduce you? Or just let you fall into the thick of things on your own?"

Ashyr considered this for a moment. What would Selene do? She would probably have Risa announce her in the most official way possible. The ranger almost opened her mouth to tell Risa to do just that but stopped herself. Abyss, she was Matron - not Selene - and she would do things her own way. Ashyr shot a grin towards Risa, then strode boldly through the open doors.

Risa smiled and shook her head, and followed along after.

Beyond was a larger cavern that seemed to serve as an 'outdoor' garden. Strategically placed pathways wound their ways through colorful glowing fungi and tasteful statuary. The paths came together and broke off as they moved toward the outer wall of the cavern. They ended at rows of doors that clearly led to the living and sleeping spaces of the protected drow and their servants. High above hung many strands of creatures that shone like many glowing, motionless raindrops. Those and the fungus dimly lit the space and reminded Ashyr of happy, comfortable times in the gardens of her own childhood. She inhaled and was pleased to smell one more thing to make it complete: a fresh, damp humidity told her that there was a stream somewhere running through the space. Now that Ashyr listened, she could hear its merry trickling.

"Nice work, Risa," Ashyr whispered.

"Actually seeing the Underdark gave me a lot more ideas," Risa cheerfully replied.

There were a few young women sitting in the garden area, but they jumped up when they saw Risa and Ashyr enter. They were... not wearing any more clothing than Risa herself. And Risa never wore clothing if she could help it.

"Matron Ashyr?" one of the young women walked up to her, looking very nervous. "I... I am Zesinil. Formerly of House Alaun'xyr."

"Zesinil..." Ashyr said. The name sounded familiar. "Oh yes, you were one of the first few who came to Caleldir." The ranger looked the other drow up and down while trying to remember if she was one of the pregnant ones. No, Ashyr seemed to remember that she wasn't. "I think I am not adhering to the dress code." It was an easy enough fix; all she had to do was deactivate her sleeves - not as cool as her old ring, but serviceable enough when she was just walking around Risa's dimension and didn't have to worry about protecting herself. In the next moment, her scarred ranger's body was just as bare as the rest of the drow in the area.

"Ah, yes. The typical Ellistraean dress when at home," Risa said idly. "Abanonda told me that Ellistraeans do not wear clothing when at home. I was happy to tell the new inhabitants about this custom."

"Ah. I certainly won't complain if more people adopt this custom." She gave Zesinil an appreciative glance. "Anyway, I feel I should thank you, Zesinil. Your initiative has allowed us to gather some people my future Consort was very worried about. He feels much better knowing that at least some of his children from that... Event... are going to be around. And you know what everyone says about keeping their Consort happy, eh?" Ashyr said in an attempt at playfulness.

Zesinil smiled sheepishly. "Things are a bit changed since that day." She looked uncertain, as if she did not know what to say.

Another young woman came up, also looking a bit sheepish. "I... I am Faedia, once of Daliirn, Matron. I have three cousins and a sister here. We... we are in your care."

There was a lot of tension in the air. All of the young women present seemed fearful. As if they had been caught saying unpious things by a priestess. Or had been caught sexually harassing another woman's male possession.

Ashyr noticed the tension and shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, I came here to check up on everyone who's come so far," the uncertain Matron began. Oh, to have the natural diplomacy she had seen Althaia employ. "And to... uh, personally let you know that I do not hold grudges against anyone here. Fuck, I know how irresistible Caleldir is, especially when he's all helpless and aroused." She licked her lips. Yes. Situations like that had brought herself and her lovers hours of amusement.

Zesinil and Faedia looked at each other uncertainly. They were subtle, but their expressions still telegraphed that they were uncertain whether or not to believe her. Zesinil took a deep breath. "I had heard about you from my sister, Ereldra," she said with a smile. "When I was a little girl, I heard that you had a certain... reputation with the ladies?"

Ashyr's grin widened. "That I did. I've been a bit busy lately, but I could come over sometime and show you all the tricks I learned from Aly. You've heard of her, right? She was waaay worse than me. Or better, depending on how you look at it. She always called it 'the good type of torture,' and I've taken to doing so as well."

The ranger looked concerned for a moment. From their perspective, those words probably sounded ominous. Her expression turned sincere. "You won't find Drow cruelty while you are under my protection. Only Dark Elf hospitality. I can personally see to some of your pleasure and entertainment here when I get some time. It will be good for you to get to know me and the way I do things."

It seemed like the young women finally relaxed.

"So, all the stories were true?" Faedia asked, a lustful light hanging in her eyes. "I heard that you got up to some truly legendary mischief. To most of the young women, you were a heroine, a Bad Girl who did all the things we wished we could do if not for our parents. And you are truly... not angry about what we did to your Consort-to-be?"

Ashyr considered this for a moment. "I suppose I am a little angry. At a Matron and a little at a very cruel daughter of Maevalzynge. But one is dead or as good as dead and the other is being punished appropriately. I can not fault the rest of you for taking advantage of a situation that I, myself, might have as well."

"Well, it was very tempting. And you had to have been there! The Master Librarian aside, I had never been to such an amazing orgy before in my life!" Faedia said with some enthusiasm. "We all... we all have really mixed feelings about it."

"On one hand, we were all scared that you or Mistress Selene would try to take revenge," Zesinil said guiltily. "On the other hand, it was the best sexual experience of my life. Not just because of the Master Librarian, but also everyone else. It was wild."

"Also, possibly being able to join House Duskhaven because I got pregnant off of him?" Faedia said with a grin. "I... I cannot thank you enough. I lost my mother, most of my aunts, and all but two of my brothers in the collapse. It was mostly those of my family working with Dinoryn either as students or teachers that survived. And, of course, we have nothing now. Only my servants who were at the party stayed with us."

At the mention of 'pregnant', Zesinil set her lips together tightly. "So... what is the... policy on how we are supposed to act around the Esteemed Master Librarian now?"

Ashyr shifted uncomfortably. "Caleldir... is not as opposed to having sex with someone he's already had sex with. He may visit this place sometime in the future. I think it would be a pretty good time to drag him down here one of these days. But I can give no promises about that. There will have to be some restrictions. Anyone here will have the opportunity to join Duskhaven, but... well, I know it isn't all that fair, but the ones who are not pregnant will have to qualify based on her merits. Even if I can get him to come over here, his fertility will be inhibited. Selene is already pretty pissed; we don't want to give her an excuse to come down here."