Drow's Dilemma Ep. 122: Again

To that end, the drow mage edged closer toward a shelf confirmed to be full of wine and/or beer and not in Tokkler's direct line of sight. Then, with as much power and concentration as she could muster, lifted as many as she could. With a sweep of her hand, she sent the bottles flying around the large man in as complex a pattern as she could manage. Sweat dripped off her brow with the effort of it.

And the fighters continued on. As soon as Ashyr caught up with what her cousin was doing, she became a bit more careful to avoid any floating bottles coming between herself and the Brewmaster. There was no telling how angry he would get if one of them accidentally smashed one of those bottles.

Ylene simply hid with the largest bottle she could easily carry, just in case the rest of the bottles ended smashed all over the floor.

Whether or not the mad monk realized the plan was not quite as important as what he did with that knowledge or lack of it. The way that he was acting, Tokkler probably did not realize much of anything. He seemed to be operating on some curse-born instinct towards violence and destruction. There was one exception to his violence: his brews, his vintages, his treasures. Once he realized that they were stealing his drinks, the Brewmaster began to break down. He seemed desperate and angry while trying to put everything back into position.

The distraction was what they needed. At last, they forced the drink into his mouth. An ear-spiriting scream ripped out of the monastery itself and energy rippled around them. Brother Tokkler began to shrink in size and monstrosity, soon collapsing onto the floor as a five-foot-seven, slightly portly, extremely muscled bald middle-aged human man. He looked unconscious, and utterly ordinary except for his strongman physique. He seemed to be breathing normally.

[You evil monsters!] The monastery wailed. [You took him from me! I have lost him! No! You... you cannot have him! He is mine!] The stones rose from the ground in the shape of a hand and pulled Brother Tokkler down and into itself.

The party stumbled backward. The room shuddered and fell silent. The silence not of a whispering haunted monastery, but the mundane silence of an old cellar. They stood and panted in the quiet, catching their breath after that rather stressful battle.

"And that was probably the easiest one!" Ashyr declared with cheerful panting. She looked over to where the brewmaster had been. "I hope the monastery can't... er, re-curse him or something. Do you ladies think we have to rescue him from somewhere?"

Selene leaned against a nearby wall and rubbed from her temples the slight headache she developed after having concentrated so hard on her psionics. "If he is trapped, he will be freed when the rest of the place is. I assume," the mage said. Really, she didn't care what happened to him as long as they were able to free Caleldir and return him to their side. Her grumpy expression softened to a smile when Ylene brought her the bottle the catgirl had ferreted away. A small glass of the expertly fortified port wine was soon in Selene's hands and doing wonders to relieve her discomfort.

"I do not think that the monastery can re-curse," Althaia said thoughtfully. "Or at least not quickly. This area seems purified, after all. I think that each of the major inhabitants has an area associated with them that is purified when they are. If this cellar seems cursed again, then we are too late. But I think that it would take a long time..."

"As this seems like the only place to catch our breath for a while, I will meditate some of my strength back," Hadlyn said in a half-statement, half-question.

"It will probably be okay for a few minutes?" Ashyr replied uncertainly as she sat down on the stone floor. She would be thankful for a breather as well. "If something doesn't happen before, we will move on in a half-hour."

Althaia did agree to sit around, though impatiently. A half-an-hour could not hurt, at least, and would help them prepare. The short time rejuvenated Hadlyn well enough, and Ashyr and Selene were happy to rest away the various aches they had gotten from the battle. There was the added bonus of the simple non-cursed quiet that helped ease their minds for a while. All told, they were happy they had taken the time.

"Our next destination is the treasury, where 'Caleldra' is normally found," Althaia stated. "We should be fine most of the way since the cellars are cleared."

Travel to the treasury was indeed very quiet. The monastery was massive and had kept its growth and some of its weirdness, but the building now seemed apathetic more than malevolent. Or banished. That was fine for a while, but it began to make Selene a bit agitated.

"It is too quiet again," The mage said irritably. "You don't suppose..." She then shut her mouth, not wanting to make something true by her words alone. There was no way she was going to invite the pattern of a 'mini-boss' (Ylene's term that she got from one of her adventure books somewhere) right before the major fight, as what happened with the creepy acid tentacle child and Brother Tokkler.

Ashyr gave her cousin a confused look but wisely did not press the issue. Instead, she and the party moved forward with cautious haste towards the treasure room. "This is going to be your realm, Abanonda. So you should call the shots. Selene filled you in on her fighting style, I believe."

"I told her the whole story," Selene agreed shortly. "But I do want to make it clear that we need to keep her from stealing Ashyr. She is the one pregnant with Caleldir's child this time."

They spoke in almost inaudible whispers well before they reached the treasure room, and Selene kept up a small bubble of psychic dampening. They didn't want the psionic they were approaching to hear their conversation.

"I had not thought of that..." Althaia mused. "But you are right. Caleldra may very well be inclined to grab Ashyr."

Abanonda clenched her fist a little. "Well, if she does try something, I will be ready. I will keep her from grabbing you, Ashyr." She grinned, though it was not a very happy grin. "I am the only one here who has not slept with Caleldir, so I suppose I am at the least risk."

"The plan is for you to seduce her, though," Althaia interjected. "So, if she were to kidnap you..."

[Nirza?] The psion's voice echoed through their minds. [You... you came for me!] Abanonda stepped back, looking uncertain. [No... not Nirza...] Caleldra, no, Faraia's mental voice was deeply disappointed. [Nirza is dead. She died centuries ago. She... failed. And I failed. And she failed to rescue me. You thought I was dead, didn't you, Nirza?]

Abanonda seemed confused, opening and shutting her mouth a few times. Then, a look of recognition came over her face. Then she said something under her breath: "Of course! Use me as you will."

Immediately, the woman's posture changed drastically. From the posture of the warrior, she flowed to the mannerisms of a mage. When she spoke, her tone was lighter and more lilting. "I did think you dead, Faraia," Abanonda's body said gently. "I mourned you for centuries. I only realized you were still alive when I myself died and you were not there."

The rest of the drow in the party watched what they could see of what transpired with thoughtful expressions. If experience told them anything, Abanonda was trying to bluff Caleldra into believing that she was possessed by her ancestor. But... Selene knew very well that that madwoman could delve into minds and pull thoughts out of them with minimal effort. The mage gave the rest of the party a meaningful look.

Ashyr blinked and looked back at the Blackdawn drow. Then she understood. That was why, for the curse to be broken, they needed to bring along a female descendant of Nirza! For possession purposes. Weird.

Once the situation was (mostly) understood by the rest of the party, they remained silent. None of them could think of anything to say that wouldn't hurt the situation, let alone help it. It was a bit of an awkward thing, really, and something that they hoped would resolve itself with no interference from them. Still, they gripped their weapons and readied themselves for whatever (likely) bizarre thing was in store for them.

The first bizarre thing to happen was relatively mundane. Faraia, still appearing as the more feminine version of Caleldir called Caleldra, suddenly manifested in front of the group, floating in the air with ragged dress and long hair flowing around her as if she was underwater. [I see you brought a weird crew of underdressed people with you, Nirza,] Faraia said dryly. [And I thought that you were only naked at home?]

It was then that the idea that Abanonda was merely faking (well enough to fool an ultra-powerful psion, at that) took a huge blow. The woman in Abanonda's body looked down at herself and seemed surprised that she was naked. "I... Hmm... I think that my descendent here is some sort of martial artist who refines her body into the only weapon she needs. Eh... well, I do not really need clothes. But I do need protection." Nirza then rattled off a stunning series of extremely powerful protection spells. It was clear that her skills and power were easily archmage level. "There! That is better."

Faraia smiled and spoke for all to hear, "Heh. Remember when we invited the Master Librarian to your home, where you planned on seducing him by getting us all naked, but things kept 'coming up'?"

Nirza sighed. She seemed a bit wistful, though not necessarily regretful. "I do remember that. The entire country collapsed before we succeeded in seducing him. He was always so very professional, despite his habit of telling outrageous stories. In the end, it was girlish love. After I inherited the position as Matriarch, I had to move on."

"So that is why you gave up," She said softly, looking slightly sad and deflated. "I suppose I always knew that you could not help me do the impossible forever, that you had responsibilities. I suppose that you married, in the end? Or did you just take a consort? Either way, I see you have a descendant who looks quite attractive." Faraia ran her hand over Abanonda's body, squeezing her breast just a little.

The old Matriarch in Abanonda's body gasped a bit and stepped back. "I did have quite a lot of sons and daughters with my consort. I suppose I never formally married him, but after I declared him House Consort I took no other male lovers. All my children were by him. He was a fine man, though not quite as... well, he was not equal to the Master. Or at least not equal to the most likely idealized version of the Master that I had in my head by that point." Nirza cast another spell, and a mirror appeared in front of her. She looked up and down Abanonda's body, looking very appreciative. "Well, it looked like my plan went off perfectly. My bloodline's perfect mesh of both drow and faerie has produced offspring with even more potential than I had. Still wished that I could have gotten Caleldir as House Consort, but having my actual consort breed with a large number of fae and cambions and carefully manipulating gene-lines for a few generations seems to have paid off."

Nirza looked towards the others in the group. "So... I take it you are my great-grand daughter's traveling companions? Care to tell me what is going on? I have been dead for seven hundred years and Faraia here is scatter-brained. Mind all in pieces."

"Sad, but true," Faraia said ruefully. The eldritch light in her eyes had died down mightily, but she still looked a bit crazed. "It is only Nirza's presence here that is keeping me as my true self. But my original personality has only very, very foggy memories of anything that happened after I was tortured by Goelon."

Selene, Ashyr, and Hadlyn grew more and more certain of the current situation as the two ancient women interacted. Everyone seemed more comfortable now that they were armed with that knowledge; ignorance could be deadly in situations such as these. Selene, the Duskhaven with the most knowledge of what had been happening in the world as a whole, stepped up to explain the events that Nirza missed.

"When the curse happened, most of the Underdark didn't know what was going on. What we did know was that corrupted and cursed creatures gained in strength and tried to invade our lands. My Grandmother, Ashnathyr 'Duskhaven' ni'Everhviir - you might be familiar with the now-defunct warrior House - rallied troops from many Houses and other sources despite her station as mere youngest daughter and permanently fought back the curse. She was given a title, a house, and enough platinum to take over what used to be a simple waystation and turn it into Duskhaven City," Selene explained with extreme pride. "That has been the only major change to the Drow Underdark."

"I think she may mean what's been going on more recently in this area, dearest," Ashyr said with some amusement at her cousin's pride.

"Yes, yes, I'm getting to that," Selene said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Well, I am interested in what happened to the Underdark since the split," Nirza said cheerfully. "Though, unless a lot changed, I am afraid that my family will be much less liked now than they were back during my youth. My eugenic quest would have been considered just as heretical as our Ellistraean belief system." Then, she ran her hands along Abanonda's body with pride, showing her great-granddaughter off. "But the results were superlative. Much more successful than what the Lolthians were attempting."

"I admit that you might be right about that," Selene responded bitterly. "Anyway, the curse finally overtook the rest of Deusterra - including Naliira's city, though they held off for centuries and have consequently changed drastically - where it had been isolated by my grandmother's efforts, among other things." Then Selene launched into how Caleldir broke free from The Shifting Halls of Eternity and met with Ashyr and then herself. After, Selene touched on their first visit to the Monastery. From there, she gave the bare details of the conflict with the males of Duskhaven and the troubles in Port Afron, and barely any detail at all when it came to other conflicts that had not directly related to the curse. She went into more detail when it came to the destruction of Duskhaven and the subsequent decision to settle Deusterra since they planned on purifying it anyway and no one else was using it. Selene wrapped it up with listing the areas they successfully conquered, including their success with Brother Tokkler the Brewmaster. She refrained from sharing more than that, however, not sure how much should be said in front of Faraia... not that the fetch wouldn't be able to rip it from her mind if she had the urge.

"All very fascinating," Faraia said petulantly. "But if you purified the stinky old brewmaster, then that means you are going to purify me next. Since I am next in the order. What... what do you need to do to me?"

"Well," Nirza mused. "It seemed that to purify Tokkler, they had to poetically reconnect him with his former life by making him drink his own brews, so probably you will have to be made to do something to poetically connect you with your former life."

Faraia looked thoughtful, then her eyes flashed to undead blue and she shifted back to Caleldra. [Then what we need to do is to rape and kill the Ghost King, then finally fulfill my alter-ego's lust for the Mater Librarian once he is restored.]

"Maybe," Nirza sighed. She pulled a garment from thin air and dressed herself.

"That is... pretty much what needs to be done, actually," Ashyr admitted. Ashyr - and the other party members - looked a little bit confused that their 'conflict' with the mad fetch had gone as well as it did. No fighting was necessary when they had a Nirza-possessed Abanonda on their side.

[Oh? Even the rape and murder? Just like he did to me all those hundreds of times?] Caleldra said with glee.

Nirza looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Err... I... Um... Maybe we can tone that down a bit?"

"Technically, Caleldra does need to have sex with Goelon, which he will not want, and that will end that evil personality, so sort of killing him," Althaia said. "So... Caleldra is mostly right. But it does not need to be quite that... over-the-top."

That caused Nirza to relax a bit. "Well, even though I really hate Goelon, I am still fond of Caleldir, so I would hate to do anything too extreme." She seemed a bit fascinated by the resemblance between Caleldra and Caleldir and kept staring at her.

Ylene, predictably, had been quiet pretty much the whole time. But even Hadlyn was moved to silence. They stared at 'Caleldra' with a bit of confusion; they had been told that she looked like Caleldir... but she could have been his identical twin. Which was weird. They had to admit, though, he looked just as good as a woman as he did as a man. The Duskhaven drow were a little more used to Caleldra. A little. She still made them slightly uncomfortable. Though they kept it from their expression, Faraia would likely be able to sense their discomfort.

"As much as I would like to go straight to Caleldir, we first need to drop by the Clockmaster. There seemed to be a particular order to things that needs to be followed. Since you already guessed the theme, I will say that, in order to defeat him, we need to fix his machines. You two were Caleldir's apprentices; I believe you have some rudimentary knowledge relating to those machines?" Selene asked, nodding to Abanonda and Faraia. "If that is the case, it will be up to you while the rest of us distract him."

"Yes, both of us can fix the old Clockmaster's machines. It may take a bit, though. The old fellow made some very intricate devices," Nirza confirmed.

Maybe because everyone was distracted and talking, but as they moved towards the Artificer's Demesne, they stumbled right into a trap. The walls slammed shut, trapped them in a relatively small room, sprouted spikes, and began closing in around them.

There was an indignant screech that probably came from Ylene and definitely not Selene. Ashyr swore at the walls closing in on her. She would have tried to use her strength to keep the walls from moving... but there were those spikes. The ranger grit her teeth and activated the rune that Caleldir's father had given her all those months before... not that it helped her in the majority of situations that she found herself trapped in. There always seemed to be someone who could block that rune.

While Althaia seemed a bit worried, neither Caleldra nor Nirza was in the least. Caleldra shrugged and winked out.

"I'll see if I can deactivate this from the outside!" Ashyr explained to the party before she attempted to move between the spikes and through the part of the wall that she guessed was formerly the hallway.

Nirza turned to Ashyr. "I do not think that you can squeeze through there." She said calmly. She waved her hand, and Ashyr felt herself going incorporeal. "There, go turn this off."

Meanwhile, Selene tried a couple of waves of pure psionic force to at least slow the walls as they came in if she couldn't stop them entirely.

Able to phase through the wall and get out, Ashyr found herself well able to quickly find some of the devices controlling the trap. Only... only there ended up not being any devices. The monastery was just controlling itself without a need for gears and levers. Ashyr wasn't all that surprised. Perhaps somewhere there was a control room that she could have gone to shut it down... but, more likely, the Unborn herself would have had to be stopped

[Annoying, isn't it?] Caleldra thought dryly at Ashyr. [This place is progressively less sensical. Your cousin has the better idea. Just blast the thing.] That said, the ghostly woman did not seem inclined to help.