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 46: Treasure
Althaia picked the last elemental key up from the mass of stones that had been its guardian. Ever since they entered the labyrinth, it had been almost non-stop fighting and puzzle-solving and trap-avoiding, all while they gathered the keys. It would have been impossibly difficult for a party like the one they met in town, but for Ashyr, Althaia, and Slasjowskew it was just difficult enough to be a challenge. "This should do the trick." She said satisfied. "I do have to say, if this place was not so stressful, it would be rather fun!"
Ashyr rubbed at the back of her neck. "Yeah, I suppose this isn't too bad." If only she knew that Caleldir and Selene were safe and whole. "Can't complain about my company." She grinned at the nymph and yuan-ti. It was not her full, mischievous grin, but it approached her normal look. "There's something about watching pretty people fight that gives me... ideas..." Both were included in her insinuation.
"Now lets get Selene out of there."
The yuan-ti, quite predictably, paid the drow little heed. He was too busy practically orgasming at the thought that he was moments away from finding treasure. "I can ssmell it!" He said with sexual bliss. "Sso much wealth, and so very closse! Oh, I have almosst realized my dream!" Licking his lips with his too-long tongue, he strode in the direction of the center of the maze.
Ashyr couldn't help but turn her full attention to Slas as he began to exult in the prospect of a life's dream so near fulfillment. He might as well be speaking of finally being able to participate in an orgy by the way his voice sounded. Other ideas flickered across Ashyr's mind when she saw that wonderfully long tongue of his run across his lips. There it was. His pleasure and release. Surely there was something she could do with that... Lolth, she'd been mostly joking when she said her line about ideas, but now she was unconsciously ramping herself up. It was better than thinking about the other thing, she supposed.
Also very predictably, Althaia gave Ashyr a naughty wink. "It would give me ideas too, but I am trying to reduce that sort of thing." She said, half-flirtatiously, half-seriously. "After dying, I decided that I want there to be more to my personality than just an overwrought libido, you know? I mean, you have all sorts of character beyond the bedroom, whereas I..." She pursed her lips. "Eh, I am just trying to be slightly more sane." Still, she was a nymph, and her amour had become very impractical indeed of late. "Did you know that you can just turn parts of your clothing invisible without sacrificing protection?" She observed to Ashyr.
Slasjowskew snorted. "You ssilly foolss. You have no idea how thosse thingss work, do you? The ringss ssimply provide a scertain level of protection when activated, all the resst is illussion. You could fight completely naked if you wanted to without making yoursself vulnerable, and you would feel naked to a touch but not to a blow. They are just forsce fieldss and protection magic combined with illussory clothing, albeit illussionss at deific level that mortalss like uss cannot possibly ssee through. They do not conjure anything at all. You have jusst been walking around naked ass long ass I have known you!"
"Yes, we are all naked under our clothes, handsome." The drow said with something very near a chuckle. One eyebrow rose as she looked the yuan-ti male up and down as if she could see through his outfit. Her clothing did not change from her usual attire: just a little too much cleavage to be practical, but the rest was completely ordinary and functional. "And I've known this for a while. Doesn't mean I should walk around with a couple squares of chainmail pasted to the important bits. Or less, for that matter. It would be terribly distracting for myself and my party." But that did give her some ideas about a good, quick distraction tactic against foes who may be attracted to her form. Or perhaps when she was sparring with Caleldir.
A stab of worry came unbidden to her heart. Caleldir. The amused light in Ashyr's eyes faded to seriousness.
Althaia shrugged. Her only reaction was for her armour to subtly change to something a bit more useless. "Eh, okay. Well, we are at the center of the labyrinth now, let us open this door up..."
Beyond the door in the midst of the labyrinth was a large-ish room with four spiral stairways going down. That was all.
Ashyr, deciding to get things moving, picked the staircase closest to her. "Can you go silently, Althaia? Ghost bitch might be around." Ashyr wondered briefly if the ghost lady would be able to sense them no matter how quiet they were being.
Althaia shrugged. "I can be quiet when I need to." She stated confidently. "But most of the time, the head-on approach is the least hassle. Now that I know the ghost's tricks, I think I can face her and win!" Despite her declaration. the nymph did not advance. She merely folded her arms and waited.
"Maybe you should go first, handsome." Ashyr suggested. "You have the best chance of escaping notice and, well, escaping."
The Yuan-ti gave Ashyr a glance. His serpentine eyes were not noticeably more readable than normal, but perhaps he was at least a little appreciative of her attention. "I do have the besst chance of doing that." He acknowledged. "I am the besst there iss when it comes to moving unsseen." True to his words, he vanished.
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The room that Selene found herself in, now that she could concentrate on it, was a large, vault-like affair. The ceilings soared some fifty feet above her, held up by four large pillars, each with a spiral staircase encircling it. It was octagonal in shape, and probably well over one hundred feet across. Lit dimly by ghostly blue flames lighting up chandeliers all across the ceiling, the place almost resembled a dragon's lair with treasure and weapons scattered all across it. Indeed, the only door in the walls (besides the staircases leading to hatches in the ceiling) was a massive affair: easily big enough to admit a good sized dragon.
To Selene's magic detection, the place was downright blinding with the number and potency of magical auras throughout it. The most powerful of them all, though, came from the side of the octagon farthest from the great doors. She was naturally drawn to that bright magical aura. The drow had to tool up anyway, as no good could come of her ambling around the labyrinth stark naked. Additionally, she wanted at all the good loot before Slasjowskew got a chance to pick through everything. No doubt he would hide away anything that held the most value. So she picked her way through the treasure. A great many extremely fancy weapons, armors, and magical objects of all descriptions were kept in elegant displays here, but something within Selene, some small prodding of intuition, pointed her away from them and towards something else. A simple staff. Plain. Unadorned. Simply leaning up against the wall. Unlike the objects around it, the staff actually did not even have an aura, and did not seem even to be magical. It and a few other exceedingly plain items lay there, two simple blades, one white, one black, and a battered old wooden shield. They seemed utterly out of place among the grandeur, but somehow, they seemed... more. The thing that was bright with magical power was nearby, but Selene found herself ignoring that.
-Selene.- A toneless, genderless voice echoed through her head. Selene had been partially reaching out towards the incredibly plain object, but started back in concern. Unfamiliar voices were not often benevolent, in the drow's experience. It knew her name, had been waiting for her. She furrowed her well-groomed brow. -I have been waiting for a magister like you. Imperfect you are, but great you will be.- The staff began to shake, and then stood upright. The pregnant drow still wanted to touch it, to reach out and take possession of it. Somehow, it was as if it belonged to her already, and was as much a part of her as her magic was. Her elegant hand lifted again, and took hold of the erect wooden weapon.
Immediately she felt his life force. His consciousness. He disapproved of her in some small way, but not nearly enough to reject her grip. All she felt was fascination. How could something so mundane be filled with so much... potential?