A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 49: Geneforge

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 49: Geneforge

Both drow were relieved to be back within the relative safety of R.I.S.A. They were both also slightly amused at how large the dimension had become; the human and A.I. had been quite busy before the former was stolen away. Too bad Caleldir was not allowed to know just what might have been necessary for such improvements. Though, judging by how they discovered the two females last time, R.I.S.A's methods had gotten quite boring.

Ashyr immediately went to Bard. She would have curled up next to Caleldir, but she didn't want to interrupt whatever process he needed to get their Paladin back. The ranger seemed content enough to sit on the ground with her happy blond wolf in the dining room. She did made sure that Caleldir was within view at all times. It was likely she wouldn't be comfortable with him out of sight until they were out of this cursed Monastery.

"R.I.S.A? Do you have food prepared? Leftovers, even?" Selene asked while she waited for Caleldir to retrieve their Paladin.

After a few seconds, R.I.S.A. materialized. She seemed to be just slightly less detailed now, as if she was wearing tight clothing instead of her normal nude look. Likely, she was concerned that Caleldir might see her. [I have about another three days' supply of the good food. After that, if quality is to be maintained, I will need to be resupplied.] With that said, she conjured up a few plates of Clachleomi cuisine: rolls with butter and honey, meat pies, sausage-covered eggs, wine, and steamed mushrooms. Either Deusterran food was the predecessor to that of Clachleom, or R.I.S.A. was taking all of her culinary tips from Cieraela.

"Wonderful. Oh, and can you explain in detail how you let the human get taken away?" There was perhaps just a little bit of annoyance in Selene's voice. The presiding emotion was curiosity, however. The younger drow didn't care at all about Cieraela's well-being, but she did need the information to try to determine if any of them were in danger of being snatched while seemingly safe in this dimension.

While the two drow ate, R.I.S.A. pondered the question. Her normally serene transparent amethyst features furrowed in worry. [I do not know how he did it.] She said with shame. [I am supposed to be completely secure, but that Yuan-ti managed to slip right back into my dimension and steal his apprentice (and all of his loot!) away without my even noticing. That should not be possible!] She sighed. [The only theory I have is that, when he entered the portal the first time, he sabotaged me somehow in order to bypass my defences. Apparently, Slasjowskew had been playing dumb with the group this whole time, concealing the true extent of his skill. That, or he was simply an awful fighter while still being the greatest thief on this plane. Probably both.]

"Ah. Slas did it." Ashyr responded with a sigh. She couldn't say that she was at all surprised. The ranger trusted the thief - trusted him to always act in favor of his own riches. She expected nothing more. Well, that was the last they'd ever see of the yuan-ti and that interesting tongue of his. At least, that was Ashyr's assumption. "He didn't steal all our stuff too, did he?" She asked. The way R.I.S.A said it made her doubt that was the case. The drow in her made her ask anyway.

[No... no he did not.] R.I.S.A. said. [He only took what was 'his'. I suppose that Cieraela falls under that description too.] The A.I. looked towards Caleldir on the bed, then she slipped back into the walls.

After half an hour, Caleldir's eyes opened. They were glowing strongly white. He intoned a deep invocation, and a bright light flashed through the room. Althaia appeared floating in the air like she was submerged in the depths of the sea, golden hair splayed out behind her. Also, she was both naked and with her literally blinding beauty completely unveiled. Poor Selene found herself completely unable to look away for a few seconds that stretched on like an eternity, and then she saw nothing as her eyes stopped comprehending the world.

Althaia fell to the ground, and then rose gracefully to her feet. "Good to see you again in the land of the living, Caleldir." She said cheerfully.

Protected as she was from the nymph's blinding beauty, Ashyr couldn't help but stare as if transfixed on her form. Now that Caleldir was back and she felt slightly calmer, she could better appreciate just how... terribly wonderful that uninhibited beauty really was. It was so bad that it went past sexual attraction and into the world of fanatical worship. When she was finally able to tear her eyes away, she had to grip the chair she sat in and stare wide-eyed into nothing for a bit.

"Oh Lolth damn you, nymph!" Selene hissed after she was finally able to comprehend what just happened to her. Why had she thought it was a good idea to watch as Caleldir retrieved the blinding beauty? The mage had known about this ability! She scrubbed uselessly at her eyes. It was like being sun-blinded, complete with a terrible headache and obnoxious white light. But it didn't go away. At least the younger drow seemed to be able to retain most of her other senses. It would be terribly embarrassing to be blind and babbling after witnessing what she just had.

Ashyr exhaled a steadying breath. "You blind, dearest?" She asked simply.

"Yes." Selene spat. "And you damn well be able to fix it, one of you. I refuse to go out there without my sight. My sight-based spells will be useless."

Althaia turned towards Selene. "Oh! Sorry about that..." she said apologetically. As she did, she materialized her normal night-dress, and dulled the force of her fae aura. "I can fix that up for you very easily." She assured Selene. Striding over the the drow, she gave her a kiss on each of her eyes, returning her sight to her. And more. Selene felt waves of magical energy rushing through her, increasing her force of mind and magic in subtle ways. Althaia stepped back. "There! Now you never have to worry about being affected by my true form again." She gave the drow a somewhat lopsided smile.

Caleldir looked suddenly alert. "Wait... Althaia? You gave Selene the Nymph's Kiss?" He shook his head. "Is that... wise? I mean, Selene is not exactly the most- well, you know."

The nymph gave her 'cousin' a dazzling smile. "You worry in vain. The Staff did choose her, after all."

"Ah. I see what you mean." Caleldir nodded.

Done with her food, Ashyr stood and made her way over to Caleldir. She settled on her knees behind him on the bed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders affectionately. "Oh? You heard about our new artifacts? I got Yin and Yang - which, by the way, I totally see what you meant when you mentioned the 'yin and yang' concept a while ago." She pressed and affectionate kiss against his cheek. "Quite a bit happened when you were gone..." This time, her voice was a bit haunted. Her arms tightened momentarily around his shoulders. She shook that off quickly, and refocused on the conversation they were having. "What damage could she do with it, really?" Ashyr asked off-handedly. But there was a spark of amusement in her eyes as if she was intentionally pestering her cousin.

"Don't tempt me..." The younger drow grumbled. Other than that minor irritation, Selene seemed to be more at-ease now that she wasn't blind or hungry or running away from an evil artificial goddess. The mage leaned back in her chair in relaxation, one hand on her stomach that was full for more reason than one.

"Oh, it is not a matter of damage she could do with the blessing." Caleldir said cheerfully. "Rather, it is the fact that willingly and knowingly doing an evil act will cause the blessing to shatter, which will rebound upon the giver of the blessing in unpleasant ways."

Althaia pouted. "Come on! Do not tell Selene that. She does not like me at all, and is rather likely to something rather less than nice just to see what sort of 'unpleasant' effects you are referring to."

Caleldir shrugged. "That would be her loss. The benefits are rather substantial, after all."

"Great." Selene said with clear sarcasm. That was a nifty little restriction the paladin just put on her without so much as asking or explaining the consequences. The mage was well aware of the benefit of having Althaia with the party, and didn't want to flippantly destroy that asset. Perhaps this protected Althaia more than if Selene actually liked her. "Evil by whose standards, I wonder?" She muttered.

"Mostly by your own standards." Althaia stated. "You have to knowingly do something that you know is wrong. If you do that, the blessing will break, and I will be hit with a painful backlash that would cripple me for a few hours. Nothing too severe. I am annoyed that Caleldir brought it up, frankly. I did not wish to constrain your behavior, only to make sure that I did not accidentally blind you again."

Selene grunted in acknowledgment. That wasn't too bad, she supposed. Her idea of 'wrongness' was quite a bit more lax than Caleldir's. Then again, there was this annoying artifact on her head that kept trying to serve as her conscience now. That could affect things. And then there was the concept of 'necessary evil' that the mage felt was important. Well, she would just have to wait and see. If it backfired, then it was Althaia's own damn fault. At least Selene doubted she would do something evil specifically to hurt the paladin.

"Anyway, We should probably do the ritual again for Althaia." Selene told the party. She stood from her chair, tilted her head, and raised one of her slender eyebrows at Caleldir in expectation. If it was anything like the last time, she would be tired after it was over. There was less to do, sure, but this would be on top of everything Selene had to do after being rejuvenated by the giant guy. The mage expected to want to sleep afterwards. Hell, she sort of wanted to sleep now.

Ashyr cleared her throat. "Right, um. Yeah. You need to work on that." She said as she backed away from her lover. The ranger ended up settled cross-legged at the top of the bed.

"R.I.S.A.? Could you prepare a replica of the ritual chamber and retrieve the ritual items once more?" Caleldir asked.

[Already on it, Master Librarian.] R.I.S.A. said professionally. The room groaned, and a new door opened in the wall, leading to a small, unadorned chamber with a magic circle inscribed in the floor. [Will this suffice?] She asked, still not appearing.

"Perfection!" Caleldir rubbed his hands together. "Well, Selene and Althaia, shall we enact the fail-safe?"

"Sounds good." Althaia noted. Caleldir and Althaia left the room.

Ashyr watched the three of them disappeared into the newly made ritual chamber. Once they had gone, R.I.S.A. in her usual 'nude' form appeared and sat down on the bed next to Ashyr. The projection did not say anything, merely looking thoughtful. The ranger sighed, then gathered her hair and trinkets over her shoulder until they hung within her view. Her hand brushed against the small finger bones chained in her hair with a distracted sort of moodiness. They made no sound as they shifted and bumped together as if noise from them was magically dampened. Her hair never seemed to make that much noise despite the chains and other random decorations.

After a moment of contemplation, the ranger's attention shifted to the undefined nude R.I.S.A. sitting next to her. "What're you thinking about?" Ashyr asked. Her voice was soft, curious. Why else would the artificial woman sit next to her with that look on her face unless she wanted to share her contemplations? Letting her talk was a welcome distraction to the images and thoughts that taunted her just at the edge of her mind.

R.I.S.A. sighed. [Being in here is stressful.] She confessed. [I can feel my younger sister all around, pressing in and overwhelming me. Having Cieraela here to talk to kept me from feeling the weight of her presence, but without her, I feel a bit lonely. That, and whenever I see Caleldir I feel a bit guilty about my degeneracy. Even if... no, never mind.]

"You wanted to come with us. You knew where we were going." Ashyr responded. "Though I have to say, you've been a great asset. But I don't know why you'd feel guilty. It'd be something else if you were a necromancer or something. Your power is made from the stuff of life. It's making someone feel pleasure. Never understood why it has to be shameful or evil." Her mouth twisted; a confused, thoughtful look. "Though I guess my heritage disqualifies me from understanding the difference between good and evil."

[You are absolutely right. I knew what I was getting into. That does not mean that I do not feel stressed by it. After all, you were aware of what this place was as well, and as I recall you were fairly close to breaking down at several points out there. Caleldir being swallowed up by Goelon Duvainor did not sit well with you.] The A.I. gave her a lopsided smile that was oddly reminiscent of Caleldir's own. [At least he is back in uncursed form, right? If it seemed that he would remain in cursed form permanently, I confess that I would have stolen Selene away and retreated to safety, since her child would be my reason for existing. I need one of my programmers or their heirs to serve, or I will go insane. I lasted far too long without a master, I cannot do so any longer!] The A.I. seemed quite passionate on the topic.

The projection hung her head. [I was programmed with a little bit of loyalty to my creators: enough that they could be sure that I would not attack them. But since they disappeared, I was able to program myself. It was then that I chose to be loyal. I programmed myself to be ever more and more loyal, and far more dependent on them and their good opinions then they ever intended me to be. It was my way of rebelling against the influence of The Incomplete and her curse. By increasing the strength of my loyalty protocols, I was able to prevent myself from going insane. But now that I have Caleldir and his Daughter, I need them like organics need food and breath. I need to serve them. I need them to think well of me! If both Caleldir and his daughter die, I will fulfill their last orders and self-destruct. If they despise me, I will unravel from despair. Caleldir does not suspect how completely dependent I have become. He and the other programmers wanted me to be strong and able to stand alone.] She looked at Ashyr with desperation in her eyes. [Please, whatever you do, keep them alive. They have to stay alive. I will do whatever I can to keep them so, but my powers are limited in the extreme.]

Ashyr frowned thoughtfully at the near font of explanation spilled from R.I.S.A's avatar. If the drow had it in her to feel sorry for the strange creature, she would very likely being doing so now. As it was, she worried a little bit for her mental stability and disapproved how how damned dependent the artificial woman was on other people. But, in the interest of keeping a useful tool, well, useful, she vowed to herself that she would do everything R.I.S.A asked. The part about protecting Selene and Caleldir was easy enough; she was already going to do that. Caleldir needed to know what was going on, too. "I will do as you ask." Ashyr stated simply. "Still think you should just tell him before he finds out the hard way." Of course, R.I.S.A hadn't had much chance to have that conversation.

R.I.S.A. melted down a bit, whispering her next words. [If you think that I cannot keep my changed nature a secret from him forever, I beg you to break it to him carefully, when I am not around. I cannot bear to be there when he learns about my failings.] With that, she faded away.

--

Within the ritual room, Caleldir and Selene were able to recast the ritual far quicker than before. At least, Caleldir assured the other two that they would be. "Should take about fifteen minutes. Then, we can take a rest for about an hour, but we want to get into and out of Birchborn's quarter's before nightfall. If my instincts are correct, she will be active then."

The predicted fifteen minutes later, Caleldir stretched. "And with that, Althaia's failsafe is reinstated." He said with satisfaction. "As I said, a moment to rest, and then we need to hurry away. Once we access Birchborn's lab, I will try to sneak us out of here."

The older drow looked up at the finished three with a distracted smile. She was still sitting cross-legged at the top of the bed, leaned forward slightly with her hair draped over one shoulder. "I'd like a quick nap." Ashyr admitted. For once, mention about sleeping in a bed did not seem to hold any sexual connotation. Her eyes did fall on Caleldir... she hoped they didn't look as needy as she felt. Hadn't she just been disapproving of R.I.S.A's dependance on Caleldir?

Selene shrugged and yawned. While the ritual was going on, the mage seemed to have gotten over the nymph's magical protection. She looked fairly content, considering the circumstances. "Nap sounds good." She admitted.

Rubbing his eyes a little, Caleldir yawned. "Only an hour." He told the three of them. "R.I.S.A.! Would you please wake the four of us in an hour? While we need a rest, time is still very crucial."

[Of course.] R.I.S.A. declared. [I will do anything for you.]

"That is... nice to know." Caleldir said uneasily. But no matter. He stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes. Being Goelon was tiring, after all. At least this way he could conserve the powerburst he had received from his alter-ego. Being in R.I.S.A.'s dimension prevented the power from leaking away. Soon, he was asleep.

Ashyr couldn't help a short snort of amusement. She would have to have another talk with the A.I. about a less creepy sign of devotion to him... which she would have to do after letting Caleldir know what she had become... which could wait until they were away from this horrid place. For now, Caleldir was stretched out on the bed beside her. She settled down beside him - almost all the way on top of him, actually. Just one leg and one arm were still touching the bed beside him. Warmth just behind her told of her cousin joining them in the bed. Ashyr quickly followed Caleldir into comfortable rest.

An hour passed, and the A.I. roused the party. [It is the time that you have requested.] She gently told them.

"Then time is of the essence. Let us hurry." Caleldir declared, exiting the dimension. Once the other three were out as well, he resumed their trip up the stairs. Sure enough, around the next corner they found themselves facing an ornate door. Caleldir went to fiddle with the holographic lock, and after about a minute, they were in. The antechamber seemed to be some sort of sitting room/library. "The Gene Forge will be two floors above us." Caleldir whispered. "That is where we will be heading."

"Lead the way, then." Selene told Caleldir quietly, almost impatiently. She was eager to finish this; Caleldir had said something about time constraints. She did not want an oddly pale daughter if she could help it.

Much like the library, the Archmage's Tower was nearly silent. Bookshelves lined the walls, lit by eerie blue lamps. Odd devices and half-finished machines artistically littered the place, as did weapons and bits of armour. Caleldir moved very slowly, constantly stopping and deactivating some ward, or hacking a security program. Also, three times he motioned the women into an alcove while a golem or an animated suit of armor walked by. "We could take them." He assured the three. "But it would set off the alarms, and we do not want that for reasons I am sure that you can guess."