Chapter 2: The Succubus
Elsewhere, a radiantly beautiful brunette lay on the mossy green banks of a lake of sparkling blue, amongst with blooming ivory lilies and graceful swans, under a midday sun, surrounded by an infinite expanse of verdant plains, majestic waterfalls and free-flowing rivers in heavenly beauty. Dressed simply in a plain white toga, as her attendants trimmed and painted her fingernails with utmost care, her feet splashing lightly in the refreshingly cool waters.
Her skin, as silky smooth as a babe's, was the hue of light chocolate; her sweet features were nothing short of perfect, the very embodiment of beauty framed by the delicate tresses of her long red hair. Every now and then even her familiar attendants would stop to gaze upon her longingly; she inspired immediate admiration, if not affection, for she was the goddess Sharess herself.
The multiple invocations of her name in her own shrine by a priestess of hers, somewhere on the Prime Material plane had aroused her attention, if for a while. Then they grew sharply in intensity, the intensity of pleasure, and then the surge of sensation that could only be orgasm. That she was masturbating was unsurprising; but what she'd been watching– hmm. That could be interesting.
Even as she answered the calls for divine spells from her clerics and regarded her many supplicants calling to her, she divined the identities of all the women involved, and more. Over the millennia there'd surely some women who had taken to one another, but they'd long since ceased to interest Sharess – men had always been more to her taste and pleasure, but these two were strange – in that all were classically feminine beauties and, they didn't feel for each other beyond friendship. Two weren't her supplicants yet, but their future dalliances and overtures to anyone were certainly potential amusement in future.
Storing the knowledge of the incident in a disused corner of her multi-faceted consciousness, the goddess rose from the soft moss, tossing her toga away. The water was just right, not too cold, but refreshing to the touch, and Sharess purred, a throaty, husky purr that send shivers through the air, like silk draping over the men around. Following their goddess into the pool, they began to tease her, caressing her back and soft thighs with touches perfected with a lifetime of experience. Surrounded by her bevy of toy boys, tall, muscular men, her soft breasts pressing into hard pecs, Sharess sighed helplessly. This was going to be a long bath.
* * *
Luisa was back on the street and quick on her feet, eager to leave Oldover House behind her. A four-storied stone mansion in the Temple District, it housed the city's Sages Guild. Mostly wizened, wrinkly old men, sages were usually elderly scholars with a wealth of knowledge for those who could pay.
She should've known, really. The men there were too old for her charms and have any regard for the goddess, and the one attending to her already had a patronizing smirk at the sight of her holy symbols. She was certain she heard him mutter 'whore', but boldly asked after knowledge of the wands of Sharess.
"Can't say I've heard of them, so I won't charge you a coin." The old man replied to her matter-of-factly, but Luisa couldn't help feeling put down.
Anyone who knew of Sharess had a vague idea of her dogma: The pursuit of pleasure. Pleasure certainly had many aspects: the pleasure of familial warmth, social activity, sport, theatre, adventure, and certainly sex. To Luisa it had always seemed that pursuing life's greatest pleasure had certainly justified its central position in the goddess worship, and hypocritical how everyone wanted it yet disdained those who were outspoken about their desires.
Trying something new was something Sharess advocated and Luisa loved to do. Back in the temple in Calimport, Luisa had heard many rumors of the wands of Sharess, left behind on this mortal plane during the goddess tenure here during the Time of Troubles: some said they were magical dildos, others that they were smooth silver rods topped off with a glowing red crystal ball. All agreed that the wands, previously used by the goddess' avatar, once used by mortal women, would heighten sensitivity and pleasure to previously impossible levels.
They were said to be lost to the sands of time, and impossible to find. The lucky girl who had them wouldn't ever relinquish them, Luisa was sure. They could've been just hearsay altogether. Still, the quest for a relic of the faith was a nifty excuse to leave Calimport and the tedium of living under the thumb of superiors jealous of her looks behind. Said superiors were probably eager to let her go too.
As for actually searching for the relic, Luisa devoted as much effort as she had actual hope in finding it. In truth her journey across the continent had been a thorough pleasure trip, what with new sights, adventures, and men: lots of them. They had been very eager to sponsor her repeatedly, and her anklet of infertility, a standard issue item among Sharessans, meant no worries of pregnancy or 'dirty diseases'.
In the short time she'd spent in Raven's Bluff, she'd come to know a number of amorous men, the most noteworthy of late being an elven merchant, Laramis Tharm; while not a noble, he had immense wealth. His visit to the House of Desires had Lyndia welcome him personally, and for a skinny, pale-skinned man he had been quite rigorous, Luisa mused. He'd asked her to visit every now and then, and she hadn't had much time to, until now.
Making her way along a hedged walkway, Luisa marveled at the majesty of his five-story mansion, which exuded an air of highbrow antiquity, with vines lining the dark slate gray walls. The grounds, rimmed by tall spiked walls and patrolled by easily a score or more armored guards, even featured a tall watchtower at a corner. What would the view be like there? Luisa wondered, and resolved to find out.
The human doorman bore a butler's garb and an upturned nose, but flashing him the signet ring Laramis had given her turned the prim and proper butler properly obsequious as he bowed deeply, opening the thick oaken doors wide for her.
"The master is as of yet not home. As always, he has important business with the merchant council. Would the lady enjoy a cup of tea? The master often entertains associates here, so we have any brew you can think of in stock, with even some imported from faraway Kara-Tur." He referred to the Far Eastern continent.
"A pity. I'm not very thirsty, but I'm in the mood for some reading. Perhaps you could show me the library? If there's one around."
