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 70: Decisions

About ten minutes after Carlotta left Caleldir and the drow, a trio of uncertain maids showed up at the door to Faust's old rooms. Ashyr had left the door open; it was still sort of broken after what happened to it the day before, and it didn't shut unless there was something to hold it that way. The maids had a cart of food to serve five people, but there were certainly not that many people there.

"Set it over there," Selene ordered with the causal authority one gets after ordering around servants for more than a lifetime.

Five minutes after that, Ashyr jogged back into the room with a tired but happy-looking blond wolf at her heels.

"Didn't find Althaia and Tsabdrin," she declared, and sat down heavily at the table.

Selene hadn't been able to keep herself from eating as soon as the food got there, so Ashyr didn't hesitate to make herself a plate.

It took a couple more minutes for the rest of the party to walk through the door.

"We saved you two some food," Ashyr informed them without even looking away from her plate.

"Oh! I do not have to pull something out of Stasis!" Althaia said happily. "We are in a castle now, after all. I have never had servants before... Well, not unless you count squirrels, deer, wolves, amorous satyrs, and whatnot. I do not. The satyrs were useless. Always declaring undying love, always refusing to..." she suddenly became subdued. "Actually, never mind that story. Let us eat." Sitting down at the table, she quietly began eating her meal, appearing to eat slowly, almost listlessly, but it vanished in record time anyway.

Tsabdrin settled down at the table next to Althaia. He ate in silence, though the nymph's strange listlessness did cause him to glance her way once or twice. In the end, her moved his hand under the table to softly rest it on the Paladin's leg. It wasn't a sexual gesture; he was simply trying to offer nonverbal support.

After her plate was cleaned, Althaia took a deep breath and looked over at Ashyr, Caleldir, and Selene. "Recent events have shown me, again, that three weeks in the non-Fey world is not enough to grant me the wisdom and sense to properly deal with a mission as delicate as that to the Underdark. So-" she explained her plan and her reasoning to stay in Port Afron. "If you end up needing me, just send word."

"That is an excellent idea," Selene said. The younger drow seemed pleasantly surprised by Althaia's plan. It took care of many of the mage's worries concerning the Underdark. After Selene said this, she went back to her food, her thoughts on the subject apparently exhausted. She could plan other things now that unleashing an unwise paladin in the Underdark wasn't going to be an issue.

Ashyr put down her silverware and swallowed. "If that is what you feel you have to do, then I won't try to change your mind." The ranger told the paladin. "We can use your strength, but you are right, if you don't know when to use it..."

Ashyr sighed. She had been angry with Althaia, but she couldn't hold on to any of that anger after seeing how badly the nymph felt and the unfortunate decision she had to make. The ranger found herself wanting to do something to put a semblance of a smile back on the young nymph's face. "I forgive you, by the way." Ashyr said softly, and a bit awkwardly. "For last night. You did stop the castle from being blown up, after all. How were you supposed to know that the asshole could teleport?"

"Well, I gather that teleportation is a standard issue spell for most mages." Althaia replied with a wan smile. "Although, I never actually studied arcane magic, and know almost nothing about it. I really had not considered that he might have such a method with which to escape. I really should have."

"It is? Why haven't you been teleporting everywhere, then?" Ashyr asked Selene. "Or are you not powerful enough yet?"

"Theoretically I can. For whatever reason, free-casting the spell never works well for me. I can make circles just fine, though, with some additional work and resources." The mage admitted.

The nymph sighed, putting her hand on Tsabdrin's. Then, she brightened a bit. "I think that it will be nice staying in one place and learning about the world. This place is very different from the forest..." She stared dreamily out of the window. "I look forward to learning about so many things..."

Caleldir had remained pretty silent this whole time. "I think that we can create a teleportation circle here in the castle and connect it to R.I.S.A.'s dimension," he mused. "That will allow us to move between the Underdark and Port Afron pretty much at will, should we choose to do so. However, the person holding R.I.S.A.'s figurine will not be able to travel, since if they port back here, well, R.I.S.A.'s demiplane is bound to wherever her figurine was last, and we would be stuck here."

"Oh!" Althaia clapped her hands. "That would make it very easy for me to reinforce you if you needed me!"

"If that is possible to do," Caleldir muttered. "I do not know if our treasury can handle that after we have reincarnated Faust. That will be expensive on its own." He shrugged. "I think that I will ask Gurzan to do me a favor and stay with you. He is the most level-headed old codger I have ever met. Plus, he is a master swordsman, peerless archer, and knows how to deal with fey. His wife is one, after all. So, he would be perfect to educate you. He certainly helped me to adjust to the modern world."

"It might be too dangerous to have a circle that connects to R.I.S.A. For one thing, it isn't even supposed to be possible to teleport between planes (unless you're a succubus, I suppose.) Not, at least, at my skill level. Someone like my sire can probably figure it out if he devoted a couple centuries of research on just that subject. And even if we do manage to do it, what if some unknown person gets into her dimension... well, I suppose they can't do too much damage to R.I.S.A, considering her power. Even if it were possible for us to do, the time and resources it would take would be prohibitive," Selene said.

"It would be really nice to bring Althaia in when we need her, though," said Ashyr thoughtfully. "Maybe you can do a one-time use sort of thing?" Then the ranger shrugged. She knew nothing of arcane magic.

"I misspoke. It would be a Plane-Shift, or even more accurately, a Gate, not a proper teleportation circle," Caleldir corrected himself. "But you are right in that both of those spells are several orders of magnitude more difficult and expensive than a common teleport. Now that I consider the resources we actually have, it seems unfeasible to make anything permanent like that." He rubbed his forehead. "A scroll of summoning, and a few of Sending for communications, those would probably be more useful and practical. They would be necessarily far more limited in use, though." Selene was right. A permanent Gate set up between Port Afron and R.I.S.A. would be a huge undertaking in terms of both time and money. It was something that they likely would not be able to utilize for years down the road.

"I'll leave all that magicy planning to you two. Anyway, if Gurzan is such a master swordsman, then why didn't he teach you to not fail so badly?" Ashyr teased as she poked at Caleldir's side. "Eh, Althaia would probably prefer that our new aasimar friend teach her. He doesn't look half-bad now: imagine how pretty he'll be with angelic blood!"

Selene rolled her eyes at her cousin. Wasn't Ashyr supposed to be mad at Faust? Apparently that wasn't enough to override the older drow's sexual imagination. Because of course not.

Caleldir bristled a little. "My lack of skill comes from the fact that I am half a ghost by birth, and physically weak and fragile. Well, except for being nearly unkillable. I admit not really taking advantage of his offers to really train me too, I might add. Also, I am still sort of dead."

"Oh, you refused Gurzan, did you?" Ashyr asked with the light of extreme amusement dancing in her eyes. "But then you came to me to teach you? How... strange. I wonder what made you make that decision." The female ranger stretched out in her chair and looked quite pleased with herself. Obviously she was drawing the conclusion that it was Caleldir's ploy to spend more time with her for his own sexual reasons - even considering how severely repressed he was at the time. The truth was definitely more complex than that, but for the time Ashyr was amused about that one little aspect that may or may not have been involved.

Selene rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"I asked you to teach me because..." Caleldir struggled for an answer, then finally shrugged. "Well, there were several reasons, but no matter what I say, you are just going to assume that I secretly wanted to have sex with you, which I probably did, so whatever."

"Anyway, I suppose that Faust-" Caleldir began to say.

"I think we should make his new name Phanuel," Althaia mused. It was a testament to how distracted Althaia was right now that she was not paying attention to the back-and-forth between Ashyr and Caleldir. "After the Angel of Repentance and Hope."

"- Or Phanuel, if that is what he decides to call himself once resurrected, will also be a good teacher. Although Gurzan can keep the both of them level-headed. He is very stable."

"Stable is good," Althaia agreed. "As for the Aasimar, well, I am not sure about him. Manly he is, but not really my style. But I do think it appropriate that he pay Ashyr with his body for the sin of having had Celeste killed way back. You know, as compensation." It was pretty clear that she was joking at this point.

"A lovely thought," Caleldir said dryly.

"If you are smart, you will allow him to show you the ways of being a ruler, because that is the role you will take within Port Afron while we are gone. He may shape you as much as you shape him. Perhaps even more," Selene advised.

"Yeah, and with us gone you shouldn't go around ruling out perfectly good sexual partners," Ashyr added with a grin. "Being a ruler - even a temporary one - might limit your options. I think I like that idea about Faust owing me one, though. Perhaps I should harass him a bit before we leave." Her grin broadened and turned feral. Althaia may have been joking, but Ashyr didn't seem to be.

"We can't harass him too much if we want him cooperative, Ashyr," Selene reminded her with a somewhat tired sigh.

"Well, I suppose I feel differently about him when he is less horned and furry. Right now, he reminds me too much of those annoying satyrs. I really hated those fuckers." That was the first time anyone here had ever heard Althaia swear. Her eyes flashed red before she calmed herself down. "Anyway, I do not have good feelings about horned, furred creatures. I will save my thoughts on Faust until his next life." She pursed her lips. "Also, I was thinking about taking a temporary vow of chastity as long as I am away from you. I mean, a lot of my foolishness has been from indulging my libido all the time, so it would probably be good for me to deny myself for awhile."

Caleldir blinked. "That was not something I expected you to ever say."

"Ha!" Selene scoffed. "I'll have to disagree with you there, Althaia. If you had known Ashyr during her days in the Underdark, then you would have known a truly foolish libido. You have shown more wisdom there than Ashyr had even in her hundredth year. No, you will need an outlet for frustration and a way to relax. I would think it a bad idea to forego sex for any length of time, especially since you can't be sure how temporary abstinence will affect you mentally. Keep one or two individuals around who you can fuck while retaining the respect of the people as a whole. Temporary abstinence would be just as much a mistake as opening your legs to half the city."

"Personally, I approve," Caleldir said. "I would forswear sex as a distraction during missions myself, except that I think I would give Ashyr conniptions."

"What is with you surface-dwellers and the idea of voluntary abstinence?" Ashyr asked, baffled. "You all act like sex is some unhealthy distraction instead of a necessity of life. It's godsdamned weird. I can't even think correctly when I'm horny."

"I am not sure how Althaia comes to her conclusions, to be honest," Caleldir said. "But I was raised by celibate monks. I could give you their reasoning, but it would probably not be helpful and only serve to baffle you more."

Althaia sighed. "Mostly, I want to be able to rise above my own race. My kind has literally given you the word 'nymphomaniac'. But I am a very different kind of nymph. I want to be more than my instincts. The voluntary abstinence would be in order to prove to myself that I can be more than a fey, that I can be civilized." She looked at the table, saying nothing. Then, she grinned. "Then again, perhaps I should take these sort of challenges one at a time. If I can find one individual to keep me in line, I will do so. Maybe Carlotta would be willing to volunteer to help me in that regard?" She shrugged. "I am not familiar with human sexual mores."

Caleldir shrugged. "Do not ask me. I come from a very strange culture that enshrined celibacy while nonetheless practicing polygamy. To say nothing of the weirder aspects of it."

"Carlotta would probably help you. Put a couple drinks in her, and she'll be all over you. Otherwise, she's shy but still very much likes the attention," Ashyr explained with her signature grin. "She would probably be a good choice, if you absolutely have to pick only one person to sex up.

"I just want to be discreet," Althaia said. "My threats towards those guards aside, I do not want to give the people of Port Afron the impression that the tales about nymphs and their ways are true. So, if possible, I would like to keep my sexual escapades at a bare minimum, and private."

"Then Lotta is your best bet. Caleldir knows how she can be. Intimately."

"Sex has a way of just sort of happening to you recently, Caleldir," Althaia joked.

"Speaking of which: rusalka."

"Ugh," Caleldir grunted. "Someone will need to go tell the Rusalka about events here."

"You are the one who needs to go to the rusalka, Caleldir. You made the deal with them. I'm not going back down there," Selene declared.

"They probably need me to stick around up here, too, so we can have access to Faust." Ashyr said with a less than pleased expression. "We'll need Althaia, too, more than likely. If you want moral support, you can take Tsabdrin and his beasts down with you. We'll send a rescue party if you're gone too long."

Caleldir looked over at Tsabdrin. "How would you like to go say hello to Althaia sadistic cousins in the sewers? If you would like to tag along, feel free, but I am not altogether certain which idea is less horrible. Althaia would be the best to have along, since she is the only one here to be able to actually pose a noticeable threat to all of them, but if Ashyr insists that she stay here, this will probably end in the rusalka roping whoever is down there into some sadistic orgy. No idea if your presence will make that more or less likely. I leave the choice to you."

"I would really rather not go down there," the male drow said as he turned a pleading eye toward Ashyr. In the strange dynamic of drow, it was ultimately Ashyr's decision whether Tsabdrin had to go down there or not.

"We need Caleldir back up here to get to work as soon as possible." Ashyr told the males of the party. "If they're determined to turn it into an orgy, then they'll tire themselves out quicker if there's two of you there."

"Ashyr..." Tsabdrin said, sounding a little distressed.

"Don't talk to her like that," Selene snapped at her brother.

"What, do you think Cal wants to go down there, either? I'm not having him go alone if we can help it," Ashyr responded firmly.

Tsabdrin frowned hard at this, folded his arms tightly in front of him, and looked off to the side with a sullen expression.

The youngest drow looked like she was about to tell her brother off again, but the oldest sighed. "I'll make it up to you, darling." Ashyr told him.

That seemed to make him feel a bit better about the situation. He heaved a heavy breath and began to rub at the back of his neck, but he wasn't frowning so hard anymore. "Alright, fine," Tsabdrin muttered.

"If he does not want to head down there, perhaps you could let him stay up here and help? If nothing else, I can swim better than he, and so can traverse the sewer far quicker alone than with him and two dinosaurs. And I do not think that 'tiring them out quicker' is a good strategy. I think that 'not getting ourselves roped into an orgy' to be a better one." To tell the truth, Caleldir would have preferred Tsabdrin along, to provide a bit of extra muscle (not that the skinny drow had much muscle. He had dinos though) but was not about to bring him along if he did not want to come. Neither did he want to overrule Ashyr though.

"You two probably don't have to go through the sewers." Selene said, "The rusalka get food and other things from the castle, if you recall. Go ask some of the servants here; they probably know something." But she didn't care to make sure if they did or not. Selene wasn't even finished eating.

"If you're done eating, Althaia, we should probably let the other leaders know of your plan. Originally, they meant to look after Port Afron while we're gone, but I think they'll be happy to go home," Ashyr said as she stood from the table. She concentrated for a moment, then her full set of leather armor appeared on her body.

The nymph pushed her plate away. "I am finished eating. Have been for some time. Let us go and talk with the leaders. Although, I thought that I would just be a figurehead and top enforcer, not actually in charge." She sighed. "Do humans have any books on leadership? If I am to be trying to actually be in charge, I want to be good at it. Reincarnated Faust will be helpful, but I should have more information than just from him."

"You will not only have Faust," Selene reminded Althaia. "We kept the engineer alive, and that little halfling. I'm sure they have some idea how to help run the place. If you're not trying to instate a multitude of new policies, then Port Afron should more or less run itself. You will simply have to take over Faust's daily tasks, which I understand from Ashyr largely involved dealing with the people. But I suppose we won't know for sure what is needed until we speak to Zarag and Dria."

"It will be fine, Althaia," Ashyr reassured her with a warmer, more friendly smile than was usual for her. "If they think I can be the new Matron of Duskhaven, then you can babysit Port Afron for a few weeks (or however long it takes us.) Besides, aren't Paladins supposed to be leaders?"

"I hardly think that I am one to try to completely overhaul the system on day one," Althaia admitted. "I mean, I am not educated in your political bodies and the running of them. I would not even know what to change, besides the most egregious of injustices. Even some of the things that personally offend me may be sacred cultural hallmarks that I do not understand. So, if the job is just dealing with people, I think that I can do that. I mean, I am divinely gifted with the ability to do just that. As you said, Paladin. All my allies but those with the darkest evil in their hearts are buoyed simply by being near me." All in all, she seemed happier about being given the job of 'babysitting' Port Afron now than she had before. She was not adverse to power, after all, just uncertain as to her ability to use it correctly.
Athaia stood up and stretched. Her nightgown changed into her usual white dress of understated elegance. "Ready. Let us get all this over with."

"Yes. Let's," Caleldir complained. "If only the two of us could switch jobs, you negotiating with the rusalka, me talking with the leaders."

"That would be nice, but both of us must do things that we would rather not," Althaia said solemnly.

Althaia, Ashyr, and Selene discovered from a helpful servant that the leaders they were to meet with were already in the meeting hall. That was when they split the party; the women going to the leaders' meeting, and the men staying behind to find out a way to the Rusalka's eddy.

Carlotta, Zarag, Dria, Urag, Ungrai, and Artur were all sitting around a large table, along with a random assortment of about a half dozen other people. They spoke to one another with open, smiling faces as they ate and looked out over the city.

"Heroes!" Called out Artur when he caught sight of the ladies of the party approaching. "Come join us; we have things to talk about!" With that, Artur, Urag, and Zarag all stood and offered them their chairs.

"Of course, good sir." Althaia said sweetly to Artur. "But I am averse to taking your seat from you. Is there not enough chairs for everyone here?"

"There are chairs enough somewhere, I'm sure." Artur responded, still standing just behind the chair he vacated, and still apparently intent on giving the ladies his seat at the table. "But we'd have to send someone running for more. Really, It's fine; I can stand. I do far too much sitting around than is healthy for me."

Frankly, Althaia was torn. On one hand, it was rude to take a seat from her elders. On the other, it was also rude to refuse a gift that an elder insisted she take. Ashyr could get away with this sort of thing. She just did what she wanted. So did Selene, for that matter. After a few agonizing seconds, Althaia decided that she was overthinking things. "I thank you graciously for your seat, then." She curtsied elegantly, before taking the proffered chair.

For her part, Selene was more than happy to accept a chair from Urag. She settled down in his vacated spot with a regal expression on her face. Ashyr just rolled her eyes at Zarag, grabbed his arm, and forced him to sit back down in his chair, much to the half-orc's bemusement. "Don't want to sit." Ashyr explained as she took her place behind Zarag's chair. "We wanted to talk to you all about what's going to happen with the city."

"We wanted to speak to you as well. We have our own places we want to take care of; we were hoping that your party would be able to find someone to take Faust's place." Dria responded.

"Well then, you're in luck. Althaia has volunteered to stay back here while the rest of us wrap up our other mission. She may need your help in the beginning, but we're hoping that all of you can go home before too much longer." Ashyr explained. When she was done talking, she turned her attention to the Paladin to see if she had anything to add or request.

"My friends are going underground on a mission that requires stealth. Although I can hide my form, I cannot yet hide my paladin aura, which makes me unsuited for such a mission. There are other reasons for my decision, but those are of a more private nature." Standing up, Althaia bowed to the assembly. "If you will allow me to, and the people of Port Afron are not opposed, I would be honored to accept the mantle of leadership for this city until such a time as I am relieved from those duties by one more suited. On my honor as a paladin, and in the eyes of the gods, I swear that if you give me this duty, I will not disappoint."

All of the people present at the table looked relieved. They collectively sighed with relief and shot grins at each other; they would be able to go home soon. All trusted the Paladin to do a good job with such a task. She managed to get the druids and mercenaries to stop fighting, did she not?

"We will gladly give you this task, Lady Althaia. And know that we will not be far away, should you need to call upon us for help." Said Dria in a warm, friendly voice.

"I am truly honored by your faith in me," Althaia said humbly, then sat back down. She took a deep breath, calming herself. Being completely focused on being on her best behavior was exhausting. "If I need your help, I will be sure to call on you. But before you leave, Lady Dria, would you mind helping me a bit with my druidic magic? I mean, it seems like something of an irony for one such as I, for whom those arts are a facet of my being rather than something I learned, to have to ask, but I confess to being very young. I have not had centuries to practice, unlike my sisters, and lack many of their instincts, for I was born a child instead of springing forth as an adult. They proved to be useless in educating me. I need the experience of one who has earned her powers and actually knows their use. As of now, I have great strength in the divine but no finesse. If you would be willing to teach me, I would be very grateful."

"I would be glad to teach you some of my art, Paladin Althaia," Dria said as she gently reached out to touch the younger woman's shoulder.

"My troupe and I will be staying here for some time, at least," Artur informed her. "We will make up for the part we unwittingly played in distracting the city those weeks ago. By distracting them even more, of course." The people around him laughed at this. "I know a little about leading on a small scale. So you will at least have me whenever you need someone."

Althaia gave Artur a pleased smile. "Thank you, sir. I will be sure to come to you for advice. I know little of the ways of civilization. My knowledge has been of faerie and nature: of plants, insects, animals, and springs, not of civilization and culture: of castles, laws, lords, and kings. The sophistication that you bring, borne of a putting on a show in a thousand settlements across the world of mortals, will be a priceless resource for one such as I."

Ashyr smiled to herself. Althaia was having a little difficulty maintaining her behavior instead of falling into the immature silliness that she often exhibited, but to the rest her manners were as one born to servant leadership. She was doing her level best to make up for her lack of education in leadership through sheer charisma. In front of this audience, one already predisposed to like her, she was probably doing a good job, despite her nervousness.

"We still must plan for Faust's execution," Dria said, her face growing serious. "What are the plans for that? Is there a day that we can set?"

Althaia sighed and leaned back. "Should we put on a trial? Such a trial would tax me dearly, for it would be a sham. The outcome is already predetermined, of course, unless you are all willing to allow him a fair chance to plead his case, and a genuine stay of execution should he win it. Is it better therefore to not even put on the appearance of such a court, since a brutal truth is better than an easy lie? But not putting him on trial also sets a terrible precedent, for how can we be trusted to rule should we begin our government with injustice? For every sapient being, whether man or demon, deserves the full protection of the law. And that includes an impartial trial by their peers.

"So, it seems that we cannot put him on trial, but neither can we not. It seems that justice cannot be satisfied, for both options are abominably unjust. But there remains to us one option: Faust's confession. If he will confess to his crimes, of his own will, neither forced, threatened, nor compelled, a trial will not be necessary under the law, for a guilty plea requires only a sentence, not deliberation. Thus, I propose that I secure a full confession from him, and offer in exchange that we kill him simply: a beheading in the courtyard, limited to those who have the most compelling reasons to be there. It will not do to make a spectacle of his defeat, to rub his shame in the eyes of all. For Faust was once a good, just man, despite what he became. Even if he lost his mind, we must pay our respects to what he was, not just what he is. I will further allow him to name the date of the execution, to give him time to compose himself for death. Mercy demands no less, and justice no more." Given that many of those here were not aware of the plans to reincarnate Faust, Althaia carefully left that out of her little speech. Instead, she decided on a hard sell.

Funnily enough, the more she talked, the more comfortable she slipped into her role. By the end of it, her words were given with the authority of a ruler. Paladins really were natural leaders, even if they tended to be infuriatingly Lawful Good.

The gathered group quietly listened to Althaia. By the end of her speech, they were all nodding in agreement. The Paladin's words made sense, and despite her insistence that she was young and inexperienced, the nymph was doing a good job at acting far more restrained than one of her species might be expected to.

Dria was the one to respond. "I speak for all of us when I say that your plan to get Faust to confess is a good one. I agree; having a trail for him would be nothing better than a sham, since we all know that he must be put to death for his own sake as well as ours."

"Talk to him today, and perhaps tonight we might have good news. We're talking about having another feast, but I'm afraid that might have to be postponed until after the execution." Artur said. He looked to the rest of the gathering, and saw approval in the expressions. "So I was thinking that we wait, and then feast to celebrate our final victory and to see Caleldir off with the drow. We'll have more time to plan and decorate in that case." He grinned at the people present, who generally seemed amused at the old troop leader. "And this time, we won't get attacked." The group chuckled at this.

"Works for me." Ashyr said with a shrug. "Though, if you ask me, we'd be feasting every day. I love a good party. With lots of booze."

"We would eat up Port Afron' food store." Zarag told her.

"Right." Ashyr said with a sigh.

Althaia noticeably relaxed. She had not expected such ready assent. "Then I will waste no time. I will go to his prison immediately. It is early yet, perhaps this will all be behind us by tomorrow." She sighed. "An unpleasant business," she said gloomily. Then, she shot off a radiant smile to all assembled as she stood. She did not bow this time, her manners had changed from courtier to queen. "We will have a funeral for the old Port Afron, and a feast for the new. When I see you next, we will know what we need to do." Gesturing at Ashyr, she strode away.

Passing by the drow, she whispered to her in broken Undercommon. "If you would follow me with the..." she struggled for the word, and then just gestured. "You know." She changed to Common. "I will need you too, Selene." And that orcish necromancer.

Ashyr blinked. Someone had been paying attention to their speech. "Talk to you later handsome," Ashyr said to Zarag as she patted him on the shoulder. He grunted at her, but made no other reply. Urag looked amused, however. The ranger didn't have time to observe the exchange of glances. Instead, she was following Althaia away from the group.

Selene had the same thought as Althaia; they would need the orcish necromancer. So, after a quick and quiet exchange in the guttural tones of abyssal, Ungrai stood and followed the other three women away from the rest of the group. "My brother filled me in on everything." The orc-elf said in her strange voice. "I will lend my power."

"It would be up to a week before we really need you, Ungrai." Althaia replied. "All the same, I am glad that you are willing to help, and you cooperation with the planning will be extremely helpful." Althaia was not really that fond of Ungrai, since the woman was very clearly giving off that aura of evil, but she could still be useful. At any rate, it was not as if she was noticeably worse than Selene had once been. "If nothing else, I think that Caleldir will be willing to make it worth your time. He is a living repository of forgotten arcane secrets, after all. He was the head librarian of a cursed archive for twelve centuries."

"Oh. Alright," Ungrai said. "It is good to know that you need me. I can begin my research." It was unclear what he motives for helping the party were, but for the time it seemed that she was more than willing to lend her assistance. Just as she was glad to have an excuse to get out of the party she had been a part of on the lawn. "Let me know when you need me." With that, she wandered back towards the castle.

"So how are we going to do this?" Ashyr asked. "He's safe inside the dimension, but once we pull him out his father's going to try to take control again. Not a problem for getting a confession out of him... but a public execution?"

Althaia thought on Ashyr's question, and then shrugged. "I thought that R.I.S.A. had cast that divine-level Protection From Evil on him? He should be highly, highly resistant, if not outright immune, to possession. At least for a little while. Long enough for our purposes."

"She cast it on him?" Ashyr asked. "Well, that makes sense then. Thought she cast it on herself, for some reason. I wasn't really paying attention." She admitted. It wouldn't be the first time she zoned everything out when they were doing magic things. Unlike her cousins, she had absolutely no skill in that area. The couple of healing spells she had didn't count.

"R.I.S.A. cast the spell both on the area itself, and everyone in it. We are all under its effect right now. You just have not noticed because no evil outsiders are attempting to grab or possess you, neither are you the target of any enchantment spells. Ungrai may be evil, but is not an outsider, and so will not be affected by the spell unless she tries to attack us. She can even enter the warded area without harm, but cannot use undead there. Her alignment would probably make R.I.S.A.'s dimension very uncomfortable, though. Normally, Protection from Evil and Circle against Evil are both very low level spells, but R.I.S.A.'s version was potent enough to burn her out for days. Although, perhaps we should just ask her the specific details?"

"So perhaps my alignment hasn't-" Selene began to say, then she shook her head. "No. I didn't so much as feel a twinge of discomfort." She sighed.

Althaia decided to not comment on Selene's wishful(?) thinking. She pursed her lips, continuing the conversation on Faust specifically. "Alternately, we do not have to have him leave R.I.S.A. at all. Instead, we record his voice using illusion magic, and then broadcast an illusion of both the public confession and execution. The confession would still be his own but the execution would be pure illusion. Instead, we will end his current life inside R.I.S.A. Having Ungrai kill him by means of Soul Drain or some other necromancer ability might make our little reincarnation project easier. We will just need to make the illusion as potent as possible, so that no one but those within our immediate circle will be able to see through it, regardless of luck. That may need all your combined arcane knowledge on its own."

The paladin sighed. "It is worth noting that we will have to wait for R.I.S.A. to recover for actual reincarnation since it will be her divine power that will allow us to make him an Aasimar. Normally outsider races - even native outsider races - cannot be created with Reincarnate magic. Without the four of us, it would be impossible." Frankly, Althaia did not know how it would work, only that it was possible. R.I.S.A. and Caleldir had that knowledge.

"Do you think that it would be easier if we had actual Aasimar blood? I'm sure that we could convince that Gailwen I mentioned to donate some," Ashyr asked.

"I'm sure it can't hurt. But, as I said, we'll have to wait for R.I.S.A." Althaia responded.

Ashyr sighed, then grinned. "I'm surprised she hasn't asked us to recharge her."

"Are we going to talk to Faust now? Or should we wait until we're closer to resurrecting him?" Selene asked, trying to stay on topic before Ashyr started planning another orgy.

"Right now, I think." Althaia said. "There is no need to reincarnate him immediately. Both Ungrai and I can preserve his body indefinitely. We can even keep his soul here; Caleldir can make him a ghost and cart him around until we are ready for the ritual. It would be better to get it over with now rather than later."

Ashyr nodded. She led the group to a more secluded place within the castle grounds, then activated R.I.S.A's figurine. The former lord still sat within his cell, where he had been quietly contemplating this life and the next throughout the previous night. He barely slept, barely touched his food, and barely made a noise beyond a low murmur when he spoke to himself aloud.

Althaia quietly approached Faust's cell and sat down just outside it. She, at least, found it completely impossible to be mad at anyone in so much obvious grief, no matter what their crimes had been. Especially since his crimes had been under the duress of diabolic possession.

After a moment's contemplation, Faust approached Althaia and sat down across from her on the other side of the invisible wall, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Lord Faust," the Paladin began gently. "It seems that I have been appointed the new interim ruler of Port Afron. But, I cannot do this on my own. I will need you by my side, guiding me. Who knows, with time you may even be able to becomes Lord of Port Afron again. But you cannot do that in this form." She sighed. "I have told the council that I will not allow your execution unless you are found guilty in a trial, and said trial has to be absolutely fair. But, such a trial is impossible. The only other option is for you to confess. Either in public, or when we have an illusionist to record your confession so that we can fake you in public. Your execution will be quick, clean, and mostly painless. Do not think of it as a death. You may spend a few days as a ghost, but when we return you to life you will be more than ever before, and completely free of your father. You will finally be your own man. I think that we all want to close this chapter soon, so if you will cooperate with us, we would like to get the unpleasantries over with either today or early tomorrow."

He studied her in silence as she spoke, and when she was done he looked to the ground between them. His brilliant golden eyes weren't actually seeing the ground, of course. Rather, they looked inward.

She then gave him a smile. "Speaking of which, your current name is that of a famous diabolist. I think that it will not suit your next life. I am partial to the name Phanuel, after the angel of Repentance and Hope, but if you have a different preference, I am open to it."

"I know of my name's origin." He told his voice so deep one could feel it rumble in their own chest. "It is the name given to me by my mother, for reasons that should be obvious. Perhaps I no longer want to be associated with demons and death in my next life. But I will take Phanuel into consideration."

"Your mother appears to have a rather biting sense of the dramatic, apparently," Althaia noted. "My own mother named me after a... well, actually I am named after another nymph." She sighed.

He took a deep breath, not addressing the first part of the paladin's words on purpose. Death did seem like the logical conclusion to all this. But it didn't change the fact that seeing his demise in the near future was absolutely terrifying. And what had he done to deserve it? Be born? No. No, what he had done was far worse; he tried to rise above his heritage, and succeeded just in time for his father to take his place and abuse that success. He should have known better.
"I will stand before the city and confess to my fathe- to my crimes," he finally agreed. "I do not relish the thought of death, but I can see it is the only way. For me, and for Port Afron. I do not wish my city to fall into chaos and distrust of its leaders." A look of chagrin crossed his crimson red face. "Any more than it already has. Once I am resurrected, I swear to help you get things back in order. I would like to make up for what I have done in this life."

Ashyr frowned at the furred tiefling sitting in front of Althaia. The fiendspawn not only seemed - well, not evil - he seemed like a legitimately good person, now that he was finally away from his father's influence. It was all very confusing for the drow, since she dearly wanted to hate the man partially responsible for all that death.

"I understand a little of what it means to struggle against my heritage," Althaia said softly, guessing at what the tiefling was feeling. "My kind spends their time hiding in secluded springs and living lives of worthless hedonistic indulgence. I have been struggling all my short life to rise beyond that, but I cannot imagine what you have done with your life. My own heritage tends to hedonism, not evil. You have my respect for becoming the man you were."

"It is possible to deny your own blood, Paladin Althaia," Faust assured her. "... as long as your parents don't interfere." He leaned back, looked to the ceiling, and let out a puff of air in an explosive sigh.

"My parents really are not going to interfere," Althaia stated with sad confidence. "They are too... busy."

[It seems that keeping him imprisoned is no longer necessary.] R.I.S.A. said. Her voice was distant and weak. The wall of force dissipated. [You should be immune to possession now, Lord Faust. That spell... well, I burned Divine Essence to cast it. Your being here made me aware that there were powers that could break into my plane, and I had to remove that vulnerability forever.] A sighing noise wafted through the demiplane. [I will be able to participate in the reincarnation in two days time, but will not be able to assume physical form, not even of my weakened alternate personality, or give you access to the rest of the plane, for another six.]

"That is probably why she has not asked us to... you know," Althaia muttered to Ashyr in broken Undercommon.

Meanwhile, Faust reached out and placed his hand flat where the barricade had been. Sure enough, his hand passed through it. Rather than looking pleased, the tiefling merely looked resigned. Technically, he was free. Technically, he wasn't. "Will I have the blood of a specific celestial? Will they try to use me as an avatar? I don't want to be used again. Not for good, not for evil. I would like to make my own decisions." His voice was a soft rumble, yet somehow sounded vulnerable. Vulnerable, and very, very tired.

Ashyr walked through where it had been. She sat down cross-legged beside Faust, facing him. Even when she reached out to feel his second set of horns near the back of his head, he completely ignored her. The tiefling was more focused on the paladin.

Althaia frowned a little. "Well, I was going to use some of Aelsuna's power, some of R.I.S.A.'s, and perhaps some blood from this other Aasimar that I know of to give you celestial blood but that will not leave you open to possession. Even if it did, Celestial creatures will not use someone against their will like that. There is a big difference between the heavens and the hells."

She glanced over at Ashyr, shooting her a questioning expression, then turned back to Faust. "When will you be ready for... well, everything?" she asked quietly.

"I would prefer it to be sooner rather than later," Faust responded. "Sitting here, waiting for my death..." A humorless smirk pulled at the edges of his mouth "... the anticipation will drive me insane." He sighed. "But I don't suppose being a ghost is going to be very pleasant, either. -What are you doing, drow?" He finally asked in an annoyed tone when Ashyr began to feel the texture of his hair down the center of his head.

"Is your father a goat man? A red goat man with, like, a dozen horns and a wild mane? Like a satyr, but... eviller?" she asked softly. When she said this, Selene turned to give Ashyr a funny look, and Faust a contemplative one.

"Yes? I didn't get all that from my elf mother." He responded in a slow tone that suggested Ashyr was being stupid.

"Right. Okay." The older drow said. Though Faust gave her a questioning look, she didn't elaborate. Instead, she got to her feet and went to Selene. The two of them shared a Look.

Althaia watched Ashyr, Faust, and Selene's interaction with a slight quirk of her eyebrows. So... chances were that Ashyr and Selene knew either Faust's father, or someone like him. Good information to file away for the time being. But now was not the time to address that. She stood up and turned towards the inactive portal out.

"I will confess, but it needs to be done in front of as many people as possible." Faust told Althaia as he stood. "Send a message out, have the city gather in my - in your courtyard this afternoon. We can have the staff set up my podium, and we will address the people. Then... well, then you can execute me in front of whomever will watch." He didn't look entirely pleased about the plan, but he was at least resigned to it. "I will remain here for now. It wouldn't do for people to see me free."

"Then we will return once the preparations are made." Althaia sighed. "I am beginning to think that being 'in charge' is 90% running around delivering messages, or having people deliver messages to you. Or maybe I have a skewed perspective. Anyway."

Faust shook his head, almost looking amused. "No. It is 90% telling other people to deliver messages. Now, go and get the message out."

Althaia giggled slightly. "I suppose I have that to look forward to." She sighed. "Well, shall we be going then? We can have you confess now, and... get the rest over once Caleldir is back." She did not really like talking about executing a man in front of him, even if it would be a temporary thing.

[Two days until I can help.] R.I.S.A., voice even more distant, reminded everyone. [You can use this room in the meantime, but I cannot create anything for you to use. Everything you need will have to be brought in.]

"We remember," Althaia said. She gestured the others towards the portal.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Said Selene. "Now, we should probably see about getting Caleldir back."

"Back?" Faust asked, confused.

Ashyr grinned. "We are trying to deal with your rusalka."

"Oh." Then realization dawned on him. "Oh. Ah. Yes. You... probably shouldn't leave him alone with them."

"Yeah, probably not," Ashyr said as she reactivated the portal.

Althaia chuckled. "Caleldir gets himself into these sort of things a lot. It is how I met him and the drow, after all. Let us go get him and Tsabdrin." She followed Ashyr out of the portal.

Ashyr waved Selene through the portal and closed it on a contemplative Faust. "Alright. You go get a town crier or whatever it is you surface-dwellers use for delivering messages. I'll talk to Zarag and them, tell them the good news."

"... And I'll see into getting my brother and Caleldir back," Selene said. She didn't fare well with the rusalka last time, but she was confident that she would manage this time around. "We can meet back at Faust's rooms in, oh, fifteen minutes?" The mage squinted over at the sun, which was a good hour or two from its zenith still. It promised to be a nice day for an execution. "We'll still have most of the day to plan for things."

Althaia took a deep breath. "I guess I can try to find a town crier. Whatever that is. I mean, I have no idea how people spread messages. Maybe I would be better off going with Selene to get those two? I mean, I can handle the rusalka. I certainly understand them better than I do messengers. Or whatever." She shrugged helplessly. Althaia had only the most general of ideas how human cities functioned.

"The castle staff will help you." Selene responded dismissively. "That's what they're there for. I assume they get paid for it and everything." Unlike with the Duskhaven manor staff in the Underdark, where they were lucky to see a coin or two every now and then. "They need to get used to you giving them orders, just as you need to get used to giving them." Selene was fine with retrieving the boys by herself. If she was lucky, she'd get to unleash her power on the decidedly evil fey without Althaia's spell or her staff backfiring on her. At the very least, she could torment that rusalka whose hair she ruined.

And so, the drow departed. The nymph, eyes the grey of stifled emotions, body language still a bit drained, went off to find a servant to make the declaration.