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Loose Threads
One Hundred Thirteen
Year Forty Seven
Naldryn slid out of bed and picked up her dress before looking back at the bed as she tucked it under her arm. “I know you’re not asleep.”
Iain made a show of stretching and slowly sat up. “What,” he asked groggily.
Naldryn laughed at him as she headed for the door to the bedroom. She’d never been comfortable using his bathroom unless they were having sex in it. “You’re not fooling me. When did you last actually sleep?”
Iain dropped any pretense of being sleepy. “It’s been a couple of weeks. I just don’t need it sometimes.”
The dwarf paused at the door. Years of being a priestess of Eilistraee had eroded any nudity taboos she might have had and becoming Iain’s infrequent lover hadn’t given her new ones. “Tagiss said that sometimes dragons don’t sleep for decades and then when they do sleep it can last through entire decades. Do you want to do that?”
“I do not, which is why I try to sleep almost every night,” Iain pulled the blankets back and got up. “When I do sleep, I still only sleep through one night, so I’m not stressing myself.”
Naldryn nodded. “That’s all I can ask. I’ll see you at dinner.” Then she was gone.
Iain got into the shower and quickly bathed. He pulled open the curtain and blinked at the towel being offered to him. “Thanks.” He took it and stepped out to begin toweling off as Eilistraee smiled broadly at him. “It’s been a while since you did this. Are you here to ogle me again or did you want to use the shower next?”
She laughed. “Good morning to you, Iain.” Her humor faded. “I’m here because I want to talk to Mielikki.”
Iain stopped drying to focus on Eilistraee. “Lady, I have no idea where she is and I promised my Mielikki to do nothing to worship her or otherwise draw her attention.”
“I want to talk to the goddess Mielikki that you know and worship, Iain.” Iain started to say something but stopped and Eilistraee nodded her approval at the frustrated look that appeared on his face. “Good. No, you may not ask why I want to talk to her. I realize that bringing her here could prove problematic, so I want to go to where she is.” Iain opened his mouth again and she held up her hand to stop him from saying a word. “I am speaking as your goddess, Iain. I insist you do this. I will not harm your family and I will not let your family be harmed because of what I will have you do this day.”
Iain’s voice was flat. “You can’t guarantee that. My instructions were to not contact my family.”
Eilistraee’s face was somber. “You do not think I can protect them?”
“I do not think you can spare the time to always watch over them, even if you wanted to. And if you cannot watch over them constantly, no, you cannot protect them.”
“I only intend to make contact with Mielikki. She may be clan, but is she related to you by blood or marriage?”
“She is not.”
“Then I am not contacting your family, am I? Could I use that argument to lessen the threat against your family?”
Iain regarded her evenly for a moment. “Come with me.” He tossed the towel into the shower tub and headed for the door to his bedroom. He quickly dressed and took a piece of chalk from where his chalkboard was. “Just a moment.”
Eilistraee put her hand on his arm as he started to draw on the wall. “I asked you a question. Could I use that argument to lessen the threat against your family?”
Iain turned to face her. “The name of the person who sent me here is Nightraven and, when she comes here in seven hundred years, she is only going to be interested in determining if I carried out her mission and if I have done so to her satisfaction. She isn’t going to care about anything else that I have done or anyone that I have interacted with unless it somehow impacted what I am supposed to have done for her. You cannot reason with her. She won’t even speak with you and it is unlikely that you could force her to even if you want to. On the Toril where she lives, the gods are not afraid of her but they still tread lightly around her and they do not antagonize her if only because that for some of them, she was living where she lives before they came into existence. That and sometimes they send their servants to seek her help with something. Once in a while, she will acquiesce, but for a price, and they accept her behavior in this.” Elistratee’s eyes had gone wide in surprise. “So, no, you cannot use anything to attempt to reason with her and defend what I am about to do. It is, however, an argument that I can use to reason with her since I have never gone out of my way to disobey her without a damned good reason for doing so.” He drew a doorway on the wall with the chalk. “She will accept this reasoning,” he looked over his shoulder at the goddess. “This time, but she will not accept it if I use it more than a few times.” He placed a hand on the drawing and the lines glowed for a second before sinking into the wall to cut the doorway he’d drawn. Iain opened the door. “You can stay here or you can come with me, but if you do come with me, you stay next to me and do not speak until I say it’s safe.”
“Should I take your hand?”
“That would help.” She took his right hand. “Good, now come with me, stay close and be quiet.”
They stepped into the room that was Iain’s quarters on the Phantasmal Surveyor. Sending first passwords, his twee said. Received and acknowledged.
The Phantasmal Surveyor’s hologram appeared. “Name yourself.”
Answer in Greek. Iain did so. “I am Iain the Grey of Clan Grey.”
She nodded and spoke in Hebrew. “Place your thumb on the analyzer.” Iain tugged Eilistraee with him to where a DNA analyzer rested. He touched it with his thumb. The Phantasmal Surveyor switched back to English. “Clan Leader, who is this with you?”
“This is the goddess Eilistraee. She is my guest for the next few minutes. She can understand English but she is more comfortable in elven.”
“Understood,” Phantasmal Surveyor said in elven. “Why are you here, sir?”
“I need to get my phone.” Iain looked at Eilistraee. “This image is of the spirit that controls where we are. It is called the Phantasmal Surveyor and it is a ship that is in the void between planets here in Realmspace. You can let my hand go now, as long as you stay in my quarters.”
Eilistraee was looking around the room warily. “What would this guardian have done if you had failed its tests?”
“It would have destroyed this room along with the ship it controls and tried really hard to destroy us when it did so.”
Her fingers tightened on his. “May I continue to hold your hand?”
Iain smiled slightly. “You may. We’re just getting an item I want you to take with you on your trip.” He hesitated. “Now where is it?”
Phantasmal Surveyor looked at him. “May I remember, sir?”
“Yes, please.”
The hologram turned and pointed at a cabinet. “It is on the third shelf on your left as you face it.”
“Thank you.” Iain tugged Eilistraee to the cabinet and opened it with one hand. “And here it is.” He scooped it up. “We will be going now.” He looked at the hologram. “Did you have any problems gathering supplies on Glyth?”
“I did not, sir. As you anticipated, the illithids attempted to intercept my shuttles. As you instructed, I responded by eliminating the forces which attacked them and collected their remains for part of the organic material I needed. Eirian and the others sorted out any valuables before I processed everything into raw material.”
Iain nodded. “Good.” He turned back to the doorway leading back his bedroom. “Carry on.” Once back in his bedroom, Iain looked at Eilistraee. “I need my hand back for a few minutes.”
Eilistraee released his hand. “Can I have it back later?” She glowed for an instant and was wearing comfortable looking leather clothing with a wool cloak.
Iain gave her an odd look. “You may, if you want.” He closed the door and it became a drawing again. He retrieved his towel from the bathroom and wiped the wall clean. “Now I’ll need a minute to program my phone. You’ll take it with you and it’ll send a message as soon as you arrive. You will arrive on an artificial grassy plain and there you will meet Theodora and possibly Daya, both of who are in my clan. They will assist you in meeting with Mielikki.” Your phone is as ready as I can make it, his twee said. “Do you have any questions?”
“How will I get to this plain?”
“I will open a gate for you. It’ll remain open the whole time you are there and I’ll close it after you return. Only a few seconds will pass here between you leaving and your return.” Iain held out his phone. “All you have to do is hold it or stick it in a pouch. You don’t have to present it like a holy symbol or try to use it as a weapon.”
Eilistraee smiled as she tucked the phone into a pouch on her belt. “I have noticed that you haven’t said lady or my lady for a while.”
He blinked. “Sorry, my lady. My mind is dwelling on potentially bad things while I’m scrambling to make what you want happen without anyone I care about getting hurt.”
She smiled teasingly. “Does the people you care about include me?”
“It does, lady. If I didn’t care about you, I would have not remained your priestess.”
“I am glad to hear that.”
Iain pointed at the wall where he’d drawn and then opened the door and a glowing circle opened up on it. “And that’s your portal.”
Eilistraee’s eyebrows rose. “You didn’t cast a spell?”
“No, I didn’t. I’m not supposed to be pointing either, since it helps develop bad habits and can warn someone if I’m sending something nasty in their direction, but it was helpful in the beginning and it’s proving harder to break than I thought it would be.”
“Using the Weave requires spell casting.”
Iain nodded. “I do that with my formal magic and with the gifts you have given me to cast clerical spells.”
“That was neither of those.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be on your way? The portal won’t stay open forever.”
Eilistraee looked at the portal and back at him. “We will continue this discussion later.”
“Lady, with all due respect, that kind of discussion could draw the attention of Mystryl, and I don’t want her attention and I thought you didn’t want me to have her attention.”
“We will have that discussion later.” Eilistraee looked at the portal. “This will take me where I wish to go?”
“This will take you to where Theodora and Daya can help you meet Mielikki while still hopefully keeping Nightraven from deciding to do something that will fundamentally change our relationship for the worse.”
“I will want to know more about this person.”
Iain shook his head. “We’ll talk later. Just understand that if I tell more than I should, she will possibly kill me and everyone that she thinks might have recently been nearby anyone who might have heard what I said.”
“We will talk later about what that means too.” Eilistraee stepped through the gate.
***
Eilistraee stepped out onto a grassy plain. It was night and a look up showed the sky was full of stars she didn’t recognize. A quick glance reassured her that the portal still glowed behind her.
Suddenly, without warning, a woman appeared in front of her. Next to her floated a light that dimly lit up the area while still providing more than enough light to see by. “I am Theodora and, on behalf of Clan Grey, I welcome you to the Danger Room, Lady Eilistraee. If you will come with me, I will take you to a room not far from here where you will be served refreshments while waiting for Mielikki to join us.”
“How did you know who I am?”
“Iain’s phone is broadcasting a message informing me of who you are and why, as far as he knows, you are here. I heard the message and that is why we are having the pleasant discussion that we are.” She turned and strode into the darkness, the light sliding along beside her.
Eilistraee followed. “What would have happened if I did not have Iain’s assistance in coming here?”
“We would be having a similar conversation but Mielikki would not be on her way and I would be deciding what I was going to do with you and how to protect my clan from your presence.”
Eilistraee noticed that Theodora walked through the grass without the grass moving as she passed. “Are you a spirit like Phantasmal Surveyor?”
“The form that you see and are following is generated the same way that the one you saw on the Phantasmal Surveyor is created and operated. However, other than that, we are very different. She is an artificial construct that is used as a guide to operators and guests on board the Phantasmal Surveyor, but she is not any sense alive. I am, in my own way, as alive as you are.” She glanced over her shoulder at the drow goddess. “In short, no, I am not. Would you prefer detailed explanations from now on or the simplified ones instead?” A square metal building loomed out of the darkness and Theodora paused as a metal door slide silently open. “Please come inside.”
“If I do not understand the detailed explanation, may I ask questions so that I might?”
Theodora smiled as they entered a warmly decorated room with a table with two chairs seated at it. A dozen pitchers and a tea service sat on the table next to a platter filled with cookies, donuts and some fruit. “You may ask all of the questions you want, and I will not become impatient with you while continuing to explain. Please be seated. Would you like some tea and a snack?”
“Do you have ginger snap cookies?”
Theodora laughed softly. “You’ve been spending social time with Iain, and yes, I do.”
Eilistraee was nibbling on a cookie when the door opened and Mielikki strode into the room. She wore the clothing that she’d been wearing when she first met Iain in the forest and her hair was in a loose braid. She paused and inclined her head in a slight bow as she spoke in a neutral tone. “Eilistraee, I greet you. I am Mielikki of the Grey Clan.”
“And I greet you, Mielikki.”
Mielikki took the other chair and poured herself a cup of tea. “According to Theodora, you are the Eilistraee that Iain currently worships. Why are you here?”
“Iain has told me about you and about how you and the Eilistraee that you know are friends. Is this true?”
“It is. Although I have not seen her in some time, we are very close friends and our philosophies have much in common. Are you not friends with the Mielikki of your world?”
“Until Iain told me her name, I had never heard of Mielikki. That is not unusual in and of itself as I do not know many gods who are not gods of the elves. The human gods tend to keep to themselves and are especially insular. However, as much as I searched, I found no sign that a goddess by the name of Mielikki exists or ever existed on my world. It saddened me because I have few allies and I need every single one that I can find. Then it occurred to me that I did know where a Mielikki existed and that she could hopefully be my ally and friend.” Eilistraee smiled. “And I know of a place where her worship would be welcomed.”
Mielikki looked at Eilistraee evenly over the rim of her teacup. “You want me to come to Toril.”
“I do. You would be popular among both the humans and the elves. I also understand that you are clan but not family and so Iain would not be violating his instructions from his teacher.”
Mielikki put her teacup down. “What do you want from me?”
“I could use a friend and I want you to allow me to make Iain my Chosen. I need your permission since he is already your Chosen.”
Mielikki chuckled. “The Eilistraee that I knew liked to borrow the Chosen of other gods too. She shared one with Mystra.”
“Who is Mystra?”
“She is the goddess who, on my world, replaced Mystryl after she died.” Mielikki smiled. “If it does happen on your world, it won’t take place for several thousand years yet.”
Eilistraee nodded. “May I make Iain one of my Chosen?”
“He is an unusual choice for you. You tend to focus more on your priestesses than on men. Why him?”
Eilistraee smiled. “He is my priestess.” Her smile faded. “And he is working to spread my worship farther than I had ever expected anyone to. I wish to reward him and to encourage him to continue with this work.”
“Are you two lovers?”
Eilistraee laughed. “We are not. I am not interested in a sexual relationship with him.”
Mielikki smiled. “That’s what I said and meant in the beginning, too. And then he became my priest, and then my Chosen and, finally, my lover.”
Eilistraee blinked. “Really?”
Now it was Mielikki’s turn to laugh. “Yes, it is true.” She smiled slyly. “Do you wish me to share that with you as well?”
“I am not interested in him as a lover.”
Mielikki rose. “I heard you the first time and you just keep repeating that.” She chuckled. “Theodora?”
She appeared. “Yes?”
“Inform Ninhursag that I will be going to the Toril that Iain is on. I plan to return about the same time that he does, so I will only be gone for a few days. If I am needed before then, she has some scrolls that she can use to contact me.”
“Will this cause problems with Nightraven?”
Mielikki shook her head. “I am not part of Iain’s family, at least not yet. And if Iain had thought my presence would cause her to try to wipe out the clan, he would have told me not to come in the message he sent you when she arrived. Due to the time differentials involved, this is an unprecedented chance for me to grow in power without having to spend a great deal of relative time away from the clan and, right now, the clan needs all of the power it can gather.”
“Ninhursag and the others will be very jealous of you spending centuries alone with Iain,” Theodora pointed out.
Mielikki chuckled. “Which is your way of saying that you will be jealous of me too.” Theodora smiled and nodded. “I will be very busy with working on expanding my power base and making a place for me in the pantheons of Toril. I will not have a lot of time to spend with Iain.” She glanced at Eilistraee. “Besides, in the interests of expanding the clan’s power, I intend to encourage his attentions elsewhere.”
Theodora frowned. “I understand that Eilistraee spends most of her time nude. How are you going to maneuver Iain’s clothes somewhere so she is inundated with his scent?”
Mielikki grinned for a second. “I’m a goddess. I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll steal his pillowcases.”
Theodora sighed. “You have been spending entirely too much time around April.”
“No, I have been spending entirely too much time plotting with April and the others,” Mielikki said cheerfully.
Theodora nodded. “Your point is valid. And, even if Eilistraee does not become clan, your sallying forth to find new ways to gain more power will help us when the Danu sisters return. And we both know they will. Ygerna is becoming too powerful for them to resist trying to snatch for their own uses. And the fact that Gormlaith is learning magic will only make her as attractive a target as her daughter is. And they already think Iain belongs to them somehow. I’ll help Ninhursag understand the situation and why you are doing what you are.”
“Good. Could we have a guide so we can go back to the gate?” A light appeared in front of the door as it slid open. “Thank you. Come along, Eilistraee.”
***
Iain stared at the second figure as the gate closed behind them. “Mielikki, what is going on?”
She held up a hand to forestall him as she closed her eyes for a moment. “You’re right, Eilistraee. I have no analog here.” Her eyes opened and she smiled at Iain. “Eilistraee invited me to come to this world because there is not a Mielikki here and we can use this to spread my worship and increase my power while I help her to shore up her power base. I am clan, but I am not family and therefore you are not violating your instructions. Also, I will be very busy expanding my religion and you will see little of me for many years to come.” She frowned. “How long has it been for you?”
“Nearly fifty years. You?”
“You know it’s been three days since you tuned the gate that brought Eilistraee to One. What number is this world?”
“Twenty Three.”
Mielikki frowned. “There are some gaps. Later, we’ll go over the complete list so I know which is which.”
Iain nodded. “What do you need from me?”
“I need two things. First, I want you to go back to worshipping me and being my priest. Second, I want you to allow Eilistraee to make you one of her Chosen.”
Iain nodded again. “I haven’t denied her anything yet and I’m not going to start now.” He grinned. “At least this time I’m warned. You didn’t get permission and you didn’t even let me know what you’d done for a while.”
Mielikki smiled amusedly at him “As part of the oath you give to a goddess in order to become her priest, there’s that little part in the fine print where you agree to let her do what she wants with you.”
“I remember it.” He smiled at Eilistraee. “That boilerplate is in both your oaths.” He shrugged. “Do I get any perks out of being a Chosen? Better parking or free meals at fine restaurants?”
“You get to go on harrowing quests for the advancement and glory of your goddesses.” Mielikki replied. “And you spend more time with your goddesses than any other mortals get to.”
Iain chuckled. “I already do that.” He shrugged. “Well, so long as it doesn’t interfere with my mission. If Nightraven is upset about what’s happening, I’ll do what I can to make sure she punishes me and not anyone else. After all, I’m the one she’s least likely to kill and keep dead.”
Mielikki nodded. “Remind me that your relationship with her is necessary.”
“She is making me stronger and teaching me control that I need. And I need to learn everything I can in case our children are like me and truewizards so I can teach them. As I gain in power so does the clan.” He waved a hand around the massive room that held his bedroom and various work areas. “And, while she would never do many of the things that I’ve decided to have as hobbies here, as the years pass I’m starting to appreciate some of the ways she does do things and how she interacts with the rest of the world. Certain things would be much easier if more people feared me.”
Mielikki was watching him closely. “Will this appreciation be healthy for your family when you return?”
“When its tempered with the humanity I don’t have any more but still carry around inside me, yes.”
Mielikki cocked her head. “Pull back your hair so I can see your ears.” Iain did so. “I like you as an elf. Maybe I’ll take on some aspects of one too.”
“The elves already have some nature gods,” Iain pointed out.
“Yes, they do, and I’ll be stealing worshippers from anyone I can,” Mielikki replied. “Being more elven might help Eilistraee aid me in getting established here.”
“It should,” Eilistraee agreed.
“See. And, if I recall correctly, my clan leader gave me instructions to expand my portfolios since I’m the clan’s patron goddess. I’ll branch out as much as I can including into magic.”
“Well, that’s going to be fun.” Iain shrugged. “You two are the experts on worshippers and such. I’ve never been a deity.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve missed you. Are you staying?”
“I can’t. I know myself too well, and I know you too well. If I stay the night, I will be here for a few months, Iain. And if I stay for a few months, I may never leave. You may see me on my holy days and I may drop by once in a while, but I can never stay until we both go home.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say and I can’t disagree. I’ll keep busy.”
Mielikki smiled. “I believe we worry more about you staying too busy than not enough, Iain.”
Eilistraee laughed softly. “He never seems to rest or take time just to enjoy life.”
Iain shrugged again. “You’re an elf. Your idea of taking time to enjoy life can use up entire decades. While I am a dragon and I am wearing the form of an elf, I still live life like the human I was born as.”
Eilistraee frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means that there are never enough hours in the day for everything that I want to get done and I try to use my time as efficiently as I can.” He smiled briefly. “The biggest problem I’ve had is making sure I don’t cut back on my training and hobby time to focus more on the various missions that people have given me. It’s very easy for my mind to try and rationalize the sacrifice as justified by telling myself that once I get the primary framework for my missions in place I can take off a big chunk of time to catch up on all of the training I’d missed. I know myself well enough to admit that would never happen.”
Mielikki eyed him curiously. “You said you have hobbies. What do you consider a hobby?”
Iain chuckled. “I will admit that I am kind of sneaking some training into what I call a hobby, but it’s still more fun than real work.” He nodded towards Eilistraee. “Her idea of dance is improv and I steal my songs from everyone I’ve ever heard, so I don’t compose. But all formal mages, clerics and pretty much anyone else who does any magic needs to be like Darwin was while he was working as a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle. We all need to be able to accurately document our studies and the things we’ve seen. I found a teacher in a village a few hundred miles from here and I’ve been taking lessons in drawing, painting and some sculpture. I’ve also found another teacher who is instructing me in how to do woodworking in case I want to start crafting wands and staves. Later I’ll look into learning more than the basic sewing I already know how to do and I intend to learn more about smithery and gems.”
“Your hobbies sound as busy as your regular day,” Mielikki pointed out with a smile. “Which is what I’ve come to expect from you.”
“I have to keep busy or I’ll sit around and brood over the family I can’t see. Worse, I might get creative in self-destructive ways,” Iain replied quietly. “I’ve been cautioned by you and some others that I care about that I shouldn’t let that sort of thing happen.”
“And you should not.” Mielikki sighed. “If I do not go now, I may not.”
“Will I see you again during the next few centuries?”
“You will, but it will be with me as your goddess. Have you found anyone to love here yet?”
“No.”
She shook her head. “Iain, we both know that for you, that is just as important as your training.”
“Mielikki, I’m keeping my libido under control with regular sex with a wide assortment of people but love is something that just happens,” Iain gave her a wan smile. “And it hasn’t just happened to me here yet.”
“We both know that’s probably not entirely true.” Mielikki stepped up to him, draped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. “I will miss your presence in my life, Iain.”
He smiled softly. “And I won’t chase you away if you decide to stay so you’d better leave now if you’re going.”
She stepped back a pace. “You are ever my head priest, Iain, and advising me as to my path.”
“Mielikki, someone important to me gave me a job to do. I didn’t want it, but I accepted it and I will do it to the best of my ability. And here you will have to find someone else to be your head priest.”
“Do not put my service before your service to Eilistraee. At this time in your life she must come first.”
“I won’t.”
Mielikki nodded and spoke without looking away from him. “Eilistraee, he will serve you as well as he has me, if you will look past the fact that he is male and let him have his head. Do not waste his potential.” She smiled amusedly at him. “He’s also a very good lover.”
“I’ll remember your words of advice,” Eilistraee said with laugh in her voice.
Iain rolled his eyes. “Should I leave so you two can talk about me?”
Mielikki shook her head. “Farewell, Iain.”
“Wait!”
Mielikki paused. “What is it, Iain?”
“Plan to come by here soon. I gave Eilistraee a living weapon to help her. You should get one too.”
Mielikki glanced at Eilistraee. “You gave her a living weapon before you gave me one?”
Someone sounds like a jealous pokegirl, his twee noted as Iain shrugged. “Needs must and she needed one. You haven’t needed one before now and a living weapon wants to be used. Now you’ll have plenty of chances to use one while smiting evil and impressing potential worshippers.”
Mielikki glanced at Eilistraee again. “I accept that reasoning. When should I return?”
“Give me three days and then come here. I’ll have everything ready for you.”
She looked at Eilistraee. “Is that acceptable? If we’re going to be friends, I don’t want to start by seeming to trample over your prerogatives with your priestess.”
“I want to be your friend, Mielikki, and I know that Iain and you were lovers and he is your priestess too. I’m not jealous of your relationship with him.” She smirked. “Yet.”
Mielikki laughed softly. “Very well. Iain, I’ll see you in four days.” Then she was gone.
Iain took a deep breath, let it out slowly and wiped his eyes before turning to Eilistraee. “Have you accomplished what you intended to do today, lady?”
“I have. Thank you for your aid in this, Iain.”
He nodded. “I’m glad to help. Are you really scraping the bottom of the barrel so badly that you want to make me one of your Chosen?”
Eilistraee frowned. “I am not familiar with that simile. What does it mean?”
“The bottom of the barrel is where the dregs of the wine, including the sediments, are found. One of our supposedly great philosophers, a Greek named Cicero living in a place called the Roman Republic, first used it to describe the lowest and most common elements of society.”
Eilistraee’s brilliant blue eyes narrowed in annoyance. “Iain, you have been a priestess of mine for less than half a century. I have priestesses who have been in my service for their entire lives who have not accomplished a fifth of what you have done in my name, and that on top of all of the other things you are doing.” She smiled at his look of surprise. “You have rescued or arranged to be rescued thousands of my worshippers from the cities that my mother rules. You have rescued so many of them that Laelra has been forced to send some of them on to other colonies of mine elsewhere on the surface. You are one of the ones I keep a very close eye on. I know more about you and what you have been doing than you think. I consider you to be one of my best priestesses, which is why I wish to make you my Chosen. Will you let me?”
Iain opened his mouth to argue with her and stopped as his twee spoke. She is correct. The current count, if Zilvra’s reports are accurate, is three thousand, nine hundred and seventeen worshippers of Eilistraee that have been taken from various drow communities and escorted to the surface. That does not include the unborn babies of the forty two pregnant drow in that group. I don’t think they count for this. Of that number, two hundred and nine have stayed on to become clan since Zilvra started bringing them here first, including four priestesses.
Eilistraee was obviously waiting for him to say something and he gave weak shrug. “I can’t argue with you on the numbers thing, but I hadn’t realized how many we’d managed to reach until you rubbed my nose in it.”
“I’m glad you realize I’m right,” she said with some amusement. “But I asked you a question and I want an answer.”
“I am yours to command, lady. If you wish to make me one of your Chosen, I accept the honor cheerfully.”
“Good. Hearing that makes me happy.”
Iain bowed. “Is there anything else I can do that will increase your happiness?”
“Yes, there is.” Iain looked surprised and she smiled. “I gave you permission to use my name several years ago, Iain. You used Mielikki’s name while you were talking to her. You have yet to use mine when talking to me.”
Iain stared at her for several seconds while thinking furiously. “You’re right,” he finally said. “I haven’t and you did give me permission, but I would like to point out that giving me permission to do something and wanting me to do it are not the same thing. I waited a little while and you didn’t say anything so I continued on as I had been doing. My relationship with Mielikki kind of developed the way it did because for a while I was her only priest or priestess which made me her head priest by default. It is also true I saw her pretty much every day once she started training with the combat teams.”
Eilistraee frowned. “Training?”
“Grey Clan exists where you went to meet Mielikki, and she is a member of the clan. We’re a new and growing clan and nobody is afraid of us, so we follow the dictum of ‘if you want peace, train for war’. In our case, every adult trains within her specialty and every child trains to know where she needs to go when we get attacked. I’m not in the same team she is in and I’m not powerful enough to be one of her sparring partners, but we do train together when she rotates into my personal guard and so the two of us became pretty informal.”
“Do you train like that here?”
Iain nodded. “As best we can, we do. I would give up a redundant organ to have April and the rest of my training cadre here because they can make people give more than they ever thought they could, but I’ve done the best I can with what I’ve got and they’re a hell of a lot better than they were when I first got started. Anyone fucking with us will think they’ve stuck their head in a pool of starving piranha.”
Eilistraee blinked. “I know what that fish is and I think I understand what you’re saying. They will regret attacking you.”
“The survivors certainly will,” Iain said flatly. His tone lightened. “All I’m trying to do is explain why I’m comfortable using Mielikki’s name.”
“You two are lovers?”
“We were. But you heard her and right now we’re not. I hope we will be again someday.”
“She says you’re still lovers.”
Iain smiled. “Then we are still lovers. Far be it from me to gainsay one of my goddesses.” He watched her for a moment. “Eilistraee.” She looked surprised. “You asked and then chastised me for not doing what you asked. I may be dense sometimes, but I can learn. I’ll try to use your name when you’re here to hear it.” He smiled. “And not in tones that suggest I’m using it as a curse.”
“That’s good.”
“The problem is that I’m over trained from my time in the military,” Iain said thoughtfully. “I can treat you as my friend, but I can’t treat you as my friend and then treat you as my goddess. You are either an officer or you’re not.”
“I believe I understand what you are saying, Iain. In the hierarchy that you are thinking about, I would be your commander in chief, that is true. However, as my priestess, you are an officer too and as my Chosen, you are a very high ranking officer and nobility.” Her eyes focused on his. “However, our relationship is much more profound than that. I can have you as my friend and my Chosen or as my instrument and my Chosen and I know that you will perform much better if I do not treat you as an instrument.” She sighed. “While I am not as powerful as many gods, I do have many priestesses. I don’t have many friends and sometimes I’m lonely.”
“Are sure this is what you want? Once I’m your friend, I can’t just go back to just being your priestess. If you try, I’ll just tell you that you’re being silly and ignore you. Once I’m someone’s friend, I’m their friend forever, even if they decide I’m too much of an asshole to stay their friend. About the only thing you can do at that point to lose my friendship is to hurt the people I love.”
“I would like you as my friend, Iain.”
“All right, Eilistraee. I know you’re happier when you’re nude and you’re wearing entirely too many clothes right now. Strip and toss them on the bed while I get some cookies and see if I’ve got any wine that’ll go with them.” Eilistraee gave him a bewildered look and he smiled. “This is Iain being your friend. Yes, it’s different from Iain the priestess and more what you saw between me and Mielikki.”
“I don’t mind wearing clothes, Iain, but you are right, I prefer being nude.” She quickly stripped and dropped her clothes on the bed. “Now where are those cookies?”
Iain gestured. “This way.”
***
Year Seventy Three
“Iain?” He looked up from the tome he was double checking. Zilvra was standing in the doorway and waving something at him. “A courier on a griffin was here a few minutes ago to deliver a message to you from Shatris.” Her red eyes gleamed as she held up a sealed square of parchment. “It’s the only thing he delivered and he said it was urgent it get to you immediately.”
This had never happened before so it was probably actually important to someone and might even be important to him, so Iain nodded. “All right.” He put the pen down and carefully marked the place in the tome to his left to note both the page and the line of text he was on before closing it. The one in front of him still had wet ink in it and he carefully moved it up towards the center of the table he was working on so it would be out of his way while he let it dry. Then he stood and carefully stretched before sitting back down. He’d been copying an arcane drawing from the first book into one of his notebooks and it was hours of painstaking checking and rechecking of his penciled drawing before ever putting ink to paper.
Zilvra sat down next to him and stole a kiss as she handed him the letter. They’d started having sex a nearly a decade before after Naldryn had married Rardur Darkmore. Only a few years ago, they’d finally decided to admit to each other that they’d become lovers. They’d quietly let others know only to be surprised that everyone else already knew. Now they were together regularly, although Zilvra had resisted every one of Iain’s attempts to get her to move into his room with him. She spent around three days a week there, but no more. Iain was content to give her whatever space she needed.
Parts of their relationship were still rocky. Iain was Iain and a highly functional sociopath while Zilvra was a drow noblewoman who been had raised in a society that institutionalized paranoia and was also one where a priestess’ every wish was a male’s command. She’d never been in a relationship that required give and take between both people in it. They’d never really broken up, but things were sometimes very tense.
Iain started by laying the letter on the table in front of him and using magic and his perception to check for traps. Zilvra chuckled as she watched. “You don’t trust Shatris? I thought she was your friend.”
“She is my friend and I trust her. I don’t trust a whole slew of people who could have had access to correspondence between me and her and tampered with it.”
“If you’re going to be worried about the correspondence from Shatris, you should have never taken it from me,” Zilvra noted amusedly. “Traps can be keyed to contact from your skin.”
Iain looked up at her. “You are absolutely right, which is why I’d already checked the exterior surface of the letter for magical residue and strange chemicals before I accepted it from you. Now I’m checking the interior and it seems to be clear.”
Zilvra gave a throaty chuckle. “You’ll make a successful drow yet.”
“Shouldn’t I have assassinated you already if that were true?”
She snickered. “Now, Iain, you don’t assassinate a woman of my station until you have worked your way into a higher stationed woman’s favor and bed. In my house that means you’d have had to seduce my mother, who was notoriously fickle with her affections but never let her men leave her. You’d have ended up as a sacrifice within a year.”
Iain shook his head. “It sounds like I can’t win.”
Zilvra nodded. “No man can. In drow society, as you say, the house always wins, and the house is always a woman.”
“Well, the letter appears to be safe. There isn’t any magic on it and I can’t smell any strange inks or toxins. It smells like Shatris and two other people. One is probably the courier and the other is a woman I’ve smelled before on letters from her. It’s probably a maid or guard in Shatris’ service.” He broke the seal and extracted the sheet of parchment inside it. He gave it a quick scan and his eyes narrowed suddenly. “Damn.”
Zilvra frowned at the flatness of his tone. “What’s wrong?”
“The king is dead,” Iain replied without looking up from reading the letter for detail.
“You said his health has been bad for a while. He was even bedridden for a few months several years ago.”
Iain glanced at her. “His health has been bad for a while, but that’s not what killed him. Apparently Thefaren was out on a hunt and they were attacked by a green dragon. Except for the lone scout who survived and reported the attack, Thefaren’s hunting party was wiped out and,” Iain raised an eyebrow. “The king’s head and crown were never recovered. The crown I can understand since it was pretty ornate, but the king’s head?”
“When it grabbed the crown, the head came with it,” Zilvra suggested.
“Maybe,” Iain said absently. Zilvra poked him in the side. “What?”
“I know that introspective look. What are you thinking about doing?”
“Nobody knows who the dragon was, so they have no idea where it lives. The crown undoubtedly has Thefaren’s DNA on it and I have a sample of Thefaren’s DNA that I should be able to use to track it.”
“You once said that DNA is hair or fingernail clippings or blood. Why do you have Thefaren’s?”
“I collect DNA from pretty much everyone I ever meet,” Iain said. “It’s a habit I learned from Theodora. I snagged a piece of hair from him after one of my visits while he was bedridden since we thought he was going to die.”
“Do you have my DNA?”
Iain grinned at her. “I’d be hard put not to have access to your DNA. It’s all over my bedding, it’s in my shower, you’ve got your things in my room now, it is everywhere.”
“I can’t help it if your quarters are nicer than mine. You are the Grey after all, so it’s to be expected.” She gave him a contented smile that wouldn’t be of place on a sunning house cat. “And as a status seeking drow priestess, it’s also to be expected that I would spend much of my time with this ruler so I could enjoy his luxuries with him.” Her smile faded when his eyes returned to the letter. “When are you leaving?”
He looked up and offered her the letter. “I’ve got to cast the locator spell so I know where I’m going. You can watch if you’d like, but it’ll have to wait until after dinner. Since it’ll already be pretty late, I’ll probably just leave in the morning.” He shook his head. “I’ll have to be very careful. I don’t know who this dragon is, so I’ll have to scout the area and gather some information before I do anything else. I like being able to make sure my opponents don’t have any options that I’m not already aware of and I won’t be able to do that this time. I also may have to confront it in its lair, and I really don’t like the idea of letting them choose the battlefield. That lets whoever this is use all of his or her strengths against me and that’s never fun.”
Zilvra took the letter and began reading it. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to cheat outrageously, of course. I’m just not sure how yet.”
“What if the dragon has already disposed of the crown somehow?”
Iain laughed. “Even discounting the real, rather high value for the metal and gems that make it up, that crown is priceless. It’s been the crown of the Kingdom of Keltormir for over ten thousand years. It’s unique. Any dragon that lives anywhere near Keltormir can identify that crown on sight and none of them would willingly let it out of their control once they had it. If that dragon has given it up and isn’t dead, it’s to a much, much larger dragon or a god. And if the dragon doesn’t have it, she will know who does. She’ll tell me or her shade will when I summon it.”
“You are a much, much larger dragon, aren’t you? Can’t you make this dragon give up the crown?”
Iain’s smile made her pull away from him slightly as her heart suddenly sped up. “Thefaren was my friend too and some dumb fucking winged moron murdered him. I don’t have many friends and so I tend to overvalue the ones I do have. You don’t go around murdering my friends if you expect to get much older. I don’t care if that dragon is Tiamat’s boyfriend. I don’t care if it’s like the Shimmerscales were and it has dozens of relatives who will avenge it. I don’t care if it has seventeen heads and is ten times my size. It’s already dead. I just haven’t quite gotten around to finalizing the situation, and you can rest assured I will attend to that just as soon as I safely can.”
“I would rather rest assured that you will come back to me, Iain.”
“Zilvra, that’s what safely means. I’m not going to die to avenge Thefaren. If I can kill his murderer in a week and I am not worried I’ll be killed doing it, great. If I have to back off and study the situation for a while and kill his murderer after a decade of preparation to make sure I’m not killed in the doing, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Good. I’ve never been in a true relationship before with anyone. It’s a lot of work and it frustrates the hell out of me sometimes, but,” she leaned back against him as she dropped the letter on the table, “I’ve found it can be much more rewarding than I ever thought it would.”
Iain was silent for several minutes as she rested against him. Finally he stirred. “I’ll be careful.”
“Thank you.” She slid away from him and turned to face him. “Xune is coming home at the start of the next quarter and she’s bringing a friend she wants you to meet.”
“Shit. I was afraid of when this day would come.”
Zilvra was looking at him curiously. “I don’t understand why you are upset. What is it?”
“She’s my first child to grow up and move out,” Iain said quietly. “And now she’s bringing home her boyfriend. He won’t be worthy of her and I don’t get to kill him.” Zilvra looked at him for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Iain glared at her. “It’s not funny.”
Zilvra was still laughing as she spoke. “Considering that I’ve met the dragoness she wants you to meet, yes, it is very amusing.”
Iain’s mouth dropped for a second. “Xune is gay? I never realized it.”
Zilvra laughed harder until she dropped her head into her hands as she laughed. “Xune is not gay. I’d say that, sexually, she’s omnivorous more than anything else, but she’s not bringing home her romantic partner.” She took a deep breath and raised her head to look at him again, but her eyes still twinkled with suppressed laughter. “Xune is not looking for a mate right now.”
“So what is going on?”
Zilvra smirked at him. “Xune sent me a letter and in it she asked me to tell you she was coming to visit and bringing someone for you to meet. She didn’t tell me anything else.”
Iain reached out with his twee. Xune, Zilvra gave me your message about coming to visit and introducing me to some dragoness. What is this about?
Sorry, Father, but she invoked privacy. She’s not a threat and I can tell you that she’s considering becoming a Grey. I met her years ago while I was exploring around the mountains where the clan lives. We’ve been corresponding since I became governess.
Iain sighed. Fine, he sent grumpily.
Her laughter echoed in his mind. I love you, Father.
And I love you, Xune. Be well. And then her presence was gone. Iain checked the book. The ink was completely dry, so he carefully closed it. “Do you want to watch me cast the locator spell?”
Zilvra nodded. “I do. I want to understand more about how it works before I try to see if I can create a clerical version of that spell for Eilistraee’s church. It would be invaluable for finding people,” she smiled thinly, “or hunting down wanted criminals or monsters if we have something of their DNA already.”
Iain nodded, got to his feet and offered the drow priestess his hand. “Then come with me, my lady and we’ll get some dinner before we go to my lab.”
***
Iain, wearing the form of a vulture, circled overhead on a thermal as he considered the situation. Down below, hidden in the trees of the forest, was the entrance to a cave. Inside it, somewhere, was the crown of the Kingdom of Keltormir. And, inside it, was at least one green dragon.
Iain turned and headed west. He’d fly for a few hours before landing and consulting with Eirian about the situation to ensure he was outside the dragon’s immediate territory and, therefore, less likely to be randomly attacked before he was ready.
***
For years, Iain had used his twee to adjust his vision so that, with his naked eyes, he’d been able see as if he was using binoculars. Eventually he’d become a dragon, but he’d continued using his twee to give him binocular vision. Then he’d begun spending a lot more time as a dragon. A dragon’s eyesight was better than that of an eagle and Iain had learned how to incorporate that into his vision no matter what form he’d shifted into. Additionally, the eyes of a dragon saw a wider range of wavelengths of light than he could in any other form. He still used his twee for processing what he saw since it could notice details that he might miss, but it meant his twee started with a much higher resolution image to work with than before.
All of this meant that the lizardfolk who moved stealthily, using all the available cover, out of the overgrown entrance of the cave and towards the path that led in the direction of its village a few miles away in the swamp might as well have been waving neon yellow semaphore flags with flashing red lights on it as it walked.
Target, he sent through his twee to Eirian, Liadan and Rhea along with the feed from his visual cortex.
We have her, Eirian sent. Iain wasn’t sure of the gender, but Eirian and his other two undead harem members were much closer to their victim, and the wind was blowing in their direction. We estimate we will take her in ten minutes, when she’s far enough away to be certain she isn’t observed. When we are done, if necessary, Rhea will make it look like she was mauled to death by a large local animal. This area is teeming with wild hogs and wolves.
Iain nodded unconsciously and settled down to wait with the patience he’d worked so hard for many years to acquire. It still wasn’t always easy, but it was now something that came automatically.
According to his internal clock, fifteen minutes had elapsed when Eirian reached out to him again. We have her. She was uninjured from the capture and interrogation. Liadan has wiped her mind of our presence and sent her on her way.
Iain had shifted into the form of a crow for this operation. He flew from the tree he’d been on and headed away from the cave. I’ll meet you at the rendezvous. Once there, he shifted to his elven form and looked at the three members of his undead harem. “Well?”
“The dragon’s name is Karamoth and he lives alone,” Liadan reported. “From what the lizardfolk knows, he’s lived in this cave for generations. He once had a mate, but she was killed by elves a generation ago. From what the lizardfolk saw while she was dropping off tribute and getting orders, he’s playing with the crown and talking to himself about how his mate has finally been avenged. Her memories suggest the caves are heavily trapped and she does not know much about the layout since Karamoth always meets her in the first part of the caves. She does know that sometimes he has villagers go into his caves to repair some traps or do other work, but they never come back when they do.”
“Dead men tell no tales,” Iain muttered irritably.
“Their spirits can be summoned,” Eirian disagreed.
“Don’t you normally need part of the body for that,” Iain asked curiously.
“Yes, my lord, and that is what makes more reconnaissance unworkable. We can invade the caves and use brute force to destroy this dragon.”
“That might destroy the crown too, and I’d like to avoid that if I can.” Iain leaned back and looked at the clouds overhead. “What we need is a way to lure him out of his cave without that crown and, ideally, make him careless of his safety when we do.”
Rhea’s heads looked at each other. “That will prove difficult, my lord.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I think I have an idea, my lord, Sorrel said from where she rested on his right arm.
***
Iain put his back against the post and then started walking, counting paces as he did while balancing the post and shovel he carried with him. To his left, Sorrel was using an axe to chop down a tree. Beyond her were numerous stumps marking where the Armsmistress had already been at work.
When he counted off the correct number of paces, Iain dropped the post he carried on the ground and used the shovel to dig a hole. Once it was deep enough, he put the post in it and tamped dirt around it to keep it upright. Then he went back for the sign, which matched the one he'd put on the first post. One sign was conveniently pointed towards the entrance to Karamoth’s cave, a kilometer away, while the other was set at ninety degrees from the first. Each had a message neatly painted on it in Draconic, on both sides, in a font large enough for Karamoth to read from the entrance of his cave, should he wish to. The message read: “This land is claimed by the majestic and illustrious dragon Lord Snuffleupagus. If you are not longer than the distance between these posts, leave his lands or be prepared to give half your hoard to remain.” The posts measured off the length of Iain, in his dragon form, when he was stretched out.
Once the signs were in place, Iain joined Sorrel. They’d already marked out the foundation of a small building and spend the rest of the day cutting down trees, trimming off the branches, smoothing the trunks and then cutting them to length before sharpening them and beginning the construction of a log palisade five feet high. With only two people, it was slow going, but they’d set nearly a dozen logs by nightfall. They built a small fire, cooked a meal and then retired, with their meals, into a tent which had been erected inside the ground marked for the foundation. There, Iain ate both meals.
It was in the early morning when Sorrel sat up next to Iain from where she’d been pretending to be asleep. Eirian says that a force of nineteen lizardfolk is coming. She slipped out of the tent into the night. Do we let any of them escape?
Iain got up and joined her as she drew her sword. One or two at most.
My lord let me take the brunt of their attack, Sorrel said. I am already dead and you need to be free in case Karamoth uses them as a distraction and attacks.
Agreed. Iain drew his swords as his perception saw the group of lizardfolk silently rushing towards them.
The fight was short and, in the end, only one lizardfolk managed to get away, leaving half of an arm behind as it fled. The rising sun revealed Iain and Sorrel nailing the heads of the fallen lizardfolk to the outside of the wall they’d been constructing. Knowing the lizardfolk would try and recover the bodies in order to eat them and keep the members in the tribe forever, Iain and Sorrel built a pyre and burned them to deny them this tradition.
It was midmorning when Eirian spoke to him across their bond. My lord, Karamoth is leaving his cave and taking to the air.
Iain glanced at Sorrel, who smiled and nodded. Understood. Let’s see if he attacks or if he talks.
Sorrel’s voice sounded in his mind. We have bested his minions, my lord. He will seek to determine if we are truly what the sign claims we are and how to turn the situation to his advantage.
Either way, be ready.
Karamoth circled overhead, deliberately letting his shadow fall over Iain and Sorrel where they worked. They stopped and looked up. Karamoth was undoubtedly ancient, Iain decided, for he was easily one of the largest green dragons he’d ever seen.
Once he was sure he’d been seen, Karamoth landed about twenty yards from where Iain stood with Sorrel. “What is the meaning of this,” he demanded angrily in a booming voice.
Iain made a show of looking Karamoth over. He pointed at a spot of ground that had been marked off with stakes and rope. “The signs explain everything. You’re too small to challenge our master. When you return with your tribute, it goes in there. I have been authorized to allow you to keep ten percent of the tribute you’d be expected to provide if you agree to help guard the tribute in order to allow us to finish building a place to house it until our master can come and collect it. If you leave and another dragon agrees to guard the treasure while you are gone, any agreement we have is void. If you cause trouble our master will kill you and take everything you have. You are dismissed.”
Karamoth swelled like a toad, lifted his head and screamed fury at the sky before he crushed the vermin in front of him. Iain lunged, shifting to his dragon form as he did. His teeth sank into Karamoth’s throat at the base and he ripped a huge chunk of meat out in a spray of blood as he tore through arteries, veins and the dragon’s windpipe in one move. Karamoth’s scream broke off into a gurgle as bloody air bubbled up from his lungs and out through the wound. Iain sank his teeth in again and ripped out another chunk as Karamoth tried to backpedal, the incredible vitality of a dragon keeping him conscious.
Iain lunged past Karamoth and jumped on his back to pin him down. He took the back of Karamoth’s head gently in his teeth. “Thefaren was my friend,” he told the dying dragon in a calm tone. “And now his death is avenged, you stupid fucker.”
Unlike Iain, Karamoth needed to get air to his mouth to speak and couldn’t. He tried to struggle briefly until he had no strength in his body. Iain dropped him. “Eirian.”
The silver Dragoness appeared from where she’d been invisibly monitoring the cave’s entrance. “My lord.”
“Butcher him out but try to keep him alive as long as you can.”
“With our magic, my lord, he can survive until we remove his heart or his brain,” Eirian said with satisfaction.
Sorrel pulled off her helmet, letting her hair blaze in the sun. “My lord, no!”
Iain looked at her for a moment before shifting back to his elf form, still standing on Karamoth’s back. He walked up the base of the neck as he drew his sword. Using his perception as a guide for his thrust, the blade slid easily between the vertebra and into the spine, severing it. Karamoth shuddered and seemed to deflate. “Is that acceptable, Sorrel?”
She gave him a relieved smile. “Yes, my lord. Thank you, my lord.”
“Helesatra.” Red smoke poured from his back and formed the sun elf half fiend. “Somewhere in the cave is the crown of Keltormir. You know what it looks like. Take Matilda, Julia, Ling and Natalie and safely retrieve it.” The smoke of the ones he’d named shaped into their forms beside her.
“Yes, my lord.” Helesatra and the others raced for the cave.
Iain looked at Eirian. “Well, you can still butcher him out.” He jumped to the ground. “And, of course, his head goes in the trophy room.”
Eirian laughed as smoke swirled from Iain to form the other Dragonesses. “Yes, my lord.”
Iain looked down at himself. His head, mouth, neck and chest were covered with blood. He stripped off his shirt before it could drain down into his pants. “Sorrel, can you find me a towel please?”
***
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)
Bellona – Dragonqueen
Elizabeth - Vampire
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
73 Elves
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia – Chimera
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Dabria (was Loviatar) – Dark Queen
Omisha (was Hel) – Demoness
Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness
Helesatra Vyshaan half pit fiend (fiend) half sun elf. Princess of the Vyshaantar Empire.
Talyl – drow commoner
Zarza – drow commoner
Sabrae – drow commoner
Sintree – drow commoner
Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen
Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen
Selsharra of Evermeet
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)