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aithne(Stone Sky Dramatis Personae)
Imryne, of House Melrae
Book Three: Stone Sky
Chapter Eight: The Flame of Love's High Altar
Years upon years, and the flame of love's high altar
Trembles and sinks, and the sense of listening ears
Heeds not the sound that it heard of love's blithe psalter
Years upon years.
Only the sense of a heart that hearkens hears,
Louder than dreams that assail and doubts that palter,
Sorrow that slept and that wakes ere sundawn peers.
Wakes, that the heart may behold, and yet not falter,
Faces of children as stars unknown of, spheres
Seen but of love, that endures though all things alter,
Years upon years.
--Swinburne, Recollections
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
Within the next thread, other signs told her that Imryne was definitely heading into her cycle--and Urlryn was as well. Soon after that, she received word from House Naerth that they were going to be holding a series of gatherings for the members of the household that were about the same age and eligible for marriage. Imryne sent Phaere, Ulitree, Challay, Lesrak, and her youngest sister Nendra.
After three skeins, Challay and Nendra both chose husbands; Challay a male from the main line of Naerth named Kethan, Nendra one from a cadet line of Naerth named Vhurdaer. Lesrak was seeing a T'sarran female from a cadet line for a while, but the pair drifted apart by the time Challay brought Kethan into the household. By all accounts, Ulitree sat in a corner and refused to talk to anyone, and after three gatherings Imryne took pity on her and let her stay home. Many pairings between Naerth and T'sarran were settled, as well.
Phaere found a Naerth male from a cadet line that took her fancy, but a T'sarran female was pursuing him as well. Phaere met with her rival to discuss the resolution of their mutual problem in one of the outer reception rooms of the house.
The discussion took a suspiciously long time, and when Imryne saw her next she was walking to her room with mussed hair, disarranged clothing, and a satiated smile on her face. The next ilit, Phaere asked Imryne if she could have permission to take both the T'sarran female and the Naerth male as her spouses. Since Phaere was the higher ranked female, they would both come to live in Melrae.
Imryne gave her permission, and gladly. Life was going well, for once. Ryld had two more doses of the Star Dance potion and emerged from each with more of the damage done to him healed; by the time seven surface months had passed, he had learned to stand, though it was still physically difficult and painful for him to do so. He had enough strength in his arms to give Imryne hugs, and did so at every opportunity. He spoke now, though his speech was slurred and hard to understand, and he far preferred to speak mind to mind.
Lesrak seemed easier in his skin now that he had been banded, and Imryne saw more of him than she had in the terrible days after Triel had died. Tar came out of her depression as well, though she had no interest in taking the Star Dance potion to hurry another cycle along.
House Melrae collected the taxes on the slaves, and soon enough there was enough money to start on a project. The money hired a lot of hood hands to start repairing the water and sewer systems, starting with the slums and then heading up to the noble section. Imryne talked Oblodra--offering some of the tax money and a captured drider as an incentive--into repairing two of the seven great fans that moved air around Fanaedar, so the air was less foul than it had been.
Though they let leak the information about the weakness of the driders, it took a disguised Jevan taking out the legs of a lone drider to demonstrate it for those who feared and hated the driders to take action. Now it was a regular occurrence, hardly a thread going by without Imryne hearing a report of a drider or two taken in the slums.
Urlryn and Maya were busy, and by the time Ryld was standing they had been through all of the houses in question. Despana, Devir, Agrach Dyrr, Auvryndar, Barrison Del'Armigo, Druu'giir, Jusztiirn, Mezrylornyl, Rilynt'tar, Sshurlynder, Teken'duis, Tuin'Tarl, and Yauntyrr were Lloth houses. Aleanrahel, Arkhenneld, Horlbar, Maerret, Melarn, Nanitarim, Ousstyl, and Srune'lett were Ellistraee houses, and Imryne charged House T'sarran with opening alliance talks with all of them that were not already allies.
Houses Khalazza, Q'Xorlarrin, Xorlarrin were Indran houses, and Imryne asked Oblodra Pellanistra to open negotiations with them. The remaining two houses, Symrivvin and Eilservs, were a mess. Both of the matron mothers were Lloth worshipers, but the majority of the children were Ellistraee worshipers, and there was massive infighting in the houses. There were ways to turn that to Melrae's advantage, but Imryne had not yet had a chance to put any of them into play.
House Tlabbar was a mystery, even after Urlryn and Maya had been through it twice. The Ellistraee cathedral and the Lloth temple within the house both stood empty and unattended. The house was stuffed full of expensive statues, gold and jewels much apparent. Tlabbar, to all appearances, was a house that had sold its spiritual self to the highest bidder, but it was difficult to say who that might have been.
Imrae was known to be generous to her allies, and there was no evidence that Amalica had given up her faith--but there was little evidence that she had kept it, either.
Urlryn reported that Maya was a natural at the physical aspects of spying, and was very quickly gaining competence at the mental skills required. The relationship between Imryne and Maya was still strained, though getting easier; Maya seemed to take much comfort from Urlryn's company, and Ryld's.
Today, Imryne was dressed in a silvery gray gown, still wearing the color of mourning. Triel had been dead for almost three skeins now, and Imryne was wearing slightly more elaborate clothing and more jewelry than she had right after. She glanced down, smoothing her hand over her still-flat stomach. She sometimes fancied that she could feel the child that had been sparked half a skein ago, a small spark of glowing life nestled in her vitals, though she knew that she wouldn't start showing for at least a skein and feel the first fluttering movements of the child then as well. Be a girl, she thought to the child. Be a girl, another heir, and let me keep you close by me always.
Urlryn had caught a few threads after Imryne, but she was already showing a little, and her pregnancy so far had been plagued by morning sickness, exhaustion, and swollen ankles. Tar kept on checking her worriedly, casting spells to try to make Urlryn comfortable and find out what could be causing her to carry with difficulty. She thought that Urlryn might be carrying twins, though it was too early to be sure. Urlryn was so fine-boned and small that Imryne had difficulty imagining what it would be like for her to carry not one but two children to term. One child was dangerous enough to bear, but two?
Imryne turned her attention to her hair, checking that all the jeweled pins were securely seated. It had taken long skeins of negotiation with Arabani Kiaran to come to this day, when they would welcome one of the daughters of the Arabani matron mother into House Melrae, and send her out with an expedition into the deep places, to find the old temples Imrae sought. She fidgeted with one of the pins, thinking it might be a little loose.
"Keep doing that and it will come loose, love," she heard Tar say behind her. Tar's lips touched the side of Imryne's neck. "Come on. The Arabani is here."
Imryne turned, and brushed her hands down the front of her dress again. "I am not looking forward to this. But I suppose it would be rude to leave her waiting. Did you find out what her name is?"
Tar made a face. "Arabani Alystin, she said as she looked through me like I wasn't even there." She grabbed Imryne's hand and began to drag her forward. "Jevan and Urlryn are waiting, and do you really want Urlryn on her feet any longer than she has to be?"
Imryne chuckled and relented. They met with the other two, and proceeded together to the outer house and a reception room that housed one Arabani Alystin. Imryne stepped into the room, and Alystin turned to face her. She recognized the Arabani; this was the tall one that had given Imryne such a look, the day that Melrae had forced Arabani to depart Fanaedar. She looked so much like her mother, how she lifted her chin when she saw Imryne.
"Greeting to House Melrae," Alystin said. "My mother sends her regards, and thanks." She made a generous gesture with one arm, showing off the richly patterned sleeve of her dress. She was perfectly Lloth-clad, from the spiderweb belt to the high collar that framed her face.
Imryne inclined her head, stepping around Alystin and settling into a chair facing the door. Urlryn dropped down beside her, Jevan taking up position behind her. Tar stalked to her own seat, and Imryne could almost see both her and Alystin raise their hackles at each other. Alystin was the last to sit down, and did so gingerly. "Respect from House Melrae to House Arabani. I hope your mother is well, and thank you for coming."
Alystin scowled. "I would like to start immediately. I prefer not to remain in Fanaedar long."
"Of course. We have three old temples of Lloth that we need to visit, and discover whether they have anything that can be used against us in them."
She saw Alystin absorb this, and nod. "I understand. The first is close?"
"South and down from here, yes," Imryne told her.
"I will require use of a guard. Jevan is preferred in this, but I will take any other two you deem worthy. I will also need an Ellistraee priestess, or a representative that can speak for you, Matron Mother Imryne."
She tried not to grit her teeth. Everything that Alystin asked for was reasonable, though her asking for Jevan by name irritated Imryne. She thought for a moment, reflecting on her schedule, and weighing the danger of the deep against the prospect of being without Jevan for ilit or threads. "I will come with you, as will Jevan."
She heard Tar's incompletely hidden gasp, and saw Alystin's thin brow raise. "Thank you, but I don't mean to take you away from your work."
"I have capable hands helping me here. Of course..." She glanced at Tar. "Want to go in my place, Tarithra?"
Tar was giving her a look that combined you are insane with a rising eagerness. "Why don't we both go?"
"Good idea. The three of us and you, then. Urlryn, you can keep an eye on things here for me."
Alystin sat up, her back stiff. "I can be ready within the hour, does that work for you, mistress? I will need a place to leave my things, and access to your fake Lloth temple. Please."
"It does, and both of those things can be provided. A moment, and I'll speak to the guards about where to take you and your things." She rose, and all followed her example. Alystin stepped back and started tapping her foot. Imryne remembered that she was matron mother and matron mothers did not roll their eyes at rude guests just in time to control her expression.
Tar stepped close. "Can I kill her?" she asked quietly.
"No," Imryne muttered. Oh, this is going to be an interesting trip.
"Please?"
On the pretext of going to look for a guard, Imryne pulled Tar out of the room. "Afraid not, love." She kissed Tar on the cheek. "We need her. She'll do what she was sent for and then she'll go home."
Tar wrinkled her nose. "She annoy you, too?"
"Let's just say that I think she and I are on each other's mutual nerves."
She put her arms around Imryne's waist. "If you let me slap her a few times I will do that thing you like so well with my tongue for a good hour. Or more." She kissed Imryne, letting her know that she meant exactly what she offered.
"As tempting as that is, let's try to get along for a little bit," Imryne said, and smiled. "Slapping her won't make her like us any more."
She sighed. "Fine. But if she does something stupid. I won't be held accountable for my actions."
Imryne kissed her again lingeringly. "I know, but she doesn't want to be here. Let's let her do what she was sent for in peace. If she does something stupid, you can slap her then, but until then we can give her the benefit of the doubt."
"I know." She made a face. "Let's get this over with."
(Sabal, in House Melrae)
"I triple double dare you, Sabal."
He made a face at Ulitree. "I'm not afraid of any spider priestess."
Her eyes were shining brightly as she dragged him towards the outer house. "Come on, then. We'll go look at her. Maybe catch her doing something creepy. Maybe we'll get to see her playing with spiders."
Sabal wasn't sure that their parents would appreciate it if they found out that he and Ulitree had been spying on the priestess. They could just take a quick peek, let Ulitree satisfy her curiosity, then he could hustle her away. It seemed safe enough, since there were hidden ways in and out of the fake Lloth temple in the outer house. They could come up into one of the niches, look, and then sneak away.
It didn't quite work out that way.
First, the niche door they wanted to use was old, and they couldn't open it without making a lot of noise and interrupting the priestess's prayers. Sabal would have turned back then, but Ulitree gave him a look that said she would never let him live it down if he failed her dare.
They tried another door, and this one worked silently, letting them into another niche, where hidden singers would call the praises of Lloth during rituals. There were slits in the rood screen that let them peek at the priestess, who was doing nothing more interesting that praying, her lips moving, crouched in the supplicant position. It was perfect, except for the fact that nobody had been behind here to clean for years. Perhaps centuries.
Sabal's nose gave a warning tickle, and he rubbed at it impatiently. Ulitree was glued to one of the slits, watching the priestess. In a moment, she'd have her fill and they could go--
They didn't have that moment.
Sabal exploded in a sneeze that seemed deafening in the quiet of the temple, even more so when Ulitree turned to look at him, her mouth open. The priestess looked up. "Who's there?"
A male voice rang out. "I think I know. Come out, you two. Now."
Ulitree looked mortified and tried to scramble away, but Sabal took her arm and pulled her out into the temple. Standing framed in the doorway in the back was one of their grandfathers, Ruthaym. Angaste was holding his hand, looking intimidated. "Angaste couldn't find you two, and I thought you might be up to something," he said. "Sabal, Ulitree, come away. If you're very lucky, I’ll think about not telling your mothers about this. Priestess, I am sorry for the interruption."
The priestess looked at once startled and uneasy as Ulitree and Sabal filed out past her. "You got me in trouble again," Sabal muttered.
Ulitree sniffed and didn't answer. Angaste let go of Ruthaym and held out her arms to be picked up by Sabal. He obliged his little sister, swinging her up and perching her on his shoulder while she giggled. "See what you wanted?" he asked Ulitree.
"That was boring," she said. "She didn't even take off her clothes."
Ruthaym made a choked sound. "They don't," he told Ulitree. "That's only us. Go on, and don't let me catch you hanging around that priestess again."
Sabal sighed in relief. Ruthaym wasn't going to tell Mother. Thank the Goddess. He'd just have to stay out of trouble, as much as he could...
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
Alystin's things were stored in a vault in the outer house, and while Alystin was praying in the fake Lloth temple in the outer house, Imryne made arrangements. Challay would effectively be matron mother while Imryne was away, and there were many people to advise on what to do in her absence. Challay said goodbye to Imryne with as much calm as she could muster, but she could see the anxious way Challay shifted her weight from foot to foot while she was standing, and knew that her daughter was afraid.
"Take care of all of them," she told Urlryn.
"And stay off my feet, I know, I know," Urlryn said. "Don’t worry, if my feet swell any more I'll make Sabal carry me around like he does Angaste." She kissed Imryne. "If you die, I will never forgive you. So come back safe or I'll be forced to hunt you down in the afterlife and do terrible things to you."
"Promise?" Imryne said, and Urlryn laughed and kissed her again, then went to say goodbye to Tar and Jevan. They were provisioned and were under way once Alystin had finished praying and had a meal. Imryne had liberty of the city, finally, and the drider got out of her way as she led the group to the tunnel that led to the gallery of the dead. Alystin had experience with reading stone soundings, and they found their way easily enough. Imryne felt almost happy as they walked, her with her staff and her loves beside her, ignoring the sullen presence of the Lloth priestess.
The walk took about two hours once they diverged from the gallery path, through place the stone that felt dangerously unstable. They were close to one of the rivers, and water was having its way with the stone, collapsing small sections of the tunnels. Around them, the unbalanced pressure in the stone made Imryne's head jangle with warning. The shifting tunnels even pinged and popped a few times, shedding small landslides. They ended up having to scrabble over boulders; Jevan lifted Imryne and Tar over the worst places, and let Alystin make her own way. He did grudgingly help her once or twice, but only when she was looking likely to slow them down otherwise.
Finally, they found the place on the sounding that the tunnel was marked at, a fully collapsed section of wall showing signs of having been worked stone once. Alystin folded the sounding and dusted her filthy hands on her robe. "Jevan, if you could clear this section and look for a spider symbol on the wall about 1 foot from the flooring?" She sat down primly on a nearby rock, folding her hands.
Jevan's swords leapt out of their scabbards and into his hands, seemingly of their own accord. He lifted an eyebrow at Alystin and then looked at Imryne. She couldn't suppress her sigh. "It'll go faster if all of us help. Jevan, put those away, please."
He narrowed his eyes, but slid the swords back in their sheaths. Alystin's mouth was a hard line. "As you wish, mistress." She got to her feet, and all of them pitched in to clear the collapsed wall. After an hour or so, Jevan straightened. "That it, your highness?"
Alystin looked at what Jevan had just uncovered, the carved symbol of a spider just above the floor of the tunnel. "Your highness is usually reserved for the first house, and is not much in use anymore. But yes, that is it." She pulled a medallion from beneath her robes, stooping to press it against the symbol. The wall shimmered, and Alystin stepped through.
There was not much to do but follow her. Inside, the Lloth temple was in massive disrepair. The altar was shattered, almost indistinguishable from the rubble that nearly covered it. The benches that had once held the faithful were also mostly gone, only one surviving near the back. The nave was almost free of rubble, but covered in dust. A barely distinguishable Lloth mosaic showed through the dust, and Alystin kneeled before it, kissing her holy symbol. There was a coldlight dancing at her shoulder, illuminating the temple.
After a moment, the Arabani rose to her feet. "Not much here. Mosaic typical for the time period, about a grand cycle ago. Not all that interesting."
Jevan asked low, "How long is a grand cycle in surface terms again?"
"Ah--about eight thousand years, more or less," Imryne muttered back to him. To Alystin, she said, "No old magic hanging around?"
"The bench has been shielded from physical harm, hence the reason it's undamaged." It was only information, and yet Alystin still made it sound insulting, as if she were being asked to teach dullards. "In these old temples, it usually meant that there was something of value beneath it. Possibly the Lloth holy texts, possibly relics or magical items, sometimes it lead to an escape route for the high priestess and her family to escape through. If the male, sorry, Jevan, could help me move it?"
"Could you help her, please?" Imryne asked. He rolled his eyes and went to help. Together, they lifted the bench and moved it over a few feet.
"Ah, escape tunnel," Alystin said, sounding pleased. As if to accompany her words, Imryne's stone sense woke--
--and screamed.
A tremor ripped through the stone, and behind them a slab of stone slammed between them and the temple's exit. Imryne's stone sense was still wailing, and she could feel the stone above them shifting and coming loose. Alystin jumped through the hole and disappeared. "Down the tunnel, everyone!" Imryne shouted as she grabbed Tar's arm and hauled her toward the tunnel. They were through with Jevan on their heels as a roar and crack from above them heralded the plunge of part of the temple's ceiling to cover the hole.
The tremor lasted another few seconds, but the sick feeling that accompanied it took a little longer to fade. Jevan was up against the tunnel entrance, pushing at the stone. "Sabal, maybe. Me, no."
Well, they were alive, and the tunnel had to lead somewhere. Imryne tapped the stone at her feet with her staff and was reassured when her stone sense gave her a sweet, reassuring feeling in return. "Well, I suppose we find out where the escape tunnel goes."
"Usually back to the first house," Alystin said. "Too far from Fanaedar to be Xalyth. The old first house, if it still survives."
"Well, I suppose it's worth following it and finding out." They started walking, following the tunnel's twists and turns. It went mostly down, and farther south. About an hour later, it ended with a metal-bound hatch overhead. Jevan pushed it, and it opened.
The air that wafted down the tunnel was surprisingly fresh, not smelling like air eight thousand years stale. It smelled as if it were being circulated somehow, as if whatever city they had just stumbled upon was still inhabited.
Imryne carefully peeked out of the hatch. It was a house all right, clean and well-kept, freshly painted and with new cloths everywhere. Glow-slime resided in dished sconces anchored to the wall. She climbed up and into the room, looking around. There was movement to her left, a shadow flitting towards a door to the east. "Greetings?" she called, deciding she had little to lose.
She heard the others climb out of the hatch behind her. Before her, a female stepped out of the shadows. She was old bordering on ancient, her face deeply lined, bone-thin. "Who are you?" the female demanded.
She held up both hands. "My name is Melrae Imryne, and I apologize for intruding, we've come here entirely by chance. Your pardon, but where are we, and who are you?"
The female frowned. "The dead city of Chaulssin. I am Matron Mother Xyvenn Chaulssin."
Alystin was standing next to Imryne now, and gasped. "Impossible. Chaulssin fell to an earthquake over a grand cycle ago."
"Well, evidently not impossible, because we're standing here," Imryne said dryly.
"The structure I can believe, but her?"
Imryne glanced at the Lloth priestess, and inclined her head towards Chaulssin. "Rumor says that a matron mother was once so in tune with Lloth that she lived eight lives before she died with her city. I believe we are standing in her presence."
"You are," the old female said. "But unfortunately you will be standing in my presence for a very long time."
Understanding came over Imryne in a cold wash. "You can't get out, can you?"
"No, and neither can you. Such is the curse of Lloth."
She knew a moment of dark despair, water rising in her. She breathed out. "The curse of Lloth?"
"Sealed in a dead city, with only miles of digging in front of you. No magic to aid you, and no food or water. As soon as your supplies run out, at least you will die. I will be alone again for cycles without ending."
"No magic?"
Chaulssin shrugged. "Try your spells. Nothing works here."
Imryne paused and then exerted her will, the simple charm to spark a coldlight. The power did not respond, leaving Imryne feeling unbalanced, as if she might fall over. Jevan suggested, "What about something stronger? Like your staff."
She saw Chaulssin's eyes go to her staff, and blink. "That's what I was thinking." She sent her will into the wood, asking for an illusion. Urlryn's image shimmered into being, and smiled at all of them before Imryne let the illusion go.
"Useful, maybe," Jevan said.
"It seems we're going to have a good long time to figure it out."
Jevan grimaced. "Only as long as the water lasts. After that, we will die of thirst."
Disconcerted, Imryne shook her head. "Not quite so long, then. Matron Mother Chaulssin, what do you know about why this place is like it is?"
The matron mother's expression had turned almost to stone. "It's my prison."
Trying to be patient, Imryne asked, "Who imprisoned you here, and why?"
"Lloth. As to why..." She turned to a shelf. On it, a book rested; she took it from the shelf and turned back to them. "I learned the truth." She handed Imryne the slim volume. "Read it, the first chapter. You will understand more."
Her stomach clenched, Imryne opened the book. The title page was inscribed, Descent.
She turned the page, and began to read.
(Descent, the Book of Ellistraee)
You who read this now, know that these are the words of the goddess Ellistraee.
The gods of the drow and the gods of the elves have always existed, but we did so once in harmony. It may seem strange now to those that read this, but Lloth smiled, she laughed, she loved. We created and watched our people live together in peace.
Love strikes all the gods of the world, just as it does the people below. Corellian was my love. I loved him with a passion I never knew I had in me, and he me. Lloth watched, and wanted the same. We spoke often and she confessed her love--of both him, and of me.
I loved Corellian, but could I love another? I thought maybe I could. I spoke to Corellian, he agreed that Lloth could share our bed and our lives. It worked for a time. I slept nestled in the arms of my lovers at night, and lived with them in harmony during the day. I became pregnant, and gave birth to a girl. Strong, beautiful and gifted; she had powers that, though they were not beyond gods, were difficult for us. For her, they were as part of her nature as breathing, as love.
So captivated were we with her, Corellian and I missed the darkness and jealousy brewing in the heart of Lloth. She came to resent my daughter and then Corellian for giving me such a beautiful creature. Lloth, in her jealousy, struck at my daughter and killed her. What she hoped to accomplish in that moment of rage, I will never know.
I do know what she did accomplish. Corellian lost his temper. He has ever been one of the most powerful of us, and in his rage he struck at Lloth, casting her down into the shadows of the world, to the sheltering stone. He cursed her to never see the sunshine again, to never rise above the surface to breathe the fresh air, never to see the world of the surface ever again. I was at a loss for what to do, but Lloth's cruelty had now become her. She grabbed my hand as the curse struck--and I was pulled into the underdark, subject to the same curse, never to see the surface or Corellian again.
I pulled away from Lloth, told her that I never wanted to see her again. I will always remember her words to me. I wanted us to be together forever. I love you.
Corellian and I could talk, but never touch again, for the curse was so strong that even he who cast it could not lift it. His hatred of Lloth seized him, and has never let him go.
I was pregnant again when the curse happened. My son Indran was born in the underdark. He was strong and powerful, like his sister. But the stories I told of his father and Lloth turned him from love and to the pursuit of knowledge over everything else. His followers follow this tenet to this day. I pity that they don't know love as I did. I regret he will never understand that which makes me so happy.
I blame myself for this, for during most of his growing years, I was left with a depression that overcame me. I wished for death, I tried to annihilate myself many times, but it is not so easy for a goddess to cease to exist. Indran saved me again and again. He eventually brought me out of my madness, but it scarred him. Love, to him, was pain and torture.
I have never felt whole since the day I was torn from Corellian, like I left a part of myself with him. The drow that followed Lloth and even my followers echo that. We left a part of ourselves on the surface. Lloth buried her feelings in hate and her worshippers followed. Females dominated, males became a biological necessity but enslaved, denigrated, killed when they could no longer work or father daughters. That is her hatred of Corellian, repeated again and again in the bodies of her chosen.
Corellian never found a way to destroy the curse that kept us below. But he found a way to suspend it for one night. And millennia later, we came together one night to become whole again, to feel again, love again. Every year, we spent one night in each other’s arms, on the surface, under the stars. Then down into stone I would go, waiting for another year to pass. It became a ritual that my followers practice, to meet with the elves, to become whole again for one night.
I encourage love in all its forms between any that want to love each other, and my worshippers formed relationships with elves that led to children. Strong, healthy and endowed with such gifts that I have never seen, those children became more than just drow, more than just elves. Lloth saw, and her jealousy rose again. She cursed the children of the drow and elves.
Any born between them would be crippled and deformed. The powers remained, and every so often one would be born without the deformity. Lloth would hunt and kill any she could find, deformed or not. To stop them from being born, she turned her attention to elves, forcing her people to conduct raids to the surface to kill them. When the elves closed the entrances to the underdark and retaliated against the drow, she turned inward. My followers and my half-drow son Indran's worshippers were now targets. We died to their rage, to their jealousy. We hid, then, and we still come to surface once a night and love with elves. One night to be free, to love as we would, in truth.
In the end, my followers suffered the worst, they watched their children die to Lloth and even in ritual there was no peace. Their half-drow children died of their deformities, and some sects went so far as to create rituals to still the children so conceived in the womb.
Pregnancy followed me once again and Lloth's curse followed even me. My child was born still and deformed. In ritual, Corellian and I cried over our dead child. Our tears mingled and fell upon the child. She woke cured.
Lloth could never know. Corellian took her and raised her. I saw her grow tall and strong. We knew now that when a deformed child was born, our tears would cure them. Our followers call this the ritual of Star Dance now, when the stars rain down to heal.
Lloth's spies found our daughter. Corellian and I stripped her memories of who she was, and hid her where none would think to look. We watched her for a time. She had a good life, we like to think. She had lovers, she had children, she felt whole. But Lloth eventually found her, and she died. We are careful now, Corellian and I, to not have more children. The pain is too great.
We watch her children grow and become, and their children. And every year, Corellian and I still come together to be whole again in each other’s arms.
(to part 2)
Imryne, of House Melrae
Book Three: Stone Sky
Chapter Eight: The Flame of Love's High Altar
Years upon years, and the flame of love's high altar
Trembles and sinks, and the sense of listening ears
Heeds not the sound that it heard of love's blithe psalter
Years upon years.
Only the sense of a heart that hearkens hears,
Louder than dreams that assail and doubts that palter,
Sorrow that slept and that wakes ere sundawn peers.
Wakes, that the heart may behold, and yet not falter,
Faces of children as stars unknown of, spheres
Seen but of love, that endures though all things alter,
Years upon years.
--Swinburne, Recollections
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
Within the next thread, other signs told her that Imryne was definitely heading into her cycle--and Urlryn was as well. Soon after that, she received word from House Naerth that they were going to be holding a series of gatherings for the members of the household that were about the same age and eligible for marriage. Imryne sent Phaere, Ulitree, Challay, Lesrak, and her youngest sister Nendra.
After three skeins, Challay and Nendra both chose husbands; Challay a male from the main line of Naerth named Kethan, Nendra one from a cadet line of Naerth named Vhurdaer. Lesrak was seeing a T'sarran female from a cadet line for a while, but the pair drifted apart by the time Challay brought Kethan into the household. By all accounts, Ulitree sat in a corner and refused to talk to anyone, and after three gatherings Imryne took pity on her and let her stay home. Many pairings between Naerth and T'sarran were settled, as well.
Phaere found a Naerth male from a cadet line that took her fancy, but a T'sarran female was pursuing him as well. Phaere met with her rival to discuss the resolution of their mutual problem in one of the outer reception rooms of the house.
The discussion took a suspiciously long time, and when Imryne saw her next she was walking to her room with mussed hair, disarranged clothing, and a satiated smile on her face. The next ilit, Phaere asked Imryne if she could have permission to take both the T'sarran female and the Naerth male as her spouses. Since Phaere was the higher ranked female, they would both come to live in Melrae.
Imryne gave her permission, and gladly. Life was going well, for once. Ryld had two more doses of the Star Dance potion and emerged from each with more of the damage done to him healed; by the time seven surface months had passed, he had learned to stand, though it was still physically difficult and painful for him to do so. He had enough strength in his arms to give Imryne hugs, and did so at every opportunity. He spoke now, though his speech was slurred and hard to understand, and he far preferred to speak mind to mind.
Lesrak seemed easier in his skin now that he had been banded, and Imryne saw more of him than she had in the terrible days after Triel had died. Tar came out of her depression as well, though she had no interest in taking the Star Dance potion to hurry another cycle along.
House Melrae collected the taxes on the slaves, and soon enough there was enough money to start on a project. The money hired a lot of hood hands to start repairing the water and sewer systems, starting with the slums and then heading up to the noble section. Imryne talked Oblodra--offering some of the tax money and a captured drider as an incentive--into repairing two of the seven great fans that moved air around Fanaedar, so the air was less foul than it had been.
Though they let leak the information about the weakness of the driders, it took a disguised Jevan taking out the legs of a lone drider to demonstrate it for those who feared and hated the driders to take action. Now it was a regular occurrence, hardly a thread going by without Imryne hearing a report of a drider or two taken in the slums.
Urlryn and Maya were busy, and by the time Ryld was standing they had been through all of the houses in question. Despana, Devir, Agrach Dyrr, Auvryndar, Barrison Del'Armigo, Druu'giir, Jusztiirn, Mezrylornyl, Rilynt'tar, Sshurlynder, Teken'duis, Tuin'Tarl, and Yauntyrr were Lloth houses. Aleanrahel, Arkhenneld, Horlbar, Maerret, Melarn, Nanitarim, Ousstyl, and Srune'lett were Ellistraee houses, and Imryne charged House T'sarran with opening alliance talks with all of them that were not already allies.
Houses Khalazza, Q'Xorlarrin, Xorlarrin were Indran houses, and Imryne asked Oblodra Pellanistra to open negotiations with them. The remaining two houses, Symrivvin and Eilservs, were a mess. Both of the matron mothers were Lloth worshipers, but the majority of the children were Ellistraee worshipers, and there was massive infighting in the houses. There were ways to turn that to Melrae's advantage, but Imryne had not yet had a chance to put any of them into play.
House Tlabbar was a mystery, even after Urlryn and Maya had been through it twice. The Ellistraee cathedral and the Lloth temple within the house both stood empty and unattended. The house was stuffed full of expensive statues, gold and jewels much apparent. Tlabbar, to all appearances, was a house that had sold its spiritual self to the highest bidder, but it was difficult to say who that might have been.
Imrae was known to be generous to her allies, and there was no evidence that Amalica had given up her faith--but there was little evidence that she had kept it, either.
Urlryn reported that Maya was a natural at the physical aspects of spying, and was very quickly gaining competence at the mental skills required. The relationship between Imryne and Maya was still strained, though getting easier; Maya seemed to take much comfort from Urlryn's company, and Ryld's.
Today, Imryne was dressed in a silvery gray gown, still wearing the color of mourning. Triel had been dead for almost three skeins now, and Imryne was wearing slightly more elaborate clothing and more jewelry than she had right after. She glanced down, smoothing her hand over her still-flat stomach. She sometimes fancied that she could feel the child that had been sparked half a skein ago, a small spark of glowing life nestled in her vitals, though she knew that she wouldn't start showing for at least a skein and feel the first fluttering movements of the child then as well. Be a girl, she thought to the child. Be a girl, another heir, and let me keep you close by me always.
Urlryn had caught a few threads after Imryne, but she was already showing a little, and her pregnancy so far had been plagued by morning sickness, exhaustion, and swollen ankles. Tar kept on checking her worriedly, casting spells to try to make Urlryn comfortable and find out what could be causing her to carry with difficulty. She thought that Urlryn might be carrying twins, though it was too early to be sure. Urlryn was so fine-boned and small that Imryne had difficulty imagining what it would be like for her to carry not one but two children to term. One child was dangerous enough to bear, but two?
Imryne turned her attention to her hair, checking that all the jeweled pins were securely seated. It had taken long skeins of negotiation with Arabani Kiaran to come to this day, when they would welcome one of the daughters of the Arabani matron mother into House Melrae, and send her out with an expedition into the deep places, to find the old temples Imrae sought. She fidgeted with one of the pins, thinking it might be a little loose.
"Keep doing that and it will come loose, love," she heard Tar say behind her. Tar's lips touched the side of Imryne's neck. "Come on. The Arabani is here."
Imryne turned, and brushed her hands down the front of her dress again. "I am not looking forward to this. But I suppose it would be rude to leave her waiting. Did you find out what her name is?"
Tar made a face. "Arabani Alystin, she said as she looked through me like I wasn't even there." She grabbed Imryne's hand and began to drag her forward. "Jevan and Urlryn are waiting, and do you really want Urlryn on her feet any longer than she has to be?"
Imryne chuckled and relented. They met with the other two, and proceeded together to the outer house and a reception room that housed one Arabani Alystin. Imryne stepped into the room, and Alystin turned to face her. She recognized the Arabani; this was the tall one that had given Imryne such a look, the day that Melrae had forced Arabani to depart Fanaedar. She looked so much like her mother, how she lifted her chin when she saw Imryne.
"Greeting to House Melrae," Alystin said. "My mother sends her regards, and thanks." She made a generous gesture with one arm, showing off the richly patterned sleeve of her dress. She was perfectly Lloth-clad, from the spiderweb belt to the high collar that framed her face.
Imryne inclined her head, stepping around Alystin and settling into a chair facing the door. Urlryn dropped down beside her, Jevan taking up position behind her. Tar stalked to her own seat, and Imryne could almost see both her and Alystin raise their hackles at each other. Alystin was the last to sit down, and did so gingerly. "Respect from House Melrae to House Arabani. I hope your mother is well, and thank you for coming."
Alystin scowled. "I would like to start immediately. I prefer not to remain in Fanaedar long."
"Of course. We have three old temples of Lloth that we need to visit, and discover whether they have anything that can be used against us in them."
She saw Alystin absorb this, and nod. "I understand. The first is close?"
"South and down from here, yes," Imryne told her.
"I will require use of a guard. Jevan is preferred in this, but I will take any other two you deem worthy. I will also need an Ellistraee priestess, or a representative that can speak for you, Matron Mother Imryne."
She tried not to grit her teeth. Everything that Alystin asked for was reasonable, though her asking for Jevan by name irritated Imryne. She thought for a moment, reflecting on her schedule, and weighing the danger of the deep against the prospect of being without Jevan for ilit or threads. "I will come with you, as will Jevan."
She heard Tar's incompletely hidden gasp, and saw Alystin's thin brow raise. "Thank you, but I don't mean to take you away from your work."
"I have capable hands helping me here. Of course..." She glanced at Tar. "Want to go in my place, Tarithra?"
Tar was giving her a look that combined you are insane with a rising eagerness. "Why don't we both go?"
"Good idea. The three of us and you, then. Urlryn, you can keep an eye on things here for me."
Alystin sat up, her back stiff. "I can be ready within the hour, does that work for you, mistress? I will need a place to leave my things, and access to your fake Lloth temple. Please."
"It does, and both of those things can be provided. A moment, and I'll speak to the guards about where to take you and your things." She rose, and all followed her example. Alystin stepped back and started tapping her foot. Imryne remembered that she was matron mother and matron mothers did not roll their eyes at rude guests just in time to control her expression.
Tar stepped close. "Can I kill her?" she asked quietly.
"No," Imryne muttered. Oh, this is going to be an interesting trip.
"Please?"
On the pretext of going to look for a guard, Imryne pulled Tar out of the room. "Afraid not, love." She kissed Tar on the cheek. "We need her. She'll do what she was sent for and then she'll go home."
Tar wrinkled her nose. "She annoy you, too?"
"Let's just say that I think she and I are on each other's mutual nerves."
She put her arms around Imryne's waist. "If you let me slap her a few times I will do that thing you like so well with my tongue for a good hour. Or more." She kissed Imryne, letting her know that she meant exactly what she offered.
"As tempting as that is, let's try to get along for a little bit," Imryne said, and smiled. "Slapping her won't make her like us any more."
She sighed. "Fine. But if she does something stupid. I won't be held accountable for my actions."
Imryne kissed her again lingeringly. "I know, but she doesn't want to be here. Let's let her do what she was sent for in peace. If she does something stupid, you can slap her then, but until then we can give her the benefit of the doubt."
"I know." She made a face. "Let's get this over with."
(Sabal, in House Melrae)
"I triple double dare you, Sabal."
He made a face at Ulitree. "I'm not afraid of any spider priestess."
Her eyes were shining brightly as she dragged him towards the outer house. "Come on, then. We'll go look at her. Maybe catch her doing something creepy. Maybe we'll get to see her playing with spiders."
Sabal wasn't sure that their parents would appreciate it if they found out that he and Ulitree had been spying on the priestess. They could just take a quick peek, let Ulitree satisfy her curiosity, then he could hustle her away. It seemed safe enough, since there were hidden ways in and out of the fake Lloth temple in the outer house. They could come up into one of the niches, look, and then sneak away.
It didn't quite work out that way.
First, the niche door they wanted to use was old, and they couldn't open it without making a lot of noise and interrupting the priestess's prayers. Sabal would have turned back then, but Ulitree gave him a look that said she would never let him live it down if he failed her dare.
They tried another door, and this one worked silently, letting them into another niche, where hidden singers would call the praises of Lloth during rituals. There were slits in the rood screen that let them peek at the priestess, who was doing nothing more interesting that praying, her lips moving, crouched in the supplicant position. It was perfect, except for the fact that nobody had been behind here to clean for years. Perhaps centuries.
Sabal's nose gave a warning tickle, and he rubbed at it impatiently. Ulitree was glued to one of the slits, watching the priestess. In a moment, she'd have her fill and they could go--
They didn't have that moment.
Sabal exploded in a sneeze that seemed deafening in the quiet of the temple, even more so when Ulitree turned to look at him, her mouth open. The priestess looked up. "Who's there?"
A male voice rang out. "I think I know. Come out, you two. Now."
Ulitree looked mortified and tried to scramble away, but Sabal took her arm and pulled her out into the temple. Standing framed in the doorway in the back was one of their grandfathers, Ruthaym. Angaste was holding his hand, looking intimidated. "Angaste couldn't find you two, and I thought you might be up to something," he said. "Sabal, Ulitree, come away. If you're very lucky, I’ll think about not telling your mothers about this. Priestess, I am sorry for the interruption."
The priestess looked at once startled and uneasy as Ulitree and Sabal filed out past her. "You got me in trouble again," Sabal muttered.
Ulitree sniffed and didn't answer. Angaste let go of Ruthaym and held out her arms to be picked up by Sabal. He obliged his little sister, swinging her up and perching her on his shoulder while she giggled. "See what you wanted?" he asked Ulitree.
"That was boring," she said. "She didn't even take off her clothes."
Ruthaym made a choked sound. "They don't," he told Ulitree. "That's only us. Go on, and don't let me catch you hanging around that priestess again."
Sabal sighed in relief. Ruthaym wasn't going to tell Mother. Thank the Goddess. He'd just have to stay out of trouble, as much as he could...
(Imryne, in House Melrae)
Alystin's things were stored in a vault in the outer house, and while Alystin was praying in the fake Lloth temple in the outer house, Imryne made arrangements. Challay would effectively be matron mother while Imryne was away, and there were many people to advise on what to do in her absence. Challay said goodbye to Imryne with as much calm as she could muster, but she could see the anxious way Challay shifted her weight from foot to foot while she was standing, and knew that her daughter was afraid.
"Take care of all of them," she told Urlryn.
"And stay off my feet, I know, I know," Urlryn said. "Don’t worry, if my feet swell any more I'll make Sabal carry me around like he does Angaste." She kissed Imryne. "If you die, I will never forgive you. So come back safe or I'll be forced to hunt you down in the afterlife and do terrible things to you."
"Promise?" Imryne said, and Urlryn laughed and kissed her again, then went to say goodbye to Tar and Jevan. They were provisioned and were under way once Alystin had finished praying and had a meal. Imryne had liberty of the city, finally, and the drider got out of her way as she led the group to the tunnel that led to the gallery of the dead. Alystin had experience with reading stone soundings, and they found their way easily enough. Imryne felt almost happy as they walked, her with her staff and her loves beside her, ignoring the sullen presence of the Lloth priestess.
The walk took about two hours once they diverged from the gallery path, through place the stone that felt dangerously unstable. They were close to one of the rivers, and water was having its way with the stone, collapsing small sections of the tunnels. Around them, the unbalanced pressure in the stone made Imryne's head jangle with warning. The shifting tunnels even pinged and popped a few times, shedding small landslides. They ended up having to scrabble over boulders; Jevan lifted Imryne and Tar over the worst places, and let Alystin make her own way. He did grudgingly help her once or twice, but only when she was looking likely to slow them down otherwise.
Finally, they found the place on the sounding that the tunnel was marked at, a fully collapsed section of wall showing signs of having been worked stone once. Alystin folded the sounding and dusted her filthy hands on her robe. "Jevan, if you could clear this section and look for a spider symbol on the wall about 1 foot from the flooring?" She sat down primly on a nearby rock, folding her hands.
Jevan's swords leapt out of their scabbards and into his hands, seemingly of their own accord. He lifted an eyebrow at Alystin and then looked at Imryne. She couldn't suppress her sigh. "It'll go faster if all of us help. Jevan, put those away, please."
He narrowed his eyes, but slid the swords back in their sheaths. Alystin's mouth was a hard line. "As you wish, mistress." She got to her feet, and all of them pitched in to clear the collapsed wall. After an hour or so, Jevan straightened. "That it, your highness?"
Alystin looked at what Jevan had just uncovered, the carved symbol of a spider just above the floor of the tunnel. "Your highness is usually reserved for the first house, and is not much in use anymore. But yes, that is it." She pulled a medallion from beneath her robes, stooping to press it against the symbol. The wall shimmered, and Alystin stepped through.
There was not much to do but follow her. Inside, the Lloth temple was in massive disrepair. The altar was shattered, almost indistinguishable from the rubble that nearly covered it. The benches that had once held the faithful were also mostly gone, only one surviving near the back. The nave was almost free of rubble, but covered in dust. A barely distinguishable Lloth mosaic showed through the dust, and Alystin kneeled before it, kissing her holy symbol. There was a coldlight dancing at her shoulder, illuminating the temple.
After a moment, the Arabani rose to her feet. "Not much here. Mosaic typical for the time period, about a grand cycle ago. Not all that interesting."
Jevan asked low, "How long is a grand cycle in surface terms again?"
"Ah--about eight thousand years, more or less," Imryne muttered back to him. To Alystin, she said, "No old magic hanging around?"
"The bench has been shielded from physical harm, hence the reason it's undamaged." It was only information, and yet Alystin still made it sound insulting, as if she were being asked to teach dullards. "In these old temples, it usually meant that there was something of value beneath it. Possibly the Lloth holy texts, possibly relics or magical items, sometimes it lead to an escape route for the high priestess and her family to escape through. If the male, sorry, Jevan, could help me move it?"
"Could you help her, please?" Imryne asked. He rolled his eyes and went to help. Together, they lifted the bench and moved it over a few feet.
"Ah, escape tunnel," Alystin said, sounding pleased. As if to accompany her words, Imryne's stone sense woke--
--and screamed.
A tremor ripped through the stone, and behind them a slab of stone slammed between them and the temple's exit. Imryne's stone sense was still wailing, and she could feel the stone above them shifting and coming loose. Alystin jumped through the hole and disappeared. "Down the tunnel, everyone!" Imryne shouted as she grabbed Tar's arm and hauled her toward the tunnel. They were through with Jevan on their heels as a roar and crack from above them heralded the plunge of part of the temple's ceiling to cover the hole.
The tremor lasted another few seconds, but the sick feeling that accompanied it took a little longer to fade. Jevan was up against the tunnel entrance, pushing at the stone. "Sabal, maybe. Me, no."
Well, they were alive, and the tunnel had to lead somewhere. Imryne tapped the stone at her feet with her staff and was reassured when her stone sense gave her a sweet, reassuring feeling in return. "Well, I suppose we find out where the escape tunnel goes."
"Usually back to the first house," Alystin said. "Too far from Fanaedar to be Xalyth. The old first house, if it still survives."
"Well, I suppose it's worth following it and finding out." They started walking, following the tunnel's twists and turns. It went mostly down, and farther south. About an hour later, it ended with a metal-bound hatch overhead. Jevan pushed it, and it opened.
The air that wafted down the tunnel was surprisingly fresh, not smelling like air eight thousand years stale. It smelled as if it were being circulated somehow, as if whatever city they had just stumbled upon was still inhabited.
Imryne carefully peeked out of the hatch. It was a house all right, clean and well-kept, freshly painted and with new cloths everywhere. Glow-slime resided in dished sconces anchored to the wall. She climbed up and into the room, looking around. There was movement to her left, a shadow flitting towards a door to the east. "Greetings?" she called, deciding she had little to lose.
She heard the others climb out of the hatch behind her. Before her, a female stepped out of the shadows. She was old bordering on ancient, her face deeply lined, bone-thin. "Who are you?" the female demanded.
She held up both hands. "My name is Melrae Imryne, and I apologize for intruding, we've come here entirely by chance. Your pardon, but where are we, and who are you?"
The female frowned. "The dead city of Chaulssin. I am Matron Mother Xyvenn Chaulssin."
Alystin was standing next to Imryne now, and gasped. "Impossible. Chaulssin fell to an earthquake over a grand cycle ago."
"Well, evidently not impossible, because we're standing here," Imryne said dryly.
"The structure I can believe, but her?"
Imryne glanced at the Lloth priestess, and inclined her head towards Chaulssin. "Rumor says that a matron mother was once so in tune with Lloth that she lived eight lives before she died with her city. I believe we are standing in her presence."
"You are," the old female said. "But unfortunately you will be standing in my presence for a very long time."
Understanding came over Imryne in a cold wash. "You can't get out, can you?"
"No, and neither can you. Such is the curse of Lloth."
She knew a moment of dark despair, water rising in her. She breathed out. "The curse of Lloth?"
"Sealed in a dead city, with only miles of digging in front of you. No magic to aid you, and no food or water. As soon as your supplies run out, at least you will die. I will be alone again for cycles without ending."
"No magic?"
Chaulssin shrugged. "Try your spells. Nothing works here."
Imryne paused and then exerted her will, the simple charm to spark a coldlight. The power did not respond, leaving Imryne feeling unbalanced, as if she might fall over. Jevan suggested, "What about something stronger? Like your staff."
She saw Chaulssin's eyes go to her staff, and blink. "That's what I was thinking." She sent her will into the wood, asking for an illusion. Urlryn's image shimmered into being, and smiled at all of them before Imryne let the illusion go.
"Useful, maybe," Jevan said.
"It seems we're going to have a good long time to figure it out."
Jevan grimaced. "Only as long as the water lasts. After that, we will die of thirst."
Disconcerted, Imryne shook her head. "Not quite so long, then. Matron Mother Chaulssin, what do you know about why this place is like it is?"
The matron mother's expression had turned almost to stone. "It's my prison."
Trying to be patient, Imryne asked, "Who imprisoned you here, and why?"
"Lloth. As to why..." She turned to a shelf. On it, a book rested; she took it from the shelf and turned back to them. "I learned the truth." She handed Imryne the slim volume. "Read it, the first chapter. You will understand more."
Her stomach clenched, Imryne opened the book. The title page was inscribed, Descent.
She turned the page, and began to read.
(Descent, the Book of Ellistraee)
You who read this now, know that these are the words of the goddess Ellistraee.
The gods of the drow and the gods of the elves have always existed, but we did so once in harmony. It may seem strange now to those that read this, but Lloth smiled, she laughed, she loved. We created and watched our people live together in peace.
Love strikes all the gods of the world, just as it does the people below. Corellian was my love. I loved him with a passion I never knew I had in me, and he me. Lloth watched, and wanted the same. We spoke often and she confessed her love--of both him, and of me.
I loved Corellian, but could I love another? I thought maybe I could. I spoke to Corellian, he agreed that Lloth could share our bed and our lives. It worked for a time. I slept nestled in the arms of my lovers at night, and lived with them in harmony during the day. I became pregnant, and gave birth to a girl. Strong, beautiful and gifted; she had powers that, though they were not beyond gods, were difficult for us. For her, they were as part of her nature as breathing, as love.
So captivated were we with her, Corellian and I missed the darkness and jealousy brewing in the heart of Lloth. She came to resent my daughter and then Corellian for giving me such a beautiful creature. Lloth, in her jealousy, struck at my daughter and killed her. What she hoped to accomplish in that moment of rage, I will never know.
I do know what she did accomplish. Corellian lost his temper. He has ever been one of the most powerful of us, and in his rage he struck at Lloth, casting her down into the shadows of the world, to the sheltering stone. He cursed her to never see the sunshine again, to never rise above the surface to breathe the fresh air, never to see the world of the surface ever again. I was at a loss for what to do, but Lloth's cruelty had now become her. She grabbed my hand as the curse struck--and I was pulled into the underdark, subject to the same curse, never to see the surface or Corellian again.
I pulled away from Lloth, told her that I never wanted to see her again. I will always remember her words to me. I wanted us to be together forever. I love you.
Corellian and I could talk, but never touch again, for the curse was so strong that even he who cast it could not lift it. His hatred of Lloth seized him, and has never let him go.
I was pregnant again when the curse happened. My son Indran was born in the underdark. He was strong and powerful, like his sister. But the stories I told of his father and Lloth turned him from love and to the pursuit of knowledge over everything else. His followers follow this tenet to this day. I pity that they don't know love as I did. I regret he will never understand that which makes me so happy.
I blame myself for this, for during most of his growing years, I was left with a depression that overcame me. I wished for death, I tried to annihilate myself many times, but it is not so easy for a goddess to cease to exist. Indran saved me again and again. He eventually brought me out of my madness, but it scarred him. Love, to him, was pain and torture.
I have never felt whole since the day I was torn from Corellian, like I left a part of myself with him. The drow that followed Lloth and even my followers echo that. We left a part of ourselves on the surface. Lloth buried her feelings in hate and her worshippers followed. Females dominated, males became a biological necessity but enslaved, denigrated, killed when they could no longer work or father daughters. That is her hatred of Corellian, repeated again and again in the bodies of her chosen.
Corellian never found a way to destroy the curse that kept us below. But he found a way to suspend it for one night. And millennia later, we came together one night to become whole again, to feel again, love again. Every year, we spent one night in each other’s arms, on the surface, under the stars. Then down into stone I would go, waiting for another year to pass. It became a ritual that my followers practice, to meet with the elves, to become whole again for one night.
I encourage love in all its forms between any that want to love each other, and my worshippers formed relationships with elves that led to children. Strong, healthy and endowed with such gifts that I have never seen, those children became more than just drow, more than just elves. Lloth saw, and her jealousy rose again. She cursed the children of the drow and elves.
Any born between them would be crippled and deformed. The powers remained, and every so often one would be born without the deformity. Lloth would hunt and kill any she could find, deformed or not. To stop them from being born, she turned her attention to elves, forcing her people to conduct raids to the surface to kill them. When the elves closed the entrances to the underdark and retaliated against the drow, she turned inward. My followers and my half-drow son Indran's worshippers were now targets. We died to their rage, to their jealousy. We hid, then, and we still come to surface once a night and love with elves. One night to be free, to love as we would, in truth.
In the end, my followers suffered the worst, they watched their children die to Lloth and even in ritual there was no peace. Their half-drow children died of their deformities, and some sects went so far as to create rituals to still the children so conceived in the womb.
Pregnancy followed me once again and Lloth's curse followed even me. My child was born still and deformed. In ritual, Corellian and I cried over our dead child. Our tears mingled and fell upon the child. She woke cured.
Lloth could never know. Corellian took her and raised her. I saw her grow tall and strong. We knew now that when a deformed child was born, our tears would cure them. Our followers call this the ritual of Star Dance now, when the stars rain down to heal.
Lloth's spies found our daughter. Corellian and I stripped her memories of who she was, and hid her where none would think to look. We watched her for a time. She had a good life, we like to think. She had lovers, she had children, she felt whole. But Lloth eventually found her, and she died. We are careful now, Corellian and I, to not have more children. The pain is too great.
We watch her children grow and become, and their children. And every year, Corellian and I still come together to be whole again in each other’s arms.
(to part 2)
