The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[Estelle Emerison]

"Not very good ones, clearly," Estelle says with a click of her tongue. "Drow aren't even a single nation; there are five different ones just underneath the Outlands alone. True, they are all under the control of Her church, but they compete with each other viciously, to the point of assassination and outright invasion. The duegar oligarchy of Roedundrick is easily larger than all five of them and could likely conquer them where it not for the troglodyte Empire on it's other side. Roedundrick could conquer them as well, but then the drow would rush to take advantage. We're rather lucky, those of us on the surface, that this balancing act came about."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"You see, you said yourself -- we on the surface would be hard pressed to rebuff the Roedundrick if they were able to attack us. There's little in our culture that would allow us to stand up to such an onslaught. We surfacers -- well, perhaps not you, exactly, but humans and surface elves and such -- we are weak, having forgotten what struggle is."

[Estelle Emerison]

"I said no such thing," Estelle counters. "The Outland Colonies would be able to rebuff any assault by Roedundrick or the drow cites. Runis and Teurnal would struggle mightily to withstand a full invasion, given the former's lack of unified leadership and the latter's emphasis on naval forces, but any other City-State could hold out, alone, for at least a year. Which would be more than enough time, either for the other City-States to mobilize and assist or for the invader's rivals to take advantage of their distraction. Or, of course, both to occur. And there is essentially no chance of the three Underdark powers uniting in any real fashion; the drow refuse to see the other two as equals or even truly people, the troglodytes consider drow to be a delicacy, the dueagr consider troglodyte skin to be the finest leather available to them and neither of them trust the drow enough to make any sort of agreement. No Coquette, there is a very good reason why the current balance of powers, above and below, have been as they are for hundreds of years. Draslina and Nyra are, slowly and unevenly, gaining an advantage in power in comparison to everyone else but even the most optimistic projections don't have them possessing the edge needed for decades and decades. The only real chance of something breaking the status quo in our lifetimes is the emergence of a true legendary party."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She sniffs. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day. And you seem such the golden child, too. But I suppose race treachery comes from all corners."

[Estelle Emerison]

"What in all the gods' names is race treachery?" Estelle asks, thrown by the phrase she can work out the logical meaning easily enough but it makes no real sense to her. "Loyalty to Her? To the Bitch? If any are fool enough to enslave themselves to Her here, they're at least wise enough to know they'd be killed in their sleep should any discover such." Where is this coming from all a sudden? I swear, she stalks loud and silent with no pattern nor cause I can fathom. And on the most bizarre array of subjects as well. I begin to think my idle theory of her being possessed is something worth looking into. Discreetly, of course.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Obviously not. To worship Her is to be a slave, knowingly or unknowingly, and I have too much pride in myself to enslave myself to anyone. But every creature on this planet has, or ought to have, pride in their own race -- their own people's doings and culture. Or else, why not simply commit suicide?"

[Estelle Emerison]

"For a lot of reasons!" Estelle says, even more shocked. "I hardly need to have pride in my race to wish to live, Coquette. I have pride in my family, in myself, in my people. By which I mean all of Robijin, be they drow, gnome, merikos or anything else. I have honor and duty. Faith. Curiosity. Even arrogance and indulgence would keep me from-- Coquette, are you-- do you... consider doing such?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

She looks away, unable to meet Estelle's eyes. "No, of course not," she lies. 

[Estelle Emerison]

"Liar," Estelle whispers, face more ashen grey than purple hued onyx. 

[Coquette Blacquin]

How to explain? Noire almost never, but Cindy all the time? She'd sound like a madwoman. "Things are better, now," she says instead. 

[Estelle Emerison]

"How much better?" Estelle asks urgently. "Coquette, I know we're both stubborn, dominant women and we clash from time to time, but I do truly care about you." She takes a deep breath, steeling herself. "I erred last time. To be honest, I was shocked you came to me to ask about training, given how last we left things. I shouldn't have made demands. And I won't make one now. Nor will I ask." 

Stepping forward so she's off her desk, she holds her hands to her sides and bows her head. "I'll beg. Please. Please let me help you, Coquette." The drow is trembling, her hands loose and flat but the tips of her fingers fighting not to curl. She hates this, hates this traditional pose, hates humbling herself.

[Coquette Blacquin]

The effect is immediate and obvious. She turns, floored, mouth opening slightly in pure shock. Why... this woman, who she's struggled not to see as a replacement for Varisia, due mostly to the physical similarities between them... this woman, this headstrong Drow woman, is... begging her? Is so concerned for her wellbeing that she'd... 

"Did you have a healer in mind?" she asks, quietly. "I won't talk to just anyone. I have my pride."

[Estelle Emerison]

"I have two possibilities in mind," Estelle says, head still bowed but hands lowering to rest on her hips. "It-- Both of them are Nyran, and neither have any connections to the Enclave save for knowing me. I thought that might be helpful, having that extra assurance that even the existence of your sessions would not reach the ears of anyone here. The easier to arrange is perhaps the better of the two, but I'm not sure if you'd be comfortable with a male healer."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Absolutely not." She's firm on that. A pause. "Also, perhaps, is your healer trained in... sexual assault?"

[Estelle Emerison]

Finally looking up, Estelle nods. "She's a Joyous. Priestess, not cleric, but well trained and very knowledgeable." She makes a little bit of a face as she explains, "she has a family, so she will either require teleportation or similar on a near daily frequency or to be convinced to move them all there for the duration."