"Matron, is it wise to have the elderboy and weapons master of our house learn magic as well? If his power gets out of hand, he may…"
The Matron Mother cut the head mage of her house off with a wave of her hand and a glare. "Are you questioning me, Trium? Are your arguments based on concern for family or your own power?" The Matron Mother of the first house of Shar'Ill Orbb'Aress, Tallil De'Faeror, was a deceivingly skinny priestess, who hid her very well toned and battle ready body beneath layers of flowing robes adorned with symbols of her deity, Lolth the Spider Queen.
Trium, who was quite stocky for a male, much less a mage, was a head shorter than most drow, and wore only the most common of magical accessories and clothing. If you were looking for evidence of the gender difference in this drow city, you need look no farther than he. Even as the Matron's current lover, and even though he had given her three daughters, he was treated as little more than a common mage. "Of course not Matron, I merely remark on the lessons of the past," he replied to his leader's angry questioning.
He was answered in turn with a kick from Tallil's strong right leg, catching his chin and sending him tumbling down the stairs. Calmly readjusting her robes, the Matron asked again, "Do you question me, Trium?"
"No, Matron." Trium replied, nursing his jaw and picking up a tooth.
"Then leave. I have no need for you tonight," Tallil said as another male Trium did not recognize stepped out of the shadows behind him, naked.
Trium walked out of the room holding his chin, putting his teeth in his pocket. He would have one of his daughters reattach them later. He was obviously unhappy from the scowl he wore, but wisely kept his complaints to himself.
"Who is she to harp about worrying for your position? I myself had to kill more than my share of her offspring that got to uppity. And attacking me for such a slight! I could ruin her with the secrets I know of her and this family, I could topple the De'Faeror reign with an utterance!"
He continued to think angrily, half heartedly mulling over plans to take down the structures around him as he walked through them, choosing to ignore the obvious flaw in his anger fueled plans, if the De'Faeror's fell, he went with them. He turned a corner and went to elbow a passing drow until he noticed she was wearing the robes of a priestess. Bowing his head in respect he stepped to the side to allow her passage.
"Such dangerous thoughts in your mind this day Trium, should I have you punished or sent to the Pits of the Crippled?" the priestess asked him, looking entertained.
"Dangerous thoughts? I know not of what you speak, Priestess," Trium replied, not looking up for fear of angering the high strung mind reader more.
"Come male, we'll discuss this were I can be more convincing, since you don't seem to believe me," the priestess said, continuing her walk.
Thoughts flooded Trium's mind. To a priestesses quarters? Had he been out of Tallil's favor for so long that her daughters were moving in to claim him? Or was he really about to be punished for his thoughts? He looked up as he followed silently, and noticed immediately the mark of a spider displayed by a hole in the dress the priestess was wearing, between her shoulder blades. Relief flooded through him, though certainly not visibly.
When they went through the threshold into the priestesses' private quarters and had said the prayers to Lolth, she closed the door and they embraced. "Is mother being impossibly again, Father?"
"Yes, she seems to have misinterpreted my worry for the house yet again, Clarissa."
"Well I certainly hope it was more genuine in her audience chamber than it was in the hall. You're lucky I ran into you."
Trium smiled at his fortune, for if he had run into any of the other priestesses and they had scanned his mind with their vicious snake headed whips, he would have been executed on the spot, without question. Yet again he was glad he took a personal interest in this daughter. She had wanted to learn a few useful and simple dwomers early in her education, so naturally the houses head wizard had been assigned as her tutor. As he taught her, he sensed an innate weakness in her, one h could exploit easily and to great benefit. She was gullible, and easily enchanted. As he taught her the dewomers the Matron had ordered, he used techniques mastered at the schools to instill loyalty in her, loyalty to her father. With a few supplementing enchantments, she was his, a priestess under the suggestive control of a mage. A disgruntled mage, none the less.
"Yes, very lucky indeed," he said, his smile still intact, "But now that I have calmed down so considerably from seeing my lovely daughter, I must continue on to check on our newest mage and his progress with your brother."
A scowl crossed Clarisssa's face at the mention of Sereph, the only male offspring of Tallil De'Faeror, and a prominent figure in their household; publicly anyway. It was this prominence that angered the priestesses and High Priestesses, of which there were four and eight respectively. The holy women were a statistic, while this male was known by name even in the lowest reaches of the city. They were all angered by it, but what was more infuriating was how painfully aware of it Sereph was, and how he continued to increase that prominence.
With a scowl she answered, "Yes, of course father. I will talk to Tallil."
"You are most kind priestess," Trium said, opening the door and walking out. Clarissa watched him leave, getting off of her couch to walk over to a small chalice made of onyx. Picking it up and taking a sip of the contents, she dropped the chalice to the ground and the dark liquid spilled out, as her tongue and throat started to spasm and convulse, quickly spreading to her entire body.
Trium went first to the weapons room, expecting the over zealous Sereph to be training either with or without Anoroth. He was surprised to find the circular room empty. After looking at the weapons on the wall for a moment, many of which he had enchanted himself, he left and started towards Sereph's personal room. Sereph opted to keep it to allow the previous Weapons Master to continue living next to the training room. The older drow, still quite capable of combat, was able to take the more mundane responsibilities of the position, like teaching basic combat. He was also the last sparring partner Sereph had in the household, something he was not willing to lose unless it was in a match.