On and off for the next few days, Taahira uses her free time to meditate. It isn't easy to clear one's mind enough to let the input from the larvae get through, since their senses are so limited at the moment. She has been able to isolate individuals though, she thinks. When she isn't trying to focus on any single one, she gets the general impression that there are at least eight of them growing in her belly.
She's been visited by Herod, Mahalia and Anina (who she learns is Herod's sister), and it seems like each has their own agenda in courting her: maybe the one who actually gets her to freely participate in the sacrifice earns more status? There haven't been any more signs of Abednego visiting, however. Chiyuta arrives one morning to ask Taahira an odd question: "Would you like to take a tour?" The oddness is in Taahira's very-ready-to-pop state, which doesn't seem conducive to taking a walk (but then, Lapi have strong legs).
"This entire family is ruled by crazy people. And tempts innocents. Well, that is if Chiyuta is innocent as she seems to be at times," Taahira thinks glumly when the request comes. "Maybe she's just using me for her own status too. Probably is. Few Babelites care anything about someone else." Still, taking a short tour might prove educational; and at the very least get her out of the room she has been stuck in for what feels like forever. When you're this bloated, you feel trapped in so many ways. She really owes both Rosalind and Phlagaea some sort of gift if she ever gets back to Sylvania. "I suppose so," the doe then agrees, and struggles to her feet.
Chiyuta helps, keeping a shoulder ready for support. Not having working wings may have led to the girl developing her other muscles more, since she doesn't seem to have difficulty helping the Lapi. The tour, it seems, isn't going to be limited to just their little section of the female slaves quarters either. "Did you want to see the harem?" Chiyuta asks.
"There is an actual harem here? Is it guarded by eunuchs?" Taahira inquires. She's actually semi-curious to see a Babel harem.
"Yes, it is," Chiyuta says, and leads Taahira out of the general slave dormitory down some stairs. It's several levels down before they enter a new hall, which makes the doe wonder how she's meant to get back up the stairs. But the harem is.. not what she expected. Or rather, exactly what Taahira would be expecting: a very Abu-Dhabi style place, with baths and lounges and pretty women (and several big men guarding them; Fnerfs and Nagas). It looks.. well.. a bit staged.
"The courtesans are not slaves," Chiyuta notes to Taahira. "Although some started that way." There are a few Savanites in the mix, certainly.
"Have you been here before?" Taahira asks. The whole 'staged' look is a bit jarring, really. She's well-traveled enough to know cultures don't appear inside each other this exactly.
"Well.. I don't really service this part of the tower," the girl notes. "I think the harem has its own separate servants," she rationalizes, and nods towards a Naga carrying a platter of candied beetles.
"When did you hear about this place?" Taahira asks as she peers about. "If I were, ah, less puffy I would have spied..."
Because, well ... these places are where you learn lots of stuff," Taahira admits. "About people, and how to do, uhm things."
"Well, I admit I don't know much about it," Chiyuta says. "Master Herod told me you seemed interested though, and gave me permission to show you."
It looks there are private rooms as well (or at least lots of doors). It doesn't seem clear if the men (or the women, for that matter) who run things come down here or have their choices brought to them. There certainly doesn't seem to be anything happening now. Just women napping, eating or chatting in Babelite (which Taahira isn't supposed to understand).
"Ooh," Taahira says and nods. "Definitely staged, then," the doe decides. "It's more tame than I would have thought of Babel ... but that is a good thing," she adds. "How many servants live here. Not here in the harem, but in general? How many people will I come to know?"
"Well, there's this tower and a few others," Chiyuta says, doing some mental math. "We have twenty.. uh.. nineteen female slaves in our section. I don't know how many are in the men's section. We serve the five levels above us, so.. uh.. if there are twenty levels to the tower.." She seems at a loss.
"Nineteen? Did we lose one?" Taahira inquires, looking at the Eeee with wide eyes.
So far, none of the concubines have done more than glance at he visitors. Certainly not showing any interest in a pregnant Lapi. "I miscounted," Chiyuta says apologetically, but seems upset. "I'm not supposed to count myself anymore. It's.. I'm still getting used to my position.." She looks like she's about to cry.
"What's wrong?" Taahira asks. The doe even gently nuzzles Chiyuta's neck affectionately.
With a hand on her forehead, Chiyuta seems to shake a bit. "I'm just.. a little confused," she says. "I'm out of my element, and.. I need to go pray, I think."
"Did I offend you?" Taahira asks, the doe now looking hurt.
"What? No," Chiyuta says. "I just.. I don't know a lot, and I'm letting you down. I'm supposed to be showing you things, not blubbering."
"You're not letting me down," Taahira claims. She does at least feel better that maybe she is actually savable. "Are there other places we can go see?"
"Well, I know one place further down," the girl says quietly, turning her back on the harem to shield from eavesdroppers. "I go there when I need reassurance."
"Am I allowed there? I don't want to get you in trouble," the doe claims.
"You've met with Anina," Chiyuta says. "Did she invite you to join us, maybe?"
"She gave me that weird talisman thingy," Taahira says. "Does that count?"
"Oh, yes," the girl says, her eyes going wide. "Yes, that would count. Do you want to come with me?"
"Only if it won't get you in trouble," Taahira insists.
"I don't think I will, if you've already been given a symbol," Chiyuta says, and looks a bit more eager to go now. "You'll like it," she insists, holding onto the Lapi's hand with both of her own.
"Is it pretty?" Taahira asks. She does end up leaning a lot on the poor Eeee, because, well ... it's hard being pregnant. This is certainly a trial befitting a Yodhgorphat, and some part of her even finds enjoyment in that.
"I think so!" Chiyuta says, and leads the doe back to the stairs. She has to pick up and light a lantern, as the stairs soon become narrow and very dark. The jostling of each downward step seems to agitate the worms as well.
"Dark is pretty? Er, only in Babel," Taahira thinks. She also has to slow her gait a bit to lessen the jostling. No need to agitate the flesh-eaters too much since she's the primary source of it right now!
The stairs seem to go on forever, and connecting passages are all dark. Finally, though, there is light ahead.
Diphath looms above, sporting multiple arms that seem to be weaving something - ropes are used to represent threads, suspended from the statue's fingers and knotting into a sort of chaotic web.
The place is well lit, and apparently empty, but Chiyuta seems to calm down as soon as they enter it. And Taahira knows why: there's an aura at work, or else some sort of enchantment.
Taahira's ear twitches. She focuses for a moment on that aura, trying to determine its intent, the feeling it tries to impart. "A guilded cage, you might say," the doe thinks upon seeing the well-kept interipr. Indoctrinate, then slowly lead into deeper depravity. Not that I have any experience in that.
It's mostly relaxing. Mind Magic, or something more divine - it's almost like the feeling one gets in the presence of Inala, which would be doubly ironic. It seems to be coming from the web of rope - which actually resembles the odd spoked symbol Anina gave the doe.
Taahira eyes that web for a moment, trying to match it to any rune or circle patters she has seen in the past. "This place feels ... like an oasis in the desert," she remarks.
"Yes! It's so safe," Chiyuta says, and sits on one of the amphitheater like seats that fan out before the statue. "Before this, I always felt bad, like nobody cared about me or that I meant nothing.."
"That's not true, though. Lots of people care for you I bet. Even people that don't know you would have likely cared if they had known of you," Taahira claims. "I met people like that before; people who just did things for the sake of doing them for others. Wish one would have been around for me, though."
"My old master never cared. My new ones.. didn't really care until after I'd turned to Diphath," Chiyuta says.
"Everything turned around for me after that," she says.
"But, who you believe in doesn't decide if you should be cared for or not," Taahira points out as she settles herself into a chair. "I'm not even an Eeee, and didn't grow up in Babel, but you seem to like me. Even before Amina came to me." The doe shrugs a bit at that, finding herself wishing she could hug her knees; something makes that right impossible. "Do you only like me because she came to me and gave me a talisman?" the doe asks.
"No, I like you because.. you're a lot like I was," Chiyuta claims, and smiles to Taahira. "I want to help you to be happy, because I know it's possible now."
"A lot like a lie. I'm sorry, kid," Taahira thinks to herself. Changing subjects while she looks around, "Have you ever thought about traveling? Anyplace you ever wanted to go?"
There's a brief, sharp pain inside the doe's womb, as if one of the worms is testing out its teeth - or getting hungry.
Taahira winces at the bite. "Bad timing. Calm down," the doe thinks, trying to encourage the worm to settle.
"I heard that Saskanar is nice," Chiyuta says. "It's warm, and they grow all the fruit there. You can bask in the sunlight."
Things settle down, but it doesn't fix the fact that the 'yolk' is all but gone now.
"Chiyuta!" calls the somewhat scolding voice of Anina bar Abbas, as she enters from a passage behind the giant statue. "What are you doing down here? And.. oh my, Taahira!" The vampire priestess picks up her pace and hurries over to the doe and girl.
"Forgive me, Mistress," Chiyuta apologizes, bowing down. "I was in need of solace, and.." she trails off a bit.
"Please do not blame her. It is my fault. I caused her stress and she wanted to go to a place to calm herself," Taahira claims and holds up her hands even as her chin dips. "If anyone should be punished, it is me."
"She should have thought clearer though," Anina claims, and points to the doe's inflated belly. "How are you to get back up to your room? Chiyuta, go and fetch food for Taahira, she must be exhausted."
"Yes Mistress!" the slave girl answers, and dashes back out the way they came in.
"She means well, but sometimes she.. treads water? I'm not sure of the proper phrase," Anina says to Taahira, sitting next to her and placing a hand on her belly.
"I can climb stairs. It would be slow, but not impossible," Taahira claims, pouting. She now puts her hands on her rather distended gut too. "And she is nice; tries hard to make everyone happy."
"Happiness was something new for her - it is understandable that she would wish to share it," Anina says, and then looks into the doe's face. "Have you been thinking about your happiness, Taahira?"
"Mostly about morning sickness, but a little, maybe," Taahira claims as she looks down at the floor. "I seem to do well at making Master Herod happy when he visits, and that does make me feel better about being here. Even if, if it's just in the capacity of pleasuring Eeee."
"You get pleasure from us too though, don't you?" Anina says, and runs a finger along the rabbit's thigh. "Isn't that something you'd want, instead being.. well.. a slave to your shame, as it were."
"Oh, of course I get pleasure from you," Taahira says, her head hanging and looking embarrassed. "Lapi learn early how to, uhm, enjoy lifting tail and licking. It's a common technique for avoiding, well ..." She rubs her stomach again to finish that. The doe then pauses there and ends up reaching up and playing with her ears for a bit. "I think it's soon that, uhm, well. There has been more movement inside me. Maybe a day now. Maybe less."
"Tsk, you should not be climbing about then," Anina says. "I can have a chamber made up for you here, if you like. Do you like it here?"
"It's quiet and underground. Comfortable," Taahira agrees. "Ah, the eager cannibal," the doe thinks about that offer.
"And the goddess will watch over you," Anina says. "If you wish to give her your children, you will enter the inner circle - and the rewards are great. Even Chiyuta is at the mere edge of the goddess's influence, and see how happy she is?"
"Oh yes! Just let us devour children and teach you how and everything will be just fine!" Taahira thinks. But, she's a good actress now and nods her head slowly. "I ... I'm not sure, but maybe I can give my children," she says hesitantly. "Maybe. I just ... it's hard."
"A hard decision, but an easy life," Anina says. "No constant reminders of the man who ruined your happiness, or the fear of watching his offspring grow to be like him - abusing others. All of that pain.. just won't happen."
Taahira nods slowly at that. "I just .... how can I be sure it is the right thing to do?" the doe asks.
"Is it right for you to suffer for a moment of weakness? Right for you to be exiled from your home?" Anina asks. "There is little that is right in this world," she says, and gestures to the web of ropes held by the statue. "Diphath takes the strands of chaos, and tries to bring order to them. Or at least to the ones who worship her. Order is neither right nor wrong, it is simply the power to determine your own fate."
"After you let her infect you with a black heart and promise to server her after death," Taahira thinks grimly, and back to when the vampire visited her. "Do I have to decide now?" she asks the Eeee and resumes looking at the floor.
The Eeee's hand rubs the doe's belly (causing some squirming inside), and says, "No, but you will have to decide soon, before you give birth."
"I probably give them, I guess. I think," Taahira waffles, distracted by the squirming of her (and Hosheb's) children. "What will become of me afterward?"
"You will have a new life, and new opportunities to pursue," Anina claims. "Pleasure, power, wealth.. those of the inner circle are most blessed. But one only gets there through sacrifice."
"Is there anything I must do to make an official pledge?" Taahira asks. "In Abu Dhabi people who join orders get tattoos, or even weird body piercings."
"Diphath is humble, and does not ask that we wear our devotion," Anina says. "It is just a simple matter.. a bit of blood. Do you wish to be initiated tonight?"
Taahira bites her lip. "I must be initiated before I can ... give?" she asks.
"It would let Diphath know you first," Anina claims. "It would make your later offering much more valuable."
"It ... sounds easy," Taahira admits nervously. "Okay. I would like to be initiated tonight, Mistress."
Anina smiles, and says, "I will make sure you are comfortable here. Is there anything from your chambers that you wish to have brought to you?"
"My clothing, maybe? It's sometimes easier to go without any," the doe admits. "The bed is nice, but I guess similar is down here?"
"We will make a nest for you right here, on the altar," Anina says. "Chiyuta will bring your clothes and anything else."
"On the altar?" Taahira asks as she seems to shrink back a bit from the statue. "That sounds like you're offering ... me."
"It is part of the initiation, nothing more," Anina assures the nervous doe. "So that Her attention is upon you."
"What should I wear?" Taahira asks.
"Only your fur," Anina says. "You should be as pure as you can be. I will bathe you beforehand."
"I was going to ask if there was anything I needed to do to prepare, or be ready for," Taahira admits.
"Just be.. open," the priestess says with a smile. "You will enjoy it, I am certain."
"Open?" the doe asks. "Okay."
Chiyuta appears again, looking slightly out of breath as she carries a bowl full of fruits and greens with her. "Here you go, Taahira," she says, placing the bowl next to the doe.
"Taahira will be staying down here tonight, Chiyuta," Anina says. "Have her belongings and bedding brought down."
The girl looks surprised, but smiles and bows. "Of course, Mistress!" She gives Taahira a wink and an 'eeee' of excitement before dashing off again.
Taahira actually leans over and kisses Chiyuta's cheek lightly, then says, "Thank you." before she dashes off The doe then goes about gingerly eating some fruit. She has to keep her strength up given very soon she'll be pushing out at least eight large larvae ... through a rather small passage. Oh ... the pain she expects.
"Allow me," Anina says, and begins feeding the doe by hand.
"But, but, you're Mistress" Taahira says nervously,but doesn't dare refuse the offered fruit.
"It is a special day," Anina says. "You will be family after tonight."
Taahira still looks worried about being fed, but she doesn't resist the offers or complain any further.
Gradually, the contents of the maternity room are brought down piece by piece by Chiyuta and one other Eeee slave girl (apparently not just anyone is allowed down in the temple). Taahira's nest is rebuilt, her clothing sorted and her jewelry on display. Even a chamberpot is included, and a little throne for it.
An Taahira by now is stripped down to nothing but fur and the locked collar around her neck. "This is really strange. A rather grandiose display for what they really do. Slow and steady corruption, I guess," the doe thinks as she stays out of the way and rests as things are brought down. The resting does feel good; and keeps her 'children' from squirming around too much; though there is almost constant movement of some sort now.
Bowls of scented water are brought, and Anina removes her own clothes before she starts bathing Taahira with a cloth. She's very thorough, and notes, "You are beginning to lactate, Taahira."
"I am?" Taahira asks ... then actually reaches down to massage and check for herself. That would explain the taut and tender feeling the past couple of days.
Once the rather intimate washing is done, leaving the doe tingly, Anina brings some of the cushions over to the altar, and begins to set out candles. "Will you need help getting onto the altar?" she asks the doe.
"Would Mistress or any of her family wish to drink a little?" Taahira actually offers, her ears feeling hot from embarrassment. She goes over to the altar and bites her lip ... then carefully and slowly tries to climb up onto the altar herself. "It's never good when I lie upon an altar. Never. Even when it feels good, I pay for it..." she thinks.
"Oh, I'm sure that we will," Anina says, helping Taahira onto the slab. At the least the cushions are comfortable, even though lying back leaves her looking right up at Diphath's outwardly serene visage.
"I ... think I prefer laying on Gorphat's altar. At least with Her I know something horrible will happen. This one is deceiving," Taahira thinks as she looks upward at the statue. She then rests her hands on her stomach; feeling slow slow churn of the larvae within her.
"Relax," Anina says. "Bask in Diphath's love." The Eeee makes a gesture, and the lights go out in the room. A moment later, and the candles all spring to life at once.
"Ah, nothing like a little magic to make it more mysterious!" Taahira thinks, then has brief, but fond, memories of being blindfolded and in Hortence's swing. The doe makes a small surprised squeak, so as to keep up the act, then lays there, pretending to 'relax'.
There's silence, as she is apparently supposed to take time to meditate, but then more presences are felt. Anina, Mahalia and Herod all appear out of the candlelight, the flickering making the contours of their bodies seem exaggerated. All of them are naked, and the two women approach the altar from the sides, while Herod climbs up next to Taahira's feet.
"Oookay, this is getting creepy," Taahira thinks, but at least finds some comfort the vampire isn't here. Her ears quiver nervously, then the doe bites her lower lip lightly. She doesn't move, nor could she very quickly given the amount of weight pressing down on her in her gut. "They won't hurt me ... not yet," she thinks ot herself.
Indeed, they don't hurt her. It is very much like being under Hortense's power though, with the two females nuzzling, kissing, stroking, kneading and.. yes, suckling on the doe, while Herod focuses on her legs and thighs and butt and more sensitive areas, making expert use of the long Eeee tongue.
"Oookay, so this feels good. Really really good," Taahira thinks, and demonstrates with the myriad of pleased sounds that escape from the doe's lips. Not to mention the quivering her body makes. She never realized how good nursing felt when it actually relieved pressure.
The three Eeee keep it up, bringing Taahira to a peak.. and then holding her there, keeping her from a full release. When this seems unbearable.. then the fangs come out. It's enough send Taahira over the top, as they drink her blood from neck, chest and thigh.
Taahira can't help herself; she has to cry out when the bites come. It just feels ... so good. "Focus, focu ... ohhh!" she thinks. So much for remaining focused.
Things get a bit wild from that point out. Herod takes both of the women - even though Anina is his sister - right there on the altar next to Taahira, and even tries the doe.. his vigor actually loosening the mucous plug - which means it's been thinning in preparation for birth. There is more biting, and not just of Taahira but of one another. Some of the blood even falls on the doe's tongue, or she is licking it from fur as she becomes less the focus and more of a participant.
Taahira, a victim of her own lusts, gives in and becomes as active as her body allows. She encourages, brushes, teases, suckles, and invites penetration in all ways of her body. Once the plug, though loose, foils Herod ... she actually guides him lower, into a less ... blocked passage. She doesn't even mind the small amount of blood; not that she notices outside of its coppery taste. She's so into the moment she isn't even thinking of its risks. She doesn't even know how many are there anymore.
The candles burn down and sputter eventually, leaving the 'family' huddles and curled together with Taahira in the center. Nobody has spoken a word that wasn't just a shout, the air is filled with the scents of lust and blood, and the doe's stomach is restless. She is quite thoroughly exhausted.
"I feel very very sticky, inside and out," Taahira thinks in an exhausted haze. One tired hand does manage to stroke her stomach now and then as she thinks, "Calm. Calm. Soon, but I need energy and strength to bring you to the world."
In a chamber rough-hewn from iron-rich rock, on a bed of animal furs, Nicora reenacts much of what just transpired with Vorgulremik. The dragon gallantly cleans the blood off of the furless, bloated Eeee with his tongue though. "You were quite enthusiastic," he comments.
"Well, it feels good. Oddly, even better when I'm this pregnant," Nicora claims as she lounges under the licking, "The pressure and movement is ... intense." She stretches her furless arms up above her head, stretching out her bloated and constantly squirming gut. Without fur, the movement is very visible. She comments, "And I'm surprised the undead didn't take part. Abednego is a closer servant than any of those three."
"You have sensed him only occasionally though," the dragon notes, nosing a breast as Nicora stretches. "He must not reside within the tower, but act as some sort of go-between for the General. A creature like that would not be affected by the Forbidden Zone, perhaps."
"Mmm. Still, I'm hurt he wasn't there for such an important indoctrination," Nicora claims, then grins fangily. "It also means I don't get to kill him when I pop, so to speak."
"You will be operating as Scourge then, not the Wraith," Vorgulremik notes. "Not the best choice of form to face a nosferatu in." The dragon suckles a bit clumsily.
And perhaps to frustrate Vorg some, Nicora closes her eyes and concentrates; trying to become Scourge ... since the dragon has never actually seen what Gorphat turned her into. "I'm hurt you don't think I could destroy him," she ... so to be it, claims; the voice growing more hollow and odd and the shift deepens.
Vorg does back away a bit, until the change is complete.. although this version of Scourge is clearly female, since she's still pregnant.
"Very sleek," the steel dragon comments.
That strange, flatter head tilts a bit and the toothless grin that follows is downright disturbing. "What? Do you not find me attractive anymore?" Scourge rumbles, then licks over her own face ... with her tongue split apart.
Vorg responds by pinning the dragon-thing on its back, and starting to rut her. "Squishy.. almost like a Shadow Dragon," he notes with a grin.
"Bah, I'm nothing like Melusine," Scourge grunts when she's pinned down. The strange gragon-thing then spreads her maw ... and Vorg finds his face wrapped in multi-segmented tongue!
"This is .. a kiss?" the dragon asks. "You'll find no madness to suck from me, I fear.."
"I find you all madness," Scourge claims once she actually releases that tongue. "But who am I to talk; I miss Hosheb, a demon." The strange dragon chuckles, then really gets into just enjoying the rut; which is not going to exactly be common with this body, after all. "And tomorrow, I destroy another coven, I think. The clutch is insistent to be released."
"And the beast, don't forget," Vorgulremik notes as he thrusts enthusiastically. "You must find out how it can survive beyond the Mists, and how it got there."
"Of course. If it is even capable of thought and talk. I may have to just kill it and ... explore," Scourge claims, "And mindful of who I kill; there are some still mostly innocent. I may even have to devour the larvae." There's a disturbing thought.
"I'm certain you have not seen the real temple yet," Vorgulremik notes. "Where the actual coven resides. I'm sure you'll be moved there when the time comes, though.."
"Which is very soon; I can feel it," Scourge notes, "And if I fight it much longer, they will devour me."
"There's no need to hold them in," the scalier dragon notes. "They are weapons. Use them."
"Says someone who will never know what giving birth feels like," Scourge says with a smirk. "Care to find out? I imagine I could arrange it with a little help from Kaira..."
"My kind die in childbirth, recall," Vorgulremik points out. "And I am very familiar with dying already."
"But it might be fun, seeing you all swollen up and waddling," Scourge teases with a disturbingly wide grin. "It would amuse me."
"Hmmph," the dragon says. "Is that what I am, an amusement? I give you valuable advice," he claims, and then starts hammering his hips hard against Scourge.
"Everything is an amusement to a dragon," Scourge points out, then licks Vorgulremik. She then croons "Good boy" when he really gets into it!
The novelty of the new form brings Vorgulremik to his conclusion soon enough, and he bites Scourge on the neck to reclaim a bit of dominance.
And Scourge cries out, her body clenching down in time with his! "I could get to like this," she hisses, "Pity this form normally has no gender at all."
"That is hardly an obstacle to a dragon," Vorgulremik claims.
"Having no teeth does mean at least one way is possible," Scourge teases. "And now I must decide whether or not to tell Kaira how much time you insisted on spending with me. Think she'll be upset?"
"She is always upset," Vorgulremik notes. "For she is a vain and jealous creature."
"Just like you," Scourge teases.
"My pride in myself is warranted," Vorgulremik claims. "And I could hardly feel jealousy."
"So if I started only bedding her and not letting you touch me, you would not feel jealous?" Scourge teases with a smirk.
"I do not think it would come to that," Vorgulremik claims. "You enjoy my attention too much now."
Scourge's eyes narrow. "Shall we test that?" she challenges.
"No," the dragon says. "There is work to be done that is more important than such games."
"Pfft," Scourge says and waves one of her stubby, webbed, paws. Her head then tilts a bit and grimaces. "And something more important is about to happen. It's time."