🌶️ L'Eglise, c'est Moi! [Maddyn]

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Well, uh... t'was this time... and this day...

...Amathor might be out for quite a while, then. Which was a little scary, honestly. Always have an experimentation buddy present to help watch over you when you were testing on yourself! Sliucha'd have that talk with Amathor, once she came down from that high. It was like lifting weights, right? Always have a spotter!

"Wanna make out and stuff until then?" Sliucha offered. Well, obviously, she'd watch over Amathor until she was safely in a more sober state of mind. And if she was going to do that, why not also let the Alithean experience a few more things while she was under the influence? Those were probably good notes to jot down, right, considering they were Alitheans and all?

At least, Sliucha had definitely done that sort of thing when she'd been working on her drugs. ('Twilight' really made things interesting.)

 

[Maddyn]

Not as much time lost as Amathor had thought! Neat! Definite improvement even as she went on to explain that she’d been trying to dampen how long the narcotics (name pending) stayed in the system but hadn’t really managed to find a solution. Until now - a couple of hours, enough for a good time without it being a dreadfully long time that turned the Elfin Alchemist into someone else's problem when drug addled and wandering about unsupervised.

Nor was Sliucha’s proposal to kill some time until an earnest recovery sounding at all unappealing. Couldn’t stop watching Sliucha’s lips, as if every word was causing a burst of colour that Amathor simply had to see.

By way of response? Dusting herself off and holding up her hands to, well, Amathor wasn’t really sure. Pull her up or drag Sliucha down with her? Either felt fine, and leaving that one up to the High Priestess. Thinking was hard and logistics being what they were? Someone had to move and Amathor wasn’t quite able to figure out what made more sense. Not when thinking coherently was all kinds of challenging.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Could Sliucha probably have just left Amathor alone and gone off to do something else to kill time? Sure. Somehow, though, that wasn't how it worked out!

And, considering one of them was high off her tits, it only felt polite for Sliucha to go down to where Amathor was.

Spoiler

Where kisses and wandering squeezing hands became fingering and lips on tits became cunnilingus and face sitting became scissoring and more kisses once again. Sliucha taking things slow and offering Amathor plenty of opportunities to soak in the experience, in hope that she'd be able to commit it to her notes.

And Sliucha, providing plenty of vocalizations - dirty talking and jubilant utterances - because Amathor seemed to be delighting in the visualizations only she could see.

Having fun!

 

[Maddyn]

Spoiler

A most splendid way of killing time, and Amathor high as a kite and slowly, sloooowly being rendered more lucid even as Sliucha fucked her silly.

It was a different sort of problem, but one that tended to at least ensure that after a could hours? Amathor was once again slumped against the ground, exhausted and frazzled but fundamentally? Mentally sobered to the point where she was a little more mentally lucid. Physically? Not really going anywhere anytime soon (short of Sliucha’s magical assistance once again).

Only, once brought to a clearer frame of mind in what amounted to post-nut clarity? Amathor was back to taking more notes about the narcotics. This time though, back to front handwriting? Still a thing, but even then, was now once again being written in a personal cypher rather than being left for potentially anyone to casually read.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Mwah~!

And welcome back to the dreary land of the sober! Letting Amathor take a few moments to jot the notes to her content, but once it seemed like she was done? Time to get the spiel! That was to say, that the organization had been reworked, that 'shrine maiden' and 'priestess' were being done away with - although priestess was likely to stick around as a colloquial designation - how it was reworked, and the fact that Sliucha felt like Amathor currently sat pretty comfortably at...

...fourth tier.

Temple alchemist. Made sense, surely? Quite literally Amathor's specialty at the moment?

Continue to perfect the craft, or maybe start a local workshop and tutor others? Make a business based out of the Temple? Lots of paths for development, as far as Sliucha was concerned.

Thoughts from Amathor herself?

 

[Maddyn]

A good time had, and now Amathor once more back in a more business-like mode. All work and no play made for a dreadfully dull girl, and Amathor, while hesitant when it came to being swept up within Sliucha’s various agendas - a little too far inclined towards both extremes in the Elf’s view. And Amathor, quite okay with more the middling territory rather than pure pleasure or business as Sliucha had seen showcased during the more recent stint at the Temple of Carnal Love.

Too much work and Amathor went off hiding and making herself scarce. Too much hedonism though and she too tended to get a touch exasperated and look for something to stimulate the mind rather than the body.

Thoughts? Thinking was a little slow, but Amathor remained smiling away in a dreamy manner that had more to do with Sliucha’s efforts than the whole, Tiers and Ranks and what not. “Business sounds good, I’m not really all that keen upon taking an Apprentice for its own sake. If someone suitable presents themselves then sure - but it takes a certain mindset in my opinion and it should start with the potential trainee being inquisitive enough to ask for themselves…”

Fourth? Ignored, not challenging that or pushing for more unlike a few other candidates. Comfortable with the assessment Sliucha proposed and content rather to see how Amathor might fit in better with the restructuring.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

It was what Amathor would make of it!

Sliucha's suggestions were exactly that - suggestions. Something to give an idea of how progression up the tiers might work. The dark elf could keep those in mind and still do something else entirely, and still work her way up as well. She could grind it out if she wanted to - she could take it slowly if she wanted to - she could even be perfectly content to stay where she was if she wanted to. Whatever Amathor might want, whatever Amathor might be comfortable with.

You weren't required to climb the tower. But now, at least, there was a tower to climb!

And so with that information passed along?

"If you're going to do this again, please at least assign yourself a buddy that can keep an eye on you, okay?"

 

[Maddyn]

All in all? Outside Dynne, it appeared that Sliucha hadn’t actually collected the most driven individuals. Alithea and Hedonism and the old Hayan centric structure being what it was? Sliucha instead had a whole lot of people who were big about comfort, making the most out of life and steady progress that ideally wouldn’t alienate the people around them (lest a Hayan get all stompy and jerk-like and make life harder for all in their tantrums).

Amathor entirely on board with the proposed changes, and not one to really rock the boat either so long as she wasn’t being thrown into a situation entirely outside her comfort zone and interests.

Only, there was a token amount of guilt and a pointed, “I don’t exactly have anyone with the skill-set to know what to look for High Priestess outside yourself and… Origa-Kuroi. I’ll consider the advice, but I’m not putting anyone in harms way either. Better to risk myself than others.” Plus, Alchemist. Notoriously all about the privacy and probably a good deal more that Amathor wasn’t saying. When it same to hoarding secrets, alchemists really could be the worst.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Mmmmm.

"I'll see about getting you a

low-level enchantment MP used!

, at least, so that you're at least somewhat protected." Was that fine with Amathor as a compromise? Just remember to activate it before any experiments, okay? At least this way some degree of protection was imparted without Amathor having to worry about privacy, right? Thaumaturgy to prevent her from getting hurt or hurting herself!

-----

All right! Next up, then, was Aelwathui. A Vysstichi shrine maiden that had come along in Amathor's group and was best described as... competent!

Driven! Talented! Just hadn't quite found the opportunities to get those trials finished to warrant a promotion to priestess, remaining a shrine maiden. The potential definitely felt like it was there, though, just needed to find a way to harness it! It really felt like if Aelwathui could manage to figure that out, then she was definitely of the same sort of archetype as the likes of Dynne or Amdirthand, and poised to also have quite the career within the Temple.

For now, Sliucha kept it simple, and invited Aelwathui to have lunch sometime. It'd been a while since they'd sat down and chatted!

Spoiler

As opposed to, you know, Aelwathui squirting around Sliucha's dick.

 

[Maddyn]

“Won’t say no?” Amathor replied happily, certainly not going to turn down any magical loot that Sliucha threw her way. That it was also probably going to end up being ‘lost’ and finding its way into an alchemic potion somewhere along the way to supplement a creation? Almost guaranteed. But having something to assist in her own well-being too in the long term was just the kind of resource hoarding that practitioners of her craft were known for.

And with that sorted? Up was Aelwathui!

Shrine Maiden, and one upon the cusp of promotion and just waiting for the opportunities to prove herself! And that there was all kinds of potential now for advancement now that Sliucha had turned her attention towards building up the Temple’s structure rather than trying to collect the scattered remnants of the old Ves’Alitheans? Oh, she was all kinds of on board for a nice little lunch with the High Priestess!

Spoiler

Though, of course, also completely unopposed to the prospect of something more intimate with Sliucha. Old habits died hard and it never hurt to try to keep in the High Priestesses’ good graces!

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Spoiler

There was no denying that the end of this meeting might go as per their usual antics. But there was plenty of important stuff to discuss before then, you know!

Lunch! And over lunch, Sliucha talked with Aelwathui about how the reorganization was going to go, how they had the new tiered system, and how as a shrine maiden Aelwathui was already slotted at a solid third tier, but Sliucha felt like she was one of the prime candidates at the moment to start moving towards that fourth tier.

What Aelwathui needed at the moment was a task, or a specialty, that was assigned to her. The dark elf had the same problem Dynne had - she was just generally competent. But that hadn't really been directed towards any specific direction within the Temple yet. Amdirthand and Morathai, the pair who had been priestesses right from the start, had quickly been given assignments. Amdirthand had been in charge of the Baelung, for instance, before being reassigned to matters of the Dreamscape. Whereas Morathai had been tapped to head the Sisterhood that worked with the hobgoblins. Only most recently had Dynne, after her promotion to priestess, been assigned the role of Liaison.

So they needed to figure out something similar for Aelwathui to work towards. Because, as they'd learned with Dynne, being an excellent lay didn't quite equate to progression among the Temple track.

And that was how things stood! Aelwathui had been at the Temple for a decent while now, coming in the wave that Ninuka had brought along with her. If she had any ideas on where she wanted to go with things, then she was free to let Sliucha know at her leisure.

Prior to the reorganization, the promotion from shrine maiden to priestess had involved undertaking two tasks that involved either corruption of others or self-degeneracy. If Aelwathui wanted, she could work towards continuing that particular line - as a fourth tier, for instance, she could lean heavily into the "seductress/temptress" role and work on 'recruiting' individuals into the Alithean faith. Alternatively, she could decide to explore something completely new. Or she could even just tell Sliucha, point me in a direction and I'll figure it out from there!

Or she could be content with third tier. Sometimes all a person wanted to be was a pretty face and a good lay. No pressure or anything! Just, Sliucha wanted Aelwathui to know how the reorganization shaped out a career path, as opposed to the relatively vague idea of what made a shrine maiden or priestess, previously.

 

[Maddyn]

Business lunch! Aelwathui edging far more towards the sliding scale where Dynne and Morathai and Armdirthand existed if only because Aelwathui was still at that cusp of promotion in the old system and itching for that little bit more before she started to coast. Maintaining that level of aspiration had, in its own way though been fuelling a mixture of anxiety and running the risks of burn-out.

Suffice that the lunch really couldn’t have come at a better time in Aelwathui’s view given all the added pressure that came with the newer foundlings from the Temple of Carnal Love making for increased competition.

It wouldn’t be the first time after all that the established were taken for granted and all the attention instead thrust upon the new and shiny individuals at their expense.

Jack-of-all and with that, the Shrine Maiden was running into the problem of well, what ‘Shrine’ was she supposed to be attending? One amongst many? Go forth and spread the word? It was a mix of uncertainty as to what Aelwathui was supposed to be doing, and where that ran at the Elf’s core. Dynne at least had had the benefit of garnering Sliucha’s favour in a far more blatant manner.

Self or Others?

Which left Aelwathui mulling it over, poking over her meal and eventually answering with a “Others I think, though I imagine the path would involve self too. I think I’d like to start doing more abroad for recruitment purposes - drawing people towards the Temple, spread the good word. A Missionary of sorts… maybe see if there’s any other Cults too that can be drawn here. A… haven?”

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Got it.

They had a general idea of a target goal for Aelwathui to reach - made somewhat more difficult by the fact that the shrine maiden really was going to be something of a trailblazer here. The first person, barring Morathai's assignment in the Great Mountains, to essentially leave the Temple grounds. To go forth, and wander!

One supposed they could start small, right?

"Why don't we start by having you work in the Swirling Lotus Garden area for a bit?" Sliucha suggested, wanting to see how big of a leap Aelwathui might want to make. By doing something like this, Aelwathui could get a bit of exposure beyond the Temple grounds themselves, and mingle more with actual outsiders. Let her be more comfortable among those who weren't her kind - Alitheans and dark elves.

"I think the two main things are to try and pick up skills to make sure that you can take care of yourself out there, and then slowly expand the sort of places you might be sent," Sliucha suggested. "Regular trips first to areas we know are rather safe, like down to Ziel Aerca. Then, slowly, we can see about going further out into the countryside of Moonstone."

Thoughts?

 

[Maddyn]

Couldn’t just expect Sliucha to be the one constantly going abroad looking through the various Courts of Alithea and the regions in which they cropped up? Aelwathui working on the premise that an ongoing recruitment drive, a means of ensuring that the Temple of Sinful Delights was seen as the centre of the faith - rather than just one of the potential Temples in the lands as Carnal Love had been.

Namely, what had existed in Vortex? Aelwathui was all for ensuring that it was their new realm within Moonstone that held the ‘throne’ for the next few centuries, perhaps even millennia.

“Local first sounds good, I mean, I’m not all that keen on returning to Arium - but Centripax or Medonia has promise, or even the Faerie realms.” Aelwathui went on with a smile, for all that she wasn’t entirely sure what ‘Fae’rel’ would involve or even if it’d prove suitable. But there was only really one way to find out!

Didn’t want to bite off more than she could chew, even if Aelwathui was all kinds of eager to prove herself and that she was ‘Priestess’ material.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

A bit more of a wry smile at the mention of the faerie realms.

Centripax or Medonia, though! That lined up quite well with Sliucha's eventual plans on expanding out that way. At the moment she was still consolidating her hold over Moonstone - Ziel Aerca at this point more or less under a stranglehold, and looking into securing her hold over the outer reaches of the provinces. In the south, in central, in the deserts, in the north.

So, baby steps. Moonstone first for Aelwathui as a proving grounds, and they'd move on to bigger and better things once their foundation was secure!

"I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I could send you out there, knowing that you have some way to take care of yourself," Sliucha admitted to the dark elf. "Can you have a bit of a think on that? Picking up a weapon and learning how to use it, or something along those lines."

Sliucha couldn't help but want to know that her people were safe(ish) out there!

 

[Maddyn]

Fae’rel! And one of the many territories that bordered up against Moonstone! That the Province was entirely sandwiched between a literal half-dozen powers and Provinces hadn’t gone unnoticed. Almost as many as Centripax had achieved with what, seven Provinces and several of which weren’t necessarily friendly at all given the Maeve affair.

Baby steps though! Aelwathui at least had goals even if, for all intents and purposes? Eyes bigger than her stomach.

“Closer to home is probably best to start with, I mean I’d like to travel more but also, I don’t want to end up stuck somewhere without a way out or friends in reach.” Aelwathui agreed, at least aware of the risks of being isolated from the rest of the Temple. And unlike some of Sliucha’s ‘flock’, didn’t really have quite the same personal capabilities as others with magic or arms.

But there too was a nod, “Any recommendations on what to start with? Everyone seems to do swords which is very uh… phallic…”

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Something that wasn't all phallic? Well, um, hm...

...Sliucha used daggers, which were out, so...

...something blunt, like a hammer or an axe, felt like it didn't quite fit a dark elf...

"Maybe ask Darvreloth, or Invus?" Sliucha suggested, ultimately seeing if she couldn't delegate to either of the Vysstichi guards. At the end of the day, for all that Sliucha was pretty good with a set of daggers? Well, it'd really been a long while since she'd actually gotten to use any of them - very much the last resort in her set of skills when it came to dealing with those sorts of problems. "I figure the two of them would have better insights on what might suit you."

Even learning a bit of hand-to-hand combat could potentially work! But, Sliucha just didn't really know much about how elves were... you know, actually supposed to fight. In combat!

But, it seemed like they had a general plan for Aelwathui at the moment? See if they couldn't have her work at the first and second tiers of the Swirling Lotus Garden for a while - then slowly start having her take trips through Moonstone, and see how things went from there! One of their fledgling Alithean missionaries, it seemed! Did that all sound about right?

 

[Maddyn]

Bit of a running theme when it came to stabbing or maiming people. Wanted to cause penetration? That general shape really did tend to do the trick, even if Aelwathui was of a mind that that was precisely why she wanted to avoid it.

It felt a little too on the nose, almost advertising really if she started carrying around a mace or something.

“Will do! I’m sure we’ll find something that fits,” and was definitely talking about the weapon and not the pair of guards - though the knowing smirk implied otherwise. The ‘or’ though that Aelwathui might only be being granted access to one or the other? A shame, might Aelwathui was loyal enough to obey Sliucha strictly to the letter too.

Plus it wouldn’t do to leave the Temple undefended.

Missionary! Convert those that might be turned towards Alithea and eventually, start upon the neighbouring Provinces and realms. But for now? Keep it local and learn how to protect herself first.

 

[Sliucha Sindosa]

Thinking about it, perhaps they could have Aelwathui work as somebody who tried to 'upsell' people on the perks of getting into the second tier, as opposed to just staying on the first tier. Beyond that, it'd also be good experience for the dark elf - she'd likely want to figure out how best to maneuver in a world filled with light. Unless, of course, she planned on doing everything in the dark in her travels...

The trials and tribulations of a Vysstichi! Sliucha felt like the practical experience of the Swirling Lotus Garden was a nice and safe environment to work on some of those skills.

Spoiler

"Anyway, I think a celebration is in order for having figured this out!" Sliucha chirped cheerfully. "Wanna go try and break a bed together?"

Somewhere, one of the Temple's carpenters felt a chill.

 

[Maddyn]

A new path forged, for all that Aelwathui really wasn’t certain as to what it would look like moving from practice and concept to reality. But there too was no rush, stay local, learn how to look after herself, - then deal with the untold dangers of the Imperium for a Dark Elf. Which really did highlight the whole, learn how to protect oneself given that it wasn’t as if the Vysstichi were particularly welcome in Centripax, Medonia or Fae’rel given the Dwarven and Elvish and Faerie territories didn’t really look kindly upon said people.

Not all paths were equal!

Spoiler

Looking at Sliucha, the fork full of food hanging in the air before very carefully putting it down again. Hands folding together before her, steepled, and in no way considerate to the poor carpenters that Sliucha had on call.

“I do so believe that celebrations are indeed in order, High Priestess.” with a smile that couldn’t be dampened by severity and business.