Gin POV-A couple days have pa.s.sed since we have dealt with the drow scouts. I should talk to Vulki about this disgust for drow that is forming in me. I don"t want this feeling inside me. She should be resting for now as Xelu is keeping the wretched at bay.
Walking through the hallways I reach a room that is set up to be a strategy room. She is staring hard at a map made from treant bark and Set"s Ink. She has drawn out the local area along with the drow kingdom/religious country. It seems that they don"t call their own country anything which is slightly odd. Other races just call them the Drow Theocracy as the religious factions are much more prevalent in their society.
When she drew it up, I finally had a real idea of how large this underground pocket is. The "sky" is quite large. I already knew from the archne queen"s diary that it is dozens of kilometers high. Honestly, it looks endless. Next up is the ground area. The pocket is thousands of kilometers in area in the shape of a rounded off triangle. To the south-west corner is the forest where we are plus the Drow Theocracy. They occupy a little over a fifth of the pocket.
To the north part of the pocket lies a country known as Black Iron Pyre. The naming is a little odd on that one but it has the largest area covering a little under half the entire pocket reaching almost down to the southmost portion. It seems to be a country of fallen dwarves. With similar appearences to drow, they have red eyes and grey skin. However, as expected from dwarves they are short but extremely well built. Unlike normal dwarves they can"t grow beards. A lot of other races think that is the reason for their short-temperedness.
The south-eastern country is made up of many subterranean creatures including monsters like minotaurs. Known as the "Union", they have the smallest country with only an eighth of the pocket as territory. The rest is wilderness or forbidden areas. Their people are grouped into cl.u.s.ters of 1500 people each with one acting as a representative. The representative is the smartest person from that group and they determine laws.
I was quite suprised on the amount of information Vulki had on them but, it seems that the drow have led several campaigns to "convert" them. What they were actually were doing is capturing large quant.i.ties of them for slave labor. It seems that the Black Iron Pyre does the same to the Drow Theocracy except that they are more blunt about their reasons.
Enough of that though. I walk up to Vulki who raises her head. Her mask is a little spooky but, I find that cool to be honest.
"Hmmm? Does Master Gin need something? Are you in need of relief? Unfortunately I can"t come into physical contact.... However! I have been able to manipulate Kess" spiderlings to a degree that I swear I can feel what they"re feeling so maybe-." Vulki
I know that she is joking around but still.... That joke produces some weird imagery in my head. Luckily Set is asleep at the moment so she won"t make snide comments. It seems that she has developed a weird sleeping mode that she can go in and out of really quickly. She seems to guard me more attentively whenever I am asleep (or so I"ve heard) as well. Anyway.
"I"d have to turn down that offer. I came here to talk to you about a problem I"ve been having. I seem to have developed.... some sort of dislike for drow....." Gin
"?!?!..... Am.... I Included?" Vulki
"No! of course not." Gin
Her tone seemed a bit weird when asking. I could see her getting upset but, something felt a little off for some reason. Hard to tell what goes on in her brain....? Does she have a brain? She is made of fire so perhaps she has a fire-brain or something.
"Thank go- uhhh I don"t really believe in G.o.ds anymore so.... Thank... You???" Vulki
"Your welcome?" Gin
This conversation has become weird. Real weird. Especially now that she is giving off a feeling of realization through telepathy.
"Ahem, so back onto the issue of you hating trash. Isn"t that natural? I only realized after becoming as I am that the drow race is sc.u.m. I would tell you about what I have seen over the years but, I don"t want to pollute your mind. The drow in this pocket are bad but..... I"ve heard rumor that the drow throughout the rest of the world are even worse and are known as "scourge"."Vulki
This is my first time hearing about the rest of the world. Obviously this pocket is a small portion of the world. I can only wonder how large it is in its entirety.
Vulki seems to pick up on my interest in the world and I swear.... The smile on her mask got slightly wider.
"We can leave the talk about the world for later. Honestly, there is no innocence in drow. Even the way we-..... They.... are born is full of sin. From what I know human children are born almost as a blank slate. Their latent desires exist. l.u.s.t, greed and the like. However, they are not born with the inability to truly care for others. Along with heightened desires.... I have seen a few mentally damaged drow force themselves into believing that they do care about others. However, they either end up sizzling out or exploding. They realize that their "love" is false and move on..... The other thing that happens is they develop a deep unnatural obsession, usually with a mate.... That never goes well...." Vulki
It seems that the drow are designed to not care for others. This doesn"t actually lower my dislike for them but, I can accept their nature. At least a little....
"So from a logical standpoint, drow are sc.u.m. They.... Are designed to be that way. Since... They are basically fallen elves who side with "false" G.o.ds.... Just like fallen dwarves they can never truly be happy either. The defining feature for what our races could have had are expunged as we wallow in our own sins...." Vulki
..... She seems to be..... Quite depressed over this. After becoming an arachne she must have experienced feelings that she couldn"t have as a drow.... However, I think she realized this stuff long before she became an arachne..... As she said. Drow are designed to be a bad race..... Perhaps I can-
*Boooooom
A huge blast rockets sound and shakes the nest causing small stones to jumble around. I give a look to vulki and she nods. We quickly go outside to see a giant dust cloud. It seems to be a good distance away. Set wakes up and goes into high alert as Kess fumbles out of the nest. I start worrying about Xelu. However after a minute I see her come back with the spiderlings and salutes.
"The dungeon exploded." Xelu
"What?!?!" Gin