Dragon Harem Quest - Or: Saying You Were Gay Wasn't The Conversation-Ender You Hoped For
- Thread starter ZerbanDaGreat
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- Ireland
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- He/Him
Belial deserves hugs. Communication is good.
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
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- They/Them
Ouch, damn I was afraid it was something like that.
Part of me is aaaaalmost tempted by the 'talk to mother' option just out of morbid curiosity as to how that conversation'd even go but, y'know. Lets not. Can't see Abzu helping and dumping this on people we work with (ie Amina and Ilyana) seems... off? To me personally? IDK how to put it to words.
And I'm afraid going to Datu and Lyrros would only feed into Belial's point.
That leaves either drinking or research, and only one of those is going to get us anywhere.
[X] Go looking for a demonologist to check on whether everything Belial said was true. It's not that you don't believe him it's just... you want to believe there's still something you can do. Some new angle or subtle loophole.
Whilst I don't want to distrust or doubt Belial's experiences, it'd be helpful to understand the issues he's talking about.
Welcome back, Zerban.
Part of me is aaaaalmost tempted by the 'talk to mother' option just out of morbid curiosity as to how that conversation'd even go but, y'know. Lets not. Can't see Abzu helping and dumping this on people we work with (ie Amina and Ilyana) seems... off? To me personally? IDK how to put it to words.
And I'm afraid going to Datu and Lyrros would only feed into Belial's point.
That leaves either drinking or research, and only one of those is going to get us anywhere.
[X] Go looking for a demonologist to check on whether everything Belial said was true. It's not that you don't believe him it's just... you want to believe there's still something you can do. Some new angle or subtle loophole.
Whilst I don't want to distrust or doubt Belial's experiences, it'd be helpful to understand the issues he's talking about.
Welcome back, Zerban.
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This is a seriously heavy update, and I'm going to need to unpack more of it later, after work. Right now, Eldingar needs three things:
1) To feel better.
2) To figure out how to make someone feel wanted.
3) The mechanics behind the care and feeding of an incubus.
Most of the vote options will contribute to these goals in some way. I think I'll choose:
[ ] Go back to the spire and ask Abzu for their expert opinion. They're a wizard, and they've spent a good long time researching all sorts of things while waiting for their master to come home. Surely they'd have something to add?
Although voting to speak with Mother Dearest does appeal to the troll in me...
1) To feel better.
2) To figure out how to make someone feel wanted.
3) The mechanics behind the care and feeding of an incubus.
Most of the vote options will contribute to these goals in some way. I think I'll choose:
[ ] Go back to the spire and ask Abzu for their expert opinion. They're a wizard, and they've spent a good long time researching all sorts of things while waiting for their master to come home. Surely they'd have something to add?
Although voting to speak with Mother Dearest does appeal to the troll in me...
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Go back to the spire and ask Abzu for their expert opinion. They're a wizard, and they've spent a good long time researching all sorts of things while waiting for their master to come home. Surely they'd have something to add?
Cuddle goo. Ask for help on incubi.
Cuddle goo. Ask for help on incubi.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
*continues pondering matter on lunchbreak*
...or Eldingar could ask Datu and Lyrros for help in organizing an orgy. You know, for maintaining everyone's mental health. In fact, I think that's the best plan; Eldingar and Belial both need to take a breather from these heavy topics. Once Belial has had a chance to unwind a little, then he and Eldingar can have a Serious Discussion on just what an incubus needs and how best to provide it. It feels a little awkward to try and 'solve' Belial's concerns by deliberately going to someone else for relevant information on incubi, especially since the core problem is that he feels unlovable and unwanted. Any solutions should involve him.
Changing my vote!
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
Knowing me, I might be changing my vote again later...
...or Eldingar could ask Datu and Lyrros for help in organizing an orgy. You know, for maintaining everyone's mental health. In fact, I think that's the best plan; Eldingar and Belial both need to take a breather from these heavy topics. Once Belial has had a chance to unwind a little, then he and Eldingar can have a Serious Discussion on just what an incubus needs and how best to provide it. It feels a little awkward to try and 'solve' Belial's concerns by deliberately going to someone else for relevant information on incubi, especially since the core problem is that he feels unlovable and unwanted. Any solutions should involve him.
Changing my vote!
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
Knowing me, I might be changing my vote again later...
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
Reminder:I live once more. And you can thank @Imrix in no small part for that - the guilt of the OP sitting gilded on the frontpage for all to see grew too much to bear
I wasn't kidding yo.
Now, let's see...
Hoist by your own petard, old mate. There's nothing for it now.
Oh that's a Mood.
Yep, that's how you cut through a smooth operator.
oh
oh no
mmmn... This is a tough one. There's multiple levels to this problem, I think; there's the metaphysical/practical issue of an Incubus' nature, but also the emotional issue of how Belial feels about it. And... He's not exactly wrong, either. We're muddling through this day by day, but Belial has who knows how many lifetimes of experience teaching him to take the long view, and we can't really know what this relationship will look like thirty, forty, fifty years down the line. Heck, we barely know what it'll look like next week.
... Nobles, man. They're all nuts.
Pff. Even at the most dramatic downer, you don't miss a chance to give Eldingar a hard time.
Okay, options.
[ ] Go looking for a demonologist to check on whether everything Belial said was true. It's not that you don't believe him it's just... you want to believe there's still something you can do. Some new angle or subtle loophole.
Probably the most straightforward option; fact-check Belial's account of his demonic nature. Doesn't really help with the emotional aspect, but it might turn up something useful.
[ ] Go back to the spire and ask Abzu for their expert opinion. They're a wizard, and they've spent a good long time researching all sorts of things while waiting for their master to come home. Surely they'd have something to add?
There's a risk that Abzu might not know anything useful - they're a capable student of magic, yes, but they've also been isolated for a while, so they mightn't know anything about demons in particular. But they are a pretty smart cookie, so there again they might, and they have more knowledge about and investment in the relationship aspect of this problem.
[ ] Talk to Amina. Sure she's your employee but she's smart and capable, and shockingly insightful about you to boot. Maybe she can shake something loose you'd otherwise miss?
Mmmyeah but that's the rub, she's shockingly insightful about us. She doesn't know who Belial is, has had no opportunity to get to know them, there's no particular reason to assume she knows anything about demons, so I am... skeptical, of her ability to help, either at the demonological or relationship level. Plus, given her demeanour up to this point, I kind of doubt she'd really appreciate being asked to help with her bosses personal affairs.
[ ] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
/me blinks
who the blithering hells is- ohhh, right, the adventurer's guild manager. Hmm. That's actually not a terrible idea, honestly. She's happily married for some time, so she clearly knows something about keeping a relationship going for the long haul, and as an adventuress she probably has all kinds of knowledge of the world's creatures. That said it's basically a toss-up whether she knows anything solid about incubi specifically, and it would mean opening up to somebody new (well, narratively new, she and Eldingar have known each other for a while in-setting) with unknown opinions on us, y'know, dating a demon.
[ ] Talk to Mother. This... is a terrible idea that would almost certainly end in you longing for death but... technically... she is still far older and more powerful than you. Couched correctly, perhaps she could reveal some ancient secret to solving this problem? [x0.1]
Aside from the weighting making this a non-starter, this risks revealing the whole multiple boyfriends thing in a way we aren't prepared for, and it also just doesn't seem like it has good odds of working. She's ancient and knowledgeable, yes, but there's no guarantee she ever looked into incubi in particular, or even demons in general, and her perspective on relationships is uh... probably not a model we want to follow. Pass.
[ ] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
No. Guessmyname is right, this would only feed Belial's point. Although it would make Eldingar feel better, and it would mean more Datu and Lyrros, which is always good...
[ ] Just go fucking drink. You don't know what to do and frankly you don't want to even try figuring out what to do right now. You just want to forget this day even happened, blaze through the back half of it in a blur, then start over next morning and see how that pans out.
hahaha definitely no.
Ultimately, I think the three best options here are asking a demonologist, asking Abzu, and asking Ilyana. Between them, these three chart a spectrum of knowledge; the demonologist is liable to have the most knowledge of demons, obviously, but is unlikely to offer anything more than incidental help with our woes on the romantic level. Precious Goo can potentially help with both aspects of things, but probably not as well as the others. Ilyana may not know anything about demons, but will almost certainly have useful advice about keeping a long-term relationship going. Datu and Lyrros are kind of a dark horse option, ignoring the immediate problem for the moment to try and get Eldingar in a better headspace to deal with it later.
Mmm... I think, to be honest, the metaphysical side of things can wait a while. They represent a problem, yes, but they feel like a long-term problem compared to how Belial feels about them, which is affecting us right now. Also, I suspect Zerban would think it's a bit of a cheap cop-out if a demonologist could just hand us a silver bullet for this issue right off the bat, so looking for relationship advice seems more likely to provide immediate gains. Which leaves Abzu or Ilyana, and... Honestly, I'm going to be a bit meta here and say that Abzu is a more major character who we're likely to have more opportunities to talk to later, whereas I doubt we'll get an option to leave the Spire specifically to talk to Ilyana about this if we don't pick it now.
[ ] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
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Hmm.
Yeah, that seems like it could work to me.
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
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Man I-
Man. It's really hard to argue against this 'cause- I mean 'cause one this isn't really logical and reads a lot like internalized self loathing y'know? Belial was really in love once and tried to make it work and was kinda left a wreck at the end of it after they got bored of him, and with incubi having, like, raw physical attractiveness indexed to health and how "full" they are it means that it was that much harder to bounce back. Which kinda left him, I'm guessing, face-down in the emotional mud with a big fat foot on the back of his head 'cause when most people put out a contract for a sex-demon they're looking for a nubile twenty-something, not someone's unemployed demon dad. And 'cause he probably didn't have, like, anyone to help him through what seems like a pretty nasty ending to what was a pretty serious relationship ('cause I imagine most demons would've given him the equivalent of a "told ya so") he ended up just kind of repeating what the probably-the-ex told him. The intention and the reasons for the rejection, whether they were true or not.
That he was just a parasite, that he just needed that kind of lust to live and wasn't really romantic, that he was inherently manipulative. And in the absence of anything else to lean on he just took it as gospel truth because it, well, reaffirmed how absolutely shitty he was feeling on top of everything. That it was his fault things didn't really work out. That he's never going to find anyone else. All that jazz.
As rough as it is I really do like the snapshot it gave into Eldingar's head though. Where he really, sincerely cares and wants to help and make things better but doesn't have the social skills or emotional ability to articulate what he thinks. So he kinda just gets bulldozed by people who are more secure, rightly or wrongly, in what they're saying.
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
Eldingar could use a pick-me-up and we could too tbh.
And nah I honestly don't buy the argument that it's just re-affirming what Belial said. I mean the whole point of trying to make this weird mutant polycule thing work is that it gives people the opportunity to, like, to lean on each other when things are rough. To have people there. And sure it's early on in a lot of this relatively but-Honestly Eldingar does stupid stuff when he dwells on shit and he does dumb stuff when he's alone. More than anything right now I think he needs to be around friends (and all else aside Datu and Lyrros are friends) who'll help keep an eye on him, keep him distracted, keep him emotionally even. Right now he's really distraught and pretty fucked up on the inside, I don't know that chewing this over again so soon in search of a fast solution, right after the fact really, is going to be all that helpful. 'Cause ultimately the real problem isn't necessarily demon metaphysics or even Eldingar himself and what he brings to the relationship I think. It's Belial and his own scars and we can't, like, fix those for him. Especially when he's actively rejecting the idea that a fix is even possible.
Give him a bit to get himself together, give Eldingar a chance to cool down, and everyone can tackle this tomorrow or in a few days. When things are much less raw.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
This is a pretty good point, actually. I think I undervalued Eldingar's psychology in my previous analysis, so, hm. I am still kind of worried that Ilyana's perspective is both useful and only intermittently available, though, but then again Moar Sharkboy and Dramapire is a good thing in itself, and I kind of feel we've been neglecting them since they arrived at the tower.Eldingar could use a pick-me-up and we could too tbh.
Honestly Eldingar does stupid stuff when he dwells on shit and he does dumb stuff when he's alone. More than anything right now I think he needs to be around friends (and all else aside Datu and Lyrros are friends) who'll help keep an eye on him, keep him distracted, keep him emotionally even. Right now he's really distraught and pretty fucked up on the inside, I don't know that chewing this over again so soon in search of a fast solution, right after the fact really, is going to be all that helpful. 'Cause ultimately the real problem isn't necessarily demon metaphysics or even Eldingar himself and what he brings to the relationship I think. It's Belial and his own scars and we can't, like, fix those for him. Especially when he's actively rejecting the idea that a fix is even possible.
Give him a bit to get himself together, give Eldingar a chance to cool down, and everyone can tackle this tomorrow or in a few days. When things are much less raw.
Yeah okay, you have wooed my flighty heart.
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
- Location
- The Land of Many Bregrets
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Eldingar could use a pick-me-up and we could too tbh.
Honestly Eldingar does stupid stuff when he dwells on shit and he does dumb stuff when he's alone. More than anything right now I think he needs to be around friends (and all else aside Datu and Lyrros are friends) who'll help keep an eye on him, keep him distracted, keep him emotionally even. Right now he's really distraught and pretty fucked up on the inside, I don't know that chewing this over again so soon in search of a fast solution, right after the fact really, is going to be all that helpful. 'Cause ultimately the real problem isn't necessarily demon metaphysics or even Eldingar himself and what he brings to the relationship I think. It's Belial and his own scars and we can't, like, fix those for him. Especially when he's actively rejecting the idea that a fix is even possible.
Give him a bit to get himself together, give Eldingar a chance to cool down, and everyone can tackle this tomorrow or in a few days. When things are much less raw.
...Pppppoint.
Aye, compared to running around in a stressful panic trying to solve something that can't be solved quickly in the first place, giving everyone involved some space - and more importantly, taking a chance to see this higher dimensional polytope actually working out (literally or otherwise) instead of making everyone run around in circles - would probably do everyone involved more good.
I mean hell, Belial outright said he just needed some time to get out of his funk, and we all know what that's like.
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
had i not already changed my vote, i would have done so for this pun
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah okay sold TBH
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
I am not too sure. Asking Abzu (oh! Abzu and Tiamat! I get it now!) or the demonologist would get knowledge about incubi and succubi but not about relationships.
Asking a married person about marriage sounds about the right way to go for me at least.
I am not too sure. Asking Abzu (oh! Abzu and Tiamat! I get it now!) or the demonologist would get knowledge about incubi and succubi but not about relationships.
Asking a married person about marriage sounds about the right way to go for me at least.
Origami Clock
Right twice a day
- Location
- Brighton, UK
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
I hope TenfoldShields is right that this will help Eldingar back to some level of emotional stability. That, and those two are hilarious, and hilarity is always good.
I hope TenfoldShields is right that this will help Eldingar back to some level of emotional stability. That, and those two are hilarious, and hilarity is always good.
LupineVolt
Now with 200% more Puns
- Location
- Michigan
[X] Talk to Ilyana. Sure your relationship is more on the professional side, but Mother's dragged her into this already - and besides, if she's been happily married this long she's got to know something about relationships.
I'm voting for this for three reasons, one of which I'm not going to expound on because it's selfish, but if you know it you know it.
The other two, Eldingar went from being in No Relationships to being in More Relationships Than Some People Have In A Lifetime. And even with polyamory in place and a support network of beaus and beau-adjacent individuals, I think it's very important to cultivate some relationships that are not rooted in romantic or sexual feelings. So, I vote for establishing a wider array of healthy platonic relationships.
The final one is that getting an outside perspective on your relationship can be good. I mean, this is a D&D adjacent world, and she manages a business for adventurers. Clearly she's seen every type of weird, fucked up, confusing relationship there is, judging by how Every Single D&D Party Evolves.
Also I mean, she walked in on us vomitting gold, surrounded by A Demon, A Dragon, A Djinn, a Dude and Abzu. Also considering the fact that Eldingar's dragonhood was an open secret and no bands of adventurers have charged to kick his door down and kill him, I have to assume the adventurer's guild is okay with him. I think that would indicate a very open mind to the whole thing.
I'm voting for this for three reasons, one of which I'm not going to expound on because it's selfish, but if you know it you know it
. The other two, Eldingar went from being in No Relationships to being in More Relationships Than Some People Have In A Lifetime. And even with polyamory in place and a support network of beaus and beau-adjacent individuals, I think it's very important to cultivate some relationships that are not rooted in romantic or sexual feelings. So, I vote for establishing a wider array of healthy platonic relationships.
The final one is that getting an outside perspective on your relationship can be good. I mean, this is a D&D adjacent world, and she manages a business for adventurers. Clearly she's seen every type of weird, fucked up, confusing relationship there is, judging by how Every Single D&D Party Evolves.
Also I mean, she walked in on us vomitting gold, surrounded by A Demon, A Dragon, A Djinn, a Dude and Abzu. Also considering the fact that Eldingar's dragonhood was an open secret and no bands of adventurers have charged to kick his door down and kill him, I have to assume the adventurer's guild is okay with him. I think that would indicate a very open mind to the whole thing.
TenfoldShields
Lounging on a Hoard of Words
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't disagree exactly, that Ilyana would be a solid well of, like, relationship knowledge but there's a kinda- idk. I kinda want to see Eldingar take care of himself a bit before he tries to dive back into this mess and it very much is a mess. Dude's raw as Hell and chewed up on the inside and while she is a professional and maybe even friendly she's not really our therapist and this is A Lot to dump on a person. I don't think it'd go badly exactly or even be unproductive, it's definitely a path forward. It's more...
Eldingar need to learn how to breathe and how to let things be I think. The guy worries a lot about things fucking up and breaking and there's very much this implication of "if I'm not constantly trying to hold things together -or even if I am- they'll crumble and fall apart and it's so exhausting always failing". And honestly Datu and Ly- (well okay maybe not Lyrros) are easy enough going and fun to be around and I think, more than anything, it'd probably be the most productive for Eldingar to see some of this working out and know that it's not all ruined and that he's not just back to, like, square one. Where the only thing he feels like he can really do is give up.
He'll be more receptive to external advice after I think. Or at least better able to internalize it and put it into practice.
Eldingar need to learn how to breathe and how to let things be I think. The guy worries a lot about things fucking up and breaking and there's very much this implication of "if I'm not constantly trying to hold things together -or even if I am- they'll crumble and fall apart and it's so exhausting always failing". And honestly Datu and Ly- (well okay maybe not Lyrros) are easy enough going and fun to be around and I think, more than anything, it'd probably be the most productive for Eldingar to see some of this working out and know that it's not all ruined and that he's not just back to, like, square one. Where the only thing he feels like he can really do is give up.
He'll be more receptive to external advice after I think. Or at least better able to internalize it and put it into practice.
- Location
- Austria
Turns out pushing did make things works and brutal honesty's honesty did not make it less brutal.
I guess sometimes tact and making them trust you matters more than just bulldozing your way through their defensive mechanisms, which are there for a good reason.
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
I guess sometimes tact and making them trust you matters more than just bulldozing your way through their defensive mechanisms, which are there for a good reason.
[X] Go back to the spire and check in on Datu and Lyrros. You feel like warmed-up crap but hey, at least they seem to be getting along alright. Maybe it'll be the pick-me-up you need.
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Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
Mental note: Find a therapist to keep on retainer in our spire as we keep renovating it into a sprawling lair. Given the way our polycule is shaping up, it'll be darned useful if perhaps not a total necessity.
Wiadi
Uncompromising Radical Leftist
- Location
- Something Clever
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I dunno, I'm not at all sure letting Belial just keep bottling this up would have been better. It was gonna be a problem either way, but now at least Eldingar knows and can try to work on handling it.
Additional note: the therapist should not be a member of the polycule.