A Drow Child's Book of Fairy Stories (Chapters Four to Six)
Title: A Drow Child's Book of Fairy Stories
Setting: Forgotten Realms
Genre: Humour
Summary: Witness classic fairy tales converted into counterparts one might possibly encounter in Menzoberranzan. Marvel at the drow idea of a 'happy ending.' Mind the jade spiders if you pinched this off a drow kiddie to read!
Disclaimer: The Forgotten Realms setting, Drow and other mentioned races, species, spells and objects originated with TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast. The fairy stories used, on the other hand, are public domain.
Part One: (Chapters One-Three) [ Here]
Part Two: (Chapters Four-Six) [You Are Here]
Part Three: (Chapters Seven-Ten) [ Here]
Part Four: (Chapters Eleven-Thirteen) [ Here]
Part Five: (Chapter Fourteen - Holiday Special) [ Here]
A/N: This one's instead an adaptation of a ballad, 'Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.' Remarkably, very little of the actual story-line needed changing to make it suitable for drow temperaments.
Isyr'bel and the Duergar
This lovely noble Isyr'bel
Heir to a mighty House
Has outwitted the sentinel
Left quiet as a mouse
He lured her with gems a-glittering, and many rings of gold
He lured her from her own people, a duergar wizard bold
"Oh take for me a lizard, take for me the swiftest steed
If we're to reach my palace, then urgent is our need."
She takes a riding lizard, she takes her mother's magic scrolls
She wraps her cloak about them and out the gate the lizard strolls
This lovely noble Isyr'bel
Drow-maid without compare
Rides from her home under a spell
With rubies in her hair
So long a way they both did ride, to halt beside a lake
The duergar bade her then dismount, with water her thirst slake
"Deeper now, my drowish dear," the duergar wizard calls.
"I've drowned eight drow-maidens here, and you'll be ninth in all."
Then her eyes she raised to him, with a pretty little frown
"Oh, let us rest, I'll comb your beard, some ease before I drown."
Geased promise he laid on her, not to kill him should he sleep
Then laid his head within her lap and fell to slumber deep
She combed and kept him sleeping with a sweet and peaceful song
Then bound him with his own sword-belt, the knots all tight and strong
When he could not move at all, until waking he was shaken
And with a smile, geas gone, with his own knife his life was taken
Quick-witted noble Isyr'bel
All calculating smiles
One no mere male could compel
No matter what his wiles
She took away his treasures, and rode swiftly back to home
She put straight back her mother's scrolls, no sign they once did roam
"What happened, you were long gone," her halfling slave asks with fear
"Hush up and say naught of it, and I'll whip you not this year."
Her Matron mother calls out, "What reason for these sounds?
I hear the slave all alarmed there, and demand now the grounds."
"Oh lady, I heard assassins, so I beg forgiven my trespass
I called in fear, your daughter came, and now the danger's passed."
A/N: Need I even say it? 'The Frog Prince,' naturally.
The Bat Wizard
There was once a young noble drow maiden who liked to sit on the roof of her family home to clean her jewellery. While she was polishing her Ring of Protection one day, it slipped from her fingers and fell down the side of the house. It landed on a ledge full of spider-webs.
Then the drow maiden was upset, because she needed that ring, and yet if she tried to reach it, she would disturb the webs and thereby anger the Spider Goddess.
A tiny voice spoke up from nearby. "Lady, if you promise to fill my requests after, I will get your ring." It was a little bat. "I can fly to it and bring it back to you without disturbing the webs."
"All right," she agreed. "I promise to fill your requests after, if they bring no harm to me." For she wanted that ring, but knew far better than to promise without any limitations to some unknown creature.
The bat flew down, and brought her back her ring. She took it and hurried inside, gathering up her other jewellery as she went.
That night, the bat fluttered around the house at dinner. "Let me in as you promised!" it called.
Her mother asked her why a bat was saying such things, and she explained.
"A speaking bat is a thing of magic. Keep your promise," her mother commanded of her... though partly, it must be said, because her daughter needed to learn her place and tending an animal might assist there.
Reluctantly, the drow maiden let the bat in. It requested a place beside her and food from her plate, and she gave it these things.
When her meal was over, she left the table, wishing to go to bed and trance.
"Give me a place upon your pillow," the bat requested.
Her eyes narrowed, but she set the bat down upon the pillow. Then, with no witnesses, she stabbed it, planning to tell her mother it had flown away.
There was a flash of light, and a very handsome drow wizard now lay upon her bed, alive and unharmed.
"Thank you," he told her. "I was cursed into bat form by a rival. You've finally set me free."
"Well then," she announced, "that means you owe me now, not the other way around."
With his help, she took over as Matron Mother of her House. He became her consort, and together they killed his old rival. With their cunning and their powers, they killed any who opposed them, and became powerful in the city.
Mizzil
Once in Menzoberranzan there was a woman with three living sons and no daughters. This, of course, made her very unhappy, far more so than usual, for she had once vowed to send a daughter to take her place as a priestess. If she could not do so, she feared that Lloth would be angry with her.
Up came her eldest son, and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess."
She was very much afraid at this, that he would be found out, and so she tested him. He dressed as a woman, but when she asked him a question as he left the house he forgot to disguise his voice, and so she would not let him go.
Her second son came to her and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess and take your place."
She would not help him, but let him disguise himself, but when he tried to dress as a woman he could not pass, and so she would not let him go.
Her third son, a boy known as Mizzil, came to her and said, "Mother, I will take your place, if I can."
"How can you succeed where your brothers failed?" she asked of him, but let him try.
Mizzil, in secret, purchased a certain enchanted leather belt and put it on, transforming him entirely into a woman. His mother then sent him off, quite happily.
In Arach-Tinilith, he adapted swiftly to the new way of things, and became a successful priestess-in-training. However, a rival, investigating Mizzil's past, discovered a rumour that his mother had borne no daughters.
"How can we prove it?" she asked of an ally.
"We can set the spiders loose. We will know if Mizzil is male by that."
They therefore loosed a number of tamed spiders amongst the group. Mizzil, however, saw the look in their eyes, and thus knew to be careful, not flinching from the spiders and treating them instead with respect.
"We still need to prove it," his rival insisted later.
Her ally suggested, "We will take Mizzil with us to choose priestess garb."
They took Mizzil with them, but Mizzil again saw the look in their eyes. Thus, he put on the clothes of a priestess, showing no discomfort about the body they revealed.
"There must be a way!" His rival was furious by now.
"A surprise attack, and see which weapons are chosen," her ally decided.
And so they staged an ambush by suitably manipulated males, and watched Mizzil closely. Again, they were thwarted, as Mizzil reached swiftly for the whip of fangs rather than a sword.
With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to bide her time.
At their graduation, however, there was one final test, and under the touch of a yochlol, a Handmaiden of Lloth, Mizzil's mind was read and his secret revealed.
For his blasphemy, he was transformed into a drider, his family were executed, and all was well once again in Menzoberranzan, without a male straying from his ordained place.
A/N: A little jarring? Maybe. But this is a drow tale, with drow social and religious mores. Story is an adaptation of the many tales of a young woman dressing as a man to serve her father's place when he's called to return to a ruler's service. You might recall it from Mulan, but the particular Western version touched upon here is known as 'Mizilca.'
And, as a bonus to anybody who's been patient enough to reach this point, I present an alternate ending to the tale, as it might look in secretly altered versions of the book, or from less fanatical drow locations... or more heretical.
With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to buy her time.
Her triumph was not to be, however, as Mizzil had so deeply transformed that he fooled all around him. In his new form, he became a strong priestess, and served in his mother's place for a great many years.
Setting: Forgotten Realms
Genre: Humour
Summary: Witness classic fairy tales converted into counterparts one might possibly encounter in Menzoberranzan. Marvel at the drow idea of a 'happy ending.' Mind the jade spiders if you pinched this off a drow kiddie to read!
Disclaimer: The Forgotten Realms setting, Drow and other mentioned races, species, spells and objects originated with TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast. The fairy stories used, on the other hand, are public domain.
Part One: (Chapters One-Three) [ Here]
Part Two: (Chapters Four-Six) [You Are Here]
Part Three: (Chapters Seven-Ten) [ Here]
Part Four: (Chapters Eleven-Thirteen) [ Here]
Part Five: (Chapter Fourteen - Holiday Special) [ Here]
A/N: This one's instead an adaptation of a ballad, 'Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.' Remarkably, very little of the actual story-line needed changing to make it suitable for drow temperaments.
Isyr'bel and the Duergar
This lovely noble Isyr'bel
Heir to a mighty House
Has outwitted the sentinel
Left quiet as a mouse
He lured her with gems a-glittering, and many rings of gold
He lured her from her own people, a duergar wizard bold
"Oh take for me a lizard, take for me the swiftest steed
If we're to reach my palace, then urgent is our need."
She takes a riding lizard, she takes her mother's magic scrolls
She wraps her cloak about them and out the gate the lizard strolls
This lovely noble Isyr'bel
Drow-maid without compare
Rides from her home under a spell
With rubies in her hair
So long a way they both did ride, to halt beside a lake
The duergar bade her then dismount, with water her thirst slake
"Deeper now, my drowish dear," the duergar wizard calls.
"I've drowned eight drow-maidens here, and you'll be ninth in all."
Then her eyes she raised to him, with a pretty little frown
"Oh, let us rest, I'll comb your beard, some ease before I drown."
Geased promise he laid on her, not to kill him should he sleep
Then laid his head within her lap and fell to slumber deep
She combed and kept him sleeping with a sweet and peaceful song
Then bound him with his own sword-belt, the knots all tight and strong
When he could not move at all, until waking he was shaken
And with a smile, geas gone, with his own knife his life was taken
Quick-witted noble Isyr'bel
All calculating smiles
One no mere male could compel
No matter what his wiles
She took away his treasures, and rode swiftly back to home
She put straight back her mother's scrolls, no sign they once did roam
"What happened, you were long gone," her halfling slave asks with fear
"Hush up and say naught of it, and I'll whip you not this year."
Her Matron mother calls out, "What reason for these sounds?
I hear the slave all alarmed there, and demand now the grounds."
"Oh lady, I heard assassins, so I beg forgiven my trespass
I called in fear, your daughter came, and now the danger's passed."
A/N: Need I even say it? 'The Frog Prince,' naturally.
The Bat Wizard
There was once a young noble drow maiden who liked to sit on the roof of her family home to clean her jewellery. While she was polishing her Ring of Protection one day, it slipped from her fingers and fell down the side of the house. It landed on a ledge full of spider-webs.
Then the drow maiden was upset, because she needed that ring, and yet if she tried to reach it, she would disturb the webs and thereby anger the Spider Goddess.
A tiny voice spoke up from nearby. "Lady, if you promise to fill my requests after, I will get your ring." It was a little bat. "I can fly to it and bring it back to you without disturbing the webs."
"All right," she agreed. "I promise to fill your requests after, if they bring no harm to me." For she wanted that ring, but knew far better than to promise without any limitations to some unknown creature.
The bat flew down, and brought her back her ring. She took it and hurried inside, gathering up her other jewellery as she went.
That night, the bat fluttered around the house at dinner. "Let me in as you promised!" it called.
Her mother asked her why a bat was saying such things, and she explained.
"A speaking bat is a thing of magic. Keep your promise," her mother commanded of her... though partly, it must be said, because her daughter needed to learn her place and tending an animal might assist there.
Reluctantly, the drow maiden let the bat in. It requested a place beside her and food from her plate, and she gave it these things.
When her meal was over, she left the table, wishing to go to bed and trance.
"Give me a place upon your pillow," the bat requested.
Her eyes narrowed, but she set the bat down upon the pillow. Then, with no witnesses, she stabbed it, planning to tell her mother it had flown away.
There was a flash of light, and a very handsome drow wizard now lay upon her bed, alive and unharmed.
"Thank you," he told her. "I was cursed into bat form by a rival. You've finally set me free."
"Well then," she announced, "that means you owe me now, not the other way around."
With his help, she took over as Matron Mother of her House. He became her consort, and together they killed his old rival. With their cunning and their powers, they killed any who opposed them, and became powerful in the city.
Mizzil
Once in Menzoberranzan there was a woman with three living sons and no daughters. This, of course, made her very unhappy, far more so than usual, for she had once vowed to send a daughter to take her place as a priestess. If she could not do so, she feared that Lloth would be angry with her.
Up came her eldest son, and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess."
She was very much afraid at this, that he would be found out, and so she tested him. He dressed as a woman, but when she asked him a question as he left the house he forgot to disguise his voice, and so she would not let him go.
Her second son came to her and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess and take your place."
She would not help him, but let him disguise himself, but when he tried to dress as a woman he could not pass, and so she would not let him go.
Her third son, a boy known as Mizzil, came to her and said, "Mother, I will take your place, if I can."
"How can you succeed where your brothers failed?" she asked of him, but let him try.
Mizzil, in secret, purchased a certain enchanted leather belt and put it on, transforming him entirely into a woman. His mother then sent him off, quite happily.
In Arach-Tinilith, he adapted swiftly to the new way of things, and became a successful priestess-in-training. However, a rival, investigating Mizzil's past, discovered a rumour that his mother had borne no daughters.
"How can we prove it?" she asked of an ally.
"We can set the spiders loose. We will know if Mizzil is male by that."
They therefore loosed a number of tamed spiders amongst the group. Mizzil, however, saw the look in their eyes, and thus knew to be careful, not flinching from the spiders and treating them instead with respect.
"We still need to prove it," his rival insisted later.
Her ally suggested, "We will take Mizzil with us to choose priestess garb."
They took Mizzil with them, but Mizzil again saw the look in their eyes. Thus, he put on the clothes of a priestess, showing no discomfort about the body they revealed.
"There must be a way!" His rival was furious by now.
"A surprise attack, and see which weapons are chosen," her ally decided.
And so they staged an ambush by suitably manipulated males, and watched Mizzil closely. Again, they were thwarted, as Mizzil reached swiftly for the whip of fangs rather than a sword.
With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to bide her time.
At their graduation, however, there was one final test, and under the touch of a yochlol, a Handmaiden of Lloth, Mizzil's mind was read and his secret revealed.
For his blasphemy, he was transformed into a drider, his family were executed, and all was well once again in Menzoberranzan, without a male straying from his ordained place.
A/N: A little jarring? Maybe. But this is a drow tale, with drow social and religious mores. Story is an adaptation of the many tales of a young woman dressing as a man to serve her father's place when he's called to return to a ruler's service. You might recall it from Mulan, but the particular Western version touched upon here is known as 'Mizilca.'
And, as a bonus to anybody who's been patient enough to reach this point, I present an alternate ending to the tale, as it might look in secretly altered versions of the book, or from less fanatical drow locations... or more heretical.
With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to buy her time.
Her triumph was not to be, however, as Mizzil had so deeply transformed that he fooled all around him. In his new form, he became a strong priestess, and served in his mother's place for a great many years.