Chapter 7 - Chapter Six

Upon studying the journal itself, Arachne had gathered a few reasons, of a large stature, of why her House had been in a poor state of Lolth's favor one hundred years prior to the current events, seeing as the first daughter of Matron Aunerae appeared to have taken on the stature as a non-believer in the Spider Queen, and to worsen the fact, that she had used the terms of Heaven loosely, which was considered a taboo word amongst the drow community, due to the face that the elven "Heaven" was guarded by Corelleon and His agents, which were considered on the devilish end of the spectrum in the eyes of the crude race of dark skinned elves.

Cazna Coborial was, in fact, Arachne's half sister, being the daughter of a powerful male wizard, who was later proven to be someone who had the ability of divination, and was soon killed, most likely by Matron Chenzira's son, for delving far into the Gloufmarth archives, to the extent in which he had found a way into his private library, and was found dead in front of the door of the Head Wizard's office; for in the Underdark, if you were not caught with any seemingly "suspicious" murder, there was no need for you to be killed, as most had no care to research any death, seeing as it was such a common thing within the community itself.

Cazna, at the proper age of forty began her studies at Amaxselts, the school for priestesses in Abburth, and became ordained as a priestess at the age of one hundred twenty, to serve Matron Aunerae for the following two centuries, her devotion waning as she continued her benevolence to their mother, as she seen the continued and almost unnecessary bloodshed, and had even had bore witnessed some of the Matron's famed massacres, like the Svirfneblin Eradication and the Demonic End of Matron Nathrae Coborial II, placing her within history for centuries to come, if she would ever have the power in death to leave it in her vanity.

Arachne's sister's fate had been sealed when she had her first vision, where she witnessed one of her charges undergo a sacrifice in secret, eyes glued onto the same sight the lavender eyed girl had seen Dro undergo many years prior. The day afterwards, she had never been heard from again. Such clairvoyance had occurred every night to Cazna, which caused her many sleepless nights, where she retreated to her safe haven within the almost abandoned library. Now, years later, another skeptical Coborial rested upon the chair that the unheard Coborial once did, studying the journal she wrote for her and Bemril.

It was a slight obligation on Arachne's behalf, as she felt the contrition wash over her as sulfur would about the death of Bemril whenever she thought of her late brother, who, although she was quite biased, had died far too soon and far too young. A part of her, one that had yet to be hardened by society's iron-clad grip, wished for him to be by her side, wished that she could unwind the knot of time and grasp his hand once more, take him away to where he had always dreamed to spend his freedom; the surface world.

Perhaps it was how Cazna felt, once she had been called by her Lady Luck, Tymora, a surface Goddess of good and chaos, unlike the malevolent chaos offered by Lolth and Her worshippers, and the few fanatics that did exist. And after she had forged her plan of escape, that had been when her last entry within her worn journal had been recorded, to where Arachne could only hope, to where she had dreamed. To see the light of the surface, and to understand the meaning of what they called, "sunlight," as apparently it was meant to be a truly euphoric feeling to those upon the top of the world, while the elf could only imagine it through wishful thinking, as she knew her skin would feel as if it was blazing in wildfire should she even dare touch a single blade of grass of the surface world during their sunny, "mornings."

Although, with the knowledge of pain, Arachne was far less conflicted than she had thought she would be, seeing as she had been subjected to the harshest torture methods to teach her poise and dignity, even having to spend a week within an Iron Maiden, almost three days after Dro's untimely sacrifice. The young drow elf had even inquired why she had to be subjected to such horrors, to be returned by her tutor, and bodyguard, with a snide remark, stating that it prepared her to embrace Lolth's blissful kiss, blessing her with holy powers if she showcased enough strength and power.

And the final entry, ominous in its own right, had been, as stated by Cazna herself, was the last record of her living self. There was no way of knowing whether or not she was still walking upon the Material Plane, or that she had even stepped passed the threshold of the House's many secret passageways, or even the barely used ivory gate, prominently displaying the Spider Queen's sigil, asserting Her power and the power she gifted Matron Mothers in the line.

But one truly captivating thing was the divination Arachne's sister was able to call on, where she documented that over the course of the next fifty years, she had been able to control when she had visions, but not their contents. As such, Cazna referred to them as, "gifts sent down by Lady Luck." It was truly heartwarming to think of them in such a sense, realizing that the vision of her had been considered a gift, whatever she had seen.

To deviate from the past occurrences of the world, a few things had occurred in Arachne's life over the course of the two weeks she had spent studying the journal of her aforementioned sister. Some remained happy, while others were worrying to the already skeptical drow elf that she had learned to become over the course of the half a year; which remained the slowest year in recent recollection, save from the first year void of Bemril.

The first being the more pleasant news, being that it had been revealed that Matron Aunerae was pregnant with another child, and had been a month after the horrors in regards to the loss of clerical powers had occurred. This birth would be important on either end of the gender spectrum, as the House lacked a Secondboy since Xarann's promotion twelve years ago, should he be male, and no pristine House would ever turn away a female, a blessing of Lolth Herself, despite Her absence. Sadly, it was the gruesome truth of objectification of the society itself, which could never be undone, with the looming threat of death upon every corner of every city and of every House, the Coborial's especially so.

On that same matter of the Spider Queen's absence, She had been found in her mortal form, a horrific spider like creature, holding itself with poise and wretch, or so Arachne had heard according to the warrior's rumors on the off chance to take a small visit to Slaekmia. This was rather perplexing for her, as she found herself beginning to cave from the turbulent pressure in regards to the constant prayer, constant murder, and constant raids, in which now, her mother did force her to spectate each bloody one, claiming that it would be her or Chadra's jobs one day to ensure that all Houses bellow them would be crushed beneath the boot of the hundreds of Matron Mothers and Coborial priestesses before them.

But for some reason, there was a burning sensation within Arachne's own soul to not be a priestess, but instead, something different, and yet she couldn't place where she belonged, nor could she vocalize it.