"Dad?" Gorion heard the voice of his elven foster child as he was putting in a late night slaving over some books. It had been ten years ago when Laska and Imoen had been assaulted, by lack of a better word, by a strange power at the start of the Time of Troubles. Thankfully, the Time of Troubles had ended and it didn't seem to have effected the girls much. He had noticed, though, that Laska had been increasingly more active since then. The little hellion that she had been was becoming even more mischievous and was found climbing towers with her bare hands, getting into scrapes with visitors and doing all sort of things that were frowned upon by the quiet monks of the keep.

Luckily, he had managed to interest her in elven culture and elven lore, and his old friend and companion Anadielle Silverleaf had agreed to be Laska's teacher in all things elven. Sadly, she left a few months ago now, and Laska seemed to be back to her old state. She couldn't keep sitting still long enough to read more than ten pages to read a book before getting bored and going to hang around outside again, keeping Imoen from her chores and practises. So far, Laska was a lot more interested in learning the intricacies of the blade, rather than the written word. Unless, of course, if the book had something elven as a subject. Then she would read in silence for hours on end, not being able to tear herself away from the book. Gorion reflected on how hard it must be to be the only elf in this region, really, when he noticed that Laska's cheeks were flushed, as if she really wanted to be somewhere else rather than talking to her father.

"Yes," Gorion asked. "What is it?"

Then, Gorion noticed the hideously revealing outfit Laska was wearing. Ever since Anadielle had left, Laska had taken to wearing tight leather pants and a matching black vest which was completely open in front only to be kept closed with a few tightly-strapped little chains. In truth, she was showing off enough of her 'assets' for any father to cringe.

"Ermm, well, I, uuuh, well, I..."

"What is it, Laska," Gorion smiled, trying to look paternal. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I... I had a question about, umm... I've tried to look in some books but they wouldn't tell... anything about... I mean..."

"Why are you so nervous?" Gorion asked. "You haven't done anything, have you? Broken more of Ulraunt's collector's plates? Have you been folding bookpages again? I've told you a dozen time to use a bookmarker instead..."

"I had a question about," Laska blushed violently now. "About, um, it's about... about sex..."

Gorion's quill slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. The aged sage coughed for a bit on his pipeweed. Soon, he found himself putting out his pipe and wishing for a very, very stiff drink. "Anything but that," he added mentally.

"I mean, I..."

"Hold on a minute," Gorion sighed. "I... I think you're going to tell me something no father would enjoy hearing. Please tell me that you didn't..."

Laska looked at the ground and nodded.

"Give me," Gorion coughed again, "some time to wrap my mind around the fact that my little girl is sexually active..."

"Sorry, dad," Laska sniffed.

"No, no, no," Gorion quickly said. "You... did nothing wrong, I hope. It's just that... any father will have trouble with this."

"It's just that... I didn't know where to go with this, and I think Imoen will only make fun of me if I tell her."

"Imoen?" Gorion grew cold. "Please don't tell me that..."

"No, no," Laska said. "She'll still a virgin... Believe me, I will personally castrate any man that will come near her."

"That's good to hear," Gorion said. "But I wish you would have done that to the man who..."

"It wasn't a man," Laska smiled and then blushed even deeper, the crimson on her cheeks clashing with her grey moon-elven skin.

"Anadielle," Gorion nodded.

"Oh, dad, it was so wonderful!" Laska smiled. "I mean, she took me in her arms and ever so slowly undressed me and then herself. We lay in the soft moss in the moonlight... her hands were so soft. She caressed me everywhere... When she kissed me, she set me on fire, dad! I shiver when I think about it again. Her hands on my skin, her lips grazing my breasts, her tongue..."

"All right, hold it right there!" Gorion spoke up and scraped his throat. "No more details, PLEASE! Before I feel the overwhelming urge to wring Anadielle's neck."

"No, dad, no," Laska said. "I... I all but cried when we... I clutched onto her and never wanted to let go. It was beautiful and serene..."

Gorion felt as if his head was going to explode from information-overload. Conflicting emotions ran through his being. On one level, he knew that this day would come and was glad that his daughter had confided in him rather than to sleep with people behind his back for years. But on the other level, he felt the overwhelming urge to lock Laska in the tower for the next thirty years while he chased down Anadielle with a pitchfork to stab her repeatedly.

"Well," Gorion finally spoke. "It seems we need to talk about responsibility and..."

"Don't worry," Laska said, "Anadielle already told me about preventive spell-scrolls and precautions..."

"Well, that's one saving grace," Gorion sighed.

"I just wanted to... get that wonderful feeling again," Laska said, "remember Ragnar?"

"Ragnar?" Gorion asked. "The son of that visiting mage that stopped by a few months ago?"

"Yes, well," Laska blushed, "I liked him, he liked me... One thing led to another, and, well, I..."

"I take it from your tone of voice that you were disappointed?"

"He just... pushed his tongue in my mouth... just, ahum, put it in and... moved oddly... Just when I was wondering what to do about this, he made this sound like an ancient goat choking on a can and things got real... messy and..."

"STOP!" Gorion shouted. "I told you, no details!" Now, Gorion's thoughts were mostly contained flashes of viciously slaughtering the young boy Ragnar with a scythe before he managed to compose himself.

"Okay, well, since then, I've... been seeing Ariel a lot," Laska said.

"By 'seeing', you mean," Gorion started to say. Ariel was one of the keep's swordfighting instructors, one of the most elusive and private persons in Candlekeep. A tall, red-haired human woman in her thirties with a ready smile on her freckled face that had agreed to become one of Laska's teachers in the art of combat. Also, Gorion finally understood Imoen's wisecracks about quivering haylofts whenever the two were together.

"Casual sex," Laska said, still blushing but apparently comfortable enough to be filling in the blanks. "We meet after dark to... Sometimes in the hayloft, sometimes in her bed when the barracks are quiet. Way better than Ragnar, that's for sure. But it's still not... like it was with Anadielle. I... want to feel that again. I want to experience it again, and perhaps share it with someone else when I know how to do it with someone myself. But... I've heard... read that it isn't... usual to sleep with people of the same sex. I'm not... weird, am I?"

"Definitely not!" Gorion said, being finally a bit happy that he would be able to dispel this notion from Laska's mind and make her feel better, at least. "It's not strange at all, so don't believe what you read in some books. You'll find same-sex relationships among all races, but it's even more evident in elves."

"Really?" Laska said, her eyes lightening up they way they did whenever she was about to learn something about her people.

"Yes," Gorion smiled, "Elves celebrate such unions. You see, Corellon has no specific gender, and can chose which gender he, or she for that matter, can appear in. The elves recognize and celebrate that ambiguity. 'Love as thou wilt', is the motto that springs from that. Gender is but an artificial distinction in elven culture. Sadly, such role divisions are a lot sharper in human culture."

"So, I'm not... weird or anything?" Laska asked.

Gorion had finally made his way through the streets of Baldur's Gate and found his way into the Elfsong tavern, where he glanced around looking for a familiar face. He knew for certain that Anadielle was here. She would wait until the annual tradeship from Evermeet would come to the docks and would spend that time waiting doing adventuring oddjobs here and there, clearing out a dungeon or luring the men and women living in this fair city into her bed. No doubt she would stay in this tavern, since she was an masterful singer that would try to match note with the elven spirit haunting these walls.

And there, he spotted Anadielle, wearing her usual tight leather pants and matching vest which was open in front. Well, he knew where Laska got that particular fashion-statement from.

But he had to admit Anadielle was very beautiful. Her jet-black hair and piercing green eyes were the focal point of the room, luring all eyes in her direction. She yawned and laid her boots on the table as she leaned backwards on her seat. She hadn't aged a day in the thirty years he had known her.

"Well, there she is," Gorion spoke. "Anadielle Silverleaf... Or should I call you Anadielle Cradle-Robber?" The was no humor in his voice. Gorion was definitely angry with Anadielle and wanted to show it. Sadly, his kindly manner was impeding.

"Hey, Gorion," Anadielle spoke. "Sit down, have a drink."

"You had sex with my daughter," Gorion said bluntly.

To which statement, the Bladesinger only grinned. "Oh, if I had gold coin for every time I've heard that said to me, I'd..."

"This is not a laughing matter," Gorion said.

"Look," Anadielle retorted. "You asked me to teach her about things elven and I taught her, Gorion. Simple as that. I taught her about our culture, our way of life, our history, our swordcraft... and, as it turned out, several of our more erotic secrets."

"But that was not why I asked you to come to Candlekeep," Gorion said.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with that one-night stand we had back in Sembia thirty years ago when you got me involved with that stupid Harper mission, did you? You certainly weren't complaining then."

"That," Gorion blushed violently, "is beside the point."

"She was the right age and hungered for it," Anadielle spoke. "She's 23... That's when most young elves start experimenting with sex and experience each other's bodies. I mean, they won't be fertile for another eighty years after that, so there's plenty of time to play around."

"And what if I don't want my daughter to 'play around'," Gorion spoke. "Dammit, Anadielle, she's 23 and you are almost 450! You're old enough to be her great-great-grandmother!"

"Come on, Gorion," Anadielle grinned. "Stop being such a human already. Age is less of a distinction among elves."

"So you didn't use her for your own pleasure?" Gorion asked, feeling his anger dissipate a little.

"Is that what this is about?" Anadielle asked. "Well, no, I didn't. Fact is, she wanted it more than I did. But, I have to admit she had a nice young body and an eager spirit."

"I wasn't prepared for this, you know," Gorion told Anadielle when he finally sat down. "I figured I wouldn't have to give her 'the Talk' until she was 120 and I'd be long dead."

"HAH," Anadielle chuckled. "Most elves are sexual masters at forty. I figure Laska will be one at thirty, though. She's eager to learn, that one."

"Yes, well," Gorion spoke, "I am mostly angry because Laska's only 'hunting grounds' so to speak are filled with stuffy monks and guards... But most of all, I am angry because you pulled so much of your erotic tricks out of the hat at her first time. It put a lot of questions and doubts in her mind. She told me that she thought she was weird because she preferred to sleep with women... Until I told her about Corellon."

"What?" Anadielle almost choked on her drink. "You had to tell her about Corellon? But... she's supposed to know that instinctively. All elves do! No elves have such questions and doubts about sex! It's just something we do..."

"Believe me," Gorion spoke. "I am worried about that. This is another entry on a long list of strange-ness about her that really has the hair on the back of my neck standing up."

"How do you mean?"

"No magical talent," Gorion said. "None-whatsoever. I've tried every standard magic-aptitude detection test there is, old and new... No result at all."

"That's odd," Anadielle said. "We're magical creatures. She has to be connected to the Weave."

"I think she is," Gorion spoke. "I'm not sure yet, but I think something in her being, her spirit is actually shielding her magical prowess, so that she can't let magic flow through her being."

"Weird," Anadielle said.

"The best is yet to come," Gorion said. "A couple of months ago, Laska started getting really sick. She couldn't keep a single bit of food down even though there was nothing physically wrong with her. She told us that there was something near that made her sick and when I asked her what it was, she said there was something moving around under her feet. So, I asked a couple of guards to check the lower catacombs and they found out that a ghoul had stumbled its way into the corridors in search of food. When they killed the creature, Laska's discomfort disappeared immediately."

"Sehanine's gift gone haywire?" Anadielle spoke.

"An oversensitivity to negative energy, it seems," Gorion nodded. "Believe me, I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with her, but so far I've only found snippets of prophecies."

"I'm sorry, Gorion," Anadielle said. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have slept with Laska."

"Yes, you would have," Gorion replied with raised eyebrow.

"Well," Anadielle snickered. "I probably would have, yes. But if you wanted her to have a stick up her backside, you should have asked a Gold Elf to teach her. But, you know, she and I are moon-elves! We love life and love what life has to offer us. Face up to that fact, Gorion, or you'll be very unhappy."