salamander storytime

//read to helspawn
//req: child helspawn, a book

While it might not be the playtime [helspawn] hopes for, you do have [if (one book) a book|some books] you could read to your daughter.

"Good luck." Helia gestures to the little salamander running circles around the two of you and babbling to herself. "She hasn't sat still since she got up."

It's worth a try. You think she might even like it.

"Is that so?" Helia laughs as she wraps her arms around you from behind. [if (you're her biological parent) "Must've taken after you, then."|"Must've not taken after me, then."]

Doing your best to prove yourself right, you scoop up the giggling salamander, her [helspawn eye color] eyes widening when you ask if she wants to hear a story. "[Daddy]!" she squeals, and you'll take that as a yes. Her mother waves goodbye as you carry your daughter into your [cabin] and set her down on the [bed], taking the opportunity to [if (one book) find your book|look over your collection of books].

[if (more than one book) Which one do you read to her?

//add a button here for each book you own]

After [if (bookshelf)] searching your makeshift library|rummaging through the corner of your [if (cabin) bedroom|tent], you manage to find your [book name]. [Helspawn] grabs for the pages as you place her [if (biped) on your lap|in front of you], clearly excited to get started.

//carpenter's guide
While it might not be the most engaging of books, [if (cabin) carpentry has become a major part of her [father]'s life since arriving in Mareth, and you do your best to get the little salamander interested in your hobby. It doesn't take long until|you figure you can use this time to teach yourself the basics of carpentry. Surely the content itself is less important than hearing her [father]'s voice while] she nestles into you, her breathing growing softer as she slips off to sleep.

//dangerous plants
You flip open the cover, your daughter pointing and giggling at every illustration of Mareth's wildlife, though it quickly devolves to shrieks of laughter once your thorny tendrils and poisonous vines start tickling her sides and wrapping her in a hug. In no time at all it feels like you've gone through the entire book, but [helspawn]'s cries of "Do it again, [Daddy]!" send you back to the beginning.

It must be your fourth--fifth?--cycle by the time she quiets down, leaning into you as she drifts off to sleep.

//combat guide
[Helspawn] takes an immediate interest in this book, hopping and swinging her arms about as you instruct her how to fight. With [if (naga) a sinister hiss|your scariest roar], you square off with the little salamander, her laughter filling the [if (cabin) room|air] as she pushes back the fearsome beast. Your daughter's smile quickly falters when a stray twirl strikes you [if (goo) hard|in the gut], and it takes several rounds of cuddles before you manage to assure her you're all right.

//etiquette guide
Perhaps it's best to start early if you don't want [helspawn] to wind up like her [if (low corruption) mother|if (masculine) parents|mothers]. With that in mind, you try to teach your daughter about the importance of chastity, but the little salamander seems to have no desire to listen, squirming impatiently until she manages to wiggle free.

The rest of your reading time is spent chasing her around, but it's hard to be disappointed when you see how much fun she's having.

//hentai/porn
What could it hurt? It's not like she's old enough to understand. And it <i>is</i> illustrated, as your daughter quickly realizes, her stubby fingers tracing over the... shapes on the page. Before long she's gone through the whole book, her eyes sparkling with an intensity you've never yet seen as pages and pages of sex flip past.

You can only hope she didn't learn any words from that.

//any spellbook, but you don't know the spells
You spread the magical book before you, your mind glazing over at the sight of esoteric rituals and unpronounceable ramblings. At least it has pictures--and your daughter seems to enjoy it, her arms waving wildly as she tries to sound out the strange words.

You suppose every sorceress had to start out somewhere--and she hasn't set fire to your [cabin] yet--so you're content to settle for cheering [helspawn] on when she inevitably gets tongue-tied.

//white book
A smudgy salamander fingerprint mars the pristine cover of your spellbook before you can get it open, but a dazzling flash of light distracts your daughter long enough for you to get it out of her grasp. She clings closer to you, evidently frightened by your magic, but it doesn't take long before she's waiting impatiently for her [father]'s next spell, watching the sparkles and the tiny flames conjured atop your fingertip with wide-eyed wonder.

//black book
You motion for your daughter to sit still as you flip through the spellbook, and though she at first seems to have no interest in cooperating, the little salamander grows quiet as you place your hand on the scratches dotting her leg. An incantation later and the injuries mend before her eyes, soon vanishing like they weren't even there.

"Thanks, [Daddy]," she mumbles, her fingers rubbing over her freshly-healed scales.

//gray book
Though she never quite gets them, the book hovering just outside her reach. Undeterred, your daughter takes to jumping at it, and you look away innocently as it seems to rise and fall with her.

"Put it down," she says, squealing in surprise when the book settles gently atop her head. "Please, [Daddy]."

You relent, figuring anything that can make a salamander remember her manners is enough of a lesson for today.


//merge
Not long after, Helia peeks in to check on you, [if (porn) and you breathe a sigh of relief that you managed to get the book away in time|if (carpenter's guide or dangerous plants) smiling when she sees your sleeping daughter| clearly surprised at how much your how daughter is enjoying herself]. "Thanks, [name]," she says, picking up the little salamander. "You got her into something I never could."

[if (carpenter's guide or dangerous plants) With that, she slips away, careful not to wake her daughter.|"Read!" cheers [helspawn], her smile infectious as her mother carries her away.]