When one hears of someone heading off to Auvergne, France, to "take the waters," it is generally assumed that they're destined for one of the region's renowned spas resorts: Vichy, Mont-Dore, or La Bourboule. In fact, for a select few, their destination is Château de la Grotte Cachée. It may not be just the therapeutic waters bubbling from our hidden grotto that attract them. Down through the centuries, the chateau and the valley that shadows it have served as a jealously guarded pleasure escape for the chosen few.
Grotte Cachée's renown among dissolute aristocrats dates from the 1500's, when Venetian noblemen who'd heard rumors of its atmosphere of unbridled sensuality began visiting with groups of courtesans and adventuresses.
Their exploits at the chateau, whispered about throughout Europe, drew other libertines eager to indulge their darkest desires. During the 18th century, Sir Francis Dashwood's shockingly depraved Hellfire Club conducted black masses in the castle's chapel and orgies in its great hall.
Since then, we have hosted various other secret societies and sex clubs that have adopted the Hellfire name, as well as by devotees of group sex, bondage and discipline, sexual enslavement, spanking and whipping, erotic role-playing, and other secret vices. Today, the chateau continues to serve as a haven of decadence for those eager to turn their most outrageous sexual fantasies into reality.
As for their host, all of Grotte Cachée's seigneurs down through the centuries, myself included, have been descendents of the Gaulish druids who practiced their priestly magic in this valley some 2,400 years ago. Each of my forbears, for the edification of his successors and other trusted individuals, has contributed to an ongoing written account of events that have taken place during his seigniory. With the aid of a scanner and optical character recognition software, I have undertaken the task of converting a roomful of handwritten scrolls and volumes into a single, comprehensive document—this Secret History of Grotte Cachée.
Ever since my druidic ancestors took control of this valley centuries ago, visitors have been carefully selected by the seigneur and his administrateur. The chosen few—Americans, Brits, and western Europeans, for the most part—receive an invitation, usually hand-delivered by the administrateur, to stay in the castle and enjoy the private spa, gratis.
In some cases, the prospective guest is aware of Grotte Cachée's reputation for licentiousness and eager to experience it. Others come for the waters, only to lose themselves in a different kind of sensual extravagance.
Some invitations are issued to individuals, others to couples or even large groups. What they all have in common is some quality that that will provide for an exceptionally potent encounter with the follets who live at Grotte Cachée.
This is, perhaps, an appropriate juncture at which to explain the nature of the nonhuman beings whose guardianship is the seigneur's sacred calling. These immortals—for they are nearly so—are known in my native French as follets. (Although the word is properly pronounced fo-lā, my administrateur and most of his British compatriots pronounce it fo-lets—similarly to how they say "valets," but with the emphasis on the second syllable.) These beings are known by different names in different languages, but are most commonly referred to in Latin as incubi and succubi, male and female creatures, respectively, who are known to ravish humans in their sleep.
To learn more about incubi, succubi, and their Dark Mother, click here.
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