Evilyn of House Brakx

Fifth level fighter/Fifth level mage
Player: Chris Ahrens
Player Information
Alignment- Lawful Evil
Strength- Average
Dexterity- Very high
Constitution- Average
Intelligence- High
Wisdom- High
Charisma- High

DESCRIPTION:
Evilyn is a woman of pleasant but not striking beauty.  Her unmarred face of ebony skin and unremarkable crimson eyes is fully framed by a braided and woven mane of silvered and black dyed hair.  Cast about and covering her slim five foot frame are the trappings of a skillful warrior.  Finely tempered chain armor passes from the silver embroidered crest of her cloak, over her slim chest and down past her belted waist . Accenting her shapely waist, a pair of slender swords rest at ease on either hip, next to an equally finely crafted hand crossbow.

Breaking the odd visage of the woman is the diminutive scaled creature at her booted feet.   A few inches more then an arms length from nose to tail, a lizard of roughly scaled grey hide sniffs curiously about the cavern and those close to him.  Several times, it's sharply contrasted smooth tongue darts in and out, in time with its wary ink black eyes, as if excited with the number of people about him.

BACKGROUND:
"Why couldnt life be simple?" The words echoed within the endless scape of the young womans mind. Not one year prior, she was in the cradle of Lolths power. The house of MalShireen just rose to fill the shattered remains of those who dare fall from the Spider-Queens favor. Among her sisters, she was but one sibling away from Matron and a single slip of a dagger would secure her place in the lavish seat of the familys throne room forever. Now, the only home she can call her own is the cold dusted cavern walls. Her meals are the bones of lizards and the husks of fungi. Her only friends are the memories of power she once had.

Hearing their approach, the cat-like Evilyn managed to squeeze even tighter against the unyielding stone and knife-like protrusions. Hoping against all hope, the patch of razor-rock would detour her pursuers, the fallen priestess held her breath. First a pair of footfalls could be heard. Then a second and third. All heavily booted and all bearing the same stench and grumbling of the pig-snouted warriors. In her prime she would have shattered the orcs bodies with a single word of her Mistress. Now, it has been weeks past her last meal and the blessing of Lolth long since departed. Still, it wasnt the half dozen trackers that worried her, it was their master. The power of a single flayer was enough to turn the tide of an entire scouting party and now she was pitted against one and its dozen slaves all by her self.

In the approaching darkness of slavery and eternal damnation at the hands of the illithid, if Evilyn let free the breath in her lungs, it would be her last. Within several long seconds, the drows vision began to swim and swirl. The cavern about faded. Her mind was elsewhere.

Standing among a dozen others, the priestess Evilyn MalShireen stood tall and proud. As this watchs commander, she had but to lead a routine tour of the surrounding passages. Unforeseen to her, her sister, Gylanirea, had something else in mind. Only a mile from the citys main passage the glyphs detonated. Not set to cause injury, the magics ensorcelled the party and thrust the poorly equipped members thousands of miles from home.

Stranded and alone the teams morale plummeted and any cohesion was lost. One month later she was the only member alive. They had been cut down by inter-group rivalries and a wrong turn near a koa-toan city. Looting the fallen warriors bodies and using the powers of Lolth to tend her wounds she managed to stay alive for several more weeks to come. Then one sunless day, after seeking to heal a viscious slash from a patch of razor rock, her powers ceased. Her only comfort was that she had not earned Lolths full displeasure and was a victim to the deitys rare passive aggressive nature.

Not giving up, the woman continued alone. In time, her greatest ally was the slender crossbows favored by the race. Their accuracy and the potency of their poison, saved her hide more times then she had years. The days began to blend one into the next. Time had little meaning to her. Then her life changed for the better, so she would believe.

The caravan did not stand a chance. Over four dozen orcs and goblins fell upon it in moments while their illithid masters watched in sheer pleasure. With the goods plundered, slaves captured and the rest left in ruin the day-old battle site was silent and bare. Except for the gurgled cry of a single wounded man. Lifting the broken remains of a slaughtered rothe, she came face to face with a human. Bloody and bruised, she could still recognize his race from the many tomes of her home. Breaking the language barrier in an undercommon dialect, his promises of wealth and favors meant little to her. She helped him because she was lonely.

In one days trek she guided him back to the city of the koa-toans. As it appeared, Morigan was a respected slaver and merchant to the citys prince. Honest to his word, he took the renegade into his home and repaid her for her service. In addition, he willingly gave her a place as guide and guard on his caravan. She agreed, provided that he leads her back to the city she once called home. Settled, they joined forces, although with his trade route and the need to gather more supplies, it would be several months before they reached her home citys outer markers.

With a full caravan and equal number of warriors, the merchant and Evilyn set forth once again. The journey to the Duergar city was uneventful save for an irritated fire drake that seared all the hair of the lead rothe. But the beast tasted great with Morigans seasonings.

One tenth of the journey behind them, she already began planning how she would twist the daggers blade into her sisters ribs. Their next stop was another city of the drow. The prospect of this both stirred feelings of apprehension and excitement. Never before had she ventured to another city of drow. From what Morigan said, this one had nothing to do with Lolth either. Unfortunately, they never made it to the citys west gate.

Again, the illithids attack was incomplete. While it was taking Morigans mind, the dark elf made her escape to hide among a patch of razor rock. Her swimming mind came to an abrupt and painful halt as she could not hold her breath any longer. The sound was enough as she feared and the orcs set upon her with all haste.

In the time it took for one of them to fall to the poison of her arrow, the others had her subdued and the flayer had her mind. Enslaved as the illithids concubine, she took her place at his side. The flayer returned with his orc tracking squad to the looted caravan. There to his surprise, he saw orc and goblin attacking one another. This could be for but a single reason.

Other illithids. As the thought filtered, so did the tirade of mental anguish. His mind broken, the flayers forces snapped free for a single moment. A moment long enough to put their blades, arrows and axes into the warring mind flayers. The ensuing battle was fierce and bloody. Little did they know, but they were being watched.

From the shadows the scouting party did exactly as the priestess ordered. Seeing a drow woman without house fight like this was very amusing. As the battled died and the few survivors remained, the drow party sprang into fluid motion. A volley of quarrels later, Evilyn stood alone, surrounded by her own kind but almost a complete alien.

Intrigued, the priestess took the lone drow as a prisoner and brought her before the Matron. Seeing many possibilities in the young woman and hearing her tale of survival and goal of revenge the Matron Mother decided to invest in the young renegade. She wiped the mind of the capturing party and took the young girl as her own. She could be set free to the bowels of the Underdark or stay and serve the Matron. Trying hard not to gaze into the eyeless orbs of fire set into the Matron Mothers undead skull, her first choice was to flee. She was reminded that she would be cast naked and without means to travel the countless miles home. Relenting to the Matrons will, she decided to stay, although quite uneasy at the lichs ulterior motives.

Privately, they discussed her options within the noble house. She could study and follow the path of the priestess, but with her past experience with dieties she asked to be given a different path. Seeing a possibility, the Matron decided a choice Evilyn did not like. It by this choice that she was granted her place among the houses nobles. With a favor of the Wizards Tower, the young woman would study and be tested in secrecy. Should she fail, the young drow would vanish like the last breath of a dying man. But if she succeeded...

Never in her life did she expect to be in such a place. The wizards of her home while powerful, but she had grown to distrust them. Then the thought of such power filtered into her mind. A woman of magic was never heard of in her home. Such power would be a joy to behold and the look upon her sisters face as the mana is focused and sheers the smile off her bones. Yes, Evilyn would study and she would succeed.

Not knowing what to expect the first few weeks were traumatic indeed. It seemed as though her mentor had taken some less-then-private joy in the fact that her presence was a secret and he had sovereign control over her life. This was a matter hard for the Lolth society raised drow to swallow, but all the years of living on the razors edge were not for nothing. She played his game and she played it well. Once she tasted the magics he had to offer, she was not beyond using what he wanted most to secure more for herself. Never before had she felt so free. All the years of relying upon the favor of some unseen being were gone. Now the magic she called upon was hers to command. No more paying respect where it was ill deserved or bowing to the whims of others merely because it pleased Lolth. For once in her life, Evilyn felt as though she were her own master.

Yet, the year within the Underdark, did not leave her without its scars. Never again would she be alone for her focused magics were upon the art of summoning and calling others to her aid. With the majority of the Darks denizen resistant to the effects of magic, she would rely upon the tooth and claw of those that she summoned. Five years and much sorcery later, the unique student walked into the Matrons chambers.

The plan had worked well. She would graduate as a noble of the House of Brakx. In turn, she would present her services to the Matron Mother empowered with magic few drow females bear. Such is her lot in life. Now a noble of a ruling house, she stood among her sisters.

Even with the implanted memories of the lich Mother, their contempt for an outsider was evident. Yet as a sorceress she would never touch the throne of the house, a position that gave her a rare security among drow.