Szark, a Lolth-touched Archer

[Alkaizer74]

Template For Character Creation Reward:

First Name: Szark
Last Name: unknown

Appearance: Dark Obsidian pigment with a glossy appearance, a slick reflective hairless dome with piercing lavender eyes and a matching lavender facial tattoo. She is light, lean, and lithe. She dresses in traditional drow black attire. The light fabric is airy and comfortable but leaves her quite vulnerable to injury in a confrontation. Fashion and comfort are a priority even in death. She wears a black leather bracer on her left wrist. While pulling back on a bow string in combat, a keen observer can notice the spider emblem of her deity.
Race: Illythiiri (Drow)
Age: 153 years
Height 5'2
Weight: 97 lbs
Eyes: Lavender
Hair: N/A
Facial Hair Style: N/A

Personality Profile:
General Health: Vibrant, quicker than most, with a slow calm pulse.
Deity: Lolth
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Profession: Spy
Base Class & Proposed Development: Rogue/Fighter/Assassin/Arcane archer
Habits/Hobbies: She loves to talk politics, adventure, and current events at Gloura's Wings while sipping on bitter black at the end of a long cycle. She is also an avid collector of unique arrows. Her most prized quiver of arrows was found a 10 day ago in the horde of the pit fiend.
Languages: Drow, Undercommon, Drow sign
Weapon of Choice: The best Long bow she can afford, find, or steal.

Background: She hails from Ust Natha, the first established drow city of the Underdark, and is a recent visitor of Sshamath. She has been honing her archery ability for 140 years and has just recently started to come into her own. Her waxing confidence has lead her further into the depths of the Underdark seeking increasingly more challenging prey. Szark's early life was haunted by multiple encounters with illythids. In each encounter, she found herself on the losing end. Yet, while she lost, she was able to find a way to hide from them while others fell to the mental attacks or underwent cerebral flushing and were taken as slaves no longer with a will of their own. To this day, in the deep recesses of her mind, she is racked with fear. The illythid nightmares of her drow childhood have altered her thinking. Some trauma, if it happens to young developing mind, can not be fully overcome. Such is the case with Szark. She fears and despises Illythids and anything remotely related to them and is overjoyed to "send them to Lolth".

She, with a small group of adventurers, fought back a swarming infestation of mind worms that were sent by the Illythids. Assuming the Elder brain was behind the attack, she eagerly joined a group that assaulted the hive and butchered the Elder brain. She still feels there is unfinished business in the hive that could further explain events in her past.
Goals: She has little desire to reach the surface. She finds it irritating how many drow have that goal and secretly loses respect for any and all who vocalize that tired, old, often repeated ambition. She considers the Underdark a paradise of Lolth, and the surface is nothing but a blinding headache of torturous light with an endless false ceiling to confuse and brainwash any drow that ventures there.

Nevertheless, she has an incredible drive to hone her archery and find the absolute best long bow on Faerun. If journeying to the dreadful surface is what it requires to fulfill that goal, then she is willing to accept that as "Lolth's will" and a test she must endure.

She has taken a liking to Sshamath and the surrounding Underdark and has no intention of returning to Ust Natha anytime soon. So, she is looking for a place to "fit in" and finding that her skill set is not exactly what any of the current Sshmath factions need, want, or care about.
Possible Plot-Hook Ideas and Misc Facts:
She reestablishes a long defunct rogue guild.
She becomes a hired spy that is a double agent amongst all factions.
She becomes what she hates and flees to the surface like the many others.
She discovers that she was the target in the multiple Illythids attacks of her childhood because they foresaw her future role in their demise.
She discovers that to find the best bow she must work peacefully with the Illythids, which causes a great inner conflict.
She finds a drow from her past in the inner core of the hive, but his/her mind has been poisoned and twisted by the Illythids and he/she can only reveal half truths and distant memories.
She finds faerns (mages) and bards to be the most pleasing of companions and feels more willing to open up to those types and group with them.

[Alkaizer74]

As fate would have it, a spontaneous opportunity presented itself. Usstan traveled with three others through the confusing and deadly maze.

Perhaps Lolth is testing ussa, or perhaps this is ussa opportunity to find the great teacher of bow mastery among the Darthiiri archers. If using the Darthiiri is required to gain power, then Lolth's will be done.

To ussa disgust, it was necessary to mingle with the Kivvil, and even act and speak like one to the best of my ability. There were kivvil that were helpful indeed. Usstan was told to seek out a Darthiiri named Celduil that perhaps he could train ussa in the bow for the illythiiri have nau masters of the bow that usstan have ever heard of.

But it was naut to be, for two elves spotted the symbol of Lolth flapping on ussa cloak, and they attacked. Usstan ran and was able to cover their tracking attempts with a magical scroll. But nevertheless, ussa presence on the surface was detected and they appeared to be capable trackers...the magic would naut hold forever. Usstan was forced to abandon the quest

Usstan found a passaged to the upperdark in the Nashkel mines. Since, usstan was raised in Ust Natha, a city in the upperdark, the tunnels quickly became familiar and usstan found ussa way back to Sshamath.

Perhaps, in future cycles usstan will attempt to make contact with this Celduil or another Darthiiri of note and complete ussa training as an archer. If that cycle ever comes, Lolth willing, ussa will need a much more convincing disguise.... perhaps a magical one.

[Alkaizer74]

The hive. Usstan am drawn to it. Something is there. Something among the technology of the illithids. They have read my mind many times. They know of the fears that haunt my soul. They know of my past and what they have already done to ussa.

Thrice now have usstan killed the mind worms and the Elder brain within the hive. But usstan have only managed to kill off the Elder brain's tentacles, the Elder brain itself has always remained invulnerable and thus regrows what is taken from it.

Usstan must be careful. At any moment, if usstan am naut alert, the illithids will come for my mind. They will have ussa. Nau, usstan can naut let them win. Naut now, after all that has happened.

Usstan will find it.