Malira Halda[tr][td]Appearance
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Half-Drow
30 as of 1351 DR
About 5'8"
140.0 pound(s)
Squinted with red iris
Medium white straight
Lean and slightly tall for a woman
Ashen and somewhat oily
Scarred neck, farsighted
Lolth, occasionally, for good fortune
Neutral Evil, a detached observer
Mage's assistant, troubleshooter
Trickster Assassin
Reading, alchemy, nail biting
Undercommon, Common, Abyssal
Bow, sling, handaxe, mace, spells, traps[/td][/tr][/table]
Malira was the product of a Drow mage for house Zaurae in Ched Nasad, and Helena, a personal human servant. Her father Barak Derret gave them no special treatment, and Malira became his assistant and scribe from an early age. As her mother got older, Malira took over most outdoor duties, mainly trading or collecting strange objects and alchemy reagents for her master. Envied by other slaves for her detached but otherwise harmless treatment, Mira's only real friend growing up was Ingos, a beetle she found while out looking for spell components. At first Ingos was kept in a leash, but Mira had learnt more from her father's scrolls and books than Barak expected. Some cycles and several failed rituals later, she finally managed to bind Ingos to her as a familiar. Their telepathic link was crude and only conveyed simple emotions, but this was much better than the constant silence of her father or the hostile insults from other slaves.
One day as Mira was copying letters for her father, a scream was heard outside. Barak cared little for politics, but suspected their small house was targeted for elimination by one of the larger more influential families. As the sound of footsteps grew closer, he prepared a silent fireball spell, and engulfed all three attackers at once. A fourth remained behind them, however, and loosed a crossbow bolt going straight through Barak' skull. Terrified, Mira grabbed whatever vials she could find from a nearby alchemy station to throw at the remaining mercenary. One of them exploded violently, sending drops of acid in every direction. Her enemy took most of the damage and fled, and Mira managed to turn away but her backside and neck was scarred. Helena did her best to cure the injuries, using whatever remedies they kept in the house and divine prayers she knew from her past life as an acolyte of Mystra, a fact she had kept secret until now for reasons unknown, even from Mira.
Her mother's faith was rewarded and Mira was able to stand, but Helena was old and exhausted from treating her. She told her daughter to grab whatever equipment and weapons she could find, and then leave her. Mira refused, of course, but more footsteps could be heard approaching. Flames from her father's fireball had caught onto a bookshelf and would soon spread to the rest of their room, so there was little time for goodbyes. Mira found a vial of cyanide for her mother, climbed out the nearest window with Ingos in tow, half-blind from tears running down her face, and looked back in one last time. Her mother had already taken the poison, but managed to let out her final words before it took effect. Little more than a quiet humming, Mira knew the song all too well. Helena's lullaby stayed in her mind from that day forward, all the way through the crowded streets to the Rothe caravan station, and onwards to Sshamath.
Goals & Aims
Motivation : There is always more to learn, knowledge trumps influence.
Life goal : Trusting others and finding her own place or family in Sshamath.
Long term: Becoming a fully-fledged and respected citizen of Sshamath.
Short term: Finding a new mage to learn and gain knowlege or spells from.
Hooks & Facts
Fact #1: Her hair was originally darker, but an alchemy mishap turned it white for a time.
Fact #2: Reserved and quiet, due to frequent criticism or punishment by former house mage.
Hook #1: Often out to collect oddities and rare spell components, perhaps stolen from others.
Hook #2: Being only part Drow, masters and slaves alike might employ or exploit her skills.
Additional DM info follows below (please send a PM if corrections are needed):
In truth, most of the above is a fabrication. Ascalhorn, or Hellgate Keep as it came to be known after 820 DR, was infested by devils when the Netherese mage Wulgreth began summoning them to the site. Since then, competing mages were lured into summoning demons of their own to defeat them, igniting a small Blood War in the hopes both parties would defeat each other. The plan backfired, and the newly summoned demons took over control of the keep, summoning even more demons to their side and spreading out across the High Forest and Delimbiyr Vale. Harper agents managed to ward off the demon gates in 886 DR, but Earlann and Ammarindar had already fallen to the demons' onslaught and were now used as outposts to send out demon spies and raiding parties.
A succubus among them was tasked with infiltrating the nearby underground Drow cities of Ched Nasad and Menzoberranzan, by coupling with captured Drow scouts in the tunnels below previously Dwarven Ammarindar to create Half-Drow Fey'ri spies. One of them, whom Malira only knew as "Grandfather", altered himself into the shape of an injured Drow soldier, and was brought back to Ched Nasad by another Drow scouting party. Once there, the spy was taken into care by a Lolthite novice priestess, whom he began influencing. A few years passed, and their first and only child was born. The priestess' shock over seeing her Tiefling daughter ended quickly, as "Grandfather" cut her throat soon after and fled with his offspring, settling down in the cellars of an old town bordello.
Taking the shape of proprietor, courtesan and customer alike, he managed to lure others of Ched Nasad's lower society into his service, whom he charmed and used to produce successively weaker half-breeds. They would all be lesser Fey'ri and could not alter their shape, so the goal was to dilute his blood enough for the physical Tiefling traits to disappear. Each of his by now six grandchildren were brought up to become excellent spies and cut-throats, but number seven was to be the first child where most of the Tiefling hallmarks had vanished. Cat-like red eyes and scars on her head and backside still remained, but their "Grandfather" hoped these would have all but disappeared with the 8th generation.
Seven struggled with poor eyesight and mild allergies growing up, but all her pleas for help and support were largely ignored by her father Six, who was more interested in his own performance and wasting any spare time on alcohol and narcotics. Instead, she found a mentor in "Grandfather"s first successor, who by now spent most of her old age studying large tomes and arcane scrolls. Despite her narcissistic traits, One prided herself in passing on whatever experiences she had gained in life, and Seven was eager to obtain any skills that could advance her abilities to avoid harassment from her immediate predecessors and become an assassin like them.
Time passed and Seven carried out her first kill mission, but still struggled with poor vision and stamina. Her cognitive abilities increased unhindered, however, and she had begun to wonder. From what she could tell, "Grandfather" intended each generation to be born as soon as possible, but she was only the 7th in all those years. Perhaps her predecessors were only the succesful candidates, and defects had been discarded for a fresh attempt to improve each generation. Seven brushed aside her suspicions at first to focus on training, but her fears returned as she reached maturity and began mating with the bordello's patrons selected by "Grandfather".
There was little enjoyment to be had, as this was merely another task to carry out, but there was also very little in the way of results. At first her predecessors assured her to be patient; that she was still quite young. But Seven feared she was sterile and unable to bear children, and as more years passed without any sign of change, Seven began planning her escape. Finally, during a scouting mission, she released a carefully planned mixture of illusive spells and cantrips to deceive her team mates, and rushed along the streets of Ched Nasad to find a hiding place. Finally on her own, Seven had a change of clothes and headed for the Rothe caravan station with every intention to leave the city forever.
Her new identity was based on one of their former kill targets. Early on when her training was still in its infancy, Seven had instead done her best to observe and learn each target's background, and Malira Halda was the best fit. Ingos, the insect familiar, was one of her own rather than the target's; many times Seven was forced to stay in the cellar on more dangerous missions, where she one night found a beetle crawling among their food supplies. Like her alter-ego, Seven experimented with rituals and spells to bind the insect to herself. It was a simple task weaving parts of her own story into that of Malira Halda, until the two were indistinguishable. After all, the foundation of every convincing lie is an underlying truth.