Vierna Hun'viir
Ranger of Eilistraee
I. Basic InformationRanger of Eilistraee
- Name: Vierna Hun’viir
- Gender: Female
- Race: Drow
- Age: 150
- Profession: Ranger
- Languages: Drow, Drowsign, Undercommon, Common, Animal, Assassin, Celestial, Draconic, Elven, & Sylvan
- Organizations Affiliated With: Nocturne, acting leader
- Body build: Tall (for a Drow) and slender
- Hair style: Short, well-kept and clean
- Coloring:
- Hair: White
- Eyes: Green
- Skin: Dusky
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
- Philosophy: "All should be offered a chance for redemption. If they scorn it; however, evil shall know no fury like mine."
- Patron Deity: Eilistraee
- Religious Dogma: Be always kind, except in battle with evil. Encourage happiness everywhere. Learn and teach new songs, dances, and the flowing dance of skilled swordwork. Promote harmony between the races. Befriend strangers, shelter those without homes, and feed the hungry. Repay rudeness with kindness. Repay violence with swift violence so that those who cause it are quickly dealt with. Aid drow in distress and give them the Lady's message: A rightful place awaits you in the Realms Above, in the Land of the Great Light. Come in peace and live beneath the sun again where trees and flowers grow.
- Gear: Woodland garb made of animals hides, a dagger strapped to each thigh, a bow and quiver on her back, and a pack of supplies attached to her belt
- From: Originally Guallidurth, later Sshamath, now residing primarily in the forests of the Sword Coast
- Habits/hobbies: Cooking & Hunting
- Favorite Drink: Lichenwine
- Vierna Hun’viir was born as Elvarra Kenani to Qilafae Kenani – the Matron Mother of House Kenani, in Guallidurth, the Temple City of Lolth. In Guallidurth, the noble houses were constantly at war with one another -- with over 200 houses vying for power. Qilafae Kenani had greatly expanded House Kenani’s influence but was looking for an heir -- as she was growing old in years.
For that, Qilafae Kenani had her first child: Vierna. Her birth brought problems with it; however, as the Drow child had noticeably green eyes -- believed to be a sign of surface elf blood and therefore a taint to Drow. Qilafae kept Vierna alive but she had the father exiled, as she believed his bloodline to be the source of the tainted bloodline.
From birth, Vierna was an outcast, due to what all perceived to be a taint that made her weak. Her mother refused to let her train to be a priestess -- but she still wished to use her daughter, keeping her alive as a mere pawn. Vierna did as she was asked, eliminating all that opposed House Kenani, but during the whole time she felt something was off. As she was an outcast among her people, she studied them from a distance. Vierna saw the endless struggles the Drow went through: they would rise in power, fight to keep their petty seats of power, then be killed off by the next Drow to best them. In Vierna's eyes, the Drow had achieved nothing: they had been stuck in a pit, for millennia, and their greatest enemy was now themselves.
The truth hit home; however, when Vierna's younger sister -- an aspiring Priestess -- was killed in a test of Lolth. Despite being heavily devout, she was deemed too “weak” and was slowly consumed by a swarm of spiders. The two were oddly close, with Vierna's sister being the only one in the city to not reject her for her eye color, and the loss devastated Vierna.
As a result, Vierna saw something needed to change -- and that Lolth was not the best deity for the Drow people. And yet, what alternatives were there? Vierna had heard of heretics, yet she was reluctant to turn from Lolth and seek any out.
This personal, philosophical debate continued for well over a decade, before Vierna made up her mind to speak to a heretic. As luck would have it, House Kenani had such a heretic nearby: they were keeping one for torture, before she would be sent to the altar for sacrifice. Vierna took this chance, cautiously, and approached the cells with a demand: to release the heretic into her custody for a session of torture.
The guards seemed somewhat suspicious by this demand, but they complied -- as Vierna was still the first daughter. Luckily for the heretic; however, torture was not on the agenda. Vierna took this female heretic to a private cell, simply to ask her questions.
At first, this female was wary of Vierna: she was an imposing, demanding Lolthite Drow -- despite her questions being entirely out of curiosity, with no real desire to harm the woman. After some prying, Vierna learned the female's name, Zesryne, as well as the fact that she was an Eilistraeen priestess.
Around that time, Zesryne was surprised Vierna hadn't harmed her, at all, and began to suspect what was going on. The two had a lengthy talk over philosophy, as well as Eilistraee, and Zesryne slowly began to win Vierna over.
Their conversation had not gone unnoticed; however: Qilafae Kenani had caught wind of what her daughter was doing, and with it going on for so long, she decided to see why. Unfortunately, Qilafae heard the two speaking of Eilistraee, and entered to see an unharmed, Eilistraeen priestess that was supposedly being tortured.
To say her mother was outraged was an understatement: she felt betrayed, and immediately called for any available guards. What her daughter had done was an outrage, and with every fiber of her being, Qilafae wanted to finally be rid of her tainted daughter.
Without hesitating, Vierna cut Zesryne free, who teleported the two of them outside of Guallidurth. With that single action, the course of her life had been set: Vierna was now to be endlessly hunted by her mother, unable to ever return to House Kenani.
Zesryne and Vierna worked together to flee toward the north, toward the fabled city of Drow Wizards: Sshamath. With the city being ruled by wizards, Zesryne hoped she would have a safer place there than in Guallidurth. They spent many years on the journey, and Zesryne took this time to teach Vierna all about the ways of Eilistraee – even convincing her to memorize Eilistraee’s dogma. The two grew surprisingly close as Zesryne began to unwind the Lolthite teachings engrained into Vierna’s mind.
They did not escape Qilafae Kenani’s wrath forever; however, as a group of mercenaries did eventually catch up to both Vierna and Zesryne. They had come to collect on the one-hundred bag bounty placed on Vierna’s head by Qilafae. After identifying Vierna by her eyes and Zesryne by her silver hair, the group attacked the two, sending them into a long-fought battle.
Despite being outmatched, Zesryne was fierce in combat: she cut down mercenary after mercenary with her bastard sword, gracefully deflecting blows as she switched between melee and divine spells.
As the fight grew grim, Zesryne commanded Vierna to run ahead to safety. Vierna hesitantly did as asked, giving Zesryne just enough time to cover Vierna’s retreat. Vierna was unsure Zesryne would survive – and the truth of the situation hit Vierna just moments later.
To Vierna’s horror, a necromancer with the mercenaries reanimated Zesryne’s corpse and sent it after Vierna for his own amusement. All Vierna could do was outrun the necromancer and her former comrade. Through a combination of stealth and wit, Vierna did eventually lose the necromancer – but she was unable to set Zesryne’s body to rest.
Vierna made the last stretch to Sshamath by herself, heartbroken and promising revenge on both the necromancer and her mother. With no more allies at her side and a large bounty on her head, Vierna quickly went to work forming alliances throughout the city – hoping no enemies would come to know the truth about her.
- Descent of the Drow, The Grand History of the Realms p. 15
- Drow Eye Colors, The Drow of the Underdark p. 5 (2nd Edition)
- Drow Society, The Drow of the Underdark p. 13 (2nd Edition)
- Eilistraee, The Drow of the Underdark p. 20 (2nd Edition)
- Eilistraee, Faiths and Pantheons p. 23
- Lolth, The Drow of the Underdark p. 34 (2nd Edition)
- Guallidurth, Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark p. 113
- Sshamath, Underdark p. 175
- Sword Dancer, Faiths and Pantheons p. 205
