Val'lyn (Teken'ep)

[Druchii]

First Name: Val'lyn
Last Name: Teken'ep (Unused)
Birthplace: Maeralyn

Appearance:
Race: Drow
Age: 120
Height: 5"3
Weight: 106 lbs
Eyes: Red
Hair: White hair bound tightly with decorative silk or wire into a long braid.

Notable Features: Val'lyn's body bears the signs of years of abuse. His youthful skin marred in many places with a plethora of scars, some having healed far more cleanly than others. Though like all Drow he seems selectively bred for his physique, it undoubtedly marrs his looks by the standards of most civilised species. With all the magic readily available to their race, one might wonder why the worst were allowed to naturally heal.

As far as his face goes, a few cross-crossing scars are notable but not deforming. They seem shallow and well-healed enough to keep from disfiguring his features, or impairing his senses or ability to express and speak. The worst is a long, jagged gash that healed naturally along his jawline.

Lastly, he keeps his hair incredibly long but bound tightly into a ponytail. Often the bonds can be silk but it is not uncommon for him to bind it with wire in web-like patterns when the mood takes.

Personality Profile:
General Health: Physically fit and lean, suggesting a hard life but sufficient exercise and nutrition for the considerable demands of Underdark adventuring.
Deity: Vhaeraun
Initial Alignment: Neutral Evil
Profession: Shebali
Base Class & Proposed Development: Velg'larn.
Habits/Hobbies: Hunting, exploring and spelunking, studying of venomous creatures, Anatomy and Herbalism, stalking for sport, exercising sleight of hand techniques.
Languages: Common, Drow, Undercommon, Drow Sign, Elven + others secret or of the Slave Races.
Weapon of Choice: Anything light and preferably concealable.


Personality Assessment: Like the vast majority of Drow, Val'lyn has been bred and raised for cruelty and violence, having had likely irreparable damage done to his psyche and world-view (for those who think there's a problem with it anyway!). Physical and mental abuse, in an environment that rarely allows for any form of 'softness' has led to him becoming a vicious and paranoid individual with absolutely no regard for the value of life in itself.

He views things cynically and takes pleasure from the exertion of power over others. He has a closer kinship with predators than sadists. He sees little merit in valour, honour, trust or kindness for their own sake but instead views the world through the lens of action and consequence - even his conversion of faith was done after weighing up the pros and cons.

The tunnels and caverns of the Underdark are home, and unlike many Drow (of any faith) he cares little for blaming Elves for his circumstances. The Underdark to him is his reality and the world above is alien. Why he seems to harbour the same amount of hate for elves is a mystery.

Despite his escape from a life under Lolth, Val'lyn keeps many of the traditions from that life. This includes responses to nobles, ranking systems, and (to a degree) females and world view.

He suffers the typical fears of failure, of humiliation, and of Lolth's ire (and now to a degree Vhaeruan) should he ever be discovered. No Drow enjoys the thought of catching the Spider's Queen's attention in the soul-draining capacity. There are other, more personal fears and weaknesses, but they would have to be discovered (or inquired after if a DM) through roleplay.

Relations:

Mother: Rilrae Teken'ep
Father: Unknown, irrelevant(?).
Sisters: Laele, Belareyl and Minafae Teken'ep
Brother: Imbros Teken'ep

Background:

Val'lyn was born a male in the Merchant (Lesser) House of Teken'ep, whose loyalty was primarily to profit and power - secondly to Lolth. The House operated traditionalist and practices in terms of how it conducted business, breeding and religion. The males were in a majority, enough so for the House to suffer some stigma that Lolth did not favour them. This black mark was one their rivals did all they could to ensure stuck to Teken'ep's reputation.

To be a male in Teken'ep, by birth or service, often meant you served in a variety of relatively mundane roles. Only those who showed a particular aptitude for sword or spell became scouts, warriors or wizards.The females occupied the usual positions of power, and could be found holding authority in any role they showed talent or ambition for. Only a few were ever relegated to servile roles amongst the lesser males.

The House kept their assets mobile but founded it's head quarters in Maeralyn. From there they operated numerous merchant convoys that supplied the House with their main source of revenue. They also contracted out their services in exchange for political favour from the Noble Houses. Where the Nobles schemed and plotted for the downfall of those above and below them, so too did the Lesser Houses clash for ownership of the greatest assets. Outright violence was mostly prohibited, so the majority of jostling for prestige came through intrigue. Holdings and even loyalties were supplanted, bartered, sabotaged or destroyed by proxy.

Val'lyn's mother was a Noble within the House and he was her 5th child, second son. His father is unknown as his mother, Rilrae, kept several favourites for breeding. Drow children are rarely raised by their parents and are often handed-off to retainers and kinsmen to rear. Since Val'lyn was not born a female, he had little to do with his sisters unless they happened by - such encounters were always unpleasant, for him, but thankfully short-lived.

As for Rilrae's first son, Val'lyn saw plenty of him. The brothers had been similar in many ways, though Val'lyn was more delicate in his youth and of a more methodical and keen mind. His brother Imbros, however, was greatly athletic and sociopathic in his viciousness. Imbros possessed great drive, passion and a fearlessness that bordered on insane. Though it presented problems if mis-managed, they were for the Ladies of the House to concern themselves with. For those who fell under his sphere of influence, Val'lyn included, he exerted his dominance with cruel ruthlessness. Of them all, none could claim to have suffered more at the hands of Imbros, than Val'lyn. Natural rivals thanks to blood, Imbros did whatever he could to make sure Val'lyn's life was utterly miserable. To this day, his body and mind still bear the scars of half-a-century of abuse at the hands of his older brother - one who held both influence and experience over him.

The Turning Point:

Assigned to a trade convoy making it's way to Sshamath, the House retainers were to fulfill their contracts and draw up new agreements with potential allies en route. Once concluded, their final destination would be where the most promising would be inducted into Sshamath's Schools of Magic for training in exchange for many rare resources and treasures from the deepest parts of the Underdark. Val'lyn, a youth, would soon be expected to undergo the Test and such was the expectation at journey's end. His focus during adolescence found him serving as a junior scout whilst also working with the apothecary when rotated.

During journey through the Underdark, Imbros' attentions escalated to evermore sinister heights, leaving Val'lyn certain that he would soon suffer an 'accident' unless he could deal with his brother. Discovery in any way would lead to his immediate torture and execution, yet doing nothing would surely result in his death just the same. Cycle by cycle he grew weaker as paranoia drove him to refuse food or drink within the camp, relying as best he could on the known watering holes where the caravan would stop and refresh. During the parched stretches of tunnels, he would often be caught satiating himself purely from what little could be found there. On occasion, he would cajole slaves to test the food and water in the camp for him and keep their silence.

It was after they concluded business in the city of Jhachalkhyn that it occurred. Clear as crystal whenever he chose to revisit these moments in reverie.

The convoy halted by a fast-flowing underground river. The expedition took the time to go about their expected tasks, and the scouting groups were due to rotate. The leader of Team One, Ilphril, returned with her cohort. They came back with smiles on their faces, but short a few in number - including the only other female in the Scouts. Ilphril's cohort held their blades were unsheathed and bloody, approaching the camp to speak with the leader of Team Two: Gulafein.

Val'lyn had been watching from a distance whilst preparing Rothe steak for the caravan leader and could not tell quite what had happened; by the way Ilphril brandished bestial trophies, and wore a wicked grin, he surmised it must be an explanation for those missing scouts. It was only when he spotted the nature of the trophies that a thought flashed through his mind. He recognized the mandibles of the slain creature, and had wondered how he had failed to find out about recent quakes near Jhachalkhyn. Certainly none of those creatures had been reported as good hunting in the proximity of these passages - new tunnels had to be the explanation.. but they didn't seem all that fresh. Hard to tell at such a distance.

When Gulafein finished with Ilphril and went to gather his scouts, he passed by Val'lyn. He glared at the youth, questioning what he was looking at. The thoughts quickly evaporated as Val finished his preparations and went to take the meal to the Expedition Leader. Speed was needed if he was to be ready for Gulafein's return. Then the cacophony started.

Val'lyn was never sure what stuck in his memory more when he reviewed this moment in reverie; the stink of the burning flesh, or the blood-curdling screams that so suddenly rung through-out the cavern. Attacked by their rivals in House Orlyndar, the caravan startled as crossbow bolts whistled from the darkness, picking off exposed Teken'ep retainers with surgical precision. When he turned, he saw Gulafein on his back, grasping at his throat and the bolt jutting out under his chin. Ilphril and her followers had betrayed them, attacking the group from within and showing their switched allegiances openly for the first time.

Looking around frantically, he could see Drow turning on their foes with sword, spell and bolt as chaos erupted. He followed his instinct, rushing over to his to the fallen crossbow by Gulafein. He came close too, before his legs gave beneath him and the world tumbled in his vision. It was not until he managed to roll over that he saw Imbros' boot crash down on his chest - a repeater crossbow aimed at his eye. His accursed brother chortled as he saw the horror in young Val'lyn's face, and then he pulled the trigger..

Val'lyn still gets shivers down his spine as he remembers that fight, and the scar across his jawline burns hot with each recollection of the near-missing crossbow bolt. He recalls each time, the pain and shameful terror that gripped him in the moment between seeing his brother standing over him, to the seeing his brother knocked sprawling onto the cavern floor by an errant magical missle. He never knew if it was Teken'ep or Orlyndar that could claim responsibility for the Missile Storm, because his memory was cloudy with the chaos of it all - and how he was far too busy leaping at Imbros. He remembers how the pair growled, snapped, rolled and twisted for the superior position. Daggers appear in their hands at some indistinct point during the scuffle,their forms tumbling closer and closer to the edge of the river. He could never match Imbros, standing or on the ground, and so it did not take long before his vision swam red - interrupted only by flashes of glinting light on the sharp metal that rose and fell from his chest. His brother's malevolent grin was always visible in the shifting light thanks to fire blazing somewhere amidst the encampment. Val'lyn knew then with such certainty that he was done for. Crying out with pain and seething with impotent anger, he grasped at that twisted face and clawed with all his might. Imbros reared away from his baby brother, who suddenly seemed filled with a desperate fire to follow through and gouge out Imbros' eyes as a last act of revenge. But as with all things of the past, you cannot will them to change: the hateful pair tumbled over the edge and pitched together into the rapids alongside.. disappearing beneath the black.

It would be five years before Val'lyn would wander into from the dark tunnels around Sshamath, changed from a down-trodden youth to a cold-hearted survivor that had managed to scrape a living however he could as a Shebali - House-less Rogue. What happened in between that time is not something he often speaks of, but in truth that is because there is nothing to boast of. He did what he had to, and learned the skill set to make it so. He lucked his way to an Outpost, then back to Jhachalkhyn, where his sharp mind and drive to stay alive allowed him to keep on living to this day.

Now in the City of Sshamath, he has thrown in with the Drowess known as Aunrae and her House Selmiyeritar, finally having found a place to rebuild.. for now.

Plot Hooks for DMs:

- It is not certain if Imbros was a traitor or involved in the attack, only that he developed a taste for the suffering of his brother and would undoubtedly enjoy hunting him down.

- Imbros can be dead or alive, but Val'lyn still belongs to Teken'ep and they continue to survive - Merchants dislike losing their assets as a point of pride, practicality. Reclaiming/killing him may be worthwhile if they setup trade in Sshamath and learn of him.

- Val'lyn would be considered a heretic and an enemy in the eyes of the Yath (if they knew) and so nothing good would come of his past finding him, nor any current Lolthite Houses in the City.

- Having performed multiple private tasks in exchange for payment at the School of Necromancy - several being directly between him and the Silent Seat K'yon Oboldra - Val'lyn's face could be known to some of the Necromancers as a Drow you can hire for hunting down targets. The most notable being when he came back with the corpse of a Greater Doppleganger for the High Necromancer's experiments.

- Val'lyn serves publicly in House Selmiyeritar so any Factions with an eye on hurting them would be able to find out about his affiliation easily. His role as Master of Coin sees him in charge of the caravan(s) that trade for Selmiyeritar and the mercenaries that guard it - DM Spartacus.

- When Val'lyn brokered an alliance with House Moolyhan, who provide considerable muscle and market presence to protect Selmiyeritar merchants from external 'pressure', House Hun'viir was passed over in their favour and may hold a grudge - DM Spartacus.

- Val'lyn is counted as an ally to the Tower of the Masked Lord on a personal level after acting as a proxy between them and Arkenneld from the School of Enchantment. His successful retrieval of a stolen artifact, and the killing of it's thief, earned him that entry - DM Chant.

- Upon the slaying a Shadar-Kai who was in pursuit of personal glory, Val'lyn may have earned enemies that he does not know of along with his unwitting House - DM Chant.

- Having joined the other members of his House on a secret mission for the Conclave, Val'lyn has earned official citizenship in Sshamath and enjoys full ward protection within the appropriate zones. It also means he is potentially known in a minor capacity to certain Magistrates of the Stonestave and Schools of Divination and Transmutation - DM Golem.

[Druchii]

//Updated to reflect the RCR after I messed up the build restrictions of NWN2, thinking it was the same as NWN1 <.<

Also proofed so highly unlikely anything further will be edited.

[Druchii]

//Updated bio record with additional developments that may provide potential hooks for players, DMs, or factions allied or rival.