Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Talasprina T’orgh (now Talasprina Zau’afin)

Race: Drow elf
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Profession: Soldier
Age: (young adult) 77
Birthplace: Sshamath
Height: 6 feet 3 inches (a giantess, compared to typical drow that rarely reach over 5 feet 5 inches tall)
Weight: Do you really dare ask?? (199 lbs)
General Health: Robust and resilient (12 base Con for an elf)
Eyes: Red
Hair: White, kept in a stylish but practical ponytail stripe along the top of her head. Sides of her head are kept shaved smooth.
Skin: Black, and smooth but for a few battle scrs here and there.
Classes: Fighter 8, Whirling Dervish 10, Frenzied Berserker 5, Weaponmaster (eventually 7)
Patron Diety: Lolth

Primary Languages:
- Undercommon - Common trade language of the underdark, she is perfectly fluent
- Drow – Her native tongue
- Drowsign – Taught to every soldier until memorized, she is a master at it
- Elven – Taught to all drow as a parent language to drow
Secondary Languages:
- Common – Common trade language of the surface, she is fluent, but bears an accent
- Dwarvish – The large presence of duergar in Sshamath makes this language highly useful
- Ghukliak – The language of goblin slaves. She understands basic conversation
- Orcish – The language of orcs is useful in the region. She understands basic conversation

Appearance:
Talasprina is, among drow, a giantess. While the vast majority of her race average from 4 ½ feet to 5 ½ feet tall, she comes in at a whopping 6 foot 3 inches. In addition, she has a very strong, muscular form, akin to that of an Olympian bodybuilder. Her amazonian strength does not detract from her natural elven agility, however, which she has plenty of. It’s just that her strength outshines it. Long, powerful legs are just as well developed, and are capable of outstanding feats of leaping and acrobatics.

Her head is kept shaved on the sides. A stripe of long, smooth white hair trails back along the top into a practical ponytail, giving her a bit of a street ganger vibe. She has the red eyes typical of her race, and high cheekbones. Typically, she wears form-fitting light armour in hues of black, purple, and red.

Personality Profile:
Talasprina T’orgh is a drowess whose hopes and dreams were dashed to the rocks, and then miraculously re-kindled. As a result, she is motivated nearly to the point of zealotry to serve House Zau’afin. She is utterly loyal to the house, and especially to Matron Maim, whom she would defend to the death if need be.

In terms of her outlook, Talasprina is content with her lot in life. Does she have ambitions? Sure. She wants to be Quel’saress (Weapons Mistress) of the house. But beyond that, she understands and accepts her role as a soldier of Lolth, not one of Her priestesses. She is quite pious, but because she does not hear her goddess’s will directly (not being a priestess herself), she relies on the priestesses to guide her, and is therfore utterly loyal to them. She thinks of herself as Lolth’s attack dog, and a mean one at that.

Talasprina revels in her robust, powerful physique, and in accomplishing feats of incredible athleticism. It makes her somewhat reckless at times, happily using her halberd to pole-vault herself right into a thick group of enemies, and then smashing them apart with brute strength swings, or with an acrobatic whirlwind attack.

Habits and Quirks:
Talasprina spends a lot of time with her physical training, when not out hunting. She is one of those douchebag muscle fitness people who loves to work out in front of a mirror, admiring herself.

As much as she revels in getting splattered with enemy blood after she kills them, Talapsrina is also fastidiously clean when not out hunting. She cleans her weapons and armour herself, studiously, not trusting house slaves to do the job.

Weaknesses and Flaws:
Like most drow, Talasprina holds the vast majority of other races in mild contempt, though, having done adventuring with some, she’s learned never to underestimate them.

Her attitude with regards to the priestesses of Lolth is one of reverence, and bit of naiveté. She believes if she serves them competently and well that they won’t have a suitable reason to betray her, and so this leaves her open to their manipulations.

View of Persons and Factions:
Matron Maim Zau’afin – Her saviour. This woman plucked her away from a life of everlasting boredom and drudgery, and gave her a respected position in her house. Unlike plenty of other Lolth priestesses, Maim rules her house with wisdom in addition to power. But she has plenty of power too, and Talasprina is in awe of it. Maim Zau’afin is the one person Talasprina would be glad to give her life for.
Axsa Zau’afin – Respect and fervent obedience. Axsa is an ally and a yath, and so Talasprina is beholden to her and is both willing and eager to obey her.
Nefara Zau’afin – Respect and some camaraderie. Nefara is a non-priestess, one of the ''ground floor'' people, like Talasprina herself, even if her job is quite different.
Other Zau’afins – Allies to be assisted, but to be watchful of as well.
Duergar – Those allied to Sshamath are treated with a grudging respect. Any others are considered enemies and slaughtered mercilessly.
Svirfneblin – Pathetic little runts beneath her notice.
Tieflings – Case by case basis. Often useful allies, but never fully trusted.
Surface races: With only a small number of notable exceptions, kill or capture on sight.

Family:
Talasprina Zau’afin was born Talasprina T’orgh. The T’orgh are a minor house, mandated by the Sshamath Conclave to breed and train soldiers, working under the Conclave’s jurisdiction, to act as its military and police. They walk the streets of Sshamath, wielding their spears or other weapons, and generally keep violence in the city to tolerable levels in the districts they patrol. Once coming of age, young T’orgh fighters become aspirants at Slath’alin Magthere (literally translates as: Fighter School). From there they are evalutated and then dispatched to study further at Luth’ol Magthere (Spear-wielder School), or, if they show particular talent, they might be chosen for the more prestigious schools such as Sarol Veldruk Magthere. Some of them catch the eye of house leaders looking to bolster their houses’ military capabilities.
As such, Talasprina really has no more connection to her birth family. Her mother was a particularly tall and robust woman herself, but Talasprina has little memory of her.
Talasprina’s true family are the Zau’afins now. She gets along well with most of them, because her motives are relatively easy to predict, and thus they do not feel threatened by her. These are: utter and complete devotion to Maim, to Lolth, and Zau’afin, in that order, and she makes no effort to hide this.

History:
As a fighter of the T’orgh house, Talasprina’s formative years were all about indoctrination, work, study, and training. There was really never any time available for recreation or fun. As with her brothers and sisters, once Talasprina came of age she was sent to Slath’alin Magthere for further training as a fighter, and evaluation. She passed her evaluation brilliantly, defeating her foe, but in an unorthodox manner. The evaluator, being a biased male drow who was partial to those whom showed aptitude for Sarol Velruk fighting styles, condemned her to Luth’ol Magthere instead, fated to become a street patroller of Sshamath. But fate had other plans…
Maim Zau’afin witnessed Talasprina’s evaluation, and took an interest in the ‘’freakish giantess with the tree’’. She kept tabs on Talasprina’s progress in Luth’ol Magthere, noting her natural aptitude for polearms, and her brutal strength and natural athleticism. She also noted Talasprina’s pious devotion to the Spider Queen. She watched and waited, and after Talasprina graduated the school with flying colours, she recruited her for her own house. Talasprina has faithfully served Zau’afin ever since, in a variety of roles, not only combat.

Future:
Talasprina’s future is Zau’afin. The house’s continued prosperity is her only priority. Wherever Maim leads she will not only follow, but commit her ever effort to.

Heirloom Item:
Tarantula – This is the name Talasprina gives to her favoured halberd, though, if she finds a new favourite, she’s quick to switch it. The halberd would ideally be a lethal instrument of death, the head forged from adamantine, with powerful enchantments upon it to make it even deadlier. In addition, the weapon serves Talasprina as a pole-vaulting implement, enabling her some truly astounding feats of athleticism. (step aside, Morpheus you amateur!)
Umber Hulk Vambraces – Like any fighter, Talasprina’s main weakness in mind-affecting spells. Umber Hulk hide is well-known to shore up this particular weakness.
Boots of the Fighter-Acrobat – These boots, in addition to greatly enhancing her ability to dodge incoming blows, also improve her natural speed and athleticism.

Plot Hooks:
- Talasprina might get involved in a significant surface raid. Due to an unforeseen teleportation mishap, she once found herself stranded on the surface near Nashkel. She hid during the day and ventured out at night, eventually navigating here way north back to Soubar, a town she’d already visited before. As such she is knowledgeable of the geography.
- An enemy of Zau’afin is an enemy of Talasprina. She would ruthlessly hunt it down and present its head to her matron Maim, just for the asking, no reward needed.

A Talasprina Story: (fluff text)

The room designated for mealtimes at Slath’alin Magthere was normally a quiet place, where aspirants ate quickly and talked little. Not so today. Briza T’orgh sat amidst her fellow aspirants around a long rectangular table, nibbling at her bowl of stew, and listening in as her fellows talked nervously about the upcoming examinations. They huddled in a group at one end, eating and talking animatedly. The table’s only other occupant sat alone at the other end, an almost unnaturally tall drowess eating healthy-sized morsels of her stew quietly.

‘’Kethan will make Sarol Veldruk for sure. And you, Briza.’’ Said Solaufein Khalazza. ‘’I will too. I must! I think I’d rather die than be doomed to forever patrol about Sshamath, carrying a spear, eternally bored.’’

There were a few chuckles and nods of agreement from his fellows.

‘’You mean like Sordrin.’’ Replied Zarra Elpragh. ‘’Trips over his own weapons every single cycle.’’ More derisive laughter. ‘’or the giantess there. She can’t parry worth shit.’’ She added, nodding towards the end of the table where the tall drowess was helping herself to a second bowl of stew.

‘’Talasprina is not clumsy.’’ Interjected Briza, between mouthfuls. ‘’Not sure she can be Sarol Veldruk, but you’d be a fool to underestimate her.’’ She added.

‘’Oh, that’s right. You’re both T’orghs. The house that was mandated by the Conclave to produce soldiers for the city.’’ Returned Zarra, with a smirk.
‘’Tell me. were you lot grown in a Faern’s laboratory? That might explain the giantess freak over there.’’ She laughed derisively.

‘’This from an Elpragh. Isn’t your family’s mandate to maintain and supply the city with food?’’ retorted Briza quietly, but everyone heard.

‘’An essential city resource! Elpragh house is Conclave-esteemed!’’ declared Zarra defensively.

‘’Oh xas, it is, no one disputes that.’’ Answered Briza cooly. ‘’But you know the old saying: You can take the jalil out of the rothe farm, but you can’t take the rothe farm out of…’’

Zarra Elpragh slammed her fist down hard on the table, interrupting, and shot to her feet. Briza, smiling, lightly hopped to standing as well as the rest of the room’s occupants turned around to see, looking forward to watching a good fight. The two drowesses squared off against each other beside the table.

But just then the clang of the gong sounded, and a stern-looking instructor appeared at the head to the room. With tone of cold authority, he said:
‘’Square away your meals, and report immediately to your assigned training rooms. Examinations begin in one hour.’’

The trainees knew better than to disobey. Insults and debt-squaring all came second to an instructor’s commands. Within moments all food bowls were suddenly emptied of contents as aspirants wolfed them down hurriedly. And then, in an orderly manner, they filed out of the room without another
word.

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The evaluation chamber was an octagonal pit, thirty feet in diameter, with fifteen-foot-high walls surrounding it. The arena level had two entrances: a door to either side for the contenders. The floor was simple stone but textured enough to provide firm footing, and divided into 28 tiles, which could be raised or lowered slightly in order to vary the chamber’s topography. There were obstacles in the arena as well, anchored firmly to the floor tiles in various places: partial columns of rock, copses of sapling Sussur trees, even pools of water and mud. Two huge ten-foot-high mushrooms stood on corner tiles.

Above the arena, was a walkway where onlookers could observe the trials below. Presently, the walkways were crowded with all manner of nobles and dignitaries from the city’s great houses, including house Sshamath, but also houses Zauviir, and Zau’afin. A stern but beautiful drowess wearing a headpiece adorned with horns stood alongside her black-clad daughter, quietly observing.

In the arena, two combatants fought each other, with determination bordering on zealotry. Three grim-faced instructors hovered on floating adamantine discs, near to the action. These were the judges. More than just performance evaluators, these esteemed individuals held the fates of every aspiring drow fighter of Sshamath in their hands. It was upon them to decide whether an aspirant would continue to rise, and join the ranks of the prestigious Sarol Veldruks, or else be relegated to the lesser fighter schools, such as Luth’ol Magthere, and thus spend a dull lifetime of patrolling the streets of the city.

Briza T’orgh spun to avoid a double thrust from her opponent, and then went onto the offensive, twin sparring swords slashing, thrusting, crossing, feinting. Her technique was precise and flawless. Her opponent reeled under the onslaught, back peddling onto the next tile, but Briza’s advance was relentless, and allowed no time to look back at the terrain he was backing into. His foot slipped in a muddy patch, and while his arm flailed for balance, Briza’s weapons both struck home, then again, and then again. The bout was over. The male was furious, having fallen on his backside in the muddy tile.

Briza turned to the judges. One of them nodded and spoke simply: ‘’Sarol Veldruk’’ Briza smiled, bowed gracefully, and strode from the arena. To her opponent, the judge derisively declared: ‘’Luth’ol Magthere.’’ Much to the fallen aspirant’s disappointment.

‘’Next! Zarra Elpragh! Talasprina T’orgh!’’ the judge barked into a communication stone.

The doors opened and both drowesses stepped forth into the arena to face their destiny. Both carried a pair of sparring swords, though Talasprina’s were noticeably longer and heavier. The pair faced off against each other, twenty feet apart, and waited. The judge looked to each. Then he clapped twice.

The giantess charged, powerful legs churning up the ground in long, loping strides, her paired swords held to either side. Zarra tensed, bending her knees, ready to spring, and awaited her opponent’s arrival. Talasprina covered the distance, then leaped into the air, driving down at Zarra from above with a double thrust. Zarra rolled left, and spun, whipping her swords around to slash at her opponent’s back. But Talasprina had known her charge wouldn’t faze a trained fighter like Zarra, and had simply used her momentum to roll clear after landing, hopping to her feet. She whipped around, but now it was her turn to be on the back foot, receiving Zarra’s determined advance those twin swords dancing and weaving. Training swords clattered against each other as Zarra pressed her attack, hoping to force Talasprina’s weak parrying skills to be her undoing.

A snap and a clatter, and a long, heavy training sword spun away into the arena some ways off. The giantess swore. Now Talasprina had only the one sword against Zarra’s two. She dodged and she ducked, trying to roll clear enough to make a dash for her fallen weapon, but Zarra’s footwork was excellent, and there was no opportunity. The twin swords came on hard again, and Talasprina was forced to back peddle, dodging and weaving. Zarra smiled wickedly, gleefully as she pressed her advantage, forcing Talasprina onto a tile with a copse of thin sapling Sussur trees. A snap, and a clatter, and Talasprina’s other sword went flying from a deft disarming maneuver. Zarra lunged with a double sword sweep to finish it, but Talasprina jumped into an acrobatic back flip, landing out of reach.

‘’You’re weaponless, freak! You’re beaten!’’ declared Zarra, and dared a look to one of the judges. But the judge shook his head and pointed, and everyone could hear a mighty ripping sound as Talasprina tore one of those long saplings free from the ground, and was wielding it as makeshift polearm.

Zarra barked a laugh. ‘’HA! May as well declare yourself for Luth’ol Magthere now, freak. Looks like you were born to carry a spear!’’

But Talasprina had other plans. With a wide sweep she smacked a loose rock on the ground, sending it flying at Zarra, who had just enough time to duck to avoid it. Zarra frowned, incensed.

‘’Now I finish you!’’ She roared, and charged in, but Talasprina side-stepped, and thrust her sapling into Zarra’s legs, almost tripping her, forcing an improvised roll to recover. She spun around, just barely in time to see Talasprina leap high, keeping the butt end of the sapling near her stomach, but spinning the other end in a devastating overhand chop! Zarra barely managed to roll aside, before that sapling smashed the ground. And the giantess wasn’t done. Some quick jabs and twists with that improvised polearm, and suddenly it was Zarra who’d lost a sword, the weapon spinning away. Zarra dodged right, but the giantess came on, sweeping that sapling in punishing arcs, smashing the copse’s other saplings as she pursued like an angry umber hulk.

Then Talasprina caught one of Zarra’s dodges, angling her sapling to catch her opponent in the stomach mid-leap. With a roar, she carried the smaller drowess with the momentum of her swing and slammed her down onto her back! Winded, Zarra lay unmoving as Talasprina leaped onto her, snatched the remaining training sword out of her hand, and mimicked slitting her throat with it, smiling.

‘’Doesn’t matter what tool you use to kill your enemy, Zarra. So long at it’s you doing the killing and not the other way ‘round.’’ Talasprina declared.

The bout was over. The giantess rose to her feet and faced the judges. A furious Zarra struggled to rise as well.

‘’Luth’ol Magthere’’ declared the judge, looking impassively at Talasprina, whose jaw hung slack in abject horror, as if she’d just been sentenced to the gallows. But the judge merely turned to Zarra.

‘’You lost the bout. Jalil, but you do have Sarol Veldruk potential. You will be granted a re-trial in a month’s time.’’ He declared. It was a rare decision, but not unheard-of when bouts ran close like this one. The judge spoke into his communication stone and announced the next combatants.

Up in the observation walkways, the stern but beautiful drowess wearing the horned headpiece turned to whisper to her daughter next to her.

‘’I want to know everything there is to know about that big jalil with the tree.’’