nightmare medx

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

Charynrae was making a mental map, envisioning the entire room in her mind based off Amal's description and the quick look she had taken. She could handle the unknown, but it was always better to gather information first. "Of course I do. It will be child's play."

Every drow was a warrior; she was a noble, so she also had to be a tactician. Not that this was a situation that required a particularly refined skill set. It was simple: Lure the ogre to the path on the right. Two orcs left. Amal would take whichever was closer, she would take the other.

She crept up to the passageway, locking her eyes on a specific spot in the right tunnel. "Ul'trin", she whispered, and just like that- voices in the tunnel. The ogre stood, club now in his hand.

"Who goes there?"

She had a moment of fear that the ogre had spotted her, but he turned to the tunnel. The voices stopped briefly. And then there they were again, this time, a little frantic, a little farther. (She wanted it to sound like some people trying to escape. Just like them.) The ogre growled, his grip tightening on his club. "Show yourself!" he bellowed as he stomped off into the right tunnel.

She readied her crossbow.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Go.

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

“Of course. I meant cities that are trade centres,” she said. Humans had a peculiar habit of apologizing when in her situation, even when there was no reason for remorse. Charynrae did not apologize.

She would have offered her cloak had she thought of it earlier. Next time. (Why did she think there would be a next time?) Having lived in a cavern most of her life, and being a drow, she knew the cold would bother her less than her companion. Much less, if his skin was any indication. Humans only became that colour in the sun. He was right, though, that she would need something more substantial if they were to make their escape.

Despite her time aboveground, Charynrae still had much difficulty with the sun. Her eyes narrowed against the daylight, her vision slowly, very slowly adjusting. Fortunately, the things-in-the-room were moving; that was always the first to adjust. She took no more than a quick glance around the corner after discovering the light.

Two orc. One ogre. Correct? she signed to Amal. She could not be entirely sure, but context suggested to her that she was indeed correct. Anywhere to lead them? If she could draw a couple of them off, they might be able to take out the one left behind. She carefully pulled out her crossbow, her movements almost silent. That was supposing someone stayed to watch the door. A distraction would still give them the upper hand.

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

Ah, the opinions on drow. Charynrae had experienced a variety of opinion in her time above ground. There were the cautious, who would be polite in public but concerned behind closed doors. And the outright fearful, who would freeze, or run, as if she were a predator. The firebrands that were convinced that all Drow were the enemy. The curious (mostly children). The ones who desired drow (sometimes, an incredibly easy way to make money).

The precious few that ignored drow the way they ignored everyone else were a treasure.

She had known of some cities not being open to all, but had not realized the extent. "I assumed that only the important cities were done as such," she said. It was no real surprise. The only real difference between beings above and below the surface were that denizens of the Underdark were honest. No creature of the shadows sincerely pretended to be worthy of trust. Humans, elves, what-have-you on the other hand- they would swear up and down they would never do you harm while plotting how to stab you in the back.

Even though she had seen many since leaving the Underdark, it took a moment for her to picture it: blue sky. Faerie fire could be blue, so it was one of the easier colours to place. Purple and green, too, and she knew yellow well only because it was almost painful to look at in many of its forms. She could spot the faintest difference in shades, but naming the tone of a thing was always a challenge. There was little variation in colour in the dark, and so it was not used as often to describe things, nor did it have to be as precise as it sometimes was on the surface.

She pondered their situation as they walked in silence. She had been walking in the shadows that fell across a wide path in a forested area, near a stream, but not the open water. She, too, remembered a flash; it had blinded her. And then… nothing.

“Are you not cold, Amal?” she asked, glancing back at him. He was incredibly bare for a human in these conditions; perhaps his bulk helped ward off the cold, but usually they all bundled up regardless. Her eyes flitted across the scars on his chest before she turned back to lead the way again. Scars in the Underdark brought mixed feelings to many, a sign that you weren’t fast enough, but you had survived.

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

She caught the satchel with ease. “I will not be trusting you,” she said as if the idea was preposterous. For a Drow, it was. She wasn’t entirely certain their kind had the capacity for trust at all. “But you are also of no concern to me. I will lead.” She had been following him for far too long, and it was better for the both of them if she went first, since she could actually see. She didn’t need him walking into a pit and making noise that might draw anything in the tunnels near.

She nodded at his gesture, readying an axe and turning to the exit. She could not help but be impressed by the ease with which he had picked up the signs- nor could she understand why she couldn’t let the fact go. “If you require more light at any time, tell me. If conditions permit I can create some.”

She gave him a look at his offer. Humans generally had no interest associating with the Drow outside of a handful of situations. “Hm,” was all she had to say. She was not interested in accepting a drink with him, but it could prove useful, so she couldn’t very well refuse it outright, not at the moment. “Why would the city not let you in?” she asked, sounding taken aback. He had been a thief, she supposed, but it seemed he had enough skill that she imagined he would avoid detection.

As she walked, she walked herself through what had happened. They were in some castle- Castle Perilous, in Vaasa. In Zhengyi’s lair. The goblins served a Master Fel’dregar, who served Master Zhengyi… who Fel’dregar was trying to… use?

“I think we were taken by a necromancer.”

He had been on a galley in the Moonsea, going away from Mulmaster. She was near the coast of the Moonsea heading towards Elmwood.

“What is the last thing you remember doing exactly? Before here, I mean."

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

He was impressive. Well, she was impressed. There was a reason most Drow only knew a few signs. The human- Amal- managed them with ease, his movements far more fluid than she would have expected after only a short amount of time.

The goblin shut its eyes tightly, flailing uselessly. It shook in fear, a long, high pitched whine emanating from its throat. Its silence so far was perhaps one of the bravest things she had seen from a goblin. It would be for nothing, she was certain; it never took much for these ones to cave.

“Iblith, you really should start talking,” Charynrae said, sounding like she was very much enjoying this. “I will like what happens if you choose not to. You will not. My friend is the only reason you have been shown mercy at all. How… do we… get out?”

As expected, he cracked, letting out a squeak. Goblins were never much fun to interrogate, because they were all too easy. “Th- that way,” he said breathlessly, pointing towards the passageway by the fire pit. “First left! And then, then, then-“ he paused to take a breath, only somewhat successfully. “-straight. Until the cross path. Then the one going down!”

“Down? I am not going to the Underdark. How do we get to the surface?”

“You go down-“

“Down. To the surface?”

“Yes, down, I s- s- swear it! Take the third right and it goes back up! And then just straight! Takes you to- takes you to the east exit!”

“And where do we go from the east exit to reach civilization?”

The goblin had fallen silent again, whimpering and shivering. Charynrae’s hand went up to its face, forcing it in her direction, not that it had its eyes open. “Goblin,” she said, her voice deathly quiet. “I like to take my time. I am giving you the chance to finish this quickly, but I am fast losing my patience. How do we find the city?”

“Map! On the table!” His voice was pitiful. She glanced over to where his shaking hand pointed.

“It has everything we need?”

“Ye- yes! Continue east…”

“How many of you?”

“I do not, I do not know!” He whimpered when her hand squeezed more firmly at his first denial. “The Master does not tell us anything important.”

She let out a sharp sigh. “Who is your master?”

“I cannot say, he will-“

“I am sure there is no punishment he has that will compare to what I will do to you,” she snapped. “Who is he?”

“Master Fel’dregar!”

Charynrae looked over at Amal, locking eyes. “Anything else you might like to know? I don’t know how much more use this one is, but we can always try.”

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

“Likely more because speech is more easily made intimidating. And because of the possible difficulty of torturing someone while also insulting them.” Well, she supposed it could just be humiliation. Or interrogation. Not that there was always much difference between the three. Everything went hand in hand. “If someone is out of sight in the Underdark, it is better to wait until they are in view again. They may be trying to distract you so they can kill you.”

The longer she spent in the World Above, the more incredulous the Underdark sounded. Of course no one could really be trusted up here, but no one would assume that anyone out of sight was out for murder. Everyone in view was liable to want blood in the Underdark. No exception, even for flesh and blood.

In fact, that might just make one a more enticing target.

She could tell he was watching her, but he wasn’t doing anything, so she paid it no mind until the blade came out. It was not a conscious movement, but she stopped and watched him intently until it went away. “You would be dead right now were I some other Drow, you know.” It was a simple statement of fact, no threat or malice in her voice.

Why was she giving him advice? Maybe he was meant to die at the hands of a Drow. Probably not hers, but only time would tell for that one.

Being a thief and bandit would explain all the scars. “Charynrae. Or Char.” Humans often had difficulty with Drow names, although hers should not have been a particular problem. “I used to be a priestess of Lolth and now I… am on the surface.” It was a complicated situation.

“The first one everyone learns is sound,” she said, gesturing with her hand up by her ear. “Often followed by pointing. To… show where the sound is.”

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

“Thank you,” she said again, this time actually grateful. ‘Sharing’ food, or anything, in the Underdark generally meant humiliating someone with it. “Even noble Drow do not always have the luxury of being choosy with what they eat like surface elves. Rat is more a staple for commoners, but everyone eats it.” She chewed and swallowed the still-warm meat quickly, no savouring of the food to be had. “Most meals centre around mushrooms.”

She paced as she ate, which was nothing unusual, but internally she was also feeling ever so slightly unsettled. She was underneath a castle in Vaasa, with no idea how she had arrived there or who had brought her or why, having to depend on a man and an unconscious goblin that she was only trusting because goblins were too stupid to lie to save themselves. She tried to focus on the cavern itself instead of the nagging feeling of wrongness; learning the walls, walking herself back in her mind to the cell she had woken up in. That almost made it worse, because she did not belong in a surface cave.

“Most people only know a particular few hand signs, but you can have an entire conversation about anything without speaking a word. I’m surprised we kept speaking at all.”

She would not have normally spoken so much of Drows and the Underdark, or at all, really, but it was unusual to have someone take an interest in interacting, period. It had to be feigned, an act to get on her good side- what human called a Drow refined in anything but cruelty? And yet as loathe as she was to admit it, it was nicer than being alone, and there was strength in numbers, so long as no one stabbed the other in the back.

What was it that humans said? Better the evil you know? Which reminded her…

“Is there a name I should call you?” She could just call him human, or not at all, but somehow it seemed too… impersonal. Which didn’t normally bother her.

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

“Thank you,” she said stiffly. She wasn’t sure if she was grateful for the compliment for something so ordinary to her, but surface customs tended towards showing grace for politeness’ sake. And he did seem very… genuine. She really wasn’t sure what to make of this man. “Yes. Bugbears are usually compliant workers, but they need to be put in their place every once in a while like all slaves. And sometimes they choose not to learn,” she finished with a shrug.

She could admit to herself, at least, that his fascination with the weapons was a little endearing. Now that the immediate threat had subsided, she went to the shelf and pulled down the crossbow and its arrows, setting them on the table to ensure everything was in working order while he did his own inspections. With these and the axes she was set for now, so her next move was over to a wall near where they had entered where she had seen a particular blue moss. Her fingers gently ran over the surface to find a spot to pull it up from. “Your plan… sounds… good,” she said as she worked it off the wall.

She managed to roll up a decent amount and brought it to the table to set down. “This is also edible. It may be an acquired taste, I don’t know. If you do like it, don’t harvest it yourself, because there is another that looks similar that will make you sick. You won’t die, but it will not be pleasant.”

She paused for a moment. She was looking at him, or at least in his general direction, looking conflicted. Finally, she said, “I can show you a few Undercommon hand signs. Whenever you’re ready. It will make it easier to avoid making noise if we need to.”

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

She wasn’t sure how to feel about the man’s apparent friendliness. He was not overly so, but people were usually coldly polite to her at best on first meeting. And charm was always an excellent cover for duplicity. She had no doubt he had used his to his advantage before. He was at least not entirely unintelligent, keeping watch on her following behind him. It was foolish enough that he had put himself in this position- not that she would have agreed to go ahead of him.

She stopped where directed. She was quite frankly impressed with his movements, especially given the lack of light. Most humans could not manage that level of grace even with light. When it came to killing, he would have not been entirely out of place in a Drow society. Burning alive was a special kind of torture, as was the threat of passing the goblin off to her. They were incredibly cowardly on their own, so to send a sole goblin to a Drow?

Zhengyi’s lair. Castle Perilous. Vaasa.

She locked the information away, but her brow furrowed as she stood there waiting. Had she heard something?

The growl told her she probably had.

Of course there was a bugbear.

“Experiments?” Interesting. While she was not really asking a question of the creature, her voice drew its attention. With a snarl, it ran at her; she let it, quickly springing out of the way just before it could contact her. She lifted a hand and gestured, and four glowing orbs blinked into view, merging into a blob that might be mistaken for a person. It only distracted the brute from her for a moment, but she only needed enough time to sprint behind him to the table with weapons. She was not normally one to wield hand axes, but they were the first things within her grasp.

She ducked down to avoid being struck in the head as the beast swung his weapon, scrambling away from the table so she had more open space to work with. It was like a dance, round and round in circles; he kept trying to hit her, both with his mace and with his empty hand, and she kept dodging just out of his reach. She looked altogether unconcerned, even when those nails came dangerously close. All she had to do was wait. The more frustrated he got, the more chance he would give her the right opening.

And there it was.

He had put a little too much force behind a swing, making him twist just so. She swung and the blade of one axe sliced through the back of his knee, forcing him to kneel as he howled in pain. She struck again with the same one ending up wedged in the back of his other thigh and he collapsed forward.

He scarcely had time to scream before she buried the second axe in the back of his neck.

“Just like home,” she said dryly.

Darkhearts: A Forgotten Realms RP

Name: Charynrae Auvrymtor
Race: drow
Sex: female
Age: 115

Physical Description: Slim and athletic, with spindly limbs and fingers, she clocks in at an entire five feet. Like all drows and elves, she is deceptively strong for her size, but quite frail. Together with her movement, it's easy to forgive comparisons to a spider. She has obsidian skin and silver eyes, with matching silver hair usually kept up in some kind of intricate braid (though still simple enough for her to do herself).

She has exactly two scars, from a stab wound: a two inch line beneath her right collarbone, and its smaller sister on her back. The scar on her back has been turned into a spider for a phosphorescent spiderweb tattoo that sprawls across her upper back and shoulders.

While she has mastered a look of indifference and it's rare to see a smile, her feelings show on her face more than she might like. Anger is a particularly difficult one to conceal, particularly when starts moving into the territory of rage.

Attire: She wears a dark purple (almost black), fitted sleeveless tunic made with a deep v-neck and intricate embroidery, intended to emphasize the curves she does have; her leggings match. Along with that is a short, dark red skirt, with a slit up the side and embroidered hem, and ankle boots. Her clothing is made of spidersilk and lends itself to quiet movement. Over top, she wears a greater piwafwi. She has a web choker adorned with a jewelled spider (made with a blood-red ruby), though she tucks it away as often as she wears it. She wears armour made of carved deep rothé leather, dyed black, with matching vambraces.

Although she handles cold well, she is not entirely immune to it, and will throw on more substantial clothing if need. It is usually still horrifically immodest by human standards, and always in dark colours.

Abilities:

• Agile: Her small frame lends itself well to quick movements.
• Darkvision: She can see quite a distance in the dark. Despite her time aboveground, she still struggles in bright light (especially when bright colours are involved), although not as much as when she first left the Underdark.
• Drow Fighting Styles: Though she has a preference for ust sreen (emphasizing hitting first), it is less useful for anything extended, so she is also well-versed in kyorlin plynn (fighting defensively to disarm an opponent and/or buy time) and jivvin golhyrr (fighting defensively to trip up and humiliate an opponent). She has fallen out of practice with the other styles, some of which she had only the most rudimentary of knowledge of anyways.
• Fey Ancestry: She has an advantage against being charmed, and cannot be put to sleep by magic.
• History: She mainly has knowledge of Drow history, but has been learning about surface history in her time out of the Underdark.
• Perceptive: She has the razor sharp senses required for survival in Drow society, and the intelligence to interpret what she observes.
• Poison Use: She is skilled in the use of a variety of poisons and their antidotes. Because of her time spent out of the Underdark, she has lost some tolerance to some poisons, but retains any natural resistance borne of being a Drow.
• Religion: Primarily knowledgeable of Drow deities, although she knows bits and pieces of other faiths and their followers.
• Weapons: She mainly uses a hand crossbow. Although she can wield daggers and rapiers, she tries to avoid close combat.

Languages: Drow (High and Low), Drow Sign Language, Deep Speech, Undercommon, Common

Spells: As a Drow, she can use dancing lights, darkness, and faerie fire. Born of a noble family, she can also has the spell-like abilities of detect magic, feather fall, and levitate at her disposal.

Although she claims she has renounced Lolth and now simply worships the Dark Seldarine as a whole, her magic is mostly the same as any other priestess of Lolth.

• For domain spells, she can use Shield of Faith and Pass Without Trace. She can also utilize the Blessing of the Trickster and Invoke Duplicity.
• For cantrips, she can use Guidance, Poison Spray, Resistance, Spare the Dying, and Thaumaturgy.
• For 1st level spells, she can use Animal Friendship, Cure Wounds, Detect Poison and Disease, and Ray of Sickness.
• For 2nd level spells, she can use Lesser Restoration, Protection From Poison, and Web.