<br/>Still not finished, but apparently accepted, so posting this temporarily in the interests of others having an idea 'where my character is coming from' and will update it as time permits.<br/><hr/>CHARACTER SHEET:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=495621 (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=495621)</div></div><hr/>BACKGROUND:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">The Children of Shameviq Dyzyara:<br/><hr/>There is a perception that Thay is a land of magic, demons and devils, slaves and unswerving evildoers. Few know of the neutral Tharchion of Thazalhar, fewer would guess how varied the peoples of that land may be in their lives, and only the most imaginative or romantic...Or those who understand that the selfishness of evil sometimes works wonders when it fixates upon love...Would presume to find much that is good there.<br/><br/>There is a plantation of cherry orchards on the shore of the River Thay, between that curse-ridden water and the Sur road north of Umratharos. None but those lacking in all ability to taste would suggest that the cherries grown there were anything but good. The plantation had been the property of the Dyzyara family for as long as there were Rashemi in Thay. The land was good, the cherries a blend of tart and sweet that sold well in markets as far west as Two Stars and as far South as Bezantur. It was said that barrels of them shipped well, holding their flavor and firmness if cared for, and were even ferried across the Sea of Stars and beyond the Dragonmere, finding buyers in places with outlandish names like Calimport and Waterdeep.<br/><br/>Despite all that is said of Thay...Despite all that is true of Thay...the Dyzyara were not an unhappy family. They were free, albeit not noble, and they made good profit from the fruit of their lands. If those fruit were harvested by slaves, and if a tithe went to the temples, and another to their rulers, well...Was that not the way life was in all civilized countries?<br/><br/>But there are other kinds of tithes.<br/><br/>When Shameviq was a young man, his sister was tested and taken by the Red Wizards, supposedly to become one of them. At first, the family was happy for her, but as months went by and no word came, they grew troubled. In time, they petitioned the autharch of Umratharos, and because the Dyzyara were a reasonably wealthy family, the autharch (for a price) raised the question politely to others. And the word came back that Shameviq's older sister would never be a Red Wizard -- would never, in fact, be anything at all, for she had been found wanting in some way or other and was now not merely dead, but undead, a silent servant for some noble or other.<br/><br/>Shameviq would never forget this lesson, but it would not govern his life. In time, he inherited the plantation of his forefathers, and having fallen in love with a young woman of a good Rashemite family, he married her. Their marriage was not the talk of all Umratharos, but it was hardly an insignificant or unnoticed event -- would that it could have been! -- as there were more important personages in Umratharos that day, one of whom was no less than the Zulkir of Transmutation. He was briefly distracted by the merrymaking in one quarter, the tiny parade of worshippers and newlyweds crossed the path of his own entourage, and on a whim he made a gift to the new couple.<br/><br/>The attention of such men is dangerous. And there are many kinds of tithes.<br/><br/>Prima noctis was not, strictly speaking, something most Thayan rulers concerned themselves with, but it was certainly within the purview of any autharch or tharch who chose to distract him or herself with such matters -- and who would deny a zulkir anything? So Shameviq alternated between anger and terror, alone on the night of his wedding while his new bride lay beneath the infamous Druxus Rhym...One of the eight most powerful sorcerors in Thay. For Shameviq, it was a nightmare. For Druxus, merely a whimsical distraction from the more seasoned pleasures he was accustomed to; one seasoned by the casual exercise of power and the terror it brought not only upon the Dyzyara but also upon his normal suite of entertainers, who feared they had somehow disappointed him.<br/><br/>Shameviq was not, strictly speaking, a good man, but he loved his wife. The incident was forgotten until nearly nine months later, when his wife gave birth to twins.<br/><br/>In the land of Thay, every birth is looked forward to with eagerness, and with fear, for there is no knowing, truly, if even the purest of bloodlines has not some tiny trace of the Outside within it, and there is no knowing when a child may be born who is magically gifted -- and these are both curses in Thay, for the powerful have uses for both types of children. Anything that makes a birth unusual is cause for alarm and fear.<br/><br/>There is nothing unusual about a birth being a private and secretive thing in the land of dark secrets. There is nothing unusual about a midwife suffering an unfortunate accident shortly after a birth -- although such incidents are apt to draw attention, desperate parents will do desperate things. Twins were auspicious enough to make the midwife nervous, but when the first of the pair delivered was obviously albino, she became truly fearful.<br/><br/>When the second arrived with the legs of a goat, she knew in her heart that she was doomed. She did make it down the stairs from the birthing chamber. Headfirst.<br/><br/>The Dyzyaras conspired and commiserated long into the night. It was nearly impossible to hide albinism. There were ways to darken the skin, but they were rare in Thay where the ruling Mulan were known by their height and paleness, and the Rashemi who were lighter-skinned, or otherwise showed more Mulan blood, were granted the best opportunities. In that sense, albinism was a good thing. In any case, even if such dyes could be found and acquired without undue suspicion, they would still do nothing to hide the pale scarlet of the children's eyes.<br/><br/>The real problem was the tiefling. There was little doubt that both children carried the zulkir's bloodline, as their pale-skinned appearance was enhanced by a slight delicacy in their facial features which bridged the divide between the Rashemi and the Mulan. The wizard's real legacy, however, was made apparent in those caprine legs. They named the little girl Dyernina, 'Blossom,' and her tiefling sister Yevdra...'Secret.'<br/><br/>It is a tribute to Shameviq's fear and hatred of the Red Wizards, to maternal love and parental wishful thinking that the family even tried to hide the tiefling-child...but try, they did. It was announced that only one of the two children had survived birth, and that one, named Dyernina, was paraded around with all the usual social clamor which accompanies a birth in a wealthy family, even a family of common blood. The word 'twins' was almost unheard on the plantation, and shushed quickly, so as not to remind the Mistress of her 'lost child'. As the 'child' grew, she was kept in the house most of the day...A not uncommon practice in a land where monsters and the undead roamed free...And was only allowed out into the cherry orchards for an hour or two a day, accompanied by a guardian. Perhaps five people in the world knew that it was not the same child each day! The sisters took turns enjoying the sun and the cool winds in the orchards, both careful to always wear long skirts and to shun the sight of strangers. It is a tribute to desperation and care that for twelve years, the family actually succeeded in hiding their secret even from the slaves and common-laborers on their own plantation.<br/><br/>But in the thirteenth year, Yevdra began to show the dainty, goatlike nubs of horns on her temples, and they knew the game was lost. The young tiefling suffered through the painful ordeal of having her horns sawn short three times, but cloaks and hoods were undependable in the Delhumide breezes, and the family knew that time was running out. Plans were made, gold was carefully secreted off the books, and Shameviq, always a very literate man, undertook a new interest in the art of sketching. He made many sketches of landmarks along the routes his cherries took on their way to Two Stars, began keeping careful records and sketches of the marks and seals attached to the writs of passage he had to obtain when going to negotiate the sales of his cherries in cities such as Umratharos and Surthay. He experimented with reproducing them, burning the results of all but his best attempts, storing the most successful in hidden places but trying every night to better them.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, all these preparations came to naught.<br/><br/>In the twins' thirteenth year, a Red Wizard came to administer tests, once again, to Dyernina. Just in case some magical affinity had manifested in her since her birth. Of course, he came without warning. Of course, he would not be put off or delayed. In the hurried rush to get one child hidden and the other into the room where the Red Wizard waited, the inevitable mixup occurred. The gods do love the crudest jokes. The wizard was a specialist, and knew exactly what he was looking for...Not merely magical<br/>talent, but also the characteristic features of the offspring of Druxus Rhym. He was in no way disappointed.<br/><br/>Within the hour, Druxus Rhym received the pleasant news that he now owned one of the more prosperous cherry plantations on the Thay...And more significantly, that two new, special students were en route to his summer house in Delhumide.<br/><br/>The School of Druxus Rhym:<br/><hr/>Much to their surprise, the twins did not find themselves in great trouble. Oh, there was discipline in the House of Druxus Rhym, but the real threat, never spoken directly but strongly hinted, was that their parents were hostages to their performance. Not merely obedience, but performance -- the better they served their new master, the better their parents would fare.<br/><br/>The real trauma was not the relocation or the strange household they found themselves in, but their separation. Tieflings were treated differently in the House of Druxus Rhym. She almost never saw her sister except in moments of privilege when both their teachers agreed it would make a suitable reward. With these goads, Yevdra became an exceptionally diligent student.<br/><br/>And it was not easy, being a tiefling bastard of the Zulkir. Yevdra quickly found that she was neither alone in this regard, nor even exceptional. At any time, there were between a half-dozen and a dozen such young bastards studying in the palatial building. Half-brothers and half-sisters all, there was very little love lost between them; competition was fierce, and any opportunity to injure or suborn a sibling was used to its limit. To the already overwhelming pressure to perform was added a desperate drive to grow stronger simply to protect one's self, to have some say in how one was used or abused at the cruel drive of the other students in whose mouths the words 'brother' and 'sister' were only the darkest mockeries of affection. They were all assigned slaves, and in short order Yevdra, like all the rest, began abusing her own to relieve the frustration and powerlessness she felt. She was acutely aware that in the thrall of the Zulkir, she was a slave in all but name...And it would only take one foolish mistake to become one in reality. Yevdra bent to her studies with a will, and when time permitted she exercised in her room, determined to be bigger and stronger than some of her half-siblings who relied only upon the magic they were taught.<br/><br/>Magic was a core element of the school. It seemed that all the bastards of Druxus Rhym had strong magical potential, and like many other Zulkir, he used them as agents once they had become powerful enough. This trust was a reward, but it was accompanied by geases and strict rules. Additionally, they were made painfully aware that if they went any place they were not permitted, the papers and writs they carried would result in their arrest and return to the school. Students thus returned were permitted to study, but were slaves in every respect, as the collars welded around their throats reminded them.<br/><br/>In other words, such students were utterly helpless.<br/></div></div><hr/>NOTES:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">(Again, I WILL finish the whole damn thing, just not tonight, I'm sorry!)<br/>Unable to do as well at ranged magics (FLAW), she turns to touch magics. Then she turns to the conductivity of magic through objects and discovers duskblade-lore.<br/>She is mostly self-taught in this regard, not uncommon for Duskblades.<br/>Becomes a courier for Rhym, travelling around much of the Plateau of Thay on various missions.<br/>She discovers a scroll left out as a bookmark in one of the libraries she has only limited access to: it details the elements of conducting the youth of one's own offspring into one's self. She realizes that Druxus Rhym is using this technique to extend his life, and realizes this is why he has so many magically potent bastards...And none over a certain age. His own power goes into his offspring in fragments, and by having them learn, it is strengthened and honed, then after a certain time he sacrifices them to lengthen his own life and increase his power.<br/>Bides her time until her courier duties take her by her old plantation, explicitly gains permission to visit. Digs her father's forgeries out of their hiding place and uses them to get across the Mulsantir to the Golden Way. In Two Stars she becomes a caravan guard. Wherever she goes, she takes whatever caravan is leaving soonest, wherever she ends up...Unless the caravan has a Red Wizard in it.<br/>Gets herself tattooed bodily a deep rich brown, the color of the darkest Rashemi. With her mixed facial features, she can get away with it. Mounts and glues different horns over her own. Seeks to disguise herself from the Red Wizards. Puts on more muscle and a little weight to round it slightly.<br/>But her magical tattoos won't be tattooed over. No matter what she does, they show through.<br/>Her goal is to get as far as she can from the power of Druxus Rhym. Eventually, acting as a caravan guard for a shipment of cherries from her own family's plantation, she ends up in Waterdeep.<br/><br/>Background elements/NPCs:<br/>Any number of agents of Druxus Rhym (he is the power behind the Trade Guild and undoubtedly its members are often reminded to look for someone who looks like Yevdra used to).<br/>Any Red Wizard or Thayan might recognize her tattoos as somehow interesting. She wears her hair long now...In Thay, that would mean she was a slave. Not necessarily so out here, and a slave would be unlikely to have tattoos, but still...It might cause trouble.<br/>She effectively can't go NEAR the Guild Enclaves. Waterdeep is immense, and a long way from Thay. It has immense magical libraries that she might be able to buy/barter access to. She's tired of running.<br/>Her half-siblings, some of them might be looking for her, escaped or on behalf of Rhym...The blood might draw others to itself.<br/>Her sister, perhaps warped by Druxus Rhym into the perfect hunting tool to regain his lost bastard child.<br/>And along the way from Thay to Waterdeep, there are caravan guards who would recognize her at various points along her self-changing odyssey, and might draw attention to her trail, or meet her and remark (possibly in front of Thayans) on her new appearance.</div></div><hr/>PERSONALITY:<br/>Personality-wise she is aggressive and often a bit loud. She's used to being treated as something of a monster, so she tends to take advantage of anyone who reacts to her with fear and uncertainty. She's not sure of how long she has left to live (for reasons apparent above) so she tends to live large and in charge.