House Morcane

jboy · Panta Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 40

Panta Dain
Born under the name Nil�ilyan Anith�dal
Name changed due to fear of assassination.

Occupation: Warrior
Race: Drow Elf
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Deity: Selvetarm (OOC note: Accidentally picked wrong deity on character sheet, shows as Tempus )

Background:
Panta was born to a noble house that was quickly rising to power in Tlindhet. The eighth ranked house of course considered them a threat to their position.

Panta�s mother was Van�til Anith�dal, the Ilharess of the 9th ranked noble house in Tlindhet. Her father was Drivil San�thil, a drow warrior who proved himself a powerful warrior. Panta was born as the second daughter to Van'til. Her sister was already a priestess of Lolth held in high regard. When Panta was born there was high expectations of her. When she was the right age she was sent to the church to study the teaching of Lolth and become a priestess. Unfortunately Panta has no talent for becoming a priestess.

The following takes place when Panta was in her 40's - Young child - around age 6 for humans.

�I have spoken with the Ulathtallar, Nil�iluan.� Van�til spat out.

Panta stood motionless, eyes cast to the floor shoulders slumped; she knew what her mother was about to say.

�You are a bitter disappointment and bring dishonor to the family name. I should have known Drivil was poor mating stock, I should have disposed of him sooner, then maybe you would not be such a failure.� Van�til continued. Drivil had mysteriously disappeared roughly a month before Panta�s birth as suspicions of impure blood came to light. In the past one of his ancestors may have been involved with a non-drow, a red dragon.

�Mother, I..� Panta started.

Van�til backhanded Panta mid sentence sending her sprawling to the floor. �I did not permit you to speak,� Van�til seethes, her eyes glowing red in her anger.

Several moments pass as Panta pushes herself up on her knees to face towards her mother, still keeping her eyes cast down.

�Perhaps you can be salvaged, as a faern. You seem to be able to at least learn arcane magics.� Van�til continued.

As Van�til was speaking Xil�nath, the houses weapon master entered the chamber, �Pardon the intrusion Ilharess.�

Van�til turned her gaze to Xil�nath, �What is it sarol jabbuk?�

�I think you should know that when I was training the young jabbress I noticed she has a rare talent for martial combat. In fact she was undefeated in the sparring matches with the other trainees.� Xil�nath spoke meekly his gaze on the floor. �She may be able to become a faern, but she will still be limited in how far she can go. Her talents lie elsewhere.�

Van�til here eyes locked on Xil�nath and seemed to be searching his soul. Had her geas worn off and now he was plotting something? No that would be too obvious, such a suggestion, to degrade the standing of her house by having a female of her bloodline reduced to a soldier. Or maybe this was the best choice. After all a second failure would mean further loss of face for the house and further embarrassment.

�Very well, Xil�nath,� Van�til finally broke the silence. �You will personally train her and ensure that she will bring some value to this house. If you fail you will pay. Take her now, I do not with to look upon this failure anymore.�

Her words were biting. Not because Panta loved her mother, but because Panta knew failure was unacceptable in a noble house and that if Panta could not redeem her value she was as good as dead.

Xil'nath gently grasped Panta by the upper arms and led her out of the chamber. Panta�s body complied, but it seemed she was in a daze.

In the years that followed Panta did prove herself to be a top notch fighter. Even though she was taller than most drow she was abnormally strong even for her size. Xil�nath used this in his teachings and taught her to use her strength to her advantage. Xil�nath also taught her the teachings of Selvetarm of whom Panta became a devout follower.

Many years later Panta and Xil�nath along with a handful of glenn were retuning from a training expedition to the surface.

A jaluk glenn ran up to the group breathing heavily. He bowed deeply to Panta, �Vendui, Jabbress,� turned to Xil�nath, �Sarol Jabbuk.�

�What is it?� Xil�nath inqured.

The glenn stepped close to Xil�nath and spoke quietly into Xil�nath�s ear. Xil�naths eyes widened for a second. Xil�nath turned to the others in the party, �You are dismissed, Nil�ilyan come with me.�

Panta a bit confused followed Xil�nath to house that she was unfamiliar with, sensing something was up she waited until Xil�nath closed the door behind them. �Xil�nath, what is going on?�

�You are the last of your bloodline, Nil�ilyan,� he spoke bluntly. �The rest of your family members are dead.�

�It was..� Panta started.

�Xas, but there is no proof.� Xil�nath interrupted. They both knew who considered their house a threat, the eighth house.

�Meet me in one hour behind the weapon stockade.� Xil�nath threw her a cloak with a hood. �Keep your face hidden.� Panta knew why, she was a dead drow walking in this city now, the last untied thread in a web of betrayal.

An hour later Xil�nath approached the back of the weapon stockade, carefully glancing around nonchalantly making sure he was not followed.

Panta emerged from behind some barrels. �Take this,� Xil�nath handed her some documents and a backpack. �Inside the pack are supplies you will need for travel, the documents are a new identity and directions to someone who owes me a favor. He will tattoo your face to help hide your true identity. Take this hidden passage to the surface, where you go is your decision. You will be on your own now.�

�Thank you Xil�nath, your loyalty to my house is��

Xil�nath grabbed Panta by her shirt and pulled her close violently, stopping her mid sentence.

�Listen child of Anith�dal, my actions now or in the past are not loyalty to you or your hellhound of a mother. It seems her geas on me still lingers so I am compelled to help her bloodline, you had best make haste before it entirely wears off.� Xil�naths words rang of his true feelings, a mixture of hate for the Ilharess and elation as the spell that tied him so closely was finally breaking.

Xil�nath slowly eased his grasp on Panta's shirt. It was now obvious the geas was forcing him to let Panta go.

Panta now realizing that Xil�nath was not her ally quickly stuffed the documents in the pack and left though the hidden passage.

Panta now that she had lost her noble status wandered aimlessly for many years. She grew up learning the harsh realities of being a drow. She learned of the scorn and hatred of her kind and learned to avoid the surface whenever possible. She enlisted in many mercenary armies over time and became a truly skilled warrior. She eventually made her way to Elben Aator.

Insight into Panta's mind

Regarding Surfacers:
Panta is not likely to attack a surfacer for no reason. She will not trust them either. In her times wandering she has encountered many surfacers and their reactions to her were unfavorable.

Regarding sacrifices and torture:
Panta takes no pleasure in torturing and sacrificing. Although she is willing to participate as it means gaining favor as well as respect in drow society.

Regarding male drow:
Although Panta considers females superior to males (hard not to being raised in a noble drow family) but she does not take pleasure in tormenting them. Since she was training to be a soldier (most are male) she can see things from the male point of view and believes that they deserve respect as long as they show greater respect for females.

Regarding commoner drow:
Panta is now considered a commoner. The males usually give her respect, but when another female commoner address's her it stings her pride. It reminds her of what she lost.

Regarding Nobles:
Panta is wary around nobles. She has to bow a scrape to them when rightfully she should be a second daughter to an Ilharess. She is also wary due to the fact that a noble may be from her home city and might recognize her even though it has been many years since her flight from Tlindhet.

Most of this is information would not be known to anyone in game. What people have heard about Panta though rumors would be that she was orphaned when she was a teen (80ish years old) and has worked with several mercenary groups since then. She never speaks of what city she was born, her family, or lets on that she is of noble blood.

If someone is from Tlindhet they may be able to figure out Panta's true identity, but her house never fully rose to power so most people should not know about it.

PrinceMyshkin · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject:

((I am very impressed. I read all your story. I think we will be very lucky having such an amazing stroy teller amongst us!))

((I am also very happy, because it shows House Morcane is not just a bunch of powergamers, as some have said in the past...))

((Well... Follower of Selvetearm with draconic blood, did you say? Smile

Finally siiiis!, I found you!!!))

Felnak · De'Lara Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 250 Location: USA

((I enjoyed reading that awesome bio!))
_________________
De'Lara, Ilharess of House Morcane

jboy · Panta Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 40

Panta sat reading a book in the hall of records. She tends to end up at places like this reading about the lore of the world. She doesn�t really understand why herself. She knows that an educated warrior will win battles more often than one that is not, but still her fascination with knowledge is unusual.

This evening was different. Her mind was not on the book she was reading. It was on the recent events since she has come to Elben Aator. She has met interesting people and things have gone well for her.

She seems to have met members from each of the three houses in Elben Aator. The people she met all expressed interest in her joining their houses. Panta had researched the houses and found one that would be the most beneficial for her.

The top ranked house was House Mori�hyanda. Being the top house if she joined she would undoubtedly be a small fish in a big pond. It would be hard to make a name for herself and rise to any power in such a house.

Another house was Dev�Lin. Unfortunately for them, they are a rather new house with little power. Mostly jalukul and few jalilen. Although their patron deity is Selvetram, which Panta also worships, such a small house would be squished too easily if the tide of politics turned against them.

The best bet was the second house, that of Morcane. It was already well established and growing in power. Not being at the top meant it wasn�t as likely to be a target and that there was room to improve. It is a perfect environment for someone to help get the house more prestige and power. If a member could do that she would get noticed and move up the ranks quickly.

Of the people she has met a couple are more memorable than others. One is a young dalharil of an Ilharess. She had a strange fascination with eyes. Panta would love to be present when the girl encounters her first beholder. Her reaction would be priceless.

Another is an Olpyn of Morcane by the name of Dlillen. This is the jalil who opened the door to House Morcane. Panta was amazed by how she could disappear and appear from the shadows in the blink of an eye. When she appeared a flurry of thrusts from her blades and the enemy was down. Even Panta�s trained eyes had a hard time following the movements.

Dlillen introduced Panta to the dalharil of the Ilharess of Morcane named Drenn. Panta is not sure where she ranks with the other dalharil of De�Lara, but Drenn claimed to have clout within the house. This is Panta�s way to becoming a noble again; a way to regain some of that, which has been lost; a way to possibly fill that void in her soul that has been missing something for so long.

A recent event flashes from Panta�s memory. She was on an expedition with a party of other drow with Drenn. Panta was hoping to show her skills to impress the jabbress, but was having trouble standing out. The others in the party were skilled, as were the enemies they fought.

At one point the party encounters a kivvil with a demon of some sort, most likely under his control. The moment was tense and Panta could not bring herself to speak and should not as the nobles she was with were speaking business. The incident ended without bloodshed, presumably because they wanted the rivvil to deliver a message to his fellow coven members.

After the encounter Panta was drained. Standing there ready to leap into action the second someone makes a move is a tiring affair. Drenn turned to Panta and caught her of guard with a question.

�Do you have any enchantments?� Drenn inquired.

�What enchantments?� Panta returned, not sure what Drenn was asking.

�Spells and such.�

Drenn had noticed that Panta was not using magic on herself. Panta briefly had a pained expression before blurting out, �Nau jabbress, I do not have the talent.�

Panta at first felt despair. Old feelings long buried came to the surface once again she was reminded of her failure. The despair then turned to anger and a thought crossed her mind.

In the next fight a wild swing could decapitate Drenn. A simple accident, something that those self-righteous priestesses deserve. So weak they have to beg for their powers to be granted from Lolth. Not like you, you need nothing for your strength.

No, Panta thought to herself, I need Drenn to get me into the house, she is more useful alive than dead. She could not have known such a comment was an insult to me, no one here knows I failed as a priestess.

Then the feelings of regret set in as she realized what she said without thinking. It was not likely that a commoner would go though the training for becoming a priestess. Panta�s remark implied that someone had tested her for such training.

Luckily Drenn did not seem to pick up on it and simply started casting spells on Panta. Panta felt relieved, but a small voice in that back of her head said something that will keep Panta on edge for some time to come.

She knows who you are. She said that to see your reaction. The assassins will return.

Panta shook her head to clear her thoughts. It has been many years since the last assassins came for me, Tlindhet has to consider me dead already. No more will come, and if they do I will deal with Drenn then, after she has outlived her usefulness.

The party had already start moving and Panta quickly moved to keep up. No she would not be able to relax for some time at all.

Panta�s eyes focused on the book she was holding. It was mangled; she had griped it so tightly the booked crumpled. She exhaled sharply and looked around. Good, no one came in. She tried to bend the book back into shape but it was useless so she put it back on the shelf and started towards the door to leave, humming a tune.

Panta stopped halfway to the door. Her humming stopped and the skin on her cheek rippled slightly as she clenched her jaw. She was doing it again.

She had been whistling and humming that strange tune recently, without her thinking about it. She had no idea where she heard it, or why she did it. It was a strange melody, nothing drowish in origin. It seemed to soothe her in times of tension, especially in battle.

Panta exhaled again, consciously not humming or whistling and made her way to the door and left.

PrinceMyshkin · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:01 pm Post subject:

((Asking for enchantments brought into Panta's mind her failure to become a Yathrin? Is this what made her angry?))

jboy · Panta Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 40

\\ Yeah, Drenn wasn't asking for enchantments, just inquiring why panta was not "enchanting" herself. Drenn assumed I was a cleric lol, but a comment like that brought back Panta's memories of her failure as a priestess. BTW I had a lot of fun and everything, this was all IC feelings and reaction, and Panta would have gotten her butt kicked if she did try anything on Drenn. Oh also Panta is a little jealous of priestess's since they can do something she can not.

Cobral30 · Dlillen, Drenn Joined: 27 Jan 2008 Posts: 96

Great RP diary.

For the record, make sure to read Drenn's bio. You will find she is not your typical 'yathrin.' Not a 'strutter' if you will.