Still the thin figure of my father remained hanging on the
wall in the small chamber. His ebony skin already attached
to his bones and his gashes and wounds still open. He
remained there like a zombie. No mind, no pain, no worry.
But he was not dead, Yet. I stood there looking at him. A
miracle or tragedy? I can never tell. All I know is what my
mother told me of him. Even though it sounds unlikely first,
it makes sense after you hear it every day for three
decades. Over and over I played it in my head, trying to
understand it, but I could never, how could such a thing
happen to us?

We were simply two ambassadors in the underdark's caves.
Ambassadors they called us, but banished we were. They did
fancy statements with those of noble houses. Why were we
outcasted, I'll never know. My mother, Enkhala, lived in a
drow city neighboring Shadowrealm. She was a daughter to
house Lhalabar, formed not too long ago by a female older
than the dirt in the city, Lorr'ualyrr Lhalabar. According
to her, she was supposed to be already dead. She was a
priestess in Shadowrealm once. But she ran away, and lost
all her abilities. But then, some sort of miracle happened
to her, and with the blink of an eye she returned to Lloth's
favor. Or so most of us believed. She did not return to
Shadowrealm, fearing her past according to what I suggested.
But I was not yet alive to make that assumption. She
returned instead to our city. In there she took my mother as
one of her ''daughters'', and trained her to be her
successor. In only a few years of existence, house Lhalabar
climbed to a position in the city council.

Life went on. But then her time came. On her death bed, she
wanted to see my mother. She looked like a wreck of black
bones by the time. Some said the time was yet too soon for
her. ''She aged too fast'' they said. My mother told me that
she said a single sentence before she died. She told her
about her son. A fighter living in Shadowrealm, trying to
achieve what she tried in our city. She did not know what
happened to him, but told her to find him, no matter what
she does, and ask him to become the weapon master of house
Lhalabar, at my mother the matron's side. My mother has
ascended to matronship without giving a second thought to
the old hag, but she was smarter than she though. Her will
stated that my mother will be ordered to leave the city, and
find the unknown son. The replacement matron made sure she
leaves quick. Thus we were banished, and to never return.

     

Soon after she was sent away as ''ambassador'', she has
began to make her way to Shadowrealm. She did not remember
the way quite well, and had no others to assist her,
therefore the road was harsh and long. But she survived. At
some point, I have learned, she almost threw herself to a
pit of stalagmites because of frustration and the loss of
all of her belongings. However, at some point of the trek
she has found something odd. Some sort of planar trail, as
far as she could tell. Tracks left by a creature who came to
this realm from another place of existence. Near desperation
and half crazed, she followed the trail, leaving the deathly
road to Shadowrealm.

The track led nowhere. It kept becoming sometimes less and
sometimes more faded, and she almost lost the way. But
eventually she reached a small cave chamber. The entrance
was small, fitting to the exact figure of a short humanoid.
Or drow. The entrance seemed to have supported a wooden door
in the past, but it was long gone. A few shattered items lay
here and there on the ground. The cave was obviously
habitant in the not so far past. But now it was empty and
hollow. The quiet sound of breathing echoed on the wall, and
then she heard a groan. It was weak and soundless, my
mother's keen ears barely noticed it. Immediately she went
to inspect. She followed the source of the single groan,
using only her memory of the weak cry. The room quickly
became dark and even with the drow's infrared vision it was
complicated to walk around. Then she entered a room through
another small entrance, this time a broken door was attached
to it.

The room had an aroma of an hallucinating incense. The walls
were made of bricks, even though the chamber was in a cave.
Most of the bricks were cracked and some even began to fall
apart. The marble floor was empty, aside for a few blood
stains and the occasional small body part. The room was
empty, other than one thing. The wall opposite to the door
had something on it. It was a figure. Humanoid, short, ebony
skin and white hair. Drow by all means. But it looked wrong.
He was hanging on the wall. A first inspection revealed that
he could easily just step forward and go away to wherever he
wished to. But that was the wrong approach. He was literally
stuck on the wall. His four limbs were partially outside,
and partially inside the wall, as if at some point it turned
to liquid and hardened around him. He was bruised and
wounded, and thin. He also looked ill and unconscious. She
quickly overruled that, for his chest was moving back and
forth in a breathing process, although barely.

She called him, tried to get his attention, to no avail. He
did not move to her voice. She advanced towards him, and
smell of decay infiltrated her nostrils. She stood next to
him, and couldn't stop but thinking his face was familiar,
somewhat attracting even. It is important to say that by
that time, all her female pride was completely destroyed as
she turned into a regular underdark creature. She touched
him, tried to make him wake up. When she saw that nothing
happened, she untied him using her own exceptional magic
skills, and carried him to the other room. I remember her
mentioning that he did not fully wake up until after 30
days. But I cannot recall now.

For the next month, she was busy cleaning the chamber and
putting in a new door. After a week, the smells were gone
and the place was clean. She started taking care of him,
healing him with spells and herbs. My mother was obligated
and completely addicted to taking care of him in that
chamber. It was her only true connection to civilization.
And then, after thirty five days, he finally woke up.

     

My mother found the end of her quest.

The male's name was Ra'han Lhalabar. And indeed he was the
son of the dead matron. When he first awoke, he did not
speak a word. He looked at my mother as a captor, and
nothing more. But with times, he grew soft as a result of
her treatment. She did not mind. All she wanted was to hear
something familiar and sensible. Slowly and step by step eh
began to talk. First of simple things, such as requesting
food or water. Then he began sharing small details from his
life with her, and sooner or later they both knew everything
they could about each other. All the darkest secrets and
events of the far past. They became closer than any other
drow male and female have in the area.

It was inevitable. By human standards, they fell in love
after only a few weeks. Their affection disgusts me whenever
I think about it. Blasphemous, unbearable. Yet somewhat
attracting. It was more than plain physical love. They
cherished each other, a completely useless life as I see it
today. But none the less, I was born. It was a few years
after they met. I was born in a breeze filled night, if
there are such in the underdark. But something was different
about me. When the spirits relaxed, and they took their
first reasonable look at me, they saw my difference. I had a
birth mark on my forehead and the front of the right
shoulder. In the present it looks like a very natural
tattoo. And the sign, was that of an eight legged arachnid.


According to costumes and prophecies, a matron of a powerful
and Spider Queen devoted house will bare a child to the most
skilled weapon master in the city. The child will be born
with a spider tattooed on her forehead and right shoulder.
These children often grew up to be stronger than most, and
named Arachknights. Unholy paladins of Lloth. Some had
magical powers, while some preferred their melee skills
alone. Few of them were born, and when they were, it was
usually for a greater purpose. But no one can know for sure.
Mysterious are the ways of our Unholy Queen. Perhaps even
more than that.

They began quarreling. This cannot be. They were both
outcasts by now. My mother, sent on a pointless quest of
finding a person who might as well not exist, and my father,
driven out of his cherished city by a very odd and powerful
force. The prophecies were not made, how come the child
bares the mark? But quickly it became obvious. They were
never really demoted. Although my father has lost all his
equipment from his time as a weapon master, but was never
officially demoted. And my mother was still the rightful
hair. The one back home was a simple replacement. But how to
explain the will of Lloth? My goddess is impossible to
explain. And they named me Raniizin.

And so we lived in that little house of hours, for two
decades. Both my father and mother trained me, but I took to
liking only the melee abilities of my father. And mastered
them. They never told me the real story of their life. I
never realized my true heritage. I mean, I knew I was a
drow, but never knew about the arachknight part. They wanted
to attract me away from it, judging by their bad past in
positions of power. But it was inevitable. When I reached my
third decade, I wished for answers. And I have received
them. Everything from the beginning to end, without leaving
any part out.

I was shocked. All this was a lot to bear, but what could I
do? I knew no place but this. So I remained and suffered
quietly. I kept on training and studying. I have made my
goal in life to prove my parents wrong. No, the future of
all of those in power cannot be true. I couldn't fall to
fate's grace and shackles, and instead decided to forge my
own way to the top. But I never left. I couldn't leave them,
as much as I couldn't believe their theories. But this, too,
was inevitable. And the day came when I informed them of my
wish.

There is no need to describe their shock. Their child was
not fallen into their brainwashing. She had too much will of
her own to fall. My father became mad after my mother
suggested that we return to her city and fulfill her
mission. She thought that will be the only way to prevent me
from becoming one with true power. But he agreed to go
there. We haven't passed 10 miles before suddenly, my father
stopped, and started running back. I have never seen him run
like this. He was fast, very fast. So fast I almost did not
notice him go back. And we chased him. Judging by his
tracks, he was headed back to our home chamber. After a day
we have reached the place. And we received a new shock.

     

He was once again tied to the wall. His hands fiercely
pushing into the holes which have trapped him in in the
past. At this sight, my mother became madly insane as well,
and trapped him inside again. I snapped out my scimitar and
cut her throat. She did not even resist, and the slash came
with incredible speed. And she was down. My father too
insane to notice, somewhat returned to his conscious trance
my mother said he used to be in, and his old wounds opened
again. I stared at him, not knowing what to do, too
hysterical to hit him too. So I left him there.

I went out to our bedroom, and gazed at the empty area. In
my mind I could imagine my parents sleeping peacefully in
each other's arms as they always have. I couldn't bear that
as well, and returned to my father.

And still the thin figure of my father remained hanging on
the wall in the small chamber. His ebony skin already
attached to his bones and his gashes and wounds still open.
He remained there like a zombie. No mind, no pain, no worry.
But he was not dead, yet. I stood there looking at him; a
miracle or tragedy? I can never tell. All I know is what my
mother told me of him. Even though it sounds unlikely first,
it makes sense after you hear it every day for three
decades. Over and over I played it in my head, trying to
understand it, but I could never, how could such a thing
happen to us?

And then, I traveled to Shadowrealm.

Upon reaching the city of Shadowrealm, Raniizin stopped and
looked at the floor. The floor upon which her father walked
looked no different than the one she knew in the home in
which she has lived till now with her parents. It was made
of pebbled dark grey marble, and completely clean. Looking
forward, she noticed many marble buildings, lined with many
constat faery fire flames which oulined the beautiful and
marvelous carving on the walls and doors, made by
exceptional drow wizards. The many statues on the floors and
buildings were also outlined with many magical rays of color
and light, which in the drow elven infra red spectrum of
vision seemed the most marvelous of sights. Many spider
carvings and statues appeared on walls and altars, and in
the back end of the city, the grand building which was the
temple of Lloth stood.

She began walking towards it. Towards the temple, to see the
current priestess of the city. She needed to have a short
char with her. Very short, even. While she walked with
perfect balance and quiet, only those who were looking
directly at her and those with exceptional seeking skills
saw her. She moved with such delight and perfectness that no
guard or lesser priestesses stoped her. And she did not
notice them. Upon reaching the temple stairs, she stopped
again. She turned her gaze to inspect the temple and the
surroundings. A few guards stood nearby, but did not dare
come close to the sacred building. Most of them already knew
better than to do it, and the new ones simply gazed the the
frozen drider corpses on the floor.

She turned to enter the temple, and was stopped by a veteran
guard. He asked her for a name and rank, and for a reason to
come to this place. He got his reply along with a blade cut
on his throat and chest. He was dead before he reached the
ground. The rest of the guards turned to attack her, for her
surprise. How could she turn off her charm in this crytical
time? But she did not let her surprise let her down from her
guard. After a short quarrel, the guards were down and
Raniizin had only a small gash on her bare shoulder. It took
her a few more minutes to hide the bodies behind the short
stalagmites nearby, and then she finally turned to enter the
temple. The guards were weak. That can only means it was a
diversion, giving time for the priestess to notice the
intruder and put her better defences into action. And so she
did.

On plain touch, the door began to heat up. It was locked,
naturally, but the newcomer couldn't touch it for long to
break the lock. Within 10 seconds the metal door was hot
enough for it to melt down. But she didn't expect it to do
so, that would be foolish. She looked at the door, quite
puzzled but yet understanding what is happening. And then,
the two great spider statues near the temple came to life. 6
feet tall and 6 feet wide they stood above her, not even
waiting to threaten. They attacked as if they were awake all
this time. All Raniizin could do for now was parry their
blows. Their skin was too hard and their legs were shaped
like giant blades, harder than adamantite and sharper than
dragon teeth. At a second of a momentum, she spranged to her
feet and rolled under the nearer spider. Once there, both
spiders became confused. The one she was under did not move,
but chittered and moved his legs in the air. The other one
could smell her, and began swinging his two front legs at
the other spider. The first one died quickly, for he did not
react fast enough.

The other one was down as well once Rannizizn jumped under
him too. A streak of luck, she called it, and suspected that
such an event would require much skill (And even more luck)
of her. She got up to her feet and advanced quickly towards
one of the dead spiders. She cut off one of its blade like
legs, and carried it towards the door. She stood a moment
before the door, then without a voice or threat used the leg
like a large axe and hit the door. It was down after a few
swipes, but the leg was completely ruined to be used again.
She looked back to see that the spiders turned to stone. She
returned her attention to the inside of the temple. She had
barely time to notice the structure and décor before
two more statues awoke. This time they were large monsterous
beats, with large bat wings and toothy grins. Gargoyls.

The two monsters sprang to their feet from their sleep and
stretched, showing their large bodies. Raniizin ran to a
corner in the room she entered, and crouched behind a metal
shield. She blocked their airial attacks, but the shield
quickly withered. She unsheathed her scimitar and round
shield, and began parrying the strong beasts' attacks. She
tired quickly, but did not give up. Gargoyls are not stupid
creatures. They saw that the drow female has some skill, and
started working together. Now Raniizin felt weaker than
ever, and could barely block their attacks. They managed to
hit her a few times and throw her to the ground. With a
scimitar in the other half of the room and her shield almost
ruined, she began to despair. She tried to hide and crawl
away, but gargoyls have excelent sight. Now they had a huge
advantage. They flew to the tall ceiling, and swooped down
at her together one last time. This was her end.

But then, a large boom echoed on the wall. She closed her
eyes and raised her arms to protect her head. A moment later
she opened her eyes, and saw a large rabble of stone on the
floor. Stone remains of what seemed to be a fighter in the
near past lay on the ground, and an essense focused on
Raniizin. She got up quickly and turned to face the place
the essense came from. But she was now looking on another
drow. She was short, yet her confident and calm look made
her look intimidating. She wore a polished grey bone armor
and carried a dark blue staff. A priestess by all means. Who
else would be in the temple in this hour? Before she could
say a word or take another look, something hit her, hard.
She started to feel hot, and in a matter of seconds her skin
was burning. What a simple fire spell coming from a
priestess of Lloth could make you feel.

But then it stopped. Moaning, she got up on her knees and
turned to look at the priestess again, undefeated. The
priestess loked surprise, but just for a second. She now
prepared another quick harmful spell, but this time Raniizin
came quick. She rolled to the side, then side stepped on the
wall and jumped towards the priestess. She hit her streight
in the chest, and both of them fel rolling to the floor. The
priestess was enraged, Raniizin could feel it in her skin.
The fire emanating from the priestess burned, but the
situation in which she won was not even a concideration.
They fought on, rolling and hitting, each with her own most
powerful attacks, but none surrendered. At some moment, the
priestess summoned a large bolt of fire which hit her
opponent in the stomach, but blew both of them to the
opposite ends of the room.

Before attacking again, they both looked at eachother. They
were both panting yet ready for more, but they only looked
at eachother for a moment.

''Who are you?'' The priestess demanded angrily.
''It does not matter who I am, it only matters that I have
came to change things''.
''Things are already different, fool! You cannot defeat me
and you will not change anything! The will of Lloth lives
and thrives through me and me alone. It is time for you to
perish!''. The priestess was ready to cast yet another
firebolt, but the reply came quickly, and was quite
interesting.
''I did not come to kill you, nor have I come to claim Lloth
will as my own. Not at all. I have come to make a
proposition''. Raniizin ended the sentence and gave a smile
with the corner of her lip. The priestess gazed at her for a
moment, again calm but not as confident. ''Let's hear it
then'' she said.
''I have come to offer you your life'' she continued before
the priestess could reply. ''No! Wait, this is not a
threat''. She followed to remove her half open helmet,
revealing the birth mark on her forhead, shaped like a
spider.

In an instance, the priestess broke down all her spritual
and physical defences. Her calmness vanished and her
confidence fell to the ground. She was obviously shocked,
and in that moment Raniizin struck. She lunged forward and
hit the priestess's leg. She tumbled down and screamed in
pain. Raniizin stood so that her legs were across the
priestess's face. ''Now that you cannot threaten me, I will
say what am I here for''. She sat down on the floor near the
fallen priestess and continued. ''Like I said, I am here to
make a proposal. My proposal is your life. I came here to do
what my grandmather started and what my father failed to
continue doing. I have come to make a name for the Lhalabar
family in this city, as my mom was forbidden from doing in
her own city. I have come to continue the rulership over
Shadowrealm, and so I will do. Where you come in, is my
first deed as the leader of this town, in the name of the
grand Lloth''. The priestess was groaning and moaning all
the time over her wounded foot, but now she gave an even
louder groan.
''You will never succeed in that, lowly fighteress! I have
all the favor of Lloth and I rule by her will! You can never
do the job of a priestess!''.
''And that is why I am here, arch priestess. That is yo,
correct? How can it not'', she gave a chuckle and continued
''Like I said, what I do with you is my first deed as the
ruler of this city, will be to denounce you one rank, and
take the highest rank myself. That is the way of us drow
after all, is is not? I will perform all the duties of
leadership and the keeping of the will and need of Lloth,
while you wil be the head priestess. Bound to my will,
because it is that of Lloth''.
''It cannot be! You are just a fighter!'' the priestess
moaned.
''You and me both know otherwise, arch priestess''. She
motioned to the other birth mark on her one bare shoulder.
That was also shaped as a spider, but now a little scar
rainbowd above it. ''I am what the prophecies call an
arachknight. I was born INTO the will of the grand Lloth!
And you know it. If I was not, I'd be long since dead, would
I not? But I am still, as you said, just a fighter. I will
simply fill the things anyone can do. Alongside that, I can
also perform rituals and prayers like anyone else. But do
not worry. I do not plan on ruining the reputation of the
priestesses. You will all still hold a position of power in
the city, and will perform most of the less important
rituals and prayers. You, will hold the highest rank as a
priestess, and make sure all the priestesses and citizens
know their duties to me, and more importantly to Lloth. You
will still hold a high rank and a lot of power, but you will
be obliged to me.''
''And what if I don't?? What if I secretly gather the forces
of the city and tell them to demote you? Or kill you even?''
the priestess asked angrily.
''Lloth will decide what happenes. If I fall from her favor,
I die instantly. I live only because she chose to make me
live. But the citizens will have no reason to join you. You
will work with me. Not udner me. You will help me, and by
that, will gain a lot of Lloth's favor. And we both know
that is the most important part of your life''.

Raniizin became silence, still sitted, and gave a slight
lovely smirk. The priestess had no words, and deep inside
her she knew she was trapped. She could either help this,
this lowly scum of a fighter, or lose the favor of her
goddess, which will probably end in death.
''Make up your mind, arch priestess. Quickly. I need to get
started''. Raniizin got up and started walking towards the
exit, limping slightly because of a burn in her right foot.

''Wait! Allright! I'll do as you say. I'll help you run the
city. I have no wish to lose the favor of my goddess.''
Raniizin smiled with satisfaction. ''Good. Then come. We
have much work to do. First, you will give me all the
information about things you have done so far...''

And so they got up, and started talking. The priestess,
humbly telling Raniizin everything she has done so far in
the city, and Raniizin listening carefuly. Raniizin is now
the leader of Shadowrealm, fulfilling the lineage of the
house of Lhalabar.

May the blood live on.