#|| ride with the moon in the dead of night || { about // kar'niss }

[morethanthedarkness]

So here's a random backstory headcanon while I'm at work;

I have already posted something explaining how Zerith became Kar'niss. Or, at least, vaguely so. But here's a little extra that I decided upon yesterday while talking to two of my friends.

Zerith is Nere's older brother.

I already mentioned that Zerith bailed from the Underdark and that he only returned once he became an Oath of Vengeance paladin. This was largely out of the guilt and anger of what he knew his siblings were still trapped in. Anger at himself and Lolth and that entire monstrous system drove him.

Not only did Zerith return, but he tried to get Nere and Xalyth—their younger sister—OUT but they were caught, and that's when Zerith openly denounced Lolth.

Xalyth was young, likely. Confused. Didn't understand what was going on. But Nere was just old enough. Old enough that he had no choice but to denounce and condemn his brother, or to suffer the same fate.

[ The last thing Zerith said to Nere before he was taken away to face his punishment was, "I'm sorry that I failed you." ]

So, Nere doesn't say "Nere doesn't fail!" because he's being pompous. It's because he's not far from having a total meltdown.

He's had all this pressure placed on him for so long, because he was a second son to start, when being a son at all is bad enough. And on top of that, his older brother was a Failure and a Heretic. So he has to prove he's not either of those things. He has to prove he's WORTHY of serving Lolth. [ And then the Absolute once he's been stolen away from Lolth by the tadpole. ] He can never ever fail because his parents made clear the further SHAME that would bring them. And the CONSEQUENCES of such failure couldn't be more apparent. So he can't fail. He can't, he can't, he CAN'T.

As for why Nere never realized Kar'niss was his older brother, how could he with how entirely changed and warped he was? And Kar'niss? His mind was so utterly shattered by the transformation process and subsequent years in isolation and then the Curse, he certainly couldn't pull anything more than maybe a vague feeling.

But consider that perhaps the drider was subtly more protective of Nere than others… How odd considering, in canon, driders are extremely wary of drow who view them as abominations and will betray them in a heartbeat…