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maddmuses · 1 month

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Zesaer Xorlarrin

(Other character Images Here)

(BEFORE WE GET STARTED CW FOR THE FOLLOWING BEING FACTORS OR AT LEAST MENTIONED/IMPLIED IN THIS BIO (Not an endorsement of these ideas, but some of these are extant factors of the Dark Urge backstory and/or Drow society as a whole): Incest Mention/Reference, Dubious Consent, Animal Torture, Other Typical Durge stuff)

Date of Birth: Uktar 11, 1328 Dale Reckoning Place of Birth: Citadel Xorlarrin, Menzoberranzan, Northdark Titles: The Blood of The Mother, The Failed One Aliases: Zes’, Bloodspatter, The Princess, The Dark Urge Home: The Western Heartlands, The Sword Coast Gender Identity: AFAB Woman (Pronouns They/She); Disclaimer: Plural Pronouns used when referring to this individual during and after the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 as The Urge personality exists as a distinct and often opposed personality to Zesaer Xorlarrin, despite both answering to this name Orientation: Omni w/ sapphic preference Height: 5’6” (168 cm) Weight: 101 lb. (45 kg) Family: Zeerith Q’Xorlarrin (Mother/Genetic Template), Bhaal (Divine Father), Lolth (Believed Divine Mother), Kiriy Xorlarrin (Half-Sister), Berellip Xorlarrin (Half-Sister), Saribel Xorlarrin (Half-Sister), Brack’thal Xorlarrin (Half-Brother; Cover-Story Father), Ravel Xorlarrin (Half-Brother), Most Bhaalspawn (Divine Siblings) Alignment: Lawful Evil (As Zesaer) Chaotic Evil (As The Dark Urge)

Appearance A striking physical duplicate to her mother, Zesaer Xorlarrin can easily be mistaken for her mother, except in the way that they carry themselves, their style of hair, minor physical distinctions and features, and ultimately their preferred mode of dress. Zesaer is a drow with a lichen base but a distinctly dark tone which often gives it a “very dark gray” appearance at the casual glance, and this coloration is only occasionally interrupted by a small number of isolated dark blue freckles. She has soft and regal features that could easily draw comparison to her mother’s, with a sharp edge, said to be like the swords which she favors.

As a noble, Zesaer wears her white hair in a lengthy style, due to not being a traditional figure in the succession (at least as far as Zeerith and certain privileged individuals should know) her hair is pulled back into a messy knot, with occasional strands peeking out from this and framing her forehead akin to bangs, rather than a typical “youngest or middle daughter” style; in the back of this style, though, is a shorter mane that features from a sort of undercut that grows shorter as it is brought forward to the sides, a distinction in hair common among deathsingers.

Another factor that allows Zesaer to be easily and casually distinguished as a deathsinger in drow society is a white ink tattoo of a shattered longsword pointed downward on her throat. This mark is meant to allow others to easily identify Zesaer as a deathsinger for the purposes of reverence and their removal from the typical machinations of politics among drow society, at least so far as Lolth cares for them to. Deathsingers are not typically permitted to hold their station and a rank in their house at the same time, so as to ensure the effective carrying of their duties to the city, and drow interests as a whole. Accordingly, this particular tattoo marks her as both an “off-limits” target to others for random violence, but possibly also a bullseye for those meaning to target her, her house’s future, or just the deathsingers, specifically. Further, though this wouldn’t be apparent unless she was in some fashion of casual or lack of dress, Zesaer has a massive tattoo of two tentacles meant to resemble those of a displacer beast, spreading from an origin point on her sternum, wrapping each along the side of her torso, and then laying across her back, with the effigy of its spikes pointed upwards to be visible, over her shoulder blades. Finally, just above her ribs on the left side where abdomen meets chest, hidden most of the time, is a small line of Irraefay’s name, written in Drow, Elvish, and Common, punctuated by a crescent.

Often the first thing that most might comment upon, even among drow, are Zesaer’s eyes. An unusual and brilliant color of red, they almost remind the party who looks upon them of freshly-spilt blood, and glow particularly brightly when they shift into their infravision. At one point her lover, Irraeafay, had compared them to rubies set into a campfire. This feature is one of those which seems to be strangely distinct from her mother’s.

Tall for a drow, Zesaer’s build is considered to be willowy, despite having developed a somewhat impressive physique from the intense nature of deathsinger training, carrying even a few scars from this time, including a stab mark offset to the left from her navel, a clean slice scar across her bicep, and a thin faded one at the center of her throat that is obscured by her sword tattoo. From her time of being a subject to various experiments in Moonrise, there are a series of fine (mostly-healed) white fine line scars along her arms, thighs, and ribs, that were clearly self-inflicted.

Typical equipment for deathsingers are in reference to Lolth in aesthetic, carrying all manner of spider-like armor and clothing, particularly with webbing motifs. Most of the time Zesaer prefers to wear armor that is made of leather or spidersilk, but on occasion she has also been known to use magical spells to simulate armor, and in such cases will wear very obviously fine and seemingly-unwieldy clothing to give others the impression of vulnerability. In favor of gaudy options she will often use equipment that has been detailed with gold, or when she is shy on coin electrum, even if it often serves very little to no practical function. One thing that she will carry, regardless of the time, though, is a pendant of carved everfrost in the shape of a moon with the face of a beautiful drow woman carved into it, once worn and gifted to her from Irraeafay. This pendant is actually a holy symbol of Eilistraee, though a subtle one that is charmed to resemble in the face that who owns the wearer’s heart, so as to better obscure its nature among Lolthite societies.

Personality Zesaer after the incident, and even before, with Orin was often defined by her duality. A part of her who understood why the urge was wrong, with time, and that who came to desire to indulge in it. And of course with the lost memory, the part that was frightened of her urge, but then again would also give into it at times. Particularly following her time with the party, the Zesaer of judicious wickedness, and the Zesaer who gave in to whatever intrusive thought may come to her head, were little more than one in the same.

Of course, like any proper Lolthite, Zesaer carries herself with a haughtiness that is only occasionally deserved, and with a great deal of contempt for others. But at the same time, she only acts in the ways that her culture taught her to when they make sense. After all, killing and enslaving others with no regard for consequence wasn’t usually a sound decision. Also hedonistic, particularly in the times since the loss of her great love, Zesaer is unafraid to indulge in those things which she feels good, barring those of the urge that has had to be separated from herself.

But together, they’re a whole other sort of hell.

Zesaer is known to enjoy sweets and song, but will frequently shed tears without understanding why when certain songs play.

Biography Bhaal’s many plans and machinations that he engaged in, thanks to his foreknowledge of his own impending demise in the Times of Troubles, were often complicated and at points carried redundancies. The bhaalspawn broadly were means for him to resume his divine existence if he were to fall, but not all were created equally. One in particular was made both with the intention of being a suitable fallback vessel for his divine essence if he were to perish and not be able to effectively return, but also could serve to carry out his ultimate end times endgame of killing all living things, and then itself to bring a close to life on all of Toril, and possibly all of realmspace altogether.

And so, in a particularly bold move, Bhaal moved to impersonate The Queen of Spiders, Lolth, for what society would better mold a child of his into a killer than the drow? But unlike his other drow bhaalspawn that he had already begotten, this one would not be the child of himself and a mortal, but rather a being made purely from his divine essence meant to mirror the mother only insofar as it could service his cover story. A divine duplicate that was a mutual clone of the other parent, rather than a traditional divine child. Visiting Zeerith Xorlarrin in her dreams, before she changed her name to correlate with the city that would be named for her house, he masqueraded as Lolth and promised to bestow upon her a child of divine nature, a boon that would serve the woman in whatever schemes she hoped for in the future, a living endorsement of the goddess’s fickle delight in the drow’s service. Then, within a year from that day, Zesaer Xorlarrin would be born.

Zesaer’s nature as a divine child was kept from most, though, with the cover story being the same as it was with her elder brother Ravel, that she was a specimen chosen intentionally from potential breeding stock so as to best reflect her mother’s strength, rather than to be plagued with potential deficiencies and flaws that many males in their society were believed to carry. Of course this euphemism was sufficient for many to draw a conclusion on their own in most of the city, barring Zeerith’s inner circle, and Brack’thal himself who knew this to not be the case definitively.

Despite her being endorsed by Zeerith as her youngest daughter, Zesaer actively was kept from the priesthood of Lolth, and would not attend Arach-Tinilith when the time would come, as was explained to those who were privileged to inquire as to why. Zeerith, with her knowledge and devotion to Lolth, was to be truly lacking only two things in her age, a youth and continued lifespan of another five or so further centuries after her daughter would be a young woman, and powers in the arcane. So, her newest “daughter” whose body was virtually indistinct from that of a young Zeerith would be trained in arms so that she would be an even greater threat with the blade, and in arcana, so that her brain and body would be filled with magical secrets upon taking control of it, so that Zeerith may one day place her soul into the new form. And in the meantime a deathsinger was never a true detriment to a noble house to have.

Where was Lolth when all this was transpiring? Well, she simply enjoyed the new essence of chaos and unbalance that this new development brought to the table. While in some cases she would consider the existence of this divine child an affront to her design and own divinity, she understood that the presence of such a being wouldn’t supersede her own worship with any drow, and would have caused strife among them that she might think to cause herself, with no work or cost to her own essence at all.

As is typical for drow noble children, Zesaer was raised largely under the supervision of those who were functionally her siblings. Studious and isolated, Zesaer saw little of other drow who were not her relatives, aside from the occasional bodyguard or hedge case of prospective or recently-met allies who were intrigued by the existence of such a child. Concerns arose early on from her elder brothers and sisters, though, because the child seemed to show few of the typical drow impulses for violence and murder; she had not even attempted to kill any of her caretakers when given the chance, even after abusing her! Still, Zeerith considered this a matter of minimal concern, after all what would come next surely could mold her child into a proper asset in her machinations.

Zesaer, after spending her early years being instructed fairly oppressively in the ideas and ways of drow society, with no small amount of physical reminders to go alongside the verbal ones, would soon enough move onto magical and martial training by Tsabrak Xorlarrin and Talabrina Xorlarrin respectively. Her instruction was not unusual if a house was trying to cultivate a potentially versatile and powerful male who showcased similar competence in both sword and magic, without an exception in one breaking away from the other, this was a period of time in which all of Zesaer’s waking hours were consumed by either study or training, and neither were particularly forgiving. Despite the usual distinction between their gender in a matriarchal society normally preventing Tsabrak from acting against the young drow, Tsabrak was specifically empowered by Matron Mother Zeerith to do whatever necessary to make her an excellent wizard, and so he did; he relished in every opportunity to punish and torment the young woman for even the slightest shortcoming in the magical. And of course her sister Talabrina would not withhold any of her trademark harshness, if Zesaer was to be a suitable warrior for the house.

With time she would reach the age of 25, and be expected to enter the academy, Tier Breche. Zesaer publicly entered into her training under an alternative course of training; alternative in the sense that her identity was obscured, and she initially posed as a male. This procedure was considered to be most humiliating for the daughter in question by most drow, and would earn those who told her to do so, if she didn’t insist that it was her own idea. In the Grand Melee, and subsequent training, she quickly stood out as a particularly capable user of short and light weapons, which drew the attention of Phyraffyn, the Third Singer of the Deathsinger Corps.

Though the deathsingers were often recruited from all fashion of places, few females existed among them, as the training in arms within Arach-Tinilith came far later than it did for many males, prompting few to be brought up as they had already been advanced fairly far into the ways of Lolth. In fact, it was often considered heretical to abandon the way of the priestesshood of Lolth in favor of the way of deathsong, though some were still at least trained in the rudiments of the style. So most deathsingers were males, commonborn, or both.

It was thanks, mostly, to a farce such as the one her mother executed that allowed Zesaer to draw the attention of the corps and see her study at the academy adjusted once more. With her time in Melee drawn to half of its initial time, only now four and a half years, and her time in Sorcere would be the same period of time, with one year in the religious school of Arach-Tinilith, still longer than any male should see, but not so much that it would be considered an affront to Lolth in wilfully creating an ignorant noble in her ways. As a component of her training for deathsong, however, she would not spend solid blocks in either of her primary instructions, alternating year-to-year, so as to best weave together her swordplay with her magic, and not becoming overly-specialized in either, alongside another deathsong student, Belnozz (a commoner male). Due to her training becoming more mixed and atypical in nature, Zesaer’s identity, as well as her initial masquerade, were made apparent to the broader population of the school and drow society.

The next nine years of her life were especially difficult in this sense, as while she lived a life of privilege at the academy, and after 1358 had become able to mingle with the broader drow society outside of Tier Breche. Difficulties came, of course, with being the only female in male-dominated schools among drow who had not lived in the hierarchies of their society as strictly (in the case of commonborn drow) or as long (as was the case for all of them) to quite understand the consequences of acting against a female in such a place. And the academy’s leadership itself, as well as Zeerith, felt little compulsion to make this correction. After all, Zesaer’s path was in contradiction to that which was intended for all drow.

Threat of attack, assassination, and worse constantly hung over Zesaer’s head for this decade, worsening even as she began to become initiated in the path of deathsong, the deathsinger corps. steadily began to intervene and serve as a defensive force in her life, as she fast approached entrance into the organization. But was it too little too late? For it was during this period of her life that Zesaer began to feel… ***Urges***.

Intrusive thoughts. Violent… Bloody… Dark… Were these the feelings that she had come so late to? That her mother had been dismissive of the lack, while she’d heard hushed whispers among servants and siblings about her not being of a proper drow disposition?

In either case, her potential in martial exercises seemed to soar, and her magic, where before was about typical for a Xorlarrin, seemed to grow even more potent when directed at a living target, more so than any others. And soon enough, graduation came. While most of the academy would participate in the typical traditions, deathsingers, particularly females, didn’t fit into the mold in an easy way, and Zesaer might have once again been made a target if placed among the priestesses, who she was not qualified spiritually to engage in the ritual with, and would be demeaned to sit with the males.

Deathsingers, on the other hand, had their own graduation ceremony, or rather an initiation. The seven remaining schools of the deathsong (the eighth school of the darksong being cast out of polite drow society, even among this order) had a representative among them, and they would put Zesaer and Belnozz through their final trial. The Crucible of The Severed Spinner.

Each given a longsword which gave off a faint glow that would attract creatures to them, they were turned loose into a cavern that saw frequent use by the driders, as many such creatures were once deathsingers or aspirants, and they were to return, with proof that their “spinnerette” had been properly severed from Lolth, in such a way that they could no longer be a part of the mainstream Lolthite society in the same way as before, but also not to such a degree that they would be of no use to their dark lady. After all, many such deathsinging driders had wound up in such a position thanks to this very shortcoming, either becoming functionally useless to Lolth in any other form, or by proving too insidious in their training to be anything other than a potential contagion to broader drow hierarchies.

While under the influence of a strong elixir made from blood and drider venom, it would be up to both prospects to experience various visions and make their way through the dungeon, before coming to their realization and executing the mission.

Led by the shadow of a displacer beast, Zesaer would eventually come to the realization, as a trio of driders bore down upon them. This test was not to defeat a group of driders, many of whom were likely as good or better at deathsong than she, but to simply survive at the expense of your weapon. And, while Belnozz’s back was turned, she plunged her blade into his back, before forcefully snapping the sword off inside of him. This killed the enchantment that kept the blade glowing, and allowed the woman to quickly flee the scene.

Upon her return it was made clear that so long as she broke her sword, no matter what condition or who she might have returned with, she had passed the test. The driders in question were specifically compelled to attack those with the swords in-tact and ignore all others. Despite assailing and almost certainly killing her compatriot, it was a solution that was extremely Lolth-like in nature, and thus she had passed. Based on the visions she experienced, Zesaer joined the school of the displacer beast, known well for its illusionary and assassination favoring of the deathsong arts, which also personally appealed to a woman who found it easiest to come and go where she pleased to do her business.

Further training as a Deathsinger occupied the woman for a pair of decades, as the specific parts of the art which were external to what one could expect to learn in Tier Breche, including their actual sword style, The Displacer being remarked as the one which taught its fighters to wield multiple weapons at once, often matching. She studied under Deathsinger Irraeafay, a master of Displacer-Style from the recently-fallen Ched Nasad.

Training was often trying and difficult, but also often rewarding for the drow as she worked with the other female, both outcasts from the male-dominated deathsinger organization. She frequently would accompany Irraefay on her missions, but was told to observe, and watch, only fighting when absolutely necessary, and mostly saving her magical energy for their own quality of life, and use of skills to sharpen them against appropriate challenges. It was strange, as any other time she had been trained by a drow, it was like being thrown to a pack of aboleth, armed with a dulled spoon. But in this time with Irraefay she was exposed to notions of mercy, tolerance, patience, and even kindness. Their spars didn’t end with Zesaer constantly wracked with pain and wounds to heal.

She had even taught her to sing and dance, notions that nominally had to do with deathsong, but in a far greater detail than she’d been led to understand. And she had begun to experience something that could only be the embers of a fledgeling love for another drow.

Zesaer did not realize, at the time, though that while she was being instructed in the way of the displacer, so as to not draw attention, she was also being taught in the way of the darksong. Irraefay was a Darksong school deathsinger who had studied and masqueraded her way into the organization’s number, with the intention of recruiting and drawing lolthite drow away from Menzoberranzan at any chance she could, but especially once they had finished their training. But the spy, too, had failed to follow one of the basic lessons of being an Eilistraee Moondancer in the spider’s web; don’t fall for a drow whose soul is still pledged to Lolth.

The twenty years of training would eventually be punctuated by the pair being declared partners in arms, sisters to battle for drow society and Lolth’s interest wherever they could. This would bring Zesar abroad, seeing many different caverns, the disgusting state of less faithful drow cities (as none could stand to Menzoberranzan’s majesty), and even some places on the surface, her first experience with the dawn’s burning sting coming within a year of her training’s completion. And it was at this time that the voice, the thoughts, the urges, were at their weakest, in the arms of the first one to show her any true sincere kinship and love in her life. But even this was a cruel prank from her father. Just as much as Lolth manipulated the pair, so too was Bhaal manipulating his daughter.

As her 100th birthday drew near, and mumblings of her being a “privileged princess” among the other deathsingers had reached their heights, the young woman withdrew further and further from other drow. She spent more time fixating on her blooming romance, and whatever new adventures and sights might come next. And of the many centuries she still had left. When Irraefay would be called away for a mission in the spider queen’s service, she left Zesaer with a gift, a beautiful locket wrought of adamantine, with beautiful moon and spider engravings. This gift was in part a confession too, though.

Irraefay revealed herself as a spy for Lolth’s rogue daughter, a moondancer whose purpose was to rescue those from Lolth’s machinations. The things she taught and said to the drow? They were not teachings of the spider at all, but the prophecies of the moon, dressed as a “true teaching” meant for those strong enough to survive Arach-Tinilith. And though it was distressing to hear, Zesaer felt comfort and a renewed love. Once Irraefay would return, the pair planned to leave the city once more on another patrol, and from there flee to Waterdeep in the dark promenade.

But with the mentor’s departure, so soon darkness rapidly encroached again on the young noble. Her mother started requesting she appear more and more in the various ceremonies and holy days, on more than one occasion slaying the sacrifice to Lolth of a surface elf, a notion that made her feel deeply sick as she understood it to be a profane affront to that which her love held dear. And with this sickness so too returned the thoughts, the visions, and the voices. Because no matter how much it upset her that Irraefay hated those rituals. She couldn’t say the same of herself.

Her heart raced, and pulse pounded. She wanted more, and the blood tasted sweet. More than once she found her eyes lingering on the remains as they were taken away, and the reverie of flesh in Lolth’s name often followed. And in the afterglow of one such a night, so too came Sceleritas Fel.

A fiend who purported to be acting in her service, he provided the drow with interesting trinkets, and powerful magical items. He made comforting whispers and regaled the girl with stories of a “true father”, which she assumed to be Lolth.

This would all come to a head as Zeerith called her daughter to her chamber. On this tenday before her 100th birthday, her blooding was to be revealed. It would be her heretic lover Irraefay, Zeerith had been told by Lolth in a vision of the affront to the goddess that the daughter had committed, and of the perverse affection they shared. She was to make this right in the same fell swoop as she was to become responsible for her own actions as a fully-mature drow in Lolth’s fold. Any follower of Eilistraee was just as low as a surface creature, and twice as dangerous, after all. It was foretold that the apostate would return on Zesaer’s birthday, and that is when her hunt would begin.

For the next ten days, despite having no intention of following through with her mother’s monstrous request, the urges only grew stronger. She found herself mumbling on many occasions, thinking constantly of blood and viscera, and even torturing small animals to fight off boredom. Things that would have disgusted her love. Even the comfort of Sceleritas, whose visits seemed to provide a small relief from these feelings when he came, further solidified the woman’s belief that Lolth had understood all of this, and was giving her daughter one final chance to not displease the dark goddess. But still… The moon drow was a goddess herself too, no? Why would she not be able to protect them?

Because Lolth was the most powerful.

The thoughts and urges were like a ceaseless assault to her senses, causing the woman to do little other than eat, sleep, and toy with sharp things most of the time. But for a single moment, it all fell away.

In the early hours of her 100th year, Irraefay appeared to Zesaer. Hushing and pulling her into an embrace before they made their escape, she was told of the plan. They would have to march for three days, until they eventually met with a moondancer caravan that would transport them to the surface, and then move in the cover of night the rest of the way to Waterdeep. If all went well, they would reach Neverwinter within one tenday, and on the high road to Waterdeep in just less than a month total.

Her final two days with her lover were wracked with thoughts, compulsions, conflicting impulses, and elation. A mix of love and sorrow that would have broken most, and had broken Zesaer a thousand times in the days coming up.

Laying together on their last night before meeting the caravan, the afterglow of their final affirmations of their love to another, she did it. The young deathsinger completed her blooding in the moment that Irraefay’s last words caught in her throat, a declaration of happiness and love. Tears and blood mixed in that moment, but such things would also prove as the perfect disguise. A paint that allowed the noble to easily fool the moondancers she encountered into believing that a force of deathsingers had followed them on their “routine patrol” out of Lolthite paranoia, and to make haste as fast as they could. Just the type of improvisational thinking that her first love had instilled in Zesaer to make.

But Waterdeep was insufficient; after escaping from the caravan within Undermountain, she continued on her way. Somewhere far, but where Fel told her that her godly parent needed her to be. Baldur’s Gate. She would discover her status as actually a daughter of Bhaal, when meeting the cultists who would convince her of this truth, and make her their leader. Though Gortash would later imply things happened, she also had no affection for Bane’s chosen, seeing him as the exemplification of that which Lolth taught her drow to look down upon in the gender.

Power and Abilities (Lore) -Conditioning: Zesaera’s experience in the underdark and broader society has been that of a long series of harsh and challenging physical trials, but despite her status as a female in such a society, playing to the numbers game required her to rely on speed and skill, more than physical might. So, becoming lithe and fast, Zesaera ensured that she showcased her potential for speed and dexterity, an unassuming threat to those who thought her an easy target. While her physical strength contends with that of a slightly above-average athletic person, capable of benching roughly 100 lb. But her sense of coordination, balance, quickness, and agility are simply superhuman. This is showcased not only in her ability to manage and juggle many factors mentally and physically, but it seems that she can wield most any weapon suitable to her strength level with grace and accuracy, disregarding her actual familiarity with said weapon. This even is showcased when using long and awkward weapons, like paired longswords, or the now prolific dual-scimitars. This has been further practiced and honed with many hours of training and work in not only melee-magthere, but in her deathsinger training. Consistent with a harsh regiment of workouts and the need of a deathsinger to be ever vigilant and in the frontier bringing about Lolth’s justice, Zesaera is able to operate for exceptional lengths of time without rest, and is able to withstand fairly substantial blows from enemies.

-Spellcasting: Consistent with other in her species, Zesaer is a proficient spellcaster. The drowish culture regarding magic is to instruct from childhood in certain magics that one can do inherently thanks to the faerzress-rich environment of the underdark, and as a noble she is capable of simple levitation and types of illusion, but time in the Arcane academy within Tier Breche would further solidify to ensure that she had at least known the magics necessary for true faerie fire and to create globes of darkness. But specifically, as she was to be a deathsinger, Zesaer was instructed further in arcane magic, rather than the divine typically expected of a female. So, she has learned the skills necessary to cast arcane magic, and though deathsingers are traditionally wizards, the further, more specific, training instilled into her by Irraefay (in part as a darksong school bladesinger but also consistent with some interpretations of the displacer beast school) has resulted in the woman becoming a caster more akin to a bard, with a musical nature. The specific magic that Zesaer favors is always going to be situational, but Abjuration, Illusion, and a little Evocation, tend to serve her very well. Additionally, all drow have a natural resistance to magic, and while not outright immune to it, spellcasters have to hit drow elves with some serious power to get a result, hence why wizards and clerics tend to be so valued in their society. This resistance does not extend to magically-enhanced weaponry or psychic powers of any sort.

-Senses: Drow elves have especially acute senses, and are able to see in total darkness as if it were a moonlit night. Additionally, they have the ability to shift their vision into the infrared spectrum, which accompanies a glow that Zesaer is especially proud of in the case of her own eyes. This particular function is a favorite tactic of hers to intimidate (Adv. on Intimidate Checks situationally in places that aren’t bright or daytime). Thanks to the decades, at this point, that she has spent on the surface, Zesaer is no longer sensitive to the point of being debilitating during the daytime, though she will often develop migraines after more than a few hours, so she may seek some sort of hood or shelter to put herself through less pain. Also typical for an elf, she is sensitive to magical fields and can detect them, knowing when magic is occurring, or if an object is magical in nature, though not its specific function. Bright lights and bursts of sudden light otherwise, though, can still cause Zesaer to become stunned and stumble for longer than it might a normal human, leaving her dazed for several long moments. Despite working on and honing her senses as a deathsinger, Zesaer has never actually been all that detail or attention-oriented. As a result she can occasionally miss some painfully obvious things, and JUST narrowly.

-Rogue Training: Part of the typical caste of training in melee-magthere, this skill was reinforced upon further during her time as a deathsinger. After all, sneaking and stealing wasn’t always the worst idea when hoping to achieve a mission. Zesaer particularly loves to favor double-talk, and smooth-talk, pickpocketing, as well as sneaking around and performing feats of acrobatics. Despite this, she also has a fairly deep understanding of lore and local histories, making it a point to study nearly anywhere she goes. After a time in the harsh city streets, too, she has picked up no small amount of the savviness needed to survive the surface, including learning Thieves’ Cant, and the ability to move and act with both quickness and efficiency. But any Rogue worth their salt knows how to slit a throat especially deftly, of course. The underdark, and the harsh realities it taught to her, means that Zesaer will never fail to give up the first strike, and how to best exploit that first strike. This is the way of the displacer beast, to attack and exploit an enemey’s weaknesses at the most opportune time.

-Bard Training: In order to enforce versatility and ability, the school of the darksong makes sure that its practitioners are deft and capable in a broad range of skills and abilities, as well as being able to weave their magic into the song created by their blade. Thus, darksong school is especially deadly when gifted with a large weapon, or two of them at the same time, both styles which Zesaer is capable of, but the latter she favors. As an arcane spellcaster, through her bardic powers, is capable of 4th level spells intuitively. Through the power of her musical magic, she can manifest spells, or often enhances her swordplay fairly directly. Bards are also capable of performing music (Zesaer’s preferred technique is singing) to enhance the recovery of themselves and others.

-Ranger Training: Strictly necessary for her time in the martial academy, Zesaer has developed skills akin to that of the surface’s ranger. Though she mostly blends it with her stealth abilities to further depress opponents with an onslaught of fast-acting and preemptive strikes. Despite this, she still kept up with the physical exercises and drills that she was put through, which essentially makes Zesaer familiar with any type of weapon or armor. Through this, too, she has learned to act as predator on nearly any foe, nearly invisible when she hides among the shadow, and has learned to assume a variety of magical disguises thanks to this reliance on the shadow.

-Combat: As a swordswoman, Zesaer is among the most skilled in the sword coast, using the two-sword style that many know the drow for, though she doesn’t play to a hit-and-run, preferring to hit-and-kill in the early phases of any fight. Exceptional throughout her training, Bhaal has ensured this latest daughter would be a talented murderer, and her body doesn’t leave much room for the idea that she is somehow a weakling. With a keen interest in the art of murder, even if obscured by the justification that it was in Lolth’s service, Zesaer constantly seeks to improve her sword skills, to what end? She is not sure. But even prior to her amnesia, she firmly knew that she wished to be a superior in swordplay to every deathsinger that she met, and possibly any other swordsman who crosses her path.

Equipment and Possessions Prior to Amnesia (Spread to the winds): Harmonic Dueler, Rapier +2, Bhaalist Armor, Shadow of Menzoberranzan, Shade-Slayer Cloak, Bonespike Gloves, Irraefay’s Locket (Custom Item Stats TBR ;) ) After Amnesia (Act 1): Phalar Aluve, Adamantine Scimitar, Drow Studded Leather Armor, Shadow of Menzoberranzan, The Deathstalker Mantle, Wondrous Gloves, Irraefay’s Locket, Ring of Protection After Amnesia (Act 2): Harmonic Dueler, Phalar Aluve, Yuan-Ti Scale Mail, Shadow of Menzoberranzan, The Deathstalker Mantle, Wondrous Gloves, Boots of Brilliance, Irraefay’s Locket, Killer’s Sweetheart, Ring of Protection After Amnesia (Act 3; No Bhaal Run): Harmonic Dueler, Phalar Aluve, Armor of Agility, Birthright, Cloak of Protection, Wondrous Gloves, Boots of Persistence, Irraefay’s Locket, Killer’s Sweetheart, True Love’s Caress (Other owned by her romanced companion)

Powers and Abilities (Mechanical; BG3) Basic Stats (Lvl 1) Str 10 (0) Dex 18 (+4) Con 14 (+2) Int 8 (-1) Wis 8 (-1) Cha 16 (+3) Rogue (Assassin) 3/Ranger (Gloomstalker) 3/Bard (College of Swords) 6 Two-Weapon Fighting and Defense Fighting Styles Ranger Knight Favored Enemy (Humanoid: Elf) Urban Tracker Favored Terrain Dual-Wielder Feat

(Other Edition Takes TBD)

#The Lady of Seldarine Sonata (Zesaer Xorlarrin)

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