Roguewing--the Neverwinter Nights version

ROGUEWING

The Neverwinter Nights version

My story actually begins about two years before I was born.

My mother was raised in the village of Tasslebrook, which is about three months ride from the port city of Neverwinter. It lies between settlements of Orcs, Drow, and a forest population known only as "the Wild Ones."
During the harvest that fall, Drow raiders attacked our field, stealing the hard-grown crop. With them they took several prisoners, including the woman who would become my mother.
For the first year and a half, my future mother was forced to serve as a slave in their temples. At that point, she was raped by my father in order to conceive next year's sacrifice. The child conceived of that union was me.
Five months later, my mother was rescued by her people and taken back to Tasslebrook. She was having a difficult pregnancy, and many in the village considered her to be damned by the half-breed child she bore. Due to complications in my birth, my mother died brining me into the world. Sadly, I never knew her.

The people of Tasslebrook, though they hated my existence and what I represented, raised me for the first six years of my life. Though they raised me, as they saw it their duty to do, they weren't bashful about letting me know what an abomination they thought I was. My dark skin and red eyes were constant sources of trouble for me. The other children either left me alone, or were unbearably cruel, as only children can truly be, when their parents weren't looking. Only Jezebel, my mother's younger sister, showed me any real kindness. It was she who told me about my mother and what had happened to her.

When I was six, I was off on my own in the fields reading one of Aunt Jezebel's books when a dark stranger rode across the fields towards me. Before I could react, he swept me onto the back of his horse and rode off toward the Drow caves. We stopped after awhile to rest his horse. It was then that I noticed his dark skin and ears that were pointed like mine.
"Do you know me, child?" He asked me in a very harsh voice.
"N-n-n-no," I stammered. I was more scared than I had ever been.
"I, girl, am Morikei Teliasque," he stated as he began to ride toward the Drow caves once more. "I am your father, and it is my intention to see you become the sacrifice to Lolth that you should have been six years ago."
That scared the hell out of me as, though I didn't know what Lolth was, I was well aware of what a sacrifice was.
I tried to get free, but he was too strong. Unfortunately for both of us, however, my shrieks and screams attracted the attention of a band of Orcs. They fell on him in a frenzy. I was quickly tossed to the ground as he attempted to escape. I then watched helplessly as they brutally killed him. They were separating out his belongings and money when several of them turned their attentions to me.
As the leader reached for me, a blade flashed in front of my eyes.
"She mine," the gruff voice at the end of the blade told the leader. "Cleftlip claim girl for self."
The leader chortled disgustingly. "You must like young, Cleftlip. She no even got tits yet. You want, you can have."
At that, the leader shuffled off to rejoin his band. Cleftlip watched him, and me, carefully for a long while. Then he turned to me and said "Cleftlip stop chief to spare you. Now run, girl. Run for woods."
He must have seen my confusion, as he began to push me away from him.
"Run, girl," he insisted. "Run before they come back. You be safe in woods."
I ran like I had never run before. When I reached the woods, I stopped to catch my breath and look around. I never saw Cleftlip again..
I soon realized where I was. I was in the Wild Place! No one who comes here is ever seen again.
I was really scared. I had heard horror stories about these woods and the people who lived in them. My biggest problem right then was that I knew I was lost and had no idea how to get back to Tasslebrook.
"You lost or somethin', kid?" a voice called from behind me.
I must have jumped three feet before the voice started laughing.
"Easy, kid," the voice told me. "You're gonna hurt yourself jumpin' around like that."
Eventually we met face to face. He looked a little like me, with pointed ears and all. He took me to meet his people, and I soon found that they all pretty much started out as outcasts. Although they too were suspicious of my Drow blood, They took the time tolearn that I wasn't as evil as those of my father's race and took me in as one of their own and raised me in their ways.

Living among them, I learned many things about survival and open acceptance of others based on things besides appearance. I learned how to notice things in the world with senses other than sight. They taught me how to live off the land and the ways of the ranger.
During this time, I made my first friend outside the Wild Ones. I was out hunting when I came upon a stranger. I tried to ambush him, but failed miserably when the tree branch I was on collapsed under me. He was at first suspicious of my blood, but quickly realized I was not some horrible criminal. He shared his meager rations with me(hunting had been really bad for several days) and we ate together at his fire. I told him my tale and he told me, if I was ever in the Neverwinter area, to look him up. His name, he said, was Shea O'Brien.
The following day, we parted and I continued my ranger's training. My adopted people soon discovered that I also had a talent for the arcane but decided I still needed a great deal of maturity before I could risk training as a magician.

It was my adopted people who, remarking on my heritage, named me Halelana Quaradom, which means "Shadowhawk Roguewing" in their tongue. When I was accepted into the ranks of the rangers, I was given the tattoo around my left eye, as all of their rangers were, by the elders as a kind of badge of office so that I would always be recognized my own kind.

I had lived with them for about 14 years at that time and was saddened when I was told it was time to leave. It was time for me to go out into the world and find my place in it. I left the forest that had been my home and headed west in search of my new life.

I journeyed toward Neverwinter as that seemed as good a place as any to start. Along the way, I discovered distrust and hatred by most who saw my dark skin and pointed ears. I helped those along the way that I could and continued in my journey westward.
In my travels I heard tales of the many guilds and orders in Neverwinter. One in particular, the Knights of Justice, appealed to be because it touted a diverse membership and its master, Lord Shea O'Brion, was reputed to be as fair man. Besides, I remembered my failed ambush and the friend I made because of it.
On my arrival in Neverwinter, I was invited to join several of the darker guilds and "invited" to stay away from many more. To my surprise, I was allowed into the Knights' guild hall. I was even more surprise by the reception I received there. I petitioned Shea for membership and, again to my surprise, was welcomed by the entire order as Lady Roguewing.

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