Taro Sarghress

*Appeared in chapters*                           25\*  27\*
*Appeared in side stories*  Island of Sea and Sky

Drowolath

A young, inexperienced rookie who has recently joined the ranks of the Highland Raiders.

## Appearance and Personality

Taro is a young rookie Raider, with white, cropped hair and cyan eyes. His clothing is dark and simple, and when on duty he wears the standard gold armor. A quiet recruit, he shows deference to his leadership and attempts to follow orders to the best of his ability.

## Biography

Taro was born poor, with little prospects to look forward to in his future. After a failed attempt to enter a city gang in his youth, he was found by a Sarghress soldier who spotted a bit of potential in the young drow, and was sponsored for membership to the Sarghress clan. Much like Iwan, he was drawn to the Raiders after hearing of Quain'tana's exploits. Beginning at the bottom of the ranks like many Sarghress recruits, Taro started off as a camp helper, until he eventually earned a place among the Highland Raiders.

## Biography - Arc I

### Fallen Island

Main article: Vaelia's Path
 File:Taro-float.png
Taro volunteered to join a group of Highland Raider rookies to explore the nearby Nuwa Isles in search of treasure and relics for the clan. Once they located a solid place to tie their boat, the team of Raiders made their way toward the nearby island, with Iwan advising them to use the smaller floating rock pieces that littered the area. Iwan began to teach the inexperienced Raiders the trick to navigating the floating rocks, which Nom'ina commented was much like the floaters at the Othorbbae . Due to the rough waters, Taro quickly found himself regretting the boat trip after finding himself seasick. Still fairly new to mana manipulation, Taro showed difficulty with controlling his floating rock, having had no formal training prior to the mission. With a little difficulty, he eventually managed to guide his rock across the water as instructed by Iwan.

The team continued to explore for hours, with Iwan patiently answering any and all questions from the rookies. As sunset rose, they completed their investigation of a ruined tower, which they found to be flooded and would require expert divers to further explore. The drow then caught the sound of someone speaking. Realizing that it was Vaelia's language, Iwan allowed the Emberi to lead the way, trusting her to investigate on her own - the source of the odd language turned out to be Emberi fishermen.

### A Little Effort In Communication

 File:Taro-seasick.png
After Vaelia was able to negotiate with the fishermen for passage to Samoi, Taro was forced to wait and recover from his seasickness before proceeding. After Iwan warned Nom Nom to avoid scaring the locals, they continued towards the center of the island, with Iwan explaining their location as being a week's travel from Nuqrah'shareh, on the North-eastern tip of the Nuwa Isles with another small continent to the North-west.

The next day, the Raiders arrived at what they thought would be a dark elf ruin. To their surprise, it appeared to be inhabited by Emberi. After Vaelia and Kaito quarreled over whether or not to kill the Emberi villagers, Kaito kicked Vaelia's bag, revealing that she had smuggled a locust from the supply building they had cleared out before the mission. Iwan confronted her, telling her that she had better have a good reason for smuggling what they considered to be a pest. Vaelia quickly bowed on the ground in front of them, begging forgiveness for the deception. She then claimed that Chu was not a locust but a good earth spirit, and begged him to spare the small fae since without Chu, she was a burden to them.  Telling the drow again that there was no need to kill anyone, Vaelia asked for a chance to prove that she could get the Emberi to provide valuables to the Raiders without bloodshed.

Iwan stated his dislike for her, as he still suspected she was a liability and that if the commander hadn't pulled strings, she wouldn't even be there. He then told her that they were the Sarghress, and that they were all there to prove themselves. Telling her that this was her chance, he allowed her to make an attempt to negotiate with the village, with Nom'ina and Taro supporting the decision and saying that everyone needed a chance.  Taro himself showed more interest in her locust fae companion's capabilities, asking if they could really make the crystals float.

 File:Raiders.png
Later that day, Vaelia returned, leading a bird that had been loaded with crates. To Iwan's surprise, she opened the crates, revealing one of them to be filled with mana-bearing sap. He expressed surprise, not knowing that plain sap could be made into a mana-bearing jewel, and admitted to Vaelia that he was impressed - perhaps he was wrong about her.

## Notable Quotes

*"I don't feel too safe with all that...undulating water."* - To the squad, after noticing the choppy waves surrounding the Nuwa Isles.