Arane

Arane and her spider, Anansi

Lord Erdan Melphekiir (deceased)

## Description:

At a first glance Arane appears to be like any other ten year old girl. Fairly short, skinny, and coming into her own. If you look into her red ringed dark green eyes you can tell she has more experience than originally thought. Her hair that once glowed a golden yellow is now dimmed to a silver white. She is pale, fragile, and doll-like; which is what brought her to this state. Based on the traditions of her homeland her hair is intricately braided and weaved back.

The outfit pictured is one of two outfits she owns since her escape. An outfit provided to her by Gregor and another that she wore when she was taken.

Her voice used to be sweet but now comes out in a tired rasp, which matches her attitude on life. She, like those in her homeland, have an accent akin to Russian blended with Romanian in our world.

Arane is a reserved woman and when she does speak tends to be rather negative and bitter. She sticks with others for survival, which isn't hard when you look like a child lost in the world.

## Early life:

Arane was born in The City of Vermeer, Vermeer in the summer to Lord and Lady Melphekiir after their 200th year. Her birth was celebrated for the first week of her life as was custom of Vermeerian high borns. As is also custom she wasn't named until her first smile. Traditionally the name is based off of what made the infant smile. In Arane's case it was a spider that tickled her foot as it walked across her.

Her parents were active members of the society leading many social and charitable events. Lady El'Ara Melphekiir was a practicing sorceress while Lord Erdan Melphekiir was a famous and talented musician known all across Cìrbann.

Arane grew up like any other child in Vermeer. She was taught the importance of keeping ones own record with journals, she fell in love with sketching and reading, and she was fond of dancing. Her smiling face was recognized and loved throughout Vermeer. That is until...

### The Kidnapping:

When she turned ten years old she was kidnapped by a necromancer and family friend by the name of Gregor Bareghast. As far as she knew he found Arane to be an enchanting child to look at and was a collector of beautiful creatures. He placed a curse over her so that she would remain in her same physical condition. Once the curse was in place he took her across the waters to his home in the Unclaimed Lands. At first he truly treated her like a doll and she was dressed and displayed as such. He kept her in a glass box that she could comfortably stand in but not sit or lie. She would cry frequently from being tired, scared, and homesick. She hated this place. Arane was on display with other creatures that she didn't recognize in his foyer. Gregor would have otherworldly and undead visitors frequently throughout the time she was there. They would oggle her and speak of her and the others in abyssal or deep speech. These languages she would slowly learn to understand over time.

And time there was. Something was altering it making time feel slower than it was. She could feel her mind and soul aging but nothing about her changed except her hair faded to a silver white color. Gregor admired this new trait and thought it warranted her release from the glass box. He relocated her to the top of a stone tower in his home. The room was more suitable to her with a bed, books to cure boredom, stuffed animals to ward away her loneliness, and a window to see outside. It was a gilded cage, beautiful in every way but not as beautiful as freedom. Gregor referred to her with the nickname, "Special Doll," and would give her small gifts on the regular. A new book one day, flowers another, journals, pens. She didn't understand why he wouldn't take her home.

Days felt as though they lasted a lifetime and with that so did boredom. She kept herself busy reading through the assorted books she now had access to and in her journal wrote down useful information to try and escape. She knew it best not to try until she knew all the details of the castle in which she stayed. She found a book on poetry that she would read to try to keep herself company. Every day she would receive three meals and with each meal she would receive a proposal. To each she would decline. He would get frustrated with each rejection.

During her readings she found information on a potion that when mixed correctly turns red in color and was referred to as, "The Kiss of Death." In the book it mentioned it was frequently used by assassins and if mixed correctly would kill the target within seconds. The ingredients seemed simple to retreive...if she could get out of the room. During dinner one night Gregor again offered his proposal in marriage. She said she would accept if he let her explore the rest of the castle. Overjoyed he accepted her conditions and allowed her to freely roam about the castle. It took some time but she found his kitchens and found the herbs that she needed to make her potion. Arane began preparing the rest of her escape when she returned to her room. Her thoughts were that whether or not it worked properly, if it killed him or her, she would have escaped. She kept her potion in a little gold inkwell on her dresser.

The next morning Gregor came in to make his proposal to which Arane accepted. He said he would send off invitations throughout the morning to which Arane replied that it would take too long and that they should marry that night. Overjoyed, Gregor agreed saying he still had guests who could come in no time. This made Arane nervous. He brought in an undead maid to help with her dress and hair Arane asked to leave the make up to her. It was the moment of truth. Arane brushed on the potion delicately on her lips and after a few seconds realized that it at least worked with not killing her. She broke into a nervous sweat wondering if it would end up killing her captor.

The ceremony was ready to begin that night under a full moon. The sky was clear and nearby trees danced in the summer breeze. Seating for recently risen undead was created on top of the cliffs behind the castle. Along with the moon and stars ghastly floating lights of green and purple hues lined the aisle and encircled the end where Arane and Gregor would stand. Arane was escorted out by the undead maid. Arane almost made herself cry thinking of her parents and how they were supposed to be at her wedding, in the right time. A panic struck her heart for if the potion didn't work and she was stuck married to this man and forced to consummate an already horrifying marriage. The undead faces around her watched as she walked down the aisle to the man who raised them. Some with gaping mouths and missing eyes. Their ugliness and stink made her stomach turn more.

Gregor lead the ceremony in the name of Vecna. He held Arane's hands tightly, not as a captor but as a lover. This made Arane nervous especially when she looked in his eyes and saw a sort of affection in his eyes. She found this unnerving that he'd find keeping someone captive would get him reciprocated admiration. Much of the ceremony blurred together and went by quickly. They said their I dos and he caressed her face for her first kiss. Arane's heart pounded in her chest from the new sensation and the build up of adrenaline in her body. Gregor slowly pulled away from her and smiled then took her hand to look at their guests. Arane felt her stomach sink thinking the potion had failed when she felt the grip on her hand tighten. Gregor started collapsing to the ground he looked to Arane with a look of surprise and betrayal. She looked at him in horror as he fell to the ground grasping his chest. "My-my d-do-," he started sputtered, tears in his eyes and blood beginning to trickle from his mouth. Arane couldn't look away from his eyes and a pang of guilt stabbed her heart. The undead around her in the seating began to turn to dust and drifted off in the wind, the lights flickered then faded then so did Gregor's. Arane coldly turned away from his body and returned to the castle to retrieve the gear she would need to escape.

### The Escape

When she returned to the castle she discovered that the other creatures kept in the glass boxes were gone. She went up to what was her room and found large backpack. In it she put one of the poetry books she loved most as well as a book of plants. She threw off her dress and found one of her more practical doll outfits to wear. The other being the clothes she wore when she was abducted. She grabbed the little inkwell that she kept the potion and looked at it. Looking at the potion slowly made her feel nauseated and the image of Gregor's face as he died flashed in her head. She gathered other odds and ends she thought would be helpful and raided what she could from the kitchen without her pack getting too heavy. As she was leaving she found a map of Nesoläme with a mark indicating where the castle was. She realized her best bet to get home was to get to North Fort. She acquired her hand crossbow at the castle.

While on her way to North Fort she came across small encounters with Kobolds and learned both how to hide from and smite these creatures. They are where she got her hand axes. She also quickly discovered where to find food and water and build shelter to live on her own. While in the mountains just to the north she met Bridget. It was from her that she learned over seven centuries had passed and that her parents were no more. Bridget offered to take her to North Fort to help get to a ship to Cìrbann. She declined seeing no point in going back and decided she would rather travel with her than alone.

Arane wants to find a counter curse to be able to actually grow up. Whether that means slowly and living or time catching up right away and killing her, but she refuses to be a burden and to let others know about her true nature. She still wears the ring Gregor had given her, not from guild, but as a trophy for killing her first monster. She keeps a journal of her travels.