Shera Torlak

**Shera Torlak** is human female rogue played by Jan

## Character Sketch

Apart from her last name, Shera has little to remind her of her father, a mysterious man who disappeared not long after Shera’s tenth birthday. Her mother, the illegitimate daughter of a foreign sailor, did her best to raise Shera on her own and the result has been a self-reliant, if a little insular young woman.

## Biography

### Early Life

Shera Torlak was born in 4E:3, the only child of Lord Belisarius Torlak and his wife,  Farah and the last descendant of a line that stretched back to the legendary Spellmason - Surabar Torlak.

Shera's mother, Farah Khodr, was the illegitimate daughter of a Mokerian peasant and Captain Ranvir, a Tarishtian buccaneer infamous for his raids around the Isle of the Ancestors. Farah grew up with her mother Safiya and younger sister Rhuja. Rhuja would have a daughter of her own, Jamiliah binte Naga, who was about the same age as Shera.

In ages past, marrying into the Torlak family would have been the dream of every young woman of Cauldron, but by the time Farah met a young Belisarius, his father, Narses, had wasted the last of the family wealth on debauchery. The two elder brothers of Belisarius died in the Despoiler's War and Narses followed not long after.

Belisarius had lost nearly everything. The family name was all that remained and when Farah found herself with child, Belisarius, anxious at the thought of an illegitimate Torlak, proposed marriage. The young couple were happy for a while as they raised their child together but eventually one day Belisarius left without warning, and with no indication as to why. It is said Farah was never the same.

Shera was thus raised by her mother who, after Shera's father left, had become little more than a recluse. The family name, once revered in Cauldron, was now unspoken except in mockery, and the great wealth that had once sustained the Spellmason estate was all but gone. In desperation, one day after her twenty-third birthday, Shera resolved to change her family's fate and made the decision that would change her destiny forever - she would enter the Spellmason tower, long abandoned, but rumoured to hold great treasure.

Shera rescued kidnapped orphans from the Obsidian Citadel beneath Cauldron, defeating the slaver Kazmojen and earning acclaim. After this she cleared out the goblins from Drakthar's Way, defeating the vampire Drakthar. She was then hired by the Church of Ralom to recover stolen wands from the Ebon Triad, on this mission she disappeared, whereabouts unknown.

### Far away from home

Shera next reappeared in the ruins of Castle Genio, in the Solitary Isles. Captured by the Twisted Claw Society, Shera remembered little of the circumstances that led to her kidnapping, but with the aid of fellow prisoners, Zuch Achtunge and Zendra Kuthutulu, she was able to escape the ruins and the dread pirate Jack Shandy - but in doing so, she pledged himself to the service of the Horned God, a decision that would likely cause difficulties in the future.

She passed through Aodh's Landing, where, making the acquaintance of Bundaris and Salmanief McAonghus, she assisted them in defeating the gargoyle Verag. After that, Shera made her way to Bongenio where her arrival was soon noted. Lord Armin Arabani, a fellow native of the Isle of the Ancestors, invited Shera to the wedding of his daughter, Anwyn, at his estate on a small island just off the coast of Bongenio. There a tragic series of events led to Lord Arabani's murder - the former adventuring hero Ganriel T'renhazaan, now a werewolf, slaughtered Lord Arabani and two other guests at the wedding until he was defeated by Shera. Unfortunately in the battle, Shera contracted lycanthropy herself.

After recovering from this ordeal, Shera tracked down the criminal known as "The Grackle", saved a pod of flumphs and rescued the young Nissa, apprentice of the thaumaturge Pandora.

Subsequently, she reunited with Zendra Kuhtutulu, and the two of them tracked down a stolen spellbook for Pandora, tracing it to the cultist Hadonis and the Disciples of Delight. This dangerous cult was destroyed with the assistance of Renshu the Orschan, a warrior seeking vengeance against Hadonis for his own reasons.

After the success of that mission, Shera was approached by Thadeus Moonsong, retired Legionnaire and innkeeper at the Golden Griffon Inn. Shera, along with Zendra and Renshu, was to escort the aarakocra Aaera of Aaqa to Silatan Island, and there convince the sole inhabitant of the island, Ramon the Burned, to give up the piece of the Rod of Seven Parts that he possessed. They were joined by Zuch d'Achtunge, who made his own way to the island. Upon arriving, however, they discovered that Ramon has been killed, and his fortress occupied by Orschans. Shera and her companions drove off the Orschans, recover the piece of the Rod, and were awarded ownership of the now vacant keep.

### Lady of Fort Makmon

Roughly a month later they assisted Thadeus with another task - solving the recent spate of murders in Bongenio. Two new companions joined them on this adventure: Mercy, Thadeus' adopted daughter, and the mysterious assassin Farvadin, a member of the shadowy Thieves Guild of Bongenio.

A month or so later she was present in the Golden Griffon Inn when it was attacked by the forces of Order, and escaped via the sewers to Fort Makmon.

After a harrowing escape through underground passages, they reached safety but had little time for rest. Mercy's father, Thadeus, along with the deposed captain of the guard, Agmar Schwarzwald, had been captured by the forces of Order, and both had been shipped to the infamous Granite Mountain Prison. A daring plan for their rescue was hatched, so Fort Makmon was left in the hands of trusted associates, while the heroes made their way to Granite Mountain Prison aboard the *Gannet*.

During the sea voyage, a storm damaged the ship, forcing the heroes to make an unexpected landing at a coastal strip of Tempest known only as the "Dark Place". Here the heroes tangled with a gacholoth, and barely escaped from their lives. With the ship seaworthy again, they continued on their way to the prison.

The infiltration was a success, and Agmar and Thadeus were rescued and brought safely onboard the *Gannet*. Unfortunately, upon the ship's return to the Solitary Isles, Shera and her companions discovered that Fort Makmon was under siege by the forces of Khyron Bloodsworn.

Entering Fort Makmon through the secret entrance, the heroes managed to lift the siege, with Zendra slaying Khyron Bloodsworn to break the ranks of the enemy. The spellcaster Skaven Umbermead also died in the battle, but the other two commanders escaped. The leader of the occupation, Pierce McBrian, disowned Khyron and washed his hands of the blackguard's actions, but still refused to end the blockade until the chaos cultists were dealt with. Thanks to a tip-off from Raoul "The Crow", the heroes identified the leader of the cultists, Eliasia Ebon, and hunted her down to the Isle of the Basilisk.

After this she was hired by Celeste and Davked Splintershield to rescue the latter's son Zenith from Bhal-Hamatugn. After battling kuo-toa and a summoned erinyes, she discovered Zenith was not a prisoner, but rather insane, and actually the leader of the city. Despite this she and her companions were able to subdue the dwarf and bring him back to civilisation.

A month or so later, Dovinio Alariat, King of the Solitary Isles paid a visit to his realm from Macrodonia, and the heroes of Fort Makmon were invited to the traditional buffalo hunt. During the hunt, the king was murdered, and the heroes caught up in the turmoil. They found themselves ranged against Freija Doorgan, the Royal Mage of Macrodonia, who had masterminded the regicide as a way to place Dovinio's pliable son on the throne and rule through him. The heroes recovered the crown of the Solitary Isles and crowned Dovinio's sister, instead, defeating Freija in the process.

### Homecoming

In the following months they took a ship to the Isle of the Ancestors, where they met Maavu Arlintal in Redgorge. Arlintal tasked them to find Alek Tercival, and request that the paladin withdraw his challenge to the captain of Cauldron's guard. Tracking Tercival to the Demonskar, they followed him through a Soldara gate to a distant vault in the Avera Desert. Here Tecival was killed by Nabthatoron, whom the heroes subsequently defeated.

Marooned in the Avera Desert, the heroes made their way to Balthasar, an isolated outpost on the edge of nowhere. The city's tower bore the sign of the Smoking Eye, but to enter it the heroes had to solve that horrific crime that had been committed behind Balthasar's walls. Borric Thalmann, a merchant lord of Balthasar had been killed in an arson attack, and the three suspects fled to an isolated subterranean lair in the desert. With the conspirators revealed as Yuan-Ti, the heroes defeated them in battle, as well as the terrifying yuan-ti leader, Yith'sehta. They returned to Balthasar in triumph, and were granted access to the tower only for Graymalkin, Shera's familiar, to transform into a humanoid sorcerer and beg them to journey with him to the demonic realm of Occiptius.

On Occipitus they faced the tests of the Smoking Eye, accompanied by the former Graymalkin (now calling himself Kaurophon). After passing the gruelling challenges they reached the final test, where they were betrayed by Kaurophon, who hoped to claim the power of Occipitus for himself. They defeated him and were transported to an unknown dungeon. Here they were taunted by Vervil Ashmantle, who told them of his plans to enslave them. Escaping the prison they found themselves in the depths of the dungeons beneath Castle Genio. They eventually found their way back to the surface, where they caught a boat from Aodh's Landing back to Fort Makmon.

### A Journey South

Their next mission required them to infiltrate the distant port of Scuttlecove, a den of pirates and other reprobates. There was an increase in crime in the Solitary Isles, and narcotics originating in Scuttlecove were believed to be the source of it all. Disguising themselves as pirates, the heroes accompanied their old enemy Jonath Lever on the journey.

Once in Scuttlecove they quickly identified the Porphyry House as the source of the drug, and making tenuous alliances with Kedward Bone and Tyralandi they infiltrated the brothel finding the ringleader, Wulvera, and killing her along with her minions. With their mission successful they left the island but Captain Lever, intoxicated on sannish, took them in the wrong direction and they ran aground on the infamous Isle of Dread.

To get supplies and assistance in repairing the ship, the heroes beseeched the villagers of Mora for aid. The village offered any help it could in exchange for finding its lost Zombie Master, Tilorak, and ending the magical storm that wracked the island. After braving the catacombs beneath the village, the heroes found Tilorak, now an undead monster, and defeated him and his kopru allies, ending the storm.

However, after the heroes returned with both supplies and labourers to their ship, Lever had gone, along with several of the crewmen. Villagers from Tanaroa confirmed to the heroes that Lever and his companions had left for the centre of the island, seeking a giant black pearl in the temple on Taboo Island.

As the group trekked through the island, they met with the mysterious rakasta and were shown the way to the central plateau. At the sole crossing, they were attacked by a swarm of pteranodons and a rogue tyrannosaurus rex. In the battle, Renshu was carried off by a pteranodon, to parts unknown, but the rest continued on their way to Mantru. Here they learned more of Taboo Island, and Captain Lever's reasons for journeying there. They took small boats to the island but were attacked by a giant crocodile. Farvadin dove underwater to finish the creature off. When they arrived on Taboo Island they were attacked by tribal warriors but survived this encounter to discover a statue of Demogorgon. The statue drew them into a dream world where they were given vital information about Adimarchus and the Cagewrights, as well as boons from Demogorgon, Graz'zt and Orcus.

The heroes continued to explore the ruins beneath Taboo Island an eventually found Captain Lever, captured by a group of kopru. After rescuing him, they returned to Mantru, only to come under the attack of the great green dragon Xiureksor. The wyrm's poison breath knocked all the heroes into unconsciousness.

They awoke some interminable time later, deep in the bowels of the Shrine to Zotzilaha in the ruined city of Tamoachan. Braving deadly traps, fearsome creatures, and cursed undead, the heroes eventually escaped from the temple, emerging on to the surface above where they reunited with Grinkle, Zendra's henchman. The goblin helped them escape the pursuing dragon and brought them to the village of Uskarn, where Captain Lever and their ship awaited them.

Upon their arrival in Uskarn, however, they discovered a dead body of an exhausted hermit, and a further complication of their ship being impounded by the village leaders. In order to have it released, they were required to investigate the mysterious death of the hermit. This would take them to the hermitage of Firewatch Island. There they uncovered the fate of the hermits - an attack by undead creatures known as "the Drowned". They fought off another assault from the creatures, rescued the survivors (including Renshu's sister, Kimiko, and then brought them to safety in Uskarn, before the headed off to find the source of the undead menace, a place called the Pit of Hatred.

## Notable Possessions

Shera wears the Ring of the Spellmason, a family heirloom of House Torlak, as well as Alakast, the staff wielded by her ancestor. Surabar Torlak.