Zareyl Arkenviir

* Trickery Domain
* Reverie Domain

Zareyl Arkenviir is a Drow Cleric hired by Nelenet to explore the continent of Ahlus.

## Personality

A cold and wicked woman at her core, Zareyl puts herself before all others but is quick to make peace and a faux friendship with those that she believes can be of use to her. Ultimately, she will defend and protect those who serve a purpose in her task of fulfilling and and expanding her powers until she ready to return to her den and vanquish her enemies. A master manipulator, she seeks to surround herself with powerful allies and rid herself of weakness and those who intend to question her goals, motives or... anything really.

## Backstory

Once a noble lady and daughter of a Matron Mother, Zareyl was raised a Priestess of Lolth and would one day become the new Matron Mother. Following a great war between the Drow and Illithid, the other major families rose up against the Arkenviir den and murdered every living member. Zareyl was the only survivor of the tragedy and was forced to leave, surviving only through her faith in Lolth. She has since promised to one day return and destroy those who took her future from her. Leaving her home behind, she seeks great artifacts in the hope of increasing her powers monumentally so she might take back what was stolen from her. And she will take it back, with darkness and edge.

## Adventures in Ahlus

### Expedition #1 - The Frozen Wastes

Zareyl first arrived at the Nelenet with her indentured servant, Skuld. Upon arrival, they immediately headed out into the Tundra with a mountain Dwarf by the name of Umbrek. Finding battle with steam memphits, they ventured further, finding confrontation with a large winter wolf, who made for a beautiful white pelt that adorned her shoulders. Eventually, they would stumble upon a pair of goliath hunters stalking a polar bear. Follwoing to their village, Zareyl was full of glee at the prospect of so many strong and capable slaves.

### Expedition #2 - The Bone Fields

In her second trip out, without Skuld at her side, she ventured into the deserts, much to her dismay. Finding an oasis, Zareyl ordered the party to enslave a party a camels to carry them. To her anguish, this took far too long as the night eventually fell upon them and the hyenas and vultures with them. When battle ended and the morning came, she watched as the wizard dove into the oasis and returned with a set of Bracers of Archery.

### Expedition #3 - Finding Woodry Bridge

In Zareyl's third expedition in the wilderness of Whitten in search of Woodry Bridge, the party quickly stumbled upon a party of hobgoblins, attempting to communicate to them they had no success. In broken common they demand tribute and Zareyl agrees and offers Wren as tribute and begs him to look over him and assess his worth. As he did so, Zareyl flanked the hobgoblin leader and inflicted wounds upon him and ignited combat. By the end of the first round they realized they were outmatched and many looked to leave as Rakrun grabbed Wren and stormed away, claiming him as tribute. In a last ditch effort, Zareyl cast ‘Charm Person’ on the leader and asked that he be released and that they went their separate ways. Following their leader into the forest, the hobgoblin martial artist Nozak stared Zareyl down with a burning intensity. Agreeing that they should move carefully, they followed the river north doing their best to hide their tracks and presence from any patrolling hobgoblins, as Zareyl pointed out that after an hour he may likely return and search for them.

Eventually reaching the bridge, they were met by a tree carefully placed across the way. Three humans called out with a ballista casually trained on the group as they approached. Demanding 50gp per person to cross, being convinced to drop their demands to 45gp, claiming they were collecting on behalf of Queen Lysiphoia of Chalimar Palace. Zareyl, not being one to be fleeced, told them they had no authority to do so and it was a free country (for now). The soldiers warned that they would have to rough them up if they refused and Zareyl goaded them to do and make the first move, inclining them to let loose a ballista bolt on Umbrek, narrowly missing. As the battle broke out, the seemingly normal humans turned quickly into their beast shapes as skin broke and fur appeared, revealing their jackelwere forms. Attempting to send many to sleep with their hypnotic gazes, the party pushed forwards as Umbrek swung his moon-touched sword to devastating effect, the Deep Gnome Drogglet sending poison darts and Gnome magic with debilitating effect and Siebern using his dunamancy magic to keep them in place as they attempted to flee. Zareyl took her first victim as she took a jackalwere by the name of Rovell as a prisoners back to Whittengrove, who later break and enter the servitude of the Arkenviir Den.

Searching the watchtower, the group would discover an abundance of loot, treasures and weapons, including an Fey-like artifact that had been dubbed the Periapt of Morgaelei.

### Expedition #4 - The Tomb of Nakhelos

They step through the portal into the Echo Waymark to track down the tomb as noted in the Parchment of the Dustlords. Heading south to the tomb, they come across an ogre howdah, carrying four goblins upon the construct backpack. Noting the black hand upon their armor and faces, Zareyl demanded they attack to weaken their clan. Wren, wanting to let them pass and hide, was overruled as Zareyl readied the others to attack from their hidden position. Fonteyne climbs the howdah mid battle and cleaves goblins in half, Zareyl dealing nonlethal damage to take the ogre down and claiming it as her prisoner, until she realised her manacles wouldn’t fit and so she slit its throat. As the goblin boss fled, javelins flew but missed until Zareyl came back around to charm the goblin and place him in manacles as a prisoner. Unfortunately it did not speak common the party did not speak goblinoid.

Moving into the catacombs beneath the cliff-face, they explored the initial tombs of the Dustlord finding reliefs that would tell a story of how to open the chamber doors by offering silt braziers and setting them alight, in tribute to the skeletal bat like creature emblazoned upon the door. Pressing on, the glorious Drow matron leader inspired the party to investigate further as they uncovered great treasures that were quickly handed out to Wren, Umbrek and Drogglet, as material possession were of no use to one as serene and generous as Zareyl Arkenviir. Fighting off the shadows that lurked within, the mummies that followed and single-handedly disarming all of the traps to keep the party safe, Zareyl marched into the inner sanctum of Nakhelos the Sacrosanct. Zareyl knew that there was too great an evil within the chamber and urged the party to rethink their plans and to leave, but they persisted as their eyes were heavy with lust for wealth and glory. Not wanting to disappoint her companions, she followed them to their doom as Nakhelos the Sacrosanct himself rose his sarcophagus and immediately rose his undead servants from their slumber. Seeing they were outmatched, Zareyl called for the others to flee whilst she covered their escape, showing selflessness and heroism in the act. Unfortunately, the undead had flanked her companions leaving them surrounded. In her final moments in the tomb, she had to choose between dying with her great friends and fleeing to fight another day and speak of what had happened and warn Whittengrove of the undead terror that was Nakhelos.

### Expedition #5 - Nakhelos' Sarcophagi

The day started with Zareyl removing a curse that had been gifted upon her by the Coronet of Khitros, upon her success she immediately sold the Coronet to the magic shop. The party head out to reclaim the lost treasures at the southern tomb in the bone fields. Attacked by a pack of Kruthiks in the desert, a difficult battle in which the creatures burrowed under their feet to attack with devastating effect. But in the end, they were no match for the adventurers. Arriving at the Oasis, they were I disturbed in the night, save for being greeted by a giant lizard in the night.

The next morning they their way into the tomb, but not before noting the disappearance of the tents that were pitched outside. Ghasts and ghouls lived within, feasting upon the corpses left by the cultists from the prior visit. Once more, the party made short work of them. But it was not over as a Carrion crawler lurked deeper and attacked the party, despite their defensive position at the the hallway trips which the crawler was able to avoid by crawling upon the walls.

After a another rest, the party moved on through the tomb, circumventing the traps as best they could until they reached the inner sanctum. With some clever magic by Siebern, they were able to open the two closed chambers to find a wealth of treasure and a disassembled chariot.

Finally, the party went about removing the expensive looking sarcophagus, only to find it to be a construct that quickly attacked the party with a magical effect that allowed it to move swiftly and attacked with great force. With excellent teamwork, and a combination of wide Skuld and magic, it eventually fell and the treasures within and that coffin itself was theirs to claim and sell upon dispelling the glyph of warding and raking the treasures hidden within. With an alchemy jug found, the town would never need to scout for water in the wilds again, as long as they held onto the magic item.

### Expedition #6 - The Defence of Whittengrove

With the sound of the approaching raiding party from the Legion of the Black Hand, the village of Whittengrove sprung into action to prepare for the assault. Splinting into teams to man the main gates to the north, another group to operate the ballista and others throughout town to act as watchmen and scouts, the expedition members had their numbers greatly augmented by a number of other individuals that called the town home. With traps of oil and retreat points set, they awaited the inevitable approach of Rakrun Roam's forces.

The attack would come from three directions with ogres pounding away at the gate to the north and wall to the east, whilst bugbears hammered with their morningstars against the northwestern gate. As Ogre Howdahs acted as bridges over the wall for goblins and hobgoblins alike, the northern gate shattered, prompting a facedown between the Ogre Battering Ram and Skuld, his size enlarged to the point that the duergar dwarfed the ogre. With the skillfully placed *Darkness* spell the hobgoblins behind were blinded momentarily, allowing for a continuation of the stand in the northern aspect of the settlement. Their attention would be taken away however as the wall on the eastern side with partially split apart, allowing more reinforcements with longbows to spill forth.

Through Ronan's ability to cast *Mending*, the northwestern gate would hold the longest of the three primarily entrypoints chosen by the Legion, but when it finally burst open, the cleric, Doran as well as the pitfighters Gina and Nalasar were all struck by a fireball cast by the mage previously encountered to the north of the settlement. With use of Phantasmal Killer Siebern managed to pacify the ogre wielding a ballista as a weapon, but the line of hobgoblins wielding longbows (even in spite of a *Slow* spell) manage to push the defenders back. In this push by the Legion, Gina was surrounded and butchered and after many efforts to try and stave off the same fate for Doran, the Monk would find himself too at the recieving end of a morningstar.

The sudden crackle of lightning from near the Waymark Hall and the pitfighter Rubble arriving at the front-lines battered and bruised alerts the defenders to an unpleasant truth - Nozac is within the walls, accompanied by another thus far unseen threat. As the battle raged onwards with fireballs, spike growths and warped wells of gravity tearing at both sides, Rakrun Roam finally descends from above - gifted the power of flight by the hobgoblin devastator accompanying him. Attempting to grapple Zareyl, he moves to fly away but is grappled by Skuld and surrounded. Temporarily slept but awoken by the lick of flame hurled from the west, he tried repeatedly to make off with the drow, being wounded greviously in the process. Not even the fear inspired by Nozac's mask to grant the Hobgoblin Warlord a chance to escape, and the Iron Shadow is felled by *Vicious Mockery* from the lips of the bard Naldri.

Calls demanding surrender echo through the town.

Surrounded on all sides by bugbears, worgs, ogres and hobgoblins, the surviving residents refuse to throw down their arms - although not with words, but their actions. As Siebern casts *Pulse Wave* through the Warlord, killing him immediately, the battle rages on once more. Izum, the shop assistant at the Tethered Harness is torn to pieces by worgs as he tries to retreat, multiple other inhabitants are knocked unconscious in the combat but somehow they pull through by means of stalwart shields, mighty magics and deceptive duplications. Seeing the turning tide, the devastator and a solitary bugbear flee north to carry with them the death of the Warlord, leaving the last of the Legion to fall - either to blade or chains.

### Expedition #7 - Diamonds for Whittengrove

The day started with a confrontation between Glas and a new recruit to the fighting pits, an air genasi by the name of Murmer. Demanding coin, or a fight, a spar was decided upon in which Glasfhlaith was terribly beaten by Murmer and proclaimed as the undefeated champion.

Shortly after, Zareyl would discover that the cell doors to her prison had been rusted and broken, with those within freed. Knowing the power this had come from, she quickly investigated the Tethered Harness, only to find that Pele was nowhere to be seen, having left a day before. The Coronet gone with her. Wondering if this Pele was a spy and member of the Black Hand, she interrogated her hobgoblin servant to discover that their main base was Zrudralbar.

Eventually heading out of the Radiant Waymark, the party spotted an active volcano far to the west of waymark. Thinking little of it, the party continued heading North to follow the river to the rumoured mines. Following the river west, the glass road that once stood had vanished, seemingly with the absence of the snails and their excrement. Eventually, the party followed the thickening silt until they discovered an old opening to a cave that required some heavy lifting to reveal. As the night came, watch took over as the some of the party spotted bioluminescent creatures within, filled with fire. Thinking them to be possibly fire elementals, the party entered cautiously when the morning came.

Sneaking ahead, Zareyl spotted fire newt workers, miners in the cave. Counting a number of them, she informed the party and believed that they might not be a threat. Jumping into view of the creatures, she was wrong. Battle broke out and Glasfhlaith send his exploding flumphs before running away after falling unconscious and being picked up by Naldri. The party fought on bravely, with the spiritual guardians of the Lolth priestess doing devastating damage, before Naldri hypnotized the remaining creatures, allowing Gluth, Zareyl and Ronan to finish off the rest and imprison those who were incapacitated. Elsewhere in the cave, Glasfhlaith had fallen unconsconscious again after being attacked from above by a piercer. Venturing further ahead into the cave, leaving the others behind, Zareyl came across a dead fey creature, a Korred, before spotting an unconscious Glasfhlaith on the floor. Standing over his body, she reluctantly healed him as he verged ever close to death with a single death saving throw away from his demise. Zareyl instantly berated him and warned him that she would slit his throat if he ever abandoned them again. A piercer then fell on Glasfhlaith and he fell unconscious again. Refusing to heal him again, Zareyl spared the dying and put him in manacles.

Continuing their investigations, Zareyl guided the party deeper into the caves where she had spotted lava formations. But before they had gotten close, a black pudding stirred from the ashy ground and immediately engulfed Zareyl. Plucking his mistress from the icker, Gluth dragged her away before being downed himself. A quick fire of spells and potions, and the party were able to flee the slow moving ooze. In the end, it was the manacled Glasfhlaith that dragged Zareyl to safety, repaying his debt to his saviour.

### Expedition #8 - Tomb of the Zealous

Heading for the final tomb in the desert, the party headed north into the almost unnatural sandstorm that hindered their vision and ability to navigate the  deserts. With guidance from Lolth and aid from Siebern, Glasfhlaith lead the way into sandstorm to a cliff face the party needed to climb to reach their destination. The party ventured further north through the sandstorms before stumbling upon two stones in the sands aheads, a clear bottleneck and potential ambush. Sneaking ahead with some success thanks to pass without a trace, before foolishly kicking a stone down the cliff face, alerting two mounted undead soldiers awaiting them in an ambush. With no ambush afoot from either side, battle was underway.

The next day, swelteringly humid, the party pass through a shadowed valley towards the Ironfangs and the Zealous Tomb. Inside, piles of ash. Further in, inside the inner sanctum of the tomb, immovable daggers were placed atop suspicious looking tombs before they party opened the large sarcophagus, finding two Anorcorian soldiers within. The ashes seen prior would turn into dangerous will-o-wisps and join the battle against the undead soldiers. With no dust lord in sight, the party waged war against the minions that were left to protect its tomb. Graviturgy, shatters and radiant energy burst through the chamber as the undead crawled from piles of sand and rubble. Gluth and Glas once more to fend off the undead as the spellcasters supported from afar. Glas, invigorated by the rare healing of Zareyl, pulled a javelin from his side after losing his sword in battle to continue his fairy fueled rage. What seemed a close encounter with the odds stacked against them, the party backed themselves into a defensible corner to fight from and turned the battle around, slaying their enemies one by one.

One remaining tomb stayed closed, inside abjuration magic exuded but dispelled by Zareyl. Inside was a ring of the fallen dust lord, at least the party would assume. Greater research would be required upon their return to Whittengrove. With three Dust Lords free and wandering the lands, they would need to be dealt with before it's too late.

### Expedition #9 - The Shipwreck Lair

On the morn of Jas, Whittengrove was visited by servants of Queen Lysiphoia. With invitations in hand, they parlayed with Siebern before being invited to stay in Wren’s Lament for the night. All of Whittengrove would be invited to the wedding of the Queen and Duke.

Travelling south to the coast, the party passes the Undervine. Before arriving, Zareyl notably transforms into a flowery High Elf in a beautiful summer dress, who the human family seemed to recognize upon their arrival. At the winery, they are briefly welcomed and given a short rest, food and wine before venturing on.

Reaching a shipwreck, Koalinth’ and Sea Lions were seen scavenging across the small sandy island around the shipwreck. With some of the party wanting not to appear aggressive, they approached with the intent of being civil. Though Otto’s shape changing into the amphibian humanoids seemed to cause a tense uncertainty amongst the creatures, even more so as he mirrored their speech and movement. With the blessing of Lolth and an arrow firing against one of the creatures as they reached out for Ott’s coin purse. Battle broke out, which was short and sweet as the party quickly overwhelmed the sea creatures.

Finding another tunnel beneath the cavern, the group found themselves in the lair of a fallen dragon. Stone statues reaching for the dragon’s treasure before Zareyl spots a stone creature appear from the water as a Tviatini Basilisk. A second appeared from the south to block their retreat. Gluth, attacking the basilisk head on nearly turned to stone as they fought the creatures in the caverns. With mirror image and sanctuary, Zareyl stood between the two basilisks with an aura of vitality radiating from her to heal the harmed. In the meantime, Fonteyne succumbed to petrification and turned to stone. A pulse wave from Siebern would hit one basilisk, which questioned the integrity of the cavern as rocks fell from the ceiling at the stone Foneteyne’s feet. With a final strike from Gluth, the last basilisk was destroyed.

Collecting together the hoard of the dead dragon, the party left stone Fonteyne behind.

### Expedition #9 - Home is Where the Diamonds Are

After Ronan presented Lady Zareyl with 10 ice arrows with the teeth of a winter wolf, talk was had in regards to the inheritance and legacy of Tohmos’ Trinkets. After which, heading out on a warm day into the jungles of Ahlus, looking for the mines once more and establishing a mine for Whittengrove. Following the river, the group would fall upon Ocelotl. With necrotic energy radiating from the jungle creature, Skuld would begin the attack before Zareyl used the holding webs of Lolth and striking it between the eyes with an arrow of the winter wolf to slay it. As Barnabus took joy in pranking those on watch before two green kobolds arrived and spoke with Skuld telepathically. They spoke of sending a message to let them know who owned the jungle before turning into two green Slaads and attacking the party. Reacting quickly, Skuld beat on his shield to awake his mistress who immediately covered the Slaad in a paralyzing spider’s web. Xerxus followed up with a crown of madness on the second to force him to attack his ally. Tidal waves and faerie fire made short work of the first one. The second attempted to flee after Zareyl offered him a place at the Arken Den as an indentured servant. Refusing, it turned invisible and ran before faerie fire ruined its retreat to allow Skuld to bash its skull in.

Troglodytes would greet them as they entered before piling in towards the party but were expelled with ease from the group. Firing on stalactites upon the ceiling, the group ventured through the cave. Venturing south towards the lava, a stalagmite came to life as tentacles flew from it. A mighty challenge for the group to face a roper, made only more challenging by the prior black ooze, though affected by Siebern’s slowing spell. The roper caused chaos amongst the group, before Zareyl grabbed it by the eye sending necrotic damage surging through it as it slowly melted from stone to inorganic matter to the shock and horror of everyone. With tidal waves, the magnification of gravity and spiritual weapons, the two black puddings were destroyed.

Heading further in and following the streams of lava, rocks were broken as magmins and fire elementals flew out to attack the party. A sleeping fire giant then grew from his slumber and stood tall towering above Zareyl and swung with lethal damage at Xerxus. Unfazed and with no fear, Zareyl demanded the giant's submission and loyalty before blinking, mirror imaging and attacking it as it refused. Piling in with spells and attacks between blinking, Zareyl unleashed a great deal of damage with aid from tidal waves, acid arrows and webs from Morrenel. Eldritch blasts would be fired by Xerxus and pulse waved from Sierbern. As Zareyl prepared for her final and downing attack from the ethereal plane, Ronan struck the final blow to slay the creature, much to the anger of Zareyl.

Clearing out the remaining tunnels of the mine, with a handful of diamonds, gems and magic war pick, the party returned to Whittengrove with a new steady supply of diamonds. The Arken Den would eventually set up a property to protect the mine and a new starting point to venture further into the cave into either the volcano or the Underdark.

### Expedition #10 - The Underdark

Following the tunnel into the underdark, the party headed south through the dark tunnels. With manacles in hand, Zareyl assured the group they would do well to act as slaves. A clerical speech from the drow priestess, and the group were ready to enter. At least they thought that they were ready. Passing through the caverns, of which began to slowly exude a natural gas from a cavern but easily bypassed with the guidance of the underdarkers among them. Black pudding arrived in the night, following a disturbance upon Zareyl’s mind as something or someone attempted to scry upon her as she was on watch in the night. The slow sludge was little match for the party. Diving deeper into the caverns, the party came across a holding chamber of dead lizardfolk and kobolds. Only one remained alive until a tadpole burst from its chest and its masters returned from deeper in the caverns as red and blue slaads descended upon the party.

Veiled threats turned to anger at Fonteyne turned against the very democracy he proclaimed to desire as he abandoned the party in the underdark with Siebern following close behind. Venturing on in separate parties, it was the underdarkers and Xerxus that stumbled across an escaped dwarf slave in fear. Capturing the escapee, they returned from the direction they had come and marched on following the markings on the wall of a seemingly drow colony. Eventually, the party stumbled upon a mine with slaves, though no chains bound them, but instead they were controlled by the psionics of a mindwitness. Elsewhere, in Fonteyne and Siebern’s mad dash to escape, they stumbled upon quaggoths which quickly attacked the duo.

Miles apart, both parties were able to overcome their opponents. Upon their leave, an aberration entered the minds of Fonteyne and Siebern, where they were able to see a mass colony under the ward of a great mindflayer.

### Expedition #11 - You Missed Something

Upon researching tomes and books in her search for Castle Jalzazhuss to hunt down the heretical Drow that fled the Underdark, she stumbled across the Distant Reverie, aptly similar to the Distant Nightmare as spoken by the Queen of Spiders. Believing there were secrets beneath the farmhouse that Fonteyne and Siebern and company had yet to discover. She knew there was a link between the Distant Reverie, the fate and future of Ahlus and the aberrations that lurked beneath the surface. Upon their journeys east of Mosshill, they were ambushed by an Atral Chimera, three heads of a horned lion, a unicorn and an eagle, with a beautiful white hide, along with two other chimeras. Aided by the abyssal demon Tanarukk, they were able to slay the chimeras one by one, with new arrival Arnenne slaying the final chimera with an arrow through the skull of the lion head.

Arriving at the farmhouse, they found the hidden trap door leading beneath in Eldur’s hidden home. Stepping down towards the portal that leads deeper, Morennel attempted to dispel the magic but found himself transported to another plane and floating above a tree staring at Eldur, the experimenting scientist investing the Distant Reverie. A short chat later and Zareyl was able to seemingly dispel the magic of the arcane runes and find herself and the others in the dream-like realm before Eldur who slowly turned into a tar-like monster. Creatures entered through the cloud around them, possessing Gluth and turning him against his compatriots. Fonteyne fell time and time again, taking blows as the party kept him alive and fighting. Zareyl went toe to toe with Eldur until he ran to attack Morennel. Focusing their attacks on Eldur, they finally slayed the creature. When all was defeated, all that remained Morennel who found himself at peace with his new place.

Found within the tomb of Edrul, below the tar like liquid that enwrapped him, Zaryel dived down to find the Glass halo, one of the three artifacts mentioned within the Distant Reverie. The Queen of Spiders had sent her to the castle of Drow, but led her straight down a path towards the artifacts of the Distant Reverie. With their new artifacts of significant importance in hand, the party made their way back to Whittengrove.

On their journeys home, deep ditches within the ground filled with stones, reminiscent of the black pebble seen in the chamber during the expedition involving the Blue Fangs. As an earthquake shook the the ground beneath their feet, the party fell into the grappling dirt and stone as three elementals of stone erupted and attacked the party. With the aid of a Barlgura from the Abyss, the party slowly chipped away at the elemental. With the aid of Lolth, Amenne was polymorphed into a stegosaurus to do battle with the earth elementals. One fell, and then the barlgura followed, narrowing the attack and heightening the party’s chances of victory. A second fell as it loomed over Gluth following a gruesome one on one battle, as Zareyl’s spiritual weapons cleaved it in half. As the battle came to an end, Zareyl rushed to revive the Lolthite-named mastiff, Selda, after the Seldarine pantheon in tribute to her diety’s origin.