Althaea Glyndithas

Althaea, drawn by Emily Curran.

**Althaea Glyndithas**, also known by her fake name **Vasbryn Nathae** and the **Shadow Cleric**, is a dark-elf cleric within the Dark Sun timeline of the Fantasy Universe. Most prominently, she is a mercenary, a vampire hunter, and one of the last few clerics in the world in her time period. She made her first and only appearance in the Dark Sun campaign.

Althaea was born in the midst of a civil war, forced to become a refugee at an early age. Before her family could escape, her mother and father were killed and she was taken as a prisoner of war. However, her father eventually returned with the help of a dark and mysterious god. He sacrificed his arm so that they may escape, and they lived peacefully for some time. After losing her father, she cursed her own eye in-exchange for dark power, which made her a powerful and malevolent force. She became known as the Shadow Cleric amongst denizens of the Underdark, and hunted dark and demonic creatures for a price.

She is a player character played by the Maddie Soul.

## Appearance

Althaea is blonde and has dark brownish-grey skin, with pale freckles scattered across her face. She stands at a height of 5'2" and weighs approximately 91 pounds.

She has minor buck teeth and is prominently missing her right eye. It has been cursed ever since the age of 87; the equivalent of 14 in human years. She wears varied eye-patches to cover up her cursed eye; composed of dark magic and blue flame following her pledge to her Eldritch God.

### **Dark Sun**

During the Dark Sun Campaign, Althaea is 119 years old; the equivalent of a young adult in human years. She typically carries around a small shield on her arm and an umbrella in hand; as the sunlight has come to hurt her and her eyesight. This allows her to stay in the shadows at all times.

## Personality

Althaea tries to be friendly and charismatic, but has trouble getting a long with other people. This is caused, in part, by her difficulty with trusting people. She tends to work alone and handle situations by herself. Although she can be petty and easily irritated by others, she tends to hang in groups when she feels she's entered a situation she cannot handle on her own, and is not reluctant to admit she needs help.

Due to her defining childhood trauma, she has an unstoppable hatred for vampires; requiring that she drop everything, track down, and kill the nearest vampire should she detect one. She has only ever made one exception for this, sparing Friday Night's life after finding her in a ravine; which was connected to an opening in the Underdark. Since then she has taken a liking to the child, but does not trust her feral vampire instincts.

## History

### **Early Life**

#### Escaping the Civil War

On April 14th, 1418 ANK, Althaea Glyndithas (born Tarathiel Glyndithas), was born to Krondor Glyndithas and Ilyrana Yllastina in the Newbourne Sanctuary of the Eastern Isles. Her family making an attempt to escape the Eastern-Livre Civil War that persisted beyond The Darkening. Being dark-elves, they had received the bad end of the stick and were hoping to make their way to a better part of the world where they could survive in relative isolation.

Ilyrana died in an attack on the Newbourne Sanctuary several days later, forcing Krondor and the newborn Althaea to flee to the countryside. Krondor wandered for over a year until rebel forces caught him and Althaea in a wheat field. After begging for his life, Krondor was shot in the head by rebel forces and Althaea was taken to Fort Dupont. It was intended for her to be imprisoned there while the rebel forces reorganized following the Darkening. However, later that night, Krondor stormed the fort and managed to take on most of the soldiers.

Krondor lost his right arm before reaching Althaea. But by losing his arm, Kondor was able to invoke a pact with his Eldritch God (*lose something important to gain something important)* and was imbued with dark divine power, allowing him to finish the job and save the baby Althaea. Following the attack, Krondor was able to steal a boat and sail to the mainland with Althaea, away from the Eastern Isles.

#### Growing Up

Up until Althaea's 25th year (the equivalent of a four-year old in human years), Krondor and Althaea traveled the eastern coast of their new continent; traversing what used to be the Kingdom of Zelhor. It wasn't until then that the two settled in Broadwater's Cove, a tropical settlement on Kreptuitan Island, off the eastern coast. It was there that the two relaxed peacefully on a tropical island for many years. Althaea was raised by Krondor in Broadwater's Cove until she was 43 (the equivalent of a seven-year old in human years), living in a cottage by the ocean that Krondor had built himself.

It was at some point after this that she lost her father in a vampire-related incident. As a result, she cursed her own eye in return for dark power., so that she may never feel powerless again.

### **Dark Sun**

#### Act 1

After having met up with a potential employer who had drawn her there with the promise of another job, Althaea was knocked out by her "employer" with the intent of capturing her and a few others to sell for a bounty. Eventually she found herself prisoner, in a travelling cart along with several other prisoners, including Kenku, Byg-Beef, and Azum Bygcok.

## Abilities

The M-RAI database has identified at least four unique abilities possessed by this character. As a cleric, her domain is primarily religious. Aligned with Eldritch Gods, she has become a valuable asset following the Darkening. A lot of her magic is riddles with curses that result in her giving up something from within her to reveal greater power.

* **Religious Omens** - Althaea is able to see omens from her deity in everything, interpreting them in order to predict events within the near future; or reveal things that are hidden to her.
* **Cursed Eye** - Althaea's lost eye was replaced with a cursed eye that has the power to blast blue fire.
* **Dark Cleric** - Althaea is not only one of the world's last clerics, but a Dark Cleric as well.
	+ **Holy Magic** - Althaea gains all the magic and skill from being a Cleric, with added power.
	+ **Eldritch Pact** - *Lose something important to gain something important.* Was the same pact Krondor made.
* **Sun Damage** - Althaea takes minor damage and loses vision from being exposed to sunlight.
	+ This has led to her always carrying around an umbrella since she was 90-years old.

## Trivia

* Lorana Highstaff, Bree's Mother, is the Grand Aunt of Althaea.
	+ Althaea was not born in the Main Timeline due to Lorana's sister and her daughter being killed during the Second Invasion of the Demon King.
* Althaea was the Maddie Soul's first true player character, although there have been a few less prominent ones before her.