It was years in the making before the young Count, a Star Elf named D'airian, was killed. In an effort to learn how to defend his home against the occasional outsider attacks, the city's mages offered to teach him to bind the creatures. Unbeknownst to him, the attackers were summoned by the same mages to push him to seek their aid.
The circle was prepared, all too well. The name written into the symbols to guarantee the devil was sufficiently trapped. The Count's wife was visiting her children, the youngest having just left for a life of adventure. She wasn't there to see the mistakes, or the threats. It was no devil summoned to test the Count's circle. The mages summoned a demon instead. A demon that slaughtered several, the wretch stealing the life force of the Count after the ill-prepared resistance was felled. The mages stood and watched.
For days, Tess bawled, begging for death. Her husband was dead and soul lost. Her love bond taken, hear heart shattered. She sat in the very circle where he died, begging for absolution. The Binder Sorceress torn between suicide and absolution. Until she saw the Devil's name where a Demon was summoned. The pieces fell together: a trap, a ploy, arranged to remove the Count from the mages' paths.
The gates opened quickly as she lifespelled to rip a hole into the Far Realm. Her sanity lost, her husband dead, her rage and hatred of those responsible blinded her to the threat she was unleashing on the world around her. Thousands died, the city destroyed, all to get back at a group of mages no more than ten strong. Their deaths meant the gate could not be closed. Her Vestiges meant the Far Realm abominations wouldn't kill her.
The threat, against all odds, was eliminated by an army lead by the Count's brother. With the gates sealed, attention turns to the widow. Death was feared, given her vestiges and pacts. Imprisonment was the alternative, with her sorceress magic gone and pacts ended. Seventy years behind cold iron bars. Seventy years with a false name given by the wardens. Until she finally found a way out...
"Tess" (Real Name known only to a few, and typically given only as Fey Court dealings demand)
Bred to appear Drow, born to infiltrate their culture and switch uncursed children with changelings. Trained by Redcaps, a lone Drow mercenary, and Unseelie spies.
4'6'' 80 lbs
Ashen skin accented by lighter makeup.
Hair a pure white, save the bloody accents resulting from her time with Redcaps.
Eyes of ruby shades. Closer inspection shows flecks of obsidian and auburn.
Known to be a Truename contractor, ex-binder with one remaining vestige which allows her to exist without sleep, and currently a Summoner Wizard with heavy abyssal ties.
Known affiliations are limited to the Autumn Court of Unseelie.
Enchantress, weaponsmith, armorsmith, lorekeeper.
True socialites know her laugh, her smile, her giggle... they're forced and false.
When upset, whispers are heard, mirroring her words, and plantlife around her darkens into the rustic colors of Fall.
A'liceafae
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*Neethanial
- Posts: 231
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
It's been 80 years since the gates were ripped open. Nearly a century for druids and locals, spellcasters and warriors, fighting against spontaneous attacks from the far realms. Too long. A trip to Toril was long overdue for Tess. Time to fix the mistakes from her past.
Rather than taking her usual trip through Shadow, she decided to hire a well armed caravan to guide them out of the Shaar to a wayfarer's guild. The weather is always dreadful, and getting out of the shield of a living spell is never easy, but that's why you hire locals.
They arrive in Silverymoon without issue, though the welcoming committee is about what would be expected. A unit of Seelie guards await them, immediately prepared to arrest Tess on the spot, though not before allowing her fiancee to be escorted safely to an inn. They take her to the Elder Druid of the nearby (comparatively speaking) Glade to stand accused of her crimes. Only after hours of deliberation concerning the Pale Prince and her time in Sigil, do they agree to give her a chance at redemption.
That redemption was getting the gates shut, once and for all, fixing the land, preparing to rebuild and regrow - and in light of this, a sense of closure is offered as well. Her husband's murder, as they'd discovered soon after Tess was hauled off to prison, came at the hands of his own brother. He'd arranged it all: the demons, the threat of devils, the Fel mages, all to get his hands on his brother's lands. A mistake which ended in the man being shoved through the final of the far realm gates before closing it forever.
The events cost Tess her magic, forced her to reawaken her natural abilities and step away untainted and unmarred by the blood on her hands (and in her hair, as a consequence). No longer Unseelie, no longer the product of Redcap training, no longer an arcanist - the Nymph A'liceafae steps out of the carnage anew.
She returns to Sigil, the exploits of her work and training, her memories paving the way and the example leading her love alongside her. A new force, a new outlook, and a spirit aching for change. After 80 years of torment, torture, hatred... she finally steps into Sigil with pure eyes.
And Sigil is a mess...
Rather than taking her usual trip through Shadow, she decided to hire a well armed caravan to guide them out of the Shaar to a wayfarer's guild. The weather is always dreadful, and getting out of the shield of a living spell is never easy, but that's why you hire locals.
They arrive in Silverymoon without issue, though the welcoming committee is about what would be expected. A unit of Seelie guards await them, immediately prepared to arrest Tess on the spot, though not before allowing her fiancee to be escorted safely to an inn. They take her to the Elder Druid of the nearby (comparatively speaking) Glade to stand accused of her crimes. Only after hours of deliberation concerning the Pale Prince and her time in Sigil, do they agree to give her a chance at redemption.
That redemption was getting the gates shut, once and for all, fixing the land, preparing to rebuild and regrow - and in light of this, a sense of closure is offered as well. Her husband's murder, as they'd discovered soon after Tess was hauled off to prison, came at the hands of his own brother. He'd arranged it all: the demons, the threat of devils, the Fel mages, all to get his hands on his brother's lands. A mistake which ended in the man being shoved through the final of the far realm gates before closing it forever.
The events cost Tess her magic, forced her to reawaken her natural abilities and step away untainted and unmarred by the blood on her hands (and in her hair, as a consequence). No longer Unseelie, no longer the product of Redcap training, no longer an arcanist - the Nymph A'liceafae steps out of the carnage anew.
She returns to Sigil, the exploits of her work and training, her memories paving the way and the example leading her love alongside her. A new force, a new outlook, and a spirit aching for change. After 80 years of torment, torture, hatred... she finally steps into Sigil with pure eyes.
And Sigil is a mess...