Marith Melarn's page

Marith Melarn
Female drow cleric of Eilistraee 1
CG Medium humanoid (elf) 
Init +2; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +2 shield)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +5; +2 vs. enchantments; -2 vs. evil spells
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft. (30 ft. in armor)
Melee bastard sword +0 (1d10/19-20)
Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 12, 1d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st)
. . 1/day—dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +4)
. . 6/day—touch of good (1 round)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4)
. . 1st—bless, divine favor, protection from evil (D)
. . 0 (at will)—guidance, detect magic, virtue
D domain spell; Domains Good, Travel
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 14
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Selective Channeling
Traits deft dodger, haunted, fate’s favored, intense artist
Skills Diplomacy +6, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perform (dance) +7, Perform (sing) +7
Languages Common, Drow
SQ aura, +10 base speed from Travel domain, agile feet (6/day), poison use
Other Gear scale mail, heavy wooden shield, bastard sword, light crossbow with 10 bolts, wooden holy symbol, 11 gp
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Special Abilities
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Agile Feet (6/day) (Su) For 1 rd, you ignore difficult terrain.
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (5/day, DC 12) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Cleric Domain (Good) Granted Powers: You have pledged your life and soul to goodness and purity.
Cleric Domain (Travel) Granted Powers: You are an explorer and find enlightenment in the simple joy of travel, be it by foot or conveyance or magic. Increase your base speed by 10 feet.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Drow Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Poison Use (Ex) You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Touch of Good +1 (6/day) (Sp) Grant +1 to skill checks, ability checks and saving throws for 1 rd.

1. What is your character’s name?

- Marith Melarn.

2. How old is your character?

- 98, a young adult by elf standards.

3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?

- They would see a beautiful drow maiden of average height with the dark-gray skin that is common for her race. Her hair would be a long flowing waterfall of silver-white that would freely come down to her midback. Her eyes a shade of pale blue that stand out as rare for a drow. Her lithe physique while pleasing to the eye beguiles her well-horned and limber muscles. In times of prayer or causal activity she will often be found wearing the silvery silks of an Eilistraeen priestess. When prepared for battle or adventure she’s usually attired in flexible set of silver-hued armor with a gleaming bastard sword in one hand and a shining shield that bears the sigil of her goddess in the other.

4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?

- Those brave or tolerant enough to try and know a drow would quickly realize that Marith is an all-together sanguine young (by elf standards) woman who’s disposition and temperament is manifestly joyful and kind. Smiles come natural to her even if some of them have a touch of sadness beneath the beam these days. Her voice is sweet and pleasant to the ear, possessing a musical quality. Similarly, she moves with the alluring fluidness and agility of a dancer.

5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?

- Waterdeep, in the Dancing Haven temple. She was raised communally by the clerics of Eilistraee there.

6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?

- Her parents were two star-crossed drow lovers who escaped from Menzoberranzan and the grasp of Lolth thanks to the help of Eilistraeen Sword Dancers who led them to the surface and Waterdeep. They died not soon after Marith was born having been murdered by Lolithites while on a Sword Dancer mission in the Underdark.

7. Do you have any other family or friends?

- Marith is technically a member of House Melarn but given that her parents abandoned the House and fled Menzoberranzan there's no true family connection there. Instead she counts all the priestesses and priests of the Dancing Haven and Promenade of the Dark Maiden temples as her true family.

8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?

- She is unmarried and has no children. She has had a few romantic relationships but they only ended amicably for one reason or another.

9. What is your character’s alignment?

- Chaotic Good with Neutral Good tendencies.

10. What is your character’s moral code?

- Marith is a free spirit who believes that all beings should be free to be who they are and enjoy the wonders of the world so long as they don’t harm anyone in turn or seek to oppress others. She believes even the cruelest villains can and should be redeemed but is willing to take a life if it means protecting the innocent, though she regrets taking such measures and only does so as a last resort.

11. Does your character have goals?

- She wishes to become a Sword Dancer, an elite martial order in the Church of Eilistraee that actively seeks to free the rest of drowkind from Lolth and her cruel and oppressive concept of society. She also wishes to develop a greater bond with her goddess and “redeem” herself for her perceived failure in a mission in the Underdark that went horribly wrong. The guilt of that failure weighs on her heavily.

12. Is your character religious?

- Deeply. She is a Cleric of Eilistraee after all. Her faith for better or for worse defines her.

13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?

- Her personal individual beliefs and that of her faith are largely intertwined. Following the doctrines of the Church of Eilistraeen she holds that it is her duty as a free drow to help free the rest of her people from the tyranny of Lolth so that they may take their place on the surface as a liberated people. Beyond that, she earnestly believes that the world is a beautiful place despite its imperfections with the same being true of people. For that reason she strives to enjoy life to the fullest with beauty and grace and works to ensure that all people are allowed that chance as well. Accordingly, slavery is an abomination to her that makes both slave and the slaver lesser. The same is true for various other hierarchical systems of oppression that she also abhors and seeks to abolish with words and compassion preferably or by the sword if unfortunately necessary.

14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?

- While recent tragedies and traumas have made her somewhat quieter then she used to be, Marith is still very much a warm and sociable woman who loves to talk with friends and even strangers who do not judge her prematurely by her race. Even in the face of anti-drow prejudice and distrust she puts on a brave face and tries to win people over if possible. Said brave face and eternal optimism has to some degree become something of a mask in recent years that hides mental wounds that have yet to heal.

15. Why does your character adventure? Why did your character accept the job?

- Marith earnestly wants to do good and show the world that a drow can in fact be a hero. Drizzt Do'Urden can’t be the only example after all. Moreover, she sees adventuring as an opportunity to see more of the world and enjoy its wonders. When it comes to the Silvermoon Glade mission in particular, she believes it only natural that she as an Eilistraeen helps the Church of Selûne, which has always been allied with her faith. Beyond that, she also sees it as a chance to make amends for her perceived past failure.

16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?

- Beyond being an intrepid do-gooder, she sees her martial role as an adventurer as being the one who defends her less physically capable comrades while at the same time strengthening or healing them with her spells. Socially, she can be someone her comrades can talk to in times of stress and entertain and soothe them with her dancing and singing.

17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?

- While most of her physical wounds from her imprisonment by the Lolthites have been healed by time and magic there still remains some scars on her back that stubbornly refuse to disappear despite the best efforts of her Eilistraeen sisters and brothers. Perhaps Lolth herself prevents it…

18. How does your character get along with others?

- Once again, she’s very sociable and likes talking with people. She does, however, have some secrets that she would prefer not to share and she avoids talking about her imprisonment in the Underdark at the hands of Lolthites if she can help it.

19. Is there anything that your character hates?

- Eilistraeens are not supposed to hate but she hates Lolthites. She represses it deeply however to the point of not really being conscious of it but the hate is there nonetheless. She’s also not a big fan of slavery, torture, bullying, the destruction of nature or artwork, or cruelty of any kind.

20. Is there anything that your character fears?

- Being captured and tortured by Lolthites again. The bigger fear there however is succumbing to corruption and giving into Lolth. She believes that if not for her fellow Eilistraeens rescuing her she may have given into her pain and renounced Eilistraee and become a Lolthite in a bid to survive. The idea of that happening gives her nightmares and it is the secret shame that burdens her heart.

Marith Melarn was born deep within the Underdark in Menzoberranzan, the infamous City of Spiders and the capital of the drow race. Her parents, a daughter of the infamous House Melarn and a drow male soldier bound to that House, were star-crossed lovers whose romance gave them the courage to seek a better life for themselves and their secret daughter free from Lolth and the pity intrigues and cruelties of Menzoberranzan society. Thanks to the legendary Sword Dancers of Eilistraee they would achieve that dream and be guided to the surface where they would make their new home in Waterdeep. Beyond grateful for the Eilistraeens' assistance and for the safe harbor they provided them and their child, the couple swore to repay that kindness by becoming committed Eilistraeens themselves. Tragically, it would be this oath to the Dark Maiden that would make Marith an orphan at a very early age.

While still in the cradle, both her parents would join a mission to the Underdark that would see them give their lives holding off Lolthite cultists while their compatriots and several liberated slaves escaped back to the surface. With her parents dead, Marith would be adopted by the Eilistraeens residing in the Dancing Haven temple in Waterdeep, the largest surface temple of the moondancer faith. The Eilistraeens would become her new family in all but blood and it would be under their care that she would learn of her parents' heroism and courage. Inspired, Marith swore at an early age to honor their sacrifice by becoming a Sword Dancer of Eilistraee herself and hold to the faith’s sacred mission of liberating all drowkind from the grip of Lolth. Of course, her journey to get there would be a long and difficult and detail struggles that a young Marith could not even fathom… But that came later.

Growing up in Waterdeep, the young drow found her home in the Dancing Haven temple to be a beautiful cage but a cage all the same. While she loved her matron-sisters and the tranquil serenity of the Dancing Haven it was hardly a place that provided ample opportunities for acts of heroism that benefited a Sword Dancer. Moreover, her mentors took a deliberate and slow pace to her training as a cleric, seeing little reason to hasten her instruction despite Marith’s obvious talent in both bladework and the arts. They were elves after all. Time was something they had plenty of. Of course, Marith did not see it that way. Young and filled with restless energy, it did not take her long to find her own adventures in the streets of Waterdeep. To her the city was truly a place of splendors that even the most hard-headed of drow-fearing bigots could not repulse her from experiencing. And so, Marith spent much of her youth exploring it with other misfits and would-be heroes who did not fear her drow heritage.

It was that practical experience along with her obvious natural attitude as a cleric that convinced her mentors to grant her the opportunity to truly test herself as a Sword Dancer when she matured out of childhood. Together, with a dozen other would-be Sword Dancers and non-drow Waterdeep adventurers, she was tasked with foiling a recently discovered Lolthite plot to summon Yochlol minions of their foul goddess to the Material Plane that was brewing in the Underdark. Seeing this as her chance to echo her parents’ vaulted heroism, Marith eagerly accepted the mission and led her to follow Eilistraeens and allies deep into Lolth-Sworn territory. At first the expedition was a success. Her party crept into the dark tunnels and pits of the Underdark without alerting their presence to any of its many unsavory inhabitants. They even managed to find the Lolthites while they were preparing their rituals, watching as the servants of Lolth prepared to make their ritual sacrifices. The plan was going so well… until it didn’t.

While trying to quietly free some of the slave sacrifices a panicked gasp went out that echoed throughout the tunnel. While faint it was just loud enough for drow ears to catch and soon battle broke out between Marith’s party and the Lolthites. Though skilled with her blade and confident in her companions’ abilities it became all too clear that they would not be able to overcome the spider-worshippers. Seeing so many of her comrades fall, and seeking to emulate her parents, Marith ordered those who remained to flee with the freed slaves to the surface while she held off the Lolthites. Miraculously, the diversion succeeded, but Marith would not die in battle that day. Instead of ending her life right there the cultists captured her, dragging her into their dark temple. There, Marith suffered a series of horrors that to her living day she cannot readily express or talk about even to dear friends.

All this torture was an attempt by the Lolthites to break her will and force her to embrace their dread goddess and despite Marith’s strong faith they may well have succeeded if not for her fellow Sword Dancers rescuing her from the spider’s den in a daring raid that even she did not think would come. In the end, it would take months before Marith truly recovered from her ordeal and even to this day her dreams are often clouded by the cruel torments of Lolthite torturers. And so, the newly made Sword Dancer has not forgotten her duty. A new mission has come, this one an investigation on behalf of their allies in the Church of Selûne, and Marith is eager to join it despite her mentors’ lingering concerns for her well-being. For Marith it not only gives her a chance to see the world beyond Waterdeep but also to wipe away the shame and nightmares that still cling to her heart. Only time will tell if this choice was wisdom or folly.

Appearance

Age: 98 | Height: 5' 4" | Weight: 105 lbs. | Hair: White | Eyes: Pale Blue | Build: Lithe, Slender

Marith is a beautiful drow woman with the dark-gray skin that is common for her race. Similarly, she’s neither exceptionally tall or short, being of average size for her people. Whether because of incredible happenstance or perhaps divine meddling, Marith’s well-groomed hair is a glossy silver-white that falls to her mid-back freely and unbound. Her expressive eyes are a shade of pale blue that stand out as uncommon for a drow. Lithe of build and comely to most, Marith has a lean dancer’s body that nonetheless belies a well-horned and limber physique that is fully capable of springing into action and combat if needed.

Unsurprisingly, the silvery silk gowns of an Eilistraeen priestess are one of her most common modes of dress. That is not to say that her piety prevents her from donning more diverse forms of dress. Quite the opposite in fact. While not wealthy, she does possess several stylish ensembles in a range of colors and configurations. When she’s prepared for battle or adventure, however, she’s usually outfitted in a relatively flexible set of silver-hued armor with a gleaming bastard sword or scimitar in one hand and a shining shield bearing the sigil of her goddess in the other.

Personality

Kind, cheerful, and outgoing, Marith has always possessed a natural blithe spirit that goes hand-in-hand with her faith’s credos of building bridges with non-drow, doing good, and reveling in dance and song. Said Eilistraeen faith is without a doubt the most important fixture in her life. She strives to emulate her goddess’s benevolence and wisdom by being someone whose presence can provide light and comfort to those around her. While recent traumas have somewhat dimmed her bright and carefree personality, it still nonetheless endures even if clouded by bouts of melancholy and guilt. Tellingly, her urge to help the less fortunate and bring happiness to the bereft remains strong, with dancing and singing being her favorite means of brightening people’s moods. She takes great personal pleasure in honing those artistic gifts and sharing them with others.