Tarah Aranlias's page

Thanks for the speedy reply. I was afraid that might be the case. Is it possible for a complete rework of the backstory? I confess that I'm having a difficult time with it. A Vekeshi mystic eladrin fey adept seems so appropriate for the magical side of Risur, but I'm having a difficult time figuring out how one might join the RHC.

Tarah began her life as an object. As one of a handful of remaining female eladrin, she was kept under lock and key in a demi-plane enclave, one of the few remaining sanctuaries for those of her kind. There she received intensive education and training in her natural abilities, with one purpose: as a woman, the fate of her people lied in her hands. If she were to be captured or killed, it could be a final blow to her dying race.

Her father, Marfis, ruled the enclave with an iron fist, using his twin daughters (a near impossibility for eladrin after the Great Malice) to solidify his position. As was expected once they became of age, Tarah and her sister Ulsys, were married to the most eligible bachelors. In that way, the strength of the eladrin could be assured and her father would gain valuable allies of his own.

Ulsys became pregnant soon after and left with her new husband to found a new enclave. The time for Tarah to play her part as well quickly came... and went. No matter how often she and her husband tried, Tarah could not bear children. In disgrace, her husband left the enclave to join a Vekeshi cell. Tarah was quickly remarried, but again, Tarah was unable to produce an heir for her husband. Whispers began to spread throughout the enclave that her condition was a curse or punishment for them all. What Tarah believed to be her destiny turned to poison for she and her family.

In despair, Marfis turned to the Dreaming, beseeching the capricious fey to remove this curse from their house. In a flash of light, they answered, not by repairing whatever was broken with Tarah as her father had hoped, but by taking the young eladrin woman altogether.

In the Dreaming, her new fey captors trained Tarah to enhance her abilities, giving her the power to alter and shape raw illusion magic into reality. After a time among the fey, they impressed upon her two requirements if she wished to return to her home and family: join and serve the RHC faithfully. It seemed an odd request to Tarah, but such was the mercurial nature of the Unseen Court.

Tarah's recruitment was unorthodox, to say the least. Once every few years the Unseen Court sends emissaries to collect tribute that King Kelland promised the fey titans at Risur's founding. The last time this event occurred, the fey demanded three cherry trees carried in wagons with no iron fittings... and that a certain young eladrin woman be recruited into the RHC.

Tarah's career in the RHC was met with scrutiny from all angles. Her superiors suspected that she was a fey spy and kept her tightly under watch and her peers viewed her as unworthy. After all, they had earned their positions. She had joined on a formality, so why should they treat her as an equal. Nevertheless, her unique powers have proved useful more than once and she maintains a spotless disciplinary record, so her presence continues to be tolerated.