User:ZiggyStardusty/Zau'shar

Zau’Shar (Zow-Sh-ah), meaning ‘child of the dark’ in ancient drow language was born into the wealthy noble drow family of Nezroth who were considered one of the top families in the drow capital Menzoberranzan. The Nezroth house was located in the wealthy district of Narbondellyn and was one of the house members on the Ruling Council. The Nezroth family prided itself on producing pure Lolth priestesses and fearless and cunning warriors who trained in the renowned Melee-Magthere academy. Zau’Shar was surely destined to undertake this ten year long training in the academy just as his brothers and cousins had before him. The Nezroth family also gained much of its wealth through owning many prominent businesses in the city and beyond, including one of the largest slave-trading businesses in all of Underdark.

At the age of three, Zau’Shar’s family went to war with the rival house of Mizzrym and aided by the ruling house of Baenre they were able to almost completely destroy the Nezroth family in a bloody yet covert war which lasted two years and that often saw violence spill on the streets of Menzoberranzan. Although the exact reason for the war was never known, many believe it had much to do with the secret relationship between Zau’Shar’s father and the Matron Mother of the Mizzrym family Miz'ri Mizzrym. In the final days of the war the last surviving member of the Nezroth family, Zau’Shar’s older sister Lar’dia Nezroth made a last ditch effort to survive the conflict and escape the Underdark where she would surely be hunted down and killed. For some reason still unknown to Zau’Shar his sister decided to take him with her instead of abandoning him to a bloody end. Lar’dia fled the safe house which they had been staying out and out of pure desperation to survive she disguised herself as a pauper and headed down to the market district of The Bazaar in search of a family acquaintance who often traded in the city. Through chance she managed to find the human merchant Lavgold Diamondtooth who was a well known merchant and family friend of the Nazroths. Lar’dia convinced Lavgold to smuggle them out of the Underdark on onto to the surface and in return he will be given all of the family jewelry, which had been kept safe during the war. Lavgold agreed and hid the pair in a merchant caravan and escaped the city. For many days they travelled through the Underdark, slowly winding their way through the narrow roads and paths that lead to the surface. On the journey Lar’dia made the ultimate decision to abandon her culture and religion and try to live a new life on the surface. Upon finally reaching the daylight Lavgold and his ‘cargo’ headed south along the Sword Coast on the Trade Way toward the busting metropolis of Waterdeep, where tolerance to outsiders is high and it was also where Lavgold had a shipment of goods arriving in port. Upon their arrival at Waterdeep Lar’dia had to make the decision whether or not to kill her savior Lavgold and sever any connection with her past with it, but she spared his life in gratitude for his help, which may have been her ultimate undoing. They reached the Dock Ward district of Waterdeep and parted ways.

With only a few meager possessions and a small child to care for Lar’dia found a small tavern in the Dock Ward and took up a job there which provided the pair with a small room, cooked meals and some copper pieces. Here she worked for many months until a chance encounter one night at the tavern when an old and interesting man struck up a conversation with the shy Lar’dia. The man’s name was Tovard and had lived a full and exciting life as an adventurer who had collected a small fortune over the years and was now settling down to write his journals, tomes and books. One such book he planned to write was a compendium on all things drow and the eccentric Tovard could not help but strike up a conversation with the quiet yet intelligent Lar’dia. After a long conversation Tovard invited Lar’dia home to live with him to live as house keeper and as an expert on the drow she would provide Tovard with a rare opportunity in the mysterious life of the dark elves, especially one who was previously in Lolth’s clergy. Lar’dia saw only kindness in the old man’s heart and accepted Tovard’s offer. She and three year old Zau’Shar left their tiny room at the tavern and headed off with Tovard to his large and peaceful house in the wealthy North Ward district. Here Lar’dia assisted the gentle old man with his book on the drow as well as taking care of the day to day running of the house.

Three peaceful years past the the three lived happily in the house, Lar'dia would go to the markets to buy the house hold necessities, while a now young and mischevious Zau'shar would sit for hours listening to Tovard tell stories of his exciting and grand adventures. However all of that would soon change for the young drow, on a night the local North Wardians now call the night of one hundred shadows. Earlier that day Lar'dia had left the house to run a few errands for Tovard and pick up a somethings from the market for dinner, the agile young Zau'shar was off exploring the neighbourhood and Tovard was hard at work on one of his many books. When the sun began to set behind Mount Waterdeep Zau'shar headed home for dinner, however on his return Tovard told him that Lar'dia had not yet come from the market and that had probably bought to much to carry home alone. Zau'shar thought this strange as she never stayed out passed dusk, but he offered to run down to the market to see if he could find her. The evening fell darker alot soon than usual and Zau'shar had no luck in finding his sister, believing he had simply missed her as she walked home, however when he returned home he found the door was already slightly open and all the candles and lanterns that had been burning inside were now out. He nervously walked into the house and rounded the corner to Tovard's desk and was met with the horrific sight of Tovard laying face down in a pool of blood, his throat slit and the Tome of the Drow was missing from his desk. Frozen in terror and realising that he was now completly alone Zau'shar ran out of the house as fast he could, he ran and ran as far as his little legs would take him, fearing the murderers were close behind. For the next three days a terrified Zau'shar hid beneth a bridge in the poor South Ward district, starving and freezing he fell asleep only this time to be awaken by a group of dirty and mischevious looking children who had gathered around him. The children took pity on the strange young boy and led him by hand through the narrow winding alleways to a seemingly abandoned warehouse, once inside it became a busy hive of children who had turned the empty warehouse into their home, Zau'shar was washed, clothed and fed by the children. To many they were pesky pickpockets and tricksters who were often being chased by the city guard or travellers only to disapear as soon as they rounded a corner, they were the Children of Shadows, a guild of street children who always watched out for one another and pooled their days loot to buy things that would benefit them all. Zau'shar was welcomed into their ranks and seemed to have a knack for cutting free a coin purse and darting away from the guards into the shadows, it is for this reason and also because he was the only drow that he aquired the nickname Shadow.

It was in the children of shadows that he learnt to speak Goblin as this was the language the children would speak out on the street so that they could talk openly without passers by understanding what they were saying, many thought they were speaking in jibberish and thought of them as mad. Throughout his years as one of the children he made many friends and was much loved and popular member of the guild, many of those friends went on to become cunning theives and crafty rogues but another guild more mysterious guild had its eye on the agile young Shadow. The Night Stalkers are a secret guild of highly trained assassins who operate in and around Waterdeep and Shadow had been in their sights as a potential new member for some years. One night after walking home from a tavern he often visited he was confronted by several members of the Night Stalkers, they made him an offer to join their guild, where he would train in combat and learn the secrets of the dark art. Shadow agreed, feeling it was there where he could take the skills he learnt with the Shadow Children further, on the next new moon he was iniciated in the guild of the Night Stalkers. During the ancient ritual Shadow sacrificed a shard of his soul to the Shadowfell and to the god of death the Raven Queen, in return he would be granted powers over the shadows and would comence his training as an assassin.

He also often visited the North Ward, walking through the streets for any clue as to what happened to his sister. It was on one of these walks that he met a young noble woman named Eila Silverkin, daughter of one of wealthy nobleman and very attractive with many suitors. The two met and became close friends, the mysterious drow and the fair maiden were often seen wandering through the market square or sharing fine elven wine in one of the North Ward inns. Perhaps it was Eila's father who believed his daughter should only associate within her class and race, or maybe it was the captain of the guard who hated the drow and always had his suspicions of Shadow or perhaps it was even the grandmaster of the Night Stalkers who didnt want Eila to distract their new champion assassin who ordered she be killed. Whoever it was Eila was murdered one night after visiting Shadow, and it was Shadow's wanted sign that was stuck to almost every wall of the city the next morning. Shadow and his close friends from the guild scrambled together, with very little time and the whole city guard hunting him down it wouldnt be long till they discovered him. Being the most wanted drow in the city the Night Stalkers could not protect him without drawing attention to their highly secretive guild. Shadow had no choice but to say a quick goodbye to his friends, gather his favourite weapons and some supplies and flee Waterdeep. In the dead of night he snuck out of Waterdeep with the cold winter breeze, for the next days he travelled only at night and well away from the roads. Just like when he was a baby, he was now wanted dead and had to escape the place he called home to survive, but this time he had no guardian angel to protect him, only himself and his training. When we was far from Waterdeep, in lands he had never heard of he met up with small groups of travelling adventures and went from town to town with them, purely to survive. Before long he met up with another group of adventurers who were travelling to a small town called Winterhaven, this group seemed better than most, and Shadow felt it was with this group where he would spend the next chapter of his life. However he never forgot what happened in Waterdeep, nor did he forget his ambitions to one day be the perfect assassin and prove himself to his guild, return to the city which raised him and clear his name.