Halisstra Melarn

War of the Spider Queen
Halisstra entered the Forgotten Realms as a pivotal character during the War of the Spider Queen. An heiress to House Melarn, she enjoyed all of the benefits of a drow noble. House Melarn was a ruling House of Ched Nasad before its subsequent fall and absorption by the clan of half-shadow dragons. She was cited as a spoiled devotee of Lolth, enjoying only hedonism and the company of her battle-captive Danifae Yauntyrr. Halisstra also had been taught the magic of bae’qeshel, the gift of bard magic through dark litanies to Lolth.

In the events of the War of the Spider Queen, Halisstra lost faith in Lolth during an excursion on the surface. She was captured by the faithful of Eilistraee and converted to that faith. One of her first assignments as a initiate was to recover the Crescent Blade, a task seen as suicidal. She overcame this challenge and bore the Crescent Blade when her and two other priestesses of Eilistraee invaded the Demonweb Pits in order to slay Lolth. She once again had a crisis of faith, after she watched her fellow priestesses get slain and partially devoured by the draegloth Jeggred Baenre, at the instruction of Danifae Yauntyrr. During this battle, the Crescent Blade was broken. Danifae herself beat Halisstra into unconsciousness. Halisstra left the blade in a consecrated temple to Eilistraee that the three priestesses had raised in the Demonweb Pits, both as a place of refuge and as a statement to Lolth.

Halisstra accompanied Quenthel Baenre and Danifae Yauntyrr into the tabernacle of Lolth, to sit in the very presence of the Spider Queen, although not without a battle during which she ambushed Danifae from invisibility and was in return stabbed when Danifae tricked her with a false surrender. When told that only one member of the trio would leave the tabernacle alive, Halisstra assumed she was going to be obliterated. Lolth was not finished with Halisstra, however. When Halisstra threw herself on the mercy of Lolth, she was rewarded with eternal service as Lolth's Lady Penitent.



The Lady Penitent
She was sent back to Faerûn and began to hunt priests of Vhaeraun. When she was found by priestesses of Eilistraee, she convinced them that the Crescent Blade still existed in the Demonweb Pits. The Darksong Knight Cavatina Xarann followed her into the Abyss, and found the blade still in the consecrated but collapsing temple of Eilistraee. Cavatina Xarann used the blade and the assistance of the Lady Penitent to kill the demigod Selvetarm.

Years later Lolth gave her to the balor Wendonai. He sent her back to Faerûn, to search for Cavatina Xarann and take her to the demon. Halisstra succeeded, and the balor discarded the Lady Penitent once she delivered the priestess. Looking for a way to kill herself and escape Lolth, she entered the Negative Material plane. Unfortunately, this was also not enough to kill her. Eventually, Halisstra came to the Acropolis of Kiaransalee in the Underdark, where her actions were unknown. Some time after that she was summoned to an ancient temple in the ruins of Ilythiir. She was freed by T'lar Mizz'rynturl and the Lady Penitent believed herself to be a new god. T'lar Mizz'rynturl started the Cult of the Lady Penitent and planned to gather influence in the drow city Sshamath.

Meanwhile, Cavatina Xarann resisted the demon Wendonai and killed his body in the Abyss. But he wasn't dead yet, as his soul was still in the Crescent Blade. When Cavatina learned of this and where the blade was, she tried to talk with Qilué but the priestess trapped her because she had her own plans. She wanted to lure the demon into her body and drive him out with silver fire. With the final death of Wendonai she hoped to free all drow of the mark of Wendonai.

Qilué teleported to the only place where she thought the demon could be bound: the royal court of ancient Ilythiir where coronal Geirildin Sethomiir summoned Wendonai for the first time. Her sister Laeral Silverhand helped her but she did not want to kill Qilué so she magically stopped time for the corrupted Qilué and went to search for someone who knew about how to kill demons. When she was away the Lady Penitent found the frozen priestess and took her to an ancient temple nearby.

There she got hold of the Crescent Blade and tried to kill Qilué with it but Eilistraee took possession of Qilué's body and became mortal. Eilistraee wanted to talk sense into the Lady Penitent and free her from the clutches of Lolth. But Wendonai acted swiftly and tricked her into believing that it was Lolth disguised as Eilistraee. Furiously the Lady Penitent killed the goddess, and therefore she had done what Lolth and Wendonai had planned all along for her. Leliana Vrinn, another priestess of Eilistraee, took revenge and finally ended the sad existence of Halisstra.

Lady Penitent Appearance
Lolth's magic transformed Halisstra into a twisted mockery of her former svelte drow form. She appears to be a hybrid of demon and drow is known as the Lady Penitent, and stands twice as tall as a typical drow. She is still slightly feminine, with eight spider legs protruding from her chest. Her hair is a matted tangle that looked like old spider silk. Under each of her eyes is a hairy bulge, from which a fang-tipped jaw curves, the points meeting above the mouth.

With all of these physical changes, the most affluent is not visible. Lolth also injected Halisstra with a venom that causes constant agony, without killing her. The only reprieve she receives is when she follows the will of Lolth.

Combat
Halisstra's Lady Penitent form is much more powerful than her former one, and she can regenerate wounds nearly instantaneously. Her strength has increased exponentially, and she seems to enjoy all of the resistances of the demon races.

She still has control of her bae’qeshel abilities, even though the litanies are now mangled owing to her disfigured mouth.

Whether or not her clerical magic remains is unknown, though, as Lolth's champion, some sort of power is to be assumed.