User:Sinestrae

Sine'strae Veladorn was an adventurer in the late 14 & 15 century DR.

Birth & Early Life
Sine'strae was born on the 20 of Tarsakh, 1355 DR at the Mouth of Song in the Moonwood. She was raised in the Moonwood north of Quaervarr.

Early Career
Sine'strae began their career apprenticing under former adventurer Drogan Droganson. Drogan was a dwarven wizard and cleric of Mystra, who retired from his own career to open an academy for aspiring adventurers out of his homestead near Hilltop.

During the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the academy was attacked by a group of kobolds who stole a group of artifacts that Drogan had been protecting on behalf of the Harpers. During the attack Drogan was poisoned with an exotic poison that was resistant to normal means of healing. Fortunately, fellow Harper Ayala Windspear arrived on scene. She had been tracking the kobolds and tended to him while his apprentice went into the surrounding territory to recover the artifacts.

Among the foes they faced to do so were the young white dragon Tymofarrar, with his force of kobolds, and the half-fiend elven sorceress J'Nah who was backed by a force of gnolls. The two had previously been allies in gaining the artifacts, though after a betrayal they became enemies. While confronting J'Nah, Sinestrae learned that she was ultimately collecting the artifacts on behalf of a mysterious cloaked figure.

The true target of the attack turned out a powerful magical sphere that had been hidden in a tower statue among the artifacts. The statue was held by the Kobold Deekin, who was willing to trade it for his freedom from his former master Tymofarrar.

The Anauroch desert
As Drogan was still recovering, Sinestrae and their fellow apprentices travelled across the Anauroch desert to a camp of Ao worshipers where Dogan's acquaintance, archaeologist Garrick Halassar, was exploring Netherese ruins. Drogan believed that Halassar may be able to identify it. However, before they reached the camp, the desert posed its own challenges.

First the caravan was attacked by a group of Stingers, who kidnapped their desert guide, leading Sinestrae to enter into their underground lair to rescue him before he was sacrificed to Talona.

Secondly, the desert oasis that the caravan stopped to gain water from, had come under threat from the powerful Netherese mummy lord Kel-Garas. Kel-Garas's powers had caused the oasis to dry and undead forces to attack the Bedine warriors who had been sworn the mummy at bay since he had been entombed. Sinestrae entered Kel-Garas's tomb to resolve the situation.

Eventually, after arriving at the Aoist's camp, they met with Halassar who positively identified it as Netherese ,mythallar a powerful artifact that focused large amounts of raw magical energy. Halassar was the only survivor of an attack on the expedition by the same cloaked figure, who had entered the ancient ruins he had been exploring, backed by a force of Slaads.

Sinestrae and their allies entered the ruins and fought their way through to a large magical gate, where the figure had entered. There they met with their old mentor Drogan, who had recovered enough to magically travel. They helped Drogan to activate the gate, but the old wizard realized too late that their adversary had hidden a deadly magical trap within the energies of the gate to detur pursuit. Drogan sacrificed himself to keep the gate open to allow his pupil and allies to escape the collapse of the ruins.

They wound up at an unknown location deep in the desert, near the ruins of the crashed Netherese flying city of Undrentide. There their adversary revealed herself to be the Medusa sorceress ,Heurodis who promptly petrified Sinestrae and plucked the mythallar from their stone grasp. She used it to raise the ancient city into the air once again, planning to use it and its ancient secrets to conquer Faerûn.

While the Sorceress was still performing the ritual to raise the city, Sinestrae was discovered by thralls of the Asabi slaver and merchant Ashtara. Mistaking them for a particularly realistic statue, they brought their find to their Master, believing he would appreciate it as he currently had them scavenging the ruins for valuable artifacts for later sale. Ashtara recognized the "statue" as a living being as he had previously used similar magic to safely transport slaves across the desert without expending unnecessary resources. Thus he was able to restore them to life, under a magical slave collar that forced them to do his bidding.

Exploring Undrentide
Recognizing Sinestrae's prowess, Ashtara first directed them to destroy the powerful golem guards protecting key areas of the city, hampering his scavenging efforts.

After this was accomplished, he ordered them to explore the previously inaccessible areas of the ruins. Among the notable items that Sinestrae discovered were three powerful magical spheres that together allowed access to the upper levels of the city, as well as an artifact that summoned a portal to the shadow plane.

Upon reaching the top level of the city, where they again confronted Heurodis. The sorceress had bound her life force to the energies of the mythallar, becoming a powerful litch at the cost of her petrifying gaze.

Sinestrae managed to destroy the medusa, along with the ring of conduits that focused the mythallar’s magic, allowing the city to fly. The ancient enclave once again crashed into the sands though Sinestrae survived by escaping into the shadow plane through their portal.

Ashtara was among those who died in the crash and, in time, Sinestrae’s slave collar lost its power and detached. However, they could no longer use the previous portal to leave the shadow plane. They travelled across the gloomy environs, honing their skill and becoming a seasoned adventurer in their own right.

Eventually they discovered a strange artifact that allowed them to access a demi-plane with portals to other worlds. Unaware of its true purpose or name, they nicknamed it the “Relic of the Reaper” after the mysterious creature who oversaw the realm.

After returning to the material plane, they continued their adventures and their fame spread across the land. Eventually they were one of the heroes who came to Waterdeep to answer a call for aid with a growing crisis there.

Into Undermountain
Recently, there had been an increase in attacks on prominent residents of Waterdeep by drow warriors and their allies. Durnan, the proprietor of the Yawning Portal inn, believed that their may have been a shift in power within the Underdark to account for their recent boldness. In addition, he believed that something may have happened to Halaster Blackcloak to allow for them to have apparent free access to Undermountain and its surface portals.

Therefore he proposed an expedition of heroes into Undermountain to investigate the matter and hopefully deal with the any threat. Unfortunately, during his proposal, the inn itself came under attack by a force of drow and Duergar who had come up from its passage to Undermountain.

Though the surviving heroes managed to defeat the initial attack, a beholder emerged from from the portal and attacked, temporarily disabling Durnan and the adventurer. The other heroes, an established company consisting of Sharwyn, Tomi Undergallows, Daelan Red Tiger and Linu La'neral impulsively rushed to follow the creature, leaving behind Durnan, the adventurer and Deekin (now an aspiring bard).

After preparing as best they could, Sinestrae entered Undermountain themselves. There they learned that Halaster Blackcloak was indeed being held prisoner by the drow. These drow were followers of the Valsharess, a powerful leader who was attempting to conquer the Underdark, becoming its Empress.

Blackcloak’s disappearance had caused a power vacuum in Undermountain as well. In the upper levels, a conflict had broken out between factions of a fairy sorceress and an ogre magi, each vying for territory in the open realm. After settling the dispute, Sinestrae had to recover parts of a device to open the passage to the lower levels, which had been broken by a flesh golem that was loyal to its “father ” Halastar. During their explorations, they also discovered the bodies of the four adventurers an restored them to life with a rod of resurrection.

In the deeper levels, they were met by increasing resistance from the Valsharess’s warriors but were aided by the rebel drow assassin Nathyrra, a follower of Eilistraee, who belonged to a faction opposed to the Valsharess.

Sinestrae and their allies managed to free Halaster from his imprisonment but the Mad Mage placed a geas on Sinestrae to destroy the Valsharess and teleported the allies to the Underdark city of Lith My'athar.

The Underdark
Lith My'athar was one of the few remaining cities holding out against the Valsharess’s attacks on the norther territory of the Underdrk. Thus it had become a haven for refugees, including Nathyrra’s faction of Eilistraee devotees. Tensions in the city were high, not only from external threats but the differences between the worshipers of Eilistraee and Lloth.

The Seer, a powerful Eilistraee an priestess who led the rebel movement, explained that the Valsharess had made alliances with factions of beholders, illithids, and an undead cult lead by the dracolich Vix'thra, not only that, but she had somehow bound the Archdevil Mestopheles to her service. The Seer tasked Sinestrae and their companions to weaken the upcoming attack by disrupting the alliances while seeking their own potential allies among the golems on the Isle of the Maker and another nearby island with a mysterious settlement of avariel.

The adventurer was then placed in charge of co-coordinating the defence of the city, first at the main gate and then the city's port. However, the Valsharess appeared to Sinestrae in a dream the night before the attack, attempting to seduce them into joining her cause.

Relationships
They studied under the retired dwarf adventurer Drogan Droganson.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide • Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark