Myrmeen Lhal

Myrmeen Lhal was the Lady Lord of the Cormyrean city of Arabel, a skilled ranger, and revered member of the Moonstars.

History
Myrmeen was born in a poor section of Calimport into a life of obscurity. At the age of six her mother lost a child during a storm, claiming a group called the Night Parade had taken the baby's spirit to a better place. Despite her mother's words she was plagued by nightmares throughout her childhood. She married a man named Dak at the age of twenty and they were to have a baby together. On the night of the birth there was another bad storm and Myrmeen lost consciousness. When she awoke, Dak said the baby was "gone", implying that it was stillborn. A year later, they divorced.

Myrmeen left Calimshan and became an adventuring Harper, traveling all over Faerûn, including Evermeet. Myrmeen married Haverstrom Lhal, a cousin of King Azoun IV. They were happy together, much happier than she ever was with Dak, but unfortunately Haverstrom died in an ambush not long after they wed. Two years after his death, King Azoun IV became impressed with her leadership qualities and made her commander of the garrison of Arabel, and eventually ruler of the whole city in 1359 DR. It was an anarchic place, having only recently been ruled by Gondegal, the Usurper King. She restored order to the city and made it a much more prosperous place by organizing the trade routes between Cormyr and the Moonsea and creating a safe haven for caravans. She created jobs and built houses for the poor, earning her the love of the people.

The Night Parade
One day, Myrmeen's ex-husband Dak appeared all of a sudden to reveal that their baby had not died; he had sold her to someone. She killed him on the spot in anger and organized a group of Harpers to find her daughter. They discovered that the Night Parade were the cause of Myrmeen's nightmares. Around six thousand monsters lived with barely any secrecy in Calimport thanks to one member with incredible hypnotic powers. After coming close to death several times, she found a girl who she believed to be her daughter, and together with one of the monsters (who turned out to be her "stillborn" sister) they managed to kill the hypnotic member of the Parade. Once it was dead, the citizens of Calimport rioted, eliminating the majority of the creatures in the city.

Myrmeen managed to find her real daughter but upon discovering the wonderful life she led, she decided that she would not let her know her heritage and instead adopted the girl she had previously thought was her daughter, Krystin.

Returning to Cormyr
The Goblin War changed Myrmeen's new, happy life with her daughter. It was quickly realized that Arabel could not be held, accentuated by the fact that Myrmeen had lost her left arm in the fighting (she soon had it restored through divine magic) and the populace was magically transported to Suzail. Arabel became a goblin city for a time but Myrmeen vowed she would retake it. She formed an army of rangers, scouts and mercenaries and forced the monsters out. Unfortunately the humanoids fled into the forests where they became much more difficult to dislodge.

She defected from the Harpers to become one of the leading members of Khelben's Moonstars but otherwise ruled Arabel with the same benevolence that earned her her popularity in the first place.

Seven years after she had her son, she decided to move her household to Suzail to be closer to Krystin and her granddaughter, however she did so at first without leave from the Crown, placing her herald Westar in charge of Arabel until a replacement lord could be found.

Family
Myrmeen had three children: The daughter she had with Dak, who had no idea of her heritage; Krystin, her adopted Calishite daughter, and Ganrahast, a son she conceived with Vangerdahast but who was known at first as Ganrion to hide his father's identity. Krystin had a daughter as well&mdash;Nalara Marliir&mdash;and both Myrmeen and her granddaughter were very close to one another.

Game Irregularities
In 2nd edition AD&D, Myrmeen Lhal is referred to as a 13th level ranger. She was still listed as 13th level in After the Dragon, an article by Ed Greenwood in the Dragon Magazine Annual 2000 and the first mention of Lhal's class level under the 3rd edition ruleset. However, in the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (printed a year later), she is referred to as a 12th level ranger of Tymora. This is one of the few instances where second edition characters have actually gone down in terms of power levels.