Kâras was a drow divine seeker and priest of Vhaeraun and a member of the Hidden from Maerimydra.[5] After Vhaeraun's death, he switched his allegiance to Eilistraee.[6] He died while under her employment,[7] but somehow revived at some point around the Second Sundering. He then resumed his position among the Hidden and among the followers of Vhaeraun.[4]
Description[]
Thin yet muscular, Karas' left side of his face was badly scarred.[5]
Personality[]
Karas was a thoroughly evil individual while he venerated Vhaeraun and viewed others he worked alongside as merely handy pawns. He presented an amiable face when dealing with most people, all the while furthering his own plans.[5]
He was the owner of a strong mental that allowed him to conduct passive resistance. During his days as a member of the church of Eilistraee, he conducted passive resistance against eilistraeean sexist and elitist mind set. He refused to immediately pay deference to Cavatina Xarann, who clearly didn't respect him,[8] and also peacefully broke the tradition of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden to bar their male followers from participating at the communal chorus, which resulted into change in that regard in the form top down enforcement. He did this without giving in to Cavatina and her surrounding priestesses' mobbing, with the goal to mentally pressure him out nor to Cavatina's usage of actual military authority to force him away.[9]
Abilities[]
As a member of both the secretive Vhaeraunian cult and the Hidden in Maerimydra, Karas had cultivated a great deal of skill at remaining undetected, managing to dodge both Kurgoth Hellspawn's patrols and House T'sarran's undead scouts.[10]
His abilities as a divine seeker of Vhaeraun granted him not only the ability to better resist hostile divine spells but also to magically locate creatures and objects. He could also thwart glyphs and wards and temporarily increase his abilities in stealth on a massive scale. This combination made him expertly capable of infiltrating even magically warded areas.[11]
Possessions[]
Karas typically wore a shirt of elven chain and a magical short sword.[5] Whilst working among the Hidden in Maerimydra he wore a ring of silent spells that could mute a certain number of spells cast each day.[3]
History[]
Prior to the Silence of Lolth in 1372 DR, Karas was a member of a small Vhaeraunian cult in the city of Maerimydra.[5] However, after Kurgoth Hellspawn's invasion and occupation of the city in Eleint 23 and the subsequent rise of Irae T'sarran's Kiaransaleean cult on Eleint 28, Karas joined a group of survivors called the Hidden, who were dedicated to restoring Maerimydra and driving out the invaders,[10] though he considered their work to be suicidal and impossible to succeed. He eventually deserted the Hidden after taking treasure with him.[12]
Kâras later was one of the Vhaeraunian priests who, after 1375 DR, joined the Church of Eilistraee for its promise of power in the form of full access to spells including their strongest, something vhaeraunite clerics who didn't convert were deprived of.[13]
In 1376 DR, Kâras was tasked with the mission of killing Valdar Jaelre, another former priest of Vhaeraun who'd taken refuge in Guallidurth.[14] Kâras found Valdar but he convinced the former that in truth it was Vhaeraun who had killed Eilistraee and had planted a complex deception plot, while the church of Eilistraee fabricated the truth about the nature of Vhaeraun's death for propaganda's sake and sought to silence those who knew the truth like Valdar.[15]. At last, Kâras decided to spare Valdar for the moment.[16]
In 1377 DR, Kâras was accosted by the Darksong Knight Cavatina Xarann for his unorthodox way to conduct the High Hunt ritual. They were attacked by a crone of Kiaransalee, whom he had once killed during his days in Maerimydra, and who was detected by him via his magic before she could attack. The two managed to defeat the revenant monster and Kâras explained Cavatina about his experience in Maerimydra.[17]
Later, he was chosen to led the nightshadow force to scout the main temple of Kiaransalee alongside Cavatina, though she was less than pleased about having him to call him an equal, and thus their initial relationship was rocky.[9] This mission suffered from sabotage at the hands from eilistraeean priestesses in that male clerics of Eilistraee weren't taught the password to reach the eilistraeean home base.[18]
In 1379 DR Kâras led an expedition to Llurth Dreir to investigate about Ghaunadaur's followers.[19]
Following the Qilué Veladorn's orders he together with Valdar Jaelre instigated the followers of Ghaunadaur to attack the Promenade.[20]
During the assault of the Ghaunadaur's followers Valdar explained to Kâras that his plan was manipulate Ghaunadaur in destroying all drow. Understanding he was insane Kâras managed to kill him but only by sacrificing himself, as Kâras adhered to an orthodox view that destruction was not the end goal, but only the tool to facilitate the Nightshadow's new world, which required building. In the moment of his death, Kâras told Valdar that the indiscriminate slaughter Valdar had planned was not the will of the Masked Lord. As his soul passed on, Kâras heard a mysterious androgynous laugh.[7]
Kâras was later revived, and as the 1490s DR he was again a follower of Vhaeraun[4] (who had returned--alongside the rest of theDark Seldarine--during the event known as the Sundering of Toril and Abeir[21][22]). After his resurrection, Kâras was active in Maerimydra, again as a member of the Hidden, he once deserted.[4]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Novels
References[]
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 9. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 148. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Robert Adducci (March 2016). Szith Morcane Unbound. Edited by Claire Hoffman. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 9.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 72. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 30. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lisa Smedman (June 2008). Ascendancy of the Last. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 171–176. ISBN 978-0-7869-4864-2.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 44–45. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 81–84. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 James Wyatt (September 2002). City of the Spider Queen. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 71. ISBN 0-7869-1212-X.
- ↑ Richard Baker, James Wyatt (March 2004). Player's Guide to Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 52–53. ISBN 0-7869-3134-5.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 236. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 25–26. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 30–39. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 45–48. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (September 2007). Storm of the Dead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0-7869-4701-0.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (June 2008). Ascendancy of the Last. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 103–112. ISBN 978-0-7869-4864-2.
- ↑ Lisa Smedman (June 2008). Ascendancy of the Last. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7869-4864-2.
- ↑ Steve Kenson, et al. (November 2015). Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 23, 108. ISBN 978-0-7869-6580-9.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood/The Hooded One (2015-04-17). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2015). Candlekeep Forum.