View source for Kâras

{{Person
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| name           = Kâras
| true name      =
| alt_spelling   =
| titles         = Black Moon<ref name="SotD-p62">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|62}}</ref>
| aliases        =
| nicknames      =
| home           = 
| formerhomes    = [[Maerimydra]], [[Deep Wastes]]<ref name="CotSQ-p9">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|9}}</ref>
| sex            = Male<ref name="CotSQ-p148">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|148}}</ref>
| race           = [[Drow]] [[elf]]<ref name="CotSQ-p148"/>
| reckoning      = DR
| age            =
| ageyear        = 
| dob            = 
| dobnotes       = 
| turned         = 
| turnednotes    = 
| death          = 1379
| deathnotes     = Karas was alive again as of the 1490s DR<ref name="SMU-9">{{Cite digital book/Szith Morcane Unbound|9}}</ref>
| destroyed      = 
| destroyednotes = 
| alignment      =
| patron deity   = [[Vhaeraun]]<ref name="CotSQ-p148"/>, [[Eilistraee]]
| languages      =
| occupation     = Priest
| class1e        =
| class2e        = 
| alignment3e    = [[Chaotic evil]] 
| class3e        = {{Class table|edition=3e|[[Rogue]]|5|[[Cleric]]|3|[[Divine seeker]]|3}}
| class35        = 
| class4e        =
| class5e        =
| refs1e         =
| refs2e         = 
| refs3e         = <ref name="CotSQ-p148"/>
| refs35         = 
| refs4e         =
| refs5e         =
}}'''Kâras''' was a [[drow]] [[divine seeker]] and priest of [[Vhaeraun]] and a member of the [[Hidden]] from [[Maerimydra]].<ref name="CotSQ-p72">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|72}}</ref> After Vhaeraun's death, he switched his allegiance to [[Eilistraee]].<ref name="SotD-p30">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|30}}</ref> He died while under her employment,<ref name="AotL-p171-176">{{Cite book/Ascendancy of the Last|171-176}}</ref> but somehow revived at some point around the [[Second Sundering]]. He then resumed his position among the Hidden and among the followers of Vhaeraun.<ref name="SMU-9">{{Cite digital book/Szith Morcane Unbound|9}}</ref>

==Description==
Thin yet muscular, Karas' left side of his face was badly scarred.<ref name="CotSQ-p72">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|72}}</ref>

==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.<ref name="CotSQ-p72" />

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,<ref name="SofD-44-45">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|44-45}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SofD-81-84">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|81-84}}</ref>

==Abilities==
As a member of both the secretive [[church of Vhaeraun|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.<ref name="CotSQ-p71">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|71}}</ref>

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 creature]]s'' and ''[[locate object|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.<ref name="PoGF-p52-53">{{Cite book/Player's Guide to Faerûn|52-53}}</ref>

==Possessions==
Karas typically wore a shirt of ''[[elven chain]]'' and a [[magic]]al [[short sword]].<ref name="CotSQ-p72" /> 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.<ref name="CotSQ-p148">{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|148}}</ref>

==History==
Prior to the [[Silence of Lolth]] in [[1372 DR]], Karas was a member of a small [[Church of Vhaeraun|Vhaeraunian cult]] in the city of [[Maerimydra]].<ref name="CotSQ-p72>{{Cite book/City of the Spider Queen|72}}</ref> However, after [[Kurgoth Hellspawn]]'s invasion and occupation of the city in [[Eleint 23]] and the subsequent rise of [[Irae T'sarran]]'s [[Kiaransalee]]an cult on [[Eleint 28]], Karas joined a group of survivors called the [[Hidden]], who were dedicated to restoring Maerimydra and driving out the invaders,<ref name="CotSQ-p71" /> though he considered their work to be suicidal and impossible to succeed. He eventually deserted the Hidden after taking treasure with him.<ref name="SotD-p236">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|236}}</ref>

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.<ref name="SotD-p25-26">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|25-26}}</ref>

In [[1376 DR]], Kâras was tasked with the mission of killing [[Valdar Jaelre]], another former priest of Vhaeraun who'd taken refuge in [[Guallidurth]].<ref name="SotD-p25">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|25}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SofD-189">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|189}}</ref>. At last, Kâras decided to spare Valdar for the moment.<ref name="SotD-p30-39">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|30-39}}</ref>

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.<ref name="SotD-p45-48">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|45-48}}</ref>

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.<ref name="SofD-81-84">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|81-84}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SofD-152-153">{{Cite book/Storm of the Dead/Paperback (2007)|152-153}}</ref>

In [[1379 DR]] Kâras led an expedition to [[Llurth Dreir]] to investigate about [[Ghaunadaur]]'s followers.<ref name="AotL-p103-112">{{Cite book/Ascendancy of the Last|103-112}}</ref>

Following the [[Qilué Veladorn]]'s orders he together with [[Valdar Jaelre]] instigated the followers of Ghaunadaur to attack the Promenade.<ref name="AotL-p125">{{Cite book/Ascendancy of the Last|125}}</ref>

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.<ref name="AotL-p171-176">{{Cite book/Ascendancy of the Last|171-176}}</ref>

Kâras was later revived, and as the 1490s DR he was again a follower of [[Vhaeraun]]<ref name="SMU-9">{{Cite digital book/Szith Morcane Unbound|9}}</ref> (who had returned--alongside the rest of the[[Dark Seldarine]]--during the event known as the [[Sundering of Toril and Abeir]]<ref name="SCAG">{{Cite book/Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide|23, 108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web/Candlekeep forum
| title      = Questions for Ed Greenwood (2015)
| author     = [[Ed Greenwood]]/The Hooded One
| topicid    = 19841
| postid     = 468322
| whichpage  = 13
| date       = 2015-04-17
| accessdate = 
}}</ref>). After his resurrection, Kâras was active in Maerimydra, again as a member of the Hidden, he once deserted.<ref name="SMU-9">{{Cite digital book/Szith Morcane Unbound|9}}</ref>

==Appendix==
===Appearances===
;Adventures
* ''[[City of the Spider Queen]]''
;Novels
* ''[[Storm of the Dead]]''
* ''[[Ascendancy of the Last]]''
===References===
{{refs}}
[[Category:Divine seekers]]
[[Category:Drow]]
[[Category:Worshipers of Vhaeraun]]
[[Category:Priests and priestesses]]
[[Category:Priests of Eilistraee]]
[[Category:Priests of Vhaeraun]]
[[Category:Members of the Hidden]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of Maerimydra]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of the Deep Wastes]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of the Middledark]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of the Underdark]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of the Northdark]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn]]
[[Category:Inhabitants of Toril]]
[[Category:Inhabitants]]