Oloth Plynn Dos

Basic

Name: Olorna Auvryndar

Aliases: High Sorceress of Shadows, Sorceress, The Poison Girl, Wannabe Bard (A special title that Kel’tyrr—her Bard bestie—calls her)

Background: Sage

Gender: Female

Sexuality: pan/demi

Pronouns: she/her

Other

Family: Olorna's family is a coven of Shadow Sorcerers and Necromancers. They have established themselves in Skullport as a secret House of Seldarine Drow. I just posted a lot more about them here with more to come!

Birthplace: Skullport, Underdark

Job: Merchant/Shopkeep of an Apothecary in Skullport. She sells a variety of things such as alchemical concoctions (mostly poisons), dark magic spell scrolls, unusual/magical books, ritual necessities, and body parts/cadavers/bones for witchcraft and necromancy.

Phobia/fear: Loss of identity, depersonalization, detachment from magic, being stolen from, and the ghost of her dead husband being able to possess her.

Hobbies: Playing violin, singing, dancing

Morals

Alignment: Lawful evil/Lawful neutral

Flaws: Reactive, sometimes volatile, hedonistic, headstrong, will cut out your tongue, or a finger, if you piss her off enough. She'll "put you to good use" in an alchemical cocktail or poison.

Virtues: Excerpt from Meet Olorna:

She doesn't believe 'evil' is this monolithic archetype of malevolence. Evil, to Olorna, is part of life. Everyone is capable of evil, and everything has evil lurking within. She prefers to embrace and accept evils of all sorts, so long as they are rooted in purpose. Directionless, careless evils are where the wickedness of the world lies. Olorna's main motivation is protecting only herself and the people she cares about/trusts (which is a very small circle). She's reserved and slow to trust others. That being said, she isn't heartless. She's cautious, but curious and perceptive.

Core beliefs/tenets of her House; an excerpt from my newest lore drop:

𖤐 Embrace the Darkness, revel in Her beauty and protection.  𖤐 Indulge the darkest parts of yourself, for it is the key to leading a fulfilled life. 𖤐 Beware the depths of the Dark.  𖤐 Handle the shadows with mindfulness, lest you lose yours.  𖤐 Your cunning and wit are your most valuable assets.

This or that

Overture

Seldarine drow reject the Spider Queen. In doing so, most are wide spread and assimilate into other cultures within the Underdark or on the surface. There is no centralized city state or societal structure to adhere to. House Auvryndar functions more as a Coven than a traditional Drowic House. They are significantly smaller than a typical Noble House of Lolth. 

House Auvryndar is based in Skullport, The Port of Shadows, and is made up of Shadow Sorcerers, Necromancers and a few Oathbreaker Paladins and exiles of Menzoberranzen. They are a faithless house, there is no patron god. Members of House Auvryndar 'worship' (for lack of a better word) the shadows and death/undeath as concepts, rather than deities. They revere in the beauty, comfort and protection of darkness. They prefer to remain in the Underdark and hope to one day transform Skullport into a larger hub for Seldarine drow. But for now, their operations remain subtle and "underground." 

Most members of the House are blood related, but not all of them. Those who are enter House Auvryndar either by choice or marriage, must prove they are trustworthy enough to join. House Auvryndar must keep their operation discreet, as to not be uprooted by Lolthsworn drow. Exhiles of Menzobarrenzen and Oathbreaker Paladins of Lolth are typically the only outsiders allowed, because they have already proved disloyal to Lolth. While the House wishes to remain as purely a tight knit family, they must prioritize expansion over birth-right. (There are some internal conflicts about this topic. The current Matron Mother has decreed Expansion as overruling Birth-right.)

House Auvryndar specializes in dark magic, powerful rituals, and macabre trade. They are looking to expand. They encourage their members to have as many children as possible, and be on constant look out for exhiles and oathbreakers to recruit (as they don't have to go through rigorous vetting and already have common goals.) The House plans to expand as much as they can over the centuries, to eventually have enough power and ability to claim a Seldarine city state and begin pushing back against Menzoberranzen. (They dream big!)

Structure/Hierarchy

House Auvryndar is Matriarchal but men are seen as important contributors and if no female heir exists, a male heir may become in higher standing than a female, so long as he has the skill, knowledge, and accurate interpretations of their teachings. 

The hierarchy is skill based, rather than gender or age based, and goes as such:

Matron Mother/Patron Father

High Sorceress of Shadows/Arch Mage of Necromancy

Alchemist Artificers/Scribes

Weaponmasters

Intermediate Practitioners 

Novices

Typically, those in the highest ranks are the eldest but not always. The Matron Mother could be younger than the High Sorceress. The Alchemist Artificer could be older than the Matron Mother. These titles are reserved for the highest skilled individuals. However, high skill levels are typically held by the eldest members that are still physically able to practice. There are some members of House Auvryndar that used to hold high ranked titles but have retired from practice, but are still involved in gatherings, often taking on a more supportive/mentor role for intermediate practitioners and novices. 

Because House Auvryndar is significantly smaller than a typical Drowic House, one person can hold multiple titles. Especially at the upper levels of the hierarchy. For example: Olorna is the High Sorceress and an Alchemist Artificer of House Auvryndar. The Matron Mother could also be the Arch Mage of Necromancy. Arch Mage could also be the Scribe. Ideally, those roles would be filled by different people but it is not always possible. 

Roles & Responsibilities

Matron Mother and Patron Father

The Matron Mother and/or Patron Father is the head of the House. They are ultimate decision maker, ritual planner, organizational lead, teaching crafter, and quest appointer. Teachings are written and interpreted by the Matron/Patron. If there is a Matron and a Patron they will share responsibilities of the role, with final say falling to the Matron. Typically, there is only one person filling this role. 

High Sorceress and Arch Mage

High Sorceress/Sorcerer of Shadows — this role is typically filled by the eldest or highest skilled daughter/son of the family. 

Arch Mage of Necromancy — Some members of the family are not innately born with magic and learn magic through a Wizarding path as opposed to the typical path of intuition. 

Both roles share the same responsibilities which inlcude:

Leading of rituals/ceremonies determined by the Matron/Patron

Magical Research

Teaching and managing the intermediates and novices

Overseers of the Treasury

Vetting new recruits.

Alchemist Artificer

This role is vital for supplying the House with income from powerful potions, poisons, elixirs, draughts, etc. for sale. And also for use during rituals/ceremonies, personal use, and defense. 

Scribe

The scribe is typically a skilled practitioner who writes spell scrolls, grimoires, house histories, ritual books, and philosophies of the House as dictated by the Matron/Patron. 

Weaponmasters

This is typically where Oathbreaker Paladins fall in the hierarchy of the House after they have completed the vetting process in which their level and skillset are carefully examined. Some of the Exiles will also fall into this category if they are of a melee or fighting class (like rogues, rangers, fighters, barbarians, etc.) and will be vetted in a similar, but more vigorous, way as the Oathbreakers. This group is intended to defend and protect the House. They are typically sent to keep tabs on Lolthsworn raids, exterminate any that get too close, and alert the House of any potential threats. 

Intermediate Practitioners

Typically the second, and below, daughters and sons. They participate in rituals under the supervision of the High Sorceress and Arch Mage. They follow the High Sorceress and Arch Mage in their duties, helping wherever necessary, and participate in research and outreach. The highest skilled intermediate practitioners will frequently be sent out to support the Weaponmasters. 

Novices

Youngest/Newest members with a great deal to learn. Typically the Novices are in a mentor/mentee relationship with the retirees of the House. They help to gather necessities for rituals/ceremonies, and observe research. Their focus is their craft. Many are assigned a length of time (days, weeks, sometimes months) to dedicate to a particular part of their craft. Mastery of basic skills and spells are their priority. 

I plan to dive deeper to the agenda and history of House Auvryndar as well as the implications of being based in Skullport in separate posts. I’d also love to talk about their practices, internal conflicts, and general House Happenings but this is enough for now.

What’s an idea, dynamic, or trope in your current work that feels naughty or self-indulgent? (Spicy answers 100% encouraged.)

Definitely the whole vampire x mortal biting/bloodplay type stuff.

Is your OC a virgin, a blushing maiden, or sexual fiend? Or aro/ace? Or something in between?

Olorna is demi. So sex is not something that on her mind unless she feels emotionally connected to someone, and even then she's pretty shy about it at first. It takes her a long time to get comfy with it. (So when Astarion wants to stop doing that for a while she has absolutely no reservations about it.)

What’s your OC’s “I shouldn’t be turned on by this” trigger?

Olorna doesn't really get turned on by things, and we she does it's usually something about her partner. I guess the best answer for this, for Olorna, would be Astarion's fangs lol and when he puts 'em in her neck haha.

What is your OC’s hard NO?

Once Olorna has fully opened up and gotten completely comfortable with the idea of sex, I'd say she's pretty open minded except for anything that might be too painful/abrasive/restrictive or NC. It would be to triggering for her.

What is the most debauched VP/artwork you have ever created?

I love smacking my barbies together 😈

Do you have any crazy projects for the future?

Yes! I have a very gorey art piece in the works of the scene where Olorna murders her abusive husband. I really hope I can that to a point where I'm comfortable posting a WIP of it. I'm using it for posing practice so there's like 4 different versions of it right now!