#umbril

Before creation, there was one deity: Altae. She was raw, undeveloped, and completely unaware of even herself. She existed in nothingness, no time or space. She had no thoughts or actions until a moment of enlightenment: she became aware of her existence. This caused a spontaneous eruption-for she was a being of unknowing.

Umbril Torq-Alth, now trying out a hyphen. Perhaps the meaning can now shine through: Torq resembling "torch," his biological mother having been assigned to the fire-keepers/light guards as a lifelong position; and Alth, a corrupted (or creatively spelled) "elf."

Umbril is a Szarkai, an albino drow. The appearance of Szarkai have provoked a variety of reactions from Lolth-Sworn society over the centuries. In Umbril's time, the bright hue of the skin is an undesirable trait, but the condition itself is considered blessed, as well as its side effects: bare of hair; noticeable veins; curling of the fingers and toes; odd jagged development of the teeth; and viewed strangely positively, doubled weakness to bright sunlight.

Coupled with his servant status this put Umbril in a curious position. As a female he could have become someone high-ranking, outstripping his mother easily. But as a male, he can never have any power; yet, Szarkai should not do menial labor lest they be looked down upon, for fear of disrespect to Lolth herself.

Fortunately, Szarkai can have another use. Albino drow and albino high elves are indistinguishable, in theory. The symptoms are unfortunately strong in Umbril, but the drow are of course all too content to take a gamble and pass it off as sickness, if it means gaining a spy.

Umbril, age nine, was given a mission and sent to the surface with another Szarkai, an adult female of both status and skill. They were to set up in Baldur's Gate in order to track the location of a mysterious item connected to Lolth without drawing attention. The item proved to be more difficult to pin down than expected; the duo stayed in Baldur's Gate for three years, spending the last months in outright hiding, having drawn the ire of the Rakshasa who jealously hoarded said item.

Finally, all other options having been exhausted, a report to the underground was deemed necessary. The two parted ways to make for the journey home separately. The plan went awry when it was revealed that the Rakshasa had quietly been watching them all the while and had sent mercenaries after each. Umbril had noticed his hunters, armed and numbered; and so, rather than stick to the plan, he threw the mercs off his trail the only way he could: doing the unthinkable and turning around.

Confronting the Rakshasa in their lair revealed that this Rakshasa had the ability to open portals to other planes. The Rakshasa used a prisoner, an aberration, to open a portal to the Far Realm. Umbril was banished to the Far Realm for only hours, but exposure to such alien dimensions has consequences. Umbril, delirious and dissociated from his senses, began distorting the space around himself by his own will, and eventually, used that same spell to sacrifice another aberration and open a portal back to Faerun.