Duergar Warlock, Servant of Lloth

[Satoshi]

I've already discussed getting a Duergar spot with GBX, and he told me it was open, and he seemed to like the idea for my character to be. What I'm posting here is for the most important part of the story. You see, this character is going to be the taskmaster/seneschal/servant of a powerful Drow or House of Drow, preferably with the superior-most force being a Priestess of Llolth. This character, as of yet unnamed, will be striving to gain prestige and acceptance by the 'superior' Drow, and be in constant contest with the male wizards and sorcerors in attempt to prove his powers superior.

The story is that the duergar made a pact with Llolth through means of one of her Yogneouth (Or however it's spell, since I don't have the book in front of me. The Demons that serve as her 'handmaidens', because they take the shape of comely women.), and for eternal servitude, and a small piece of his soul to seal the pact, he gained powerful demonic magic. He seeks to prove his eternal loyalty (and thus gain more power from his Spider Queen) by service to the powerful priestess'. He disdains male drow as much as female drow do, but yearns to be one himself due to the social stigma he suffers as a Duergar. He secretly plans on trading more of his tainted soul for the form of a Drow at a later date.

Anyway... Any Drow takers?

[Zoberraz]

Yochlol. The demon type you are looking for is 'Yochlol'.

...I don't play drow characters, but I feel duergar toward drow can be three things: business partners/temporary allies or slaves or opponents.

An intentional sycophant that happens to have been given his powers by a Yochlol - whom are even less tolerant, malicious, evil and malevolent - just seems extremely unlikely. Seems to me a Yochlol would just snuff his life out, stick him in a web until he becomes nicely stiff and crunchy and then partake on the meal while idly poking at his soul to torture it while she ponders if she should consume that too, turn it into a larvae for currency or offer it to her superiors to gain favor.

[OzmaDarkheart]

But.....

Yochlol. The demon type you are looking for is 'Yochlol'.

...I don't play drow characters, but I feel duergar toward drow can be three things: business partners/temporary allies or slaves or opponents.

An intentional sycophant that happens to have been given his powers by a Yochlol - whom are even less tolerant, malicious, evil and malevolent - just seems extremely unlikely. Seems to me a Yochlol would just snuff his life out, stick him in a web until he becomes nicely stiff and crunchy and then partake on the meal while idly poking at his soul to torture it while she ponders if she should consume that too, turn it into a larvae for currency or offer it to her superiors to gain favor.

...but, being demons, therefore chaotic and unpredictable, and servants of a goddess seen by many as mad, I wouldn't say it's impossible, just very, very unlikely. And there is a precedent for the transformation of other races into a drow, I just can't for the life of me find the book its in(curse of too many books in not enough space ).

[Woodelf7734]

Don't ask on here for a "drow master".

Every drow character wants his/her own slave for OOC reasons most of the time, and they don't apply any factors of their actual character into it. RP it out and find a suitable master, don't meta-game it.

[Giant Moth]

I think he wants to be wrapped into someones background, in which case, it's hardly metagaming.

[Woodelf7734]

Hence why I said:

RP it out and find a suitable master, don't meta-game it.

[Giant Moth]

Which sort of ruins the point of being wraped into someones background.

[Woodelf7734]

[Satoshi]

Alright, having worked out all the details to my character's history and such, I've decided to post the character profile here so everyone can take a look-see at what I'm working with here. I've made it far more open-ended than I originally thought, but it still requires the effort of both IC and OOC cooperation, considering NWN2 doesn't have any 'real' divination in game. Without further ado, I give you...

Araugmar Skulldark
Male Deurgar Warlock
Neutral Evil

Starting Stats

Str: 14
Dex: 8
Con: 16
Int: 12
Wis: 14
Cha: 12

Appearance

Araugmar Skulldark is surprisingly clean and well-kept for a duergar: his head perfectly free of hair, his smooth and silky beard combed to perfection, even his skin being a more pleasing color of ebony tinged with violet than some ashy shade of gray. Every braid of his beard looks to have been meticulously combed and braided to a model of perfection, with fine dyed spidersilk binding the hair together. Cold, dark silver eyes gaze out from beneath a tempered brow, seeming to take in every action and deliberate every consequence. Despite all of these things, the duergar still strongly bears his birthright in a wiry, tough body corded with thick muscle and many scars.

Personality

Araugmar is a meticulous, methodical, and mindful perfectionist- a trait that is natural to any duergar, but manifests itself to a near-fanatical obsession in the warlock. He can suffer no less than perfection, because even the smallest slight will give the fickle Spider Queen reason enough to finish the job that was started so long ago. However, unlike most duergar, the warlock seems to take a deep pleasure in his art, and can often be seen smiling evilly, his eyes gazing into some unseen void as he devotes himself fully to greater feats of fell, eldritch power.

Araugmar has few distinct goals, other than to garner as much material power in this world as he can while still preparing for his inevitable travel into the realm of the dead. Not content with simply becoming a soul larvae for powerful demons to trade or grow bloated on, the warlock endlessly to prove his power and worth, going so far as to dream of one day standing at Lloth's side as the first 'worthy' of his kind. The obsessive zeal gives him a personal strength that few duergar exhibit, and drive him to a higher meaning in his pitiful existance.

In addition, service to the drow for three decades has taught more to the warlock than even the dark elves realize- where once there was brutish, blunt words and short-sighted actions, there now comes clever responses, observant insights, careful actions, and powerful conviction. Even as the drow supremacy seeks to crush the duergar's spirit under social stigma and oppressive disdain, it only makes Araugmar adapt and evolve to his new role in life. The warlock has an obvious disdain for male drow, especially those of traditional arcanist bent, and seeks to foil their plans in any way that can discredit them while lending prestige to himself.

History

Originally hailing from Korolnor, at the border of the Upper and Middledark, Araugmar was once a skilled warrior who aided in raids on Upperdark communities of dwarves, goblins and orcs for gold and slaves to work the endless mines. On some occassions, these raids would turn to the Middledark, where attacks would be launched on Illithid, and sometimes Drow, encampments. One such raid turned particularly sour when a warparty of Quaggoth, incited by the drow, ambushed the raiding party that Araugmar had lead. Wounded, surviving but a failure, they young warrior could not return to the pitiless life of his kind, for he valued his existance. Taking his chances, he set off into the dangerous lands of the Underdark to seek some new purpose to his existance.

While passing through the demon-tainted Ammarindar, Araugmar uncovered a small trove of lost tomes dating back to the times when Hellgate Keep was in full activity. One of the tomes depicted a ritual of ancient nature, which promised great, dark power for one willing to make 'the necessary sacrifices.' The desire to lay claim to as much power and wealth inherant in his duergar nature, Araugmar invoked the ritual to the best of his ability, taking special care with every sigil and symbol and intoning every word of power to the best he could with his untrained tongue. The results could not have been better had he been a learned being of more power, for the ancient rituals were powerful indeed.

The ritual drew forth from the Abyss a Yochlol, the demon in it's truest form as a six foot tall heap of filthy, stinking oozing. Eight mighty tentacles twisted and writhed around a glaring red eye that bore down upon the duergar, though his courage never left him. He grit himself with a determined bent, and hoped only that the magics written in those ancient tomes would not falter, lest he suffer a fate many times worse than mere death. Even as Araugmar spoke the written words to forge the pact, he could feel the tug of an alien mind at his own, attempting to force it's will upon him.

The ancient ritual proved true, for though the demon desired to rip him asunder and spirit away his dark soul to the dark mother of spiders, it could take no such actions against him. Likewise, he could no more interact with the demon than it could him. Again, he drew up his resolve, and spoke the words of the ancient pact. There was silence for a time, before the demon touched his mind once more, this time with words and images to convey it's thoughts upon him. It spoke the will of Llolth, and demanded from him service to the Queen of the Demonweb Pits in exchange for the power he so ardently desired. A small price to pay if such rewards would truly be given, the gray dwarf agreed, and sealed the pact with a small portion of his soul.

It was this ancient ritual that suffused the very essance of his soul with the abyssal power he now commands, though he speaks not of the terms under which he gained these powers. Such knowledge could prove dangerous, or even be used by others foolish or determined enough to pursue such a cause. Unless commanded by a Yochlol, or the very aspect of Llolth, he would share this knowledge not even with a High Priestess.Araugmar follows the dark whispers in his dreams, travelling to distant lands where he is received with knowing distaste, but little arguement, by those servants of Llolth that divine his uses. It has been as such for thirty years now, and the dark whispers have given him a new destination, and a new master...

[Rannarix]

Dear God, is he a cripple?

[Satoshi]

Your idea of an 8 dex is severely overconstrued. No, he's not cripples. He's not even under-developed. The low dexterity score is to correlate the physical and statistical fact that Araugmar is notoriously careful and slow to act. This comes from the great delibertion he has to put into -everything- he does, and reflects his dulled physical reaction time, as well.

[Vichtor]

Don't ask on here for a "drow master".

Every drow character wants his/her own slave for OOC reasons most of the time, and they don't apply any factors of their actual character into it. RP it out and find a suitable master, don't meta-game it.

Wow...make wide-ranging, unfounded, and biased generalizations much?

-----------------------------

As for the 8 Dex...he IS a Druegar....short limbs, stubby fingers, corded muscle...not a whole lot of room to be flexible or nimble there. You're not going to see him doing backflips or walking a tightrope any time soon, but who would really expect a Druegar to do that anyway?

[Woodelf7734]

6 Dexterity would mean he couldn't dodge a beach ball if he saw it coming from 50 feet away, he Reflex saving throws should be negated, and if would randomly stumble of objects he on the road he fails to avoid. So how much better off is 8?

[Abyss]

Not too different, methinks. But, really, I think that's just nitpicky.

Back on topic: Most excellent planning. This seems like an extraordinary character, and if you can pull it off, he really has potential to be one of the most interesting characters on the server.

[Grigori]

Anyone else see the inherent problem with a low dex for a warlock?