Raised in the city of Menzobarranzan, Kalanaer was, unlike most drow,
raised by her mother. After her first child, the actual Solfryn, she had
begun to lose her edge, which was already dull to begin with. So, when
she had a child with god knows who, it was unsurprising that her
relationship with her male half-drow son was strange in regards to
societal expectations.
For one, she actually raised him. Not just
taking care of him, but offering him kindness and affection where other
drow would enforce punishment or neglect. Still, he was instilled with
the traditional drow traits of self reliance, independence, and knowing
what to say and when to get the upper hand on his fellow drow.
Kalanaer
as a child had one thing that she considered put her above the rest.
She had a reason to keep hope. Being born not only male but a half-drow
in her society had basically cursed her to an unfortunate life, but the
one thing that kept her going was her family, especially her mother.
While her mother could not afford to protect her outwardly from others,
and her sister especially could not, it was up to Kalanaer to carry
herself through the days, and the fact that when she arrived home she
could be met with warmth and love was the only thing that kept her going
in some moments.
As she entered her teenage years,
however, Kalanaer's mixed heritage and gender became a source of scorn
and ridicule among her peers. Treated as an outcast and a lesser being
by the drow, she endured constant harassment and discrimination, her
spirit slowly eroding under the weight of their contempt.
Unable
to bear the torment any longer, Kalanaer made the difficult decision to
leave Menzobarranzan behind, seeking refuge in the harsh wilderness
beyond the city. She left in the night, only saying goodbye to her
sister. For a year, she struggled to survive alone, her determination
keeping her going through the bitter cold of winter and the relentless
dangers of the wild. While she can't remember now, her name, Kalanaer,
had felt quite fitting. Lost and distant from a world that felt vaguely
familiar.
It was during this time of desperation that Kalanaer
encountered Elara, a tiefling wizard whose offer of shelter and food
seemed like a lifeline amidst the darkness. Grateful for the kindness
shown to her, Kalanaer accepted Elara's help without question, unaware
of the intentions lurking beneath her benefactor's facade.
As the
days passed, the strength Kalanaer's had gained back waned, not losing
weight or becoming sickly, but becoming more and more lethargic.
Unbeknownst to her, Elara had been poisoning her, slowly sapping her
energy in preparation for her experiments. The tiefling wizard was knee
deep in the magic of necromancy, and to her horror, there had been many
magic creatures and animals vivisected and experimented on before her.
And
when Kalanaer finally discovered the truth, it was too late. Bound and
helpless, she watched in horror as Elara revealed her true nature.
For
weeks, Kalanaer endured unimaginable agony as Elara experimented on
her, unheard in the depths of the tiefling's hidden laboratory. The
horrors inflicted upon her had nigh broken her, the only thing keeping
her going was the thought of her dying here, and family never knowing
what happened to her. The letters left for her mother and sister would
never reach them.
In a moment of opportunity, Kalanaer managed to
break free from her restraints, fleeing into the night with nothing but
her battered body and shattered resolve. With every step she took, she
felt a piece of her soul wither away, the scars of her ordeal etched
deep into her flesh and mind.
Returning to
Menzobarranzan, Kalanaer found herself a stranger in her own home, her
once warm and loving family now distant and changed. The city she had
once called home felt foreign and alien, its twisted streets holding no
comfort for the broken soul that wandered them. And that was the
problem, wasn't it? Menzobarranzan hadn't changed, and her family hadn't
changed much either. It was her.
Realizing that she could never
truly return to the life she had known, Kalanaer made the difficult
decision to leave Menzobarranzan behind for good. With a heavy heart and
a sense of profound loss, she set out into the unknown, determined to
forge a new path for herself on the surface world. This time, she didn't
say goodbye.
Alone and haunted by the memories of her past, the
husk of what once was Kalanaer, now known as Solfryn, now wanders
Faerun, surfacing from stretches of fogged memories and smeared visions
of reality.
