History::Appearance::Abilities
For a drow male, Ryld is unusually tall, around 5'5” in height. He has broad shoulders and a more muscular frame than most drow. His hair is cut short which helps in fights as no one can really grab it.
He wears the usual piwafwi fastened with the Melee-Magthere insignia which allows him to levitate when he calls upon the magic. Most drow tend to wear chain mail under the cloak, but in Ryld's case, it's a black dwarvish plate mail. His weapons consist of a giant broad sword by the name of Splitter and a short sword fastened at his waist. As well as the blades, he also has a hand crossbow.
Ryld has the ability to wield an enchanted great sword that no one else can that is called Splitter. Not only is Splitter enchanted, but it's also cursed, though it's never said how. He has the ability to levitate due to a ring he receive as being a Master of Melee-Magthere. The same with all drow, Ryld can see in the dark through an infra-red spectrum. He can also summon a globe of darkness. All drow are born with a natural resistance to magic and this is also helped by the magical piwafwi that he wears. This cloak has the ability to resist most attacks, or greatly reduce the damage taken.
Ryld was born in Menzoberranzan as a commoner. He didn't belong to any noble house and thus had to survive on the streets. As he grew older, Ryld had shown promise and was accepted into Melee-Magthere. It was here that he eventually became a Master, which is the highest a commoner can reach in such a place. Here, he would have taught new students and gone on missions as well as patrolling the tunnels surrounding Menzoberranzan.
As he worked and lived in Melee-Magthere, he met a drow mage by the name of Pharaun Mizzrym. They struck up an unusual friendship, or as much of a friendship as drow could have. It wasn't until Ryld suffered a betrayal that things changed between them. The city was suffering from the silence of their Goddess and the slaves were revolting against the drow. Pharaun had been put in charge of finding the missing males along with Ryld. This led to them discovering who was behind the slave uprising and where the males had disappeared to. Though they weren't exactly welcome, they had to fight their way out of the hideout. This is where Pharaun left Ryld to his death and saved his own skin, like any other drow would. Though Ryld survived and went into some kind of trance as he fought his way out. The next time warrior and wizard met there was a definite strain in their relationship.
Ryld was then selected to be part of a party being sent to their neighbouring city, Ched Nasad to find out if their Priestesses were also afflicted by Lolth's silence. They would go with an ambassador from the city, Faeryl Zauvirr. They arrived at the City of Shimmering Webs and set about their business. Unable to right out ask the questions, they had to be discrete. It didn't take long until they found out that they were indeed afflicted by the same problems that were suffered back in Menzoberranzan. Ryld had to be held back at the sight of a female being attacked by lesser beings unless they wanted to draw attention to themselves.
Things were happening in Ched Nasad that would spiral out of control. The party split up to do things they had all arranged but later that night, Ryld, Pharaun and Valas were invited to House Merlarn for a supposed dinner. As they got there though, it was a trap to capture the rest of the Menzoberanzzanyr, Faeryl Zauvirr has betrayed them, allowing Jeggred (a draegloth) and Quenthel to be captured and locked up. The three males were under attack, just as the city was attacked by an army of duergar.
Managing to escape from the main hall, they met up with Halisstra Melarn (who had just found out about her mothers death) and Danifae, Halisstra's battle captive. Naturally Ryld and the others didn't trust them, but they led the males to Quenthel and Jeggred. Faeryl was there about to torture them when the tables were turned. Faeryl was stripped and shackled after the other two were freed. Ryld didn't want to stay in the room as the draegloth devoured Faeryl alive. House Melarn then began to fall from the stone fire pots used by the duergar. The company managed to escape.
Out on the streets, the whole city was fighting as well as on fire and Ryld had to use his skill from being a Master just to survive. They found Halisstra's brother who lead them to a tower. Here, they ended up in another fight as they discovered a portal. Unable to leave the city in a normal way, the risk with the portal was worth taking.
Once going through, Ryld finds himself on the world above, in a land called Anauroch in the ruins of Hlaungadath. A bright and vast desert. It's here where the party then comes under yet another attack, but this time by lamias and their servants. Ryld was hit by an arrow shot by a lamia archer and almost died. Though he was saved by Halisstra as she'd studied bae'qeshel and healed the warrior. Finally they managed to hide and allowed Pharaun to rest. Ryld was paired with Halisstra on watch. There they spoke and played games of sava.
When Pharaun was ready, the group traveled through the Plane of Shadow. A way of travelling that could cut the time by a large number. They followed Pharaun until they reached Mantol-Derith. They were in search of a priest of Vhaeraun that Valas knew and was owed a favour. They hoped to get some answers from the God he served. Though to get to him, they would have to go through Gracklstugh, city of the duegrar. Trouble started and they had to leave the city, going back on the boat they'd used to get there and escaping, though they were followed by the grey dwarves. Managing to hide from their pursuers and send the boat off further into the Dark Lake. They had to travel through the Labyrinth to find the priest, though on the way, they were set upon by a group of Minotaurs. Finding the place, they noted that the place was deserted and found yet another portal which they used to escape the Minotaurs. The portal led them back to the world above where Pharaun performed a divination to find out where the Priest was. Moving off in that direction, again Ryld and the others were attacked, this time by humans and surface elves. Losing Halisstra in the battle, thinking she was dead, they continued on. Coming across Tzirik who told them he would help them if they retrieved a tome, Geildirion of Cimbar in the ruins of Myth Drannor. They had to fight a beholder and many devils in order to get the book. When they got back, Ryld found that Hlisstra was still alive and had found them. Handing the book over, Tzirik told them that his God knew nothing, they had to see for themselves. So they would travel to the Demonweb Pits to find their Goddess and ask her why she had abandoned her children. To do so, they would travel to the Astral Plane. Lying on the bench, he took the hands of the person on each side, preparing to wake up in another Plane, not knowing what to expect. The way the process worked, was that the priest of Vhaeraun would send them all to the Astral Plane in an ghost like form. Silver threads would connect them to their real bodies and the only ways to get back were by the priest's real body dying or by another spell. They travelled through the Astral to find the Sixty Sixth layer of the Abyss, or the Demonweb pits as it's otherwise known. Ryld and the others arrived in Lloth's domain on the strands of a giant web at the centre of which was their destination. On their travels down, the weapon's master encountered several demons caught in the web, dead or dying. The thing that troubled the group was the fact that no souls were passing through. Reaching the bottom of the web strands, the party come to flat land, upon which stood Lloth's temple, heavy doors and a beautiful drow female face. Though the priestesses still received no answer from their Goddess even as they stood outside her home.
The Priest Tzirik began to pray and opened up a gate for the God Vhaeraun to pass through. Instantly, the God began to attack Lloth's image and after a short while, the Goddesses champion appeared to defend her. The party watched as the god's fought and practically destroyed the area. The Vhaeraun priest turned traitor on them and attacked, though he was stopped by Jeggred who killed him in the material world on Pharaun's orders. This death resulted in Ryld coming back to his body back in the chamber.
From the other side of the door, the party could hear the other followers trying to get in and the door was the only way out. It was Pharaun that saved them and teleported them to a safe place, there they found a dark cave to take Reviere.
After their rest, the group make their way back into the Underdark to carry on in their mission and return to the Demonweb Pits. Halisstra decides to be the one to deliver a message to the Matron Mother back in Menzoberranzan about what they had seen in Lloth's domain. The priestess, who Ryld was falling for, didn't want to return to the Underdark as she believed Lloth was dead and believed herself, and Ryld would survive on the surface together and the Master agreed. Ryld though, returned back to the Underdark with the rest of the party, only to leave after a demon had been summoned and turned on them. Telling them he thought he had heard someone, perhaps a Priest of Vhaeraun, behind them. In truth, he was going back to the surface to be with Halisstra.
As they went through the forest together, there was a disturbance and a wolf ran by them. It turned out a troll was following them and the two drow attacked. They were saved by a hunting group of Eilistraee priestesses who were ready to attack them. Ryld was sent away by Halisstra as she swore allegiance to the Goddess and was taken away. Ryld wandered off, angry at being cast away after he'd abandoned the party and was lost in his thoughts when he decided to go back. He couldn't find any footprints apart from those of a wolf and decided to follow them. There he found a small hut, occupied by an old man and a small boy, both of which happened to be werewolves. They told Ryld how the Priestesses hunted them because they were monsters. Despite the fact that they were werewolves, Ryld couldn't help but develop a quick soft spot for Yarno, the little boy. His life so far had sounded a lot like Ryld's when he was young. The old man told Ryld where the temple to the Dark Maiden was and Ryld set off to find Halisstra. He found her the next day, following the sounds of hunting horns and came across the priestess fighting against a giant spider, though he watched in secret.
It wasn't long before he ended up staying with Halisstra in the grounds of Eilistraee's temple. Later it was shown that the female was chosen by the Goddess to wield a blade called the 'Cresent Blade', but she would have to go on a quest to find it. Ryld accompanied her across the cold lands where an ancient battle had been fought and stumbled across a hole in the tundra. Following the tunnels, they realised that it must have been made by some kind of giant worm, once reaching a cavern, they discovered they were right. They fought against the worm and Ryld watched in horror as Halisstra was eaten, the beast produced acid. Ryld continued to fight, being careful not to hit any parts where Halisstra might have been. Eventually they were successful in killing the beast, Ryld was dying from acid burns and poison whilst Halisstra was horribly disfigured, though held the blade retrieved from the inside of the worm.
Ryld's journey back to the temple was difficult as he tried to cling to conciousness, it was the ghosts of the battle field that saved them. A physical ghost on a horse appeared and they managed to convince the rider to allow them to use his horse. Ryld used his ability to levitate and held onto Halisstra as she rode, eventually being saved by the priestesses at the forest edge. They sang and used magic to remove the poison from Ryld's body.
Not long had passed and it was clear their relationship had grown stronger, Ryld learned of Danifae's meeting with Halisstra and convincing her she heard the calls of Eilistraee. Ryld tried to convince his lover that she was being lied to and that meeting with her again was probably a trap that would kill them both. But they ended up leaving, forcing a fisherman to take them across the lake to the marshlands on the other side. There, Halisstra left Ryld as they wanted to talk in private and Ryld discovered he was right and that it was a trap. In the marshy forest, Ryld came face to face with Jeggred and they engaged in a fierce battle. No matter what, Ryld was unable to get away from the draegloth and eventually, the halfbreed demon got the better of him, ripping his armour open followed by his chest. Ryld was still alive as he watched his heart being torn out, and it was the last thing he saw...