Dalabryl Elsendrath

Human / Wizard

Submitted character story

Dalabryl was always the nerd of the Elsendrath family. While her brothers were out fighting wars and commanding merchant ships, Dalabryl was back at the castle, surrounded by piles of books and scrolls. She skipped parties, avoided suitors and refused her father's attempts to arrange marriages for her. She was seen in public quite often, but only at such places as the House of Mystery, Piergeiron's Palace and various used book stores around Waterdeep.

This changed one morning, when she was preparing for another shopping trip to Waterdeep. She was warned that somebody had climbed into her carriage and that he looked kind of old. She was told that the man insisted on speaking to her and on keeping the curtains closed. He seemed worried about the sunlight and he smelled of mold. 

Dalabryl told the servant that she did not fear any old man. As she climbed into the carriage, she thought she recognized the scent of a musk favored by certain nobles of Tethyr, often mistaken for mold by peasants, but it wasn't quite right. There was also a hint of petrichor. Dalabryl had the feeling that this mysterious visitor was far too old to be alive.

"Well met, Dalabryl," said the old man. "Put on your enchanted spectacles and see my true form." She obeyed and saw through the illusion he wore as a disguise. She was right to suspect his true age. He was literally a skeleton in a robe and cloak.

"You have something which belongs to me, Dalabryl, but I am willing to offer better than a fair trade for it. You have it right there, in your pouch. I can sense it."

Dalabryl's hand moved to the pouch. She didn't feel anything but a heavy bag.

"That book was written by my own hand, a thousand years ago. It contains my notes on 17 of the Netheril Scrolls."

Recognition darkened Dalabryl's face as she realized she was speaking to none other than Larloch, one of the most powerful liches of the Sword Coast. "The book is mine, Larloch. I came by it honestly. I will not just hand it over to you."

"I know," said Larloch. "But I said I would offer a trade, and I meant it. You deserve it. I will even allow you to copy my notes before you return them. We have met many times already and I know I can trust you to keep your word, at least when it is given to a fellow wizard."

"And where have we met," asked Dalabryl?

"At the House of Mystery, in Waterdeep."

"Impossible," said Dalabryl. "The undead cannot enter the temple. The wards preventing it are too strong."

"There are many exceptions, Dalabryl. All servants of Mystra may enter the temple, whether living, dead or undead. Besides, I wove some of those wards myself, and you know I had already been undead for centuries when I wove them. From my point of view, the temple is not so old."

Dalabryl finally remembered meeting Larloch at the temple. She remembered that odor of musk and petrichor. "You came last week, in the guise of Aleister of Athkatla. I showed you the book then and you corrected my translation."

"Yes, and now I know you have my book and how you came to possess it. I also know that you understand it and that you deserve to understand it, but I still want it returned to me."

"You said you would trade. What do you offer me for the book?"

"Freedom."

"That sounds more like a threat than an offer," said Dalabryl. "You can't offer me what I already have."

"I offer you freedom from your family and their expectations. Freedom to continue your studies and your research without judgement. Freedom to become the wizard Mystra meant you to be."

"And how would you arrange this," asked Dalabryl?

"I have already made the arrangements," said the lich. "In a few days, Khelben Arunsun will visit your family's castle. You will receive him. He will offer an apprenticeship, which you will accept. He will be a negligent master and will leave you to your studies, at least for the most part, but he is also a capable teacher and you will learn much. When you arrive at Blackstaff Tower, you will hand the book over to Khelben, he will give it to Laeral and she will bring it to me."

Dalabryl considered what she would be giving up - life in a castle in the mountains, her militant siblings, all the attempts to marry her out of the family, servants who interrupt her while she is trying to write, wild parties in the great hall, living two hours by carriage from the nearest bookstore... she could hardly wait to accept Larloch's offer.