Shadowheart: Difference between revisions

{{ up to date | 2023-01-17 }}

Shadowheart has straight, coal-black hair kept in a long ponytail segmented by ornate silver rings. Her fringe hair is kept short and straight, revealing her brows beneath and a scar running from her nose to her right cheek. Hair adorns her face on the sides, reaching past her chin, her pointed ears barely peeking through them, and her eyes, light-green with speckles of yellow, are contoured by dark make up. Though rarely seen, she has a black circular mark on her right hand, a wound given by Shar used to express her disapproval, causing Shadowheart pain whenever she misbehaves.

Born to parents [[Arnell Hallowleaf|Arnell]] and [[Emmeline Hallowleaf]], Jenevelle, as she was named, was raised in a [[Selûne|Selûnite]] household in the forests outside [[Baldur's Gate]]. Devout followers of the Moonmaiden, they worshipped her in quiet seclusion away from the city, raising young Jenevelle in the ways of Selûne. In time, she would take part of an ancient Selûnite initiation rite: abandoned in the wilds, she would have to rely on her skills and faith to fend for herself, proving herself as a devout believer once she returned.

Yet [[Shar]], Selûne's dark sister, had other plans for the child, and commanded [[Viconia DeVir]] and a cadre of Sharrans to kidnap the child. They kidnapped Jenevelle's parents and took young Hallowleaf to a secret cloister of the Dark Lady in Baldur's Gate.

Jenevelle would be brought to the [[Cloister of Sombre Embrace]], a Sharran temple in Baldur's Gate set up and ran by Mother Superior Viconia DeVir after her previous endeavours in [[Waterdeep]] had failed. Viconia's mission, given to her directly by Shar, was to mould young Jenevelle into a champion of the Dark Lady, an effort that would ultimately take almost half a century. Jenevelle resisted the indoctrination at first, but the brutal training she would be put through, being lied to that her parents perished defending her from wolves, as well as repeated forced use of the temple's [[Mirror of Loss]], would slowly erase her past and in time forge a new identity: Shadowheart.

Though the Mother Superior was especially cruel with Shadowheart, forcing her to use the Mirror of Loss more than with any other acolyte, Shadowheart was able to retain a few memories from her past thanks to Rennald, a young [[tiefling]] acolyte undergoing similar training. Any time she would be subjected to mirror training, Rennald would do his best to remind Shadowheart who she was afterwards. Thanks to him, and whatever scattered notes she was able to jot down between mirror trainings,{{ref|[[Hastily Written Note (Night Orchid Cave)]]}} Shadowheart was able to retain some parts of her identity, such as her fondness for flowers and animals. The two became good friends, and one of the few blessings during her time in the cloister.

At some point during Shadowheart's last stages of training, whispers of the rise of a mysterious cult would reach the Mother Superior's ears. This [[Cult of the Absolute]] as it was being called, was quickly gaining traction among the populace and threatened the Sharran influence over the city. As luck would have it, the Sharrans would capture a [[Githyanki]] [[Lir|scout]] who, after being subjected to merciless torture, revealed the existence of a githyanki artefact of immense power that the cult were desperate to find.{{ref|[[Subject Mapping Results: Githyanki No. 7]]}} Such an artefact could prove an asset for the Sharrans in thwarting the absolutist presence in the city, and so the Mother Superior quickly formed a party of elite devouts, tasking them with its retrieval. Though deemed a suicide mission, Shadowheart and four other companions set out to fulfil what they believed were Shar's commands.

The group was able to locate the [[Mysterious Artefact]] though at great cost: Shadowheart was the only survivor. Disaster wouldn't stop there, however, as she soon found herself captive at the hands of [[Mind Flayer|mind flayers]]. How and where she was captured is never explored, however, at some point during her capture she became [[Mind Flayer Tadpole|tadpoled]] and kept imprisoned in a pod awaiting [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis ceremorphosis].