Talice Glaurach

Talice Glaurach was never a Drow that was content with her life in the Underdark, de- spite being from a noble family. From a young age she was curious about life outside of the Underdark’s court, as her parents—the Marquesses Glaurach—saw the world above as ‘brutish’ and ‘uncivilized’ in comparison to the Middledark settlement where they lived. Talice was always a perceptive, calm, and intelligent child, but with a sharp tongue that made twice as many enemies as friends.

The court began to resent her for how she seemed to stick her nose in their business, uprooting their dirty little secrets at a whim; it seemed to become almost a pastime for the young Drow. Her parents discouraged her behavior, and hoped to reign in her ‘unladylike’ be- havior by marrying her off to a respectable Baron by the name of Welbros Filane.

Welbros mooned over Talice for her beauty and thought her wit charming rather than caustic, but kept her close at his side at all times in hopes that she would become more socia- ble by his influence. Despite his kindness and generosity, Talice deeply resented Welbros, thinking him a fool (truly, he was quite naive) and felt smothered by his care. After 10 years of marriage and in a scandalous act of rebellion during a royal ball, Talice gave him the cruelest tongue-lashing she had ever delivered and divorced him on the spot.

Her parents and relatives were horrified by her behavior and banished her away from Middledark high society—which was precisely what Talice had been hoping for. Free from her restrictive lifestyle, she travelled to the surface world, where she quickly put her curiosity to work as a private investigator in the first big city she came across.

Private investigation and life as a Drow was difficult, but Talice reveled in the mental and physical exercise her cases gave her; they were usually from people who had no one else to turn to, as people weren’t quick to hire a Drow. However, with 56 years of good service, Talice managed to become a well-recommended PI, building a solid rapport with local law enforce- ment and lesser criminals alike.

Her progress came to a screeching halt when a handsome young human male going by the name of H.M. Pacem came to her office, offering a great reward if she were to help him. Pacem’s case seemed simple enough: expose four well-known community figures of the city as shapeshifting Demons. After a bit of flirtatious banter that ended with Talice being intrigued and a little infatuated, she agreed to take the case.

With the aid of the allies she had made in the city and countless near-death experiences later, Talice managed to root out the Demons and banish them back to the Outer Realms. Triumphant, she called upon Pacem for her reward.

But her ‘reward’ was far from what she had expected.

Before her eyes, the handsome human she had known twisted and contorted into the very same species of creature that she had hunted down at his request: a Demon. ‘H.M. Pacem’ revealed himself to be a minor demon lord known as Mepmach. Mepmach congratu- lated Talice for her excellent work, thanked her cordially, and proceeded to bestow his ‘reward’ upon her—horrible, untamable, and unfathomably powerful magic.

The effects of her new and foreign magic were immediate; with a flustered brush of her hand on her desk, she set the entire office ablaze, and when she tried to berate Mepmach for his supposed betrayal, hornets flew out of her mouth in a swarm.

Horrified, Talice fled the office and, soon after, the city altogether; with every step, more disaster seemed to occur, and it was not safe to be around others. Her ‘reward’ only caused chaos.

After a long five years of living alone in the wilderness attempting to wrestle her magic under control, Talice grew more and more furious at Mepmach for ruining her life. He had cursed her, taken away all she cared for—and for that, she would not rest until he lay dead by the very curse he had placed upon her. Talice knew, however, that she could not defeat Mepmach alone, and she set out to find a group of adventurers that could aid her.