Past

Growing up in the cruel matriarchy of the Underdark meant that Makura did not have the sort of upbringing most think of when they hear "prince." Makura was raised to be little more than an attractive accessory- handsome, pampered, with nothing ever expected from him. He had a revolving door of fiancees from before he was born, with new, more ambitious women constantly killing each other in an attempt to claim the crown prince's hand. He was not necessarily happy, but he was nobly ready to fulfill his duties as prince.

The birth of Makura's younger sister Kumoko changed things. For one thing, marrying Makura was no longer a sure path to the throne, and the violent interest in his hand died down for a while. For another, having a sibling gave Makura a sense of family and companionship that made himself as more than just an obedient son. This happiness was not to last long, however. Kumoko, like her father and Makura's before him, was sickly, and no magic or medicine seemed to cure her. To Makura's horror, his mother seemed untroubled and more than happy to let Kumoko die for the sin of being born weak.

Makura sought a cure in the furthest reaches of his kingdom, but instead what he found was more sickness and heartlessness. There was a poison sweeping through the Underdark, affecting those too poor to flee or seek aid, those too young or old or sick to fight off its ravages. When Makura tried to bring the plague to the attention of his fellow nobles, he was laughed out the door. After all, wasn't such a plague a blessing? Wasn't having their lowest denominator culled a gift from the gods themselves? Makura was horrified. As he came to the realization that no one would help his sister or try to stop the devastation of his people, Makura began to concieve a plan to save them himself.

The Hound of Night

No self-respecting noble would waste their time trying to save the weak and unworthy, but every ruling drow seemed to have a love of bloodshed and conquest. If his lands were poisoned and no one would heal them, Makura realized the answer was to instead claim new lands and save his people by tricking them into mass exodus. Makura fled the palace and escaped the Underdark to conquer the surface world. First, he used a forgotten necromantic ritual to create and forge a pact with an Inugami. Then, he researched methods to enhance magic to effect reality on a large scale. It was while doing this that he found out about the treasures of the Seven Fortunes, which when gathered together are said to grant their wielder the ability to change reality to suit their choosing.

Even if it was a fairy tale, it was the best lead Makura had gotten. With the help of an outcast drider, Makura located the first treasure and set to establishing a party of expendables to collect it for him. But when his slave trading deal fell through and his drider associate was struck down by heroes seeking to stop the violence she sought to perpetrate, Makura realized that he could only rely upon himself to locate the treasures. To date, he has managed to claim two of the seven, but two more have fallen into the hands of the heroes who stopped him before. He does have one advantage however- one of the heroes plans to betray his fellows to Makura and save himself...

• A Dark Pact- Makura's contract with the Inugami he created has given him a bevy of dark magics and a spectral hound that obeys his every command... for now.
• Elven Heritage- Despite what the drow and elves may say, they are still one people. Makura is gifted with excellent darkvision, an immunity to sleep, and certain other elven gifts that he keeps more secret.
• Weak Constitution- Although he was lucky enough to avoid succumbing to the poisonous ills of the Underdark, Makura does have a weaker constitution than most. He is easily winded, and it has been somewhat of a challenge to stay well on the surface.

• Makura feels some guilt for creating the Inugami, but deemed it necessary for his quest.
• The thought of death does not scare him, so long as he can accomplish his goal.
• Because darkvision is in black and white, when Makura first came to the surface he was overwhelmed by how beautiful the colors of the world could be. The thought that blotting out the sun will take those colors away again saddens him somewhat.