Background story of Kalan Kobra

Kalan started as an outsider living in a small Drow settlement near to the Dwarf Kingdoms. He returned to the Drow City Shanizar in order to claim riches and rewards for himself. With new found power and fame he hoped would satisfy his continuous lust – difficult to do in such a small community without creating dangerous enemies.

For a Drow he is marked as an outsider due to being a head taller than most Drow and broader in shoulder. His additional strength makes him a deadly opponent and good in a fight. He fights with a sword and shield, and a length of fighting chain. But in a city where nobility of birth sets you on a higher level than the rest he quickly realises friends in high places matter more on his path to glory.  He is intelligent and uses this to blend in with the Drow City Shaniz ... Read more »

The Drow twins’ story

In the early quests where even a pack of dire rats could cause the group serious problems the Despair had Drow twins a female Malag and a male Kell. The twins were noble merchants and trusted by Captain Bâleed – so were sent to keep an eye on the new recruits. They were particularly good at spotting traps and secret doors saving the adventurers on several occasions but the twins only fought to protect each other. Kalan as usual tried his masculine charm on Malag but she replied with a withering stare and a dagger pointed at his vitals. He even saved Kell, and helped the Malag to full health by casting cure light wounds to try an impress her. Instead of this making them more amenable towards Kalan and the group they became more secretive and guarded. This was particularly true as the crew Gul, Birz, and Kalan flourished and grew stronger with each quest and each success.

At one point during a very dangerous encounter Kalan overheard Kell whispering an oath to Eilistraee (a ... Read more »

The Ire of Captain Bâleed

Bâleed vented her anger at the disgrace she felt with the twins’ desertion by seeking out dangerous encounters for her crew to undertake. Should they fail then some of the scavenger crew would die, but should they succeed then the fame, wealth and glory would ensure a higher status in clan Kobra. One such was quest Gul, Kalan, Birz, and Zaen (a new crew member from an underworld family) was sent to kill a fully grown creature called a “land shark” or “Bullette”. This heavily armoured creature is sought after for its super strong but lightweight crest, which is fashioned by the Drow into a powerful shield. This was the prize Bâleed coveted.

The Bullette burrows underground to move from one place to another, only coming up to attack unwary prey. Fortunately for Kalan and the others it does not like the smell of Elves or Drow so will normally ignore them. The crew set themselves up near large boulders at the base of a mountain and stomped on the ground to attract the huge creature’s attention. As it cha ... Read more »

The babbling head

Another quest soon had Kalan and the crew embarking on another dangerous task. The crew were set on a mission to retrieve a valuable artefact the House Mother had discovered.  The exact nature of what they were looking for was only given to Captain Bâleed. Again the crew were set upon by nasty traps and wandering monsters. Their increased skill and caution allowed them to pass most of these with ease. Even a head to head with a wraith was avoided by Kalan’s skilful picking of a lock and the brightness the lantern keeping it at bay. Their confidence was destroyed though when crossing a particularly wide cavern floor the group were attacked by a huge Hydra. They knew they were out of their depth with this monster and ran towards the doors at the other side. Firing volleys of poisoned darts at the creature as they sped across the floor. As it charged the final distance they were amazed to see the last dart strike it dead, just a few yards from the door they were rushing to get through. What was just as amazing was the dart, fired by the cowardly ex-gunner who spends most of these missions hiding on the ship, had stoo ... Read more »

The Well of Life

The following week while hunting through an underground cavern originally inhabited by a Chaos Dwarf sorcerer Vandire they came across what had caused of the loss of the Well of Life in the Elf kingdom. Vandire had sought eternal life and to make himself a demigod. In doing so he had diverted the subterranean river that fed the well back towards his cavern.

Kalan and the crew cleared out the cavern of all valuables then deliberately defaced the murals that detailed exactly how Vandire achieved it and where the river coarse had been diverted from. When they returned to the Drow City Shanizar the Kobra House Mother ordered them to release the river to the original Well of Life and capture the initial more potent flow and return it to her – making the sorceress more powerful. With a powerful earth elemental spell they sought out the obstruction to release the river to its normal route. As this was deep within Elf territory this was a dangerous task set for the Despair crew. Gul wa ... Read more »

Well of Life – Higs McBeer the Dwarf

Additional to this story of the “Well of Life” the crew had to kidnap an aged dwarf Higs from his isolated home in the middle of the night leaving his distraught wife and sister. The Drow needed Higs to remove the devilish traps left by Vandire to stand a chance of getting through the caverns defences. He turned out to be very useful and compliant; disabling traps and even repairing viper bolt pistols.

This compliance of Higs was thanks to the quick thinking of Kalan who stopped the crew from killing the dwarf females. Instead the crew set fire to their home after stealing any valuables they found. Kalan, who speaks dwarf, convinced the captain that Higs would more likely do their biding with his family unharmed and he had the hope of freedom. Kalan, keeping to speaking in Dwarf, had also secretly promised Higs to free him when they were done – well he was so aged he would not make much of a slave for long. The dwarf did not see his freedom straight away but was returned to the City of the Drow ... Read more »

Well of Life – Hero to Cero?

 In amongst the return of the “Well of Life” Kalan and the crew had to go to Tradetown in order to get the earth elemental spell.  On their visit they were under strict instructions bring no attention to themselves and keep out of trouble. The crew made their way to the meeting point the Green Dragon Inn - looked after by Bluedo the barman. Bluedo was quite taken with these Drow who had charmed him on the first visit. Previously Kalan had attracted the attention of the cat woman barmaid Tabatha but had surprisingly snubbed her advances. This time his attention was fixed on the only other patron in the Inn a small Drow female at the bar.

While the captain and the rest of the crew got in their drinks Kalan made his way across to try out his charm. She was immediately very ill at ease with Kalan’s advances. Instead of threatening to kill him out right for his “how are you doing” chat up line she stutt ... Read more »

Well of life - Cero’s plight

Cero was set up as Kalan’s private mistress under the watchful eye of his henchman. This turned out to be an expensive but highly pleasurable time for Kalan for several weeks to come. Cero never warmed to Kalan and constantly railed against her capture, imprisonment and what she described as torture at Kalan’s hands. Kalan was still a follower of Astralla at this time so did feel a little guilt in his part for what had befallen this girl. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, warred against his constant lust.  He tried for a while to inform and train Cero in the ways of Lloth to protect her and the typical way a true Drow female should act. Cero laughed off his training and insisted he run off with her to Tradetown and meet with other freethinking followers of Eilistraee. Kalan could see that the risk of keeping Cero was being far outweighed by the danger to himself.  He had also become aware that his henchman was making extra money selling off Cero to other Drow. Time was running short for Kalan and Cero.

... Read more »

Well of Life – Captain Bâleed’s revenge

As the aftermath of the cleansing subsided Captain Bâleed was keen to get underway. Her first point of call was Tradetown and the Green Dragon. The Captain kept quiet as to the reason they were at the Inn and told the crew to get food and drinks but be alert. Kalan looked around as he entered Tradetown, could Cero have made it back by now? – he doubted it, the journey would take months. He hoped she had made it out of the City alive. He also hoped she had more sense to stay away from the Green Dragon. The crew waited for most of the day until nearing dusk when ten or so squawking chattering Kenku burst into the Inn. Bâleed watched them enter through narrowed eyes and waited for them get far enough into the room. Just as they turned to sneer at the Drow she yelled “Despair crew show these craven crows the bite of Drow steel!!”  The crew immediately drew swords an attacked. The Kenku were no match for the angered Drow and were quickly dispatched. Bluedo the barman stood holding a shaking Tabatha they were only protected by the bar in front of them as the massacre ensued. The Drow finished with their gory work started searching the Kenku bodies.  They came across a map that suggested po ... Read more »