The BSS Adventuring Party in Icewind Dale (II)

A dark elf travelling topside is an oddity, a dark elf and a tiefling walking under the sun could be construed as a raiding party. Luckily for them a dark elf and a tiefling accompanied by a female halfling are certainly more bizarre than threatening especially when the halfing is not a captive but acting as she is the one in charge.

It's not a common occurrence to meet an outcast and a renegade from the Underdark curious about the world above and yearning to explore it (but also to walk away from the shadow of the Spider Goddess and leave the fabled Menzoberranzan behind). The tiefling was known under the moniker of black Zarak and the dark elf was to be called Carabas (among other things most of them not as flattering) and it seemed that they had decided (and learned from experience) that they could only trust each other. These two made an odd pair and in many ways were as different as they were similar. Surface dwellers had been callous and hostile and they had responded in the same fashion.

How could they have become friends (if such a word can apply for the dark, devious elves of the Underdark or the outlandish demon folk from the outer planes) with a halfling? Female at that! This is another story (and a long one). Suffice it to say that Nakia the Rogue wasn't your average adventurer/pilferer/scavenger. She was already known for her many tales and adventures before ever setting foot in Luskan where she met with the two hapless dark elves who were in deep trouble. An untimely rescue and a long pursuit lead these three to gain passage to Icewind Dale, a place where they could find adventure away from the more civilized lands and away from the law.

This is how their story begins as they prepare to land in Targos and leave the Wicked Wench behind, thus writing the first chapter (hopefully not the last) of their adventures.


The sight of Targos burning, its streets raging with violence and the cries of the wounded and the dying was rather overwhelming after the calm of the journey at sea on board the Wicked Wench.

This was the perfect place for Zarak whose thirst for conflict, hatred and strife wasn't sated after the last unenventful weeks. The planetouched was almost gleeful as he gazed at the scene from under his hood. Next to him Nakia the Rogue was in awe, grief and concern could be read on her face. A grim determination had taken hold of her as she watched the pier burning like a funeral pyre and listened to the not so distant cries of agony and pain. The Halfling had never witnessed chaos and mayhem on such a grand scale. Last, the Drow looked sullen and brooding. He was hunched over the railing, lost in dark thoughts, his mind going back to remote places concealed in complete darkness, places with names that no human tongue could utter, places that remained hidden for countless aeons under mazes and pits devoted to the Spider Queen... Oddly enough Carabas missed the tower of Sorcere, his only home for the last thirty years, he also missed the splendour of Menzoberranzan the city from which he had been cast out. Carabas was homesick (although he would never confess it to his companions) and even the fires raging in Targos couldn't take him away from his reverie.

Time had come for them to disembark and take their first steps in the North...