Alarawel the Shadow was an elven mage, born in the Elfrealm of the Redglades, and a diplomat in service to the kingdom of Lorent. She is known for her betrayal of the Siloriel Crown during the Second Lilac War during which she led an undead army through the duchy of Southroy where she would eventually meet her end.
Early Life[]
Alarawel was born in 1102 in the Redglades. She demonstrated a great potential for magic which she studied in Ioriellen during her adolescence before moving to Lorentainé to further her study. Inspired by the capacity of the fey of the Redglades to shape the forest, Alarawel specialized in transmutation magic while also studying illusion and enchantment magic.
The dissolution of the Bastard Empire, following Elizar’s death offered Lorent, and Alarawel, great opportunities. The quickly collapsing unity between the realm of the Dameshead was a chance for the Rose Kingdom to distract its enemies while recovering from Elizar’s invasion.
Alarawel saw it as a chance to explore the world; while hiding as a servant, she joined the entourage of her uncle Elriandor Springsinger, an elven diplomat in service of Lorent and traveled throughout the continent. Elriandor’s diplomatic mission led him to the kingdom of the Pearl before traveling to the East Dameshead. On the way to the kingdom of Verne, Alarawel was discovered by Elriandor; amused by his niece’s audacity, he let her accompany him. Seeing her uncle charm and outwit the lords of the East Dameshead and Esmaria, extracting valuable trade concessions and heavy ransom in exchange of the prisoners made from Elizar’s Cannorian auxiliaries; Alarawel took interest in the art of diplomacy. Once his mission was done, instead of returning to Lorent, Elriandor took his niece on a journey across Cannor, while teaching her the basis of his work. The pair traveled to the kingdoms of Arbaran and Ibevar before visiting the realm of western and southern Escann and traversing the Corvurian land and the realm of the Borders on their way home.
Envoy to Nathalaire[]
Having returned to Lorent, Alarawel finished her education in the capital and Alarawel became a diplomat in service of the Ruby Crown. This is during her time as a diplomat that she earned the epithet “the Shadow”: using a mix of enchantment and illusion magic, she made her interlocutor pay as much intention to her as they would a shadow while a fellow diplomat would charm their host. When Alarawel spoke and revealed her presence, the unsettling event would make the host lose its composure, giving an easy avantage to the Lorentish diplomats in the ongoing negotiation.
During the second half of the 13th century, Alarawel was sent as an ambassador to the city of Nathalaire. Her role in the city was more than just representing the Rose kingdom, but also a way for Lorent to direct the activities of the cities away from the kingdom's interest and a direct connection to the shadow council when less commendable actions were needed.
Due to the nature of her mission, little is known about her time in Nathalaire, leading to many speculating it was during that period that Alarawel studied Necromancy and lost her loyalty to Lorent.
The Dark Heart[]
Alarawel’s magical experiments led to the creation of the Dark Heart. Originally a rose of Rosefield infused with necromantic magic, the Dark Heart is a black rose with a dark red stem. When a corpse is raised from the dead while touching the flower, the Dark Heart grows roots in the body that connect the plant to the blood vessels. Now activated, the Dark Heart acts as a second heart and prevents the body from rotting, removing the need of a necromancer to expand their power maintaining the integrity of their undead army. The use of a Dark Heart on an already decomposing body offers limited benefits, instead requiring fresh corpses for optimal use.
During the Second Lilac War, Alarawel betrayed the kingdom of Lorent. Entering the duchy of Southroy from the Redglades, she raised an army of zombies on her way to the capital of the duchy, Ronroy. The city was captured and the majority of its inhabitants were killed and raised as undead using the Dark Heart.
Alarawel met her end in 1387, expecting her to attack the gnomish city state next, Portnamm sent adventurers to kill her. After her death, judging the city irrecuperable, a lorentish army burns and razes it, destroying the undead in the process. The Dark Heart itself managed to survive the destruction of Ronroy, some of its grains had grown naturally, it has since taken over the ruins.
Legacy[]
While she is remembered as a traitor in Lorent, the many secrets surrounding her life have attracted the interest of many chroniclers, artists and conspiracist circles. Some have proposed she was looking for magical artifacts for the shadow council while over affirmed she was pushed to betrayal by the Silmuna. Ongoing chronicler investigations however, have been unable to validate any proposed theory.