Where am I? Who am I?
Strife opened his eyes, slowly, and stood up.
In his cage.
He snarled and called forth his magic, trying to tear the bars from their places.
Strange, he thought, There is more in me to draw on.
He looked up as he heard footsteps, and sensed a fear within himself.
Why am I afraid? With this kind of power, what am I afraid of?
A man approached, Tall, with dark hair and merciless eyes.
This, he knew, was the object of his fear.
"Ah. The child of Bhaal has awoken. It is time for more, experiments."
The mage fueled his spell triggers and launched a volley of spells Strife had never seen. They impacted him in his pathetic prison and agony after agony wrenched through his body, releasing unfelt and unknown power hidden deep inside him. The mage commented after each spell wove its way through his mind. Strife felt power flowing through his veins, more than he could readily comprehend through his current haze of pain. As something flashed behind his eyes, the world was suddenly transformed. The world around him darkened, as if seen through darkened glass. The mage, however, Stood out like a beacon in crimson light. A golem rounded a nearby corner, it, too shone, but not as bright as the mage.
What's happening? What is he doing to me?
The golem's gravelly voice cut through his fog of thought, bringing him to full consciousness "More intruders have entered the complex, Master."
The mages reply was agitated. "They act sooner than we had anticipated. No matter; they will prove only a slight delay."
The golem returned to wherever he came from and the mage teleported away.
Now that he was alone, Strife could experiment with his newfound sight and power. He sat down and began looking at everything, all the while focusing on the lock, willing it to open as he had been taught. He couldn't budge it.
He didn't have long. A few minutes after the mages departure he heard footsteps. Sitting there, he realized he wouldn't be able to protect himself, much less attack, if whoever it was decided he was a threat. He needn't have worried. A woman, with shoulder-length purple hair entered, looked furtively about, and moved swiftly but stealthily to his cell. He felt a stir of hope within himself. Apparently he knew this woman. She quickly unlocked with a lockpick and stowing it with a flick of her wrist, prodded his shoulder.
"get up, c'mon, get up you! We have to get out of here"
"Who…Who are you"
She nodded sympathetically. "He messed with your head, too, huh"
From the brief discussion that followed, he learned he was Strife, She was Imoen, and there was equipment and companions nearby. He assisted himself and the others, tricking the male (whose name appeared to be Minsc) and his hamster companion into freeing himself with his unrivaled strength at the loss of his 'witch', and freeing the woman(her name was Jaheira) with a key found amongst their equipment. The woman said she would follow him, and hoped to find her husband, Khalid, along the way. He formed them into a group by instinct, and, suddenly coming to the realization he was one of the faithful, prayed a silent prayer to the god of luck for their journey ahead.
They'd need it.