A/N: I wrote this as an introduction to my new Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition character that was injected into the campaign during some downtime. It's a short story of how she meets the rest of the cast of PCs. This was originally written for the Endless Bag of Dice RPG blog, which also contains session logs from the campaign. The link can be found in my profile.
Shivra crept silently along the floor of the massive cave, hugging the right wall. The air inside was even more chilling than the perpetual winter winds howling outside and she was glad of the scant warmth offered by the dark green balaclava hiding her features. Rounding the next bend, she emerged into a large chamber.
She couldn't help but take a moment to marvel at the piles of gold, jewelry and other valuables littering the flood of the chamber. As is to be expected from a dragon's lair, she thought.
Shaking herself from her reverie, she grabbed a nearby leather satchel and started to scoop coins inside. The black and white of her darkvision made it impossible to ascertain the color of the metal, and most of the coins were of some archaic denomination. Surely no self-respecting dragon, even a young adult, would stockpile mounds of copper.
Her concentration was wrenched from her gleeful looting by the sound of something massive moving in the tunnel behind her. Damn it, I thought I had more time! Throwing the satchel over her shoulder, she quickly retreated into the lee of some rock formations near the wall.
She didn't have long to wait. Soon the awe-inspiring form of the white dragon emerged from the tunnel and into the lair proper. It casually vomited a pair of weapons and a leather pouch unto the nearest treasure pile and started towards the largest mound in the center of the chamber. After only a few steps it stopped abruptly and sniffed the air. Shivra slowly withdrew fully behind her shelter, barely daring to move at all for fear of alerting the great beast. Soon she felt as much as heard it approach her hiding place.
Suddenly there was a clatter of rocks from the other side of the chamber, where another tunnel entered the chamber and curved out of sight. The dragon immideately turned and started towards the noise.
Good girl. Her friend had bought some time with the distraction and she wasted none of it. Shivra ghosted along the cave wall and disappeared into the main tunnel leading up and into the open plains of Mintarn.
Why do the Gods hate me? Shivra studied the pile of coins she had uppended unto the ground from the leather satchel; her only reward for the dangerous expedition. Most of it was low-denomination silver and yes, even copper. A few lonely gold coins glinted here and there, with nary a platinum piece in sight.
"Still, it's better than being completely broke," she sighed. Her pet spider studied the pile curiously with her multitude of eyes and then chirped something that sounded vaguely amused, earning her an annoyed glance from Shivra. "Quiet, you."
Then she noticed a leather-bound cover peaking from under the pile. Lifting it free revealed an old book, badly worn. The faded pages were full of dwarven runes.
Kriv smashed his warhammer into the face of the charging orc with a loud crunch, blood and holy energy splattering every which way. The brute fell, it's face a ruin of blood and bone fragments. An improvement on your looks, if you ask me. There were plenty more to take it's place, however.
The small valley was swarming with green-skinned warriors and though the massive form of the golem Behemoth tore into them with tireless ferocity, there were far too many to quickly dispatch. Kriv risked a quick glance behind them and confirmed his earlier fears.
"They're trying to flank us!" He roared to his allies, but most of them were neck-deep in orcs, far too busy to do anything about the warning. Kriv was forced to concentrate on the immediate threat of a new clutch of orc that tried to surround him. The next few moments were spent feverishly working his warhammer like an enraged blacksmith, pounding orcs into orc-shaped smears left and right while trying to ignore the pain from slashes and thrusts that inevitably got through his shield.
Soon most of the orc scum in the immediate vicinity lay dead and Dabbil, stepping up from behind Kriv, cleared the rest with a thunderous blast of point-blank magic. Kriv took a moment to catch his breath and glanced back, wondering why the orc's flanking maneuver hadn't materialized yet. A sight of a score of orc corpses greeted him, lying face down in the frozen ground where they had fallen while attempting to charge them.
"Looks like you held them." He told Dabbil, until he noticed that most of the orc were sporting arrows from their backs.
"I had help." Dabbil told him needlessly.
"Who?" Kriv wondered aloud. The only cover in that direction was a copse of stunted trees. Their mysterious assistant must still be hiding among them.
"Didn't see them, I was too busy defending myself." Dabbil said. He punctuated his words by turning back to the still-raging battle and throwing his hand out, a ray of icy energy punching a nearby orc in the chest and lifting him off his feet.
We'll worry about this later, there's still bloody work to be done. And with that thought, Kriv once more hefted his warhammer and charged into the thick of it with a mighty roar.
"So, you're the one we have to thank for protecting our flanks?" Ilyas asked the newcomer. She had materialized unto the field of battle shortly before it's conclusion, working her greatbow with practised ease to dispatch the last of the stragglers. A woolen balaclava under the hood of her cloak hid all but her blue eyes. She was dressed in deep greens, except the dark brown leather of her armor. "Yes." She replied simply, lowering her hood.
"I am Kriv of clan Moonscale and these are my allies; Ilyas, Dabbil and Gildin." Kriv introduced them. "May we know your name?"
"You may call me Shivra." She replied while removing the balaclava, revealing prominent elven features, fair skin and silvery, shoulder-length hair. A moon elf, perhaps? Kriv pondered. The first impression of your typical pointy-eared tree-hugger was slightly spoiled by the huge black spider lounging at her side. Kriv caught Dabbil's eye, worried about his morsel-sized friend's reaction, but was surprised to find him looking slightly thoughtful rather than apprehensive. He soon went back to appraising the elf with a critical eye, instead of her pet.
There is more to this than meets the eye. Kriv thought before bringing his attention back to the conversation already unfolding. Shivra told them about her foolhardy quest to raid the white dragon's lair in a rather concise manner, all the while absent-mindedly patting her pet spider. Kriv got the impression she was trying to put them at ease about her choice of animal companion.
"Oh, and I found this. No doubt you, Master Dwarf, will find it more interesting a read than I." She pulled an old worn book out from a satchel and handed it to Gildin. His amazement and enthusiasm proved her right as the book turned out to be a diary of a member of Clan Ironstar dating back to the time his kin still dwelled in Mintarn. Shivra then suggested, almost casually, that she help the heroes with the cleansing of Mintarn and, perhaps in the process, earn her place in their party.
"She's hiding something." Dabbil spoke up, addressing all of them. They'd sent Shivra to scout ahead, but everyone else was present, Behemoth included. It didn't seem to notice, nor care.
"What makes you say that?" Gildin asked, arching a fuzzy eyebrow.
"She's using some form of magic about her." Dabbil replied, glancing at Ilyas. He nodded back, indicating he'd noticed as well.
"It's too strong to be residual from an enchanted item." Dabbil continued. "This leads me to believe she's using a spell to alter her appearance."
"Let's not jump to conclusions. The spell could be doing something wholly benevolent." Ilyas pondered.
"Agreed, we have no definitive proof, but maybe we should... err on the side of caution?" Dabbil suggested.
"We could just ask her." Kriv noted. He could almost see the gears inside the two arcane specialists heads grind to a hault at such a blunt approach to an interesting puzzle. Kriv struggled to hide a grin.
When they confronted her about it, Shivra was surprisingly congenial, almost as if being not-so-subtly accused of trickery and perhaps downright deceit was par for the course. Of course, it all made sense when she, with an air of resignation, dropped the illusion. Her pale skin morphed into a black with blue highlights and suddenly the pet spider was not so out of place anymore. What followed was a heated discussion about racial stereotypes and bigotry, of trust and the delicate situation on the field of battle. Eventually it was agreed, in no small part due to Gildin's defense of her generosity, that she could stay with them for the time being. Fighting the orcs was in the best interest of everyone at the moment, and the coming battles would allow our heroes to gauge her dependability. As the blood-soaked weeks and months drew on, Shivra proved herself time and again on the field of battle, slowly worming her way into the trust of our protagonists. Time will tell if that trust is well-placed or if the newest addition to the team is simply biding her time and waiting for the best moment to strike, like some dark and hideously sexy tumor ready to go into overdrive and liquify your brain.