Mel'arnach Val'Sarghress
From The Orthorbbae Library
Appeared in chapters 1 8 11 16 17 25 27 31 32 36
- Shapeshifting High Sorcery
- Quain'tana Val'Sarghress - mother
- Kel'noz Val'Sarghress - twin brother
- Laele'aell Val'Sarghress - sister
- Syphile Val'Sarghress - sister
- Zhor - mate
- Ariel Val'Sarghress - sister
- Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen - mate
- Kalki Nidra'chaal - daughter
- Used to cross-dress as her brother
Mel'arnach is Ariel's biological mother. She is on hostile terms with her mother and leader of the clan, Quain'tana Val'Sarghress.
Mel'arnach despises her mother and spent most of her recent years locked away. She had a child in captivity with an aware spider named Zhor, but Quain'tana quickly took the child to claim as her own daughter. The girl was named Ariel and she became the heir to the Val'Sarghress clan. Mel was devastated and tried to steal her daughter away, but by the time Mel'arnach was able to tell her daughter the truth, Ariel had already solidified her loyalties to Quain'tana and the clan.
Mel'arnach also recently became aware of a second daughter of hers - a product of Val'Jaal'darya science. Mel'arnach's love, Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen, used eggs from herself and from Mel to give rise to Kalki Nidra'chaal.
After a final internment, Mel has agreed to create more heirs for Quain'tana. She has moved to the Sulissin'rune dome with her bodyguard Lulianne for this purpose.
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Appearance and Personality
Mel'arnach is a lover rather than a fighter. She is empathetic with those in need, is kind and affectionate to those she feels deserves it, and wishes only to have the freedom to do what she pleases. This is at extreme odds with Quain'tana's constant demand for duty, responsibility and strength of will, and the two never saw eye to eye. Despite this "softness," Mel can be just as stubborn as her mother, and she refuses constantly to bend to her will.
Though Mel'arnach does not like to mate with males, she longs badly for a child of her own. She does not like the cold and distant way that drow are usually raised, and wants to see her children grow up happy and free of the burdens of responsibility and hardship. Free of these politics herself, Mel has taken Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen as a lover despite the fact that the Vel'Sharen are her clan's most hated enemy.
Mel'arnach is known to wear very revealing clothing made of spider silk that better facilitates the use of her high sorcery. Her hair is a very pale purple color and reaches down to her calves. Her eyes are purple.
Mel'arnach's High Sorcery
Mel's high sorcery is presumably very similar to that of Khaless before she was taken by a demon. Not much is known about her abilities, but she can be seen to shift into a strange black form that allows her to reshape her body and move in non-conventional ways. This ability, in some form, has been passed down to her daughter Ariel.
Biography - Arc I
Early Days of the Sarghress Clan
Mel'arnach and her twin brother Kel'noz were raised by their mother Quain'tana to hold the same ideals as the Sarghress clan - strength of mind and body, determination to do what is needed no matter the cost, and the will to fight against the grain. Quain'tana wished for Mel'arnach to follow in her footsteps, but Mel preferred a more tolerant and accepting path. They argued, but ultimately Mel'arnach was sent off to the Orthorbbae to learn about the politics of the ruling clans. She met and fell in love with Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen, one of the leaders of the Sarghress clan's most hated enemy.
When Quain'tana found out, she demanded Mel'arnach come back and answer for her crimes. She remained on strained terms with Quain'tana until Quain was rendered barren by Sarv'swati Vel'Sharen.
An Heir to the Clan
Soon after her injury, Quain'tana's only other daughter, Laele'aell, fell to a demon and was unfit to lead the clan. Mel'arnach refused to take her place as heir, so Quain'tana instead demanded that Mel produce a child to continue the bloodline. Mel refused this as well, citing an extreme distaste for men (especially those of the Sarghress clan). Quain'tana imprisoned Mel'arnach for this, and the clan begin to built urban legends around the dishonored heir that lurked in her spidery lair. Mel'arnach became the boogeyman of the Sarghress clan, a reputation she accepted.
Mel'arnach grew lonely with only her spiders and Zhor for company, and eventually the two began attempts to conceive a child of their own. Since Zhor was essentially a large spider, she hoped that they baby would be born with abnormal qualities that would make it undesirable to Quain'tana. Unfortunately, the baby was born a healthy female drow, and Quain'tana immediately stole the child away from the weakened Mel. Quain'tana named the baby Ariel, put her in Syphile's care and declared her publicly as her own daughter. Mel'arnach was heartbroken and enraged, and began to plot revenge on her mother.
Kel'noz managed to persuade Mel'arnach to wait before attempting to steal Ariel away. If Mel'arnach took Ariel, Quain'tana would have searched relentlessly for the girl. Ultimately convinced that she did not want to raise her child on the run, Mel waited.
Ariel's Growth
Mel'arnach first had a chance to meet Ariel when Ariel was leaving to go to school at the Orthorbbae. Mel was excited, but Ariel had been raised on the horror stories the clan had spread about Mel'arnach the child-eater. Ariel panicked, but Mel held her close, attempting to show her daughter the love and affection she had never experienced with Syphile. Eventually Mel'arnach's guards managed to restrain her, and Ariel ran for safety.
Mel'arnach's impatience grew as she watched Ariel be raised away from her. She bent the knee in front of Quain'tana and respectfully asked to raise Ariel herself, and Quain'tana said she would never allow it. Mel attempted to attack her mother and promised to kill her one day. Quain'tana knocked her out and she was brought back to her chambers.
Mel later slipped her guards and found Ariel fighting with Syphile in the halls of the fortress. Just before Syphile could open a nether gate, Mel'arnach shifted her form into an irrecognizable black figure and intervened to throw Syphile down a nearby set of stairs. She then stole Ariel away to her lair, where the girl woke up screaming.
Mel calmed her down and spoke to her softly. It wasn't long before Ariel warmed up to Mel'arnach's kindness, and she began to open up about her experiences so far. Mel'arnach eagerly listened and advised her "sister," and gave her a purple dragon biogolem as a gift. She also gave Ariel advice on how to convince Quain'tana to allow her to go on a trip to the surface to rescue her friend, Faen. Ariel thanked Mel'arnach for her help and left to meet with Quain'tana.
One of Mel'arnach's guards began to wander into her lair for visits. Mel learned that the guard's name was Lulianne, and the two began to share their stories with each other. Mel enjoyed the company, and Lulianne appeared to grow some measure of respect for the supposed boogeyman.
Escape from the Fortress
Mel'arnach was somehow given warning that the Sarghress fortress would soon come under attack. Rather than warn her clan, she used the chaos to escape from the fortress with Zhor in tow. Lulianne gave chase, and the two women argued about responsibility to their respective clans. Mel refused to return, so Lulianne insisted on coming along until Mel'arnach came back. Mel agreed to this, and the two left for Felde to find Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen. Mel had not been outside the walls of the fortress in years, and they found Snadhya's old estate to be occupied by a strange, but friendly girl who promised to take then the Snadhya at Orthorbbae.
The girl turned out to be Kalki, Snadhya's secret daughter. Upon warmly meeting with her lover, Snadhya told Mel that Kalki was actually born of the eggs of herself and of Mel'arnach, making Kalki Mel's "daughter." Mel was shocked to hear that she had a daughter, and took some time to adjust to this revelation.
When Mel met up with Lulianne in the hall, she found the guard to be tainted and badly injured. Mel cared for Lu and did everything she could for the poor guard, though Zhor attempted to warn her that Lulianne was lying about what had happened to her. Mel and Snadhya spent the night eating chocolate and living luxuriously, just as Mel always dreamed of. Snadhya told Mel about the Nidra'chaal organization and confessed to being their leader. She asked Mel to join them. Mel, oblivious to what had happened in the previous centuries, thought it sounded perfect but decided she needed some time to think about it.
Snadhya managed to convince Mel'arnach to go back to the Sarghress. She told Mel to bend to Quain'tana's knee for now, and that if she played her cards right she would be the next Ill'haress of the Val'Sarghress clan. Mel begrudgingly agreed, and the two openly took a ride back to the Sarghress fortress.
Their cart was attacked, but nobody was injured badly. Mel arrived home with Snadhya's hand in hers, declaring that they came in peace.
Reconciliation
Snadhya left, and Mel was forced into shackles at Quain'tana's feet. Mel said she would do anything for another chance, to which Quain'tana mandated that she bear children for the clan. When Mel asked if there was another way, Quain said she'd have to kill her. With nothing left to say, Quain'tana demanded that Mel's arms be broken. Mel'arnach angrily spat that Quain should do her own dirty work, so Quain'tana obliged - smashing Mel'arnach's arms to a pulp with a warhammer.
Mel'arnach was thrown into a deep dungeon pit, where she was unexpectedly visited by Ariel and Kel'noz. Mel'arnach told Ariel about who her true mother was through sobs of pain, confusing Ariel deeply. Ariel couldn't bear to suddenly accept Mel as her mother, and ran for Quain'tana. Mel was utterly devastated, and she blamed Kel for turning the girl against her. Kel'noz simply replied that he needed to do what was best for the clan and encouraged Mel to let Ariel make her own choice.
Ariel convinced Quain'tana to give Mel'arnach one last chance. Mel agreed to Quain'tana's terms this time, and Quain'tana had her brought to the healers to fix her arms. She also demanded that the healers leave Mel the scars to serve as a reminder. Ariel visited Mel'arnach during her healing, placing her hand affectionately in her "sister's" palm.
Biography - Arc II
Bearing Heirs for the Clan
Mel'arnach was later moved to the Sulissin'rune dome to bear more children in the Sarghress main line while Ariel continued to grow up away from her. She bore 2 sons, both of which were taken from her and were being raised somewhere in the Sarghress fortress, and became pregnant a third time. Lulianne was exiled from the clan, and Mel'arnach accepted her as a personal bodyguard and friend.
On Ariel's first mission with the Home Guard, she stopped by Mel'arnach's apartment while patrolling the Sulissin'rune territories. While it was clear that Ariel had accepted the fact that Mel was her biological mother, she still held allegiance to Quain'tana and the clan. Ariel and Mel were on friendly terms, but clearly argued over Quain'tana's goals. Mel felt betrayed by Kel, feeling that he had turned Ariel away from her.
Mel'arnach also spoke with Faen in private. She did her best to encourage Faen to love Ariel and to not let Quain'tana's demands get in the way of that love. Faen used her empathy on Mel's pregnant womb and determined that the baby was likely to be a girl.
This article reflects events up to chapter 39.
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