Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion RP Backstory - Half Drow Cleric of Selune

"Time to leave. You about done in there?"

Cembrye huffed as she shoved the last items into her backpack. She drew a sweaty hand across her brow. This was all happening so fast. But there was no time.

She took one last look around the modest cottage. Her family home for so many years. A small family to be sure. Just her and Mother.

They lived on the far outskirts of Baldur's Gate. A Selunite neighborhood filled with other misfits. Not quite slums. But the perfect place for a human mother to raise a half-breed daughter.

Cembrye had had a mostly happy childhood. A few taunts of "underelf" from the other children. But Bree - everyone called her that - had made many friends too growing up.

Bree never knew her Drow father. Her mother never spoke of him. Bree only knew they'd met in the Underdark.

Her mother had been a cook for a mining company. The expedition was ambushed by Drow. All vanished except for her mother, who was found stumbling on the surface, bruised and bleeding, but alive. Nine months later, she'd given birth to Bree.

When Bree was older, she put two and two together and understood.

Her Mother had been training to become a priestess of Selune in her youth but had stopped her studies after she had Bree. Although she never encouraged her, Bree could tell she was pleased when her daughter turned twelve and declared she would become a cleric of Selune. Selling off belongings and taking loans, Mother managed to scrape together enough to enroll Bree in the Academy of the Moon.

But a time came when they ran out of money. Bree was heartbroken at the thought of leaving her studies. She had been one of the top students, already spoken of by her instructors as a sure prospect for advancement. But it looked like this was the end of her dreams.

Hearing of their predicament, a kindly-seeming merchant from the city had approached them.

"What a beauty!" he'd exclaimed on sighting Bree, who had just turned eighteen. The man looked her up and down. "Reports did not exaggerate!" he exclaimed. "Shapely! Exotic looks! All in high demand!"

The man pulled a purse from his robes.

"Here is a handsome sum. If your daughter will come with me, I can assure immediate - and lucrative - employment. Plenty of money - after overhead of course. More than enough to pick up her studies later, if she wishes."

Mother gave him a dead-eyed stare. Then she shook her head vigorously.

The man frowned.

"I will wait outside. Let you think it over. But do not take long. This is a one-time offer."

Mother sat on the side of the bed and began to weep. Bree went to comfort her.

"It's all right. I'll go with him. It'll be okay."

Her mother wiped her eyes and took Bree's hands in her own.

"No, I won't allow it. There is another way."

She took out a creased parchment. It was an advertisement for workers to accompany a Selunite expedition to the Underdark.

"Mother, no! You can't go back there."

"It's alright dearest. It is only for a few months. And it pays well." Mother rose and went outside. Bree heard her tell the man to leave, and never return.

A week later, her mother left.

The months passed. At first, the reports from the Selunite Expedition were exciting. Something about finding an entrance to an old temple. Then the reports suddenly stopped. As more time passed, it was clear something had gone very wrong.

Bree joined the other loved ones of the missing expedition members in besieging the Selunite Elders for news. But it turned out the expedition had not been officially sanctioned after all. There would be no rescue attempt.

The families of the lost weren't about to give up so easily. They were poor people, but they'd organize their own rescue. At first, they'd told Bree she was too young to join them. But finally, they gave in after she pleaded.

And now, here she was, stuffing what she had into a backpack.

Bree pursed her lips for a moment as she picked up the Selune staff and circlet she had stolen from the academy armory. Theft. Not very virtuous. If she was caught it would be the quick end of her apprenticeship. Some instructors had always scoffed at the idea of training a half-Drow in the first place. No good could come of trying to "civilize" the spawn of an inherently evil race.

Bree mouthed a silent prayer to Selune. The Lady of Silver offered hope to the hopeless. Surely, she would understand.

Bree knew this rescue attempt was madness. But she would be strong - for Mother. And for the first time, she'd felt something else. A fierceness coursing through her veins. The awakening of her father's blood. The quickening of the gifts he had left her. Sight that could pierce the darkest shadows. The iron will to endure.

"Come on Bree. We have to go."

Bree took a deep breath, heaved the backpack over her shoulder, picked up the staff, and stepped outside.

But something was wrong. Why was everyone screaming?

A large tentacle snaked down from above. Then darkness took her.