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The Disappearing Zhentarim"A few miles over to the west, there's a town that was contested for by the Zhentarim. Oh, no question as to why. It would've secured them a point on a prime trading route. However, a few years ago, Zhentil Keep fell, as I'm sure you know. Well, the Zhentarim have kept an eye on this town, in the hopes that the allied city to the north will grow lazy and unobservant, that perhaps they can place a puppet in the local government and build their treasury up again. Everything seemed to be going well until a couple of months ago. It seems their spies are disappearing. They are there one day, and "Poof!" gone the next. No one's sure what's going on. The only other thing of interest is that people have reported fresh roses showing up on the grave of a local hero who fought against the Zhentarim in the final struggles of the town. Who knows what that is all about?"The Story Before the Zhentarim arrived in this city, a thieves guild held sway there. It was run by a likeable, middle aged halfling. In his employ was a young, enthusiatic female halfling by the name of Timken who happened to get herself into trouble by picking the wrong pocket . . a Zhentarim pocket. Now, this young lady (against her better judgement) was deeply in love with the guildmaster. The guildmaster found her to be a useful and fun distraction, but there was no love for her. Thus, when Timken came to him seeking his aid, he did the only thing a true guildmaster would: he turned her over to the Zhentarim in exchange for a large sum of money. (She had managed to lift a rather valuable magical amulet.) She was shipped to Zhentil Keep to be executed but they found that she was pregnant with the guildmaster's child. That presented the opportunity the priests of Cyric had been waiting for to test a new spell. Essentially, in a drawn out and painful ceremony, they corrupted her child while still in the womb, turning it into a creature of blood and death which no longer even vaguely resembled a halfling. Timken was forced to care for this thing for months as it grew. Knowing that once the creature was grown, they would have no more use for her, she attempted to escape. Though it nearly cost her her life, she did indeed escape. Only one thought consumed her as she ran . . . kill the guildmaster. Slowly, she made her way back to the town to destroy him, but found that he was the only thing holding the townspeople together as a full scale battle waged against the Zhentarim. She never let him see her, but hid in the shadows and watched as he planned raids on supply wagons, rallied the people in secret meetings and instructed them in the ways of stealth. There was no way she could bring herself to kill him when he was the very heart of the rebellion, no matter how much she hated him. As she hid in the shadows one evening, she learned that the rebellion planned to tunnel through to the Zhentarim forces center of operation to retrieve a magical item which would greatly increase their odds of winning. "How did they know about this item?" she asked herself, "It must be a leak, a trap." So, she followed the rebellion into the tunnel and took a different route from them in the hopes that she could create a diversion far away from them, giving them a chance to get what they needed, if it even existed. But, unfortunately, she found herself yet again in the hands of her captors. And who else was there in a cell directly across from her but the guildmaster. She had no time to talk to him though, as the Zhentarim came for her almost immediately, to take her before their leader. She had been useful to them before, and she would be useful again. Thus, they brought her to their prize possession, a vampire they had managed to control through powerful magic. Another minion of the undead could only be an asset for them. And so, Timken was ushered into the forces of darkness as one of the living dead. They left her with her "teacher" for many weeks, to learn to serve the Zhenatrim. They underestimated the power of her hate. One day, they visited her quarters only to find the other vampire staked to the ground just as sunlight from a busted window crawled across his face. For years, she has roamed the Realms, growing stronger each night. Now, she has decided it is time for the Zhentarim to pay for what they did to her. It may take centuries for her to eliminate all of the leaders and strike true fear into the hearts of their minions, . . but she has all the time in the world.. |
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