A recurring character from the Ring of Steel, a Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign set in and around Harrowdale. “Alak languished in the large tub, letting the water sooth his tiered muscles. He didn’t know what magic kept the water clean, circulating and pleasantly hot, nor did he care. He and his men had found many such magical features throughout the estate since they had seized it in the name of House Jaelre. A knock at the door interrupted him. “Enter… and this had better be good!” he called out with annoyance clear in his voice. The doors open and Tebryn, one of his best lieutenants, entered with a wide smile on his face. “Forgive my interruption, sir,” Tebryn addressed him in an almost military tone. “But I have a ‘gift’ for you.” “I know you ‘gift’,” Alak’s replied, his annoyance dissipating rapidly and a wicked smile turning his lips. “Not this ‘gift’,” Tebryn replied, grabbing his crotch. Most drow male’s hatred of the cruel and oppressing drow matrons lead them to find pleasure with each other, and Alak had enjoyed Tebryn’s company on many occasions. “Oh?” Alak responded, his curiosity piqued. Tebryn gestured, and two of his warriors entered, dragging a naked, drow female between them. Her arms hung wide from hands cuffed to a stout wooden staff that sat across her shoulders, and she could take only small steps, since the cuffs about her ankles were secured together by a short length of rope. “What have we here?” Alak asked as he rose from the tub, completely unconcerned by his nakedness. “A refugee from Maerimydra,” Tebryn replied. “There were four more... but they didn’t survive. This one barely put up a struggle.” Alak met them in the center of the room, and inspected his ‘gift’ as the two warriors attached the center of staff to a chain he had hung from the ceiling for just such an occasion. She was young, little more then a century he guessed. Although he despised drow females above all else, Alak could still appreciated their beauty, and this one had lovely features, as well as a delightful body. Once the warriors had hung her from the chain, they stooped and retied her legs to rings in floor, another of Alak’s additions to chamber’s decor, leaving her legs spread wide and her feet barely reaching the floor. “Please!” the girl begged him; her eyes welled with tears and her expression one of abject terror. “Please, don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything you want… I’ll serve you in any way you desire… I’ll be your willing slave… just don’t hurt me!” Alak lifted her chin to look down into her eyes, and with an evil grin replied; “But hurting you IS what I desire!”” One of the House Jaelre drow who have infest the Elven Court, Alak and his troop of over a hundred warriors seized the Ammath estate and rapidly turned it into a near-military compound. Although loyal to his House, Alak puts his faith in nothing but steel, having no time for Vhaeraun, or any other god. Living through many humiliations at the hands of tyrannical matrons and priestesses of Lolth, he hates female drow above all things, gleefully subjecting them to the worst tortures he can conceive of. More concerned with establishing a defensible position, then terrorizing the locals, Alak and his men have still spread an apple portion of misery on the area around the Ammath estate. However, their lack of woodcraft skills and familiarity with the estate and its surroundings has allowed the Ring of Steel to infiltrate their defenses on a number of occasions. Something that is completely unacceptable to Alak. The first recurring (non-player) character from my second pass through the Ring of Steel. Thanks for looking... Hope you enjoy! Comments and suggestions always welcome and appriciated!