Here's Corath's background. Because of her uniqueness, I've written it in first person. After all, she's a construct. She doesn't really have a family per se, or anything else of that nature. Her natural state looks a great deal like the nimblewright picture in MMII in that she is quite shiny. Her master took a great deal of time to make her look appealing, even without her disguise self ability. She is a shiny gold/platinum amalgam. Her "body" has been etched such that she appears to be wearing flowing robes when standing still, but the image changes into the appearance of elven chain when she begins to move, particularly in a fight. This is all cosmetic stuff.
As for her face, that has been etched to provide the semblance of a real face. It is NOT the mask one sees in MMII. She has "real" hair in that, while it isn't real hair, it appears to be...kinda like a doll.
I'm thinking that her master, narcisistic twit that he was, wanted her as human appearing as possible in her natural state for aesthetic purposes. Her only disguise self persona, then, is a statuesque human (about 5'10" and 145 lbs) with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her "background" follows...
"Although I have few memories from before my awakening ten years ago, I dream of a time prior to that. I dream of silver and shadow. I dream of plots and false promises. I dream of abandonment and redemption.
In these dreams, the ones that occur frequently, I remember rocks raining on my head. I remember a child being taken away. I remember being commanded to kill all in my path with no regard for my own safety. I remember protecting my master against all who would do him harm. All of these things I remember.
I have since pieced some of my past together. I have used my memories, dreams, rumors, and tales to base my current self on. Whether any of these are true is anyone’s guess, but I have yet to find anything that is glaringly false in my constructed past.
I am a construct, a nimblewright, although I’m not entirely certain what that means yet. I know that my kind were used in the Shadow War as spies, covert operatives, and assassins. I know that my kind belonged to members of the Enchanters’ Circle of Thay, a land of wizards to the south of Azgund. I know that I was a bodyguard to my master in addition to those other roles.
My disjointed reminiscence provides me with images of a confrontation…snatches of conversation. My master taunting a young half-elven woman. Threats exchanged. Promises of retribution made. A winged woman watching in confusion as my master revealed himself to be not whom he had been for the last several years. A dark man standing between the women and my master. Other men, one Thayvian and one Azgundi, circling around as I approached from the crowd as my master had planned. A man of unknown lineage and a Halfling, moving fluidly, circling around in search of a better position, not realizing the threat I represented. A Tureni woman, children, and her mate, taking the half-elven babe to safety at the behest of the half-elven woman.
I remember them and the fight that followed, albeit as if through a grey haze. My master called on me to reveal myself and defend him. I did so, as I had so often done before. The Thayvian man I knew to be one of the Arcane Tricksters with ties to the Silver Shadow. The man of unknown origin was an associate of his. The dark man standing between my master and the two women I knew to be a member of the Shadow Knights and previously of the Azgundi covert network. The winged woman had been a thorn in his side until very recently. My master had been sent to Azgund with express orders to complicate the lives of this man and the half-elven woman with silver hair. I now know them to be the Shadow Knight and the Silver Shadow.
The fight went awry almost from the first. My master was pursued by the Silver Shadow relentlessly, and not even his soul stealing magics worked. She was tenacious in a way I have not seen since. The plan involved my dropping a tower he had helped design and build, having been the seneschal of Guare for the years leading up to this. At his command, I did so, trapping myself and the Shadow Knight along with most of the others.
I lay in darkness, waiting for my consciousness to leave me. I don’t know how long it took, but as I lay there beneath the rubble and waited for the end, I heard a voice. It told me that I would have life and that I was to have choice. As the voice left me, rescuers found me. I came back to myself, got up as they ran, and left.
I have been wandering ever since. I look for purpose. I seek understanding. Most of all, I strive to be worthy of my sentience, something mortals tend to take for granted. Perhaps, if I prove myself worthy, I, too, can find redemption. As the Shadow Knight found his after a long, dark time, so I hope to find mine. It is this I strive for. The memories of all I had done, all whom I had killed, all that I had lost, keep me focused on what could be, what can be, what should be. It has been only since I came to understand that I truly have a choice that I have begun to discover all that I remember being able to do. This is the path I follow and the tale I try to weave.
May those who come after me learn from what I’ve done, do, and will do. May those whom I have wronged understand that choice is a gift of sentience; without it, choices cannot be made. May those who have done wrong accept the redemption that can come from making different choices.
Thank you, Strange Voice. Thank you, Silver Shadow. Thank you, Shadow Knight. Thank you all who were with you. It is to you that I owe all that I have become. Never will I forget you."
