Ari: The Beginning

In all her memories, there is nothing before her life at the temple of Corellon, nor is there recollection of how she came to be there. She knows the story, but only as one knows a story shared many times around an evening fire, for on occasion, one of the older priests would tell the tale. The story is always a sad tale and therefore not told often, for its sadness is one of great loss, and that night is known to every denizen of the temple as the night evil invaded their house of worship.

The afternoon was a perfect example of early spring, when nature encourages the forest to grow its new foliage. Preparations for the evening meal were interrupted, however, when a young elven mother staggered, disoriented and hysterical, into the courtyard. Having reached this sanctuary, she relinquished her bundle, a young elven child not old enough to be separated from her mother, into the hands of the nearest priest before collapsing on the paving stones, never to rise again. The child screeched her indignation at being handed off to a stranger, and all those in the courtyard gathered around the priest to inspect this unhappy child. But over those cries, they soon heard a terrifying sound: the sound of a goblin raiding party.

As they hurried to secure the temple from the raiding party, the child passed hands from one to the next until she was placed in the arms of the youngest apprentice, who was charged with keeping the child safe. The rest of the temple's inhabitants defended the temple, the Champions of Corellon Larethian leading the efforts.

The details of the skirmish are always glossed over, but story's outcome is always told with the most somber of tones. The goblins were being lead by a Drow rogue, who managed to sneak into the sanctuary and steal the High Silver Star, the most sacred of holy relics housed in the temple.

In the aftermath of this tragedy, the priests had forgotten about the young child who had been abandoned at the temple's doorsteps until they heard her silvery laughter. The youngest apprentice had managed to find a small doll made of scraps of cloth and was playing with the young child. As days passed, no one came to reclaim the child, and the priests adopted her as an orphan of the temple. Having no name for her, they called her Nuith; because of her happiness when all those around her where lost in despair, she was a child who brought them hope, hope that the High Silver Star might one day be returned to them.

When Nuith was old enough to chose her vocation, she remembered every tale of the Champions and their many victories over the evils of the world. She stood in front of the priests and declared that she would seek to become a Champion herself, that she might one day have the skills to save those in danger. The priests accepted her decision easily, appointed a mentor to assist her in her training, and, in the absence of parents to fulfill the duty, presented her with an elven thinblade, the choice weapon of the Champions.

That night, Nuith was praying in the silent sanctuary during the midnight hours when she was visited by a messenger of Corellon. She was told that her destiny was to recover the High Silver Star; she must leave behind the comfort of the temple and seek out a small group who were spreading the stories of Horus-Re and through journeys with them, she would start on the path that would lead her to the High Silver Star. She set out that very night, leaving behind the name the priests had given her and taking her own: Sar'ruaselari, the Seeker of the High Silver Star.