Exemplars of Evil

way out. They took heavy damage, but eventually wiped out
the first wave of adveraries. Afterward, though, more powerful
drow continued to emerge from the tunnel.
As the battle continued, the drow used potent magic to
neutralize Rionan and Lylok, but Calais and Pietro remained.
The two adventurers fired back with magic of their own,
taking out many dark elves. For a short time, it seemed that
Tamesik had underestimated the party, and the drow were
nearly defeated.
Then Calais fell victim to a confusion scroll. In a frenzy,
she turned on Pietro, killing him with her mace, and then
attacked the heavily wounded drow priestess. Tamesik
attempted to escape, but Calais charged her, stabbing the
drow repeatedly with a fallen dagger.
As Tamesik was brutalized, she beseeched the Spider Queen
to curse her foe by turning Calais into whatever she hated the
most. Lolth answered. In the blink of an eye, the body of the
drow priestess changed shape, taking on the form of the elf,
and the body of Calais transformed into a perfect likeness of
Tamesik. Lolth had not seen fit to heal the former drow body
of its wounds, however, and so Tamesik had only a moment
of bewilderment before she died.
Coming out of her confused state, Calais was shocked
by the carnage and the transformation. Not only were
her companions dead—Pietro by her own hand—but her
own corpse lay at her feet as well. The remaining drow,
ignorant of the switch, quickly escorted who they thought
was their mistress into the safety of the Underdark. Calais,
traumatized and terrified, played along as well as she could,
expecting to be identified as an impostor and killed at
any moment.
But she was not discovered, perhaps because Lolth felt that
a quick end would not have fulfilled the real Tamesik’s dying
curse. Time passed, and as Calais adapted to her situation, she
realized that she had not only the form but also the abilities
of the drow priestess. She decided then that the switch had
been a blessing in disguise from Corellon Larethian: a chance
to bring new powers to bear against the hated drow and to
destroy their evil from within.
Calais took steps to learn Tamesik’s mannerisms, scrying
on other drow to see their impressions of her. She studied
her foe’s business dealings and came to know her minions
and lackeys. Realizing that she would arouse suspicion if
she dismantled the Chelicerata, Calais decided that she must
continue Tamesik’s activities to mask the fact that she was
subtly destroying her enemy’s legacy.
However, on some level, Calais was only fooling herself. As
she descended further into the persona of Tamesik, she lost
her faith and morals. Something had snapped in her mind
during the transformation. Calais began to justify immoral
acts as necessary evils, which appeased her conscience but
did not satisfy Corellon Larethian. The deity withdrew his
support, judging her unfit for his faith.
At that moment, Lolth stepped in to fill the void. The transition
was so smooth that Calais did not notice the change.
The domain of Chaos, which Lolth shared with Corellon
happened to be the one domain that Calais had access to.
Subconsciously, Calais made other changes that allowed her
to keep believing that she remained a priestess of Corellon.
Somewhere in her mind, Calais knew that she was no longer
a force for good in the world. But she ignored the warning
signs, justifying the changes however she could and ignoring
the reality of her fall from grace.
In her manipulation of Tamesik’s affairs, Calais has become
just as ruthless as the drow priestess ever was. She uses her
new form and abilities as weapons of revenge against anyone
connected to the Chelicerata, including human nobles,
drow investors, and unwitting merchants. In her troubled
mind, anyone involved with the organization deserves to
die. Most of her machinations involve finances, but she also
hires assassins to terrorize and kill those who displease her.
Calais wants to punish Tamesik and her supporters for their
wicked ways, and for the evil acts that they have supposedly
forced her to commit.
GOALS
Each day, Calais wrestles with her life’s contradictions: She
hates drow, but she revels in the power of her position and
the respect she receives from her minions. On good days, she
furthers her scheme to destroy the Chelicerata, weakening the
major players and pitting the dark elves against their corrupt
human allies. On bad days, she wallows in misery, lashing out
at her minions and victims. This erratic and unstable personality
is what makes Calais so dangerous. When in control of
her mental faculties, she tries not to harm innocents. When
consumed by hatred, she sees enemies everywhere.
When her personality changes, so does the nature of her
goals. Her primary objective is to weaken and polarize the
drow and their human allies. To this end, Calais foments
rebellious gossip among the drow houses, disseminates
rumors that pit factions against each other, and orders her
followers to attend revels in disguise, inciting talk about
deceptions and betrayals. She hopes to corrode the power
structure of the dark elves and spark an open war. Her minions
are eager to follow her orders, duped into believing that
their mistress seeks to create a void so that the Chelicerata
can fill it.
If Calais focused her energies entirely on the drow, she
might never come into conflict with residents of the surface
world. Unfortunately for her, however, her manic episodes
force confrontations. During her fits, she suspects everyone
of collusion with the drow. She directs her minions to attack
merchant caravans, searching for evidence of corruption, and
orders the assassination of prominent citizens, attempting to
weed out potential threats. Usually her targets are evil, but
sometimes she sends her squads after the wrong people, and
innocents die. During these raids, her minions also terrorize
the families of the victims. Calais encourages this behavior at
the time, but after her personality shifts back, she is horrified
by the results of her hatred.
Even if Calais truly wanted to stop committing evil acts,
she would find it nearly impossible: She cannot reverse
Tamesik’s dying curse, and her mental illness compels her
to seek revenge on anyone associated with the trade ring.
Moreover, vengeance is really all that Calais has left. Her
adventuring companions died in the battle against the
drow, and her former friends and allies among Corellon’s
faithful believe that she met a similar fate. Too proud (and
too scared) to consider suicide, Calais is left with nothing
but the loyalty of Tamesik’s minions and her burning desire
for retribution.
CHAPTER 5
CALAIS
ARCHWINTER
81