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HISTORY: Born to parents Arnell and Emmeline Hallowleaf,
Jenevelle, as she was named, was raised in a Selรปnite household in the forests outside Baldur's Gate. Devout followers of the Moonmaiden, they worshipped her in quiet seclusion away from the city, raising young
Jenevelle in the ways of Selรปne. In time, she would take part of an
ancient Selรปnite initiation rite: abandoned in the wilds, she would have to rely on her skills and faith to fend for herself, proving herself as a devout believer once she returned.
Yet Shar, Selรปne's dark sister, had other plans for the child, and commanded a cadre of Sharrans to kidnap her and take her to a Sharran temple run by
Mother Superior in Baldur's Gate. Mother Superior's sole mission was to mould young
Jenevelle into a champion of the Dark Lady. She resisted the indoctrination at first, but the brutal training she would be put through, being told that her parents perished defending her from wolves, as well as repeated forced use of the temple's
Mirror of Loss, would slowly erase her past and in time forge a new identity:
Shadowheart.
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SHARRAN LIFE: Mother Superior was especially cruel with Shadowheart, forcing her to use the Mirror of Loss more than with any other acolyte. Shadowheart was only able to retain a few memories from her past thanks to Rennald, a young tiefling acolyte undergoing similar training. Any time she would be
subjected to mirror training, Rennald would do his best to remind Shadowheart who she was afterwards. Courtesy of the young tiefling's efforts, and whatever
scattered notes she was able to jot down between mirror trainings, Shadowheart was able to retain some parts of her identity, such as her fondness for flowers and animals.
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THE ARTEFACT: During Shadowheart's last stages of training, whispers of the rise of a mysterious cult would reach the Mother Superior's ears. This
Cult of the Absolute as it was being called, was quickly gaining traction among the populace and threatened the Sharran influence over the city. As luck would have it, the Sharrans would capture a Githyanki scout who, after being subjected to merciless torture, revealed the existence of a
githyanki artefact of immense power that the cult were desperate to find. Such an artefact could prove an asset for the Sharrans in thwarting the absolutist presence in the city, and so the Mother Superior quickly formed a party of elite devouts, tasking them with its retrieval. Though deemed a suicide mission, Shadowheart and four other companions set out to fulfill what they believed were Shar's commands.
The group was able to locate the Mysterious Artefact though at great cost:
Shadowheart was the only survivor. Disaster wouldn't stop there, however, as she soon found herself captive at the hands of
mind flayers. How and where she was captured is never explored, however, at some point during her capture she became
tadpoled and kept imprisoned in a pod awaiting ceremorphosis.