Tabra

Tabra was a Netherese human wizard and archmage and the proprietor of a festhall and rooming house in Bargewright Inn, appropriately named Tabra's, in the mid-to-late 14^th century DR.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} She was also the last human apprentice of Ioulaum, a surviving archwizard of Netheril.^[3][4][1]

History[]

The Last Apprentice of Ioulaum[]

Tabra was born amongst the refugees of the fallen empire of Netheril^[1] in the early 4^th century DR.^{[6][7][note 1]} For her magical potential, she was among those young Netherese discreetly selected as apprentices by no less a mage than Ioulaum, one of the last Netherese sorcerer-kings to survive the fall of Netheril^[3][4][1] and joined him at his hidden lair in the Northdark. She would be his last human apprentice, for Ioulaum also took mind flayer apprentices from the neighboring illithid colony of Ellyn'taal, who formed a dozen-strong cabal of illithiliches known as the Alhoon.^[1]

Then, in Ellyn'taal in the Year of the Closed Scroll, 329 DR, Tabra witnessed what she thought was a spell-battle in which the Alhoon turned on and slew their master Ioulaum.^{[3][4][1][6][7]} (In fact, Ioulaum had betrayed the Alhoon, conducting a rite to turn their minds into an undead elder brain into which he merged his own sentience, killing his body and most of the illithiliches in the process.^[1]) In the aftermath, the mind flayers of Ellyn'taal caught Tabra and tried to sacrifice her to some dark deity.^[3][4] To escape and get revenge for her murdered master, Tabra cast his just-perfected, greatest spell, Ioulaum's longevity, and thereby massacred the city's entire population,^{[3][4][1][6][7][note 2]} more than 2000 in number. Since this spell granted a year of life at the cost of the death of one mage, by the time she was done, Tabra had gained a lifespan of over two millennia.^[3][4]

Afterward, Tabra destroyed every last record of Ioulaum's longevity,^[3][4][1] apart from her own and Ioulaum's hidden writings,^{[1][note 3]} so that it could not be used by villainous mages who would not baulk at its terrible cost.^[3][4] She then escaped to the surface world.^[1]

Tabra of the North[]

Thereafter, she continued to live in the North and, as of the 14^th century DR, she had been there for as long as anyone, even Elminster, could recall.^[2] She'd used roughly half of her vastly extended lifespan, but had no intention to recreate the spell and gain any more years.^[3][4] Nevertheless, she was known to have used it more than once.^{[1][note 4]}

By the 1350s DR, Tabra was known as the owner of the eponymous festhall and rooming house in Bargewright Inn.^[3][4][1]

Some time in the mid-1350s DR, a black dragon descended on Bargewright Inn with the intent of assaulting the settlement. According to local legend, Tabra jumped off her bedroom balcony, transformed midair into a dragon herself (those who tell the story disagree on the type), and chased it off. True or not, Tabra hated the tale and angrily evicted anyone who dared repeat the story in her earshot.^[2]

Prisoner of the Shadovar[]

In the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, however, Tabra disappeared from Bargewright Inn, her whereabouts unknown. The Shadovar of the returned Netherese enclave of Thultanthar had kidnapped Tabra and taken her to the City of Shade. The Princes of Shade and Telamont Tanthul himself sought information on Ioulaum's fate,^[1] particularly his longevity spell. Over the following century and more, Telamont kept her captive, enslaved her, tortured her until her body was broken and scarred, and ransacked her mind until she lost all her kind nature and knew no joy ever again. When Telamont had no use for her, he kept her in magical stasis, so she knew no peace either. Yet she never gave up her secrets.^[8][9]

Tabra awoke from the stasis in which the Shadovar had put her in the Year of the Rune Lords Triumphant, 1487 DR, with the death of Telamont Tanthul and escaped the crash of Thultanthar, taking Telamont's damaged gauntlet as a souvenir. Afterward, she took refuge in an abandoned mage's tower, but the Shadovar arcanist Eluraunt Malabrak of the Three came seeking magic in the tower. Tabra caught and killed him, but not before he gave up the location of four other arcanists: the Oldspires mansion in Cormyr. Desiring revenge and having no fear of death, she set out to destroy all surviving Shadovar arcanists.^[8]

In Tarsakh of the Year of Dwarvenkind Reborn, 1488 DR, during a spellstorm, Tabra went to stay at Oldspires, where she finally met Elminster and was fascinated to learn how he'd slain her nemesis Telamont.^[10][9] Learning of the Lost Spell, she openly admitted she would use it for revenge.^[11] Thereafter, Tabra competed with other archmages for the possession of the Lost Spell and took advantage of the situation to kill those archmages who had consorted with the Shadovar, including Runemaster Skouloun of Nimbral and Yusendre. Runemaster Calathlarra tried to kill Tabra first but was ultimately killed by her in the fight, by means of her poisoned nail.^[12][13] She also tried to kill Malchor Harpell and Manshoon, her mad quest for revenge against Thultanthans having grown to those who'd aided them and those who'd not done enough in her eyes to stop them. In the end, Elminster solved the murders in the house and confronted Tabra about hers.^[13] He made her vow to leave Malchor alone and she left with Mirt and Myrmeen Lhal.^[14]

Description[]

The Ioulaum's longevity spells she'd cast meant Tabra continued to appear as a teenaged girl, even more than a millennium later. She was blonde, petite, and impish in appearance, with dark expressive eyes that displayed her experience, maturity, and all the years beyond counting she'd seen.^[2][3]

But after a century of torture by Telamont Tanthul, Tabra's face and body were left heavily disfigured, asymmetrical, and scarred and she was emaciated.^[8] She had intricate tattoos on her inner forearms, and she kept the nails of her little fingers pointed to use as quills, so they were often ink-stained,^[15] but this was a cover for sarbrathrael poison on the left.^[12][13]

Personality[]

Though she looked to be much too young to be managing a festhall or thinking of men, Tabra was mature and motherly. She was kind^[2] and focused on helping people and making them happy. Her long years had seen her grow from being free-willed to more good-hearted. She claimed to have no knowledge of magic, and she'd used her spells less and less over time by the mid-1360s DR.^[3]

All this was lost in the Shadovar's torment, leaving Tabra joyless and intimidating, seeking vengeance and claiming to have come to enjoy the pain. She regretted she could not kill Telamont herself. She said she no longer had a sense of humor,^[8] yet still made jests and gentle mockery.^[16]

Abilities[]

Despite keeping her skill with magic a secret as much as she could, Tabra was a full-fledged archmage and had prepared a full suite of spells at all times.^[3][4]

Among these, she knew the potent old Netherese spell dragonshape, a form of shapechange, which of course allowed her to transform into a dragon. She only used it rarely when either she or Bargewright Inn were seriously threatened by powerful forces.^[3][4][1]

She also knew the spell of epic magic known as Ioulaum's longevity, of which she'd destroyed all other records. This was the source of her prodigious lifespan.^[3][4][1] However, she had no intention of recreating such a terrible work of magic.^[3][4]

Possessions[]

Tabra owned at least two properties: her festhall in Bargewright Inn and a house in Waterdeep. She had also accumulated a great deal of riches, which she concealed in various places. These included caches in the roof and in her canopied bed in her festhall, and another in her Waterdhavian house.^[3] At Tabra's, she had an extensive library of books, chapbooks, and scrolls covering every subject except, oddly, magic. These were available for guests to read.^[2][5]

Activities[]

While at Bargewright Inn, Tabra tried to help or improve the mood of the people she met, usually with discreet gifts of money or services, her magic, or just a simple quiet talk.^[3]

Relationships[]

Tabra stayed away from the other great archmages of Faerûn, like Khelben Arunsun and Elminster Aumar and. While two of the Seven Sisters, Laeral Silverhand and the Simbul, had somehow learned the truth about Tabra and her life, and had shared it with Khelben and Elminster, they also firmly asked them not to bother her, to respect her privacy.^[3]

She worked with the Harpers many times^[1] and was a valuable all to them, but she declined to join the organization herself.^[3]

Rumors & Legends[]

Some folk, such as Volo, thought Tabra to be a mage, but she denied all knowledge of magic.^[2][4]

More amazingly, other people whispered that she was in fact a gold dragon in human guise^[2][4][1] and protecting a treasure hoard beneath the building. Supposedly she was hiding from a mightier dragon that would wipe out her and the whole community if the truth was ever revealed, hence why she hardly ever showed her true form.^[2][4] Of course, such rumors arose from her long life and unageing appearance and the occasional time she did turn into a dragon.^[3][1]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

1. ↑ It is actually unknown when or where Tabra was born, but Lost Empires of Faerûn p. 101 mentions Ioulaum selected "apprentices from among the most promising Netherese refugees", so Tabra is assumed to be one of these. They could be from the fall of Netheril in −339 DR or one of the various successor states, most recently Hlondath, which was abandoned the same year as Tabra's first appearance. Given her apparent youth and lack of other known sources of longevity, Tabra is presumed to be born in the early 300s DR, likely coming from around Hlondath.
2. ↑ Volo's Guide to the North p. 222 says that Tabra used the spell to escape being sacrificed by illithids, while Lost Empires of Faerûn pp. 99 and 100 have her attack them in revenge. This article attempts to merge both versions. Furthermore, the former implies a single casting slaying over 2,000, while the latter says Tabra slew only a few survivors and made many repeated castings later. Taken together, and given the limited area of the spell, it may be that Tabra used multiple castings across the city.
3. ↑ Again, Volo's says "destroyed all records" and "has no plans to recreate the spell", implying she even destroyed her own, while Lost Empires specifically has her retain her own.
4. ↑ As noted, Lost Empires has Tabra make "many subsequent castings of that epic spell", while Volo's Guide implies only once. In a 2006 Candlekeep forum post, Ed Greenwood says she'd cast it twice, with details of the second casting under a non-disclosure agreement. This was never resolved, but may refer to her inclusion in Lost Empires of Faerûn, published the previous year.

Appearances[]

References[]