Solovir Jusztael

Solovir Jusztael, formerly known as Solovir Maeval, is a Drow Paladin and a member of The Raven Knights.

Appearance
Solovir stands tall for a drow, standing at nearly 6 feet tall with broad shoulders. He has bright white eyes that seem to radiantly glow when he is angered or fighting. He has long, silvery-white hair that goes down to his mid torso in front, and down to his waist behind him. He wears dark plate armor that is colored in such a way to be non-reflective. On the outside of his armor he wears partial robes that are a dark purple. Across his neck he wears a metal amulet in the shape of a raven’s head, the holy symbol of The Raven Queen.

Personality
Gruff and often single minded in relation to his own goals. However he is often cautious, especially when it comes to dealing with other Drow. His time in the Shadowfell has dulled his emotions and left him quite blunt about most things. He often comes across as harsh and judgmental, however, when he speaks about himself he seems to hold himself to a near impossible standard and is full of self-criticism. He seems to have a very dry sense of humor.

Origins
Solovir is 175 years old and he was born in Thoz’Undekkenia under the name of Solovir Maeval. He was born into the Maeval family, which belonged to the slave caste of Thoz’Undekkenia. He was the middle child of Vorniss and Zekzar Maeval. He had two sisters, Maythara and Chesdra,and two brothers, Imdar and Valzyr.

During the seemingly never ending internal conflict of the Drow around 1381, House Duskryth, House Keylafini, and House Tanor’Thali were all trying to eliminate each other. The Maeval family served under House Duskryth, and was caught in the crosshairs. Knowing that the slave quarters would be relatively undefended compared to the main portions of the Duskryth estate, Erarina Keylafini lead a group of house guards and assassins to raid the slave quarters. Her plane was to eventually go into the main manor and take out as much of the Duskryth family as she could. After taking out the few guards posted near the slave quarters, Erarina and her subordinates set fire to the slave quarters, hoping to burn down the slave quarters and the nearby food stores that the Duskryth’s had. As the fire began to spread, Erarina and her troops swept through killing all in their path. As the Maeval family scrambled to try to escape the burning building, the Keylafini group came across them. His father was immediately killed by a Keylafini soldier, and Solovir watched as Erarina drove her rapier through his oldest sister, Maythara's, chest. As he attempted to protect his other sister, he was knocked to the ground by one of the other soldiers. His brother Vorniss charged at one of the guards in a blind rage and managed to tackle him into a pillar that was beginning to crumble.

The force of the impact from Vorniss and the soldier, along with the weakening integrity of the building, caused many of the support structures and most of the roof to collapse in. After a minute or so, Solovir managed to crawl out of the rubble only to see Erarina standing among the burning remains of the building. She seemed slightly injured, but still in overall fine fighting condition. To his horror, he saw that she was standing over his mother and other sister, both who were convulsing in agony and bleeding out among the rubble from stab wounds. He desperately attempted to move his own body, struggling to do so due to injuries from the falling roof. Erarina noticed him, however, and began striding over to him.

“How dare you think you can just escape from me. How dare you and your dirty slave family take out my whole squad. HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME.” She spat out at him.

Solovir crawled as quickly as he could through the rubble just trying to get away from her as best as he could. The back of his neck tingled for a split second, and like a hidden instinct he didn’t know was in him, he reflexively rolled to the left. Her rapier passed through the strands of his hair and then scraped into the stone. Solovir kicked his legs out and they managed to connect with the back of Erarina’s knees. She tumbled to the ground and let out a monstrous hiss at him. Using the momentum from his kick, Solovir continued to roll himself down the small pile of rubble until he collided with the body of a Keylafini guard that was crushed under a pillar. Solovir saw his longsword on the ground a few inches from him. Although he had never held an actual weapon in his entire life, he grabbed the longsword and forced himself to stand. Erarina stood up as well, seething with disbelief that a slave not only had the audacity to not die when she demanded it, but had knocked her down to the ground.

“I will make you suffer so that you will beg for death every time you take a breath for the rest of your life!” She shouted at him.

Erarina charged at him with her rapier. Barely steadying himself with his own wobbly legs, Solovir was tempted to just wait for his impending death, but for the first time in his entire life he had a weapon. He had the potential of power, a voice in the back of his head told him that he had a small sliver of hope. Using all of his reflexes from a life of being whipped and beaten, he sidestepped just in time to avoid the piercing strike. Then will all of his might, he swung the sword with more force and hope then he ever had in his entire life. Decades of swinging a pickaxe in the mines led him to the moment. He had hoped he would just connect the blade along the journey. He closed as his eyes a quarter of the way through his wild swing. He felt the blade connect with something and then continue to travel. In that fragment of a moment he just assumed that he had cut her side slightly. Then he heard a noise, something weighty and fleshy that slumped onto the ground. He held his breath and opened his eyes. He had decapitated Erarina, his wild swing somehow landing in the perfect place between her armor and along her neck.

He fell to his knees. Unsure of what to do afterwards, and believing his family was either completely killed by the Keylafini group or crushed to death by the collapsing roof, his mind began to spin. Then the smoke started to fill his lungs. Coughing violently, he knew he needed to escape. He grabbed what he could quickly gather, taking the belt off of another guard so he could take the sword with him, then he ran. He ran outside of the compound that he had lived for most of his life. He looked back and saw the flames twisting and spread through the slave quarters and the food stores, the light from it being painfully bright compared to the soft glow of the faerie fire he was accustomed to. He saw the crowds beginning to gather and he fled.

Escaping Thoz’Undekkenia
He fled from the city and out into the Underdark. After a few weeks he eventually made it to the surface. He  wandered around central Centallin, mostly at night due to his sunlight sensitivity, until he eventually collapses due to exhaustion. In a state of delirium, he remembers seeing a woman standing over him and flipping a coin.

He was found by a priest of the Raven Queen, Duncan Jusztael, who told Solovir that he had experienced an omen, which made him inclined to help Solovir. The priest took him to his temple and nursed Solovir back to health. With his whole life only knowing one deity, Lolth, he was eager to learn more about the Goddess of Death, especially once he found out that some of Lolth’s divine power was given to The Raven Queen after she had lost in her conflict against Correllon seven thousand years ago.

Finding His Place
He remained at the temple with Duncan and the other worshippers of The Raven Queen for many years. One day, after many hours of meditation, he came to the realization that Solovir Maeval died in the Underdark. Once he took a life and fled the city, he had become someone completely new. One life had ended and another had begun. He approached Duncan about this revelation and with a request. Solovir asked to take on Duncan’s family name of Jusztael and cast away his drow family name behind. Duncan happily accepted the request and from then on Solovir was known as Solovir Jusztael.

The next day a priest asked him about his new tattoo. Puzzled by the question Solovir asked what they had meant. The priest pointed out that on his back left shoulder Solovir now had a tattoo-like mark of a black raven wing. Assuming that someone had played a prank on him while he slept, Solovir asked around the temple trying to get an answer. Finally, it was Duncan himself who was able to provide an answer. He believed that the tattoo was a sign. To be specific, he believed it was a Mark of the Chosen.