Want to help? Consider becoming a Patreon.

Twilight’s mother was a young, beautiful woman when she gave birth to Twilight. Her mother was named Abrigal Skybane, married happily to the man who had given her everything – Kernar Skybane.

Long ago – almost six generations ago – one of Kernar’s ancestors, tired of living in poverty, finally broke and made a pact with a demon. His ancestor asked for his family to be rich – and the demon, Belaros answered – and granted the request, on the agreement that one of his daughters in his bloodline will be born with a chain bound to him – and she is to be sacrificed to him; if not, he will send his Cult of Belaros to hunt her down – and murder anyone who stands in their way.

Twilight was named after her golden eyes, which her mother said, reminded her of the rising and setting sun. Twilight’s features did not change, until she reached the age of five, when her skin developed a purple hue. Her mother, fearing she was choking rushed her to the Priests – who watched as horns slowly emerged from her forehead. The Priests informed her that her daughter was a Tiefling – that somewhere in their bloodline, one of their ancestors (when Abrigal herself denied making such a pact) had made some kind of a deal with a demon.

The Priests offered to free Abrigal of her burden; but she refused. When Twilight first began learning at schools, she often suffered endless glares, hissing, and name calling (most claiming that her mother had laid with a goat). When this got to be too much, Abrigal began homeschooling Twilight. Her mother cared deeply for Twilight; but even her own father would often be startled when he would see those golden eyes reflected in the darkness of her room.

When Twilight’s mother was found murdered – the loyal authorities believed it’d been a burglary gone wrong, Twilight was heartbroken. Her mother had been the only one that ever made her feel comfortable. When the news reached Twilight, she quickly packed her bags and left – not even saying goodbye to her father.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, it’d been the Cult of Belaros coming to claim her soul for their demonlord. They had found Abrigal, who refused to give up where Twilight could be found; and running away that night saved her life, as the Cult came to her home and murdered her father.

Keeping to the road, Twilight quickly fell off the radar of the Cult being able to track her down. She rode with strangers and learned various trades; one that appealed to her was music. Through music she was able to convey her emotions and sadness over the loss of her mother, like she’d never been able to do before. And it was a particular human bard named Severin Goldenharp – who, ironically – did not even play a harp. He played a unique instrument that Twilight had never seen or heard before – something he called a “hurdy-gurdy.” The two became very close as he taught her how to play the instrument. In the six years she’d been on the road, she’d never allowed herself to get close to anyone until Severin. He was kind, charismatic, and did not care about her “demonic-like” appearance, that she was so ashamed of. Severin taught her, not only how to use the hurdy-gurdy, but that through music, you can enchant people, so they no longer see you – you take them away through music. You touch their souls just as much as any Cleric and Priest could.

He also showed her how, through music, you can charm – or even harm – someone, by twisting notes in such a fashion, that it works similar to magic. He also taught her how to speak to someone, how to use her tone, her words in such a way that she could, despite her appearances, easily sway or woo someone; her taught her how to be charismatic and sly.

It was not until they reached Moontide Port, that Twilight realized the two had spent nearly three years, traveling together; playing together at various taverns along the way. Upon reaching the Moontide Port, Severin explained that he was headed for the new continent he’d heard about. He offered to pay Twilight’s way, but she declined, realizing she’d allowed herself to get too close to Severin. He said he understood and gave her his hurdy-gurdy to have, and remember him by. She watched him leave, and even as the ship left the port, she felt an immediate sense of regret.

It would be a year of living in Moontide Port, playing local taverns where she was widely accepted before she decided to also travel to this new continent, and perhaps run into Severin again. She tried to tell herself that she hadn’t remained in Moontide Port hoping that Severin might come back on a ship, saying he couldn’t bear to be away from her; but she knew, perhaps that had been why she never left the port city.

Twilight booked passage aboard the “Destiny’s Courtship” – however, over the course of the three week sailing trip from Tawaim to Vareen (the unofficial name of the new continent, meaning “the new land” in the Ancient Elven tongue), Twilight found that the unusual crew of the Destiny’s Courtship did not judge her – as a matter of fact, the ship itself was made up of an unusual crew which included an male Aasimar by the name of Haylin Stormlight, a female Tabaxi named Prellena Glintclaw, a male Kenku who ironically maintained the crow’s nest (due to his ability to have a booming voice) named (again, ironically) Whisper, and a female Triton named Rita Naom, and rounding up the unusual crew was the captain, a female Minotaur named Krella Wavebreaker. The crew enjoyed and welcomed Twilight’s music – and rather than disembarking when reaching Vareen – Krella asked her to officially become a part of the crew, which Twilight accepted.