Duvan, known to the party by her alias as the (male) Lomelinde, was born in
Tammarik in 1094 to parents of Kenzin extraction who were devout
Peloreans. At the age of six she witnessed the murder of both
of her parents by the
Hyenas, the Wazir's secret police, for a reason she never uncovered. Taking to the
streets she was picked up by Manza, a member of the
Thieves Guild, to be part of his gang of urchins. She learnt
many valuable skills from Manza but at age 13, thinking she recognised one of the assassins in a bazaar, she
fatally stabbed a man who turned out to be an innocent shopkeeper (albeit as she later found out the assassins
younger brother).
Manza threw her out of the gang for the murder, but as fate would have it the incident had been witnessed by
Ulrik, a member of the
Cult of the Long Night, who offered her protection. At first he
claimed to be a freelance assassin who would teach her the skills she needed to survive and avenge her parents.
but she proved such a promising pupil that she was inducted into the cult at the age of 16 and murdered her first
victim for them at the age of 17. She had little compunction in killing for the Cult as her victims in her
own mind were all members of an elite that had killed her parents. Her experiences had, however, made her
an atheist and she considered the Cult's rituals ridiculous but was happy to feign allegance as a price for
her training.
Ulrik, however, unbeknown to Duvan was one of the Cult's most senior assassins and when he became leader of the
Cult in 1116 he insisted that his apprentice be promoted to his former role. She thus joined the
group based at Malkora's Tooth, a seemingly ruined tower on the coast some 14 miles from Tammarik. At first she
was treated with some sceptism by the other assassin's based there but her diligence, skill and her
record on missions soon led to their admiration.
In 1118 the overall leader of the Cult based in
Miredor vanished and Ulrik was left to his own devices. Although Duvan had at first
seen him as devoted to the cult in time his enthusiasm waned. In 1127 Duvan discovered he had begun colluding
with the Wazir, only assassinating the Wazir's cast off favourites. Enraged by this Duvan killed Ulrik and
claimed the leadership for herself challenging anyone who disagreed to single combat (none acepted her offer).
Duvan beside being a ruthless killer was also a highly intelligent woman. She had no sympathy with the stated
aims of the Cult but knew she had to frame her orders in ways the Cult members would find
acceptable. She knew also that she had to recruit members to the Cult who were personally loyal to her
rather than to the Cult's religion. Since she had also developed an interest, in a detached sort of way, in the
history of the Cult she sought out the most powerful fugitive magic users she could find and offered them
sanctuary at the tower if they would do research for her. She introduced them as members of the Cambrian branch
of the Cult (which no longer existed) and exempted them from the religious ceremonies as their work was so important.
The deception worked since besides Ulrik she was the only resident of the tower who knew that overall leader of
the Cult had disappeared.
She then set about changing the priorities of the Cult, targeting the
Hyenas and sending her assassins against
the Wazir himself. She also sent the Cult into Reetland (which was an arena that the cult had not previously operated in), a move which had some success intially. Her war with the Hyenas, however, was only partially sucessful and
she lost two senior and two more junior assassins in attempts on the Wazir's life.