Yet despite her eventual rise to power, Zabinne’s history is wrought with pain and loneliness. Orphaned as a child, she had no family to rely on and had to navigate the harsh vales of Tenebris alone. She grew up witnessing the unfair treatment of children on the streets and the injustice they faced every day.
Unlike most people, Zabinne has never feared the darkness. Instead, she thrives in it. Only after nightfall does she ever feel safe, away from the prying eyes of thugs and menacing intent of crooks. It didn’t take long for the young maiden to befriend the dark and realize that it, too, wanted to protect her.
Slowly, in the black shrouds of night and under the kind shelter of the gloom, Zabinne learned to manipulate shadows and cloak herself in obscurity, becoming one with the dark side of the moon. She could vanish into the mists and find peace where many see only fear.
Nobody knows for certain how one seemingly insignificant girl came to master such magic, although people would later argue that being chosen as a god-vessel has granted within her an innate mystical intuition that other wizards could only ever dream of achieving.
This was how Zabinne started using her godly powers for good: hiding street urchins from angry authorities, stealing provisions from the wealthy and issuing them to the poor, all without ever revealing her identity or wanting to seek glory.
Quickly recognizing her as a vessel of Naaru the Descended Lord, the King enlisted Zabinne and named her one of the four Grand Sorceresses of this period. She became known as Zabinne the Warlock, ally of the darkness and a huge influence on Avarik’s magical landscape.
Until one fateful day, she saved an unexpected someone. A rugged man was running for his life when Zabinne veiled him in darkness, sending the crowd of barbarians who were after him into confusion, and eventually, away. As luck would have it, that man had been personally dispatched by King Amar himself on a secret mission. He returned to the castle after successfully completing his task, not neglecting to tell the King of the gifted maiden to whom he owed his life.
With her access to the royal treasury, she commissioned the best Tenebrisian craftsman to design her staff, a tool that would allow her to focus and pinpoint her magical capabilities even more, rendering her powerful as ever.
But never for a moment has Zabinne forgotten her humble origins. Even with her new duties and responsibilities, she always finds the time to visit the streets she once roamed, personally meeting the orphans who now have to survive there. She may not be able to help them all, but she hopes that her mere presence can give them strength, for there is something striking about seeing a commanding figure and recognizing them as one of your own.