Karanon Ulventhral was born to the craftsmans caste in the underrealm city of Zar'Ahal. But his parents already had two children and so they left him as an offering to the giant spiders of the underrealm. The spiders did not devour him though. Instead, they treates him as if he were a friend. A priestess of the Temple of Zar'Ahal saw how the sacred animal treated the babe and took it as an omen that he would be useful to the city. And so brought him to the temple and gave him to the Spiderkeeper Yllara Ulventhral to raise as her own apprentice.

And so, he learned the honorable skills of training, healing, and breeding the various species of giant spiders considered as sacred animals by the Drow. Though he was allowed to take on Yllara's surname, and the benefit of it. She did not raise him as a son, but kept a cold distance from him in all things save to ensure that he learned the basics of literacy and spiderkeeping. This would be the bare minimum to ensure that he did not bring dishonor upon himself or her. However, as a male, he could not take on an actual position within the Temple itself. And so he was tasked to apprentice with a trader who supplied healing reagents and medicines for the spiders in the temple in his spare time.

As he grew up learning these skills, he found himself always preferring the company of spiders to other drow. Often wandering the caverns outside of the city proper, the young man found that he did not form alliances with others if his kind easily. He seemed to expect them to care. But drow were an animal whose nature was far more vicious than any eight legged beast. The spiders may have been animals, but they were not nearly as devious and malicious as the elves who were his kin. He eventually learned the skills he needed to open Zar'Ahal's finest (and only) Giant Spider Store, which not only sold animals that proved desirable guardians of a dwelling or of a noble family's vault, etc., but also provided medicine, healing, training and as many other helpful devices as he the young entrepreneur could put a price on.

After only a few decades of hard work, Karanon had made enough money to by a house near the marketplace and convert most of the rooms into spider keeping chambers. It turned out that there was a forest of semiluminous fungi not far from the caverns were he had wandered to escape the city in his youth. And this vast mushroom forest was filled with spiders of at least seven very valuable species'. He was now starting to be seen as an important part of Zar'Ahal by most reputable factions within the city. Even the criminals bought their guard spiders from him.

Soon one of the more rebellious and willful young noblewomen, Lady Anyll Ka'i of the Great House Nirkadri, started making excuses to come and visit him. She had first brought one of the spiders her mother had bought her in for a check up and then she found other reasons to visit. And the more she came by the more she made it clear that she had taken a liking to the young man. She'd given him gold jewelry and the gift of an expensive silver hand mirror with spiderlike designs in the metal. She asked him to escort her to performances of bards in the market square. Karanon was swept very much off his feet.

It was to bad that he had no mind for politics. He might have sign the fool thatvshe was playing him for and avoided disaster. For the Lady Semis Verkrulden, Matron of the Great House Verkrulden, had desired a marriage alliance with the Great House Nirkadri and had tasked one of her nephews, Galendir, to court young Anyll Ka'i. Karanon was merely a toy to play with in order to frustrate Galendir into accepting less than beneficial marriage agreements.

But the spiderkeeper had no idea what was in store for him. And Anyll Ka'i was thrilled to have found such a willing pawn. She knew that she had been followed by Galendir's spies and had seduced the lower born drow in his own home, taken what pleasure she could from him and then left. The experience had not been nearly as pleasant for Karanon. Especially in that she told him not to get any ideas about the two of them being together again just before she left his home. And he soon found himself wandering the mushroom forest, looking into that silver mirror and wondering questions which he didn't quite know how to express in words.

Sitting down under a particularly large and radiant mushroom, he took a deep breath, and attempted to gather his thoughts. Instead he only gathered pain, anger, and regret. He tossed the mirror violently aside, hoping that it would fall upon a rock and shatter. Instead it reappeared moments later dangling on a line of silk. The drow looked up and saw the spinnerets of a rather small (for a giant spider) pink and purple rump.

Amused, he took heart at the actions of the creature, and very carefully disconnected the mirror from the silk. Soon after, the little housecat sized spider was at his side looking at him and then the mirror. He hadn't run into a species that looked very much her before, but he was curious to learn more about her. He threw the mirror again. And again she retrieved it. This turned int quite a long game of fetch as he was hoping that the cute little arachnid would simply leave the mirror one time. But she never did. What a charming little creature she was. As he started to head back home, she followed and he figured it woukd be easy enough to accomadate her needs in his home so He simply let her follow along. He decided to call her Shaerra. From a word which meant charming or beguiling in the drow tongue.

Unfortunately when he got back to the street where he lived he saw something which stopped him dead. Flames. Engulfing the house that he had lived in. At first he thought of the spiders. And he started to run towards the fire. Even though his logical mind was certain that they were gonera already. Too much was already burning. And then he saw the silhouettes. There were warriors stationed at the entrance. That gave him pause. Had Anyll Ka'i thought to murder him after all that she had done already?

He squatted down and spoke to the adorable little spider that had been following him. "This is bad Shaerra. If someone wants you dead in this town, you're not gonna live if you stay..."

The pink and purple arachnid only stared up at him with eight little innocent black eyes. He swore she could actually understand him. Just What kind of spider was she?

"Don't worry. If we leave now, they'll never know they failed. We'd better hurry though. If anyone recognizes me, this escape might be over before it even begins."