For those who think well of the efreeti, they are shrewd merchants and traders coming from another plane, carrying exotic goods and magic from the most wondrous locales. For those who are more perceptive in their observations, however, efreeti are devious and opportunistic humanoids, always ready to make use of any loopholes they may find during their dealings. Among the most cynical however, they’re seen as spies and assassins from the Outer Planes, working towards some hidden and sinister agenda. Shadow, unfortunately, leans much closer to the latter description.

Despite their free-ranging nature throughout the lands of Daren, few efreeti are ever granted permission by their Sultan, Xandross, to leave their cities in the Hellscar Desert. These “trading caravans” must comply to strictly regulated schedules and routes, for the Sultan oversees the lives of every efreet in the land. And this simply would never work for Shadow.

From a young age, she longed to see the world beyond the desert, but since she was low-born, she would never be able to join one of the trading caravans unless she happened upon a stroke of good luck. And as far as she knows, Shadow believes in making your own luck. She lingered among the traders who returned to her city, learning much from the lands beyond the Hellscar. She quickly understood that the very skills that kept her alive in the dangerous streets of her city were often sought by unscrupulous merchants and rulers in these other kingdoms, always looking for an edge against their competition.

It should come as no surprise then that one night, the young Shadow slipped under the cover of night, infiltrated one such caravan bound to these distant lands, and never looked back to her former home in the desert.