Vendor Fortuna was born to a family of merchants in Selgaunt, the capital of Sembia, on the north coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars. His family traded in spices and exotic goods from across the sea, and Vendor learned the family trade from a young age. However, he always felt out of place among his kin, as he was born with the tell-tale signs of a tiefling – horns, a tail, and red skin. Despite his family’s disapproval, he refused to hide his appearance or be ashamed of his heritage.
After a falling out with his family, Vendor left home and wandered from city to city, trying to find a place where he would be accepted for who he was. Eventually, he ended up in the city of Tantras, where he found work as a fishmonger in the local market. It was there that he met Pedlar, a fellow tiefling who shared his love of good food and drink. They fell in love and were married soon after.
Pedlar Fortuna, on the other hand, was born and raised in the tiefling slums of Tantras. Her family was poor and struggled to make ends meet, but they always managed to put food on the table. Pedlar learned the art of cooking fish from her mother, who would buy fresh catches from the market and turn them into delicious meals to sell on the street.
Despite her difficult upbringing, Pedlar was always an optimist and never lost hope for a better future. She dreamed of one day running her own fish stall, and when she met Vendor, she saw an opportunity to make that dream a reality. Together, they started their own fishmonger business in the market, offering the freshest catches and the tastiest dishes on the docks.
Their business flourished and they were able to start a family. They may not have come from noble backgrounds or had glamorous professions, but they were proud of their work and the life they had built for themselves.
Sister Doomspawn, Mystic Hand of Horror of Beshaba, Fang of the Zhentarim, Watcher of the Harpers, and Honoured Worthy of Phandalin, was born Maledicta Fortuna, in the city of Tantras, on the 6th of Kythorn, in The Year of the Mages in Amber, 1466 DR.
In her youth, Maledicta lived in the tiefling ghetto on Ember Lane, and worked the docks of Tantras harbour, slinging finefish with her parents. She longed for a more exciting life, and often implored Beshaba to do anything to save her from her cursed fate of working for her fish-monging family. Her wild sorcerous abilities only began to develop once she had left her home city, in her adolescence, after the death of her parents—Vendor Fortuna and his wife, Pedlar Fortuna, were suddenly killed when a huge piece of masonry fell from The House of Hope, a temple to Tymora, and crushed them both in the Tantras market square.
Maledicta couldn’t help but think that her constant prayers for a more exciting life had somehow caused this terrible event to occur. She felt as if her desire for adventure had been granted at the cost of her parents’ lives. The guilt and sadness she felt were overwhelming, and she knew that she could never stay in Tantras after what had happened.
In Flamerule, 1482, Maledicta departed Tantras as a stowaway aboard a ship, sailing along the northern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars, until landing in Westgate. Vivid nightmares led her to seek out the shrine to Beshaba in that shithole town, and from that moment, Maledicta accepted the Maid of Misfortune as her personal savior. From Westgate, Maledicta travelled the Traders’ Road west overland with a merchant caravan to Iriaebor, then continued on the River Chionthar, via commercial barge, to Baldur’s Gate.
After a fortunate case of mistaken identity allowed her to escape arrest by the Baldur’s Gate city guard, destiny soon directed Maledicta further northward, to see the famed metropolis of Waterdeep, the City of Splendors. After a brief sojourn there, in 1486 she journeyed north again, to Neverwinter, the City of Skilled Hands. Since 1488, Maledicta has worked there as a small-time enforcer and debt collector for a Sword Coast half-orc criminal kingpin, Dannak the White. A dwarven merchant and associate of Dannak, Gundren Rockseeker, has given Maledicta and some local friends and acquaintances odd jobs (guarding his warehouse, escorting potential customers to meetings, etc.).
As a member of the Fellowship of Cunts, in Kythorn 1491 Maledicta’s heroism saw her declared an “Honoured Worthy of Phandalin” by the Townmaster, and was recruited by Zhentarim agent Halia Thornton, and has been given the official title “Fang of the Zhentarim”. Soon after, Maledicta became a cleric, as a complement to her innate sorcery, to better serve Beshaba as a religious mystic and instrument of sacred doom. Sister Doomspawn has converted the caverns beneath the ruins of Tresendar Manor into a temple dedicated to Beshaba: The Doom Grotto.
In 1492, the Fellowship of Cunts defended Phandalin from attack by the Dragon Cult. Investigations led the group to allies in Secomber, where Doomspawn was made a “Watcher of the Harpers”.
