Runhope never knew his father. His mother told him, before she died, that he had been a miner, captured by unidentified humanoids when isolated in a rockslide, and sold to Drow, who, in turn, put him to work in one of their mines. The man was mated with the mother of Runhope, who was born into slavery among Drow, by arbitrary choice of their masters.

This woman, Sempori, was sold to a wizard after the death of her man, while pregnant with a boy. She was wise enough to train the child to act stupid and servile, but taught him the human language. Sempori died in the boy's seventh year.

An accident in the wizard's laboratory burned most of the boy's hair off the top of his head, and left scars there and on his face, for which they called him "Quughuth", meaning "marred", in Drow. His mother secretly called him "Runhope", with the wish that he would break forth to freedom.

The wizard kept Quughuth as a laborer, guard, and tinkerer, though not skilled, noticing, but underestimating, his intelligence. In addition to learning to clean, fight, and mend, and to understand Human and Drow speech, Runhope secretly learned to work locks, and undo traps, and furtiely spied on the wizard, when he knew no one was around, including the wizard's familiar, he studied the arcane arts.

He patiently practiced in secret the cantrips that others could use openly, and when he was ready, he stole some spellbooks and made his way to the rumored Sanctuary.

It was a dreadful trip, crawling through tunnels, hiding, unmoving, for hours until he could hear passing creatures no longer. Though luck was on his side, he spent much time dazed by fumes emitted by battling monsters who were unawared that he hid nearby. His fortunes held, though, and he made it to Sanctuary, even if he could never figure out exactly how.

Now Runhope looks forward to the future, with hope for making a place for himself in Sanctuary, or even tin he World Above.

Runhope slips off the spiked helmet he used to wear when serving as a guard for the Drow wizard, and squeezes out of the fissure joining the tunnel to the corridors of Sanctuary. He hears the bustle of commerce and concourse, and realizes: he has arrived! Jubilation breaks through his exhaustion and confusion. Freedom at last!

He stumbles along a thoroughfare, staying to the side, close to a wall. He perceives fear that this might be a hallucination, that he might wake from this dream, that these humans might reject him and cast him out, and that he might be recaptured by the Drow, followed by unimaginable punishments... even death. He feels relief, but also puzzlement, that these people seem to ignore him, occupied by their own business and interests. He walks in a circuituous route, observing the pattern of traffic, desiring to announce his newfound freedom, yet inhibited by the fears that plague him.

Feeling pangs of hunger as his head clears, Runhope wonders if the people share freely, or if he must trade services for food. He follows some people to the center, and watches them go into a structure. There are signs about, but he can not read the script. His mother taught him to speak the Human language, but he only learned to read some Drow and the magic glyphs derived from Draconic.

Taking stock of his meager supplies, he finds that he is down to some medicinal herbs, that he even lost his canteen. He must approach these people, negotiate getting food, and begin making his place in a world of freedom.