Perhaps "as quickly as she could" wasn't all that quickly at all? After all, the Underdark is an enormous place, stretching throughout almost the entire world of Aber-Toril, and exits to the surface aren't all that common - especially unguarded ones. It's concievable she could have spent several years looking for a way to the surface.
Something I've just remembered is that Shar is worshipped by several types of monstrous creatures (particularly goblinoids) as well as humans and the like. Remembering that switched on lightbulb in my head for a moment, and I came up with the following explanation for both how she spent so long on the surface yet knows so little of humans, and why she worships Shar yet knows so little of the church's tenets.
"After many years of searching, Viconia finally managed to find a means to leave the Underdark. She arrived in a mountainous, barren region of the world she would later learn was known as 'the Spine of the World'. She wandered the lands for several days without incident, but one evening she came across a small band of hobgoblin hunters as they were dragging a slaughtered bear back to their camp.
Having come from a city where hobgoblins and other goblinoids were used as slaves, Viconia knew what the creatures were and even had a good grasp of their language. However, these were not the frightened slaves of her former home - the only things these hobgoblins knew of drow were through vague tales told by the tribal elders.
The battle that followed was short but vicious. However, with her superior drow training Viconia was left victorious though not uninjured. After she had killed one hobgoblin and seriously injured two others, she commanded her remaining foes to surrender, and fortunately for them they were intelligent enough to do so.
Curious as to why this creature would let them live and grateful she had done so, they willingly obeyed when she commanded them to take her to the rest of the tribe, intending to learn at least some of the ways of the surface world from these creatures.
Impressed with the tale of her fighting skills, the tribal leader agreed to her request to stay with the tribe on condition that she would join their hunting parties and defend their camp should they fall under attack from orcs, humans or other creatures."
Over the following years, Viconia learned much of the ways of the surface world, but little of its inhabitants - besides the hobgoblin, the only other intelligent creatures she encountered were the occassional goblin, orc.
The hobgoblins gradually became more accustomed to Viconia's presence, but she noticed a growing amount of jealousy over her abilities in the leader of the tribe, and when the creature one day challenged her to mortal combat she was grateful - as a drow she naturally yearned for power, and she finally had the excuse she needed.
Needless to say she was again victorious, and although the tribe was small and full of lower beings, ruling over them gave Viconia a great deal of satisfaction for many years.
As time went by, Viconia started to become curious about the 'god' the tribespeople worshipped - who or what was this Shar they so feared? One day she sat down besides the tribe's elder shaman, and commanded him to tell her eveything."
Obviously there's more to this story - why she came to leave the tribe, what got her interested in humans, (the explanation of both could be that she became bored of the hobgoblins and decided to seek out a more intelligence race), etc. But I think what I've written should give you the general gist of the idea
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Edited by NiGHTMARE, 24 July 2004 - 06:43 AM.
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