Ilzsa Murnyethara
Last Name: Murnyethara
Appearance
Ilzsa is a delicate and small, but lithe, tiefling woman, with lightly-tanned, silky skin, in her twenties. Generally coy, she can be forward if there is opportunity for adventure. She speaks in a lilting, soft accent that has hints of Elven resonance.
Ilzsa could be called pretty. However, some might begrudge her the white, fur-tipped tail; sharp fangs; large horns, of taupe hue; and solid maroon eyes, without visible pupil. Her clothing can be risqué, but nonetheless practical for adventuring and includes fastenable straps or buckles. The tiefling favors breathable wools and supple leathers, tinged with feathers or fur. She is rarely seen without her weapons of choice, a Kris and a punch dagger, strapped behind her shoulder blades.
Race: Tiefling (Alu-Fiend heritage)*
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Height 5'2"
Weight: 120lb/54kg
Hair: Platinum Blonde, medium length shag cut Personality Profile
Ilzsa is an opportunist, exploiting circumstances to gain advantage. The tiefling is often described as coy and delicate, with "elf-like" mannerisms. She tends to take a longer view of time and a broader view of the Planes. She is difficult to provoke, often indulgent, and flexible. The tiefling has little shame of the body, a trait inherited from her Rashemi father.
Although ambivalent towards the gods, in typical Aglorand fashion, Ilzsa is fond of the basic tenants of Beshaba and of Bast (in her aspect as "the Dancing Lady"). Seeking to embody both self-reliance, through belief that 'the wise plan to undermine the fortunate', and sensualism, through 'the Endless Revel of Life'; she balances ill luck with decadence. She prays to Beshaba nightly, burning wine and begging the goddess to curse others (over Ilzsa herself). She also seeks to live a rich lifestyle, in the name of Bast. These beliefs are purely a personal affair, and she never evangelizes.
General Health: Fair health
Deities: Beshaba (Primary), Bast
Initial Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (evil tendencies*)
Profession: Adventurer
Base Class & Proposed Development: Rogue, Warlock, Assassin, Daggerspell Mage
Habits/Hobbies:
- Belly-Dancing, playing the lyre.
- Seeking out new experiences.
- Prayer to Beshaba nightly.
- & Known to state either, "Beshaba provides", when misfortune occurs; OR to state, "Embrace the Endless Revel of Life", when good fortune occurs.
Weapon of Choice: Two Daggers (Kris, punch dagger)
*Due to the influence of her patron, the Queen of Air and Darkness.
BackgroundIlzsa Murnyethara was born in Escalant, a city near the Aglarond border, to a Rashemi father and a Half-Elven Aglarondan mother. Her parents were merchants, who desired to establish a trade house in Velprintalar, the capital of Aglarond. Wydda, her mother, was an authority on fine fabrics; while Borivik, her father, was an export on furs and wool. However, when Wydda's pregnancy began to show, they decided to delay their plan for a year and stay in Escalant. "For the sake of the baby," they chorused!
Borivik bought and sold furs and wool, to provide for the family, before and after Ilzsa's birth, and to continue to save for their business plans in Velprintalar.
[/th][/table]After the child was weaned, Wydda began bringing Ilzsa to the Escalant Market as she purchased fine fabrics (which Borivik sold in short order). The sight of their strange-looking child caused the family's reputation to suffer. Fellow merchants besmirched the 'parents of the devil-daughter', and Borivik was forced to make less savory deals in order to continue to save for the family goal of a Velprintalar trade house. So, her father often bartered at the docks with the less reputable ship captains.[/i]
Lamentably, less than six months later, Borivik was stabbed along the docks by a man who refused to pay for the furs provided. In grief, her mother sought and found comfort at a small Beshaban chapel. The teachings of the Unfortunate Sister and the dogma of Beshaba, Lady Doom, resonated with Wydda, who traded in fine fabrics by day and engaged in study and prayer by night. Eventually, realizing her child needed more substance than a grieving mother, she decided to take Ilzsa to Velprintalar.
Wydda told the now-three year old Ilzsa, "We will honor your father and use the savings to establish our trade in Velprintalar, as he would have wanted."
Several months later, the Murnyethara Trade House was established, several blocks from the well known Paladin Inn and not far from the Velprintalar Marketplace.
A decade passed... Wydda and Ilzsa prospered, in spite of the temporary suspicion towards Ilzsa. And her mother began honoring Waukeen, the Merchant's Friend, alongside Beshaba. (Ilzsa herself privately preferred the Dancing Lady over Waukeen.) Wydda's acumen as a fabric trader won over her customers and competition alike. Her mother always told Ilzsa of the love her father had for them both, and Wydda never remarried. They sporadically vacationed in the Aglarondan towns of Urve and Corth or camped on the outskirts of the enchanted Yuirwood.
Over the years, Ilzsa befriended a female ranger of the Yuirwood, Maerilynn. Her mother originally introduced an eleven year old Ilzsa to Maerilynn.
"Ilzsa, darling, this is my old boon companion. When we were children, Maerilynn and I were inseparable. She was the shy one, adept at woodcraft, and I was the audacious one, always getting us into trouble and talking with humans when our parents took us to Urve or Ingdal's Arm, to trade.
"When your father came to Ingdal's Arm, I happened to meet him. It was Maerilynn who helped us get together. Many stolen nights at the inn there, did your father and I spend, before I was able to flee with him to Escalant and we were wed."
Maerilynn smiled fondly and responded, "We were quite the pair. Do you know the elders are still angry at you, Wydda?"
Wydda nodded sadly, "Oh, well!... But I do hope you can teach my daughter of her mother's heritage in the Yuirwood?"
The half-elf ranger nodded slowly but kindly, and Wydda smiled. Ilzsa smiled and hugged her mother.
Maerilynn was a woman of few words; but she taught the budding, teenage Ilzsa the basics of woodcraft. On their frequent journeys into the woods, Ilzsa learned about navigating in the Yuirwood (for which she didn't have a natural aptitude), how to defend herself from predators with a knife or a spear, and how to prepare a fire to keep oneself warm in the cold night. Loathe to trust Ilzsa (due to her tiefling nature) initially, Maerilynn eventually trusted the tiefling girl enough to bring her into the deeper woods to camp, with her mother's permssion.
It was during one of these camping trips to Yuirwood that Ilzsa's life changed, in a profound and terrible way...
Maerilynn sent Ilzsa for firewood and a few herbs. Wydda and Marrlyn remained back at camp.
Ilzsa got lost, which was a strange, but new, experience to her. Despite all of Marrlyn's training, Ilzsa still struggled with navigating in the woods without a compass. And on this day, to her dismay, Ilzsa could not find her way. She journeyed for hours, knowing only that, despite her best efforts, the tiefling girl was heading further into the magical forest. Maple and fir trees, dogwood and hemlock trees, these heralded the dark and crowded center of the Yuirwood.
When she finally despaired, Ilzsa saw a stone circle, menhirs standing tall within a shielded glade. Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked towards the menhirs - and heard a quick stream of noise.
It sounded like speech, but sped up to the point where Ilzsa could not understand it. A rustling to her right, and she saw a creature. Ilzsa looked down, curiosly, at the little elf-like creature, with blue-white skin and silver hair. She didn't recognize what it was (but it was a quickling).
[/th][/table]At the next moment, fifteen similar creatures surrounded her. Their speedy, incomprehensible speech buzzed around Ilzsa's ears, passing quicker than a breeze. And, with a blur, then several of the quicklings jumped at Ilzsa and knocked her down. She could barely see their movements, but the poor tiefling cried out as they kicked her and stabbed her with their tiny daggers. Bleeding and bruised, the quicklings dragged the pain-blinded Ilzsa towards the menhir circle.
The woods became thicker and darker, as if in twilight. Large fireflies buzzed nearby. Looking through the treeline, the tiefling girl saw a stationary sun, dusky and low in the sky. The underbrush was tangle of sharp-toothed brambles. Ilzsa had been pulled into the Plane of Faerie!
An hour of traveling, and the trees nearby became frost-rimed. The woods became frigid, and the nearby fens were choked with ice. Looking around, Ilzsa saw, only at the far edge of her vision did the forests of Faerie return to their normal, twilight green dells. This glade was ruined, a wreck of frozen, poisoned sap and dying trees. The quicklings dropped her in the center of the dire-looking glade and ran, their hasty, incomprehensible speech gone as they fled.
Sitting up, Ilzsa began to feel what she could only describe as a presence. Quivering in fear, she hollered over her shoulder.[/i]
"Who is there? Please... Just tell me where I am!"
Gazing around, Ilzsa eventually saw a form coalesce. A woman of terrible, cold beauty, with bone-white skin, angular features, eyes with a black cornea and an inner blood-red lens, and a mane of black hair ...she appeared to almost float above the ground. The woman's dress trailed across the cold ground, but remained unsullied by nary a speck of dust or dirt.
[/th][/table]Her cold, husky voice, echoed in sibilant tone, rang in the tiefling girl's ears, "A wretched tiefling, a creature of chaos and fear?"
Her demented laughter ran out, harsh and reverberating against the wretched, icy trees nearby.
"What shall I do with you, my dulcet fiend-blood? Trespassing in the Plane of Faerie, interrupting my roaming, my seeking! Shall I kill you, or grant you a favor... a favor in the name of the Queen of Air and Darkness, whom I serve?!"
Ilzsa felt the blood rushing in her veins, as she tremulously begged. "P-p-please, lady, d-d-do-don't kill me!"
The evil, callous Fey looked over Ilzsa, who stood quivering and crying, fear rooting her in place.
"A favor, then! I shall tell my Queen of your service..."
To Ilzsa's utter relief, the apparition faded before her eyes. The muliebral Fey appeared to slowly metamorphose into thin, black smoke. As she felt the presence leave her, the tiefling girl fainted.
She awoke in the glade, near the stone circle. A half-elf woman was shaking her. Groaning, Ilzsa rolled over and then gasped.
"Please, where am I?", she inquired.
"You are in the Yuirwood, near one of the active portals. It is I, Maerilynn," the half-elf said.
"Oh, Maerilynn, Maerilynn, how did I get here?! I, I was stolen away by tiny, blue things... into the portal, the menhir..."
Maerilynn calmed the Ilzsa, and began to slowly draw the story out of her. Shaking her head in disbelief, the half-elf rose and took Ilzsa by the hand. As the tiefling girl recounted the wondrous, horrific adventure, the half-elf followed the trail towards the edge of the Yuirwood.
A day later, under Maerilynn's guidance, they soon found the small campsite where the Murnyetharas and their servants were camping. Ilzsa saw her mother standing, weary and eyes red from crying, near their tent. Seeing her daughter, Wydda's demeanor changed, and she ran towards Ilzsa.
"Oh, Ilzsa, Ilzsa, Ilzsa Murnyethara! My beautiful daughter, I thought I'd lost you!"
Wydda broke down in tears again, pulling Ilzsa into a hug. Both women cried tears of joy as they hugged. The half-elf merely smiled when Wydda thanked her and left quietly, refusing reward.
"You were gone for an entire tenday! I feared you were dead or worse. But now, let's go home, my dear."
On the way home, the tiefling woman - for, Ilzsa felt more confident - told her mother what had happened to her. Ironically, having survived her terror-filled encounter, Ilzsa seemed bolder, yet still coy. Her mother commented on how the tiefling woman's mannerisms were altered and recalled the Yuirwood Half-elves.
"Calm, poised, with a sense of independence."
Several months later, Ilzsa was saying farewell to her mother. The tiefling felt driven, inexplicably, towards the West. The dreams and mental fiats had come with increasing frequency since her journey within the Plane of Faerie. Some nights Ilzsa saw a black form, dismal and misty, whom she learned was known as "the Queen of Air and Darkness" amongst her court in Pandemonium; and other nights she saw the Unseelie she had met in the Plane of Faerie.
This other Unseelie introduced herself, in the dream. "Naicahne, a bailiff of the Unseelie Court, servant of the Queen of Air and Darkness. Handler of your pact! Don't you remember?"
The Queen of Air and Darkness never gave instructions, only made her presence felt in Ilzsa's dreams, powerful and inspiring terror. Ilzsa always awoke from those dreams in a cold sweat. Naicahne imperatively drove the tiefling West, ever West. "To the Sword Coast!"
Naicahne also taught Ilzsa how to use her new powers, to channel eldritch energy, and taught her the Sylvan tongue.
So, here stood Ilzsa and Wydda, in the Murnyethara Trade House. Ilzsa's horse stood tied outside the trade house doorway, drinking from a water trough.
"Mother, I shall be fine," she consoled.
"I know you will be, Ilzsa. You will make me and your father, may the Gods rest his soul, proud!" Wydda wept. "Don't forget what I have taught you. Be careful."
Promising to write, the tiefling woman left. Ilzsa wiped tears from her eyes, and then set her shoulders. Resolutely, she went and untied the horse. Her mother waved as she headed down the road, to the nearest caravan post.
Not many years later, on the date of 19 Mirtual 1354 DR, Ilzsa Murnyethara arrived by caravan outside Baldur's Gate. Her cloak billowed in the wind, and Ilzsa felt the scabbards of the Kris and punch dagger lightly bob against her shoulder blades. The fey-pacted warlock flexed her gloves and inhaled. Exhaling, Ilzsa muttered under her breathe to her Pact Holder.
"I've arrived at the Sword Coast, Naicahne! Now, what does the Queen of Air and Darkness want with me here?! Time to bloody well find out..."
Turning towards a campfire near the city gates, she sat down near several others. Most of them looked to be adventurers, the kind of mostly loveable scoundrels Ilzsa was used to, after traveling with caravans or doing small 'quests' for coin and a meal.
She looked around. "Can any of you strapping lads tell me where I can find work? I'm newly arrived to Baldur's Gate. My name is Ilzsa Murnyethara!..."
Goals
- Understanding and growing her connection to the Eldritch, through her Fey Patron.
- Demonstrate herself worthy of Aglarondan culture, through personal action.
- Preventing personal bad luck.
- Living life to the fullest.
Ilzsa...
- Finds that her patron will push her towards certain actions;
- Is interested in Fey and the Plane of Faerie, with a passing interest in other planes;
- Wants to learn more about the arts of the Eldritch and of shadow;
- & Has no love of Red Wizards or Pirates.
