Ildan Ar-Duwyn

Ildan Ar-Duwyn is a charismatic, well travelled, half-drow warlock in love with a primal goddess who rules a plane of the Feywild, currently missing (but actually kidnapped by a strange cult with ties to the dragons).

He is from the city of New Drowla. His father is the Drow archmage, Four of Nine, and his mother a redheaded human bard from one of the Tillian city-states.

He has an insolent but loyal and capable familiar from the darker corners of the Feywild named Quoth, who generally takes the form of a raven.

He smokes a lot of dreamweed.

Ildan alternates between being excessively cynical about the world and excessively romantic.

He was friends with Nico, the two having travelled together in the past.

He had a friendly and productive relationship with Serini.

He has no particularly strong feelings about any of the other adventurers, although he was not appreciative of Solveig's threats of violence and clear expressions of disdain for him.

-Ildan was the result of a short(ish) but passionate relationship between a Drow archmagi (one of the Nine - and very old, even by Drow standards) and a human (Tillian) bard (not sure about whether or not she came from a noble background herself, and if so, what level of nobility - probably petty nobility).

-his father had had other marriages/relationships and other children (not sure about his mother)

-Haven’t decided where or how or why his parents met, but they loved each other, although they came from very different worlds

-although the archmagi loved her, he did not know how to love

-Some time when he was young, his mother left his father (due to threats from a drow matriarch, who was either jealous, vengeful or just spiteful). They felt she would be safer up in the sunlands. And, unsurprisingly, she also found the underdark confining and depressing, the city of new Drowla cramped and unnerving. She wanted to breathe free air again, to be amongst her own people, to venture to different lands that were not just shadows of one another, or dark reflections of the world above. She wanted to be again, and not just to grow old and die in the darkness.

-they decided that ildan would stay with his father, who was better able to keep him safe, although it was heartbreaking for both ildan and his mother for them to part

-Ildan’s existence was not well known, and his father used magic to keep it that way

-He grew up in the tower of al-Thulus, and acted as a servant, albeit a more coddled and well-treated one (by those few who knew about him - noone wants to piss off an archmage)

-his father’s attitude towards him was a sort of detached and bemused benevolence - favourably inclined towards him, but having more important things to tend to

-as a result, he grew up a in state of benign neglect

-on a few occasions, his father tried to teach him the basics of magic, and was both impressed at the boy’s natural talent, and disappointed by his lack of academic focus and discipline

-he was often used by his father as an errand boy and messenger, which gave Ildan ample opportunity to learn how to talk to people, learning and practicing skills of persuasion, deception, and intimidation

-he liked talking to people, and was good at it

-Ildan was also a big reader, although he liked the “stories” in the books more than the lessons they were trying to teach, or the history they records (i.e. history, as I ran out of skills for arcana)

-Ildan fetched items and components, books, delivered messages, rounded up other magi for group rituals

-unsurprisingly, he was also musically inclined and skilled at performance, telling stories to the other servants, which often wove in grains of truth or snippets of lore that he had overheard, and making up songs and ballads

-he was fairly popular, and well loved by people at different social levels (although almost as a mascot or a pet more than a person), although a bit of a loner and an individualist

-Ildan had no real enemies, but few real friends either, and was too young to have love interests

-his father resented the matriarchy, and also the labyrinthine political web, and felt very constrained - especially with many centuries, perhaps millenia, ahead of him - which is perhaps why he fell in love with a spirited and beautiful bard in the first place

-his father and mother still communicated magically, and perhaps even saw each other from time to time

-his mother thought that he would be happier in the sunlands, and asked his father to send him up

-she thought Ildan should have an opportunity to see the sunlands, see and experience other cultures, and that it would be healthier for him, and that he would be happier

-his father was supportive of this idea, as he wanted a better life for Ildan than he himself had had, and Ildan was also a bit of a weak spot for his father while he remained in New Drowla

-his father magically transported him up to the sunlands

-his mother taught him to play the double lyre, and they travelled together extensively, performing for a diverse group of audiences across many different locales

-he travelled with his mother for approximately a decade, but then his mother died of natural causes

-Ildan went back to New Drowla when his mother died

-that was the last time he saw his father in person, although they have kept up very sporadic communication through magic (his father keeps an eye on him from time to time - read as “every few years”)

-Ildan has not been back to New Drowla since

-since his mother’s death, he travelled very extensively and played as a bard all over

-Ildan has met a wide variety of peoples (elves, halfings, drow, dwarves, even giants)

-he likes ruins

-Ildan had and continues to have a strong romantic, even melodramatic, streak

-despite his age (he is about 40 in human years), he is not particularly mature (think gothy human teenager)

-long story short, a year or two before the game starts, after visiting the ruins of the original Drowla in the far northern reaches of Pettylin, Ildan saw and instantly fell in love with a very pale elven maid

-he pursued her for months, researched who she was, sang maudlin songs and poetry, lauded her publicly and defended her honour, desperately tried to get her attention, and she fell in love with him in return

-she was irrationally pleased and validated that someone loved her that much (she is not a well-loved power at all, unlike her sister) and preferred her to all others (few people prefer winter to summer, or dreams to wakefulness, death to life, shades of grey to bright colours, or shadows to light)

-despite her young appearance and seeming immaturity, she is an old, old power who rules one of the realms/plane of the feywild

-not a goddess exactly

-she is not at all evil, or cruel/malicious, although she can be (and often is), petty and a bit ruthless, self-obsessed, and self-indulgent

-she feels very passionately (almost to the point of madness - like most of the feywild powers, but perhaps even more irrational than many/most of them), despite what many others say about her (to most, she appears cold and unfeeling)

-she likes mortals and likes their drama - their puny history is like an eternal soap opera for her

-she is involved in many ancient dramas with other feywild powers and other powers and deities generally

-she has an odd view of things (death is a release or mercy for many, and dreams softer than the hardships of the waking world)

-very beautiful

-most common form (and closest to her actual self) is a beautiful young elven maiden with snow white skin, long jet black hair, shimmering grey dress, and large, soft grey eyes

-note that, while deeply passionate and mutual, it is not a particularly healthy love on either end (intense, even obsessive, emotionally needy, possessive, immature, urgent, irresponsible, jealous, irrational, co-dependent, with few boundaries)

-as part of the troth they pledged each other, he offered her his soul for forever and a day (I haven’t decided on what she exactly promised him, but it was also substantial, and made in good faith)

-she marked him as her favoured, and champion (hence why he is a warlock)

-his goal is to become strong enough so that he can ascend to godhood and be with her

-her goal is also that, but also to use him as her agent and champion on the material plane

-she does not particularly try to control him or manipulate him, but she will have him do things on some occasions

-he sees her in his dreams

-she is most of what he cares about

-everything other than her is just a pale shadow - short amusement

-he also cares about his father, Vincenza and New Drowla (his favourite cities - each a sort of twisted reflection of the other)

-he is comfortable with both drow and human cultures, and generally well accepted in both, but does not truly belong to either, hence why he has a tendency to wander

-he feels (correctly) that he does not particularly fit in anywhere

-he likes Pettylin, and is sympathetic to it and its peoples (although almost in a subtly patronizing way)

-he has mixed feelings about sylvan elves (he is still resentful about the sack of drowla and sees their primitive ways as uncivilized and uncultured, and what is worse, they should know better)

-he likes humans and drow (other than the fact that they are both exciting, for different reasons - humans are fun and brash and full of vim and vigour and overt feeling, drow are subtle, brilliant, cautious, cultured, and patient)

-he also likes halflings, because they are relaxed and generally tolerant, and care about material pleasures

-he is skeptical of dwarves - respecting dwarven craftsmanship, but generally sees them as only a partial improvement on sylvan elves (i.e. slightly more cultured and socially developed, but still backwards and primitive)

-he likes gnomes a lot, although he has only spent a little time with them

-he smokes a not insubstantial amount of halfling dreamweed, but doesn’t generally drink all that much

-when he is not busy feeling sorry for himself, pining over his love/patroness, or adventuring, he enjoys extravagant and flamboyant clothing (well tailored and fine materials, although he generally prefers the subtleties of black and white and shades of grey to bright colours), enjoys human food (the more flavourful, the better - and new or exotic food is a huge plus), loves music and storytelling (long sorrowful ballads by preference), and likes to fish

-he loves reading and ancient lore

-he is extremely charming and likable, but can become grating if people spend a long enough time with him (there’s only so much sighing and pining and self-pity and subtle and not so subtle snobbery that a person can put up with)

-girls are, at most, an amusement for a few nights - none can compare to his patroness

-he gets restless easily

Appearance: Fairly tall, with deeply pale skin with just the slightest tinge of grey. Well built, with lilac eyes. Almost inhumanly handsome, but otherwise appears human (for the most part). A short beard, to disguise his elven heritage. Slightly pointed ears, often kept hidden under a hood or hat. He occasionally dyes his hair, but the natural colour is a very pale blonde. Long, clever fingers. Typically dressed in a heavy coat and a well made although not extravagant traveller’s cloak, with a finely made tunic underneath and long woolen leggings. Well-made and thickly soled traveller’s boots, showing heavy use. A thick belt, with a number of small loops and pouches hanging from it (though his pants are actually held up by suspenders). A ring on his index finger of his left hand, whose jewel seems to glow with an opalescent light of its own. A well made longsword at his side. A pack on his back. And often a raven on his shoulder. He makes an effort to keep himself clean (almost obsessively). He has an almost enchanting voice. If you watch him long enough, particularly in a well lit area, his shadow sometimes moves of its own accord.

Personality Traits: Confident, charming, romantic, deeply melancholic, and freespirited - probably slightly bipolar

Bond(s): the Raven Queen, his father, City of New Drowla, City of Vincenza

Flaw(s): obsessive love of and with patron, Fear of slavery (whether by iron chains or golden), fear of inadequacy, fear of isolation, hunger for recognition, arrogance, occasionally fatalistic, somewhat irrational despite his intelligence

Patron’s Attitude: Benevolent and loving (lovers) but jealous and insecure and emotionally needy

Pact Terms: Love

Binding Mark: Shadow sometimes moves of its own accord

Background: Noble, educated, very well travelled