Illelna Sapphirevein
Illena is an Aasimar of Svirfneblin parentage. Her celestial parentage was Azata and her appearance strongly takes after the Yamah subtype of these, including blue butterfly wings that (to her eternal disappointment) are non-functional, and long black hair that is her pride and joy, something that Svirfneblin are not normally able to grow. She's rarely seen without a shining halo floating above her head.
They have an eidolon, Teardrop, with the approximate shape of a shimmering blue dragonfly, although the limb arrangement is less than usual. Despite the shimmer when in good lighting, the dragonfly is exceptionally good at seeming to disappear when in it's needed to.
Pre-babel (T-0 is arrival at Babel)
T-106: Born to a wealthy Svirfneblin family with no recent history of mixed blood. Unusually slight, but not enough to be alarming.
T-85: In their 19th year, small wings started to bud from their back. Accusations of infidelity break the family apart. Joined her mother, Hasaih, in leaving for another city.
T-84: Settling in, but slowly. The city is not as well off, and experiences more attrition from other creatures in the underdark.
T-82: Starts to dream of leaving their home, struck with wanderlust. They research ways to do so and stay safe. Used to being surrounded by others, they set upon the path to becoming a summoner.
T-76: Unable to acquire permission to leave whilst still a child, she starts to entertain herself in the small city archives. She especially likes the scant poetry section, but reads all she can, a way of escaping her current life.
T-66: Legally an adult, they volunteer as a guide for races visiting the underdark.
T-60: They lose their first group to a Drow attack. With their summon buying them time, they manage to escape but become lost in the process. In the dark, alone, their summon unable to be called until the next day, they jump at every sound. This is the first time they summon their halo, to guide them in the darkness.
T-56: They remain lost for many years, steadily expanding their summoning, focusing on greater numbers of creatures so they can explore more paths and hopefully find their way.
T-53: It takes another year for them to find their way to another Svirfneblin city. They try to continue what they were doing, but find themselves jumping at things that go bump in the dark.
T-50: They leave for the surface.
T-42: Having travelled around, earning money from their poetry and music, for several years now, they find themselves more comfortable on the surface and loathe to return. Deciding to find something longer term, they join a party travelling in the name of Sarenrae, clearing out foulness where it can be found. This eventually pulled them into the rebellion, although they played only a minor role.
T-???: Having heard of the spires that are forming, they seek to find a new party to explore what may be there, both for their intellectual curiosity, and to help deal with any evil that is almost certain to be involved.
Arrival at Babel
Painted Dungeon Exploration
Finding themselves in need of money to afford a place to stay when she arrives. Illelna hears of an inn with a recurrent Giant Rat problem. Making her way there, she agrees to investigate the source, although no specific reward is promised. Still, it's just the basement of an inn, even if all she gets is a free dinner it should be worthwhile.
Finding nothing untoward after the Giant Rats are dealt with, Illelna makes to leave when she hears a soft whisper. Her Eidolon spots it first, a trapdoor leading down from the basement. Down below is an ornate entrance. A sign in Celestial warns her to turn away if she believes her faith is insufficient. Buoyed by her success with the rats and her belief in Sarenrae, Illelna is confident that she will be able to handle what lies ahead.
Through she goes. She finds herself at a talking painting. It is not the first she has seen, but it is still unusual enough that she is confident this is not just a novelty room inside the inn. It whispers of treasures and traps, and was clearly the voice that called her down here. Detecting no maliciousness from the figure, but uncertain of its purpose, Illena continues cautiously. Her Eidolon flits ahead of her at every opportunity, hiding in the shadows where it can.
The painted woman, who goes by the name Huldra, follows Illelna as she progresses through the tunnels. It is she who first hears what ends up being quite loud sounds ahead. When Teardrop ventures forth, Illelna sees shadowy figures attacking a young boy through its eyes. Huldra warns her about getting too close, but a combination of a summoned eagle and Teardrop quickly dispatch the figures, without Illelna having to be anywhere near. Whilst she continues on, she has Huldra escort the boy back, satisfied that he will be safe on the short journey through the tunnels into the basement.
The next room has a similar story, this time a cat is mewing plaintively. The shadows seem put out by the noise and are staying away, but are just as easily dispatched as the previous lot. This time Illelna takes the cat back to the entrance herself. She's relieved to find that she has no trouble making the return journey, having become somewhat worried after finding two lost citizens in short order. Perhaps there's another entrance they came through that is more troublesome to return to? She files the information away for later, just in case. Additionally, she makes chalk markings on the wall as she retraces her footsteps, hoping they will help her (or others) return, if finding her way back becomes a problem as she stays down here for longer.
Once she continues past the cat's old location, Illena finds an illusory puddle. Not immediately spotting anything of interest, she muses over its purpose. Perhaps some trap used to be present and would trigger on those of weaker wills who were entranced? Either way, she supposes that she now understands the Celestial warning. Her Eidolon once more proves to have keener senses than she, as Teardrop notices the probable guardian of the mirage. A lost looking construct, wandering back and forth. It either does not see them, or pays them no heed. Either way, Huldra's prompting is unneeded for Illelna to decide to leave well enough alone and creep past.
Shortly beyond the construct is a lone level. There seems to be nothing blocking the path, and Illelna cannot see what the level would do. Huldra is unable to advise her either. Worried that it might relate to the construct, Illelna wanders by.
At the end, Illelna finds a small equipment room. There's no indication of how to progress further, and with no desire to pull the lever so close to the construct, Illelna grabs what little she can carry, and follows her chalk marks back to the inn. When she reports on the rats, and what lies beneath, the inn keeper thanks her for what she has done, and offers her bedding and board whilst she finds her feet. An offer she gratefully accepts.
Striking the Behemoth: Part 1
Almost a week after their arrival Illelna receives a coded message. With her limited skill in linguistics, it takes her some time to crack, but it seems to have been designed to be cracked, rather than being heavily obfuscated. That raises a lot of questions around what the point would be of the encoding, but it doesn't seem like she will be able to work it out from the message alone. Once decoded it turns out to be a call for those willing to fight against slavery and raids by Behemoth against the peoples of Etera. A call to aid like this is a message which cuts to the heart of what Illena believes, and is not something she has to spend any time considering before she decides to head out. Given the contents of the message perhaps the reason it was sent in code was to ensure only those who were driven answered the summons, she muses whilst she packs up what meager possessions she owns, having not accumulated much in the short time (less than a week) that she's been in the city.
With few possessions having been accumulated in such a short period of time, Ilellna is able to immediately set off to the camp. Having done so, she finds herself one of the first there, which is unfortunate as she has no real idea on how to train such a large force. After milling around for a while, and seeing others helping with the actual training side, Illelna instead sets out to provide entertainment and relaxation for the force; many of whom seem rather tired after the drills the new arrivals are putting them through.
The poems Illelna starts off with are not really to the tastes of many of those assembled. Perhaps not too surprising, given they are mostly Svirfneblin originally. She makes a mental note to learn some more popular surfaces one; surely there must be some that are popular here, even if she has yet to come across any. Instead she switches over to some of the songs and tails she learned during her time in the rebellion. With many of the force having also been present during the rebellion, this goes over a lot better, and starts the exchange of stories. and hopefully, eventually camaraderie, between several groups that had previously been independent clusters.
When she takes her leave from storytelling and singing one night, happy with the new links she had fostered amongst the disparate groups, she is approached by a delegate. The delegate expresses a curiosity into the many insights, which seems like a way to just get muddled, as far as Illelna is concerned. Still, she takes the request at face value, trusting that the delegate, or those they represent, will be able to sift what they need so long as she responds accurately. her main thrust is towards the local knowledge she has acquired in her decades above ground. Whilst she is not as familiar with the habits as someone who has lived in the area, she is able to provide information on their most common methods of attack, and similar surface level observations. Things she is sure anyone who had done their research would have worked out long before planning the attack.