Ilphyl's Family/Hometown/Pre Game Adventures
Saturday, 24 December 2022 20:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacetogrowI set down some of the details when planning Ilphyl's palace run, so I'm moving it to DW. Post will be edited for details. Very little of this came up in game, though I did send the GM my notes on Ilphyl. (It did come up that Ilphyl cannot speak more than a few words of Gnomish, despite being trained as a druid by forest gnomes, and that they they have three older brothers.)
Hometown and Family
Ilphyl's hometown (which needs a name) is basically what was probably once a single noble family's holdings, but is now three separate families and various servants, hangers-on and so on. Apparently in Lolthite drow cities like Menzobezzaron it's general practice to sacrifice extra sons; Ilphyl's hometown is hardscrabble enough that after a period where the sex ratio was massively skewed some centuries ago, the practice was lifted. (I didn't want to do a deep lore dive for Ilphyl, so I made them from the sticks, so I could make things a bit heterodox.)
It is considered tradition that in bad times, younger sons are expected to leave town and if Lolth wants to take them as sacrifice, so be it. Some of this is a compromise between the strict religious observations and the folk belief based on 'the Underdark is full of things more powerful than us, and maybe we shouldn't piss off any other gods'.
Yasraum Vivalfin: Ilphyl's mother. Eldest of three sisters. I never worked out if Ilphyl had any uncles. Head of the family, and priestess of Lolth, and has some Issues given that she is nominally a 'matriarch', but couldn't manage to produce a heir for several hundred years. The dynamic between Yasraum and her sisters is one of distrust unless the family itself is in peril. Yasraum herself wonders if her lack of daughters was their doing (as it meant one of her sisters or nieces would likely become head of the household), or was some kind of curse on her or the family or the town from Lolth.
Valonim Despafin: Yasraum's consort, and Ilphyl's father. (Ilphyl isn't sure if all their siblings have the same father; but publicly they are all full siblings). Basically he learned enough social skills to become a powerful woman's consort and keep the spot, mostly so he can be left alone to pursue his studies as a naturalist. Ilphyl doesn't like to admit what they have in common with their father, because Ilphyl sees his father's life as a depressing reminder of what is and is not valued for drow, especially male drow[1].
Xundus: Brother #1. As the firstborn, even as a boy, got some of the 'favorite child' status as even a woman with only sons is still a mother. The one who has bought in to the family the most, as someone who has both decent physical and social skills. Generally assumes that his star is tied to his mother's, or his little sister's. Did take a role in his younger brothers' education, but less so with each brother. To the extent that the house has a military leader, it's him.
Kyorlindraa: Brother #2. Has actual wizardly skill, so is tied to the family, but has enough power that no one is pushing too hard on him (though he's also aware that this is largely down to 'no one wants to find out actual limits to anyone's power'). Largely considers it a waste to get attached to other family members as individuals, even as he acknowledges that he's not quite in the league to be independent.
Belantar aka "Bel": Brother #3, and maybe only a decade or two older than Ilphyl. By the time he was born, his mother had definitely reached the 'I'm not going to care about a boy-child unless they show some useful talent' stage. Bel is not particularly exceptional -- he's a decent fighter. Ilphyl sees Bel as his childhood bully. Bel had figured out that any subsequent sons would be treated even worse, so had decided he needed to both teach his brother what he could, and 'toughen him up'.
Belantar actually does feel like his ‘younger brother’s’ disappearance is partially his fault, but isn’t sure what to do with that because when a fourth son just disappears with maybe a few signs they ran into the wilds (and probably got eaten), the general consensus doesn’t allow for public mourning. So a bit of ‘it’s my fault he was so utterly incapable of adapting the way I did’. Doesn’t quite lead him to revolution, but definitely not happy with Lolth’s rule, less from religious faith but more in a ‘my brother died due to our sexist society’. Has taken up mercenary work mostly to get away from things. (Also Bel is essentially a 6 on the Kinsey scale; life is easier for him if he's not in the company of female drow.)
I do play Bel in a D&D game (he's a drow rogue and has semi-adopted the party warpriest as 'let's try to look out for a kid who I won't get killed'.)
Yolaena Vivalfin: Ilphly’s younger sister, eldest and only daughter of Yasraum. Ilphyl left home when she was a toddler. So she's under 20, but I don't recall how much elf aging in the Forgotten Realms is slowed down relative to human. Honestly, she's the favorite child, but probably about ready to crack under the stress of it all.
Ilphyl has a number of female cousins of various ages. Probably a few male cousins too.
Pre-Adventure Travels
TBA
[1] Ilphyl never talks about or thinks of themselves as anything other than male in the context of Lolthite society, because Ilphyl has internalized that what Ilphyl wants in that society does not matter.
Hometown and Family
Ilphyl's hometown (which needs a name) is basically what was probably once a single noble family's holdings, but is now three separate families and various servants, hangers-on and so on. Apparently in Lolthite drow cities like Menzobezzaron it's general practice to sacrifice extra sons; Ilphyl's hometown is hardscrabble enough that after a period where the sex ratio was massively skewed some centuries ago, the practice was lifted. (I didn't want to do a deep lore dive for Ilphyl, so I made them from the sticks, so I could make things a bit heterodox.)
It is considered tradition that in bad times, younger sons are expected to leave town and if Lolth wants to take them as sacrifice, so be it. Some of this is a compromise between the strict religious observations and the folk belief based on 'the Underdark is full of things more powerful than us, and maybe we shouldn't piss off any other gods'.
Yasraum Vivalfin: Ilphyl's mother. Eldest of three sisters. I never worked out if Ilphyl had any uncles. Head of the family, and priestess of Lolth, and has some Issues given that she is nominally a 'matriarch', but couldn't manage to produce a heir for several hundred years. The dynamic between Yasraum and her sisters is one of distrust unless the family itself is in peril. Yasraum herself wonders if her lack of daughters was their doing (as it meant one of her sisters or nieces would likely become head of the household), or was some kind of curse on her or the family or the town from Lolth.
Valonim Despafin: Yasraum's consort, and Ilphyl's father. (Ilphyl isn't sure if all their siblings have the same father; but publicly they are all full siblings). Basically he learned enough social skills to become a powerful woman's consort and keep the spot, mostly so he can be left alone to pursue his studies as a naturalist. Ilphyl doesn't like to admit what they have in common with their father, because Ilphyl sees his father's life as a depressing reminder of what is and is not valued for drow, especially male drow[1].
Xundus: Brother #1. As the firstborn, even as a boy, got some of the 'favorite child' status as even a woman with only sons is still a mother. The one who has bought in to the family the most, as someone who has both decent physical and social skills. Generally assumes that his star is tied to his mother's, or his little sister's. Did take a role in his younger brothers' education, but less so with each brother. To the extent that the house has a military leader, it's him.
Kyorlindraa: Brother #2. Has actual wizardly skill, so is tied to the family, but has enough power that no one is pushing too hard on him (though he's also aware that this is largely down to 'no one wants to find out actual limits to anyone's power'). Largely considers it a waste to get attached to other family members as individuals, even as he acknowledges that he's not quite in the league to be independent.
Belantar aka "Bel": Brother #3, and maybe only a decade or two older than Ilphyl. By the time he was born, his mother had definitely reached the 'I'm not going to care about a boy-child unless they show some useful talent' stage. Bel is not particularly exceptional -- he's a decent fighter. Ilphyl sees Bel as his childhood bully. Bel had figured out that any subsequent sons would be treated even worse, so had decided he needed to both teach his brother what he could, and 'toughen him up'.
Belantar actually does feel like his ‘younger brother’s’ disappearance is partially his fault, but isn’t sure what to do with that because when a fourth son just disappears with maybe a few signs they ran into the wilds (and probably got eaten), the general consensus doesn’t allow for public mourning. So a bit of ‘it’s my fault he was so utterly incapable of adapting the way I did’. Doesn’t quite lead him to revolution, but definitely not happy with Lolth’s rule, less from religious faith but more in a ‘my brother died due to our sexist society’. Has taken up mercenary work mostly to get away from things. (Also Bel is essentially a 6 on the Kinsey scale; life is easier for him if he's not in the company of female drow.)
I do play Bel in a D&D game (he's a drow rogue and has semi-adopted the party warpriest as 'let's try to look out for a kid who I won't get killed'.)
Yolaena Vivalfin: Ilphly’s younger sister, eldest and only daughter of Yasraum. Ilphyl left home when she was a toddler. So she's under 20, but I don't recall how much elf aging in the Forgotten Realms is slowed down relative to human. Honestly, she's the favorite child, but probably about ready to crack under the stress of it all.
Ilphyl has a number of female cousins of various ages. Probably a few male cousins too.
Pre-Adventure Travels
TBA
[1] Ilphyl never talks about or thinks of themselves as anything other than male in the context of Lolthite society, because Ilphyl has internalized that what Ilphyl wants in that society does not matter.
