# Ithlilien Kerasaulm > [!note|f] base info > **Sylvan birth name**: Ithlilien Kerasaulm > **Elvish nickname:** Thalan (means: wild/untamed) > **Keyword:** Survivor ## Backstory > *My memories are a jumbled mess.* > *It could be the hag's curse, which tore through my family or maybe the hopeless bargain I made with the archfey so that I might survive it. Or even still the side effects of the Noble Dreamers' reckless initiation test.* > *It could simply be that I have spent most of my life trying to forget.* ### 1. The Feywild My [[characters/Father - Sylendril Kerasaulm|father]] was a travelling trader and my [[characters/Mother - Lyraenis|mother]] a mercenary. Their jobs meant they were both frequently away, so my brother: [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Kel]] and I were put under the care of our [[characters/Grandmother - Fahlwen|grandmother]] and older [[characters/Sister - Yaela|sister Yaela]]. ![[Images/ferdinand-ladera-the-feywyrd-forest.png|ctr |500]] Most of my time was spent playing in the forest with [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Kel]]; exploring places we weren't supposed to, talking to sprites and fairies, annoying the dryads and being a general force of mischief. Life was good. Until it wasn't (see family member's pages for more detail on early life) ### 2. The Curse It started during one of father's [[Ithlilien/characters/Father - Sylendril Kerasaulm#parties|leaving parties]]. He was in the middle of a conversation with two merchants when he suddenly started to transform. His nails and teeth extended and sharpened, his skin turned to bark, and his limbs became a twisting mass of vines and brambles. There was no trace left of him, only an aimless bloodlust and empty eyes. He lashed out at everyone, and took two lives before the city watch managed to put an arrow through his heart. There was no explanation at all, or if there was no one deigned to give me one. ![[../attachments/Blight.webp|center|450]] I gathered from overheard conversations that father had made a wager with the Archfey. Something about the tithe. But people said that the curse that took my father could only be a hags doing. Father had been a respected figure before the incident, but people's opinion changes quickly. A few weeks later, my mother transformed. Having been a fierce fighter in life her cursed form was much more dangerous than fathers. It took too many lives to stop her. After that, the disrespect that the townsfolk already held towards our family turned to distrust and even hate. --- While for my parents it had been over instantly, not everyone was so lucky. Most's transformation was much slower, coming in short bursts at unpredictable times. But for all they tried, it could not be stopped once it started. Some left town, and others decided to end their lives themselves, before the curse could. ![[Images/ferdinand-ladera-darkgrove.png|center|500]] A whole year passed as my family slowly fell apart And in the end only [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Kel]] and I remained. For a few months, just long enough for a dangerous hope to creep in, we were fine. Then, I started to show the first signs of the curse. It progressed slower on me than it had on anyone else, but the signs were there. The slow taking over of nature on my body, the fog on my mind that made it hard to think and of course the angry outbursts. [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Kel]] tried to convince me that we should flee the Feywild, that it might save us from the curse. But I didn't believe in it, and I was afraid of leaving everything behind. So we stayed, we waited for the inevitable to come. --- It should've been me who turned first, not [[Ithlilien/characters/Brother - Kaelesil#Fate|Kel]], but the curse follows no rules, no predictable pattern, it strikes when you expect it the least. No, it strikes when it would hurt the most. It's a miracle I survived that day. (see [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Kel]]) Would he have been okay if we left the feywild when he told me to? I cannot know. --- In the weeks that followed, I nearly starved myself from grief. But some stubborn part of me couldn't help but cling to life. Knowing not what else to do, I went begging for help from anyone that would listen. But the townspeople had no pity or help to spare for a Kerasaulm. The weak and the foolish get what they deserve. Out of options I went looking for [[characters/the archfey|the archfey]], seeking help from the one that started it all. When I found him, he offered me a deal. In exchange for my name and my memories, he would help me escape the curse. ### 3. Aendom I woke up alone and nameless in an unknown forest on the material plane, in Aendom. Somehow, I managed to survive. Even though I was just a kid, I'd spent my whole childhood playing at being an adventurer, and learned from [[characters/Mother - Lyraenis|the best]]. Not only that but Aendom was more forgiving than even the safer part of the Feywild I'd grown up in. That being said, Aendom's winters were colder and longer than anything I'd known in the feywild, so I only barely survived them. ![[Images/feywildwanderer.png|ctr|500]] --- On the material plane, the curse seemed much more manageable; I learned to control its outbursts to a point where I could trigger them instinctively. This got me out of a few tricky situations involving the more dangerous aspects of Aendom's fauna. As I grew up and gained experience, surviving slowly became more like living. I had no more issues getting food and could handle any wildlife encounter the forest threw at me. I'd even built myself a cosy hideaway in a hollowed-out tree, and filled it with all sorts of trinkets I'd scavenged. --- On an especially clear winter morning, I spotted something strange in the distance: a tree taller and wider than any I'd seen before. So of course, I decided to go check it out. It took me a bit longer than I expected to reach it, the tree was truly huge. So much so, that by the time I got there winter had turned to spring. But I did reach it. It stood in the middle of a lush valley, it was so tall the highest branches were sometimes hidden by passing clouds. But while the tree and surrounding nature were incredible, they were not the most interesting thing to be found in that valley. As I got closer and closer, I started to notice signs of life. Paths that were too wide to be deer trails, and then small outposts high up in the trees. Eventually, I reached it, dozens of huts clustered together in the trees and off the cliffside, all connected by a network of hanging bridges and platforms. I had found a town. The sight of it stirred at the fog of my forgotten memories, it felt familiar for a reason I could not name. I had to investigate this… ### 4. The Wood Elves They were wood elves, Eladrins' not-so-distant cousins. The first thing I noticed about them was that unlike me, they had no seasons; their skin tones and hair were in more muted and earthy colours. For a while, I had trouble telling them apart because of that. It wasn't just their looks that were different; there was a sort of directness and restraint in the way they talked and moved that felt very odd to me. And they spoke in elven which I couldn't quite understand. --- At first, all I did was watching from on far, hidden, I found them endlessly fascinating. In truth, I don't think the idea of introducing myself to them ever even crossed my mind. Over time though, I became a little bolder, bored with just watching, I decided to start playing tricks on them. An old hobby. Harmless things, really: a tap on the shoulder from an invisible hand, a tune hummed just out of sight, drying clothes swapped around with those of another house, unattended food replaced with similarly shaped sticks and rocks… The reason I got away with so many of these, is thanks to a certain bit of fey magic I'd picked up. If I focused hard, I could conjure some sort of illusion that changed my appearance. The result was that the towns' kids would regularly get into trouble for tricks I'd pulled in their guise. I guess I might've felt a bit envious of them, of what they had. Two winters passed, and I think I became a bit of a local legend of that town. Then, things took a somewhat strange turn. ### 5. The Hunt That day, I had been following a group of hunters that were tracking down a troublesome owlbear. One of the rangers' apprentices, a boy around my age named Aubron, was on his first real hunt. And also the target of a quite elaborate prank of mine. You see there is a certain tree, whose sap is well-beloved by bees and butterflies. So I'd decided to put some of that tree's sap on Aubron's cloak and backpack. Aubron had been walking around in a cloud of colourful butterflies for hours now, and struggling to stay stealthy. I, on the other hand, had nearly blown my cover several times, because I kept snickering. It's tough staying hidden from a group of rangers. Eventually, they closed in on the owlbear, and Aubron was told to take aim at it, to shoot a warning shot. However, he was so distracted by the butterflies that he accidentally let loose the arrow too early, and it went spinning into the air. I couldn't hold it any more, and burst into a fit of laughter, this could've still been fine, hadn't I then slipped and fallen out of the tree I'd been hiding in. I was dazed from the fall, and they reacted quickly, jumping at me and the opportunity to capture the boy who'd been a thorn in their side for much too long. They carried me back to town, where the council would decide of my fate. --- The council decreed that I was a lost fey, and as such I was to be sent back to where I came from, by way of magical banishment. Mortified, I tried to explain to them in broken Elvish that I could not return, that it would be the end of me. But I was unable to convince them. After all, the word of a fey is hardly trustworthy. But then, help came from the most unexpected place… Aubron. He made the quite unpopular decision of pleading in my favour with the council. He told them that it wasn't fair, banishment was much too steep a price to pay for what I'd done, and he told them I should be given a chance to redeem myself. They argued in Elvish for long which I couldn't quite follow, but in the end, they changed their mind about the banishment. There were conditions of course, I had to vow never to trick or prank again and I would have to learn their ways of life and respect them, or leave the valley entirely. I agreed and chose to stay, the only good decision I ever made. ### 6. Thalan Maybe this had been one of the conditions imposed by the council, but Aubron volunteered to be my teacher and I was invited to stay at Aubron's family hut, "for the time being". This turned out to be a long time. They called me "Thalan". Aubron told me that it meant something like "wildling" in their dialect: a nickname they'd given me years earlier after my first sightings. So it was that I was given a new name, new clothes, food, and for the first time in nearly a decade, a home. I took my vow and studies very seriously, after all my life depended on it, more importantly, I felt indebted. While I never played another trick, I did struggle a lot with my lessons. I could barely read, and sitting still for hours while someone lectured me… it was not for me. But I pushed through. Luckily Aubron was a good tutor, he'd even learned some Sylvan to make things easier. First he taught me how to speak and read their language. Then, once I got to a sufficient level at that, he taught me about their history, and traditions. They lived in harmony with their environment, and placed a great importance on taking no more from nature than was needed, and to always give back as much. Most of their folklore and holidays revolved around the great tree. They protected it and in return, the tree seemed to grant a nearly supernatural liveliness to the surrounding lands. --- Over the coming months I slowly gained a semblance of trust from the town's people. Enough that I was allowed to train as a ranger and learn their traditional hunting style. At least when it came to that I was a quick learner, I had an intuitive understanding of nature equalled only by their most experienced hunters. This feat earned me some respect. But the trust I'd built was a fragile thing, to most of them I was still an outsider and I'm not sure that even a century would've been enough to convince them otherwise. ### 7. Aubron The only one I think ever truly trusted me there was Aubron, even if I didn't trust him. In truth, I'd disliked him since long before the capture. At first, his earnestness and innocence made my skin crawl, it had felt naive and fake to me. It's the reason he was the target of many of my worst pranks. Perhaps I was just jealous. Then after he saved me from banishment, and seemingly forgave me for everything I'd done - it made me nervous. For months, I waited for his demand, what price I would have to pay in exchange for his mercy. But it never came. For every mistake I made, or angry outburst I had he offered only kindness and acceptance in return. I found it infuriating. But as the months passed I started to understand that his kindness was neither a trap nor a weakness. It was who he was. Who he chose to be. Once I understood that, we started to get along much better. Instead of living in constant fear of a debt that didn't exist, I started trying to become someone worthy of what I'd been given. And as we slowly grew closer three more years passed. --- One evening at the end of the annual spring festival, he told me he wanted to show me a nice spot that he'd discovered recently, and gave me no further details. I followed him, up the great tree to the highest observation deck. From there, he took me further up a perilous path I'd never noticed, that spiralled around the tree all the way to the top. Up there, there was a platform so old the tree had all but engulfed it. The view was astounding, an ocean of tree covered hills surrounded us for as far as the eye could see, swimming in the evening mist. The tree canopies were golden with the raking sunlight, and to the north we could see the pale blue of the ocean. There, nestled among the branches of the great tree he confessed his love to me. The wind howling through the leaves meant he had to repeat himself a few times. But I could understand him regardless of words. I had expected it, hoped for it. It was the happiest moment in my life. … Then, as my vision went dark, I heard a distant cackle in the back of my mind. --- It was night when I came to. In the middle of the platform lay Aubron, in a pool of blood. My hands, arms, face and torso were covered in blood. It didn't take a genius to piece together what had happened. As before, the curse had struck exactly when it would hurt most. I'd never escaped it. There was nothing left to do but run, so that's what I did. ### 8. To the Present. 5 or maybe 50 winters passed me by as I wandered the woods aimlessly. Once again, I lived like a wild animal, like my time with the wood elves was just a long dream I had finally woken up from. Eventually, I decided that I should do something. An old idea from a half forgotten childhood started nagging me in the back of my head. I could become a mercenary, an adventurer. After all, if there is one thing I am good at, it is killing. I might find someone powerful enough to remove my curse, or some artifact in an ancient ruin might do the trick. If I was lucky, I might even die trying. And so, I started doing some mercenary work and eventually, I found myself at the noble dreamers. ## Family. Family tree (non-comprehensive): - Direct - [[characters/Father - Sylendril Kerasaulm|Father - Sylendril Kerasaulm]] - [[characters/Mother - Lyraenis|Mother - Lyraenis]] - [[characters/Grandmother - Fahlwen|Grandmother - Fahlwen]] - [[characters/Sister - Yaela|Sister - Yaela]] - [[characters/Brother - Kaelesil|Brother - Kaelesil (Kel)]] - Step - [[characters/Step Mother - Naelara|Step Mother - Naelara]] - [[characters/Half Brother - Cyrellion|Brother - Cyrellion]] - [[characters/Half Sister - Linaea|Half Sister - Linaea]]