A mysterious figure who helped to train Enclave when she first came into Vhaeraun’s church.
Year of Birth: 686
Race: Drow
Gender: Context Dependent.
Note: Iimvyll uses both she/her pronouns and he/him pronouns throughout the course of the story, and has intentional in-character thoughts on the fluidity of gender presentation. For the sake of the metatext, the gender neutral pronoun "they" will mostly be used, save for some parts in the backstory
Languages spoken: Low Drow, Drow Sign, Common, Elvish, Goblin.
City of Origin: Guallidurth…?
Allegiance: Church of Vhaeraun
Notable Classes: Masked Priestess, Cloaked Dancer, Dark Mask
Important Links:
Reference Sheet, [Other Tags To Be Added]
As a stage-dancer, Iimvyll is quiet and careful about how they present themself. They are someone who intentionally carries themself with cold poise when moving around as a masked traitor, attempting to purposefully keep up the image of a mysterious and enigmatic figure amongst the ranks of Lolth. They are well aware that Lolth’s ranks don’t take kindly to outsiders - But that, in turn, there is an appeal to those that fear them, and they aim to play the fine line between where those wires cross. They can appear rather ruthless at times, acting strictly on the rules they keep and giving little regard for those who test their time and patience.
However, as time goes on and Enclave grows closer to them, it quickly becomes self-evident that their icy demeanor shields a deeply compassionate heart, their prim and proper stylings doing well to hide their otherwise fussy nature. They hold an incredible amount of care and empathy towards those that they allow close. They are someone who has strong personal values, and will stick to them where and when they can even within the entrappings of the underdarks larger dangers.
At their best, they are someone who holds a deep amount of empathy within their heart. It is rare that they act rashly - each action they take and each thought they give is one that has been given a considerable amount of time to be shaped and presented exactly as they intent for it to be. They are an incredible judgement of character, and (amongst the Vhaeraunites they’re allowed to lead properly) are known to be fair and objective in their guidance.
At their worst, they can be disconnected from any one individual. They sometimes have an almost objectified sense of self, struggling to fully separate their experiences as someone existing as someone enslaved even centuries after they escaped it. This is something that they have admittedly to very few people, and they claim to view this through an otherwise neutral lens. They do not feel a particularly strong desire to grow close to others, and have no problem engaging in manipulation towards those that they think little of. They expect respect and dignity, but if they do not receive it, then they will not act fairly in turn.
Iimvyll isn’t their birthname, but rather the stage name that they’d taken when they moved to began moving around and working as a traitor. This is a name they decided to keep, to help fully disassociate with their past identity. They refuse to give their past name, and become irritable when anything regarding it is pushed.
They take decent care of themself when it comes to the standard self-care routine of feeding, washing, and keeping their space tidy. However, while hypervigilant of when other people are doing so, they have an absolutely horrible habit of pushing their body far past its acceptable limitations. This has lead to them damaging it in the past - By the time Iimvyll leaves the underdark, they suffer from a drastically shortened Achilles tendon - have destroyed their feet and struggle to stand on them properly without pain if they lack to the structural support.
They have to move in slow, small steps, and can no longer fight in a meaningful way. This is one of the motivating factors for their retirement, though they quickly find themselves boring of a banal and mundane life in the Vault.
Iimvyll, both as a result of having lived as a performer as long as they have and as a result of the damage to their body, has a pretty distinctive walk/stride. They’re taking small steps and moving rather slowly, despite the fact they once were able to move with a massive amount of elegance.
They are an artistic person by nature. Dance and song were their main profession of choice for the longest time, however they were also an architect by trade and sincerely considered it as much of a meaningful art as their dance. Likewise, when their movement became limited, they turned their attention towards painting and sculpting in addition to their music.
They play the forgotten realms version of the erhu. Iimvyll's performance is based on a few things - But most importantly, takes from the different stylings of real world traditional chinese opera - Specifically, peking and sichuan. In-universe, it plays heavily on drow societal ideas on violence, gender, and sexuality (Something I would argue is also, within the real world, found in drag performances in the west.)
Iimvyll’s has a faux whip of fangs given to them by Vhaeraun - Where their performances namesake comes from. Instead of the traditional 5 constructs, they have a single construct. The snakes head is based on that of a eastern rat snake, and sits at about 8 feet long when fully laid out. It is neither venomous nor particularly adept at biting out the throats of those that Iimvyll attacks - However, it can easily restrict and restrain those that they are fighting, and Iimvyll can see through the eyes of the whip. Theoretically, it could be wielded by those of any alignment, however it is attuned strictly to Iimvyll. Those that Iimvyll are close to have used the whip successfully in the past.
Like a regular whip of fangs, the snake head reflects Iimvyll’s emotions. The bulk of the whip’s body wraps around their hip, and the head sits over their shoulder and moves around like a normal snakes would.
Iimvyll is deeply devoted to Vhaeraun, serving both as a Masked Traitor for him within the underdark and as a Dark Mask once they retire for the surface. On the surface, they attempted to put what of their wealth they collected towards establishing a settlement, however only get so far as building the temple before the settlement falls through. Their now abandoned temple can still be found within the Forest of Tethir, though nature has reclaimed much of the structure in the 200-odd years since their death.
Iimvyll has reasoned and considerate thoughts on their gender presentation, of which they would be able to articulate in-character. They understand intimately how intertwined gender is within the social-politics of the Drow spaces, even amongst those who have left the ranks of Lolth’s church - Or were never never existed there to begin with.
In public within the underdark, they present fully effeminately, and in public on the surface, they present masculinely. They refuse to admit to which gender they were born and raised as even to their closest companions, and (especially once on the surface) swap between the two sexes when within the privacy of those companions. Even without the ability to swap as freely as Vhaeraun provides, they understand how to carry themself and speak in such a way that reads to the other drow within their community as one gender over the other - Something they’re willing to explain to those few who are willing to listen.
Iimvyll, truthfully, has a deeply disconnected sense of gender identity, and feels neither strongly about presenting as a man nor a woman. To them, their body, their gender, and their identity is a tool that can be used to better connect with those within their community (Be it with the Lolth worshipping drow of the underdark, or those Vhaeraun worshipping drow on the surface.) Their view on this is pragmatic and objective, and something they find a lot of comfort in being able to fully take advantage of.
Part of Iimvyll’s mystique and performance within the underdark was the androgynous way they carried themself - At a glance, most drow could not tell their gender when they were fully wrapped up in their costuming. Most Priestesses, believing Iimvyll had Lolth’s approval and attention, simply believed that they were a woman styling themself down for the sake of their performance.
To keep this image alive, it was rare that Iimvyll fully engaged with sex within the underdark. When they did they generally refused to remove their costuming (much to many of the individual priestesses dissatisfaction). It is only once they trusted the individual - Rare to be found in the underdark, both amongst Lolth and Vhaeraun’s type, that they shed their mask and garb and allowed themself to fully enjoy someone else's time.
Within the privacy of those they are closest to, they will freely swap between bodies to “Explore the pleasures of both.” This is a sign of true trust from them, as they expect anyone they share this with to keep secret their want to do so.
Otherwise, they are largely not a particularly jealous person. Even once Enclave took the title of their consort, they did not really care to demand her full time and attention, as the title she took stemmed more-so from their shared emotional connection. Sex, in Iimvyll’s eyes, meant very little in the face of their lovers time. (Though, they won’t deny that they also quite enjoyed sharing the time of a few trusted others as well. In many ways, their view on the matter and Enclave’s coincided quite smoothly.)
On Violence and fighting:
Even before they left the underdark, they disliked the fighting and discourse sown by those matrons that control Lolth-run cities; They view it as something distasteful, and those who indulge in it in abundance as pathetic - even amongst their own.
They are, however, careful with who they share this opinion with, as they know better than to indulge their thoughts in just anyone. Likewise, they were trained in melee before they took on the role of Masked Traitor, and
They enjoy the idea of children, and when in positions where they are able to without it grabbing attention onto them will shed their otherwise cold and distant demeanor to offer them care. They understand that children are the future, and how little drow children are often treated with respect and care.
They were actively attempting to have a child with Enclave at the time of their death. Unfortunately, there were complications regarding this, and this is something that never came to pass.
[They purposely keep much of their personal history vague, and get irritated when it’s pried into as such, little is known about Iimvyll up until they meet Enclave.]
Iimvyll spends their earliest years enslaved to a matron, who later sells them off to a human.
Iimvyll personally view this as a largely irrelevant part of their life. They see what they went through as being no different to the various torments most drow men face at the hands of their mistress, and no reason to focus on this as a meaningful event within their life in isolation. If anything, they try and see what little positive they can find in their otherwise dour circumstances - Being the target of it, they never had the same expectations of cruelty and brutality placed on them, and so they were allowed to keep the kind of emotions that most drow long learn to wipe away and deny themself of.
The reality is that these formative years did a large part in shaping the person they would end up becoming, and has undeniably informed both their own personal feelings on slavery and in the larger state of many Lolth-worshipping cities. It is something that they feel deep hatred towards, and have little patience for the permissive nature of it many within their own religion have.
In the underdark, Iimvyll acts as a Mid-level priestess to Lolth, but a high priestess-traitor priestess to Vhaeraun. She owns a dance hall that is popular amongst Lolth priestesses, as she performs both elegant and brutal performances both as ritual to Lolth and entertainment to the public. Her establishment is known to be a neutral ground to Lolth Priestesses looking to work out the specifics of both alliances and future betrayals, as Iimvyll has little patience for her dance hall falling into “rowdy and disorderly behavior.” Any patron threatening to fall into a “shrieking, impatient rage,” is one who the staff has full permission to “swiftly deal with.”
And so, the hall is an unusually quiet and peaceful place amongst the otherwise bustling metropolis, where lounging around and pleasure is both offered and easily received.
In reality, Iimvyll is using this as an opportunity to keep an ear to the ground, especially using the various workers that entertain the priestesses throughout the night.
Enclave is assigned to her when she returns to Guallidurth, as (unknown to the Lolth priestesses) Iimvyll acts as the connecting point of multiple points of information amongst traitor priestesses, and the main connecting vein to the Vault of the Cloaked Midnight. Iimvyll, taking a liking to her due to Enclave’s mild-mannered nature and quiet disposition (rare even amongst traitors, and something Iimvyll finds to be deeply charming) takes it upon herself to keep an particularly strong eye on Enclave and her kin.
Throughout her time as a traitor, Iimvyll manages to capture Enclave’s trust by staying true to her values, even when she does not fully explain her motivations for doing so. The two share a close bond, and eventually Iimvyll helps Lymrith leave the Underdark at Enclave's request.
Iimvyll, knowing that their age was beginning to catch up to them and that it would soon impact their ability to work as a traitor, was already beginning to make plans to take herself and the wealth that she’d earned through the dealings of her dancehall to the forest of Mir and Vault of Cloaked Midnight. However, upon learning of Sabdra discovering that Enclave was a traitor, Iimvyll decides to stay around.
When Enclave puts out the distress call through Vhaeraun, Iimvyll is there to collect her. With Iimvyll’s help, Enclave leaves the underdark. However, everyone involved knows and understands that Sabdra will not allow her to go willingly, and at the Masked Lords order, brings Enclave to a mountain instead of the vault.
Iimvyll, though they have retired from their role of Masked Traitor, takes it upon themself to begin Forging their identity as a Dark Mask. They set out to create a settlement in the midst of the Forest of Tethir, bringing Enclave and the (then named) Iph’ven with them. In doing so, they begin to present themself in a way they reads to the drow they’re working with as more masculine. Though they do not change their namesake (As they allow it to exist as a reminder of the years they spent in service to the Masked Lord in the underdark) they petition the Masked Lord to change their body, and begin to present themself as a man to those in their ranks.
They find an appropriate spot within the middle of Tethir, and Iimvyll sets out to use their background in architecture and acquired wealth and resources to craft a temple to the Masked Lord, and a new settlement surrounding it. In doing so, his group succeeds in working with the local wood elves and kobolds to settle both the corner of the forests and the upper underdark of the area on (while deeply apprehensive) otherwise neutral grounds, with the drow group agreeing to act as a defense point between the more dangerous groups within the forests and the elves. Iimvyll is not unaware of how conditional their neutrality is, but also understands that it is the best they’re going to be able to do for the immediate future.
At some point between the temple being started and finished, Enclave falls pregnant with his child.
While she miscarriages comparatively pretty early into the pregnancy, the incident leads to her agreeing to properly take the title of his consort, and (though they agree to wait both until Enclave heals up from the miscarriage and the main structure of the temple is done to truly set out to attempt to have them) the two agree that even with Iimvyll’s age, neither are particularly opposed the idea of having children with one another.
The two end up struggling to have children (With Enclave miscarrying a second time, though so early within the pregnancy that she’d not even known she was pregnant) both figure that there is no particular hurry or concern in doing so.
Iimvyll is killed by one of the local elves, as the elves (not knowing that the time of troubles had begun) had been convinced by the then-active members of the Eldreth Veluuthra that their gods silence was a sign of disapproval from their gods for working with the drow. Their death succeeds in destabilizing the settlement that they’d worked to establish, and it is left to rot to the sands of time.
Once the Time of Troubles is over, Enclave attempts to partition for Iimvyll to be resurrected. However, The Masked Lord soul assures that his soul has agreed to move on, and would reject the resurrection. However, Vhaeraun assures that he did receive their soul even in spite of the Time of Troubles, and that they are resting within Ellaniath. Comforted by this, Enclave agrees to let her lover rest, and takes to fulfilling their legacy.
