Gwen

## Before the Storm

Gwendolyn Silvestri is a young adult sylph from the planar metropolis of Sigil. Born to a wealthy family, the first few decades of her life were lived in relative luxury. A brilliant pupil, Gwendolyn excelled in school, expressing an innate curiousity and thirst for learning. As time passed, however, she began to chafe under her parent's strict rule, wishing to indulge her wanderlust and uninspired by the family import/export business. Seeing an opportunity to expand her limited horizons and get out from under her family's thumb, she applied in secret for an position at an academy of planar research. Upon acceptance, she promptly disowned her family at moved in to the barracks at the academy.

While no one at the academy could fault her growing knowledge, her personality was notably removed from the calm and measured mein expected of a distinguised researcher. Loathe to return home, Gwen floated between programs for a year or two before settling into the more martial arm of the academy, showing a natural talent for swordplay and beginning in earnest her training as a magus. By the age of 75, she was accompanying diplomats, research assistants, and other field agents on trips to various planes.

Five years later, during a trip to the material plane to research disturbances in the fabric of the planes, Gwen's research group noted an immense spike in planar disruption; the group swiftly implemented an emergency teleportation protocol in an attempt to return to Sigil. Battered by the oncoming Storm, the spell failed, dumping Gwen into an extraplanar bubble, which eventually ruptured and dumped her unceremoniously back where they had started. When she awoke, her friends were nowhere to be found, but later in the afternoon Gwen spotted a dabus; her curiousity piqued, and with no other lead on a way home, she began to follow it.

## Death on a Demiplane

While attempting to fix a hole in the planar matrix, Gwen was slain by her paladin companion in a freak arrow accident. The following is a first person account of her time in Purgatory, before she was resurrected and returned to the Material Plane in Heat Hill.

*"One minute I'm waiting for backup to kill a demon, next thing I know I'm standing in a queue of ghosts. This, I think, is perhaps not what I was expecting. Perhaps an hour later, the line has not moved. This, I think, is definitely not what I was expecting. I am not as bored as I would have expected either. I make a mental note that my expectations are on the fritz and that I should not trust them. When I try to step out of line, a figure looms out of the darkness and stands before me, gesturing with his scythe back toward the interminable line. I make a mental note that perhaps a giant skeleton with a scythe is not what my morning needs and step back into line.*
*I'm not sure how much time passes. It seems to flow oddly in this place. Eventually, though, a small bird appears and perches on my shoulder.*
*"Hello!" I say, waving at it. It does not answer me, but it cocks its head and flutters off a bit, then looks back at me over its shoulder.*
*"If you want me to follow you, I have to say that I don't think it's the best idea. There's a... ow!" The bird has pecked me in the nose. It does the hoppy looky thing again and this time I follow it. It doesn't much feel like the walking I'm used to; the land itself seems to change around me as I go. We turn a final corner and come face to face with the largest dragon I've ever seen. It looks down upon us with matte black eyes the color and depth of eternity.*
*"Good, you found her. Take her back to the living, nosoi, and see that she doesn't get lost."*
*The bird turns it head almost entirely around, staring quizzically at the dragon. "Back to life?"*
*"Yes. Lady Desna has interceded in this one's favor." The voice of the dragon is ponderous and deep, like an ocean speaking. An ocean with feathers. This place is weird. It takes me a minute to process this, but I must have twitched a bit or something at the mention of Desna, because the dragon looks at me. "It's not every day the divine take such a direct interest in their followers. I am curious to know why the Song of the Spheres is so interested in you, young sylph."*
*I open my mouth to reply, but it seems to happen more slowly than you would expect. This is for the best, as I settle back under the ancient gaze of the yamaraj and remember that if he doesn't know, I sure as hell don't know and probably should keep my mouth shut.*
*"A wise choice. Perhaps we will find the answers to these questions in the future." Turning his attention to the bird, he adds "Follow her. Feed your curiosity, nosoi, and mine."*
*It was not a long walk back to life, though I'm not expert in such things. It seemed to take no time at all before I was ready to step through the veil and back to my body.*
*"If you can talk, why were you such a jerk when you fetched me?" I asked, turning to look at the small bird.*
*"I was bored," he replied, seemed to shrug a bit, as if to say "Mortals!" and then crashed into my back and pushed me through into life."*