Ileana Zarro

Dyghon's Tower

Ileana Zarro was a famous adventurer during the 3rd Century and more notably the good friend and bard of Estella of the Three Greats. She is known for accompanying her in her completion of Dyghon’s Tower, dealing with the Dragon’s cult in Gonarundu and her own research on monsters.

## Early Life

Ileana was born in the city of Aren, capital of the nation of the same name. She had a relatively good childhood, learning how to read and write from her parents before getting further education from tutors.

In her teens she fell in love with music, picking up an instrument and understanding it immediately. She felt that it was the best way she could express herself when not writing something down. Eventually, under a different tutor, she was able to learn how to incorporate the weave of magic with her music, becoming a magical bard.

## Adventures

In **345PR** Ileana went off to travel the world, realising that as a bard she wanted to tell stories of her own creation rather than repeating others. On her travels she visited the city of Nirva, enjoying the life of the Kingdom, before going on and visiting Kras and the Library of Andreas, and Ralom, one of the oldest capitals in the world.

### Estella

Somehow, she made it to Erstal in **348PR**, becoming close friends with a fellow adventurer named Estella. Their first job was to explore some of the under city, previously collapsed in the Erstal Rebellion, and clear out some of the undead that had emerged. Their travels underground inspired Ileana to conduct a lot of later research, and that of her apprentices. But at the time she was just taking notes, eventually coming across an old Draconic dungeon.

With Estella they were able to clear many of the enemies, passing through the various tough passages and dead ends. Eventually they reached the end, claiming the vast fortune left behind with some magical items to spare. What was of more interest though was a key with the name Dyghon written on it in Draconic.

Her share was sent back to her parents, keeping only enough to continue to be on the move.

The key became an interesting prospect for Ileana and Estella, especially since Dyghon’s Tower was only discovered two decades prior. Yet, the two got distracted along the way, taking various jobs instead.

### Dyghon's Tower

By the time they reached the tower in **354PR** they were already incredibly strong. Still, they thought it would be a horrific act to research if they didn’t at least try the key. So, after making camp, they tried the key and went inside.

Inside the dungeon was horrific. The duo had to fight all types of monsters that weren’t even natural to the area, let alone if they had residence in Arlec at all. Ileana would write a lot in her book, forced to stand out of the way of Estella in the increasingly tougher tower. The book would later be released in her career, called: *The First Competitors of Dyghon’s Tower*. Since they were unable to escape the dungeon, they eventually completed it in 4 days. By the end they were starving, beaten and dehydrated, the tower offering no food or water and blocking any magic that could provide it. As a reward they got dismal loot, nothing worth what they had experienced.

While she didn’t finish her book, Ileana made sure to give some of the guilds and adventurers quick reports on the tower, informing others that it was not worth it and if they did try they needed extensive amounts of food and water. The duo decided to leave the key in the Believe Inn in Ralom, allowing adventurers to have the freedom to decide whether to undertake the tower or not, but not recommending any do so.

### Dragon's Cult

After the tower, the two rested for a year. Ileana would begin writing her book on both the tower and the accounts with Estella, holding pretty much the only information of her accomplishments.

When they began questing again, Ileana decided to take a backseat role, instead focusing on the book of Estella.

In their quests, the duo began to realise that a pattern was emerging, suspecting the connection between the quests were deeper than originally thought. Further investigation found that it was all connected to a cult worshipping a dragon named Mozzennayl, resident of the mountain west of E’Themar.

Over time they began an infiltration of the cult, learning of their motives and their goal to overthrow King Javier Fidalgo. This led to them crashing one of the meetings, defeating the cultists scattering the rest. Estella was awarded in secret, being awarded her house near Dyghon’s Tower in **357PR**.

### Ilaka

Ilaka was a bit of a dark time for the duo. They made their way there in **367PR** and helped the city of Kras after it was devastated by a major earthquake. In the immediate aftermath she was able to save a total of 100 people trapped under the rubble of buildings. Later, she would use her own funds to help survivors reclaim what they had lost and get back to a normal life.

The crown instead turned on Estella, angry that she cared so much for the simple commoners that were treated harshly in their culture. Instead of being awarded she was requested to leave, turning into a threat if she didn’t leave the nation immediately.

Estella took to these criticisms harshly and spent the next few years staying at her house, isolated from everyone, including Ileana.

### Davian

In **383PR** there was another who completed Dyghon’s Tower, named Davian. Davian initially went in as a sort of challenge to Estella but after completing it, a little later than them, he expressed his support, even adding more information to what they had missed. He even complimented Estella in the aftermath, stating that most adventurers would take 7 days to complete the tower and only he, Estella and Tasos, later named the Three Greats, could finish it earlier.

He would later visit Estella at her residence, and Ileana would talk to the both of them often, omitting the conversations they had in her book.

### Nirva

In **390PR** Estella went on a bit of a retirement trip, taking Ileana along with. They were going to mainly visit the city of Nirva but instead took up the quest to deal with a threatening Stone Dragon instead. With Ileana alongside, the duo marched up the mountain to face the Dragon. Unfortunately, Ileana was petrified into stone before the fighting began and she would never know how Estella had dealt with the issue.

This was the last quest that the duo completed, Estella retiring.

### Retirement

No longer having Estella to follow, Ileana decided to settle down herself, purchasing a small building in her hometown of Aren and converting it into a personal library. She began to write many of the books she would be famous for, spending the rest of her life trying to complete her tasks.

She often left the library to go search for books elsewhere, even swallowing her pride and visiting the Library of Andreas in Kras, Ilaka, a lot.

In **403PR** she released her final work: The Story of Estella, the Great.

## Personal Life

Estella never had children of her own, falling in love with her career and knowledge more than anything. She did have a sister and brother however, giving her descendents in a different path. Whenever she got the chance she would visit them and her nieces and nephews, becoming a bit of a family person.

After her retirement in **390PR** she was somewhat isolated, but still managed to keep close connections with her family. One of her nephews actually became her apprentice, continuing her legacy.

She remained very good friends with Estella, getting her blessing to release the stories in **403PR**.

Ileana would eventually die of natural causes in **404PR**.