Irilith Starkin

Irilith likes making her own magical jewelry and showing it off.

## History

Irilith Starkin one of the last survivors from a now decimated ratfolk colony in Osirian. When she was younger, her home was invaded by a powerful blue dragon and his kobold minions who then proceeded to use the ratfolk as little more than cattle. Irilith saw all five of her siblings and both her parents, as well as countless of her clan, sacrificed to the evil dragon. Having lost everything, she and the surviving few fled, Irilith being one of the very few to make it our alive.

After escaping, Irilith was all on her own with no one to help her. She sought after a useful trade, eventually finding work as a crazed alchemist's assistant. Her life was suffering, she'd be abused by her boss and treated like dirt by those she met, but it was during this time that she learned many secrets of alchemy, magic and gunsmithing, as well as how to use some of these secrets to fend for herself.

Once she had gained enough knowledge from her master, she would eventually break off and leave to Haven, where she hoped to do her own research, independent of her old master. To fund her experiments, she decided to take on the dangerous, but highly lucrative world of adventure and wet work. This path leads he into danger and into potentially greater troubles, but she is at least willing to see the path through.

## The Dragon's Tyranny

It started when she was younger, maybe when she was 7 or 8 years old. Her clans underground colony was suddenly attacked at night by kobolds. The kobolds ran through the hiving, killing indiscriminately before being repelled. However, resistance would end when the kobolds' master, a diabolical young blue dragon, revealed

himself and made his nest directly over the clan's hive.

Faced with total annihilation, the clan accepted the dragon's terms. It required that the ratfolks perform labor and make regular sacrifices, which were determined by random chance. Furthermore, the ratfolk were to breed as the dragon dictated and were to keep only one child at a time; all others would be food for the dragon's kobold servant. And so, Irilith being the eldest child, was forced to watch as her five younger sisters and brothers were taken, butchered and torn apart in front of her. And then, by random chance, her mother and father would be taken as well, leaving her alone in the world.

As their numbers thinned, the surviving ratfolk made plans to escape their captivity and make it for the world on the surface. Irilith, having nothing to lose, agreed and made her way out with the other ratfolk. However, the would be separated in the ensuing battle and chaos, leaving many of the ratfolk escapees dead. She left alone, totally unaware of whether or not anyone else had managed to get away.

## Brother and Sister

The loss of her family devastated Irilith, especially the gruesome deaths of her younger brothers and sisters. Even when she was little, Irilith always desired to be an older sister, and her existence as the only survivor among her many siblings is one that haunts her.

However, after growing closer to Cobble, she has gained a very close, familial bond with the small kobold, despite her less than positive history with the tiny creatures. To Irilith, Cobble is a little brother which she adores and is sworn to protect. Whether this is a healthy relationship, or simply a coping mechanism that Irilith has indulged in to get over the guilt and despair of losing her real family,not even Irilith is entirely sure. However, what is clear is that the small kobld means a great deal to her, and that any slight, even the smallest insult, directed at Cobble illicits a quick, often violent response from Irilith.

Her bonds have been tested many times, but the two have held fast together through it all. It all came to an head, however, when it was revealed to her that her brother was the rightful prince of a hidden city called Thousand Peaks. Hidden there were countless kobolds living in an old dwarven city that feared who exactly was going to claim the throne in the absence of a rightful heir to the throne as two equally bad rivals fought each other for control. His true name, given to him by the former king, was Tasetsa.

Tasetsa, with Irilith's and all of their friends' support, earned the throne in competition with the rivaling heirs and became the rightful king, therefore making Irilith the duchess of Thousand Peaks. However, the high population of kobolds made Irilith uneasy.

## Unbridled Rage

While Irilith is usually quiet, anxious and mild mannered, this view of her is not the entire story. Within her is a deep, unbridled passion and unresolved anger that had built up; partially from the injustice within her life, as well as from her powerful will to live and pent up stress from her high measure of self control. When released, Irilith is nearly a completely different, entirely terrifying person.

This rage has helped Irilith get through countless encounters through sheer intimidation factor alone, however it has also helped the normally timid and meek Irilith face danger and conflict head on, pistol blazing and sabre

rattling. Whether this rage is entirely a product of Irilith's disturbed upbringing and broken psyche, or the result of her drow heritage corrupting her usual ebb abd flow is up for debate. All that is for certain that it usually ends poorly when you're on Irilith's bad side.

## Drow Heritage

When Irilith was young, she was taught her mother's trade of alchemy. However, she never once questioned what kind of magic her mother practiced or where they would have learned such powers. She has also noticed her own, innate magical powers and her more cruel and terrifying alter ego that seems to emerge only when she is angry. These things are not necessarily just because Irilith is special, but because, unknown to Irilith, her parents were ancestrally linked to the drow priesthood of the Cult of Abraxis. This ancestry granted Irilith and her family members increased power and longevity, but decreased their fertility and health dramatically.

Irilith, unaware of these special gifts, assumed that the powers were merely a fluke and inherent to just her family. But the Cult of Abraxis know better, and have announced to her their intent of bringing her back to be made another member of the cult and utilize her well developed power and intellect, with or without her consent.

The Drow attempted to meet with her and indoctrinate her into their fold. Her own grandfather, a drow elf appeared to her in an attempt to bring her in when she appeared for a ball in her native Osirian. She not only refusd their advances, but also destroyed the source of her worries by killing her own grandfather.

## The Forever Young

The Forever Young was a dream that Irilith had for a long time since she started adventuring. She loved to stay clean and keep her fur healthy, but she always scoffed at how expensive and difficult furcare was and reviled how human-centric such products were. So, she developed her own brand of shampoos and soaps to sell in Haven. With her connection to various popular and famous heroes, she has been able to rake in quite a large profit in a short amount of time, as well as offer many young alchemists a place to train and develop their talents.

## Appearance

Irilith is about average height for a ratfolk, which is very short compared to an average human. Her fur is white with several spots and splotches of light, pinkish orange fur across her body.

She wears several gold rings on her ears and bands on her arms, and sports a unique tattoo of a star shooting past a moon. She typically dresses plainly with simple travelling cloaks, occasionally wearing red, light clothing and a loose, desert faring head wrapping to go along with it.

Irilith is very particular about her hygiene and spends an exorbitant amount of time grooming, cleaning her clothes and tools, and tidying up her workspace and living quarters. Therefore, she usually smells nice and looks good. For a ratfolk.

## Fighting Style

Irilith's fighting style is entirely unorthodoxed, but extremely effective. With the power of her alchemy, her skill with firearms, and her research into explosives, she is able to endow her pistol's bullets with potent explosive power, able to bring down even the strongest of enemies with only a few powerful, well placed shots.

She fights with a single pistol, having mastered the art of rapidly firing while remaining highly accurate. When simply shooting isn't enough, she supplements her gunslinging with alchemy, buffing her allies and utterly terrifying her enemies.

When ranged combat or alchemy aren't options, however, Irilith switches into an equally deadly and more terrifying hand-to-hand style, utilizing alchemically produced fangs and claws, and even swinging blades from her tail.

However, Irilith is quick to avoid a dangerous fight with strong arm intimidation or with stealth and subterfuge.

## Personality

Irilith's life was heavily affected by the invasion and destruction of her hive. The trauma of the death of her family still haunts her, as well as the years of abuse at the hands of others, especially at the hands of kobolds and dragons. This treatment has made her extremely unsocial, developing serious paranoia and a nasty stutter. She is timid and submissive to most, as this behavior kept herself out of trouble when she lived in Osirian and faced many people looking to exploit and abuse her.

However, when she is backed into a corner, she develops a cold, ruthlessness that can make her quite deadly. She takes on what appears to be a second personality; becoming more confident, more capable, and bone chillingly terrifying. This alter ego usually appears when Irilith is backed into a corner or at her wit's end. However, it manifests in a lesser form at Irilith's own will... Or when she just gets angry.

## Friends/Acquintances

Tasetsa/Cobble - Irilith's commitment to Cobble is unwavering. To her, he is like the brothers and sisters she couldn't be there for, and would give up her life for him without a second thought. Now, however, his true identity has been reveal, and Irilith did everything in her power to help her brother claim his rightful place as king of Thousand Peaks.

Saraxxis - Irilith once had a crush on Saraxxis, only to get rejected. However, this didn't stop her from having some feelings for the dragon. However, as Saraxxis began to come around to her, Irilith found love with someone else, hurting the dragon's unwavering pride.

Kordle - A dwarf prince who Irilith admires greatly. After being rejected by Saraxxis, Irilith drifted towards him more and more until the two became a pairing. Now her first favorite dwarf.

Karth - The dwarf who taught Irilith how to drink properly and party hard. Her second favorite dwarf (used to be first, but Kordle over took him)

Utsrk - A dwarf who Irilith has adventured and drank with on several occasions. The two share similar stories of lost loved ones and emphasize with one another. Her third favorite dwarf.

Clara - One of Irilith's best friends. They've fought, drank, and laughed together on many occasion. That, and Irilith discovered the perfect way to utilize Clara's natural beauty to create the perfect advertisement campaign for her new line of soaps and shampoos.

Lilo - A dragonborn who is the spitting image of the dragon who invaded her hive and ate her parents. She, knowing that the dragonborn wasn't the dragon, made a point to get over her irrational fear by exposing herself to Lilo, to a quite fruitful effect.

Colli - A weird, mute catfolk who is strangely nice to Irilith and likes to show her around. Unknown to her, he starlks her when she doesn't pay attention.

Siqa - Her business associate who helps her with the finances of her business and a minor priestess of Sarenrae. Works diligently, but has a resentful streak towards Irilith at times.

## Enemies/Rivals

Isashi - Despite her friendship with Colli, Irilith nearly came to blows with Isashi over her decision to take power from the wicked demons of the Rift.

Iphotel - A dragon who Irilith doesn't get along with at all. After she toyed with her brother's mind and with the mind of several of her friends, Irilith wants none of her shit. However, the two have made a begrudging agreement to coordinate with regards to sealing the rift.

The Red Hand - An organization that seeks to hunt and kill dragons. They've attempted to kill Saraxxis and Cobble, and that is all the excuse Irilith needed to hate them.

The Rift Demons - These demons seek to bring about the end of the world, perhaps the end of all worlds, even.

## Theme

'*While My Guitar Gently Weeps'* by The Beatles is Irilith's theme song.