Nyk Quill is a deep gnome from Clan Cloakshadow, a small faction of svirfneblin who were devout followers of Baravar Cloakshadow. She spent the majority of her life as a slave to drow, as when she was barely a decade old, her clan was massacred and the few survivors were enslaved by House [REDACTED] after a clandestine trade deal between gnomes and drow soured.
Nyk was spared hard labor by virtue of having a birthmark on her thigh that bears striking resemblance to the insignia of House [REDACTED], thus obtaining her a more pampered life, and renamed Lyria by her captors. For over a century, she was the favorite court entertainer of her drow matron, and was eventually elevated to the role of courtesan; her matron had quite a few courtesans and consorts, yet Nyk was the only individual among them that was not a drow herself.
After a violent coup d'état within House [REDACTED] resulted in her matron's assassination and subsequent replacement, Nyk fled in the chaos to avoid becoming another casualty in the revolt. Escaping to the surface world, she seeks a way to maintain the semi-luxurious life she had, and perhaps echo her past by becoming rich and influential enough to be a matron-like figure of her own in the surface world.
Appearance
Nyk is a middle-age deep gnome standing around 3’3”, and weighing 40lbs.
While her hair is naturally white-grey, she dyed it burgundy throughout most of her life, as it was her drow matron’s favorite color. Only within the last year did she stop dying it, and now her pale outgrow roots are starkly visible. Often, her hair is in messy updos.
In addition to her dyed hair, most of her attire tends to be in shades of burgundy and mature dark reds and magentas, and she compliments the color scheme with makeup in brighter red hues, often with sparkling or shimmery eyeshadow, and pink heart freckles drawn on across her cheeks.
Due to her life spent mainly in an affluent drow house around her matron, Nyk has a taste for finery clothing and jewelry, even though her access to such luxuries have been severely stunted since arriving at the surface world. Still, she is meticulous about maintaining the few fine clothes she has and wears, and never tries to downgrade into anything less unless absolutely necessary. No matter her outfit, she will almost always have a garter dagger sheath on her upper thigh. Her skirts are usually hitched up in a burlesque fashion, not only for the elegant appearance, but also for accessibility to her dagger sheath.
On her upper right thigh, she has a birthmark that looks almost exactly like House [REDACTED]’s house insignia, and it can easily be mistaken for a brand or tattoo unless one inspects it up close.
History
Born into the Cloakshadow clan, her people were always looking into whatever means could propel their faction forward or otherwise benefit them, to the point where they would dare to not only strike clandestine trade deals with drow houses, but they would even be willing to go behind the houses backs to trade and make deal with rivals.
Prosperous with precious gems and metals, the Cloakshadows could trade for fine weapons and enchanted items with the right drow houses, all whilst promising the houses that their trade agreements were exclusive and no other houses had their business. Sometimes, they would even trade the items they got from the drow to other drow houses, as rivals often didn’t trade their valuable assets with one another.
House [REDACTED], who specializes in dangerous enchanted weaponry that gave them a significant power up on most other noble houses, was one of the Cloakshadow’s trade partners.
And when House [REDACTED]’s matron mother and her firstborn infant daughter were sprung upon by a rival assassin wielding a sword that was distinctly their own house’s craftsmanship, the matron was irate.
The assassianation attempt managed to claim the life of her daughter, who was a prize to her mother after bearing four male children already— after the first male, the other three were slaughtered as infants so she could focus on the daughter she desperately wanted, and any consort or concubine that gave her a son was punished and demoted from their rank.
The loss of the matron’s daughter incited a vengeful rage that consumed all who even had a sliver of involvement in the assassination. The next few years were the bloodiest the house had even known, and they decimated the offending house.
When it came time to deal with the gnomes, it was a surprise attack with the intent to massacre the whole clan. Only a handful of skilled artisans were spared to be enslaved, however a young gnome girl stood out to the matron mother, whose deep blue eyes reminded her of her lost daughter.
Yet, it was not enough to sway the girl’s fate— at least, not by itself. Instead, it was the large birthmark on her thigh that stilled the matron’s hand. The eyes had made her waver, but the birthmark itself felt like a cosmic sign to spare the gnome.
Rather than make Nyk a lowly labor slave like the few other surviving Cloakshadow gnomes, matron Distrovia renamed the gnome girl Lyria, and kept her as a personal servant slave.
As Nyk aged, she soon learned that how well she did or didn’t do her services mattered not when matron Distrovia’s mood was soured. What started as jokes or silly stories Nyk would tell her matron in order to lighten the mood soon became the services that were desired far more than anything else.
By the time Nyk had reached adulthood, not a single member of House [REDACTED] saw her as just another servant slave anymore; she was matron Distrovia’s personal jester, always ready to dazzle her mistress with fancy card tricks or captivate the room with a whimsical story. So favored she was that Distrovia eventually promoted her as a courtesan, and often amused herself by requesting Nyk to write her poems in ode to herself, or would sweep her away to her bedchambers whenever she desired.
And in exchange for this newfound role, Nyk discovered she could live a life far more lavish and pampered than anything the average gnome slave would endure. The clothing she wore were all fine textiles in her matron’s favorite color, and slaves were even expected to cater to her as if she were a drow herself.
With such high favor, Nyk made sure her standing was never in danger— any spare time she had to herself, she practiced to be a better companion to her matron. Nyk practiced Distrovia’s favorite card games, she learned sleight-of-hand magic tricks, she wrote endless prose and poems, and she even learned to juggle knives.
Over a century of performing and playing the role as Distrovia’s most faithful courtesan, Nyk herself felt more like a drow than a gnome; she felt herself something great, something worthy of recognition beyond that of just another slave.
Yet, a slave is still a slave. Nyk felt the world built up around her crumble in an instant; one moment, in her matron’s bed with her after servicing her, and the next moment there’s blood all over the sheets.
Distrovia’s blood, pouring out from an open gash in her bare midsection that wasn’t there before, and now soaking the sheets around her in a macabre halo.
Nyk scrambled away from the bed, away from her matron as she rapidly bled out, before looking up at the offending drow who had ambushed: a niece of Distrovia, a disgruntled one at that, assassinating her matron in order to usurp her place.
Over the next few days, the house was in shambles; any loyalists to Distrovia were executed, and many new faces were promoted and old faces demoted in the house order. Nyk, pledging and promising no loyalty to her former matron in order to be spared her life, was set to become what she was always meant to be: a common gnome slave, slated for hard labor.
It was a life she didn’t understand, a life she refused to understand.
So within those first few raw days of the house and its structure in an every-morphing order, Nyk took it as her only opportunity to escape a life she felt too good to ever have to endure. Leaving the house itself was a feat, but after quickly evaluating the Underdark as a whole to be equally as harsh on her prospects, Nyk ascended to the light for the first time.
The luxuries she has had all her life were now her own responsibility to provide, and her finances to do so were nonexistent. The only resources she had were the same ones she’s been using all her life; her charm, her looks, and her entertaining skills. And the best place for those three things to flourish was Baldur’s Gate.
Nyk became a regular at taverns and the local brothel, primarily as an escort and entertainer. For a high enough price she was willing to sell a night to a high roller, but those situations were few and far between, as Nyk despised echoing shadows of her former glory as courtesan to a powerful drow house matron.
The money’s not enough, and the work was far more insecure than what she was used to.
Nyk is determined to make better money, and elevated herself to the lifestyle she knew almost all her life. And then, once she has all the money and power, she’ll have servants of her own.
Personality
Due to her upbringing, Nyk behaves much like a drow does, and lost a lot of her own culture and gnome identity. However, she has always maintained a softer and friendly edge that allows her to charm or entertain others.
While she has no quarrels escorting and entertaining, the act of prostitution itself is one she detests, mainly due to the utter downgrade of her life it reminds her of. However, she will work with what assets she has, but only when absolutely needed.
To those she is not being paid from nor incentivized to be charming, Nyk will come off as uppity, and carries herself as if she’s better than common folk. Nevertheless, she is used to be disrespected or undervalued, so she is accustomed to brushing off when it occurs.
Trivia
- Nyk knows several magic card tricks, and can do a few simple coin magic tricks such as turning a copper into a silver.
- There are only a few living Cloakshadow clan gnomes still living, and she is the only one not enslaved in the Underdark.