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 mother 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 were one thing, but the birthmark in addition felt as a cosmic sign to spare the gnome.
Rather than make Nyk a lowly labor slave like the few other surviving Cloakshadow gnomes, she was renamed Lyria, and
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Personality
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Trivia
- Nyk knows several magic card tricks, and can do a few simple coin magic tricks such as turning a copper into a silver.