Fayne

Fayne was a fey'ri rogue who lived in Waterdeep and Westgate in the late 15 century DR. Her given name Ellyne came from the Elvish "elie en", which meant "Sorrow."

Description
In Waterdeep, Fayne normally wore the illusion of a young half-elf, often a redhead. She habitually changed her appearance, often integrating aspects of people she had met that interested her.

In her true fey'ri form, she had alabaster white skin, bright pink hair, black nails, leathery wings, and a long thin tail with a bony spade-shaped tip. Her face had silver eyes, pointed fangs, and a nasty scar across the cheek from where she had been hit by a crossbow bolt fired by Ilira. She also had curling antlers, a sign of influence from Beshaba, her father's patron.

In Westgate, Fayne wore the form of a regal-looking purple- and white-striped deva.

Personality
Fayne was perpetually deceptive and misleading, almost incapable of showing her true feelings and intent, even when it would be to her benefit. She also had a tendency to reflexively respond to stress with incessant commentary, sarcasm and banter. Although not completely without conscience, Fayne found great enjoyment in manipulating those around her, and always put her own safety and comfort above that of others.

As she grew up, she developed a crippling hatred and fear of her own natural fey'ri form. When forced to reveal herself to others, she would begin panicking and crying, believing that she was an impossibly hideous monster. However, when Kalen Dren showed acceptance of her fey'ri form, she slowly began accepting herself as well. Although she still preferred to avoid showing her true form, she was no longer overwhelmed by self-loathing from it. Her father found this development annoying, as he used this weakness to control her.

Due to having very little in the way of healthy relationships, she often felt desperately lonely. While living in Waterdeep, she constantly sought out casual short-term relationships ranging from flirtatious to intimate, to the extent that she never slept alone if at all possible.

Activities
Fayne earned her coin through petty theft and by writing stories for a scandalous broadsheet known as the "Mocking Minstrel", where she was known as Satin Rutshere. As professional con-artist and muckraker, she based many of her stories on what she discovered while seducing or manipulating the famous inhabitants of Waterdeep. She also undertook missions for her father Lilten, the high priest of Beshaba.

Relationships
Fayne's mother was Cythara, a cruel and hedonistic gold elf cultist of Graz'zt. Fayne idolised her in every respect, fascinated by the childhood impression of her. She sometimes imitated her mother's manner of dress and physical appearance with illusions, finding comfort in it.

Her father was Lilianviaten Dlardrageth, or Lilten, a gold elf priest of Beshaba. She respected and cared for him implicitly, even though he was casually cruel and manipulative towards her, and often treated her more as a disposable servant than a beloved child.

Fayne had a fondness for the paladin Kalen Dren, although she was willing to kill him to protect herself if necessary.

She was variably at odds and friendly with the wizard Myrin Darkdance, something which confounded Fayne.

Fayne utterly hated the moon elf Ilira Nathalan for killing her mother, and had obsessed over the event for almost her entire life. Fayne spent much of her time on preparing to get revenge on Ilira, whether through spying on her, destroying her reputation, or training in fighting and magic to defeat her in combat.

Possessions
Fayne had a thin bone wand to power her spells, which she had taken from the hand of her dead mother. She also possessed an amulet, a gift from her father, which allowed her to more effectively change her appearance at will. As a fey'ri, she was already a natural shapeshifter, but she preferred changing her form further with more extensive shaping and illusory effects.

Childhood
As a child in approximately 1400 DR, she was used as a living shield by her mother Cythara when the adventurers Ilira and Yldar Nathalan confronted Cythara in her lair, hidden in the underground ruins of Illusk. After Cythara almost killed Yldar, Ilira pretended to give up and retreat, only to shoot Cythara with a crossbow. The bolt sliced Fayne's cheek as it impaled Cythara in the chest, killing her instantly.

While Ilira tended to Yldar, Fayne took up her mother's wand and attempted to use it on Ilira. Too young and unprepared for such powerful magic, casting the spell harmed both Fayne and Illira. The pain and horror of the Abyssal spell distracted both of them from the momentary appearance of Myrin Darkdance, trapped in the blue flame.

In the aftermath of the battle, Fayne was recovered by her father Lilten, who had been kept away from the confrontation by the efforts of Ilira's living shadow.

Waterdeep
In the 1479 DR, Fayne attempted to spy on Ilira by using her powers to disguise herself as the hated elf, and then seducing Ilira's girlfriend, priestess of Sune Lorien Dawnbringer. Unfortunately for Fayne, she wasn't aware that Ilira had a spellscar that caused her to burn the flesh of anyone she touched. When Fayne climbed into a bathtub with Lorien and began caressing her leg, Lorien immediately knew Fayne wasn't Ilira. Lorien captured Fayne and revealed her true form, but before Lorien could do any more Arrath Vir, one of Lilten's other agents, burst into the chamber and slew her. Fayne took advantage of the confusion and allowed Ilira to be blamed for Lorien's murder, and built on it by writing lurid tabloid articles that further defamed her.

Fayne was tasked by her father to capture a young spellscarred wizard named Myrin but she was unsuccessful and was captured by Kalen Dren. Lilten later broke Fayne out of the city watch's dungeon.

Westgate
Fayne pursued Ilira Nathalan to Westgate and prepared to enact vengeance in the 1480 DR. She used shapeshifting and illusions to take the appearance of a deva, and adopted the persona of Rujia. Acting as an inscutable and mysterious planar being, she opened a fencing academy called the Timeless Blade, which taught students the blade dance technique.

Disguised as Rujia, Fayne introduced herself to Ilira as an ally and even risked her own life to assist Ilira. Fayne finally found a suitably dramatic opportunity to act, and attacked Ilira atop the roofs of Westgate during a thunderstorm. She revealed her true identity and form to Ilira, and accused the moon elf of murdering her mother, with Ilira's sympathetic response only enraging her further. Despite having trained her whole life for this moment, Fayne was casually defeated by Ilira, who then spared her and simply left, not having the time or inclination to speak with or finish off the furious fey'ri. Afterwards, Fayne was severely punished by her father for attacking Ilira, though he refused to explain why.

Appearances

 * Shadowbane series
 * Downshadow • Eye of Justice