Lillian Djorn
Lillian Djorn was born in the frosty coastal town of Neverwinter along the Sword Coast of Faerun to a moderately wealthy wizard and his mistress. Her father, Halmodar Zorath, was an arcane researcher for a small faction of a rather large wizard’s guild based in Waterdeep, who was enthralled with his work to an almost unhealthy level. Jidae Djorn, Lillian’s mother, was a simple farm girl from a local family who had been sent to serve as a house maid to the group of researchers. Were it not for the domestic ministrations of Jidae, Halmodar would have likely starved himself into unconsciousness with his work. Their years of shared proximity and time eventually developed into a symbiotic form of love that would occasionally include sharing of the flesh when Halmodar was able to tear himself away from his studies.
Lillian’s birth was a difficult delivery and although Jidae survived the physical trauma, she was unable to conceive any other children despite abundant attempts.
Some of Lillian’s first memories are of listening to the burgeoning arguments of the intellectually arcane, and although honestly intrigued by the magnificence of the events, she was often shooed away by the busy researchers. Her spirited youth flowered into a willful adolescence with a virtually absent father figure and only a soft handed mother to serve in both parenting roles. Lillian often sought the affections of her father, but would rarely be granted the attention for which she yearned. In rebellious attempts to gain some acknowledgment from Halmodar, Lillian found herself drawn to the darker side of Neverwinter’s social scene and would often wind up getting into brawls or running from the Watch for having purloined some trinkets at the local market.
It was upon returning from one of her untoward adventures at the age of sixteen that she came upon her weeping mother and the torched ruin of the only home she had ever known. After calming her mother down and taking her to a nearby friend’s house for comfort, she was able to glean most of what happened from her.
A fanatical cult known as the Purification had been gaining in strength and notoriety over the past few years, but few paid attention to the machinations of the political hierarchy this far away from Waterdeep. As it turns out, a roving band of hunters from the Purification followed the information trail from Waterdeep to the researchers in Neverwinter. The Purification follows a mandate whereby they wish to cleanse the Realms of any arcane magics, seeing the ancient workings as evil and at the heart of many historical atrocities. The highly skilled hunters made swift work of the researchers and destroyed a lifetime of work in a few enflamed minutes. Jidae hadn’t been home at the time of the attack, but had been returning when the smoke first rose into the air.
Lillian’s life turned a fated corner after the death of her father, a man who barely had had time for her but that she loved as fiercely as any daughter would. After taking ample time with Jidae for mourning and to settle her in a comfortable niche with friends and relatives in Neverwinter, Lillian made a promise to her now broken spirited mother that she would find those responsible and exact a high price for their actions.
Two hard years passed before Lillian was finally able to establish the trust necessary to be accepted into a small cabal of the Purification in Waterdeep’s back streets. The time was not ill spent as she believed working from within the heart of the beast was the surest way to bring about its demise. She had earned a meager living singing in taverns and brothels from time to time, but a great deal of her income came from her more common and unsavory pursuits. Even moving as carefully as was common practice for her, Lillian came to the attention of one of the local Thieves’ Guilds. Sensing the opportunity to further her plans, she utilized that organization as her jumping off point for finding and infiltrating the Purification.
Once inside the Purification, Lillian used her many talents to work the organization to the best of her ability, occasionally making a profit by selling information or goods to the Thieves’ Guild, but always planning for the final payoff. Revenge for the murder of her father. Much to her surprise, the Purification was rife with magical knowledge and inventory, apparently collecting a great deal of what they uncovered before doing away with any witnesses. For a grueling three years she worked both sides of the fence with delicate precision, honing her wide variety of skills and developing a flare for the arcane arts as well.
Then, it was just before her twenty-third year that Lillian was afforded the opportunity to free herself from the wicked web of the Purification. The time had come for her to make her final move. A group of adventurers had stumbled upon the Purification’s trail through their own motives and with Lillian’s aid, they were able to orchestrate a major downfall for the magic hunting cabal while simultaneously and unwittingly dealing a staggering blow to the thieves’ guild. Those that had executed her father fell under her own dagger during the chaotic engagement, and with the death of those that destroyed her family, it was time to make a clean break. She was able to stage her own death in such a way, that leaving Waterdeep in the company of the adventurers offered her the chance to begin again, to start fresh with a new life and perhaps even a chance at happiness.