Ishkunrel Shadowtail

Practitioner of Mundane & Arcane

Written by Tidus Demtrix

Scars carry a past, so full of enemies

Ishkunrel Shadowtail is an outcast of noble birth, thrown out for his eccentricities surrounding magic and tinkering with mundane technology. He is often adorned in commoner's clothes covered in roughly-stitched pockets and holsters, littering his lithe form with metal tools, errant materials, and crystalline components. With dreadful burns that cover his face and many areas of his upper body, this Peak Elf's visage is a sight that could scare children out of the streets and make weak-hearted maidens faint. After the events that led to such scars, Ishkunrel has carefully adapted each piece of equipment he uses with fear of the flames that they occasionally spit.

The Shadowtail House, a noble den of gentlefolk and socialites

The icy colors of The Shadowtail House fly high like an inviting winter, basking friends and newcomers in the gentle snow. While there is the standard highbrow mannerism of Peak Elven nobility, many of the folk who don the filigree-covered style of The Shadowtail Family grant smiles and welcoming conversation to those who cross their paths. It is well known throughout the streets of Ravenpeak that the family holds open arms out to those who wish to spend an evening watching the sun with a glass of wine or seek companionship around a chess table. There are very few times one will be turned away when seeking decadent enjoyment with the Shadowtail House, and are often granted forthcoming and succinct explanations to the occasion.

Though family history gets lost to the ages, it is believed that The Shadowtail House has existed since the founding of Ravenpeak. When the Peak Elves began to settle the cliffs and shale rock and transform them into the wondrous city, The Shadowtail House was there to keep morale high, somewhat opulent festivity going during the rough nights, and beautiful music playing for all to enjoy. All efforts went to securing the home that the Peak Elves needed, but there was always time to celebrate the new chance at life.

Secrets of the Family (Non-Public Knowledge)

The Shadowtail House, a noble den of spies and arcanists

The Shadowtail House is an extroverted, intrigue-based family with “friends” all over Ravenspeak. Those who grow under the icy cold colors of the Shadowtail banner are taught to stretch out their influence as much as possible and trap those who flounder in and make mistakes at the many house parties under their thumbs. Honeyed words and mystical influence were hallmark tools of the Shadowtail House, and such devices would win favor all throughout the city.

What good is friendship in the city of noble-blooded Peak Elves? The Shadowtail House's foundation is based on the ideas that none are to be trusted to their word alone, and that every sophont has it's secrets that can be milked for every coin or favor it has. As such, the family works tirelessly to improve relations within public eye and gather the trust of those foolish enough to place it in them. Supposedly since the beginning of Ravenpeak, The Shadowtail House has existed to gather and make merry between the many factions who call the city home. During these social venues, the House blends in as both the hosts of the party and the ears and eyes within the walls. Imbibment, musical preformances from renowned artists, and clever spacing of "private" places make for the perfect setting for secrets to slip from lips, mistakes to be made, and deals involving blackmail to be struck.

Religion is not the strongest suit for The Shadowtail House. While Ram may be their patron God from the shadows, the members of the family believe that the God of Assassins and Lord of the Harvest has set The Shadowtail House on the path of Schemes and Plots. No factual proof shows that the deity ever contacted the family, but they favor the planning and weaving of webs of lies and blackmail contacts to the dirty and bloody work of assassins. Favors and secrets are their preferred tools of the harvest, as those with something to hide are more than willing to pay the bounty that the farmer's fields will not.

Raised by the Arcane, shunned for the strange

Ishkunrel was never liked in the family, being a reclusive and socially-estranged personality. He often kept to places of the house that would never see the candlelights of opulent festivity. Even during his 25 years of rigorous training under the spies and arcanists that would draw out the potential of magic and secrecy from the children of the house, Ishkunrel was a stubborn and unruly youth. His desires to understand mystical practice was greatly appreciated, but turned sour in those days where Ishkunrel would waste his potential on creating basic toys and devices for his own entertainment. Eventually, he struggled in the final years of training to pass enough to be granted resources and access that came with the family name, even if it was simply to abuse his parent’s trust.

A rising star amongst the Elite

Over the next two years of his life, Ishkunrel focused down on the aspects of the ruling court. Where he often failed in using his words for entertaining and enchanting guests, the now-adult Peak Elf found his footing in turning a smaller court to his favor. While it did come to a few failures on his end, he began to make a reputation for himself in the Peak for his inventions and talents with magical technology. Ancient elves from the ruling families dismissed this young upstart as nothing but a noble child playing with toys he could never understand, but those with softer convictions were impressed by Ishkunrel's desire to prove himself worthy against the arcane minds of the city. Things that many would never wish to see uncovered came to light through listening devices fashioned from enchantment magics, script crystals, and rune-covered machinery. While this behavior did cost The Shadowtail House a powerful ally who dealt in exotic materials and components for spellcraft, it created many smaller housed allies all at once, which became a gust of wind under the wings of those extroverted spies and arcanists that once taught the boy.

Even stars have downtime

In between the grander periods of time, Ishkunrel kept up with his desires for artifice. Where problems would arise, he would craft baubles and trinkets to deal with such issues. The Peak Elf worked under the noses of many, having experience hiding away from the prying eyes of the Shadowtail House and applying the self-same tactics to dodging the artisan guilds of Ravenpeak. Shady characters existed in even the noblest of communities, and Ishkunrel made some modicum of gold off of poisons or devices to ensnare one’s prey. It ultimately did not matter to Ishkunrel who the worrisome sophonts were, as no morality over indirect actions were taught to him in his childhood, and gold was still gold no matter how bloody.

The Death of a Shadowtail

With all rises come falls, and in the third year in his dealings with the lower pieces of the Raven Court, Ishkunrel created a disaster for his own downfall. Attempting to root out a rival faction’s flawed production of potions, the industrious Peak Elf absconded with the in-circulation recipe and it’s perfect original in the dead of night. With such valuable information in hand, Ishkunrel planned to bring forth it all to the Raven Court and even prepared to recreate the recipe right in front of all the ruling houses. An unexpected event had arisen from the situation, as upon completion of the preparations for the coming visit in the Raven Court, an intense fiery explosion erupted from the mansion, burning away the recipes and risking the lives of several Shadowtail House members that day. Ishkunrel was brought into the infirmary, charred heavily and moments away from Death's Door. Time swirled past in a haze as the doctors and medical help worked to bring the Peak Elf back to the realm of the living, all the while the family who stood by Ishkunrel's side began to brew ideas of how to extract recompense from the young man and his actions.

His reputation within The Shadowtail House suddenly in ruins much like that part of the mansion, with not a scrap of the recipes to show for proof, Ishkunrel Shadowtail was sentenced to be exiled from the noble houses and stripped of all honors and accolades. Such punishments, Ishkunrel presumes, are because of the good faith he had gathered in his time in a court, and the sway of the members of The Shadowtail House that did enjoy the company of the strange Peak Elf. The Shadowtail family tore away all connections and resources to the young elf, and left him with nothing but his outlandish creations that survived the blast and some of his belongings in a dirty sack that smelled of onions.

General Information

Alignment

Lawful Neutral / Lawful Evil

Species

Peak Elf

Ethnicity

Faefolk

Birthplace

Ravenpeak

Parents

Gender

Male

Eyes

Rosy pink, common for Peak Elves of young age

Hair

Stark white

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Porcelain White

Height

6'7", below average for his race

Weight

70-75 lbs., also below average for his race

Diminished Stature

While Ishkunrel doesn't mention specifics around the circumstances to other folk, he chalks up his below-average size to the time he spent disobeying his betters during training. Food was attempted as a way to push the stubborn youth on track for his house studies, but ultimately failed when Ishkunrel accepted the punishment as a challenge to prove his mind was stronger than his need for sustenance.

Known Languages

1. Solm - Picked up from time as a noble
2. Common Elvish - Taught by the House
3. High Elvish - Native Language, taught by his mother
4. Verd - Taught by the House
5. Telvnol - Picked up from time on the trade caravan

Religion & Ishkunrel

• While most members of The Shadowtail House range in religious zealotry from middling to lax, Ishkunrel takes a much more serious, personalized, and internal view of his belief.
• While he might never share his views, it is a piece of what keeps Ishkunrel on the path towards his goals.
• "Every action and step is a piece of the Grand Weave of existence. Ram will guide my thread through every obstacle, challenge, and risk that is needed to complete his, and my own, tapestry."

Shadowtail Family Tree

A Year Lost, but not wasted

There is time in which Ishkunrel spent his days homeless in Ravenpeak. Painstakingly trudging through each day with a visage that reminded him of the enemies he now had to face alone, the misunderstood Peak Elf survived wielding wit and creativity like a blade. Ishkunrel never forsaked his family name, and occasionally abused it to call for favors that the House would have to repay. Counting each day like it could be his last, the scraps and odd coins won fueled his desire to get back to where he belonged. Somewhere along the way, an individual crossed his path that would begin to shape a new plan for the exiled Peak Elf.

Bastien Tredantes. The young man reeked of magic and foreign ways, something that caught the right amount of attention from Ishkunrel. Taking the opportunity to win over someone who looked out of their element, Ishkunrel used the last of his silvers paying for a decent, warm meal for the both of them. Weak polite conversation flowed between the two, until Bastien began asking about recent events in the city. Having kept his ear to the ground, and finally something substantial and not utterly boring to talk about, Ishkunrel worked to inform Bastien on what recently went on. The men parted the conversation learning little about each other, and more on how to keep in touch.

Keeping his thumb on the pulse of the city as best he could, Ishkunrel fed Bastien the information the young-looking Solmite desired. Some strange work followed the new business partner in Ishkunrel’s life, something otherworldly that reminded the Peak Elf of Lord Tennant. And it was not easy to keep prying after such information, eventually making Ishkunrel nervous that they were attracting attention. Pushing for a way out of the “city of vipers”, Ishkunrel stumbled upon an opportunity with a Trade Caravan that lost their quartermaster in the night.

Poison took the old Quartermaster from this world, and Ishkunrel could tell with little inspection that it was a familiar, local plant that was cultivated by all types of folk. Using the odd meeting with the Blackhill Dwarves that ran the caravan, Ishkunrel lied his way into their service as the new Quartermaster, pulling his new ally Bastien Tredantes along for the ride. It was to be a free trip out of the city that was close to being his new grave, but the real price was in the work itself.

Beyond the Walls of Home

There was little that was free about the arrangement made with those Blackhill Dwarves. They asked for hard work out of the Peak Elf in fixing a list of issues that had no end, and constantly keeping vigilance over the supplies that the Dwarves seemed to love to mix around. Over time, Ishkunrel poked and prodded the Blackhill Dwarves to pay him back for the hard work in another way, the language of Telvnol. It was not necessarily an interest of Ishkunrel to pick up on the tongue, but he had to capitalize on the chance while he was working his fingers to what felt like the bone.

After some time, the Trade Caravan came to a halt at the gates of Shardholm , and Ishkunrel was beyond happy. The Blackhill Dwarves were not the most civil in their ways, and it was drawing out a near constant scowl across Ishkunrel’s lips. His, and Bastien’s, service for the Caravan ended at the city. The Caravan would go off to find a new, long term Quartermaster, and Ishkunrel and Bastien would have a nice purse of coins to split.

Splitting coins was not the only thing on the agenda for the duo. Where Bastien was interested in this otherworldly pursuit of his family’s, Ishkunrel desired to accrue something in the here and now. While coin was a need for his future plans, the Peak Elf favored building up his contacts in the city. Criminals were not the easiest to get in the good graces of, and much of his income was spent on getting his name out there as an Artificer and an Alchemist. Eventually it would work in his favor, but for now he had to let the seeds of his work flourish.

The Peak Elf sent a few letters to his friend Bastien, informing the odd Solmite mage that he would have to be indisposed for a time. It mattered little to Ishkunrel what his ally was up to, just that they kept in contact. Their partnership worked for Ishkunrel, as he was somewhat drawn to Bastien’s ideas of Extra-planar things going on. In turn, he kept working to bring income in for the both of them, as well as information on whatever nonsense Bastien was curious about next. As such, his next step was with Mowel's Wroughtcraft.

Something wrong with the metal shipment led to the owner, Mowel Satina, reaching out to Ishkunrel for help. It wasn’t unheard of for the Peak Elf, as the balance in metal ores were much like the balance of ingredients for his brews. Working under this Mowel fellow was a bit cruel, but Ishkunrel was more focused on getting the job done correctly and safely than caring for the other workers of the place. Working diligently for a couple months to keep the balance of minerals in the bad batch of iron, Ishkunrel sealed the deal on a partnership with the industrious Mowel Satina. He wouldn’t say how or what happened for such a partnership to form, but Ishkunrel walked away with a devious smile on his face.

The First Vanguard of Shardholm began hiring shortly after, and Ishkunrel would not pass up the opportunity to get in the door with the Capital itself. Dragging Bastien along for the ride, Ishkunrel worked to show his best for the three-week training, even though he did pitifully in anything that actually required his strength of body. Mixing infusions by night to make up for the strains of successful failure by day, Ishkunrel and Bastien made it through the training, or testing, or whatever those three weeks were. With the patch of the First Vanguard in hand, Ishkunrel Shadowtail prepared for the next chapter of his life.