Vivienne Yellen

Vivienne Yellen is a drow bard and third eldest child of the Yellen family, one of the noble families within the Third D'Nalsi Empire. As her older sister Ellisandra is poised to inherit leadership of the family, Vivienne was able to dedicate her time to the bardic arts as both a musician and scholar. Through her studies, she had endeavored to create a poetic record chronicling the stories of D'Nalsi's less fortunate, a goal that was cut short following her abduction. As of 4,708 AB (5E 495), her whereabouts remain unknown.

History

Early Life

Vivienne Belle Yellen is the daughter of Lydia Yellen, the matriarch of House Yellen, and Cigne Virvekh-Yellen, former general of the D'Nalsi Red Crest. Growing up as the third child of a noble family was considered the "best case" for noble children, as the child escapes the expectations that come with potentially inheriting the family legacy while still benefiting from the perks that come with their station. Life for Vivienne was vastly different from that of her older siblings Ellisandra and Orion, as the pair carried the brunt of her family's legacy and all of the responsibilities it bore. As a result, she spent much of her childhood playing with her younger siblings and other noble children, often leading a gaggle of unattended minors on rampages through House Yellen's palace.
She was extremely close with Cooper Jelahr, and his disappearance following the Kindros Uprising in 4,685 AB (5E 472) stuck with her for the rest of her life. For many years following his disappearance, Vivienne struggled to make new friends, even isolating herself in her room for months at a time on several occasions. During her periods of isolation, the only company she had were her books, tomes filled with stories of the ancient world and tales of triumphant heroes. The more she read, the more she became fascinated with the ideas of adventuring and trading stories with anyone she came across.

Royal Engagement

Though she was the third oldest and thus free from the responsibilities of future leadership, she was still the daughter of a prestigious noble family, a fact that only served to further fuel her isolation as she approached adulthood. For many nobles within the D'Nalsi Empire, upward mobility for their family was largely dependent on who their children married, and the children of a family as powerful as House Yellen were prime targets for political marriages. As Ellisandra was already married and Orion betrothed, Vivienne became the primary option. After her eighteenth birthday, the Yellens were bombarded with letters from potential suitors vying for Vivienne's hand in marriage. Despite her protestations, Vivienne's parents forced her to meet with the suitors, hoping it would at least help her open up and become more sociable again.
Among the suitors was a young man named Fabian Shulir, son of Governess Nirni Tardinnovithas. He, like Vivienne, had considerable disdain for the process, though as the only child of a governess, he had significantly higher pressure placed upon him to marry someone of greater esteem. Unlike his mother, Fabian sought to earn higher status through his actions, hoping to enlist in the D'Nalsi Red Crest and earn his own reputation and influence. In the end, Fabian was the one selected to receive Vivienne's hand in marriage, though only on the condition that the marriage be postponed until Fabian returns from service in the Red Crest.

Studying The Arts

When she was nineteen, Vivienne left the safety of her family's estate and enrolled at the Yclerrian Academy of the Bardic Arts, a bard's college in the city of Nexus in the province of Breidia. While at Yclerrian, she initially studied in the ways of bardic storytelling through song, though she found herself excelling the best at the art of poetry and speechcraft, which led her to switch focus towards those skills instead.
Alongside her studies, Vivienne used the time at Yclerrian to broaden her social horizons, hoping to learn as much from her fellow students as she did her instructors. Though she made many acquaintances during her time, most of them children of nobility like her, the group she was closest to consisted of individuals from vastly different walks of life than her. Her friendships during this time helped her to gain a better sense of the world, in a way that inevitably created a rift between her and her family. Thanks both to her newfound friends and her time living within Nexus' Hearth District, she became much more intimately familiar with the people of D'Nalsi and their needs, things that members of the nobility often only considered in the abstract. When talking about her family during an interview with the Heartland Post, her older sister Ellisandra remarked that perhaps Vivienne would have been better suited to carry on the family's legacy.
After graduation, she was accepted into the Yclerrian Academy's chapter of the Arcturian Historical Preservation Society, a joint effort between the Grand Arcturian Academy and numerous bard's colleges to preserve Yrnath's history through bardic traditions. For her contribution to the Society, Vivienne wanted to weave together a poetic epic telling the stories of the people living in Nexus' slums. Her goals were complicated when, in 4,698 AB (5E 485), the Emperor of D'Nalsi appointed Vivienne's older sister Ellisandra to be the new governess of Breidia. Her sister's new position of authority made many in the slums distrustful of Vivienne, making it harder for her to gather enough stories to complete her epic.

Disappearance

Her work was ultimately cut short, as in the year 4,707 AB (5E 494), Vivienne was abducted from the slums while conducting interviews for her poetic epic. Upon investigators discovering that her captors had ties to the Silver Imperium, the case was ruled as a political assassination, ending search efforts.

Created using Hero Forge

Age

35

Date of Birth

5E 460

Pronouns

She/Her