Dill

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Player: Bowick

Appearance
Dill is an Illithid, aka a Mind Flayer.

He's nearly 6ft tall, with an exceptionally skinny frame. His moist, dark purple skin sports a fair few visible scars. He has a large head, with two big, pink, worried-looking eyes. Where a mouth and jaw would be, hang five (and a half) long, and very expressive tentacles. The longest two grew sharp barbs after consuming the brain of a closet Warlock.

He has only two toes and fingers on each foot/hand, plus a normal amount of thumbs.

Around Zephyr, he generally wears a blue knitted jumper with a happy octopus on it. He sometimes has a brass saxophone around his neck and can occasionally be heard timidly tooting it.



Personality
Dill has been on quite the emotional rollercoaster over his relatively short life so far. The result of this is a creature who appears, and who by all means should be, monstrous in nature. Yet, he harbours a soul far more caring than would be expected. Although shy and nervous a lot of the time, he has slowly emerged as a gentle and creative individual who has come to realise that bringing people joy makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's entirely possible that's just because his empathic nature feeds on those happy thoughts. Or maybe he truly is just a good little Mind Flayer?

Either way, Dill tends to gravitate towards those with strong emotional reactions and he is endlessly fascinated by the mysteries possible within the sentient mind.

Having been utterly shaped by being a slave to the Hive Mind, followed by a slave to the brutal Drow underworld, Dill is painfully submissive to those who fall into the category of "master", expecting and accepting extreme punishments for any minor infraction. However, for the first time in two years since arriving on Zephyr, he has recently, finally come to terms with and accepted his official freedom from slavery. This was offered him by his ex-owner Veldrin Zau'Undar, royal daughter of the defeated and deceased Matron Mother of Niflheim.

Background
Dillrig'lith'gfrr was once an Illithid spy, sent to gather intel from a Drow city, by a civilization even darker.

He was, however, a terrible spy.

His first infiltration attempt was instantly foiled, and he was immediately captured. As soon as this happened, he felt his connection to the linked minds of his people had been severed. It was procedure, after all. Still reeling from this significant part of his mind, soul and purpose having been ripped away, it wasn't long before his will was broken by Drow slavers, and he spent the majority of the rest of his life under very brutal conditions.

After many years of inhumane treatment and eventually successfully proving his unwavering subordination, Dill was marked as a finished product, and sold to the highest bidder. His particular skills saw him assigned roles aiding Drow interrogators, secret keepers, spies, diplomats, and eventually, the most secretive of all: royalty.

Velkyn Zau'Undar, House Captain of the royal family of Niflheim, was responsible for the final purchase of Dill. Velkyn had begun to work against his own house with the goal of getting his twin sister safe from her fate of assassination, and recognised how useful Dill's abilities would be in aiding him.

When it was time for his sister, Veldrin (aka 'Rin), to leave on her grand tour of the surface world, Velkyn (aka 'Kyn) suggested she bring their favored slave with her as protection. As soon as the two reached the surface, far away from the watchful eyes of her family and the rest of Drow society, this daughter of nobility began treating Dill like an equal, much to his tremendous confusion.

Home
Dill was originally from Uhzdunakz, a small Illithid settlement deeeeep beneath the surface world. The colony was struggling to stay populated - too remote to readily find enough hosts to create new Illithid. Attempting to remedy this, they sent out a large number of scouts, raiders and spies to try and claw back some territory/food/intel much closer to the surface. Dill was one of those who never returned.

When Dill's connection to the Hive Mind was severed, the majority of his memories of Uhzdunakz were redacted too - A self-defence mechanism. This loss of memory debilitated him for a time, but through extensive delving deep into his own mind over the years, he has managed to recover a few fond memories. Aside from those, he generally remembers the emotions felt at home more than details. He remembers feeling warm and safe within his colony. There was zero individuality permitted however, and he very much enjoys the fact that he can now express himself.

Now that Dill recognises people as more than simply thralls or handy containers for juicy brain food, he considers most of his fellow Mind Flayers to have been cruel and evil beings.

Alignment
While he is often kind and attempts to do good for those he cares for, Dill's sense of morality is not quite consistent enough to upgrade him from his Lawful Neutral alignment. But for a Mind Flayer, that's still pretty damn good.

Language & Voice
An Illithid's native language is simply Telepathy, which disregards the boundary of spoken language. His race generally prefers not to communicate aloud, and if they do so, it is usually in Deep Speech, which to Illithid, still evokes elaborate mental images similar to their telepathy.

Additionally, Dill's specific colony lives in a place so isolated that their ability to speak became a vestigial feature. Dill, in his years of captivity, eventually learned to overcome this. His sixth half-tentacle is often unseen, as it spends a lot of time inside his throat, acting as a tongue to allow him to vocalise his speech, albeit with a slow and disturbing inhaled rasp.

He knows Deep Speech, Undercommon and finally, Common.

When working undercover, he uses his ability to create brief images and sounds in the minds of others (Minor Illusion) to replicate a more "normal" voice appropriate to his disguise. An astute observer can tell that these voices are effectively dubbed.

Diet
An Illithid must consume a bare minimum of one fresh intelligent brain per month in order to stave off severe illness. Other brains (eg animal brains) can be consumed in between for semi-nutritious benefit. Eating high-quality brains often enough will bolster the state of an Illithid's mind and its psionic abilities.

Dill was starved of proper brain food while a slave to the Drow for the last 20 years (in order to subdue his dangerous psionics), and is now quite used to being in this dysfunctional state. Urged by 'Rin, he has slowly been working to increase the nutritional content of his diet and become healthier. He still feels tremendous shame about eating humanoid brains, and is shy about doing so.

Having purchased a magical freezer (known as his Eldritch Fridge), volunteering at the morgue on Zephyr, and collecting what he can on missions, he now has a meal plan and a steady income of fresh brains!

Abilities
Unsurprisingly for a Mind Flayer, Dill's predominant area of expertise is the mind. He is able to detect the presence of sentient creatures and delve into memories, which he does often, for practical, social, medical, research, and entertainment purposes. He can even extract thoughts and memories from the deceased, so long as the brain is consumable. Having habitually consumed a vast array of minds over his lifetime, and methodically analysed the memories found within each one, he has picked up a limited but reliable knowledge base across a wide array of different subjects, often calling upon memories that were not originally his own. He has even picked up a few spells this way.

Dill is innately empathic and has an otherworldly ability to persuade - Almost indistinguishable from subtle mind control.

He is particularly adept at manipulating hopes and fears. He can consume fears, allowing a mind to be temporarily free of anxiety, and he can grant hopes, generally given in the form of inexplicably inspiring words of Deep Speech. He is also able to inflict a mind with various ailments if he so chooses.

In combat, Dill is a fairly quick and versatile fighter, hampering the minds of his enemies while offering support healing and providing a mediocre frontline or ranged assault as needed. He is often accompanied by a summoned Eldritch friend.

Music
Dill discovered music while in the presence of a Half-Elf Bard named Dinari Veldro, who was captured by the Drow years before Dill left for the surface. In the snatches of time they spent in telepathic contact, Dill gradually picked up the concept, and it was this connection with a very strong-willed, amiable and charismatic Bard which helped to humanise Dill. Although he still views music as a more acceptable and popular form of mind control - Spontaneously instilling people with emotions and the urge to move their bodies - He now uses it to great affect, manipulating the sounds of the environment into ethereal, atmospheric, and dramatic melodies within the minds of those around him.

While he's perfectly competent in doing so, it feels much less natural to him to actually physically play an instrument.

Illitherapy
After living on Zephyr for a number of months, Dill recognised how common it was for adventurers to be suffering from repressed memories, emotional baggage and traumatic experiences, whether from their life before the Halo, or from the stresses of adventuring itself. He began offering Guild members his own version of therapy, in which he delves into the subject's mind to expose these memories, listens to the needs of the subconscious, and works towards helping the person overcome whatever negative effect they are imposing on the person's psyche.

Testimonials include:
 * Discovering the root of a magical cancerous disease latching onto memories within the mind of the Asgardian hero Achilles.
 * Tracking down a rogue personality hidden deep within a Changeling's mind, and encouraging all of her multiple personalities to merge together into the Artificer we now know as Rain.
 * Almost accidentally transferring the attention of an Eldritch Worm God, aka the Manifest known as Hunger... from its host to Dill.
 * Unveiling secrets lost to time within the mind maze of Veldrin Zau'Undar, where the shadow of Ristel's experimentations lurked.

If any Tempest member is interested in an Illitherapy session, they would be able to find posters and business cards around guild hall informing them of the existence of this service and directing them to the location, and Dill's waiting list.​​​​​​ (Just PM me if you'd like to RP some! :))

Other Side Hustles

 * Dill works as a musician at Bill & Joey's bar, and has done for over a year now. He cares very much for Bill, Joey, and their adopted daughter Edna. He tends to play atmospheric music of a variety of genres, bringing whatever specific mood to the place he feels most appropriate or needed. He also plays for weddings, festivals and dance classes.​​
 * Dill volunteers at Mara's Mortuary, in exchange for a steady supply of brains.  He uses his ability to recover the memories and thoughts of the deceased by eating their brains, thereby offering loved ones any answers and closure they need. He also aids in cases of mysterious and suspicious deaths.

Where to Find Him
Dill lives in a townhouse with Quill Runescribe, at Number 4 Westerly Street.

He encourages visitors, especially for Illitherapy, which he hosts in the front room of the house. This is also where his prized aquarium is set up, home to a great many strange and beautiful aquatic creatures.

Gear
Out on missions, he wears colourful half-plate armour, emblazoned with his pink squid motif on one shoulder, and is generally equipped with an extraordinary number of tentacle-based items:

One large green severed tentacle is tied to his backpack and seems to animate with a mind of its own.

He also wears a set of apparatus brimming with experimental magic: the Mizzium Apparatus. These pink tendrils flow down from his back in a sort of cloak formation and are vaguely under Dill's control. They exude magical energy, sometimes in the form of helpful spells. Sometimes in the form of very unhelpful spells.

​​Lastly, he carries a Tentacle Rod, just because you can never have too many tentacles.

Pets & Summons
Dill owns a large aquarium, populated by a number of aquatic creatures:
 * Dinari the Mantabup [F], named after the Half-Elf who first introduced Dill to music, this happy little pup was Dill's first pet on Zephyr. She's the boss of the tank, though she's amphibious and enjoys having her own space outside the water too. See below for Dinari's transformation!


 * Bilkin & Arfnarf the Halo Fish [M + F], these two beautiful fish share a close bond with each other, and frequently float and twirl majestically around in the air.
 * Charlotte the Reef Crab [M], looks prickly but he's very sweet and loves to dance!
 * 3 Goldfish: Visszgh, Tadjikk, Issolf. [Grmmroek & Flejgrr are deceased]
 * 2 Crabs from Naiwick/Flesh Island: Rock & Stone [M + F]
 * Spla'Fooz the Catfish Fishcat [M], gifted to Dill by Angrboda from Obitus.
 * Schloop, a tiny fish-shaped water elemental that lives in a flask. Whenever it has freedom from this bottle, it absolutely loves to playfully splat into people. This game is relentless!
 * Vloss'kral the seahorse, from Duck Hunt, captured by 'Rin
 * An assortment of nice rocks, plants, skull decorations, etc.

Land-based Critters:
 * Grikk the ROTUND [M], this goofy, spherical toad is usually found rolling around the floor, often bumping into or getting stuck underneath furniture. Deceased! :(
 * Boriz the Palas Cat, who normally takes the form of a small cat figurine. When animated, Boriz is a big ball of floof who just loves to sleep in warm places.Elvis.JPG
 * Elvis the Intellect Devourer Puppy, a hitch-hiker that accompanied Xaliz'miir through time and space. Elvis was originally Dill's pet back home in Uhzdunakz, his Mind Flayer colony. This brain puppy is unnervingly intelligent, telepathic, and loves scritches.

Combat summons:
 * After spending a strangely timeless 8 minutes in the Far Realms, Dinari has been transformed into a large eldritch creature! She has developed an alien level of intelligence, although she does not often show it. She has a permanent mental connection to Dill and can now serve as his companion and mount in combat. But, she's still an excitable scamp who often forgets how big she is now.
 * Xaliz'miir, Guardian of the Deep. A Tusked Skyfish summonable through Dill's [Far Gear]. Xal is a big, dumb, floating jellyfish. Has far too many tentacles and seems to do everything in slow motion.


 * Hopes & Fears: Two Eldritch lions, summonable once per week.
 * Hopes is a gentle and noble beast, with a mane and tail made from floaty, mushroomy structures.
 * Fears is very acrobatic and acts a little more feral, but will do anything for a bowl of milk.