Dame Lidia Vie
Dame Lidia Vie is a Priestess of Eru Ilúvatar. She works with the Purple Pine Mountain Barbarians as part of the mission to the Rainbow Barbarians. Her patron is Estë.
She is the aunt (father's sister) of Lord Raza Vie.
She and Thalion Paurgiliath Arch Duke of Eltán have had three sets of twins:
- Eluwen Paurgiliath and Eluwing Paurgiliath are members of the Druid Circles of Arda
She was briefly a Princess (by marriage) of Eveal on Harn.
Cleric(Minstrel, Elf) L9 NG Harnic High Elf
Character History
Aunt of Lord Raza Vie.
With Thalion Paurgiliath, Mother to three sets of twins: Elurond and Elurion, Eluriel and Eluthien, and Eluwing and Eluwen Paurgiliath.
She is a priestess of Eru, and her patron is Estë, fountain keeper, healer, waterer of the gardens of Lórien. She prefers to go out at night, and if she rests during the day on an island without seeing the sun, that night she gets an extra spell at her highest level and saves against her magic are made at -2. If she casts during daylight, saves against her magic are at +1.
Only a little younger than Thalion, they were something of young sweethearts. The weak Harnic Elf King, who disliked the strong Duchy Eltan, arranged a marraige between her and a minor prince of the Royal house. She became Princess Lidia of Eveal.
She rather liked her husband to her surprise. He was foolish, overly young, and probably spoiled, but not wicked. Unfortunately he lacked common sense, and died soon after their marriage, leading a hunt into a mysterious cave.
The first time since her marriage that she saw Thalion was in high court. He brought the body of her husband, and the head of the Ogre Magi who had slain him. Bowing formally he left again.
Both of them were less than two hundred years old, but the law said that she could not marry again.
She heard over the years that he was having bizarre unprecedented numbers of children, some with ladies of the court whom she knew. She wondered if her loss had driven him mad.
In their third centuries of life, they began to meet again, and eventually he explained what had become his life's work. It was foolishness to allow elves to fade away as a race, but the culture was unreceptive to change.
He had spent years using his holy divinations to ask Eru to guide him into a better way. Eru had, by request, set rules for marriage, in the Age of the Trees.
He had not set, and did not intend, rules governing procreation. In this fallen age, where elves are long lived but mortal, and often even less fertile than in the early ages, elves were going to die out and fade away entirely if they didn't start having more children.
The elves had built a culture which did not select for fertility: for ages uncounted, elves had one or two children at most, whether or not they could have had more. Being an exercise of free will, this was acceptable to Eru, but utter foolishness. Added to the taboos against having children at all when a spouse died young, it was the equivalent of using free will to evolutionarily jump off a cliff.
Moreover, if the histories had not been clear enough, half elves and high men were part of the great plan, and harmony between the children is pleasing to the most high. Elves have a better chance of getting along with human cultures when they were interwoven.
When she realized that he was an active Paladin, still sane and bearing Eru's blessing, she did her own divinations, and shared his. The first set of their twins were born the next year.
A great many of the more conservative members of society objected. After one particularly grating conversation with Daelda, the King of Eveal, she renounced the royal household, threw her tiara in a fountain, and went to live with Thalion.
He had now inherited the Dukedom, and passed Ducal Law legitimizing all children.
She is excited for the inclusive promise of the Free Imperia, and misses Harn less than many of her generation. It is strange to her that the young Emperor still judges her family and Thalion's so harshly.
She has become quite fond of the extended family of mothers and Paurgiliaths uncounted that run the Duchy, but being away from civilized Imperial society suits her.
She had always liked the Barbarians, and when postings for Rangers and Clerics to live with the tribes were declared, she volunteered immediately.
The barbarians have become quite fond of her admittedly odd ways, and she visits Thalion and the children often. In many ways it is a happier life than she might have had, though very strange.
Elven Minstrel Kit
Special Benefits:
Special Resistance: Elven Minstrels gain a +2 saving throw bonus against all magical effects based on music. If the attack does not allow a saving throw, they receive a normal saving throw, anyway.
Spell Singing: Minstrels are some of the few beings still in existence who know the ancient art of spell singing. Some sages claim that magic was originally released into the Prime Material plane by an ancient master musician. These sages maintain that music is the true catalyst for ultimate sorcery.
Whether this is true or not, it is a fact that elven Minstrels cast spells through their music.
Minstrels cannot cast spells in the typical manner. When a spell calls for a somatic component, they must play an instrument.
Likewise, they must sing when a spell requires a verbal component.
Material components must be carried on the Minstrel's person in a specially prepared bag (made from deer leather). The Minstrel need not reach into the bag or manipulate the material components. When the spell is cast, the components simply vanish from within the bag. If the bag does not contain the required components, the spell does not function.
Not all instruments can be used for spell singing. First of all, if a spell requires a verbal component (singing), only those instruments that leave the Minstrel's mouth free can be used. This eliminates most of the wind instruments. If the spell requires a somatic component, the instrument must support numerous, complex hand manipulations (as is true of any stringed instrument). This eliminates gongs, cymbals, drums, and most of the percussion family. Thus, elven Minstrels typically carry stringed instruments. Keyboard instruments would work but are generally too bulky to carry around.
Spells that normally emanate from the caster's hands instead radiate from the spell singer's instrument. Thus, burning hands produces its 120-degree arc of flame from the instrument (and not the Minstrel's hands).
Spell singing is in all other ways just like typical spell casting.
Influence Reactions: This ability works just like the True Bard's ability of the same name. However, a Minstrel can sing or play an instrument in an attempt to influence reactions. And, if the Minstrel does both, he can adjust the reactions by two levels instead of the typical one. This is not cumulative with the crowd working proficiency or the bard's reputation.
Counter Song: The last special benefit of the Minstrel is identical to the True Bard's counter song ability in every way.
Special Hindrances: Without an instrument, Minstrels cannot cast spells that require somatic components.
