Ilya

Ilya is one of the members of the Darklight Crusaders. A member of the Sabatcieni, Ilya was actually one of the shadow-children alongside Zhenya and Anya. After the events of The Light of Lunaria, he became the leader of the Sabbath-remants though they no longer were the Sabatcieni. He uses a Bloodshed Rapier as his weapon of choice.

Biography

Early Life

Ilya has grown up in the cave-forest of the Sabatcieni, deep within the Kosmosi Mountains. These lush caves hold fey magic, and lead down into the depths of the Underdark. The Sabatcieni is a coven of a hundred folk of all kinds, from humans to ogres to undead. They are led by three Babas: Baba Nadira, Baba Imka, and most importantly Babaoga.

Baba Imka, the Bloodaunt, became the closest thing to a true mother that Ilya would've had, for better or for worse. She taught him the sanguine ways of the blood rites.

Ilya was the first of the shadowchildren, Babaoga's chosen family. Two others were raised like him: Zhenya, the only brother Ilya has known, and their younger sister Anya. The lesser members of the Sabat look up to the shadowchildren, as they are family of the three hags. There are expectations on the three to deliver the refugees and the outcasts from the light, as the surface Lunars would hunt down most of them and make them disappear.

One day in 3E498, while on a trip to the surface, Ilya ended up in the Crimson city of Dawress. Spreading the word of the Sabat's safety, he was arrested by the Crimson Faithkeepers for heresy, and taken to a prison deep into the mountains named Oly's Keep.

The Light of Lunaria

Check the main campaign page for the detailed plot summary.

Ilya met Esfir in Oly’s Keep, a notorious prison run by the Crimson Empire to hold lunar prisoners. They quickly met other prisoners such as Ront, Jimjar, and Muna, as well as guards like Ronnie and Gemben. Ilya and Esfir discovered the presence of a demon named Alisa, who materialized terrifying dolls and animatronics to torment the prisoners. Then, they met Favian Giranenko and Dmitri Zolotov who got put into the cells opposite them. With the arrival of Favian and Dmitri, the group planned an escape, eventually clashing with the prison’s warden and releasing the daemonfae Alisa in the process. Fleeing into the snowy wilderness, they made their way to Night's End, the headquarters of the Blackreyne Brotherhood, seeking help to defeat the demon they unwittingly freed. There, they met Headhunter Can Vanadiyin as well as Headscribe Otto Albiker, and learned more about Alisa’s past and reality as a Koshmorha, setting them on a quest to gather resources and allies to end her threat once and for all.

The party’s journey led them to the town of Voghnov, where they met the+ blackreyne slayer named Naigha, who led them to an ancient battleground that was considered to be a 'Wound in Divinity'. They eventually defeated the wyvern that she was hired to hunt down, and also found a cursed golden dagger there that Esfir took. With the necessary ingredients and allies in hand, they moved on to Dobuka via cargo train. Finally in Dobuka, they headed to Greasetown where Esfir lived. In the Rust Bucket, they met another blackreyne hunter, the warforged Viktor, who sought a 'child of the Shadowfell' that Ilya recognised as his brother Zhenya. Despite the mounting dangers, the group prepared for their final confrontation with Alisa in the sewers beneath Dobuka where a few children from the local orphanage had disappeared to. The party faced Alisa in her true form after taking the tea of insomnia and casting private sanctum. With the help of Naigha and Dmitri's divine smite, the party finally overcame the daemonfae, rescuing two surviving children from her grasp and securing a hard-won victory.

After their week of recovery in the Rust Bucket, the group found itself plunged into political and personal turmoil. Ilya’s midnight meeting with his brother Zhenya revealed that he worked with Luka to steal a piece of the 'Dark Scepter'. The next night, Blackreyne hunter Mash arrived alongside Viktor, who accused Ilya and his brother for the murder of Brush, the only witness to Luka's theft. Dmitri took Ilya to Neogathol Prison, where they had a discussion with Viktor. Favian and Esfir were forced by Gordon to work with Mash, and ended up relying on Lady Anwela Neonenko for help. Eventually, Viktor revealed the truth about the Dark Sceptre to the party, and how his secret client had bought the Dark Filial that Luka stole during its journey. He instructed the party to recover it from the Shadowfell, sending Mash alongside them.

As the group ventured toward the Shadowfell, they journeyed to Neosk and the darkening Alphwoods. The mayor of Neosk told the party of the corrupted Father Borys and how the Shadowfell gate opened within the town. The battle with Borys ended with them saving the town, but ending up on the other side of the gate within the Shadowfell. The shadowy realm tested their resolve and abilities, as they faced shadows, mimic creatures, cloud giants, and dangerous Shadar-Kai assassins while traveling to the city of Moonruin with two companions named Oshki and Zuria. The party's arrival at Moonruin introduced Luka, who had become the lord of the city. He and Esfir's former teammates had taken over the city using the Dark Filial. The party ended up capturing the orc Vadim, gaining some information from him before talking to the town's dark priest, Viziel. He was neutral in their fight against Luka, and introduced them to him where the party pretended to turn to Luka's side, especially after noticing the shadow dragon Mynvokun under his command.

He tested them first by sending them on a treasure hunt in an abandoned prison nearby, where they found a strong artifact that would prevent death. Favian decided to create a replica and present Luka with a fake version of the artifact, which somehow worked and they seemingly gained his trust. He had the party drink dark holy liquid that Ilya had ingested before as well. Luka and Viziel revealed that the Dark Hunt's invasion is going to happen within the next two years. The party then stole strong artifacts from Luka's treasury, using said artifacts to finally fight him and kill him for good. Esfir ended up killing both Zanasha and Luka in the fight, and Ilya claimed the Dark Filial from Luka. After an argument on what to do and where to take it, the party decided to make a dark pact to prevent betrayal among themselves. With Viziel's help, they bound their souls with that of Mynvokun, the Shadow-Dragon. The Dark Oath made sure that any decisions the party makes had to be voted on, and no one could betray the rest of the party without having Mynvokun consume their souls. They decided to make this pact until the apocalypse of the Dark Hunt is prevented. Ilya attuned to the Dark Filial.

They decided to contact Viera Blackreyne, the Archhuntress of the Blackreyne Brotherhood. They warned her of the impending Dark Hunt invasion as well as Viktor's involvement, and she told them to meet her at her mansion in Taltigo. They plane shifted to the Lunar Sea. Meeting Viera in her mansion there, she revealed to them Viktor's history and how she distrusted him. She wouldn't mind if he were to die, even. She told them to ask Lady Lyn for help in locating whoever ordered the Filial to be shipped to them, but warned them not to owe her a favor. Lady Lyn agreed to help the party, and in return they had to travel to Torishu and kill Pirate Waterlord Ozran for her. She sent her daughter Myranda with them on the small ship called The Disgraced Eel. As the party reached Torishu, they fought off a Shinobi ambush and hid at an onsen. The party then defeated the Waterlord Ozran in combat, and asked his corpse all the information he had about dark artifacts. They learned that whoever had ordered the Filial's shipment already owned one piece of the scepter that they had gotten from Skion. They also learned of a buried treasure Ozran hid away that he had stolen from Xaniv the Whisperer. They uncovered Xaniv's Book of Vile Darkness, and then decided to bury it again after only learning a few spells from the evil book. They said their goodbyes to Myranda at Taltigo, and Esfir named the party 'the Darklight Crusaders'.

Lyn revealed to them that the shipment was meant to be delivered to Akhlezh and was ordered by Ballista Libra of the Golden Church, who was in Kalkipol at the moment. The party discussed their options and decided to have Dmitri sneak into the church to gather intel. Upon making it to Kalkipol however, they were immediately caught and apprehended by Ballista Virgo, who took the Dark Filial from Ilya momentarily. Libra chastized Gemini, and then cut off Dmitri's right hand. Virgo then left, releasing the party from their bounds and dropping the Filial. The party then quickly escaped the Church by breaking a window and disappearing into the dark alleys, having picked the Filial back up. They took shelter in an abandoned warehouse, where they reflected on the true apocalyptic plans of both the light and the dark. The party went to the Sabatcieni warehouse in the city where Ilya met his sister Anya. She read his memories and gave him a new bloodshed rapier commissioned by the Bloodaunt. Favian immediately recognised her as looking extremely similar to Dmitri. After a lot of speculation into their lack of memories, the party came to the conclusion that Anya is likely Dmitri's twin sister, separated through time via the Feywild's time dilation. They were then ambushed by Gold Monks as well as a Gold Inquisitor, leading them to seek out an alliance with House Koporev.

They ended up meeting Bolt Matros Koporeva, and revealed everything to her including the Dark Filial. She hired them as official Kuprum Explorers, and promised to hide the Filial somewhere safe. She then sent them to Skion Labs in Gematirsk to steal information from Ballista Aquarius aka Dr. A under the guise of delivering the Soul-Sacrificial Dagger. She gave them one of her personal airships - the Sokol - as well as one of her personal trusted men, Zurikov. In Gematirsk, they infiltrated Dr A's office within Skion Labs and uncovered information about important people of note as well as communication between him and Kol-Han that revealed the Ballistas' apocalyptic plan. After a fight with Dr. A and Vortex Viktoria Vier, they escaped Gematisk on the Sokol and made their way back to St. Arbalsburg.

The party had to explain and lie to Bolt Ithila Giranenko, convincing her that they're working for the church in addition to Matros. Dmitri convinced Ithila that Favian, if he saves the world, would only elevate House Giranenko. Ithila was very suspicious and critical of Ilya, especially after they revealed that he was a dark-worshiper who turned against the dark. The party then discussed what to do, and ended up deciding to head to Terros through Dobuka to look for Baron Gideon Huxley, stopping over at the Sabatcieni near Dobuka first. The party departed with Zurikov and arrived at Boetsk for a short respite. Ilya was approached by a woman begging on the streets and gave her some gold. The woman hugged Ilya and before anyone could comprehend what happened, Ilya got clawed to near death, making him lose his senses and a lot of blood. She revealed herself to be his mentor, Baba Nadira, and placed a dark sanguine curse on him. She threatened to kill Anya if he didn't deliver the Dark Filial. The curse on Ilya couldn't be lifted by Favian or Dmitri so the team decided to directly meet Gideon Huxley, who could help them out. The party was also attacked by Dark Hunt Bleed Killers before they met Gordon and Anya in the Rust Bucket in Dobuka, and then convinced Anya to travel with them for a while for her safety. Over the next few days, they headed towards the terrosi city of Yawrôn to find Gideon after learning from Ingrid that Gideon was in his hometown. At the DoD they finally met Dame Ingrid Rennwald. As the Darklight Crusaders explained the situation to her and the guildmaster, they agreed to help them out in any way that they can.

The next morning, Ingrid led them towards the Mountainfey Ruins, where they finally met Baron Gideon Huxley who healed Ilya. After he was briefed on the entire situation, he realized that Anya and Dmitri are linked to the fey in some way. He tried to unlock their memories, returning to them snippets of memories. Dmitri had an angry reaction and was calmed down by his friends. Anya however transformed into her Nightmare Spirit, lashing out at everyone and reflecting magic as she did so. As they finally calmed her down, she vowed to kill Babaoga and anyone else who has wronged her. They then also revealed that Viera was missing, leading to the party heading to Night's End to deal with Viktor once and for all. Ilya helped Mash and the other Blackreynes fight against Viktor and his supporters, and after they killed him, Can promised that Night's End is going to be a friendly base of operations for the Darklight Crusaders.

After that, the Darklight Crusaders had a meeting with Can, Otto, Zhalimov, Zurikov, as well as a new diplomat- Raziel of Alsiorion, the Keeper of Secrets. As they told them mostly everything, Raziel asked the party about their plans and their convictions, before revealing that the oracles of Alsorion have determined that the Dark Hunt would attack two years from now, on the Varkosi Arcanos of 3E500. He then revealed to them the location of Markal Zuriel as well as his history, and told them that he awaits them in the heavenly plane of Qaydar. The party then spent many 'months' within the heavenly planes making their way to Markal. When they finally met him, they were attacked by Ballista Aries who they finally ended up killing for good. They then stepped back through her portal and appeared in Sergorod, realizing that 2 years had passed and that they only had one week until Varkosi Arcanos.

They met Zurikov and Bolt Matros who explained that a Lunar Council meeting was happening at the Table, and this would be the best time for them to make their case to the bolts that show up as well as Serebryanitsa Strela. The party revealed almost everything to the Bolts from the Church's plan to let the world end, Dr. A's letter, as well as what they did to Dmitri. Kol-Han almost convinced the room to be against the party, but Favian's pleas to Na-Bolt Anwela Neonenko worked and she ended up supporting them. Kol-Han attacked each of their characters, but in the end Serebryanitsa Strela ruled to be neutral in this affair. After the successful meeting, the party contacted Anya who told them that Libra and the Church were attacking the Sabatcieni at Rtutiv. They immediately teleported there and killed Ballista Capricorn. They encountered Ballista Libra who killed Anya, challenging Dmitri to defeat him in under a minute and cast revivify on her. The fight was incredibly difficult, but eventually Dmitri ended up killing Libra with Ilya and Favian's help. They revived Anya, who explained that the three Babas had locked themselves away for months conducting a ritual as well as that Zhenya was now much stronger and essentially leading the Sabatcieni into war.

Ilya and the party finally met Zhenya within the Sabbath, where Zhenya yelled at Ilya for joining the ‘light’. Ilya managed to convince most of the Sabbath that the Dark Hunt would be bad for everyone and that Zhenya is lost. After a decisive fight, Ilya managed to break Zhenya’s hexed strength and bring him down. There, in front of the entire Sabbath, he then executed his brother whose body fell into the ravine de-powered. Finally, Ilya was essentially the leader of the Sabbath at least while the Babas were locked away.

Afterwards, Esfir and the entire party had a shared vision of the apocalyptic future. Esfir’s patron entity 'Gigarion' then asked each of them if they were willing to give up their lives to make things better, and sacrifice their futures beyond just killing the Babas and Kol-Han. They all vowed to do what they must: Ilya vowed to attune to the Dark Sceptre but not be consumed by it, and lead the darkness into a better future. Now that their bonds of trust were unbreakable, Mynvokun’s soul ended their soul-pact prematurely, now that it was no longer needed. Ilya had a dream of his first memory in which he was named by Baba Ogafya. The party had a fruitful discussion with Bolt Strakh in Rtutiv, but on their way out of the Merkuriyev Fortress, a magical trap tried to pull in Favian. Mash realized this in time and the party was able to follow Favian to the GIMA Bolt’s office, where Ithila and Demyan held Favian paralysed. Ithila refused to listen to reason, and even tried to kill Favian with Power Word Kill which was prevented by Dmitri. She let out their Giranium Golem on the rest of the party, and Favian and Dmitri together managed to convince Demyan to help them instead. The party neutralized Ithila to the best of their ability and took both her and the golem down. Favian made her listen to him, and she reluctantly named him Na-Bolt.

At midnight when Varkosi Arcanos began, the Dark Hunt invaded Abmarah. The barrier around Babaoga’s hut disappeared, and the party ventured into her demiplane where they finally faced off against Baba Ogafya, Baba Nadira, and Baba Imka. Despite killing the witches, their coven’s magic kept reviving them. Favian managed to disintegrate Baba Nadira before she could pull off Mash’s face, and then they managed to kill Baba Ogafya and Baba Imka together. Ilya had a touching farewell with Imka before she disappeared. The party immediately boarded the Sokol above in the Kosmosi Mountains, and rested while Zurikov piloted them to Sergorod. The crusaders reached Sergorod by sunrise, and rushed up towards the Golden Church as the Dark Hunt waged war against Lunaria and the world as a whole above them. Ballista Leo stopped them, but Markal immediately engaged the fight with the other angel. The party managed to get past Leo’s chronomancy and kill him, before rushing up to meet Kol-Han before his pipe organ. He took them high up into the sky above the city, to a cloudy altar. Chastising Gemini and vowing to destroy them, Kol-Han casted a meteor swarm and almost ended the party at the beginning of the fight. Favian’s simulacrum joined this final fight as well. The fight against the Patriarch was incredibly dire and the party almost did not make it as Kol-Han called the Lightclaw to him. Markal kept the lightclaw from reaching Kol-Han, when Dmitri finally ended him. Kol-Han died unable to reach Lightclaw, gasping for it until his final moment.

Dmitri then attuned to the Lightclaw while Ilya attuned to the now-complete Dark Sceptre. Together, the two resisted the calls to do evil and become gods. Ilya banished the Dark Hunt forever to the Shadowfell, and Dmitri let chaos into the world to end this era of order. However, outside their trance Favian, Mash, and Esfir realized that this was killing the two. They decided to let the two artifacts destroy each other, and using all their magic they forced the artifacts to touch and implode. Dmitri and Ilya were freed, as ripples in the fabric of reality brought the cosmos to a perfect balance. The party went on to all become leaders, as Favian got more responsibilities as Na-Bolt, Dmitri forced the rest of the Ballista and the Golden Church to reform as their new leader, Ilya settled the Sabbath onto a new surface town, Mash became the new Headhunter after Can’s retirement and reconciled with his family, and Esfir became a balance between all of them.

After the Campaign

Ilya and Anya as the leaders of the Sabbath vowed to steer the darkness into the right direction. With Dmitri's help, they resettled all the members from the caves onto a surface town called Sutinkivka within the Kosmosi Mountains.

Timeline

Gallery

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Ilya during Ch. 1 & 2 of TLoL (Credit: Vijay)

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Ilya during Ch. 3 of TLoL (Credit: Vijay)
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Pixel Ilya (Credit: Daibik)