A dancing array of droplets swirls before you. In the midst of this storm stands a slender but extremely tall female clad in gray robes. She has no facial features other than her vivid blue eyes. With a graceful motion, she beckons to you.
A strange creature composed of countless tears and raindrops, Illurien of the Myriad Glimpses is a collector of information and a keeper of secrets. She is fascinated by the contents of other minds, believing it is her right to obtain and preserve such knowledge for herself.
Strategies and Tactics: llurien engages those she meets in polite telepathic conversation, but this behavior is just an excuse to examine their minds. Once Illurien has selected the brightest intellect among her chosen targets, she moves in, subjecting her foes to her storm of visions. She uses her tempest lash to deal Intelligence damage to her preferred enemy, relying on her cloud of foresight to foil that opponent’s defenders. During combat, she sometimes uses her pointed knowledge to intimidate and threaten her opponents. If pressed, she uses plane shift to flee to the Athenaeum Nefarious (see Environment).
Illurien travels the planes in search of knowledge and mysteries to steal and keep for herself.
Sample Encounter: Illurien has come to steal information from one of the PCs’ sagacious allies. She talked with that NPC for a while, then attacked him, drained him of intelligence, and slew him. After the murder, Illurien methodically inspected the slain man’s organs and body parts to see his specific internal workings. The characters now have a grisly murder to solve, and the corpse, drained of much of its knowledge, utters only the name “Illurien” if questioned with a speak with dead spell.
Ecology: Illurien is a unique native of the Concordant Domain of the Outlands. Where she came from and who created her, if anyone did, is a mystery. Some suspect she is a minion of Vecna, but Illurien, Vecna’s clergy, and Vecna himself say nothing on this subject. She gains sustenance through collecting knowledge, but her consumption of other minds doesn’t destroy the information she gathers. Rather, that cognition becomes a part of Illurien and her storm of visions. Illurien doesn’t otherwise eat or drink, and unlike other outsiders, she doesn’t breathe. She has no physical needs or desires beyond her thirst for erudition.
Environment: Illurien resides in an extraplanar repository referred to as the Athenaeum Nefarious, a place so well hidden in the wilderness of the Outlands that few have found it—and fewer still return from it. The library contains stacks of dark and forgotten lore, baleful traps, vile guardians, and several one-way portals to other planes. A clue to the whereabouts of this sinister vault is the perpetual storm that enshrouds it. Only Illurien can use plane shift to arrive precisely within the Athenaeum Nefarious.
The Shrouded Dispensary, a building 100 miles from the center spire of the Outlands, is where those who wish to speak with Illurien can call her. She comes if she’s willing, carrying a sword of the planes (DMG 228) and protected by the effect the Outlands has on magic, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities. Only Illurien can use the Dispensary’s planar gate, which leads to the Athenaeum Nefarious.
Physical Characteristics: Illurien is a graceful, human-like, female figure, roughly 8 feet tall, with shimmering silver-gray skin. She has no distinct facial features other than a pair of silver-tinted eyes with blue irises. Close examination shows that she is composed entirely of iridescent droplets, but this watery composition forms organs and even bonelike structures. So, despite her elemental nature, she does have vulnerable spots. Illurien touches the ground only when she must, otherwise floating or flying everywhere she travels.
Alignment: Illurien lets no emotions stand in the way of her calculated collecting. She can feign kindness when doing so suits her ends, but pleasantries can’t sway her. She enjoys plucking information from unwilling minds, and she doesn’t care if she causes suffering, but she isn’t gratuitously violent. Illurien is neutral evil.
Society: Illurien considers herself a scholar, a collector, and a sage. The knowledge she possesses is in demand. Creatures from across the planes seek Illurien’s counsel, despite her fees, which are brutally personal and coldly constructed.
Typical Treasure: Illurien rarely carries treasure, but she might be caught ferrying a tome of disturbing teachings or a mystifying item to the Athenaeum Nefarious. If she is carrying valuables, those objects are worth as much as standard treasure for Illurien’s Challenge Rating (22,000 gp). The sword she carries to the Shrouded Dispensary is worth slightly more than this total.
If it occurs anywhere other than the Shrouded Dispensary, Illurien’s death spawns hints to the location of the Athenaeum Nefarious in minds recently touched by the tempest lash. Creatures that survive her attacks might be left with the ability to find Illurien’s gloomy home.
