Alesine Zadava

Angel of Lathander

Alesine Zadava

Alesine Zadava, born Alesine Zadava Iliric, is a solar of Lathander, was born a half-elf noble of Baldur's Gate, and was part of the Lost Star Detectives, the adventuring group that ended the Damnation of Elturel.

History

Early Life

Alesine was born on the 13th of Nightal, 1474, in Baldur's Gate to Devden Iliric, a human merchant, and his shadar-kai wife Yathanae Carhana. While her family officially owned a business that specialized in trading precious stones and metals, their true source of income was in corrupt business practices, blackmail, and laundering money for others.
Alesine was given a quality education by her parents, who strove to appear rich and acceptable by their wealthy and noble peers, but their lust for power and influence drove them both into joining the Cult of Dispater in spring of 1484. As part of their membership, the two of them traded away their souls, and Alesine for years after believed her soul had also been traded away. Alesine was also turned over to Marth Nox, the leader of the Baldurian cult of Dispater, for a more specialized education in blackmail and extortion as well as developing her natural connection to the Shadowfell, resulting in her ability to wield the powers of a shadow sorcerer. During this time, Alesine also supported by a fellow child being educated by Nox, the gnome Nalansmyrt, whose parents were friends with the Ilirics and who joined the cult alongside them.
Alesine's education in the cult continued throughout her teenage years, where she performed acts of blackmail, intimidation, and espionage. However, she reached her breaking point in 1494, when she was instructed to blackmail a man for his soul, but the man instead turned over the soul of his five-year-old daughter. The cult was satisfied, but Alesine was shaken and ultimately left the cult that same year, despite Nox's objections.
Alesine began acting out following her departure, committing what she saw as either victimless crimes or crimes against assholes. One such instance was during the summer of 1494, when Alesine joined a ragtag group, assemebled under the Mourning Dove, the Guild kingpin of Tumbledown, to steal the Helm of Torm's Sight from the mechant ship Aremag's Blessing. It shortly became clear to Alesine though that these crimes weren't doing anything important, and in 1495 she reconnected with Nalansmyrt, who had also left the cult, and was introduced to Jondrotir Forehelm and Vianola Phidi. The four new friends banded together to try and expose some of the corruption in Baldur's Gate, but the group started struggling after a contact of theirs was killed, reinforcing that they weren't just playing a game and that the stakes were real.

The Disappearance of Elturel

(See the Lost Star Detectives)
On the 2nd of Eleasis, 1497, Alesine was in Elturel with the other members of the heist from three years ago, as the Mourning Dove was stiffed on payment for the Helm of Torm's Sight by the smuggler Buddy Novs. Alesine worked with the others to located Buddy in the subterannean Maze of the city. Because they were so far underground, the group was unwittingly spared Elturel's damnation as the entire city above them disappeared. Shocked and distraught, Alesine and the others joined and protected a caravan of refugees headnig towards Baldur's Gate.
In Baldur's Gate, Alesine found that she was the only one that could enter the city on account of the recently declared state of emergency, and so she and her former heist partners began working for Flame Ronald Zodge, commander of the city's Basilisk Gate. Flame Zodge, who was shorthanded due to the Flaming Fist Succession Crisis caused by Duke Ulder Ravengard's presumed death in Elturel, offered to let the entire caravan into the city if the group could solve a series of recent murders connected to the cults of the Dead Three. The group, now calling themselves the Lost Star Detectives, agreed.
Over the course of their investigation, Alesine connects the Lost Star Detectives with her friends in the city. The group discovers that every murder has been of either a descendent or an active member of the Elturian Hellriders. The Detectives trace the murders to Duke Thalamara Vanthampur and ultimately kill her and her son Thurstwell, but not before Duke Vanthampur's plan to assassinate Duke Dillard Portyr succeeds. The Detectives also discovered the Shield of the Hidden Lord in the basement of the Vanthampur estate, which they took with them. Alesine also ran into her parents briefly, who put on airs around her companions, and was briefly intered with Dzarya on the orders of Duke Vanthampur, starting their deep friendship.
After causing the death of one duke and witnessing the death of another, the Detectives were rewarded by Zodge and his commander, Marhsall Liara Portyr, but were instructed to leave Baldur's Gate to let things settle down. Deciding that was prudent, the group left for Candlekeep to learn more about the shield and the infernal puzzlebox they had taken from Duke Vanthampur. There, the Detectives unlocked the puzzlebox and discovered Naja Bellandi's Pact with Zariel and learned that Elturel wasn't destroyed but was instead taken to Avernus. The Detectives also met the amnesiac hollyphant Lulu, who remembered that she was Zariel's friend and companion during the Charge of the Hellriders. Lulu asked to come along, and while Alesine did not trust her, the group ultimately agreed.

Hellturel

Alesine and the other Detectives were teleported into Avernus by the otter wizard Traxigor, appearing in Elturel's Dock District. After meeting the vampire and once Lord of Elturel Klav Ikaia and doing their part to help the living survivors in Shiarra's Market, the Detectives crossed the bridge into the city's High District, briefly clashing with the bounty hunter Delle Bellfiend who wanted to the Shield of the Hidden Lord.
On the other side of the city, the Detectives met with Ulder Ravengard in High Hall and retrieved the Helm of Torm's Sight to recieve a vision on how to save the city. Dzarya was also kidnapped by abishai during this time, deeply affecting Alesine who believed she lost her friend for good.
The resulting events in Elturel, Xifira Mistmore's death at the Siege of Helm's Shield Hall, the discovery that devil contracts were causing the Elturel to sink in to the River Styx, and a heated interparty confrontation following Dzarya's temporary death at the hands of Delle Bellfiend, began wearing on Alesine. Her friendship with Lulu was a lifeline in the city, and Alesine starting relying on Lulu to be a moral compass and wondered if perhaps she could magically strengthen her bond with the hollyphant.
After securing Elturel as best as they could, the Lost Star Detectives realized they had three goals in front of them to save the city. They needed to break or release the chains holding the city, destroy or invalidate Zariel and Naja Bellandi's Pact, and inverse the polarity of the Companion. Lulu advocating for attempting to redeem Zariel, to convince the once-angel to rejoin the side of good, which the god Torm seemed to support, as he encouraged the group to find Zariel's Sword, and Alesine pledged to Lulu that she would help. Alesine also learned the secret of stabalizing Avernian distances from Kinsey Eridanus' parents, resutling in a two-day coma.

The Search for Zariel's Sword

On the ground of Avernus proper, the Detectives met Mad Maggie, who offered to reveal Lulu's memories via her Dream Machine. Alesine worried for Lulu's safety but supported her when Lulu expressed her desire to use it, necessitating the group to find replacement components for the machine.
The first item the party located strove to retreive was Phlegethosian sand from Bel's Forge at the suggestion of the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Though Alesine distrusted the shield greatly, the party went along with its plan, ultimately resulting in the shield's destruction and the release of the archfiend Gargauth, who was sealed inside the shield by Asmodeus centuries ago. This proved to be the final catalyst Alesine needed to make a pact with Lulu, refining her natural shadow magic into something more pure and divine, which also resulted in Lulu remembering that she did the same thing for her long lost friend Yael as the two of them hid Zariel's Sword.
As the Detectives continued fighting and exploring Avernus, Alesine's inquisitive background consistently came through to help them, and her detailed note tracking was pivotal in unraveling the actual history of the Charge of the Hellriders, Zariel's fall, and the mechanical elements of Elturel's damnation.
Alesine and the Detectives were able to secure the three remaining items needed for the Dream Machine to work, while also making stops to attempt to rescue Katya Sinaran's wife Emmeryn from Tiamat, returning to the Material Plane briefly to fight the hag that stole Arcus Miursa's voice, retrieving the keys to unlock the Companion, and sabotaging the controls of the chains binding Avernus from Zariel's flying fortress.
Returing to Mad Maggie and using her dream machine on Lulu revealed the location of Zariel's sword, which turned out to have a spark of Zariel's pre-corruption soul inside. When the Detectives arrived at the sword, the piece of Zariel's sword inside quesetioned each person who approached on their beliefs and motives. Arcus was found unworthy because of his hatred for celestials, and Dzarya was denied for believing that she needed to attune to the sword to make herself better. Alesine, however, was found to be a true inheritor of Zariel's will, and upon grasping the sword Alesine was blessed with angelic features and power.

Alesine, Angel of Lathander

Alesine, gaining newfound confidence and a sense of purpose, helped the Detectives kill the demon Crokek'toeck, and the heroes returned to Elturel, assissting the remaining factions in preparing for a final assault of demons that believed if they killed all the inhabitants before Elturel was submerged in the Styx, it would deny the devils their new soldiers.
Alesine and the Detectives also worked to unlock the Companion, freeing the solar trapped inside, and the group defended the solar from Zariel's followers and once mortal friends, Olanthius and Haruman. When Haruman was defeated, Zariel herself arrived, but Alesine, Lulu, and the other Detectives were able to convince her to see the error of her ways, using the piece of her soul in the sword to give her a chance to remake the decision to side with Asmodeus centuries ago. The heroes then split up to defend the city during the Battle at the Well of Dragons, with Alesine, Arcus, and Dzarya fighting at High Hall.
Following the battle, and Elturel's teleportation out of Avernus, Zariel spoke with the heroes in a liminal space, granted by Torm and Lathander. There, at Lulu's suggestion, she gave Alesine the extent of her celestial power, feeling herself unworthy of it. Alesine accepted, becoming a true solar, and Elturel was returned to the Material Plane.
Alesine began helping in the city's rebuilding efforts, pointedly choosing the stay out of politics as so many in the city hung on her every word. Alesine also turned to Lathander, inspired by the aid he offered Yael in her final moments and the redemption he gave to Zariel. Alesine's encouragement of her followers to turn their prayers to Lathander have resulted in the Church of Lathander growing by leaps and bounds in the city.
Alesine also met back up with her friends from Baldur's Gate to let them know the events of her time in Avernus, and she committed one more time to trying to convince her father, now a member of the Council of Four, and her mother to leave the Cult of Dispater, which they refused. After turning over the information she had on the cult to Duke Ravengard, Alesine then departed the Material Plane, knowing that her presence could be destablizing at that her great powers required her to turn her attention to even greater threats.
Alesine would return intermittingly to Faerun over the next several decades to revisit old friends, but as her companions and friends passed on, she found less and less reasons to return, though she never lost sight of the need to connect, defend, and advocate for mortals.

Physical Description

Special abilities

As a mortal, Alesine was an adept shadow sorcerer, able to manipulate her connection to the Shadowfell through her shadar-kai heritage, and she was well known for making nearly impossible shots with bolts of magic. As she adventured through Avernus, Alesine's pact with the celestial Lulu began warping her magic, interspersing brilliant, radiant light into her normally shadowed spells.
Upon her transformation into an angel, Alesine's innate magical abilities have exploded in strength, and her celestial nature has nearly drowned out all of her Shadowfell connection. Though she has gained some proficiency in martial combat, Alesine's primary strength in combat remains her magic and battlefield control.

Mental characteristics

Sexuality

Though Alesine was bisexual, she never had the time nor the desire to get into a relationship before her transformation into a solar.

Education

Alesine's education in the Cult of Dispater was extremely thorough, but its focus was on manipulation, the Nine Hells, politics, magic, and any other ways that Alesine could gain power. While many of these skills were transferable to every day life, its framing, and particularly the cold and emotionally manipulative way it was taught, left Alesine emotionally distant and traumatized.

Mental Trauma

Alesine often struggled with emotional distance. While a caring and empathetic person by nature, her time spent in the Cult of Dispater reinforced the inherent evil of humanoids and the need to remain aloof of others' feelings. Though she rejected the cult in her adulthood, these lessons did not leave so easily, and left Alesine often stockpiling blackmail information on others, just in case.
Alesine also often doubted her own judgementon matters, particularly when devils were involved, despite her education on them, because her inherent disposition was to assume that devils, and by extension mortals making contracts with devils, was inevitable, a feeling that worsened when Alesine learned that Elturel's fate in Avernus rested on mortals not making devil contracts.

Morality & Philosophy

As a young cult member, Alesine’s morality reflected all the adults around her and her actions were predominantly lawful evil. Because she grew up without good role models and was taught to do exactly as told or face harsh punishment, Alesine struggled to develop her own moral standards after leaving the cult. Initially, she simply tried to avoid harming others and rebelled against expectations, leading her to behave in largely chaotic neutral ways. As she continued to distance herself from her past, connect with friends, and think about what she wanted from her life, Alesine found helping others rewarding and resolved to be a positive force for change. By the time the Damnation of Elturel came to pass, Alesine was best characterized as chaotic good, committed to helping others but unable to establish consistent ethical principles for herself. She continued to have a difficult time with moral reasoning. She would try to apply general rules too broadly and overcorrect when it was clear that her actions were flawed. For example, recognizing that violence caused harm, Alesine was frequently too willing to compromise with devils in hopes of resolving conflicts without it. After Burney pointed this out, Alesine went in the other direction and was overly harsh when she encountered two cultists of Dispater.
Another ineffective strategy Alesine favored was attempting to substitute other people’s judgment for her own. She would often choose to go along with what the other Lost Star Detectives wanted, assuming they would make better choices than she would. When she did have to make a choice, she would try to decide what Lulu or someone else would want her to do. Even though it was difficult for Alesine, Lulu encouraged her to make her own decisions. During their conversations about morality, Lulu offered advice but consistently declined to tell Alesine what to think or do.
As Alesine gained experience, she became more comfortable determining the best way to handle a situation. In one instance, the Lost Star Detectives were confronted by Pearza, a member of the Dark Eight seeking to recapture Enki, who was traveling to Elturel with Thei Linden. Knowing that the group could not win a fight, but wanting to protect Thei and Enki, Alesine told Pearza three technically true statements that led him to incorrectly conclude they were traveling to the Demon Zapper. She did this over the objections of her compatriots and knowing that, had roles been changed, Lulu would not have chosen deception. It was also one of the first times that Alesine used a devil cult tactic because she independently decided that it was morally justified and not because she was backsliding into old habits.
When Alesine attuned to the Sword of Zariel, it gave her the confidence and motivation to settle on a firm moral code, shifting her alignment to lawful good. Drawing from her own beliefs and those of Zariel before the fall, Alesine committed the following principles:

• I am obligated to use the power that I have been given to help others, and I need to do right by the people who rely on meI must hold onto hope and try to inspire it in others
• All people deserve understanding and compassion
• It is important to protect vulnerable people and to speak truth to power
• Justice should focus on righting wrongs and helping victims rather than revenge or punishment
• People always have the capacity to be better, and I should encourage people to choose good

Social

Contacts & Relations

Alesine's friends from Baldur's Gate, Jondrotir, Vianola, and especially Nalansmyrt, are near and dear to her and provided a much needed group of stability and acceptance following her abandonment of the Cult of Dispater. Even upon becoming a solar, Alesine takes the time to stay in touch with them as she can.
Among the Lost Star Detctives, Alesine has varying thoughts, though it was be overly dismissive to say they each aren't important to her. Dzarya became a lifelong friend, and the two of them bonded early over their knowledge of magic and shared, but radically different, experiences living in Baldur's Gate. Katya too was someone that Alesine could rely upon and have her back. The death of Xifira affected Alesine greatly, and served as one of the catalysts for Alesine to realize she needed the magic, and strength, offered by Lulu to protect others. Alesine liked Whisk, but never fully understood her. While Kinsey was reliable, Alesine and her never had the chance to truly connect they way Alesine was able to with Dzarya and Katya. Alesine also often clashed with Arcus, as everyone in the Lost Star Detectives did. His headstrong nature, willingness to fight before asking questions, and desire to kill devils over helping those hurt by them put him and Alesine at odds. Alesine did respect Arcus and would've preferred to be friends with him, but her transformation into a solar made that impossible.
While initially distrusting Lulu, the hollyphant soon became one of Alesine's greatest friends. Her boundless optimism, love of friendship, and desire to always do the right thing helped ground Alesine. The two of them became even closer following their pact, and Lulu saw in Alesine the same goodness that drew her to Yael and Zariel. After Alesine became a solar, the two of them were often seen together when Lulu wasn't traveling with Zariel.
Zariel and Alesine also formed a strange friendship after the former's redemption, initially predicated on Alesine learning how to use her new angelic powers. Alesine was able to see what Lulu did in Zariel, a good person that lost their way, and Alesine's own experience in being used for evil and moving past contributed greatly to their shared understanding, despite their vastly different lives.

Family Ties

Alesine is not close with her parents. In the years leading up to the Damnation of Elturel, Alesine intentionally avoided her parents as much as she could, as any interaction with them left her stressed, angry, sad, or some combination thereof.
While Alesine actively dislikes her father, who was often the one leading the family's cult efforts, she is more uncaring to her mother, whose affection and feelings would often change at the drop of a pin.
Following her transformation to a solar, Alesine gained newfound confidence in dealing with her parents, finally able to cast off the fear of rejection she suffered with for years. Though she did not remain in Baldur's Gate, she did inform her father that should he become a serious threat, she would stop them, which has successfully checked many of the cult's worst influences.

Religious Views

Outside of the cult of Dispater, the Ilirics were not religiously observant, leaving Alesine with no particular religious affiliation. Her knowledge of other corrupt religious organizations in Baldur’s Gate and distrust of powerful figures meant that she was not inclined to become religiously observant. During their journey immediately following Elturel’s disappearance, Unity Prayers and worship of the Companion unsettled her. She viewed the Order of the Companion as a cult that refused to admit it was a cult. Later revelations about the accuracy of this belief reinforced Alesine’s hesitancy towards organized religion.
Despite her reluctance, Alesine slowly found herself drawn to the worship of Lathander. Lulu’s faith and the conversations they shared intrigued Alesine. She held great respect for Lady Yael’s continued faith and persistence as well. When Lulu’s memories were revealed by the Dream Machine, Alesine was awed by Lathander’s commitment to provide aid even as far as the Nine Hells. After receiving the Sword of Zariel, Alesine prayed to Lathander for the first time, offering thanks. Alesine found herself praying to him often after that point. Lathander’s acceptance of Zariel’s redemption further inspired Alesine, and she pledged her loyalty to him when she became a solar.
In speaking with Elturians before and after the city returned to the material plane, Alesine gave credit to Lathander, especially when people seemed to worship her. She emphasized that the sword and the power she received with it was a blessing originating from him, and said that she was just working in service to him. She also often quoted his sacred texts, finding his messages of hope and renewal to be highly relevant.

Species

Solar

Date of Birth

13th of Nightal

Year of Birth

1474 CR 24 Years old

Birthplace

Baldur's Gate

Sex

Female

Eyes

Glowing Silver

Hair

Brilliant red

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Light and flawless with gray undertones

Height

5'8" while suppressing celestial nature

Weight

160 lbs while suppressing celestial nature

Belief/Deity

Lathander

Aligned Organization

Lost Star Detectives

by Ashley

Alesine shortly after claiming the Sword of Zariel 

by Ashley

Alesine and Lulu, her patron and friend

by Sam