Ian Eightstrings is a traveling
human bard and agent of
Dispater that traded his ability to speak for a beautifully, pitch perfect singing voice.
History
When Ian was a young man, jealous of the beautiful singing voices of his peers, he made a deal with Dispater to be endowed with a flawless singing voice in exchange for the ability to speak. While initially thrilled with his new abilities, Ian came to regret his decision in time, finding himself forced to perform tasks for Dispater as part of the deal and suffering from his inability to communicate normally.
While traveling, Ian met the
tiefling Envy, and the two fell in love, traveling together. Envy soon learned how to perfectly read Ian's gestures and expressions, often translating for him. Envy also learned about Ian's regrets about his deal with Dispater and became convinced that if the two of them performed enough services for Dispater, the
archdevil would let them live in peace. Ian doubted the feasability of this plan, and worried for Envy's own soul, but couldn't dissuade him.
In Marpenoth of 1497, Envy and Ian were dispatched by Dis to talk with the
Lost Star Detectives on
Avernus and uncover what information they could about their attempts to end the
Damnation of Elturel. Having traveled from
Dis, they were instantly met with hostility by
Alesine Zadava, a former cultist of Dispater herself, but the rest of the group was willing to share their stories, especially
Arcus Miursa.
However, Arcus' boastful storytelling, and the subsequent sharing of his exploits by Envy and Ian, drew the attention of the
hag Zilly Redwood, who rendered Arcus mute in his youth and sabotaged any effort he made to "find his voice," literally or metaphorically. Zilly used her magic to teleport Envy and Ian to her to prevent their stories of Arcus from spreading, but Envy misinterpreted the spell as an act of maliciousness by the Detectives, prompting him to break a magical crystal in his possession, binding his fate to the Detectives.
Because of this, the resulting teleportation spell took nearly the entire group to the
Material Plane, however only Envy made it to Zilly's lair in a forest outside of the village of
Triel in the
Western Heartlands. Envy was imprisoned by Zilly, who intended to make what use of the tiefling she could.
Ian instead teleported to an area outside of Triel with the other Detectives, who interrogated Ian about what happened. Desperate to get Envy back, Ian sung to the Detectives their past and the magic Envy had used. Though some didn't trust Ian and Envy still, the Detectives allowed Ian to accompany them while they confronted Zilly.
Katya Sinaran in particular was sympathetic to their plight, having had a similarly complicated relationship with her own wife
Emmeryn and the archdevil goddess
Tiamat.
Together, the Detectives and Ian were able to kill Zilly the next day, and Katya freed Envy, reuniting the two. In thanks, the storytellers promised not to report back to Dispater until time had passed, giving the Detectives a headstart. Ian and Envy were then left on the Material Plane when the Detectives returned to Avernus.
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