# #### **Basic Information** - **Name:** Ilyana Daryov - **Race/Species:** Human - **Class/Profession:** Merchant/Caravan Master - **Alignment/Morality:** Neutral - **Age:** 46 - **Gender & Pronouns:** Female (She/Her) - **Appearance:** A striking figure who embodies frontier resilience, standing five feet nine inches with a lean, wiry build honed through years of caravan travel and the physical demands of the northern trade routes. Her face features the weathered complexion of someone who has spent decades in harsh elements—prominent cheekbones, a strong jaw, and deep laugh lines around her eyes that speak to a life lived fully despite its hardships. Her eyes are a penetrating amber that seem to evaluate everything with the practical assessment of someone accustomed to making quick decisions with limited information. Her hair is dark brown with prominent streaks of silver, typically worn in a practical braid wrapped around her head like a crown—a style that keeps it secure during travel while making a subtle statement about her self-perception as a "queen of the northern routes." She dresses in well-crafted, layered clothing designed for the practical realities of northern travel—quality materials in rich blues and grays, with subtle embroidery incorporating her personal trade mark. Multiple rings adorn her fingers, each representing a significant trade agreement or alliance, while a distinctive scar runs along her left forearm—the result of a bandit attack in her early years that she makes no effort to conceal. She moves with the confident, measured stride of someone accustomed to setting the pace for others to follow, and her voice carries the natural authority of a woman used to commanding caravans through dangerous territory. #### **Personality & Traits** - **Personality Summary:** Ilyana embodies the independent spirit of Brevoy's frontier merchants—a trader who values practical results over political niceties. She approaches both business and personal relationships with straightforward directness, assessing situations based on tangible factors rather than social conventions or theoretical possibilities. To her caravan crews, she represents fair but demanding leadership, expecting excellence while rewarding loyalty and competence. To business associates, she presents a no-nonsense approach to negotiations that some find refreshing and others find abrasive, but all recognize as authentic. Her frontier background manifests in her preference for direct solutions, her talent for improvisation with limited resources, and her belief that actions speak louder than words or titles. Though capable of diplomatic behavior when necessary for business, she makes little effort to hide her impatience with excessive formality or bureaucratic obstacles. Beneath her tough exterior lies a woman with a personal code centered on reciprocity and reliability—she expects no more from others than she demands of herself, but she expects that standard to be met without excuses. - **Strengths & Skills:** - **Route Knowledge** – Exceptional familiarity with northern trade paths, including seasonal variations and hazards - **Personnel Management** – Remarkable ability to assess character and build effective teams from diverse individuals - **Crisis Response** – Highly developed skill at handling emergencies from bandit attacks to weather disasters - **Market Assessment** – Intuitive understanding of supply and demand across different regions - **Negotiation** – Direct but effective bargaining style that achieves results without unnecessary complexity - **Weaknesses & Flaws:** - **Political Impatience** – Frustration with the indirect nature of noble politics and diplomatic maneuvering - **Blunt Communication** – Tendency toward directness that can offend those accustomed to more subtle approaches - **Risk Tolerance** – Occasionally takes unnecessary chances based on confidence in her ability to handle consequences - **Stubborn Independence** – Reluctance to delegate important matters or admit when assistance is needed - **Class Resentment** – Underlying bitterness toward those who inherited wealth rather than earning it - **Mannerisms & Speech Patterns:** - Speaks in concise, direct sentences that waste few words, often dropping unnecessary articles or pronouns - Maintains steady eye contact during conversations, a habit developed to assess truthfulness in business dealings - Uses her hands expressively when speaking, particularly when describing routes or geographical features - Unconsciously orients herself toward exits and defensible positions, a habit from years of frontier travel - Employs colorful frontier expressions and occasional profanity that she only partially moderates in formal settings #### **Background & Story Role** - **Backstory Summary:** Born to a small trading family in northern Brevoy, Ilyana's early years were marked by the harsh realities of frontier commerce. Unlike merchants who operated from comfortable urban establishments, her family specialized in the dangerous but profitable business of caravan trading through the remote northern territories, connecting isolated communities with necessary goods and luxury items. Her defining moment came when her parents' caravan was attacked by bandits when she was just seventeen. Rather than fleeing, she organized the surviving guards and merchants into an effective defense, not only saving the caravan but capturing several of the attackers. This combination of quick thinking and natural leadership marked her as her parents' successor despite her youth and gender—factors that would have been obstacles in more traditional merchant houses. Over the subsequent decades, she has systematically expanded her operations from a single caravan to a network of trading routes throughout northern Brevoy and into neighboring territories. Her specialty remains the challenging northern frontier, where her willingness to travel routes others consider too dangerous has allowed her to establish profitable relationships with remote communities overlooked by more cautious merchants. Her greatest commercial achievement has been the development of a trade network connecting northern Brevoy with Numerian border settlements, circumventing the usual Technic League controls through a combination of remote routes and carefully cultivated relationships with local officials. This innovation has given her access to technological goods that fetch premium prices in Brevoy, establishing her as a significant player despite her relatively modest resources compared to urban-based merchant houses. - **Current Motivations:** - Expanding her northern trade network into previously unexplored territories - Maintaining independence from larger merchant houses that seek to absorb or control her operations - Securing her business legacy through training the next generation of caravan masters - Balancing profitable technological trade with avoiding dangerous Technic League attention - Personally proving that frontier-based merchants can compete with urban trading houses - **Connections & Relationships:** - **[[Northern Frontier Settlements]]** – Remote communities that depend on her caravans for essential supplies - **[[Orvin Malthis]]** – Established merchant with whom she shares certain northern routes through mutual agreement - **[[House Surtova]]** – Noble house whose northern territories she traverses, requiring careful navigation of their politics - **[[Marius Surtova 1]]** – Her primary contact for necessary permissions and occasional protection - **[[The Technic League]]** – Organization she carefully circumvents while still trading in technological items - **Factions or Allegiances:** - **The Caravan Masters' Guild** – Loose association of independent traders operating in northern territories - **Frontier Merchants' Collective** – Mutual aid organization she helped establish for small trading operations - **Northern Border Settlements** – Communities that view her as both trading partner and unofficial representative - **The Free Traders** – Informal network that resists monopolistic practices of larger merchant houses - **Notable Items or Equipment:** - **Caravan Master's Staff** – Symbol of her authority, doubling as a practical walking aid on difficult terrain - **Route Maps** – Comprehensive collection of northern paths, including many not found on official charts - **Trade Ledgers** – Meticulously maintained records of all transactions and agreements - **Winter Survival Kit** – Specialized equipment for northern travel during the harshest seasons - **Numerian Artifacts** – Small collection of technological items acquired through her border trade #### **Additional Notes** - **Recurring Themes:** - The tension between independence and security - The value of practical experience over formal education - The frontier as both opportunity and threat - Building success through reliability and reputation - **Player/GM Notes:** - Can serve as a valuable contact for characters operating in northern territories - Might provide quests related to caravan protection, route exploration, or market expansion - Could become an ally for characters who demonstrate practical competence and directness - Her caravans offer potential employment or transportation for characters traveling north - Despite her non-aristocratic background, has significant influence in frontier regions