Ysaeril (prime)
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Ysaeril Illistim is a elven wizard with a penchant for art and architecture. She lives in the elven city of Ta'Illistim, heads an artists' collective known as Caeruil Atelier, and recently opened the Caeruil City School of Art.
In personality, Ysaeril is generally polite and kind, though introversion and shyness make it difficult for her to carry conversation. She is creative, curious, and analytical, but finds comfort in conformity during moments of uncertainty and is quick to adopt the social and cultural cues of others. Ysaeril is knowledgeable about art and architecture and is well traveled. She has her father's violet eyes, which is a defining physical characteristic of his lineage. Ysaeril claims no additional surname, same as her forefathers, but adopted a grid-like pattern as a family flourish on her crest as a symbol of her dedication to the Illistim city-state.
Crest
Ysaeril's crest is borne upon a gold-framed sapphire ornament that she carries with her always. The object emits a scintillating grid of silver and gold energy that glows brightly beneath her, guiding her path.
- Encompassed in a golden frame, a large peacock with teal and white plumage is set above an amethyst anemone flower upon a field of sapphire blue, accented with a flourish of a diagonally oriented silver and gold grid. The crest is flanked to the left with a silver drawing compass, to the right by a silver scroll tied in violet ribbon, and honored by violet-rimmed diamond. Simple script bearing the words "Draw upon knowledge" graces the iconography.
History
Ysaeril was born within the city walls of Ta'Illistim near midnight on Charlatos 6th, 4940 to Lady Evelise and Lord Mechryn Illistim, grandson of Meachreasim Illistim. She gained an interest in city works and drawing from her mother, who was an architect in her own right, and a love of study and lore from her father. As an only child, Ysaeril grew up in the Shining City, attending local schools early on, with frequent travels to her mother's Ardenai countryside. While staying with her aunt Esantra Ostrylae, an itinerant sculptor specializing in root sculpture, Ysaeril attended an arts college in Ta'Loenthra. The experience went on to shape her approach to arts instruction when she abandoned dabbling in sorcery upon the death of her father at ShadowGuard in 5102. She has more recently traveled to far-flung lands west of the DragonSpine including the Sea of Fire.
Having finally come to terms with her father's passing, Ysaeril returned to Ta'Illistim for good in 5117, having been recognized as a Master Painter on Phoenatos 15, 5117. In Eoantos, she won Second Place at the Ta'Illistim Grand Arts Gala a for her traditional landscape painting, "Autumn Comes to Sylvarraend." She also taught her first class there: Drawing 101. She had planned to offer a symposium on Watercolors versus Realism: Dichotomy or Imaginative Interpretation, but was overcome with a crippling panic attack leading up to the event and cancelled last-minute.
She currently holds land in Highpark Estates and was welcomed into the company of Twilight Hall to design an annex for the esteemed House near the quaint Paradis halfling village of Icemule Trace. She founded the fine arts collective known as Caeruil Atelier on 9/9/5118. On Lumnea 30, 5119, Ysaeril was honored with an elven jewel, a violet-rimmed diamond, for her artistry and fundraising efforts to support the refugees of Talador, which culminated in a fine arts fundraiser in Lormesta. By the grace of the Argent Mirror herself, all races were welcomed into Moonglae Inn for several days before and after the art show.
As 5120 began, Ysaeril was accepted into the ranks of Argent Mirror Myasara's handmaidens for a year of service. Under the service of the Argent Mirror, Ysaeril, along with the other handmaidens, provided creative oversight of a new solarium on the southern face of Ta'Illistim Keep. Utilizing organic architectural lines to frame glass walls and roof, the bespoke design highlights unique characteristics of the handmaidens, whose heritage spanned multiple Elven houses. Between her official duties, Ysaeril additionally worked to immerse herself in the public eye in an attempt to overcome her social anxiety; one approach was through a series of paintings of women of the Illistim court, with whom she made acquaintance while stationed in the Pewter Salon. A few of the pieces were presented to the Argent Mirror as a personal gift the following year.
In 5121, Ysaeril refocused her energy on the arts. She won second place in Cairnfang Manor's annual Grand Art Exhibit, for her portrait "Lady of Glo'antern." Ysaeril founded the Caeruil City School of arts in the vein of public Loenthran institutions, which features space for exhibition and instruction. She also helped Caeruil Atelier secure land outside the city walls for a more rustic retreat.
Ysaeril resigned from the Argent Mirror's service early in 5122, eager to cultivate her long-laid plans, which were finally coming into bloom. She secured a reciprocity agreement for Caeruil Atelier and the Ailffres Gallery in Ta'Loenthra, a multidisciplinary school for established artists. In Koaratos, the Caeruil City School had its first exhibition of Loenthran works, and she used the opportunity to provide an introductory course on aesthetics and criticism in the gallery. As the first day of autumn dawned across Ta'Illistim's lapis spires, Ysaeril completed the last of her guild study to achieve Grandmaster Alchemist status.
Meanwhile, Ysaeril resumed work on her ethnobotanical dissertation on the practical uses of plants in the Sea of Fire. The working title is Plants of the Sea of Fire. The Chrysanthemum Consortium was formed of like minded individuals around her, and the group met with the Argent Mirror and Masters of Lore representatives Feriae Enfiel and Vanathys to foment their plans. Upon receiving approval for the plan, she intended to travel westward with a Talador relief supply line (and then into the desert to collect more specimens) -- however an unexpected visit by several foreign dignitaries of other elven courts stymied her departure.
Early in 5123, two court acquaintances perished under questionable circumstances: Kasendra Malwind and Sayilla Javilerre. Ysaeril grew morose and recluse, choosing to finally resume earlier work she'd cast off regarding the Cathedral at ShadowGuard, where her father died in 5102. Despite all this, she continued to work with the Chrysanthemum Consortium, and the Masters of Lore who remodeled the Royal Arboretum for a wide body of botanical and scientific research. Later that summer, Ysaeril was taken advantage of by an unscrupulous imposter claiming to be kin. She closed the doors of Caeruil City School without further explanation. By late Eorgaen however, the City School was back open again, with an intracontinental visual art show honing in on the theme, "Silver and Gold," just in time for the eponymous annual celebration, held during the longest nights of Ta'Illistim's dark winter season.
Architecture
- Twilight Cavern near Icemule Trace (est. 5118)
- Caeruil Annex, an art supply store serving Ta'Illistim with a quaint gallery (est. 5119)
- Ta'Illistim Keep Solarium (est. 5120) - vignette: Sun Puddles
- Caeruil City School and gallery, (est. 5121)
- Caeruil Atelier Retreat, (est. 5121)
Artistic works
Essays and publications
- The Cathedral at ShadowGuard, a dissertation on the architectural history of ShadowGuard's Cathedral
- Watercolors versus Realism: Dichotomy or Imaginative Interpretation
- Plants of the Sea of Fire, an illustrated ethnobotanical guide regarding the flora of the Sea of Fire region, and how its people utilize them
- [Forthcoming] Deciphering Hlathlu, discoveries from Stormpeak in the DragonSpine Mountain range