fangs && frost

independent fe3h oc
penned by yew

all relevant information on ilya is here, feel free to dm me any questions.

winter's beast

in summary, ilya is infiltrating those who slither in the dark on behalf of the wolfskin, his people. his true motivations are hidden behind several layers of betrayals and deceptions.

aliases: ilya voukavich zima, ilyachka, winter’s beast
gender: transgender male
race: veneti
height: 158cm
birthday: 22nd of the etheral; imperial year 1161 (december 22nd)
age: 18-19 (pre-timeskip), 23-24 (post-timeskip)
nationality: ?
hometown: loup
residence: garreg mach monastery
factions(s): blue lions, wolfskin, those who slither in the dark (mole)
occupation(s): student at the officers academy (pre-timeskip)

lost item: odd stone – a strange rock that appears to have some sort of paw print insignia. what on earth…?

the veneti are one of the numerous ancient races of fódlan, more commonly known as the wolfskin. though they don't age at the same rate as the nabateans, their aging does slow down once they hit their thirties. most were born when sothis once roamed the lands, though their generation is slowly being overtaken by the scattered children born every twenty or so years.veneti are able to shift between a human and beast form, though most only shift into beast form for hunting and rest. the use of a beaststone is not required, but can help shift more easily and prevent accidental shifting.in the time of the goddess, they roamed the continent far and wide with no real homeland to speak of. this coexistence came to an end during the war of the nabateans and agarthans; choosing to stay neutral and fleeing temporarily, before ultimately returning to the newly healed lands.though they tried to establish a new home in the centre of the continent, they were ultimately pushed north by the goddess' children, eventually dispersing amongst the mountains between what is now faerghus and leicester.the veneti settlements and villages have long been ignored by the remaining children of the goddess, tolerated so long as they kept to themselves. the surviving agarthans sought out an alliance with the veneti, though their neutrality held them back from doing anything outside of trading and aid with shambhala.eventually, this partnership became one of one-sided spying; the veneti of old and the younger generations had long grown tired and shameful towards their promise of neutrality and began plotting to remove both the influence of the church and to decommission the agarthans's weapons and experimentation on sentient beings.there is a deep shame amongst the eldest of the veneti; shame for not preventing the slaughter of nabateans and for not stopping the eventual overreach of the church of seiros. they do, however, put the pressure onto the younger generation to solve the problems they did nothing to prevent.tunnels and bunkers between the veneti settlements were established in case of another war on a grand scale, though most are now used in order to make travel out of sight easier.

pre-1175

sometime before 1175, he has an encounter with the heir of house galatea along with her friends and betrothed; the group ending up far deeper in the mountains during a hunt.though he led the group back to their families, the strangeness of the encounter with the odd wolfchild might’ve left them believing the entire thing was a dream.

post-1176

between the years after the tragedy of duscur and 1180, ilya underwent several experiments and body modifications at the hands of those who slither in the dark.he went from an energetic, talkative child to a withdrawn, quiet young adult. the nature of the experiments are unknown, but he appears to have no crest.

white clouds

disguised as a human commoner, ilya attends the officers academy at garreg mach. though he starts as a student of the blue lions house, he may be recruited to other houses if you find his lost item and gain a high enough support.withdrawn and seemingly unable to speak, ilya is not intentionally outcasted by his peers for the most part but is quite often left to his own devices, if not outright teased due to his ‘oddities’.

crimson flower

ilya is in the awkward position of filling three roles at once; a mole for those who slither in the dark keeping an eye on edelgard, a trusted ally of edelgard willing to destroy both the church of seiros and those who slither in the dark by her side, and the proxy of the veneti there to destroy all who threaten the safety of the land.he bonds with edelgard over their shared trauma by the hand of those who slither in the dark, and at a high enough support with both her and byleth will back her completely over the veneti.

azure moon

betraying his former classmates left a poor taste in his mouth, yet ilya has both his duty to the veneti and thinks deviating from the plan will let it have all been for nothing. he is a brutal opponent, using his beaststone in full and no longer holding back in his brutality.ilya is a tough fight due to having both a physically bulky and more fragile mage form. to defeat him requires focusing multiple units with varied skillsets in order to take advantage of his weaknesses.if his support with both dimitri and byleth reach b pre-timeskip, he’ll be recruitable during a paralogue. years of balancing multiple factions and constantly betraying his loved ones has left him exhausted, and he will surrender if his people's safety is promised.