Who they are
Nilah is a warrior tied to Bilgewater.
Their story belongs to Bilgewater. A lawless harbor where anything can be bought, and the dead come ashore.
Their story, step by step
- Step 1
A girl in Kathkan
Nilah began as an unnamed girl in Kathkan, a peaceful land that had ended the threat from its violent neighbor, Camavor. She loved reading and was fascinated by Kathkani myths, especially the Cycle of Ashlesh about a primordial demon imprisoned in the underworld. By solving riddles in those stories she worked out that a secret order of heroes guarded Ashlesh beneath the capital, and she went down to find them.
- Step 2
Ten missing years
The girl vanished for ten years, and what happened is unknown. Some say she trained with the legendary heroes, others that she fought Ashlesh in the dark for a decade.
- Step 3
The transformed hero
She came back cursed with constant joy that overrides other feelings, bound to the demon Ashlesh, and carrying a blade of liquid from the demon's waters. She took the name Nilah, after a legendary river of fate. She became a famed monster hunter who killed beasts such as Grandmother Viper, the demon Imago and the demigod Nabavelcius.
- Step 4
A weakening prison
Nilah learned that the magic holding the king Viego in his prison in Camavor was fading. His Ruination magic drives demons into a frenzy, which could wake Ashlesh's siblings and threaten Kathkan. She sailed to Bilgewater to look for the Sentinels of Light from the stories she read as a child.
- Step 5
Bilgewater
She made a name by killing sea serpents and rented a room above Oyster Bill's Oyster Shack. There she found Malcolm Graves, a former Sentinel. After a fight interrupted by mercenaries and sea creatures, he told her the Sentinels had broken up after Viego's defeat, and that he had pawned his gear.
- Step 6
Setting sail
With no Sentinels to help her, Nilah left Bilgewater on her ship, the Tidedancer, with a crew of Kathkani monster hunters.
Turning points
- Going into the depths to find the order that guards Ashlesh
- Returning after ten years bonded to the demon
- Learning Viego's prison was failing
- Finding the Sentinels had disbanded
Where their story stands now
Nilah is at sea with her crew, still without the help she came for. Viego's prison continues to weaken. What happened in her ten missing years and who she truly is remain unclear, and she must recite mantras to avoid being consumed by Ashlesh.
Where this fits in the story
- Bilgewater · step 1
The Serpent Isles
The islands are older than the port. The Buhru people live there and follow Nagakabouros, a faith about testing willpower.
- Bilgewater · step 2
The Reaver King
Gangplank ruled the port as the Reaver King. His murder of Sarah Fortune's parents set her on the path to bring him down.
- Bilgewater · step 3
Miss Fortune's revenge
Miss Fortune destroyed his ship, then consolidated control over the port and eliminated the Corsair's Conclave. Gangplank survived with Illaoi's help, and now rule of Bilgewater is disputed between them.
- Bilgewater · step 4
The Harrowing
Each time the Black Mist from the Shadow Isles reaches Bilgewater, the dead rise. Illaoi's divine power is one of the port's defenses.