Illiana Aureus was born 37 years ago to her parents Toro and Amaiah in Haelun'or's capital Lareh'thilln. She had no friends growing up, as there were no other high-elves as young as her. At the age of 14 she tripped over loose cobble on the ground and a frightened horse leading a carriage accidentally kicked her right in the temple, causing hearing problems. Over the course of the next year she lost her hearing entirely, which was considered a form of weakness to the high-elves. Her status was permanently affected and many high-elves completely disregarded her. Over the next 4 years she learned to read lips, and thanks to being able to hear for the first 14 years of her life she had very few problems speaking to others. Although she prefers other people write down what they want to say, she can get by just by reading lips if she has to. This just requires her to ask people to repeat themselves a lot so she doesn't misunderstand. She moved away from Haelun'or and started traveling at 22 because of the hostility towards her and began exploring new places and cultures. She built a small cottage with the help of a wood elf named Istaria who felt sorry for her and stored all of her journals and writing there. During her travels she always had a notebook she used to communicate with others, because she dislikes lip-reading and also because she enjoys keeping them. When she was 33 her cottage was struck by lightning and burnt to the ground, destroying her collection of journals and all else that she owned. Since then, she has been hopping from inn to inn and hoping she meets someone kind enough to shelter her.
