Whistle
Vevila ‘Whistle’ O Failbhe (planar ghaele [she/her] / Free League / CG)
A lithe wisp of a girl walks confidently and lightheartedly through the refuse strewn streets of the Hive, surrounded by a small flock of young orphans and street urchins. She’s of that indeterminate age that’s still regarded as a child by adults, and yet looked up to as an authority figure by younger children. Her bright gray eyes shine from beneath a mane of tangled black hair, and her otherwise attractive face is barely discernible beneath the layer of grime that covers her from head to tattered sandals. Her baggy clothes—many sizes too large for her thin frame—are equally dirty, but the thin sundress that she wears over them is a defiantly bright lemon-lime. She pauses from an ongoing conversation with her young charges to throw you a inquisitive look that mkes her seem wise beyond her years—but seeing that you pose no threat, she quickly breaks into a puckish grin and continues on with her discussion and her way.
History
Whistle was first noticed around the Hive about a year ago, wearing that same bohemian outfit that so stands out amid the squalour. She earned her nickname from her habit of whistling random merry tunes when not otherwise engaged, and she gladly adopted it as her own. Indeed, Whistle has hitherto refrained from revealing anything about her past, including her real name, saying that it’s the future that she’s more concerned with. For a long while, the only attention she received from the older Hivers was the occasional bemused glance, but she promptly befriended the local guttersnipes and assumed the guiding maternal role in the group.
While she’s hardly the first teenager to form such a gang of neglected Hiver kids, Whistle uses her authority for a nobler purpose than petty crime. In fact, she attempts to instill a self-respecting morality in her charges, teaching them of the potential rewards of honest work and guiding them to improve their own lots by helping others rather than taking advantage of them. For instance, she’s worked out a deal with the eponymous proprietor of Allesha’s Pantry to provide her pack with daily food in exchange for their help with various tasks around the establishment. Slowly, Whistle’s charges have grown more likely to help deliver food to the starving old lady on Shatterbone Street than to throw rocks through her windows, like they would’ve before.
Because of this change, the group has begun to earn a sort of admiration, bordering on trust, from the surrounding Hivers. Some of the other ragamuffin gangs are even trying to follow their example—albeit with varying amounts of success. The area where Whistle’s pack makes their kip, a few blocks from Allesha’s Pantry, has begun to acquire a friendlier, almost neighborhood-like, atmosphere. While the Hive is still very much the Hive, young Whistle has managed to brighten it just a bit, bringing hope to the hopeless.
The Dark
Even though Whistle appears as a young human or tiefling girl, she is actually Vevila O Failbhe, a ghaele eladrin from Arborea. She escaped to Sigil from a particularly unsuccessful incursion into the Abyss, but when she saw the depressing bleakness of Hiver life, she vowed to help the unfortunate and often misguided souls to improve their lot. Assuming the disguise of a young Hive girl, she’s teaching the next generation of Hivers to act above their upbringing. Occasionally, Vevila leaves her adopted kids in the care of her new friend Allesha and, resuming her eladrin form, goes adventuring for the cause of Good. Any income she earns from such forays is donated to the Pantry in recompense for the extra food required to feed her adopted kids and the Hiver elderly to whom they now deliver.
Plot Hook
While passing through the Hive for whatever reason, the PCs run into an unusually well-behaved street urchin trying to escape from an older bully. After presumably rescuing him, the heroes are told of Whistle and invited to the Pantry. There, Allesha quietly confides in them that Whistle is actually Vevila, and has gone missing on her latest excursion to the Lower Planes. She pleads with them to find the ghaele and deliver her safely back to the worried children.
See Also:
- In the Cage: Allesha Sheavis (p106)
Source: Iavas and Jon Winter-Holt