Ilian is the first of the Dark Apostles, the Mistress of the Void. Her realm is that of mastery of the Dark Arts, the powers of the Dark Symmetry. She is a powerful sorceress, and is believed to be the single most powerful of all the Dark Apostles, though her armies pale in comparison to Algeroth, and her siblings conspire to usurp her position in the favor of the Dark Soul.

Though the Brotherhood would be reluctant to admit it, there have been many Mystics and Keepers of the Art who have been lured by the seductive promises of the Dark Soul, turning Apostate in order to serve Ilian and to gain the additional powers of the Dark Symmetry. An even greater shame is that these traitors are apparently still able to utilize many of their powers they once held in the service of the Brotherhood. (Oddly enough, though the "Art of Exorcism" seems to be mostly exempt. The ability to heal wounds seems to be something to cast aside when one joins the Dark Legion.)

The symbol of Ilian resembles a golden triangle with hatches crossing each of the three sides. It is referred to as the "Star of Ilian".

Powers of Ilian

Ilian's Nepharites and other spellcasting servants are very proficient in their use of the general powers of the Dark Symmetry, and they have a wide range of spells to cast. However, those spells most identified with Ilian are powers that center around the power of the Void: that is, the creation of gateways into and through the Void, allowing virtual teleportation to new locations ... and the opening of portals to the dark energies of the Void for the purpose of raw, cold destructive power.

Weaponry

Ilian does not have much in the way of unique weapons associated with her name. Instead, she relies upon weapons created by the Tekrons of Algeroth to equip her forces with. She apparently loathes the "necro-organic" designs, however -- Her Temple Guards are equipped with "standard" Kratachs, free of any organic-looking elements. Strangely enough, Ilian views necrotechnology with a certain element of distaste, prefering the "pure" energies of the Void.

The weapons most associated with Ilian would be the enchanted Dimension Blades used by her Nepharites, which are forged of the energies of the Void, and which reflect a starry, cold expanse on their dark blades. The Temple Guards have lesser versions of these weapons, known as Templar Blades and Templar Maces, inscribed with magical runes that glow when the weapons shed blood.

One noteworthy weapon used by Ilian's Temple Guards would be the Void Cannon, also known as the "Metacannon". This massive, warped-looking weapon is distinctive for having, suspended under the barrel, a glass sphere containing a fetus-like creature (a "homunculus") suspended in foul fluids, connected to the machinery of the gun by an umbilical cord. While this creature bears a disturbing resemblance to a human fetus, it possesses a pair of stubby horns, and its eyes, when open, glow with an inner and unholy light. This creature actually serves to channel the forces of the Void to provide "ammunition" for the weapon, which fires blasts of dark energy at its hapless targets, and it also serves to subtly assist the firer in aiming the weapon properly. This creature also presents a weak point for the weapon, for if the sphere is shattered and the homunculus slain, the weapon is robbed of its source of power, and is therefore useless.

The Legion

Ilian has many Legionnaires in her service, given to her by Algeroth in exchange for magical favors, but they are somewhat different in appearance than the usual Legionnaire. They are typically encased in suits of armor, hiding their rotting flesh, or else they tend to look a lot more "clean" and skeletal in appearance, without the masses of writhing, organic tubes and "enhancements" that characterize Legionnaires in the service of Algeroth. Similarly, Necromutants and Centurions in Ilian's service tend to look more like dark knights rather than muscular brutes. She also has a number of Brass Apocalypts created for her by the Tekrons, which are utilized to provide heavy fire support for her troops on the rare occasion that her Citadels see battle.

When a Legionnaire or other "typical" servant of Ilian is destroyed, it typically crumbles into dust or ashes, rather than dissolving into protoplasmic sludge such as those in the service of Algeroth does.

Children of Ilian

Whereas Ilian may view necrotechnology with distaste for most of her servants, she has no qualms about using it with her diminutive servants known as the Children of Ilian. These creatures bear some resemblance to children with swollen heads, veins visible through translucent skin, and pinkish tubes feeding nutrients to their heads from their bodies. They talk in a high-pitched gibberish that somehow has meaning for other Children of Ilian, and scamper about "playfully". They are the servants of Ilian and her Nepharites, and are ultimately disposable. They maintain what necrotechnological equipment Ilian has, and are eventually corrupted and mutated by exposure to it ... and easily replaced.

It is believed that these diminutive creatures may actually be the degenerate remnants of Ilian's human followers that fall from grace. Otherwise, they may be slave creatures drawn from one of the many worlds that the Dark Legion has already conquered.

In battle, these creatures use whatever tools are at hand, or strange mystical weapons known as "rattles". They are led by slightly larger and more muscular "Children" known as Scions ... some of which are cybernetically fused into rolling weapons platforms known as "Hellcarts", which launch projectiles that explode with bursts of the dark energies of the Void.

Temple Guards

The Temple Guards are members of an alien race that has been subdued by Ilian and pressed to her service. These humanoids wear dark armor and robes, and are cybernetically enhanced -- truly cybernetically enhanced, that is, not equipped with the necrotechnology of Algeroth. The Temple Guards' faces are always hidden under obscuring helmets, and never has a Temple Guard's face been seen. (In fact, it's quite possible that they don't have faces, and that their helmets could serve as their skulls.)

These creatures serve, as is appropriate for their name, as guardians of Ilian's temples. They are possessed of limited telepathic abilities, purportedly able to sense "the intent to inflict harm" nearby.

The greatest Temple Guard is a giant known as Karak the Keeper, one arm having been replaced with a heavy machine gun, and the other fused with yet another cannon. This creature is held to be the first of his race that Ilian encountered, and is fiercely loyal to his Mistress.

Hellhounds

These remotely dog-like monsters come from the same world as the Temple Guards, and are used by the Temple Guards to sniff out those who somehow evade their telepathic abilities to sense intruders -- or escaped prisoners. Obscure lore has it that these creatures can use a limited form of magic to take on the appearance of mundane dogs in the human universe, disguising their true ferocity.

Changelings

One of the aspirations of most Heretics is to gain the ultimate honor of Transfiguration - that is, to transcend their humanity and to be granted a new, immortal form, as a creature of the Darkness. While there are numerous different creatures that cultists of Algeroth could hope to be transformed into, there are very few available to servants of Ilian. One of these creatures - a matter of mixed blessing - would be a Changeling. Changelings are suffused with Dark energies to the point that their organic matter is changed on a cellular level. They are, in essence, able to rearrange their flesh to take on new appearances. This is controlled by means of the Dark Symmetry, and those few who might reach this point yet not have the mental strength to handle it die a horrible death as their flesh contorts out of control and then finally dissolves into protoplasmic sludge, dripping from their bones.

Those Changelings that survive this ordeal are placed back into human society, either in their old identities (if that identity was not compromised), or else replacing a highly placed corporate official ... once the true individual is assassinated, of course. Thus, they can further the interests of their dark mistress, but their career is pretty much "dead-ended", for they have little hope of gaining further Transfiguration into a more powerful Nepharite.

In battle, experienced Changelings often learn to mold their own forms in creative ways, such as hardening sections of their skin to form armor, or to make natural weapons. Since they can do such extreme things as actually moving their internal organs about or forming natural defenses for them, Changelings are notoriously difficult to kill. That said, they are not amorphous beings, and are limited in the extent to which they can change shape - restricted to a basically humanoid form, with little variation in increase or decrease of height, and conserving overall mass.

Nepharites of Ilian

The Nepharites of Ilian take on one of two general appearances. The first is that Ilian herself is portrayed as a tall, gaunt, pale-skinned, raven-haired woman of purportedly captivating beauty and tangible evil. A significant number of her Nepharites are women as well, and have echoes of her own appearance. Other Nepharites of Ilian bear much resemblance to the Temple Guards in her service -- either male humans elevated to Nepharite status, or perhaps she has recruited Nepharites from her Temple Guard servants. Nepharites of Ilian tend to look very human in general appearance, quite unlike those of Algeroth, except that they are almost invariably very tall -- perhaps ten feet or so. They are often armed with the Dimension Blade, though they often rely upon their use of the Dark Symmetry for offensive power. Their robes and armor typically hold chains that dangle from their belts, tipped with sharp tips. They are capable of controlling these chains telepathically -- the chains animate like serpents, ripping into anyone fool enough to be so close to a Nepharite.

It's also believed that Nepharites of Ilian have a special attack known as the "Kiss of Ilian" -- that by kissing the victim, a Nepharite can rip his or her soul out of the body, and cast it into a hellish plane known as the "Hunting Grounds", where time does not exist, and the soul is forever trapped in a nightmare of being chased down and torn asunder by Ilian's Wild Hunt.