Zil has always been the golden child in her family's eyes, with the exception of her sister Natharra's. Her life has been very privileged, something she's well aware of. For almost her entire childhood, her oldest sister Shi'nda and her mother were the only family she was acquainted with, joined a few years later by her brother Divirahc. Zilvae has always been her mother's favorite, but was doted on by Shi'nda as well (not that this ever stopped her from being punished).

When she was ten, Natharra returned from the Academies and began to sour things with her presence, usually singling out Zil for any cruelties she had in mind. Any punishment their mother handed down just served to further Natharra's resentment. It was later that same year that Zilvae was exposed to the rather ugly, bloody world outside her family--cultists of the Elder Elemental Eye staged an uprising, targeting the entire noble family. Her mother and Natharra escaped relatively unscathed, but Shi'nda's right hand was maimed so badly it had to be removed when she was defending Zil.

After that, Zil found herself fully immersed in the world of the drow--listening to plots and politics that before had been left out of conversation when she was in the room, hearing descriptions of Natharra's raids and punitive expeditions on other races. Shi'nda was--fortunately for everyone--much more of an influence on Zil's behavior than Natharra, encouraging her curiosity and lighter-hearted pursuits. Zilvae developed her sense of humor as sort of a defense mechanism, a way of dealing with all of the horrifying things she encountered. However, her inability to take anything seriously occasionally strained things between herself and her mother. Shi'nda usually interceded on Zil's behalf, smoothing things over and assuring the Matron that it was a stage that Zil would grow out of.

Zilvae did start to sober up a bit at sixteen when she received the tattoos identical to the ones her mother bears. Ever since then, the Matron's health has been in steady decline, and life has been dumping more and more pressures on Zil. She keeps her beliefs that being given the markings doomed her mother to herself almost always, though the guilt is never far from her mind. Acting in what she hoped was her sister's best interests, Shi'nda discreetly arranged for House Do'Vandrin to take Zilvae on for some training before the Academies, more set on keeping Zil out of the ugliest of house politics until she was ready for them than anything else.

At present, Zil is on the surface and working hard to live up to the expectations of her family, though sometimes it's not easy to tell with her inordinate fondness for having a good time and causing trouble...generally both at once.