Back Story
Vindex has no real memory of his past. He awoke one day, naked and freezing, on the side of a forest road and was helped by a passing group of Elven merchants. He worked for them to pay for some basic equipment and sought out the nearest large settlement to see if he could learn or remember anything from his past.
He has since learned that he was/is an expert on illithids and was helping a group of gnome mind flayers better understand why some of their kind do not transform correctly and and up as squidlings.