Sofina (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

Sofina (Daisy Head) is the main antagonist of the 2023 fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. One of the Red Wizards of Thay, she is an agent of Szass Tam, who sent her to take over the city of Neverwinter and turn its inhabitants into undead servants. 
==Personality==
Sofina was a shrewd and patient schemer. She was aloof and disinterested in making friends, rejecting all attempts at amiability. Szass Tam called her the disciple upon whom he had always most relied. She despised the living and sought to see them all slain and raised again as creatures of undeath like her. She also despised Forge for his false charm, arrogance, and jests.
Owing to the fear that Red Wizards received outside Thay, and to conceal her true intentions in Neverwinter, Sofina kept secret her affiliations and concealed her bald head and tattoos. She bitterly resented this, as she was very proud of her Red Wizard status.
==Appearance ==
As a Red Wizard, Sofina had a bald head adorned with tattoos that represented magical sigils. She had pale skin that darkened around her eyes, hinting at her undead nature. This was but a disguise, however, and her true appearance was decayed, gaunt, and dead-eyed.
She typically wore robes with a large cowl to cover her bald head and tattoos. It changed color at a thought or with her mood, shifting from the dark blue she habitually wore as a disguise among others to a crimson red when she wished to show off her status as a Red Wizard. 
==Biography==
Sofina was purported to be some three hundred years old as of the late 1400s DR.
In the mid-1370s DR, on the eve of a summer solstice, Sofina joined other Red Wizards who served Szass Tam atop the Citadel, his headquarters. According to history books a century later, Szass Tam had called all the other zulkirs of Thay and all the people of the Thaymount tharch, Xenk Yendar and his parents among them, to a grand celebration atop the Citadel. But it was all a lie—instead, Szass used the horn of beckoning death, thereby creating an army of undead under his control for his coup and following conquest of Thay. Sofina and the other Red Wizards serving Szass Tam slew or trapped all who tried to flee.
However, Szass Tam would later lose the strange red horn that was central to the beckoning death, with the Harpers apparently having acquired or stolen it. They stored it within the vault of Korinn's Keep, far from the lich's reach. Szass Tam sent Sofina to recover it.[
To this end, in the mid-1490s DR, Sofina disguised herself and traveled to Targos, one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale, to enlist the services of the ex-Harper turned thief Edgin Darvis, whose wife Zia had been murdered by Red Wizards nine years earlier. For aid, Sofina allied herself with his treacherous partner, the confidence trickster Forge Fitzwilliam. Finally, one night whilst they were celebrating a score at the Trip and Shuffle tavern in Targos, "Lady Sofina" met the team, which also included Holga Kilgore and Simon Aumar. She wanted to hire them to help her steal the treasures of Korinn's Keep, a Harper storehouse that only a Harper could enter—Edgin. He refused, however, still having some standards. But Forge promised they would find there a Tablet of Reawakening, a magical relic capable of resurrecting one deceased soul. Against his better judgement but with hopes of restoring Zia to life, Edgin relented and acquiesced to Forge's and Sofina's scheme.
Donning his old Harper uniform, Edgin led the team to Korinn's Keep and gained admittance. While the thieves helped themselves to the treasures of the vault, and Sofina claimed the red horn, Edgin went for the Tablet of Reawakening. But the poor thief triggered an alarm, summoning Harper guards, whom Sofina struck with chain lightning, to Edgin's dismay. She then cast time stop, which the sorcerer Simon could not counterspell. It trapped the guards, Holga, and Edgin while she, Forge, and Simon made their escape. Afterward, Sofina tried to kill Simon, as they'd never intended for him to escape Korinn's Keep, and the sorcerer only just got away with his life.
However, Szass Tam did not merely want his horn back, but instead set Sofina a greater task. Next, she moved on to Neverwinter and with her dark magic caused Lord Dagult Neverember to suddenly take ill and fall into a vegetative state, a sickness that was rumored to be her doing. Then Forge Fitzwilliam seized the opportunity, waging a political campaign for lordship of Neverwinter financed with his ill-gotten gains. Successful, he became Lord of Neverwinter with Sofina as his chief advisor and Edgin's daughter Kira as his ward. They all moved into Castle Never, where cast Mordenkainen's arcane seal on the treasure vault.
But Forge and Sofina's real scheme was far larger and more terrible in scope than simply taking over Neverwinter. One of the Forge's main acts was to revive the High Sun Games, a monster-filled bloodsport that had been banned by Lord Neverember as he considered them too brutal. Forge also ordered the construction of the Neverwinter arena to host the Games. The first Games were to be held in the late 1490s DR, allegedly as a way of bringing the city together, as well as many visitors from outside Neverwinter. This was quite true, and exactly what Sofina and Szass Tam desired.
Meanwhile, after two years imprisoned in Revel's End, Edgin and Holga escaped and came to Castle Never to retrieve Kira and the Tablet of Reawakening, but they had a less-than-warm reception. They were shocked to find Forge still working Sofina, whom they rightly blamed for getting them caught. Worse, Kira was estranged from her father due to Forge's lies. Finally, Forge refused to return Kira and threatened to sell the Tablet of Reawakening in Skullport, and when Holga and Edgin got angry and went to grab him, Sofina cast a transmute rock to mud spell to trap them in the floor. After taunting and mocking them, Forge ordered his guard Blackwood to take them back to Revel's End. But Sofina told Blackwood to kill them in secret, though they would escape.
Later, from the shadows of Sofina's office in Castle Never, Szass sent an image of himself to communicate with her, giving counsel her that her long work was close to completion. Forge and Sofina then showed the wealthy guests Din Caldwell and Porb Piiradost around Castle Never, boasting of its upgraded security and suitability for storing the wealth they'd brought to gamble on the games in its vault; Sofina declined to elaborate on her Mordenkainen's arcane seal. However, they were interrupted when Sofina sensed the presence of a wild shaped druid—Doric, a new ally of Edgin and Holga—spying on them. Sofina led the hunt, blasting the walls with her thunderwave and ordering the castle guards to give chase. Although Sofina sensed Doric in other forms, including as an axe beak, the druid got away. Forge was correct in his suspicion that this was Edgin's doing, but Sofina vowed to send her own forces to get rid of the gang.
She sent for the Thayan assassin Dralas and his band of six fellow warriors. Sofina, Blackwood, and his Neverwintan guards met Dralas at the docks as he arrived by boat on the Neverwinter River. Sofina ordered him to hunt down and kill Edgin, Holga, Simon, and Doric. But first, she wanted Dralas to dispatch Blackwood and his guards because they'd failed to stop Edgin and Holga's escape. Dralas slew them all single-handedly.
Finally, on the day of the High Sun Games and the culmination of her long work, Sofina somehow detected that Edgin, Holga, Simon, and Doric had infiltrated Castle Never, as part of their attempted heist of the treasure vault and mission to rescue Kira. Fortunately, she had placed an Evard's black tentacles trap in the empty vault, which ensnared Simon and Holga. Meanwhile, Sofina used disguise self magic to pose as Kira and waited in the girl's room for Edgin. Finding her, he confessed he had been terrible father, for abandoning his daughter to resurrect his wife, not the mother she'd never known. But it fell on mocking ears—laughing manically, Sofina threw off her disguise and caught him in her Evard's black tentacles spell. Then Forge entered and taunted him, but Edgin pleaded for a fighting chance, that is, to compete in the High Sun Games. Though Forge was reluctant, perhaps to spare Edgin a fate worse than death, Sofina agreed that they should suffer for defeating her assassins.
Afterward, Sofina took her place in the luxury balcony over the arena, with Forge Fitzwilliam and Din Caldwell, Porb Piiradost, and the wealthy gamblers. At last, their respective schemes had come to fruition: Forge had stolen the riches of the castle and his wealthy guests and had it all loaded aboard a ship for his getaway as he abandoned the city, and Sofina had all the people gathered together in the arena—a perfect target for the Beckoning Death, turning the whole city into undead, and bringing about Szass Tam's plan to seize control of Neverwinter. Though Forge tried an amiable farewell, Sofina coldly ordered him to get out of her city, in a hurry to be rid of him now their partnership was at an end. Chanting the arcane phrases, she finally invoked the horn of beckoning death and levitated above the arena, causing storms to brew over the city, crimson strands to funnel down through the horn, and red smoke to fill the viewing chamber and turn the wealthy gamblers and servants into ravening undead. The smoke poured down into the arena below, but before it could engulf the spectators, Sofina saw them all leaving, following a trail of treasure spilling from a portal in a hot air balloon—the doing of Edgin and his friends. With the Beckoning Death wasted, and the horn not useable again for a whole year, all of Sofina's patient work and scheming had come to naught.
Enraged, Sofina assaulted the thieves from atop the arena, first hurling a meteor swarm into the streets below. The fighting was furious. Sofina first grappled with Doric, who'd wild shaped into the form a snowy owlbear and then animated a statue of a juvenile gold dragon to aid her. Next, Sofina briefly trapped Edgin and Holga in an Otiluke's resilient sphere, sending them rolling through the streets while she engaged in a hand-to-hand spell duel with Simon—literally so, with her Bigby's hand grappling with his Maximilian's earthen grasp. Finally, all four companions fought the Red Wizard together until Sofina cast a time stop spell, presumably gaining the upper hand. Angry, Sofina confronted and threatened Edgin with eternal suffering for foiling her scheme—only to be surprised that he was not frozen in time at all as the invisible Kira put a magic-suppression cuff from the games on her wrist, negating Sofina's spellcasting abilities. Doric wild shaped back into an owlbear and put the defenseless Red Wizard down for good. Doric crushes her against the ground, hits her shakes her then throws her into the air like a doll. Sofina crashes on a tower and crashes to the ground. Debris fell on her, finishing her. But Sofina had one last curse, however—during the fray, she had stabbed Holga with her Red Wizard blade, and afterward the companions found her dying but is revealed by her team.
With the negation of Sofina's magic, the former Lord of Neverwinter, Dagult Neverember awoke and resumed his reign.
==Powers & Abilities==
===Powers===
*Undead Physiology: Sofina is an undead creature of unclear type. She has none of the needs or weaknesses of living creatures, and she does not age. She appears in a flashback set a century before the film, and Forge claims that she is 300 years old, though Sofina herself does not comment on the matter.
* Red Wizard Magic: Sofina is a powerful Red Wizard capable of casting a variety of high level spells and powers. She also uses a red horn to perform a very powerful spell named the beckoning death.
**Spell Casting: Being a formidable Red Wizard, Sofina is able to cast an array of magical attacks through the use of spells. She has advanced skills in spellcasting and specialized in the school of necromancy, including spells of fear and death magic.
***Chain Lightning: Sofina used this spell in order to incapacitate several guards during the party's raid on a Harper vault. It's a 6th-level evocation spell.
***Time Stop: First, she used this spell and casts Time Stop to avoid arrows, flee, and leave Edgin and Holga to the authorities. Then, she used it once again but it was nullified by Simon Aumar and the spell is based on a 9th-level transmutation spell.
***Disguise Self: The Red Wizard Sofina quickly changes her appearance in Honor Among Thieves through a 1st-level illusion spell called Disguise Self. She puts on and sheds the illusion several times throughout Honor Among Thieves, most notably when she is revealed to be a Red Wizard in the prologue and in the climax.
***Frost Touch: Used by Sofina to lower the temperature of a blistering hot cup of tea for Forge. Frost Touch is a cantrip (or level 0) spell.
***Transmute Rock to Mud: When Edgin and Holga move towards Forge in Castle Never, they are stopped in their tracks as the floor sinks beneath their feet after Sofina casts Transmute Rock. Sofina used this 5th-level transmutation spell to capture Edgin and Holga.
*** Witch Bolt: Cast by Sofina when she sensed that a buzzing fly was actually Doric in Wild Shape, a 1st level evocation spell.
***Fire Bolt: While trying to capture Doric in her various Wild Shape forms, Sofina also casts Fire Bolt on the druid, this basic spell is a cantrip or level 0 spell.
***Beckoning Death: Sofina casts Beckoning Death in the ending of the movie, though her plans ultimately fail. An unnamed red drinking horn is used to cast Beckoning Death, with the spell descending like red roots from the sky, going through the horn in the caster's hand, and spilling upon the masses like a poisonous fog. Anyone the red fog touches either dies painfully or turns into one of the caster's undead servants.
***Black Tentacles: Sofina uses the 4th-level conjuration spell Black Tentacles to restrain Simon, Edgin, and Holga when they finally make it inside Forge's empty vault.
***Meteor Swarm: When Sofina confronts the party during the final fight outside Neverwinter Arena, one of the first Dungeons and Dragons spells she unleashes is Meteor Swarm. It's a 9th-level evocation that summons orbs of fire to descend upon four different points within a 1-mile range visible to the caster.
***Shield: Sofina uses Shield to negate some attacks.
***Bigby's Hand: While the giant, red, demonic, displaced hand that Sofina summons actually has no exact DnD 5e equivalent, it functions much the same way as the spell Bigby's Hand. A 5th-level evocation spell, Bigby's Hand can do everything Sofina did with her version of the spell mimicking the caster's hand movements with the only key difference being its appearance.
***Animate Objects: Sofina uses the 5th-level transmutation spell Animate Objects in order to bring the statue of a mid-sized dragon to life and attack Edgin and Holga.
***Resilient Sphere: In order to get both Edgin and Holga out of the fight for a short time, Sofina casts the 4th-level evocation spell Resilient Sphere. This confines the targets inside the unbreakable sphere for about a minute, which lines up with the description of Resilient Sphere in DnD 5e.
***Misty Step: As exhibited by Sofina, Misty Step is a 2nd-level conjuration spell that allows the caster to instantly teleport for a limited distance within their line of sight.
***Finger of Death: Thinking that her opponents are stuck in her Time Stop, Sofina readies one of the most devastating Dungeons and Dragons spells against Edgin: Finger of Death. A 7th-level necromancy spell, Finger of Death sends negative energy through the target and causes immense pain and damage. However, Sofina is unable to complete the spell when she finds a Binding Bracer on her wrist placed there by an invisible Kira while Sofina was distracted.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*It is unclear what type of undead creature Sofina is. A wizard of her power and role would likely be a lich, but she never shows any characteristic lich abilities. If she is a lich, it is possible that she survived her apparent death, since liches revive unless their phylacteries are destroyed.
Category:2020s
Category:Assassin
Category:Blonde
Category:Conspirator
Category:Failure Intolerant
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Long Skirts & Dresses
Category:Master Manipulator
Category:Murderer
Category:Necromancer
Category:Neutral Evil
Category:Psychotic
Category:Spy
Category:Supernatural Powers
Category:Terrorist
Category:Torturer
Category:Witch
Category:Woman Kills Villainess
Category:Fate: Deceased