Ashra

Ashra the Puzzlesolver is an illithid tax collector, puzzle solver, psion, timewalker, and adventurer. She has held every office in The Company at one time or another, and is currently probationary CEO. She is one candidate for Chosen One of the Illithids, and may be able to cast Snowstorm Prime. 
First he was a hothead who left the resonance stones because it would be more fun to go adventuring and eat a dragon. Then he was the same hothead, slightly older and more capable, who wandered away from his tax collector job for pretty much the same reason. Then shit got crazy, his mother wished him luck and took almost all her other children off the Prime Material Plane, and everything pretty much got weirder from then on out as he searched for ways to return his people and permanently defeat his brother. After recovering the Motherbrain's message (with assistance) she declared herself the Favored Child and messiah of the illithids. Some time later, she discovered she was more right than she could have guessed. Or, at least, that's what she was told.
Don't think too hard about the pronouns.
==The Favored Child==
===Appearance===
Ashra is a 5'10", 230 lb illithid with black skin and red eyes. The unholy symbol of Nerul is burned into her lower back.
As illithids are genderless, which pronoun she uses for writeups etc. is decided by the player's gender: male from seasons zero to six, female from season seven onward. In practice, Ashra will answer to either, and uses them interchangeably to refer to herself.
Ashra wears black masterwork robes and a variety of appropriate magical items. She has Xoth's old tricorn hat. She is usually brandishing The Dark Lantern. 
===In Battle===
Ashra's main strengths are her intelligence and problem-solving abilities. She is famous for both meticulous tactical plans with every detail considered (see: Assassination of Grax) and balls to the wall crazy shit that works when it really, really shouldn't (see: ate an Axiomatic Dragon.)
Ashra is a psion and time-walker. She is difficult to hit, especially with magic. 
===Personality===
Ashra is proud, hotheaded, obsessive, and slightly crazy. She has no absolute morals, but is very protective of (in order) her mother, herself, and her pets (the party). She has a variety of interests and conspiracy theories, most of which tie into Xenteroth lore. She is also a floating compendium of party history, being the longest-running member of The Company. She usually has a snarky quip ready, much like Ethan or Faust. 
Compared to her siblings, she is unusually easy to anger and willing to take risks. She is touchy around several subjects, such as the mutiny and the death of Zaphodel. 
==There Can Be Several==
Ashras the party knows about:
*Ashra Puzzlesolver(Prime/Timelooped) - The PC and party leader of the Prime party. Signs AP, with the P forming a turned capital omega.
*Ashra Puzzlesolver("Original"/Non-Timelooped) - The version of Ashra from the timeline we popped into. Apparently still with the party (may or may not have been deposed due to timeline shenanigans), looking for Grax's minions, may have already met the Mother. Presumably signs the same way.
*Ashra E?? - Wrote the Letter from Ashra to Ashra. Signs AE, forming capital ash. 
*Many other Ashras have met with Talnec Franco, but they have no influence on this timeline as far as we know.
According to the Mother Brain, not all instances of Ashra are the Chosen One. 
==History and Other Strange Incongruities==
Ashra was spawned from the Mother Brain of Mind's Touch and implanted in (almost certainly) an aasimar. His records were forged and his memories altered such that he believed himself to have come from the Mother Brain of Baldur instead. It is not clear when he was actually transferred to Baldur. 
At about fifteen years old, he snuck out of Baldur City and went to Landover, where he met a disguised Prince Avimeus VI, Thimblewell Undertow, and Feetus at the town's sole inn. Feetus and Thimblewell had committed some thefts and murders and needed to skip town, so Ashra accompanied them. As Ashra remembers it, he then headed north to Landover ... from Landover ... and encountered the wreckage of an armored caravan. There were no bodies, but one shield bore the symbol of Lady Elan. They followed tracks to The Dark Tower, which by the way is north of Landover. The tower itself seemed not to have been disturbed in some time, but the four still entered and explored it. After passing through the tapestry room (Ashra's first sight of the gear motif which has followed him since) and the Make Six puzzle, they found an altar of filth and a black dragon. Ashra agreed to have Avimeus VI fling him on top of the dragon; he then grappled it and extracted its brain, which was intelligent but without memories.
After the dragon fight, the group continued on to have several other adventures, including the mystery of the "Mage's Masks". He gained some money from the dragon's hoard, on which he lived and bought books, wands, shiny things, etc. After a while, Ashra returned home to finish his training as a tax collector. 
After finishing his training, Ashra served as a tax collector in Baldur for some time. He did not have all of his psionics yet. Due to his daring nature, Ashra was considered an excellent fit for the circumstances of Malvont and was transferred there, where he once again served as a tax collector. He had a reputation for "harsh collection tactics."
==In Eon==
Ashra first encountered the Company during his time as a tax collector in Malvont (see season one, episode seven). He walked into a bar to collect taxes from the bartender, and in so doing disrupted a fight between the Company and a group of individuals hunting Jenka. He followed the party back to their ship, the Jade Kraken, and his naturally adventurous nature lead him to join the crew.
He quickly proved useful as a tactician and, later, a scout. Notable adventures include (in no particular order):
===Fall 1441 - Fall 1442 ===
*Providing a Wand of Fireball for Sir Tobo of Port Brogan to throw into the mouth of a Black Dragon, and mind-blasting the rider of a second dragon.
*Being integral to the mutiny in the Hall of Many Things, and shortly thereafter staring into infinity and gaining a sanity point.
*Dueling with another mind-flayer on a boat, seizing victory and a couple canisters of Toxic Wasteland when the opponent planeshifted away. Briefly became captain of the captured ship.
*Not falling prey to the Tax Collector trap in Telamore's lighthouse, and ending up with a doorknob on a rope that later aided in the saving of Shiolay's life.
*On a Two, becoming morbidly fascinated with the undead, and by extension with Ethan of Malvont.
*Using "Charm Monster" to convince a black dragon to land on this fucking thing, then mind-blasting the dragon at the last moment, causing it to crash through the deck.
*Briefly becoming addicted to Wolves' Milk following its use in a moment of desperation.
*Coordinating the assassination of Chancellor Grax, though the actual success of the attempt came from Tyro and a tablet of Meteor Swarm.
*Deciphering the ritual and disrupting the summoning of an Elder Evil at Tobo's property in Port Brogan, closing the portal with the timely use of a Wand of Scouring.
===Winter 1442 - Spring 1443 ===
After the battle in the Ruins of Eldergrin, Ashra was fairly shaken. She was too distracted to notice how odd it was when Fab Dick arrived spontaneously with Fake Baudin, and even returned Fab Dick's book of Mage Hand. She was more bothered by the party's new addition, Kruglor, and his destructive tendencies. Their disagreements got so heated that at one point Kruglor offered vital information to the party on the condition that Ashra not hear it.
As the party had lost all their divine casters, she served as the party healer in the Ruins of Eldergrin with the assistance of a wand of Cure Moderate Wounds. She gave a dying Kruglor her last dose of Wolves' Milk and found that watching people other than herself on drugs is way more entertaining than being fucked up on them herself. Most of the puzzles in the Ruins frustrated her, and her largely chaotic comrades tended to only make things worse. 
In a tapestry of Olidammara which appeared to reveal each person's destiny or their death, she saw the endless gears of the Dark Tower and the Nautilus. She did not immediately recognize them, but once she did, they formed an element of her theory that she is the past form of Xenteroth. Later in the same dungeon, she encountered a statue of Xenteroth which displayed the same Arcane Fire she used and which avoided ever attacking her. This reinforced her belief, which would persist until she learned Xenteroth had more fingers than she does.
After emerging from the Ruins, Claire made the unusual request that she hypnotize her to help her regain her memories, and Ashra agreed. With Claire, she saw some of her early memories of the Assassin's guild and of her first encounter with Nerull. Claire became calmer after these revelations, and added Ashra to her Do Not Kill list beside Ethan and Claire herself.
Ashra fell prey to the Entropic Reaper's Curse on the way to Barrensburg. She nearly killed Vladomil Primakov and threatened to thrall Claire, which messed up the friendship they'd sort of been working on. Ethan and Claire working together managed to restore Ashra's sanity, though she now has the unholy symbol of Nerull burned into her lower back. It's kind of trashy looking.
Shortly thereafter, the company met with Neax Hiss to do business outside of Barrensburg. With some assistance from party funds, Ashra purchased and thralled the slave Zaphodel of Nyasa the Dutiful, a tenth level healing cleric of Pelor. The act of taking a thrall made Ashra evil and sketched out everyone around, but they stopped complaining when Zaph started handing out Lesser Restorations like candy.
Claire was increasingly hostile towards Ashra because of her failure to apologize for threatening to thrall her while insane. The two were snippy towards each other for a few weeks before Ashra finally, grudgingly gave the worst apology ever so that Ethan wouldn't leave the two behind and try to kill a black dragon solo.
After the party made its way through the Underdark to Baldur City, Ashra helped them enter through the deserted illithid city. The discovery that the Motherbrain's tank room had been co-opted as a counter-revolutionary hideout enraged and saddened her, and she spent about an hour sitting by herself while the rest of the party made their plots. She remained depressed until Claire used Modify Memory on her and found the Motherbrain's subconscious message "Bona fortuna, filii". At the following Battle of Syscian's Tower, she was the one to stop the Fate detonation by stealing the activation necklace and flinging Evil Baudin off the top of the tower. This was also the first appearance of Flamboyant Gay Ethan, a wildly inaccurate illusion of Ethan she uses to distract enemies and spread misinformation.
During the party's escape from Baldur City, Charilus recognized Ashra by name and attempted to Feeblemind her. She took it as somewhat of a badge of honor.
Ashra accompanied Ethan and the others to Goneril City on Barron Ganth's invitation. After Ethan traded his necklace, she traded away her own for information on Xenteroth which proved thoroughly lacking. He told her enough to make it clear, however, that what she had done was exactly against what Xenteroth was trying to do in keeping the Fates from further use. He also put her into a giant superconductor, the wall of which she had to press to exit. Doing this did not overcome her fear of lightning, but did overcome any remaining fondness for Ganth she'd had.
In Point North, Ashra had one of the worst weeks of her life. While dining at the party's chosen inn, she was sent a cow brain and a cup of tea by a mysterious half-elf. The brain bore a message in Illithid; the tea was poison which severely hampered her spell resistance without her knowledge. She was lured by the brain's message and a cloaked figure telepathically speaking Illithid to a secret chamber within a wall. The room began flooding with knockout gas. She successfully used her knowledge of Ille Draconum to activate a secondary Circle of Greater Teleport which made reference to this knowledge making her a better meal for "the Great Mother"; desperate and trapped, she hoped this referred to a Mother Brain. Even if that did want to eat her, she would be kind of okay with it if she got to meet one again. She dropped her pack, shouted "Mother into thy hands I commend my spirit!" and succumbed to the gas. She was then teleported into a white dragon's lair, from which the party and Zaphodel rescued her. When they carried her back onto the Jade Kracken III, she was suffering from hypothermia and still staggered from the gas. She discovered some of her blood had also been let. After a day under Sam Ash's care, she recovered from the hypothermia and assisted the party in exploring the dragon's lair only to be sucked onto a blood sacrifice altar of Nerull and nearly bled dry before Ethan managed to guess the password to free her. After replacing her blood (Lesser Restoration and vodka may have both been involved) she returned with the party to Point North, where a ship captain took advantage of her lowered spell resistance to hit her with lightning.
=== Summer 1443 -- Summer 1444 -- Fall 1443 ===
Things looked up a little when she managed to make nerve gas by casting Acid Bolt along an ice-streaked dock, and shortly thereafter learned to scry. She's also surprisingly good at making Wolves' Milk.
She returned to the Dark Tower with The Company, finding that all the puzzles had been changed and the Altar of Filth replaced with an altar to Halal. She isn't sure whether this means her memories are more fucked than she thought or someone has actually been changing the tower on her, though Marcus Fairlan's offhand reference to "make six" means that trap must have actually existed somewhere, somewhen.
After the Dark Tower, she accompanied Ethan and Leilah on a quick mission to rescue Claire from Hellfire Prison. Since she gave her own name and ended diplomatic negotiations in a moment of frustration, she came to be associated with the breakout.
When the time came for the actual Axiomate battle, Ashra had been having so many bad days in a row she was ready to snap. This was quickly accelerated by a bolt of lightning on the way up, a new Sanity Point from staring into a deep pool, and a pair of ghostly arms which dragged her and Zaph into said pool, then spit them out inside the dragons' lair. Using Zaphodel to toss a Potion of Dragon's Stun at the Adamantium Dragon, she stacked The Green Liquid on top of the formidable buff routine provided by Leilah, jumped atop the dragon, and extracted its brain before it had a chance to wake up. The dragon was nearly as intelligent as she, and its brain was the best thing she'd ever tasted.
Ashra watched Ethan ascend to power and wished him luck on his journeys. Oh, and thanks for the adventuring company. She took over as CEO and decided to take the Company to the Southern Continent. Over the months spent at sea, she finally managed to kick the Green Liquid addiction after many days of twitching, and got the clerics to spam her with Restoration until her mind recovered.
With some of the treasure from the Axiomate loot, Ashra managed to buy a scroll of Discern Location, which told her that the Mother Brain of Baldur was in the Ornan Jungle. At Nyasa's Reach she met a fake Inquisitor who acted like another illithid and was revealed by Anahita to be a relative of her host body. Masking his words as criticism, he taught her how to get through customs the next time around. When she pressed him, he revealed that he knew her name and wanted to make sure she reached her destination.
Bisau was as relevant to her future as Ashra suspected: the gears which have followed her through her life are pictured on enormous tapestries in front of the ruined sanctuary. She could do without the supergolems and altar shoving gears into her innards, though. She was happy to see Xoth on Mechanus, despite his immediately assaulting her. She chased him through the Mechanus infinite factory and storage matrix only to encounter him, and Grax, and all the Mothers, telling her she was the Chosen One. No sooner did she react to that, however, than the entire setup revealed itself to be a trap set by High Regent Xenteroth, who wanted to extract Ashra's brain. In addition to killing several of her party members, Xenteroth felled Zaphodel, who can never be recovered. Ashra helped defeat Xenteroth and save the party through careful use of the final charge of her Wand of Time Stop.
Shortly after leaving Bisau, incidents aboard the Sirius led to a motion started by Aether and seconded by Leilah to remove Ashra from office. The ensuing argument gave her her third Sanity Point; eventually she accepted a brief suspension followed by probation. Once Leilah began regularly treating her for the mental trauma, she proved herself willing to work with the party, and completed her suspension within a week of the initial incident.
Then everything exploded, she nearly drowned, and the ship was destroyed. In the wreckage of Vishnu's mech, Ashra recovered a letter from another, future version of herself begging her to go back in time and prevent the Awakening. She led the party to the address given on the letter and, with help, reached Talnec Franco's secret study. After consulting with (and fansquidding over) him, she returned to the past with her companions. Before the battle with Orcus, she sent thoughts to her (ostensibly absent) mother and received the command Make the world safe for us, forever and again... A long and bloody battle ensued, and the party allowed Ashra to strike the final blow with her Arcane Fire. As the party gathered treasure and prepared to flee the Gloriosa Family, she received the additional message, Welcome home.
By the time Leilah evacuated the party onto the Swiftest Thought, Ashra had received a revelation. She momentarily understood how all the conspiracies fit together, a comprehension she is still trying to regain. The revelation also awakened her full psionic powers at the cost of her wizard abilities, a trade she freely made.
=== Fall 1443 -- Winter 1444 ===
After Orcus's death, Ashra led the party in fleeing from the fame and the many world powers that now want to talk with them. In Anahita's scrying pool, she saw a vision of her mother in what looks like Mind's Touch. She realized that the Gloriosas are Ravinian, which means ... something. She led the party through a series of battles against the Legions of the Nesferati, drawing the conclusion that the party is seriously outmatched and needs significant backing to prevent the Awakening. She found this backing in Barron Ganth, who offered the party transport to Ravinia if they return the Baetyl to its rightful owners. 
After a long battle with Haveo Gloriosa, Ashra used a combination of the Dark Lantern, Pelor's true altar, and prayer to Ethan Dragonslayer to bring Icania Vandril's soul back from dead-undead-robot-ness without personally casting a single spell. Her part of the party's many awards was the deed to a house in the fertile valley and the Supreme Medal of Justice. 
While wandering around looking for the Baetyl, Ashra led the party into a trap at Burkina. Everyone got out alive after witnessing the party's first Disjunction, but Ashra became more convinced than ever that the party was going about this entirely the wrong way. She got her answer shortly thereafter when a lucky portal offered her passage to Mind's Touch, where she met her own Mother for the first time in her memory. She learned that she is the Chosen One and that instead of preventing the Awakening, she should be pre-empting it by casting Snowstorm Prime to rewrite and thus save the world. Then Isona Vandr attacked with a horde of Nesferati, destroying Mind's Touch. Ashra, her companions, and the remaining illithids escaped on their new ship thanks to a miracle of Anahita, but the Mother could not be moved and was killed by Isona.
==Ashra and the World==
===People===
For the hell of it, this section is in first person. 
====Party Members====
Leilah Maloch may be saved in my Speakstone under "Traitorous Bitch", but she's still the strongest and closest ally I have in the party. Just as long as she doesn't know that.
Cicero Tiberius Shadolan was a pretty cool guy, good at mathy puzzles, and surprisingly trustworthy for a Vecnaist. I wish him well.
Claire was always a bit unpredictable, but we've saved each other's lives many times by now. It's good to see she's found peace working with Ethan. 
Icania Vandril is too loose of a cannon, but has good insights. Also he hung out with Grax in college TELL ME 
Felix Fineas Faust is amusing and often effective with magic. He's fun to verbally spar with, and we are lantern buddies.
Galland the Lucky is loyal and good-hearted. I just hope the good-hearted part doesn't get in the way too much. 
Das Rutshig is worth several shares.
Nerdin Vallast, I literally don't know who you are any more. 
Reon Volpe was useful and amusing up until he stole Leilah's sacred tomes. I am fully willing to kill him to get them back if necessary. 
The Girl with No Name is definitely good at what she does, but I'm not yet sure if I can trust her, and if she respects me.
Fauxdin, I will throw you off another tower if I get the chance. Also, what the fuck, man?
Real Baudin Dommilan isn't trustworthy, but luckily we've settled into a truce of completely avoiding each other. It's for the best.
Kruglor and I never got along well, but he's settled down enough to stop getting on my nerves. 
Ulfgar is and was my bro. My dangerously self-destructive bro. 
Fab Dick ... no. Just no. 
The ship's permanent crew (Sam Ash, Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, and Mister Bait Snugglesworth) are my much-liked pets. Fuck with them and I end you. 
Ashra's favorite person in the entire universe is, predictably, Ashra.
====Gods====
Xenteroth was fascinating until I met him. Now he's fascinating and horrifying. I understand his fear of annihilation, but I will not permit him to stop me. 
Ethan of Malvont, a.k.a. Ethan Dragonslayer, is my best friend, patron deity, one-time dealer, and cherished pet. In other words, a pretty cool guy. 
Tamiko is kind of hilarious, but we never knew each other well. I'm keeping this binder, though. 
====Political Figures====
Charilus knows me and signed my transfer papers? Cool.
Grax is endlessly fascinating. And he wrote that leaflet I memorized. I think we're deeply connected, but he still won't call me. 
Xoth, I'm coming for your new hat. 
I have vowed to kill Sluf one day for his desecration of the Mother's chamber. My only concern with this is that others may precede me. 
Barron Ganth is a useful ally, but not to be trusted. 
====Thralls====
Zaphodel of Nyasa the Dutiful served me faithfully for almost a year before her death at Xenteroth's hands. Because her death affected me, I will never take another thrall. 
====Others====
The Mother Brain is to be revered over all other beings. I will miss her. 
I respect the knowledge of Talnec Franco, and am honored to share a field with him. That said, misleading me was a poor choice on his part.
===Phenomena===
The following things are out to get Ashra: lightning, hard drugs, altars to malevolent deities, and injuries to the "right leg" (whatever that is). 
Ashra's birthday, while recorded here for timekeeping purposes, is not generally known to the party because she makes no attempt to celebrate it. When you've got less than twenty years left to live, birthdays don't seem that exciting. Due to time travel, she is several months older than she is.
===Twos===
*Ashra's body temperature is much higher than normal.
*Ashra is morbidly fascinated with the undead.
*Were she to say "icey nicey", she would gain fire resistance 2 as she did so.
*Ashra's boots must be fed at regular intervals. They look uncomfortable, but are in fact very comfortable.
*Baudin believes Ashra to be his god, though he has lost all respect for gods and thus doesn't treat her any differently than he would otherwise.
*Ashra believes "they" are out to get her.
*Ashra can see evidence of the apocalypse everywhere, visible only to her.
===Notable Brains===
*Memory-less dragon in The Dark Tower
*Tyro mook in Port Brogan
*Adamantium Fucking Axiomate
Category:Player Characters
Category:Baldur People