Alzara Yewdorei

* Half-Troll
* Human

**Alzara Yewdorei**, born Yasmin al'Hesan, was a Half-Troll Folk Magic Wizard residing in the lands north of the Empire of Eskarya.

She was the owner and proprietor of the Chalk & Charm, a magic shop in Freehearth, and the Silk & Grace, a tailor shop and etiquette school, although both were destroyed during the attack on Freehearth by Kildrid and their army in Verdair, 202EF, an act of wanton destruction that would also claim Alzara's life.

## Personality

Alzara carried an uncanny amount of uncertainty and awkwardness, stumbling over both her words as she attempted to make introductions and over roots and branches as she walked. Despite this, those she choose to trust were offered kindness and compassion, even if the gestures were somewhat graceless in a mess of gangly limbs.

These mild demeanour had on occasion been seen to be shed, her words and actions burning with an unexpected and often destructive passion. Alzara displayed a profound hatred for the followers of the deity Zitus, for whom she claims that both her father Xitho, and her adoptive father figure Fenn fell foul of. Though sharp of tongue and quick to anger when faced with the actions of those she considered bullying or cruel, she did not refuse to accept the consequences of her words and actions, an acceptance that she seemed all too familiar with. This zeal and fire were also experienced at the village of Achlyne, where she rebuked the words and efforts of the supposed Avatar of Dagda, but arguably most so at the Tower of Light, while dealing with the celestial Asteraoth.

## History

### Fictional Backstory

Vester Hills represents many things to the residents of the Empire. For the Imperial Royalty, it had surely represented an unexplored, unconquered region for a time, home to demons and dissidents - though both would in turn would be shattered beneath the Empire’s might, the lands guided into a new state of being, albeit still not as tamed as those further south.

For House Pyley and the Kolsan Council, the Vester Hills served at least somewhat as a buffer between the settlements they guarded and guided alike, and the bureaucratic meddling of the Empire to which they offered fealty. The presence was surely still felt, but hills and valleys still rumoured to be filled with all manner of monstrosities had a way of creating a towering wall, behind which all manner of diversity could flourish.

For vagabonds and criminals, Vester Hills was a haven, considered inhospitable to regular patrols of Templars of Zitus, as so the perfect hideaway for those that wanted to avoid the Imperial gaze. Not a location without danger though, and many delinquents likely found worse fates awaited them at the hands of marauding goblinoids and orcs that would have been faced before jury or judge.

For Alzara, it was simply home.

Her father Xitho made simple coin visiting Port Kolsa to sell wool, milk and mutton, collecting up the coppers and occasional silver piece earned from the family’s flock of sheep to purchase simple treats for Alzara and her younger siblings. More occasionally still, he would remain in the city come nightfall, selling artifacts and oddities uncovered from archaeological digs throughout the so-called Valley of Death. The finds were rare, said to be linked with the Sanctuary and surrounding outposts that once resided in the region, but for those few days that the coin lasted, the family would laugh and joke that they ate better than any noble in Eskarya, from the eponymous capital in the west to Asturcia in the east.

When Alzara got a little older, she would start accompanying her father on the journeys north to Port Kolsa, particularly after the family’s source of additional income started to dry up with growing threats haunting the roads. Nonetheless, used to living in a small woodland hovel, the town of Port Kolsa became a place of wonder, each and every street stone and brick splendid and marvellous. It would be on a journey home from one such trip that a change of fortunes would come, with the assault of a band of gnolls onto the trade caravans they were travelling alongside. The caravans had been hidden within a valley to hide their presence as the group rested overnight, but Alzara’s insistence for a fire to warm herself against the cold, having grown accustomed to the luxury of a hay-filled mattress of taverns in Port Kolsa was, as far as Alzara is concerned, surely to blame - a petulance that would near cost her life, a gnoll’s jagged blade pressed to her throat, breaths shallow and weak from the tattered arrow pierced through her shoulder.

It would be the actions of a spellcaster, hooded in ragged robes, that would save the caravan and Alzara’s life, holding off the attack until chance would bring a dignitary’s patrol accompanied by Templars of Zitus drew close, driving off the remaining marauders. Inspecting the wounds of the fallen gnolls, and the one of their own slain in the confusion, the Templars were quick to surmise the presence of a user of the arcane, unregistered and unlicensed, and started interrogating those present with increasing fervency. Lamenting that his wounds would surely mean future journeys to Port Kolsa and even simply tending to the flock would be an impossibility, Alzara’s father Xitho would take the fall for the hedge wizard, not wishing to be a costly burden to his family and in acknowledgement of saving Alzara’s life. Despite all her protests, efforts that would yield naught but a swift backhand to knock her once more to the dirt, Alzara’s father was hauled away for sentencing.

It was the last time Alzara saw her father, and filled with shame, deigned not to return to her family. Instead, she bid another of the survivors to carry a message home to her mother and siblings, declaring both of them slain in the attack, for surely such a lie was kinder than the truth that Xitho lay at the mercy of a council of nobles, Paragons of Zitus and Elders of the Conclave, accused of unlicensed magic and the murder of a Templar, and that Alzara was the one that had brought such trouble unto them both. Instead now, she continued to travel with the trade caravan, taken in by the hedge wizard - an Earth Genasi called Fenn - a simple kindness offered in return out of obligation and responsibility alike. Alzara would have little chance to learn much though, for but a few years later in 195EF, Emperor Lucious Thorne’s enforced conscription would catch the pair unawares during a visit to Voskia, and with it Fenn press-ganged into service against the Samerians while Alzara narrowly escaped.

The years since had echoed with the rumbling of a belly rarely more than half-sated, and eyes ever watchful for those that would come for her too. The northward surge of refugees has carried her to safety for now, but the lands to the south remain filled with questions unanswered, worries unresolved - and decisions yearning to be undone.

### Factual Backstory

It was expected that Yasmin would find her place in the cogs and gears of the Empire’s continent stretching machine, and to that purpose she found herself guided down a number of paths, each as bold and splendid as the one before, each befitting of her noble status. Some had decried the bequeathing of Voskia unto her great-grandfather Jamaal al’Hesan, legendary archer of the Adventurer’s Guild of Eskarya, for it was that affiliation that soon made him a controversial figure in the eyes of some. Nonetheless, the edict of the high-born Thornes declared elsewise, and so as good Imperial citizens did, the naysayers and lamenters promptly fell in line - by means of their own will, or those gifted by the will of Zitus the Lawmaker to bring them back to the path intended for them to tread. As the town had grown, Jamaal’s family had likewise, his firstborn son Adrian in turn continuing the dynasty with the birth of Arval, Jerome, Sabreena and Kwalu.

It would be the last of these, Kwalu, that Yasmin would come to be, born of a love-filled union by the youngest of Jamaal’s grandchildren with that of a bureaucrat from Asturcia who first visited Voskia to sign a trade deal within the affluent feudal town. First of six children (Yasmin - 163EF, Morgan - 166EF, Sakina - 172EF, Eugene - 172EF, Musani - 175EF, Aziz - 181EF) of such a union, childhood was filled with joys, particularly when visiting the main manor house of the al’Hesan family in place of the more modest, and decisively more cramped abode that Yasmin’s parents had taken for themselves, claiming to have done so out of a desire for a place for their own. Life was comfortable, and novelties and trinkets alike made readily available by the triple-arrow sigil stitched upon breast pocket and cloak.

And so, those myriad paths were laid before her. For a time, Yasmin had aspired to follow her mother’s path, acting as a diplomat to foreign lands, though the souring of the value of diplomacy came with the assassination of Gileon Thorne during his visit to Sameria in 176EF. Though still young, the event spiralled questioning thoughts that ultimately dissuaded Yasmin from pursuing such a path, and so she spent much of her remaining childhood years wandering listlessly from one frivolity to another. The relative wealth and power of her family’s name meant that she could spend the morning roaming orchards freely, plucking apples and pears at her whim, carousing at the theatres and inns come the afternoon, and not worry for having naught coin remaining in her pocket with which to afford an evening meal. Nonetheless, there was discipline too, bearing witness to the teachings of the Hammer of Justice in weekly service and daily offerings alike. Beneath a gilded bronze shrine she would light a candle each night, the light of the Decider casting aside the dark until the morn’s break.

With the downturn of relations between Eskarya and Sameria in 182EF, questions were once again bounded with regard to Yasmin’s future, and after much deliberation, encouragement from her wider family and a formal letter of recommendation from her uncle Arval, Yasmin found herself sent to the capital to study at the Conclave of Arcanum. A prestigious appointment and the opportunity of a lifetime that most would yearn for but never achieved, she was told, and so she threw herself into her studies, obedient and orderly in her dedication.

Or at least she tried.

The final send off from her mother and father continued to play in her mind each silent moment, twisting into new angles, framed in a new context whenever her thoughts were allowed to drift from that of parchment and focus and components. Concern furrowed upon brow, quickly lifted and hidden behind that of elation with the arrival of representatives from the Conclave, accompanied by her uncle, the Head of the al’Hesans and Ruler of Voskia. Loving words tinged with mournful cadence in place of excitement, heavy pauses where elated chatter should have instead echoed.

It was as if she was sentenced to the gallows, or the headsman’s block.

But to be accepted amongst the Conclave was a great honour, she reminded herself, and it had been her uncle’s idea. The relationship between Arval and Kwalu had grown increasingly fraught in recent years, their arguments running long into the night, and with it the visits to the main manor of al’Hesan ever less frequent. It had been her uncle that had pushed her towards the Conclave, and soon in time she found herself yearning to return to Voskia, to the orchards and the theatres, with perhaps a talent to make the flowers bloom bolder and the lights scintillate ever brighter still with the fledgling arcane talents she had learned in the past years.

The opportunity came when one of her mentors was sent to Voskia to administrate over a legal trial, as well as offer ongoing advice for the continued follow-up to guard against any ill-planned response by associates of the accused party. Likewise, there had been rumours of monstrous creatures spilling from the nearby forests and harrying the residents of the town, and so there was a dual purpose for their travel. Returning briefly to Voskia under the guise of treating the case as a learning opportunity, Yasmin would find herself reunited with her family - and offered up a harrying truth.

The intended target of the trial was to be that of her father, or rather, it would have been, save for the courage of an old colleague and co-conspirator alongside Kwalu who had elected to take the full blame to keep the embers of reckoning still burning in the fire of revolution.

*“The foolish and the brash see a broken fang upon the floor and celebrate, but neither ponder long enough to wonder how many remain in the beast’s maw.”*

Over the course of the evening, wandering deep into Voskia Woods as they did so, the full extent of the truth would be laid plain before Yasmin, the depth of the roots of conspiracy, each and every seed planted by her father and grown to blossom by operatives scattered across the eastern edge of the continent. The Empire was unjust, filled with corruption, persecution and prejudice. Zitus commanded lawfulness, his faithful created edicts and decrees woven with intolerance. Zitus commanded justice, his faithful delivered it only to those they decided worthy of it. Zitus commanded vigilance, and yet the populace turned a blind eye to the hardships faced every day under the thumb of the Thornes.

But the Day of Reckoning would soon come.

With it peace, redemption for the evil, support and guidance for all, regardless of race or creed. The teachings of Kol would rise, supported by ceremonies of atonement and dedication, carried upon the basis of equality, and with it the House of Thorne, the Empire and Zitus would be cast aside.

The trial was over quickly, concluded with a slick efficiency, a message sent to would-be dissidents. Though every effort had seemingly been made to ensure the trail between conspirators of the Fangs had been severed, the scent still lingered, and with it the predators started to circle, rumours continued to fly on the lips of the commonfolk and nobleborn alike. The stay in Voskia with her mentor was extended further as they investigated the reports of monstrosities roaming the woodlands to the south, preying upon villagers, but nonetheless, she would have to return to the Conclave soon enough, and with it the years continued to pass. The interest in her studies started to wane, noticeably so, with each passing month, week and day, with Yasmin’s mind remained more and more so stalwart on the net surely closing in around her family, on her, the cords pulled by the Templars, the Conclave and her uncle too, eager to clear the family’s good and noble name.

The celebration of a significant birthday of her uncle Arval al’Hesan fortunately proved an excuse enough to get a brief period of leave from her studies to return to Voskia. As the festivities drew to a close, fearful for what would become of her father, her mother, her siblings, Yasmin offered up a solemn prayer in the woods near her family’s modest home, beseeching the spirits of the wilds, the Concord of the Forest to aid her predicament.

*“Guide our steps onto a different path, where our place is known, our fates undetermined by our actions, the thoughts in our mind, the words upon our lips.”*

Sounds of wailing cries, screams of terror and pain alike would bring the attention of guards to the family home with the small hours of the morning, the al’Hesan family gone, creatures with flesh sallow, sage and cerulean, tusks hanging long atop broad lips. The plea, the wish, the curse, it had been granted - and with it the Fangs of the Beggar King were no longer a matter of concern for this branch of the al’Hesans, but rather the accusations that they, a group of half-trolls, had stolen into the manor come nightfall and feasted upon father, mother and children. Yasmin could not say what happened to her parents, forced into flight as she was by the flurry of arrows that chased her from the house. She could turn not to the forest where she had frolicked as a child, for surely the Wild Antler’s ire had been stoked by her wishes to turn away from their teaching, the teaching that underpinned the ideals of the Fangs. The Conclave would surely dissect her, determine the nature of her affliction with scalpel and lens, gleaming the nature, arcane or divine from broken bone and torn flesh.

She lasted a day in Voskia itself before she was forced to flee, watching, disguised by magical glamour, as a cart led away a trio of figures from her family home - of the others remained no sign. But yet, the Empire now swarmed, a branch of a noble house with a storied Imperial history had been slain in their beds, and so it would only be a matter of time until she too was found. Northward then, she fled, hiding in gulley and branch come day, scavenging from hedgerow and orchard as she travelled with the cover of night. Her magic kept her safe from those minor threats, though truly it was simply guile that allowed her to slip unnoticed between the hills, aided all the while by ongoing conscriptions pulling patrols of Templars of Zitus and local militias into efforts against the Samerians. Throughout Vester Hills she haunted for a while, before the rising tide of refugees fleeing the recent announcement by Emperor Lucious would carry her past Badengatt and into the lands of Tosima.

## Relationships

### Anastasia Ekatarina

Alzara's time spent with Ana has been minimal, owing to the latter's proclivity to spend long stretches of time away from Freehearth, and a seemed lack of crossover in the adventures, journeys and quests that they have set forth on. In contrast to a number of other residents of the settlement, Alzara seems to have also shirked the opportunity to sit before Ana's Tarot Deck.

On their first trip together as a party, Ana inadvertently dealt Alzara a scathing wound when she targetted Antlers, the flying steed upon which Alzara was perched. In spite of this however, the pair did not come to blows, with each individual acknowledging the burdens willingly shouldered by the other - regardless of the reason.

### Auxley St. Crow

Initially Alzara found herself cautious towards the debonair and bold personality of Auxley, reminding her of the numerous suave and scheming merchants that her father frequently dealt with while she was still in her youth. Over time however, she has come to appreciate the care and attention that Auxley places in himself, whether his choice and appreciation of fine clothing and style, but more thoughtfully his efforts to look out for the other residents of Freehearth, particularly that of Pickle and his woes dealing with pacts and patrons of various kinds.

At Port Roc Reef, Alzara vouched for Auxley's character to the pirate and tarot reader Diego Martinez, her words deeming sufficient enough to justify him being raised from the dead after being slain by a cultist marauder.

### Ered

In many ways, Alzara and Ered have proven to be kindred spirits in their short time travelling together, offering a calm perspective on matters. Alzara also seems to respect Ered's devotion and determination to his beliefs - as well as his talent for remaining steadfast while squarely in the front lines. Frequently, Ered becomes the target for Alzara's transmutation magics, particularly so that which grants him a level of *Haste* moving across the battlefield.

### Killian Kir'we

More so than most of the other residents of the settlement, Alzara did not seem overtly unsettled or otherwise distrustful of Killian initally. Nonetheless, she reacted to his efforts at colloquial chatter with a muted suspicion, avoiding answering questions she deems too personal. Nonetheless, she acknowledged his spellcasting competency, accepting that collaboration on the creation of a magic shop in Freehearth to aid them in their further studies.

Though she dismissed it at the time as the least of the party's concerns, the shock and horror upon Alzara's face at his deliberate dismemberment in the tunnels beneath Elderfall was abundantly clear to see.

However, after the altercation with Aleida Darkdraft near the southernmost leystone, their relationship soured significantly. Dismayed and betrayed at Killian's seemed familiarity with the spellbreakers that sought to capture them, as well as his immediate willingness to engage the hostile force in a private conversation, not as a parleying diplomat, but as allies. Later that night she confronted Killian, seeking to do so in a calm, almost maternal manner, questioning him on whether he was naïve to how his actions could be construed, or rather flagrantly uninterested or unconcerned. Learning of Killian's familial - by nature of affiliation, rather than blood - relationship with Aleida, she has since held him with further caution.

After their experimentation with the Tome of Aog Bàs, Alzara counselled further caution to Killian, although ultimately acknowledged that the wizard was more of an auxiliary to the ritual, headed by Azar. With help from Arania, Killian was healed of his *Feeblemind*, meaning he was able to travel with them to Banard a few days later. It would be at Banard that Killian would find his final fate, slain by means of a *Finger of Death* by Bolva of the Mallacht Coven, and when Alzara's attempts to hold back his undead turning, she would weep genuinely for the loss, lamenting an individual of capable of well-meaning sweetness and curiosity exploited and threatened by the firm hand of the Conclave of Arcanum.

Later, when Alzara went to cast *Find Familiar* for the first time, she found she could not conjure any creature but Forfin Azurewhisker, much to her confusion

### Kreev B. Earbender

While initially cautious of Kreev's seemed sense of whimsy, the natural charm of the dragonborn quickly served as a worthwhile source of entertainment and distraction. In time too, she has acknowledged his competency in more than just social situations, but matters of combat likewise, having since fought alongside him on numerous occasions. in Freehearth, she started to work tirelessly to produce costumes and clothing to fit the needs and expectations of his planned theatre show, revelling in the task and using it to deepen her understanding of the craft.

After the pair were captured by the Mallacht Coven, suffering greatly in their incarceration, Alzara and Kreev's relationship developed further, both lamenting in the brokenness - physically and psychologically - but using the other as motivation to persevere and persist, and just perhaps, given time, "*maybe all things have a way of springing back, however bent and broken out of place they may seem."*

### The Mallacht Coven

Alzara seems to possess a history with the Mallacht Coven, even if perhaps she was not directly aware of it. After encountering the trio of hags beneath the Bone Meal Bone Mill near the northern edge of the western Peaks of the Vale, she was promptly goaded by one of their number, Bolva, using a *Silent Image* depicting a human woman of dark hair, eyes and skin - an illusion that prompted Alzara to unleash a malicious *Ray of Decay* towards her. Alzara subsequently focused her attention on preventing the ongoing ritual that sought to transform a prayer-offering farmer into an ice-troll, fighting with an unbridled aggression and certain level of disregard for her own safety.

### Pickle

Alzara treats Pickle in a manner akin to that of an elder sister, simultaneously delighting in his excitement and naivety, while they simultaneously serve as a cause of great concern and distress for her. She has repeated cautioned him against acting without considering the repercussions, but has never yet raised her voice to scorn him - instead preferring to crouch low and explain her worries in calm and genuine conversation.

### Suzuki & Raisuboi

Having travelled across the border from the south with the racoonfolk and half-oni, Alzara naturally gravitated towards the pair during their early days at Freehearth, solidified further by Suzuki's insistence that Alzara stayed within her recently constructed lodgings until Alzara had the time and coinage necessary to commission the construction of something of her own.

The open kindness of the pair has already done much to increase Alzara's sense of generosity, providing her with a sense of community that she had been otherwise lacking.

## Adventures in Tosima

### Crossing Blades with Celestials

On her first journey away from the thus far unnamed settlement on the Chronicle Coast, Alzara and Suzuki served as principal navigators, quickly coming across a seemingly enchanted pool which proved to be home to a Morgen, a malign water spirit that sought to charm and drown much of the party. Using her magic predominantly to aid her newfound companions rather than go on the offensive against the fey entity. Aided by a large black hound, they defeated the Morgen, the remains interred at Alzara's request - the grave covered in flower blossoms through liberal use of *Druidcraft.*

After a brief encounter with soldiers of the Kingdom of Elderfall, the party found themselves looking upon their quarry, a lighthouse standing tall and bright against a sea littered with shipwrecks. Acting with curiosity towards the animated lanterns-like creatures floating within, Alzara found quick confrontation with the guardian of the Tower of Light, recognising them as a devout and unyielding follower of Zitus. While deigning not to seek to free Sabathiel, the source of the light of the tower, she refused to return the goods collected upon the ascent, declaring that they had simply gathered centuries of dust under Asteraoth's supposed "ongoing usage" of them. Such defiance and reluctance to bow to the whims of the individual she deemed a bully espousing the ideals of an unjust deity near resulted in her death through a so-called *atonement*, but the party managed to escape with their lives nonetheless, through aid from Hoji.

### Graverobbers and Homeraiders

A few months after her first adventure, Alzara once again travelled out into the wider world with a group of her companions, bound for the lands to the west. At a river crossing, she and they came across a band of bandits - familiar to some amongst her party - attempting to brute force their way into an old tomb, claiming they were doing so to reclaim the treasures within for Queen Ciara. Unconvinced but nonetheless curious, Alzara managed to solve the puzzle necessary to open the tomb but is unable to do much to prevent the would-be grave robbers from entering and triggering the defensive magic contained within. After using a mixture of enchantment and persuasion to help encourage the surviving robbers to return what they had stolen, the party promptly departed, sealing the tomb behind them and burying those few amongst the dead they managed to recover.

After a few days, Alzara and her companions arrived at the settlement of Killeith, home to a large number of animalfolk, led by the Badgerfolk Elder Brochroot who provides them with information about their quarry - a group of beastfolks led by the ratfolk mercenary Cormac. Using her talent for enchantments to get the party into the house through exploiting the somewhat lacking mental facets of a goatfolk called Billy, the party negotiated the bandits' departure, but not before gaining a few new trails upon which to pull - namely a wealthy benefactor with the initial of W, and the evidence of Green Dragon Wyrmlings and prisoners in the basement of the tower.

### Of Blood & Bone

With introductions made to a new arrival, the wizard Killian Kir’we, Alzara and the rest of the party of adventurers from Freehearth set forth for Elderfall to investigate rumours of a creature stealing children from their homes. On the way, the party encounters a herd of Morvaks, a type of horse capable of walking atop the surface of water, giving Alzara a moment of contemplative piece as she feeds the creature from her palm. Later, the group stumbled across a travelling circus, made up of a number of curious characters, and led by the enigmatic and dramatic Bazaar. Disappointed at Kreev B. Earbender's lack of caution with regard to their origin, Alzara utilises *Detect Magic* to survey the surface thoughts of many of the circus performers, relaxing somewhat in finding little of note. Alongside Ered, she expressed concern for the wellbeing of an owlbear cub in the circus' possession, subsequently promising to aid him in the journey to bring it home.

After arriving at Elderfall, the party started their investigations, finding themselves promptly venturing into the flooded catacombs serving as a sewer system beneath the city. After encounters with oozes and the Juvenile Freakish Bandit Rats, Alzara and her companions found themselves surprised to observe their new companion Killian detach his hand from his body and use it to fight independently from himself. Shock, distrust and concern were amongst the primary responses, but Alzara and Ered were quick to remark that now was not the immediate time for such matters, with the steady closing in on the so-called Bloody Bones taking priority. After a sustained battle with the undead creature and their brutish creation Raw Head, Alzara destroyed the manual used to create the golem but tearing the pages and then fixing them with *Mending*, erasing great swathes of the text contained within permanently.

Subsequently, Alzara used her share of the gemstones to fund the creation of Chalk & Charm.

### Steadfast Like Stone, Against Stone

Alzara was amongst the party that travelled to Elderfall at the start of 201EF to help defend the city against the threat stirring from Dun Therra, as established by previous exploration efforts. Though initially hesitant - brought on by the lingering melancholic spirit housed within the Staff of the Snail, previously gifted unto her by the kobold Pickle, Alzara showed a capable commanding tact, coordinating her magic with that of two garrisons of longbowmen from upon the walls of the city. Through use of evocation spells, she sundered a number of elemental spirits as they rose from the earth, before being thrown from the battlements by the genasi Onyx who cast *Earthquake* using his greatsword Golem's Might.

Saved by means of her racial *Regeneration*, Alzara would continue to coordinate her efforts with the longbowmen she was fighting alongside, slowing a number of key figures as to assail them with repeated volleys with increased efficiency. Near the end of the battle, she proved critical in subduing Therraczar through use of *Sleep*, allowing Ludithas to cast *Magic Circle* on the elemental, and thusly recover the Terra Stones. Subsequently, the reclaimed Stones were split between the kingdoms to keep them apart.

### Wandering the Wilds

Having spent time recovering from the battle at Elderfall, Alzara set forth with an adventuring party, bound for the lands north to scout out the suspected territories of the New Elysian Empire. With the goal being predominately that of a scouting mission, they made trying to find capital of the region their priority, travelling by means of *Phantom Stead*. After spending a small amount of time investigating a Leystone, they, at Alzara's request, swung by the fork in the river as directed by the bandit Cormac. To their surprise, they found the bandits present are familiar with Killian - much to Alzara's dismay - being a member of the Conclave and a pair of Spellbreakers, breaking into a short skirmish with the group when they try to capture the individuals capable of casting spells. Spiteful, Alzara causes one of the Spellbreakers to fall in the river as she steps back at her commander Aleida's command. As Killian parleyed and/or caught up with an old acquaintance, the warming relationship between Killian and Alzara quickly spiralled downward through tactful use of *Detect Thoughts*.

Later that night, Alzara confronted Killian, questioning the nature of his relationship with the Conclave, before cautioning him on how his actions might be seen by the rest of the party. After continuing to offer a cold shoulder his way, the party discovered a number of points of interest with aid from some shepherds farming Nyx-Fleece Rams, including a forest pervasively enchanted with alluring whispers, a hove with a execution site serving to deliver death by falling, a seemed holy site upon a hill, a haunted village and a trail of gastropod mucus. They stumbled across the cause of the lattermost the following day, having seen something harried from above by winged creatures, when the party discovered the remains of a gargantuan snail - the supposed First Son of Danu. In the wreckage, Alzara encounters a creature encased in a shell, supposedly linked to the *Staff of the Snail*. The mollusk, having introduced themselves as Molly, responded well to Alzara's compassion offered unto their woes pertaining to their cursed nature, before accepting her offer to carry her back to Freehearth to keep them close to the Staff of the Snail, as well as the locale's healing groves.

On the journey south, Alzara cautioned the party in getting too involved with a ritual to the Autarch Inferno at a nearby stone monolith seemingly warded strongly with *Abjuration* Magic. Instead, she and the rest of the party delayed the ritual sufficiently so to allow a patrol of celestials and constructs to break up the ritualists' efforts - although one, a fire genasi Helia - manages to escape.

### God Amongst Men, As Man

After delivering a number of parcels to various members of the town - recent commissions from Silk & Grace - Alzara was amongst the party bound west to follow up on claims of a supposed Avatar of Dagda, travelling via Elderfall to the villages around the Elder Hills. Taking the length of the journey to catch up a number of members of the party with their recent adventures in the north, including that of their encounter with what remained of the First Son of Danu, and the rescue of Molly Mollusk, the journey was disrupted by the wails and cries of a trapped fey spirit within a Shrine to Nuada. Although the group was initially keen to aid the whimsical being, through use of a targetted and prying *Detect Thoughts*, Alzara uncovered its malign intentions, leading to the party's sudden shift in efforts - paired with the creature's efforts to shape evil-aligned symbology out of flowers within its place of entrapment. After a pitched skirmish, in which Alzara found herself repeatedly harangued by the spell *Whirlwind*, she would eventually destroy the creature with a thunder-imbued *Chromatic Orb*. After collecting a sample of its blood to try and study how it changed freely between an outwardly normal and monstrous form, the party continued.

Arriving at Banard after encounters with both the Bards of Infinity and Yangant and an arcanaloth called Amenti seeking to beguile Pickle into a new pact with Mother Caoránach, Alzara tended to her injuries, chatting briefly with Seònaid Mcguinness with regard to the insects attacking the village, before setting off for Achlyne. With the arrival of the subsequent morning, they found the village aflush with activity, taking particular note at the sense of community present in the reconstruction efforts, and the long queue of soon-to-be satisfied patrons of the so-called Avatar of Dagda waiting in the centre of the settlement. Amongst the other questioning remarks of the group come their turn, Alzara asked a pair of questions - the first inquiring to the timing of his manifestation in a more mortal form, to which the Avatar gives a reasonable answer with regard to the lands calling out for aid and being able to offer more assistance as a physical entity. While much of the rest of the group offers up further questions, Alzara proved less swayed, having thus far even declined to give the Avatar her name.

After confirming that in his higher form, in which he has existed for an age and more before manifesting a physical form more recently, he would have heard the prayers of a girl pleading for aid and help, to save home and hearth, Alzara offered up a final question - "why didn't you answer them?". Although the Avatar was quick to apologise, claiming that not every prayer is answered, Alzara immediately hit back that her prayer was, but by the wrong entity. Through a scowl, she lambasted his lack of action in twisted words, rebuking his efforts to help, should she only tell him how - if he truly was Dagda, he would know what she prayed for. Incredulous, she storms from the building.

Waiting for the rest of the party at the southern gates of the settlement, Alzara is attacked by a Redcap when it leaps off a roof at her, the first of numerous malign fey to start attacking the village. The party, alongside the Avatar and a number of priests rush into action, evacuating the civilians while holding off the oncoming forces, led by a wizened woman - seemingly Drachmas, or rather Agnes Marshcradler - and a coven of sea hags. Catching all but one of the hags in the distorting and slowing magics of her staff, Alzara stems their impact for a time, all the while fighting alongside Auxley St. Crow against the foes more in her vicinity. After he is knocked unconscious by a Korred's greatclub, and shortly afterwards lumbers back to his feet again, she manages to dispatch the fey, not by violence, but by charming it through use of *Suggestion* to start painting a nearby wall with its hair. Elsewhere, the rest of the aggressors are either destroyed or sent into flight, and with it the party finds themselves bound back for Freehearth, though not without a promise from the Avatar of Dagda that he would aid Molly overcome her curse, and likewise stand with them in battle against Agnes in her lair somewhere within the Bowels of Tal'Dosh.

### Rotten Heart & Soul

Along with a number of other adventurers from Freehearth, Alzara travelled north via Dazomar's Lair, bound for the overgrown village of Ballyargus to the north. As the party travelled close to the edge of the mountain ridge - keen to uncover both potential entry points to the Underdark for sake of continued caution, but also as a buffer of land to the supposedly pirate filled seas to the east, they stumbled across a treasure chest laid as bait by a pair of Ettin. After Alzara used her magic to beguile one of the pair into returning to his early afternoon nap, the party quickly subdued both of the giantkin in turn, with Pickle claiming the Snugglebeast in the chest for himself - although allowing Alzara a chance to examine it in hope of adding it to the repertoire of her shop's stock.

Come nightfall, Alzara took watch, confiding in the spirit contained within her staff as kindred spirits, contemplating the presence and merits of emotions, and whether being trapped into a perpetual state of sadness would be preferable to cycling feelings of guilt, helpless, apathy and anger.

*"What does it feel like, to only experience sadness, melancholy? Does it still sting with each memory, or perhaps a burdensome weight ever present, unshiftable, unavoidable? Maybe by now it means so little, of so little consequence? Tears long spent, eyes long since dry. You beckon more, because you feel you should, but they linger no longer. Perhaps it is just a numbness now, and acceptance."*

*"Hmmm…imagine."*

*"And yet, if sadness is all that is known, perhaps it spares one from what else might choose to loom and haunt. Guilt, regret, they can carry a weight too, straining upon shoulders and back, psyche and being. Never enough to maim or crush, no, but balanced so one might never grow conditioned, never strong enough to bypass it. Would you feel it too, do you think, if this curse hadn’t also stripped you of your senses, of your emotions, all but one?"*

*"Were we to swap places, for a few minutes, a few hours, a day or two, do you think you would do as I do? Stretch a face unfamiliar into a smile, play at things that once forged happy memories. The thrum of theatre, a celebration of dramatics, of music and majesty, seeking to lose your thoughts in something, anything else? To laugh at japes, to weep but in the knowledge that it was make believe, just a long tale, and that mother, father, brother, sister, it’ll all work out in the end. The villains are just made up, creations of fancy, and the lines between good and evil are easily drawn in the dirt."*

*"Maybe instead you’d try your hand at crafts taught in lessons of childhood, hoping that reflex and muscle memory will whisk you away, but find fingers less deft or dextrous than you remember them? You fasten the buckles just a fraction too tight, let the needle catch your fingertip from time to time."*

*"Or perhaps you’ll give into anger, confronting any which those that you blame for your own mistakes, your own misgivings, secretly aching and yearning that maybe, just maybe they’ll deliver unto you the one thing that you want, but don’t deserve, not yet."*

*"Hmmm…imagine."*

*"There might be a way to get rid of this, Molly, if you want. But to do so would be relying on a path that has failed in the past, perhaps not for you, but nonetheless. I want to offer certainty, an answer clear and definitive, to say with confidence that this option is as they claim to be, but, I can’t. I can’t. I’ve placed myself in their hands before. They might not even be the same hands. Huh, I’m not sure it even matters really. I don’t know what you were really like, before well, this. Would you have run into his arms, grasping at the promises of happiness, of cheer and comfort? Would that be forthright, or just a desire to feel something, anything but sadness?"*

Shortly after swapping watch with Pickle, Alzara was subsequently awoken by a drow raiding party, nearly falling foul of their warrior leader. Alzara stood by and did not interrupt as the decision was made to dispatch the surrendering survivor, remarking that they were are armed combatant that sought to cut them down, or drag them to a fate worse, and so the drow should be aware of the risks drawn by it. Come morning, and a few further hours of travel, they arrive to find Ballyargus covered in decades of fungal growth, and the shambling remains of the villagers now animated by the spores. Through her hardy constitution and her innate half-troll tolerance for noxious substances, Alzara avoided the worst of the danger, but still found herself surrounded until being rescued by Pickle's steed Antlers. However, while flying to safety, Alzara found herself inadvertently targetted by Ana when a third-eye sprouted from her forehead to fire upon the fey. Alzara offered nothing but sympathy in return however, acknowledging that Ana simply wields the weapon for its power, accepting the burden and curse to use it for good. Alzara tended to her injuries, readying herself for the descent beneath the village.

The caverns below were filled with further fungal growths, corpses reanimated with spores, a roaming animated Cloudkill-esque haze, a Hook Horror and a Fomorian Druid. Acting primarily to slow down a large number of foes with her staff, she served as a ranged combatant, all the while repositioning her unconscious comrades away from hazards - and closer to those more able to heal them. When Ana turned once more due to the influence of her sword, and instead decided to cast it down and reject its presence, Alzara collected up the cursed blade in her cloak, deigning not to leave the weapon in a foul place such as this. Shortly after, with the Fomorian slain and his captive freed and invited back to Freehearth 'on vacation', Alzara bore witness to the steady decline of Kreev and Pickle to the illness caused by the spores throughout the village - the pair having suffered more so than her other companions. Although Kreev could be healed conventionally using the measure of Keoghtom's Ointment found within Goll's Cavern, they had not a way to save Pickle - and so at her protest of "agreeing to an entity's terms in hope of nullifying distress in the moment" guided the kobold into signing his contract with Caoránach.

### Things that Go Chirp in the Night

Near the start of the month of Tyor, Alzara was interrupted from her studies by Killian's familiar Forfin, who guided her (after spreading ink everywhere on the floor) to the house of Azar and Cecilia, where Azar and Killian had undertaken a ritual to open the Tome of Aog Bàs - banishing the former in the process and draining the latter of his mental faculties. Guiding the wizard to the grove watched over by Arania, where he was cured by means of *Greater Restoration*, she then chastised Killian for his lack of forethought, and after Killian admitted he didn't know anything about the lingering Conjuration-magic infused crack in the floor of the chambers, used *Dispel Magic* upon the rippling eldritch connection. At Killian's protests that Azar was still possibly somewhere on the other side, she solemnly remarked that thus was the consequences of his actions, lest the crack and its wider magic be left to deliver further destruction to their newfound safe haven.

Alzara subsequently was part of the group bound for Banard to aid Seònaid Mcguinness in the village's defence, travelling to the settlement in a relatively uneventful manner - save an encounter with a Venom Troll in which the party is aided by a mysterious green-eyed fey creature and a horde of rabbits - to find it partially consumed by swarms of locusts and other insects. Nonetheless, the rebuilding process had started, even if the threat had not yet been dealt with. Musing over Seònaid's descriptions of the attackers, Alzara recognised the larger monstrosities as Umber Hulks, remarking that they are usually found deep in the earth. At her questioning, it is noted that eye-based symbols painted in a berry paste matching those seemingly associated with Agnes Marshcradler (as researched by Alzara) have started to appear on a weekly basis, all of which have a faint divination aura.

Come nightfall, during Alzara and Arania's watch, the pair noticed tunnelling beneath the surface, moments later they were both grappled within the mandibles of a pair of Ankhegs. Both manage to escape promptly as the rest of the party rushes to action, but Alzara is then dealt a grievous wound by a swarm of deadly butterflies and then chased down by another swarm, this time wasps. When Dazomar is then targetted by the same lepidopterous swarm, Alzara utilised her newly-learned understanding of the spell *Wither and Bloom* to aid him, before eventually getting revenge with an upcast Chromatic Orb infused with flame. Though tough fought, the battle was eventually won and after a few moments of respite they discussed their next steps. With concerns that the tunnel may open into a lair filled with their foe's allies they instead rest to recoup their strength, sending Forfin into the tunnels come morning and trailing it down the edge of the river near the Peaks of the Vale to a fetid display of rot and gore at its banks near an abandoned mill. Investigating the outhouse, they encountered a three-headed cerberus but dispatch it quickly, believing it to be connected to the tunnels. The mill nearby seems to grinding giantkin bones into a fine powdered meal, tended to by a number of Dark Duwende that are disturbed by their intrusion and subsequently fled. Moving to investigate they find themselves in a dark pit, and after Dazomar proves evasive Alzara casts *Detect Thoughts* she inadvertently discovers a half-dozen fey creatures hiding in the dark that the party then parleys with for information, before returning back to the other side of the river - where their employer appears to be operating.

In the tunnels they find a trio of hags, Forbanna, Kirous and Bolva, the Mallacht Coven, delighting in corrupting the prayers intercepted by means of their cauldron. They talk of turning the owner of the voice into a troll of some kind, immediately garnering Alzara's attention and ire alike. The trio of hags prove to be fearsome foes, *Counterspelling* Alzara's magic, although her new myceliaweave mage armour manages to protect her from the worst of their necrotic magics. With the situation looking dire, the largest of the three hags taunted Alzara with use of *Silent Image* depiction of a human woman, goading Alzara enough to prompt her to unleash a Ray of Decay to the surprise of the party - although Killian, the only individual likely to recognise its significance is currently under the effects of the *Sleep* spell. In further defiance, Alzara then broke her cauldron, though the hag was unperturbed, remarking that "one cannot change the past". Nonetheless, with their spell reserves nearly expended, one of the hags vanished by means of *Plane Shift*, the others obscured from Alzara due to Raisuboi's *Darkness* - and so each of the other two likewise vanished. Enraged, Alzara shattered a plate nearby but attention quickly turned instead to that of their fallen companion, Killian, now zombified, who they determine is beyond saving. Alzara tries in vain to use *Gentle Repose* on the body, to no effect, lamenting her failure - having lost in more than one way.

### Bridges, Boulders & Birds

Using their newly-acquired knowledge, both Alzara and Maeve conjured a number of Phantom Horses for the party, Alzara's creations taking the form of noble palfreys made from felt in stark contrast to the huge draft horses with antlers summoned by Maeve. After encountering Vanora at the bridge, a water genasi with which Alzara was not familiar, the party continued onwards alongside a previously acquired scholar called Éamon who was studying the dangers presented by bridges for their thesis. When the party later parleyed with members of the Order of the Volant, Alzara and the others learned of their ongoing rivalry with the genasi and his patron, before nearly coming to blows over their efforts to prevent their ascension up deeper into the Elder Hills. After one of their number set off to consult with their leader Gálasia, Alzara tried to gleam further information from Gordon, but ultimately the party is sent back to find another route up the hills. On the way to the northwest the party encountered a mossy-covered Galeb Duhr, which after some struggles discerning its intention, warned them of the dangers inbound. Alzara managed to clear a number of the harrying vultures with her newly-learned spell, *Fireball*, having acknowledged her need for additional 'firepower' when dealing with large groups after the debacle in clearing fungal spores at Ballyargus.

After bidding farewell to Éamon to his ongoing research, gifting him the cart, a goldenrod bloom and asking him to send a copy of his thesis when done, the party ascended the mountains further to find a large hilltop grove filled with corpses. After chatting briefly with one from a trio of air genasi, the party spied a cackling vulture-like humanoid, dismissed as without value by the ambassadors, who they learned was responsible for the vultures and perytons that previously attacked them. Ellén Trechend remarked that the land was now his, and he would defend it as its greatest and gracious god. When the party asked to meet the three-headed vulture the feathered humanoid dismissed their interests as folly, and so Maeve and Alzara moved to ply the creature with complements to learn further information from it. They learn that it was born in the Vester Hills but escaped its confinements, it holds command over the beasts of the hills, and it is capable offering gifts as a patron - the more patrons, the most powerful those gifts are. Alzara supported Pickle from the side lines after he challenged Ellén to a duel, then moved to *Haste* the kobold when wider combat broke out.

Despite being harassed repeatedly by vultures normal, giant and gargantuan, and then Ellén Trechend itself, Alzara managed to maintain concentration on the spell, using *Wither and Bloom* and her *Regeneration* to bolster her focus further still. Somehow, Alzara managed to keep her focus on *Haste* throughout, delivering a number of harrying strikes herself before Pickle butchered Ellén Trechend. After burying the dead, Alzara and the party took a moment to gather their thoughts, with Alzara giving her genuine thanks to Cecilia for her words of encouragement to bolster her defence throughout.

### Candles & Curses, Snails & Sharks

An uneventful journey brings the party to Ojiro's home, they find it quiet, mournful, its owner and resident now seemingly transformed into a full troll - as suspected by Raisuboi following his readings of the Communions of Calamity. He reports that he sees the transformation as punishment for wavering in his faith to Mannán, and despite the party's efforts to persuade him round to the responsibility of the Mallacht Coven, he is hesitant to accept it, declaring himself worthy of punishment. Alzara spent time repairing his broken belongings, empathetic of his anger and rage - but using it as a chance to both teach Pickle against the harshness of life and the ease of slipping into bitterness, while promising Ojiro that soon enough *"all this will be a bad memory that we can try and forget"*. Taking note of a curious sigil scrawled around Ojiro's home on parchments and notes, Alzara tucked a copy of it away for further study. After discovering a solid black candle hidden amongst the shrine their suspicions were further confirmed when Pickle spied the coven of night hags using *Read Object* on the wax, before the party decided to destroyed it.

After further discussion of the prayers and their origin, they commit to returning to Freehearth to attempt to break the curse. With Alzara watching attentively, the magic of Danu took hold and cured the giantkin back into his oni form. In a glimmer of joy, Alzara meekly inquired whether Arania had it in her to repeat it, rushing off to fetch Molly after a moment's hesitation and placing the Staff of the Snail besides her. The magic of Danu worked once more, freeing the slightly gaunt woman within who stumbled in her arms. After a tender moment, the pair retired to the waiting room of the Silk & Grace, discussing the past months and the odd relationship built up telepathic discussion and intrusions into each other minds. After a few moments, and a new set of clothes, they head over to where Raisuboi prepared a vast feast for those now joining them at Freehearth.

A few days pass, and the group set forth for the nearest shipwreck to Freehearth, utilising Alzara's recently-scribed *Water Walk* to get close and then Arania's *Water Breathing* to descend into depths where the first of the wrecks waited them, surrounded by a group of inquisitive reef sharks. As a much larger shark came swimming suddenly towards her, Alzara used the new powers by the no longer cursed Staff of the Snail to transform her assailant into a tiny marine snail. The threat was far from over however, with numerous reef sharks attracted by the blood in the water - and shortly after a monstrous hammerhead trailing rancid tissue in the water. In a tense battle in the gloom the party found themselves victorious and capable to claim the loot contained within.

### Mystery & Malice, Hidden in Fog

After checking in with Molly, still quiet and reclusive after her return to form, Alzara joined an adventuring travelling to a lumbermill to the west of Elderfall, investigating rumours of a malign spirit haunting the region. Finding the thickets to be alarming dark and gloomy, even in the middle of the day, the journey was trialsome, with the shadows being haunted by black ooze-like creatures and a pack of roaming wraiths. After attempting to fight back against their attackers, the party quickly learned that the assailants were likely illusionary, confirmed through the heady extent of magic from the School of Illusion detected throughout the forest. Running on the theory that a spirit of nature might be using such magics to protect the forest from lumberers, the party then instead found themselves contesting with a Boggle, before the fey was smote by a sudden bolt of lightning.

Subsequently the party found itself involved in a stalemate between multiple opposing forces, clamouring through the fog above and served by all manner of boggles, squirrels and a pockmarked and wounded gnome-like creature. Pushing past a warned about boundary formed by a log crossing a river, the group stumbled across a scene of desolation, all manner of fey creatures slain in a bloody skirmish. A further ambush comes the way of the party, Alzara bolstering Ered with use of *Haste* to allow the paladin to better stand fast against their foes, while the party all strained to overcome the hordes of troll-like humanoids, eventually finding success. Noting that no lumberers were amongst the slain, it is suggested that they were perhaps scared away to save them from the coming assault, or may have been the cause of it with their actions and simply fleet-footed enough to escape.

Behind a waterfall, a winding caverns system subsequently revealed their foe, once more the Mallacht Coven and Alzara crossing paths as the hags attempt to extort the location of a number of objects from a dragon-like wooden creature. Despite the party's pleas for aid to put an end to the hags once and for all, the wyrm fled, leaving the party to fend for themselves in a closely pitched battle. Greatly hampered by the bubbles of darkness cast by Illinois, Alzara found herself scattered across the battlefield, and one by one, much of the party found themselves felled beneath the might of spell and claw wielded by hags with equal measure. Alzara was subsequently carried away, unconscious, by Bolva, despite the efforts of Raisuboi to break her focus to save her.

With Raisuboi and Ered raised from the dead by Ludithas, a rescue effort would be mounted, finding Alzara and the rest of the party greatly mutilated by the hags, but ultimately alive.

### Lurking Beneath the Waves

When Auxley announced his intention to travel up the eastern coast of the continent to visit Port Roc Reef, a known den of pirates, Alzara promptly worked to create more fitting costuming for the group, providing all manner of sea-faring coats, hats, dresses and other attire, weathering each of them through use of *Prestidigitation* to make them more fitting for a crew out at sea for many months. On their travels aboard the *Pride of Azar*, the party passed close to the Tower of Light - Alzara offering her own cautions about the place, before aiding the group weave amongst shipwrecks in hope of reaching their destination within a few days. Such a hope would be somewhat hampered by the arrival of a dragon turtle, Karkadann, which Alzara attempted to placate with a (well-padded and insulated) vial of Spriggan Blood, before the dragon turtle was snatched from the depths by a much larger serpentine beast, sending the crew fleeing once more. Working alongside Ana, Alzara worked to repair the damage dealt to the vessel by means of *Borrowed Knowledge*, yielding the party arrival at port shortly after.

While at Port Roc Reef, Alzara made light conversation with a number of individuals, including the ogre Blirth, before playing a game of Rock of Destiny against the pirate captain Bounty, utilising a subtly-cast *Detect Thoughts* to tip the game in her favour, though ultimately declining the prize - instead using it in an attempt to encourage Bounty's first mate to think for themselves and not always fall immediately in-line behind their captain. After Ana managed to revive the suddenly deceased Diego Martinez, having been briefly possessed during a tarot reading, the pirate residents bid the party aid them in dealing with their woes, guiding them to a hidden door out back of the tavern, wherein they came across Vanora and Avonlea, a presumed marid, in a heated discussion, surrounded by cultists. Breaking up the discussion with use of an Air Elemental conjured into the room, the party found itself in a bloody bout, with numerous area-of-effect spells simultaneously in play, though in the end they would find some form of victory, definitively slaying the water genasi, and learning a great deal from the parleying Avonlea, acknowledging they had not the power to defeat her. The battle came at a cost however, with Auxley himself slain. At Alzara's behest and acceptance, Diego would subsequently read Auxley's fate, prompting Alzara to vouch for his virtues, after which he found himself raised back to life.

### One Must Fall

With a great deal of apprehension, Alzara joined the party on a journey once more to the Tower of Light during the month of Alor, 202EF, seeking answers first and foremost. On the second day of their journey, with trouble clearly present on the road ahead, Alzara was quick to propose using Auxley's griffon Raio as a distraction, suggesting the creature swoop in to snatch up the slain horse, mimicking normal scavenging behaviour, to turn the attention of the kobolds seeming to lie in wait for them. The plan ultimately worked, but found itself ultimately complicated by the emergence of the red dragon Gauldurgvoar. In the fierce fighting that subsequently occurred, flame burning bright aplenty throughout, the dragon was eventually felled - although not before Alzara was forced to expend a great deal of magical energy, not least so to catch Brochlily by means of Feather Fall as she leapt from Gauldurgvoar's back mid flight. After the battle, Alzara claimed a pair of fangs from the carcass.

At the Tower of Light, heated words were quickly exchanged between Alzara and Asteraoth, the latter demanding her repentance - to which Alzara declined. As such, she waited beyond the boundary of the Tower for an extended stretch of the time while the others were allowed entry, giving them a chance to question the Hound Archon. Nonetheless, connected to the conversation by means of Vaalia's *Psychic Whispers*, she later made her entry by means of flight granted to her on the back of Raio, launching a barrage of disparagement to the celestial, decreeing them a tyrant, or at the very least, an individual blind to that fact they were in service to one. When Asteraoth accused her of coming to the Tower in pursuit of an excuse of violence, Alzara accepted the truth, but yet remarked that they had already received a dozen, and yet had not reached for their weapons. Throwing her arms wide, she instead encouraged the Archon to do the same, remarking that surely that they too sought an excuse to deliver the atonement that they were so wishful in wanting to deliver with their sword last time they met.

The spark of violence instead came from Vaalia, causing the Tower to descend into sudden combative chaos. Alzara, alongside her allies, fought to defend themselves, Alzara utilising a spell scroll from Port Roc Reef to cast *Cone of Water*, destroying a number of Lantern Archons before they could get into position, before following it up with further evocations. After Brochlily managed to pummel from the tower's top, and with their allies rushing to heal them, it would ultimately be Alzara that slew the celestial - sending seven motes of arcane energy spiralling their way to ensure their demise, all the while citing that the small and insignificant was capable to undermine even the greatest of foundations.

### The Show Must Go On

Having worked closely with Kreev on the set dressing and costuming, Alzara visited the Copper Sonnet on the day of its inaugural play, Act Without Mind. To her surprise, she found herself drafted into the play in a more direct manner, replacing the unexpected absence of Brochlily, taking on the role of Lelda Smo, an Archfey vying with a rival through their proxies. Alzara however found herself far more involved still, using her magic to aid against the incursions and interrupts that plagued the play throughout, limited somewhat by her - and the audience's - uncertainty where the play stopped and the mischief began. Further complications came through her attempts to cast *Find Familiar* for the first time in years to play one the golden bird form of her character, finding instead the familiar perpetually taking the form of Forfin Azurewhisker, the familiar of Killian Kir’we.

Nonetheless, Alzara threw herself into the role, augmenting her presence of stage with her magic to aid to the grandeur of the character she found herself playing. Knowing the importance of the performance to Kreev, with whom she had grown close following their encounters with the Mallacht Coven, she sought to do her best with the limited time available to her to learn her lines and prepare for the role.

### Through the Fire and Flames

While not immediately involved in many of the preceding events that would lead to the attack on Freehearth by the Vale Blazer, save her part in the slaying of the dragon Gauldurgvoar, assumed to be amongst Kildrid's numerous kin, Alzara was present for the final stand by many of the residents of Freehearth, using her magical prowess to greatly bolster both the defences through Glyphs of Warding set to cast *Hypnotic Pattern* on the kobold hordes, as well as those intended to cast a combination of buffs on herself and her companions - *Blur, Haste* and *Mirror Image*, at great personal cost in time and money, all triggered by the phrase *"Many Fangs, One Pack"*. Helping also to provide guidance for the infantry drawn from the volunteers of the town, and a *Water Elemental* conjured by means of an *Elemental Gemstone* previously acquired at Port Roc Reef, Alzara remained on the frontlines for much of the early stretches of the battle, pummelling kobolds and half-dragons alike from the walls with jets of water and her *Staff of the Snail*.

Alzara would manage to assail a number of foes from afar using cantrips, her staff and spells alike, fighting alongside her companions and support from the neighbouring kingdoms - and later still, the crystal dragon Bahrnabalser - before becoming extensively overwhelmed by a horde of half-dragons and Zenefrix. Unable to regenerate due to the constant stream of fire damage and out of potions and other healing options, Alzara waded out into the river running through the town, bidding them to chase her down. Traipsing through the mud, Alzara shattered the *Staff of the Snail* against her form, transforming her assailants into snails and washing them away down towards the sea - in her final moments, the cackle of hag's laughter heard and Alzara briefly taking on the appearance of a dark-skinned human before her form was entirely consumed by the rampaging arcana.

## Notable Items

### Notable Items

* Spellbook - A ragged and dog-eared book that has clearly demanded replacement of its cover on at least one occasion.
* Trinket Toy *(Wondrous Item, Common)* - Possessing a limited sense of sentience, this childhood toy was given to Alzara by her father, having acquired it whilst trading in Port Kolsa.
* Component Pouch - Shaped from brown-tan leather complete with a green felt trim, this belt pouch has compartments to hold all the material components and other special items that Alzara requires for her spellcasting.
* Staff of the Snail *(Staff, Rare [**Attunement**])* - Gifted by Pickle, this Staff possesses a curse that slows the movement of its wielder as well as shackling them to the mournful entity contained within. Nonetheless, Alzara is known to speak with the entity, candidly as almost kindred spirits. It was later established that the mind within belonged to the body of a cursed individual known as Molly Mollusk, who Alzara rescued and carried home back to Freehearth from the remains of the First Son of Danu. After the curse on Molly was broken, she insisted Alzara keep the object, now empowered further and devoid on its curse.
* Myceliaweave Mage Armor *(Wondrous Item, Rare [**Attunement**])* - Claimed from the fomorian druid Goll in response to growing incidence of hostile encounters and experiences necessitating a bolstered state of personal constitution and defence. The clothing is, much to Alzara's chagrin, also cursed, and so capable of weakening her should she find a way to remove it.
* Woollen cloak spun from the coat of a Nyx-Fleece Ram *(Wondrous Item, Uncommon [Attunement])* - Enchanted to allow the wearer to use *Calm Emotions (DC 13)* once per day. Alzara unattuned from this cloak in favour of the Celestial Tome of Healing.
* Sending Stone *(Wondrous Item, Uncommon)* - Discovered amongst the ill-gotten treasures of Ellén Trechend, the location and/or owner of the other part of the pair is currently unknown.
* Celestial Tome of Healing *(Wondrous Item, Rare [**Attunement**])* - Recovered from the Tower of Light, allows Alzara to utilise a limited amount of divine healing magic.
* Hyland Shield *(Wondrous Item, Uncommon)* - Gifted to Alzara by the Elderfall Kingdom after defending the city from assault, currently on display on the wall within her personal quarters in the Silk & Grace.
* Hyland Goodberry Pouch *(Wondrous Item, Uncommon)* - Gifted to Alzara by the Elderfall Kingdom after clearing the residents of the Tower of Light, enchanted to produce a small number of healing berries in any given day.
* Storm Seer Lamp *(Wondrous Item, Common)* - Recovered from the Tower of Light, provides a warm glow, while also detecting approaching tumultuous weather. For a time was mounted on the counter within the Silk & Grace alongside a small incense burner.

## Spells

Many of Alzara's spells seemed to take on aspects of her flair for designing, creating and tailoring fabrics and items of clothing, as well as her interests in horticulture. Examples of such are her *Toll the Dead* appearing as a pair of thimbles instead of bells, *Sleep* appearing as an enchanted blanket enveloping its target as a scent of lavender fills the air, or a *Fireball's flames* more akin to rippling red and orange silk petals instead.

#### Cantrips

* *Druidcraft* (Transmutation)
* *Frostbite* (Evocation)
* *Mending* (Transmutation)
* *Minor Illusion* (Illusion)
* *Silent Sanctum* (Illusion)
* *Toll the Dead* (Necromancy)

#### First Level

* *Absorb Elements* (Abjuration)
* *Cause Fear* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.
* *Charm Person* (Enchantment)
* *Comprehend Languages* (Divination) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Chromatic Orb* (Evocation)
* *Cure Wounds* (Evocation) - gained through attunement to the Celestial Tome of Healing.
* *Detect Magic* (Divination)
* *Disguise Self* (Illusion)
* *Expeditious Retreat* (Transmutation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *False Life* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.
* *Find Familiar* (Conjuration) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Gift of Alacrity* (Divination) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Guiding Bolt* (Evocation) - gained through attunement to the Celestial Tome of Healing.
* *Healing Word* (Evocation) - gained through attunement to the Celestial Tome of Healing.
* *Identify* (Divination) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Illusory Script* (Illusion) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Jump* (Transmutation) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Mage Armor* (Abjuration) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Magic Missile* (Evocation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Rapport Spores* (Divination) - taken from the Tome of Miasmic Blight.
* *Ray of Sickness* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.
* *Shield* (Abjuration)
* *Sleep* (Enchantment)
* *Silent Image* (Illusion) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Tasha's Caustic Brew* (Evocation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Tenser's Floating Disk* (Conjuration) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Unseen Servant* (Conjuration) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.

#### Second Level

* *Alter Self* (Transmutation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Augury* (Divination) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Blindness/Deafness* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.
* *Blur* (Illusion) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Borrowed Knowledge* (Divination)
* *Calm Emotions* (Enchantment) - gained through attunement to the Nyx-Fleece Cloak, to which Alzara is currently no longer attuned.
* *Dancing Wave* (Conjuration) - copied from a spell scroll discovered at Port Roc Reef.
* *Detect Thoughts* (Divination)
* *Dragon's Breath* (Transmutation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Gentle Repose* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.
* *Hold Person* (Enchantment) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Knock* (Transmutation) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Mirror Image* (Illusion)
* *Misty Step* (Conjuration)
* *Nystul's Magic Aura* (Illusion) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Spider Climb* (Transmutation) - copied from a spell scroll discovered in Ballyargus.
* *Suggestion* (Enchantment)
* *Vortex Warp* (Conjuration) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Wither and Bloom* (Necromancy) - taken from the spellbook of the necromancer Carrion.

#### Third Level

* *Counterspell* (Abjuration)
* *Dispel Magic* (Abjuration)
* *Fireball* (Evocation)
* *Glyph of Warding* (Abjuration) - copied from notes recovered from the Tower of Light.
* *Haste* (Transmutation) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.
* *Hypnotic Pattern (*Illusion*)*
* *Leomund's Tiny Hut* (Evocation) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Magic Circle* (Abjuration) - copied from notes recovered from the Tower of Light.
* *Mass Healing Word* (Evocation) - gained through attunement to the Celestial Tome of Healing.
* *Phantom Steed* (Illusion) - copied from Killian Kir’we's spellbook.
* *Slow* (Transmutation) - gained through attunement to the Staff of the Snail.
* *Water Cannon* (Evocation) - copied from a spell scroll discovered at Port Roc Reef.
* *Water Walk* (Transmutation) - copied from a spell scroll purchased at Chalk & Charm.

#### Fourth Level

* *Banishment* (Abjuration)
* *Polymorph* (Transmutation) - gained through attunement to the Staff of the Snail, although can only be used to transform a creature into the form of a Snail.
* *Resilient Sphere* (Evocation) - gained through attunement to the Staff of the Snail.

#### Fifth Level

* *Antilife Shell* (Abjuration) - gained through attunement to the Staff of the Snail.

## Quotations

* **Alzara:** *(sharing a dance with Kreev trying to process their shared ordeal at the hands of the Mallacht Coven, inadvertently damaging a box in the process)*

> "A price I'd gladly pay again. And besides..." (casting *Mending* on the box) "...maybe all things have a way of springing back, however bent and broken out of place they may seem."
>
>

* **Alzara:** *(directed at the Celestial Asteraoth as they tried to flee, grievously wounded...)*

> "And there is little denying that you are a tyrant, in service to a tyrant of even greater scope. It matters not if iron can be used to affix walls as a nail, or serve as a foundation for stair, for once an individuals has felt the manacles at their wrist, the rod that strikes at the back of their knees to break them underfoot, they come to fear the touch of iron all the same. And so, with your words of iron, shaped by a doctrine of iron from the lips of a god of iron, I stand before you, and will not cower or beg. So pray to your god, pray that I break before the iron you wield does. I will not be the steady ground upon which you stroll, head held high."
>
>
> (...continued, casting a 4th-level *Magic Missile* to strike the Hound Archon down definitively)
>
>
>
> "It is not a hero in shiny armour that brings the tyrant tumbling down. It is the cracks of the foundations that snake and combine, spurred along by the bricks and mortar plucked free by those considered lesser. It is the fangs of the pack that hunts as a collective unseen, the vagrant and pauper that outnumber the crowned, a wave of small actions that amass as a sudden unison. So fall, tyrant, as the floor beneath you gives way under the weight of the iron you would use to oppress."
>
>

## Floriography

At some point in the past, Alzara had picked up an understanding of the symbology of floristry, a means of conveying thoughts, emotions and beliefs through the presentation, arrangement or provision of flowers.