Ayaris Helsong

**Ayaris Helsong** is the leader of the winged tieflings that lived in the nomad tribe lead by her ex-husband, Erelius. Her group recently split off from the tribe after the Orphans of Fate attacked Erelius while he was raiding the village of Ullistar, with Ayaris making the final shot to kill her husband.

## History

### Aldarnesh

Ayaris was born into slavery in the city of Salak Tor. She spend the first years of her life in the mines, but as she grew and the wings on her back developed, the white elves realised she was more suited to mine the mountaintops outside the city, mining some kind of strange crystal used in the production of the elves' magic items.

There were several winged humanoids working on these mountains, including winged aasimar and a handful of winged tieflings, being kept in line by a wizard doubling as an overseer. They would mine the crystals for days atop these mountains, with very little food, before being forced to fly everything they had mined back to the city within a day, a trek that would usually take several days. As such, Ayaris has great endurance and fairly high pain tolerance, used to working in such unforgivable conditions.

It was on these mountaintops that Niime Lovar recognised the heritage of the tiefling queen, her feathered wings and multiple horns giving it away. When Ayaris discovered her claws, the two formed a plan to escape. It was then that Ayaris made her first kill: the overseer that had tortured her for over a decade.

### Flight from Salak Tor

Ayaris now flew with the five other winged tieflings that were also enslaved, aiming for the Empire of Lûeth, though they were forced to stop on islands to rest and eat. They were pursued, of course, with several white elves riding all sorts of creatures ranging from black pegasi to nightmares, until the group reached Valdia.

On the western coast of the Grand Duchy of Gallia, the group holed up in a barn in a village, stealing a few scraps of food to get by. They were woken by screams from the humans in the village. People were burning, but there was very little fire. A giant dragon with black scales was flying by, breathing its acid breath on the village below, and there were two pegasi as black as night with elven riders shot at the villagers, their bows setting the people aflame. From the back of the dragon, bolts of arcane energy rained down from an armoured figure, blasting the humans apart.

Ayaris and her followers sprung into action, taking the little supplies they had and Ayaris told them to fly east whie she made a distraction. She flew directly towards the dragon, though one of the pegasi intercepted her, and she was impaled on the pegasus' horn. She fought against the creature as it flew, eventually crawling up to the rider and, after a struggle, she killed him, grabbing the bow as she fell.

With a well placed strike, an arrow from her bow struck down the other pegasus rider, but the shot against the armoured figure on the dragon just bounced off. The dragon raced towards her, and while she swooped out of the way of the dragon's maw, the armoured figure's hand caught her by the throat. She struggled in the Dread King's grip, and her claws seemed to just bounce off his armour. It was only when Niime and Idehis came back to save her did she get out alive.

The group fled across Valdia, with Aya tending to her wound as they rested, and eventually the group managed to secure passage to Port Wren.

### Lûeth

When the troupe arrived in Port Wren, they fled immediately. In the wilderness, they were hunted by a few members of the Inquisition until they were saved by Erelius Nethwala and his tribe, though Erelius didn't seem to trust these winged tieflings that spoke a strange language. Ayaris used her innate magic to begin to understand the Lûethian tongue, coming to make a deal with Erelius, though not one she liked.

The group were to become part of the tribe, and in return the tribe would offer them protection. In order to seal this agreement, Ayaris was to marry Erelius, which she did, though not without reluctance and refusal to consummate.

## Current History

Ayaris has recently broken the agreement she made with Erelius, having left him dead in Ullistar. She agreed to a proposition made by Wander and flew to Barvielle Keep to help prepare for the Dread King's attack, though found it occupied. She then flew to Rosette to await the Orphans there, though found it besieged by the white elves, so rescued Camilla and Lily DeRosa and fled, heading to Port Wren. After encountering the Orphans, Ayaris agreed to protect Camilla and Lily. When Rena Lucaryn left Port Wren, Ayaris followed her.

## Appearance

Ayaris is certainly majestic, for a tiefling. Her skin is a deep purple with flecks of white, and her wings are tansluscent and starry, betraying her royal heritage. She has three sets of horns: one pair that sticks up out of her forehead, one pair that curls around her head and one pair that curls around her ears.

Her gear is practical, comprised of a set of light leather armour and her bow, which needs no arrows since it conjures them from the air.

## Personality

Ayaris is cold to most, having been a slave all her life, though to those she is close to, namely her group, she would fight for and even die for. When spoken to, she is often fairly tight-lipped, speaking only as much as she needs to in order to convey her message. Some of her number might even say she's stubborn.

When it comes to the matter of her title, she seems to largely ignore it's power, rather asking her followers rather than commanding. Likewise, her followers know that they can ask anything in return. Ayaris understands personal freedom, and doesn't expect loyalty from anyone, but isn't naïve in her trust.

## Relationships

### The Dread King

"*The primordials killed people. They killed a lot of people. But everyone fought back. The Dread King doesn’t just kill people. He destroys them. He imprisons them, grinds down their resistance and personality until it seems to them like the best that they can accomplish in life is toiling away as an unnamed slave in the depths of his adamantine mines. Besides, he’s already conquered half the continent and you’re still gathering an army? How do you \*not\* think this is a futile conflict?*"
―Ayaris to Rena when asked why she was hesitant to join their fight against the Dread King. Ayaris has only had one encounter with the Dread King, but she knows a lot about him. She heard all sorts when growing up in the labour camps of Salak Tor. The Dread King's name is the only name that can fill Ayaris with fear, given that the only time she has seen him, he could have killed her, but something in Aya's gut tells her that he wanted her alive. As if he knew about her heritage.

### Erelius Nethwala

"*He is my husband. That does not mean I hold a high opinion of him. Remember that. It was but a marriage of convenience.*"
―Ayaris when Niime questioned her loyalty to Erelius. Ayaris despised Erelius with every fibre of her being. The only thing that kept her with him was the protection he offered. She refused to dine with him, often preferring to starve than eat the flesh of other humanoids, rather waiting until the next day to go foraging and hunting for deer and other animals.

When the Orphans of Fate joined the group briefly, she realised that there were decent people in the world and decided to sever ties with Erelius, choosing to strike out on her own, but not before she sank an arrow through his gullet.

### Grum

"*I am not so naïve to believe that a human has good intentions when he invites us into his home.*"
―Ayaris to Grum when he offered the tieflings a place to stay by his keep. Initially, Ayaris did not believe Grum when he offered them a place to stay. She still doesn't believe him, but she doesn't think he is necessarily a bad person, she just doesn't trust him.

### Horris Marigold

"*Come. You may not look like one of us, but that does not mean you cannot sit with us.* "
―Ayaris to Horris Marigold. Ayaris liked Marigold, seeing that he had a particular distaste for human flesh, just as she did, though she was disappointed when she discovered that his bloodline wasn't pure enough to accept her gifts, meaning he couldn't join her group. When she was recovering from her wound, he cooked her food (which wasn't human flesh) and always made sure she was eating. When her wound got infected, he went into the wildnerness to find medicinal herbs to treat her. When he came to her for advice regarding Mickey's offer, she encouraged him to take it, knowing that the dwarf smith would take care of him.

### Mickey Kriemhild

"*It looked like he didn't even notice you were a tiefling. Go with him, he'll take care of you.*"
―Ayaris to Horris Marigold when he went to her for advice about Mickey. Ayaris respects Mickey, though would rather do so from a distance. He drinks, and doesn't seem racist, but something about him puts Ayaris off. Nothing about his actions or personality, more rather his presence. Almost as if he shouldn't be in the world, and yet he is. She doesn't dislike him, she is just cautious about his aura.

### Nigel DeRosa

"*One of my number lived in Rosette, once. There is a reason they aren't still living there.*"
―Ayaris to Mickey Kriemhild when told Horris Marigold could live under Nigel's rule. Ayaris knows about Nigel, about Rosette. She knows of the lord's racism. However, Wander seems to think he's okay, so she won't go out of her way to do anything against him. If he were to harm any of her people, directly or indirectly, she wouldn't hesitate to put him down if she could.

### Rena Lucaryn

"*This one is a dangerous one. But while Wander vouches for her, she must not be harmed, as much as Wander might be in danger. Wander must be the one to make the choice - to break contact with the monster she calls a fiancé.*"
―Ayaris to Niime about Rena's relationship with Wander. Ayaris was initially sceptical of Rena on their first meeting, and her instincts were right - Rena's deathborn soul had taken control of her body and was acting on instinct. Since leaving for Khârond, Ayaris had little interaction with Rena until meeting the Orphans in Port Wren. When Rena left the group to head to Laeth without distraction, Ayaris followed and the two bonded, though the friendship did not last long. After a night of drinking and loose inhibitions, Rena grew angry at the tiefling queen, who brushed it off as a purely physical encounter. When the two were ambushed by the Dread King on the back of his dragon, Rena showed Ayaris her true colours. What exactly happened, Ayaris hasn't said, other than that Rena left her at the Dread King's mercy, and has seemed incredibly tense around Rena since.

### Wander

"*Is this not freedom? Join me, please.*"
―Ayaris to Wander while watching the sun rise atop the Widow's Peak mountain. Ayaris almost instantly took a liking to Wander when they first met. She could drink, she questioned authority and she wasn't afraid to decline an offer because of prior commitments. While Aya was disappointed that Wander refused her offer, she respected her decision and let her go, though when Wander proposed a counter offer, she was taken aback when she learned what it would entail; fighting the Dread King was not something one did and walk away from unscathed. However, seeing Wander's determination persuaded her and she agreed to travel to Barvielle Keep to help, and thus she will see Wander again