The Dying One

The Dying One is the Archfey ruler of the Dying Court, and is presumably located in the Feywilds. As an NPC, The Dying One is played by Ava Makrugin.

## Abilities

As an archfey, Lanthas is a very powerful being, though he is not omnipotent. Lanthas has many of the abilities typically expected of the fey, including innate magic and an intimidating aura.

As the ruler of the Red Court, Lanthas specializes in combat and shapechanging magic, specifically. He is also one of the only archfey competely unaffected by iron, and as such often carries weapons made with the metal.

Lanthas' brand of magic is known primarily as blood magic. It has many applications in combat, allowing him to weaken his opponents, while strengthening his own attacks. As such, Lanthas tends to favor forming pacts with generals and adventuring types.

Unlike Verity, Lanthas has been known to make pacts with individuals that are passed down through each generation, so he will always have a patron in that family. This is the case with Titus Stonecleaver and the Stonecleaver lineage. Prior to Titus, Lanthas was contracted to Titus' uncle.

In signing a pact with Lanthas, a power gifted, besides the typical Warlock spells, is the ability to deal a strike infused with Blood Magic, making it impossible to avoid. This has been demonstrated by Vivienne Mirai.

Much of Lanthas' power comes from being attuned to a leyline in his court, and having been trapped in Gaea and away from the Red Court for so many years has weakened Lanthas' power considerably.

## Biography

### Background

Lanthas grew up in the Red Court as the only child of it's ruler, the Red Lord.

### Trax Arc

Lanthas' first major appearance in the Trax Arc was when he appeared to Vivienne when she blacked out after sipping from her chalice. He offered her the chance to avoid death by signing a contract with him, and she agreed. He also cautioned her to keep the arrangement a secret for the meantime, lest Verity catch wind of it.

Lanthas next appeared when Vivienne and Filomena were leaving the halls of the DeVale manor, exchanging a few words with Filomena, and telling her he would see her at tea time with Amalite DeVale.

For Filomena's first assignment from Verity, she was sent to Trax to convince the ruling noble, Amalite DeVale, to sign a contract with the Archfey.

On the journey to Trax, at Filomena's pleading, Verity appeared to advise the party on what was causing Ena's mysterious nightmares.

Later, in Trax, Verity appeared on multiple ocassions to monitor Filomena's progress in her discussions with Lady DeVale. On one ocassion, Verity destroyed a bouquet of orchids sent to Filomena, which was later discovered to have been sent by Valencia Stonecleaver, a patron of The Dying One. In another instance, while Filomena was at tea with Lady DeVale, Verity possessed Filomena's body to challenge the Red Prince (Lanthas), who had appeared at the event uninvited.

Both Verity and Lanthas expressed interest in signing a contract with Amalite DeVale due to the unique nature of her magic, and concern over what the Dying One may do to prevent a pact from being formed.

Upon Amalite's death, Verity fell mostly silent other than a brief mirror sign to Filomena, considering the Trax mission to have become a lost cause.

## Relationships

### Vivienne Mirai

Lanthas is Vivienne's patron, having offered to save her from death if she signed a contract with him. Lanthas had been waiting for an opportunity to get a foothold in the party ever since Filomena became contracted to Verity, and Vivienne's death gave him the chance her needed. Lanthas was also intrigued at the prospect of the combination of Vivienne's high damage sorcerer spellcasting with his combat magic.

In general, Vivienne and Lanthas appear to get along fairly well. In Trax, Lanthas made an appearance during the battle with Valencia Stonecleaver to prevent her from unleashing the antimagic ring and therefore saving Vivienne's life. Bringing her back cost a lot of magic, and Lanthas is hoping to at least see that gamble pay off a little bit before Vivienne dies.

Lanthas can find Vivienne's gall to be both pleasantly amusing and at times irritating. In Victoire, after a lot of pleading at the sky by Vivienne, he appeared and shifted into a dragon to help put out the fire at the Wayfarers Keep. Afterwards, he was convinced by Vivienne to fly her to the main battle, exhibiting one of the few moments of true annoyance he has shown so far.

Oddly enough, Lanthas has not yet given Vivienne a task to complete, but he is one to remember favours in is looking forward to

## Propaganda

### Anti-Zia propaganda

The Dying One is currently taking the form of a Pixie named Zia, who is acting as Ena's travel companion. Zia is too evil and annoying and horrible for her to be anyone else. This is supported by Ava confirming that she is unkillable and untrappable, meaning that she is unable to be removed from the party. She is always there, spying on the group, eating their hair, chewing on their dresses, and inciting calamity and chaos among the tightly knit group.
She was introduced after the Dying One hypnotized Ena's previous traveling companion Moon, allowing for.a spot for another travelling companion. Thus, the disguised Archfey slides into the role, taking on the appearance of an annoying pixie, giving her the perfect vantage point to disrupt and spy on the party.

This theory recently had further confirmation as Ava during a session took the role of an old wise woman who declared that Zia had the aura of an Archfey. However, even though this is basically confirmation that Zia is evil, the party continues to let Zia corrupt them from the inside, against Filomena's instruction.

## Quotes

> I draw my sword of vengeance" Drine to the party
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