Lyxis the Blind

**Lyxis Alymora**, referred to by countless aliases yet most commonly known as **Lyxis the Blind**, was the Usurper Goddess of Magic, the founder and Goddess-Empress of the Nytalyrian Empire, and one of the most influential and illustrious figures in the history of Enselonde.

Born a mere farmer's daughter in Thylia, Lyxis grew into a talented archmage under the bandit leader Haljyk, who became one of her key allies, though she would betray him in the future and imprison him for she saw Haljyk as a threat to her own power. She was forced to become the unwilling wife of King Khardys of Alymore before killing him and usurping the Freehold. From Alymore, she conquered the Nytalyrian Islands and founded the modern Empire of Nytalyria.

Lyxis turned the tide of the Third Human Rebellion and eventual Divine War. Navally invading Kalyxia (modern-day Ostland), she not only crushed the advance of the Kingdom of Humanity yet also defeated Lateos, the God of Magic, as he tried to kill her, becoming a Usurper Goddess in the process.

In the wake of the Divine War, Lyxis began increasingly distancing herself from the mortal affairs of Enselonde, retreating into her grand palace at Alymore with her wife Viola. Under the mismanagement of the Envoys of Magic, her network of New Freeholds collapsed or turned away from Nytalyria. In the War of the Envoys, Lyxis briefly reappeared to crush the Envoys, replacing them with the Sirens, instead.

The Sirens ran the Empire on a day-to-day basis, as Lyxis would remain inside her palace grounds for decades at a time. Her mortality began catching up to her, deteriorating her mental state over centuries. Unlike regular Divines, Usurper Gods such as Lyxis were still mortal and kept ageing (although at a much slower rate).

In 1228 AW, the Nytalyrian Crisis broke out when the God of Storms, Syarus, launched an invasion of the Nytalyrian Empire. Lyxis herself was not present on the battlefield, though the Infinite Army that she commanded was direly needed. Instead, Viola and the Sirens had to put up their own resistance to lethal effect. When word reached Alymore that Lyxis' wife and many of her Sirens had fallen, the Goddess delved into insanity.

Everything culminated in one final assault on Alymore. As Syarus stormed the imperial palace, the two divines ended up locked in a fierce duel. Lyxis, old and arguably insane at this point, lost control of her powers throughout the fight, as Alymore was razed to the ground around her in a flurry of rogue spells and magical energies. In a final act of desperation, Lyxis turned to blood magic, damaging her body irreparably and losing control completely. In one final flash, the magical energies once belonging to Lateos surged out of the Goddess, causing an uncontrolled explosion that utterly destroyed the once-great capital of the Hyllidan race, leaving only a burning crater and an evaporated goddess.

The death of Lyxis the Blind sent shockwaves throughout Enselonde, both literally and metaphorically. With her death, her old mentor Haljyk escaped his prison after a millennium of false imprisonment, while reformists founded a Republic in the south of the islands. What little remained of the Empire was consolidated under Fylia, one of the Sirens, who continues a hard-fought struggle to preserve her mother's empire.

## Aliases

While aliases and nicknames are common for any given ruler, none has ever rivalled Lyxis Alymora in the sheer number of titles. Her long rule as goddess-empress and illustrious reign gave her a long string of titles, which she insisted on using in official correspondences, even if some became obsolete or simply fell out of use. Of the entire list, however, Lyxis "the Blind" was her personal preference and of those around her.

### Full List and Explanations

Below is a full list of the titles and nicknames of Lyxis the Blind and the origin or meaning from which they originated.

### Style Name

The full style name of Lyxis the Blind, as seen on official documents such as imperial edicts, is as follows:

**Her Imperial Majesty Archmage Lyxis I "the Blind", Goddess of Magic, Goddess-Empress of the Nytalyrian Empire and Unifier of the Nytalyrian Islands, Godslayer of Lateos, Conqueror of the North, Champion of the Hyllidans, Saviour of the Faerians and the Naerisi, Grand Custodian of the New Freeholds, Protector of the Freeholds of Ameleon, Cylia, Fenyka, Hykkfjord, Innyria, Laenius, Rytia, Rytyw, Serynia, and Syletas, Head of the Envoys of Magic, Mother of Sirens, Empress of Emperors, Queen of Queens, Lifebringer of the Fhylnasi, Master of the Arcane, Defender of the Faiths**, **General of the Infinite Army**.

### Other Aliases

While her style name covered her official titles and some nicknames, Lyxis the Blind held many other lesser used nicknames in her lifetime. Accompanied with a short explanation, these are:

* Lyxis the Godslayer - For killing Lateos
* Lyxis the Great - For her tremendous achievements
* Lyxis the Immortal/Ascendant - For achieving Godhood
* Lyxis the Warbringer - For crushing the Third Human Rebellion
* Lyxis the Liberator - For retaking the North from the Kingdom of Humanity
* Lyxis the Usurper/Kingslayer - For killing her former husband (Khardys I) who she unwillingly married and gaining control over Alymore
* Lyxis the Fair - For her fair treatment of Humans during the Third Human Rebellion
* Lyxis the Wise - For her intelligence
* Lyxis the Conqueror - For invading the South during the Third Human Rebellion
* Lyxis the Undefeated - For not losing one battle during the Third Human Rebellion
* Lyxis the Exalted - For her world-wide fame and prestige after the Divine War
* The Bandit Queen of Thylia - Used while Queen-Consort of Khardys I, for being magically trained by the bandit leader Haljyk the Outlaw
* The Frozen Phoenix - After trapping a large Human fleet in ice during the Invasion of Kalyxia
* The Northern Storm - For retaking the North from the Kingdom of Humanity
* The Herald of Dawn - For retaking the North from the Kingdom of Humanity
* The Bane of Humanity- For her crushing the Third Human Rebellion
* The Scourge of Old Sallant - For the Raze of Old Sallant
* The Conqueror of the North - For retaking the North from the Kingdom of Humanity
* The Conqueror of the South - For invading the South during the Third Human Rebellion
* The Lion of Rytyw - For her bold naval capture of the port of Rytow.
* Master of the Arcane - For her general mastery of the schools of magic.
* Lyxis the Trickster - For her invention of the school of Trickster Magic.

## Biography

### Early Life

Lyxis the Blind was born in 106 BW in the village of Thylia, then still a small farming settlement. The only child of a poor farming family, her mother died during childbirth, leaving Lyxis' father to look after her as a child. She helped on the farm, growing up, and had little future prospects besides farming and one day marrying someone from the village or a village over.

When she was six years old, an outlaw known as Haljyk raided Thylia, taking numerous hostages for ransom, including the young Lyxis. While initially scared, she became fascinated by the mage Haljyk, who she watched in awe from her cage whenever he would cast a spell. He begged him many times to teach her how to do spells. Amused by the young girl, Haljyk agreed to teach her a basic pyromancy spell intended to light a candle. Instead, the young Lyxis fired a tremendously powerful fireball by accident, starting a nearby forest fire and shocking Haljyk, who recognised her magical potential. Lyxis was among the non-Humans born with a natural acclimation towards magic, a gift granted by Lateos during the Second Human Rebellion.

The ransom was paid soon after, and Lyxis returned to her farm. Haljyk agreed to train the young girl in secret, curious as to how far he could push her talents. The young Lyxis would sneak out at night towards the woods, where Haljyk would continue to improve upon her skills. While he himself could only use pyromancy, Lyxis would begin picking up on other schools of magic, too. Electromancy, Hydromancy, and Cryomancy all came natural to her. Yet, she also began using magic for her own amusement, dabbling in a still undeveloped school of magic that would later evolve into modern Trickster Magic.

When Lyxis was ten years old, her magical powers became known to her father and the rest of the village. Before long, two mages representing the mage circles of the Freehold of Alymore brought Lyxis to the capital to receive training. This was a great honour, and those selected were unable to refuse. Lyxis bid goodbye to her father and travelled to Alymore with the mages, not knowing it would be the last time she would ever see her father.

### Novice to Archmage

Lyxis was enrolled as a novice in the mage circles of Alymore in 96 BW, studying under various teachers of various schools of magic. She excelled in these studies, primarily in the field of pyromancy, as she already had a strong foundation in this school thanks to the tutoring of Haljyk, who she lost contact with during this time. Besides pyromancy, she also began mastering various other schools of magic, some of which were already familiar, others which weren't.

Yet, there was one thing that set Lyxis apart from other talented students: Trickster Magic. While still juvenile, thanks to a lack of established tutors, Lyxis began crafting new spells for new purposes. The deception of senses with illusion became her claim to fame. Intrigued by the potential new school of magic to be explored, her peers made Lyxis an Archmage in her own right, though she lacked an associated school. It wasn't until decades later for the term Trickster Magic to be first used.

Not everyone favoured the free reign Lyxis was given as a loose Archmage not tied to any school of magic. Particularly, some of Lyxis' colleagues felt that there was no use to this potential new school of illusionary magic. Lyxis pondered it and, the next day, returned to work wearing a blindfold. She navigated using the enhanced senses that Trickster Magic gave her, allowing to "see" without her eyesight. This act quelled any doubts towards her or her magic, though it did not become a one-time thing. Instead, Lyxis would no longer appear in public without wearing a blindfold, which, over time, earned her the famous nickname: Lyxis the Blind.

### Rise to Power

Lyxis the Blind's actions in the mage circles of Alymore sent ripples through the court. Others began taking notice of the talented and innovative young archmage. Particularly, it was the King of the Freehold of Alymore: Khardys I. Khardys had only taken the throne recently in 85 BW and was yet to be married. When he first laid eyes upon the young Archmage, it was supposedly love at first sight. However, this love was very much one-sided, as Lyxis wanted nothing to do with the much older king.

Khardys, however, was undeterred. He wrote a letter to Lyxis' ageing father back in Thylia, asking for his daughter's hand in marriage. However, instead of agreeing immediately, which Khardys had hoped for, the woman in question was consulted before the reply was given. When Lyxis made it clear she had no wish or intent to marry the King of Alymore, her father reluctantly refused to agree to the marriage. Khardys was furious and sent a small band of soldiers to the farm, killing Lyxis' father and burning the farm to the ground without her knowledge. He then forged a letter from her father, agreeing to the marriage, and preparations went ahead.

Lyxis became the unwilling Queen-Consort of Khardys I in 84 BW. She effectively became a prisoner in a golden cage from this point onward. Her communication with the outside world was limited, her magical studies came to a standstill, and she was relieved from her position of archmage. All this prevented her from learning the true fate of her father as none in Thylia could contact her. What followed was the most miserable period of Lyxis' life. For two years, every night, Khardys would force himself upon his unwilling wife, failing to produce an heir. In an act of extreme desperation, it is said Lyxis made herself infertile by injuring herself with electromancy to prevent herself getting pregnant with Khardys' child.

Yet, her iron will began to crumble over time. In 82 BW, Lyxis used Trickster Magic to leave behind an illusion of herself in the middle of the night, allowing her to escape the palace disguised as a servant while buying her some time. However, the day after, Khardys I saw through the trick and started a nation-wide manhunt for his Queen-Consort, centred around Thylia. Lyxis did, indeed, return to Thylia, finding the farm she grew up in a ruin and learning of her father's death at the hand of Khardys over two years prior.

Instead of fleeing to a neighbouring Freehold or even the Mainland, which was her original plan, Lyxis set out on a new quest to avenge the death of her father. She sought out Haljyk, reuniting with her old mentor for the first time in many years and agreeing to ambush Khardys at Thylia. Lyxis and the bandits set a trap as King Khardys and most of his soldiers marched into Thylia, uprooting the village in a search for his wife. Lyxis revealed herself on purpose before fleeing into the woods north of town, chased by her husband and his troops. Head-first they rushed in, expecting but one mage, yet they were met by the forces of Haljyk expect, which caught them completely by surprise.

The resulting Thylia Ambush, as it became known, was a bloodbath. A hail of magic and arrows tore through the Freehold's forces, and the forest became consumed by a catastrophic inferno. Khardys' horse was killed by an arrow, which left the king stranded. It was Lyxis herself who finished off the wounded king, launching a spell at him fuelled by years of hatred that utterly annihilated Khardys, leaving nothing but a crater and a fine pink mist that once was a monarch. The battle ended soon after, and some survivors hastily returned to Alymore. The Freehold fell into all-out political crisis as people began speaking of the "Bandit Queen of Thylia".

With Alymore heading for total collapse and the inevitable conquest by its neighbours, Lyxis was faced with a crossroads. She could either stick to her original plan and move to some other region of Enselonde, or, alternatively, she could fill the power vacuum she had just created herself. Lyxis chose the latter. With Haljyk's aid, the Lyxis marched on Alymore. What remained of its garrison put up a lacklustre defence, yet when the walls of the city began crumbling and collapsing thanks to an onslaught of geomancy, they surrendered. Lyxis marched into the royal palace of Alymore, where she had resided since her apprentice days, and crowned herself Queen of Alymore. Controversial, provocative, and sudden, this deed by Lyxis sparked an immediate violent response. The Wars of Nytalyrian Unification had begun.

### Conquest of Nytalyria

Before her reign had even been secured, the Freehold of Alymore came under attack by the neighbouring Freehold of Thyrika in 81 BW. The Thyrikan-Alymoran War marked the first conflict of the larger Wars of Nytalyrian Unification. With a good portion of the organised military having died in the Thylia Ambush and others having deserted en masse after Lyxis' coup, Alymore lacked the forces to resist the Thyrikan invasion. Lyxis relied on Haljyk during this period, who became an official general and his bandits became soldiers. As a stopgap measure, conscription was introduced, yet still more was needed. Slowly but surely, the Alymorans began being pushed back.

What her armies lacked in quantity, Lyxis tried to make up for it in quality. Notably, she relied upon the former mage circles, which had thinned significantly, to serve as officers. New magical academies were set up for prospective battlemages. These policies would prove effective in the long term, yet in the short term, the Thyrikan advance was unrelenting. In 79 BW, they reached Alymore itself, and laid siege to it. Lyxis, who had thus far remained in Alymore, first took field command at the Siege of Alymore, as she had relied on Haljyk for now. The Siege of Alymore was short-lived, as the attackers under King Hyghas II were relentlessly bombarded by a hail of magic from the Queen of Alymore. They broke siege yet were chased by a large cavalry force, which cut off their retreat. Yet, upon closer inspection, the Thyrikans realised that were different than the soldiers had faced.

While organising her battlemages, Lyxis had further developed Trickster Magic. While she had been able to cast illusions before, they were stagnant. Now, however, she had created illusions that were able to do thing autonomously under certain more important illusions that commanded the others. In short, she had laid the groundwork of the Infinite Army, which circumvented the manpower shortages of Alymore from this point onwards. Lyxis' "ghost soldiers", as the Thyrikans called them, caused havoc with their relentless assaults. Lacking fear or self-preservation, and following every order to the letter, the Infinite Army took extreme casualties with zero downsides, as any "soldier" simply re-appeared. What ensued was a panicked retreated as the soldiers under King Hyghas came under constant attack, unable to sleep nor set up camp. 20,000 men crossed into Alymore in 81 BW. Only 2,000 returned to Thyrika in 78 BW, chased by the Alymoran armies.

Lyxis turned the war and launched an invasion of Thyrika. After some more lacklustre resistance, Hyghas II surrendered. Lyxis continued her string of controversies by fully annexing the Freehold of Thyrika into her own domain. As she secured her new domains, the two remaining Freeholds on the Nytalyrian Islands watched on and plotted. Fearing an invasion and annexation, the Freeholds of Ryleqis and Mylliya banded together to form a defensive alliance against Alymore. Lyxis, however, had no intention to attack either, not just yet. Instead, she further increased the power of the magical class of Alymore. Archmages were appointed as magistrates as the ruling class became magocratic in nature. Furthermore, while the Infinite Army was a nice trick, Lyxis still wished for an ordinary standing army. Recruitment increased under new mage-commanders, making the military of Alymore one of the most lethal in Enselonde.

Now, two decades later in 61 BW, Lyxis' ambitions got the better of her. She was itching to test out her new forces and, finally, launched two simultaneous invasions of Ryleqis and Mylliya. The Alymoran-Mylliyan War ended first, with the Mylliyans failing to defend any major settlement and surrendering in 60 BW. The Alymoran-Ryleqisi War lasted longer, thanks to the naval prowess of Ryleqis, yet their fleets were no match to the cryomancers of Alymore. In 59 BW, this war, too, ended in a defeat for the defenders. The Wars of Nytalyrian Unification had ended and, in the same year, Lyxis crowned herself the Empress of Nytalyria, reforming Alymore into the modern Nytalyrian Empire. Yet, despite these achievements, Lyxis' ambitions were not yet at an end. Her eyes turned to the Mainland, gripped by chaos.

### Ascendance to Godhood

Yanhi of Sallant, a Human king from the South, had watched on as the Humans in the north remained in slavery under the Freeholds of the Faerians, Naerisi, and Hyllidans. In anger, he gathered his forces and marched north against the Freeholds. Along the way, other Human kings joined him in this march. The Third Human Rebellion had begun, and would devolve in the coming decades into the most destructive war in the history of Enselonde.

Lyxis, however, was absent from the early stages of the conflict in 96 BW. Spending the next three-and-a-half decades going from novice mage to Empress of Nytalyria, it wasn't until the 50s BW when Lyxis began taking note of the conflict. Since then, the march of the Kingdom of Humanity had been unrelenting, pushing increasingly into the North. Of the Old Freeholds, most had collapsed, with only a handful in the far north clinging to life. It didn't take a military genius to recognise that the newly found Nytalyrian Empire was, at this point in time, the most powerful non-Human state in the world. The Freeholds, too, were aware of this, and diplomats and envoys began appearing in Alymore, begging Lyxis for intervention in the conflict. After much consideration and deliberation, Lyxis agreed to assist the Freeholds of the North, marking a turning point in the history of the world.

In 51 BW, Lyxis the Blind landed on the eastern shores of the North, and began liberating town after town. The Kingdom of Humanity began sending over armies to stop the invasion and drive the Nytalyrians into the sea, yet Lyxis' new class of commanding battlemages tore through these relief forces with their magical onslaught. Tens of thousands of Human soldiers died with little to no progress in stopping the invasion. Other Human armies, located further to the northeast, now risked being cut off from the South altogether, being surrounded and eventually defeated. In some cases, this came to pass, while others were lucky enough to flee southward in time to avoid encirclement.

Among the ranks of the Kingdom of Humanity, the Nytalyrian armies became a source of terror. Particularly, the commanding caste of mage-officers. Mages, at this point, already had a terrible reputation for their destruction in the Second Human Rebellion. However, after the Nytalyrian invasion, this reputation had now reached rock bottom. One being, in particular, took notice: Lateos, the God of Magic. Lateos granted magic to non-Humans in the Second Human Rebellion, yet he disapproved of the systematic military use that the Nytalyrians employed them in. He wanted it to remain a rare gift, not to be used by large swaths of the military.

Lateos ambushed Lyxis in 49 BW, seeking to get rid of the nuisance and restore, in his eyes, the balance of power regarding magic. However, Lyxis had one ace up her sleeve that even Lateos was unprepared to deal with: Trickster Magic, once more. Not even the God of Magic himself was familiar with the illusions of Lyxis, as she effortlessly cloned herself into thousands of illusions. Unsure of his real target, Lateos struggled while being constantly barraged by both Lyxis and her clones. This duel between the God and the Empress lasted for hours before, in one tremendous blow, the God of Magic was killed by his own tools. In that moment, Lyxis became the Usurper Goddess of Magic and the second Godslayer after Anbu the Godslayer, whom she would trade blows with later. The death of Lateos sent shockwaves across Enselonde, both literally and figuratively. For Lyxis, she absorbed a good portion of Lateos' power yet, crucially, not all of it. In the coming years, more and more children were born with an affiliation towards magic, as the divine monopoly on it largely came to an end.

### The Nahyf Rebellion and Sundering

With vastly more power, Lyxis began increasing the size of the Infinite Army drastically, as well as further supporting her mages. One of these mages in particular drew her eye: a bloomsage by the name of Viola. Viola was a Human Freeman, yet Lyxis trusted her utterly. The bloomsage entered Lyxis' inner circle to the jealousy of some, yet Lyxis became utterly fascinated by her. For the first time in her life, Lyxis had found love, though the marriage would have to wait for some decades. For now, she was content in making Viola her Champion, granting her some of her newfound Divine powers and, more importantly, immortality.

Some objected, though none did so vocally. However, one key figure was outraged by the decision to make Viola Lyxis' champion: her lifelong mentor, Haljyk. Under Lyxis' spree of conquests, Haljyk's power grew greatly. Once a mere outlaw, he now ruled much of the northern Nytalyrian Islands, commanded the largest Nytalyrian army, and was on his way to, perhaps, one day become King of one of the New Freeholds being founded in the North. However, the surge in importance of Viola was too bitter a pill to swallow for the ageing general, who sought the immortality of Championhood.

In secret, Haljyk began plotting with other mages to overthrow and perhaps kill Lyxis, replacing her with Haljyk as Nytalyrian Emperor. This plot did not advance far before being detected, yet it was allowed to exist for an abnormally long time as Lyxis did not believe that Haljyk would plot against her. However, when a would-be assassin was killed trying to enter Viola's tent in camp, she finally admitted to herself that Haljyk had to go. Lyxis ordered the arrest of Haljyk and known ringleaders, yet a mole gave away the order. Subsequently, the plotters defected and rebelled against the reign of Lyxis.

The Nahyf Rebellion, or the Dusk Rebellion, lasted only a few weeks, yet was impactful in changing the long-term psyche of Lyxis. Notably, she became more distrustful towards her subordinates, save for Viola, who slowly became the only person she truly trusted. The Nahyf Rebellion itself was crushed rather quickly. Most who sided with it died in battle to Lyxis' magic herself, others were captured and executed soon after. For Haljyk, however, who was captured alive, Lyxis had a different fate in mind. Lyxis fulfilled his wish for immortality by placing a Kymelomantic charm on Haljyk that would keep him alive for as long as she lived. Then, she had him brought back to the Nytalyrian Islands where he was sealed in a prison deep underground for over thirteen centuries, immortal, isolated, and totally powerless.

With the Nahyf Rebellion crushed, Lyxis turned to the remaining Northern Human forces, wiping them out in the coming two years. However, when she turned to march to the South, Ivos, the God of Earth, intervened. At this stage, the Third Human Rebellion had become increasingly influenced by the Divines and began devolving into the Divine War. Ivos, a staunch supporter of the Kingdom of Humanity, saw the Nytalyrian armies pushing into the Marenbach Forests and intervened. In a catastrophic misuse of Divine power, Ivos tore the Mainland apart at Marenbach and then slammed it back into each other. The lush forests of Marenbach became the Marenbach Mountains, millions died and the ensuing earthquakes damaged or destroyed cities throughout Enselonde. This event, known as the Sundering of Marenbach, while extremely controversial, was also effective in stopping the Nytalyrians dead in their tracks. Many were injured or dead on both sides, yet advance through the uncharted and unstable mountains was impossible.

For years to come, the Third Human Rebellion entered stalemate. However, Lyxis was not deterred by the setback. She ordered the construction of massive fleets all the while stabilising her so-called "New Freeholds" in the North, who also began building ships. If she could not attack over land, she would via sea. While waiting, Lyxis played a minor part in the larger Divine War, fending off the occasional assault of a Divine or Divine Offspring supporting the Kingdom of Humanity.