Melysse Miron

—The Raven[src]

Queen in Dolurrh, **Melysse Miron** has taken the title of the Raven. She was once living in Thrane and now resides in the realm of the dead and helps weary souls travel to the afterlife. She rules over the Shadar-kai, the souls that have been trapped because of the pact. Her part of the pact manifests as a form called Soul Reaper.

## History

### Life in Thrane

At a very young age, she was spoken to by a voice in her head claiming to be a part of the Silver Flame. She believed it and gave in to the power. When she spoke of it to the church, they labeled her a heretic and had her petrified.

Her body they locked away in a place forgotten by time, so no person could tinker with it; the Dreadhold. If found and the spell reversed, it's possible that her soul in Dolurrh could return to it. She doesn't know if she would, though; her power in Dolurrh is greater than anything she had in Eberron, and her place is there. She might help for a time, though.

### Queen in Dolurrh

The Raven's court is surrounded by snow-covered wastelands. In her great hall she sits on a throne crowded with ravens, some perched on the back, some flying overhead. Her role is to guide lost souls to their final resting place, and to watch over the Shadar-kai; those who died while bearing the pact. Shadar-kai is an ancient draconic word for "anchored soul."

Urik Rowan, one of her generals, brings her a new soul that's found itself in Dolurrh: Beric Rowan, the last of his line. She listens to his story of how he got the pact and how he died, and when he's finished she shows him Soul Reaper. He's the first since her to arrive with this power, and it's greater than he knows. She makes him an offer: stay in Dolurrh and perhaps become as powerful as her one day, helping the lost souls that find themselves there, or return to Eberron, where he can complete the pact and allow his ancestors to move on. Beric only considers for a moment, and agrees to return.

The two merge their pacts, and Beric is sent back to Eberron.

### Growth in power

Later it's discovered that as Beric collects pacts and grows in power, so does the Raven. This comes at another cost, though; for every pact that's completed, its ancestors pass on from Dolurrh.

Eventually Melysse became powerful enough to keep souls from passing on from Dolurrh. Beric communicates with her in Flamekeep and the two argue about fate and death. Beric's love interest, Paulo Omaren, was killed in the name of completing the pacts and Beric feels it's right to bring her back, to undue a wrongful death. Melysse is unwavering in her stance of not interfering with fate, even going as far as questioning if it was right to restore him to life.

One of her top soldiers disagrees with her: Urik Rowan. She isn't happy with how her queen has been behaving, and in an act of defiance rips open a hole in Dolurrh to let Paulo pass through and return to her body.

### Death in Eberron

Becoming ever greater in power, Melysse manages to bring not only herself but an army of sorrowsworn out of Dolurrh and into Eberron to claim the last two pacts: Beric's and the green dragon's. There's a bloodbath as the sorrowsworn meet Beynar's Emerald Claw soldiers and Urik's shadar-kair. She uses a charm spell on Dex and casts Feeblemind on Booyah, and almost has the pact when she uses a powerful spell on the dragon himself to command him to hand it over. The dragon's own daughter intervines by drawing the energy from him, causing him to become a pile of ash. The Raven and Beric battle over the newly released pact right before Oriana leaps from behind and stabs a spear right through the Raven's chest.

## Physical Appearance

Like the other pact bearers in Dolurrh, the Raven has ashen skin, black hair, and a slightly gaunt look to her. She wears ornate robes that seem to be woven with shadow and light, and it has images of ravens, reapers, and a few scythes. As she moves around, the images seem to transform. When she comes from Dolurrh into Eberron, she's pale with long, inky black robes.

## Appearances

* Ep. 33 Eberron Reduced 3
* Ep. 61 The Raven’s Toll Chapter One
* Ep. 63 The Raven’s Toll Chapter Three
* Ep. 69 The Brelish Job Chapter Two
* Ep. 89 The Road Below Chapter Three
* Ep. 128 Thrashing of Eras Chapter Five
* Ep. 129 Thrashing of Eras Chapter Six

## Quotes

"I once believed that certain deaths should be undone, as you know firsthand. And I wonder now, had you not been brought back the first time, how different would the world be? How many wrongful deaths would not have occurred?"
"You laid that on me. You put that on me; you put that in me."
"I know. Though now I know not why."
—*Melysse and Beric, Ep. 89 The Road Below Chapter Three*

"I'm not interested in being your weapon. You are *not* what I made a deal wtih."
"I never considered you a weapon, Beric. You're a solider. You always have been a soldier. You tried to run from that fate and it pulled you back."
"Well I'm not interested in being in your army. And you're not the one we came to see."
"Very well, Beric. Good. Luck."
—*Beric and Melysse, Ep. 89 The Road Below Chapter Three*

"My army is too great. Too powerful. It is done. Give me what I came for and there need not be bloodshed. There need not be unnecessary death."

"Come take it."
—*Melysse and Beric, Ep. 128 Thrashing of Eras Chapter Five*

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ep. 128 Thrashing of Eras Chapter Five
2. ↑ Ep. 129 Thrashing of Eras Chapter Six
3. ↑ Ep. 33 Eberron Reduced 3