Caela Vyara

—Caela, causing a distraction.

Caela is a Dragonborn Fighter in The Second Hand. She is played by Ty.

#### Appearance

Caela is a red Dragonborn. She is tall and lean, with golden eyes. She spent much of her younger years as a fighter for her clan and carries the scars to prove it. In the years that she spent raising her two sons, Caela spent much of her time outdoors in the hot and dry environment of Ou'Elar. Sun-bleached in places her scales range across a spectrum of deep orange and red hues.

She wears gunmetal black heavy plate armour and simple gold-accented bracers. Her armour unfurls over her body in a few seconds due to the magic of her attuned sword, the Primordial Horizon.

#### Personality

Caela is calm and kind-hearted, she is observant and loving to the people around her. Despite her military background, she often approaches new situations with peace at the forefront of her mind. She is fiercely protective, and often shows her emotions most clearly on the battlefield, though she has at times snapped at people for calling her age and capabilities into question.

Caela has also shown herself to have a fun-loving side, partying alongside the rest of the students at TBC Academy, and enjoying nights out with friends.

### Biography

#### Background

Caela was born to two loving parents in one of the most well-travelled countries in the known world. Ou'Elar is a large, sprawling country built around nomadic clan communities. Known for their combat prowess and their skill with the forge, it is no surprise that Caela became a Fighter in her youth. Studying under her Sword Master, Therol Heinsparr, Caela worked for many years as a mercenary in her clan. After travelling to a recently destroyed village, Caela came upon two young Elven twin boys huddled together amongst the rubble.

Putting away her sword soon after, Caela moved away from the nomadic life and built her home amongst a citrus grove, where she raised her two sons as a single mother. In love with the atmosphere, Caela's life while she raised her boys was one scented with citrus oils, small handcrafts, and an enjoyment of the small and whimsical parts of living.

One evening as she sat around the dinner table with her now adult children, her life changed forever, as her former Sword Master had died and a request for her to continue her training came knocking on her door.

#### TBC Academy

##### Chapter One: Welcome to TBC Academy

Caela received her acceptance letter to The Breaking Call, and was taken through the hidden portal to TBC Academy on the first day of school by Professor Dinukla. Caela's prophetic glimpse into her future is that of a burning house while she has fallen to her knees outside. Caela revealed her go-getter, party-girl personality at their first house party at KAB's home, eagerly joining in with Khess and Kana to play Truth or Dare.

##### Chapter Two: Through the Fire and Flames

During the first few weeks of school,Caela is tested, her skills and talents in combat and with a blade are regularly pushed by Professor Dinukla. Towards the end of the month, when Stratosphere tryouts roll around, Caela opts to take on the role of fundraising organiser for the team and starts organising a kissing booth for the first game of the season. Khess rounds up volunteers, and the whole party supports Caela's plans. Caela grows closer with the rest of the party over the next few weeks, and when a member of the party is kidnapped, Caela is calm and collected, but quick to want to rescue their party member.

##### Chapter Three: The Primordial Horizon

One quiet morning, the party wakes up for breakfast and realises after a short time that Caela is sleeping in past her normal time. When Prinne goes to her room to investigate, she opens the door and finds that Caela's whole room has transformed into a cavernous tunnel that winds further than the edges of the house. The party gets their gear on and ventures into the cave where they find Caela unconscious in the middle of a small underground lake. They approach her and she fights back against them briefly before they're able to subdue her. Here she bonds with her sword, which has awoken and pulled her into this cavern. The sword, Almantera, absorbs the souls of the creatures in the lake water and leaves them with no choice but to swim back across the lake.

After Caela recovers, she and the rest of the party start making their way back the way they came from, however Caela reveals that she never learned to swim, and holds on to Khess who swims her back through the lake. Heading back down the path, we realise that our exit back to Ardanish has vanished, and instead we find ourselves stumbling out into a large open cavern system after running from an encroaching unseen danger. Coming up to the front of a small make-shift camp, the party meets a small community of people running from a war on the surface of Ou'Elar. Though unwilling to let them in at first, when the small settlement is attacked by a large worm-like creature and the party helps defeat it, the refugees allow the party to pass through to a small cave at the rear of the encampment where Caela is being called to by her sword.

The party enters the small cave, which closes off behind them and turns into a dark, empty void. As if untethered from themselves in the dark, Caela's sword begins speaking to all of them, though directs most of the conversation to Caela as it's wielder. The sword reveals itself to be Exkaiba, an Iron Year masterwork created by the Soul Forge. Knowing very little about the Soul Forge, but being told a small amount about the ways the sword has been used for nefarious means in the past, and the sword's expressed wish not to be used that way anymore, Caela agrees to learn to wield Exkaiba for the good. The sword warns that it will be difficult, but has a belief that Caela is capable of doing it.

Realising that they are thousands of years in the past, Exkaiba calls forth people the party members are connected to that have the ability to send them back to their present time. Caela, along with the rest of the party, enter the Soul Forge, and she is sent to a limbo plane where the previous wielders of Exkaiba are all gathered. They warn her about the dangers of the sword, but also encourage her to learn more about it, and to understand it, passing down their knowledge to her. Upon returning to the present day, Caela begins training with her sword, with Khess offering to help her explore its more nefarious and unknown capabilities with her in their training yard.

Seeking out more information on the Soul Forge, and how Exkaiba came to be, the party follow the lead that Exkaiba itself gave them - that the Soul Forge once lived at TBC Academy.

##### Chapter Four: Family Matters

Almost immediately the next night, Khess wakes up to Notpot's screams, and rushes to get Caela as Prinne floats menacingly above them all in the lounge. Unsure what to do, Caela runs to Prinne's room to find some sort of clue or some information, opening the door and triggering the trapped wards Prinne had placed inside. Caela is killed instantly by the traps and has to be brought back by Kana, who Khess has already left to find to help them with Prinne. When Kana later sides with Iggy, Caela is hurt and frustrated by the betrayal.

When the party meets Quanta and Denny several weeks later, and start working to restore Denny to his rightful place, Caela is also eager to help him. When the party arrives back at the Harmonic Lyseum to start preparing for their trip to the Stormlands, Caela bumps into her son Dian, who has been appointed as a guard on the Rings, as security and preparation begins to ramp up with the increasing threat of Iggy and Kana.

##### Chapter Five: It's the End of the World As We Know It

After the party finally makes it to the Stormlands and start traversing the storm with Shenhe, Caela begins hearing voices and seeing figures in the storm. During a tumultuous long rest on board the skiff, Caela sees figures of those she has killed and absorbed with the sword in the sands, speaking to her in mysterious whispers. They tell her that the Soul Forge is here in the Stormlands and that the souls of the sword will protect Caela as they lead her to it.

Previous wielders of Exkaiba, and others with a mysterious connection to it start appearing and trying to help her guide the skiff through the storm. However, when the party is forced off the skiff in battle, Caela receives very little help from the figures in guiding her to her party. One figure carrying her own sword and wearing chainmail armour appears to Caela, and uses a strange whip of lightning to pull the skiff across the desert to safety. She doesn't give a name, but implies that she is both Exkaiba and a wielder of Exkaiba. She guides Caela and Denny through the last bits of the storm until they reach the calm and serenity of the eye, where another person, Cardis, waits with Prinne, Quanta, and Khess. Cardis says he knows Exkaiba as the Elemental Sword, also claiming to be one of it's previous wielders. They help us get out of the storm, and watch over us briefly as we set up a small camp together, then they leave into the storm.

After jumping into the Soul Forge in the middle of the Stormlands the party is sent back thousands of years to the 26th of Xevna 13207 (era unknown), and Caela draws her sword against an earlier version of Iggy. Amidst the ruin and rubble of the City of Old Donimear, Caela assesses the situation and commits to putting a stop to Iggy to the best of her abilities, believing that if they can stop Iggy here then they'll be able to end this fight before it even starts. After Iggy is placed above the Soul Forge and she starts consuming some of the souls that have been gathered by the Soul Forge, Caela makes one of the biggest, life-altering choices she has ever made, and dips Exkaiba into the waters of the forge as well, pulling into it thousands upon thousands of souls.

Caela is teleported into a strange, desolate expanse, standing high above a crowd of thousands, while Exkaiba and the souls of those it has absorbed ask her if she is really going to do this. Caela accepts the weight of her choice and takes in an endless amount of souls.

—Ee-lai (DM), describing the feeling of Caela absorbing all of the souls despite their protests.

Settling back into her own body, Caela floats above the Soul Forge an almost exact mirror of Iggy. A mess of black void in the vague shape of the Dragonborn within, with the rough, sketched white outline of a figure both physical and not, Caela feels limitless. Iggy, opposite her, is a mirror of a bright white figure with black sketched outlines.

Caela swings her sword, using a small percentage of the souls within her, and carves a deep gash in the land. When the dust settles, Iggy wipes a small cut on her cheek which heals almost instantly. Choosing then to use thousands of the souls sitting in her sword and in her self, Caela cleaves Exkaiba through the city, rending it asunder. Overpowered and still recovering from the battle before the Soul Forge came into play, Iggy and her allies flee, and the Moonwraith appears and returns the party to their present time, taking Denny and Wanda with her when they part ways. Afterwards, Caela has to learn to live with her choices, and the reality of the part that she played in the historic destruction of Old Donimear and it's people.

Upon returning to TBC Academy, Caela never quite recovers from her actions, and sits with her guilt for a long time. The rest of The Second Hand tries to distract her and reassure her that these choices are not just hers to sit with alone, but that they all shoulder the burden. During the talent show held by TBC Academy, Caela takes the opportunity to spend some time with her son Dian, and together they put on a show of swordplay, demonstrating their expertise with their weapons.

When the party is preparing with their allies for Iggy's attack on the school, Caela supports them how she can. She distracts students with a fumble of gold on the stairs while Khess, invisible, carries a cauldron down to the Stratosphere volume.

During the attack on the school, Caela is anxious but remains as calm as she can in battle. She forces aside her worries about her son and focuses on the mission they have in front of them. During one battle, Caela fails to overpower Exkaiba, and the sword absorbs the soul of a nearby enemy which grants Caela his abilities for a time. Now armed with the sword and some fragment of magic capabilities, Caela unlocks a new aspect of Exkaiba.

In the mind of the titan Nisir, Caela is met with the hallucination of her twin sons in the destroyed village where she found them. Together they are acting out of the ordinary, and are eating some of the dead around them. Haunted by the imagery, the voice of Exkaiba speaks to her and tells her that they're not really her children. She comes out of the strange hallucination shaken.

Caela supports the plan to break the Soul Forge and helps Khess destroy it with their swords. The destruction of the Soul Forge calls forth Ranunculus, who undoes the destruction as it causes an issue in the timeline. They leave the Soul Forge, defeat Faire Don't, and head off to battle Iggy again.

When they are transported over forty years into the future, Caela is met with the reality of her retirement. Having once been the Master of Blades, Caela is now a retired Grandmaster with her apprentice under her, Tiny, now the Master of Blades for TBC Academy in her stead. Caela learns that on the day of the attack her son Dian was killed, and since then the world has been battling against the fallout of Iggy merging the primaterial plane with a small amount of others, namely the elemental planes. Caela, overwhelmed by this news, is taken home by Tiny and lays down for a rest. A few hours later she's awoken by Khess and Quanta who have come to collect her so they can start trying to put things back where they belong.

While they wait to harness the time anomalies to power Prinne's time machine, the school is attacked by Time Reavers, creatures born from the rifts in time and space that are the source of the anomalies. While running to Prinne's office, Caela is caught by the Time Reavers and turned to dust before the party's eyes. Khess falls soon after, but Quanta and Prinne make it to the end, sending them back through time to their home in Ardanish. Sitting at the table with an earlier Caela and Khess, Caela realises what has happened and remembers everything, and after Khess also remembers, The Second Hand together use Prinne's first Wish to restore the timeline. Their wish is successful, though not without it's consequences, and the party returns to their original timeline at the end of the Stratosphere final.

Over the summer, Caela spends most of her time in the peace and tranquility of her home, amongst the citrus trees enjoying her break. In and amongst her regular days, Caela also spends time with her family, notably her sons and grandchild coming to visit during Lion Star's Dawning. Despite her seemingly peaceful holiday, Caela is still plagued by her actions in the Stormlands, and by the possible future that she encountered that was stained with pain and loss. In acknowledgement of those tragedies, and in an attempt to accept her guilt and grief, Caela spent her time working on a sculpture dedicated to the lives of those lost.

##### Chapter Six: The Haunting of The Second Hand

At the start of a new year, Caela returns to TBC Academy, joining her party members once again. Together they move into their new home, on the outskirts of the village of Om, in the hot, dry desert of The Scalding Wilds.

### Relationships

#### Party Members

##### Prinne Tricclen

Caela met Prinne on Orientation Day when they both rode the train together through the spokes of the Harmonic Lyseum. Their friendship grew easily in the beginning, Caela had a similar sense of responsibility to her classes and school work like Prinne - though not to the same extent, and they bonded with one another. Prinne and Caela have often agreed on choices for the party, and Prinne has been positively reassuring of Caela's actions.

As students Caela and Prinne excel in different subjects, and Caela has very little experience with magic, but they have a similar sense of responsibility compared to others in The Second Hand.

In combat Caela and Prinne are not often engaged in combat together, though Prinne supports Caela's movements with her magic when possible. Otherwise, Caela serves as a fierce fighter in the frontline, protecting Prinne from any threat from the front.

##### Khessar Varhil

Caela met Khess on Orientation Day after they were both placed in Black Star House. Their relationship was slow to start, hindered early by Khessar's own issues with parental figures. However, over time Caela showed her care and friendship to Khess and he started to open up.

As students, Khess and Caela excel in similar subjects, and train their practical skills together.

As party members, Caela and Khess are regularly on the same wave length. As martial fighters, they have bonded over their reliance on a sword, and their preference for meeting challenges head-on, or blade-on. In combat Caela and Khess are often close together at the front of the fight, and Caela has provided support to Khess with her battle maneuvers when possible.

As friends, Caela has warned Khess to stay away from her son Dian, and has gently questioned his happiness in his relationship with Arms, but she has been mostly supportive of him. Khess' comments on forgetting that Caela is a mother sometimes have given Caela mixed feelings.

##### Quanta

Caela met Quanta when they arrived at the party's house in Ardanish looking for help on a quest. After learning about Denny, like the rest of the party, Caela was enthusiastic about rescuing Denny and finding him a place in the world away from the High Magistrate.

As students, Caela and Quanta overlap in some subject areas, particularly hand-to-hand combat and their use of blades, though Caela uses much larger weapons than Quanta.

As party members, Caela and Quanta tend to dance around each other in combat. However, Caela's positioning in fights means that Quanta benefits from her presence, and as close-range fighters they are both heavily involved in the fight.

As friends, Caela and Quanta have not interacted too much, but Caela has shown an invested interest in Quanta's identity and helping them figure out who they are.

##### Notpot

Caela met Notpot on their first day of school, after the party were assigned to Black Star House and allocated a House Attendant. Caela was not a fan of Notpot in the beginning, finding them overwhelming and strange. However, they began to grow closer over time.

Caela's relationship with Notpot grew to the point that she was greatly affected by the loss of Notpot in the campaign, and is trying everything she can to get them back.

#### Family Members

##### Dian

Caela found her sons Dian and Dior huddled together in the rubble of a recently destroyed village. She adopted them then and there, leaving behind her life as a fighter for her clan and establishing a home for the three of them in a citrus orchard. Caela raised her sons to be kind, honest young men. As they grew older, Dian showed an affinity for sword fighting, and as an adult he worked as a guard in the city of Stern.

Dian, like his brother Dior, was supportive of Caela going back to complete her training. After the threat of Iggy is understood by TBC Academy, the school and the Harmonic are opened up for wider enrolments, and the security measures and refugee preparations grow. As this happens, there is an increase in hired guards, including Dian, who has been positioned at the school and is now staying in barracks located at the Harmonic.

Because he's located at the Harmonic, Caela has been able to spend more time with Dian, and the rest of The Second Hand have met him as well.

##### Dior

Caela found her sons Dian and Dior huddled together in the rubble of a recently destroyed village. She adopted them then and there, leaving behind her life as a fighter for her clan and establishing a home for the three of them in a citrus orchard. Caela raised her sons to be kind, honest young men. As they grew older, Dior showed an affinity for leatherwork and crafts, and as an adult he opened a workshop in a nearby village.

Dior, like his brother Dian, was supportive of Caela going back to complete her training, but he has shown concern for her safety when she informs him of the dangers they're facing.

##### Sivian and Lonna

Sivian married Dior at an unknown time before the campaign, and together they have a young child called Lonna. Caela and Sivian have a good relationship, and she wants to be a good grandmother to Lonna as well.

#### Exkaiba

The Awakened Exkaiba, also called The Primordial Horizon and Almantera, is a Legendary greatsword originally crafted in the Soul Forge. It is a long 5 foot sword with exceptional magical capabilities and seemingly limitless potential. Exkaiba has great elemental affinities and has developed over the year since it's awakening. Caela inherited the sword from her mother, but research into the history of the sword reveals that it had been missing from history for many years.

Despite being a powerful sword, Exkaiba has many downfalls, including it's ability to absorb the souls of the dead. Exkaiba will absorb the souls of all those who die near it and these souls are permanently lost if Exkaiba's 'Shattered' state is used, or if the blade goes inert. Caela has spoken with the sword Exkaiba in several instances, though the first time she spoke with the sword alongside the party, Caela entered an agreement to learn to wield Exkaiba properly and to use it for the greater good.

Since first agreeing to the deal with Exkaiba, Caela has met the spectres of previous wielders, and has used Exkaiba's limitless potential to cleave massive wounds in the world.

#### Tiny

Caela first met Tiny in a possible future of the current timeline after The Second Hand failed to stop Iggy from merging the planes in a cataclysmic event called The Weaving. Forty-two years in the future, Caela walked into the dining hall at TBC Academy, stumbling over something on the ground and falling over. Tiny, a large armoured man with a huge sword, helps her up. Over a brief conversation where Tiny seems concerned for Caela's wellbeing, he reminds Caela that he was for a long time her apprentice, and is now the Master of Blades, having taken over from her when she stepped aside to be the Grandmaster. Tiny reminds Caela that her son, Dian, was killed during The Weaving, and then walks her home and makes sure she gets some rest.

Later, after the party returns to TBC Academy after the summer break, they run into a small kid who almost trips Caela up. He doesn't tell any of them his name, despite Khess and Prinne's attempts to be friendly, and rudely walks away from them all. After a couple of days, when the new First Year students are being sorted into their Houses, the kid appears again and is revealed to be Tiny. Tiny is selected by Yell and entered into Black Star House as a member of the new First Year party. Strangely, Caela and Tiny's prophetic visions from the crystal ball have some similarities, with Caela's vision showing her on her knees outside of a burning home, and Tiny's showing him running into a burning home and pulling out eight people in one minute.

### Character Information

#### Proficiencies

**Skills:** Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Survival

**Tools:** Dragonchess Set, Tinker's Tools, Vehicles (Land)

#### Notable Items

* Awakened Exkaiba, Primordial Horizon, Almantera
* Primordial Defense
* Frizz's Shoddy Hour Glass of Time Stuff
* Unstable Polymorph Potion (Cookie)
* Hoverboard
* Blood Keeper's Bead
* The Compass of Need

#### Abilities

##### Feats

* Slasher
* A Beautiful Mind, Rent Asunder

##### Origin Abilities

* Breath Weapon
* Damage Resistance (Fire)

##### Fighter Abilities

* Great Weapon Fighting (Fighting Style)
* Second Wind
* Action Surge
* Combat Superiority (Superiority Dice)
* Student of War
* Maneuvers
	+ Goading Attack
	+ Commander's Strike
	+ Riposte
	+ Precision Attack
	+ Distracting Strike
* Extra Attack
* Know Your Enemy
* Indomitable

### Trivia

##### Fun Facts from Second Hand Rewind

* Caela once had a horse called Van, he was stolen twenty years ago.