Vaerixen

Vaerixen is an NPC from the Temphere campaign universe. Though they have not appeared in person, they feature as an element of Cree's backstory, being an old friend and former travelling companion. Vaerixen is a gold dragon, and their name means "fire dancer" in Draconic.

## History

Cree hasn't spoken at length about Vae or what she may or may not know of their life before she met them. What is known is that Vae is apparently "something of a paladin of Cosaisis," the god of luck. What exactly is meant by that, however, Cree has not elaborated on.

At some point several years before the game started, Vae was fighting an oathbreaker paladin who was terrorizing a particular span of countryside. Cree stumbled upon the fight in progress by chance, a fight which Vaerixen was losing. Though she knew that she would never be able to defeat an opponent that could go toe to toe with a dragon, Cree figured that if she could at least provide a distraction, she could give the gold an opening. Casting her Dissonant Whispers spell, Cree was able to divert the paladin's attention long enough for Vaerixen to dispatch him.

Once the battle was over Vaerixen addressed Cree, using Draconic on the assumption that the dragonborn would of course know it. They were surprised to find that she didn't, and switched to common instead. After thanking Cree for her help, they offered to pay back their life debt to her by travelling with her for a time and teaching her to speak Draconic, an offer that Cree accepted.

Though it can be presumed that there were no shortage of misadventures during what Cree has stated was a sixth month span of their time together, none of that time has been much elaborated on yet in-story. By the time they parted Cree considered Vaerixen a good friend, and has stated she wouldn't mind seeing them again someday.

## Personality

While the party has not met Vaerixen directly, some things can be assumed based on what Cree has told them- for example, the fact that Vae confronted an Oathbreaker and was continuing to fight the paladin even when they were losing suggests that Vae was selfless, good hearted, and cared for the safety of others. The fact that they offered Cree a service to repay their debt to her for saving their life further indicates a sense of honor and humility, an impression Cree has confirmed by indicating that Vaerixen "does not take themselves too seriously" as compared to other dragons.

Cree had noted that a lot of her sense of humor, she picked up from Vaerixen. Her descriptions of the dragon paint the picture of a prankish, cheerfully snarky individual with a lively sense of humor.

## Trivia

* Cree has stated that she chose to claim Dahlia was a gold dragon in disguise "because I knew it would be believable" and also indicated that Vae might turn into Dahlia themselves if they heard the story, which implies that Vae can shapeshift and has done so around Cree.
* Vae's actual gender identity has not been stated in-story, but Cree used they/them pronouns exclusively to refer to them, so something under the nonbinary or gender-nonconforming umbrella can be assumed.
* Shinko has stated that she got the idea for Vaerixen's character when trying to decide why Cree had such a visceral reaction to the illusory oathbreaker paladin during the festival of masks.