Alais

Just chilling in the Mines of Poryia

**Alais** was the main antagonist of the thirteenth arc of Sins of the Empire, Prisoner Extraction. He was one of the three Monster Kings that resided in the Mines of Poryia and he desired to capture the Timeless Child in order to sell her to the Golden Empire and make a fortune to add to his collection. However, Screpel Brusai made a deal that he would lead the Sovereign Slayers to Alais in exchange for Alkra. While Alais was willing to trade the aarakocra girl, Screpel backed out at the last minute, unfroze the party from their magic plight, and went down. Alais was soon killed after.

## **Biography**

### *Royalty of Fiends*

Most of the history in Alais' past is shrouded in mystery, but it was evident that he became a big shot when he certified himself as one of the three Monster Kings of the Mines of Poryia. He built up an organization of monsters and carved out a home following the central path of the mines. Alais also made himself cozy in a specific chasm carved out exclusively for him and his curious collectible critters.

Additionally, he was one of the associates that Screpel made a deal with after his fallout with the Barricade Bashers. Alais relied on Screpel to bring in the Sovereign Slayers because the aarakocra wanted to exchange them for Alkra.

### *Prisoner Extraction*

Alais' presence was first made clear to the party when 2.0pel duped Krako and the party (as he was disguised as Screpel). 2.0pel kidnapped Alkra from her Imperial convoy after all the danger was cleared and mentioned his floating meatball master. This led the party to raid his home and rescue Alkra from his clutches. Alais then imprisoned Alkra in his lair at some point and fortified his defenses for what was to come.

Although their first excursion through the mines didn't end very well, the party's second excursion led them down the path that Alais made. The group fought or evaded many of his minions and with enough effort, they discovered his hideout. However, Alais was not letting this discovery be made so half-haphazardly. Since the Slayers were standing in a magical circle, they were all frozen in place besides Screpel. This is when Alais and Screpel's deal was made clear to everybody. Alais was all for the trade proposed by Screpel, but when he backed out, it made him extremely angry. He shot Screpel through the chest with a blast from his eye stalk, but the Slayers now had to be dealt with.

A long, arduous battle was fought and in the end, the party prevailed. Alais died from a spell used by Screpel and the mines would go on with only two monster kings...

## **Description**

### *Appearance*

Alais looks like a standard blue beholder with all the usual features. He has plenty of eye stalks that extend out from his globular body and they are used for various purposes when attacking his enemies. He has a humongous eye in the middle of his ball-headed looking ass and his mouth almost covers the whole bottom half of his body.

Additionally, his teeth were black and worn, indicating he didn't care to look after them that much.

### *Personality*

Also following stereotypical beholder behavior, Alais was very paranoid, very greedy, and very manipulative. He was always out for something that could improve his state-of-being and never thought about anyone else. The only reason he worked with others in the first place was to A. have someone to look down on and order around or B. complete a transaction that would leave him better off.

Another trait prominent in his character was his rage upon being hurt. Unlike many main antagonists of the story, Alais made it clear when he was enraged by the damage done upon him. In fact, he would save his strongest attacks for those who had been the most offensive to him.

## **Relationships**

### *The Other Monster Kings*

The detailed relationship between Alais and the other Monster Kings is very unclear, but it is quite apparent that Alais did not have a friendly relationship with them. He didn't try to plot anything like their downfall, but if they came to push into his territory, he would not have hesitated to destroy the invading squadron quickly and ruthlessly.

### *Alkra Vusanovian*

Alais saw Alkra as nothing more than an expensive collectible ready to be sold. He had no greater plans for her capture rather than to gain a hefty sum of gold from the Empire. He would be swayed by Screpel with his deal to offer the Sovereign Slayers instead of her, but in his mind, he was surely hatching a way to get both the Slayers and Alkra sold off somewhere. He didn't need to hatch a scheme, however, because the circumstances for that practically landed in his lap. Well... before he died.

### *Screpel Brusai*

Like many other people in Screpel's life, Alais looked down upon the aarakocra even though he came up with some solid ideas. Alais thought that Screpel was a fantastic victim for his manipulation. Although that worked for Alais in the beginning, it was Screpel's heart and morality that soon won and led to the beholder's destruction.

Screpel was also the last person to attack Alais, killing him and ending his reign of terror set upon the mines.

## **Trivia**

* Alais and Skorj share some similarities in character, circumstance, and organization of their respective groups.
	+ Both the beholder and the goliath had a large assortment of minions of various background.
	+ Both of them preferred to stay anonymous to their enemies in order to drum up fear through the unknown.
	+ Both of them only had a single encounter with the party before being defeated.
* However, one key difference between them was that Alais had no problem negotiating with the Empire if it meant he would be rewarded with riches. Skorj, on the other hand, despised the Empire for the role they had in his past and his whole goal, while misguided, was ultimately to bring about the destruction of the Empire.