Laena

*"You really couldn't have read more history books could you, Myth? I have 3000 years of history to catch up on before I return to your world." - Laena attempting to learn from Myth's mind.*

## Laena

### Relatives

Killsore (Granfather) - DeceasedMaxsore (Father) - Deceased

Ghost Of Sylka (Mother) - Deceased

Lee (Twin Brother) - Deceased

Husband - Deceased

## Biographical information

### Date of birth

74 Hero's Age/HA - Birth4119 (PCE) - Resurrection

## Physical description

### Eye color

Brown before gaining more powerGlowing red once fully powerful

### Biography

Laena is the ancient empress of the Maloc Empire, having reigned for much of the early Hero's Age. Through her leadership and power, she continued the Maloc Empire's conquest of Veshen, nearly taking over all of Veshen before her sudden death in 900 (HA). Through great effort, her legacy has been lost to history, with not even the Maloc remembering their reign as the vampiric overlords of the continent.

### History

Laena was born to Maxsore and the Ghost Of Sylka in 74 (HA), along with her twin, Lee, in Sylka. She spent the earliest part of her life being raised in Sylka, with her father hoping to keep his royal Maloc heritage secret from his children, and raise them alone in Sylka. This would end when Laena was 3, when her grandfather, Emperor Killsore kidnapped her and brought her home to the Maloc.

Killsore was determined to groom Laena into his heir, starting training when she wasn't even 4 years old. Killsore insisted that he would not repeat the mistakes and failures of raising Laena's father, careful to keep Laena busy and immersed in the Maloc's new culture of conquest. Eventually, Laena would grow to greatly respect her grandfather, believing him to be the rightful ruler of Veshen, and her to be his successor, forsaking the renouncement of her father. Laena's faith would not even be shaken when the First Pantheon God, Naima, cursed Killsore as the first vampire of Litharos. Instead, Laena trained harder, searching for new methods to grow her and the injured empire's power.

Laena would be given the crown of the Maloc in 94 (HA), days before her 20th birthday, having proven her loyalty and power to her grandfather, by successfully tracking down and personally defeating the Hemoshen dragon rider, Herveda, and her dragon Vexel. She would rule alongside her grandfather for over 100 years, when Killsore would retire his crown, becoming Laena's most trusted advisor and general. Her time ruling alongside her grandfather mostly consisted of putting down rebellions and fighting with her brother, who had become a hero to many in Veshen resisting Maloc rule.

After assuming the role of the sole ruler of the Maloc Empire, Laena expanded the empire, and created policies to spread vampirism, believing that the curse could be used as a powerful tool for growth and power. Laena did not embrace vampirism though, instead refusing the curse until the biggest weakness of vampires was eliminated. The sun.

Laena fought with her brother and father for hundreds of years during her reign as empress, while also fighting against supporters of Naima in the First Pantheon War, supporting the rebellion of the First Pantheon God Of Chaos And Gifts, Dral. The expansion of the Maloc Empire would slow periodically while at war with Naima and her brother and father. Laena was also halted by her brother and various other heroes from reaching her goal of blocking out the sun.

With her aging slowed by her unique heritage and occasionally reversed by magical means, Laena had grown frustrated and obsessed with the final defeat of her brother and father. They had kept her just shy of capturing all of Veshen for centuries, and worse, stopped her from being capable of finally blocking out the sun for her vampire armies. This would change when, in 840 (HA), a hero, summoned to Veshen by both Naima and Dral to settle the First Pantheon War, betrayed Maxsore and Lee, in the hopes that he would impress Laena.

The hero revealed the secret location of Maxsore and Lee's resistance, leading to Laena to lead a massive assault on her oldest enemies. The battle would last days, with careful coordination during the day to allow her armies to continue fighting in the forest hiding the resistance. Laena would chase Maxsore and Lee to the Giant's Neck, on the coast of the Isle Of The Lich. With her brother and father cornered against the coast, Laena lead a final assault. Ultimately, Laena would personally slay her brother on the battlefield, with her grandfather nearly killed by Maxsore, losing the lower half of his face, barely saved by her new hero ally, who mortally wounded Maxsore.

Upon defeating her father and brother, Laena turned her attention to her ultimate goal of blocking out the sun. Through dealings with ancient, other worldly gods, Laena would finally accomplish her goal in 889 (HA), blocking out the sun and becoming a vampire. She would go on to be referred to as Empress Laena "The Black Sky" after her accomplishments. She would then marry the hero that helped her finally achieve her final goals and enable her to finish conquering Veshen with her vampire armies.

The Maloc conquest of Veshen would continue for over a decade, when for unknown reasons, Laena was suddenly killed in 900 (HA), with virtually all recordings of her empire destroyed. She would be buried in a tomb at the base of the western mountains, and undiscovered until 4118 (PCE), when the party of Elfi, Oli, Edremon, and Myth stumbled upon it.

### *Tales Of Ye Old Interest*

Laena's tomb was discovered, along with a crown that held her being. Shortly after being discovered, Myth decided to wear the crown and made a deal with Laena to find her a new body in exchange for Laena serving as her patron. Laena would later require Myth become a vampire to become more powerful and attempt to corrupt Myth. Eventually, Myth would find Laena a new body and despite still serving as Myth's patron, Laena now roams Veshen on her own.

### Skills and Talents

*This list is incomplete as Laena has yet to fully disclose many of her abilities.*

* Seasoned and skilled warrior, specifically with longswords and glaives.
* Master tactician.
* Capable of casting spells beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful magic casters in Litharos.
* Unlikely to be truly killed, as she has many different avenues for resurrection.
* Can grant powers to her chosen host.
* Able to manifest simple items and furniture.

### Trivia

* Laena ruled as empress of the Maloc Empire from 94 to 900 (HA), making her the longest reigning ruler in Veshen's history.
* Outside of mistranslated Maloc folklore, Laena, her empire, and her dynasty are forgotten by the general populace of Veshen.
* Although Laena is more than capable of changing whatever body Myth obtains for her, she seems to insist on finding a body similar to her original one.
* Laena had/has a crush on Dral, attracted to his power and what it might mean for the future of any potential dynasty.
* Although Laena had early regrets about choosing Myth as her host, she eventually grew to enjoy Myth's company, and respect her knowledge of necromancy and her apparent devotion to that school of magic.
* Laena does not like to acknowledge her husband and refuses to even reveal his name, being content to just refer to him simple as her husband.
* Laena does not consider herself married.
* Killsore's time as Laena's guardian has been hinted at being very demanding and borderline abusive with his training regiment. Laena laughs when thinking of her time with her grandfather, seeing her training at the edge of a cliff as a quirky memory, appreciating how good it made her at dodging while being restricted in usable space.
* Laena might view Myth as something akin to an apprentice, growing impressed by her quick grasp of necromancy.