Salas

Official image of Salas, drawn by @grace.pptx on Instagram

Salas is a Backup Character for Arc 6 and played by Amelia.

## Description

Salas looks like an Elf, and is a Way of the Astral Self Monk / Circle of Stars Druid multiclass. He is generally rather sad due to the loss of his wife Calliope.

Their skin is described as being in the colour of light burnt sienna, and he keeps his hair in locs. While in the Upnorth, he wears winter clothing that is generally kept in a lot of white with some gold and light blue accents to blend in with the environment. While not out in the cold, usually, they would be shirtless.

When Salas activates his Constellation Form, the stars are actually darker than his skin, and appear like freckles.

Losing their wife for Salas meant losing their joy in life, and making memories without her feels pointless for them most of the time. He is certain that she was his soulmate, and that he will never find anyone like her ever again. He understands loss, and what it means, and how grief is an indicator for the love they miss, but still, he would give anything to talk to her again.

Their magic item is the Compass of the Sparrow.

## Backstory

They learnt what they know about being a Druid from their deceased wife, Calliope, who was a powerful Druid herself. The two of them had lived together in a tiny cottage with a garden in the woods.

Salas never thought he would fall in love like he did: he knew she was the one for them the moment they met, and he was excited to spend centuries with this person he loved most in the entire world, another elf. They had plans to travel and see the world. But within a decade of them marrying, Calliope fell ill with something magic couldn't cure, and died. Salas was inconsolable, and they are now torn between the fear of not being able to hold on to her memories should he die, but at the same time not feeling able to experience joy without her in their life.

He has come to the Upnorth to place Calliope's ashes there, as she had always wanted to see the northern lights before she died. He went north with a group, and once they got to an outpost, everyone else turned around and went back, but he just kept walking until finding the Arc 6 crew.

Salas is an earlier reincarnation of the soul of Bombyx Mori. Before they were Salas, they were the person that would become Salas's mother. They became pregnant, but instead of dying in childbirth, they lived and had a daughter, which they had not expected. Before, their body had always died in childbirth, and their soul had moved on to the child they had born, so they hadn't even thought that it was possible for them to become a mother and live. The next time they became pregnant, though, it did not work again, and Salas's mother died during Salas's birth, and their soul moved on to Salas.

Since his father was absent, and there was nobody else, Salas was raised by his sister until he was old enough to start remembering his previous lives. Having to raise a child kind of ruined his sisters' childhood and young adulthood. The additional weirdness of Salas being her little sibling, but their soul also being her mother led to her cutting contact to Salas when they were old enough. Salas understands that their actions in their past life were neglectful, and now tries to keep out of her life to not ruin it even more. Because of this, Salas and their sister / daughter don't talk at all.

## Character Arc

Salas joins the Arc 6 party in Episode 2, first in the form of a fox, as he wants to check what kind of people they are and what they are up to before revealing themselves. During their time in the Upnorth, they have learned that if they meet people, most of them are either very lost, or up to no good. As he realises that the crew is lost in the tundra and looking for a way back to civilisation, he offers to help them as best as he can.

While they are travelling together, they encounter a fog that damages their minds and psyche, and after that encounter Salas has a glowing scar on their temple.

Generally, Salas looks out for people and makes sure everyone gets through the obstacles they all have to face, even though they don't yet know the others that well. He especially starts looking out for Lottie, who reminds him of his daughter, since she also usually was on her own.

As the party explores Mount Ornament, Salas is the first one to be hit by a painful memory, so they don't even get a warning beforehand. For them, their most painful memory is a memory of them together with Calliope, before the diagnosis, when they were still full of hopes and plans for the future. In the moment, it was a happy situation, but the contrast between that memory and the loneliness and sadness they feel now is just very painful for them.

Salas not being a normal Elf is hinted at multiple times, as they don't have to eat. Additionally, they tell stories from the first person perspective that could not be experienced by a person with a usual elven life span, as none of the timelines make sense. Remeny finally finds out that Salas is undead, and later, they open up about being a Reborn who has lived many lives before.

While most of the others have something that drives them forward, Salas does not. They have lost their will to live, and just want to help the others get back to safety. When they are in a situation with seemingly no way out, they accept their death concerningly fast.

Salas does not know where he would go should they make it to Glaceria. They came into the wilderness to die and did not expect to come back.

As they try to get through the storm and to the city, Salas goes first, and is killed by the falling ice from the storm. They find themselves in a fully black room, confronted with the Raven Queen towering over them, and before they can insult her, he is reborn as a Half-Elf baby in Glaceria. A few years later, as they get their memories back, they visit Beryl and become friends with her again.

## Trivia

* Originally, Salas was supposed to be Amelia's main character, until they switched shortly before recording to Kipp.
* Amelia described them as looking like if Mat from the game Dream Daddy would be an elf (with slightly lighter skin, like theirs).
* Originally the backup characters were not supposed to have official images.
* "Salas" was the name Amelia had originally planned to give Bombyx, until they found the scientific name for silk worms and decided for that instead.
* The inspiration for Salas was "Come Home with Me" and "All I've Ever Known" from Hadestown, a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice story.