Darla Sonyanas

> "With a heavy heart I write this letter to condemn Arch Arcanist Sonyanas to exile from Alilnegi. I can no longer shepherd Darla's curiosity away from darker arts. Her knowledge of transmutation combined with her growing interest in Riicraft and Necromancy are the basis of my trepidation. Through personal experience and the trials of history, it is my belief and the belief of Alilnegi that the light given to each individual as a soul from the goddess is not to be tampered with." **--Headmistress Deelah Wynrona, *Monthly Mapheus University Report to the Sky Queen*, 992 AE.**
>
>

## Overview

Darla was an arcanist of the Mapheus University. After exhausting all avenues of study regarding transmutation, she was well believed to be the most gifted mind relating to that school of magic. After choosing to do her Peldeth studies on the transmutable properties of soul stone, the young Arch Arcanist became interested in soul magic and grew a special curiosity for necromancy. Specifically, she aimed to further magic in regards to returning life to the dead beyond just creating undead, but by restoring souls without the use of divine forces.

When she presented her theories to Headmistress Wynrona, she was exiled from the university for breaking several academic guidelines. Darla sought to present her ideas the Empress of the Darken Vale giving the nation a chance to heal from the damages done to their souls. Before she went to the Empress Court she needed to perfect her magics and began experimenting with cadavers of dead Heimsdale soldiers on the border to the Daraus desert. She was never able to truly able to reconstruct a soul inside of a deceased body, but through an accidental experiment Darla created a self-sustaining rii that could act as a body's soul. Her success was short lived, before she could study the results of her experiment the Heimsdale Army came after her following reports from outlying towns of a desert witch raising the dead.

After realizing her credentials, Darla was captured and brought before King Rubystone to plead her case. In exchange for her life King Rubystone allowed her to keep studying life magic with the agreement that she would use what she learned for the benefit of Heimsdale and not the Darken Vale. She serves now under title as the primary court mage in King Rubystone's castle, but her role is more akin to prisoner than trusted adviser.

## Early Life

Darla was born in Alilnegi to a group of traveling sea faring merchants. Although as a child she saw many of Ilderon's ports, her fascination with the magical nation of Alilnegi caused her to settle in the country when she was old enough to live on her own. She took to studies at the Mapheus University and consumed any bit of knowledge she could get her hands on until she had the opportunity to achieve a Peldeth in Transmutation. For her Peldeth Project, Arch Arcanists are required to innovate in a field of magic in a way that would better society. She chose criminal justice reform and sought to use petrified criminals in soul stone prisons as a potential resource to help heal the communities they have damaged. While studying the transmutative properties of petrified stone, an interest in soul magic grew inside of Darla.

She found herself enthralled by the idea of one's experiences being imprinted on a refreshing pool of magical energy. She theorized that using soul stone, individuals who had their souls stolen or destroyed could create and imprint their experiences on a new pool of magic and thus have their souls restored. She presented her theories to Deelah Wynrona and while most people who are petrified and condemned to a soul stone prison would never be unpetrified, Deelah was horrified by the potential moral implications of Darla's work. She banned the Arch Arcanist from the University's resources, and cut off Darla's access to the Vault of the Damned, and thus cut off her supply of soul stone for her experiments. With few options, Darla began paying Blue Contractors to petrify the individuals the Blue Contractor would've killed, and continued her work. Once Deelah found out she exiled Darla Sonyanas from Alilnegi.

## Exile

Darla fled Alilnegi seeking safety with her parents. They had retired to a countryside home in Heimsdale. Darla tried to continue her experiences by traveling in the cover of night to desert caves. The difference between Alilnegi and Heimsdale in magical competency and resources was very noticeable and soon Darla found herself digging up cadavers to continue her experiments on. Using her last bit of soul stone Darla was finally able to create a corpse that possessed a sustainable soul, however, the thrall was just as newborn as a undead zombie or skeletal necromatic creation. Her experiments were short lived before the Heimsdale Military captured her and brought her to King Jorven Rubystone.

## Heimsdale Servitude

Faced with the options of death or serving Heimsdale, Darla chose the later. She has several attendants that follow and watch her every move and she is seldom allowed if ever to leave the castle. She was allowed to continue her research, but in a much more morally tame manner. She perfected the first part of her idea in being able to create a fresh unimprinted soul. This involved creating a refreshing pool of magic attached to an item instead of a body. The generals of Heimsdale were impressed with her work and her ability to seemingly create life. Pleased with the moral methods and aims of her work and the results they pushed her further to apply her magics to the battlefield.

## Mother of the Warforge

Darla was tasked with solving Heimsdale's greatest problem: fighting the Tierii. If the nation relented, the ravenous undead race would wash over the nations of serii and consume life in mass, but the more soldiers Heimsdale sent to fight the Darken Vale, the more souls that fed the hungry tierii. Believing in Darla's ability to weave petrified stone into somewhat sentient beings, King Jorven offered Darla the chance at freedom if she could create an army to fight the Tierii that didn't risk any Heimsdale citizen's soul as fuel for Tierii. Darla's next creation were the Warforge. Beings that were a hodgepodge collection of magical items all powered by her pseudo-souls. Darla created nearly 800 warforge for her nation. Before she was allowed to be free of her service, the warforge were to be tested. 300 were sent to battle the Agrim Guard of the Darken Vale. In the skirmishes Heimsdale discovered the warforge's souls were growing as they had different experiences and their pseudo-unimprinted souls developed into identities of their own which then subsequently still served as fuel for the tierii armies. Warforge production was decommissioned immediately and Darla was instructed that she still serves at the will of the throne. Nearly 500 warforge still roam Ilderon to this day.

## Currently

Darla Sonyanas still serves as King Jorven's court mage. She still aims to perfect her theories and someday wishes to travel back to Alilnegi and earn forgiveness. She spends most of her time in her chambers studying, improving her theories, and preparing for the next time she is allowed to experiment. When she is not locked away, she is at King Jorven Rubystone's side in a war council meeting.

## Personality

> "For several years I had to ensure Princess Emery that Magister Sonyanas wasn't a wraith. But I couldn't blame the princess, Darla has hair as pale as moonlight and glides from chamber to chamber of the castle at night. It doesn't help that the woman doesn't ever speak. I don't believe she has had a companion since she was exiled from Alilnegi. That however, cannot be helped as the entire court has been ordered by father not to interact with her and her strange magic." **--Princess Paeline Rubystone, *Collected quotes from the Similarity*, 1004 AE**
>
>

Darla's focus is soley on her work. She believes herself to be a conduit for untold knowledge and often times gets narrowly focused on the immediate problem inhibiting her studies. She will often do anything, going to extreme lengths, for the opportunity to improve upon her ideas. This resulted in most people considering her to be ignorant of morality and rather compulsive.