Aravax li'Eldaris

### Alignment

Neutral Evil (Under influence of Helm of Opposite Alignment. Normally Neutral Good)

## Appearances

### First seen

Masque of Dreams

**Aravax li'Eldaris** is high elf male wizard played by Michael C.

## Biography

### The Graduate

Aravax is heir to a long and noble lineage of Eldara, claiming proven descent from Lideros himself. Coming from a privileged background, his parents were dismayed by the arrogant attitude Aravax developed as a youth and in an effort to reform him they sent him to study under the most disciplined Spellweavers of Aderial.
After completing his studies, Aravax experienced the traditional rite of passage for novice spellweavers, where the Lord Spellweaver sends them out on menial tasks to gather experience and prestige. Aravax's initial mission was a journey to Ashinana's Oasis to document the settlement, foster cordial relations between the oasis' ruler and the Aspen Throne, and to enquire about the archaeological discoveries rumoured to have been made.

In 4E:28, he was an attendee of the masque at Vestang Manor, and one of the few to avoid being drugged and kidnapped. He would later form the Raiders of the Lost City with five others who avoided being drugged, and together they would journey to the Valley of Death, defeating the priestess Neheshru and rescuing the captives.

After a week of rest and recuperation their next mission was to the Sunless Citadel, to find out the fate of the missing Defenders of the Oasis. Here they encountered a tribe of kobolds and goblins at war, all under the control of a corrupted druid named Belak. They defeated him and destroyed the Gulthias Tree he controlled, but were unable to rescue the missing adventurers, having to return to the oasis with their corpses.

Upon their arrival in the oasis, however, they discovered a Qardleean raiding party had attacked the settlement, heavily damaging the smithy and escaping with stolen loot, including a valuable dragon scale shield. Pursuing the Qardleeans in the desert it was discovered the bandits were led by Turgut's brother, Firouz. Turgut tried to reason with his brother, but the confrontation escalated into violence, and Firouz's regrettable demise.

### Return to the Lost City

They returned to the oasis where they received a summoned from the Marquesa. She took them on as a sponsored group, instructing them to return to the Valley of Death and lost Cynidicea, and recover the crowns of King Alexander and Zenobia as well as escorting the archaeologist Vanessa Mackelroy. Once they reached the ruins they encountered the spellweaver superiors of Aravax there on a mission of their own, and after finding the reception frosty they were shocked to hear Vanessa's screams as she was abducted by goblins and dragged towards the Ziggurat of Cynidicea. Giving chase, the heroes discovered a secret entrance to the structure. Inside they encountered living Cynidiceans, first of in the person of the Brotherhood of Gorm.

The meeting with the Brotherhood turned violent, and though the Raiders were able to defeat the warriors, the leader, Kanadius, escaped down a trapdoor. The Raiders gave chase, probing deeper into the lower levels of the ziggurat. In the third tier, the Raiders of the Lost City encountered a Cynidicean priest named Theodeus and his acolytes. At first the Cynidiceans believed the Raiders to be demons, but they they were temporarily mollified by Salvador approaching them in an attempt to communicate.

Unfortunately for Salvador, Theodoeus and his followers tried to sacrifice Salvador to Zargon. Luckily, Salvador's companions were able to rescue him and Theodoeus was cut down and killed by Turgut. The group continued their exploration, and discovered the hidden tombs of Alexander and Zenobia. After defeating the tomb guardians, they recovered the crowns of the dead monarchs.

Upon returning the crowns to the Marquesa on their return to the oasis, the group spent a week or so in downtime. During this period they encountered a group of Banu Zankar investigating the death of Firouz. Deftly avoiding responsibility they defused the situation, and heard rumours of a strange new black obelisk and a mysterious group of slavers. Their new acquaintance, Samuul, sent an Orschan mercenary named Charnos to investigate, and at first it seemed this was successful, with Charnos returning with a captured and trussed captive, but it turned out to be a trick.

A battle against three jackalweres ensued, and after the Raiders defeated them, they found their origin to be the Obsidian Obelisk that they had heard of. They travelled there, finding the Qardleean captives excavating the obelisk under the watchful eye of ten monks. Freeing the captives, the Raiders led them to rise up against the monks, killing them, and gaining access to the interior of the obelisk. They were confronted by Durakka, Hector's brother. After a bribe, Durakka let the group pass, abandoning his employers to their fate.

Inside the obelisk they encountered the figures known as Harbinger, posing as worshippers of Zargon before ambushing and defeating him. They descended to the lower levels of the obelisk, meeting Mio the Scorpion, also convincing her of their allegiance to Zargon. They penetrated the final level, retrieved the Obsidian Eye and defeated its guardian, a giant crocodile. The obelisk crumbled around them, and they barely escaped with their lives.

### The Treasure of Salamanca

After rest and recuperation at the oasis, the group next set out in search of the treasure of Salamanca, following a partially completed map they had acquired in their travels. After being ambushed by a group of bandits led by Tonja, they arrived at the besieged town of Valencia, Salvador's childhood home. In exchange for information leading to the rest of the treasure map, they agreed to help Padre Juan Silva drive off the bandits that held the town in thrall.

After discovering that the bandits were led by Durakka, they offered the bandits a hefty bribe to leave Valencia in peace. From there they followed Padre's information to the Escudor Territorial Prison, where, disguising themselves as guards, they infiltrated it in an attempt to find the third piece of map. A battle ensued, and they were nearly killed by the prison's formidable warden Ramirez.

Though they defeated him, the prison was still swarming with guards, but they made their escape after recovering the map piece. From their they went to the city of Puerto Mia, via Valencia, hoping to recover the final map piece, which they surmised to be in the possession of Count Misael Castillo. Shortly after their arrival the town held a festival, with a private party at the Count's villa. These festivities were used by the Raiders of the Lost City to enter the villa, and abscond with the Sablium Falcon and the final piece of the map. They uncovered the treasure of Salamanca, including the Crook of San Hector and returned to Ashinana's Oasis, where the Marquesa made good on her promise, and named Hector Bishop of Cynidicea.

Once the formalities were complete, the group departed the oasis on another expedition to Cynidicea, hoping to discover the fate of both Vanessa Mackelroy and Aravax's superior, Miramyar. Within the ziggurat they were ambushed by Mio the Scorpion, who attacked them backed up by Cynidicean allies. They overcame her and continued their descent. During their explorations they experienced a strange vision of a man in red who called himself San Nicolas. He congratuled them on their progress so far, and gifted them with magic items before disappearing.

They reached the fifth tier of the ziggurat, and encountered the spirit of a Cynidicean priest named Demetrius. Taking intermittent control of Hector's body, the spirit urged them to defeat his Zargon-worshipping brother, Darius, pushing the Raiders of the Lost City forward until they encountered the evil cleric. Darius had the lost archaeologist Vanessa Mackleroy imprisoned, and once the Raiders defeated him they liberated her and rushed her to the surface, hoping to return her to the oasis. In the ruins of the city they were ambushed by a large force of Orschans and a tremendous battle ensued, in which the Raiders were victorious - but only just. In the meantime, Aravax had discovered a helm of opposite alignment in the ruins which, once donned, twisted the elf's mind. Aravax kept his sudden personality change a secret however.

### Final Journey

After making the journey home, they returned Mackleroy to the Marquesa and then set out for the distant city of Qar Arrid. The merchant Samuul had arranged a rendezvous between Arturo and the Qardleean Princess Yasmin. On their way they encountered the tribesmen of the Banu Zankar, who explained that a diplomatic meeting between the Qardleeans and the desert elves had gone awry, and there was evidence of foul play. With no of the participants returning alive except Valanthe Dunewalker, the Banu Zankar had assumed her guilt, and scheduled her for execution. When the Raiders of the Lost City objected, the Sheikh of the Banu Zankar gave them five days to collect evidence of her innocence, and directed them to the ruins of Telar.

The group explored the ruins, uncovering secret passages underneath Telar's sphinx, and also delving into the remains of Telar's palace. It was here that Aravax lost his life, pummelled to death by a dozen animated statues. The group's resources were so depleted that resurrecting Aravax was impossible.

### Back from the Dead

   Some time later the Raiders of the Lost City would encounter their fallen comrade on their way to Cynidicea, pursuing thieves who had stolen certain sablium relics. Now possessed of the powers of a lich, and with a thirst for vengeance, Aravax attacked his former friends and though he was defeated, he ominously promised to see them again soon.