Aura Glaive

Aura Glaive, circa the year of the War of Shadows.

### Relatives

Anduin Glaive - Adopted Father; Rienna Glaive - Adopted Mother; Mirielle Glaive - Adopted Sister; Vilgon Denas - Brother In Law; Aura Denas - Niece; Arkhand Denas - Nephew

### Associations

Iriv Goerin - Assassin Guild Master; Julin Roe - Companion; Ana - Companion; Sy - Romantic Interest/Companion; Imilivarien of Glaive- Romantic Interest/Friend

### Status

Alive

Aura Glaive was a half-elf rogue and a player character in the Shadows over Elderain campaign, played by Ella. She played a vital role in the War of Shadows and was a powerful ally to the Divine Crusade in the battle against the Godslayer.

## Early Life

Aura Glaive was born to unknown parents and abandoned in the woods close to the Glaive House. She was taken in and raised by the Glaive Household, a noble elvish house.

Aura grew up alongside her adoptive sister, Mirielle Glaive (child name: Meri), and received the same education and proficiently learnt the ways of the noble world with her mannerisms, articulation and knowledge. Despite being much younger than Mirielle, the two looked incredibly alike, which often caused rumours of adultery in relation to Anduin Glaive to be circulated around other Elven Houses.

As Aura matured into a young elvish adult, her resemblance to her adopted sister was noted by many individuals within the family. Acting upon this, Mirielle's father requested that Aura act as a double for his daughter in events and dinners that may otherwise be risky. Aura agreed and a result she underwent training with the Glaive Captain of the Guard Imilvarien to better be prepared in combat situations. This was alongside her tutoring, which often suffered due to her newfound love of strength and agility training. This often caused rifts between herself and her adoptive parents, and resulted in Aura practicing a lot at night as to avoid being lectured.These nightly training sessions allowed her to use the shadows to her advantage.

## Pre-Campaign

### The Glaive Household:

Years passed and as Aura approached the age of 100, many suitors had presented themselves as possible husbands of Lady Mirielle, and so security around her was regulated to a much more rigorous extent. This involved Aura taking the place as Mirielle many times, and surviving numerous kidnapping and assassination attempts.She survived multiple times, and as a precaution started to take small doses of poisons and toxins to give herself some form of immunity to them in order to reduce the likelihood of dying from poison attempts. Mirielle begged Aura many times to give up this job, and even Anduin himself expressed his concerns of danger, yet Aura refused to give up being Mirielle's double.

A potential suitor by the name of Percy Groone became infatuated with Mirielle, who had repeatedly rejected his advances. Though knowing of his infatuation, the Glaive House were confident that Percy had neither the strength nor influence to pose a threat to Mirielle and so they took no direct action against him, merely ignoring his further advances and attempts of communication.

One evening, when the Glaive Household were dining in the Grand Hall, a bunch of masked assailants entered the house undetected. Killing the posted guards discreetly, they entered the Hall and used smoke bombs and fire to cause a scene of chaos. In this time they were able to capture Mirielle when she attempted to escape the Hall through a window. Aura came to her aid quickly but was overpowered by the assailants, who attacked her with daggers. Suffering a nasty cut to the face and being beaten, Aura was knocked unconscious. When she managed to regain consciousness, she was in her room after having been carried there and treated by a member of the household. The wound over her lip led to the scar she carried throughout her life. Ashamed of her inability to protect Mirielle and her anger at her sister's abduction, she left via her bedroom window, taking only her leather training armour, her Glaive sword and a dagger. She left a note to her father explaining that she would never return unless it was with Mirielle.

### The Underworld

Aura's first instinct was to find a way to try and track down the whereabouts of Mirielle, but without coin or influence she had to take small jobs to generate some form of income to survive. Doing odd jobs such as towing carts or being a courier in towns meant she eventually saved enough gold to travel to a nearby city which she believed had more answers to Mirielle's whereabouts. Upon arriving, she quickly realised that the city was heavily entrenched in crime, and that to survive she would need to find a group to join. She met Iriv 15 years after the disappearance of Mirielle, and joined his Assassins' Guild (the 'Kinslayers') he had newly established in rebellion to his father's own Assassins' Guild ('Dreadier') in the same city. With Iriv being 17, Mirielle was given basic stealth training for a total of 10 years before she had the confidence to be put onto her first contract mission which was to kill a local wealthy merchant who had double-crossed the Thieves' Guild (an ally of the Kinslayers). After successfully completing her first contract, she was welcomed to the Guild as a blooded member, meaning some of her blood was mixed within Knife's Basin in the Guildhall of the Kinslayers along with other blooded members. Blooded members are bound to the Guild until death, unless they are exiled or pardoned (which can be caused by defection, betrayal or starting a family). Her blooded name was given to her as 'Fairone' due to her fair complexion and elven features.

Aura continued to work for the Kinslayers under the alias Fairone for another fifteen years, often engaging in rival guild wars with Dreadier as a result of Iriv's past with his father and the guild. Eventually she was contacted by a Count Vladoc who had been made aware of her skillset and notoriety between other guilds. He claimed to be working for the Grey Remnant, and as such convinced her to undertake a contract to kill the King, who Aura had been convinced was a despot and was a grave threat to the Guilds of Elderain. He promised that in exchange for her services he would provide some strong and confidential information on Mirielle's whereabouts. Due to Aura's inability to find any of her own in the past 40 years, she accepted the contract, much to Iriv's concern. Iriv gave Aura the choice of taking the contract but revoking her rights as a blooded member of the guild, or remaining and being in line to become the next Guild Master. Aura chose the former and left the Guild the next day, heading for Elderain.

## The Shadows Over Elderain

Aura's first encounter within Elderain was with the party members whom she would travel with for the entirety of the war of shadows. Being caught in the woods camping by the group who found her suspicious, she decided to undergo her alias as Mirielle as to not reveal her identity, one reason being she did not know if any of them had associations with assassins' guilds outside of Elderain. The other was to see if, during her travels, her appearance as Mirielle would cause any reactions that she could use to determine any connections with her disappearance or current whereabouts.

Aura traveled with the group after claiming she was awaiting an escort to give her safe passage through Elderain, and convinced them that it would be best for her to go with them on whatever trail they were taking - this suited Aura as she was unused to the roads and climates of Elderain. She was able to gain a little more of the party's trust by using her education to help in the riddles of a rock troll. She also demonstrated her agility skills in crossing a gorge and disarmed a trip wire created by a group of drow assailants. These assailants were involved in the kidnapping of an owl-bear that the party had agreed to rescue, and so she also participated, noting that the group would be useful for traversing Elderain and the difficulties in both its terrain and political tensions. She helped to defeat the drow and save Ux.

On the party's way to Yarburgh, they were met with the unfortunate encounter of Carlo Anderton, a man who very quickly received Aura's disdain. She managed to convince him to not tell anyone of their presence due to Elarus' wanted status. This was also the reason she assisted in assassinating a messenger tasked with requesting the use of the arcane to hunt him, and subsequently the group, down.

Unfortunately Carlo had been attacked on the road after their initial encounter, and the rest of the arty had agreed to help escort him to Cair Vanta - in return for a cut of the profits of his transaction with Atramedes. On their journey to Moonbeck Aura was forced to reveal that she was an assassin sent to kill the King, which to her surprise was also the main objective of the party as a whole. She did not however disclose her true identity as Aura at this time.

After arriving in Moonbeck, Aura used her alias as Mirielle to gain entry by convincing the Crown Prince she was a noble escorted by guards. Though skeptical, she managed to convince him of this at least enough to allow them entry and further information on a possible Lycanthropy plague - as well as some information of a possible sighting of Mirielle in Cair Vanta. He set them on several tasks mostly involving in investigating the village of Duskdell after a werewolf attack. The party met with Brother Jacob Astley who had been nursing Janta - a werewolf known to Niri - back to health. It was discovered that the werewolves were in the middle of a civil war for power, of which Janta had initially lost resulting in the loss of control of the werewolves and their subsequent attacks on the towns and villages. Returning to the Prince, Aura showed her unwavering confidence after forcefully awaking the Prince to warn him of the dangers and to evacuate the citizens. With the rest of the party also convincing him of the dangers, he agreed. Aura and Elarus both travelled within the group of refugees towards Lost Light whilst the rest of the party followed from a distance.

In the resulting werewolf invasion during the evacuation via the river, Aura almost died but was saved by the party. It was at this point that she began to trust in them more and erased doubts of any possible relations to assassins guilds or their awareness of her true identity. They decided to try and enlist the help of the Crown Prince against Glitterfang after the initial failed attempt to kill him during the evacuation. Aura, alongside Niri, managed to convince the Council of Yarburgh to not open the floodgates after Aura's reconnaissance mission exposing a town clerk of committing tax evasion. Through this she was able to gather information on many other council members who were blackmailed into giving up the original plan in favour of the party's own. After defeating Glitterfang and restoring Janta to head of the werewolf clan, she was able to spend time getting to know the party on a more personal level.

Eventually the party were met by Lyra de Vassiel, a noble who had been tasked with bringing the group to Cair Vanta. After arriving they participated in the festivities surrounding the city, hoping to find new information as well as to relax. After infiltrating the King's tent, she caused an uproar by insinuating that she had been having an affair with Lord Vuron, with a possible result of pregnancy, much to Lady Vuron's anger. Later, Aura and Niri went to the bathhouse in order to seek information from crime lords, and even met Transil Vekkarien who offered Aura information on Mirielle if she agreed to kill Thak. She later helped in co-coordinating a trap with Thak and the others, including Thak posing as a dead body, they managed to eventually lure Transil out of his home and kill him.

After having received information that the noble district of the city could hold answers to Mirielle's whereabouts, Aura left the party in the dead of night to attempt to sneak into the district, without much success. In the process she accidentally set a house alight after attempting to use a flaming arrow to distract a guard.The next day she met with a maid who mis-recognised her as Mirielle, and claimed that until recently she had been serving her at a house within the noble district, but had recently gone missing after signs of a struggle. Aura found a doll on the floor which confirmed Mirielle had previously been there.

Eventually Aura met with Count Vladoc within Cair Vanta. This was where she was informed of the Star of Elderain and its importance relating to the defensive mechanism of Gottsbruck Castle which she was led to believe would be a valuable weapon in defeating the Drow. Information of an assailant known as Glint was also passed to her as well as specific information regarding Mirielle - and her location as being outside of the city in a mill, detained by Percy Groone.

Aura headed to the mill immediately and was able to save Mirielle after badly wounding Percy. Another captive known as Eliza - a priestess of Waukeen - was also present. Aura escorted them back to Horace's house where the party was staying and eventually explained to the party the true circumstances of her identity and the reasons for it. Luckily, the Party were somewhat appeased by this and answered many unsolved questions, and a stronger bond of trust was formed between her and her companions.

The Party started on their assassination attempt on the King by using the Royal Ball to gain access to the palace. Aura, along with Viri and Angor, decided to go to the King's chambers via a secret passageway as the rest of the party focused on securing the Star of Elderain. After reaching an opening to the chamber, Aura took her chance and attacked the King instantly as to best utilise the element of surprise. She killed him immediately due to the strength and precision of the blow she dealt him. This was when Angor revealed his true identity and thanked Aura for killing the King, and attempted to kill both her and Viri also but they managed to hold him off until he decided it was time to escape. Using the excuse that a drow had killed the King (which wasn't completely untrue), the party left the premises. They returned to Horace's home to discover that he was fatally wounded and Mirielle was missing. After visiting Mirielle's residence in Cair Vanta finding it in ruin and the servants dead, as well as the Mill and finding it empty, Aura was put into a state of despair. Only due to Zhang's interference was she able to reunite with the party as they left the city towards Gottsbruck.

After arriving into Gottsbruck, Aura was almost despondent to the events surrounding them until Niri talked some sense into her regarding their current situation. She accompanied the party to fetch some holy water to heal Horace before being reunited with Elarus, Cuirin and Astrelas. The party then went onto Gottsbruck where they discovered an ailment affecting Astrelas - The Spell Plague - and what had ravaged lower Elderain also. Lyra also reunited with the party and told them she'd also detected no sign of life within Cair Vanta. Led by Curuin, the party then headed north led by Curuin to chase after information on an army called The Forsaken Legion which the party deduced had an alliance with the drow. They managed to intercept the Legion at a village and slayed them, whilst receiving information from a captive about Count Vladoc's involvement with the Forsaken Legion and the drow. Duke Attoir's dragon Tharos then attacked the group by surprise, and Aura alongside Lyra launched a counterattack by using their firearms.

The party again met with the Crown Prince and detailed the intention to take the fight to Ashbury against Count Vladoc and Atramedes directly. Before doing so, Aura encountered Lien Ming who alluded to the fact he may have had a vision of Mirielle, though to Aura's disappointment could not provide much in terms of information. This did however give Aura hope that she was still alive. Following the druids to Gottsbruck library, Aura took time to research the whereabouts and status of her family, and discovered her father had disappeared 10 years prior into the Fey wild. Aura then visited a pub where she became heavily intoxicated where she had an altercation with a group of dwarves including Rigby and also climbed the town clock-spire in order to fetch Niri some "moon rocks," presumably to help her with her plight with the local Fey. After being flown down by Viri, she was able to rest in Rigby's house in time to recover before using the next day to prepare for a ball she had heard was happening, acquiring for herself, Viri and Niri some escorts as well as dresses. After gaining access to the ball, an old friend by the name of Martha was murdered. Investigating the tracks left behind by the suspect, Aura found herself in a system of alleyways beneath the ground leading to the nobles' homes within the town. Entering one of these she came across an artifact - an obsidian crow's skull - which caused her to descend into temporary madness and she unwillingly murdered the residing nobleman and woman in their sleep. Shaken by this, she returned to the group and they discovered a grisly scene of dead bodies at Lady Frances' house. Speaking to a survivor, it seems the noble-persons at the party had turned on the party guests and murdered them in a type of ritual before fleeing. Reconvening at Rigby's house with Lyra, the group decided they needed to put a stop to what was happening in the town.

The group eventually linked the current events to Romar - the demonic entity whom had a pact with Elarus. The group prepared themselves and then set off to confront Romar - who had apparently taken Viri's mother hostage. During the confrontation in which Aura refused to bow, she instead decided to demand his reasoning for involving so many innocent people in his pursuit for Elarus. Romar then offered to fulfill any desire they wished - including killing Count Vladoc - in exchange for their servitude. Whilst the offer may have tempted Aura for a moment, she along with the rest of the group adamantly declined. Aura charged Romar after seeing that Sylvara was hung over a pit of fire - an act Aura deemed cowardly and repulsive. After stabbing his human form, Romar transformed into his true form and the battle raged on. Aura almost died but was saved by the healing wine she had previously taken from Jacob Astley's father's house - though it did cause some intoxication on the battlefield. After defeating Romar and the unexpected arrival or Barym-Doran, an imp by the name of Ipsit followed her around, presumably due to her fiery nature against Romar.

Barym-Doran updated the group on the happenings in Lost Light and Elderain - and told of the evacuation of many citizens by Vordregar to the Feywild which resulted in his own death. After revealing that he was now a Paladin of Pelor and had gained many new skills. He accompanied them on their next task: to venture to the Feywild and investigate Atramedes' tower. Whilst doing this they came across some crystals that seemed to be poisoning the creatures and plants around them. Taking a risk to discover what it was doing, Aura touched one of the crystals which triggered an attack by the afflicted creatures in the area. After Niri healed them of their affliction, it was revealed a member of the Forsaken Legion was inside the crystal to sustain and protect it, who was then interrogated and subsequently killed by Thak, destroying the effects of the crystal. The group continued towards the spire of Atramedes' tower where they met Ulfon, a talking rapier of someone who had not fulfilled their contract with the Fey - which Aura adopted.

Eventually they happened upon a group of elves carrying the sigil of the House of Glaive who were fighting off a swarm of wraiths. After the group assisted them, Aura was stunned to see Imilvarien again, and they rejoiced before heading to the manor, which was floating due to the magic of the Feywild. When she met with her father once more, he was overjoyed and they embraced. Aura quickly made sure that he was aware that she was not Mirielle - though he dismissed that it mattered and that he was simply overjoyed to see her again after 40 years. He asserted the fact that she was as much his daughter as Mirielle was, and wholeheartedly agreed to join her and the group's fight against Atramedes. As festivities ensued due to her return, Aura updated her father on Mirielle's situation, which whilst it was unpleasant, it gave them encouragement that she was still alive and being used as leverage against Aura and the group. Rienne Glaive - her adoptive mother - was in a unresponsive state due to the loss of her biological daughter, and Aura was unable to reach to her. She also spoke with Imilvarien, and they shared a touching moment in the garden before the night began. Niri had a dream detailing that a meeting was happening between the Count, the queen of the drow named Mozana, Duke Attoir, and Azdiim Zo'Lorriq. Azdiim expressed doubts, but they were quickly quelled by the Count and Mozana. The count revealed his assembled armies, and a "secret weapon", which was kept in a cage and was revealed to growl.

The next day the group alongside members of the House of Glaive stormed Atramedes' tower, which contained many illusions which were made to distract and mislead the group. The first illusion included the bodies of Janta, Gloria and Lord Vassiel tied to a bridge over a river of lava. After the group debated on what to do, Aura concluded that due to the death of Lord Vassiel which she saw before her own eyes, the situation was purely an illusion and pulled the lever to descend the bridge over the river. This caused a rift between Aura and Niri, who believed that her pulling the lever was irresponsible and reckless. The next illusion presented them with a tavern, in which Angor in his dwarf form was present. He was quickly killed by Aura out of anger, and this revealed that he had a dwarven wife and child. Despite this, Aura did not feel too guilty, as she believed he had deceived them and that they were better off in the Elderain they wanted to save and create.

The next illusion was within a forest with a sentient tree asking them to provide reasons for why they are worthy enough to pass through. Whilst the rest of the group passed with ease, Aura admitted that she did not feel she was worthy - she still had a lot of anger and hurt within her that often caused her to often act selfishly and recklessly. The tree however proclaimed that her love for her friends and family made her worthy enough, and so she was allowed to pass.

Next the group were confronted by an army of undead led by Count Vladoc, who allowed them to pass after a conversation with Zhang, claiming that he had no more use for Atramedes, and so he did not have any reason to protect him. The group therefore pushed forward, leaving the dreamscape and confronting Atramedes and a beholder. The group defeated them and discovered an orb, which when activated destroyed the tower and caused it to return to the material plane. Luckily the group escaped without injury, and the collapse of the tower and Atramedes allowed the Crown Prince and his armies to press on to Ashbury.

These events also led to the House of Glaive returning to the material plane, and after a brief talk with Anduin the group decsended into the orb (which was a pocket dimension), where Vordregar had evacuated many citizens to, including Gloria and her child. Additionally the House of Thousand Whispers was released back to the material plane, and decided to join the fight in Ashbury. However, during Aura's time in the dreamscape, it was revealed that Imilvarien and others had been fatally wounded, and she rushed to his side. After spending his last moments with him, Aura decided she needed to put aside her grief for the time being and focus on the issue at hand, though she vowed never to forget Imilvarien and the affections she harboured for him.

During the group's rest after the previous events, they were transported by the new arch-mage Lady Isobel Glen to the Prince's camp which had been ambushed by the Forsaken Legion. Luckily Janta and his werewolf clan had followed them and attacked them, killing the group and its leader. The military adviser to the Prince told them the best way to get to the castle was through a labyrinth named the Dead Windings, which they came upon and saw an army of undead marching from it. Avoiding these, the group continued into the labyrinth and were faced with many puzzles which they managed to overcome. On the way through the castle they saw Percy Groon within one of the cells, and Aura in a fit of fury broke the lock on the cell, declaring that she was going to let him die slowly alone for all that he had done to Mirielle and her family. Unbeknownst to Aura, Thak granted him a quick death out of mercy. A battalion of drow confronted the group which they managed to overthrow before Count Vladoc revealed himself to them, and summoned Angor to delay them before disappearing. Whilst he escaped using an invisibility potion, Aura was made aware of Mirielle's position on the tower, and desperate to save her, asked Viri to transform and fly her up to her sister. Viri agreed and the two made their way to Mirielle as the rest of the group fought on within the castle. Aura was successful in reaching Mirielle before being attacked by some drow assassins. With her priority being to protect Mirielle, Aura fought them until she was stabbed and fell over the side of the tower. Almost ready to accept death and she plummeted towards the ground, Zhang managed to use his abilities to catch her. He took over fighting the drow assassins until she had gotten herself and Mirielle somewere safer. After hiding Mirielle she rejoined the group in the last push against Count Vladoc, though due to her wounds did not provide much aid to the group.

The group eventually defeated Count Vladoc, meaning that the army of the undead was vanquished and Elderain was free from the grasp of Vladoc's power. Aura quickly returned to Mirielle and helped her out of the castle, where they were met with the Glaive Household, and Rienna who had recovered fro her previous semiconscious state. They reunited and rejoiced, but Aura was then confronted by the Prince, who forced her onto her knees after she confessed to the assassination of his father. To her surprise she was knighted, with the Prince acknowledging that she was misled by the evil of Count Vladoc.

## New Beginnings

After the events at Ashbury Aura immediately returned to the House of Glaive with her sister, and were all reunited as a family. After a couple of months of recovery and rest, Aura began once more to train and hone her combative skills, as well as keep an eye on the blossoming romance between Miri and the new King Vilgon. Due to her new position as a part of the Royal Court, this allowed Mirielle and Vilgon to meet and foster feelings with one another. Despite Aura's obvious distrust of the relationship as a whole, believing it to be putting Mirielle into even more danger Aura eventually caved in and gave her blessing for their union after Mirielle explained that whilst being alive is wonderful, there is no point if she is restricted in what she can and cannot do.

Splitting her time as a bodyguard to Miri at the castle after their marriage, and the House of Glaive, Aura decided she needed a venture for herself rather than reverting to having her life revolve solely around Mirielle. After consulting with the King, she established an undercover covert unit under the Royal Banner to serve the Royal family and the Kingdom, using those with rogue-like skills and masteries for good rather than doing horrid deeds to survive or thrive. It was named 'The Shadow Guard' and was made to protect the Crown and stave off assassination attempts before they even occurred. In many cases they were also ordered by the Crown to spy on neighbouring Kingdom. Aura personally trained two of individuals who she became very close to, and whom held high ranks within the Shadow Guard. Julin – a half elf male – and Ana – a human female. Julin was taken under Aura’s wing when he was 15 years of age whereas Ana was found by Aura at the age of seven.

Aura also recruited and trained Symon Oldhearth, a young farmhand who had a striking resemblance to Vilgon. Promising a future education and a life without financial troubles for his parents and siblings, Symon joined the Shadow Guard to train and become a body double for the King. Due to his inexperience, Aura spent many hours personally training him. In this time, a would-be romance blossomed, though Aura did not wish to act upon it due to her diligence towards the Shadow Guard and her duties. Even so, the two became incredibly close and he became a crutch for Aura during hard and difficult times.

Aura also established a new alias – Lady Ariane Imilvarian. Using money earned through various lawful assignments, she bought a large estate in Yarburgh and a small clothing shop in the same city. Using this shop as a guise for her alias’ income, Aura began to focus on the development of this character. Claiming that her mother had died during childbirth and having no father, her ‘uncle’ had adopted her as his own, and being a wealthy young lord, she would inherit his estate after his death related to the atrocities in Yarburgh 30 years prior.

Aura donated all money she did not require to Yarburgh’s redevelopment. Many of her trainees had double identities, either by working in her clothes shop, in her Yarburgh estate or the Glaive Household. Additionally, Aura owned small houses in most major cities with associates and allies in the event of another all-out war – she liked to keep ears as far as possible.

When her niece was born, Aura was reported to have completed abandoned a personal mission to track down old associates of Count Vladoc to be by her side. Aura Denas was born hours later, and Aura fell in love with her at first sight. From then on, including with the birth of her nephew Arkhand, Aura was driven to develop her familial relationship with them as well as protect them. As soon as they could walk, Aura began hourly training sessions with her niece and nephew, teaching them how to use different weapons, ride horses and carts, musical instruments and thieves cant as well as general knowledge of the outside world away from Cair Vanta. Aura was determined to be a part of the family rather than a servant to it, a sentiment that her father Anduin was glad of.

In terms of relationships with the party, Aura visited them at different points in the next thirty years. She took her niece to meet Niriley once in the Glimmerwood when she was very young, and they also took a small trip to the House of a the Golden Dragon to visit Zhang. Aura had a few meetings with Thak and Viri through their contact with the King regarding their specific areas and groups. Whilst they all remained in little contact, Aura was quick to answer with aid to Niriley concerning The Crystal Blight, as were all the party members.

## The Crystal Blight

Within the Glimmerwood, the Crystal Blight had caused a portal from another planes to appear, and was wreaking havoc in the region. When Niriley and her clan were unable to suppress the hostile extra-planar entities for much longer, she contacted Aura and the other party members requesting aid. Aura responded immediately and with swift effect, leaving the next morning.

The group, after their quick reunion, began to plan on how to close the portal and prevent more entities from entering. Eventually they decided to try and lure a stone giant to the portal with the intent to have it block the entrance and eventually seal it. Before this could happen, however, a Black Dragon emerged from the portal ridden by Thak Jr. The Black Dragon made it's way into the heart of Elderain and left a trail of destruction in its wake, as well as spreading the Crystal Blight. Thak had touched one of the crystals and its effects were disastrous, but thankfully Niriley's powers were able to restore him to his own self. Aura was hasty to follow the dragon, as she knew it could very well be headed towards Cair Vanta. On their arrival, they had an audience with Vilgon and described the happenings of the portal, the Black Dragon and the spreading Crystal Blight.

The intended plan by the King was to summon Vanta to the palace in a show of solidarity, and to inspire hope and dispel panic by introducing the party as the heroes of Elderain. However, before this was able to happen, the Black Dragon suddenly appeared and attacked Cair Vanta, instantly killing Vilgon, Mirielle, Anduin and Arkhand. Aura Jr was away from the capital at the time, staying with Aura's close friend Lhoris Errol in the Elderani Forests.

Aura, completely shell shocked and devoid of sense, managed to scale the dragon and attempted to discover whether or not there was a chance her family could have survived, but found evidence to the contrary, Devastated, she managed to escape from the dragon relatively unscathed and followed it with her allies to the House of the Golden Dragon. Here, Lien Ming passed away and the party reunited with Cuirin who had been tainted by the Crystal Blight but ultimately healed by the House of the Golden Dragon.

The Black Dragon eventually surfaced and a great battle was fought after the realisation that Thak Jr had been corrupted by the Faceless Man and was hell-bent on causing chaos and destruction to Elderain. The party eventually managed to kill the Black Dragon, however many were lost in the process, including Cuirin. Thak and Thak Jr's bloody fight came to an end with the opening of a portal, of which Thak threw himself into whilst grappling Thak Jr who fell through it also. The rest of the party, learning of this, decided to head into the portal to try and find Thak and restore balance to Elderain.

They have not been seen since.

## Relationships

Below are the descriptions of the relationships between Aura and notable people within her life.

### Player Characters

**Niriley:** Aura's relationship with Niriley began on quite a stiff note, especially due to their contrast livelihoods and experiences. Aura first thought of Niriley as naive and unable to handle the cruelty of the world, but this belief was soon quashed during their time together. Aura regarded Niriley as a close friend, though they weren't without their differences. After the events of The War on Shadows, Aura still made efforts to keep in contact with Niri despite their very different lifestyles. She also took her niece to meet her before the events of the Crystal Blight.

**Thak Dragonsbane:** Aura and Thak had many differences between them, especially due to them both having a stubborn and hot-headed nature. Despite this, they often worked well together given their similar experiences of the underworld. Aura would often act as if she disliked Thak, though this was not true, as she respected him more and more during the course of The War on Shadows.

**Elarus:** Aura's first impressions of Elarus were of curiousity, as she had never had much experience with magic and deities. This curiousity only grew with his tendencies to change form to evade the law, a feat that Aura was quite jealous of. Elarus eventually departed from the group for a short while before returning briefly before the final stand, and after the War he confessed romantic feelings for Aura. She was shocked as she had not predicted this turn of events, but was humbled by the thought of being loved. Despite this, no romantic relationship existed between the two, mainly due to her new role within the Court not giving her much time to develop a relationship.

**Zhang the Burdened:** Aura, despite not conversing much with Zhang on a private level, had an unspoken respect and admiration of him. A turning point for this was after the initial recovering and recapture of Mirielle during The War on Shadows , where Zhang carried a shaken-up Aura to the cart and gave her a small speech regarding Aura's self worth and ability to save Mirielle again. This gave Aura a sense of hope, something she had lost a while ago, and was grateful to Zhang for restoring this.She visited him a couple of times before the Crystal Blight, though usually the meetings were brief and often based on discussing recent events rather than personal topics.

**Viridia:** Aura and Viridia did not have much interaction between the two of them privately, despite the time they spent together. However, the two were friendly with one another and respected each other even if they did not really understand one another. Aura was pained for Viridia upon the death of her father.

**Ethan Bloodmaw:** Aura and Ethan met briefly before the final stand, and did not really speak to one another directly. However she found him a respectable and skilled warrior, and was happy to have him fight alongside her and her companions against Count Vladoc.

**Aura Denas (Aeryth Glaive):** Aura's niece was a very important part of her life, especially just prior to the events of the Crystal Blight. Often teaching Aeryth many life skills and self defense, Aura became like a second mother to her. During the attack by the Black Dragon on Cair Vanta, Aeryth was visiting an old friend of Aura's - Lhoris Errol - who had become a ranger in the forests of Elderain after retiring as an assassin many years ago. Aura had convinced Mirielle to allow Aeryth to visit Lhoris after Aeryth displayed signs of rebelling against her position as a princess of Elderain. This course of events most likely saved her life.

### Non-Player Characters

**Mirielle Glaive:** Mirielle could be said to be the centre of Aura's universe. Growing up as sisters, Aura jumped at the chance to step up to the mark to become Mirielle's body double and act as her personal guard. Mirielle often tried to convince Aura to step down, chase up a scholarship and become an academic like herself, leading to a more peaceful life. However Mirielle eventually accepted that Aura's spirit and fierceness meant that her role of protecting her was important to Aura's identity.

**Anduin Glaive:** Anduin was the first person to find Aura after she was abandoned in the woods shortly after her birth. Many rumours circulated about Aura's original parentage, with a popular one being of a possible unfaithfulness between him and another of the Glaive. However, another rumour also exists is that Aura is the biological child of Anduin's estranged cousin, Garret Glaive. Anduin raised Aura as an equal alongside Mirielle as sisters, however after Aura's prowess in combat and skills in weaponry, felt she would be better standing as Mirielle's guard during the Betrothal Campaigns. After Mirielle's disappearance and Aura's consequential flight from the House, Anduin spent days traversing the roads in search of both of his daughters. Rumours also circulate that he tried to infiltrate The Kinslayers to find Aura with little success. He returned and for years conducted his own research into their disappearances before the House made its way into the Feywild.

**Arkhand Denas II:** Aura was incredibly fond of her nephew and was always determined to teach him as much as she could in terms of self defence, archery and athletics. Mirielle did not seem keen on this idea, however Aura's affection of her nephew convinced Mirielle to eventually allow it. However, due to Arkhand II's strict tutoring due to his position as heir apparent, it seemed that Aura spent more time with Aura II, his elder sister. This would often lead to fights between the siblings over their aunt's attention, especially as Aura was often the member of their family that took them out on excursions and spoilt them.

**Rienna Glaive:** When Aura suddenly arrived to the House, Rienna was quite reluctant to engage much with her, possibly due to her suspicions of Anduin's possible unfaithfulness. Whilst Rienna never doted specifically upon Mirielle, she did often favour her in terms of the education and betrothal deals. Nevertheless, Rienna did foster a lot of affection for her protegée.

**Imilvarien Glaive:** Imilvarien was Head of the Glaive Guard throughout Aura's childhood, and was the primary tutor in terms of Aura's combat and athletic training. He was highly respected by Aura and there was talk of a possible romantic relationship blossoming between the two, however the disappearance of Mirielle occurred shortly after this budding romance and Aura's subsequent flight from the House. On their reunion it seemed that the chemistry still existed, before Imilvarien sadly passed away during the fight against Atramedes.

**Symon Oldhearth:** Symon Oldhearth was a young farmhand before Aura recruited him to act as a body double to the King. The two spent intense training sessions with each other and as such a romantic relationship eventually blossomed between the pair. Sy at first was reluctant to become closer to Aura due to their equal stubbornness, however after many events including the capture of Aura during a mission for the Shadow Guard, they eventually confessed their feelings to one another.

**Lhoris Errol:** Lhoris was a close associate to Aura after the events of the Shadows over Elderain in which he was a former assassin recruited by her to work alongside the Crown. Lhoris was infamous among the underworld for his lack of loyalty. However, this was a trait Aura nurtured rather than rejected due to the valuable information he had regarding other underworld leaders. Lhoris eventually pledged loyalty to Aura after many events alongside her in the Shadow Guard, and even took custody of Aeryth after the fall of the Royals.

**Vilgon Denas:** Viilgon and Aura first met during the War on Shadows, and their first meeting was tense from the beginning. The two of them, though stubborn, seemed to have similar ideas on how to approach problems. After Aura's assassination of his father, Arkhand I, the relationship became a little strained. Despite this, after Vilgon's ascension to the throne he knighted her. This ultimately led to better relations with the Glaive Household, subsequently resulting in Vilgon and Mirielle's eventual romance. Aura and Vilgon often vied for Mirielle's attention, though both ultimately, in the end, respected one another.

## Stats and Proficiencies

**Hit Die:** d8

**Alignment:** Chaotic Neutral

 Dexterity
 Constitution
 Intelligence
 Wisdom
 Charisma

**Skill Proficiencies:** Deception, Insight, Perception

**Skill Expertise:** Acrobatics, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

**Tool Proficiencies:** Disguse Kit, Forgery Kit, Poisoners' Kit, Thieves' Tools

**Sneak Attack:** 10d6

**Languages Known:** Elvish, Common, Thieves' Cant

## Trivia

* Aura is very allergic to peanuts. Despite her training in becoming resistant to poisons, she still suffers from consuming peanuts. Though not fatal, it causes her face to swell up and her eyes to become watery.
* In her spare time she likes to read romance novels.
* When she was being tutored as a child, her tutor always commended her for her mathematics skills, and recommended pursuing a scholarship. Aura rejected this.
* Aura has some skill with a needle and thread, able to create outfits and disguises on her own if unable to source a tailor.
* Similar to other elves in the Glaive Household, her hair grows remarkably quickly. This fact also supports rumours she is blood related to the family.
* Despite normally wearing dark clothing due to her occupation, her favourite colour is cyan.
* Aura's Myers-Briggs type is ESTP.