Aeris Windcaller

Aeris Faealyon, the Windcaller, was an Adhren naval commander, cleric of Gefh, and revolutionary who led the War of the Everbranch in 444 FV.

### The War of the Everbranch

#### The Beginning

The sporadic empire of the Adhren has often been at odds with the peoples of the Bruttomesso region. With differences mainly arising in the Brut people's carefree attitude and refusal to be ruled, with the lingering culture of the Adhren courts demanding their people rule both the Eldiri Isles and the realms of men.

Aeris was born somewhere in the range of 1800 years prior to her worldly fame in the War, and in her tutelage and piety, watched humankind both develop, and form eventually into the lawless land of pirates that was named eventually after their first king, Guiseppe Bruttomesso.

Eventually, this piety led to anger, which was a fast course towards leadership in the Adhren military. Learning everything she could of ship combat, and studying the human technology and magic for a war she intended to start. The Council of Sages of the Adhren people refused to allocate resources towards her war, however, eternally bitter and focused on their reclamation of the Eldiri Isles.

This changed when the Everbranch, a relic of great power, was stolen from Lingfangol, one of the last remaining Gols of the Adhren empire. Aeris volunteered and deployed her wing of ships to intercept the Brut thieves, killing and capturing all she could, but losing the Everbranch. It was among these survivors that the young Chiara Rossi was taken. She claimed to be a prisoner of the Brut pirates that took the relic, and was convinced by Aeris that if her full cooperation in bringing the Everbranch home was given, her freedom would eventually follow.

As Aeris moved to collect information about the situation to make her case to the council, the fortress Lingfangol began to decay into ruin, and the forest began to corrupt. The removal of the Everbranch was waning the last power of the isle. Chiara and Aeris grew close in their time at sea, and were wed in 443 FV under the sign of the Twins. As the council grew pained and angry of the desecration of Linfangol, Aeris fought at last the band of pirates that had stolen the relic, and had recovered it. In her anger and need to punish the Brut people for their transgressions, treatment of her wife, and indeed very existence, she decided to hide the Everbranch and force the council's hand in war. Chiara promised assistance and silence in the matter.

#### The War

The conflict itself was a surprise for the Bruttomesso region, as though the elven fleet was intensely skilled and powerful, their nation was slow to replenish, small, and blinded by their anger. The initial conflicts were bloody: raids on villages, random ships, and caravans, but it was not long before the Brut people rallied to their own defense and forced the Adhren into bloodier, more spiteful tactics. Assassinations, tortures, and deceptions were used to win at any cost, but the Adhren were destroying themselves to spite the innocents of the Brut land.

The Resolution

Conflicted by 3 human years of attachment and service, Chiara brought the Everbranch to the council to close the conflict. They ordered the war closed, but Aeris refused to return home. Despite orders from her superiors, pleading from her love, and the abandonment of Gefh, she took her ship (trans. "Adhdring Avenger") to a final confrontation with the Pirate King Francesco Russo. A pragmatic man, he pleaded for reason, before taking her ship and fighting Aeris to the death. Francesco was killed in the conflict, and his remaining men cut Aeris down in a move deemed dishonorable by the Adhren and Pirate-like to the Brut.

#### The Aftermath

Chiara was devastated by the madness of Aeris, but ultimately blamed the Brut and continued to raid Russo's crew with a rebel band of Adhren. Eventually, Aeris' remains and the Adhren Avenger were offered as showings of peace. The captain buried in her home, her people hoping for reincarnation, Chiara returned home to Southwarden to work as a privateer, while piloting her gift from the council, the ship of her late wife, to help remind them all of the bloody war.