Zylaan

Zylaan is an NPC in DND Deity played by Firefang. He is the Guardian Wizard of the Sword of Death, and former Apprentice Guardian. He acts as the guide for the Mad Dogs in their quest to find the Armor of the Gods.

## Appearance

Zylaan is a half elf with blue skin and long greenish-blue hair. In earlier arcs, he wears it in a braid, though post arc seven he wears it down. His eyes are yellow and he has a scar on his left cheek.. He wears a long sleeved white button down, a blue-grey vest, and dark pants. His nails are painted black.

## Personality

Zylaan is very serious and straightforward. He doesn't understand most things about the world and is often confused by other people, both due to his secluded childhood and his autism. At first, Zylaan showed little care for the Mad Dogs, seeing them as a means to an end for his mission. Overtime, he quickly grew to care about his new friends very deeply. He's well-meaning but incredibly awkward, and often deflects his own feelings.

## History

### Apprentice Guardian

Zylaan was sold as a child by his bio mom to Harvan, his Guardian Wizard mentor. Zylaan trained under Harvan through his childhood to guard the Sword of Death. Zylaan and Harvan maintained a strained relationship as Zylaan resented his mentor throughout childhood for his lack of freedom. Zylaan was deeply interested in flowers and gardening, and cultivated a garden in secret. When his mentor found out, he burned it to the ground and attempted to redirect Zylaan's interests. From there, Zylaan fell in line and trained dutifully throughout his youth.

When Zylaan was eighteen, he received a letter from Patrick, the Guardian Apprentice of the Helmet of Wisdom. Patty was deeply lonely and wanted to make a friend. Despite knowing better, Zylaan agreed to this correspondence, and the two continued to exchange letters as penpals. Patty was Zylaan's first friend, and over time, the two grew incredibly close. Zylaan developed a crush on Patty and often dreamed of the two running away together. Patty always shut this down, claiming their Guardian duties were more important, but it was fun to dream.

The two continued corresponding until Zylaan was twenty-one, when Patty's letters abruptly came to a halt. Zylaan wrote to his penpal many times and never received an answer. This deeply worried Zylaan, and fearing something bad had happened to Patrick, attempted to touch the Sword of Death for some kind of guidance. Instead, he received a terrifying vision of the end of the world. Zylaan is unable to recall what happened after that. He believes he and Harvan fell into an argument, and at some point after that, he was approached by a patron for a warlock pact. This patron offered him power to become strong enough to stop the vision he saw. Zylaan doesn't remember the terms of the pact beyond this and is unaware of his patron's identity.

Also sometime during this, Joris broke into their home and attempted to take the Sword of Death. During the scuffle, Zylaan got to it first, but in his panic, accidentally used it on his mentor. Stunned by this, Zylaan lost the Sword and allowed Joris to take it. Joris left with his prize, leaving Zylaan with his dying mentor. Harvan's last words demanded he fix his mistake, which Zylaan took to heart.

It was revealed during arc four that Zylaan repressed these memories and didn't remember killing his mentor. During arc five, he mentions that he doesn't remember a lot about that night and feels something bad is missing.

### Arc One

Zylaan tracked Joris down to the town of Rosewich and plans to reclaim the Sword of Death. It's here that he met the Mad Dogs at the temple of a priest of Mortes. Zylaan informs the party about the Armor of the Gods and the Sword of Death. He tells them an adventurer named Joris killed his mentor and stole the Sword, and is being consumed by it as they speak. Zylaan’s plan was to wait until the Sword consumed Joris’ life force so he could get it back easily, but that also involves letting the whole town die. The party refuses this, and coerces him into joining them to fight Joris and take back the Sword. The group fights Joris and successfully beats him, allowing Zylaan to reclaim the Sword of Death.

Zylaan believes that his vision and Joris’ arrival were not coincidences, and that they might be linked. He is certain the other armor pieces are in danger and wants to seek them out to destroy them and make sure the vision can never be fulfilled. He asks the party if they will join him, to which they agree.

### Arc Two

Zylaan has another vision of the end of the world, leading him to believe he was right that the threat was not yet averted. He admits to the party that he feels guilty, believing he caused the end of the world by breaking one of the sacred guardian rules to never contact anyone in the outside world. He thinks his penpal correspondence with Patty is what might have triggered this. He says Patty stopped responding to him about two weeks before Joris arrived. Zylaan's priority is the armor, and he will sacrifice anyone to right his wrong.

The party reaches Nining Leven, where they search for information on the Sword of Life. Apollyon and Zylaan team up. After their search turns up nothing, they meet back at the World Trade Center.

## Relationships

### Adrian

Zylaan developed a crush on Adrian at some point during their adventures. He refuses to act on it because he believes he's going to die soon. The two are close and trust each other a lot.

### Guy

Zylaan is incredibly close with Guy and views him as a younger sibling. Zylaan proclaimed Guy an honorary Guardian Wizard.

### Skipper

Zylaan and Skipper have famously never gotten along, and the two often bicker.

### Romelle

Zylaan and Romelle are on good terms. Zylaan has shown to trust her during arc three, as she remained with him to help guard the Sword of Death and Life.

### Elswynn

Zylaan and Elswynn were very close. Zylaan killed Elswynn when she put on the Armor of the Gods, leaving him in a deep guilt. During Big Party, he tried to stay in the illusion so he wouldn't lose her.

### Apollyon

Zylaan and Apollyon got along at first, though that trust dissipated when Apollyon used one of the Armor pieces. Zylaan distrusted them since, especially upon finding Apollyon formed a pact with Thanosius.

### Patrick

Patty was Zylaan's first friend and first crush. The two were incredibly close. During arc four, Patty suddenly turned on Zylaan and tried to kill him. They parted on okay terms, but Zylaan has many regrets about what happened between them.

### Harvan

Harvan was Zylaan's mentor and the closest thing to a father figure he had. The two were on tense terms, though Zylaan did respect him. Zylaan feels deep guilt for killing him and wishes to obey his final command.

### Rae

Rae and Zylaan met during arc eight, where the two quickly connected and became close.