Azlan Nalza

> "*Every time I get close to someone, they get taken or I run away. And at this point, I don’t know if I can stop running.*"
> ― Azlan[source]
>
>

**Azlan** is a Yuan-Ti monk and a main protagonist of the Redemption campaign. They are played by E.

### Full Name

Azlan, last name unknown, as they dropped it after becoming estranged from their family

## Relationships

### Affiliation

Adventurer's Guild, Monastery of Themi, Greyland Crown Army (formerly)

## Background

Azlan was born to a well known family in a Yuan-Ti clan. They felt out of place and misunderstood with their family and clan, and took the first chance they could to leave. That chance happened to be the army. After seeing a recruitment poster with a picture of the dashing Saunders on it, they enlisted at once, becoming a part of the 78th Platoon.

Still, though, their pervasive feeling of being out of place followed them. After being led into a near-deadly battle by Barry, they fled instantly, taking with them only the clothes on their back. They traveled alone until they met [redacted for personal privacy] and they [redacted for harm to ongoing matter]. After [redacted for harm to ongoing matter], however, they fled again, this time ending up the monastery. There, they finally felt at home, training to become a monk.

But Azlan had never been one to stay tied down for very long, and they soon joined the Adventurer’s Guild to get out and see the world again.

## Call to Action

Azlan was one of the nine adventurers summoned anonymously to the Adventurer's Guild in Lathannan.

While in Lathannan, Azlan stayed at the Fish & Father Inn, along with with Zook, Anthony, and Keahi. While there, they contacted Shawna by Sending Stone, and had a vegetarian breakfast before leaving after an unpleasant encounter with Zook.

Azlan spent their free time in Lathannan praying at the Cairn Ruins before returning to the Adventurer's Guild, where they were introduced to the rest of the party. Azlan and Chinou became fast friends, and bonded over their shared dislike of Pleasance Cromwell, who referred to Azlan as 'she', and Aeschylius.

Once their belongings had been retrieved from the inn, Azlan traveled by coach to Haver, sharing a room with Anthony and Zook. They chafed at Steelback's instructions and quickly became suspicious of her.

While onboard the coach, Blazing-Mind showed Azlan the Conductor, and informed them that a traitor was in their midst. She also extended her trust to Azlan.

In Haver, an army recruitment team attempted to enlist Azlan, causing a verbal altercation between her and Anthony.

## Ambush on Naomhgorm Island

After departing from Haver by boat, the party's boat crashed on shore due to an incomplete quickening spell by Blazing-Mind, drawing Azlan's ire. Azlan retrieved Chinou from the wreckage, then defended the party when three cultists from the Church of Redemption ambushed them on the beach.

The party, Aeschylius weakened and Ekwefi and Chinou injured, camped in a monastic hillside house for the night. Azlan and Chinou left the dugout to attempt to locate Keahi and Ingrid, who had been sent out as scouts. While away, however, Steelback drew the other religious figures (Aeschylius, Blazing-Mind, and Ekwefi) towards the cathedral, leaving Anthony and Zook behind. The remaining two then went to alert Azlan, but accidentally stumbled upon a patrolling cultist instead. Azlan and Anthony fended off the cultist and reunited with the scouts, but the Church then set the swath of forest they were camped in ablaze, forcing them to flee towards the cathedral.

Azlan, now the primary target of the cultists, suggested a disguise while the remaining party members debated how to save their friends, and they swapped robes with Ingrid. Azlan, Anthony, and Zook agreed to act as a rescue party, waiting for their teammates to enter the cathedral before following in secret. Azlan rode a Tenser's Floating Disk through the cathedral to avoid detection.

Ambushed by Loreli in a stairwell, Azlan was then taken to the Cathedral's catacombs and put on a sacrificial altar. Both their arms were cut by Loreli, and the blood was used in a ritual to create a form for the Schism. Confusion ensued when Zook attacked and Anthony knocked Vesper into the ritual fireball. In the chaos, they managed eventually to pull their left arm free, cinching the wound with an impromptu tourniquet, and Chinou freed their right arm, cauterized by the expanding fire in the room. Azlan threw Aeschylius's body into the ritual flames, causing an explosion, then escaped to the beach, where Blazing-Mind sent them and several others adrift in one of the cultists' dinghys.

## Adrift at Sea

On board the boat, Azlan talked Chinou through his separation from Ekwefi. They also restored their fortitude with an Ichor of Hale Health from the boathouse. Declaring their distrust of Ingrid, Azlan promised to go to White Lotus, but nothing more. They attained a pendant from the ritual, gifted to them by Vesper.

## Halburton and Chalcedony

Azlan and the others were detained by Mandragora Hearst due to speeding when their boat entered the Halburtonian harbor. Mandragora brought them back to the Magistrates' Headquarters through a Two-Way Mirror, and handed them over to Darwen Abbas, who took the group to White Lotus.

At White Lotus, Azlan met Tarbrax and took a strong liking to him. They also inquired about what was inside The Conscience's room, and handed off the pendant to Dawnbringer for safekeeping. They eventually accompanied Anthony to visit Barry Longacre when Dawnbringer offered to send them to his house.

Outside Barry's house, Azlan got a call from Shawna, but declined to answer. Barry then invited them in for tea, promising to show them his work. He then brought them to his basement to show them Saunders' reanimated body, but trapped them and directed Saunders to kill them and Anthony when they declared their distrust of Barry.

## Personality

> "*There are times in my life when I’ve been powerless. I hate the feeling of being powerless. All my life, I’ve ran away from things, so I don’t get tied down. And I’ve never felt more powerless than seeing myself take my own power, a ghostly version of me draining me.*"
> ― Azlan[source]
>
>

Azlan is amicable, but quiet and slow to trust others. They're often combative or obstinate towards those they dislike, but very open with their friends. Azlan forms opinions of others quickly. They hate feeling powerless, and cannot stand injustice or oppression. They do not respond well to being ordered.

### **Relationships**

#### **Anthony**

Azlan knew Anthony during their time in the army, where Anthony served as Azlan's sergeant. Though initially regarding Anthony with distrust due to their desertion of the army, Azlan grew closer to him through conversations about their shared history and feelings. The two work well together, and frequently teamed up to defeat cultists on Naomhgorm Island. Anthony is not their dad.

#### **Zook**

Azlan's relationship with Zook is fairly poor. Frustrated by Zook's amnesia, Azlan was offended when Zook displayed his "bacon tongue" when they asked if he remembered them over breakfast at the Fish & Father. Azlan has been shown to trust Zook's skills, turning to him for advice in the boathouse when choosing a potion, but regards him as irritating or childlike in conversation.

#### **Chinou**

Chinou is Azlan's best friend in the Adventurer's Guild. The two bonded over their shared age and dislike of Aeschylius and Cromwell. They both show considerable concern for each other in combat, and Chinou stated before entering the cathedral he was worried about having to say goodbye to them. Azlan talked Chinou down from his grief onboard the boat.

#### **Shana**

Azlan and Shana were best friends at the monastery, and the two call each other regularly. Their discussion is lighthearted and easy, indicating the two are comfortable around one another.

## Appearance

Azlan is of average height for a Yuan-Ti, with military-cropped red-blond hair and green eyes with vertical pupils. They have patches of emerald scales on their body. They usually wear monk's robes, due to their devotion to Themi, but are currently wearing Ingrid's grey armor and red sash.

Azlan is currently seventeen years old.