Elias

Fan art of Elias and Tempus, by Jenny Dolfen.

**Elias** was the half-elven son of Zerxus Ilerez, who adopted him after marrying his father, Evandrin Alterra. As an NPC, Elias was played by Brennan Lee Mulligan.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

Elias was a half-elf teenager with red hair. He looked like a younger version of his father, Evandrin. By the eve of the Calamity he looked gawky and a little awkward.

### **Personality**

Elias was an affectionate son who, due to the grief of losing one of his parents, and the fact that the other had to live in a different city due to his job, became somehow resentful towards Zerxus, avoiding contacting him, although he regretted that decision the very same day.

## **Biography**

Elias was the son of Evandrin Alterra, an Eldritch Knight that moved to Avalir when his son was still a baby. Shortly thereafter, he met and married Zerxus Ilerez, who fell in love with the knight and loved Elias as his own son, so the couple raised the child together.

Evandrin rose to become First Knight of Avalir, a title given to a legendary hero tasked with slaying monstrous threats and defending the city, and held that position for two-and-a-half years. Evandrin also had a close relationship with Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, and seven years before "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04), Evandrin became aware of his friend's early experiments with the Astral Leywright, and offered to help. He ended up being banished to the Astral Plane by the magic of the Tree of Names, being declared dead, and making Zerxus a widow and Elias an orphan.

Zerxus was pressured to succeed his late husband as First Knight of Avalir, and due to his many responsibilities he wasn't able to spend time with his son, thus deciding to leave him in Cathmoíra with the Okiro family, connected with his friend, Nydas.

Elias and Zerxus spent seven years separated, with the paladin remembering his son fondly. The night before the events of "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04), Zerxus had a dream in which he saw Elias as a young child, the image of him he remembered; the child in his dream reminded him that he wouldn't look like that after seven years.

The next morning, with the City of Crowns approaching the City of Thrones for the Replenishment, the people started to celebrate, and those from the settlement on land started sending spell kites with gifts and letters for their loved ones in the floating city. Elias had prepared a basket for his dad, but his mood hadn't been bright, and despite Irmé's insistence about showing kindness to Zerxus, he didn't send the spell kite.

At the end of that day the Tree of Names was destroyed. Zerxus was killed and found himself in the Astral Realm, having a reunion with his long lost husband. Evandrin and he shared their worry about Elias, which motivated the paladin to come back to life to save him, lifting the Mace of the Black Crown, thereby accepting Asmodeus's bargain to restore him to temporary life at the cost of his soul and of becoming Asmodeus's champion. In Cathmoíra the devils of the Lord of the Hells had started their attack, and following the instructions of the Ring of Brass, people were starting their evacuation. Elias was still in the Okiros' home, and when Zerxus flew there with Tempus, his griffon, father and son met for the first time after seven years. Initially Elias was scared, noticing the paladin's fiendish appearance, but once the teenager was certain that was his father, he started crying, apologizing for not sending his spell kite. Zerxus gave his journal to Elias, so his son would learn more about him reading it. Tempus, the griffon, gifted him with one of his feathers as well. While the First Knight of Avalir was leaving Elias tried to ask him for explanations about his appearance, but Zerxus couldn't wait, and after reminding his son about not worrying about the outside, he left, and Eaedalus Okiro took Elias with him to keep him safe.

Soon after, at the end of that night, Zerxus fell in a battle of great importance, fighting among his friends. Tempus, after helping him as much as it could, left, and searched out Elias and his feather. In Zerxus' final moments as himself, he saw a vision of the griffon with his son on its back, still holding the journal, climbing into the sky and opening a door into a sea of stars. Elias found there a safe place, reuniting with the astral form of Evandrin.

## **Appearances and mentions**

* Exandria Unlimited: Calamity
	+ "Excelsior" (E3x01) (first appearance) (in a dream)
	+ "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02), mentioned only
	+ "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03), mentioned only
	+ "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04)

## **Trivia**

* His name (pronounced as *Elías*) derives from the Hebrew *ēliyahū*, meaning "The Lord is my god".
	+ He shares his name with the blood hunter Elias de Corvo.
* While Elias' full name is currently unknown, Luis Carazo stated that his character, Zerxus, would have wondered if his son took any part of his surname, implying that the young half-elf didn't use *Ilerez* last time he was with his father (before their brief reunion on the eve of the Calamity). While one possibility is that the child's full name was *Elias Alterra* (inheriting his biological father's surname), it is not confirmed that this was the case, as Elias' surname could have included part of his biological mother's name, or perhaps he didn't use a last name at all, or took a completely new one without Zerxus' knowledge during the time they were apart.
* An early idea that Luis and Aabria discussed was that Laerryn could be Elias' mother, and Zerxus would have adopted her child raising him as his own, but without the knowledge that the abjurer was in fact the child's mother (something Laerryn would have revealed at some point). This, however, was ultimately discarded.
* While it wasn't explicitly clarified, Brennan described the immediate future of Evandrin and Elias as "freedom and life out there among the stars", which insinuates that they survived the Calamity by being in the Astral Sea. Moreover, since that is a plane where time doesn't pass, it is unknown if Elias would have died of old age, since, theoretically, he could have stayed there with his father indefinitely.

## **References**

1. ↑ See the Trivia section.
2. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 2:51:00.
3. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 21:22.
4. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:53:20.
5. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:53:46.
6. ↑ See "Bitterness and Dread" (E3x02) at 4:18:54.  Zerxus said he met Evandrin when Elias was an infant, and Elias is almost fourteen now.
7. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 0:20:48.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 See "Hype! Exandria Unlimited: Calamity Q&A with Luis Carazo" on critrole.com.
9. ↑ See "Blood and Shadow" (E3x03) at 3:29:29.
10. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 1:47:20.
11. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 0:21:49.
12. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 2:50:15.
13. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:52:49.
14. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:55:23.
15. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:56:09.
16. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 5:41:26.
17. ↑ Luis talks about Elias' surname.
18. ↑ See "Exandria Unlimited: Calamity Wrap Up" (Sx70) at 0:46:07.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of Elias and Tempus, by Jenny Dolfen (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Fan art of Elias fishing in Zerxus's dream, by CT Chen (source). Used with permission.