Xarah Chai

## **Basic Information**

**Full Name:** Xarah Chai

**Nickname:** Xarah

**Birthday:** October 27th 411

**Species:** Kodin (Canine)

**Purity:** 63%

**Gender:** Female she/her

**Height:** 4’ 2”

**Sexuality:** Homosexual

**Languages Spoken:** Standard, Whispers, Lupin

## **Personality**

**Likes:** Magic, reading, fluffy animals, tea

**Dislikes:** Guilds, Humans, ignorance

**Fears/Phobias:** Abuse of power

Xarah is very blunt. She won’t sugar coat anything, and if she has an opinion on something it’s going to be voiced one way or another. It doesn’t matter the circumstances. If her words are going to get her in trouble, then so be it. To Xarah, choosing to remain silent is akin to lying. On the off chance she’s not talking, it’s because she has nothing left to say.

Xarah feels things need to be efficient, and if they aren’t she takes it upon herself to fix them. If she sees something that could be working more smoothly but she can’t do anything about it it makes her antsy. Over the past 400 years she’s learned a lot about the inner workings of the world and people not listening to her wisdom ticks her off. Still, watching someone fail after refusing to listen to her warnings is always a confidence booster. If only they’d listened to good ol Xarah!

While she’s generally a lone wolf anyway, Xarah doesn’t like being alone. Circumstance forced her into this way of life, and she’s gotten accustomed to it over the years, but if it were up to her she’d rather be with someone else than be by herself. Being alone with one's thoughts, especially when they have 400 years worth of memories to ponder, can get maddening at a certain point. Still, it’s not like she can’t cope with being alone. She gets along just fine by herself, she just prefers the company of others.

## **Abilities**

**Strengths:** Immortality

**Weaknesses:** Low Mana

**Weapons/Tools:** Quarterstaff

Xarah has an affinity for magic, but her low Mana pool makes casting spells a chore. So, to combat this issue, Xarah has taken up potion brewing. After all, a potion has the same effects as a spell does, but unlike a spell there’s no chance of miscasting it. So long as the recipe is followed, and Xarah follows them to a T, you’ll get the same results every time!

As well as brewing, Xarah also makes quite a lot of magic items. Trinkets and artifacts alike. All of her magic, potions included, tend to lean more towards Dark or Red, but that’s because of her low mana pool. Low mana means she can’t absorb enough red magic to get infected easily, giving her a resistance to it. If she’s resistant, she might as well use magic most don’t have access to.

## **Health**

**Addictions:** None

**Mental Illnesses:** None

**Physical Illnesses:** Alopecia

**Disabilities:** None

**Allergies:** None

## **Backstory**

Xarah’s family lived in Dibrook way before she was even born. They always hated it there, given Dibrook was known for its religious bias and overly faithful citizens. Right from the start they viewed her family as devil worshipers. Their lack of fur and red eyes made people believe they used Red Magic, and that these traits were side effects.

The hairless gene in Kodin is generally considered to be more pure than the common furry variant. The purity scale is centered around humans, and humans don’t have fur, so naturally hairless Kodin would be more pure because they more closely resemble a human. That being said, the hairless gene was still new back in the year 400, so most people assumed it was either the result of red magic infection or a coguine cross breed.

Xarah’s family tolerated the harassment for years, but when her mother became pregnant with her they decided it was time to leave. Neither her mother or father wanted Xarah to grow up with the same prejudice that they had. So, they packed up their things and moved far away, all the way to the country of Pontyn.

Pontyn was largely a Human country. Her family stood out like a sore thumb, but the people there were far less judgemental. They didn’t view the family of Kodin as red magic worshippers. The few comments they received were mostly about their lack of fur, but even then those were few and far between. They still faced discrimination, but it was far less than what they had to deal with back in Dibrook.

Everything was going great, until Xarah was born. Xarah’s father never really wanted to leave Dibrook, but he did for the sake of the family. After she was born, though, he began to regret that decision and resent her because of it. Why did he move halfway across the world just to take care of a screaming hairless ball of wrinkles? His resentment only grew as the months of horrible sleep and tedious routines continued on, and at a certain point it became too much for him. Her father left about eight months in, leaving Xarah and her mother all alone.

Her mother wasn’t wont to give up so easily, though. After her father left she really stepped up and took charge of things. From an early age Xarah was taught to be independent. Never rely too much on others, because if they leave you’ll be left in shambles. She took these teachings to heart. Xarah looked up to her mother, and whatever she said was law in her eyes.

Still, anything can be taken too far. Not only was Xarah the only Canine Kodin in her class, but she was the only canine Kodin in the city period, aside from her mother of course. She was already a bit of an outcast, and her mother’s teachings only solidified her as a lone wolf. She’d never ask any of the kids in her class for help with anything, and because Xarah was at school to learn and not to socialize this meant that she never talked to anyone at all. If she wasn’t going to talk to them, her class saw no reason to talk to her.

Her isolation also brought on niche interests. Because she was never around the other kids, she never picked up on the things they were into. Most kids liked animals, or playing make believe, or simple card games, but not Xarah. Her quest to be independent got her interested in the world of magic, and that interest quickly turned into an obsession.

During recess at school, while the other kids played outside, Xarah stayed in the library to read up on the basics of spell casting. What the different variants of magic did, how to use them, and most importantly how to keep yourself safe while using them. It was fascinating! Why go to a doctor when a simple spell could heal you just as easily? Not only that, but a spell allowed you to heal yourself, so if it didn’t work you only had your own abilities to blame. Learning magic would only further her independence, and Xarah found that alluring.

There was only one problem, though. Xarah’s family had a history of low mana. No one in her family had ever picked up on magic practice, so it stayed more or less the same throughout the generations. This meant that Xarah couldn’t cast higher level spells at all, and lower ones were heavily restricted. It was almost maddening; knowing so much about magic yet being unable to use it for reasons outside of her control. Still, Xarah was persistent. She was determined to learn magic, no matter the cost. So she couldn’t cast spells. So what? Surely there were other ways to use magic.

That’s when Xarah learned about potion brewing. Many seemingly mundane items had vast magical properties, and if utilized correctly they could do just as much as a spell could; if not more. Not only that, but potion making was generally considered to be safer than spell caster. If a potion fails, it’d just bubble up and fizzle out. If a spell fails, it could mean death for either the caster or the target depending on the spell. Why bother putting yourself at risk like that?

Xarah continued on this way for many years. Her days spent alone while studying, and her nights spent putting that newfound knowledge to the test. Her reputation in town was beginning to take a hit, which Xarah didn’t realise until it was too late. Rumors of witchcraft were beginning to spread, and given Xarah’s choice of magic these rumors weren’t too far off the mark.

Given that Pontyn is close to both Vertgate and the Sanquet Mountain Range it was saturated with Red Magic. Because of this, most of the magic Xarah has access to was Dark or Red; both of which were considered to be “evil” magic. This, paired with the fact that Xarah was an isolated and mysterious person, made people suspicious. Xarah wanted to put these rumors to rest, as she had no ill intentions towards anyone, but the town’s views on her were already solidified. So, around the time she was sixteen, Xarah moved out of her mother’s home to a new city.

Xarah ended up moving to the town of Windocks. A city in Pontyn far away enough from her home to the point no one would know of her, but close enough to make visiting her mother possible. In Windocks Xarah began working towards setting up a magic shop from inside of her home. She knew enough about magic to craft magic items and brew potions, and the vast majority of components needed were easy to find. She could sell her wares for a pretty high profit margin if she played her cards right. So long as she cultivated her own potion ingredients and made good relations with people who could get her more.

Life in Windocks was very different. Because no one knew who Xarah was or why she’d moved there, the town began spreading the same rumors that her parents were trying to get away from. But unlike her parents Xarah actually did use red magic, so whatever rumors the town came up with were only solidified by that fact. A hairless Kodin? Sounds like a red magic side effect. Must be because of her potion making.

While her parents could never stand the harassment, Xarah was strong. Whenever someone started talking ill of her she made it known exactly why they were wrong. Over the years she became more quick witted and snappy with her remarks. She did her best to snuff out any rumor the town began to spread before things got too out of hand. Someone accused her of casting an evil spell? No! She can’t cast spells, and here’s all the reasons why. It made her come off as annoying, but at least nothing got too out of hand.

As time went on and her shop began to gain more of a reputation, the people of Windocks began to learn more and more about her variant of magic. Before she arrived they majorly relied on mages or wizards to take care of magic related issues, but now that they had access to potions and artifacts they could take matters into their own hands. Xarah enjoyed teaching people the ins and outs of potion making, so after awhile she began writing down her recipes and selling them at the shop.

All was well in Windocks, until the year 431. One week Xarah had to leave the shop to go on a week trip. There was a market event set up about two towns over, and rumor had it the people there traveled all the way from Vertgate. Vertgate had far more knowledge on Red magic than Xarah could ever hope for, so this was the perfect opportunity to gain more knowledge in her field.

Of course, Xarah had no one to look over the shop while she was gone. She locked up her shop the best she could, but no security measures are foolproof. During the time she was gone someone snuck into her shop and stole a large quantity of pure red magic, as well as several less-than-harmless artifacts, and went on a crime spree throughout town. Because the potions from her shop were so refined, and blue magic was so rare in Pontyn, this thief was essentially untouchable. Ultimately, the town’s guard force was forced to wait things out. Red magic like this was powerful, yes, but no mortal could survive long using it the way this thief was. They eventually succumb to the infection, and the guards could start picking up the pieces.

Xarah returned to utter pandemonium. Luckily she’d missed the rampage of the mad mage, but now she was faced with the aftermath. The guards found it awfully convenient that Xarah just so happened to be out of town while this Red Mage was raising hell. She insisted that she had no involvement and that she was a victim in all of this too, which was true, but there was still one glaring issue. While she didn’t condone it, she was still partially responsible for what happened. This never would have happened if it weren’t for her wares, and Xarah knew it.

Her relationship with the town's guards would only get worse from here. Even after helping with the cleanup, whenever a new magic related issue came to light it was always traced back to her in some way shape or form. Whenever she made a new potion or created a new artifact it was heavily scrutinized. Even the most innocent of things were treated as weapons of mass destruction.

Still, while the guards disliked her, the town didn’t. Their opinion had only marginally been swayed because of the attack. Some people began to dislike her because of the aftermath, but for the most part people viewed her as admirable and trustworthy for helping with the cleanup and admitting her mistakes. Plus, since then she’d taken precautions to avoid more incidences like this one, so the town had nothing to worry about.

A few more years went by, and the harrassment from the town’s guards only seemed to get worse. Her patience was beginning to wear thin. At a certain point she got to her wits end. Whenever the guards stepped foot in her shop she’d act hostile. Immediately jumping to her own defense and dismissing whatever concerns they may have. This only worsened their relationship, but at this point it was beyond saving. The only thing she could do now was keep the guards away from her. Five years went by, and other than the occasional false arrest, all of which were rectified quickly, her feud with the guards had reached a standstill. Nothing was getting any better, but it wasn’t getting any worse either.

Then the year 436 came around. Over the past couple of months the town was faced with more and more strange happenings when it came to magic. Not only that, but the strange magic in question was all tied to blue magic; something that was extraordinarily rare in Pontyn. At first it was simple runes being stopped across town, all of which were passed off as graffiti. Still, this new magic circulating in town began to cause problems. Problems that Windocks wasn’t equipped to deal with.

So, the town founded a new guild to help combat things. The guild would focus their efforts more on petty thieves or general town issues, while the guards would focus more on big time criminals or more pressing issues in town. Xarah wasn’t too fond of the new guild, but so long as they didn’t cause issues like the guards had been she wouldn’t pay them any mind. At least, she wouldn't have, if this blue magic issue hadn’t begun to get out of hand.

The runes in town began to have noticeable effects on the people. Hyperactivity, erratic speech patterns, unpredictable behaviours. Because all of this was caused by blue magic, people began coming to her to fix things. Her potions were made with dark and red magic, so surely they’d be able to negate the effects of this strange and evil blue magic. This wouldn’t have been an issue, if the guild hadn’t taken notice.

A couple of guild members caught wind that Xarah was able to negate the effects of these unknown runes, so they sought out her help in getting rid of them. They didn’t know who was making them, but it didn’t matter. Magic runes such as these couldn’t simply be washed away with soap and water. They had to be neutralized with her magic to stop their effects. Of course, the guards didn’t take too kindly to this.

Her practicing the use of red magic was one thing, but seeing her do it was another. None of the guards understood her rituals, and because they already had their preconceived notions on her magic they began to view these rituals as witchcraft. Well, that, and everything else that was going on. Talk of witchcraft began spreading around town rapidly as these runes became more and more of an issue. No one knew who was behind them, so anyone and everyone with ties to magic was listed as a suspect.

Then it came out. A mad cow went on a rampage through the city; a cow that’d been slaughtered a few hours before. A rune was found at the slaughterhouse, and the guild finally made the connection between these blue magic runes and runes commonly used in the practice of necromancy. Whoever was making these runes was doing so with the intentions of raising the dead. But if that was the case, why were they using blue magic? Necromancy was largely a red magic practice.

Everyone had theories about this, Xarah included. She’d become intrigued with these runes. While she didn’t practice necromancy herself, she did know quite a bit about it. Comparing these new runes with standard ones, she was able to figure out just what’d been changed in order to make this work. These runes were extremely well thought out, some of them even more intricate than the standard. It was fascinating!

Up until now, Xarah wasn’t aware that magic could be “swapped” out like this, so to speak. As far as she was concerned, blue and red magic could never have the same results. Yet here these runes were, proving her wrong. If blue magic could accomplish feats usually restricted to red, who knows what she could do with her own magic? Who’s to say she couldn’t find a way to make healing potions out of red magic? The possibilities seemed endless!

As time went on, tensions began to rise. What started off as simple mundane runes turned into undead cows! Not only that, but after the cow was brought back to life this necromancer began doing the same to people. No one in town could trust anyone anymore. Anyone tied to magic in any way had a target on their back, Xarah included. But in Xarah’s case things were worse. The guards already had it out for her. Any mistake she made now could get her arrested, and this time the town wouldn’t back her up. She had to be careful, otherwise she’d get stuck in a jail cell for god knows how long.

Of course, things only continued to get worse from here. As a means of combating this issue, the town of Windocks made blue magic illegal, and this shortly turned into a complete overhaul of laws on magic. Everything became restricted. The sale and distribution of magic items was put to a halt. Magic items had to be registered with the town, and any left unchecked would be confiscated. Xarah’s business was taking a massive hit from all of this and on top of that the guards were still against her.

It all became too much. Xarah couldn’t sustain herself under these circumstances, and she wasn’t going to put up with the harassment any longer. There was no place for someone like her in Windocks anymore, so she decided now was the time to leave. It was just a matter of figuring out where to go. If she moved back in with her mother she’d be left to face her past reputation, and if she went to any of the neighboring town’s this pandemonium may follow her.

She ultimately decided that leaving Pontyn altogether would be the best course of action. While she’d never been anywhere else, she wanted to make the move worthwhile. Vertgate seemed like the best place to go. Xarah knew that it was the red magic capital of the world. There may be more competition there, but she was confident enough in her abilities to the point where going there still seemed viable. Just think of what she could learn in a place like that? The possibilities seemed endless!

Of course, this all led to yet another problem. Given her reputation with the guards and the current state of the city, up and leaving like this would be extremely suspect. The guards would immediately jump to her trying to flee, and she’d have no real alibi. She was trying to flee, in a sense, just not for the reason they’d think. She’d have to find a good reason to skip town. Otherwise the guards wouldn’t let her leave.

That’s when the first red rune was found. Up until now, Xarah’s only saving grace was the fact that she didn’t know how to use blue magic. But the guards had found a necromantic rune made out of the standard red. The second they found this, all hell broke loose. Xarah was promptly arrested, as well as several other suspects, and brought into the guardhouse for questioning.

Xarah couldn't answer any of their questions. Her short temper with the guards got the best of her, and because of this they kept her in custody. She wasn't the only person to be arrested over this, though. She was also arrested alongside a small Whiver boy named Vinny.

Over the next few days while the two were in custody Xarah began to learn about what was really going on. Apparently Vinny knew who the necromancer really was, and he knew why she was doing it. Xarah was skeptical at first,  but the more Vinny explained the more his story made sense. Long story short, his friend Nina lost someone dear to her, and as a result of this she wanted to unlock the full potential of her magic as a means of reviving them. Neither of them ever meant for things to go this far and now it was too late to confess. If they did so now, they'd be hanged.

Xarah found his story interesting. Again, until now she never knew red and blue magic could be swapped with one another in this way. She could learn a lot from Vinny and his friend, so long as they could get out. Not much can be done stuck in a cell like this, and the guards had no intention of letting either of them out any time soon. So, they came up with an escape plan.

Vinny could use magic just fine, but he generally only used it under Nina's instruction. Xarah knew a lot about magic, so with her help she taught Vinny how to teleport a short distance. He did so, grabbed the guards keys, and the two of them ran off back to Vinny and Nina's house to regroup.

But their escape was only half done. They'd gotten themselves out of the town’s jailhouse, but they were still in town. As long as they stayed here they'd be targets. They had to skip town, so the next part of their plan involved sneaking on a boat at the docks and leaving town with it. Simple, but effective. It'd be the quickest way out of town.

Xarah, Vinny, and Nina all talked things over for the next few days. Mostly about what they were going to do after leaving town and where they were going to go. Xarah was still set on moving to Vertgate. After all was said and done she hadn't changed her mind about that. All she had to do was gather whatever was left of her shop and she'd be set.

Clearing her shop proved to be a hassle. The guild and guards had already taken the vast majority of her wares, and the things that hadn’t been taken by them had gone missing in her absence. Still, she was able to at least collect her personal belongings and enough supplies to last her the trip. Xarah briefly thought about going off in search of some of her other things, as having an inventory would prove to be beneficial in her new home, but the idea was quickly dismissed. It’d be far too dangerous.

Once the three fugitives had collected all of their things it was time to sneak off towards the docks. The only problem with this was, obviously, the docks were an extremely well guarded place. With everything else going on, the last thing the town wanted was for its allies to get sucked into all this as well. If any of the trade ships got hurt they’d put all business to a halt, and the town couldn’t take a hit like that. Nina and Vinny were able to sneak inside no problem, but Xarah was another story.

The other two were easily able to blend in with the crowd and slip under the radar, but Xarah didn’t have that luxury. A Kodin such as herself stuck out like a sore thumb. It didn’t take long for the guards to spot her, and once they did it was all over. Xarah knew if they caught her now she was dead. They already had it in for her, and breaking out of prison removed all doubt from the town’s mind. She wasn’t guilty of anything, but at this point no one would believe that. So, she ran. Through the crowd and up onto the nearest ship. Surprisingly, she made it on board. It didn’t last long, though. The guards followed, and Xarah was soon cornered at the edge of the ship by the water. There was nowhere for her to go. Defeated, she raised her hands in surrender.

Suddenly, there was a loud click. One moment Xarah was standing at the back edge of the ship, and the next she was falling back first towards the water. She didn’t have too much time to register what’d just happened, but she was fairly sure she saw one of the guards draw out a crossbow as she was putting her hands up. It all went by so fast, though, and before she knew it she hit hard against the surface of the water. The last thing Xarah could remember was a loud ringing in her ears and the sharp pain of water going into her lungs. After that, nothing.

It wasn’t clear how long she was out. Days? Weeks perhaps? Xarah didn’t know. All she knew is that when she did wake up, she was in a much different place than before. Everything had changed. Around her were several other people, mostly Whiver and Humans, as well as several of the same runes that’d been scattered around town over the past few months. The most concerning thing, though, was a much older Nina and Vinny, laying unmoving in the center of the room on top of a massive skull-like rune exhibiting massive amounts of blue magic.

No one in the room was sure how they got there or why, but they all remember one thing. They either remembered Nina reviving them, or them blacking out very suddenly. Xarah was sure that Nina had used her magic to revive all of them, but that didn’t explain why they were here or why Nina looked so old now. She was in her early teens when Xarah was last awake, and now she appeared to be in her late thirties. Had that much time really passed? It didn’t seem real.

Not wanting to stay in the old and decrepit room she was in, Xarah ventured outside, only to find she was still in Pontyn. If it were still the city of Windocks, she didn’t recognize it. The streets looked old and empty, and the few people she did see were all wary of her presence. Many of them ran off or jumped on the defense when she tried to approach them. It wasn’t getting her anywhere, so eventually she just gave up trying. What city she was in didn’t really matter given she still intended on moving to Vertgate. It was just a matter of getting there. Leaving town this time around was far easier. People were wary of her, yes, but no one protested to her leaving. All of her stuff was long gone by this point, so Xarah had nothing holding her back from abandoning this country once and for all.

The journey to Vertgate was uneventful. She got several questions over the first week or so about why she was headed there or what she planned on doing once she arrived, but once people got their answers they largely left her alone. Her story was pretty standard for most of the people fleeing Windocks. She did get a few interesting tidbits of information, though. Like how Nina had apparently gone off the rails after the death of Vinny, becoming a person known as “The Blue Necromancer”, and that Xarah was most likely one of her workers for god knows how long. She wanted to pry further, but it seemed like a touchy subject, and Xarah didn’t want to cause any issues during the trip.

Finally, after all this time and heartache, Xarah had made it to Vertgate. Things here were far different than back home. For one thing, there were stray cats wandering the streets everywhere. It seemed like no matter where she went at least one cat could be found. People also didn’t bat an eye at the fact that she was a Kodin. Sure, some people were surprised at her lack of hair, but it was more curiosity rather than disgust. The people here knew about the history of the Kodin hairless gene, so they knew for a fact that Xarah wasn’t a Coguine.

Without any of her belongings it was hard to start her shop back up again. She had no money, and without money she wouldn’t be able to buy a storefront. Reluctantly she decided to find a job at an already established Voodoo shop. Shops like this commonly sold items similar to what Xarah had in the past; those items being tied to red magic. There were several differences, though. Like the rituals involved with these sorts of things, and the fact that curses or cursed objects were common here.

She worked at a fairly small shop with a feline Kodin named Sol. He was an older mage who’d taken the full blunt of red magic over the years. His skin had burns, and he periodically made trips to the local infection center to keep the red magic at bay. Xarah was the perfect assistant, as she was far more resistant to red magic’s effects. Whenever Sol couldn’t work on something due to his infliction Xarah was easily able to take over. The two meshed well, and the shop quickly began to grow and expand. With Xarah’s knowledge and Sol’s magic they easily outranked other shops in the area. Life continued on, and the two eventually had enough funds to move their storefront from the small port city they were in to Lykannol, the capital of Vertgate. There was a lot more competition there, as Vertgate was known for its red magic, but they were both confident they could make it.

As the years went by, Xarah began to notice something a bit concerning. Sol was old when they met, and naturally he grew older as time went on. Xarah, however, didn’t seem to be aging at all. Twenty years went by. Sol went from someone in their forties to someone in their sixties. He was slowing down, but Xarah remained the same. After twenty years, she still appeared to be in her early 20’s. People definitely noticed, but many of them assumed she was using some sort of spell to keep herself young. Xarah knew this wasn’t the case, as she didn’t have nearly enough Mana to cast a spell like that. It was concerning to say the least. The people around her were getting older, but she stayed the exact same.

Still, Xarah tried not to let this get to her. She could easily manage on her own, so it’s not like she was worried about the state of the shop after Sol died. She was already essentially the owner at this point anyway. Sol was far too worn by this magic to continue management, causing Xarah to take over. Seeing people she cared about aging like this was hard, but even if Xarah was still growing older she’d outlive Sol, so it didn’t matter all that much. Loss was part of life, and Xarah was no stranger to it.

What concerned her was her future. Not enough time had gone by to see the full extent of whatever was going on. No one knew if she’d become immortal or if her aging process had simply been slowed down. Only time would tell. But what would come of her? Was she doomed to forever outlive everyone in her circle, or would this eventually stop? Could she still be killed? Was this true immortality? It was a lot to think about. Too much to think about.

So, Xarah simply stopped thinking about it. After fifty years of mystery she came to the conclusion that if she were to die, she’d die when the time was right. Until then she’d continue to manage her shop. That’s not to say answers didn’t eventually pop up, though. Around the year 602 the story of the Blue Necromancer began spreading. Xarah finally had answers as to what’d happened during the time she was unconscious, and she didn’t like what she heard.

From what ended up being documented, Nina was a Human from Pontyn who’d fallen in love with a Whiver gifted to her. That Whiver, Sparrow, had been hanged due to Pontyn’s less-than-accepting attitude towards interracial relationships like those. After this, Nina became obsessed with “healing magic”. She wanted to unlock the true extent of her power, and use that power to bring back the people she’d lost. In her eyes, it wasn’t Sparrow’s time to die. He should have been healed. She never intended on the practice of Necromancy, as it was largely tied to red magic, but her studies subtly began to seep over. The lines got blurred, and at a certain point she was in complete denial as to what she was doing.

Shortly after Xarah was killed, a detail that’d been lost to time, Vinny ended up dying in a magic related incident. Nina’s power was too strong, and it was beginning to get out of control. She raised him from the dead, but just like everyone else she’d raised he lacked free will. This caused her to go mad, doing anything and everything to free her undead army without killing them once and for all. The town of Windocks tried their damndest to put a stop to her, as she was beginning to hurt innocent people, but no one was able.

It wasn’t until around 454 when Nina finally figured out how to do it. With a massive magic circle, she channeled all of her power to tear a hole between planes and draw her undead’s souls out of the Afterlife and back into their mortal bodies. But, as a result of this, Nina was killed. The magic required for something like this was too much for a mortal to handle. Xarah was just one of the many victims who’d succumbed to this. At a certain point Nina had an iron reign on Windocks, and over 50% of the population had gotten dragged down this rabbit hole.

That being said, Xarah was a rare occurrence. There were a few other documented survivors of this, all of which cursed with immortality due to the massive amounts of blue magic they’d been exposed to, but the vast majority of Nina’s victims died along with her. Their mortal bodies were either too damaged to survive or they were too susceptible to the negative effects of blue magic. This wasn’t nearly as big of a shock as most people would think. Xarah had already come to terms with her curse, and she wasn’t going to let this new information get to her. She already knew she was immortal by this point, so who really cared why this was the case? If anything, it was mildly interesting.

Time continued to tick on, and Xarah became more hardened and crass. The longer she was around, the less patience she had for people’s antics. If someone came into the shop complaining about a curse, she’d be blunt about things. No sugar coating anything. Of course that sword is fused to your hand, the runes clearly said this would happen! You shouldn’t be touching swords sealed away like that in the first place, what did you honestly expect?! Because of this, while she didn’t look old, Xarah began to get the reputation of a bitter and eccentric old woman.

That brings her to the present day. Xarah continued to manage her shop over the years, and as time went on it began to gain more and more reputation. Her shop wasn’t overly busy, as red magic was expensive and heavily regulated, but she began to get known for her ability to get things done. Got a curse? Xarah’s got you covered. Found an unknown artifact? Xarah will be able to figure it out. As long as you can put up with her bitter attitude she’ll be able to help you out.

Still, while she loves her shop and her line of work, she’d like to get out and see the world. Over the past 400 years she’d only ever been to Pontyn and Vertgate. There was so much out there she’d yet to experience, and she had all the time in the world to explore it. Why stay in one place for the rest of eternity? It was a nice thought, but Xarah had no real means of traveling. At the same time, chance could be a scary thing. She knew she’d be able to manage, but for the time being Xarah has decided to remain in Vertgate. At least until the opportunity to leave arises.

## **Relationships**

**Sonie Jewel:** A very close friend. Both Xarah and Sonie have had issues with their naturally occurring red markings tying them to red magic, and they’ve bonded over it. They seem to have a deeper understanding of each other than other members of their friend group, at least in Xarah’s perspective. Sonie is the only real close friend she’s had in a long time, so she cares pretty deeply about her. That said, their relationship is still developing. Both of them have a lot to learn about each other, and because Xarah isn’t part of the original crew she sometimes feels a bit distant.

**Bubble Longear:** Xarah isn’t entirely sure what to make of Bubble. She’s not in on what happened with the crew in the mountains, so from Xarah’s perspective Bubble is your standard hyperactive Whiver who somehow netted herself an Airship. She views Bubble as brash and a bit air-headed. I mean, who in their right mind would lead a group of “artifact hunters” with no knowledge of magic?! Still, while this bothers her, she doesn’t dislike Bubble. She just thinks Bubble is in over her head, and she wants to help rectify things.

**Thunder Alto:** While she likes Thunder, Xarah can tell that Thunder is extremely wary of her, so she keeps a distance. She can also sense Thunder’s jealousy from a mile away, although there’s really nothing she can do to fix that. When they do interact, she stays courteous, but it can get difficult sometimes given Thunder’s “glass half empty” outlook on life. Their energies just don’t mesh well, but that doesn’t stop Xarah from trying to at least be friendly