Avalia Ceres Naramoore

The talented and prodigious inventor, Avalia Ceres Naramoore, is the last of a minor and largely inconsequential noble family that made it's small fortune off the back of trade and property during the time of the Verk Empire. She is now the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Naramoore Steelworks, the current largest developer of technology on Etera and Sicaros with sizable investment in the Setlaar nations as well. Where technology is concerned, Avalia is well known for the replication of true artificial life through her Steelworks Androids, the entire field of Technomagical Replication and her proprietary brand of advanced augmentation, known initially as self-forging.

Ava spends most of her time either between her various premises on matters of business or at her manor residence in one of the Setlaar nation states. Though once it was rare to see her, she is now often spied out and about in various cities. For a time she ventured out with adventurers and heroes to tackle threats to Etera and once had a grand adventure of her own with three others who would become her very close friends.

As of her brief return to Etera and her marriage to the former Setlaar Operator, Harab, Avalia approached her business with renewed vigor and with a much greater scope in mind.

## History

### Early Life

Being born to the Naramoore family as a tiefling among an otherwise unassumingly human family caused Avalia's parents some concern as they had been seeking an heir with this, their first child. Though it was true that they spent much of their time in the following days fretting over image and politics rather than for the well-being of their daughter they did love her and so her upbringing was sheltered but not cruel. Perhaps because she knew nothing else or for other reasons she was not bothered by the isolation and instead occupied herself with reading, demonstrating an impressive capacity for knowledge at a young age. Her parents hired a tutor to feed Ava's ever growing hunger for knowledge, an appreciated gesture. Though most subjects simply formed the background of her understanding some stuck more prominently to the front of her mind, those of engineering and technology. Topics like this were limited within the family library and the scope of her tutoring didn't really satisfy her so she sought out her parents to ask for more and they indulged her, seeing no reason not to. Reading begot experiment and experiment became experience. Seeking to both capitalise on their daughter's talent and satisfy her hunger for knowledge, she was finally afforded a proper imperial education and made light work of the curriculum, delving into subjects such as advanced engineering and Arcane Theory among a great many others. She was finished much faster than anticipated, an accomplished technician with a comprehensive understanding of clockwork and steam powered technology. For a brief time thereafter she offered insight on building projects at the request of her father, architecture being just one of her many related interest.

This arrangement did not last long however and Ava had grown bored of what she considered a rather stifled existence. She used the money she had been allowed along with her own now considerable savings to set out and learn of the world as well as apply her theories to it. This was something of a relief to her family though they did not understand her reasons. For a time she took on work here and there and even the occasional adventurers contract. Avalia's knowledge grew further in this period and by the fall of the empire she was already wealthy enough to settle down. When she came to Babel during it's early days she seized upon the opportunity to situate herself by buying up a ruined plot of land and having her own manor built upon it. Even while this was being put together she consulted on other architectural projects and repairs, using her inventions to speed up the reconstruction effort and make a substantial profit. Her rather subdued demeanour meant that, despite the considerable contribution she had made to Babel, others would take the lion's share of credit and she remained a largely uncelebrated individual. From there Ava retreated into her manor, absorbed with her experiments, diligently advancing her understanding.

### Rise to Prominence

Many months later she began to make more frequent public appearances, mostly purchasing materials or venturing to the outskirts with her armoured suit for testing. Infrequently she would begin to take contracts and tasks common to adventurers, using the challenge as a form of stress testing. Much as before her understanding grew rapidly and soon she began to accept commissions, selling her innovations to merchants, nobles and adventurers. Clients like Creighton Drumheller were a welcome source of funding and experience, both in efficient machining of parts and the operation of a business. It was with this funding that Avalia was able to make one of her first and possibly greatest breakthroughs, then called a "Constructed Sentience" but known more commonly now as an Artificial Intelligence. VIGIL, as it was named, served as her constant companion from then on.

Though Avalia herself was rather oblivious to it all, her popularity and fame were slowly rising with the proliferation of her inventions. Even so it was a particular series of events that truly escalated her growing fame.

### The Wild Hunt

The advent of the Wild Hunt upon Etera threatened a great deal but, to Ava, they ore specifically represented a dire threat to civilisation on Etera and therefore to her wider goals. With this in mind she resolved to combat this threat. Her first encounter was with The Herald of Sharpest Ice and, while minor in the grand scheme of things, was an experience that caused her to adjust her approach to combat, creating her now familiar, ranged style. Facing The Duke of Dread Monsoons was validation of her adjustments and her first encounter with truly legendary figures. This and those that followed brought attention not only to her work as an inventor, but who she was as a person and 'hero'.

A sizeable fanbase started to emerge, though Ava herself paid little mind to the attention she was getting. People began to speculate that her selective approach to 'adventuring' followed some calculated logic though none have worked out the pattern, mostly because there was none. With her technological understanding having risen with each encounter she began to grapple with the concept of 'Self-Forging', the process of significantly augmenting her body with technology. Despite her overly logical, fact-based approach to life some aspect of making herself part machine on a major level gave her pause. Perhaps if she had someone in her life other than VIGIL she might have reconsidered but it was not so. Most did not notice the transition as, for a month after, she spent time applying artificial tissue to her body to replicate her previous, organic appearance with the only noticeable change being a reduction in visible muscle.

Of her encounters with the Wild Hunt her two most significant were with The Duchess of the Inevitable Hunt and The Duke of Thin Ice. The Duchess, long known to be noble's leader in their hunt on Etera, was a fearsome challenge and carried with her an item of great significance, one that did not fit. The Favour of the Faceless, a seemingly plain white hooded robe, had been acquired from the adventurer Magnus in an ill fated wager. While Avalia herself did not know it's purpose or origin at the time a deep desire to own the item overcame her. The battle was lengthy by Eteran standards but the adventurers emerged victorious and the robe fell to her. Owning it did not bring the satisfaction it had promised however, only a sense of dread and anxiety that her work barely staved off. Unbeknown to her the robe was not and would not be mentioned in any record of the battle, of the Duchess or any prior owner.

Facing the Duke was not something Ava had looked forward to, long believing him to be of no real threat to the material plane. This was confirmed when the Duke imparted knowledge of The Whisperer, an insidious being that had triggered this Wild Hunt to force it's will on reality, and it's plans. Seeking to test the assembled Eterans, the Duke did battle with them. His powers were mighty, even compared to all of his predecessors, and though he was defeated it seemed that he could have continued on for some time. Promising no harm to anyone else he left to tour the continent and Avalia travelled home to prepare for the final encounter with the Whisperer.

It was not long after The Whisperer's demise that she established what would become Naramoore Steelworks, hiring people to both engineer parts and perform R&D into areas Ava did not have time to explore. Though the business grew steadily, it would still be some time and a shift in perspective before Ava gave it the required push to greater heights. Not long after all was settled she decided to make her fateful the trip to the desert of Eatash Alram, having intended to study their advanced technology but, instead, becoming embroiled in something far greater and, for her, life changing.

### The Hungering Sands of Eatash Alram

Eatash Alram and the Setlaar city of Madinat were always far removed places to those on Etera but Avalia's obsession with technology gave her cause to look further into it. All records suggested a highly advanced civilisation with many of the amenities she could only theorise. Ava's budding research and development company seemed well enough along to be left in the hands of competent managers and her own needs were rather minor so, with a little preparation, she was ready to board a boat to the desert capital. The truth behind the rumours was, to her shock, understated and took her entirely by surprise. A city of wonders with mechanised vehicles, firearms as the weapon of choice and buildings that, in some cases, dared to try and meet the clouds. Eterans were viewed with a great deal of scrutiny in Madinat owing to the dangers of using magic there but, thanks to Ava's own aversion and superior technology, she was able to pass all tests designed to confiscate dangerous and magical equipment, earning her much initial praise and even the offer of employment in some cases. Once finished with matters of immigration she quickly made her way to the Noble quarter and paid for six months rent on an upmarket apartment, settling in starting her research. To say her technological understanding increased would be an understatement and, more accurately, it ascended. Seeing her 'dreams' in reality alone was enough to set her mind to work on far more advanced theories and innovations on Setlaar technology.

During this time she became aware of the assassination of Lord Pere seemingly by Eteran hands that she herself knew through some of her work. The matter did not concern her at the time and she paid it little mind, simply chalking the situation up to the inherently chaotic decision making common to Eteran adventurers. Feeling some time pressure from the goings on, she decided to expedite her travels out into the desert and made arrangements to purchase a motorbike. Avalia drove out far into the desert to the temple of the Grave Mages, stopping only briefly at Dust Town for a quick rest and supplies. There she spent another four days questioning the mages themselves and sharing theories with them until the day her fellow Eterans showed up.

As Avalia would later discover, coincidences do not happen in Eatash Alram, at least not yet. The accused adventurers, Creighton Drumheller, Delvar Starbreaker and Jackdaw, arrived having been chased down by a Hungering Spirit, the desert's deterrent against magic, and were saved by the Grave Mages. Though she knew full well that travelling with them was dangerous and would implicate her something compelled her that was beyond her ability to notice and so she agreed to go with them. The defence of Dust Town from the bandit warlord Sawbelly swiftly followed and became the start of what would become Avalia's greatest journey to date. She and the others would make many allies including the reforming bandit Rake, the mesmerist Mileena, the mercenary construct S.I.C.C., the escaped ex-Operator Harab and the twin Juggernauts Gabriel and Uriel.

The truth was that her fellow Eterans had been set up. A mysterious being known as The Hyena was supposedly behind the assassination and, better still, Lord Pere seemed to have anticipated the whole thing. They mystery of the matter was intriguing to Avalia and, seeing what the war threatened to destroy if not stopped, she was only further compelled to see it ended and her companions cleared of their charges. One by one they group gathered the support of the three major Alrimal tribes and defeated the remaining bandit warlords before saving the soldiers of Fort Hakut and earning the support of those on the ground in the Setlaar Military. Throughout this this Avalia was growing, but not as a technician. Spending this amount of time around people taught her a valuable lesson about the value of life and allowed her to develop some much needed social skills. With some encouragement she entered into a relationship with Harab who would eventually propose to her on a date in the city of Madinat.

As the group transitioned to a quieter approach in Madinat, The Hyena continued to interfere in his quest to 'improve' the Setlaar, purging much of the Alinibal Court and 'helping' to 'improve the adventurers' by toughening them up. Ultimately both his origin and purpose was revealed along with at least some of Lord Pere's secrets. Finally, after moving to save the city of Blue Ring from Daemonic Invasion, the location of Omnipotent Base, the home of the Operators of Eatash Alram, was revealed and the team set out to deal with the horror stories now emerging from that place.

Several other operations still preceded the climactic battle with the betrayal of S.I.C.C. and twins, Gabriel and Uriel, hitting hard but failing to deter the Eteran adventurers. The final battle with the Hungering Spirit of Eatash Alram saw the awakening of Zaeed Hasashi as the reincarnated desert god, the Son of Sand who, following the spirits defeat, would protect the Alrimal tribes for generations to come. With this past them, the group were finally allowed to rest, though it would still be a lengthy court battle and a terrorist attack by The Hyena before their grand adventure was truly at an end. Following this Avalia briefly returned to Etera only to confirm what she already knew, that she missed the more advanced civilisation and culture of the Setlaar. It didn't take her long to move her residence to a manor in the countryside of Patrie along with her now husband, Harab.

### The Two Years Peace

What would follow on Etera would be the time known as The Two Years Peace, with blessed little happening to disrupt the lives of adventurers and common folk alike. Avalia, filled with a renewed vigor and a new perspective on life, spent the time wisely expanding her business to operate both on Etera and within the nations of Sicaros with a mind not only to proliferate technology, but bring proper education to all. It was also in this time that Avalia gave birth to her daughter, Lucinda Naramoore, who remains something of a guarded secret. By the time of the Horsemen, Naramoore Steelworks was the the largest single business operating on both Etera and Sicaros and would only keep growing from there.

Throughout this period one project in particular occupied much of her spare time, that of artificial life. VIGIL, her tactical AI and closest friend, had expressed a few times it's desire to truly live and not simply be a passive observer. Though allowed to roam in control of the TEMPEST at times, this was not what VIGIL truly desired and so the AI was resigned to it's fate. For almost the entire two year period Avalia grappled with the issue, eventually cloning her own body and modifying the inert form with the technology to effectively house VIGIL, not as an AI, but as a truly artificial new life. The now living VIGIL became Ashley Vigilance Naramoore, taking one of Avalia's false names used during her infiltration of Madinat, and posing as her younger sister after undergoing a few cosmetic reworks.

### The Horsemen of The Apocalypse

The Two Years Peace would be shattered rather abruptly as the rumors of an army swelling outside Babel became reality. Though not obliged to help, she felt confident in her ability and desired to defend her staff that still operated within the city. The battle was fierce and the situation dire. The bard, Radiant, was gunned down by her but was revealed to be but a lieutenant of The Horseman, War, who had come seeking Babel's conquest out of vengeance. Try as she and the other heroes might, nothing was working. In a desperate attempt to end him, Avalia overcharged the Baelfire Cannon in her suit and unleased enough energy to annihilate any obstacle. The Horseman's reflexes won out though, leaving the TEMPEST destroyed by the heat along with both of her arms and all of the false flesh on the front of her.

It would be weeks before she recovered and repaired both herself and the suit and what was now The Horseman War was well underway on Etera. For the most part Ava dedicated herself to the defeat of War, participating in operations and eventually helping to break Winchester's siege of the Fey Court of Seasons and turn Lantera from War's side.

When the time came for the final battle Ava stood ready to finish what she'd started, journeying first into the mindscape of War's memory and discovering his true identity before reaching the demiplane arena that would be War's Final Stand. The battle was long and hard fought with many a close call but, in the final moments, Avalia used Delvar's close proximity to the Horseman to trigger an antimagic field, disabling his defences and leaving Ava to land the final shot, shattering War's mask and finally felling the daemon.

While the other three daemon Horsemen remained, the tiefling felt no need to further involve herself now the major threat was gone, opting to return to her business overseas in the Setlaar states and watch from afar as The Horsemen War drew to a close.

### Outside of Time

It is not possible to say when these events occurred simply due to the nature of them. On a few occasions she found herself drawn to a place beyond time and reality, to converse with a being known only as The Outside Man. It is hard to say how many conversations she had with this being, though the most important would be the return of his body, known more widely to many as "The Favor of the Faceless". Returning this allowed the being to reform more fully and afforded Avalia her very own twist of fate, thought now to be expended though only a few could surely know this. What was changed is anyone's guess as reality is, now, as it is.

## Appearance

In many respects she would be considered unremarkable by tiefling standards, lacking the more outlandish mutations that appear across the species. Her skin bears the slightest tint of redness though her messy hair itself is a rich, dark red colour with three horns protruding through it, one on each side at the front and one at the front, barely beyond her forehead. Her eyes are artificial but highly advanced replacements, noticeable only when up close by the patterned irises and the barely perceptible backlight to them. She is of average height at 5'8 and rather slim with a tail that is relatively long and somewhat thicker than normal, barbed at the end but with no danger of stabbing even the softest skinned creature. Its prehensile nature helps a lot in her line of work and she has trained herself to manipulate objects deftly with it.

Beneath the flesh, hidden away, Ava is barely still a hybrid of muscle, metal, organ and mechanised substitute. Over the years she has pushed her enhancement further and further. Just how mechanised she has become by now is still unknown, though she is thought to be around 80% artificial. When damaged she bleeds a pale, watered down blood substitute and reveals the mithril framework that lay beneath.

When out on potentially dangerous business, performing an experiment or working in the lab she wears a form fitting suit of a very dark brown colour made of rubberised and insulated materials reinforced with leather. The suit can be made airtight, fitting over her head and sealing around her horns with dark lenses to see through and a respirator to breathe through. With this she can exist in contaminated or otherwise airless environments. The suit's webbed gloves and boots with extendable flippers have recently enabled her to conquer the environmental hazards present beneath water. Alongside this is her bandoleer of pouches with parts and her belt of tools. Over the top of the suit she sometimes wears a long, light coat that's open at the front though never if she is piloting the TEMPEST as the coat could become caught in the machinery.

When consulting or simply out and about it has become common to see Avalia dressed in the styles of the Setlaar, a smart jacket over a white shirt with dark jeans and dark, tinted sunglasses to at least partially mask her synthetic eyes. Once upon a time she would have looked somewhat boyish but, with thanks to Mileena, she has gotten a good grasp on the use of cosmetics and the finer points of beauty.

## Personality

Avalia's personality could be described as reserved, having a tendency to avoid strong shows of emotion. Though she could no longer be described as 'emotionally dead' she still opts to act in a neutral fashion, often causing others to mistake her mood for one of apathy. Getting beyond this reveals that much has changed about the tiefling, her demeanor pleasant and even, at times, a little playful among familiar faces and on social occasions.

Until a mere few years ago she worked relentlessly either in the lab or in the boardroom, coming up with new innovations and driving her business to success in both the Setlaar States and on Etera. With her children and husband she finally slowed down to spend most of her time at home or nearby with them, eventually resigning entirely as her growing divine power brought her closed to ascent, content to leave The Steelworks in the hands of the current president, Marcus Sterling.

Where morality is concerned, Avalia tends towards good more often in recent times, though not so much so as to ignore what others might consider unthinkable options. Beyond all else she maintains a highly pragmatic approach to problems.

If there's one thing Ava hates, it would be magic or, specifically, the abuse of magic. Her imperial education during the time of the Verk empire means she understands magic and the way it works, allowing her mechanisms to work around and in spite of it with remarkable efficiency. If she has her way magic and its practice would take second place to the utility of technology. Her recent innovations in the discovered field of Technomagical Replication have allowed her to interface with powers previously only available to the magically inclined, begging the question of what exactly sufficiently advanced technology truly is, when all is said and done. All in all, while she has softened somewhat on the arcane and divine, she still refuses to use magical items or even supernatural power.

Despite her storied career as something of an adventurer she has always rejected the label, feeling it to be ill-fitting and a poor definition for anyone. This used to extend to the title of 'hero' as well until The Hungering Sands incident caused her to concede that she possessed at least some heroic qualities.

## Abilities

Avalia is, first and foremost, a truly gifted technician and engineer with experience in almost all fields but with a special gift for clockwork and steam powered technology. Of her most well known inventions are the Eteran style augmentations, advanced firearms of both her own and Setlaar design as well as vehicles and mechanical suits fit for land, sea or air. While many of her other, miscellaneous inventions are not new inventions per say, they are unique in their design and based off of her own technological approach, effectively re-inventions. Things like cameras, video recorders, respirators and environmental protection suits are all good and basic examples of such.

Her early studies into sentient mechanical intellect led to the emergence of VIGIL, dubbed back then a "Constructed Sentience" but now known more uniformly as an Artificial Intelligence. This lead to the development of other AI fit for different purposes while VIGIL's understanding advanced rapidly to become a fully fledged battlefield tactician and target spotter, a tactical AI. Her sidetrack into artificial intelligence eventually saw her develop a line of automata and fueled what would become a longstanding expertise in construct design and, eventually, Artificial Life itself which VIGIL would eventually ascend to.

Beyond this she remains one of the most intelligent Eteran minds, educated in arcane and divine theory, engineering, architecture and the sciences as both Etera and the Setlaar know them with a great many more subjects still.

Ava does not appear physically impressive but her meagre frame belies considerable strength and great dexterity owing in part to long hours operating and working with machinery but mostly to her extensive augmentation. She is greatly skilled in the use and operation of all firearms, even more so given her extensive use of assisted targeting applications, her enhanced vision and the highly advanced tactical AI, ever present and operational. Her artificial eyes boast an array of alternative vision modes for her to utilise, ranging from thermal sight to a form of tech sight, capable of viewing anything with a charge or electrical power through walls and other surfaces. More recent experiments have yielded frightening results, replicating and improving on many potent abilities otherwise only present in great and terrible advanced constructs.

This alone would make Avalia a formidable foe but her mechanised suit, the TEMPEST, grants even greater defensive capabilities, an array of integrated weaponry and further dexterity. Lately she has used the suit less and less though, prompting some to wonder if she has retired from 'adventuring' altogether.

Finally, and arguably her greatest achievement, is the invention of Technomagical Replication, the process of replicating existing magic itself through non-magical means. The advent of this has granted the stubborn technician the access to the magic she, in theory, always knew but never practiced. Not much is known about her exact technomagical capabilities save for that she is a potent technomancer and materialist in addition to possessing seemingly complete control over essential magical essence itself.