Khessar Varhil

—Khess, speaking to Autumn after pulling her through the rift.

Khess is a Paladin of the Fire Genasi, Dragonborn, and Aasimar variety who appears in The Second Hand. He is played by Kaitlin.

### Description

#### Appearance

Khess has the appearance of a handsome half-elf half-human. However, he has several physical characteristics that indicate a mixed genealogy. Khess has short pointed ears as is common to half-elves, which helped him fit in with his adoptive family as a young boy. Unlike his adoptive siblings, Khess has black, wavy hair that falls just above his shoulders, he has bright blue mono-lidded eyes, and his skin is flecked with gold. He is tall, broad-shouldered, and has a muscular physique. His skin is a golden tan, and when looked at closely, it looks like there is fire constantly moving under it, he also radiates heat through his skin. His dragonborn nature is almost non-existent in physical characteristics, however, he has razor-sharp pointed teeth that he once tried filing down after accidentally injuring past lovers. When he activates Celestial Revelation and transforms with Radiant Soul, Khessar has large white feathered wings that emerge magically from his back.

Khess once wore silver and gold adamantine plate armour that was handed down to him from his family in Sonadis. The armour once belonged to a heroic Paladin of the Anais House, but the armour's associations with the Vai and it's army caused Khess to have a less than positive relationship with it. He used to paint on it every morning, and other members of The Second Hand also took part in defacing the armour. Every morning, at dawn, the armour would magically reset with a simple Prestidigitation charm that had been placed on it many centuries before Khess inherited it. He has since traded this armour with a merchant in Estanza, and now wears a full suit of black plate armour that is cracked with glowing blue light.

Khess also wears a horde of golden jewellery, and has many facial piercings. He has his three piercings in his nostrils, his bridge pierced, one eyebrow piercing and one lip piercing. His ears are heavily pierced, and he has several other body piercings as well. He also has a number of tattoos, including the phases of the three moons on the insides of his arms and along his spine, and a large tattoo that wraps around his side and comes all the way up to his neck, the flames of a fire-breathing dragon come up under the collar of his shirt and peek out past the lip of his plate armour. He has a small scar on his eyebrow, but his back is covered in methodical, perfectly lined up scars of small repeating cuts in neat columns, they gradually fade the further they get until there are no scars at the far end of the columns. Khess also wears a long, deep purple cape, that was left with him as a baby. Aside from his cape, the only other thing that Khess was left with as a baby is a small golden pendant of the full moon, and the word 'Khessar' carved into the back of it.

#### Personality

Khess is passionate and loving. He is confident, cocky, and has a larger than average ego. But he is also selfless to a fault and will regularly put the happiness of others before his own wellbeing. Khess has shown himself to get angry at times, and is often blinded by his anger when he is trying to protect others. Often, Prinne manages to keep him grounded, and his relationship with her is something that has become a guide for him to look to.

Khess is also known for flirting with almost everyone, and is quick to try and establish a relationship with new people. He is, unfortunately, very quick to trust people and this has started to bite back at him. His trust is wavering, and with that he is starting to lose his own sense of self.

#### Estia

Khess' familiar, Estia, is a small fox made of deep orange and pink hues of fire. She communicates telepathically with Khess and is often curled up on his shoulder, either wrapped around his neck or perched on his pauldron. He first summoned her while dreaming about his childhood dog of the same name. Khess mostly summons her as a small fox, but if she is summoned as another creature she will always be made of pleasantly warm fire.

#### Big Dog

Khess' steed, Big Dog, is a large wolf made of deep purple and red hues of fire, and on close inspection, the core of Big Dog's body is a swirling cosmos of stars, clouds, and nebuli in a black and blue endless void. Khess and Big Dog communicate telepathically. Khess first summoned Big Dog after developing his skills as a Paladin at TBC Academy, and due to not yet having a name for them he started calling the summoned steed Big Dog and it stuck.

### Biography

#### Before the Campaign

Khessar was born on the hottest night of Summer in 816, on the 33rd of Gless under Varhil's full moon. He was then left as newborn on the front stoop of an orphanage called The Den, wrapped in a purple blanket wearing a golden pendant of the full moon. This is where he spent the first few years of his life.

After demonstrating divine powers at a young age, Khess was adopted by the Anais family of Sonadis, an old noble family now closely tied with the Vai. He was raised as a weapon of the Vai, trained by scientists of the Vai Army known as the La Dunes. Intrigued by his divine gifts, the La Dunes experimented on Khess throughout his childhood, testing his healing capabilities through torturous means. As he grew older, they pushed him to train as a fighter, arming him with a sword. He also began carrying out small interrogations in the city alongside the local members of the guard, using his healing capabilities to torture civilians suspected of being traitors to the Vai. For most of his life, Khess was being considered as a candidate for the Nox Brood, but the year before he was due to be tested by the La Dunes, they were both killed in the 100-year Turian war and the remainders of the Nox Brood disappeared.

As a young boy, Khess stumbled across his father abusing his older brother in the middle of the night, and Khess became enraged, and in his attempt to help Alexi-ahn, Khess almost killed his father, Kronos. He was sent to Evernoon School almost immediately as punishment. On his way out of the city, Khess made a promise to the full moon of Varhil, a tradition which he has kept up for the rest of his life since. The first of his promises to Varhil is to kill his parents, Kronos and Eleni, for everything they have done to Khess and his siblings, and destroy the House of Anais. Since leaving for Evernoon, Khess only returned for the Summer break, most of which he then spent with the La Dunes. After they were killed, and his older siblings had all left home as soon as they could, Khess stopped returning for the Summer breaks, and only returned home when his parents requested him, which was never as often as he had once hoped, but is now one of his most dreaded missives.

Spending most of his formative years at Evernoon, where he met one of the closest familial figures in his life, Yell, pushed Khessar to learn to help people. With Yell's help, Khess met with a Professor of the Silverspokes Academy, Steel, who suggested that his divine powers may come from being a sworn Paladin, but Khess wasn't sure what kind of oath he could have made, and had never been contacted by any divine beings before. On the advice of Yell, Khess applied for the Silverspokes Academy, so he could learn to better hone his skills as a fighter, and be closer to the guidance of Professor Steel.

#### TBC Academy

##### Chapter One: Welcome to TBC Academy

Khess received his acceptance letter to Silverspokes Academy, and was taken through the hidden portal to TBC Academy on the first day of school by Yell. Khess was nervous upon arrival due to not being able to see Varhil in the sky anymore, and it took him a while to settle. However, he quickly put up his own front of a confident and excited Khess, and began to enjoy his time at school a little bit more, despite some of the weirder dreams that he started having.

##### Chapter Two: Through the Fire and Flames

When a member of the party at the time was kidnapped by a mysterious cult Khess was quick to leap into action to try and get him back. Their friendship had extended back before arriving at TBC Academy, and Khess often felt responsibile for his friend's safety despite never being asked to do so. When Khessar's older brother, Alexi-ahn, became involved in the dangerous situation, Khess realised the danger he could very quickly get in at this school, but he also recognised that without everything he had learned so far in school, his new friends, and the other students in the Black Star House, he wouldn't have been able to save his brother.

##### Chapter Three: The Primordial Horizon

When the party went into a strange moment of the past while trying to rescue Caela, Khess was dropped into something resembling a dream sequence alongside Prinne. Having to go their separate ways, Khess ran through a strange version of Sonadis until he reached his childhood home, the Anais Estate, where he reluctantly went to his father's study. Inside his father spoke down to him, and a strange white marble box sat in the middle of the room, shaking and cracking at the edges. When Khess opened it, a woman that had been shot in the head burst out and killed him, causing him to wake up again in the party's house in Ardanish.

##### Chapter Four: Family Matters

Khess wakes up from a dream in which Kaidei has shot and killed the woman Khess believes to be his mother, a woman called Yara that keeps appearing in his dreams. The party hurries to Kaidei's cabin, and upon arrival see her in her dragon form engaged in battle with Kana and The Boys. Kana is accusing Kaidei of killing her late girlfriend, and Khess realises that the white marble box from his dreams is sitting in Kaidei's cabin. She tries to tell Khess and Kana not to open it, but she can't give either of them a good enough reason not to, stating that she doesn't know why they shouldn't open it, just that they shouldn't. Khess and Kana choose to open the box and unleash Iggy, the great witch that once tried to merge the elemental planes with the primaterial plane, discovering that she is also Yara, Khessar's mum, and Illy, Kana's girlfriend. Kana chooses to leave them all behind and join Iggy, but Khess declines the offer and stays with his party. Iggy kills Kaidei, and is preparing to kill the rest of them when The Moonwraith intervenes and drives Iggy and Kana away. The Moonwraith saves Kaidei, asking Khess if she's worth it first, and then the party and The Boys are taken back to school to recover. Kaidei and The Boys spend the next few weeks in the infirmary, recovering from their mortal wounds, and regrowing their lost limbs, and not long after the party goes their separate ways for the mid-year break.

During the mid-year break, Khess is betrothed to the young elven man, Diad of House Hyceathra in Turia, as a political merger of the Houses Anais and Hyceathra, and the attempting smoothing over of relations between Vai and Turia. Neither of them are very thrilled about it.

After returning from the break, Khess is curious about his lineage after some off-hand comments from Iggy, and he asks Emmanuel to cast Legend Lore on him. Using the riddles they received in answer, the party travelled to Ou'Elar looking for the possible father of Khess. In Ou'Elar, Khess tracked down Cammy, the undercover identity of Viragn, The Dragon Tempered, God of Fighting, Metal Work, and Wealth, and helped him realise that he was Khessar's dad. Viragn moves back to the Harmonic Lyceum so he can be closer to Khess, and they start working on their relationship. Khess is nervous that Viragn is going to let him down, but he's excited to have answers about who he is, however vague the answers are.

After moving Viragn into the Harmonic Lyseum, the party returns home to Ardanish and are met with a new friend, Quanta. The party choose to help Quanta with their ongoing quest to recover a missing person, Denelo. Upon recovering Denny, Khess is quick to commit himself and the party to giving Denny the freedom that he wants.

Before they can help Denny get the life that he wants, the party is invited to a meeting in Ardanish, where Kaidei and Rumour inform them that there is a leak in the school. Khess is suspicious of Faire Don't but can't explain why, and with her father recently killed by Iggy and Kana, others are hesitant to think of his suspicion as anything serious. Stewing with his thoughts, the party continue on with their commitment to Denny's freedom, travelling with Shenhe to the Stormlands.

##### Chapter Five: It's the End of the World As We Know It

While travelling deep in the Stormlands, the party meets Wanda, a young disembodied soul in the form of a little girl, whom Khess befriends and tells they will get her back to her family.

After finding the Soul Forge in the eye of the Stormlands, the party are thrust back to the past, and encounter a younger Iggy, alongside a younger Kaidei and a third unknown figure. After the dust has settled, a younger Moonwraith also appears, and takes Denny and Wanda away. Khess is broken by his failure to give Denny and Wanda the lives that they wanted, and that he had promised he would help them achieve.

Upon returning to TBC Academy following the loss of Denny and Wanda, and grappling with Caela's actions during the fight, Khess is eager to keep the party's spirits up, and moves to distract them from the previous day. He leads the charge on canvassing everyone they know about their prospective party names, and while thrilled with Prinne's suggestion of The Second Hand, is slightly saddened by the missed opportunity that was The Clock Suckers.

Khess spends some time with his father, Viragn, preparing for the upcoming talent show. He chooses to showcase his newly budding godhood by releasing his fire on stage, and in the process ends up taking down a Spelljammer, singing several members of the audience, and blasts Chancellor Tidewalker across the crowd. Viragn runs up to the stage and helps Khess, and while everything around them was momentarily chaotic, Khess is the happiest he has ever been having Viragn by his side. Despite destroying property and injuring several people, Khess placed third and won a Cowboy Hat enchanted with Invisibility.

During the talent show, Faire Don't asks Khess for his assistance, which he glady agrees to, and she instructs him to kill her on stage. He does so and he and the crowd watch as she reanimates as an undead version of herself. She, unfortunately, does not place.

Following the talent show, Khess invites Faire to hang out together, and he takes her to a docked Spelljammer with a Smash Room, and he apologises for not getting to spend much time together, and about her father being killed. Faire Don't is angry with Khess and questions why he seems like he's only doing what he feels obligated to do, but Khess isn't sure what else he could be doing. He wants to help her because they're friends. They smash stuff together, but Khess can sense that something is unsteady in their friendship. Despite this, they still meet up with Arms later and spend the night with each other.

A few weeks pass as normal, until the last Stratosphere game of the year approaches, and with it the impending attack by Iggy and Kana. Once the party has set up their plans for the game the next day, Khess notices that Arms is stressed. She is cramming for exams and tells him that she has to go to a family thing that evening. Khess, knowing that family things usually aren't the best experiences for young nobles like him and Arms, offers to go with her. While they leave for the dinner, Arms - whom Khess has told about his betrothal - suggests an alternate arrangement, and offers to marry Khess instead of Diad. As a part of the deal, Khess will assist Arms with retrieving something that she needs from his House, and Arms will assist Khess in dealing with his adoptive parents once and for all. Together they attend the birthday dinner for Arms' younger sister, and while in attendance, Arms announces their engagement. They spend the night together and then return to TBC for the game in the morning.

During the attack on the school that follows the Stratosphere final, The Second Hand come face-to-face with a version of Iggy from the future, and when Khess approaches her she tells him that it might have been nice under different circumstances to have been his mother. Khess falters for a moment, but draws his sword and joins his friends in fighting against Iggy and the end of the world as they know it.

As they're fighting and the different points of the timeline are converging in this one moment, a future version of Arms tries to stop Khess from fighting, while another version of Viragn tries to stop her from warning him off his actions. Khess is confused and doesn't know whether to trust the father that he just met or his future wife. He chooses to keep doing what he normally would, and if they want to stop him they can. Neither choose to stop him, and when Folwin is killed in the fight, The Second Hand and their allies dive into the Soul Forge chasing after Iggy and Kana.

Finding themselves in an old witch's hut, the party meet a young girl called Tasha and the old hut itself, the Baba Yaga. In their attempts to stop Iggy, The Second Hand accept Tasha's help to acquire a sword that in conjunction with Caela's sword should allow them to hold their own against Iggy. Tasha sends the party through time, and as they travel through the timeline, they land in a dark room in the middle of the night. Arms lies unconscious on the ground, and Iggy stands in the corner, cradling a small baby. Thinking at first that they've gone back in time, Khess assumes she is holding his younger self, but quickly realises that the baby in Iggy's arms is his own. He takes the baby from her and heals Arms, talking to her briefly about this future they share. He hands over the baby to Arms, unable to look at them, and Arms tells him that they named their daughter Yara, after his mother, warning him that Iggy isn't his mother but Yara is. She tells him to find Yara. Khess, afraid of what this Arms had been trying to warn him against before they jumped into the Soul Forge, assumes that in this series of events he has died, and she confirms this before kissing him and telling him that she loves him and misses him. The party drops through the floor again, travelling once more across the timeline.

Arriving in Estanza, in the mountains of Northern Donimear, The Second Hand offer their assistance to Gael del Pozo, the wielder of the sword they've been instructed to collect, in exchange for a chance to borrow the sword. While preparing for the task, Khess trades his family armour with a young merchant for a suit of Black Phase Armour.

The party enters into the mind of a long dormant titan, Nisir, searching for a friend of Gael's. While inside they experience a variety of different visions, and Khess is met with Yara. His future daughter - now a teenager in this strange nightmare - is in the middle of running away from home when her steed was shot down. He helps her recover from the accident before she realises that he's her father, then she becomes stand-offish and annoyed with him. Hurt and confused by her not liking him as a father, Khess tries to help and earn her trust and approval, but the vision ends before he gets a proper chance. A mixture of fear at failing as a father, and a trepidation to force Arms into a future that is as yet uncertain, Khess decides in that moment not to tell her about their prospective daughter unless he has to.

After they return to TBC Academy again, the party finds themselves merging with versions of themselves in the far future, but they still fail a second time to stop Iggy, and find themselves at the beginning of time without an anchor. Iggy, having killed the beginning of time, presents The Second Hand with an idea of their new future - one where she can't be stopped because the timeline is in her hands. Khess uses one of the unicorn horns given to them by Tasha, unsure what to do, and when the party are transported back to Tasha and Baba Yaga, Khess ends up asking Tasha if she would like to become the new beginning of time with him. Terrified of the possible futures presented to him, and open to the chance to connect with the version of his mother that Tasha represents, he is ready to give himself to the universe. When they all return to the pocket in time with Iggy still waiting for their next steps, Khess draws his sword and kills Iggy. Then when they're approached by an entity of the universe, Khess prepares to take his place beside Tasha, but she betrays his trust and takes her place as the beginning of time without him.

With Tasha situated at the beginning of time, The Second Hand is rocketed forward into the future, forty years after their first year at TBC Academy. Going their separate ways to find out more about the consequences of their failures in the past, Khess finds his way to what has become his office as the Professor of Conversations. Khess discovers that his office is devoid of personality, and when he meets the Professor of Tales, Foggy, he learns that the person he used to be was lost when everyone he loved was killed in the attack on the school forty years ago. Lacking any humour, joy, or kindness, Foggy tells him that they have hardly talked, which as the perpetual friend-maker, Khess is shocked by. He leaves the school, and walks out into the Harmonic Lyseum to do one last thing while he has the chance. He sits down at a monument to the attack on TBC Academy, and casts 'Commune' for the first time. As a result of the spell, the familiar figure of Venotrix appears beside him and answers his questions. Lost and alone, Khess returns to Prinne's office and together the party works to restore the world back to how it was.

In order to restore the world as they know it, to the best of their abilities, The Second Hand decide to use Prinne's first Wish. With no gods strong enough to answer to their Wish, the most powerful entity with the ability to answer their call appears as a shadowy being in their living room, and Lorvarn, The Lost God, is pulled from his banishment to answer their Wish. In exchange for freeing him from his banishment, Lorvarn grants their Wish without asking anything of them in return. Their Wish is granted and The Second Hand are returned right back to the moment that the Black Star team won the Stratosphere final. Khess is caught up in the celebrations but still takes a moment to run to Prinne in the stands when he notices Iggy, Kana, and Faire standing at the side of the Stratosphere volume, before they wave and teleport away. He almost makes it to Prinne before she's intercepted by her parents and Khess is intercepted by Viragn, who pulls him into a celebratory hug, and Khess collapses into his father's hug and starts crying, the events of the last 72 hours (carried out over two consecutive days, one repeated day, and one afternoon forty years in the future) finally catching up with him.

After the dust has settled, The Second Hand talk to their friends about what happened, and about the future that they managed to avoid, though at a great cost, then force themselves to return to the normalcy of their end of year exams. Khess excels in his Athletics exams. When the party attends the graduation ceremony to celebrate SOMA and The Boys, Khess and Prinne are both fiercely protective of The Boys, who are harassed by several audience members due to Kana's actions. Following the graduation ceremony Khess tracks down Arms and asks her if he can spend the summer at her house, framing it as a convenient option given their wedding taking place over the break. She agrees, and he goes to spend some time with The Boys before they all go their separate ways for the break. The next morning, Khess leaves with Arms to spend the summer in Turia.

Over the summer break, Khess spends every day entertaining himself in the Tiluvia House. When he isn't alone he is more likely spending his time with Kaya and Diad than with his fiancee. Arms is constantly busy with her work and Khess takes the pockets of time with her that he can get whenever he gets the chance. On Lion Star's Dawning, Khess gives Kaya a painting of her and Diad that he did over his first few weeks at the House. When he goes to Arms' office to give her the present he made for her, his parents, Kronos and Eleni come out, having had a tense meeting with Arms. Once they've left, Khess presents Arms with her gift, a bouquet of stained glass flowers.

In the later half of the summer, Khess and Arms welcome friends, family, and assorted other guests to the House for their wedding ceremony. A traditional Turian ceremony, Khess and Arms are bound by dragon metal that sinks into their skin and wraps around their rib cages. At the wedding reception afterwards, Khess collects wedding gifts from some of his friends, including a small gift of baby clothes from The Boys, which he tries to laugh off, but he pulls out a single knitted bootie and pockets it. Once the wedding ends, Khess returns to his daily routine of waking up alone in the guest room he was allocated, eating breakfast with Kaya, reading alone, painting alone, exercising alone, eating lunch with Diad or Kaya, training alone, napping alone, eating dinner with Kaya and Diad (and if they're lucky, Arms for exactly as long as it takes her to eat everything and then leave), then waiting alone in his room again to see if it's a night he spends entirely alone, or if his wife is a little less busy tonight.

When Khess receives his letter welcoming him back to TBC Academy for another year, he's almost grateful for the escape, not knowing how long he can be happy feeling like an ornament. Even if it's better than the summer he would have had with his parents in Sonadis.

##### Chapter Six: The Haunting of The Second Hand

At the start of a new year, Khess returns to TBC Academy, joining his party members once again. Together they move into their new home, on the outskirts of the village of Om, in the hot, dry desert of The Scalding Wilds.

### Relationships

#### Party Members

##### Prinne Tricclen

Khessar met Prinne on Orientation Day after they were both placed in Black Star House. Their friendship was slow to start, but Khess noted Prinne's intelligence and interest in the puzzles around them. He also noticed early in their friendship that as a wizard, Prinne was vulnerable in battle, and Khess has worked hard since then to provide protection to Prinne when tactically viable.

As students, Prinne often helps Khess with his school work, and will regularly take notes in class for him when he's away or isn't paying attention. She regularly offers to help him with his studies, and he is grateful for her support, but is often brutally honest about his unwillingness to study, much to Prinne's chagrin.

As party members, Khess and Prinne have started frequently looking to each other when making decisions for the party. Khess and Prinne have expressed a deep trust for one another, and when Khess feels that he isn't making the best decisions, or that his decision making is compromised, he will look to Prinne for guidance.

Often Khess and Prinne are entangled together when it comes to their relationships with Iggy.

##### Caela Vyara

Khessar met Caela on Orientation Day after they were both placed in Black Star House. Their relationship was slow to start, hindered early by Khessar's own issues with parental figures. However, Caela's outgoing personality shown at the party at KAB's house showed him that she wasn't going to be like the parents he had always known. Quickly, Khess stopped seeing Caela as someone's mother, and started seeing her as a friend and an ally.

As students, Khess and Caela excel in similar subjects, and train their practical skills together. However, they have a similar propensity for studying.

As party members, Khess and Caela are regularly on the same wave length. As martial fighters, they have bonded over their reliance on a sword, and their preference for meeting challenges head-on, or blade-on. In combat Khess and Caela are often close together at the front of the fight, and Khess knows that he can rely on Caela in battle.

As friends, Caela has warned Khess to stay away from her son Dian, and has gently questioned his happiness in his relationship with Arms.

##### Quanta

Khessar met Quanta when they arrived at their First Year house in Ardanish. Khess was quick to offer his assistance to Quanta, and when they usurped Quanta's quest and committed themselves to helping Denny, rather than return him to the High Magistrate, Khess was concerned for the consequences Quanta might face. Enjoying the new company, and feeling that Quanta would be safer from the High Magistrate if they stayed with the party, Khess was quick to offer Quanta a spot with them.

As students, Khess and Quanta are similar in their dislike of structure, homework, and studying. They also both have shown a mild reliance for caffeine in their school lives.

As party members, Khess and Quanta tend to dance around each other in combat. However, on both occasions that Quanta has been killed, Khess has taken on the task of casting 'Revivify', and he is hyperaware of Quanta's location on the battlefield in case his divine powers are required on short notice. In social interactions, Quanta is often the more reasonable party member.

As friends, Khess and Quanta have expressed a shared attraction for particular students, and Khess was eager to encourage Quanta to explore their social relationships more readily.

##### Notpot

Khessar met Notpot on their first day of school, after the party were assigned to Black Star House and allocated a House Attendant. Khess initially found Notpot jarring, not being used to having someone care for him so readily and consistently. He also found the amount of muffins overwhelming. However, they quickly grew close, and Notpot became a parental figure in Khess' life.

Notpot regularly catered to Khessar's high protein diet, cared greatly for him when he awoke from strange dreams, and showed a great deal of concern for him when Khess was struggling with his parents. When the party found out that Notpot's memories of them would be wiped when they graduated, Khess quickly decided that he wouldn't let that happen.

Khess has been hugely affected by the loss of Notpot in the campaign, and is trying everything he can to get them back.

#### Family Members

##### Kronos and Eleni

Lord Kronos Parus Anais and Lady Eleni Lillia Anais are the adoptive parents of Khessar Kallias Pyrros Anais. They adopted Khess from The Den as a young boy, and raised him as their own for several years. His existence to them was to serve their Noble House, and they did everything they could to hone his gifts and abilities as a tool of the Vai.

Though they never laid a finger on him, it was their instruction that had Khess sent to Virto and Zeta La'Dune to be experimented on and trained. With all of their focus on raising Khess to be the perfect asset and weapon of their House, their other children were often ignored, and were only the recipients of their parents' attention when they were being punished.

When Khess was a young boy, he found his parents punishing his older siblings, and when he intervened he accidentally unleashed some of his divine powers, severely burning his father, Kronos, almost killing him. The following morning Khess was sent to Evernoon School, and his relationship with his parents continued to degrade from there. It was during his journey to Evernoon that Khess made a promise to kill Kronos and Eleni one day, and also bonded with the full moon of Varhil. After some time at Evernoon, Khess realised the assumptions that came with the name Anais, eventually shedding the name and calling himself Khessar Varhil instead.

Recent events have brought Khessar's childhood promise to the forefront of the party's interests, and the tension in Khessar's relationship with his parents has reached a tipping point.

##### Antoni and Leah

Antoni Kyveli and Leah Katsara are the adoptive twin siblings of Khess. They are two years older than him, and were his closest friends growing up. Antoni and Khess were both interested in magic as children, and would often use the simple magics they learned to trick their older brother Alexi.

Khess learned before he was sent to Evernoon that Alexi had spent much of his life protecting the twins from their parents. After Alexi left home at 16 years old, Khess worried for the twins, who were 12 years old at the time. His compliance with Kronos and Eleni's demands at the time were the only thing keeping their wrath away from the twins, so he would do everything they asked when he was home from Evernoon.

When they were old enough, the twins followed Alexi's examples and ran away from home. Though Kronos and Eleni suspected that their House staff had assisted the twins in running away, they had already put all of their stakes into Khessar as their future heir, and spent little time worrying about the outcome of their twins.

Khess would meet with Antoni and Leah in the town not far from Evernoon when he could, though they spent most of their time travelling around the continent, and he often only saw them once or twice a year. Khess has a deep love and loyalty for his siblings, and has a deep-seated and profound guilt for how they were treated by their parents.

##### Alexi

Alexi-ahn is the adoptive older brother of Khess. He is six years older than Khess, and after Khess started being sent to the La'Dune's lab Alexi would often meet him at the gates and carry him to his room to clean him up and get him to rest. Khess sees Alexi as the perfect older brother and regards him as a role model for protecting others. For many years, Khess has been driven by the desire to pay his older brother back for everything he did for Antoni, Leah, and Khess.

When Alexi left home at 16 years old, Khess was relieved for him, despite his worries about Antoni and Leah. Whenever they would see each other in the years between Alexi leaving and the start of the campaign, Khess soaked up every lesson Alexi would give him. Khess credits Alexi for a lot of the man he is today, particularly his care and charm.

When Alexi ran away he found a new life for himself in the shipping routes between Donimear and Nithārdār. Because he's usually on the sea, Khess doesn't get to see him often, but when they do get to see each other it's like they were never apart. Like he does with Antoni and Leah, Khess has a deep-seated and profound guilt for everything Alexi went through, and whenever they do see each other, Khess does what he can to try and alleviate some of the chronic aches and pains that have remained from the scars on Alexi's back.

##### Viragn

Viragn, otherwise known as Cammy, is Khessar's biological father. They met in Khess' First Year at TBC Academy, after a casting of 'Legend Lore' on Khess led them to a small Burger cart in Ou'Elar called Borgan's Burgers. Viragn, having lost much of his divine powers from the actions of The Slayers of Bemberis Scarlanx, was living as the mortal Cammy, a cook at Borgan's Burgers. He was quick to deny being Khessar's father, believing that he hadn't slept with any gods that he could have produced a child with. When Khess and Prinne explained that Iggy had been living as a woman named Yara, he realised they were correct.

Viragn has been quick since then to embrace Khess as his son, and has done what he can to support Khess in figuring out his place in the world as a young god. Khess was distant at first, but couldn't help being excited about the prospect of having a kind and caring father. He has extended several opportunities to Viragn for them to connect and for him to support Khess, and on every occasion Viragn has been receptive, passionate, and eager to provide Khess with the support and love that he needs.

Khess has become more comfortable with Viragn and is happy to call him his dad, and while Viragn can't help him very much with his newfound godhood, Khess still appreciates any and all advice and guidance Viragn can offer, valuing everything he has to share with Khess. Khess cherishes the time that they spend together, and is grateful to have Viragn in his life.

##### Iggy

Iggwilv is Khessar's biological mother. They met in Khess' First Year when he and Kana opened The Box that both of them had dreamed about several times before. Iggy, Kaidei's Other Half and the Split Soul of the witch Tasha, was released by the two of them, and she quickly sought Khessar and Kana's allyship. Khess refused, having no connection to this woman and valuing his friendships and loyalty with the party more. Since then, Iggy and Khess have interacted with each other several times. As enemies and as family members, Khess is defensive and distant with little trust for Iggy and her cause. He disagrees whole-heartedly with Iggy's methods but has started to understand her ideals recently.

Khess has no love for Iggy, but he has hesitated in the past when he considers whether or not she could change. Their relationship is tumultuous, and all of their interactions are unpredictable.

##### Venotrix

In the pantheon of the world, Venotrix is the mother of Viragn, making her Khessar's biological grandmother. According to the stories Venotrix was killed and her spirit, the Spirit of Wrath, was taken in by Vaianna. Together they formed The Moonwraith, the God of Death.

Venotrix has been antagonistic towards Khess whenever they have met, and when he told an aspect of her power that they were related, she immediately tried to kill him.

When the party were sent into the future and Khess had access to divine powers beyond his normal capabilities, he cast the spell 'Commune' and was met with Venotrix. He is still unsure if he's a Paladin of Venotrix, or The Moonwraith, but the figures of Venotrix, Vaianna, and The Moonwraith have all appeared to him before.

##### Baba Yaga

When learning about his mother Iggy, Khess was told that she was raised by the Baba Yaga. The Baba Yaga, a strange and infamous witch from the Feywylds, has had many stories told about her over many years.

Khess knows very little about the Baba Yaga and they have only met twice, but unlike his other grandmother Venotrix, the Baba Yaga - affectionately called Big Yags - has not tried to kill Khess yet.

##### Arms

Khess and Arms met at KAB's house the night of their first party in First Year. Arms caught Khessar's attention when she played in the casual pick-up Stratosphere game at the party. A gorgeous witch, Khess was at Arms' beck and call for most of First Year. On their first date Khess confided in Arms about his life as a young noble, and felt a connection with her that he hadn't been able to find elsewhere, a frustration with the life they had been forced into, and a yearning for something that was more of their own making.

They never entered into an exclusive relationship, remaining friends and casual partners, and when Arms and Faire Don't started seeing each other as well, Khess was an eager third party. When Arms' House was attacked by Iggy and Kana, and her parents were killed, Khess was worried that their relationship would be affected, but Arms never expressed any blame or negative feelings towards Khess for his connections to Iggy. Over time, Khess maintained a caring friendship with Arms as he did with most others, and when he noticed her increasing exhaustion with the end of the school year and her family commitments, he offered his support. It was after this that they entered into an agreement to marry one another. Despite it being a more political arrangement than Khess had ever wanted for his future marriage, the situation saved him from having to marry Diad Hyceathra, whom he did not know well, and in exchange for something that his family had in their possession Arms agreed to help Khess with his plans to get rid of Kronos and Eleni.

Over the events of Chapter Five, Khess' feelings for Arms changed as he experienced glimpses of their possible future together. What was just a political marriage became one he could see a future for himself in, and he gradually accepted that his feelings for Arms had always been there, just suppressed. Seeing the daughter that they had together in a different (or future) life completely shook Khess, and his perception of the world and the way he acted in it shifted drastically to account for this future.

Despite his shifting feelings, Khess felt that he couldn't put that pressure on Arms, and accepted their relationship however Arms wanted it to be. For a time, Khess was happy with just being the husband at Arms' side, without any responsibility, supporting her in whatever way she wanted or needed. Over the summer that they spent together, Arms was regularly distant with Khess, and was often busy with her work that he ended up spending more time with Kaya than Arms. When he returned to TBC Academy at the end of the summer break, Khess started looking into the process of divorce for traditional Turian wedding ceremonies.

During The Second Hand's party at the start of the school year, Arms informed Khess of her family's plans to utilise some of the Anais Family's research to threaten the Devilstorm into fealty to House Tiluvia. This research is what she was wanting from him in their original agreement with one another. Khess disagreed immediately with this plan, the idea of threatening the current Devilstorm going against both his values and his better judgement, and this disagreement fractured his view of their relationship.

After years of being used by Kronos and Eleni in ways that he never wished to be used again, Khess pushed against Arms' plan and tried to take matters into his own hands. It was his actions then that got Notpot killed by his father Kronos. While wrestling with the guilt of this, and his belief that he was responsible for Notpot's death, Khess resolved himself not to be used anymore. Khess told Arms that if she couldn't treat him as anything more than just a tool then once she had what she wanted from him they were done. It was this ultimatum that led to Arms confessing that she loved Khess, and was afraid of how that weakness would be exploited by their enemies. Khess chose not to tell her about Yara at that time, instead focusing on the problems directly in front of them, and offered to Arms that their relationship would have to be a real partnership, where they discussed the problems they were facing together and made decisions on how to deal with them together as well. Arms agreed, and admitted that she had lied about their earlier plan, telling him that her plan for the Devilstorm was really because of the increasing chance of civil war between the Turian Houses. They discussed this briefly, before turning back to their current problem of Kronos and Eleni.

##### Yara (Tiluvia/Anais/Varhil)

Yara is the daughter of Khess and Arms. She has made several appearances, though only one of them Khess believes was actually her. The first time they met, The Second Hand were travelling through time with Tasha's power and ended up in the future where Iggy held a baby Yara in her arms. Thinking at first that the baby Iggy was holding was a younger version of himself and that they had travelled backwards in time, not forwards, Khess was shocked when he realised the young baby belonged to him and Arms. Khess took the baby from Iggy and returned her to Arms, who had been unconscious on the ground until Khess revived her. After reuniting Yara with Arms, she told Khess that they had named their baby after his true mother, Yara, who Khess had previously believed was just the alias of an escaped Iggy.

The next time Khess met 'Yara' was during a hallucinated dreamscape within the mind of the dormant titan Nisir. She appeared to him as a young teenage girl in the middle of running away from home. When she realised that he was a younger version of her father she became visibly annoyed with him and dismissed his attempts to be friendly with her. Khess took it hard, reeling at his apparent failings in the future relationship he had with his daughter. However, it's likely this wasn't really Yara, and was just a figment of Khess' worries and fears being exploited by the titan as a defense mechanism.

The latest meeting that he had with 'Yara' was during his attempt to control the arcane wound in Om Quarry. After placing his hands into the raw arcana of the wound Khess was teleported to a small forest clearing where he was playing a game of Hide and Seek with a much younger Yara than the teenager he had last met. She spoke with him about her dreams of being a wizard like her mother and Aunty Prinne. However, Khess believes that this young girl was a manifestation of the arcane wound in Om Quarry and not really his daughter Yara.

##### Lorvarn

Khess met Lorvarn alongside The Second Hand, when they used Prinne's first Wish to revert the changes Iggy had inflicted upon the world when she killed Ran. Lorvarn was the only divine being with the power to answer their Wish, which meant that The Second Hand forcefully pulled him back from the banishment inflicted upon him by The Moonwraith.

In the pantheon, Lorvarn is the father of Venotrix, making him Khess' great-grandfather. Since pulling him out of his banishment, Khess has interacted with him once more in a dream. During his dream, Khess found an injured Lorvarn in Kaidei's office at TBC Academy. With Lorvarn's help, Khess attempted to utilise some of his godhood to heal Lorvarn's injury. Lorvarn told Khess that the mortal plane was Khess' domain, and that all of the other gods came from somewhere else to this mortal plane, but Khess was made here and is of here, making him the one true god of this place.

Wrestling with this new information, Khess is trying to figure out what his role is in this world, but is hesitant to accept more help from Lorvarn after being warned off of him by Viragn, and after learning more about the kind of god that Lorvarn was.

#### Other Notable Relationships

##### Yell

Electric Lover (E.L.), or Yell as they're more commonly known, was the Dean of The Evernoon School for Awakened Youngsters when Khess arrived at 9 years old. For the first few years that Khess was there, he was a quiet child that kept to himself. He did not apply himself to his schoolwork, and often returned from the summer break even worse than when he left, which resulted in Yell spending a little more time with him. Yell cared for Khess the best that they could without crossing any boundaries as the Dean, giving him a safe and quiet space to exist in, and someone to talk to when he needed it.

Khess often spent his dinner time in Yell's office, at first eating with Yell at their desk, then when Yell felt he was alright to be left on his own, Khess would sit on the ledge outside Yell's window and spend some time with the moons. It was this time outside Yell's window that always made Khess feel free, the whole expanse of space above him.

As he grew older and became more of the person he is today, Khess and Yell spent less time together, but Khess has always seen Yell as an anchor in his life, and cherishes the bond that they have. Yell is Khess' first confidante and closest ally, and while Khess is aware that their relationship has to remain professional, he considers Yell one of his first and most valuable parental figures.

##### Faire Don't

Faire Don't caught Khess' eye on the first day of school, when her prophecy during the House sorting received a huge reaction from the student body. Khess told himself that he would become friends with her that day, but they didn't get a chance to speak to each other for a long time afterwards.

One day after leaving class, Khess approached Faire and asked her if she wanted to hang out together. In response, Faire asked him for help with her sexual experience, and he agreed to help her but not without spending some time as friends together first. Very much not on a date, Khess and Faire went and got food together, and then spent the night together. Afterwards, Khess tried to maintain his friendship with Faire, and they spoke often between classes and hung out together when they could.

When Khess discovered that Faire and Arms had started seeing each other, Khess wondered if that had been Faire's intentions all along, but he didn't have any negative feelings about that either way. When Faire's father was killed by Iggy, Khess was worried for her, and when he had the chance he took Faire to a smash room where they could break stuff to let out their feelings. She was grateful for the opportunity but questioned whether he was being authentic in their friendship or if he was just doing what he thought he was supposed to do. Khess was confused, because he was just doing what he wanted to do like he normally does.

Later, when Faire turned on the party and sided with Kana and Iggy, Khess was betrayed and heartbroken. Faire breaking Khess' trust like that has drastically impacted his willingness to befriend and trust new people.

##### Yara

Khess first met Yara in one of his dreams, immediately after arriving at TBC Academy. Yara appeared as a young, normal looking elven woman. Their first encounter was trapped underground in a well, slowly filling with water. When both of them drowned, Khess woke up in his bedroom and the local village of Ardanish had flooded.

Khess had several more dreams where he encountered Yara, and in each of them she was killed in horrific ways before he had a chance to save her. After several months of these dreams, Khess watched in one dream as a young Yara placed a baby down at the doorsteps of an orphanage, wrapped in a purple blanket with a golden amulet. Yara walked away from a crying baby Khessar, and was soon after killed by Kaidei, the woman Khess knew as the Head of Black Star House at TBC Academy.

When Khess and the rest of The Second Hand, alongside Kana and The Boys, confronted Kaidei and freed Iggy from The Forget-Me-Box, he discovered that Iggy had disguised herself as Yara in the past when she had escaped the box. He assumed then that the dreams he had been having about Yara were sent to him by Iggy, to draw him to the box and have him open it so she could escape.

After freeing Iggy, it wasn't until the next year at TBC Academy that Khess saw Yara in a dream again. This time he saw her as a separate person to Iggy. This time Iggy was a Professor at TBC Academy and Yara was a young student. The two did not know each other well, but Yara had taken a few of Iggy's classes. Khess isn't sure what these dreams mean, or what this latest dream means for his and Arms' daughter, Yara.

### Character Information

#### Proficiencies

**Skills:** Deception, History, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion (Expertise)

**Tools:** Dragonchess set

#### Notable Items

* Backpack of Holding
	+ The body of Iggy, killed by Khess after Ran's death
	+ The body of Faire Don't, killed by The Second Hand on their second attempt of the Stratosphere Final
	+ A small number of Unicorn Horns, given to the party by Tasha
* Frizz's Plate Armour of Phatt Phases
* Fross Tattoo of Protection
* Guardian Emblem, etched on the back with the word 'Khessar'
* Stetson of Invisibility

#### Abilities

##### Origin Abilities

* Celestial Resistance
* Celestial Revelation - Radiant Soul
* Darkvision
* Healing Hands
* Reach to the Blaze

##### Paladin Abilities

* Divine Sense
* Divine Health
* Divine Smite
* Lay on Hands
* Fighting Style - Defense
* Harness Divine Power
* Oath of Glory
	+ Channel Divinity
		- Peerless Athlete
		- Inspiring Smite
* Spellcasting (Charisma-based ability)
* Extra Attack
* Aura of Protection
* Aura of Alacrity

##### Spells

###### 1st-Level

* Bless
* Ceremony
* Command
* Compelled Duel
* Cure Wounds
* Detect Evil and Good
* Detect Magic
* Detect Poison and Disease
* Divine Favor
* Guiding Bolt
* Heroism
* Protection frm Evil and Good
* Purify Food and Drink
* Searing Smite
* Shield of Faith
* Thunderous Smite
* Wrathful Smite

###### 2nd-Level

* Aid
* Branding Smite
* Enhance Ability
* Find Steed
* Gentle Repose
* Lesser Restoration
* Locate Object
* Magic Weapon
* Prayer of Healing
* Protection from Poison
* Warding Bond
* Zone of Truth

###### 3rd-Level

* Aura of Vitality
* Blinding Smite
* Create Food and Water
* Crusader's Mantle
* Daylight
* Dispel Magic
* Elemental Weapon
* Haste
* Magic Circle
* Protection from Energy
* Remove Curse
* Revivify
* Spirit Shroud

### Trivia

* Khess was inspired by several other notable fictional characters and figures: Anakin Skywalker, Icarus, and Achilles.
* Khess' family member's names are all inspired by names of Greek origins, and his father Kronos is named as such because of the myth of the titan Cronus, and the fate that befell him at the hands of his children. In the same vein, Kronos' middle name Parus is a play on the name Paris, the mythological figure that fatally wounded Achilles in the Trojan War.
* When Khess was being designed, Kaitlin chose his biological father Viragn, but left the identity of his biological mother up to Eli, only indicating that they wanted Khess to have origins which fit his Fire Genasi lineage.
* Khess doesn't know how to tie his own shoes and has gotten around it by wearing non-laced shoes, or boots with zips down the sides.
* His favourite lollies are sour lollies.
* Khess is ambidextrous.

### Gallery

A full body piece by @c.\_.ley on Instagram.A full body piece done by Ee-lai.Khess wearing his cowboy hat by K8LN.A headshot by @entnoot