Zuel

## Background

Zuel was raised on the road by her father, Artwulf. She had a happy childhood alongside her twin brother, Zael. Her mother was the T'ien Lung dragon Lanya, who trained Zuel in the arts of wizardry. Meanwhile, Zael would develop his disguise and shapeshifting abilities, becoming a master of manipulation with the assistance of Artwulf. Lanya was only present sporadically over the twin's childhood, often departing for decades at a time. Zuel and Zael maintained an excellent relationship, with the two willing to sacrifice anything for each other despite their different paths. Despite training together, however, Zuel and her mother were never emotionally very close; Lanya was always willing to provide assistance though she never risked injury or death for either of her children. Lanya raised Zuel and Zael as followers of the Draconic Pantheon, with Zuel being blessed as an Oracle of Aradaceauntyrujhar once she came of age. Both Zuel and Zael spent much time training in combat. They were enamoured by the power of their grandmother, Keisara, becoming devout followers of her doctrine. They were enamoured by the power of their grandmother, Keisara, becoming devout followers of her doctrine.

When Keisara founded the Kolshet Empire, they both began working directly for her, believing it was their duty to uphold their family's prestigious name and honour their father in service to the Empress. Zuel and Zael left to travel to Ordning to meet their grandmother; however, they were captured by cultists of Hasterhewsos. The cultists sacrificed Zuel, though Zael managed to escape. Zuel died, and her soul was sent to the Pits. There, she was met by her aunt, Irshkalla, who took pity on her. In return for bringing her back to life and returning her to Erah, Irshkalla asked Zuel to fetch her a flower from the garden of Empress Keisara. Due to her curse as an oracle, Zuel had foreseen her death, unable to prevent it but able to use her foretelling to ensure that Zael escaped and survived. She was surprised that she got a second chance at life and endeavoured to make the most of it. Her new visions were of a swiftly falling ancient and weathered great axe, which she noted with some amusement for the irony of having a literal, figurative axe hanging over her head. Zuel performed cursory research into the style of the axe in her visions after she and Zael reunited in the capital of the newly founded Kolshet Empire. She did not recognise the type but found, to her interest, that the item was tens of thousands of years old, even by a conservative estimate. The vision of the axe both frightened and comforted Zuel at the same time, a contradiction she found intriguing. Zuel was one of the original members of the early Kolshet Empire alongside the other disciples of Keisara. Zuel's latent Elemental heritage was awakened by Empress Keisara as a sign of recognition.

Within the Empire, Zuel would go on to serve as a diplomat, being posted at first to several areas around Nordmarch to secure trading agreements. There she met the bounty hunter Veiðikona and trained with her in the art of the sword. Veiðikona would gift the sword Hastighet to Zuel after this training. Zuel would part ways with Veiðikona on amicable terms, unaware she was wanted by the Kolshet Empire. While Zuel was working as a diplomat, Zael undertook training as an intelligence operative, becoming a Kolshet spy using his innate shape-changing abilities. Zuel would visit him from Nordmarch when she returned to her homeland, and he was present at her wedding. Zael never married, instead devoting himself to his work.

During her time in Nordmarch, Zuel periodically took vacations to pursue various hobbies, including hunting monsters and engaging in duels or races. Zuel was grievously wounded in a fight with a rampaging linnorm on one such adventure. Though she slew the creature, her left arm occasionally aches and is heavily scarred. During this monster-slaying expedition, Zuel made the acquaintance of a gnomish bard named Trihana Thistlecloak, who healed her arm after the fight. Trihana and Zuel would adventure together for many years and maintained a romantic relationship over the following decades, eventually marrying in the Kolshet capital of Ordning.

Zuel would later fight alongside Kolshet's military on the Frontier while vacationing with Trihana. The attacking raiders put up an unusually strong fight, however, forcing Zuel to hold the line against the enemy while the Empress dispatched a General to repel the assault. While Zuel fought well, she was heavily injured, with Trihana again saving her life. While the scars Zuel suffered in this battle were not as deep as those from the Linnorm, they were widely distributed across her body from dozens of sword strokes.

Shortly after this Trihana and Zuel would have a daughter, an Irda named Solene. Solene was raised by both her parents, who abandoned adventuring for a period of about a century until she came of age. Solene was raised just outside of Ordning to ensure her safety from hostile elements of the Lung Empire, on a small farm belonging to Zuel. Solene would study as an academic in the Kolshet capital, becoming a noted scholar and training in martial disciplines as a member of a Cobalt monk conclave in the city. Solene had a rather brutal and pragmatic approach to life, one which did not match her parents worldview. Despite this both Trihana and Zuel cared for her deeply and maintain a friendly relationship with her to this day. Solene spends most of her time training within her monastery, though she would occasionally accompany Trihana and Zuel on some of their adventures over the years.

While adventuring together around a decade ago, Trihana, Zuel and Solene would rescue a human gladiator by the name of Lucius Avitus from a Ligurwian raider ship. Lucius would join Zuel and Trihana in their fight against the Ligurwians for a time, aiding in the rescue of several Nordic citizens who had been taken from settlements along the coast.

Two years ago, Zuel was kidnapped by cultists of Argent and accused of heresy. They attempted to stone her to death with sacred hot rocks. Zuel was rescued by Trihana, who gave her a periapt of health to ward off the effects of the resulting sickness, while Solene brutally executed her kidnappers. To this day, however, Zuel still possesses a strange burn across her leg.

Zuel lived primarily in Nordmarch for for around seventy years after Solene came of age, ensuring the interests of the Empire among the various factions of the continent, though she made a point to visit her daughter in Ordning regularly with Trihana. She returned to the Empire in order to negotiate terms with the Firbolg refugees after the destruction of the Great Forest by Eshana along with Trihana. Unfortunately, during the talks, a rogue firbolg wizards experiment mutated a number of delegates, including Zuel, resulting in her developing a pheromonal repulsion aura which made continued diplomacy challenging, as well as causing her left foot to become withered and rotten. Zuel would contact All Smith to provide her with a replacement foot and would subsequently be hired by another firbolg, Keeper, in order to prevent a prophecy from being fulfilled.

This meant she did not return to Nordmarch as planned and, despite sending a letter stating as much, her departure was not taken well by one of her former allies, the Riddhare Wereboar named Galti. Galti generally appeared in her human form and was well respected in Gotträ, the kingdom which Zuel had settled in due to her family connections with it. Galti became obsessed with finding the 'true cause' of Zuel's departure and left Nordmarch in order to do so. While Galti was creating a stir continents away Zuel would depart to meet the group of adventurers the firbolg had informed her of.

Zuel would charter a trading ship of the Empire which was visiting Nordmarch to seek out these adventurers. Unfortunately the ship was wrecked by a sea monster and Zuel was forced to continue the journey in a rowboat. After meeting the party Zuel aided in some minor conflicts on the way to the Nordic Kingdom of Bedeholt which had been invaded by demonically possessed fey.