Some people think elves are freespirited and highly artistic beings of chaotic joy. These people have clearly never met Lyadrí An'thimael, a militaristic arcanist who lives and fights for her country. Despite possessing the elven love of freedom, she maintains a strong belief that law and honour must be maintained to have it, and places much trust in her country's system of delivering justice. Where the system fails, or cannot step in, she does so herself, summoning celestial creatures and casting deadly spells to all in her way.
When not fighting, Lyadri appears cold-hearted to most. She is quick to wield sharp words, particularly to non-elves, and holds the other races of her world in much contempt. Whilst she does try to maintain reasonable relations with her allies, her own judgements cloud her vision more often than not... which really isn't helped by the more ridiculous associates she has, such as
Spiros Ul'Adamah.
Her daughter (and only still-living relative that she's aware of),
Ilurae, is central to her life, and she'd do almost anything to ensure the young elf's safety and happiness. Whilst Lyadrí isn't always able to be with her daughter in person, the two stay in touch as much as they can, and the moments they share are precious to both.
- Gender
- Female
- Eyes
- Forest-green, Elven in nature.
- Hair
- Long warm-blonde hair kept in a ponytail. Freed, it's a little past her mid-back.
- Height
- 6'2
- Weight
- 120lbs
Appearance
Physical Description
In good physical shape - thin and dextrous, whilst also being particularly hard to take down (but only being of average strength). Scars run across her back and arms, with a few marking the visible areas on her face and hands - a particularly large one still lingers on her abdomen.
Body Features
Warm-toned and very slightly tanned skin that matches her warm-blonde hair, which she wears in a low ponytail. She's 6'2, and bears many physical scars usually kept hidden - some from the drow, some from the war, and some from her own stupidity.
Facial Features
Angular elven features - high cheekbones with an expression predisposed to sneering. Her eyes, hauntingly different to an unexperienced human, are the deeper greens of a forest.
Apparel & Accessories
If she's not wearing her Elvandir military uniform, she's generally either in perfectly-tailored robes, or in a style of clothing that, whilst definitely Elven, can only be termed as 'smart casual'... bordering on formal.
Specialized Equipment
Has a spear. Doesn't use it. Has a spellbook; uses that instead.
Special abilities
Occultist arcanist, meaning she's basically the love child of a summoner, a wizard, and a sorcerer.
Mentality
Personal history
The sound of footsteps shouldn't be terrifying, yet to the Captain, they mean the unknown. To one who has spent most of her adult life at war or on guard, they mean the possibility of a fight, one that has no guarantee of going her way.
Her family's traditional home, a small village towards the outskirts of Elvandír, was one of the first struck by the foul draconic elf and necromancer. Her parents numbered amongst the few who escaped, fleeing back to Elvandír to alert them, to no avail - Zeranith fell shortly after. Her grandparents, aunts, uncles.. None made it away. Still, her family rebuilt in the city itself, and she was raised with a bitter hatred for the beasts who'd ruined her family, and a fanatical devotion to her nation. She took up military training, but was quickly discovered to be rather inept with an actual sword. This failed to bother her. She simply began studying the arcane, learning to summon beasts to fight in her stead, taking in vast amounts of knowledge to support her team with tactics, logic, intelligence and skill in place of fighting on the very front lines.
A favoured hobby of her child self was to take a history book in one hand, a basket in the other and to wander into the forest, staying near to the city and within reach of the guards. Yet, predictably, this did not always go well. She got lost once. So lost, in fact, that an angel appeared to her and led her home – she'd have been called insane if nobody had seen it. As it was, angels stand out even amongst the beautiful elves.
She wasn't yet an adult - a child of merely 70 - when her mother disappeared in the forest. Her father had told her to take care of herself, provided her with a decent sum of money and transferring ownership of their home to her, before immediately going to find his wife. They never returned. Her efforts to scout, and to insist on more powerful mages scrying on their locations, revealed nothing, the few spells cast showing only darkness - this, she believed, meant that the Drow took them. Of course, this only served to inspire an intense hatred for the cave-dwelling scum, and about 10 years later, she'd grown self-confident enough to chase after her lost parents. She ended up getting caught and tormented by some teenage drow boys on one of their first patrols, accidentally summoning a bird that flew to fetch the nearest elven patrol: she escaped with blood on her hands, a set of deep wounds running up her arm and across her back, leaving some impressive scarring, a mixture of disgust and hatred for the drow surpassing what she had before, and a fear of letting anyone get quite that close to her again.
Her life moved on. Without either of her parents, there was nobody to stop this young elf from joining the military. Initially, she was only allowed to patrol the city itself, but soon worked as a soldier or scout in the forests, for various guard towers. Over the next 30 years, she trained endlessly to prevent any from harming her home, or from harming her. And, as she did so, she met someone who ended up growing quite dear to her. A fellow soldier, a handsome man named Ryséon skilled with both longbow and blade, protected her from a heavy blow dealt by a rather vicious zombie in the swamps, killing the minion before it could harm her. Despite her moment of weakness (something she couldn't let go of until she gave up on the idea of using a sword), he didn't mock her nor hold the debt above her head, instead offering to train with her. The longer they trained each day, the closer they grew. He was soon promoted to Captain of a more dangerous tower, one worryingly close to the front lines against Zeranith, and she refused to let him leave without her. She wasn't going to lose someone else she cared for. They kissed. 4 years later, when she hit 114, they were wed - in what was considered to be a bit of a whirlwind romance by most of her people.
It was shortly this, at the age of 116, that Lyadri was blessed with a child. Neither of the couple had been expecting it as pregnancy wasn't something that elves usually needed to worry about, and Lyadri was almost annoyed at first, as it meant she was forced to retire from the battlefield. Over the 2 years of pregnancy, however, she came to accept it and worked more on her magical talents, honing them to the point of perfection so that she could send assistance to the battlefield from afar, or assist in spying upon the enemy. This help, whilst small, was unexpected by their automaton and undead enemies, and thus was surprisingly effective. Her child - a daughter, they'd named her Ilurae - was born perfect. Eyes of forest green, pale skin like her mother's, warm yet light hair and adorable pointed ears. For her child's earliest two years, Lyadri stayed home, but soon felt the need to head back to the war. She and her husband started trading off their shifts, fighting and caring for their child in turn, relying on two of their friends - a lovely couple a few decades older than them - to care for the child when neither could be there.
It was soon after Ilurae's 6th birthday, when Lyadri was 124, that Ryseon was late home from the day's battle. For the first few hours, Lyadrí assumed it was an ordinary setback. Slight worry bloomed when he failed to return the next day. And the next. Upon opening her door to men from their squadron, bearing the few mementos Ryseon wore with him always and wishing her condolences, it was all she could do to not break down then and there. It was barely a week later that she assumed his position, ensuring Ilurae was well cared for whilst she brought down her fury upon the clockwork bastards who'd slain her lover. Her militaristic, and overly lawful, nature grew as she threw herself into the role of Captain and mother simultaneously, caring for her daughter protectively and slaughtering the enemy with tactics, summons and magic. Despite a decade being relatively short to the elves, she still rose to some level of fame during this time for her sheer mercilessness towards her enemies, and towards those who broke the law.
It was after a few more years of constant fighting, when she was 130, that she began to burn out. One fight too many led to her realising that her men were in danger - and it was she who'd put them there. She realised the mistake in time, and had a summon halt the blow to one of her stronger archers, only for a blade to find its home in her back. It was after this incident, after she woke up bandaged at home with a servant caring for her wounds, that she knew she needed to stop. She wasn't built to be on the front lines, not yet. She needed to grow stronger. She requested leave, and was granted it. For two years, she cared for Ilurae almost exclusively, teaching her daughter the beginnings of magic to practice it herself. One of Ilurae's previous carers (her friend, Sirivel, and her husband) stepped in after those years, insisting that Lyadrí take some of her leave to go abroad, to study more magic, to see the outside world. Ilurae, now 12, was able to stay with her, and would be able to write to Lyadrí often.
Much convincing later, by nearly all of Lyadrí's friends (and Ilurae herself), and Lyadrí had 'obtained permission' to venture out of Elvandír (her friends had gone to Lyadrí's generals and spoken with them about her desire to return, getting them to refuse Lyadri's second request and encourage adventure – to learn more and grow stronger for the nation, of course). She set out armed with a horse, a compass, a dose of cynicism, extreme curiosity and a burning desire to grow stronger. Of course, like all elves, what she found quickly proved her assumptions correct - the elves were clearly superior to every race she encountered. She made her friends, though, even with those barriers, and over the next few years travelled far.
Education
Alongside the usual schooling for an elven child, Lyadrí trained with her parents from a young age, and was soon introduced to a number of arcane tutors when her out-of-control sorcerer powers began to show. It was under the guidance of her tutors that she found a love for a more traditional form of magic, studying from as many old tomes as she could find. However, as much as she enjoyed the books, her magic refused to entirely be constrained into the strict magical schools of wizards. Despite her love of law and order, this was less annoying than Lyadrí expected: becoming an arcanist meant far more creativity, after all.
It was after the disappearances of her parents that she found the books and studies that would lead to her occultist powers. Needing answers and not finding them in Elvandir, Lyadrí sought knowledge from other planes. Instead of finding anything that could help her save her family, she learnt of ways to summon creatures to wreak vengeance on those who would attempt to harm her family, throwing her life into learning these new powers until she'd become strong enough for the military to, reluctantly, accept her, despite her age.
Mental Trauma
Absolutely terrified of anything happening to those she considers family (so, currently just Ilurae).
No small amount of PTSD thanks to the shit she's been through. Extreme paranoia as a result.
Intellectual Characteristics
Good with linguistics (particularly due to her interest in other planes), very logical (in her own manner) and generally intelligent all-round. Often seems to look down on those less intelligent than herself, but her charisma tends to play this off as her just being cold rather than her being actively insulting.
Morality & Philosophy
Lawful Good, leaning Lawful Neutral on occasion.
Lyadrí follows a code that strictly defines what sort of person is right and wrong, and generally believes that elves are the epitome of greatness according to said code. Drow are quite the opposite, though they may very well attempt to prove her wrong.
person.sexuality
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
person.gender_identity
Female.
Known Languages
Common, Elven, Celestial, Draconic, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Undercommon, Auran.
Personality
Motivation
Wants to free her country from the ravages of war, raise her daughter, learn more about the universe and destroy any who stand in her way of a peaceful life.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes wine, cheese, well-written books, cats, those intelligent enough to hold a conversation with her, elves, magical items, hot tubs, spas, saunas, relaxation in general, sparring with magic, and crystals.
Dislikes ale, loud people, badly written books (especially if they misinform), horrible attempts at flirting, revealing clothing, losing, the scent of banana, and the entire drow race.
Virtues & Personality perks
Quick to act, incredibly intelligent, surprisingly charismatic, and born with a strong sense of honour and righteousness.
Vices & Personality flaws
Very easy to irritate. Icy wit. Is cold to those who don't know her. Will often let her preconceived ideas of someone (especially if they look or act in a certain manner) get in the way. Tends to overthink things. Very bossy. Very strict. Has an enormous temper, but that tends to show up either when she's had a few glasses of wine and gets annoyed, or if someone really pushes her.
Refuses to show her true emotions openly, and actively suppresses much negative emotion - causing it to generally manifest in anger instead of sadness.
Hygiene
Prestidigitation.
Social
Birthplace
Elvandír
Current Residence
Travelling with the party.
Family Ties
Missing parents. Dead husband. One daughter, Ilurae.
Religious Views
Highly religious, worshipping and respecting the Elven Pantheon. She has a large amount of respect for many other Lawful-aligned deities, particularly Iomedae.
Social Aptitude
Whilst she's able to fake being charismatic, Lyadrí tends to have a colder, harsher attitude with most. This changes when she's able to be around Ilurae, as she lets her guard down somewhat and becomes more relaxed.
Social
Birthplace
Elvandír
Current Residence
Travelling with the party.
Family Ties
Missing parents. Dead husband. One daughter, Ilurae.
Religious Views
Highly religious, worshipping and respecting the Elven Pantheon. She has a large amount of respect for many other Lawful-aligned deities, particularly Iomedae.
Social Aptitude
Whilst she's able to fake being charismatic, Lyadrí tends to have a colder, harsher attitude with most. This changes when she's able to be around Ilurae, as she lets her guard down somewhat and becomes more relaxed.