Londriel, the Spellwarden

Londriel, Daughter of the Fall, Saint in Amber, and Warden of the Wystral, might be the oldest being alive in Selejia, yet she’s been awoken from her amber casket – her fortress and her prison – for just enough time to grow into a young adult. When she was finally freed, she became stuck between two worlds, those of the faith of Order of the Shattered Throne and of the Liastrum magic of the Conclave of the Spheres. So much has been expected of her after her awakening, and since then, many of the beliefs held about Londriel have been challenged. The only stable truths that have shown through are her potential to surprise and her resolute belief in what must be done to bring forth a better future.

Her Relic, named after its function, is the Ark of Lamentation, a one-of-a-kind gem of condensed Liastrum that has been with her since the time of the Fall and was given to Londriel by her parents. It is responsible for the blue amber cocoon that kept her in suspended animation for a thousand years. Even now the Ark goes on protecting Londriel, making her almost untouchable by magic and capable of harnessing the energy of the enemy spells she dismantles into her own. The shard has drawn the attention of many Liastrum mages who wish to study it, but no one other than Londriel can wield this relic without incurring great damage to themselves.

Upon the holiest altar of Tempras, at the heart of the Order, rested a child held in amber. The cocoon that surrounded her, kept the young elf in magical stasis, protecting her from time itself, and blessing the devouts who prayed at the feet of the Saint in Amber. She was found long ago by the pilgrims who made their way out of Osterath in search of a new home, those who would go on to form the Order of the Shattered Throne beyond the mountains of Dynas. The Lucidi declared the child encased in the blue amber to be an omen of their righteous path and a symbol of their devotion to the Everlasting. The pilgrims carried her for months until they found a location for their new home and there she stayed, inert. It was hundreds of years before a rising lord who became the leader of one of the Seven Rites declared the Saint in Amber his patron and arranged her a place of worship.

Although Londriel’s story begins before the time of the Fall, it was set to start again, now. Blinding light is what the knights of Charn bound to guard her saw when they finally became aware of what transpired. The amber shattered in a cloud of dust and the child within, held aloft by a necklace she wore around her neck, drifted to the ground, as the necklace’s brilliant centerpiece floated above her. Londriel had been kept safe by the faith of the Order, but she was born an Elf with deep ties to the Conclave of the Sphere’s Liastrum magic, a troublesome union that would mark her life thereon. 

The seven-year-old girl, mortified by her condition and the new world she found herself in, was placed in the care of a warrior couple, Charlan and Evlyne Haquist, who would raise her in the tradition of the Order. Beyond the couple’s gentle and loving upbringing, Londriel’s fate was still up in the air. The Order and Conclave clashed for her custody, while their people argued about her nature. The Order was divided between those who preached she was a keeper of ancient knowledge, a conduit of the Everlastings’ will put into the world to find the worthy and deliver them to ancient Osterath, and those who believed her Elven origins would forever tie her to the theft of the Oracle that was rightfully theirs. Within the Conclave, the elves believe her to be royalty, the greatest treasure of their ancestors, suspended in time, capable of restoring their longevity and guiding elvenkind into a new age of their own making, while the humans saw her as a dangerous unifying force for the elves that could tip the balances of their struggle.

Meanwhile, Londriel learned and grew. The Haquists mentored her in combat and in the magic of their faith while attempting to shield her from the outside world, but they quickly discovered this was impossible. Londriel’s connection to the Liastrum that is central to the Conclave’s magic was undeniable, and eventually the Order had to give in and accept a mage of the Conclave to come and teach her how to wield and contain her powers. The Conclave’s chosen tutor was the mage Lithia from Sphere Virtan. Lithia showed the wonders of magic to the young elf and Londriel proved to be a prodigy in wielding the Liastrum. At the same time, the mage’s expert words molded a web of distrust within the Order, highlighting her contradictory existence as an elf amongst them. Londriel found herself torn between her loving new parents and her powerful teacher, not allowed to choose one and unable to balance both. Eventually, this choice was made for her.

Lithia was the first crack in the Order’s hold upon Londriel and the Conclave’s insistence was enough to break it. The Order could no longer keep her from her nature, ultimately Londriel did not belong amongst them for she was an elf and a mage. It was ruled that the girl would be sent to Quinvala to further her studies in Liastrum magic. Her break from the Order was painful. Charlan and Evlyne could not go with her, and although they loved each other dearly, neither could shake the feeling they wouldn’t meet again for a long time. This was the second time Londriel’s world would change completely within her lifetime, but it would not be the last.

Arriving at the islands, Londriel was welcomed by the elves of the Conclave as a paragon of their old ways, an example to be followed. They expected Londriel to be the one that would return them their longevity. Parades were thrown in her name, and her popularity amongst the elves was palpable. At the same time, she became the center of attention of the higher circles of the Conclave, as the Nexi came from all around to meet the elf from Osterath. Strangely, their attention felt cold and distant. When the novelty of fame died down, she realized what their interest in her really was. She was being displayed, as nothing more than a possible asset to be acquired by one of the powerful spheres. As the spheres fought for her, trying to buy her interest or acquire her Relic, Londriel closed herself to them, learning never to keep her guard down around the crafty mages.

She finally chose to be initiated into the Sphere Virtan, the same Sphere Lithia was a part of. Londriel joined hoping that a familiar face would allow her to retain at least a bit of normalcy in her life. Her studies were not entrusted to her old teacher, however, but to the various rigid masters of the Sphere. She was put into a regime of study, unlike the mystifying methods Lithia had used to teach her in the Order. Learning magic was less… magical and more of a trial. Because of this, her interest shifted elsewhere. Londriel wanted to understand the powerful people who ran the Conclave, the secrets behind them, and how to eventually join them. She sensed that every conversation happened behind a veil of half-spoken truths, of mysteries they all knew, but wouldn’t disclose. Londriel learned that the more she pushed to join them, the more she was shunned and put in her place. The more she attempted to stand out and speak out, the more she was reminded her thoughts weren’t what got her here, and she was told time and time again that it was only her innate power that made her useful. The Nexi and mages preferred to keep her oblivious to the inner workings of the Conclave, a tool to be used at their leisure, and for that, she despised them. 

To her surprise, her indignation didn’t go unnoticed. Someone had been keeping an eye on Londriel ever since her arrival. Her competence and rage spoke to the Nexi of Sphere Avolan and Polinore, the Keeper of the Oracle, one of the greatest amongst the Nexi, offered to take her as his apprentice. Despite the other’s distrust in him, Londriel was drawn to the mage, even though his personality and frequent absences made him difficult to befriend. His frankness and openness about the Conclave were all she had ever wanted, so Londriel was willing to take his offer and become his apprentice.

Years of knowing and learning under Polinore transformed Londriel into a force to be reckoned with. She became something between an adjudicator and agitator, a warden against the unruly use of Liastrum magic within the Conclave. He told her about the unscrupulous dealing that kept the Nexi and their Spheres in power and how the absolute knowledge of Liastrum was way frailer and more surrounded by doubt than she was led to believe. Instead of mastering the Liastrum, the Nexi used it despite its inherent and known dangers. Discovering this awoke a rage inside Londriel, everything she had gone through, the trial, the study, leaving Dynas, Charlan, and Evlyne, she had done it all only to discover the Conclave was rotten to its core. She vowed to fix this, whatever the cost. Turns out, trying to expose the entire high echelons of the Conclave of the Spheres comes with quick and decisive consequences.

What followed was an inquisition against Londriel, as formal charges were laid by Sphere Omena on counts of heresy and treason. She was put on trial and attempted to make a case based on what she had heard from her master. Polinore, however, either acting out of fear of retaliation or trying to protect her, remained silent when she pleaded for his confirmation. Regardless of his reasons, Polinore’s silence led Londriel to be acquitted of the charges, but on a condition. She was appointed governor of the farthest reaches of the conclave, The Wystral. Those who understood her case looked through her punishment for what it was: exile. Londriel had been abandoned again, a third time. She decided to make it a final time. As the Warden of Wystral, she used her isolated position to her favor, gathering alliances with both the Conclave and the Order, and garnering political power to get full control of her lands.

As the time of the Ebbing arrives, Londriel is more than ready to venture into the chaotic lands of the Malediction. She strides towards her future, not a tool nor a legend, but a Seeker. Her Relic, the blue shard of Liastrum, no longer rests in that fine necklace, a memento of her past, but on a crown atop her head. Now her sight is set towards her origins, the ancient city of Osterath, in hopes of understanding what happened to the world at the time of the Fall and making sure that it never happens again. Londriel enters the Malediction to claim the Relics that would give her power, real power, to take back her own life, and to avoid the failures of the past that led her here.