Aloysia Telfan (pronounced like "ah-LOY-see-uh TELL-fin") is an elf agent of the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream.[4]
Description[]
When encountered in Bazzoxan, Aloysia is gaunt and wearing scarlet robes.[5] She is described as tall and pale, and illustrated with shoulder-length, light-colored hair that drapes over her left eye.[6]
Aloysia is ambitious in her pursuit of knowledge and power.[7] She is described by an agent of a rival organization as cold-blooded,[6] and indeed, she is willing to kill to get what she wants. But she is not so cynical as to avoid being shocked when she is betrayed.[8]
She has at least a superficial charm: she is polite and pleasant while she still thinks she can persuade people to cooperate. But she quickly reveals a haughty manner with those who turn down her offers.[7] To those who achieve enough initial success in tasks for the Consortium to be offered membership, she says she hopes to see them rise through its ranks.[8]
Biography[]
Official art of Aloysia approaching Aurora Watch soldiers at the threshold of the Betrayers' Rise, by Zoltan Boros from Call of the Netherdeep, p. 48.[art 2]
By the time of the crisis around the Netherdeep in 836 PD, the Consortium had dispatched Aloysia to Bazzoxan, and the Allegiance of Allsight had sent Prolix Yusaf to spy on her. Aloysia had tried to bribe Aurora Watch soldiers to escort her into the Betrayers' Rise as she sought a holy site within, and had been reprimanded for it; she had also been injured trying to enter the Betrayers' Rise alone, and had been treated in the infirmary, where Bautha Dyrr judged her as reckless and naïve. Word got around that Aloysia then began looking for mercenaries to explore the Betrayers' Rise for her. She and Prolix were both staying at the Ready Room.[9]
The Player Characters (PCs) may first encounter her at the Ready Room when they are speaking to an agent of the Cobalt Soul named Question; Aloysia eavesdrops on their conversation and approaches the PCs with the offer of gold if they'll accompany her into the Betrayers' Rise to help her seek a prayer site and, ultimately, a mineral called ruidium that she believes to be infused with the power of Ruidus. She is initially polite, pleasant, and seemingly forthright about what she wants, if cagey with details. She holds a mix of true and false beliefs about the ancient hero Alyxian (whose name she doesn't know), and seeks a pendant he wore that holds the power of three gods and which she believes is the key to acquiring ruidium. If the PCs mention a vision from this hero or that they have the Jewel of Three Prayers, Aloysia becomes obsessed with acquiring the Jewel for herself. If the PCs turn down her offer to escort her into the Betrayers' Rise, her charm evaporates and is immediately replaced with chilly disdain.[10]
If the PCs bring the Jewel of Three Prayers to the prayer site to Avandra within the Betrayers' Rise, they have a vision, the Jewel of Three Prayers enters its Awakened State, and Aloysia appears with Ayo Jabe's adventuring party in tow, having arrived through some magical force they encountered within their version of the Betrayers' Rise. Aloysia demands the PCs hand over the jewel, and the PCs' relationship with Ayo Jabe's party helps determine how cooperative that party is toward Aloysia. Depending on whether Aloysia gets the jewel, she may simply use one of her teleportation tablets to leave (inviting Ayo's party to join her) or may lose her temper, begin ranting, and use a spell scroll of Earthquake against the PCs. If she takes the latter course of action, she drops two of her three tablets in her haste to escape the quaking room before a collapse traps the PCs within.[11]
If the PCs follow Aloysia closely—either stepping into the circle opened by her teleportation tablet[12] or quickly using one of the tablets she dropped—Aloysia tries to flee through the crowds of the Suncut Bazaar, and if caught, in her desperation she offers profitable employment with the Consortium. If the PCs accept, she leads them to First Eclipse, the temporary headquarters of the Consortium. Once there, she opens a secret door to a storeroom and asks the PCs to wait; she goes and finds Master Vrill, one of the leaders of the Consortium, and recounts the events in Bazzoxan, which piques Vrill's interest just enough. Aloysia and Vrill return to grant the PCs a brief audience. After Vrill is done demanding a look at the Jewel of Three Prayers and potentially mentioning the Consortium's interest in Alyxian, she leaves and bids Aloysia to follow.[13] This can lead to Aloysia being the contact for further missions assigned by the Consortium to the PCs, including one that conveys a message from a different co-leader of the Consortium, Master Aradrine.[14]
If the PCs instead follow Prolix to see one of the co-leaders of the Allegiance of Allsight, Gryz Alakritos, Prolix prompts the PCs to tell Gryz about Aloysia's actions in Bazzoxan and the Betrayers' Rise, leading Gryz to wonder why the Consortium is willing to go to such lengths for the Jewel of Three Prayers.[15]
Relationships[]
- Though Aloysia is an initiate, one of the most recent inductees to the cult,[16] she can be observed interacting directly with Vrill and Aradrine, two of the Consortium's five leaders.[17]
- If Ayo's party allies with Aloysia in the Betrayers' Rise, Ayo Jabe frets about it shaking her party's confidence in her decision-making as a leader.[18]
Character information[]
Notable items[]
- Teleportation tablets leading to First Eclipse in Ank'Harel's Suncut Bazaar[19]
- Spell scroll of Earthquake[12]
- Hundreds of gold pieces[1]
Abilities[]
Aloysia is an occult initiate with the following traits and abilities:[2]
- Skill proficiencies: Arcana (expertise), Deception, History, Perception
- Actions
- Spellcasting (requiring no material components)
- At will: Light, Mage Hand
- 1/day each: Detect Magic, Levitate
- Shortsword: Melee attack, deals piercing and psychic damage
- Arcane Blast (recharge 5–6): In a 20-foot sphere centered on a point she can see within 120 feet, each creature must make a Dexterity saving throw; on a failure, the creature takes force damage and is pushed 10 feet from the center of the area, but on a success they take half damage and are not pushed.
- Spellcasting (requiring no material components)
Appearances and mentions[]
Quotes[]
- "Well done, heroes! Now, if you would simply hand over the jewel, we can all get out of here without spilling any more blood."[8]
- "I hope you're not disappointed by mercenary work. It's not as exciting as other jobs, but it pays well."[20]
- [In a letter:] "Fellow initiates,
Master Aradrine has decided to overlook your failure. Your connection to the Apotheon is too strong to allow a single misstep to disqualify you from further service. She requests your presence for a significant assignment-one that will require utmost stealth. Another failure will not be tolerated."[21]
Trivia[]
- As an elf, Aloysia would presumably have darkvision, advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and immunity to being magically put to sleep,[22] but unlike with Aradrine or her elven compatriot Galeokaerda, there are no instructions in the text to add racial traits to her statblock.[23]
- Aloysia shares some traits with Master Vrill, the first fellow member of the Consortium she goes to upon returning to Ank'Harel. Both have an obsessive thirst for knowledge. Both are elves with pale skin and light-colored hair, and both wear a floppy hat; Vrill, who shows several signs of being a pallid elf, wears it to help block the sun.[24][25]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 61.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 61. See also p. 205.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 74. See also pp. 105 and 110.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 17.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 61. See also p. 74.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 55.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 61–62.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 74.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 55–57.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 71–72.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 73–75.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 75.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 78–79.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 105. See also pp. 107 and 110.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 79.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 61. See also p. 204.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, pp. 78–79. See also p. 110.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 77.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 74}. See also p. 93.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 105.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 110.
- ↑ See D&D: Player's Handbook (2014), 5th ed., p. 21.
- ↑ See Call of the Netherdeep, p. 78. See the illustrations and descriptions of Aloysia on pp. 48 and 55.
- ↑ For comparison, see the illustration and description of pallid elves. See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 163.
Art:
- ↑ Official art of Aloysia Telfan, by Isabel Gibney from Call of the Netherdeep, p. 55. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Official art of Aloysia approaching Aurora Watch soldiers at the threshold of the Betrayers' Rise, by Zoltan Boros from Call of the Netherdeep, p. 48. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.