Emhira

Emhira
Official art of Emhira, by Hannah Friederichs.
Type	Player Character
Actor	Laura Bailey
Character Information
Name	Emhira
Pronouns	she/her
Creature type	Humanoid
Race	Human
Class	Warlock
Age	29
Place	Aeor
Connections	Dearest (raven familiar) Purvan Suul (champion, protector)
Status
Status	Alive
Stats
Level	20
HP	203
AC	19
DC
Str	20
Dex	20
Con	20
Int	20
Wis	20
Cha	20
Appearances
First seen	"Downfall: Part One" (3x99)
Last seen	"Downfall: Part Three" (3x101)
Stream	Campaign Three (3 episodes)

Emhira is a human warlock played by Laura Bailey in Downfall. She is a mortal avatar of the Raven Queen.

Description

Appearance

Emhira has long, rich brown hair and when first seen, was wearing soft green and cream robes and sensible leathers. She has a raven familiar named "Dearest" accompanying her. Her features were completely different from those the Matron of Ravens had in her first mortal life.

Personality

She is slightly cynical and pragmatic when it comes to human behavior related to death or knowledge.

Biography

Background

Fan art of Purvan Suul, the child Emhira, and Galdric, by Sabira Langevin.

After the main Exandrian pantheon agreed to collaborate in a plan to neutralize Aeor and their potentially dangerous technology, the Raven Queen agreed to do her part, and less than three decades before their intended mission she was born as a mortal human girl, Emhira, with whom she had made a pact to empower her even before her birth. Her champion, Purvan Suul, soon came to her home, and after explaining to her parents he had had a vision indicating he had to protect her, he stayed for many years as her guardian as she grew up under his watchful eye. Eventually, and with his guidance, she manifested her magical powers as a warlock, and became fully aware of her purpose as the mortal incarnation of the goddess of death. Before going to Aeor she searched for the place where the mortal woman who became the Raven Queen kept some of her material possessions, to properly equip herself.

"Downfall: Part One" (3x99)

After receiving visions from Arcadia Cerenvetorix (the mortal incarnation of Ioun), Emhira along with Purvan traveled to Hawk's Hill, where she was supposed to meet others like her and take a ship to Aeor. She sent her raven familiar, Dearest, to explore the area, and made a brief attempt to convince her champion and guardian to join her in her mission. However, she was understanding when he refused and thanked him for everything he had done for her. After walking around for a bit (perplexed by the presence of laughing children in a place like that) she approached a tent where Ayden (the mortal incarnation of Pelor) was trying to heal a sick old man; when the man died, Emhira commented that not even a spell could heal old age, and comforted the man's son and daughter-in-law by telling them that Ayden had helped him die in peace. Eventually, with the help of SILAHA (the mortal incarnation of Corellon), Emhira and her team boarded the Aeorian ship, and upon saying goodbye to Purvan, the warlock asked him to escort Trist's family safely away. Inside the ship, the incarnated deities spoke for a bit. They crossed the Latimus Princeps (a barrier to keep gods outside) successfully. However, when some Aeorian military checked the wagons and crates, they cast Zone of Truth and Emhira (now accompanied by Asha, the mortal incarnation of Melora in wolf form) was affected by the spell. Wanting to avoid an interrogation, she cast Suggestion, telling one of the corporals, Bronan, to go away to fix his gear.

The group of mortal gods left the ship and took the Vermillion Tram Line through the city. They noticed an Aeorian enforcer who was drunk and ignoring his imp familiar; ignoring SILAHA's advice, Emhira used Mage Hand to steal the amulet binding the imp and then went Invisible to examine the man, determining he would die before dawn. She then took a breath near him, causing him to cough and start looking for his amulet as the warlock returned to her group. They went to the Chamber of Seasons, an extremely old and abandoned temple of Ioun where Arcadia was waiting for them to guide them inside. Emhira examined the damaged effigies in the temple, noticing that one of them was completely blank, so she made Dearest peck that one. The Emissary (a elemental agent sent by Erathis) acknowledged Emhira, and they met four other incarnations of Betrayer Gods. One of them, Father Milo Cowst, complained about the presence of both Emhira and The Emissary, claiming neither counted as a god. They had a long and chaotic conversation about their goals in the city and their feelings about the world, at the beginning of which Emhira assured them that all the cities in her time hoarded and weaponized knowledge, explaining that if they didn't destroy Aeor they would be giving them the chance to try another move against divinity in the future. One of the incarnated Betrayers, Zaharzht, mentioned Tengar, the place of origin of divinity. Curious, Emhira asked what it looked like, but was told that she (the Raven Queen) should have asked "him". As they discussed possible plans, Emhira confirmed she would be able to blend in, Disguising herself as the guard she had stolen from. When Ayden restored the effigies in the temple to their original appearance with a flash of light, the blank space Emhira had been examining became the image of a masked woman surrounded by ravens, as if that was always the original effigy.

"Downfall: Part Two" (3x100)

Fan art of Emhira, by Kuyaserge.

Before Emhira and her team left the temple, they witnessed the visions produced by a book Trist was examining, showing an Aeorian woman praying to the Everlight to help her sick son. Emhira got very interested in this, noticing the boy, Hallis, seemed too sick to reach adulthood (although not beyond salvation through divine magic), and wondering if they could find the archmage. Using Dearest, she located the Exceleter hospital, where they boy was staying. After that she went with Umleta and SILAHA to the Ars Ward, and the latter guided them to his secret tavern, the Ars Elysia (impressing Emhira, who had never seen a place like that as a mortal), guiding his two teammates to a more private area; although Umleta went to gather information alone Emhira stayed with him, and he tried to convince her that what Aeor was doing wasn't that bad. When the warlock pointed out that the Factorum Malleus could end the gods, he responded by explaining that beauty was always finite in one way or another, and that he himself was tired and would like to end. Emhira then told him that not every god felt the same way (and she certainly wanted to enjoy the rewards of working on her own ascension), convincing him to focus, and reminding him that he could create other places like the Ars Elysia wherever he wanted. After that they spoke with the bartender, 4X 10MN, asking him about the rumors of a celestial visiting Aeor; during the conversation Emhira discovered that Slitch, the imp inside her stolen glass amulet had been listening the whole time, and she let him out. While SILAHA was away, the warlock talked to the imp and accepted his help, since he seemed anxious to betray Aeor; she also agreed to buy him a bottle of booze (ignoring his request of twenty bottles). While they were talking, Slitch asked her if he would live forever as her servant, and she told her he would (even though she knew the souls of fiends weren't hers to claim). After the imp finished his drink and showed her his ability to turn invisible, he returned to the glass amulet. After that she turned invible herself, and when she saw that Garathran, the angel SILAHA had been interrogating, was leaving, she activated her Boots of Haste and attacked with Shadow Blade; shortly after SILAHA, using some of his divine power in that sacred place, shaped reality to cause ZVX (the aeormaton acting as door) to appear and swallow the angel, sealing him inside a pocket plane.

Emhira and him went to interrogate the angel (after failing to locate Umleta), who revealed to be a celestial of the Dawnfather following the solar Acastriel, being part of a group of divine servants frustrated with the gods and the Calamity itself. SILAHA tried to calm him down and regain his trust; however, when he tried to redirect the conversation into an interrogation, the planetar killed himself with his own sword. Despite this, Emhira got from him the information they needed with her Speak with Dead spell, using her connection with her divine self to make the Raven Queen question the soul before crossing into the beyond, thus learning a bit more about Acastriel's faction, as well as the Scribe, an aeormaton handling the information about the Factorum Malleus. Shortly after they started getting information through their Telepathic Bond, learning that some of the other avatars were fighting Aeorian forces. Emhira sent Dearest to the battlefield and through her she cast Arcane Gate to appear there, and immediately after SILAHA cast Dimension Door to bring both of them before the Scribe. The sorcerer used her powers to deactivate the other aeormaton and absorb the knowledge found there. Shortly after that they and their allies used Emhira's Arcane Gate to leave the place before the authorities arrived.

"Downfall: Part Three" (3x101)

Fan art of Emhira, by IceKoldSoup.

In the extradimensional room in the Ars Elysia the gods tried to convince Cassida Previn, one of the archmages working in the Factorum Malleus, to listen to them and help them, despite the fact that the Betrayer Gods she opposed were in the same team as the Prime Deities. To gain her trust Emhira mentioned her son, Hallis, and confirmed to her that she was the only mortal in the room; however, when the warlock got bolder and asked her about the passwords to access the weapon, the wizard got nervous and tried to Teleport, being Counterspelled by SILAHA. Emhira tried to calm her down, telling her they were trying to help; as she looked into her eyes she saw aspects of her life (a woman from the Opus Ward who climbed the hierarchy of Aeor after witnessing a lot of death because of the poor work conditions of the people she knew), and empathized with her absolute dedication to her cause. She told Cassida that if she wasn't willing to help them she should leave the city with her son, but the archmage agreed to work with them; as they were planning, the avatar of the Matron of Ravens created a thread connecting her to Cassida, to know if she was alive, even if they got separated.

After Umleta showed them a recording in which Acastriel (Pelor's solar, who Ayden recognized) talked with two of Cassida's colleagues and urged them to activate the Factorum Malleus, the avatars started moving, as Aeor shook surrounded by Kord's tempest; Emhira cast Mislead to move closer to Trist and Cassida without being noticed, while she used Dearest to scout, informing the rest of the group that the Stormlord was getting a bit too excited with the weather, before her raven flew down to take refuge under the warlock's clothes. As preparation, Emhira cast Armor of Ayda, Crown of Stars, and Mislead once more, using Eldritch Master to restore her magic immediately after. It was decided that Cassida, Arcadia, Trist, Umleta, and Emhira would go to a scroll bank to delete the information there, making sure it wouldn't be replicated; the later, however, sent Dearest with her duplicate instead, while her actual invisible self followed the other team to the chamber of the Factorum itself; as they were doing so, Ayden noticed her, but said nothing. As they were walking Umleta addressed Emhira's illusory self, asking her if she wasn't ready to fight, and she answered through the duplicate, telling her she could be useful for the scroll team, causing the halfling to mock them for being the nerd team. In the chamber of the machine, although SILAHA tried to be stealthy at first, when Acastriel noticed he wasn't being truthful a battle started: the divine team attacked the Factorum Malleus and its seven wards while Acastriel and the two archmages, supported by constructs, dragons, and fiends; Emhira attacked one of the wards with the Crown of Stars, causing severe damage, and cast Shatter to try and make an irrevocable construct fall, although that made her visible. When Acastriel tried to attack her, Ayden used his Protective Bond to teleport near her and receive one of the hits, showing his disappointment to the angel, and encouraging the warlock to tease the celestial too after damaging him with her own necrotic energy; as that was happening, her duplicate in the scroll bank disappeared, leaving Dearest alone. Acastriel blinded Emhira, but even then she continued fighting, missing an attack against another ward, before casting Maddening Darkness, filling the spell with the wails and mournful cries associated with her divine portfolio; she, however, caught some of her allies in the spell, and Ayden had to absorb the damage directed to both him and the Emissary.

Fan art of Emhira protecting Ayden, by Elaine Tipping.

When Acastriel tried to attack the young avatar of Pelor, Emhira protected him by teleporting next to him, resisting the solar's attempt to kill her instantly; that gesture made both Ayden and Pelor feel that Emhira/the Raven Queen were part of their family after all. As the wards of the Factorum Malleus were destroyed, the avatars gained more and more god-like powers, and Ayden cast a Sunburst so powerful it even overcame Emhira's magical darkness; the warlock, in turn, cast Eldritch Blast to move a construct away from the last ward and destroy it, allowing the Emissary to disanimate the Factorum Malleus following the plan. Shortly after, Selena (SILAHA's creator and one of Cassida's co-workers) distracted the avatars with a glass emblem containing Arcadia (revealing that the now missing Father Milo must have been replacing her during part of their mission), and then used a Wish to spread the information of the Factorum Malleus among all the wizards of Aeor. When Emhira asked Slitch about the location of the Lord of the Hells, the imp told her he was with the spider; it was in that moment when the warlock noticed that she no longer felt the thread connecting her to Cassida.

After leaving the Emissary with SILAHA in the almost destroyed Factorum Malleus, Emhira and the others ran to the scroll bank, discovering Asmodeus there, already in his divine form, witnessing the corpse of Cassida and preparing to use a scroll to turn the weapon against the Prime Deities, although Trist stopped him by obliterating the scroll in his hand. As the fall and destruction of Aeor started, Emhira was the first to abandon her mortal form, feeling relief when she put again the emotionless mask of the Matron of Death. Shortly after Ayden did the same, becoming the Dawnfather and making Asmodeus disappear. That left only Trist as a mortal, and seeing that she was heartbroken, the Raven Queen hugged her, holding her until the very last moment, when the human teacher abandoned mortality too to become the Everlight once more; before leaving the city, the goddess of death created a small protective orb around Cassida's corpse, to give her the dignity of keeping her mortal remains untouched by the crash. The Prime Deities that had been part of the plan gathered in Eiselcross, and when Erathis arrived, she thanked the Matron for the treatment she had given to the Emissary, both as Emhira and as the goddess; the other gods greeted her as a sister, and Sarenrae also told her that she didn't understand how she could handle her divine duties and all the loss. They had a brief conversation about the possibility of leaving Exandria to keep mortals safe (the Matron wasn't too happy about it, since Exandria was the only home she had ever known), and then started returning to their realms. The Everlight, remembering Trist's children, asked the Raven Queen to keep them alive as long as possible, and to resurrect them if necessary. The goddess of death told her that she could not do that, but she summoned their threads of fate, very shiny and close together, explaining to the goddess of compassion that Haylie and Topher were destined to do great things, and that eventually they would reunite with their mother. When Raei shared her impressions about her time spent as a mortal, the Matron assured the deities that remained there that that time had been worth it. The Raven Queen, remembering her experience with Ayden, told the Dawnfather that he was full of surprises before finally returning to her realm.

Character information

Fan art of Emhira and Dearest, by MidnightCrows.

Notable items

• Boots of Haste
• A glass amulet containing Slitch the imp, removed from an Aeorian Enforcer via Mage Hand

Abilities

Feats

• War Caster

Warlock abilities

Emhira is a warlock of the Raven Queen, effectively making Emhira her own patron. One of her abilities matches that of a warlock with an Undying patron; the following are her demonstrated abilities:

• Among the Dead: Undead must make a Wisdom saving throw and choose a new target on a failure
• Sentinel Raven: grants a familiar-like raven
  • Familiars may be granted in multiple ways, including through Pact of the Chain.
• Pact Magic (Charisma-based spellcasting)
• Eldritch Invocations
  • Mask of Many Faces
  • Whispers of the Grave
  • Agonizing Blast (+Charisma modifier to Eldritch Blast damage)^{[citation needed]}
  • Grasp of Hadar (once on each of your turns, an EB hit can pull an enemy 10 ft toward you, no save or size restriction.) Used in the main fight.^{[citation needed]}
• Eldritch Master

Warlock spells

Spell level	Spell	Notes
0 (cantrip)	Mage Hand
0 (cantrip)	Eldritch Blast
1st	Armor of Agathys	Originally called Armor of Ayda (a Dimension 20 spell). Deals necrotic damage instead of cold.
1st	Hellish Rebuke	Deals necrotic damage instead of fire.
2nd	Suggestion
2nd	Shadow Blade
2nd	Shatter
2nd	Invisibility
3rd	Speak with Dead	At will. Included in additional spells granted by the Raven Queen or Undying patron, or from the Whispers of the Grave eldritch invocation.
4th	Greater Invisibility	Possibly. Emhira cast a spell while remaining invisible.
5th	Mislead
6th	Arcane Gate	Mystic Arcanum
7th	Crown of Stars	Mystic Arcanum
8th	Maddening Darkness	Mystic Arcanum

Deity Abilities

• Divine Prowess: After calculating all bonuses, the Raven Queen doubles the result of any skill check she makes. Her passive skill checks are also doubled.
• Divine Magic: The Raven Queen may cast any cleric spell or domain spell of a domain she grants of any level once per turn without using a spell slot (it still takes an action, however). The Raven Queen's spell save DC is doubled as is the range, area of effect, and duration of all their spells.
• Divine Vitality: Provided she hasn't taken damage since the beginning of her last turn, the Raven Queen regenerates all hit points at the start of her turn. All her death saving throws are considered Natural 20s (bringing her up to 1 hit point automatically). Her maximum HP, current HP, and any temporary HP given by spells is multiplied by 10. Finally, she is immune to the poisoned, petrified, and paralyzed conditions, as well as any disease.
• Divine Potency: All damage the Raven Queen deals by spells or weapon attacks is multiplied by 10. After rolling an attack roll, the Raven Queen can double the result and use that instead. After calculating all bonuses, the Raven Queen doubles her armor class. Her range with ranged weapons is also doubled.
• Divine Resistance: The Raven Queen has five Legendary Resistances. After rolling a saving throw, she can double the result. The Raven Queen is immune to all non-magical damage, damage from weapons that are not Artifacts, and damage from spells of 6th level or lower. She is also immune to two elemental damage types (one of which is likely radiant) and resistant to four elemental damage types.
• Divine Awareness: The Raven Queen has truesight, blindsight, and tremorsense to a range of 120 ft. She can speak and understand all languages (spoken and written) and communicate telepathically to any creature she can see. She is immune to the charmed, frightened, stunned, blinded, and deafened conditions.
• Divine Vigor: The Raven Queen regains all limited use class features at the start of her turn. She is immune to exhaustion, and after all bonuses are calculated, has her speed doubled. The Raven Queen has three Legendary Actions per round.

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Three: Bells Hells
  • "Downfall: Part One" (3x99) (first appearance)
  • "Downfall: Part Two" (3x100)
  • "Downfall: Part Three" (3x101)
  • "The Cradle's Convocation" (3x104), in an illusion
  • "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107), mentioned only (unnamed)
  • "A Test of Fate" (3x109), in a spell with her appearance

Quotations

• (about SILAHA's self-hating) "If it's an end you want, darling, I can make that happen. I have ways. That's my purpose. But I didn't work an entire lifetime to have it end before I experience the infinite."

Trivia

• The binary at the bottom of Emhira's character card translates to "death".
• Her name could derive from the Ottoman Turkish emir (ruler/leader).
• Laura Bailey explained in an interview that her warlock patron was the Matron of Ravens herself – "I had created a backstory where the Matron actually decided what child she was going to be born into, created The Pact with an unborn child, and sent her Champion to that family before or upon Emhira's birth and so Purvan, her Champion, was with her from her birth to protect her and keep her safe throughout her life and to help teach her everything that she would need to know, how to fight and all of that kind of stuff, and took care of her and her family and really helped out. So he was like a father to her, in some ways". On picking the warlock class, Bailey commented that she considered wizard since the Matron was a wizard in her first mortal life, however the Matron "wouldn't want to do things that she'd already done. So it might be nice to come back in this life and have it be easy, you know. You don't have to learn everything in magic. It just comes to you from another power. So she basically made a pact with herself and she was her own source of power".
• In the aforementioned interview Laura also confirmed that two of the inspirations for Emhira's appearance were Rachel Weisz and Catherine Zeta-Jones, being surprised when she was told that fans saw a resemblance between the character and her.
• When Asha took an animal form pretending to be Emhira's pet, the latter said she had always wanted a dog of her own. This is likely a reference to Galdric, Purvan's wolf companion: since the champion was with Emhira for her entire life she likely got used to the presence of the animal.

References

Art: