Ryn

Planerider Ryn
Fan art of Planerider Ryn, by Nikki Dawes.
Type	NPC
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Name	Ryn
Pronouns	she/they
Also known as	Planerider Ryn Planewalker Ryn
Creature type	Humanoid
Race	Tiefling
Class	Wizard (School of Conjuration)
Age	Late 50s (in 843 PD)
Languages	Common, Infernal, Primordial
Place	Elemental Plane of Fire (field lab)
Connections	Arcana Pansophical Grim Verity Yurek Windkeeper (teacher) Niles (fire elemental ally)
Profession	Researcher, astronomer
Status
Status	Alive (as of 843 PD)
Stats
Level	≥15
Appearances
First seen	"Axiom Shaken" (3x43)
Last seen	"A New Age Begins" (3x121)
Stream	Campaign Three (7 episodes)
Other works	Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn

“

I continue to find an aberration in my data pertaining to Exandria, a cyclical, months-long, slow surge in low-level magical interference that then recedes just as slowly. Something that tangles my readings and upsets my analysis. It is too faint to identify the arcane nature at source, but I worry if this pertains to to the shifting between the veils. It could be something very interesting. Something very frightening. Very wonderful. More tests are required.

”

– 

From the notebook of Planerider Ryn, found in the Elemental Plane of Fire.

[!h]

Planerider Ryn is a tiefling member of the Arcana Pansophical and the Grim Verity who studies planar travel, arcane ley lines, and astronomy.

Description

Fan art of Planerider Ryn, by Kaw.

Ryn is a deep red female tiefling in her late 50s. She has white to sky-blue eyes with small black pupils, horns that curl backward and then up, and very short black hair with two grey streaks. When Bells Hells encountered her, she was wearing a combination of robes and leather armor and carried a crooked wand.

Ryn described herself as a "doer", who makes things happen and "get weird". Her main goal when she met Bells Hells was to stop Otohan Thull from accomplishing the goal of freeing Predathos from its prison of Ruidus.

Biography

Background

Ryn studied under Yurek Windkeeper, founder of the Arcana Pansophical, and became a specialist in planar travel and arcane ley lines. By 812 PD, she was a Maker of the Pansophical, a higher member responsible for oversight and enacting judgment. She often travels between the realms to complete her research. At some point, she gave a spell scroll of Plane Shift and a tuning fork attuned to the Elemental Plane of Fire to Yussa Errenis.

Ryn and Roe Estani worked together as astronomers.

Campaign Two

While fleeing from the Cerberus Assembly in "Between a Ball and a Hot Place" (2x129), the Mighty Nein used the spell scroll gifted to Yussa and found themselves in the Plane of Fire, inside what appeared to be a field lab belonging to Ryn. There they found Ryn's notes pertaining to the Planes of Existence, noting a slow shift in the structure between the planes and a possible sudden shift in the cosmic tapestry down the road, remaking the cosmos.

Campaign Three

While Bells Hells were talking with Hondir, it was revealed that Ryn is a member of the Grim Verity. She was mentioned by Hondir to be the best source on whether Ruidus had infiltrated the Shadowfell in the same way as it had the Feywild.

Fan art of Ryn in her lab, by Lap Pun Cheung.

Ryn's research focuses on astronomical oddities and inconsistencies in the overlap of the Planes of Existence. She had recently discovered strangeness in the movement of the ley lines throughout Exandria, producing bursts of energy that coincided with Ruidus's flares. In researching this, she discovered the Omen Archive project and became friends with members of the Grim Verity. She also discovered abnormalities in the two planes closest to the Prime Material Plane: the Feywild and the Shadowfell, where mysterious constructions were being built. Bells Hells encountered her for the first time when they followed Ebenold Kai and Baryn Vestisho into Ryn's study in the Fire Plane.

Fan art of Ryn casting Plane Shift, by Cristina Anaya.

They became allies, and later that day, after returning to Yios and capturing Tuldus, a member of the Ruby Vanguard, they contacted the Planerider again, who appeared while they were interrogating the prisoner (influencing him with her magic) and offered her help with travel to the Feywild. She took responsibility to care for the incapacitated Kadija Sumal as well as Tuldus, and Plane Shifted the party into the Feywild.

After their successful mission, Bells Hells returned to Exandria and contacted Ryn, who congratulated them, confirmed they hadn't lost a single day, and explained that there was another team working to destroy the Malleus Key in the Shadowfell (the two survivors of that mission, Beauregard Lionett and Caleb Widogast had, in fact, traveled with her to the excavation). She told them that she was currently investigating the Tishtan ruins, but while she was talking to Imogen, their communication was abruptly cut off. The following night, using FCG's Shared Dream spell, Imogen, FCG, Chetney, and Laudna tried to search for Ryn and found her petrified body near the Malleus Key. However, before they could do anything, they were detected by Otohan Thull and had to flee the dream.

Days later, when Bells Hells infiltrated the Tishtan excavation site, Fresh Cut Grass (who was manipulating the large body of a Warder automaton) managed to reach Ryn's petrified form, but while attempting to take her away she was hit by some rocks and her right arm broke. During Ludinus Da'leth's speech he made sure to uncover the statue so the Planerider would be visible as a trophy. When Bells Hells infiltrated the excavation again, many days later, one of their goals was to rescue Ryn, and they discovered that her petrified body was no longer where they had last seen it.

During their mission on Ruidus Bells Hells hesitated a couple of times when talking about using their spell scroll of Greater Restoration, knowing they would need it if they were to find Ryn's petrified body. After they returned to the Red Center they checked once more and assertained that the statue of Ryn had most likely been moved, and there were no signs that it had been destroyed in its former location.

Fan art of Planerider Ryn, rescued, by Elaine Tipping.

Days later when they returned to Ruidus with the Mighty Nein, they discovered that the statue of Ryn had been left in an Exandria-themed shrine, and after creating some distractions, they were able to get close enough for Caduceus Clay to cast Greater Restoration. No longer petrified, the Planerider panicked when she saw her saviors (magically disguised as Ruidians) and when she saw her missing hand was gushing blood. Although Caduceus was fast enough to cast Cure Wounds on her and stop the bleeding, Ryn used Dimension Door to get away, appearing in an unknown dark chamber since she didn't have a specific direction in mind. The party contacted her via Sending shortly afterwards, and although she was thankful to her now-identified saviors, she told them she would be collecting her thoughts for a while and that she wasn't ready to join them in their current mission.

Later that same day, Ryn received a magical message from Imogen, asking for help. Ryn used Scrying to locate the Hallowed Cage and Teleported there; she told them the only way out of Ruidus she knew was the Bloody Bridge, but Laudna showed her with Silent Image a secret portal in the underground proto-Elven ruin, giving her a doll Laudna found there to use as a focus. The Planerider Teleported all of them there (with Dorian inside a portable hole due to number limits), and after a tense conversation with the holy army waiting for them they were allowed to return to Exandria. Orym offered for Ryn to stay with them for the moment and to stay close to him, and she agreed, nervously admitting that this was a unique chance to witness the important events that were taking place around the group. After the gods went through the Rites of Catatheosis to be reborn as mortals, and Predathos was released, leaving the planet unable to find proper nourishment, the political factions in Vasselheim gathered to decide what should they do with their former enemies now that the conflict with the Moon of Ill Omen was over; people were proposing an exchange program to promote the integration and friendship between Ruidians and Exandrians, and Ryn offered her powers to facilitate this, and started working with Rashinna. A few days later she and Orym went for a walk and prayed in a garden (something unusual for the Planerider, who wasn't religious); the halfling used his sword, Seedling, to restore Ryn's arm, and when she noticed she was very thankful.

Character information

Notable items

• A long wooden case holding a series of unique metal rods

Abilities

• Dimension Door
• Plane Shift
• Scrying
• Teleport

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Two
  • "Between a Ball and a Hot Place" (2x129), mentioned only
• Campaign Three
  • "Omens Above" (3x19), mentioned only
  • "Dark Portents" (3x29), mentioned only
  • "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) (first appearance)
  • "Bawdy Basement Belligerence" (3x44)
  • "Ominous Lectures" (3x45)
  • "An Exit Most Fraught" (3x48), via Sending
  • "The Aurora Grows" (3x49), mentioned only
  • "Red Moon Rising" (3x50), mentioned only
  • "The Apogee Solstice" (3x51), petrified
  • "Hope Within History" (3x55), mentioned only
  • "Escape From The Past" (3x58), mentioned only (unnamed)
  • "For The Tempest" (3x68), mentioned only
  • "A Gathering of Heroes" (3x76), mentioned only
  • "The Promise and the Price" (3x77), mentioned only
  • "Rush for the Bloody Bridge" (3x82), mentioned only
  • "Seeking Sedition" (3x88), mentioned only
  • "Divisive Portents" (3x89), mentioned only
  • "Broken Roads" (3x92), mentioned only
  • "The Nein Hells" (3x111), mentioned only
  • "The Assembling of Legends" (3x112)
  • "The Red End" (3x120)
  • "A New Age Begins" (3x121)
• Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, Figures of Interest entry
• Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, Figures of Interest entry

Quotes

Fan art of Ryn, by Clara.

• "You have come to my abode uninvited, but seem to have some sort of business with some of my friends, so consider yourselves at the moment not burned to a crisp."
• "The wonderful thing about magic is that eventually you become everyone's transport device."
• "Let's make things weird."

Trivia

• In the Talks Machina: Campaign Wrap-up, Matt said that one of the members of the Arcana Pansophical was developing a portal connected to the Nine Hells. Since they needed demon parts for this ritual, they contracted with the Slayer's Take to find a rakshasa and harvest his parts for them. This task was later assigned to one half of Vox Machina. Planerider Ryn, as the planar specialist in the Arcana Pansophical, was the most likely person interested in a portal between planes or tasked with making one.
• Some fans (as well as Aabria herself) have noted the similarity between the names and fields of study of Planerider Ryn and Laerryn Coramar-Seelie. Although not confirmed, it is theorized that Ryn would have had access to documents connected to the Architect Arcane of Avalir.
• She visited Yios at some point in her life and tried the Yiosian cheesesteak, which she liked a lot.
• Ryn has visited the borders between Elemental Planes, the Abyss, the Fey Realm, and on top of that she is aware of other worlds in the Material Plane.
• In the Critical Role 10-Year Anniversary Tarot Deck, Ryn is illustrated on the Queen of Wands card.

References

Art: