Vax'ildan Vessar | Critical Role | Wilk

[donotgofar]

PLAYER

Player Name: Kate
Pronouns: she/her
Are you over 18? yes
Contact: givemedragons
Current Characters: the Iron Bull
Triggers: I would like CWs provided for images of many-legged insects, general CWs for sexual assault, child abuse, eye injuries, and body horror; I can any of handle those if I have a head's up.

STATISTICS

Character Name: Vax'ildan Vessar
Character Canon: Critical Role: Vox Machina
Character Age: 29
Canon Point: Episode 113 (note: if the revenant powers are going to clash with setting, I can take him from an earlier canon point)
Link to History: Link
Skills:

• Assassin and Rogue: Vax is a trained thief and assassin with several years of professional experience. He's acrobatic, quick, stealthy, and he can use thieves' tools (which allow him to pick locks and disarm traps) and poisons with proficiency. Through work and life experiences, Vax has a knack for intimidation, investigation, persuasion, and sleight of hand. After spending years on his own with his sister and more needing to be aware of his surroundings for his work and adventures, Vax is very perceptive and difficult to surprise. But not impossible. As an assassin, Vax specializes in dealing a lot of damage very quickly and then getting the hell out of the way.


• Fucking Around and Finding Out: Vax has a reckless streak that can be very useful, and occasionally very stupid. He's willing to explore, to take risks, and has a lot of confidence in his own abilities and that's usually enough to carry him through things. Vax usually volunteers to scout ahead, in part because he knows he'll have the best chance of going unseen.


• Hair-Braiding: Look maybe it's not an impressive skill, but it's still a skill. Vax has been braiding his own hair and his sister's for most of their lives. He's very good at it.

Abilities:

Half-Elf Abilities
- dark vision (can see in complete dark for 60 ft; can see in dim light for 120ft)
- resistance to some charm magic and magically induced sleep (can be nerfed)

Revenant Abilities
- returns to life within 24 hours after death (can nerf/change this to suit the game rules)
- knows the distance and direction between himself and Vecna while they are on the same plane of existence
- he doesn't really need food or air, but prefers to have both and can be killed through suffocation
- he will slowly begin to heal after sustaining a certain amount of damage

Paladin Abilities
- When wearing a certain set of armor, he has the ability to fly 2-3 times per day; not relevant if he does not have access to said armor
- Aura of Protection (gives a little boost to allies nearby)
- Divine Health (immune to disease, happy to nerf that)
- Divine Sense (can sense undead or fiends nearby, can only use 2 times in a day)
- Divine Smite (costs him other magic to do this; limited)
- Lay on Hands (can heal some injuries)
- Abjure Enemy (can cause enemies to fear him for a period of time)
- Spellcasting

Known Spells
Notes: Vax can only have 5 spells prepared per day.

1st-level
Bane
Hunter's Mark
Bless
Compelled Duel
Heroism
Shield of Faith

2nd-level
Hold Person
Misty Step
Locate Object
Branding Smite

Curse Mark: Wilk

CHARACTERIZATION

FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES:

• FIRST EVENT: - Leaving Home - Vax and his twin sister, Vex, grew up in a little town with their mother. They were poor, but happy. Around their 10th year, their father - an elven ambassador - appeared in town and offered to take them for a few years, to provide them with an education and lifestyle their mother could never afford to give them. Heartbroken but hopeful of learning more about the other side of their family, the twins make the journey. From the start, they are considered inferior to full-blooded elven children and are treated like they are hopelessly behind their peers. Their father provides private tutoring, and while Vex works hard to prove herself; Vax... doesn't. He does for a while, but he hates the way their father treats him and his sister, hates that he's considered a second-class citizen here when he'd been happy in Byroden, and he hates that Vex's struggle to earn approval is met with condescension and callousness. Harboring a growing bitterness and resentment, it's in this city that Vax first learns how to pickpocket. He goes out at nights and steals things, not because he needs them, but because he can.


• SECOND EVENT: - Losing Home - Unable to take their father's continued cruelty and the knowledge that they will never be good enough for him or anyone else in the city, Vax and Vex run away. With Vex's ability to navigate the wilds, they make it back to Byroden only to find it a smoldering wreck of the town they remember. Their mother dead, their father disappointed, Vax realizes he has no one but Vex in this world. The twins promise each other to stay together, no matter what. This creates a kind of mutual codependency between them, though Vax is convinced that Vex would be much better able to survive without him than he without her. He is willing to do anything to make sure she is safe. This changes their lives when he agrees to join the criminal organization the Clasp in order to get a contract to kidnap her revoked, leaving Vax in their debt.


• THIRD EVENT: - The Raven Queen - Before meeting Vox Machina, Vax felt depressed and aimless for a long time. He thought of himself as "lost and a wanderer," his goal being to find some purpose in his life. After traveling with Vox Machina for a few years, he considered becoming a follower of Sarenrae, the goddess his friend Pike serves. But life had other ideas. During a treasure hunting mission to find a powerful artifact in the tomb of the Raven Queen's champion, another party member set off a trap that killed Vex'ahlia. Nothing the clerics did could revive her, and in a fit of desperation, Vax begs the Raven Queen to "take me instead." It worked, and Vex comes back to life. Vax'ildan was afraid of the Raven Queen at first, uncertain how to shoulder this new connection. He resists their new connection before finally giving in. In order to save his friend Grog, he begs for her to intercede and makes a promise: "I know you are not what I want, but you are what we need. And I will put aside my reservations and serve you. Please." By accepting that role and coming to an understanding, Vax found what he had been lacking and became more at ease with his fate and his purpose in life.


• FOURTH EVENT: - Death - Serving the goddess of death does not guarantee one will avoid it themselves. During a pitched battle against a lich trying to become a god, Vecna, Vax is disintegrated and immediately killed, with nothing left of him for a revival spell to bring back. His soul in limbo, the Raven Queen offers Vax the eternal rest that she says he has earned. But Vax protests, saying he still wants to help his friends. She makes him an offer: he can return to life as her champion, for the sole purpose of hunting down Vecna, so long as he returns to her forever when he has finished that task. Vax agrees immediately and returns to the Material Plane as the Champion of the Raven Queen and a revenant.

PHILOSOPHY: Vax has felt like an outsider for most of his life and quickly learned to solve life's challenges in his own particular way: by sidestepping them entirely. Vax values freedom and self-determination, and for a long time he managed both by traveling with just his sister. For a long time, he believed the world is generally hostile and cruel, and though he wears his heart on his sleeve, he closes himself off and walks away when he becomes overwhelmed by emotional encounters. When they became part of a larger group, Vax struggled to find his place and searched for purpose in helping others. He believes in doing good things, as often as he can, and he's willing to break rules and laws to do that. He doesn't always do the right thing, but he's got the spirit. Vax has had his world shaken a few times, and each time he resists change until he finally sees that it could be good.

DESIRES: Vax'ildan's desires are relatively simple: he wants a purpose, he wants to protect his sister and see her happy, and he wants to fucking destroy Vecna. He found purpose through the Raven Queen and through his dedication to seeing Vecna's attempt to rise to godhood ended. But Vex... Vax will do anything for her, including sacrificing himself to ensure that she will live. He is reckless in the pursuit of his desires at times, flinging himself ahead and trusting that something - fate, or maybe luck - will get him where he's trying to go.

FEARS:

• Loss: Vax is most afraid of losing the few people he holds dear, especially Vex'ahlia. This drives so many of his actions that it accounts for several major life events. He joins the Clasp to protect her and he gives up his soul to the Raven Queen to bring her back to life. His deepest fear is living without her, believing that it would be impossible for him (and believing Vex far stronger - she'd be fine without him). On more than one occasion where they are facing considerable risk he begs her: "Do not go far from me."


• Being Adrift: Though his fear of loss drives many of his decisions, Vax also fears being useless, being without purpose. It weighs on him for a long time that he feels like he has nothing driving him through this life, no reason to keep going except Vex'ahlia. He has made it past this fear in most ways, but being uprooted from his life may bring it back.

GAMEPLAY

SUITABILITY: I'd love to play Vax in this environment in part because it vibes with his origins and some of his biggest fears: a small town where he doesn't fit in, finding himself alone without his sister or anyone else he knows. Set adrift in a new place, separated from his purpose, from everything that helps him make sense of his life. Given the nature of his service to the Matron of Ravens (a goddess of death), he can easily fit in with the horror elements of the game. He's also a bisexual disaster who falls in love with his friends, and so the smut side of things suits him, too. He can be reckless when he's feeling overwhelmed and leaves some good openings for darker kinks and horrific moments to pop up.

His primary motivation will be to find a way home, and I suspect that will get him (and others) in trouble - how long will it take him to accept that he's stuck? Is there anyone here who can convince him to stop throwing himself into the void and hoping for a different outcome? I have no doubt there are PCs and NPCs who will pull on his desire to help people, to do good things, and that may be enough to distract him or redirect him.

SAMPLE: Vax TDM TL with House (cw for general threats of petty violence)

MONSTER: Valravn (Loose references)

In Danish folklore, a valravn is a supernatural raven and they are described as originating from ravens who consume the bodies of the dead on the battlefield [...] or, alternately, as half-wolf and half-raven creatures.

Appearance: Prior to complete transformation, Vax's hybrid form has his face looking more like the porcelain mask the Matron of Ravens wears. When fully transformed, Vax's monstrous form is that of a monstrous raven, the corrupted symbol of his patron goddess. His body is lean and long with heavy black wings; he has long, sharp claws that can easily cut into flesh and muscle and a wicked beak full of teeth.

Behaviors: Depending on how bestial he's feeling, the fully transformed valravn will walk on four legs or two, his forepaws are more dexterous and able to be used like hands. He lurks on rooftops and in trees, slinks through shadows. And if there are any graveyards or cemeteries, he'll most certainly find his way to them. The valravn is a scavenger, for the most part, and tends to investigate the leavings of other horrors.

Abilities:

• Flight: both as a hybrid and fully transformed, the valravn is capable of flying.


• Temporary invisibility: the valravn fades into shadows when stalking potential prey or other hunters to scavenge from.


• Telepathy: when its mouth is less capable of human speech, the valravn relies on rudimentary telepathy, mostly communicating in flashes of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Any person experiencing this telepathy will find it's accompanied by a faint sense of dread.