Lae'zel: Difference between revisions

{{ up to date | 2024-02-08 }}

| level = 1

| race = [[Githyanki]]

Lae'zel has yellowish-green skin, with black accents below her ochre eyes, cheeks and neck. Her scars, most prominent of all one that runs from her nose to her chin, give her the mean look of a seasoned warrior. Black bumpy mottles adorn her face on her cheeks and like all githyanki, she has a small nose and her ears are long and pointed, with ridges protruding on the outer edges. Her hair, kept shoulder-length, is brown and straight, with a few adorned braids running along the side of her head and a small bun on her back. Though shorter than the rest of the companions, and with a wiry, though muscled frame, she stands proud and intimidating.

Lae'zel is depicted as xenophobic, arrogant, and quick to anger. Proud of her race, she frequently makes comments to the party detailing githyanki customs and the nature of her people, often as a means to illustrate githyanki superiority. She can be rough in her expressions and often cares little for the feelings of others. In her mission to remove her mind flayer parasite, she does not hesitate to intimidate or harm those who would step in her way. She is fiercely loyal to her queen Vlaakith, desperately seeking to prove her worth to the Lich Queen. Over time with the party, she becomes more accepting of her companions, though never losing her biting edge. Despite her often brutish behaviour, she is keenly observant and frequently understands the feelings of party members. Lae'zel isn't above pragmatism either, willing to go along with a plan she disagrees with or work together with someone she dislikes, as long as the party stand to benefit. Still juvenile to her people, she also shows some youthful stubbornness at times.

===Crèche K'liir===

She hails from crèche K'liir, also known as Stardock, a githyanki enclave on an asteroid in the Tears of Selûne, an asteroid cluster near the namesake moon.{{ref|name=kliir|[[Campsite]], lines spoken by Lae'zel when asked about her hometown.<br>''"Next time you're able, look to the sky, watch the moon cross it. The Tears follow it. Rocky bodies tumbling through the Sea of Night. One of them is my crèche: K'liir."''}} There, Lae'zel received the customary githyanki martial education, with lessons on how to battle, raid and plunder in the name of Vlaakith. This brutal training instilled a hatred for illithid in her, as well as turn her into an ruthless warrior who would do anything to accomplish her missions.{{verify}} The indoctrination further gave her a racial superiority complex, and contempt for races other than githyanki.

During her time in the creche, she and her clutch battled beholders in a nearby asteroid and infiltrated a neogi spelljammer, slaying its entire crew.{{ref|Campsite, lines spoken by Lae'zel when asked about her hometown.<br>''"My entire clutch battled beholders within the Eye of the Sky's tunnels. We infiltrated a neogi spelljammer and laid waste to its crew."''}} Tested by battle, but still considered a youngling by her people, she wished to prove herself to Vlaakith by presenting her a severed head of an illithid.{{verify}} Lae'zel is captured by the nautiloid during this mission, tadpoled in a cruel mockery of their ancestral feud. Kept in a pod, she awaited [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis ceremorphosis], doomed to her fate.

At the end of Act 2, the party will be ambushed at their camp by githyanki monks. The Dream Visitor explains that they are under attack, and opening a portal to the prism, urges the party to aid them. Inside, they find a [[Mind Flayer]] attacked by the same githyanki monks, the illithid quickly reaches out to the party, revealing that ''it'' is the Dream Visitor. Forced to aid it, the party dispatches the githyanki and the mind flayer shares that it used the guise of the Dream Visitor to support them in their travels. Calling itself the [[Emperor]], he explains that the githyanki assaulted the prism in order to liberate its prisoner: Orpheus. Orpheus' power, combined with that of the Emperor, are everything keeping the party from becoming mindless thralls to the [[Netherbrain]], as such, they have no other option but to side with him for the moment. Lae'zel will share her disbelief, explaining that all githyanki have been told that the Gith's son died to battle thousands of years ago, another one of Vlaakith's lies.

With the hammer at hand, the party must bide their time until they can access the Astral Prism and Orpheus once more, as the Emperor refuses entry. This opportunity presents itself when confronting the Netherbrain at the [[Morphic Pool]]. Attempts to control it fail, and the Emperor pulls the party inside the prism in order to save them. Here, they can decide the Prince of the Comet's fate: staying loyal to Vlaakith and allying with the Emperor will result in the mind flayer consuming Oprheus' brains in order to absorb his essence. The party will then confront the Netherbrain with the Emperor as an ally. Alternatively, the party may reject the Emperor's offer, causing him to join the Netherbrain, and free Orpheus. Orpheus will be initially hostile, but sensing the dire situation the world is in, will join the party. He can furthermore decide to sacrifice himself to become illithid, or remain githyanki due to the sacrifice of a party member. Whatever the case, Orpheus will join the party against the Netherbrain in the final battle for Baldur's Gate.

* {{MdRarityItem|Silver Sword of the Astral Plane}} — granted by Voss for showing him the [[Orphic Hammer]] as part of the quest [[Help Kith'rak Voss]].

* Once Orpheus is revealed to be the being trapped in the Astral Prism, Lae'zel can be spoken to. She'll share her disbelief, and tell the party more about the long thought dead Prince of the Comets.