Bonus - Katya Isildran (Ending) (Patreon)

Just a quick bonus, and I hope you don't mind me rambling about a recently finished campaign where I play as a player.

This is Katya Isildran, a character I made for a short campaign I was invited to early this year. Technically, the campaign has been running since last year, but I joined in a bit late to replace a player who had a scheduling conflict.

We played around 45 sessions (I think the total session of the campaign is a bit less than 60 sessions) before we reached the end. She became one of my favorite characters because of how her story was going and the ending. So I hope you don't mind me pouring a long summary of the story from her point of view here (the campaign took place in a homebrew world created by the DM) :

Katya Isildran (+400 years old)

Dhampir (Elf) - Wild Magic Barbarian

Katya, a Shadar-Kai elf born in the Wasted Wild, possessed a unique and uncontrollable mutation: the ability to absorb wild magic constantly from her surroundings. This made her a danger to those around her, compelling her to leave her tribe in search of her place in the world.

Her journey led her to the battlefield, where her abilities found true purpose. There, amidst the chaos, Katya honed her skills, learning to channel her power where destruction was a necessity. Embracing this path, she became a mercenary, moving from skirmish to skirmish, battling a myriad of foes, from humanoids to demons. After over a century of wandering and fighting, she earned the title of knight in the realm of Erengaard. Unlike other soldiers who fought for survival, Katya thrived in combat, considering the battlefield her home.

Her life took a turn when she met Laelin Isildran, a fellow soldier and scholar in Erengaard's service. They fought together for years, even as Erengaard fell to the Kingdom of Nordamnia. They continued to defend the remnants of their empire until Katya was slain in a siege. Mysteriously, she resurrected, transformed by her unique ability into something otherworldly. Now, she needed to absorb arcane energy from living creatures.

After Erengaard's fall, Katya and Laelin were separated due to differing duties. Laelin, an adept explorer and researcher, was assigned to scout new lands, while Katya stayed to maintain order in the capital. Laelin promised to return for her, envisioning a peaceful future together in this new land.

However, when the first generation of explorers returned, Laelin was missing, leaving behind only a cryptic journal. After a lengthy wait, a determined Katya joined the next fleet as a mercenary, driven by a faint hope of finding her husband, still believing he might be alive.

—-------------------- Beginning of the campaign

Katya joined the fourth generation of explorers, embarking on missions across new islands. They uncovered remnants of ancient civilizations once ruled by giants and dragons and began to unravel the reasons behind the world's descent into chaos. Along the way, they lost friends but also made new ones.

During these explorations, Katya learned a shocking truth: her husband, Laelin, had betrayed their team, conspiring with comrades to outpace the empire in a race of discovery. To find Laelin, Katya had to defy her orders, resulting in her entire party being branded traitors for protecting those associated with Laelin.

Their quest led them through cursed seas and ancient ruins, culminating in a confrontation with Laelin. He revealed their discovery: the chaos engulfing their world was orchestrated by a mysterious entity. Believing the world beyond saving, Laelin and his allies planned to destroy it to create a new, peaceful reality.

Laelin confessed to altering Katya's fate. When she perished in the siege, he made a pact with a being to resurrect her, which left him with cursed scars. He sought to reset the world, hoping to rectify their lives. Realizing her wish was granted a long time ago, as her home was wherever Laelin was, Katya decided to support his wish.

Their quest unveiled a profound secret about the world's creation: it had been restarted before. They discovered that the numerous gods and goddesses worshipped by people, often instigating significant conflicts, were all manifestations of a single entity known as The Overgod. This being was responsible for the annihilation of the previous world and the genesis of the current one. In the past, individuals similar to the members of their party had attempted to thwart The Overgod but failed, with the incarnation of some of these individuals now part of her group. The Overgod had orchestrated their long journey, intending to demonstrate the futility of their endeavors and align them with his grand design. His ultimate goal was for the party to become his avatars, tasked with reforming the world according to his blueprint.

The party, determined to defy The Overgod's commands, overcame every challenge and obstacle he placed in their path. In a pivotal moment, Katya proved to him that fate was not under his control, demonstrating her free will by deviating from the path laid out for her. During a critical episode where the party was ensnared in their own traumatic pasts, Katya faced a moment of transformation when Laelin attempted to revive her. She resisted the influence and chose to reject the resurrection. Her decision stemmed from not wanting Laelin to bear the burden and guilt of the consequences. This realization marked a turning point for Katya; she understood that her true quest was to find a place to lay her arms in peace. This act of defiance altered the course of history, transforming Katya back to her original elven form leaving her Dhampir existence behind.

After a grueling battle, the party finally confronted the Overgod in his realm and defeated him. They acquired a red cube with the power to annihilate and reshape the world according to their desires. While some members yearned for a normal life, free from the wars that had ravaged them, others sought to live unburdened by curses with newfound love, or to resurrect a sister and reclaim their former identities as the three sisters of time. Despite their diverse wishes, they all shared a common goal: to create a peaceful world. However, Katya questioned the morality of recreating the world.

Katya reflected on her actions and choices, living without regret. She acknowledged that her mistakes and the hardships she endured were integral to her identity. She had long resolved never to forget the burdens she carried and the lives she affected, respecting both the lives she had taken and the futures she had altered. She was committed to living in the present. Katya observed that while her companions were focused on their pasts and envisioned futures, they failed to recognize that in their quest to recreate the world, a “better world”, they were poised to erase the past, present, and future of countless lives who had no say in this monumental decision. Those who have found happiness after overcoming their personal challenges.

During their battle with the Overgod, Katya came to a profound realization about his nature. She saw how human the Overgod actually was: his greed had led to the world's chaos, and his pride ultimately caused his downfall. She noted that he did not have true control over anyone's fate. This realization led her to doubt the possibility of creating the peaceful world they all longed for. Katya believed that the nature of a soul cannot be easily changed. She emphasized that their journey had provided clear evidence of this.  She argued that just as the Overgod had once reset the world, leading to the current state of affairs, their attempt to do the same could result in a similar outcome. In her view, the cycle of resetting the world, even with good intentions, would likely lead to the same outcome.

Katya viewed the world not as a game to be reset at every failure. She believed that life was not like a book chapter, to be discarded when its course was unsatisfactory. While she couldn't deny her companions their dreams, understanding their preciousness and recalling her promise to her husband, she still felt she couldn't join them in their envisioned peaceful world, as she would most likely be dragged back to the endless battlefield again. Katya felt a profound connection to the world as it was, intertwined with every future she had altered, every present moment she had shaped, and every past burden she had borne. She believed her place was here amidst the consequences of her actions and the reality she had helped forge.

That’s why, once they create their new ideal world, Katya wants them to leave the cube here with her. Katya chose to stay behind for a specific reason: she knew that, sooner or later, someone might attempt to repeat what they were about to do, or perhaps even one of her own companions might return to try again. In that event, she resolved to be there to confront them, ready to assert her point and perhaps even say, 'I told you so,' as she proved her point.

—------------------- Epilogue

Ultimately, the world was reset and reshaped with a new design. This redesign ensured that each plane of existence remained separate, unable to interfere with one another, and introduced an algorithm to govern the world autonomously, eliminating the need for intervention by higher beings. The three sisters assumed the role of administrators, tasked with ensuring that everything operated according to the world's laws.

In this new order, Katya chose to erase her existence and memory from the world, including from the minds of her comrades who opted to retain their memories in their new lives. They would not remember her until they met again in that realm.

She became a nameless guardian, a silent protector. Whenever someone attempted to tamper with the world's laws or when a mortal's desperate plea for help remained unheard, Katya would be there to fight for them. However, her existence would remain unknown, and no one would retain any memory of her.

In the meantime, in a secluded fragment of the previous world, amidst an empty space surrounded by the abandoned weapons of her comrades, she guards the gate to the red cube. Here, the elven warrior, who spent her entire life in battle, can finally take a moment of respite. She harbors no worries about the fate of her loved one, confident in the belief that just as she found him at the world's end, he will inevitably find her in due time. After all, the nature of one soul cannot be easily altered.

It was quite an unexpected turn, Katya became the party mom, and the one with the most common sense and no-nonsense character. She often scolds other party members when they're doing something reckless or making things more complicated than it need to be. Although stat-wise, she has average wisdom, I played her as someone who has lived long enough, seen and experienced enough to have strong ideals, values, and conviction. 

She also used being a spectator on the sidelines and seeing people come and go, born and die, as one of the only few elves that exist in this setting, and as a mercenary veteran. This kind of works out for my situation, being a player that joined on this ongoing campaign and stranger to this group, so She kept most of her thoughts to herself unless it was necessary for her to chime in, making her a figure that moved things along when the other already closely acquainted character (and player) have difficulty deciding things.

In the end, she's a level 12 pure Path of Wild Magic Barbarian. She has Great Weapon Master, Shield Master, and Tough Feat. Her end-game equipment is:

•  Warrior Blood Flanged Mace (A heavy one-handed mace that deals additional damage, the type of damage is also randomized when she rages and rolls her wild magic effect)
• Cloak of Invisibility (She took it from one of the Overgod's apostles around mid-campaign; she had to make an almost impossible roll, and I rolled a natural 20. DM being a good sport, and let her keep it. and this is the invisible cloak that she wears in the illustration)
• Boots of Springing and Striding
• +1 Shield
• Breastplate (has the additional effect of increasing her speed by 5 ft)

Alright that's it for my long rambling to calm down my excitement and close this character story. If you read all of those, thank you so much XD

Because this is a bonus, all the files can be downloaded from the download section in this post.