Alexia Vautri

Early Life

Alexia was born to the Vautri family, a family of carpenters, in the city of Northpoint on one particularly chilly Morning Star evening. She was an only child growing up, though when she was a teenager, her parents gave her a little brother. The Vautri family was well known throughout the Dutchy of Northpoint for their patriarch's carpentry business which patched holes in the trade vessels that constantly flow in and out of Northpoint's docks. Their family's wealth grew modestly and Alexia wanted for nothing.In her early teenage years, Alexia studied the fundaments of Magical theory and practical application under her mother, who was a retired battlemage in the Shornhelm Royal Guard. Alexia grew her magical talents throughout her teen years and became quite proficient in the use of Novice and Apprentice Destruction, Restoration, and Alteration spells, and trained her ability to fight with a sword. Alexia was given two options to pursue in her career, either inheriting her father's carpentry business, or joining the Northpoint guard as a battlemage just as her mother did before her, and living a comfortable lifestyle, for one of her class.Alexia chose to become a royal guard under House Dorell's rulership over Northpoint. She worked in the castle, patrolling, working with leadership and occasionally under the Duke himself. A few years passed and she'd become one of the Duke's personal guards that defended him and organized security whenever he made public appearances. Being a high profile target for any nefarious actors, she had to be vigilant at all times. Her vigilance was not enough to save her when a vampire attempted to kill her as part of an assassination attempt against the Duke, though she survived the ordeal when a fellow guardsmen came to her aid while fighting the beast. Alexia was badly wounded and infected by the vampire, and the castle's healers were unable to cure her. She fell into a three-day coma, and awoke in a locked room. The Duke and his guardsmen did not want to kill Alexia, as they viewed her as a friend. She was still seen as a beast, though, and the castle did not trust her. Terrified, Alexia plead for help and plead for her friends and associates to trust her, and the Duke drafted a letter to Count Verandis Ravenwatch for guidance. Verandis arrived in person a few days later to see Alexia.Verandis, being a vampire himself, offered her guidance, but Alexia had become delirious from hunger, not feasting at all since being infected and having been denied all contact with any other human beings, including her worried family. Verandis offered her a bottle of blood he'd brought for the occasion, seeing she had not become violent or feral, a good sign to him. His hopes were to offer Alexia a new home within the Ravenwatch estate, which Alexia chose to do, having no other option. There, she learned to control her urges, grow her power, and found kinship with other vampires. Alexia's allegiances were still with House Dorell and Northpoint, and she longed to see her family and home again, so she departed the Ravenwatch estate, but had made lifelong allies during her stay there. Upon returning home, and with a letter of good health from Verandis, the Dorell Court admitted her back into the guard, but kept a close eye on her, and she took a less public role in the castle, becoming the castle's night watch captain. Her condition was not something she was ashamed of, and she made no efforts to hide her appearance from the public, much to the common folk's dismay.Alexia continued to grow her talents and skills, and found ethical ways to sate her hunger, though she starved herself more often than was healthy for her. House Dorell took notice to Alexia's newfound abilities, and gave her the opportunity to become a spy, saboteur, assassin, and special operations agent on behalf of the House, solving their off-the-books problems. She accepted the offer, and became integral to the House and the Duke. After a year or so of this, she had worked all over Rivenspire, and was offered a role like the one she already had, but on the Rivenspire Regency Council, working with all three of the Noble Houses Dorell, Tamrith, and Montclair. Any enemies of the Council would meet their end at the tip of Alexia's silver greatsword.

Life with Vampirism

Alexia starved herself for blood for nearly three decades, eating only when she could feel her body falling apart. This self-inflicted starvation caused her to slowly age, an oddity for the immortal vampire. She couldn't stand to feast upon the innocent, and she only fed on people she was already assigned to kill, as long as she was discrete with her feeding, as in no bite-marks on a mark's neck. Alexia was kept busy with her work, and she was paid handsomely for it. Her wealth grew into the millions of gold. Alexia had a Manor built in a scenic area outside the City of Northpoint and gave her family a portion of her wealth, setting her father up to retire and her younger brother to inherit his business, which he in turn sold. She frequently visited her family up until her parents' deaths, when she lost contact with her younger brother, who came to resent her for being, from his perspective, a monster. Alexia's immortality began to weigh on her after her parents' passings, and she tried to figure out how to cope with her reality.Alexia's work on the Council was not always political. She mostly carried out operations within Rivenspire that required either her discretion, often political assassinations, or her supernatural ability, such as dealing with monsters, vampires, daedra, witches, and the like. Alexia's opinion on vampirism was mostly negative, though she viewed it as a blessing for herself and relished in the shedding of blood. She detested vampires who gave in to their bloodlust and killed or harmed innocent people, as she had been harmed, instead she harmed those who harm, and feasted on immoral people such as bandits or highwaymen.Alexia, when not working as an agent on the Regency Council, read, studied, practiced her vampiric abilities, and traveled. She frequented her friends in House Ravenwatch, and it was in her interests to familiarize herself with the nobles of the other houses and kingdoms. One such up-and-coming noble was Emeric of Cumberland, son of Earl Pierric, and the hopeful future king of Wayrest. Emeric tutored with Verandis, and Alexia and Emeric became friends as she helped Verandis tutor the young Emeric.

Ranser's War

Several decades had past since becoming an agent of the Regency Council, and she'd become a trusted advisor of the Houses and had seen the transition of nearly a dozen monarchs and dukes and barons. She was as much a part of Rivenspire's politics as the heads of the houses were, though she never took a public role in the region's politics, and never had an official seat on the council, though she had a defacto seat in the minds of its rulers. Her primary loyalty was with House Dorell, still, and her home was still the City of Northpoint, though her duties with the council kept her in Shornhelm most of the time.When King Hurlburt passed, the succession crisis demanded much of her attention. House Dorell remained neutral, but Alexia supported Prince Phylgeon as the rightful ruler and viewed Ranser as a pretender. When Ranser won the succession crisis, the houses, and Alexia, deferred to his Kingship, and she worked with Ranser despite not liking the man.When Ranser declared war on Wayrest and its king, Emeric of Cumberland, Alexia shifted her attention to the war. Alexia had a conflict of interest, however, as Emeric was a personal friend of Hers and her closest friend, Verandis. House Ravenwatch remained neutral, which troubled Alexia. She had never liked Ranser, did not support him when he became King, and was not going to fight his egotistical war against her friend Emeric. She saw the opportunity her station afforded her to be a double agent, and chose to pretend to work for Ranser as a front.Once the Siege of Wayrest began, she snuck into Emeric's private chambers and reveled herself from invisibility. She caught up with her old friend, explained that she'd been working as a double agent against Ranser, and she'd been pushing for House Dorell to withdraw support for Ranser. King Emeric was delighted to hear this, though Emeric kept a close eye on her. She delivered crucial strategic information to Emeric which prevented the Siege from taking over Wayrest on many occasions, and Emeric grew to trust Alexia again.Emeric informed Alexia that forces from the Alik'r were inbound to rout Ranser's forces, and he wanted Alexia to work with them and prevent any intel from reaching Ranser that they were on their way. Alexia ensured Ranser was taken by surprise when they arrived, and she worked with them to push Ranser back to the Rivenspire Border Gate. Alexia met with Emeric once more to deliver a full report of her actions during the siege, and lent him any information she had available to further defeat Ranser's forces. Alexia returned to Shornhelm and began pushing harder for House Dorell to withdraw support for Ranser, and once House Tamrith did, Dorell quickly followed. Alexia no longer had any obligation to feign support for Ranser, and she took a leave of absence while the war concluded.

daggerfall covenant & Planemeld

Once the Houses of Rivenspire were integrated into the Daggerfall Covenant, Alexia left the Regency Council, and became a personal agent of High King Emeric in the Ring of Daggers as an intelligence asset and saboteur, and worked alongside him to protect and maintain the Daggerfall Covenant. She became an important asset of his when dealing with the region of Rivenspire, but her skillset was needed throughout the entire Covenant.After the Soul Burst occurred, a series of crises engulfed the Daggerfall Covenant, and she assisted the Vestige from the shadows as they resolved them. Although Alexia and The Vestige never formally met, she did participate in a few of the conflicts the Vestige partook in as well, such as the battle to retake Bangkorai Garrison from Septima Tharn. As the Planemeld plot was revealed, she kept close eyes on the mages and fighters guilds and eventually partook in the invasion of Coldharbour, where she attempted to find and rescue Verandis Ravenwatch from Molag Bal's realm, though she ultimately was unsuccessful.

Design notes

Alexia's color palette is entirely Black / White (& silver) / Red, and this is consistent through her physicality, her armor, her dresses, and her combat abilities.Alexia's hair is symbolic, such that she is mostly good (white or light being motifs of goodness) but has a bit of darkness and evil in her (black as a motif for evil or darkness). It's not much darkness, represented only by one half of her curtain bangs, but it's at the front and center as something prominent within her despite being only a small part

Character inspiration

The name "Alexia" is the feminine form of Alexander, which means "defender of men" and originates from old Greek in Alexander the Great. This reflects her profession as a guardian of the Daggerfall Covenant and humanity's claim to the Ruby ThroneA single member of the Vautri family can be found in ESO, a warehouse worker in Abah's Landing. I have headcanoned this as a descendant of her younger brother.Alexia has many character and design inspirations, among them is Arlecchino (Genshin Impact), Carmilla of Styria and Alucard Tepes (Castlevania), A2 (NieR Automata), Kylo Ren (Star Wars), Emet-Selch (FFXIV), Gwynn (Destiny Rising), The Arbiter / Thel Vadam (Halo 2), as well as elements from my own life. Check the Gallery section for images of these characters.Alexia's voiceclaim is Carmilla of Styria from Netflix's Castlevania.

Screenshots

Design inspo