Clairen Longridge

Clairen Longridge is a human warlock/bard and initiate of the Coven of the Shu-Khaa. She is played by Arc.

Appearance
Clairen Longridge is a young female human with dark tan skin, a lean build, and brown eyes. She has short dark-brown hair with cornrows along the right side of her head.

She nearly exclusively wears custom designer clothing, most of which is created by her childhood friend Paril Vespucci. Since the ending of the Tolkuthul arc, many of her clothes also incorporate designs from Tolkuthul's crafters. Additionally, she almost always wears a large witch hat given to her by Crone Nhaa.

When she is angry, scared, or channeling a large amount of magic, her eyes fill solid black and small horns made of flame appear on her forehead.

Personality
When she first joined the party, Clairen was condescending and aloof. She had been conditioned by the upper class of Elmstone, and regarded herself as nobility above the riff-raff of the others around her, insisting to herself that she was merely using them out of convenience.

As time progressed, she found herself appreciating the company around her. Because she had never been exposed to people different than herself and family, these feelings were complicated and took a long time to process. Even still, she couldn't help but finding herself caring for the others.

Clairen's world was turned upside down when the truth of her relationship with Verien was discovered which led to some drastic reevaluations of her relationships. After the party proved forgiving and even supportive of her despite her situation and previous actions, she allowed herself to open up more to the group. Since then she effectively had to learn to socialize in a non-noble environment, and views herself as equal to those around her regardless of status.

Clairen often struggled with fears that her demonic pact would corrupt her and force her to carry out evil deeds. In time, however, she learned to embrace her demonic traits as a part of her that she could use for good regardless of their source.

Currently, she stands as a strong contrast to her debut self: generous, caring, and selfless. She is incredibly emotional now that she has learned to let people see her vulnerable, to the point where she often requires assurance that those around her still care about her. Because she has allowed herself to be completely transparent with the party, she can be very pushy to have the others do the same.

The witch has grown increasingly confident in combat since discovering the life-draining and shielding properties of her magic, often throwing herself into melee range of enemies far larger than herself in order to draw their attention away from her allies.

Clairen identifies as a lesbian.

Background
Clairen was raised in high society since her birth. She was waited on hand and foot, and was taught to follow all of the typical customs of Elmstone nobility.

Clairen's self esteem was quashed at a young age as she grew up in the shadow of her brother, Harry. Though the servants tended to Clairen's every need, (one old halfling woman in particular named Koldira practically treating her as her own child,) she desperately craved the affection of her parents. While they weren't directly abusive, their favoritism to her brother was rather obvious. Every accomplishment was usually cast aside for something her brother did, though she continued to vie for their affections nonetheless, hoping that she would one day be recognized.

In her early childhood, she and Koldira would sit together by her window and listen to bards performing in the streets below. She considers these some of her happiest memories. She enjoyed listening to these so much, in fact, that Koldira scraped together some of her meager earnings to buy the young human a violin of her own. It was old and faded, and obviously from a pawn shop, the white paint having dulled to a faint grey. Still, Clairen treasured it, and did her best to learn to play it. Once her parents learned of the instrument after a few months, however, they told her it was unbecoming of a Longridge woman and took the violin away.

When she was still in her single digits, her parents made an arrangement with the Vespucci family for her marriage to Paril Vespucci once the two had become adults.

Koldira passed away when Clairen was 17. Her parents only regarded her as a servant, but Clairen took it very hard. Realizing that her parents wouldn't ever give her the sincere affection she craved, she escaped the culture of nobility she had grown to hate and ran off to join the Mage's College. It would be something radically different, and she hoped that by becoming a powerful spellcaster she would prove to her parents - and herself - that she could be good at something worthwhile.

She worked and studied hard under a fake name, and despite having no lineage of wizards to follow, she actually did moderately well. It was at this school that she met a beautiful woman named Verien. After a lot of awkward glances, Verien finally approached Clairen after one of their lectures, and commented that she looked very talented. Clairen ate up her words and began to spend all of her free time around the woman. Verien's behavior quickly turned manipulative, and she further isolated Clairen from making other friends at the college, eventually convincing her to drop out altogether in favor of private tutoring.

"Clairen, my lovely Clairen," she whispered into the human's ear one clear and beautiful night. "Do you vow your love and devotion to me, so that we can be together forever?" In her naivete, Clairen readily agreed and considered this to be the formalizing of their romantic relationship. In actuality, this was the beginning of a warlock's pact with the disguised succubus.

Verien became downright abusive at this point, complacent in knowing that Clairen saw her through the rosiest of glasses. Despite the stereotype, the two were celibate, Verien instead choosing to feed off of Clairen's passion for her first relationship. Clairen's self confidence that had begun to develop was once more pushed down, which Verien took full advantage of. Clairen believed that Verien truly loved her, though, and very intensely loved her back.

Eventually Verien decided to use her as an errand girl of sorts and demanded that she travel to Tolkuthul to investigate some curious magic, which is where she met the party.

During the Campaign
Clairen was introduced to the party in a tavern in Tolkuthul, where the group viewed her as a mysterious outsider. During Sorithyn Tolkuthol's performance, Clairen used her magic to light the corner of her cape on fire as a prank. Clairen's pompous and condescending attitude kept her distant from the group, though after a demonstration of her magic, they agreed to allow her to accompany them to defeat the white dragon that terrorized the area.

The group was introduced to Verien as they camped. The succubus was demeaning and rude for the entirety of the visit, despite Clairen having summoned her to provide them with advice, though the group could easily tell that Clairen held her in extremely high regard.

One evening at the orc encampment leading up to the siege of Tolkuthul, Saphir wandered into the bunks while Clairen was focused on her Tome of Shadows. The drow peeked closer to find that she and Verien were arguing after the demon insulted her traveling companions. The mage's vision snapped up as the tome was slammed by Verien, and in a mixture of surprise and rage, Clairen detonated a fireball in the middle of the tent, instantly knocking Saphir unconscious and nearly killing him. After the elf's wounds were tended to, Jhavaa-Dra inspected Clairen's aura, and revealed to both the party and herself that she was not a wizard of the Mage's College as she had thought, but a warlock who had been tricked into a damning pact with a demon of the Nine Hells.

During the battle atop the Pillar of Valor, the group was able to stave off the villainous trio that awaited them. Upon Nyl taking a hefty blow from a storm giant, Clairen invoked Mia-Niameyta's true name and accepted their pact, summoning all four archfey atop the pillar to seal away their father once and for all.

The Spring Monarch was unable to entirely cleanse the taint left by the fiend's magic, causing Clairen to retain some of her demonic features and her fiery magic. However, all of Verien's writing within her Tome of Shadows was replaced by Mia-Ni's, and many of the spells provided by her pact were changed.

After freeing Valkor, Clairen requested the aid of the gods to help purify the demonic traits that had made themselves visible on Clairen's body. He instructed her to speak to the Raven Queen, who Clairen would then contact in a Dream. The Raven Queen was able to unravel the spool of thread that symbolized Clairen's soul and tear out the corrupted visage of the human's demonic influence, though the shade was able to get one final corruption in, leaving Clairen with small demon horns atop her forehead. The Raven Queen then struck down the dark shade that represented the darkness in Clairen's soul.

Since her return to Elmstone, a small imp named Bipsy has followed the young woman around both the city and her path through the Hells. He constantly tries to tempt her into accepting an offer of help, though Clairen staunchly continues to reject his advances. It was revealed to the warlock that Bipsy's true identity is that of Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells.

Throughout the group's encounters with Xarxes, Clairen had begun to grow more and more doubtful of her powers. His persistent Globe of Invulnerability blocked out almost all of her spells, and had her growing more and more frustrated with her own perceived weakness. This caused her to grow more reckless during combat, especially any combats that were led by Xarxes himself, in an attempt to prove to herself that she was still useful to her friends.

During the group's travels in Polumheim, the previously defeated Nyl reached out with some of the last bits of his power to trap Clairen in a nightmarish dream from which even Mia-Ni could not wake her. Saphir helped carry her to Tolkuthol to seek her mentors' help, and with the assistance of the Coven, he was able to be sent into her dreams in a desperate attempt to rescue her. In her dreamscape he discovered that Clairen had practically gone feral over what to her had been several months of constantly being hunted - she perceived Saphir and Mia-Ni to be another figment of Nyl's whims, and the three were locked in a long combat. Finally, Saphir was able to get through to Clairen and assure her that he was the real deal, and together the three of them (with the help of Torl-Shal) defeated the avatar of Nyl that kept her trapped.

The experience was extremely traumatic and has left Clairen with PTSD, causing her to occasionally dissociate and doubt her reality.

In Boruuha, Clairen proved to be a powerful asset with her Eyes of the Rune Keeper. Given the age of the city (and its subsequent dungeon), almost all of the writing the group could find was in a strange and unfamiliar language. Clairen's eldritch powers provided the party with a way to translate the script and travel through the city. Boruha itself was very exciting to the witch - despite her chaotic nature she does have a genuine love for learning, and being able to study both a lost civilization and the technology that lie beneath kept her excited and eager throughout their trip.

Verien
Clairen and Verien met at the Mage's College of Elmstone and were in a romantic relationship prior to Clairen joining the party. Clairen viewed her as many young adults often view their first partners: perfect and infallible. Clairen unconditionally loved Verien, despite Verien constantly manipulating and abusing her. She constantly found herself defending Verien's actions both to herself and those around her, including during the only occasion in which the group met her. After departing Elmstone, the two communicated daily through Clairen's Tome of Shadows.

Since Verien's true nature was revealed, Clairen wrestled with many complex feelings towards the demon. She hated her for deceiving her in such an intimate way, though long feared that any sort of action against her would cause her to lose the powers she had worked so hard to hone. For several months she still lived in denial of the situation, and secretly hoped that Verien still actually loved her.

Upon being sealed away, Clairen told Verien that at least until she kidnapped Paril, the warlock could not bring herself to hate the demon. She informed her that though her own motives were terrible, Clairen would never have traveled to the places she did or met the people she now loves were it not for Verien sending her away from Elmstone. As Clairen locked her into the soul gem, she gave the demon a final tearful kiss on the forehead.

Kalza Palod
Clairen and Kalza quickly bonded over their use of magic, which was deepened when the pair spent months studying together with Nhaa after the Tolkuthul arc. Clairen's friendship with Kalza helped her immensely in getting through her fears of her pact with Verien - while Clairen was terrified that the demon's influence would corrupt her and force her to become evil, she took comfort in knowing that Kalza carried demonic blood in her and seemed to be a good person.

Clairen considers Kalza to be one of her closest friends.

Saphir
Clairen was initially mistrusting of Saphir. Her non-exposure to other races had filled her with a sense of prejudice upon initially joining the party, and Saphir was the most suspicious member in her eyes.

Clairen and Saphir's first "bonding moments" ironically occurred after she almost killed the drow. Saphir startled Clairen during a fight with Verien which led her to cast a fireball at him in a panic, instantly knocking him unconscious. Despite this, Saphir was quick to forgive her once he learned of her circumstances, even defending her to other party members who had lost their trust in her. Clairen gained a lot of respect and gratitude towards him after the incident and considers him to be a good person, despite his insistence to the contrary.

After the group's ship wrecked on the beaches of Curanna, Clairen confronted Saphir regarding his closed off nature and unwillingness to share his emotions and history around the party, even going as far as surrounding the pair in a wall of fire and daring him to kill her. The two eventually were separated after Ally intervened and eventually reconciled.

In Winter's Walk, Clairen had an explosive reaction to the drow's choice to disguise himself. She feared that the Saphir she had finally begun to get to know suddenly was going to change and that all of her work to gain his trust would have been for nothing. Her fears were assuaged when the pair privately talked in the woods prior to confronting the Winter Queen.

After leaving Winter's Walk, Saphir professed his romantic love to Clairen. Unsure of how to respond, she asked for more time to sort through her feelings before giving him a proper answer.

During their overnight stay in the Spring Monarch's castle, the two spent some private time together in the deadest hours of night. Having had her first kiss just hours prior that lead up to a nightmarish conversation with the Monarch, Clairen's emotions were a bit haywire. She knocked on Saphir's door who welcomed her into the bedroom, where the two spent hours sharing intimate details of their pasts and emotions. The conversation ended with Clairen forming a new "pact" with the drow that the pair sealed with a kiss, formalizing their relationship.

Her feelings towards Saphir gave Clairen a good deal of stress regarding her identity as a lesbian, for a time. Clairen was up front with the rogue that she was not physically attracted to men, which Saphir found as a relief as he would not feel pressured into any sort of sexual activity. She has since resolved that she still primarily identifies as a lesbian and that Saphir is an outlier of sorts.

Sorithyn Tolkuthol
Sorithyn is the first party member that Clairen "met." When watching the bards with Koldira as a child, she would have seen the bard traveling the streets of Elmstone with her grandfather Erzhi. Clairen constantly fantasized about a life of travel as a bard, and found herself very envious of Sorithyn.

Though Clairen initially assumed the two would relate in their similar social status, she and Sorithyn butted heads for the first several months of their relationship, which only worsened after the fireball incident with Saphir. On the ship towards Curanna, Clairen was attempting to reassure a self-deprecating Sorithyn when the dragonborn seemingly blew her off. Clairen finally blew up on Sorithyn on the beach after days of passive-aggression, accusing her of not trusting the party while seemingly expecting the others to trust in her. Though their fight was interrupted by a wyvern, the two were able to have a calmer, quieter talk in private afterward beside the waves along the beach, during which Sorithyn promised to try and open up more towards Clairen and the group in exchange for Clairen's patience, to which she readily agreed.

In Winter's Walk, it was revealed that Clairen had been practicing music with Sorithyn privately for a couple of months. After their duet in the Winter Court, Sorithyn pulled Clairen into a tight hug, which cemented in Clairen's mind that she was beginning to develop romantic feelings for her friend.

After the events of To Melt Winter's Heart she privately confessed her romantic feelings to Sorithyn, setting off a long talk about the meaning of love to each of them. Sorithyn finally admitted that the feelings were reciprocated, and the pair resolved to talk to Rylee as soon as possible.

After the fight with Mia-Ni in What Angel Wakes Us, Sorithyn carried an exhausted Clairen to her bedroom. Clairen finally gave a long and detailed explanation of how her magic worked in the hopes that Sorithyn might be proud of her. The bard assured that she was more than proud of Clairen and the two shared an intimate moment, including their first kiss and a heartfelt "I love you."

Rylee Puddlefoot
Clairen views Rylee as the most trustworthy member of the party, and finds herself able to completely be honest and open around the halfling. She takes great comfort in Rylee's presence, and goes to her first when she feels scared or vulnerable. Clairen is fiercely protective of Rylee, and has thrown herself between enemies and the halfling on more than one occasion.

After the nature of her pact was revealed, Rylee was the first party member to privately reassure Clairen that she would not abandon her.

Rylee often found herself as an intermediary between Clairen and Sorithyn.

The night after Rylee's Dream spell was interrupted by Iris, Clairen used a Dream of her own in order to mentally protect the halfling while she rested. Rylee caught on that it was in fact the real Clairen within her mind, and the two had a long talk about their ideas of romantic feelings and what they meant to each other.

Alavara
Clairen initially felt awkward around Ally, and was unsure of how to approach the often quiet tiefling. As a woman of few words and fewer expressions, Clairen felt as though she couldn't read Ally's intents or motives.

As time progressed, Ally has taken on a sort of maternal role towards the young human. Clairen has grown to find great comfort in the paladin's arms, and Ally is a constant source of reassurance when Clairen is feeling weak or scared. Clairen views Ally as the strongest member of the party, both physically and in her determination and conviction.

The presence of Ally's magic-dampening abilities is also a great relief to Clairen, who often worries about losing control of her powers and hurting one of her friends. In return, Clairen often helps Ally lead the charge with her teleportation magic.

Nhaa
Nhaa has been a role model of Clairen's since early in their relationship. The old dragonborn has provided Clairen with guidance and advice both in her magical abilities and with navigating her pact, and has gone to many lengths to assist the human as much as possible in escaping it. Her pragmatism and realism has served as a much needed counterbalance to Clairen's hotheadedness, and has helped to keep her path ahead clear and logical. Nhaa has also offered Clairen loving comfort during her trials against Verien in her own unique way, which has helped Clairen immensely with her depression.

Clairen spent several months studying under Nhaa after the Tolkuthul arc. She has a great deal of love for Nhaa and views her as a surrogate grandmother, though is very afraid to admit it. She secretly hopes to live with Nhaa and to continue studying under her wing when the party's adventures come to a close.

Paril Vespucci
Paril is Clairen's childhood best friend. The two were originally betrothed to be married from a young age, though this was obviously not in the cards for either of them. Clairen's interest in fashion can largely be attributed to watching Paril work when the two spent time together in their youth, and the vast majority of her outfits bear his label.

Clairen misses him dearly during their travels, and considers leaving him to be the only regret of leaving Elmstone.

After the revelation that Verien was holding Paril hostage, Clairen's demonic features materialized stronger than ever. She flew into a rage during the banquet of the Autumn King, demanding they continue on their journey immediately to rescue her friend as quickly as possible.

Harry Longridge
Clairen is bitter and spiteful towards her older brother. While he bullied her in their youths as older brothers often do to a younger sister, she is more resentful towards the fact that he was their parents' favorite child. While he does not hold her in any malicious regard, he definitely views himself as superior to her based on the conditioning from their parents.

Dorian and Cecilia Longridge
Clairen desperately craved her parents' love and attention for her whole life, though her leaving Elmstone was her finally resigning to the fact that it likely wouldn't come. She views her parents as a distant memory, now - a relic of her past life that she hopes to forget, in time, though she often fantasizes about what life could have been like if they had been kinder to her.

Clairen is still unaware of the second sibling that disappeared shortly after its birth.

Raxx'Ashak
Clairen was initially very mistrusting of the thri'kreen, but after he offered her a deal to help deal with Verien, the two shared many of their past memories. This gave the human a lot of sympathy towards his plight, and while she doesn't entirely trust him, she does find herself wanting to help him, and only hopes the party doesn't get stabbed in the back for doing so.

In the battle atop the Pillar of Valor, Clairen was disappointed but not surprised at Raxx'Ashak's violence towards the party. However, in response to her vocalizing her hurt, the thri'kreen cast suggestion on the warlock and instructed that she protect her allies and not engage him directly. The spell broke shortly thereafter, and she hurled a fireball at the villain (as well as Iris) near the end of the fight.

Current

 * Book of Shadows
 * Shu-Khaa Initiate's Hat
 * Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location
 * Ring of Spell Storing
 * Illusionist's Bracers
 * Stone of the Miller
 * Rod of the Pact Keeper, +1
 * Staff of Power
 * Strings of the Black (violin)
 * Wyrmwing
 * Soul Gem (from Raxx'Ashak, contains Verien)

Abilities
Unless otherwise noted, the following abilities are assumed from the standard Dungeons & Dragons materials:

Background

 * Position of Privilege

Feats

 * Elemental Adept (Fire)

Warlock Abilities

 * Otherworldly Patron (The Spring Monarch)
 * Fey Presence
 * Fortune of the Monarch
 * Unshaken Determination
 * Expanded Spell List
 * Eldritch Invocations
 * Agonizing Blast
 * Devil's Sight
 * Eyes of the Rune Keeper
 * Tomb of Levistus
 * Far Scribe
 * Names currently contained in the Tome of Shadows: Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells
 * Pact Boon (Pact of the Tome)
 * Mystic Arcanum 6th level: Summon Fiend
 * Mystic Arcanum 7th level: Crown of Stars

Cantrips

 * Clairen's Muffled Mute
 * Feyflash
 * Guidance
 * Mage Hand
 * Origami
 * Prestidigitation
 * Produce Flame

Pact Magic

 * Armor of Phlegethos
 * Counterspell
 * Dimension Door
 * Dispel Magic
 * Dream
 * Fireball
 * Greater Invisibility
 * Scrying
 * Summon Fey
 * Temporal Shunt

Bard Abilities

 * Bardic Inspiration (d6)

Cantrips

 * Friends
 * Mending

1st-level

 * Charm Person
 * Comprehend Languages
 * Cure Wounds
 * Disguise Self

Quotations
Kalza Palod: "Are all humans born this ugly?" Clairen: "I... don't know what you're talking about."
 * Clairen: "Are all dragonborn cities this... ugly?"
 * Djinn: "You have hidden terrible truths away from your comrades.  Some, you have hidden from yourself.  What is the truth about your nature?"
 * "What the fuck?!" (Preceding a massive explosion in an orc tent/Saphir's face.)
 * "I will burn the air from your lungs."
 * "Leave her alone, you bitch. You lied to me. I trusted you."
 * "And if you think duty is all you have, then you're fucking blind. You have so many people that love you! You are so goddamn lucky, you know? Your brother loves you. Nhaa loves you. Your whole VILLAGE loves you. We all love you, Kalza and Saph and Ally, Rylee loves you, and I--... and I love you. So can you please get off your tragic queen high horse and just... let us in?" (To Sorithyn.)
 * "I worked to reach that point. I got better. I'm not perfect, but I learned to let people into my walls and rely on them, and to try my best to be reliable in turn. But she is too obsessed with her little tragic-ruler act and decided that I wasn't good enough for her. She just blew me right off. So tell me Sorithyn, are we friends? Are we a team?"
 * "Though I cannot promise that I am the most technically proficient, I have put all my heart, soul, and time into this art. A wise wanderer in these lands once told me that song allowed you to speak without words, so allow me to tell you a story." (To the Winter Queen.)
 * "Mia-Niameyta, King of the First Flowers, come claim your prize! I accept your offer!"
 * "Sleep well, my love." (To Verien, as she completed the ritual to seal the demon into a soul gem)



Trivia

 * Clairen is the youngest member of the party at 20 years old.
 * She was the first member of the party to have a score of 20 in a stat and the second member of the party to multiclass, after Ally.
 * Clairen has the highest natural hit points of any party member.
 * Clairen's first name comes from her player's favorite character in Rivals of Aether, who coincidentally is also fire themed.
 * Her last name was randomly generated.
 * She genuinely believed herself to be a wizard for the first several months of the adventure. She still isn't fond of the term "warlock" as it reminds her of the pact she was tricked into, and prefers to refer to herself as a mage or witch.
 * Clairen loves cinnamon.
 * Clairen spins her signet ring on her finger when she's lying. (Though she is no longer wearing it as of To Melt Winter's Heart, she still rubs at the spot.)
 * Her legs have major burn scarring, though they are typically covered.
 * While not shown on her reference sheet, Clairen has small, black demon horns growing from her forehead and a sharp spaded tail.