Vistra

''"I would rather die dishonorably than sign a deal with a devil." ''

Vistra to Rhelora in the Stoneharbor prison   Vistra Fireforge is a dwarf fighter and a member of the Avalanche. She is a former member of the Imperial Legion, and she has spent several years at the Demonfence, defending the rest of Aegeron from the demon hordes. Upon realizing the true nature of the Legion and of the devils leading their ranks, she has deserted, and traveled to Stoneharbor, meeting Rydia, Pongo, Reed and Estel on the way and forming the Avalanche Adventuring Company.

She only has real respect for those who have faced death in battle, and is more than willing to challenge the authority of nobles and officials. Due to what she considers a betrayal at the Demonfence, she is slow to trust, but is willing to die for the ones she considers her friends.

Early life
Vistra is originally from the south of the Dwarven Dominion, from the Kingdom of Btharmaz. Her family, the Fireforge clan, has been famous for two things since the time of the great Minthras Imperium: of their metal-working abilities, and that in every generation the second-born child enlisted in the Imperial Legion, serving the God-Emperor in his military endeavors. Vistra was raised on family stories about the valor of her ancestors. Being the second child of his father, she spent most of her childhood dreaming about her own adventures and looking forward to growing up and upholding the family honor when it becomes her turn.

Little did she know that in the last 80 or so years, since the opening of the Abyssal Gate and the fall of the God-Emperor, the Imperial Legion became a pale shadow of what it used to be. When she came of age and was about to enlist, her father, being a practical man, explained to her that with the Imperium gone, the clan didn't expect her to uphold the tradition of joining the Legion. Vistra insisted she would, and went on to join the Legion: the brave few stationed in Fort Integritas who guard the rest of the Old Continent from what became known as the Hellscape and the horrors that dwell within it.

Sergeant of the Imperial Legion
When joining the Imperial Legion, Vistra dreamed of honor and glory, of accomplishing great deeds, but instead she found an army of thieves and murderers who were sent to fight as penance, and fools who volunteered without knowing what they would be up against. They were all ordered to fight and lay down their lives to stop the hordes of demons from passing through the Demonfence. She quickly realized that the only reason the demons haven't broken through yet is because the devils were coordinating the effort. She had plenty of interactions with them herself, up until the fateful day when she decided to desert.

The death of her brothers-in-arms
One day, she and a handful of her men were sent into the Hellscape for a mission to retrieve an important artifact for the war effort, by one of the devils, Jakathas. They didn't expect to find any trouble, least of all the horde of demons and abominations that greeted them when they arrived at the spot. The artifact was nowhere to be found. They fought with all their might but to no avail: all, except Vistra, had died. She was let go by one of the demons with a message to the devil that sent them: "Next time try to send someone more capable." Only when she had seen the aftermath of the mission at headquarters, did Vistra realize that this was all just a game to the devils, and in it they were all expendable pawns. She found that, while she and her comrades provided a convenient diversion, Jakathas has strolled in himself and effortlessly took the artifact he wanted.

Vistra was enraged. Her most loyal brothers- and sisters-in-arms had given up their lives, her friends had all died so that a devil wouldn't have to exert himself for some stupid magical trinket! It wasn't even necessary for the war effort, that was also a lie. She had finally seen what her father had been trying to tell her: that everyone in the Legion was either a crook or a fool, and that legionaries died not in the defense of their families or the people of the continent but to provide an exciting addition to the never-ending game of demons and devils. Vistra left the Imperial Legion that night, and didn't look back.

She made her way to the west, hoping to find work and to restore the honor of the Fireforge clan, besmirched by her desertion. She did bring two mementos from the Demonfence: the mark of the Imperial Legion on her left upper arm, and a demon horn she collected the first time she killed one of those beasts.

A Perilous Journey
Vistra formed the Avalanche with four other travelers on their way to Stoneharbor, in the mountains near Frostpeak. It took a few near-death situations for her to warm up to her new companions, and in the beginning sh only shared with them that she had previously served as a sergeant in an army then left to try her luck as a sell-sword. By the time they all reached Stoneharbor, however, she had shared her full background with the rest of the party.

The City of Opportunity
In the city of Stoneharbor, Vistra and the rest of the Avalanche made the unfortunate acquaintance of the deviless Rhelora. Vistra was quite displeased about the Brass Embassy having essentially free reign in Stoneharbor, and tried her best to avoid interacting any devils, lest she ends up at the noose for inciting a fight in the city.

When faced with the choice of exactly that: to sign a deal with Rhelora or die otherwise, she contemplated submitting herself to a dishonorable death rather than accepting the terms of a devil. Rhelora, being a devious negotiator, sensed Vistra's hesitation and her reasons, and gave her assurances that she wouldn't ever ask her to perform evil or dishonorable deeds. To which, Vistra begrudgingly signed the contract along with the rest of the Avalanche.

The Forgotten Truth
Upon encountering the Wish Granter, Vistra was tempted to speak first and wish for the souls of her fallen comrades to be returned to their families, alive and well. In the end, she decided to settle on a wish that is beneficial to everyone in the party. She was more than pleased with the results, as they defeated Rhelora and the deviless had no choice but to renegotiate the terms of their contract with her.

To Vistra's immense satisfaction, Rhelora promised to (one day) help her free the souls of her fallen brothers- and sisters-in-arms, a day that couldn't come soon enough. That day, finally, Vistra will finally restore her honor.

The Eternal Winter
During their time spent in the Reaton Republic, Vistra caused the accidental death of the wizard Donorim. Even though Donorim would have likely died in a few days due to the oncoming Eternal Winter, anyway, Vistra felt appropriately ashamed about her clumsiness. As she couldn't recall being this uncoordinated before, she suspected that the accident was at least partially due to the cursed amulet she had been wearing since visiting Frostpeak.

Upon defeating the erinyes Maliel, she acquired a hellish longsword. Being suspicious of items from the Nine Hells, upon returning to Stoneharbor Vistra decided to research the sword and with the help of Rydia and Pongo they quickly learned that these swords are crafted by fusing the soul a lesser devil (a lemure or an imp) into the blade, which grants the weapon limited sentience. Vistra recalled a legend she had heard at the Demonfence of a valiant legionary who (in desperation) took the sword of a fallen devil to fight off an overwhelming advance of demons. With the powerful sword he vanquished hordes of demons and returned to Fort Integritas as a hero. After that he performed one great feat after another and quickly rose through the ranks and became a centurion. Then one day he took a company of legionaries into the Hellscape where he said he found a shortcut to the Imperial City. In reality he led them into a portal to Dis, one of the Nine Hells. There he met the devil to whom the sword belonged to and pledged himself to her and presented his former comrades as a gift.

After this it became clear to Vistra that she should get rid of the sword and decided that the sword should return to where it belongs, so she gave it to Rhelora. The deviless seemed quite pleased with getting her hands on the weapon of her rival, Maliel. In exchange, Vistra asked Rhelora to remove the cursed amulet she had been wearing for almost a year now, the one that recently caused her to accidentally push an elderly wizard down the stairs to his death.

The Jungle of Daggers
Vistra missed the departure of the NGTC ships in the morning when the rest of the Avalanche left to the jungle. This was, contrary to what the rest of the party thought, not due to her having overslept, but rather her listening to a fascinating tale about a visiting scholar in The Happy Axe, the dwarven tavern of Stoneharbor.

The Lady of Hours
When the Avalanche crashed the private party of the Iron Flail, Vistra was adamant in preventing Rydia's foolish plan to sleep with and then kill The Tower. She tried to save Rydia from her own stupidity, and prevent any bloodshed, without success as it happened. Vistra considers this failure personal, her failing her friend, Rydia, especially because these events eventually led to Rydia's tragic death.

Vistra has also acquired a unique artifact during this mission: the sacrilegious notes of Thoratin, which contain information no one can remember for more than a few seconds, by the will of the gods. She wasn't sure exactly in what shape or form, but she decided these could prove to be useful in the future. Later, these notes were destroyed by the angel Cassiel, claiming he acted upon the gods' wishes.

A Distant Promise
After Rydia's sacrifice in Feyburn, with which she successfully prevented the return of the Forgotten Gods, and upon learning the full fate of Zephyr, Vistra succumbed to sorrow and to alcohol. Upon returning to Stoneharbor, she socialized less and less with the rest of the Avalanche, and spent more and more of her time in the Happy Axe.

Dealing with the Devil, Laying Down her Axe
Vistra initially was against killing Rhelora, and advocated forcing her to perform a century of good deeds instead. Eventually convinced by the party to annihilate the devil, she soon began to be thankful for not having to watch her back anymore... at least when it came to Rhelora.

There was plenty that Vistra regretted about the minutes before the deviless' death, however. She has lost one of her few friends, Thralmid Emberheart, by deciding to destroy the pocket plane Thralmid so wanted to preserve. In her pride and foolishness she let the Advisor escape, who was not only clearly a high-ranking devil, but whose next step would also be to track down Thralmid, and maybe Vistra.

She started to realize that she was about to embark on a dangerous path with no return, hunting down and killing devils without mercy. She also realized that neither is she powerful enough (proven by how easily the Advisor could trick her), nor is she certain enough that this is the path she wants for herself. Surprisingly, Rhelora provided her with her final answer: as one of her last acts she has handed over the souls of Vistra's former companions.

After returning to Stoneharbor, Vistra separated from the Avalanche and they haven't seen her for a few days. She reappeared calmer, with a subsided attraction for alcohol, and without the soul crystals. They were finally free. And Vistra made her resolution: to lay down her axes, and finally return home.

And for several decades, those who visited the shop called "Avalanche" in Dir Badir in the Dwarven Dominion, could not only get good quality weapons and armor for a fair price, but could also marvel at the illustrations of the Avalanche Adventuring Company's deeds which were painted all around on the walls. And if they were fortunate enough visitors could even meet the owner of the store and hear her tell a tale or two of her brave companions: the brave dwarf Pongo who was always the voice of reason, the halfling Reed, who found his family among the Avalanche, the haunted sorcerer Rydia and her young and wise son Zephyr, the ever-cheerful Tethys who defied tiefling stereotypes, the down-to-earth Estel with his inexplicable love of nature, and the ancient elf Ardan with his amazing tales of the Imperium.

Relationship to Factions of Aegeron

 * The Fireforge clan were loyal servants of the Imperium for centuries, and thus when Thorin Ironfist took advantage of the weakened and soon non-existent Imperium to establish the Dwarven Dominion, they weren't looking kindly on these endeavors. Instead of taking sides in Ironfist's war, most members of Vistra's clan with fighting experience headed for the Hellscape to help the remnants of the Imperial Legion hold back the demon hordes. When Ironfist had himself crowned as emperor, they grumbled and dissented, but only among themselves. As a result, while Vistra was raised in the Dominion, she was also raised listening to her elders criticize Ironfist and his actions, and she herself has grown up to be critical of him.
 * While Vistra understands why the Reaton Reds are popular in certain regions, she doesn't think that the system to have commoners take positions is a viable one. She herself prefers a good old kingdom or imperium, where the wise and powerful ruler oversees the realm. This obsession with the rule of the masses must be a human thing...
 * Vistra finds the Status Quo quite lacking regarding coordination, power, equality for the subjects of each kingdom, technological advancement, etc. She considers the current situation to be a step back from the good old days of the Imperium, and only a temporary state of affairs, before a new power arises from the ashes of the old Imperium.
 * Hearing about Andromeda and the Magnusson Restoration from the rest of the Avalanche mostly just amuses Vistra. While she does hope for the Imperium to be reborn, she knows enough of the world that a girl of less than half her age is not going to be the one to bring that about, aasimar or not. That being said, she would be happy to help Andromeda in the future, provided she pays the party.
 * Vistra thinks that the Dragon Princes are no better or worse than other rulers of the Old Continent. In her opinion, in some cases they might even be more deserving of respect than others. They most certainly have hers more than Thorin Ironfist does.
 * She hates the Devils of the Nine Hells with a passion. None of her encounters with any of them have been in any way pleasant, in fact most of those directly led to (several) deaths or were conducted in close-death situations (like her deal with Rhelora). She is quite certain that the only way to deal with a devil is to kill it first, then ask questions. Nowadays, she makes an exception for Rhelora, not because she likes this one, but because they have mutual interests, and the time to kill the deviless hasn't come. Yet.