![[KaelaPic2.webp]] # Kaela Voortham _Human Necromancer | [[Cult of the Dragon]] | [[Shilrua]]_ ## Summary Brilliant necromancer who rose through the [[Cult of the Dragon]] after her expulsion from [[Starwarden Academy]]. Once [[Valkalyn]]'s classmate, she murdered their mutual friend [[Aria Netheridge]] to access the [[Clifftop Observatory]]. Now leads cult operations in [[Shilrua]], serving [[Evendor Starbane]]. %% ## Now Hunts [[Valkalyn]] personally across the [[High Forest]] for the stolen [[Shilrua]] research, invading her dreams to demand its return. ## Appearance Tall and slender, long black hair streaked with premature white framing sharp features. A black dragon tattoo coils up her left arm, occasionally seeming to ripple beneath her skin, and her gold-trimmed purple robes shift subtly as she moves. ## Personality Brilliantly bitter. Views past friendships as naive weaknesses she's outgrown and treats former bonds as tools to be weaponized. The academy's rejection still burns — she means to prove her brilliance by ascending to lichdom. Speaks in precise, clipped diction, oscillating between cold calculation and flashes of spite. ## Quote _"Valkalyn always worried I was going too far. Poor thing never understood that 'too far' is where real discovery begins. Aria certainly learned that lesson."_ ## Connections **[[Valkalyn]]** — former classmate and friend, now target; invades her dreams. **[[Aria Netheridge]]** — mutual friend, whom she murdered. **[[Evendor Starbane]]** — serves him in [[Shilrua]]. **[[Acererak]]** — secretly reports to him through her [[Tombkeepers]] connections. **[[Valthrax Leerstrom]]** — mentor who taught her that death was a tool. ## Background **The Slum Prodigy:** Born in [[Neverwinter]]'s slums, her magical aptitude was her only escape from poverty. At [[Starwarden Academy]] she formed a competitive friendship with [[Valkalyn]] and [[Aria Netheridge]]. **The Expulsion:** Dangerous experiments alarmed [[Valkalyn]] and led to her expulsion — a rejection she experienced as betrayal. **The Mentor:** [[Valthrax Leerstrom]], a [[Soulmonger]] and [[Tombkeepers]] agent, taught her that death was a tool, not an end. **The Murder:** She murdered [[Aria Netheridge]] for access to the [[Clifftop Observatory]] — killing her closest friend for a research facility. **The Goal:** Lichdom, then something greater. She has studied [[Acererak]]'s path and dreams of following, perhaps surpassing, him. ## Secret Serves [[Evendor Starbane]] openly but secretly reports to [[Acererak]] through her [[Tombkeepers]] connections. ## Stats **Base:** Necromancer Wizard, with cult resources and multiple escape contingencies. %%