Hey everyone! Sure has been a while, hasn’t it? Well, a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’ve started school again. I took last semester off so that I could take a break and figure out some stuff, but now I’m back at it! I’m only taking a couple of classes so I can manage my time a little more easily, so fingers crossed I don’t nearly fail like last year…

Anyways, like I promised before I finished one of the backstories for a DnD character of mine: Isra Alta. She is an Aasimar, which is basically an angel, but she is Fallen. I had never played an Aasimar before and I fell in love with their culture and behaviors, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted a Fallen character or not. So, I figured out how to have both! Sort of. I love Isra so much and this will definitely not be the last time you hear from her.

Here is the story of how Isra became Fallen. Please let me know what you think (I barely edited this so please be gentle) and if you would like to know more about her (our DM already made me cry because of Isra’s past that I would love to share if you want to read it)

Enjoy!

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“What’s your name?”

Isra jumped and turned to see a pair of small, reddish brown eyes staring at her through the bushes. Isra scrambled from her hiding place, a tiny area between a group of bushes, and out into the open. The sun was shining through the trees of the forest, covering the ground with dappled shadows, and the light that shone on Isra illuminated the golden feathers in her silver hair like some sort of misshapen halo.

The eyes followed Isra until a small half-elf girl emerged from the bushes, her thick, dark red hair full of leaves and twigs. The girl held out her hand confidently and asked again, “what’s your name?”

Isra shrunk back from the hand. “Why do you wanna know?”

The girl lowered her hand and shrugged. “I just moved here with my dad. He said I should make friends and you seemed lonely.”

Isra looked away, her face downcast. “Then you should go be friends with someone else. No one likes me, so you won’t have friends either if you’re seen with me.”

“Why not?” The girl looked genuinely curious.

Isra wrapped her arms around herself, not quite sure what to make of this newcomer. “Because I’m different. I don’t look like the other kids.”

The girl stepped forward and Isra flinched and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable slap, rock, or harsh word. But nothing happened for a while, and she timidly opened her eyes. The half-elf was examining the feathers in Isra’s hair curiously, a look of wonder on her face. “Well, yeah, you look different, but not that different. I saw lots of people with feathers in their hair, and you look like an angel.”

Isra stared at the girl in shock and felt her face grow hot. “A-angel?”

“Mh-hm,” the girl replied. She noticed the feathers peeking out from under Isra’s shirt and looked excited. “Oh! Do you have wings too?”

Isra instinctively put her hands on her shoulders. She was so used to the other kids pulling at them, plucking feathers from her shoulders and staring at them in disgust. Who was this strange girl? Hesitantly, Isra nodded and closed her eyes to concentrate. She could feel a weight beginning to hang from her shoulders and tiny feathered wings appeared, ruffled like a bird just getting their feathers and at an awkward angle from protruding out from under her shirt.

“Woah!” the girl exclaimed excitedly, “Those look beautiful!”

Isra looked at the ground a bit sheepishly as the wings rapidly disappeared. “Thanks. I can’t keep them out for long yet.”

The girl looked at Isra thoughtfully. “I’ve never had an angel for a friend before.” She held out her hand again. “Wanna be friends? I can beat up the bullies for you, and you can show me around. Deal?”

Isra stared at the hand nervously. This girl seemed welcoming, but what if it was just an act? Another clever ploy to get Isra to let her guard down, make her vulnerable? But something told her, something deep down, that this girl was different from the others. She took the girl’s hand and shook it, albeit a bit timidly. “I’m Isra.”

The girl smiled, revealing a couple missing teeth.

“I’m Tylanys.”

The sun shone brightly on the city, illuminating most of the darkened streets and alleys. Isra basked in the sun’s glow, relishing in the warmth and comfort it always brought her.

“Oh sure, show off your angelic heritage!” her friend snickered besides her, playfully wapping at one of Isra’s golden feathers that were scattered throughout her hair.

Isra smirked at the half-elf girl walking next to her and summoned her white feather wings, then flapped her friend with the one closest to her, effectively ruffling the half-elf’s dark red hair before they vanished. “Tease all you want, Tylanys. I’m going to enjoy this momentary freedom as much as I can.”

Tylanys scowled as she attempted to fix her hair. “Jeeze, you make the temple sound like a prison.”

“It feels like it sometimes,” Isra sighed.

Once satisfied with her hair, Tylanys clapped a hand on Isra’s armored shoulder. “That’s why I’m here. To give you a chance at some fun!”

Isra grinned at Tylanys. “Am I going to regret whatever kind of fun you have planned?”

Tylanys shot Isra a mischievous smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not gonna be anything morally wrong that you’ll have to repent for later. Maybe.”

Isra shook her head, chuckling. “Somehow, I knew you would say that. Just promise me you’re not going to snatch anything.”

“Aw, come on, you know me better than that!” Tylanys protested. “I may be a thief, but I don’t go around stealing things all the time.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Isra playfully mocked, which earned her a light punch in the shoulder. As they continued walking, Isra couldn’t help but smile to herself. It had been a while since she was able to properly hang out with her friend, what with the ever growing regime her training was becoming and Tylanys rapidly rising in the ranks of the thieves guild.

Isra remembered the say Tylanys told her she joined the guild, after her father officially retired. Isra had barely started her training at the temple, and Tylanys had become more secretive about her whereabouts.

“Tylanys, where have you been?” Isra asked impatiently, her arms crossed. “You were supposed to meet me here ages ago.”

Tylanys looked down sheepishly, fiddling with the sash around her waist. “I’m sorry, I just got distracted. I promise it won’t happen again!”

Isra frowned. “That’s what you said the last three times. Tylanys, is something wrong?”

Tylanys wouldn’t meet Isra’s eyes. “No, nothing, everything is fine. I’m just busy, that’s all. You don’t need to worry.”

She was hiding something, and it frustrated and worried Isra. They never hid anything from each other, but now it seemed that her best friend was drifting away from her. Isra sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for Tylanys to join her, which she did. “Tylanys,” Isra started, “you don’t have to hide anything from me. What’s going on?”

Tylanys stayed quiet and stared at her wringing hands. Isra didn’t push, no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn’t force Tylanys to talk to her, so she waited. After what seemed like an eternity, Tylanys looked up at Isra, her eyes brimming with worry. “Isra, you have to promise me that you won’t hate me.”

Isra looked at her best friend, bewildered. “I would never hate you, Tylanys, you know that!” A knot of worry began to form in Isra’s stomach. What could have happened to make Tylanys so worried like this?

After taking a deep breath, Tylanys closed her eyes. “Ijoinedthethievesguild!”

The sentence came out at once, rapid and jumbled, and Isra stared at Tylanys while she tried to decipher it. “What?”

Tylanys held her hands together tightly, so much so that her knuckles were turning white. “I joined the thieves guild.” she said, slower this time. “Dad told me what he was really doing while I was young. He wasn’t adventuring, he was working gigs that he would pick up at the guild. It’s how we got so many interesting things. He would snatch more than what was required and kept the extra, especially if he liked it.” Tylanys paused to take anther deep, cleansing breath. “When he told me, I got curious. Long story short, the Guild Master was impressed with my skills and offered me a position, and I accepted.” She finally looked up at Isra. “That’s why I’ve been late so much, I’ve been returning from jobs at the guild, and you can’t rush those or else you get caught.”

Isra stayed quiet, her face a frozen state of disbelief, as she attempted to process what Tylanys just told her.

Tylanys rapidly grew more nervous and began to fidget as she wait for Isra to respond. “…Isra? Please say something!”

Isra’s face slowly melted into a more neutral state, and she sighed. “Are you happy?”

“I know it’s not the more moral career and I understand if you- wait what?”

“Are you happy?” Isra repeated.

Tylanys stared at Isra, searching her face. “Yeah.” She said, sounding confident for the first time. “Yeah, I am happy. More happy than anything else has made me in a long time.”

Isra gave her friend a small smile. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy. I may not agree with your choice, but you’re my friend, Tylanys. I just want you to be happy.”

Tylanys was still for a split second before practically tackling Isra in a fierce hug. “Thank you Isra! I was so worried you would hate me!”

Isra laughed. “I would never hate you. All I ask is that you don’t do anything either of us will regret later.”

“Of course!” Tylanys said, ecstatic with how the conversation had gone. “I promise to be careful and not get into too much trouble!”

“Good!” Isra replied. “Now, I still have some time before I have to return to the temple. Did you still want to go check out the shops?”

Tylanys nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s go!”

Fingers snapping in her face brought Isra back to the present. “Helloooo, Isra, you awake in there?” Tylanys asked.

Isra chuckled and nodded. “Sorry, I was just daydreaming.”

“Well enough of that!” Tylanys replied. “We should pick up the pace if we want to make it to the market before it closes for the day!”

Isra opened her mouth to say something when Tylanys suddenly tackled her to the ground. “What was-” she started, until she saw the arrow sticking out of the wall where she had stood. “Tylanys, what’s going on?”

Tylanys didn’t answer right away, her face grim. “Come on, we need to get out of here.” She offered a hand to Isra to help her up when another arrow whizzed past her head.

Isra jumped to her feet and grabbed her lance, looking around carefully. Movement caught her eye and she noticed a dark figure weaving through the shadows towards them. She caught Tylanys’s eye and she nodded. She had seen it too. Without a word the two of them split, Isra charging at where the shadow was and Tylanys melting into the shadows herself.

Once Isra reached where she saw the shadow she looked around for any trace of the owner. She almost turned to look somewhere else until a faint scuffling noise came from above her. Without hesitation she threw her lance upward and a muffled cry was followed by a loud crash as a figure dressed in black fell from the roof Isra’s lance had pierced through.

The figure slowly stood and Isra could see that they were human, but their features were hidden behind a dark scarf so that only their eyes were visible. They locked eyes with Isra and she saw that they were cold and hard. Isra felt her blood run cold. Assassin?!

Tylanys leapt from the shadows at the assassin and they stepped to the side effortlessly. A glint of silver came from their hand and they slashed the dagger at Tylanys, and the two of them began a dance as Tylanys avoided the attacks and the assailant chased after her.

Isra summoned her wings and flew up towards her lance. Once it was wrenched free, she flew towards the assassin with her spear pointed at them.

The assassin barely saw the attack in time. The lance glanced off of their arm and knocked them to the side, but they stayed standing. They looked between Tylanys and Isra with a calculating look in their eyes.

Tylanys lunged at the assassin, her dagger gripped tightly, and the two blades clashed.

Time seemed to slow as the assassin pulled out a blow gun. Isra saw it a second too late. The assassin pushed away Tylanys while bringing the blow gun to their mouth, and a single feathered dart flew out.

Tylanys was too slow and the dart hit her shoulder.

The assassin then threw their blade, and it landed square in Tylanys’ stomach.

There was a scream, and Isra belatedly realized it came from her as she drove her lance at the assassin. The lance pierced their shoulder and pinned them to the wall, a cry of pain escaping them.

Isra fell down next to Tylanys and yanked out the dart, but her face was already pale and the veins in her face were turning black. Blood began to seep from the wound in her stomach, but Isra was hesitant to remove the blade. “Tylanys!” Isra’s hands were shaking as she slipped an arm behind her best friend’s head, propping her up. “Don’t worry, Tylanys, we’ll get you help. You’ll be fine!” She channeled her Divine power into her hands in an attempt to heal Tylanys of the poison.

Tylanys coughed as the black veins that were rapidly covering her body seemed to get darker, however the blood from the open wound began to slow. “Isra-” she winced as a spasm shook her body, “Isra, don’t waste your energy.” She reached up and wiped a tear from Isra’s cheek. “This is Black Vein, and rather potent at that.”

“Then we’ll get you to a healer!” Isra began to panic as Tylanys’ skin began to darken as well.

Tylanys shook her head. “My blood is being transformed into something necrotic, Isra. I’m rotting from the inside out. Nothing can fix that.” Another spasm overtook her, leaving her panting. “I’m so sorry.”

Isra hugged Tylanys tightly, sobbing. “No! You can’t leave me, not like this! You promised me! Please!”

Tylanys weakly hugged her back. “You’re strong Isra. And I’ll always be there with you, though you won’t see me.”

Isra continued to sob as Tylanys faded, her grief completely consuming her. Nothing had ever hurt this bad. No teasing, no bullying, no reprimand, nothing hurt this badly. Isra sat there sobbing into Tylanys’ shoulder, her body steadily getting colder.

A pained noise from behind jolted Isra from her grief. Isra slowly lowered Tylanys onto the cold ground and she stood as anger replaced her grief. It was as though freezing hands grasped her shoulders and emptied her of all emotion except for rage.

In one swift motion Isra was in front of the assassin, one hand on their chest and the other on her lance. Her eyes were cold as she stared at the assassin. “Who hired you.”

The assassin stared back with fear, but didn’t say anything.

Without hesitation, Isra twisted the lance.

The assassin cried out in pain. “Okay! Okay! It was Lord Rol! He was tipped off that the girl stole from him!”

Isra didn’t seem to react to the information. “Who tipped him off.”

“I don’t know exactly, I think it was Breth or something!”

Isra knew exactly who he was talking about. Tylanys had told her about someone in the guild that didn’t seem to like her and would make passive aggressive comments about her to the rest of the guild. Isra pulled the lance out of the assassin’s shoulder and they fell to the ground, and in one fluid motion she pierced their chest, killing them.

At that moment it felt as though a thread had been cut. What she had assumed was her connection to the celestial plane seemed to vanish completely and her powers felt weakened.

She didn’t waste any time.

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the building as Isra tore the door off of its hinges.

The members of the thieves guild looked at her in a mix of shock and fear and she strode in, and a few of them unsheathed their weapons. Without looking at them, Isra flicked her wrist and they went flying into the walls, and the others didn’t dare move.

The leader of the guild, Zebrum, approached her cautiously. “And what exactly has brought you here, destroying my home?”

Isra looked down at Zebrum with a cloudy expression. “Where. Is. Brem.”

Zebrum scowled. “That coward hasn’t been here for hours. He was supposed to finish a job, but hasn’t brought back the…the..” Zebrum trailed off as Isra’s expression went dark. Her eyes appeared to fill with ink until they were completely black and her skin began to darken.

Zebrum and the other members of the guild backed up with fear as dark shadows began to seep from Isra. The shadows rose and seemed to take shape of a hooded figure with a white, wicked looking smile, and everything froze.

Then there was screaming as the shadows flew out from Isra and attacked the thieves. Isra could vaguely tell that she was screaming along with them.

And just as soon as it all happened, there was silence. Isra was on her knees panting, tears streaming down her face, and the silence surrounding her seemed to be suffocating as she gasped for air. She stood, unsteady, and rubbed a hand against her temple when she noticed that her skin was a dark gray.

NO.

In a panic Isra left the building full of bodies and there were screams and gasps. Isra saw terror and fear in the eyes of people that were in the alley she exited into, and a few people were running away, tripping over garbage and other people.

Isra hurried down the alley and everyone gave her a wide berth. She kept running, tears falling again as exclamations and screams began to surround her as people scrambled to get out of the way and mothers hid their children. Isra finally reached a stream and she fell to her knees as she caught a glimpse of her reflection.

Instead of the beautiful silver hair with golden feathers and golden eyes, her hair was pitch black, the feathers gone, and her eyes were a solid black. Her white wings were now skeletal and a dark aura surrounded her, betraying her dark powers.

She had Fallen.

Isra curled into herself and sobbed.

“You’ll always stay with me, right Tylanys?”

The half-elf child stopped in her retelling of her father’s latest adventure and stared at Isra. “What?”

Isra hugged her knees to her chest and she picked at the grass. “We promised to be best friends forever, right? That means we’ll always be together, but what if later on you don’t want to?”

Tylanys scooted closer to Isra and hugged her, ignoring the grass stains she was getting on her tights. “I’ll always be your friend, Isra! I promise!”

“I’ll always be with you.”

Isra stood at the gates to Neverwinter. It had taken the rest of her savings, but she made it. A new start. A new life. She absently played with the enchanted crystal around her neck she was able to obtain months ago. Now she was able to be around people again without them being terrified of her.

As she took her first step into the city, Isra acted as though nothing was wrong. No one could see the pain in her heart as she walked away from everything she ever knew and loved. No one could see the image of a simple grave on the top of a hill, brilliantly colored flowers surrounding the stone along with a small bouquet that had appeared to have wilted.

This was the start of a new life, and she was going to make the most of it. First she would become the Neverfere, she would earn the people’s trust, and then she would begin the painful path of forgiveness.

Once Brem was destroyed, of course.