Alrayus Iaris

Alrayus Iaris is a Tiefling Bard and currently member of a group of adventurers brought together through dubious circumstances.

Intro
''“Greetings! I am Alrayus Iaris the travelling bard! Prepare yourself to be amazed and of course, please, enjoy yourselves!”''

Alrayus, born to a tiefling father and human mother, spent most of his life as a member of a travelling caravan, a home to misfits and the unwanted, tieflings, half-elves, drow and the like. He grew up knowing the sting of suspicious eyes no matter where they went.

Unfortunately he lost his mother while very young and grew up under the care of his father who made his living performing as a bard in the cities and towns the caravan visited. As he grew into adulthood he decided to strike out on his own with the skills his father had taught him and his most prized possession, the fiddle his father had played. He would show the world there was more to tieflings than they realised, that they too could create beauty and spread happiness where they went.

Appearance
Like most tieflings Alrayus’ most prominent features would be his red skin, horns and tail. His skin is bright and vibrant, his horns curled tightly to his temples like a rams and his tail is long and slender. He is slim with the body of an acrobat as opposed to a warrior, with long black hair that he normally ties back in a simple braid and stunning violet eyes. His face belays his temperament, smiling often and quick to laugh with laughter lines surmounting his eyes and mouth.

He wears light but durable clothes in bright colours, usually blues or purples to match his eyes. They are chosen deliberately to allow for easy movement as he likes to incorporate acrobatic movements into his performances whenever he can. Coming from his particular background he does not possess much in the way of expensive jewellery or the like, but he always carries the pure black fiddle his father gifted him as he left on his travels which he uses in the majority of his performances.

Personality
Alrayus is a performer; this is the same no matter where he is whether that is on stage, in the street or locked in a cell. He finds pleasure in entertaining others whether that is through music, acrobatics or simply talking to them. He is quick to laugh with a broad sense of humor, a quick wit and a complete inability to be embarrassed allowing him to find merriment and joy almost anywhere.

Keeping his emotions close to the surface like this is however a double edged sword. Having seen the way his father, and others from his caravan family, were treated in his youth, he is very quick to anger when faced with discrimination or hatred based on race alone. This has caused him to lash out with little warning as his temper flared.

Within his team his main aim is to help and assist his team mates, providing support and healing to keep them alive but he isn’t adverse to dispatching his foes by himself.

Early Life
Alrayus was born to a tiefling father and human mother, Valmus and Layna Iaris. As is the way with such couplings he inherited his father’s infernal traits, the visage of a demonic being. Their family were members of a travelling caravan comprised almost entirely of those like himself and his father, outcasts, the unwanted, tieflings, half-elves, drow and the like. They travelled together for companionship and what little protection it granted them. Alrayus grew up considering the members of the caravan as his extended family and there wasn’t a single one he wouldn’t do anything for and they for him.

Unfortunately, while he was still very young, his mother took ill. Due to their lifestyle and the fact that cities and towns were less willing to care for someone who had tied themselves to one such as Valmus there were few places they could seek help. After a short period of time she eventually passed on. Alrayus while still very young was old enough to know that had it not been for himself and his father then his mother would have been cared for and possibly survived. He raged for days, alternating between screaming and crying about the unfairness of the situation, railing against the people who would judge them on nothing more than their appearance.

After his rage was spent his father took him a ways away from the caravan into a clearing in a nearby forest, they walked in silence until they reached their destination and then Valmus motioned for his son to sit but still said nothing. Alrayus, knowing his father was a patient man, waited for him to speak.

Minutes passed in silence, then just as the sun began to set his father pulled his fiddle from his back and began to play. The song was gentle yet sad; it brought Alrayus immense comfort while also drawing tears from his eyes. Not tears of anger or resentment this time, but of sadness and loss. His fathered played for a while and Alrayus cried until his tears were dried and curled up by his father’s side. After the song was complete Valmus turned to his son and smiled, he spoke to him gently saying;

''“Son… There is nothing wrong with feeling sadness. In fact without it life would not be worth living. Sadness means that you have lost something worth loving and if you never felt it then you have never loved something truly. You must embrace your emotions, yes even anger. But you must never let them control you. The man who feels no emotion has lived no life at all.''

Your mother loved you Alrayus, just as I do, but even in her final days she did not hold a single thing against those who rejected us… rejected her… because to do so would only make her remaining days that much more unbearable.

''We cannot change peoples’ hearts with anger or by returning hatred in kind. We can only do so by showing them that we are not just our horns or our tail. Promise me you will do the same.”''

In that moment Alrayus swore to prove to the whole world that they were wrong, that tieflings were better than the devils they were feared to be. His father smiled and played his fiddle again, something joyous and wild which pulled a smile even from Alrayus’ lips and at the sight of it his father laughed. He played until the sun was almost fully set, then as they sat in the clearing Alrayus saw animals approach, does and stags, rabbits and hares, birds of every kind alighting on the trees around them. His father simply laughed and played for their audience until the sun was far below the horizon.

As the last notes of his music drifted through the forest Valmus stood and pulled his son to his feet, the animals of the forest drifted away into the forest and the two tieflings returned to the caravan. Alrayus no longer feeling the rage he had felt before, but surprisingly found it replaced with a contentment he could not quite understand.

Recent Years
Thanks to his fathers’ words Alrayus did not harbour resentment or a grudge against those who would shun them, however this did not prevent him from losing his temper on occasion. As he grew his father would teach him to play the musical instruments he had collected over the years and Alrayus was keen to learn them all, but none so much as his fathers’ pure black fiddle. He took to it like a fish to water and was loathe to set it down every time he played.

Initially Alrayus would be taken into the cities and towns with his father and would collect coins or watch his father perform from the edge of the crowd, once old enough however his father would let him take part in the performance, accompanying him as he played. This meant that over the years Alrayus had seen many examples of the hatred that others still held for tieflings. His father would be heckled from the crowd, some would even throw rotting fruit or vegetables, more often than not this was isolated and could be ignored, but there were several occasions Alrayus could remember when the crowds had turned and they were forced to flee the city.

As he came into his adult years sometimes this abuse would be more than he could stomach, they only wanted to perform after all, they had done nothing wrong. When his father was present he was able to calm Alrayus’ temper and pull him away from any confrontation… but that wasn’t always the case. Alrayus could still remember the first time he really allowed his temper to get away from him. He and his father and finished a show in a small town with not much more than an inn and a single merchant shop. As he walked from the inn to their caravan on the outskirts without his father he was cornered by 3 youths about his own age. They insulted him, threatened him, threw stones at him, but still he did nothing. Then one of the youths threatened to “go after the older devil” when Alrayus was gone. At that he snapped, hurling himself and the youth who threatened his father. The fight was short; it was 3 on 1 after all. But the first youth he tackled… well, he wouldn’t be threatening anyone for some time.

Alrayus expected his father for yell, to berate him, to threaten to leave him outside the next city they visited. What he got was worse, for his father gave him compassion and understanding. He helped him bandage his wounds and made sure there was no damage to his head. Alrayus cried, he wept in his father’s caring arms and promised to be better. His father laughed and reminded him that there is nothing wrong with embracing your emotions. He assured him that he understood, when he was younger he often felt the need to defend himself or those around him from abuse and knew that Alrayus was not letting his emotions control him, he was merely passionate and willing to do anything to protect those he cared for.

This wasn’t the last fight Alrayus got himself into, not by far, but he was sure to try and hold his temper better, it was an ongoing struggle, but he preserved.

Eventually Alrayus had learned everything he could from his father, and thinking back to his promise he declared that he wanted to set out on his own. Valmus only smiled and nodded, he knew the day would come eventually, and much to his surprise his father presented Alrayus with his fiddle indicating it was intended to be heard by everyone in the land and now Alrayus was in a better position to do this than him.

Several days later Alrayus set off on his own, heading away from the caravan vowing to meet them again one day with stories and songs of his own to share and set off into the rising sun.

Now
Having set off on his own Alrayus spent some time travelling through towns and cities he had visited with his father but decided to strike off to see places he hadn’t before… Unfortunately this resulted in him straying a bit too close to a military post during wartime and got himself captured. While captive he met some strange and interesting people some of whom agreed to set off together and at the very least let someone know what had happened to the post they were held at. They have met several other like-minded adventurers on their way and now work together to do… well, who knows, but they are doing it together!

Party Members
Silver - Along with Malthor, Silver was one of the people locked up with Alrayus when their adventure began. Alrayus finds her intriguing and is interested to see what she does in the future.

Malthor - Another of the group locked up with Alrayus at the beginning of their adventure, a tiefling like himself Alrayus immediately felt a kinship for the ranger. Driven by his hatred of devils however has taken Malthor down a very different path, Alrayus is interested to see where it takes him and will be there to help him when he is needed.

Brian - a companion provided to them by the shadowy V'nd, sent to help carry out some "business" within Cogswald. When it was revealed that the Goliath played the bagpipes Alrayus was immediately taken by him.