Dor-Niran-Ainalen
A fallen celestial, formerly a divine servant of Svarog?, now bound to Albrecht’s service.
General information
Ainalen is humanoid, with coppery-red hair and very pale skin. Her legs end in bird-like talons, and she has wings of crackling flame. Ainalen wears a sculpted mithril breastplate and a cloak of shimmering fire, and wields a pair of flaming scimitars.
Ainalen was an asura—a race of celestials related to the Phoenix of ancient myth. Asuras serve deities of light and fire as messengers, heralds, and agents of divine wrath. They are, as a rule, exceptionally violent and intolerant of deception and evil; and Ainalen was a fairly typical example of her kind. She served Svarog?, god of the sun.
Though she has fallen from grace, Ainalen’s appearance is largely unchanged (except that the flames of her wings and hair are now blood-red), and she retains most of an asura's powers (with her ability to take other forms being one notable exception). For the purposes of spells and other effects, however, Ainalen is now considered an erinyes devil.
Dealings with the player characters
The PCs have encountered Ainalen on several occasions (all of which involved hostile confrontation of some sort), culminating in Ainalen finding herself bound to serve Albrecht.
Rescue from captivity
The player characters discovered Ainalen, along with the celestials Arvo? and Liana?, languishing in cages in the long-abandoned lair of Zmei Gromovoi, where the party had ventured, to seek the dragon's hoard and his Journal. The PCs decided to free the three celestials, hoping to earn some favors or information in return. Though Ainalen expressed gratitude for the rescue, she took an immediate disliking to the PCs, especially Albrecht, whom she immediately recognized as an evildoer and a servant of dark forces.
Engaging the celestials in friendly conversation, Vasily learned that Ainalen had been sent to the mortal world by her god, Svarog?, on an important mission. Souls that should have been bound for Svarog's domain (and those of other deities of the Slavic lands as well, it turned out) were being lost, never reaching their afterlives. Ainalen was tasked with discovering the cause of this grave disturbance in the divine order. In the course of her mission, she had been identified by some of Zmei Gromovoi’s children, and then captured and bound by the Demon of Fire and Storm himself. (It was, in fact, Zmei Gromovoi himself who had been responsible for the loss of souls, which were being consumed in the dragon's vile rituals of sacrifice.)
The party, with the celestials accompanying them, started making their way out of the dragon's lair. In the process, Ainalen discovered the Mongol warriors whom the PCs had left trapped within part of the lair's complex, magical layout. This triggered an inconvenient and uncomfortable conversation, and relations between the two parties quickly deteriorated. The celestials insisted on recovering Zmei Gromovoi’s Journal themselves — so that it could be studied, by the Watchers of Celestia, and then destroyed; the PCs, of course, were loathe to give up the immensely valuable tome. In the end, no compromise could be reached, and violence broke out. Ainalen and the other two celestials were killed.
Celestial ambush
Some time later, Ainalen was, as it turned out, resurrected, along with Liana? and Arvo?. The three participated in an unexpected and unprovoked attack on the player characters, led by the eladrin Anait?. While Anait? had her own reasons for the assault, Ainalen cared little for Anait?'s plans, and was motivated only by vengeance. The PCs were subdued and (briefly) taken captive by Anait?; but Ainalen was killed in the process.
Gladiator in Atlantis
When the party journeyed to Atlantis?, and entered the Atlantean? gladiatorial games in order to win the favor of the Matriarch Amphitrite, each member of the party was matched up against an opponent in single combat. It turned out that Ainalen, who had apparently heard of the much-publicized event, had also signed up, and had gotten herself assigned as Albrecht’s opponent.
When the match began, Ainalen declared that although she was forbidden from tracking Albrecht down and delivering to him the justice that he deserved, at least in this arena she could show him that Evil pales before the righteous wrath of Good. The fight, a frenzied flurry of sword slashes, was over quickly; Albrecht was heavily wounded, but prevailed. As Ainalen collapsed from her wounds, she swore that she would take Albrecht's soul to the Abyss if it was her last act.
However, even as the crowd cheered and chanted Albrecht’s name, a transformation took hold of the unconscious asura. Her wings and her hair began to turn blood-red, even as they continued to burn. Nikolai, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the Outer Planes and their ways, realized that Ainalen had lost her celestial status, had fallen from grace — and been transformed into an erinyes? before the PCs' very eyes. The former celestial's unconscious body was removed by the nereid? priests who tended to fallen gladiators, and the PCs' attention was turned to other matters.
Follower of Arakel
Having lost her status as divine agent of Svarog?, and been banished from her god's presence and from the celestial realms, Ainalen traveled to the realm of Acheron, and chose to follow the path of Arakel, of the Iron Triad. Having done this, she soon found herself bound to the service of the greatest of Arakel’s disciples—Albrecht, her declared nemesis. Arakel, in a display of fate's irony, gave to Albrecht command over Ainalen, and the ability to summon her when he wished; this was a gift, in reward for Albrecht’s impressive and unwavering dedication to Arakel’s path.
Though Ainalen’s hatred for Albrecht has not waned, she seems less resentful of her fate than might be expected, and does little to resist serving Albrecht’s goals and following his commands. The fallen asura remains confident that she will yet get her vengeance on the evildoers who defeated her, and views her current situation as merely another path to that end.
Combat statistics
Dor-Niran-Ainalen
Female unique erinyes?, fighter 8
LE Medium outsider (baatezu, evil, lawful)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., see in darkness, true seeing; Listen +15, Spot +15
Defense
AC 38, touch 21, flat-footed 30 (+6 Dex, +2 dodge [style mastery], +8 armor, +3 deflection [ring], +9 natural [+3 amulet])
DR 5/silver & good
hp 160 (8d8+8d10+80)
Fort +17, Ref +16, Will +12
Immune charm, compulsion, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 27
Offense
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee 2 flaming burst scimitars +25/+20/+15/+10 (1d6+10/12–20/×2 plus 1d6 fire) plus 1d6+11 Two-Weapon Rend
Ranged Flaming longbow +25/+20/+15/+10 (1d8+7/19–20/×3 plus 1d6 fire)
Grapple +22
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Attack Options Twin Sword Strike
Special Attacks burning wind (15 ft. radius, 10d6 fire), summon baatezu (1d4 bearded devils, 100%)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th, Concentration +16)
At will — charm monster (DC 17), detect good, detect evil, dimension jump, discern lies (DC 15), unholy blight (DC 16)
Statistics
Str 23, Dex 22, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 17
Base Atk +16
- Feats
- Advanced Two-Weapon Fighting,
Exalted Spell Resistance, Greater Weapon Focus, Improved CriticalB, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Twin Sword Strike, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Rend, Weapon Focus (claws), Weapon Focus (longbow), Weapon Focus (scimitar), Weapon Specialization - Skills
- Concentration +16, Diplomacy +14, Escape Artist +17, Knowledge (the planes) +11, Listen +15, Sense Motive +21, Spot +15, Use Rope +17 (+19 with bindings)
- Languages
- Celestial, Infernal, Russian; telepathy 100 ft.
- Combat Gear
- +2 keen flaming burst scimitar (2), +3 mithril breastplate, +1 flaming mighty [+4] composite longbow, belt of giant strength +6, vest of health +6, bracers of Dexterity +6 & resistance +4, ring of protection +3, amulet of natural armor +3, Cloak of Flame (see below)
Special Abilities
- Burning Wind (Su)
- As a standard action, Ainalen can beat her wings to deal 10d6 fire damage to all creatures and objects within 15 feet.
- See in Darkness (Su)
- Ainalen sees through normal and magical darkness.
- Style Mastery (TWF)
- All 1H weapons are considered light. +2 dodge bonus to AC.
- Summon Baatezu (Sp)
- Once per day Ainalen can summon 1d4 bearded devils with a 100% chance of success.
- True Seeing (Su)
- Ainalen continuously uses true seeing as the spell.
Magic Items
Cloak of Flame
The cloak amplifies Ainalen's burning wind to 10d6, and allows fiery discorporation (as fire version of lightning leap; 10d6 damage, up to 60-foot line) 3/day.