Keyleth

Keyleth is a half-elf druid in the group Vox Machina. She is played by Marisha Ray.

Intro
"A first impression of Keyleth would leave you with little information on the half-elven druid. You might even think that her social awkwardness due to her sheltered upbringing is kind of sweet. Of course, it would be unwise to underestimate her based on first impressions. Under that unintimidating petite frame is a vicious beast waiting to be unleashed, whose natural powers have made even the fiercest of champions pee their pants. Literally.

''Born to the air tribe of the Ashari people, Keyleth was raised with a deep love of nature and the elemental magics. It is her people's inherent duty to protect the delicate areas in Tal'Dorei, where the four elemental planes begin to bleed with this realm. Since she was a little girl, she had quite a knack for air manipulation and beast shaping abilities; well, if you consider kittens and flying squirrels to be little beasts, which I do. Anyways, it wasn't long before the headmaster of the tribe, her father, Korren, realized her true prodigious abilities and she was inveterated to succeed him as the next headmaster. Just like that, her jovial childhood was stripped and replaced with endless spell memorization, teachings from ancient traditions, and exceedingly high expectations.''

''Every druid leader-to-be must embark on a journey to seek out the sister tribes in order to introduce and establish respect amongst the fellow headmasters. They call this the Aramente, or Noble Odyssey. When her father felt she was ready, he set her on the path to truly discovering herself. Not knowing when, or if, she will ever return. As she hikes down the mountain towards Stillben, she meditated on the task ahead. Part of the Aramente is proving yourself a strong warrior, a valiant protector, and a wise and compassionate leader. With this knowledge, one thought plays in repeat in her mind: is she even worthy?"''

Character Information
Keyleth is one of the spellcasters of Vox Machina. She often uses her abilities to shapeshift into various creatures for battle, scouting, transportation, stealth, and many other purposes. She can control the elements and often uses these abilities to slow down enemies or buy time. Keyleth also possesses some knowledge of healing, as she can heal the wounds of her friends and she once managed to bring Grog out of his catatonic state.

Keyleth joined Vox Machina in order to help complete her Aramente. While this has ultimately helped her out, she occasionally faces moral decisions that she probably would not have to make were she not part of the group. Keyleth's alignment is "neutral good", like Percy (and, originally, Vex'ahlia).

She is shy and very socially inept. This makes it difficult for her to persuade others to help her and her friends out in many situations. However, she also has a strong moral compass, which allows her to question at times some of the rather extreme choices that Vox Machina tend to make.

Keyleth has a very strong prejudice against those who tend to put most of their faith in their god. This is due to an unknown traumatic event that happened in her life which she does not talk about. After the assault on the Emberhold, Keyleth got into a very heated argument with Lady Kima about how her beliefs in her god's protection put their party in grave peril and caused Grog to get captured. She also told Kima that she hoped, in her efforts to rid the world of K'Varn, Kima would not end up becoming the thing she was trying to destroy. She expressed concern to the rest of her group that she did not want Kima or the people of Emon to gain control of the Horn of Orcus, as she did not completely trust them. Despite their differences, Keyleth has saved and aided Kima in a couple of battles. She also apologized to Kima, who forgave her earlier outburst, and things between them soon defused as the paladin earned Keyleth's trust in the days ahead.

Keyleth has expressed an interest in learning how to make potions, and has asked Gilmore about possibly starting up a workshop to teach people alchemy.

Her favorite animal form is a saber-toothed tiger, which Grog refers to as "Minxie". She first used that form as a way to help Grog intimidate somebody, pretending to be his pet tiger. She can also turn into a bear that closely resembles Trinket.

One of Keyleth's most famous lines is "I bury my shame" whenever she accidentally kills an innocent creature and attempts to hide the body.

Relationships
Keyleth and Tiberius had a strong friendship. Oftentimes, the two tried to support each other when in combat or escaping, such as when he took out twelve duergar who were attacking her and others with a Fireball, and then trying to catch her and the gnomes when she reverted from an eagle Wild Shape. Tiberius also viewed Keyleth as elven royalty, and often referred to her as "Your Highness" when he tried to comfort her. For her part, Keyleth seemed to view Tiberius as a sort of advisor when she was upset, such as when Keyleth voiced her reasoning regarding her argument with Lady Kima. She was one of the members that were affected the most by the discovery of his body in Draconia, even keeping a piece of his robe for herself and personally burying him.

Keyleth also has a very strong friendship with Percy and occasionally serves as a moral compass to him, especially during the Whitestone story arc. She helped Percy create his Diplomacy gauntlet.

Keyleth and Grog have a special combo attack referred to as the "Fastball Special", where Keyleth turns into a brawny creature, like an earth elemental, in order to have enough strength to throw Grog at a large opponent.

She became interested with the cleric Kashaw Vesh while completing a trial for the Slayer's Take guild in Vasselheim, even receiving her first kiss from him before he departed. Upon reuniting in, Kashaw later apologized for stealing her first kiss, saying that while it felt good, it was ultimately wrong of him.

Keyleth's also a close friend and love interest of Vax'ildan, although she was initially quite unsure of her feelings toward him and even stated that she was scared. Vax agreed to give her space and allow her to choose for herself whether she wants him or not. As their adventures continued and after the trauma of the Chroma Conclave's attacks across the world, Keyleth became increasingly receptive toward Vax's companionship, allowing him into her room the night before the party left Greyskull Keep, as well as kissing and hugging him after Grog's test of character against Earthbreaker Groon in Vasselheim. However, after Vex's death, Keyleth revealed to Vax that she was scared of growing close to him because her eventual completion of the Aramente would endow her with a significantly extended lifespan, and she feared watching everyone she loves die, leaving her alone. Over time, however, Keyleth realized that those fears were ultimately unfounded, purely based on an unwritten future. With that revelation, as well as the burial of Tiberius and separate encouragements from Korren (her father), Vex'ahlia, and Pike Trickfoot, Keyleth eventually went to Vax's room and insisted on being with him for the night. During this time, as Vax poured his heart out to her and expressed his doubts about the two of them and where they stand, Keyleth interrupted and, after speaking her mind, finally confessed her feelings for him and apologized for making him wait so long. They then spent the night together.

Before the Stream
Keyleth almost died when she went up against an aboleth as a shark. Because the aboleth creates a slime that taints the water and pulls oxygen out of it, Keyleth began to drown.

At some point, Keyleth was thrown in jail and the party had to figure out a way to get her out. Scanlan managed to convince the guards that she had pubic lice. She played along by foaming at the mouth and acting insane. Percy acted as her lawyer.

Vox Machina was forced to fight the Dread Emperor after they discovered he was abducting children, and had abducted Uriel Tal'Dorei's son. While the group was in an alternate plane of existence controlled by the being known as the Dread Emperor, Keyleth was able to stop a fight against a corrupted treant using her ability Command Plants (seen here). While fighting the Dread Emperor, one of his defenses was using children chained by their necks to him as living shields to share the damage he took from the group's attacks. When Keyleth attempted to rescue one of the children with her Grasping Vine spell, she got into a tug-of-war fight with the Dread Emperor over the child. The child accidentally died when his neck broke from too much pressure around the collar.

Magic Items

 * Armor of Spell Resistance
 * Cloak of Displacement (given to her by Vax'ildan)
 * Earring of Whisper (enchanted by Tiberius)
 * Enchanted Circlet (Wisdom)
 * Gate Stone
 * Ring of Protection +2
 * Ring of Spell Storing
 * Sparkstone (expended; granted Keyleth a permanent boon of +1d6 fire damage with hands, claws, or talons when activated)
 * Spire of Conflux (retrieved from Yenk's corpse)

Quests
Keyleth's quest seems to be to complete her Aramente; this requires her to seek out the sister-tribes of the Air Ashari in order to introduce and establish respect amongst the fellow headmasters. She has so far met with the Earth and Fire Ashari.

Keyleth revealed that the last person to attempt the Aramente was her mother Vilya, who has never been heard from again. Keyleth wants to discover what happened to her mother, even though she's afraid of what that discovery might reveal.

Abilities
Keyleth has many different spells at her disposal. Mostly she uses her magic to transform into different creatures when in combat, though she has at one time tried to impersonate a dwarf. As a level 15 druid, Keyleth has full access to the druid spell list, with the ability to prepare up to 21 spells per day.

Half-Elf Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Fey Ancestry

Druid Abilities

 * Flaming Hands (from the Sparkstone)
 * Thousand Forms (Alter Self at will)
 * Wild Shape

Air/Lightning Spells

 * Call Lightning
 * Gust
 * Gust of Wind
 * Skywrite
 * Whirlwind
 * Wind Walk
 * Wind Wall

Earth Spells

 * Bones of the Earth
 * Earthbind
 * Move Earth
 * Stone Shape
 * Stoneskin
 * Transmute Rock
 * Wall of Stone

Fire Spells

 * Fire Storm
 * Flaming Sphere

Ice/Water Spells

 * Control Water
 * Create or Destroy Water
 * Ice Storm
 * Sleet Storm
 * Tidal Wave

Healing Spells

 * Cure Wounds
 * Goodberry
 * Greater Restoration
 * Heal
 * Healing Word

Other Spells

 * Antilife Shell
 * Beast Sense
 * Blight
 * Commune with Nature
 * Conjure Woodland Beings
 * Control Weather
 * Daylight
 * Dispel Magic
 * Druidcraft
 * Enhance Ability
 * Entangle
 * Faerie Fire
 * Find the Path
 * Fog Cloud
 * Geas
 * Grasping Vine
 * Guidance
 * Hallucinatory Terrain
 * Heat Metal
 * Heroes' Feast
 * Hold Person
 * Pass Without Trace
 * Planar Binding
 * Plane Shift
 * Plant Growth
 * Polymorph
 * Protection from Energy
 * Scrying
 * Speak with Animals
 * Speak with Plants
 * Sunbeam
 * Thorn Whip
 * Thunderwave
 * Transport via Plants