Vess DeRogna

Vess DeRogna is a half-elven mage and a member of the Cerberus Assembly, filling the role of Archmage of Antiquity. As an NPC, she was played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Lady Vess DeRogna is an half-elven woman with short, medium-brown hair that curled slightly towards the end. She appears middle-aged, but not as old as Ludinus Da'leth. When the Mighty Nein saw her in Felderwin, she wore clothing that was deep green with black patterns on her billowing sleeves, and many rings and necklaces, from each of which dangled circular gemstones in many different colors. She appears to favor green clothing, as she wore a robe in that color when the Mighty Nein visited her in Rexxentrum.

Like Mollymauk Tealeaf, she had nine tattoos of eyes on specific points on her body, which she may have kept hidden with a glamour.

Personality
Caleb described her as "half a recluse", and a history buff who taught at the Soltryce Academy.

Yeza Brenatto described her as forceful, persuasive, and a terrible boss, often putting serious pressure on him to finish his project to extract the essence of dunamancy from the dodecahedron, in response to Ludinus Da'leth pressuing her.

Tower
Known colloquially as the Two-Facet Tower, DeRogna's tower is a tall, deep green-gray with two smaller towers that for off from the central at varying heights. The door is a polished, deep gray wood with three metal bands and a knocker that appears to be a griffon holding the ring.

The foyer is comprised of dark wood and gold leaf around marble flooring. There is a central rug with two velvet, dark gray benches that face toward each other. At the back of the foyer is a staircase with a banister that has been intricately carved to bare a resemblance of a snake coiling upwards.

At the top of the staircase is a lounge area. The floors are a deep red carpet with a large white marble fireplace and a mural of the landscape of Xhorhas. Seated in a semicircle are several polished cherry wood chairs that appear to be antique. Within the room, the pillars and walls are adorned with statues of busts and heads of Exandrian monstrosities and creatures.

Background
As of 835 PD, Vess had taught at the Soltryce Academy for over two decades. As Archmage of Antiquity, her area of focus is magical history, and she has a particular interest in pre-Calamity relics and mysteries. She became Archmage of Antiquity after Lady Delilah Briarwood was expelled from the Cerberus Assembly for the practice of necromancy.

She had hired the Tombtakers a few years prior to 835 PD as protection and assistance in Molaesmyr and in an expedition to Aeor in Eiselcross. In 833 PD, two years before Campaign 2, she was approached by Lucien, the leader of the Tombtakers, to perform a ritual from a journal that would allow him to reach Aeor's Cognouza Ward in the Astral Plane. He was chosen by the Somnovem to be the Nonagon, and he hoped to learn secrets and attain power at Cognouza. Vess felt that she had the right to be the Nonagon and planned to sabotage the ritual. She, Lucien, and the Tombtakers gathered in a forest, and she told the other Tombtakers that it would be difficult to immediately tell whether the ritual succeeded. Instead of sending Lucien to the Astral Plane whole, she shattered his soul into pieces and scattered it, leaving him apparently dead. She then took the journal, per her agreement with Lucien.

Experiments with the Beacon
While reading about the Cerberus Assembly at the Cobalt Soul archive in Zadash, Caleb read that Lady Vess DeRogna was Archmage of Antiquity. The Mighty Nein first saw her in Felderwin and noticed her meeting Ludinus Da'leth when he Teleported in. They were talking together as they walked towards the ruins of the Brenatto Apothecary. Luc Brenatto mentioned a "mean lady with pointy ears" who had been coming by to the house when Nott spoke to him.

After the Mighty Nein negotiated Yeza's release from the Kryn Dynasty, Yeza described how Lady DeRogna would bring the Luxon beacon from a secured place to his basement for experiments. She also threatened Luc's safety if Yeza ever shared his knowledge of their experiments with anyone.

DeRogna was one of the many options that the Mighty Nein considered Scrying upon in order to learn more about the second missing Luxon beacon. Caleb cast Seeming on the party, making them look like various members of the Cerberus Assembly with Nott looking like DeRogna, in order for Jester to potentially be able to scry upon one of them. DeRogna was the eventually chosen target, but the scrying attempt failed.

In Nicodranas, shortly before the peace talks between the Empire and the Dynasty, Essek Thelyss confessed to the Mighty Nein to having conspired with Ludinus and Trent Ikithon in the theft of the beacons that sparked the war, and noted that while he never met DeRogna, he knew she helmed a period of experimentation with the beacon. These were the only people he believed to have knowledge of the arrangement. Shortly after, while the Empire armada was sailing to the peace talks, the Balleater was attacked by forces of Uk'otoa. In the immediate aftermath, Lady DeRogna used Dimension Door to reach the ship to intervene. The party lied to her and said it seemed like a random attack. Lady DeRogna accepted this, and invited the party to talk to her about work possibilities in the north once all of this was over. A few days later, Caleb and Beau flew to the Cerberus Assembly ship, the Wind of Aeons, to inspect the Luxon beacon being carried to the parley. Ludinus Da'leth seemed genuinely surprised to learn the party had met Lady DeRogna, and that she had offered them work. Her purpose for being at the talks was to keep an eye on the perimeter and to hopefully discuss arcane projects between the Empire and the Dynasty if the peace talks were to go well.

Preparation for Eiselcross
As the party considered what they would do next after Rumblecusp, Caleb mentioned to the rest of the group that he wanted to start gathering intel on the Cerberus Assembly. Fjord suggested that they could take up Vess DeRogna's job offer in Eiselcross. The Mighty Nein decided to do so, and after messaging Vess, traveled to Rexxentrum to meet with her in her tower to discuss their mission in Eiselcross. Caleb asked her about her thoughts regarding the peace treaty. She told the party not to trust Ludinus, and that she was hoping to hire them as mercenaries to protect her on an excursion into the ruins of Aeor. She mentioned the powerful weaponry of Aeor to the party, but said her interest was primarily the city's history and culture. The Mighty Nein accepted her offer, and she told them she hoped to leave within the week, as well as provided details of the trip.

Once the Mighty Nein learned that Mollymauk Tealeaf's body had been resurrected and that he seemed to traveling in the north, they met with Vess at her tower and asked her several questions about the Tombtakers, whom she had previously employed for an excursion to the ruins of Molaesmyr. Vess told the Mighty Nein that the Tombtakers had been somewhat untrustworthy, and she now preferred to work with groups with some loyalty to the empire. When the Nein told her the mission had become more urgent, Vess agreed to leave sooner, and ran Pumat Sol ragged to complete an enchantment for Caduceus Clay so that they could depart. Veth, upon speaking to Yeza about the journey, briefly disguised herself as Vess, which caused Yeza visible distress. Once preparations were complete, Vess and the Nein teleported to Palebank Village and started sailing to Balenpost.

Travel North
Vess kept largely to herself while on the ship, staying out of the Mighty Nein's fight with Avantika. After the party defeated Avantika, Caduceus went below decks and briefly talked with Vess DeRogna about the attack on the ship. She seemed thoroughly impressed by their skills to handle the situation without her help, and said it was why she had hired them. Upon landing in Balenpost, Vess conjured the symbol of the Assembly above her, and she and the party were greeted and escorted to the fort.

That evening, Vess invited the Mighty Nein to dine with her, and mentioned that she hoped to leave Balenpost the next day. She discussed the crossing of the River Inferno, and assured them she would handle it. She also warned them about the dangers of teleportation magic in the region, and recommended they speak with Dagen Underthorn, who was to be their guide. Caleb asked her how much the Assembly knew of her business, and she told them that she checked in with them from time to time.

After dinner, Jester Scryed on the person in Molly's body, and saw that he was reading a collection of loosely bound papers. He seemed to notice Jester through the Scry, and told Jester that it had led him to "her". He also mentioned that he had stolen something back. The Mighty Nein surmised that he might have been referring to Vess.

Death
After Vess did not appear the next day by mid-afternoon, despite having mentioned wanting to leave before nightfall, Jester cast Sending to her, and received no response. The party then broke into her room and found the window open, her books rummaged through, and Vess's bloodied corpse lying on her bed. Fjord immediately disguised himself as Vess so as to not rouse suspicion. The party found that Vess's body was covered with nine red eyes. Fjord, using Major Image, convinced the guards that Vess had food poisoning and would need another day before she left, and Caduceus cast Gentle Repose after which the party hid Vess's corpse in the Bag of Holding. That evening, in Caleb's tower, Speak with Dead allowed the group to learn more about the ritual done on Lucien two years ago, and Vess's underlying connections to the Tombtakers. They learned the eyes served to mark the Nonagon, which Vess referred to as "the key to Cognouza." She also affirmed that she had been responsible for whatever had seemingly killed Lucien. Caleb then cast Widogast's Vault of Amber so that it could be moved more easily. Fjord then convinced Dagen that Vess had left on assembly business and that she would meet them closer to the ruins, and the party made plans to set out as soon as possible.

Early in their journey into Eiselcross, the Mighty Nein met Lucien and asked him a number of questions about his murder of Vess. He confirmed that he and Vess had been competing to be the Nonagon and that she had first stolen the book from him when she performed the ritual that shattered his soul. The Mighty Nein took the opportunity to cast Speak with Dead on Vess's body again not long after, and learned more about the Somnovem, that the Tombtakers were hoping to find enough threshold crests to bring back the city of Cognouza, and the basic details of the ritual involved. A few days later, the Tombtakers caught up with the Mighty Nein. While sharing dinner, Lucien told them more about Vess's theft of the book. After a couple days of travel together, Otis stole the Bag of Holding from Fjord, which was holding Caleb's Vault of Amber and therefore Vess DeRogna's body.

The Mighty Nein revealed to Essek Thelyss, when they reached Vurmas, that Vess had been killed, which unnerved him.

Astrid Becke implied that Vess's death was known to Ludinus, but at the time the Mighty Nein parted ways, no action had been taken by the Cerberus Assembly regarding her disappearance.

Notable items

 * Journal of Cognouza (taken by Lucien)

From the Eyes of Nine
Having read the journal of Cognouza, DeRogna had viewed the pattern that imparted the nine eyes. Each eye grants an ability. However, she was not known to have used them during her time with the Mighty Nein.


 * First eye: Mild telepathy with others bearing eyes (120 feet)
 * Second eye: Darkvision
 * Third eye: Ability to see through illusions
 * Fourth eye: Ability to see into the ethereal plane
 * Fifth eye: Ability to scry into the "eye" of another
 * Sixth eye: Ability to sense all beings with minds (300 feet)
 * Seventh eye: Rend Mind: Recharging melee attack that deals 10d10 psychic damage
 * Eighth eye: Ability to control the minds of others with "eyes"
 * Ninth eye: 30-foot antimagic cone that dispels rather than suppresses magic

Wizard spells
Based on Lady DeRogna casting Teleport twice in one day, she had at least one 7th and one 8th level spell slot, so she was at least a 15th-level spellcaster.

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 2

Quotations

 * Caduceus Clay: "What is it to be a Nonagon?" Vess DeRogna: "The Nonagon is a vessel. It is the key to Cognouza. It is the one to free the Somnovem."

Trivia
Based on her ability to change the appearance of the artwork in her tower, as well as the strong possibility she disguised her tattoos, it is likely but not confirmed that her specialty was illusion magic.