Vex'ahlia

Vex'ahlia, also known as "Vex", is a half-elf ranger/rogue member of Vox Machina and the wife of Lord Percival de Rolo of Whitestone. She was played by Laura Bailey.

Intro
"Like so many half-elves, Vex'ahlia has spent most of her life suffering the cool reception of a people who don't fully accept her.

Born of a human mother and an elven father—who only later in life took an interest in their existence—, Vex'ahlia and her twin brother Vax'ildan quickly realized the only people they could truly rely on in this world were each other.

''It was at the age of ten when the two were taken from their mother, and brought to live in Syngorn, the isolated elven city for which their father was an ambassador. He quietly took them in, but always kept an icy distance, and after too many years of disdainful looks, the pair decided to leave his indifference behind, and set out on their own.''

''Vax took to the cities, stealing small trinkets and learning the ways of the thief, while Vex kept to the woods. She preferred the isolation. Always the keen observer, she learned to hunt and to track, to spy and to shoot. And through a series of fateful events, earned herself a companion in the form of a bear—her own stolen Trinket—to fight alongside her and protect her fiercely. Also, he is adorable—and gives expert massages."''

Appearance
Vex'ahlia, like her twin brother Vax'ildan, is a twenty-eight year old half-elf. She is identical in appearance to Vax, albeit two inches shorter than him. She also wears her long, dark brown hair in a thick braid, which is usually accompanied with blue feathers. The feathers were a gift from Vax so he could help her through a dark period of her life, and she eventually gave them back by braiding them into his hair during his resurrection ritual.

After joining the Slayer's Take, Vex has the brand of the guild on her right arm.

Personality
Compared to Vax, Vex is the more pragmatic of the twins. She is very deceptive, and can usually bluff her way through various social encounters. Her charisma has also made her good at haggling.

Her tendency to haggle has made her quite frugal, almost miserly, which is the result of Vax and herself being ignored by their father and having to fend for themselves during their teenage years.

But beneath her flirtatious attitude and self-confidence lies a girl that feels broken and feeling unwanted. This stems from her upbringing growing up in Syngorn, where she and Vax had been judged not only due to their status as half-elves, but also due to being bastard children. But compared to her brother, Vex was easily more affected by the elves' treatment of her. As such, she developed a mentality where she would constantly try to make herself look like she came from money so that people would respect her. Such behavior has led to people assuming she was obsessed with wealth. Only a handful of people, like Percy, have ever truly known the kind of person she was.

Vex'ahlia's alignment was originally neutral good, just like Keyleth and Scanlan, but became chaotic neutral, like Grog and Tiberius, due to many behaviors and actions culminating in the theft of Gern Blanston's flying broom and then lying about it. After a long while, due to having reflected on her choices and making an effort to change herself, her alignment changed once more—this time to chaotic good—after showing genuine concern for two enslaved aasimar and wanting to save them.

Background
Vex, along with her brother Vax, was born in the humble village of Byroden due to the union of a human woman named Elaina and an elven man named Syldor Vessar. The twins lived with Elaina for the first ten years of their life before they were sent to live in Syngorn, where their father lived.

After several years of cold reception from the Syngornian elves, the twins set off on their own. They returned to Byroden, only to see their childhood home destroyed and their mother gone. Upon learning that a dragon was responsible for the destruction, Vex'ahlia spent the next few years of her life studying about dragons in the chance that should she find the wyrm that killed Elaina, she would be able to exact revenge on them alongside her brother. Vax honed his skills as a rogue, whereas Vex honed her skills as a ranger.

For quite some time, Vax and Vex only truly relied on each other, but eventually the twins found their way to Stilben, where they met individuals that would later join them and become the foundation for the adventuring party Vox Machina.

Vex'ahlia is one of the ranged fighters of the party, excelling in using the longbow. However, her bear companion Trinket engages in close-ranged combat occasionally, although she prefers to keep him safe from enemies. Aside from this, she is one of the stealthier members in the group, and often will scout ahead of the group in order to get information on enemies.

Vex's favored terrain types are forests, mountains, and the Underdark. She is also an accomplished tracker, and can use her abilities to hunt her enemies. Vex is also fluent in several languages: Common, Elvish, Draconic, Abyssal, and Undercommon. She also learned how to use Thieves' Cant after learning from Vax.

Unofficially, she is the treasurer for Vox Machina, and often only gives cryptic answers when questioned by the group about how much gold they have.

Vex, like her brother, is bisexual. She has shown interest in Jarett Howarth, Zahra Hydris, and Percival de Rolo, and she has even flirted with everyone they have come across, a fact that was referenced when Vex refused to pretend to be Vax's wife for a ruse and Vax retorted that she "come[s] on to every human, orc, and half-elf in the entire kingdom."

Vex became the first party member to die outside of combat in when the party found one of the Vestiges of the Divergence, the Deathwalker's Ward, and tried to liberate it. Vex tried to search for traps, but Percy ended up triggering one by accident that damaged and killed her. Fortunately, Kashaw, who was traveling with the group at the time, managed to initiate a risky Revivify ritual for her, which ended up bringing her back to life.

Before the Stream
Upon first arriving in Emon, Vex and Vax were briefly reunited with Syldor, the latter visiting the city for diplomatic reasons. The conversation was frosty, and the twins discovered that they now have a half-sister, Velora Vessar.

Vex was turned to stone by a basilisk. Vax was apparently very upset, but Vox Machina managed to free her by sprinkling the slain basilisk's blood on her eyes.

Trinket was nearly killed when Grog attempted to disarm a room full of traps by hitting the bear on his backside with the broad side of his axe, causing Trinket to charge straight into the traps, catching all of them. Vex was very angry with the goliath afterwards.

With a well-aimed shot, Vex castrated one of the two trolls that were "attacking" Tiberius. Percy shot off the other's genital.

During the collapse of the Ivory Tower, Vex'ahlia attempted to use a rug as a parachute, only for it to flip underneath her and reveal itself to be a Carpet of Flying.

Chapter 3
Vex'ahlia started to develop feelings for Percival during Vox Machina's quest to kill the Briarwoods, as indicated by when she told him "Darling...take the mask off."

Chapter 8
Upon meeting Pelor in Elysium, the god of the sun and the harvest demanded to know if any in Vox Machina believed themselves worthy of being his Champion. Vex, overwhelmed in Pelor's presence, was speechless until Keyleth tried to claim the title of "Champion of Pelor". With Keyleth's encouragement, Vex agreed to be tested to see if she was worthy. The god deemed her worthy and granted his blessing to Vex.

Percival de Rolo

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Percy and Vex'ahlia.

Vex and Percy have a history of casually flirting with each other, she more so than him. Percy also tends to make custom arrows for her. Over time, Vex developed genuine feelings for the gunslinger, as proven when she rejected Saundor and his advances, claiming that "[her] heart is someone else's", in addition to kissing him during his resurrection ritual. After Percy kissed her in the forest outside Draconia, their relationship soon grew into that of being lovers, even leading to their becoming intimate with each other for the first time prior to the siege of Emon.



Trinket

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Trinket and Vex'ahlia.

Vex and Trinket became companions when she accidentally trusted poachers too much and ended up being captured by them. She killed the poachers, put the dying large female bear out of her misery, and saved her young cub. They have been together since.

Vax'ildan

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia.

Vex and Vax usually work together when scouting and ambushing opponents. They haven't been separated for very long since birth, at least until after the events of, where they are forced to work with different groups of people.

Quests
Vex'ahlia, along with her brother Vax'ildan, was on a quest to kill Thordak, the ancient red dragon that killed their mother when it destroyed their home town of Byroden. This has since been fulfilled due to Vax slaying Thordak during the siege of Emon.

Years ago, Vex'ahlia was stalked by someone and marked for death by the Clasp. Vax dealt with the Clasp but the client is still out there. She has expressed an interest in finding out who that was and why they wanted her.

Current Items

 * Bag of Holding
 * Blazing Bowstring (made by Tiberius)
 * Bloodseeking Bow
 * Bracers of Archery
 * Cloak of Elvenkind (given to her by Vax'ildan)
 * Coldsnap Leather Armor (received from Scanlan)
 * Death from Above (a broom of flying stolen from Gern Blanston)
 * Earring of Whisper (made by Tiberius)
 * Fenthras, Wrath of the Fey Warden
 * Headband of Initiative (given to her by Percy)
 * Longbow of the Sky Sentinel
 * Mithral Chain
 * Pointy Hat (like a witch's hat, given by Scanlan)
 * Raven's Slumber (a magical necklace that belonged to Purvan Suul and can store a creature in a pocket dimension)
 * Rope of Entanglement
 * Tea Set of Envenoming (taken from General Krieg's house)
 * White Dragon Leather Armor (enchanted by Taryon)

Former Items

 * Deck of Many Things (confiscated from Grog; later returned to Grog)
 * Potion of Flying (taken from Anna Ripley) (Expended)
 * Scrying Eye (taken from unnamed Clasp assassin's corpse, later given to Keyleth)
 * Studded Leather Armor of Acid Resistance (traded to Scanlan)

Abilities
As a ranger, Vex'ahlia often uses her magical capability to enhance her marksmanship and increase her arrows' attack damage. She is also capable of using Trinket in battle, even though she prefers not to put him in harm's way often. After watching and learning from her brother, she began to hone her skills as a rogue, becoming capable of deft maneuvers and dealing additional damage with a sneak attack. With her third rogue level, she took the archetype of the assassin just like her brother. After completing Pelor's trial and becoming his Champion, Vex'ahlia received the Blessing of the Dawnfather.

Half-elf Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Fey Ancestry

Feats

 * Observant
 * Sharpshooter

Blessing of the Dawnfather

 * Natural resistance to necrotic damage
 * As a bonus action you channel the light of day into your being. For one hour you emit bright light in a 120 ft radius and any evil creature within that radius that hits you with an attack or spell immediately suffers 4d6 radiant damage and is knocked prone.  Once the ability is used, you can't use it again for another 7 days.

Class Features

 * Extra Attack
 * Favored Enemy (Dragons (Draconic); demons (Abyssal))
 * Fighting Style:  Archery (+2 to ranged attack rolls)
 * Hide in Plain Sight
 * Land's Stride
 * Natural Explorer (Forest; mountain; the Underdark)
 * Primeval Awareness
 * Ranger Archetype: Beast Master
 * Ranger's Companion: Trinket, a medium-sized brown bear
 * Bestial Fury
 * Exceptional Training
 * Primal Fury
 * Skirmisher's Stealth (learned from Seeker Assum)
 * Spellcasting (Wisdom-based ability)

Ranger Spells
As a 13th-level ranger, Vex'ahlia knows up to 8 ranger spells at a time, and she can replace one spell each time she gains a level, so not all of these are currently known by her.

1st-level

 * Cure Wounds
 * Hail of Thorns
 * Hunter's Mark
 * Speak with Animals

2nd-level

 * Lesser Restoration
 * Locate Object
 * Pass without Trace
 * Protection from Poison
 * Spike Growth

3rd-level

 * Conjure Animals
 * Conjure Barrage
 * Lightning Arrow

4th-level

 * Grasping Vine

Class Features

 * Cunning Action
 * Expertise
 * Roguish Archetype: Assassin
 * Assassinate
 * Bonus Proficiencies (Disguise kit, poisoner's kit)
 * Sneak Attack (3d6)
 * Thieves' Cant
 * Uncanny Dodge

Fenthras

 * Bramble Shot
 * Oracle Shot

Ammunition
Obtained Made by Percy Made by Tiberius Made by Zahra
 * Arrow of Dragon Slaying (recovered from Rimefang's lair, expended successfully against Thordak)
 * Ensnare/Trap/Trip Arrow
 * Explosive Arrow
 * Siege Arrow (named "An Evening of Unbridled Guilt")
 * Sleep Arrow
 * Arrow of Dragon Slaying (Given to Vex in . Used against Umbrasyl. Another given to Vex in and used (unsuccessfully) against Thordak.)

Quotations

 * "Darling...take the mask off." (Vex attempting to calm down an Orthax-possessed Percy; also, the moment when Vex started to become attracted to Percy)
 * "I should have told you...it's yours." (confessing her love to Percy during his resurrection ritual; referencing when she told Saundor, "My heart is someone else's.")
 * "Would you like to talk before...or after?"

Trivia

 * Vex'ahlia has the lowest strength score and lowest constitution score of any main player character thus far.
 * The lowest strength score of any character on Critical Role is Shakäste.
 * Vex'ahlia has given offerings at more resurrection rituals than any other characters.
 * She gave ale to Grog, her love to Percy and offered to hunt down Orcus for Vax.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, she represents XVII - The Star.
 * Throughout Campaign 1, several jokes (made largely by Scanlan) have been made at Vex's expense towards her being a witch. Notable examples of these include:
 * Fan art of Vex (done by artist Megzilla87) depicts Vex as riding her broomstick in a manner reminiscent of Samantha Stephens from the 1964 sitcom Bewitched.
 * Similarly, in 5x02 Scanlan gives Vex a pointed, wide-brimmed hat, which Sam made obvious was a witches hat. Laura then furthered the joke by singing a few lines of Defying Gravity from the hit Broadway show Wicked (which, coinsidently, is also about a witch).
 * 56 episodes later, during the final battle with Vecna (in 8x15), while Vex is flying around on her broomstick (wearing her witches hat) Scanlan casts a Minor Illusion cantrip on her to briefly turn her skin green, thus bringing the Wicked Witch of the West homage full circle.