Cerkonos

Cerkonos is the headmaster of the Fire Ashari in Pyrah, and one of the guardians of the portal from the Material Plane to the Elemental Plane of Fire. As an NPC, he is portrayed by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Cerkonos is a human with a thick, sturdy build, very dark skin, long jet black hair, a square jaw, and coal-black eyes. He stands about a foot-and-a-half taller than Keyleth, who is about 5'10". When he first appeared he was shirtless, with brass-colored bracers and long, billowing maroon pants bearing gold trim and designs.

At some point around when Thordak escaped from the Elemental Plane of Fire, Cerkonos lost his right arm, but it was growing back as of. In, when Vox Machina asked Cerkonos for help, his arm had fully reformed.

Background
Not much is known about Cerkonos. As headmaster of the Fire Ashari, he likely completed an Aramente earlier in his life and may now have a greatly extended lifespan as a result.

Cerkonos guided Keyleth through the fire trial of her Aramente. He and two other druids were waiting to test her in the Elemental Plane of Fire, turning into fire elementals and challenging Vox Machina to a battle. Upon Keyleth's completion of the trial, Cerkonos gifted her with a spark stone, to use as she saw fit.

The Cinder King's Escape
After Vox Machina had left, Raishan - who had infiltrated the Fire Ashari disguised as a child - opened a rift to the Elemental Plane of Fire and freed Thordak. The two dragons and the rift dealt massive amounts of damage to the Fire Ashari and in the ensuing chaos, Cerkonos lost an arm.

Cerkonos led the Fire Ashari's efforts to close the rift to the Elemental Plane of Fire, which they did with the help of Vox Machina and Gern Blanston.

The next evening, while staying in Scanlan's Magnificent Mansion, Cerkonos visited Keyleth. Cerkonos revealed that it was Raishan who had opened the portal to the fire plane and had released Thordak from his prison. Raishan had managed this by disguising herself as a human female orphan, adopted out of generosity by the Fire Ashari. As a final warning, Cerkonos warned Keyleth not to trust all of their allies going forward.

Vox Machina traveled to Pyrah to use their elemental rift to go to the fire plane. There, they met Cerkonos, who they brought up to speed on everything that had happened since they last met. He then told them that their destination, the City of Brass, was three-days travel from the rift, and expressed distaste and fear of the city's denizens. Vox Machina decided to avoid the journey and Plane Shift directly to the city. Before they departed, Cerkonos pledged to lend the aid of the Fire Ashari to the coming battle, and agreed to contact Korrin to ask for the Air Ashari's aid as well.

Vox Machina traveled to Pyrah, and warned them of Thar Amphala's approach. Keyleth told Cerkonos to light the crisis orbs, and he agreed to do so, as well as to inform Korrin and the other leaders.

Abilities

 * Apparent resistance or immunity to fire damage
 * Cerkonos can transform into a particularly large fire elemental.
 * In this form, Cerkonos has a special ability that deals fire damage in a 20-foot radius, dealing half damage to those who succeed on a Dexterity saving throw (DC 16). Those who fail to make their save continue to take fire damage each turn until they use an action to put the flames out.
 * Also, in this form, melee attacks against Cerkonos deal fire damage to the attacker.
 * Cerkonos's fire elemental form can make three melee touch attacks per turn instead of the two attacks typical fire elementals can make.

Trivia

 * Cerkonos is the second character featured in Critical Role missing a hand, preceded by Anna Ripley and followed by Tyriok Gadsworth, Shale, and Victor. Arkhan the Cruel also sacrifices his hand in the game.