Keyleth

Keyleth is a half-elf druid in the group Vox Machina and headmaster of the Air Ashari. 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 Aramenté, 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 Aramenté 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?"''

Appearance
Keyleth is a young half-elven woman standing six feet tall, at least in her mid-twenties, with fair skin and long red hair, which was later cut short. She's almost never seen without her signature druidic circlet.

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

Personality
Keyleth 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 tends to make. Over time, she has slowly been overcoming her own social flaws, at times her anger getting the better of her, and has been gaining more confidence in herself and becoming more pragmatic without compromising her morals.

Whereas many of her people, the Ashari, are worshipers of the nature goddess Melora, following her as a deity and example, Keyleth herself is much less devout. In fact, she has a very strong distrust towards any religious establishment. This is due to several unpleasant experiences in the past where she had witnessed corruption within those of the faith. That was a factor as to why she and Lady Kima of Vord, a halfling paladin of Bahamut, had clashed in the past while in the Underdark. It is after the attack of the Chroma Conclave begins that she starts to overcome her distrust of the gods, most notably taking an interest in Melora herself.

Despite her peoples' exceedingly high expectations of her, deep down Keyleth never wanted the responsibility she was given, but felt as if she couldn't escape from it, that she had no control over her future since birth. She yearned to return to the normal life she once had, to be blissful and ignorant again. However, over time, she has learned to accept her responsibilities and has traversed the Material Plane and beyond and, after many struggles, has succeeded where her mother failed and taken up the mantle of the Voice of the Tempest.

One thing that defines Keyleth other than her morality is her tendency to self-loathe and of feeling guilt over anything and everything. One such example occurred when Pyrah, the village of her sister-tribe the Fire Ashari, was discovered to have been destroyed when Thordak—an ancient red dragon—escaped from the Elemental Plane of Fire. Keyleth, in her grief, assumed that she was responsible due to the trial she undertook when she traveled there. She also tends to focus more on her mistakes than her successes.

Keyleth feels attraction towards confident and self assured people because it's a quality that doesn't come easy to her. She also believed for the longest time that she is a woman who does not deserve happiness. She also has a strong fear of death and of losing those close to her. She worries that even if she lives to fulfill her Aramenté, she will still watch those close to her die. This has caused her great pain and for some time made her unable to allow herself to love others such as Vax'ildan, the man that would become her first boyfriend down the road, until she eventually fought that same fear and confessed her feelings to him.

Keyleth's alignment is "neutral good", like Percy (and, originally, Vex'ahlia).

Background
Keyleth was born in the Air Ashari village of Zephra to two other half-elven druids, Korren and Vilya. Ever since she was a little girl, she had a natural talent for transforming into beasts and for using magic.

Twenty years prior to the start of the campaign, when Keyleth was only five or six years old, Vilya had gone on the Aramenté to succeed Korren as headmaster, but she never returned. Due to that, Keyleth became next in line. As such, she found herself groomed to become Korren's successor, having to undergo endless training in the ways of her people, her people having very high expectations of her. Due to her sheltered life and homeschooling, Keyleth never really had any friends growing up.

When she came of age, Korren sent Keyleth out into the world to follow in her parents' footsteps, to seek out the sister-tribes of the Ashari, establish respect and communication between the fellow headmasters, and become a strong leader for her people. Early in her journey, she found herself in the swamp town of Stillben, where she eventually met members of the group that would—herself included—eventually form the adventuring party that would become Vox Machina. They would later end up becoming her first and longest-lasting friends. She considers them all her family.

Keyleth is one of the party's main spellcasters. She often uses her Wild Shape abilities to turn into various creatures for battle, scouting, transportation, stealth, and many other purposes. She can control the elements and at times she uses these abilities to slow down enemies or buy time, but is also capable of using said powers to defend herself and others. 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 Aramenté. 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 has expressed an interest in learning how to make potions, and has asked Shaun 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" when she accidentally killed an innocent creature and attempted to hide the body.

Keyleth is still questioning her own sexuality as she not only returned Vax's affections when she confessed her love for him, but she's also had a fascination with his twin sister. As she mentions to Percy during Grog's rematch with Earthbreaker Groon, when Vex thinks of flashing Grog to "inspire" him and Keyleth responds in the affirmative, drawing an odd look from Percy, she says, "I have a thing for twins." But she herself is still new at relationships in general, and is still trying to figure things out about herself.

Before the Stream
Keyleth and several other members of Vox Machina fell into a subterranean river system below Emon, where they encountered an aboleth. Keyleth almost died after turning into a shark to fight it in the water, as the aboleth created a slime that tainted the water and pulled the oxygen out of it, causing her to suffocate.

At some point, Keyleth was thrown in jail and the party had to figure out a way to get her out. Scanlan Shorthalt 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 Dominate 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.

During the six-month period of time where Vox Machina decided to split to pursue their own separate goals, Keyleth traveled to Terrah alone to complete her Earth Ashari trial. However, she experienced great difficulty due to the trauma of the child's death still fresh in her mind.

Grog

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Grog and Keyleth.

Keyleth and Grog have worked together on occasion, such as creating 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.

Grog was present when Keyleth was on the brink of attacking Raishan when the dragon revealed herself in the guise of Seeker Asum and explained to her the value of patience. When Keyleth, struggling with her anger at Raishan, asked Grog how he manages to keep his rage in check, he answered:  "Family."

Kashaw
Keyleth 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. During their reunion when the party visited Vasselheim once more, after the attack of the Chroma Conclave, the two of them cleared the air as Kashaw apologized for stealing her first kiss, saying that while it felt good, it was ultimately wrong of him. Keyleth herself said that he didn't have to, that she never meant to hurt anyone physically or emotionally.

When Vex'ahlia was killed due to a trap within Purvan Suul's tomb, Kashaw revived her because he knew Keyleth would have wanted him to. After Vex's resurrection, Kashaw told her that he believes not in Vesh, but in life itself. He later told Keyleth that he noticed the interest that Vax'ildan, Vex's twin brother, had in her and told her to stay near him, that the rogue would look after her in his stead. Since then, the two have had a rather awkward friendship.

Kerrek
Keyleth first met Kerrek after Vox Machina defeated Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer. When Keyleth was having a breakdown over the fact that she hated being called a hero, thinking that she was not due to her actions, it was Kerrek whom she confided in, telling him that she never wanted the burden and responsibility of the Aramenté. The former paladin served as an inspiration and mentor to her, being the very first person who completely understood Keyleth's constant struggles with herself, telling her that she needed to look at the big picture even if it was unpleasant, that things were not as hopeless as she believed. He later sent a letter to Keyleth after Percy's resurrection, giving her additional wisdom along with a ring with the engraved words, "I Have Passed Through Fire".

Korren
Keyleth loves her father Korren so much. The interim headmaster himself has expressed his praise and fondness for his daughter and her accomplishments. The night before the battle to reclaim Emon, he decided to aid Keyleth and Vox Machina by having his tribe provide air support, with him taking part in the battle himself. Upon Keyleth's return to Zephra after the completion of the Aramenté, he personally passed on the mantle of leadership to his daughter, appointing her as the new headmaster of the tribe and once again expressing how proud he is and how proud her mother would have been if she had lived.

Lady Kima of Vord
Keyleth and Lady Kima did not initially see eye to eye. After Vox Machina's assault on the Emberhold, they had gotten into a very heated argument about how the paladin's blind faith in her god's protection in addition to her vengeful desires put their party in grave peril and caused Grog to get captured. Keyleth also told Kima that she hoped, in her efforts to rid the world of K'Varn, she would not end up becoming the very thing she was trying to destroy.

Keyleth later 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. After being comforted by Vax, Percy, and Tiberius about the situation they had found themselves in, Keyleth later apologized to Kima, who forgave her earlier outburst, and the tension between them lessened greatly with Keyleth giving Kima her patience while the paladin gave the party the respect they deserved.

In the days since, Kima earned Keyleth's trust and even her friendship as well, a prime example being when the paladin was reunited with Vox Machina after the attack of the Chroma Conclave. Keyleth, in particular, had defended Kima when High Bearer Vord ridiculed the halfling's "foolish impulses" by saying that said impulses were exactly what Vox Machina needed.

Percy

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Keyleth and Percy.

Keyleth and Percy share a deep bond of friendship, despite their differing views on leadership and moral choices.

Pike

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Keyleth and Pike.

Despite having a huge distrust of the gods, Keyleth has a great respect for Pike and the two are good friends.

Before Keyleth departed for the Feywild, Pike told her about how despite being a cleric of Sarenrae, she still has control over her own life. She then gave Keyleth some advice about finding happiness and getting comfortable with Vax. That advice eventually gave Keyleth the courage to confess to him.

Raishan
Keyleth discovered from Cerkonos, headmaster of the Fire Ashari, that a young girl that they took in had been the one responsible for freeing Thordak of the Chroma Conclave from the Plane of Fire. Her actions had led to Pyrah's destruction and the decimation of his tribe. Keyleth later learned that the girl who set Thordak free and one of the dragons of the Conclave, Raishan, were one and the same.

Since then, Keyleth developed an immense hatred for the Diseased Deceiver which was brought to the fore when the dragon revealed herself to Vox Machina under the guise of Asum Emring. She lashed out at the dragon, the party having to calm her down and convince her to not give in to her desire to kill Raishan out of fear of destroying Whitestone. Eventually, Raishan and Vox Machina made a mutual yet temporary alliance to defeat Thordak due to the Cinder King having lied to her. Keyleth begrudgingly agreed to the alliance, but still yearned to kill the dragon to avenge her sister-tribe.

Despite failing to kill her in the moments after Thordak's death due to Raishan escaping, in their last encounter Keyleth spoke up against the dragon, the druid keeping her anger in check and mentioning her hope that during her very long lifetime she does not become like her, and she even gave Raishan a chance to surrender and be brought to justice, a far outcry from their first proper encounter in Whitestone weeks before. A long and bloody battle ensued, with Keyleth effectively neutralizing Raishan's spellcasting with Feeblemind, destroying her very identity and intellect, and Kerrek delivering the final blow on her.

Tiberius

 * &rarr; Main article:  Relationship between Keyleth and Tiberius.

During their adventures together, Keyleth and Tiberius Stormwind shared a strong, respectful friendship. When Tiberius was discovered to have died defending Draconia, it was Keyleth who personally buried him.

Vax'ildan

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

At first simply mutual acquaintances and later friends alongside the rest of Vox Machina, Keyleth and Vax'ildan became romantic partners after a series of harrowing events. After over a year of traveling alongside him, she first developed feelings for the rogue when he began standing up for her, becoming the first to ever do so. Vax has also shown his full support in regards to the Aramenté, encouraging Keyleth to pursue her goals and that she deserves to live the life she is destined to have.

Keyleth was initially hesitant to admit her feelings for Vax, however, and for a time she was afraid of losing him be it through himself dying in battle or just outliving him, a fear that kept her from allowing herself to love him. She eventually did admit her feelings, much to her relief and his. The two of them have been together since, and Vax has continued to support her and encourage her, telling her that despite her doubts, she must mix in the faith that he and the rest of their companions have in her. The two of them have also made plans to settle down together.

Vilya
Vilya went off on her own Aramenté twenty years prior to the campaign's start, and due to her not returning home, Keyleth had to be next in line. Since venturing on her own quest, Keyleth has been learning more about her whereabouts, such as hearing that Vilya had visited Pyrah ten years prior.

It was not until arriving at Vesrah that Keyleth discovered the truth: Vilya had died five years before she arrived due to facing a kraken in the Elemental Plane of Water. In fact, the challenge Keyleth herself ended up facing she later discovered to have been changed recently due to the kraken's arrival, with only Vilya and herself being the first to undergo the trial in its current state. During the celebration of her completion of the trial, Uvenda told Keyleth that her mother's memory now lives on in her.

Quests
Keyleth's quest was to complete her Aramenté; this required her to seek out the sister-tribes of the Air Ashari in order to introduce and establish respect amongst the fellow headmasters. She has met with the Earth Ashari in Terrah during her absence from Vox Machina, visited the Fire Ashari in Pyrah during her stay in Vasselheim, completed the trial of the Water Ashari in Vesrah, and has succeeded in returning to Zephra where she was formally given the title of "Voice of the Tempest" as the new headmaster of the Air Ashari.

Keyleth revealed to the party that the last person to attempt the Aramenté, her mother Vilya, had never been heard from again. Keyleth wanted to discover what happened to her mother, and eventually discovered that she died trying to complete the Water Ashari trial only to be killed by a kraken.

Keyleth also had a personal stake in Vox Machina's dealings with the Chroma Conclave, specifically with Raishan due to her role in freeing Thordak and causing the decimation of the Fire Ashari. She wished to personally kill her to avenge them, a goal that was fulfilled twofold with Keyleth killing her intelligent and cunning persona with Feeblemind, and Kerrek landing the final blow on the then-feral Diseased Deceiver.

Notable Items

 * Circlet of Wisdom (+2 to Wisdom and Charisma)
 * Cloak of Displacement (given to her by Vax'ildan, loaned to Kerrek )
 * Earring of Whisper (enchanted by Tiberius)
 * Gate Stone (a gift to Percy from Lillith Daturai; currently possesses one while Scanlan has the other)
 * Leather Armor of Spell Resistance (+2 leather armor; advantage on spell saves; +2 to spell saves; belonged to her mother)
 * Magic Choker (+1 to damage with beast/elemental forms, traded to Whaska for information)
 * Mantle of the Tempest
 * Ring of Protection +1 (traded to Whaska for information)
 * Ring of Protection +2
 * Ring of Spell Storing (holds up to five spell levels)
 * Sparkstone (granted when she passed the Fire Ashari trial; 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)

Abilities
As a Circle of the Moon druid, Keyleth mostly uses her magic to transform into different creatures when in combat, but she also has many different spells at her disposal. As a level 17 druid, Keyleth has full access to the druid spell list, with the ability to prepare up to 23 spells per day.

Half-Elf Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Fey Ancestry

Feats

 * Inspiring Leader (from completing the Aramenté)
 * Skilled (Alchemist's Supplies, Intimidation, Persuasion)
 * War Caster

Class Features

 * Circle Forms (Circle of the Moon)
 * Combat Wild Shape (Circle of the Moon)
 * Elemental Wild Shape (Circle of the Moon)
 * Flaming Hands (from the Sparkstone)
 * Primal Strike (Circle of the Moon)
 * Spellcasting (Wisdom-based ability)
 * Thousand Forms (Alter Self at will)
 * Wild Shape

Cantrips

 * Druidcraft
 * Guidance
 * Gust
 * Mending
 * Poison Spray
 * Thorn Whip

1st-level

 * Absorb Elements
 * Create or Destroy Water
 * Cure Wounds
 * Detect Magic
 * Entangle
 * Faerie Fire
 * Fog Cloud
 * Goodberry
 * Healing Word
 * Speak with Animals
 * Thunderwave

2nd-level

 * Beast Sense
 * Earthbind
 * Enhance Ability
 * Flaming Sphere
 * Gust of Wind
 * Heat Metal
 * Hold Person
 * Locate Object
 * Moonbeam
 * Pass without Trace
 * Protection from Poison
 * Skywrite

3rd-level

 * Call Lightning
 * Daylight
 * Dispel Magic
 * Plant Growth
 * Protection from Energy
 * Sleet Storm
 * Speak with Plants
 * Tidal Wave
 * Water Breathing
 * Wind Wall

4th-level

 * Blight
 * Conjure Woodland Beings
 * Control Water
 * Dominate Beast
 * Grasping Vine
 * Hallucinatory Terrain
 * Ice Storm
 * Locate Creature
 * Polymorph
 * Stone Shape
 * Stoneskin
 * Watery Sphere

5th-level

 * Antilife Shell
 * Commune with Nature
 * Contagion
 * Control Winds
 * Geas
 * Greater Restoration
 * Planar Binding
 * Reincarnate
 * Scrying
 * Transmute Rock
 * Tree Stride
 * Wall of Stone

6th-level

 * Bones of the Earth
 * Find the Path
 * Heal
 * Heroes' Feast
 * Move Earth
 * Sunbeam
 * Transport via Plants
 * Wind Walk

7th-level

 * Fire Storm
 * Plane Shift
 * Whirlwind

8th-level

 * Animal Shapes
 * Control Weather
 * Feeblemind
 * Tsunami

9th-level

 * Shapechange

Spire of Conflux Spells

 * Chain Lightning (6 charges)
 * Conjure Elemental (5 charges)
 * Fireball (3 charges)
 * Fire Storm (7 charges)
 * Ice Storm (4 charges)

Trivia

 * Marisha Ray's inspiration for Keyleth and her overall quest came from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Keyleth is the only member of Vox Machina who has yet to die.
 * It was revealed on Talks Machina: After Dark that at one point, she and Vax became intimate with each other, and that he was her first.