Avantika

 was an elven pirate and the captain of the Squall-Eater. As an NPC, Avantika was played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Avantika was an elven woman with fine features, light brown skin, and wild red hair that fell in clustered strings across her face. She wore a sleeveless coat with a high collar, a thick scarf, heavy, elbow-length gloves, and weathered knee-high boots. She wore gloves on her hands to hide the Cloven Crystal embedded in her right hand.

Personality
Avantika was snarky, confident, and astute. She had a commanding presence and a penetrating gaze that has seen through a thousand lies. Avantika was a fervent believer in Uk'otoa and sincerely wishes to free them in the hope that she will be rewarded. Despite this fanaticism, Avantika was no fool and shows a remarkable amount of wisdom regarding the people she interacts with. She was also extremely protective of her weapons, especially her dagger going so far as killing Frumpkin for landing on its hilt while she was assumed to be asleep.

Background
Avantika became a pirate around 823 P.D., around the same time that she met Vandren and learned of Uk'otoa. Her zeal for Uk'otoa increased in this period, while Vandren got cold feet at some point after acquiring a Cloven Crystal. When Vandren left and secretly became a merchant, Avantika saw this as a deep betrayal. She spent months searching for him and his Crystal before giving up.

Avantika eventually located another Cloven Crystal, killing a man who refused to give it to her.

In this time, Avantika dreamed of the power Uk'otoa might grant her in the future and converted most of her crew to its worship. She speculated that with the control over the seas Uk'otoa promised, the Plank King would have no choice but to accept her as his ruler.

Within the temple, Avantika and Fjord raced to the bottom of a well filled with salt water that had an indentation at the bottom. Avantika was able to touch her hand to it first, which ripped the Cloven Crystal from her hand and flooded the temple.

After the Mighty Nein, Avantika, and Fjord returned to the Squall-Eater, Avantika told Fjord that she wanted to have a conversation with him over a glass of wine.

When Fjord came to her room, Avantika was naked on her balcony controlling a pillar of water. Avantika told Fjord that the one who introduced her to Uk'otoa was Vandren, Fjord's former captain/mentor. She also said that Vandren had wielded a sword that was just like Fjord's, and that Vandren had a Cloven Crystal. She referred to Vandren's blade as the "Sword of Fathoms."

Fjord attempted to lie to Avantika, denying any connection to Vandren. She was able to see right through his deception, and Fjord showed her where his former ship sank. Afterwards, Fjord and Avantika slept together.

After Caleb's Wall of Fire, Avantika fought hard to reassert her control of the situation. She ordered Vera to charm the guards, and personally engaged Nott before getting attacked by Yasha who managed to injure her. When Caleb's Fireball took down four of her crewmembers, she ran inside the Squall-Eater.

Once revelry guards found her, she was placed in manacles and brought before the Plank King to stand trial and give testimony on the events that had occurred.

She began by lying about the way in which she met the Nein, insisting they had coerced her into letting them sail with her. She tried to claim that her journal belonged to Fjord, and accused him of seducing her to throw her under the bus. She also denied any plot against Wyatt. After this, Beauregard used Extort Truth on her, forcing Avantika to tell only the truth for the next minute. When the Plank King asked her again about the Nein's account of the journal's contents, she refused to answer or meet his gaze.

Her refusal to talk was taken as affirmation of the plot, and the Plank King ruled that she would be made an example and pay for her deceit. The Plank King then lifted Avantika effortlessly and broke her neck with one hand, telling his servants to place her on a pike.

Uk'otoa
Avantika seems to worship Uk'otoa and has recruited her crew to worship it as well. In "Dangerous Liaisons", the Mighty Nein noticed Avantika has an idol in the shape of an orobouros covered in eyes in her quarters on the Squall-Eater. While looking through Frumpkin in owl form, Caleb witnessed Avantika cutting her finger and spilling some blood on the idol after Fjord left the room.

Avantika believes if she releases Uk'otoa she will be granted great power over the sea.

Fjord
Avantika acted extremely affectionately towards Fjord. She has physically flirted with him on multiple occasions, and slept with him twice.

Avantika took a special interest in Fjord's connection to Uk'otoa. She is visibly enthusiastic upon finding another "chosen" of Uk'otoa. When she asked Fjord about how long he had been having the dreams about Uk'otoa, Fjord mentioned that he had a dream just after the two first parlayed. At this, Avantika seemed both enthralled and slightly jealous.

She has been able to see through his deceptions; once when Fjord was attempting to deceive her as "Captain Tusktooth," and once again when the two met in her quarters aboard the Squall-Eater when Fjord attempted to lie about his connection to Vandren.

Abilities

 * Multiattack
 * Parry

Elf Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Fey Ancestry
 * Keen Senses
 * Trance

Warlock Abilities

 * Eldritch Invocations
 * Dank Water Powers (Boon from Uk'otoa)
 * Otherworldly Patron (Hexblade?)
 * Expanded Spell List
 * Pact Boon (Pact of the Tome)
 * Pact Magic (Charisma-based spellcasting)

Cantrips

 * Eldritch Blast
 * Produce Flame

2nd-level

 * Invisibility

Notable Items

 * +1 Rapier
 * Necrotic Dagger

Trivia

 * Several parallels can be made between Avantika and Anna Ripley. Each of them has a particularly antagonistic relationship with a certain member of the party (in this case, Fjord and Percy respectively); they both forged pacts with the same patrons (again, Uk'otoa and Orthax respectively). However, a key difference between the two is that while Ripley had a whole episode devoted to fighting her, Avantika's true strength remains unknown as her fight with The Mighty Nein was interrupted by the guards of Darktow Isle.