Zerxus Ilerez

 is a human paladin and the First Knight of Avalir. He is played by Luis Carazo.

Appearance
Zerxus is a six foot tall, muscular, broad-shouldered man. He has tan, brown skin; dark and wavy hair; and he wears a beard. He has amber-colored eyes described as "troubled".

Personality
Zerxus is a serious and dutiful person who largely keeps to himself. He is uncomfortable with crowds, and is still grieving the loss of his husband, Evandrin Alterra. He is emotionally withdrawn and, to Cerrit Agrupnin, the thought that Zerxus would easily openly share something that is bothering him is laughable, even if to his friends; any openness is forced by deep, unmanageable distress.

Player Luis Carazo said that the grief of Evandrin's death and the isolated life of First Knight of Avalir caused Zerxus to develop an often stoic and serious personality and that this is softened most often by Nydas Okiro, Zerxus's long-time friend. Sam Riegel, who plays Loquatius Seelie, believed that Zerxus is the party's moral center.

Background
Zerxus is originally from near Cathmoíra and was previously married to Evandrin Alterra, who he met shortly after Evandrin's arrival in Cathmoíra. Together, they were raising Elias, Evandrin's son whom Zerxus knew from infancy and considered his own son as well. Evandrin became sick with a mysterious illness that made him seem to slowly vanish into nothingness. Zerxus was unable to cure him, and Evandrin eventually vanished entirely.

Zerxus asked Patia Por'co if she knew of magic documented in the Librarium Incantatum that could bring Evandrin back. She found a forbidden True Resurrection ritual that was forbidden by the previous god of death. Feeling not beholden to what the previous god of death forbade after the ascension of The Raven Queen, they performed the ritual. However, Evandrin was not brought back. Devastated, Zerxus asked Patia to remove the ritual and its failure from his memory, and she obliged.

At some point after Evandrin vanished, Zerxus became First Knight of Avalir, possibly succeeding Evandrin in the role. He also gained magic at some unknown time as a paladin through an oath to the people of Avalir instead of to a deity. Evandrin's death, which weighed heavily on Zerxus, and the isolated life of the First Knight changed Zerxus into a stoic and serious person. Before he was First Knight, he served as a soldier in Cathmoíra, where he learned to navigate in flight using the stars as a guide. He trained for a brief time at Avalir's Hall of Oracles and befriended the oracle Sofyra there; he allegedly has prophetic ability, as much later observed by Asmodeus, but Zerxus was unaware of this.

As of, Zerxus last saw Elias seven years prior to the events of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, when Elias was about to turn seven.

Zerxus had a vivid dream in which he was badly injured in the streets of Avalir, his mouth full of blood. He saw a massive, horned red figure fall in front of him, begging for help, and a sun-like figure standing over it. He also saw Elias fishing in a pool of stars. and shortly before Zerxus woke up, the huge red figure, whom he had saved, asked him "if you look down and see the stars, what will you see if you look up?" Zerxus then woke up alone in his quarters in the Tower of the First Knight. He wrote down this dream, having had similar ones before.

Later, Zerxus attended the party at the Palazzo Por'co and told his friends about his dream. He realized the bow Cerrit had brought had powerful divine energy from a solar, and tried to help Purvan Suul, after other leaders declined to listen.

Zerxus tried to follow Nydas, but only caught up with him after Laerryn's successful use of the Astral Leywright. While there, he noticed Laerryn had a locket that once belonged to Evandrin. He returned back to the Palazzo Por'co to convene with the rest of the Ring of Brass where he expressed some concerns about the plans to transport Avalir to other planes. However, as the group discussed the many worrying coincidences of the night, he inspired them with a passionate speech. He was also able to determine that the unidentified cleric of a Betrayer God was a k'nauth, a person who had been so devoted to the gods that he performed their will without the need for them to dominate, and that he had been given an unfathomable amount of power from the gods within the past two weeks.

Zerxus went with Nydas to the Hall of Oracles to learn why it had been shut down. He comforted Sofyra, who admitted she was the only oracle left after madness had struck the rest. He went to look at Karwen, the first oracle to have gone mad, but while there he detected something fiendish and found the same horned red being from his dream, now gravely wounded, in a mirror. Zerxus went through the mirror and healed Asmodeus, then spoke with him at length. He was moved by the grief and anger Asmodeus seemed to express and related it to his own feelings about Evandrin's death, and began to cast Ceremony but Asmodeus interrupted him and instead cast Protection from Good and Evil on him.

In the fight against Lacrytia Hollow, Zerxus did most of the damage against Findras Lightbringer. He was also able to understand Infernal, though he did not realize this. He killed the devil pretending to be Milus Phren. Xartaza successfully attacked him and seemed to be interested in his blood, as she left after she had some on her sword, telling him it would be an honor to serve him.

After the fight and after conferring with the defense of Avalir, Zerxus told Nydas, Patia, and Cerrit about his dreams of Evandrin and the blossoms of the tree. Cerrit asked him if he knew of any connections Evandrin may have had to the Tree of Names, but Zerxus was unaware. Patia then told him that after Evandrin's death, Zerxus had come to her in desperation, asking for a way to bring him back, and she had attempted but the ritual seemed to fail, after which Zerxus asked her to remove his memories of the attempt, which she did.

The Ring of Brass regrouped in the Meridian Labyrinth and Zerxus cast Zone of Truth. When Nydas defended Laerryn and Loquatius's choice to resist the spell he offered to drop it, but let it stand. Patia then restored his memories of the attempt to resurrect Evandrin, and additionally said she believed Evandrin was not truly dead, not that the spell had failed because she had performed it incorrectly.

When the party went to the room in which the Arboreal Calix was kept, Nydas apologized to Zerxus, but Zerxus told him it was not necessary. Upon seeing the tree, he found that the smell of the blossoms from the tree smelled like Evandrin's sweat as he was dying. When the fight broke out he took the scroll of the Pact of Crown and Throne from Laerryn and began to read it, but then looked up and saw Evandrin's face within the branches. He Counterspelled Dweomer's attack on Nydas. When Laerryn killed the tree, Zerxus saw Vespin Chloras and then Asmodeus emerge from it.

Zerxus was knocked out by the explosion from the Tree of Names' destruction, and his Holy Avenger became corroded. He was healed immediately by Asmodeus, whom Zerxus helped through into the world. Zerxus began to cast the atonement Ceremony again, but Asmodeus angrily told him that he'd done nothing wrong. The two argued, with Asmodeus killing and reviving Zerxus several times as he explained that the reason for the Schism was that the Prime Deities had chosen to side with the mortals, and that he intended to kill all mortals. Zerxus expressed pity for the amount of hate Asmodeus harbored, and Asmodeus killed him permanently and created the Mace of the Black Crown from Xartaza, telling Zerxus's incorporeal form that if he wanted to become physical again, he could pick up the mace and seal his pact.

On the Astral Plane, Zerxus encountered Evandrin, and after a moment of hesitation, the two embraced. Evandrin confirmed he had willingly been transported by Laerryn's experiments, but that afterwards, the Tree of Names had seen him as an intruder and forced him back to the Astral Plane. He had not yet found a way back, but was hopeful he might, and he encouraged Zerxus to stay with him. Zerxus realized that he could not stay indefinitely on the Astral Plane as Evandrin had, and that the only way back to the Material Plane was through the pact, and picked up the mace. Evandrin told him that he'd keep trying to bring him back. Upon picking up the mace, Zerxus grew horns and became fiendish in nature.

Zerxus returned to the Astral Leywright and used Cleansing Touch on Vespin Chloras, who came to himself and cast Time Stop. In that time, Vespin revealed that he was horrified by what he had done, and that while he could not sustain this and would return to his now fiendish self soon, rewrote Zerxus's pact to not take effect until sunrise. He also told Zerxus to go to the first oracle to find out what to do next. Zerxus then healed Nydas and cast Revivify on Loquatius and Patia. The party went to the Hall of Prophecy.

Zerxus summoned Tempus and went to Cathmoíra, joined by Cerrit. He told Eadalus Okiro to evacuate his family and the rest of the city, and spoke with Elias. Elias apologized for not sending a spell kite, and Zerxus told him he had nothing to apologize for and gave him his journal. He then told the fiends in Cathmoíra to stop attacking, which they did, and returned with Cerrit and Tempus to Avalir.

At the Astral Leywright, Nydas asked him if he had seen Elias. Zerxus confirmed he had, and asked Nydas to prevent him from becoming someone else. Nydas reassured him this would not happen. During the fight, Zerxus successfully grappled one of the taxmen and was able to protect Nydas, but was knocked unconscious by another taxman's attack. He telepathically told Tempus to leave, which Tempus did, taking a taxman out as he did so. Nydas then stabbed him in the heart.

Zerxus chose not to die from Nydas's final blow, but to make good on his pact with Asmodeus, out of his belief in redemption and that Evandrin might one day succeed. He had one last vision of Tempus bringing Elias to Evandrin on the Astral Plane and the two being reunited.

Relationships
Zerxus has a son, Elias, whom he has not seen in some time. Elias lives with Nydas's brother's family, and their letter to Nydas indicated that Elias was upset with his father. Nydas is a longtime friend of Zerxus. Zerxus also entrusted Patia to attempt to bring back Evandrin and to remove his memories of the attempt when it seemed to fail.

Notable items

 * +2 Plate armor
 * Belt of Storm Giant Strength
 * Evandrin's Name Stone, an unrefined and rough rock about the size of a nickle or a quarter engraved with his initials of the First Knight, worn together with his own on a necklace like dog tags
 * Mace of the Black Crown

Former items

 * +2 Shield
 * Holy Avenger
 * His Name Stone, given to Evandrin

Feats

 * Inspiring Leader
 * Mounted Combatant

Paladin abilities

 * Divine Sense
 * Lay on Hands
 * Spellcasting
 * Divine Smite
 * Fighting Style
 * Divine Health
 * Sacred Oath (Oath of Redemption)
 * Oath Spells
 * Channel Divinity: Emissary of Peace, Rebuke the Violent
 * Aura of the Guardian
 * Extra Attack
 * Aura of Protection
 * Aura of Courage
 * Improved Divine Smite
 * Cleansing Touch

Spells
As a level 14 paladin with a +5 Charisma modifier, Zerxus can prepare twelve spells a day; these spells must be of a level for which he has paladin spell slots, from 1st and 4th level. Oath spells, granted by his subclass, do not count against this number.

Appearances and mentions

 * Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

Trivia

 * Brennan Lee Mulligan, Dungeon Master for Calamity, said that if Zerxus was a cheese he would be pepperjack.