Opal

Opal is a human warlock and member of the Crown Keepers. She is played by Aimee Carrero.

Appearance
Opal ordinarily had brown hair, but she dyed it an iridescent white color worn in a half-updo, and was very attentive to her makeup. She wore a pink sateen cropped jacket and had a rose-gold necklace with a pendant containing a small opal, her connection to her twin sister, Ted.

Her appearance changed when she equipped the Circlet of Barbed Vision. It caused black, thick, sticky liquid to run from the wounds where the thorns stuck in, and her eyes turned dark black. Her dye job disappeared, and her hair itself actually turned opalescent. She began to more closely resemble her sister Ted, with a more snarling smile and a slightly wider and stronger body. A year later, Opal was still wearing the Circlet, although she had attempted unsuccessfully to remove it. The black ichor flowing from it had stained Opal's face, hands, and clothing although she disguised herself so others would not see it. Her eyes had become two different colors, one brown and one iridescent.

Personality
Opal was described as having a shining personality by Ted; she was very charismatic and easy to talk to. She was confident, albeit naive, and put a lot of effort towards her physical appearance. She could be a bit full of herself, especially when dealing with her sister, and liked to show off.

Background
Born in Byroden in 824 PD, Opal and Ted are the twin daughters of an unnamed father and a mother named Paloma. Paloma originally named Opal Georgina, but she left Byroden before Opal was old enough to remember her. As a result, Opal grew to resent her and the name, and she asked her father to rename her. She grew up in Byroden, where she knew her grandmother, and at some point was crowned Miss Byroden in the Forever Byroden pageant. She also became skilled in rope-tying; by her own reckoning, tying things up is all she was good at.

When she turned 18, she left Byroden on her own, and she eventually came to Emon around Civilization's Dawn in 842 PD, where she saw the ocean for the first time while visiting the Ozmit Sea at the Port of Emon.

With the rest of the Exandria Unlimited party, Opal woke up in a house in Emon with no memory of the preceding week. As the party were disembarking the Blightstar, the ship they'd boarded to search for something to give to Poska, Fearne Calloway noticed someone in the crowd staring at her, so Opal stepped into their field of vision and intimidated them into leaving.

The party made their way to Poska's warehouse on Darkwater Street and Opal entered to deliver some of the things they found there. She noticed no one was there, so left 125 of the 500 platinum they'd found there with the symbol of the Nameless Ones drawn on it.

The party attempted to leave the city, heading for the Flamereach Outpost to ask the Ashari there for advice, but noticed shady figures waiting for them. Opal successfully charmed one of the two with Charm Person and restrained him. The rest of the party incapacitated the other opponent and the party left the city.

When they set up camp for the night, they took the time to discuss their stolen goods. Opal remembered that Residuum could be refined into Suude and was extremely valuable. She also touched the Circlet of Barbed Vision and heard the skittering of spiders all around her, as well as seeing a vision of a massive spider leg. She relayed this vision to the party and they immediately connected it to Lolth and realized that this was one of the Vestiges of Divergence.

During the night, Opal dreamt of the giant spider and heard the voice of her sister, Ted, asking what she thinks she's doing. Ted said she was trying to keep her alive and warned her to get rid of the circlet because it's evil. The two sisters argued, and Opal woke herself up.

The next day, while fighting on the "Oh No Plateau", Opal realized that she no longer had access to her magic. She heard the voice of Ted telling her that all she had to do was apologize but Opal refused.

The party made a scene trying to sneak back into Emon, Opal making a loud distraction claiming she was looking for her daughter, Nancy. They eventually made their way to Gilmore's Glorious Goods and asked Gilmore for his help. Opal, alongside most of the party, was instantly charmed and enamored by Gilmore. Opal bought a Vicious Whip, an amber spell gem and a new coat before they left the city.

The party headed south, stopping along the way by the gateway in the Verdant Expanse that brought Fearne from the Feywild and fighting a dark version of Fearne there. Opal was knocked unconscious during the fight, and found herself in a dark place face to face with Ted. Ted accused her of being selfish and arrogant, saying Opal didn't even know what Ted gave up to give her magic. Ted offered to give her powers back if Opal promised to take care of herself. Fearne then healed Opal back to consciousness.

The party continued south to Opal's hometown, Byroden. The guards at the gate recognised Opal immediately and welcomed the party in. Byroden was in the middle of the year's Byroden Forever festival and the party decided to participate in the Gem of Byroden pageant. Opal led the party on a shopping trip to find appropriate outfits.

With the assistance of Fearne, Dorian Storm and Dariax Zaveon, Opal won the pageant and was crowned Gem of Byroden. At the end of the night, Opal returned home and sat in the room she shared with Ted. She took off her crown and left it on Ted's bed.

In the morning, before they left Byroden, Opal felt the pendant around her neck glow and pulse before falling from her throat. Fearne repaired the necklace and Fy'ra Rai told her she should tell her sister anything she needed to. Opal spoke aloud to Ted, thanking her for her magic and asked where Ted was, but received no response.

When the party reached the Qoniiran ruins in the Rifenmist Jungle, The Wildmother spoke to each of them. She asked Opal why she and Ted were here and Opal protested that Ted wasn't here. The Wildmother told her that Ted was within her and promised more answers lay ahead. In their fight against a giant fey crocodile, Opal successfully flipped it onto its back, incapacitating it.

Later that night, when they went to sleep, Opal saw Ted in her dreams. She asked Ted if she was dead, which Ted refused, although she seemed unsure. Ted admitted that she didn't know where her body was or what she was doing before she came here.

In Niirdal-Poc, the party spoke with Tetrarch Thrascuur. Thascuur handed Opal a mirror, in which she saw herself but with differently colored hair and eyes. Opal was angered by this, concluding that she had no magic of her own, but Thrascuur explained that the person she saw was her mother and her life and choices are her own. Opal told Thrascuur her worries about Myr'atta Niselor following them, so Thrascuur cast a spell on Opal to prevent Scrying and Opal felt Ted relax.

When the party left the building, Opal was hit with a tiny dart. She lost consciousness and was flung over the shoulder of one of their assailants, who carried her off. The party gave chase and during the ensuing fight Opal regained consciousness. The party rescued Opal and killed her would-be kidnappers untill just Myr'atta was left, who turned to Opal and said "I will take away everything you hold dear. You don't deserve it!" then cast Dimension Door and disappeared. In the aftermath, Opal felt Ted slump into sleep and sensed her magic was gone again.

While the party investigated the ruins of Niirdal-Sarqet, Opal was hit by several needles of residuum. She noticed where they were coming from, and the figure revealed herself as Myr'atta. She stepped forward, pulled out a long spike of metal and residuum and sank it into the ground. As she did, Opal felt her body pulled slamming into the ground, and Myr'atta told her she would free her from "this little girl" and together they would change the world. When Opal asked what she was talking about, Myr'atta responded that she was talking to Ted, not Opal, and that Myr'atta had been through too much to fail now.

The party fought Myr'atta, Opal reaching out to Ted to find her screaming in terror. Opal was pinned to the ground by the residuum needles. During the fight, Myr'atta focused on the centre of the clearing, and the ground rumbled and erupted with large pseudopods made of dirt, earth and old ruins, held together by the miasma around them, building something strange. Opal realized Ted's screaming was coming from it.

Still incapacitated, Opal heard the voice of Lolth in her head, promising to restore her health and magical energy if she put the Circlet of Barbed Vision on. Dariax pulled some of the residuum needles from her and helped her to feet, and Opal felt her connection to Ted weaken. Opal told Dariax not to remove anymore of the needles.

The party realized that the large creature Myr'atta was summoning was Ted, brought into the world to serve as a warlock patron to others. Opal attempted to talk to Ted, but Lolth blocked her. Opal tried again, asking why Ted was doing this. Ted replied that she wasn't choosing this and was being pulled from Opal.

In a moment of desperation, Opal placed the Circlet of Barbed Vision on her head. Her health and spell slots restored, Opal Misty Stepped to Myr'atta and slit her throat, saying "You can't have her". Dorian then successfully completed a ritual to return Ted to Opal, and she felt whole again. After the fight, Opal was unable to bring herself to pull the circlet off, and it began shifting something under her skin so that it would be damaging to try to remove.

Campaign Three
Opal did not accompany Orym, Dorian Storm, and Fearne Calloway on their adventures to Marquet later in 843 PD, as she still had a lot to figure out regarding her sister and the circlet, which she continued to be unable to remove. Dariax stayed with her for support.

Relationships
Opal has a twin sister, Ted, to whom she sometimes speaks out loud though they are apart. She feels close to Ted, though they made different decisions in life. Ted is the source of Opal's magical power, and she is watching Opal from a low, dark place beside and within Opal. After a confrontation with Ted while Opal was unconscious, she saw Ted in a new light but resented her for not having her own life.

Notable items

 * Iridescent daggers
 * Vicious Whip
 * Spell Gem (Amber)
 * Ring of Greater Invisibility
 * Circlet of Barbed Vision
 * Opal necklace, her connection to her sister Ted
 * Pearl of Power

Feats

 * Actor

Warlock abilities

 * Otherworldly Patron: Hexblade
 * Hexblade's Curse
 * Pact Magic (Charisma-based spellcasting)
 * Eldritch Invocations (3)
 * Book of Ancient Secrets
 * Mask of Many Faces
 * Pact Boon: Pact of the Tome

Cantrips

 * Eldritch Blast
 * Poison Spray
 * Druidcraft
 * Word of Radiance
 * Mind Sliver

1st level

 * Charm Person
 * Shield
 * Witch Bolt

2nd level

 * Misty Step

Book of Ancient Secrets rituals

 * Find Familiar

Behind the scenes
Aimee stated that her first question when creating Opal was "What's the Exandria equivalent of Laredo, TX?" She described Opal as "an amalgamation of many incredible women" ranging from celebrities to friends who grew up in Laredo. She highlighted stories of her friends participating in local Las Marthas debutante balls, a tradition she found interesting and described as part of Mexican-American and immigrant efforts to assimilate. Of these stories, she said, "Opal needed to be from a place like this: flashy, a little curious, and full of rich culture." Through discussions with Matt, Aabria, and other members of the creative team, it was ultimately decided Byroden was such a place.

The intent with Opal was to tell a coming-of-age story, and her flawed and at times "unlikeable" character was intentionally developed as part of that. In remarks about, which features an emotional argument between Opal and Ted, Aimee said that she wanted their relationship to explore "2 very different people, connected forever, with 2 really valid (and opposing) core wounds" and felt that "they can't ever seem to give what the other needs".

Her Pinterest image board of visual inspiration for Opal included Dolly Parton, Jennifer Lopez, 1984 Miss America pageant winner Vanessa Williams, Goldie Hawn as she appeared on Laugh-In, and the character Cher Horowitz of Clueless.

Quotations
Opal: Yeah. Stealing from the rich, giving to the me.
 * "Food! Food? They're not getting back to me."
 * "No last name, no stage name needed."
 * (Trying to express "change the channel" in setting-appropriate terms:) "I'm going to turn the papyrus, Ted!"
 * "Go away, ash!"
 * "I can't be alone."
 * Ted: (after Opal attempts to steal a coat) What are you doing?! You fully stole that.

Appearances and mentions

 * Exandria Unlimited
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three
 * Campaign Three

Trivia

 * Opal got the first "HDYWTDT" of Exandria Unlimited when fighting the shadowy assassins in.
 * Aimee described Opal as being the Exandria equivalent of Latina.
 * Opal is right-handed.
 * Aimee dressed as Opal wearing the Circlet of Barbed Vision for Halloween in 2021.