Vilya

Vilya is Keyleth's mother, a member of the Air Ashari, and the spiritual leader of the Vo village on Rumblecusp, where she is known as Viridian. As an NPC, Vilya is played by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
As Viridian, Vilya is a half-elven woman with dark sunburned skin and dark brown hair that is wild and sunbleached at the tips. She has an almost formidable presence, but a gentle smile and demeanor. She wears leathers with elements of dried leaves and scales that blend together. Her left leg is a vibrant green, made of tightly knotted vines, and she carries a staff in one hand.

Background
According to Keyleth, Vilya left Zephrah on her Aramenté either when Keyleth was five or six years old, or close to twenty years before the events of the Kraghammer and Vasselheim story arc, but never returned. Vilya reached the Earth Ashari, and met with the Fire Ashari about ten years before Keyleth met them.

Vilya eventually reached the final stop in her Aramenté: the Water Ashari. With the help of her five traveling companions, Vilya set out to complete the final trial by retrieving several lodestones from within the Water Elemental Plane. However, all of her companions were killed in the process and Vilya herself vanished. The Water Ashari searched for a body in order to give her a proper funeral, but all they found was a single leg. This occurred four or five years before Vox Machina arrived at Vesrah in 811 PD, implying Vilya had disappeared around 806 or 807 PD.

Vilya ended up on Rumblecusp for what she estimates, in 836 PD, is twenty-five to nearly thirty years after being jettisoned out of the Water Plane through a gateway. Under the influence of Vokodo, Vilya began losing memories of her life in Tal'Dorei and took up the name Viridian.

Viridian was spoken of by Jaina and Pono as being the spiritual leader of the village, who would speak to Vokodo, decide upon and organize the offerings to be made, and bring them to him. She is the one who guides the islanders underneath the eye of Vokodo.

Viridian invited the party to a communal dinner that night, and explained the strange geography of Rumblecusp. She offered to escort the party to Vokodo. Along the path, she warned them of the various dangers and then transformed herself into an owl, leading the party toward the volcano.

Viridian aided the party in their battle with the creatures encountered along the path to Vokodo's lair, commenting afterward that she'd never seen a specter traveling so far south. She accompanied the party in their audience with Vokodo. In Caleb's hut later that evening, Caduceus surreptitiously cast Greater Restoration on her, restoring her memories, leading her to remember her true name and how long she had been on the island.

Vilya revealed to the Mighty Nein that she is an Ashari from Tal'Dorei. During her aramenté to become the leader of the Air Ashari, Vilya was tasked with recovering lodestones from the Elemental Plane of Water. There, they were attacked by a kraken. While the rest of her party was killed, Vilya only lost her left leg. She found her way through a rift in the planes leading her to the island of Rumblecusp. Under Vokodo's influence, Vilya began losing her memories. She adopted the name Viridian and became the spiritual leader of the Vo community.

On the eve of Traveler Con, Veth noticed Vilya sitting by herself and joined her for a conversation. They talked about the children out there that they were missing, but Vilya was nervous to return. Veth sympathized, since she herself was still not sure if she belonged at home or out in the world, but told Vilya she couldn't delay forever and that at some point, you have to go home. Vilya decided to leave without saying goodbye, and used Druidcraft to produce three flowers: a pink one for Caduceus in gratitude for protecting nature, a blue one for Fjord to remind him nature is there to protect him, and a white one for Yasha to press in her book. She told Veth to thank all the others, and thanked Veth, asking her to give the offered 350 gold to Anola instead. Taking a deep breath, Vilya created her tree doorway and stepped through into a sunset mountain scene. As the doorway closed, Veth could see a figure with a mantle of transitioning colors and an antlered circlet recognizing and running joyfully towards Vilya. Upon her return, she aids Keyleth and the other elders of Zephrah in leading the village, without any hint of jealousy towards her daughter.

Relationships
Vilya was the spiritual leader of the Vo community on Rumblecusp, where she was known as Viridian. She is also the mother of Keyleth and wife of Korrin.

Notable items
All villagers on Rumblecusp are required to give up all valuable possessions as part of their dedication to Vokodo. It was presumed that as Viridian, Vilya gave up all items that could be considered valuable. However, she had enough material components on her for three uses of Greater Restoration, each casting of which ordinarily requires diamond dust worth 100gp. She also carries a staff.

Viridian/Vilya also has a prosthetic leg seemingly made of tightly knotted vines that temporarily roots into the ground while she rests. This is most likely a flavored version of the prosthetic limb magical item introduced in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount.

Abilities
Vilya is a 12th-level Druid, and she has abilities consistent with both the Circle of the Moon (2nd-level features, Combat Wild Shape and Circle Forms) and Circle of the Land (10th-level feature, Nature's Ward), as well as a "specialty" not belonging to any officially published Circle.

Unidentified Abilities or Spells

 * Viridian sometimes moves herself around by means of magically moving vines (possibly a variation on the 4th-level spell Grasping Vine).
 * She moves/reshapes roots and trees to help the party traverse difficult parts of the forest.
 * During a short rest she creates a temporary enclosure of roots to protect the party; when complimented on how fast she does so, she says this is her specialty.

Druid abilities

 * Wild Shape

Circle of the Moon Abilities

 * Combat Wild Shape
 * Circle Forms

Circle of the Land Abilities

 * Nature's Ward

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 1
 * Campaign 2
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Campaign 2
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Campaign 2
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I
 * Vox Machina Origins Series I

Quotations

 * Viridian: "There is something about this island that gives and takes away. By finding your destiny here and being a part of the important presence of Vokodo, and keeping these people safe, and gathering from the island’s many rewards and boons, it also takes from you the things that are less important in life. So many if not most of us don’t quite recall where we were from. But in the long run, that’s not as important, anyway."
 * Vilya: "I've been here twenty-five years. I'm not Viridian. I'm from Tal'Dorei. My name is Vilya."
 * Vilya: "I know I've only just met you, but this is a tight family. Hold onto each other. This is important."
 * Vilya: [giving flowers to Veth, to hand off to other members of the Mighty Nein] "Give this [pink flower] to your tall, lanky friend, Caduceus. Tell him that, whether it be just nature itself or the Wildmother's guidance, he protects the green that keeps those like me alive. And give this [blue flower] to the newbie, Fjord, the one who's beginning his journey, to remind him that the nature that I myself represent is always there to protect him. And give this [white flower] to the quiet one, Yasha, because I notice she likes to keep these in a book."

Trivia

 * Vilya is the first character in Campaign 2 to have a prosthetic limb.
 * Vilya was the first member of the Vo village to have her memories restored.
 * Marisha named Keyleth by putting air-related words into an online Elvish translator, and then simplified the spelling. Keyleth is similar to gwilith, which translates as "air (as a region)" in Sindarin. Similarly, Vilya translates as "air, sky" in Quenya. Vilya is also the name of one of the three elven Rings of Power in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. It is also known, appropriately, as the Blue Ring, Ring of Air, and Ring of Firmament.
 * Keyleth's signature Circlet of Wisdom was one of the last relics of Vilya.
 * Vilya tells Beauregard, "My family doesn't drink", unaware of Keyleth's drinking habits as an adventurer. Beauregard and Keyleth are both played by Marisha Ray.