Keyleth

Keyleth is a half-elf druid in the group Vox Machina. 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 Aramente, 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 Aramente 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?"''

Biography
Keyleth is one of the spellcasters of Vox Machina. She often uses her abilities to shapeshift into various creatures for battle, scouting, transportation, stealth, and many other purposes. She can control the elements and often uses these abilities to slow down enemies or buy time. 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 Aramente. 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's alignment is "neutral good", like Percy (and, originally, Vex'ahlia).

She 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 tend to make. Over time, she has slowly been overcoming her own social flaws, but at times her anger gets the better of her.

Whereas her people 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.

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.

Before the Stream
Keyleth almost died when she went up against an aboleth as a shark. Because the aboleth creates a slime that taints the water and pulls oxygen out of it, Keyleth began to drown.

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.

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.

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. Upon reuniting in, Kashaw apologized for stealing her first kiss, saying that while it felt good, it was ultimately wrong of him.

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 Aramente. The former paladin served as an inspiration and mentor to her, telling her that she needed to look at the big picture even if it was unpleasant, that things are 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 words, "I Have Passed Through Fire".

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. Despite that, she later apologized to Kima, who forgave her earlier outburst, and the tension between them soon defused. 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.

Tiberius

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

During their adventures together, Keyleth and Tiberius Stormwind shared a strong, respectful friendship.

Vax'ildan

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

Keyleth became a close friend and love interest of Vax'ildan, a fellow member of Vox Machina, even though she was initially hesitant to admit her own feelings for him out of fear of losing him. She eventually did admit her feelings and allow the relationship to continue developing.

Quests
Keyleth's quest seems to be to complete her Aramente; this requires her to seek out the sister-tribes of the Air Ashari in order to introduce and establish respect amongst the fellow headmasters. She has so far met with the Earth and Fire Ashari.

Keyleth revealed that the last person to attempt the Aramente was her mother Vilya, who has never been heard from again. Keyleth wants to discover what happened to her mother, even though she's afraid of what that discovery might reveal.

Notable Items

 * Armor of Spell Resistance
 * Cloak of Displacement (given to her by Vax'ildan)
 * Earring of Whisper (enchanted by Tiberius)
 * Enchanted Circlet (Wisdom)
 * Gate Stone
 * Ring of Protection +2
 * Ring of Spell Storing
 * Sparkstone (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
Keyleth has many different spells at her disposal. Mostly she uses her magic to transform into different creatures when in combat, though she has at one time tried to impersonate a dwarf. As a level 15 druid, Keyleth has full access to the druid spell list, with the ability to prepare up to 21 spells per day.

Half-Elf Abilities

 * Darkvision
 * Fey Ancestry

Druid Abilities

 * Flaming Hands (from the Sparkstone)
 * Thousand Forms (Alter Self at will)
 * Wild Shape

Air/Lightning Spells

 * Call Lightning
 * Gust
 * Gust of Wind
 * Skywrite
 * Whirlwind
 * Wind Walk
 * Wind Wall

Earth Spells

 * Bones of the Earth
 * Earthbind
 * Move Earth
 * Stone Shape
 * Stoneskin
 * Transmute Rock
 * Wall of Stone

Fire Spells

 * Fire Storm
 * Flaming Sphere

Ice/Water Spells

 * Control Water
 * Create or Destroy Water
 * Ice Storm
 * Sleet Storm
 * Tidal Wave

Healing Spells

 * Cure Wounds
 * Goodberry
 * Greater Restoration
 * Heal
 * Healing Word

Other Spells

 * Antilife Shell
 * Beast Sense
 * Blight
 * Commune with Nature
 * Conjure Woodland Beings
 * Control Weather
 * Daylight
 * Dispel Magic
 * Druidcraft
 * Enhance Ability
 * Entangle
 * Faerie Fire
 * Feeblemind
 * Find the Path
 * Fog Cloud
 * Geas
 * Grasping Vine
 * Guidance
 * Hallucinatory Terrain
 * Heat Metal
 * Heroes' Feast
 * Hold Person
 * Locate Object
 * Pass Without Trace
 * Planar Binding
 * Plane Shift
 * Plant Growth
 * Polymorph
 * Protection from Energy
 * Scrying
 * Speak with Animals
 * Speak with Plants
 * Sunbeam
 * Thorn Whip
 * Thunderwave
 * Transport via Plants

Feats

 * Skilled (Alchemist's Supplies, Intimidation, Persuasion)