Yussa Errenis

Yussa Errenis is a powerful elven mage who is the owner of the Open Quay district in Nicodranas. He resides in the Tidepeak, a magical tower in the Open Quay. As an NPC, Yussa is played by Matthew Mercer.

Description
Yussa is an aged transgender male elf with light brown skin. He has chiseled features, though there are some crow's feet wrinkles that are creeping in to show his age. He has short, stark white hair that curls up into a wave swipe. Yussa is shorter than an average elf, standing roughly at 5 feet or a little under. He wears a long robe woven of threads that mimic the shimmer of gold.

Personality
Yussa is incredibly shy and secretive, rarely venturing outside of his tower in the Open Quay. He primarily relies on his personal assistant, Wensforth, to take care of his business, and very rarely grants audiences to ordinary people. He has a great love for drinking tea.

Yussa appears not to care about the morality of his actions, and believes that the means are always justified if the end is to preserve balance and peace. He assured Caleb that he should have no qualms about using other people to achieve his goals, a statement which made Caleb clearly uncomfortable.

Background
Of Gwardan descent, Yussa told the Mighty Nein that he has been practicing the arcane arts in seclusion for over two hundred years. According to Marion Lavorre, he is at odds with the Clovis Concord.

The Mighty Nein visited Tidepeak in the evening and attempted to make an appointment with Yussa by way of his assistant, Wensforth. Wensforth suggested that if there truly was an emergency as they claimed, they should return in the morning and try again to meet with Yussa.

The following morning, the Mighty Nein returned to the tower. At first, only Caduceus Clay and Beauregard were granted admission to Tidepeak to talk with Yussa. After showing him both the Happy Fun Ball of Tricks and the dodecahedron, and a tense discussion about their loyalties, Beauregard indicated that they "all know that corruption runs rampant in both the Empire and the Clovis Concord," and that she wanted nothing to do with that. This seemed to resonate enough with Yussa to allow the rest of the Mighty Nein entrance to Tidepeak.

Yussa told the party that the Happy Fun Ball of Tricks was dangerous, and that he would keep it to study, allowing them to come look at it in his presence. In return, he allowed Caleb to memorize a teleportation circle on one of the the upper floors of his tower, giving the party an anchor on the Menagerie Coast. Yussa was concerned by the dodecahedron, which he identified as blending elements of arcane and divine magic in a way totally unknown to him. He warned them to remove it from Jester's haversack only when absolutely necessary and for short periods of time.

Caleb used Teleportation Circle to return the Mighty Nein to Tidepeak unannounced. Wensforth escorted them to the sitting room where Yussa met with them and requested information on their activities. They told him about the Laughing Hand, and although he didn't recognize the name, he agreed to research it. Yussa told them the war was not going well for the Empire, and although he pressed to know where they had come from, Caleb avoided answering. Yussa asked to see the dodecahedron, and the party said they were keeping it in a hidden spot, as it was too dangerous to carry around. When the party told him about finding devices opening up portals to the Abyss, Yussa shared that there had recently been at least two demonic incursions in the Empire, at Zadash and Pride's Call.

The Mighty Nein teleported to Yussa's tower in Nicodranas, and after the fact remembered to use Sending to tell him they were coming. He replies that he was busy, but sent Wensforth to get them.

When the Mighty Nein teleported back to Tidepeak after their failed attempt to stop Obann, Yasha and The Laughing Hand at the Wraithroot Tree, they were informed by Wensforth that Yussa had been in the Heirloom Sphere for about three weeks. The Mighty Nein decided to go after Yussa and try to find him.

The Mighty Nein found and retrieved Yussa from the Prison of Soot in the Folding Halls of Halas and returned to Tidepeak, bringing Halas's soul gem. Allura Vysoren performed a ritual and they learned that the Angel of Irons was actually Tharizdun.

Yussa suggested that they enlist the aid of Oremid Hass, whom he believed to be one of the least corrupt members of the Cerberus Assembly. He gave them a letter of introduction, their share of the gold he had recovered from the Archmage's Bane, and a Revivify diamond. Yussa challenged Caleb to complete the body transformation spell that Halas was working on, and Caleb promised Nott he would try. Yussa then locked the soul gem in a pocket dimension. The Nein left Willi with him for repairs when they departed.

Yussa allowed Caleb to copy the spell Globe of Invulnerability from him in exchange for giving him Willi permanently.

After teleporting from Rumblecusp, the Mighty Nein spoke briefly with Yussa about the Eyes of Nine. Yussa couldn't recall anything but said that he would do some research for them.

Via Sending, Yussa gave the Mighty Nein permission to teleport into his tower to reach Nicodranas, but requested that they not turn his living space into a travel nexus.

The Mighty Nein spoke further to Yussa about the Somnovem. He retrieved the gem containing the soul of Halas Lutagran from its pocket dimension and Caleb had a conversation with him. Yussa gave them two healing potions and loaned them a Blast Scepter, then used Teleportation Circle to transport the party to Allura's Ivory Tower in Emon.

Pursued by Scourgers, the Mighty Nein rushed to Yussa's tower to seek aid. On arrival, they were informed by Wensforth that Yussa was currently unconscious, as he was using Astral Projection to investigate the Astral Sea and gather information on Cognouza.

Jester attempted to contact Yussa via Sending to ask if he was all right. The response was a cacophony of screaming, revealing that Yussa had become trapped within Cognouza.

Beau was able to locate Yussa within Cognouza by communing with the city's hive mind. When the party found Yussa, his face had been replaced by a vacuous hole and he was unable to speak. Caleb cast Banishment on Yussa, ejecting his spirit back to the Material Plane. Yussa whispered "thank you" before his Astral Projection was pulled back to Exandria.

The party, including Kingsley, Teleported to Nicodranas where they visited Yussa. He thanked them for rescuing him and assured them that their deeds had not gone unnoticed by those who matter. Caleb asked him for the Heirloom Sphere, and Yussa proposed they study it together.

The Mighty Nein Reunited
After the Nein Heroez sank, Jester contacted Yussa to see if Caleb could use his teleportation circle so that they could transport the crew from the Twinward Isles back to Nicodranas. Yussa resignedly agreed, provided they did not disturb him, as it was very early in the morning.

Caleb returned to Tidepeak Tower that evening and used his Ring of Telepathy to warn Yussa about the storm created by Uk'otoa, as well as ask him for assistance. Yussa provided Caleb with four healing potions, and in response to Caleb telling him he was unsure if they Mighty Nein would return, told him he hoped to see him next week.

Notable items

 * Heirloom Sphere (given to him by the Mighty Nein)
 * A ruby containing the soul of Halas (given to him by the Mighty Nein and currently locked in a pocket dimension)

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 2
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Quotations
Nott: "How do we prove our loyalty?" Yussa: "By not fucking me over." Jester: "Yeah, he could probably kill us all right now if he wanted to or something." Caduceus: "I mean really, he probably could." Yussa: "You are not incorrect."
 * "At a certain level of arcane practitioning, morality becomes a bit ambiguous."
 * Yussa: "I am willing to share knowledge based on the development of our friendship and proven loyalty."
 * "I am generally uncomfortable making deals regarding passing glances at world shattering artifacts, if that be the case; but you have blessed me with fine tea this day."(to Caduceus)
 * Caduceus: "Obviously you are so much more powerful than we are that it would behoove us to be a little careful."
 * "I do not say I am on the side of good and right. I am on the side of maintaining a balance in which society can exist."
 * "I followed them...into sometimes...stupid and unnecessary circumstances. Many of them died helping me. Many of them I outlived. But I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't at least trust in the power of others."(advice to Caleb, based on Yussa's past companions)
 * "Use who you need to; but know everyone can be useful if you mete out their skills."(Yussa's parting advice to Caleb)
 * "We have similar but different paths. We both wish to avoid choosing. The difference is you wade in the flames while I prefer to stay far away."

Trivia

 * Jester Lavorre giving him a hand made figure of and pamphlet about The Traveler was one of the only moments that visibly confused Yussa during his meeting with the Mighty Nein in.
 * It is theorized Yussa may not be who he appears to be; he states that he cannot go to the Hall of Erudition, as their ability to dispel glamours would prevent him from "free entry and wandering", though he does not clarify what this means.
 * A portion of the fanbase has theorized that Yussa might be a gold dragon in disguise based on his color scheme, eye color, and love for formal magical training. He also kept a scroll of Plane Shift in a small chamber in his tower written in Draconic.
 * It is possible that he uses some kind of spell to alter his appearance because he is transgender.