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Sara'hilana Val'Balvhakara
Appeared in chapters 34 36* 38* 43 44 46 47 50 56 57
The 18th daughter of Matriarch Agneya'mukhi and an ally of Chrys'tel Vel'Sharen. She is a golem expert and artillery enthusiast.
Appearance and Personality
Sara'hilana is an outgoing, playful drowolath with coal black hair and amber colored eyes. She wears a topaz-colored gem on her forehead, and is almost never seen without her black golem armor and mana cannon. An unusually upbeat drow, Sara tends to be an optimist, and attempts to cheer up those close to her in times of sadness or melancholy. Being the daughter of a Matriarch, she does have a serious side to her, and can be very formal in the company of her peers.
Biography - Arc II
Sara'hilana was the first clan representative to welcome the Vel'Sharen delegation upon their arrival in Nuqrah'shareh, filling Chrys'tel Vel'sharen in on the recent coup as they rode to the Jie'yen isles.[1] After the leadership settled on a battle plan, Sara was among the Balvhakara sent to assault the High Palace Court with a contingent led by Yami'ni Vel'sharen. During the fight, a nether gate was opened by Shodun Val'Illhar'dro, releasing nether demons that began to feed on the auras of the Balvhakarans, but Yami'ni was able to close it without further harm coming to the armored clansmen.[2]
Sabotaging the Whispering Tower
Later, Sara accompanies Chrys'tel and a team that includes Craft Lumesowa Dusk, Nau'kheol Vel'Sharen and An'jin Jie'yen on further missions to help quell the last remnants of the rebellion, with the goal of capturing the rogue Val'Illhar'dro summoners and destroying the local whispering tower. After discovering a war golem in the vicinity of the tower that had participated in the rebel's forces defending the High Palace, Sara'hilana and the others captured the golem's pilot in a nearby house. The co-pilot, Lidia, was killed by Craft when they discovered that she had been tainted during the battle. After Craft departed the group following a disagreement over the execution of their prisoner, the rest regrouped outside in an attempt to capture the pilot within the war golem. Luckily, the golem's cores had already been depleted, leaving it without its usual heavy artillery, and the pilot was captured after accidentally knocking herself out during the struggle.[3]
After the struggle was over, the group caught their breath and discussed the recently overheard discussions among their matriachs, confirming that Balvhakara and Jie'yen clans had also pledged their support to the alliance. Later, Sara'hilana traveled with Chrys'tel to the surface to investigate the Saosh colony, and found amusement in gossiping about Chrys' recent union with Sara's brother Kedren Balvhakara.[4]
An Invitation To Felde
Sara'hilana and An'jin join Kiel'ndia Vel'Vloz'ress to aid Chrys'tel in her search for the truth behind her family's conspiracies. While waiting for Chrys'tel's arrival on the giant turtle summon, Sara and An'jin made their presence known to the rest of Kiel's crew, advising them that they were their respective Matriarch's representatives on the Felde mission. Kiel'ndia agreed to let them travel with them, on the condition that Kharla'ggen Vel'Vloz'ress was in charge and they were to follow her commands.[5]
After the group separated to follow up on their individual leads and missions, Sara'hilana infiltrated Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen's fortress by using the focuses built into her armor to jump onto an upper floor balcony, where she was met by Ynda. After unceremoniously tossing Ynda over the side of the balcony, Sara continued along the ledge, where she encountered Yuh'le. The former Kyorl appeared distracted, but let slip that the nearby platform was intended for a large weapon.[6]
Sara continued upwards, until she finally located a good perch from which she could overhear Snadhya'rune speaking to her guests. When she landed, she ran into Zhor, and mildly threatened him to keep silent, not knowing that he would actually cooperate with her instead of ringing an alarm. As Snadhya began her speech, Zhor attempted to warn Sara'hilana of the First Daughter's insanity. As he spoke of something of great importance being held by Snadhya in the Ninth Tower, their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the First Daughter's secret weapon arrived - an airship stolen from the Val'Illhar'dro during the Nuqrah'shareh Civil War.[7]
After the party had concluded, Sara continued to explore, making her way to the lower landing of Snadhya's tower. There, she noticed the Fallen Legionnaire Sabryne in a fight with one of Snadhya's guards, a Vanir who went by the name Grey. To Sabryne's confusion, Sara greeted Grey with a blast from her mana cannon, knocking her into the nearby lake and severing an arm in the process. Hoping that her actions meant that Sara wasn't one of Snadhya's followers, Sabryne quickly passed her a small vial, stating that if she got caught, the cure must make its way to the Sarghress. Sara was then captured by the guards of Felde, but was saved by the prompt invervention of Kiel'ndia and Kharla'ggen, who took a liking to the Balvhakara.
Escape From Felde
Sara'hilana and the others regrouped during the surprise attack by the Kavahini clan, joined by Ariel and her fellow Highland Raiders. As the giant turtle summon disembarked, Sara revealed the vial that she had been given to the others, stating that she thought it was the cure for Snadhya's toxin.[8]
The Puppeteer Incident
Once the giant turtle arrived back in Chel, Sara'hilana suggested that they return to their respective clans to turn in their reports. Later, Sara'hilana and An'jin sat watching the Rift together, when several Vel'Vloz'ress guards spotted her and gave chase. While evading the guards, Sara ran into Baliir, who tried to convince her to leave by throwing her off of the ledge, not knowing the capabilities of her armor. Using her flight foci, she managed to jump back upwards, landing in the berserker's arms, playfully asking him if he wanted to throw her again.[9]
They soon noted a sudden invasion of demons, originating from the Vel'Vloz'ress Fortress. Moving to investigate, Sara and Baliir spotted Fame'nidea Vloz'ress running out the front door in a panic. She quickly informed them of Vloz agents who had opened the large gate, after manipulating Kharla'ggen and killing Kharla's servants in order to provide bait for a massive demon. The two attempted to rescue Kharla, blasting their way into the summoning chamber and confronting Ni'bai Vel'Sharen and her rogue summoners.
Once the rogue Vloz'ress summoners were neutralized, Sara and Baliir attempted to focus their efforts on closing the gate and sending the greater demon back to its own plane. Baliir quickly assessed the situation, determining that Kharla was the demon's next target. While attempting to pull the Illhar'ess free from the nether fog, Kharla began to resist, not understanding that they were trying to help her. Baliir soon realized that Kharla's puppeteer powers were activating, having gotten a massive boost from the demonic energy around them, and ordered Sara'hilana to kill her in order to save them all. Sara hesitated, questioning the order, as killing one's leader or matriarch was anathema to her clan. Before she could do so, however, Kharla'ggen awakened fully, and used her abilities to take control of Sara and Baliir, followed by most of the drow in the vicinity. With Ni'bai's prompting, Kharla ordered her new puppets to turn on their clan leaders.[10]
Kiel'ndia soon arrived on the scene, having left to check on Naal'sul in the Othorbbae basement. She almost fell victim to Kharla's power as well, until Naal intervened and attempted to swallow her. The action broke Kharla's concentration on her puppeteering ability, releasing the surrounding drow from her control. Sara and Baliir helped each other to stand, and attempted to convince Kiel to let Kharla die, lest her abilities activate and go out of control again. Seeing that Kiel was determined to try to save her sister, Sara'hilana then prodded Baliir out of the summoning chamber, telling him that the fortress was falling apart. [11]
Search For the Ninth Tower
Sara'hilana located Kiel'ndia in the aftermath of the Puppeteer Incident, again taking up the mantle of messenger in order to deliver a proposal to Kiel. The new Alliance was eager to discover whatever secret Snadhya'rune had kept hidden in the mysterious Ninth Tower, and would be willing to hire her to find it. Kiel accepted eagerly, hoping to take a step forward in rebuilding what was left of the Vel'Vloz'ress.[12]
First Meeting of the New Alliance
The Balvhakhara were represented at the first meeting of the Alliance clan leaders, with Sara'hilana acting as her mother's envoy. During the meeting, the subject of rulership was brought up; after the Val'Illhar'dro cast their vote for Zala'ess to take the throne, Sara concurred, stating that in the month that they had been there, they had seen two great powers fall, as well as witnessing several revolts.[13]
Battle at the Val'Nal'sarkoth Fortress
After gaining the assistance of Nishi'kanta Vel'Sharen, the team consisting of Chrys'tel, Nishi'kanta, An'Jin, and Sara'hilana Balvhakara infiltrated the Val'Nal'sarkoth Fortress. Nishi'kanta created a diversion by assaulting the fortress with a powerful war golem and confronting Snadhya'rune directly, allowing the others to set up a counter-ambush for Snadhya'rune's followers who had accompanied her. Sara was able to take Shinae Vel'Sharen and the Sul trio by surprise, greeting them with her mana cannon.[14]
Shortly after the battle started, the fight began to shift in favor of Snadhya'rune's followers, and Sara was confronted by Salbara and her spy golem drones. The armored warriors continued to fight, with Sara demanding to know where Salbara had stolen her armor, not knowing that she had created it herself.[15]
The battle turned once again to Nishikanta's favor, which only enraged Snadhya'rune. She then summoned an outer exoskeleton of stone in the form of a dragon summon. Sara'hilana urged An'jin to leave, as the battlefield was quickly becoming even more dangerous than before. An'jin refused, however, telling Sara that this might be their only chance to destroy Snadhya'rune.[16] After watching the draconic summon-form appear to swallow Nishi'kanta during the battle, he finally agreed to retreat, saying that they had failed their mission.
Biography - Arc III
One Last Adventure
Three years later, Sara'hilana's clan made the decision to withdraw from the Chelian conflict, citing fears over the lack of protection back home. As a courtesy, she paid one last visit to Chrys'tel at the Val'Sharess Council Dome, although at knifepoint from a very surprised Overseer[17]. Sara wanted to hang out with her friend, but the Vel'Sharen had other plans. With the promise of blowing people up, she presented Baliir as another ally--now fully armored in Balvhakara power armor, as a member of the clan.
Down in the sewers, Chrys explained that she was being pursued and needed to gather allies with haste, intending to link up with the Sarghress. Sara lamented that her clan decided to leave, but only after being delayed by Zala'ess' excuses. The trio are intercepted by Kiel and Nau, who revealed information about the existence of a prison unknown to the Imperial Guard. Kiel also described witnessing corpses in cold storage, being utilized by Snadhya's warriors in white[18].
Notable Quotes
"I want to see the world, Chrys'tel. I think I'll enjoy very much my visit to chel. Perhaps we will fight together against the rebels of your nation!" - To Chrys'tel, after capturing the war golem in the Nuqrah'shareh Lower City.
"Do you have any cannons on board? Because I've got spares by my dawmere. And they're just itching to be placed somewhere." - Speaking on top of Kharla'ggen's turtle summon.
"It hasn't been a moon since we arrived, and yet we've already seen two great powers collapse, one massive-scale attack on chel, and several revolts. Chel needs someone who can maintain an alliance." - To the Alliance clan representatives after the Puppeteer Incident.
Character Concept
- Concept SaraEarly.png
Early concept art of Sara'hilana.
- Concept Sara50.png
Official concept art for Sara'hilana, Chapter 50.
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