Zavia

Insouciant, fearless, and wickedly sharp-tongued, Zavia, known as the Winged Elf of Felwin, is a great enigma to the spies and statesmen of the High Elf nation of Aravia. No one knows how she acquired her famous wings, though many speculate that they are a work of magic, a clever mechanical device, or even a partial Skinwalker transformation. Her base of operations is unknown, her motives alien to the Aravian ethos. What the Aravians hold as ironclad, however, is that she is a threat to the crown and a subversive element. Zavia's crimes are repeated, unauthorized crossings of Felwin's Wall, the dividing line between Aravia and the bulk of Anhelt, including the Dark Elf territory of Durham Forest. Her most infamous feat was to seduce Belanor, a respected High Elf administrator who had been serving on the Wall. The Aravians claim that she used supernatural means to steal his heart, or else she holds blackmail material as leverage over him. They hesitate to countenance the possibility that Belanor simply fell in love with her and joined her of his own will, even though they know in their hearts that it is a likely possibility. Admitting that an Elf can be ruled by their feelings would tarnish their international reputation. Just as dangerous, if not more so, is Zavia's message. In statements made during encounters with Aravian authorities, she has decried the existence of Felwin's Wall, called for an end to the schism between High Elves and Dark Elves, and championed universal freedom. While she cannot tear down the Wall with her bare hands, by trespassing across it, she aims to humiliate its keepers and prove to the world that even the mightiest of barriers cannot stop a determined migrant. She demanded freedom of movement for all living things, and proclaimed all borders and all nations to be an affront to nature and an assault on personal liberty. Such a radical, anarchic ideology was contrary to everything the Aravians stand for. Furthering their frustration is the fact that Zavia has never been spotted with smuggled goods or people, nor shown any motive besides sheer ideology. If she were bringing in rebels, stealing valuables, or committing any other typical crime, the Aravians could respond with typical means. But her vexatious idealism makes her unpredictable. Her trespasses themselves are her purpose. Eyewitnesses say that Zavia does not truly fly, but uses her wings to assist in making tremendous leaps, and can glide with them to escape high places and survive a fall of any distance. With these capabilities she is easily able to loft herself over the towering Wall and then disappear over the other side, and twice as she did so she encountered Belanor. After reporting his sightings, Belanor was noted to grow distant and distracted in his work. When Zavia came to him for the third time, he disappeared along with her. Both Belanor and Zavia became outlaws and bounty hunters were dispatched to track them down. For many months, Aravian trackers searched for the couple in vain, patrolling the Wall on both sides and investigating possible hideouts in Aravia and Durham Forest, to no avail. Despite the increased surveillance and security, Zavia has still made regular crossings of the Wall and, to the chagrin of the Aravians, Belanor has been spotted by her side. Somehow he too has acquired a pair of feathery wings, his snowy-white to Zavia's gray. The Aravians are baffled and increasingly concerned - if the wings are not unique, but can be bestowed by some unknown process, they could prove the nucleus of a dangerous, body-modifying cult. They imagined a whole gang of winged bandits able to come and go as they pleased. Surely, they assumed, Zavia has been coming and going for some unstated purpose besides merely flaunting her capabilities. Perhaps she is starting just such a cult already, or organizing rebel cells across the border. But the most ruthless investigators of Aravia can find no conspiracies laid down by the Dark Elf intruder. Rumor has it that Zavia and Belanor have been captured by the Aravian authorities, possibly more than once, only to escape later. It is said they were held in chains awaiting their execution, but when their jailors came to escort them to the chopping block, they found the shackles undone and the cell empty, undisturbed by violence, as though the prisoners had simply vanished. All that was left behind was a pair of feathers - one dark and one light, as if to symbolize the schism of the Elves. Yet, as Zavia proclaims, the schism could be mended if only the Elves could see beyond their towering wall.