Mali Edris

Mali Edris was an elven Druid in the Circle of Dreams and a newer member of the Chaos Crew. She was played by Danu.

Appearance
Mali was a young wood elf, who physically appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She could best be described as in-shape, but not highly athletic. She had wavy dark brown hair that reached her mid-back, sun-tanned skin, and green eyes.

Mali was often seen wearing a white chemise, an orange skirt that reached her ankles, a pale yellow bodice, a white half-apron, white tights that were somewhat torn, and dark brown boots with two-inch heels.

Due to spending two-hundred years in the Fae Wild, Mali's clothes were worn and had definitely seen better days.

Personality
Mali could best be described as naive and optimistic. Mali genuinely wanted to believe the best in people, to the point that she would (and actually had) ignored slights against her. She saw the best in everything, even when she probably shouldn't have. While this did lead to her being rather sweet and kind to everyone around her, it had led to her being taken advantage of by a fae.

Mali valued honesty and bluntness above all else. She strove to be as much, and she tended to prefer being around people who were as much with her. This want for the truth had led to Mali becoming greatly frustrated upon learning people were lying to her.

Due to her toxic friendship with Zephyr, Mali had some trauma to work through. She was more prone to meltdowns than before, especially when learning that people had lied to her. People who she saw as equals exerting their authority over her triggered a fight response in her. For example, Gorrem or Yakov exerting their Silver Crest status would trigger a fight response, but a police officer or a city guard would not. Gaslighting of any form greatly triggered her fight response. For example, upon learning Steve used Modify Memory on her, Mali went into a full rage and meltdown afterwards.

Childhood
Mali was born to Catrin and Wren Edris on the 20th of Ixia in the Kingdom of Eoriin. She was the second child, having an older sister named Lowri. Throughout Mali's childhood, she had difficulty interacting with people outside of her family and the animals they would take in. Her family and the animals were straightforward and honest with her. Most people outside of that group were not. And while Mali would hesitate to call the children in her village bullies, they certainly were not her friends. She was smart enough to know that much. The young wood elf often took to reading books about magic, nature, and mythology to fill her time whenever her sister was busy. The girl even took to collecting various specimens to help her with her spells.

From a young age, Mali knew she sort of liked girls. Whenever her sister brought home guy friends, Mali would be relatively fine. When her sister brought home female friends, though, she would get flustered and had a hard time forming sentences.

Lowri's Disappearance
When Mali turned 75, Lowri started working for a small trading company called the Keymoira Trading Company to try and get work with a larger company. While the journeys were relatively small and uneventful, Mali always loved getting new plants and stones to work on new spells, alongside new books. However, when Mali was 92, Lowri went on a voyage to Aureus, only to never return. Mali, heartbroken and wanting to help her parents out in some fashion, took off to Lowri's last known location.

Entering the Fae Wild
During her search for her older sister, Mali wound up in the Fae Wild. There, she met Zephyr. She asked the fae if he had seen her sister. When he said yes, Mali asked for more information. He said that he would tell her in exchange for her services. Upon some clarification, the deal was that in exchange for any knowledge he had on Lowri (or would possibly gain), Mali was to remain in Arkhosia and be his "guard dog" in a sense until she either found Lowri or, if her sister was dead, learn of her fate. In a fit of naivete and desperation, Mali agreed to the deal. Zephyr told her, "Lowri was here at one point, and now she's not."

The First Four Months
For the first four months after making the deal, Mali stayed in the forest just outside the Fae Wild. For these first four months, Zephyr did not contact her much. She also spent these four months attempting to find Lowri, looking for her four times. The first time, she searched the entirety of the forest. The second time, she searched half of Aureus before returning to the woods to rest up. She left the woods again to search the other half, even returning to a few spots from her first journey in the city.

The fourth and final time, Mali returned to a few key locations in the woods before going to Aureus proper and searching the city once again. She then set forth to take a ship to a different part of Arkhosia. Before she could board the ship, though, wild winds began to blow, keeping the ship from leaving the dock. This pattern kept going for the rest of the week. Mali returned to the woods and had a meltdown. Zephyr approached her and comforted her as best he could, causing the wood elf to become soft to him. After this, Mali decided to start living in the Fae Wild to be closer to Zephyr to get to know him more.

Time in the Fae Wild
Mali spent the next 200 years in the Fae Wild, although it only felt like a few years to her at most. She primarily spent her time reading and gardening. The routine was always interrupted by Zephyr. She would heal him whenever he came to her hurt, and on a few occasions, Mali fought by his side. She had blocked most of these fights from her memory, but she did recall most of them being rather violent.

Mali would also occasionally play host to people who stumbled into the Fae Wild. More often than not, they were thieves who would attempt to rob her. She usually fought them before throwing them back into the material plane.

Seeing the Chaos Crew
Mali's first meeting with the Chaos Crew was far more one-sided. She saw them enter the Fae Wild from afar and was intrigued by their dynamic. She sort of followed them and the fae that was guiding them. What caught Mali's attention was the ring Ayda wore. It bore a striking resemblance to the Keymoira trading company's insignia. Seeing that ring, as well as the Chaos Crew's ability to fight and leave the Fae Wild without much assistance like past visitors, Mali saw their arrival as a sign from the gods to follow them and join them.

Convincing Zephyr of this plan was difficult. While he didn't attempt to dissuade her from leaving, he certainly did voice his (negative) thoughts with her plan. Mali said she would contact him whenever she could and that she would try her best to keep up her end of the bargain. With that, Mali left the Fae Wild for the first time in 200 years.

Finding Lowri
After much research, Mali managed to figure out that Lowri was trapped between two planes in Acinonyx. Upon arriving to the Druid's circle there, Mali was informed that Lowri had last been seen fighting a Draco-Lich named Skeld. (It was important to note that one of Enigma's past lives was amongst the druids who fought alongside Lowri). Mali used her favor with Zephyr to get her and the Chaos Crew transported to this rift, where they were immediately attacked by Lich. It was after this fight that they were spotted by Lowri, who dragged them to her hideout.

After burning down part of the forest as a part of their plan, the Chaos Crew and Lowri snuck into Skeld's hideout and fought him. The Chaos Crew managed to defeat him before Mali and Enigma destroyed the phylactery that contained Skeld's soul. This effectively transported them back to the material plane along with Lowri and the land that had been taken with Skeld when trapped Lowri between the two planes.

Lowri and Mali went home for the first time in 200 years. Mali decided to continue adventuring while Lowri decided to stay home and rest for a while.

Travel to Mount Celeste
During the group's travels to get to Mount Celeste, Mali had to give up her headband of intelligence in order to get past a group of giants without a fight. As they moved further up the mountain, an avalanche occurred. During this, Mali got trapped underneath the snow. She was dug out after five minutes and was a shivering, tired mess.

As they continued on, a blizzard began to blow in. The group took up refuge in a cave for the night only for the blizzard to still be blowing the next day. It was deduced that something supernatural was behind the blizzard, and Gorrem soon discovered it was hags. After traversing the blizzard for a few minutes, the Chaos Crew arrived at the hags' home. Some light conversation happened before a battle broke out. Two of the hags were killed, and one was left alive. Towards the end of the encounter, Enigma stated that she planned to die after figuring out the situation involving her past lives and solving it.

The group continued further up and eventually arrived at Ephesa. Upon entering, the group were told that they would had to reveal a secret each to get in. Mali revealed that she had been feeling some homesickness, but she didn't want to lose her friendship. After being reassured that the group (at the very least Gorrem and Enigma) would still think of her as a friend even if she left for a bit, Mali felt quite better.

Upon the Chaos Crew being allowed in, they were introduced to Selene (a gold dragon taking the form of a Half-Elf woman), who Mali was instantly smitten for.

Catrin Edris
Catrin was an wood elf born and raised in the woods of Eoriin. She was head of the family as it were. She was from a long line of Druids, and she expected both of her daughters to follow in her family's example to continue on the Edris name. Catrin was an "animal psychologist" of sorts, given that she was a Druid in the Circle of the Shepherd, and had a soft spot for animals that even her children and husband didn't really see.

While Mali was close with both of her parents, she was a bit more distant with her mother compared to her father. Until about the age of 60, Mali's mother seemed to be rather harsh with her, not fully understanding why Mali had so much trouble talking with people outside the family and animals. When Mali hit her 60s, though, her mother seemed to grasp some level of understanding. Despite all of this, she did love her mother without any issue.

Catrin helped Mali cultivate her magic and would let her talk with animals that came into the family's care.

When Lowri went missing, Catrin was distraught, and Mali saw her mom cry for the first time in her life.

When Mali and Lowri returned home for the first time in 200 years, Catrin cried tears of joy.

Wren Edris
Wren was a wood elf who was born Wren Cattell to a middle class family. While not noble, his family did not had much of issue with money. For twenty years (age 85-105), he served as a soldier for Eoriin. During that time, he met Catrin. According to both of her parents, when he first met Catrin, she more or less cussed him out after he scared off a feral cat she was attempting to help. He continued to see her every time he went to town, selling her services of speaking to animals. And for the first two months, if he scared off an animal approaching her, she would cuss him out again. Eventually she warmed up to him, and they began to date. When Wren was released from the army, he married Catrin and took her last name.

Wren worked as a hunter for all of Mali's life, and Mali questioned the choice of career constantly, especially considering her mom's occupation. He never really had an answer other than "the circle of life." It never satisfied Mali, but she didn't want to annoy her dad.

Mali was and still was a daddy's girl. She adores her father. He was always incredibly kind and loving to her. He contributed to not only her optimistic outlook but to her tendency for the truth. He openly told Mali that he was never really close to anyone outside his family before meeting Catrin. Not because he wanted to be a recluse, but because no one was straightforward with him in the way he needed.

When Lowri went missing, Wren started spending more time hunting, shutting down around his wife and youngest daughter.

When Mali and Lowri returned home for the first time in 200 years, he joked that the sisters were grounded "for 'til college."

Lowri Edris
Lowri was born to Catrin and Wren fifty years before Mali. Since she's the oldest of the two, there was a slightly higher expectation to carry on the Edris name, but not by much. She did wind up becoming a pretty powerful druid, but she always took more of an interest in combat over healing and nature. She was hardworking, nonetheless, assisting her father in the woods whenever she could.

Mali was always incredibly close with her older sister. When the other children became a bit too mean, Lowri would be there to help her sister fight. When Mali got older and had a tough time making friends, Lowri let Mali join her when she was hanging out with her friends. In short, Lowri always had and always would be the person Mali treasures above all else, and Lowri made it clear she viewed Mali the same.

When Lowri started working for Keymoira, Mali struggled with the sudden change of her sister being gone for random intervals of time. However, she was overall excited for her sister. When she went missing, Mali "felt a hole form in her heart". She lost her older sister, and no one knew where she was.

After 200 years, Mali eventually figured out her sister was caught between two planes. Mali was overjoyed to find her sister, and once they had returned to safety, Lowri was happy as well to be reunited with her sister.

Zephyr
Zephyr was a fae, and he worked as a Knight of the Summer Court. At least, that was what Mali could expunge from their talks and Zephyr's appearance. While Mali did consider Zephyr a friend most of the time, she didn't always like him. For the first couple of years, she did hold some malice towards him. As time went on and people stumbled into the Fae Wild less frequently, she started to grow closer to him. She enjoyed his company, and she thought of Zephyr as her first true friend.

Despite Mali's feelings towards him, their relationship was toxic. Zephyr typically told Mali half-truths. When she questioned them in the beginning, he would simply get mad and leave her alone for a few days. She stopped questioning him after he left her alone for two weeks once. Despite saying she didn't like hurting innocent people, he made her fight a few of his battles for him.

Since leaving the Fae Wild, Mali had felt herself growing distant from him. She found him colder than usual. After going to Eoriin to see Ayda off, Zephyr got angry with Mali and told her to not talk to him until he reached out to her. When no negative repercussions occurred, though, Mali began to suspect Zephyr of withholding information from her. She started to doubt her entire friendship. After the renegotiation followed by Mali finally completing her contract, she had determined that while she had no feelings for him, she wouldn't be opposed to attempting an actual friendship with him. However, Zephyr had left her with quite a bit of trauma, so she didn't know how well that friendship might have turned out.

Gorrem Dorevytch
When Mali first met Gorrem, while she did not appreciate him allowing Ayda and Viscily to blatantly lie to her. She believed him to be loyal to his party members. She was astounded by his kindness for paying for her passage on the ship to meet Ayda's father, but she also saw it more as a favor than an act of kindness. She had since grown close to him, and she considered him a friend.

When the party became aware of Mali's deal with Zephyr, Gorrem was the first to call her friendship with the fae for what it was. She appreciated that and the help he was willing to give her to get out of the deal.

Viscily
Mali didn't know how to feel about Viscilly. She hadn't gotten to know him as well as Yakov, and the interactions she'd had were not the best. Seeing him destroy Thallasus's shrine and continue to badmouth the god even after all of the attacks sent towards the ship taking the party to Krysfels made Mali uneasy. That combined with him lying to her had made Mali rather apprehensive to trust him.

Yakov
Mali rather enjoyed Yakov. He was blunt, direct, and honest for the most part, so he was actually far easier to understand and talk to. Even though she did find him to be a bit arrogant, she believes that he's earned that arrogance, unlike Viscilly. She appreciated his honesty, though, even if it harsh. She also found his fae nature (i.e. being a changeling) comforting in an odd way.

Ayda Keymoira
Ayda, for a majority of the time they travelled together, reminded Mali of the children from her village, and not in a good way. There was a point where Mali just started ignoring a lot of Ayda's attempts to antagonize her because she wanted to avoid conflict. Mali did end up liking Ayda overall after learning that Ayda asked her mom to try and get some more information on Lowri, and when Ayda gave Mali the Scrying mirror.

Enigma
Mali had a crush on Enigma, which she did not attempt to hide. This crush on Enigma caused the realization that Mali was only attracted to women. However, Mali did enjoy just talking to Enigma. She found Enigma to be kind and thoughtful and very intelligent. She was also straightforward and honest, which Mali liked a lot.

As time had gone on, Mali had attempted to ask Enigma out, but had not succeeded. That did not deter her from being friends with the Tiefling nonetheless. For many reasons, Mali was beginning to move on from her crush.

Mange
To Mali, Mange was "a big old doggo who [she] must pet". She was aware he was a displacer beast and was far more intelligent than most beasts she had seen, but she saw him as an animal to pet.

When Mange decided to stay with the displacer beast pack, Mali felt saddened but understood. She did have to be restrained from taking one of the pups, though.

Faustus
When Mali first saw Faustus, she was afraid. She had never met a devil in person and was rather taken aback to meet the devil that Gorrem was seeing.

She was grateful to Faustus for giving her advice involving Zephyr and her deal.

Selene
Selene was a golden dragon, who was taking the form of a Half-Elf woman. When Mali first saw her in Ephesa, was instantly smitten for the dragon and somehow successfully flirted with her. Mali wanted to try and keep up communication with Selene.

Steve
Mali liked Steve when she first met him. He was a fun guy to talk to, and they generally got along well. However, after Ephesa, Mali had come to greatly distrust Steve. This was due to the fact that Steve cast Modify Memory on her, taking 10 minutes of her memory.

Trivia

 * Mali didn't drink alcohol. She just didn't like the taste.
 * Mali had no objections to eating more exotic meats, including the non-humanoid creatures the party fought.
 * Mali had a nicer, more modern outfit that she bought from a merchant who stumbled into the Fae Wild. She just was saving it for a special occasion.
 * Mali was autistic and prone to meltdowns.
 * Mali believed that everyone, including herself, in the party needed therapy.