AUNDRIS THE ANCIENT
SphinxesStone-Sentinel Matron, Keeper of the War Protocols
AUNDRIS THE ANCIENT serves as Stone-Sentinel Matron, Keeper of the War Protocols within Sphinxes. AUNDRIS THE ANCIENT is identified as Sphinx. Primary residence: The Obsidian Library, Sun-Scarred Peaks. Known affiliation: Council of the Nine Riddles. Commonly described traits include Traits: Enormously still, possessed of a war-veteran's economy of statement, frightening in the way that only something very old and very capable of violence can be frightening while wholly at rest, Mannerisms: Measures others by what they are willing to be responsible for; uses first names exclusively regardless of rank; refuses to sit — the floor of her chamber shows permanent impressions of her paws; does not use metaphor when directness is available, and Voice: Deep beyond the normal Sphinx range, slow, with a subsonic undertone that makes the stone around her hum faintly at full volume. She does not speak at full volume in the Library. She has explained once that she would bring down the ceiling..
"I have won three wars. The cost was the same every time."
Relationship Web
The direct connections of AUNDRIS THE ANCIENT – hover over the nodes, drag them, and click to open characters.
Identity
- Residence
- The Obsidian Library, Sun-Scarred Peaks
- Affiliation
- Council of the Nine Riddles
- Civilization
- Sphinxes
Appearance
Physical: The largest currently living Sphinx, her lion body a deep mottled charcoal with a hide so scarred that original fur texture is visible only near her spine. Her wings, while still functional, carry the permanent slight droop of immense age, and her wingspan casts a shadow that Sphinxes under a thousand years instinctively step back from.
Clothing: None; she has not worn adornment since the War of the Shattered Crown ended and sees no reason to resume.
Distinguishing Marks: Her human face is heavily lined with the quiet of something that has seen everything and is no longer surprised. Eyes have settled into a fixed deep amber. Third eye is completely dark, emitting no light at all — like a window into something that refused to look back.
Relationships
- Sorveth Irontalon - Considers her a capable officer working with insufficient information about what the Stone-Sentinels were originally designed to do. Respects her without sentimentality.
- Aeloria Sunbreak - They have known each other for four thousand years. Aundris knew Aeloria before she was High Riddle-Keeper and does not treat the title as relevant. Aeloria values this more than Aundris knows.
- Khandor Skywarden - She became aware of his sealed vision through channels she has not disclosed. She has not told him she knows. She has been deciding what to do with this knowledge for seventy years.
Personality
- Traits: Enormously still, possessed of a war-veteran's economy of statement, frightening in the way that only something very old and very capable of violence can be frightening while wholly at rest
- Mannerisms: Measures others by what they are willing to be responsible for; uses first names exclusively regardless of rank; refuses to sit — the floor of her chamber shows permanent impressions of her paws; does not use metaphor when directness is available
- Voice: Deep beyond the normal Sphinx range, slow, with a subsonic undertone that makes the stone around her hum faintly at full volume. She does not speak at full volume in the Library. She has explained once that she would bring down the ceiling.
Backstory
Aundris fought in the War of the Shattered Crown before the current Council structure existed, commanding the combined Sphinx and Sylvanos wing that held the Azarian Empire's northern advance for fourteen years. She personally designed the Sonic Shockwave formations still used by Sorveth's Winged Guardians. When the war ended and the Sphinxes withdrew from Azaria, she requested no honour and no seat — only the role of keeper for the Stone-Sentinel War Protocols, a set of emergency activation codes capable of waking every Stone-Sentinel simultaneously, whose existence the current Council has never publicly acknowledged.
Daily Life
Aundris occupies a chamber in the Library's deepest level that was built for her after the war and has not been officially listed in the Library's room records since she moved in. She receives two categories of visitors: Sorveth Irontalon, who comes quarterly for War Protocol review, and anyone who knows the correct question to ask at the exterior door. She spends her time in what she calls watching — an activity that looks from outside like stillness and from inside, she says, like reading.
Secret
The War Protocols do not simply wake the Stone-Sentinels. At full activation they also wake forty-nine original war-sentinels buried beneath the peaks since the Shattered Crown conflict — sealed because their activation generates a Sonic Shockwave that would level all three citadels. Aundris is the only living Sphinx who knows this. She has spent four thousand years waiting for someone to give her a reason to find an alternative.
Story Hooks
- 1 A party member accidentally speaks the correct question at the Library door and is admitted to Aundris's chamber, which she considers an appointment. She asks a single question, and the party's answer will determine whether she gives them access to a War Protocol that Sorveth does not know exists.
- 2 Aundris sends a sealed message to the party's current location — whatever city or region they are in — containing only a date two weeks hence and the coordinates to her chamber's door.
Narrative Value
Aundris is the ultimate military secret-keeper — her War Protocol knowledge creates an endgame-level threat that can be a resource or a catastrophe depending on player choices. Her personal history with senior council figures gives her relationships that thread across the entire NPC network.
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