Yolanda

The Halo of Dawn is a truly ancient organization. Even its chroniclers are unsure of exactly when it was founded or by whom, but there is little doubt as to its mission: to protect the peoples of Aurelica from the encroachment of the Dark One. The organization is well known and has been frequently called upon throughout the centuries to aid various kingdoms in their battles against the Dark. Most members of the Halo of Dawn work secretly behind the scenes to better perform their essential tasks. Some members, however, do choose to reveal their identities publicly, the most prominent of whom must be the Archmage of the Sacred Light, Yolanda.

Yolanda is one of the most powerful archmages in Aurelica, and probably its most powerful “Light” practitioner, a school of magic inherited from her mentor and well-placed to deal with the Dark.

Yolanda was born and raised a member of the Bantus many centuries ago on an entirely different continent. She was known as a light-hearted and inquisitive child, gifted in magic but unwilling to restrain herself to the animus magics practiced by her Paladin brethren due to her obsessive study of magic for its own sake. Her inquisitive nature as to its deep mysteries eventually led her to charter passage to the Hirschbuck Empire, where she enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Magic. Yet even their professors were unable to satiate her curiosity, and she began to explore other magical relics and notable mages around Aurelica. Her journey eventually led her to Sylvia, the mother of her apprentice Evelyn who, like Yolanda, shared a passion for research except, in Sylvia’s case, orientated entirely against the Dark One. The pair became inseparable.

Yolanda and Sylvia’s journey eventually led them to a small town on the outskirts of Talin that Sylvia suspected had been corrupted by the Dark. The pair were awoken from a troubled sleep to find themselves surrounded by aggressive villagers, that had been twisted somehow into darkling shadows of their former selves.

Yolanda realized that a portal to another plane lay open and exposed to the air within the village’s chapel courtyard. Invisible to the eye of the non-magic user, she could observe dark beams of poisonous energy snaking through the air, spreading a corrupting influence over all flesh. A blood-curdling scream came from somewhere deep within the Rift-world, and a pair of claws and demonic figure emerged. The young sorcerers knew their combat skills were about to be put to the ultimate test.

Yolanda deployed all her knowledge of the arcane to wound the demonic creature, which somehow shrugged off her attacks as if almost harmless, fully recovering from any blow of lightning or fire in seconds of regeneration. The Dark energy from within the portal appeared to be granting the demon renewed strength, and Sylvia barely managed to weave a protective enchantment of Light magic to keep the creature at bay. But time was running out. It was then that an overwhelming burst of Light magic enveloped the town, and burned the demonic creature to a crisp. Another mage? But who could possibly wield such magics? The new arrival dispelled the Dark around the village and returned the Rift back to whence it came. Thus was Yolanda inducted into the Halo of Dawn by her new archmage-mentor, and devoted to the same great work of saving the world.