Rayla

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History

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Rayla
Professional Information
Occupation	Member of the Dragonguard Assassin (formerly)
Affiliation	Team Zym Dragonguard
Former Affiliations	Moonshadow Elf Assassins Silvergrove
Known as
Other names	Little Blade (by Runaan) Jofus (by Ezran and Callum) The Last Dragon Guard (by Janai)
Biography
Species	Moonshadow Elf
Nationality	Xadian
Age	15 (at debut)
Birthday	July 31
Gender	Female
Height	5'7" (5'8" with horns)
Hair Color	White
Eye Color	Violet
Relatives	Lain (Father) Tiadrin (Mother)
Status	Alive
Other Information
Debut	Echoes of Thunder
Portrayal	Paula Burrows

Rayla is a Moonshadow Elf and the youngest of a former band of assassins sworn to protect Xadia. Despite her age, she is the fastest and strongest of all of her comrades, though lacks a desire for war and unnecessary bloodshed. Along with Callum, Ezran, and Bait, she returned the Dragon Prince, Azymondias, to his mother, the Dragon Queen Zubeia, to establish peace between the humans and the inhabitants of Xadia. Rayla is also "The Last Dragon Guard", following in the footsteps of her parents, Tiadrin and Lain, in protecting the Dragon Prince. She is currently in a relationship with Callum.

Appearance

Rayla has shoulder-length white hair and purple eyes with blue, tear-like elven markings underneath them. As a Moonshadow Elf, she has dark violet, stubby horns, and pointed ears that peek out from underneath her hair. Originally, she wore a braid on the right side of her head, which was later cut off by an arrow shot by one of Amaya's troops. She usually wears a dark teal and navy suit secured by a vest, dark brown straps, and a dark brown belt embellished with a silver brooch. The outfit is topped off with knee-high boots and bracers.

As a sign of her pledge to kill Prince Ezran, she wore an indestructible assassin's binding on her left wrist, which caused her hand to swell and began to show signs of necrosis from the lack of blood flow, following her refusal to kill him. It was eventually bitten off by Azymondias.

As a child, Rayla's face markings extended over her eyebrows, while they are now only present underneath her eyes.

Personality

Despite her natural skills, Rayla lacks the hardness needed to take the life of those who did not harm herself or others, as they do not pose a threat in her eyes. One of these times is when she was tasked with killing Marcos but found herself unable to kill him. Instead, Rayla was willing to lie to cover her tracks and protect herself and others. She returned to the Moonshadow Elf camp with berry stains on her dual swords, deceiving her allies by mimicking bloodstains. As such, she struggles to balance the duty to her kind and Xadia against her own moral beliefs.

Even as an assassin, Rayla is kind and compassionate, as well as a loyal friend and ally. She will do everything in her power to protect those in need, even if it means placing herself in harm's way. Even though she doesn't have the drive to kill, Rayla does have the dedication of an assassin to the point of being pridefully stubborn, as she was willing to die while defending Zubeia. This dedication was not fully selfless, however, as she wished to make up for her parents' past "mistake".

Rayla has a strong sense of justice and, like Callum, is moral, immediately abandoning her mission to kill Ezran after discovering that the Dragon Prince was alive. She was also able to let go of her hate, anger, and prejudice towards humans after spending time with the princes learning that not all humans are bad. Even to Sol Regem, she described Callum as a wonderful human, despite the fact that most elves consider humans cruel and horrible.

Rayla also has a sarcastic sense of humor, as she is quick to make witty or snarky remarks, much to the chagrin of others. Like many elves, Rayla possesses a sense of arrogance and sometimes makes tactless comparisons on humans and her people, which tends to annoy her friends. She is also a bit of prankster at times, as shown when she playfully asked Callum if he was taught any new spells, as well as when she got him to smell a fart flower. She also finds it humorous to pretend to be human. Ironically, she has the same humor as Callum but is annoyed when he pretends to be an elf. She also doesn't like to fit in, finding it boring, and considers it more pleasurable to stand out.

Rayla is very cunning, clever and has good instincts when it comes to suspecting something about enemies, such as when she pinched herself with a rose when Soren and Claudia used a sleeping spell, and when she knew Soren tried to kill Ezran with a badly built zip line. Rayla also tends to disguise herself as a human to explore human villages without raising suspicion.

Rayla despises dark magic, as she knows its true nature and the consequences of using it. She can also come off as mean and harsh towards anyone who uses it as she was quick to blame Callum, despite being friends, for his corruption and sickness upon using the dark art. This means that, like the princes' mother, Sarai, she too values the life of other creatures. However, she is forgiving and means it honestly, as with Callum when she was worried about him after using dark magic left him unconscious. She used to be a little self-righteous when she accused Callum of using dark magic, even though it was the only way to save her life, and the life of the Fire Dragon Pyrrah.

With her kind growing up alongside dragons, Rayla has a deep respect for them, which is demonstrated when she becomes very protective towards Zym, risking her life to free the wounded Pyrrah, as well as willing to die to protect the weakened Zubeia.

Rayla is also a bit sensitive because of her knowledge of what humans think of her kind, though she knows that the truth is the opposite. When Callum told his aunt Amaya in sign language that she is a bloodthirsty monster, she was hurt by what he said. When he asked about her parents she stated that they were dead but corrected that she wished they were after failing their duties. She became extremely sensitive to the point of breaking down in tears when she was banished from her home. She started to believe that she was a failure until Callum told her otherwise. With that sensitivity Rayla is reluctant in revealing her feelings or opening up to others, especially when she is in bad shape, building up a tough facade, pretending to be unapproachable and violent to keep others away from her, and does not pronounce serious threats.

Rayla will always prefer to think or fight her way out of situations using irrational methods, as shown when worst came to worse when they were dealing with Sol Regem. She said that finally, she would have to use her least favorite method of getting out of trouble, that being reasoning with others. This is probably most likely why she does irrational things and sometimes seems to not think.

Skills and Abilities

Moon Primal Connection

File:Rayla moon power2.jpg

As a Moonshadow Elf, Rayla is born with a connection to the Moon Arcanum, which allows her to draw power from the moon. As such, she is at her strongest at night when the spirit and energy of the moon enhance her natural strength, agility, endurance, and speed. When the moon is full, she is at her most powerful and even has the ability to enter a Moonshadow Form, which turns her body nearly completely invisible, allowing her to take her enemies by surprise. Her invisibility also extends to her clothes and weapons. Rayla is not fond of using this ability, as she feels it to be disorienting.

Speed, Agility, and Strength

Rayla has supernatural agility, endurance, and speed, giving her impressive parkour and free-running skills, as she was able to speed across difficult terrain, like sand and rocks, with ease and jump from tree to tree without missing a beat. Her natural agility allows her to execute mid-air somersaults and flips with ease. These acrobatic abilities make her fast and agile in battle, able to outmaneuver almost any opponent as well as dodge their attacks, even when she is outnumbered.

Rayla also has great strength, being able to scale virtually any surface of terrain quickly with the help of her blades, relying gravely on her upper body strength. She can also jump exceptionally high and far, even from a stationary position.

Combatant

Trained from a young age by Runaan, Rayla is a skilled sword fighter, specialized in dual-wielding swordplay. She was able to defeat multiple foes using only her swords, even when her opponents required precision attacks, as demonstrated when she efficiently and seemingly effortlessly decapitated dozens of Soulfang Serpents to save Nyx.

Draconic Language

Rayla has limited knowledge of the Draconic language, knowing only some words.

Tracking

Although not as skilled as Corvus, Rayla picked up a few tracking tips from him, allowing her to track Nyx's Ambler.

Riding Skills

Rayla can ride a Shadowpaw with ease. It is unknown who has taught her or if she is self-taught.

Equipment

Twin blades: A combination of delicate, careful craftsmanship and clever gadgetry, Rayla's twin weapons reflect her fighting style, capable of switching between lethal blades and curved hooks. This ability to transform her weapon, even mid-air, gives her the chance to catch her opponent off guard, by switching from a sharp blade to a surprise hook to the legs, as well as scale nearly any surface, ranging from solid rock to hardwood. They are based on real-life balisongs or butterfly knifes in their way to function. These blades were forged by Ethari.

Trivia

• Although the name "Rayla" exists as an individual name, it is likely to be put together by two terms instead: "Ayla" is a Hebrew, Turkish name meaning moonlight, while "Rae" is the old English spelling of the word ray, or beam. This roughly translates to "beam of moonlight".
• Rayla was named after a close friend of the Wonderstorm staff.
• Rayla was raised by Runaan and Ethari while her parents served in the Dragonguard.
• It was Giancarlo Volpe's idea to put in Rayla's "Naruto-run" with encouragement from Lulu Younes.
• Rayla suffers from hydrophobia and seasickness.
• Rayla's parents used to send her letters about their life in the Dragonguard on the morning of her birthday.
• Rayla's favorite dessert is moonberry surprise.
• Rayla likes sarcasm, making fun of how humans talk, Adoraburrs, and Moonberry Surprise. She dislikes Lujanne's kooky wisdom, and water, as she is scared of it and often made her seasick.
• In early concepts, Rayla had an additional marking on her forehead.
• Rayla's early designs pictured her as too confident and had to be adjusted. Her early expression sheets also served as a practice for Wonderstorm's artists to figure out the four fingers of elven hands.

Appearances

Book One - Moon

• 101. "Echoes of Thunder"
• 102. "What is Done"
• 103. "Moonrise"
• 104. "Bloodthirsty"
• 105. "An Empty Throne"
• 106. "Through the Ice"
• 107. "The Dagger and the Wolf"
• 108. "Cursed Caldera"
• 109. "Wonderstorm"

Book Two - Sky

• 201. "A Secret and a Spark"
• 202. "Half Moon Lies"
• 203. "Smoke and Mirrors"
• 204. "Voyage of the Ruthless"
• 205. "Breaking the Seal"
• 206. "Heart of a Titan"
• 207. "Fire and Fury"
• 208. "The Book of Destiny"
• 209. "Breathe"

Book Three - Sun

• 301. "Sol Regem"
• 302. "The Crown"
• 303. "Ghost"
• 304. "The Midnight Desert"
• 305. "Heroes and Masterminds"
• 306. "Thunderfall"
• 307. "Hearts of Cinder"
• 308. "Dragonguard"
• 309. "The Final Battle"

Books

• "Book One: Moon (Novel)"
• "Through the Moon"
• "Book Two: Sky (Novel)"