Alyssand

Alyssand was a merchant and radical of Fawn, a city on the Serpent Isle in Ultima VII Part Two.

The older child of Delin, the provisioner of Fawn, and Elissia, originally of Moonshade, Alyssand grew up with her family in Fawn. When she was a young teenager, she lost her mother during the birth of her brother, Freli. When Freli was still a small child, he was taken by the Magister of Moonshade to be trained as a mage in that city. Between the death of his wife and the loss of his son, Delin became a little demented. Alyssand remained close to him. When she was older, she worked hard to look after both her father and his shop.

Alyssand had become disillusioned by the traditions and customs of Fawn, however, believing them to be false, shallow, and chauvinistic. When a group of Fellowship members from Britannia arrived, Alyssand quickly took to their philosophy. She began an underground movement, referred to only as "the Cause," that was hoping to overturn the status quo in Fawn. She approached Garth, the youngest of the Great Captains. Though he was sympathetic, he was also a coward and unwilling to risk his own status or freedom, so Alyssand knew she could not trust him.

About this time, Alyssand became engaged to a sailor named Keth, who gave her a silver engagement ring he ordered from Moonshade. It was hoped by Delin and several others who knew Alyssand that Keth would have a calming presence on the young woman. Unfortunately, not long after that, the Teleport Storms began to ravage Serpent Isle. Keth was caught in one of the storms and disappeared without a trace. Initially, Alyssand did not give up hope that he would find a way back to her, telling others that as long as she retained her engagement ring she would not lose hope. However, when one of the storms replaced the ring with a pair of magic gauntlets, she indeed lost all hope that Keth would ever return. She threw herself into the Cause completely.

Just a few days later, the Avatar arrived at the Fawn. Alyssand learned that the gauntlets that had appeared belonged to the Avatar who, in turn, was in possession of her engagement ring. She told the Avatar she did not want it back, having come to terms with Keth's loss and not wanting to be reminded of the pain. She also convinced the Avatar to join the Cause. The Avatar began investigating everything possible in the city, but very soon a companion, Dupre, was arrested for heresy after declaring allegiance to Lord British. Wishing to help and hoping the Avatar would still be able to uncover something to help the Cause, Alyssand approached during a recess in the trial.

One of the guards of the Temple of Beauty was sympathetic and gave Alyssand a key to the dungeons. Alyssand gave it to the Avatar, who used it late that night and discovered that Great Captain Voldin and Kylista had long been controlling the proclamations of the Oracle of Fawn through a system of mechanical levers. The following day, Alyssand went to Jorvin, the captain of the guard, with what had been learned. Voldin had been slain by the Avatar, but Kylista was seized by Jorvin and put in jail. The Oracle (now free of outside control) declared Dupre and the Avatar innocent and denounced the true culprits. Lady Yelinda, ruler of Fawn, was so grateful to Alyssand for her part in unmasking the conspiracy that she planned to make her chief adviser.

Unfortunately, any new age for Fawn was not meant to be, as the Banes of Chaos ravaged all the cities on the Isle shortly thereafter. Like most of the citizens of Fawn, Alyssand is killed when the Insanity Bane (possessing the body of Iolo) destroys the city.