Lorithia

Player Info:
Name: Pyra
Timezone: AWST (UTC+0800)
Contact: usagisimaginaryfriend

Character Info:
Name: Lorithia
Age: Unknown. Appears to be 320 years old but is actually older (theorised 9000)
AU/PG/CANON/OC: Canon Xenoblade Chronicles

Key Points:

• Lorithia is introduced soon after entering the upper Bionis (the world in which Xenoblade Chronicles takes place) where she is shown to be plotting in the shadows of the High Entia hierarchy.
• She does not take a highly active role in the story until Prince Kallian begins his attack on Mechonis (the neighbouring landmass inhabited by robots that threaten war on the Bionis). In the time leading up to the battle, she begins researching the green fluids in the weapons of the Mechon forces hinting at her relations with Alvis and Dickson (seemingly helpful members to the playable characters but ultimately mysterious and shady)
• As a countermeasure to the fluid, she designs the Havres: aircrafts that the High Entia use at the second battle at Sword Valley. After the malevolent god, Zanza, is released, the High Entia Havres squad led by herself and Kallian comes to the party's aid during Dickson's Telethia lead assault (Dickson revealing himself as a traitor.)
• She is then revealed as one of Zanza's three disciples when she releases vast amounts of Ether from the aircraft to transform the other High Entia into Telethia.
• In the process of his transformation, Kallian's will, alongside support from Princess Melia, leads to his resistance to obey and he turns on Lorithia, seemingly killing her in an Ether explosion.
• However she is revealed to be alive inside the heart of the Bionis. In the heart's core she reveals Kallian's Telethia alive but mindless, even going to the point of kissing the prince to taunt the party.
• She then merges with the Telethia to assault the party alongside summoned elements. After she is defeated she denies her imminent fate, claiming she was "promised immortality".
• Weakened by the fight she loses her control of Kallian, who talks with Melia before rebelling against Lorithia and killing them both in the process.
• For Cosmographia, she will wake up just after she is defeated.

History:

Little about Lorithia isn't known, besides her name, job and alignment. She is the leader of the High Entia's Ministry of Research. As such, she mostly operates by designing new technologies and weapons for her people. However, Lorithia's true role in-game is mostly hidden behind the scenes, and it's clear to see that she is a manipulative puppeteer, capable of having the royal family and the High Entia race eating out the palm of her hand. 

 

This is first seen in her first cutscene, when Princess Melia is entering her capital, and her Stepmother is seen plotting against her. She tells the First Consort Yumea that they will have a chance to kill her when she makes a claim for the throne, something the First Consort doesn't want. The next scene she is present (and most subsequent scenes after) she is seen on the stage that the Emperor of the High Entia and the prince stands on, off to the side, but watching, in a clear position of power. Otherwise, she is right in the front of the audience chamber with Alvis, the divine seer. 

 

Although we saw her already plotting Melia's death, her first speaking role presents her deceit to the audience, as she tells Melia that she is to be the next Princess, and that "I, Minister Lorithia, have no objection to your appointment." She says that she would never openly question the emperor and she doesn't, only plotting behind his back. In fact, she encourages strong bonds between her and the princess by agreeing to her views that her companions that had been previously imprisoned should be allied with the High Entia instead. She takes on Melia's desire to have her friends free and implants ideas in her head, going out of her way to comment that she is a "lowly servant of the realm" and could never question the Emperor. She tells Melia that the Divine Seer can free her companions and instils hope into her. 

 

Even though she is only officially the Head of the Ministry of Research, she clearly has influential ties to the throne. She is a presence Kallian and Melia are free to express their emotions in front of, even if not directly to. In one cutscene, the prince and princess openly share about personal situations in front of her, and no one reacted in shock when Lorithia came to talk to Melia later. Melia is also at somewhat ease with her when she goes to escort her to the High Entia Tomb, where she goes to make her stake to the throne alone. She’s also shown to be as formal as the rest of the High Entia, as seen in her speech, and she tells Melia outright that if she is unworthy, she would spend eternity in the tomb as a fallen spirit. However, this kind of talk is common and such dark tones are not avoided in High Entia affairs, so the ominous message has no effect, even when she says it outright. She tells Melia that she’s most wise and tells her to watch her back, even blowing Melia a kiss, playing the role of a humble servant.

 

After Melia survives her rigged ordeal and Yumea is arrested, Lorithia is seen with the seer Alvis, looking at Prison Island. They speak cryptically (for the audience’s sake) and share notes on Shulk, having done research on him and placing him solidly within their plans. After this, the Mechon attack and Lorithia is mysteriously missing for the battle. 

 

After the Emperor’s death, Lorithia tells Kallian that all the ministries are unanimous in making Kallian regent and Melia empress in a year. Since she speaks on behalf of all the ministries, it’s evident that she’s in a position of power, even over all the others. Lorithia is the one who speaks up to Kallian, not only backing him up with saying their defences need to be addressed, but their offences as well. It shows that she is especially pragmatic, even in spite of the empire licking its wounds from the recent assault. 

 

Later, we see Lorithia in a private lab with Alvis, investigating Mechon weapons, where she chastises Alvis for the uselessness of Shulk’s visions. Lorithia accuses Alvis of siding with the enemy, to which he denies. Out of Zanza, Dickson and Lorithia, only she is the one who suspects Alvis betraying Zanza, which he does eventually do in the end. 

 

Lorithia seems to be the driving force behind the Havres, the latest in anti-Mechon weapons. She designed and built them. They are extremely capable, but ultimately are a trap, since they contain high amounts of ether, which turns all pure-blooded High Entia back into Telethia to serve Lorithia and Zanza’s other disciples every whim. Before the turning, Lorithia actually does join the battle on a Havres herself, but ultimately is an observer, commenting “I do so enjoy a good show.” However, she is very critical with the battle, being first to note that the enemy has yet to release their full potential. 

 

Lorithia’s reveal as a villain to the party happens after the Mechonis awakens, when Dickson calls her out. Lorithia tells outright that she finds that the prince is naive and she had fun playing with him and his father. She is very mocking as she explains the purpose of the High Entia (to be servants of Zanza) and doesn’t particularly care about them. She refers to the Telethia as pets, and tells the party that she is just returning the High Entia to their natural states, not to blame ‘poor old’ her. 

 

Lorithia is fought in the Heart of the Bionis, where she shows Kallian as a monster. She then kisses him in front of Melia and proceeds to fuse with him, becoming a fierce Telethia. However she is defeated by the party and dies, much to her disbelief.

Personality:
Even from her clothes, a lot of Lorithia's personality can be seen. While High Entia typically dress more conservatively and in clothes of blue and silver, Lorithia dresses in a red, BDSM-esque outfit, showing off her promiscuous nature, flaunting her assets, and how much more liberal her thoughts are. Her flirtaious, seductive side is also shown when she kisses Kallian; there's no reason to do it, she was just proving that the corrupted prince was her 'adorable servant'. However, she has a clear distinction between those whom she finds her servants, and whom she deems useless. She refers to the party as Impure life, and impure life that Lord Zanza doesn't require needs to be extinguished from the world. 

As part of Zanza's Trinity, she is firmly committed to reverting the High Entia race to Telethia to further Zanza's aims. She's referred to as a sycophantic servant, in contrast to Dickson who's simply a Blood Knight, and Alvis, who isn't really working for Zanza, Lorithia is fanatically obsessed with "Lord Zanza".

We find that after you defeat her, she screams that she was "promised immortality", and while that meant she didn't age, it didn't mean she was invincible. However, it's quite clear that Lorithia loves beauty, and is quite afraid of death. 

Lorithia tells Alvis ‘Don’t play games’ after he feigns not knowing her approach, showing she takes no nonsense when she’s doing business for Lord Zanza. Unlike Dickson, the two are coworkers, and work much more intimately with each other, though that means they can be at odds with each other. Alvis sasses Lorithia, while she responds dryly in the same manner. 

Lorithia is very into strategy, and she is the one to first propose a round-table discussion about the invading Mechon. She is also quite ruthless with her research, and she is seen in a secret lab, investigating Mechon weapons that can drain life. She finds the spears ‘most fascinating’ and engages with them deeply. In her research, she doesn’t like drawing conclusions, and often makes more theories on how things are. She knows a lot about Ether, the building block of the Bionis, and therefore a lot about the world they live in. She is also confident in her abilities, creating ‘antibodies’ to counteract these weapons.

She is incredibly intelligent, shown by her work, her status and her planning. She has something of a rivalry with Dickson, a fellow disciple of Zanza, but nonetheless tolerates him for his knowledge and abilities. However, she does openly state to Alvis (regarding Dickson): "Why did you have to include him? You know how he disgusts me." Lorithia knows who her enemies are and will comment on them to her allies, but will not openly say it. She is very passionate, but she knows how to play her cards.

After her reveal as a villain, she usually has a mocking chide in her voice, saying ‘these moments are to be treasured’ through the heart-wrenching ‘death’ of Kallian, and how she addresses Melia now that she is under no pretense of being her servant. However, when things don’t go her way, and her plan is thwarted, she has been shown to panic, yelling at others to protect her. However, when it boils down to her having to protect herself, she does so, and she is actually one of the strongest (and most annoying) bosses in the game. 

Gem Considerations:
Cinnabar: Fun additional fact about Cinnabar: it can produce mercury if it's heated/mishandled. Such a gem is perfect for someone as dangerous as Lorithia. This stone between her breasts is chosen because it is associated with alchemy, transformation and mental agility, all aspects associated with Lorithia. It is claimed to create wealth and bring dreams into manifestation, much like how she is an advocate of making her Lord Zanza's dreams into reality. This stone's lore has caused some to say that they have shape-shifting abilities because of it, much like how Lorithia can and will change her shape. However, the stone is said to give direction in life, and hopefully Lorithia will grow to not perform so many twisted experiments on gems, and develop as a person.

Power considerations:

• Metal bending that later develops into Technopathy
• Telethia Shapeshifting: Lorithia can only shift into any telethia granting her limited yet powerful abilities
• Nova Summoning: Allows her to summon Primo, Secondo, Quarto and Quinto Novas. These act as Lorithia's shields and can counter physical attacks, and can also be used offensively

Lorithia will be more interested than annoyed that she has no powers, and may be mildly inconvenienced that she can't fly anymore. However, she'll be very surprised to have new powers, and thoroughly use them to her advantage. As her god no longer exists in this world, she will devote herself to study, even if it is of the amoral kind.

Sample: