Biara

Biara
Biara, as a Demon (above) and as the dark elf, Shadya (below)
Character information
Introduced	Heroes of Might and Magic V
Class	Demon Lord
Race	Demon
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Sheogh Holy Griffin Empire (formerly) Ygg-Chall (formerly)
Occupation	Ruler of the Holy Griffin Empire (as Saint Isabel) Raelag (formerly) Agrael (formerly)
Appearances
Voiced by	Herster Wilcox
Background
Native world	Ashan
Status	Dead (as of Tribes of the East)
Death	969 YSD

Biara was a succubus in service of the Demon Sovereign Kha-Beleth, and formerly affiliated with Agrael. She was notable for her disguise skills, allowing her to impersonate a number of important figures during Queen Isabel's War.

Background

Biara

Arguably the most dangerous weapon in the Demon Sovereign's arsenal, Biara is a succubus of legendary skills. With ample natural gifts enhanced by almost masochistic self-discipline, her talents for seduction, assassination, and infiltration are unequalled in all of Sheogh. Whe the going gets tough, Kha-Beleth gleefully turns to Biara.^OffBck

Shadya

Shadya's family was killed off early in the succession wars of the Soulscar clan. As the sole survivor, she has dedicated her entire life to revenge. Training herself in every art that could further her vendetta she disappears for months at a time, resurfacing only to cross another enemy off her list. One against hundreds, Shadya has mastered all there is to know about infiltration, evasion, assassination, and subtlety.^OffBck

Saint Isabel

Biara is a loose cannon looking for a target. Having managed to sneak her way into the rule of the Griffin Empire, she oscillates between happy/gloating and insecure/fearful. Given Biara's bloodlust and rages, this creates the worst possible environment for those subject to her whims...^OffBck

Before Queen Isabel's War

Biara was a succubus who was sent, by orders of Kha-Beleth, to aid Agrael in his trial. She sent him the reinforcements, but did not tell him her name. When Agrael was sent to the Griffin Empire, Biara followed him to play a trick on Isabel. When Nicolai ordered Isabel to return to Summer Palace, Biara killed Beatrice and disguised herself as her.

During Queen Isabel's War

Biara's Inferno theme

While Agrael viewed Biara as his accomplice at the time, she was actually spying on him, and eventually made Kha-Beleth aware of his treacherous plans.

Arriving at the Summer Palace before Isabel and Godric did, the duo assassinated Abbess Beatrice, allowing Biara to pose as her, a figure Isabel trusted. "Beatrice" pretended to have called for military reinforcements from Irollan, but instead lured Isabel into a trap, allowing Agrael to capture her.

Following Agrael's defeat, Biara accompanied him and the remains of his troops to King Nicolai's tomb, and then to Irollan when Agrael heeded to Tieru's call. However, as she attempted to attack him during the Rite of True Nature, Agrael used the Heart of the Griffin, taken by him from Nicolai's body, to banish the traitorous succubus back to Sheogh, thinking he destroyed her for good before Tieru corrected him.

Biara's Dungeon theme

This was only a small setback for Biara, and soon she once again came to Agrael, now known as Raelag, the clanlord of the Shadowbrand Clan of Ygg-Chall, under the guise of a dark elf, Shadya. While following Raelag all the way to the lands of the Griffin Empire, Biara took a detour to Irollan, where she killed Tieru and stole the scroll that could be used to perform the Rite of True Nature on Isabel, which would cleanse her of Kha-Beleth's taint. However, Findan cornered her and swore that he would not harm her if she returned the scroll to him, which she did.

As Shadya, Biara participated in the siege of the Empire's capital city, Talonguard, and was present when the wizard Zehir attempted to perform the Rite of True Nature on Isabel. However, using the Heart of the Griffin, Shadya escaped to Sheogh with the unconscious queen. The Heart was left behind, allowing Zehir to manipulate it to send himself, Godric, Findan and Raelag, along with their armies, into the Demon Sovereign's domain in an attempt to free Isabel before she would give birth to the Demon Messiah.

Saint Isabel and the Red Church

With the assault on Sheogh finished, Biara assumed another disguise, this time of Isabel herself. Returning to the Empire with Godric, "Isabel" declared herself a saint and founded the Red Church, headed by the fanatical Archbishop Alaric. So began her reign of terror, as she did not hesitate to crush any rebellious lords opposing her rule. Godric himself was imprisoned for his "dangerous" mindset soon after his daughter Freyda was sent to quell the rebellion and retrieve the heir to the Griffin dynasty, Prince Andrei Griffin.

Meanwhile, Biara used her guise of Shadya again to approach Thralsai, the leader of the Soulscar clan of Ygg-Chall, and turn him back to demon worship. Incited by Shadya, Thralsai started a new civil war in Ygg-Chall, exploiting Raelag's disappearance, and at the same time turned against the dwarven kingdom of Grimheim. With the Empire; or, more specifically, Laszlo, also provoking a border conflict with Grimheim, each of the three neighboring countries was soon caught in a war on two fronts.

Although the new red-clad army of the Griffin Empire was soon beaten out of the dwarven lands and Laszlo ended up dead, and Freyda defected to the rebellion, Biara successfully manipulated the rebels into killing King Tolghar, leaving the dwarves leaderless. Ygg-Chall and Grimheim lay in disarray. Furthermore, with Alaric's help, Biara found Prince Andrei and sacrificed him, changing the nature of the Heart of the Griffin so that it would summon demons to Ashan instead of banishing them to Sheogh.

Demise

When Arantir, fighting the demonic corruption in the lands of the Empire, captured Flammschrein and broke the crystal that held a portion of Isabel's soul, Biara's illusion was shattered, and the "Red Queen" appeared before the astonished Alaric in her true form as a succubus. Alaric, driven insane by this revelation, fled the scene, and Biara's inability to change her appearance forced a change of plans. With the Heart of the Griffin, she opened a way for the demons of Sheogh to teleport directly into Talonguard, allowing them to roam the land.

The demon reinforcements, however, ultimately only delayed Biara's downfall. With Zehir exposing the demonic presence in the Empire, the Red Church turned away from its "saint". Soon, the alliance of five armies, led by Zehir, Wulfstan, Ylaya, Freyda and Kujin, freed Talonguard from the forces of Sheogh, and the real Isabel killed her impostor on the spot.

Gameplay

Biara is a Demon Lord. As Shadya, she is a Warlock, and as Saint Isabel, a Knight.

Abilities

Biara

Hero Trait
	Gate Keeper
	The number of creatures called through the Gating increases by 1% per hero level.OffBck

	Skills		Abilities
	Basic Gating
	Basic Luck		Magic Resistance

Shadya

Hero Trait
	Shadow Dancer
	Less damage is suffered from distant attacks, reduction depends on hero level.OffBck

	Skills		Abilities
	Irresistible Magic
	Basic Defense		Evasion

Saint Isabel

Hero Trait
	Suzerain
	Hero contributes 250 gold pieces in kingdom treasury per day. Hero has a 2% per level discount for troop training in Haven towns.OffBck

	Skills
	Basic Counterstrike
	Advanced Leadership

Scenarios

Heroes of Might and Magic V

The Queen

• The Trap: He began to climb through the ranks of Demons as Agrael until Kha-Beleth himself sent him on a mission to capture Queen Isabel.

The Cultist

• The Betrayal: Raelag needs to reach Sheogh to protect himself from the Empire's wrath.
• The Promise: Raelag learns that Kha-Beleth goes after the Heart of the Griffin, so Raelag needs to get the relic first before his forces arrive.
• Agrael's Decision: At last, Raelag needs to find Tieru amidst the fog.

The Warlock

• The Expansion: Shadya comes with Raelag to defeat the Nightshard Clan.
• The Cultists: Shadya, along with Raelag, needs to defeat the Soulscar Clan.
• The March: Raelag and Shadya need to cross the labyrinth.
• Raelag's Offer: Shadya needs to cross (along with Raelag) Sheogh to get to the Queen.

The Ranger

• The Refugees: Biara goes to invade Irollan, so Findan needs to stop her.
• The Archipelago: Biara killed Tieru and Findan's task is to defeat her and get the scroll she took.

The Mage

• The Alliance: Shadya comes with Raelag to deal with "the Queen situation". At the ritual, she reveals her true form as a succubus and takes the Queen with her.

Hammers of Fate

Freyda's Dilemma

• Rebels: Biara, as Isabel, starts her rulership. She orders Freyda to go to defeat the rebels.
• Duncan: Biara forces Freyda to complete the orders. Otherwise, Godric will be hurt.

Wulfstan's Defiance

• The Guerrillas: Biara negotiates with Tolghar for Andrei.

Ylaya's Quest

• The Decoupling: Biara tells Alaric to hand over the child, Andrei.

Tribes of the East

The Will of Asha

• Heart of Darkness: Arantir frees Isabel's soul and breaks Biara's illusion.

To Honour Our Fathers

• Mother Earth's Wisdom: Biara's illusion is shattered and she summons demons to destroy everything in their path.

Flying to the Rescue

• A Flameboyant Exit: Zehir needs to defeat Biara. When he does, Isabel appears and kills the demonic Queen.

Appearances

Biara appears in Heroes of Might and Magic V and its add-ons, Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East.

Gallery

Biara1.jpg

Biara's headshot

Biara as Saint Isabel