Safiya

"By almost any standard, Safiya would be considered beautiful – golden-skinned, her features delicate, with dark, almond-shaped eyes. Yet her bald head and graceful tattoos mark her as a Red Wizard of Thay, and for this, most outside her homeland would regard her with fear. Her smiles are shy, when they appear, as if she is unused to them – but you sense a resilience beneath, born of an unforgiving land… "

Safiya is a Red Wizard of Thay, and one of the companions of the Kalach-Cha during the events of Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.

Personality
Safiya was an instructor at the Academy of Shapers and Binders. Her mother, Nefris, was the headmistress of the academy. In contrast to most Red Wizards, Safiya has little interest in power-grabs like the other "despots" of Thay, instead focusing on her scholarly pursuit of the arcane arts. She enjoys building constructs and using transforming magics, and is very fond of Kaji, her homunculus familiar, one of her earliest creations. The Kalach-Cha inferred during one conversation that her somewhat sheltered upbringing as the headmistress' daughter may have had something to do with her being "less ruthless" (direct quote) than other Red Wizards.

Safiya is nevertheless a highly skilled mage.

Specialty
Safiya is specialized in the school of Transmutation, much like Sand, the moon elven wizard in Neverwinter Nights 2. As a transmuter, she is dedicated to building and shaping objects, and is highly skilled at crafting enchanted weaponry and armaments.

Safiya is the only companion with a prestige class, though as she already has 10 levels of Red Wizard, she can only continue to level as a wizard. Her extra specialization in Transmutation through both classes means she's restricted from both Conjuration or Illusion.

(It should be noted that in pen and paper D&D, Safiya would be restricted from three schools: two for being a specialist wizard, and another for being a Red Wizard.  This is one of several differences between the Neverwinter Nights 2 mechanics and official gameplay.)

History
As the Kalach-Cha infiltrated the fortress of the King of Shadows fortress in Merdelain, Safiya was told by her mother to travel to the Bear God's Barrow in Rashemen and retrieve the Kalach-Cha from the lower barrow. She was to protect him/her from harm, and take him/her to see a woman named Lienna in Mulsantir. She was not told the full extent of why the Kalach-Cha was buried in a cave, only that he/she would be there under binding runes. She was astonished that this person was from the Sword Coast North, and had an open gash in the chest, which she claimed a weapon shard had been in.

"Kalach-Cha: "I made a lot of enemies in Neverwinter, but I can't think of anyone who would want to cut me open and not kill me."

Safiya: "Neverwinter?" This country, Rashemen, is countless leagues from the Sword Coast." "

They climbed out the barrow, and were confronted by a wolf spirit named Nakata, who was disturbed by the spirit eater's revival. The dormant hunger flared and an incarnation suddenly devours the telthor, which seemingly healed the chest wound completely. Safiya did not know what to make of this....or anything else about the person's current state. Nearing the exit, Safiya began to experience sudden auditory hallucinations, but passed it off as the effects of the spirits. However, Okku had awakened and wasn't planning on allowing the Kalach-Cha or Safiya to leave the barrow. The bear god called in telthor minions but was seemingly banished by the two after a fight.

Arriving in Mulsantir, Safiya disguised herself as a peasant due to the fear the Rashemi have of Red Wizards. They arrived in the Veil Theater, only to find it under attack by a group of Red Wizards. There, the leader of the attack, Khai Khmun, spilled all the details, claiming he was ordered by Araman to kill Lienna and eventually Safiya, and gloated over the fact that Nefris was dead. Enraged, Safiya and the player finished them off. Lienna, now a charred skeleton (apparently by her own hand) in the Shadow Veil, was a dead-end. Safiya was crushed by the possible death of her mother, and decided to fulfill her last request by protecting the Kalach-Cha.

They soon learned from the wychlaran Sheva Whitefeather that Okku had arrived at the gates with the spirit army, and is now out for their blood. Safiya deduced that the witches were detaining the Veil Theater actors during this situation, and they would need to deal with the angry bear god – again – before they could hope to learn more about Lienna's activities.

After (potentially) recruiting Gannayev-of-Dreams and Kaelyn the Dove, they faced the spirit army. When Okku yielded in defeat, the hunger re-emerged, and the Kalach-Cha must either give in or restrain it. Regardless of Okku's fate, Gann revealed the grim fact the Kalach-Cha was now a Spirit Eater, and a threat to the land, spirits, and ultimately himself/herself.

In search of answers, the Kalach-Cha eventually learned that both Lienna and Nefris visited the Slumbering Coven, and learned from the sleeping hags that the curse was created by Myrkul, the former god of the dead who was slain by the wizard Midnight during the Time of Troubles (the same Midnight who succeeded Mystra as goddess of magic), and the answers lie in the Academy of Shapers and Binders.

When the group arrived on the Thaymount, the situation rapidly became worse, as Nefris was indeed dead and many bodies litter the halls, even as classes continue. With the help of Safiya's mentor Master Djalfi, the companions managed to unlock a mysterious door in the headmistress' tower and discovered a portal to the Astral Plane. Within the infinitesimal void was a god-isle of Myrkul, the only remnant of the dead god (apart from the Crown of Horns). Myrkul revealed that the curse was his punishment to Akachi for the Betrayer's Crusade against the Wall of the Faithless, and revealed Araman was Akachi's brother. He had had a geas on Araman for all these centuries, in order to stop the Acadamy's Founder from ending the curse.

(At this point, the Kalach-Cha had the option to finish Myrkul off with his own curse.)

A nearby portal led them to the Founder's sanctum, where Araman was closing in on her. After confronting and killing Araman, they encountered the Founder herself. Safiya initially thought the woman was her mother, alive and well, but then realized the truth: she, Lienna, and Nefris were in fact aspects of the Founder. She had created these three daughter aspects out of her soul to help end Akachi's curse, who was now nothing more than faceless hunger. Out of singular love to Akachi, she had had the Kalach-Cha removed from Merdelain, surgically extracted the shard, and had him/her placed in the barrow. The auditory hallucinations were actually a psychic guidance from the Founder, Nefris, and Lienna. Safiya was "all that was best in her" and they kept her safe from Araman.

The Founder gave the Kalach-Cha the fully reformed Silver Sword of Gith, stating it would open the Betrayer's Gate to the Fugue Plane, and the solution to the curse lies where it began: the Wall of the Faithless, where his/her soul was displaced by the curse.

The player is then presented the option of killing the Founder in revenge, or sparing her life. If the player chooses the kill the Founder, Safiya will beg the player to reconsider. If the player goes through it anyway, Safiya will be utterly disgusted, and unless the PC's influence was very high and didn't devour the Founder's soul, Safiya will try to kill the player in a rage. If the founder is spared, Safiya will remain with the player until the end.

Safiya's final fate depends upon several factors, including whether a male Kalach-Cha fell in love with her:


 * If the Kalach-Cha has a romance with Safiya, is neutral- or good-aligned, the Curse is lifted, and Okku is recruited: Safiya spends the rest of her days traveling with the player and eventually returns with him to West Harbor where they are married.
 * If the Kalach-Cha has a romance with Safiya, is neutral- or good-aligned, the Curse is lifted, and One of Many is recruited: Safiya spends the rest of her days traveling with the player and eventually returns with him to West Harbor where they are married. But shortly thereafter her soul is devoured by One of Many.  The player hunts One of Many down and manages to corner it in the Shadow Plane where it pleads for it's life with Safiya's voice but to no avail.  The player never again takes on another lover.
 * If the Kalach-Cha does not have a romance with Safiya (or is female), is neutral- or good-aligned, and the Curse is lifted: Safiya continues to go on adventures with the player but eventually returns to the Academy and drives out her rivals. She takes over as headmistress and turns the academy into a place that discourages betrayal, deceit and slavery and has become an anomaly among Red Wizard Academies.
 * If the Kalach-Cha has a romance with Safiya, is neutral- or good-aligned, and takes Akachi's soul into his own: Safiya stays with the player in the City of Judgment, where both now act as guardians for Kelemvor.
 * If the Kalach-Cha does not have a romance with Safiya (or is female), is neutral- or good-aligned, takes Akachi's soul into his/her own: She takes over as headmistress and quietly kills any students who found out about the Founder. Things go on in the academy as if nothing had happened.
 * If the Kalach-Cha has a romance with Safiya, and is evil-aligned: Safiya and the player returns to the Realms, where the lovers unleash unspeakable horrors upon the realm.
 * If the Kalach-Cha does not have a romance with Safiya (or is female), and is evil-aligned (Kills the Founder): Safiya returns to the Academy and gathers powerful allies to her side to drive out all her rivals.  She then rules the school as an evil headmistress who has now no longer believes in trusting others.
 * If the curse is not lifted: Safiya returns to the Academy and continues the Founder's work in finding a cure for Akachi.

Behind the scenes
Safiya was voiced by Julianne Grossman.