Alyssa Kruger, the Red Ribbon

Locked Protagonist of Campaign Two. A Kaelen-born commoner from Ashmar who killed an Emperor and became the resistance's martyr. Dead. Don't resurrect her.

Origin	Ashmar, the mixed border village in western Kaelen, the same village as Tristen
Name and looks	Locked An Aldorian-style name and a mixed border look, both common in Ashmar. Her western Kaelen accent and upbringing are what marked her as Kaelen. That's why ordinary Aldorians found it so easy to believe she was one of theirs (R-023)
Class	Battle Master (Fighter)
Nature	Warm, loud, people-first, a free soul. She never lied.
Known as	The Red Ribbon (Aldorians), the River Demon or the Thunder Witch (the Kaelen court), the girl with the red ribbon who wouldn't kneel (a western Kaelen children's rhyme)
Buried	Beside her mother in Ashmar

Her story

1. She was the swordswoman guard of Bram's caravan, and close to the whole crew: Tobb, Old Fen, and above all Sella, her best friend.
2. Before the war she crossed paths with the King-Consort in Solis. They shared a Midwinter season at court, and she met Queen Lyra. She never learned his secret from him.
3. She cleared Edric Morrow's name of the false-toll scandal.
4. She dueled the Edge in Solis, and the Edge later trained her. Alyssa was never a Lotus trainee.
5. In spring 907 AP, as Kaelen invaded, Morrigan Tarr hired her, Sella and Old Fen for the Far Lantern. She spent two years in Farrow, learning medicine from Dr. Okoro, Farrowan ways and the revolver. Fen died there. She came back in spring 909 AP with Sella, the ship's officers, Okoro and Professor Osric Penhallow, and there was no Aldoria left.
6. She came home to a conquered Meridia. At Westhaven Four's men captured the ship, and Four, governor of the west, offered to make her his voice. He protected her, the Edge taught her again, and Eight hunted her.
7. In the Hall of the Ninth Door she shot Emperor Malakor dead.
8. The next morning she fought and fell in the Hall of Lanterns, and died of her wounds with Four's bound hands pressed to her side.

"She never lied to me. Not once. I found it unbearable at the time." (Queen Lyra)

What she left behind

• Her pistol is with Eleven.
• Her medical bag, Dr. Okoro's gift, is lost. Open Where it went.
• Her friends Dr. Okoro and Professor Penhallow are in the canal tunnels under Solis. Sella has gone south.

How Meridia remembers her

Who	What they believe
The Regency (official line)	An Aldorian assassin sent by Queen Lyra, with a traitor in the Lotus. The story backfired: by branding her Aldorian, the Council gave her to the Aldorians
Kaelen court	The Thunder Witch. Most assume the gun was sorcery
Kaelen army and levy families	Split. Families whose sons were marched east say privately that someone finally said no
Western Kaelen river towns	Know from her accent that she was theirs. Lanterns on the water
Ordinary Aldorians	The Red Ribbon. They believe she was Aldorian. Red ribbons on doorframes, harness straps and sword hilts
Aldorian resistance	Claim her loudly. Recruiting has surged
Those who knew her	Know the truth (Kaelen-born, acting alone, nobody's agent) and keep quiet, because the myth serves the resistance better

The banner problem

The Red Ribbon is a ready-made banner, but it belongs to a dead Kaelen commoner who answered to no crown. A king who claims it risks stealing it, and Ashmar and the river towns may resent that.

Through the years

Swordswoman guard of Bram's caravan (before 907 AP)

Midwinter at court in Solis, where she met the Queen

Sources

• Campaign Three handoff, §2, §8 and §9
• The Aldorian Codex: Lands Beyond, "The end of Alyssa Kruger" and "How Meridia remembers Alyssa"
• Owner's ruling of 6 November 2026