Ryona

""Finally, a beacon to light this wilderness! I would have words with you." The spirit takes a bold step forward and crosses her arms, studying you with her chin tiled [sic] up."

Ryona was a legendary adventurer who hailed from the Vailian Republics and traveled Eora in search of wealth and fame. She found her calling running with expedition companies in the Dyrwood.

Ryona ended her career early after giving up her expedition group to a dragon in the White March in exchange for her own life. Long after, she vowed revenge on the dragon, venturing to the march once more - never to be seen again.

She was slated to make an appearance in as a recruitable spirit-sidekick, however this was cut and she was replaced with Vatnir.

Background
When Ryona was young, she trained at a martial academy in Ozia, where she struggled at first. Many of her fellow students came from wealthy, local families, but she was poor and foreign. But she was clever, and she practiced much. One day, her chief rival—the nephew of one of the ducs bels—challenged her to a duel. Ryona could not refuse and save face, so she accepted. When they had assembled in the arena, he offered to give her one piece of his armor before the fight began. He meant it as an insult to her skill, but when Ryona asked for his belt, he realized his mistake. He gave her his belt, with his sheathed rapier still attached to it, effectively disarming himself. Ryona won the duel by default and kept the belt as a memento.

After Ryona established her reputation as a fighter, she began joining adventuring expeditions. For years, she was one of the most sought-after warriors in the Eastern Reach. That changed after an expedition to the White March. She traveled with a team of historians and treasure-hunters intent on breaching Durgan's Battery. Yet their guide fell ill, and they became hopelessly lost in a blizzard. The snows continued for days, and their provisions dwindled. While the rest of the party camped in the lee of a cliff, Ryona was sent to scout a way ahead. She wandered into the storm, barely able to see the hand in front of her face. After hours of trudging through the snow, Ryona stumbled into a cave. Yet instead of shelter, she found a young alpine dragon. The beast was too lean, and its eyes burned with hunger when it looked at Ryona. Yet she promised it a larger meal if only it would spare her. She led it to the hollow where the rest of her companions waited, and as the dragon turned on them, she fled.

After escaping the alpine dragon, Ryona was overwhelmed with guilt. She resolved that she would not rest until she'd made amends for each of the lives she had traded away, and she began to travel the Eastern Reach in search of ways to help the surviving relations of her lost adventuring company.

In Defiance Bay she found the widower of one of the lost expeditioners. His wife had been part of the expedition in hopes of finding treasure within Durgan's Battery that might pay off a debt that he owed to House Doemenel. By the time Ryona arrived, House Doemenel had already put out a contract on his life. She acted as his personal bodyguard and helped him to survive a series of attacks by putting herself in the line of fire. Improbably, Ryona and the widower both lived through the ordeal.

In Midwood she came to the aid of the family of an aristocratic expeditioner who had failed to satisfy the house of his daughter's husband-to-be with the dowry he'd provided. The angry in-laws swore to destroy the family for the insult, and enlisted a band of Bleak Walkers to perform the deed. Ryona rallied together army of the expeditioner's vassals, exhorting them with a powerful speech about the kind of man he'd been, and together they slew the Bleak Walkers to the last man.

Always, though, the form of the dragon loomed large in Ryona's mind and haunted her dreams. She succeeded in every effort to help those who were close to the expeditioners she'd sacrificed, and yet peace eluded her. Only then did she come to understand that she would have to face the dragon and see it dead, or die in the attempt.

She gathered her belongings and embarked on one final journey to the White March, and was never seen again.


 * Three items that once belonged to Ryona can be obtained in and   - Ryona's Vambraces, Ryona's Buckle, and Ryona's Breastplate. The breastplate can be found on a female corpse in Whitestone Hollow. Whether this is the corpse of Ryona herself, or just a mercenary who pilfered/found her breastplate is unknown.

The Chief Librarian of The Forgotten Sanctum mentions that she believes they are in possession of one of Ryona's boots.
 * Cut companion

Behind the scenes

 * Ryona's existence is known about due to the file "sidekick_lax_spirit_sidekick.stringtable" in the directory, which was included in the game files for Beast of Winter. In the end, she was replaced by Vatnir.
 * These files no longer exist, but they are still available in the Steam repository here (manifest ID: 8228781310700354668), and GOG repository here. You can download the package with the command  in the Steam console.
 * In the game files, Ryona expresses a desire to find her lost sword. The Watcher can help Ryona recover her lost memories and encourage her to travel with him/her in order to find redemption, or encourage her to return to the Wheel.