Varyyn

Varyyn, a character in the "Endless Summer" series, is the Prince of the Vaanti, and later, the leader (or Elyyshar). He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 12 but was first referenced in Chapter 7. His name was confirmed in Book 2, Chapter 3. He is initially an antagonist, but later becomes a trusted ally.

Appearance
Varyyn has blue skin, yellow eyes, a scar across his eye and green hair in a braided ponytail. He wears an orange and black lion mask and a necklace with a blue stone. Varyyn has an athletic physique, and can be considered attractive even by human standards.

Personality
Serious and determined, Varyyn is fiercely loyal to his tribe, and is eager to capture the Catalysts. Although Varyyn's intentions are impossible to determine at first, if you spend the Diamonds, it is suggested that his intentions are not as bad as they seem.

In the second and third book, he is shown to have a different side of him - he has genuinely befriended and cared for Diego Soto, his own captive. After the group saves his people from Cetus, Varyyn is immensely grateful, willing to tag along with them through their adventures for the rest of the series, even willing to risk losing the Island Heart just to ensure their safe return.

Book One
Varyyn's first "appearance" was during the sixth chapter, when Taylor receives a brief and sudden vision of him staring down Varyyn (while he wears a lion mask).

He later appears in the twelfth chapter, wearing the same mask. Flanked by two fellow Vaanti warriors, a man in an owl mask and a woman in a skull mask, he confronts Sean, Jake and Your Character as you are finding your way back to The Celestial after your near death experience fighting Cetus. He speaks in a foreign language, but Varyyn possesses the ability to "link" his mind with Your Character; as a result of this, you begin to see visions of all of your friends bloodied, beaten and dragged into the trees. A diamond choice allows you to see a vision of Mount Atropo erupting and causing a global eruption if you touch his palm.

He is later a leading attacker in his people's raid on The Celestial; he kills Your Character's love interest (or Diego if you don't have one), but Your Character's ability to rewind time is able to save them. His tribe manages to succeed in capturing Diego, and possibly Raj and/or Grace, though the rest of the group manages to safely escape into the future via a time portal gun.

Ximaedra
Ximaedra is Varyyn's mother. As a mother-son duo, they are naturally close even by Vaanti standards. Varyyn grieves intensely when Ximaedra sacrifices herself to repel Cetus, and attempts to use her time crystals to go back and save her. Ximaedra refuses to let him, and dies in his arms.

Diego
After capturing Diego, Ximaedra ordered Diego to act as Varyyn's tutor. The two developed a friendly relationship, with Diego covering for Varyyn and Varyyn interceding with the Vaanti on Diego's behalf. He and the other Vaanti call Diego, "Canis", which is his Hadean Zodiac sign. Upon seeing Diego and Varyyn in a seemingly intimate moment (Varyyn braided Diego's hair so he could see better), Your Character asks if Diego and Varyyn are "a thing", which flusters Diego.

After defeating Cetus, Your Character can encourage Diego and Varyyn to have a private moment, which will lead to Diego being somewhat more obvious about his attraction to Varyyn. They will finally share a kiss at the New Year's Eve party. Your Character can later encourage them to share a night under the stars before the infiltration of MASADA. When it is time for the group to step through the Lernaean Gate, Diego and Varyyn share a tearful goodbye, with Varyyn promising to wait for Diego "for eternity".

When trying to get back to La Huerta, Your Character will transmit Diego's Star Wars reference to Varyyn, prompting the young elysshar to reopen the Gate, reuniting the lovers. They got handfasted in Book 3, Chapter 10.

Trivia

 * Due to his hairstyle, Varyyn bears an even greater resemblance to the Na'vi of Avatar fame than other Vaanti.
 * Varyyn does not have a friendship indicator, even though he becomes as close to the catalysts as Lila or IRIS. This is probably due to his relationship, or lack thereof, with Diego.
 * Varyyn makes an appearance in Endless Summer, Book 1, Chapter 6, ahead of schedule, if you input the correct password into Rourke's computer.
 * For the Varynn and Diego scenes, the writing was inspired by the song, Stay from Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko.