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Aether Torrent
Tori's mugshot was done by my comic-artist friend Jho. Others were done by the lovely ASM.
Main Party -- Allies
Age: 22
Element: Water, summoned through a curved knife with a navy blue carapite handle.
Physical: Athletic redheaded human female. 5' 9" (175cm) tall, not counting her hiking boots.
History: Tori is technically an orphan. Her mother died in childbirth and her father "came and left," but she was lucky enough to be adopted immediately by the archon of a large city-state. Four years ago, Tori left to tour her home region. A year and a half ago, she fell into working with a black market trade group. With Avani's help she escaped her employment and traveled back home, meeting Cirrus along the way. Upon returning, however, Tori learned the true nature of her adopted mother's employment and wanted nothing more to do with the home she had known. And so she and her friends left for good, with nowhere to go but the rest of the world.
Personality: Tomboyish in general, prone to casual swearing, confrontational with rivals, and apathetic about the common masses yet friendly to people she deems rare. She cares neither for religious faith nor keeping her room tidy. Despite her various athletic and elemental skills (and talent with the violin) developed under her adopted mother's guidance, she doesn't like showing them off without reason. Tori's only outwardly "scholarly" mannerism is a fondness for, and detailed knowledge of, all kinds of treasures. Her goal is to someday open a museum full of rare treasures in order to show the world that life can occasionally rise above dull mediocrity.
Likes: Rare things, rare people, rare sights, granola
Dislikes: Anything common
"How can people
be special in a world full of them?"
Age: 19
Element: Earth, summoned through a flat ingot of pure mythril and occasionally a one-handed sledgehammer.
Physical: Brown-skinned, black-haired human female 5' 3" (160cm) tall. Has more curves than Tori.
History: Avani is a former prosthelytizer for a Teizenic Elementist temple in Tergai. She wanted to join a temple to spread the word and the glory of her god (and the other gods), but wound up working for ravenous fundamentalists. Her body was augmented with the full range of Earth magic as part of her initiation, making her whole anatomy highly durable -- which was useful, considering the dangerous people and places to which her various prosthelytizing missions exposed her. On her very last mission, Avani was rescued by Tori. Avani took the rescue as a holy opportunity to leave her temple behind and travel the world, evangelizing to people on her own terms. Lately she has decided to be more subtle about how she spreads the word.
Personality: A strong, kind, and devoted religious spirit, though slightly pushy about her beliefs out of force of habit. She genuinely believes that every man, woman and child would benefit from belief in the gods. Wherever she goes, she finds comfort in the strength of the great god Teizen, patron of Earth magic, whose power is literally under every step she takes. Avani believes that, despite Tori's notable atheism, Teizen sent Tori into her life to reveal the path he intends for her. While generally nonviolent, Avani's religion justifies using force for self-defense in proportion to the threat, and evidence exists that she has already sent a few people to their next life.
Likes: Nature, prayer, animals
Dislikes: Rude people, pants
"Everyone and everything are the creations of the gods.
That makes them special."
Age: 44
Element: Air, summoned through her body due to being an Air monster.
Physical: In her true form, a semi-feline creature with light-blue-on-white skin called a wind tiger. Her human form is tall and muscular, neither of which are traits at all common to other female wind tigers. (Specifically, 6' 2" / 188cm).
History: At some point in the past, Cirrus fell into the orbit of the Nexus, an international organization devoted to spreading the use of elementalism at any cost. Her mate convinced her to send their two cubs to the Nexus to be trained, but Cirrus learned too late that the Nexus trained them to be mercenary soldiers. To find her cubs, Cirrus became a Nexus soldier herself. Her first assignment was to find Avani and bring her back to her temple for a purpose she didn't know, but after meeting Avani and Tori, Cirrus abandoned her duties in favor of traveling with them wherever they would go.
Personality: Cirrus is aggressive and generally unfeminine yet warm-hearted and highly protective of children, a protection which has spread to her young friends due to their behavioral resemblance to her cubs. Cirrus has a healthy fear of the Nexus executives, but in general she is fearless and tough. Every Nexus soldier angers her by association with her ex-husband, for whom she has a particularly short fuse.
Likes: Children of any species, Naur
Dislikes: Name-calling, ex-husband
"Concentrate on
a single action and the world drops away,
jerks and all."
jerks and all."
Age: 10-12, exact age unknown
Element: Fire, summoned through his body due to being a Fire monster.
Physical: Lean, 6' (183cm)-tall male raiza with scaly red skin and emerald green eyes. His tail and dorsal fins are long and membrane-free like those of a thresher shark.
History: Unlike all other raiza, Naur cannot swim, as the slightest touch of water makes him suffer a painful burn. His family and tribe attacked him immediately after birth due to his unnatural power, but since newborn raiza are far less helpless and develop much faster than newborn humans, he was able to cling to survival. Naur developed a skill for trading things very early in life, which lent itself well to his eventual profession of wandering merchant. His lonely journeys eventually brought him to Granbridge, where the immensity and mystery of the ancient structure convinced him that life holds greater things than he ever knew -- and where, by sheer luck, he met Tori and company.
Personality: Naur tends to keep to himself and is especially shy about showing his skin and/or his power to strangers, given years of abuse and fearful prejudice. However, with his face hidden and his skin safely covered, he is quite friendly and sociable to anyone. Out of sheer habit of trying to make people not hate him immediately, he enunciates his words very clearly.
Likes: Trading, traveling, friendly people
Dislikes: Prejudice
"Blessed. Rare. Ridiculous words to say about a monster."
Age: 3
Element: None
Physical: A particularly large specimen of dire kiwi (Dinornis roroae), strong and well-suited to domesticity. His saddle has a jointed handlebar section by which a rider can direct him.
History: Klauser once belonged to a raiza messenger until stolen by Addanc. In the aftermath of one of Addanc's failed attacks on Tori, Avani tamed him into letting her ride him. Now he serves as the party's pack-mount, pet, and half of its transportation.
Personality: Intelligent enough to know how far and fast to run away when danger is near. Klauser tends to be spooked by primal dangers such as predators and fire, but if pushed by absolute necessity, he can use his strong claws to fight. He seems to have no qualms with his change in ownership and is very comfortable around people in general.
Likes: Bugs, worms, sometimes crabs
Dislikes: Thunderbirds
"Gwark."
Age: Early-to-mid-20s
Element: Air, summoned through guitar strings; potentially all basic elements summoned through his guitar.
Physical: Skinny unkempt rocker in torn jeans, a red tank-top and a sleeveless olive-drab jacket.
History: Rilo is a wandering musician who, at some point in the past, became the owner of the Orfeo, a masterfully-crafted guitar with strings that can manifest basic elements with nothing but sound. The Nexus coveted the enormous destructive potential of the Orfeo and sent agents, including Father Durante, after Rilo to claim it. As the party moved on from Granbridge, their paths crossed with Rilo, whom Avani mistook for a Nexus agent until convinced otherwise and whom Tori attempted, almost with success, to seduce.
Personality: Generally mellow, but with a practiced caution of strangers due to the Nexus's interest in his guitar. He has no violent designs whatsoever for the Orfeo; in his hands, it is nothing but a tool by which he brings music to one audience at a time. In fact, until meeting the party, he had no idea that the Orfeo could summon anything but the Air magic which he used to add audible flair to his performances. His reason for departing also suggested a reluctance to involve anyone in his own troubles.
Likes: Music, rare instruments
Dislikes: Buzzkills
"I like to think it's mostly me performing, but my axe is the real star."
Age: "Ageless," visibly 10
Element: Ice, summoned through his body, being an exceedingly rare Ice daemon.
Physical: In his true form, a creature not unlike a shaggy Irish Elk, 7' tall at the shoulder. His human form resembles a ten-year-old boy with white and gold fur, reindeer antlers and pale blue eyes with no pupuls.
History: The Winterking is a daemon, a monster of surpassing rarity, for the titanic concentration of Ice magic in his body. His birthplace is unknown, though he seems to hail from somewhere north of Dorn. His age is also unknown; Levanter called him "the ageless cold itself." When the party passed through the mountains of Dorn, they found the Winterking, who was drawn to the region after feeling a "deep, ending cold" which he initially mistook for winter.
Personality: Quiet and a little chilling from his pervasive neutrality. He is not as harmless as his human form suggests, due to sheer power which not even the Nexus can bring under control. Some people refer to him as Death, but he is far from malicious. He does not cause death, but rather lets it happen as part of the cycle of the seasons. It is not known whether he moves with winter or winter moves with him.
Likes: Letting life go
Dislikes: Taking life deliberately
"Not cause. Let."
Age: Early 60s
Element: None.
Physical: Bald, thickly-built 6' 3" Japanese man. Wears white.
History: Kameuji is a renowned artisan in the fields of stonecrafting and metalsmithing. His products, such as Tori's knife, are nearly peerless works of art and command very high prices -- but only those who can survive his commission process receive finished works. Years ago he moved to the town of Broken Axe and met a dying Great Tortoise who inspired him to create a highly difficult and metaphor-laden screening process for anyone who wanted to commission him. Tori, in search of a gift for Avani, undertook his trials.
Personality: A strong-willed, deep-thinking "craftsman of art" whose canvases happen to be stone and metal. He takes his profession very seriously, as evidenced by his commission requirements. Though he claims to dislike violence, some of his actions proved a great physical fitness not necessarily suited to craftsmanship.
Likes: Art, turtles, peaches
Dislikes: Rude clients
"Without others' support, we cannot exist."
Age: Mid-30s
Element: Fire, summoned through spikes on a parasol.
Physical: Blonde mafia queen in a purple pantsuit.
History: Not known in detail. At some point in the recent past, she organized a coup to take over the agricultural polis of Rannom with the help of Sir Beau, but quickly found herself in his controlling grip. She regained control of Rannom with help from Tori, Avani and Cirrus, and currently rules with a tough yet fair hand, far more peacefully than Sir Beau.
Personality: Not a common mob boss. She acts appropriately stern for her job, yet is far more comfortable with intimidation and imprisonment than shakedowns and murder. Could be far more dangerous than she wants to be.
Likes: Nice clothes, cereal, her castle
Dislikes: Sir Beau, unruly mobs
[No picture available]
Age: Late 20s
Element: Fire, summoned through spiked brass knuckles.
Physical: Skinny gangster in a green zoot suit. Also wears a green hat.
History: Not known, other than being sufficiently competent to serve directly under Lady Shiitake. Louie fits the stereotypical gangster mold far more than his boss in his dress, speech, and his professed desire to "whack" Sir Beau. However, no evidence exists that he has ever whacked anybody.
Personality: Loyal to his boss above all else, though prone to distraction if hungry. He describes himself as pleasant compared to Sir Beau, and anecdotal evidence supports his statement. His overall demeanor is much more "wiseguy" than "hitman."
Likes: Lady Shiitake
Dislikes: Crooks, punks, Sir Beau
"Nothin' criminal about
whacking a crook."
and Evelyn
Ages: Late 20s
Elements: Wallace: Water, summoned through gardening tools. Evelyn: Unknown.
Physical: Both simply-dressed hippies.
Histories: Wallace works as a farmer for the community of West Granbridge, but Evelyn's exact employment is unknown. When Naur arrived at the massive bridge, Wallace traded him a large supply of food and kept most of his existing stock safe in exchange for delivering a message to Karrun, a task which would bring Naur into Tori's party. Wallace and Evelyn greeted the party as they arrived, which was none too soon, as soldiers from the East Ragloan Air Force attacked the peaceful settlement. Though the party drove them off, the main force later attacked unopposed and captured Wallace and Evelyn along with their neighbors. The couple's current whereabouts are unknown, but they are presumably safe since Wallace knows Water magic and is therefore "useful."
Personalities: Wallace is a simple, friendly, hard-working husband to Evelyn, who frequently teases him in a loving sort of way. Wallace seems to have a weakness for collecting junk and is a little forgetful.
Likes: Gardening
Dislikes: Unknown
"Aw, Evelyn, not in front of
the guests..."