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Aether Torrent
Tori's mugshot was done by my comic-artist friend Jho. Cirrus's was done by the lovely ASM.
Main Party -- Allies
Age: 22
Element: Water, summoned through a curved knife with a navy blue 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. Under her adopted mother's guidance, Tori grew strong in body, mind, and elemental power. Four years ago, Tori left her mother 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, Tori learned the true nature of her mother 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 prefers to call herself a scholar and can play the violin, but her only outwardly "scholarly" mannerism is a fondness for, and detailed knowledge of, all kinds of treasures. Rare things, crystallized expressions of greatness, are what truly interests her, given the love of greatness she absorbed from her powerful and loving adopted mother. Her goal in life is to open a museum full of rare treasures in order to show the world that life has some tangible greatness. She cares neither for religious faith nor keeping her room tidy.
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 mythril palm of a mitten; later through a pure mythril ingot.
Physical: Brown-skinned, black-haired human female 5' 3" (160cm) tall. Has more curves than Tori.
History: Avani is a former prosthelytizer for an Elementist temple somewhere in the world. 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. As part of her temple's initiation, her body was augmented with the full range of Earth magic, making her whole anatomy highly durable. 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 evangelizes.
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, hence her enthusiasm for spreading the word. 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. Despite Tori's notable atheism, Avani believes Teizen deliberately crossed her path with Tori's, though she isn't yet sure why.
Likes: Nature, prayer, animals
Dislikes: Rude people, pants
[No picture
available]
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 and retrieve Avani, but after meeting her and Tori, Cirrus abandoned her duties in favor of traveling with the girls.
Personality: Cirrus is aggressive and generally unfeminine yet warm-hearted and highly protective of children, a protection which has spread to her younger party members. Judging by her behavior, she has a healthy fear of the Nexus executives, but in general she is fearless and tough.
Likes: Children of any species
Dislikes: Name-calling, ex-husband
"If it would
protect the other kids, I'd kill every dire-anything on
the continent."
Age: Unknown; presumably middle-aged
Element: Fire, summoned through his body due to being a Fire monster.
Physical: Lean, 6' (183cm)-tall male raiza with scaly dark-red-on-red skin and emerald green eyes. His raiza fins are membrane-free and long like those of a thresher shark.
History: Unlike all other raiza, Naur effectively cannot swim, as the slightest touch of water makes him suffer a painful burn. His family abandoned him immediately after birth due to his unnatural power, but since newborn raiza are far less helpless than newborn humans, he was able to cling to survival. He 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 dumb luck, he met Tori and company as they fled from East Granbridge.
Personality: Naur generally keeps to himself and is especially shy about showing his skin and/or his power to others, given years of abuse and prejudice. However, with his face hidden and his skin safely covered, he is quite sociable and eager to share the stories he has heard from innumerable customers. As a side-effect of trying to make people not hate him immediately, he enunciates very clearly.
Likes: Trading, traveling, friendly people
Dislikes: Prejudice
[No picture
available]
Age: 4
Element: None
Physical: A particularly large specimen of dire kiwi (Dinornis roroae). Wears a saddle with 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 Addanc's failed attack on Tori, Avani tamed him into letting her ride him. Now serves as the party's pack-mount and half its transportation.
Personality: Intelligent enough to know when danger is near and how far and fast to run away. Mildly inquisitive. Tends to be spooked by primal dangers such as predators and fire. Seems to have no qualms with his change in ownership.
Likes: Bugs, worms
Dislikes: Thunderbirds
[No picture available]
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 enormous destructive potential of the Orfeo made it coveted by the Nexus, which 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 and bring to her hotel room. The fight with the actual agent convinced Rilo to part ways with the party for the safety of all concerned.
Personality: Generally mellow, but with a practiced caution of strangers due to the Nexus's interest in his axe. 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. Until meeting the party, he in fact had no idea that the Orfeo could summon anything but Air magic, which he used to add audible flair to his performances.
Likes: Music, rare instruments
Dislikes: Buzzkills
Chillaxin'.
Something he does often.
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.
Personality: Not a common mob boss. She acts appropriately stern for her job, yet seems to be 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 seems to fit the mafioso mold more than his boss in his dress, speech, and his professed desire to "whack" Sir Beau. However, no evidence exists that he has whacked anybody.
Personality: Loyal to his boss above all else, though prone to distraction if hungry. He describes himself as "downright pleasant" compared to Sir Beau, and anecdotal evidence supports his statement.
Likes: Lady Shiitake
Dislikes: Crooks, punks, wiseguys, Sir Beau
[No picture available]