Elysian Vanguard Script's Characters

Script

Adorable Homewrecker
Benefactor
Elysian Vanguard
Aeryn
Elante Vadrillion
Aarendelothos
Aesh
Taro Tachibana
Kinra
Scarlet Dae

Enemies of the Vanguard
Ravager and Watcher
 
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Name:
Aeryn
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Race: Lustran (a race of extraplanar humanoids infused with the potent magical energy of the realm of Lustre; not dissimilar in concept to celestials, fey or demons - watch this space for more thought)
Date of Birth: 26th August
Place of Birth: Bliss, capital of the Golden Realm of Lustre

Significant Relations: Husband Elante Vadrillion. Member of the Elysian Vanguard and affiliate of Academia Celestia. Highly respected hero-figure in Lustre, holding authority by renown over soldiers of both the Argent Vanguard and the Aureate Vigil as well as sharing a close friendship with the leaders of both realms.

Synopsis/History: For context, please take a look at this page. Aeryn was born in the gloriously beautiful Golden Dimension, one of the two mirror realms of Lustre. For most of his life, he grew there blissfully unaware of the horrendous misuse of power that made its idyllic nature possible, and of the wool that had been pulled over his eyes. It was only after he joined the Lord's army at the young age of 16, and was made responsible for carrying out the sentencing of any dissidents, that doubt wormed its way past the magic that clouded his mind. Eventually that doubt grew into a muted horror at the way criminals were treated - banished from the realm and cast into the horrors of the Silver Dimension - and he came to the realisation that all his negative thoughts were being pushed aside. He attempted to communicate this with his fellow guards, and as a result, he too was banished. While in the Silver Dimension he learned that it had not always been a barren and hostile landscape filled with ruin and madness, but that this was the result of Tiernan - the immortal Lord of the Golden realm - manipulating of the energy that filled both realms to style himself as a god. He was resigned to spending an eternity there, until magic gripped him and pulled him out.

He found himself summoned by a mage native to Valore, Elante, due to a summoning spell gone wrong. In the end, it turned out to be for the better. The two became fast friends after Elante realised his summoned 'demon' was actually a fairly regular kid. Elante's father didn't approve, but by the persuasion of Elante's tutor, allowed Aeryn to remain. They grew together for the better part of a year before conflicts came to a head and they both left in order for Elante to attend the magical academy known as Celestia, located near Westeria City. It was there that they were pulled into the conflict around the Orsa of Terminus, an organisation dedicated to unleashing an ancient evil on the world. During the fighting, Aeryn's summoning was broken and he was cast back to Lustre.

Now, however, he was not content to resign himself to that fate. Motivated by a driving passion normally absent in the exiles of the Silver Dimension, he roused them and gathered them together over a period of months, forming an army to storm the bridge between the Silver and Golden dimensions, and strike Tiernan down. In the aftermath, he managed to wriggle his way out of taking any position of power in the new Gold and Silver dimensions, the balance of their energies restored so that both realms could live in peace, and used the power of the bridge to reconnect to Valore to aid Elante in the final weeks of the Orsa of Terminus conflict. Thanks to his influence, two military orders - the Aureate Vigil and the Argent Vanguard - were formed, acting as peacekeepers across both realms as well as guarding the entrance to the realm on Valore.

Nowadays, Aeryn has remained with the Elysian Vanguard, those responsible for battling the Orsa, and aids them in their mission to protect Valore. He has also married Elante, which he considers his crowning achievement.

Height: 6' 0"
Weight: 152lbs
Overall Appearance: Aeryn's hair is silvery white, with slight hints of gold interspersed throughout; it is quite long, falling to his shoulders with a fringe that covers his eyes when not moved aside. His eyes are gold and specked with silver. His build is slim but athletic, and he is of reasonable height. His skin is pale, and on his palms, his chest, his forehead and under his eyes are supernatural markings, that glow white when he enters battle or is otherwise emotionally charged.

Personality: Aeryn is a well meaning, if at times sarcastic and snarky, person. He has a good sense of humour, and is always willing to crack a joke, no matter how dire or inappropriate the situation. This tendency to make light of serious situations makes him a bit like marmite, you either love him, or hate him (although there are some reported cases of marmite-ambivalence, there are as of yet no cases of Aeryn-ambivalence, amongst those who know him well). He has much more control over his anger since the restoration of the Silver Dimension, and has a determined responsible side that those who knew him before he led the rebellion in Lustre still find surprising. A passionate, if reluctant leader, Aeryn's refusal to acknowledge the potential for failure rallied an entire realm behind him once, and he still holds that fiery strength to this day.

Skills and Talents:
  • Skilled swordsman.
  • Skilled in hand-to-hand.
Abilities:
  • Candescence: Aeryn can manipulate an energy source unique to Lustre - 'Candescence' - to a masterful degree. As a born Aurean who attuned to the energy of the Silver Realm while banished, he is capable of manipulating both Silver and Gold Candescence. When he is embracing this energy, he is also granted increased sensory perception, strength, speed, and reaction speed. Whilst once charged by Aeryn's anger, now he can utilise its full power regardless of his emotional state. Watch this space for more detail on various capabilities.
Equipment:
  • Lord's Bane: A longsword belonging to Tiernan, the Lord of the Golden Dimension who Aeryn overthrew. As a wedding gift, Corenne, new High Lady of the Golden Dimension re-purposed the blade to serve Aeryn instead. When it was gifted to him, the sword 'imprinted' upon him, and thus its unique properties will only work for him. Aeryn can call the sword to him from a considerable distance and wield it as though it were light as a feather despite its actual weight. Additionally, the weapon can be utilised to reflect any force striking it straight back - including momentum from melee strikes, projectiles and energy. Controlled at will, he can opt not to utilise this property of the blade.
  • Heart's Promise: Elante's wedding gift to him. This amulet, forged of equal parts gold and silver, holds a single ruby gem at its centre. It is enchanted with a powerful magical shield that protects Aeryn from harm, and allows him to telepathically contact Elante's mirrored version of it no matter where they are, so long as magic exists there.
  • The Elemental Bracers: An artefact forged by the Elysian Vanguard of ages past, one of the keys to the Sealed One's prison. With their purpose served and the Sealed One vanquished, Aeryn and Elante have retained them as tools to use as they see fit in protecting the people of the realms. Allowing the wielder control over the elements in their entirety, they are very powerful and nigh on unbreakable.
 
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Name:
Elante Vadrillion
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Date of Birth: 17th April
Place of Birth: Orlen's Hill (town), Terra


Significant Relations: Aeryn (husband), alumni of Academia Celestia, member of the Elysian Vanguard

Height: 5'9
Weight: 134lbs


Abilities:

Celestial Arcana: Although not divine in nature, Celestial magic aims to mimic such magic, and shares many of its properties.

  • Healing: The healing provided by Celestial Arcana is not as potent as divine healing, and draws more heavily on the recipient's body's strength. As such, dramatic healing can be difficult, and serious injuries - whilst readily stabilised - require longer periods of healing to ensure the magic doesn't draw too much energy from the injured all at once.
  • Sunlight: Celestial magic can produce light that mimics the properties of sunlight, to varying degrees of intensity, up to and including beams of radiant sun-energy.
  • Warding: The wards produced by celestial magic are usually less direct and potent than force-barriers from traditional arcane magic, weaving auras around the protected creatures to soften injuries and reduce harm rather than outright deflect attacks. Such wards often also serve to ward the target's mind and spirit as well, however, bolstering them against more than physical harm.
  • Constructs: Celestial magic is capable of producing simple constructs of radiant energy, such as blades, walls and bridges. These structures of energy can be crafted so as to burn foes while leaving allies unharmed, as well as to absorb magic that creatures attempt to project through it to a limited degree.
  • Empowerment: Celestial magic allows the caster to imbue other beings (or oneself) with radiant energy, enhancing their capabilities to varying degrees. The more potent the empowering, the more of the caster's focus it requires, making it more effectively when used on allies rather than oneself.
  • Celestial Flames: The flames produced by Celestial magic can be directed to burn foes while passing harmlessly over allies, and remain effective even against creatures normally unharmed by regular fire due to the radiant energies within them.

Conjuration: The art of conjuring forth creatures, constructs or energies from other planes, or manipulating the boundaries of space and realm for the purposes of travel.

  • Summon Entity: Elante's summoning powers take on many forms, and he can summon demons, celestials and fey alike and bind them temporarily to his service.
  • Portals: Elante is able to manipulate the folds of planar space to create portals over great distances, or even to other realms provided he has sufficient knowledge of them and a way to attune his magic to them.
  • Miasma: A technique relying on drawing forth harmful energies from hostile planes, Elante can lay a miasma upon an area that confuses and drains the energies of creatures within it.
  • Null Sphere: A technique relying the utilisation of destructive void energies in small quantities, Elante can conjure a small orb of pure negative energy that reacts violently with the mortal realm, detonating in a burst of force.
Arms and Armour:
  • Heart's Promise - the twin to Aeryn's amulet, this allows Elante to communicate with Aeryn telepathically provided they're on the same plane of existence. Forged of equal parts gold and silver, it holds a sapphire at its center, and projects a magical barrier around Elante constantly.
Personality: Elante is a caring and passionate young man, wholly fascinated with learning and applying magic (and other academia) in new ways. Thankfully for him, he has a sizeable inherited fortune on which he can rely whilst he indulges those passions. This can lead to him being somewhat out of touch with the reality of the lives of the working class, or arrogant towards those who haven't dedicated so much of themselves to learning. Whilst he was advantaged by birth in that his parents constantly pushed him to greatness and nurtured his intellect, he has worked tirelessly to achieve what he has, and is no stranger to great trials after his time in the Orsa war, which served to significantly ground him. Since becoming a part of the Elysian Vanguard, the young man has become more responsible in strides, and a life away from luxury has served to temper his arrogance to no end. Mature beyond his years through his experiences, he nonetheless sometimes suffers from the contrast between his youth and his responsibilities.

History: Elante was born into a family of wealthy, aristocratic arcanists, and homeschooled from a young age to hone his art. Despite receiving prestigious tutelage, he grew steadily more stir-crazy as time passed, wishing to be able to attend classes with others of his age at one of Valore's renowned magic schools. His life took a dramatic turn when he inadvertently conjured Aeryn forth from his banishment in the Silver Dimension of Lustre, and felt too much sympathy for the outcast teenager to simply send him back - despite the traditional wisdom of never trusting a conjured entity too much. Thankfully, his trust didn't turn out to be misplaced, and although his and Aeryn's friendship (and later relationship) caused a great deal of conflict between Elante and his conservative father, it led to him mustering the courage to apply to Academia Celestia without his father's approval. He was accepted, and he left home with Aeryn to attend classes there.

During his final year of studies at the Academia, Aeryn and shortly afterwards he was drawn into the Orsa of Terminus conflict as a member of the group of warriors Sylvire Nasazura assembled to help her defeat the Sealed One. Though initially on the fringes of the conflict, as it grew more intense he became a more integral part of the group, especially after Aeryn was lost to a banishment spell. His prodigious magical talent served the newly formed Vanguard well, and he saw the conflict through to the end, including reuniting with Aeryn.

Since then, he has completed his studies at Celestia and graduated, and married Aeryn. He now splits his time between his duties as a member of the Vanguard and his passion as an academic, although his sense of rightness and morality means that the Vanguard almost always takes priority.
 
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Name:
Aarendelothos
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Race: Silver Cloud Dragon
  • Cloud dragons are typically light in colouring, and have an affinity with the cold and wind associated with high altitudes. They usually possess the ability to breathe icy bursts of frost, the ability to take on humanoid and bestial forms, and the supernatural ability to walk and rest upon fog, clouds and other such substances as though they were solid if they choose to. They are often (but not always) born with innate sorcerous connections to ice or wind-based magic, and occasionally both.
  • Though they reach emotional and intellectual maturity at a similar rate to humans, a cloud dragon can continue to grow for well over a century, and live for well over a thousand years.

Significant Relations:
  • Adoptive Family: Liala Swift, Alder Swift, Maria Swift

Height (preferred human form): 6' 2"
Weight (preferred human form): 163lbs

Abilities:
  • Innate Magic: Aaren has limited control over elemental ice magic, capable of projecting blasts of frost and flash-freezing things with a touch, although he does not have particularly stellar control over these abilities.
  • Cloudwalking: Aaren can walk on fog, mist and clouds as if it were solid ground.
  • Shapechanging: Aaren can assume the form of a humanoid or animal, as well as his true form, that of a dragon about twice the size of a large horse. He generally assumes the same humanoid form whenever he transforms, but is not limited to it. In all forms, he generally retains silvery-white colouration in some form. While in humanoid form, he is capable of sprouting draconic wings. Despite his draconic form being his true form, he is typically more comfortable in his human form due to his being raised amongst humans.
  • Strength: Aaren retains the strength and durability of his dragon form (to a degree) even while transformed.
  • Cold Breath: In dragon form, Aaren can unleash a wave of potent freezing cold from his maw, capable of freezing people solid in an instant. It takes him some time between each use of this ability to recuperate enough to use it again.
Skills/Talents:
  • Combat: Aaren is a skilled swordsman and is trained in martial combat, albeit not the most experienced due to his age. This is usually compensated for by raw strength, or by turning into a dragon.
Background: Aaren's egg was laid centuries ago, before Aelora was lost to the Void Blight and veiled. His parents, fearful that they could not protect him as a hatchling, hid the egg away in a carefully sealed shrine and placed preservative magic upon it, preventing him from hatching into a world infested by the void.

But things did not go as planned, and for one reason or another, his parents never returned. The shrine lay unbreached throughout the duration of the great blight, lost deep in a forest cave for century after century.

It was twenty-two years ago that a young Keradoran explorer named Liala Swift came across it, and the egg within. Overjoyed by her find - for to have discovered something so legendary as a preserved dragon egg was beyond her wildest dreams - she brought it back to her hometown of Myriheath. There, only a few months later, Aaren hatched.

Liala and her family were astonished that not only had she found this egg, but after so long, it had hatched. In truth, they had been expecting it to be inert. Finding themselves with a silvery dragon hatchling on their hands, they had no idea what to do with him.

The Swifts were a family of middling means, but they were learned enough - Liala herself being a professional explorer, and her parents being craftsmen - to realise the significance of their discovery. They chose, however, to keep the young dragon hidden - surmising correctly that word of his existence would likely draw all kinds of attention, and not all of it good. And so the wyrmling grew under their care throughout his childhood.

Once he had, by his tenth year, figured out how to transform himself into a human form, Aaren - whose full name had been imprinted on his mind and in the shrine - quickly adapted to life posing as just another member of the family. His unusual hair colour and sudden appearance raised a few eyebrows, but a concocted story about bandits taking his real parents and being found by Liala was enough to avoid too many questions. With the Swifts, Aaren grew up like a human, but always with the knowledge that he was something different: something almost mythical, even by Aeloran standards.

It was under a year ago that Aaren first sought to “fly the nest”, beginning to travel in search of a worthy quest and good to do - he was a noble, powerful dragon, after all! He was practically obliged, heroics were in his blood! It is this desire which led him to become a member of the Elysian Vanguard, very much fancying himself the hero of a story that just hasn't properly kicked off yet.

Although curious about the truth of his ancestry, Aaren doubts that he will ever learn the it, given how old the shrine he was found in was. Still, ever the optimist, he holds out hope that he will find those secrets one day.
 
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Name:
Aesh
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Race: Human (Demon-Blooded)

Significant Relations: None established - watch this space

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 115lbs

Abilities:
  • Fiend-Sense: Aesh is capable of detecting the presence of devils, demons and the like within roughly five miles of him, through a combination of innate awareness and extreme sensitivity to their scent. This large radius assumes he is actively searching for them. Passively, the range is closer to half a mile.
  • Demonic Rage: In battle, Aesh can enter into a channeled fury, drawing on his demonic heritage to sprout vicious claws and fangs capable of rending through steel. While channeling this rage he is resistant to harm from most sources, his already immense strength is enhanced, and his mind is too furiously focused to be manipulated or controlled, although he remains vulnerable to radiant energies and direct mental assault. Despite his rage in this state, he retains his wits and personality, and (mostly) full control over himself, although his impulse control is... reduced. The more injured he gets, the more potent this rage becomes.
  • Spider-Climb: Using his claws, Aesh can easily climb along vertical surfaces and upside down on ceilings, exorcist-style.
  • Strength: Despite his small size, Aesh possesses strength beyond that of a normal human thanks to his heritage, and is capable of feats such as flinging a grown man twice his size as though they were a child, and leaping over fort feet along and twenty feet high in a single bound.
  • Enhanced Senses: Aesh's eyesight is enhanced to a degree by his heritage, but more prominently, his sense of smell surpasses that of a bloodhound.
Skills/Talents:
  • Combat: Aesh is a trained warrior despite his age, thanks to the traditions of his clan. What he lacks in experience, he makes up for in raw strength and ferocity.
  • Survival/Tracking: Similarly, Aesh is trained in survival and hunting/foraging, and his enhanced senses more than make up for his inexperience in most cases.
Background: Aesh was conceived when a slain Aeshma demon’s essence infected a Cordelian knight, tainting her with its demonic touch. Unbeknownst to her at the time, she was with child when this took place, and when that was discovered, it was determined that the Aeshma demon’s essence had transferred to the baby. Though the exact effects of this were uncertain, there were many who called for the child to be killed as soon as it was born, and so to protect her child, she and her lover fled south, towards his homeland of Kerador.

The journey through the mountains south was long and arduous, especially as her pregnancy developed. By the time the baby came, they had only just reached Kerador's border, and although their destination was in sight, they were fated to never reach it. Aesh was born in a cave on the plains of Kerador, and his mother did not survive the birth, despite her lover’s efforts. Grief stricken and weary, his father abandoned him upon the first manifestation of his demonic traits -- his piercing red eyes and sharp teeth.

And so the newborn babe was discovered some days later by scouts of the Lyruna, one of Kerador's barbarian clans, mewling in the cave where his mother had been buried. Dirty and bloody, the tribesmen were shocked to find that during the days he had spent abandoned, he had killed every predator that tried to attack him - including a whispersnake and a group of scrub rats - and eaten them for sustenance.

Though they were torn between fearing his unholy traits, and admiring his strength, it was the word of their truthspeaker, Akram, that led to the tribe adopting instead of killing the newborn. Aesh was thusly raised amongst the clan's children, taught to hunt and to fight with the best of their warriors. His existence was always one of controversy, however. His demonic heritage only continued to manifest as he aged, especially during combat, and some of the clansfolk sought his expulsion from the clan even after he had proven not to be afflicted by the inherent evil of his ancestry.

He was always protected from them by Truthspeaker Akram, however, who saw the potential for good in the child. Thanks to the suspicions of his clanmates, Aesh grew to resent what he was, developing a passionate hatred for fiends of all kinds, although he was willing to use the strengths that his affliction granted him.

When Aesh came of age to take the trial of the Black Walk - a coming of age ceremony for the clan - however, more voices in the clan cropped up in a bid to deny him it. They claimed that the trial was not suited for him, that his heritage rendered him unfit for the clan whether or not he completed it, and that even if he did, it would be because of his demonic tricks and traits rather than him being a real Lyruna.

Though Akram and the others who cared for him fought his case, enough uncertainty was fostered within the clan to cause conflict, and it all came to a head when Aesh struck out against another young brave who mockingly claimed Akram only kept him around for a source of perverted pleasure. Although most agreed that the boy who had made such an insulting and disrespectful claim of their truthspeaker had demanded a response of that kind, the fact that Aesh’s claws had taken one of his eyes created even more controversy.

In the end, Aesh decided that living amongst a people who couldn’t decide whether they tolerated or hated him wasn’t worth the struggle. Tearfully, he departed the clan in the dead of a moonless night - the night when he would have been taking the trial of the Black Walk, had all been as it should - and fled south, seeking to avoid bringing any further trouble and pain to the man who had shown him nothing but kindness.

It was later the same year that he found his way to the doorstep of the Elysian Vanguard, having wandered long enough without purpose to find the prospect of fighting for a worthy cause, along with the Vanguard's tolerance for folk of all backgrounds, very appealing.
 
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Name:
Taro Tachibana
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Significant Relations: None established - watch this space

Height: 5'9"
Weight: 138lbs

Abilities:
  • Curse of Ill Omen: Taro can draw on Kuroakuma's powers of misfortune and chaos to afflict foes with dramatic bad luck, causing them to suffer absurd twists of fate that hinder them in every way. Stray gusts of wind, poor footing: anything that can go wrong for them, will, so long as Taro keeps this curse on them. He can afflict only a single person with this curse at once, and its intensity is greater the closer in proximity he is to the target.
  • Curse of Paralysis: Taro can afflict a creature he strikes with Kuroakuma with paralysis, causing their body to lock up and freeze if they are unable to resist the effect. Like his curse of ill omen, he can only afflict a single creature with this curse at any one time.
  • Darkness Manipulation: Taro can create areas of supernatural darkness, impenetrable by non-magical light sources. Even creatures adapted to darkness cannot see in the supernatural blackness of this magically created dark, although Taro's own sight can pierce it perfectly.
  • Shadowsight: Taro can see perfectly in the dark. He can determine a shadowy or dark area from a bright area by subtle changes in tone, but otherwise is unhindered by a lack of light.
  • Countermagic: Taro is able to drain and dispel magical energies created by other creatures, including disrupting spellcasting-in-process by discharging chaotic energies into the casting. This can cause the spell to backfire in the would-be caster's face.
  • Black Wings: Taro can sprout a pair of shadowy wings, allowing him to fly.
  • Shrouded Presence: Taro can use his magic to conceal his presence, both visually and spiritually. He fades from view, becoming invisible, whilst his energy, mind and soul become very difficult to detect even with supernatural senses.
  • Shadow Step: Taro can teleport between areas of shadow, provided he can see his destination.
  • Chaos Energies: Taro can unleash Kuroakuma's power in less directed, focused ways, lashing out with crackling black destructive energy that has the ability to disrupt and hinder foes as well as harming them with necrotic energy.
  • Superior Physical Ability: Taro is more strong and agile than an average human thanks to his bond with Kuroakuma, which has magically enhanced his strength, resilience and dexterity to borderline superhuman levels.
Skills/Talents:
  • Combat: Taro trained as a warrior before he gained his abilities, and his connection with his cursed blade has only enhanced these talents.
Equipment:
  • Kuroakuma: The cursed katana Taro wields containing the spirit of a powerful yokai of darkness, chaos and misfortune. The blade itself is wreathed in shadows that assail creatures with necrotic energy on contact, and is capable of slicing through solid steel. Taro can unleash his power directly through the weapon as well, empowering its strikes with raw magic or even causing a shade of Kuroakuma itself to emerge from it to assail foes.

    Beyond these capabilities, Kuroakuma is a yokai that feeds off of the darkness in humans and, in a reciprocal loop, influences them to become darker themselves. Taro currently has control of the spirit, tempering his own darker emotions to the point where the spirit is too weak to influence others, and strong enough of will to stop it influencing him.

Background: Taro was born the son of a Losenyu shrine priestess, at a shrine dedicated to protecting a cursed sword named Kuroakuma. His father was absent -- having left his mother before he was born, not wishing to be pinned to the simple shrine lifestyle by a child -- and he had no siblings, but there were other priests and priestesses at the shrine, and so he was part of what felt like a whole and happy family nonetheless.

Life was simple for a long time: Kuroakuma was not an especially famous blade despite its curse, and so they were not troubled overly by people seeking to study it, or to take the dangerous weapon for themselves.

The blade was named thus for the yokai that dwelled within it, a dark demon of shadow, chaos, and ill omen that had once tormented the nearby village, bringing about a rise in sickness and conflict by its mere presence. An exorcist named Saizo sought to banish the spirit, but it was tricksy and evasive, and avoided direct confrontation. In the end, Saizo tricked it by declaring loudly that he intended to seek an honourable duel with his rival using the blade he carried, which was a symbol of honour. Kuroakuma thought to interfere with the duel by possessing the sword and causing the exorcist to act dishonourably in the fight, but Saizo had anticipated this, and prepared a binding spell. Thusly, Kuroakuma was trapped within the sword, and the village built a shrine to guard it, so that the yokai might never escape.

Taro's life changed when he was sixteen, when bandits - having heard the legend of the sword in the village - sought to take it. They attacked the shrine, killing those priests that tried to oppose them, and burned it. In a desperate bid to protect his family, Taro took up the cursed blade himself and begged the yokai within for aid. Kuroakuma offered him a deal: 'Let me manifest through you and bring ill fortune and chaos to your enemies, and I will give you the power you need'.

Taro agreed, and the yokai bonded with him, entwining itself with his soul. In freeing the yokai, however, so too did Taro allow it to gain influence over him. In the immediate aftermath of the binding, Kuroakuma took control of his body. Although it killed the bandits, it also slew a number of the shrine priests, including Taro's mother and sister, before he was able to wrestle back control.

When he did regain control, Taro fled the shrine, devastated with what he'd done and fleeing the attempts of the priests to exact justice on him.

Soon after leaving home, Taro fell in with a group of mercenaries named the Black Orchid. Kuroakuma's presence in him had tilted his moral compass somewhat, so he turned a blind eye to the group's darker dealings, concerning himself only with earning the money he needed to survive. And in turn, this darkening fed Kuroakuma's strength, allowing the spirit to begin to influence this group to darker and darker acts.

This lasted for two years, until last year, the group came into conflict with a member of the Elysian Vanguard - after word had reached them of the mercenaries in possession of a powerful dark artefact. By this point, although Taro remained in Kuroakuma's grip, the young man had grown more and more guilty and regretful over the things he was doing, and the spirit's grip was weakening the more he fought back against it.

And so when Adriaan, the Vanguard member who had been sent to retrieve the sword, came into conflict with him and the other mercenaries, it was a battle fought on multiple fronts: Adriaan against Taro and the mercenaries, and Taro against Kuroakuma. Eventually, with Adriaan's coaching, Taro was able to wrest control of himself back in full - and in turn freeing the other mercenaries.

Realising that the sword's power hinged on the darkness of its wielder, and that it could not be separated from Taro easily, Adriaan brought Taro back to Nasazura's Rest, where it was decided that he would be allowed to join the Vanguard himself: to nurture the goodness in him and keep his darkness from becoming such that Kuroakuma could take back control.

Taro himself was grateful for a chance at redemption, still haunted by the things he'd done, and since then has been a loyal member of the Vanguard - albeit one with a dark sense of humour and a slightly unsettling fighting style, occasionally involving a dark spirit leaping from his blade to consume his foes.
 
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Name:
Kinra
Age: 109
Gender: Male
Species: Sylvae

Bio/Synopsis: The second son of Oronel, the Lord of Thorns, Kinra is a powerful sylvae who commands a great deal of authority within his Court. However, unlike his elder brother Alorel - the child of Oronel and his Lady of Thorns, Andra - Kinra is the result of a tryst between Oronel and Nicola, the Lady of Flowers.

Such trysts are not taboo amongst sylvae culture, and in fact are touted as a way of ensuring the courts remain at harmony with one another, whilst never stagnating and becoming static. Many a time has the child of two courts gone on to found their own court, with aspects of both their parents' courts and yet clearly distinct from them.

As a child of Thorns and Flowers, Kinra is a being of dual aspects. Titled the Prince of Roses, the majority of the time he is a kind and gentle soul who takes after his mother. But alongside that peace-loving and sweet nature is a steely resolve and unforgiving sword-arm for those that incur his ire.

Kinra was born during the Void Blight on Aelora, and served as one of the Knights of the Court of Thorns alongside many of his kin, protecting the Glade from the innumerable attempted incursions by the Sealed One's minions. The Glade as most knew it fell during the wars, but the inner core - the sanctum where the Courts themselves had retreated to - was never taken.

It is for the reason of their vital importance during the war that the Court of Thorns remains the most powerful faction in Sylvae society to this day, and Sylvae society as a result is more militant than it ever was before the fall (though progress is being made towards restoring balance, albeit slowly).

Kinra was left uncertain of his place when the Void was pushed back. The Sylvae as a whole immediately sought to turn inwards once they had reclaimed the Glade again, determining that they should put up more and more barriers to the outside to prevent such a thing ever happening again. Not all were satisfied with this, and Kinra was amongst them.

Along with a number of his comrades from during the war, Kinra left the Glade and sought out the Elysian Vanguard. His heart longed to see Aelora as a whole restored, not just the Glade, so that he might see the beauty that the Court of Memories spoke of when they spoke of Aelora before the fall. The Court of Flowers are known for their wanderlust and desire to experience new beauty, after all.

Over the better part of half a century, Kinra has made a name for himself with the Vanguard, achieving the status of Grandmaster just over fifteen year ago.

Now, he has answered the call of the Valoran Vanguard for warriors. With Aelora on the road to recovery, he could not resist the lure of new experiences and new beauty in another world entirely.

Appearance: Like many Sylvae, Kinra appears far younger than his actual age - closer to sixeen than a hundred. His form is slight and dainty like that of a child, and his features are near as youthful. This is in part due to how he perceives himself still very much the 'little brother' when compared to Alorel, and his relatively young age when compared to the lifespans of Sylvae as a whole.

His appearance is more human than many Sylvae, in part due to a desire to fit in amongst the new companions he has found in the Vanguard. His skin is fair but of normal shading, and his hair is a dark brown-black blend with hints of rosey pinks and reds that occasionally catch the eye. His eyes are as variable in shade as all sylvae, but usually rest either at a soft red-brown shade or a more rosey pink.

Abilities:

  • Calongáel - A mighty weapon of Sylvae make, forged from the supernatural wood of a great tree at the heart of the Court of Thorns. Calongáel is the source of much of Kinra's power. Capable of forming into the shape of any weapon that he desires, it possesses immense strength as though it were being wielded by a titan as opposed to a slight Sylvae boy. Nigh on indestructible, Kinra has total command of the weapon, able to manipulate it with his thoughts, multiply it, teleport it and more. So long as he is in possession of the weapon, his durability, speed and strength are all enhanced.
  • Prince of Roses - powers granted to Kinra by his powerful bloodline.
    • Flight
    • Minor-Moderate Illusions
    • Heartsight - the ability to read emotions and tell when a lie is being told with a touch.
    • Plant Manipulation/Growth
    • Beast Speech/Command
    • Wispfire - the creation and manipulation of fiery wisps of primal energy.
    • Radiance - the creation of weaponised blasts of radiant energy, possessing many of the supernatural qualities of sunlight with regard to its effect on vampires and other creatures of darkness.
    • Shield of Thorns - the projection of a barrier that retaliates against attackers.
    • Crown of Flowers - the projection of an aura that shields Kinra and his allies from mental manipulation, and grants supernatural courage and resolve.
 
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