Project ZEAL

Writers' Bible - Characters

The purpose of this document was to aid writers by explaining characters. Character arcs were reserved for a different document. Here's the original!

1. While there's no limit on how many characters you can create, let's try not to each spawn a CC-sized cast. Focus on a couple of characters instead of creating a new one every paragraph - or else Spekkio might have to drop by and massacre a couple in a rather gruesome subplot.

2. Try and diversify the cast. It would be pretty dull if everyone wrote about a spikey-haired kid with a katana who was a lightning innate. We don't need an entire cast who pops in and out of nowhere and mumbles a few lines about cosmic zen and then vanishes mysteriously. Also, remember that we're all writing this together. Your character probably shouldn't be able to take on an entire army all by his or herself.

3. By all means, take your characters wherever you like. Don't feel as if your character always has to embark on every subplot - most of the cast hung out at the End of Time in CT, right? Maybe he/she needs to relax and spend some time out fishing off an Arni pier. Develop your characters in any way you see fit.

It has been pointed out that at various points throughout the story, some of you may want to write as pre-established characters. If you're interested in doing this extensively, please say something here so that we can all make sure its not going to interfere with a subplot or what have you. Also, try not to use the MAJOR heroes from CT/CC. (Crono, Magus, Serge, etc...) We've already seen their stories and we're aiming for a more original cast. Sorry if this offends your creative impulses.

Keystone Dimension

Backer

Author: Leebot

Full Name: Unknown
Race: Human or Demihuman (depending on definition)
Age: Between 20 and 22
Weapon of Choice: Customized sword, "Swift"
Elemental Proficiency: Neutral
Combat Strength: Tier 3, Keystonian Legendary Hero/Heroine

Appearance: 6 feet tall, very sturdy build, brown hair that seems to have a trace of gold in it, and eyes which comprise a rainbow of color. Every color on Backer's body and anything he wears tends to be more pronounced. This effect is even more shocking when in conditions of low light, as no matter how dark it is, Backer can always be seen as if he were standing in full daylight.

Combat: Backer has a unique combat style. He wields a magically crafted sword that resembles no other; the grip is perpendicular to the blade, which has a diamond cross section and steadily tapers down to a point from the grip. One edge of the blade continues past the grip and curls back in a small hook. How he came up with this design is unknown, but he wields it expertly. His most fearsome combat abilities, however, come from his magical talent. He is capable of channeling energy and either simply tossing it at his enemy, or imbuing his sword with it (his sword having been magically altered to support this function). The forms the energy can take on roughly correspond to the CC elements: Fire (Red), Ice (Blue), Light (White), Lightning (Yellow), or Wind (Green). By combining Fire, Ice, and Lightning energy, he is also capable of mimicking Shadow (Black) energy. Once his sword is so imbued, he can either attack with it as normal, or use it to shoot out a blast of the energy. To augment this even further, he has developed a some skill in healing magic, making him virtually unstoppable (at least to non-ZEALians).

History: In 1004 AD, the rising kingdom of Porre began an experiment involving the rainbow shell. The purpose was to imbue a child with the shell's energy, creating the ultimate spellcaster. Unfortunately, the researchers lost control of the process, and all involved were killed--except the child. The frightened child somehow disappeared from the laboratory's ruins, leading the investigators to believe he was dead, and to call the attempt a disastrous failure.

Little did they know that the project had actually succeeded in empowering this child, but at a cost to him; his mind was irreversibly altered, erasing all prior knowledge, and altering his thought processes to something has been described as both superhuman and insane. The child miraculously survived alone in the wilderness for a great while, and eventually started to reintegrate with society. He started to call himself "Backer" for unknown reasons. He acts primarily as a mercenary for hire to take out dangerous monsters, but has been known to assist law-enforcement officials from time to time in dealing with particularly violent criminals.

Personality: Backer's thoughts are so chaotic that he's learned to speak little, and to be very careful about what he says so that he doesn't sound crazy. This gives him the air of being an introspective intellectual, which clashes with his occasional outbursts of rage. Through extensive training, he's learned to repress this rage until he can unleash it in battle, making him a reckless, fearless, and powerful combatant. Throughout his life, he's been searching for a meaning for his existence, but has yet to find any answers.

His magical ability ends up falling somewhere in between the CT and CC styles; he wields magic naturally like in CT, but it's based off of the CC colors. On this note, since he is already able to use magic, Spekkio won't be able to do anything for him.

For others writing him:

In combat with any humanoid, Backer prefers to focus on swordplay rather than using his magical abilities. While his swordplay is precise and graceful, his magical abilities are anything but. Contrary to how other mages focus mana behind the scenes and release it in an elegant spell, Backer can only pull out elemental energy directly from the mana layer, and then exercise a small measure of control over it. He can either shoot out the channeled energy immediately (the most efficient use), or focus it into an orb of energy in his hand before releasing it in a more powerful, sudden blast. Alternatively, he can store energy in his sword, then either shoot it out or allow it to discharge when he strikes the enemy.

Channeling energy has a few notable effects on Backer's appearance. Whenever he channels an element, the irises of his eyes change from prismatic to match its color. As he increases the flow of energy, his skin tone starts to shift to match this color. When he's at maximum output, he starts to give off a powerful glow of this color as well.

For all of his skill and power, Backer has a couple of notable weaknesses. For one, he works very poorly with others, and often prefers to operate alone. Additionally, for all his cool exterior, he covers a tumultuous personality beneath, covering up a lifetime of rage and pain. Given the right circumstances, he may snap. I'm thinking that this may occur when a ZEALian enchantress tries to enchant him; the mind-altering effects of enchantment spells could have disastrous effects on a mind like his.

Garg

Author: chronotriggerfreak

Full Name: Gargeth Wardell
Race: Human
Age: 33
Weapon of Choice: Anything
Elemental Proficiency: None
Combat Strength: Tier 1

Please note that in canon, Toma did not die trying to find the Rainbow Shell.

Garg's parents are irrelevant, his childhood unremarkable. When you gossip in the alleyways about Garg Wardell, there is jut one thing you need to know:

Toma f--king ripped him off.

At least, that's his story. When you see him, he'll probably be flaunting his shard of the Rainbow Shell, claiming that Toma followed him into the Giant's Claw and, upon seeing the shell, tried to kill him. He'll yell that "The bastard didn't let me escape until I had nothing left but my bruised skin and a few flakes!" but the truth is that if the coward were to have followed Toma in and found his corpse before the Rainbow Shell, he'd have run without a second thought and left his gravestone up to whoever in Dorino felt most guilty of their greed.

In fact, that is precisely what he did when Toma died. You see, Garg overheard Toma talking to a barmaid in Choras about the Rainbow Shell and Garg, being humanly selfish, decided to follow Toma to the Giant's Claw, thinking that maybe he'd get a chance to swipe the Rainbow Shell first -- or kill Toma for it before he got off the island. Originally, Garg ran into one small problem: Toma died in the cave before ever finding the shell. Then ZEAL changed his life.

Toma got to the innermost chamber of the cave with ease, and so, therefore, did Garg. Yet the Rainbow Shell was quite a bit more than Garg was expecting. He realized that he couldn't possibly carry it out alone, and since he had no friends of note in high places, he wasn't going to get this thing all to himself. Garg decided that his best option was to try to share the glory with Toma.

Toma didn't seem too keen on the idea when Garg approached him from the shadows, offering to lend a helping hand in relocating the shell (which, incidentally, would have broken both their spines and probably their arms, should they have attempted it), and Garg, uneasy in the depths of the cave and still caught up in the shell's prismatic luster, popped a sucker punch in Toma's face. In Toma's following disorientation, Garg managed to pluck a few hefty shards of the Rainbow Shell and escape into the labyrinth.

It wasn't long, of course, before Toma got his friends in Dorino to pick up the shell and spread tales of his honor and valor in retrieving such a great artifact. Obviously, it wasn't much longer before Garg, stubbornly seeking his renown, publicly challenged Toma's (and, thus, the town of Dorino's) claim to the Rainbow Shell. Alone, he wouldn't have been heard by anyone but the drunkard next to him at the Choras Inn, but Garg was not witless; he won over the Choras Elders' support in exchange for a share of the prestige that could be gained. And so the propaganda war ensued.

While Toma is assuredly more popular among the royalty and the villages of Truce and Dorino, Choras and the majority of Porre support Garg by pure promise alone. It is this position that Gaspar needs to utilize to get to the bottom of ZEAL's interference in time.

You know the thief NPC from Final Fantasy VI (find it here (http://www.geocities.com/cyberfenrir/waxmuseum/thief.gif) if you aren't familiar)? That's pretty much how Garg looked around the time that he followed Toma into the Giant's Claw and for a short period after (mostly before he went public with his Rainbow Shard). His hair was naturally blonde, but it was constantly so filthy that no one could say he wasn't brunette. He certainly wasn't blind in one eye (or, for all anyone knows, missing the eye itself), but there were some pretty outstanding scars all around his eyes (and, actually, all over his face) that made one wonder how close he'd come to finding himself blind. His trousers ratty, ripped and soiled and his shirt often either missing or little more than a makeshift poncho consisting of a torn potato sack, he wasn't much to look at.

Beneath his appearance, though, was wit and a hint of skill. If nothing, he was more than half the dreamer and "archaeologist" that Toma was--if not the man's equal. In truth, his only disadvantage was never having heard of such a thing as the Rainbow Shell before Toma had already made his plans. Given as much time, it is possible that Gargeth Wardell would be the name on the tip of every Dorino resident's tongue, but such is obviously not the case. Regardless, Garg was prone to mistakes--among them, drinking and (consequentially) gambling. While much of his problems were physiochemically inevitable, it cannot be denied that it was a choice of his--one choice only--to "experience" alcohol for his first time. That choice cost him all the inheritance that could have taken him so far.

For you see, the only reason Garg's parents are a note of obscurity is that he made them so. In the normal course of his life, his parents were great, influential citizens of the Choras region. His father was brother to a former mayor of Porre, bringing in a partial inheritance from Garg's grandfather that, compared to most other people in Choras, made him nearly a millionare, and his mother's family owned many of the crafty businesses in the Choras market. With their combined contributions, Garg would have been among the five richest men on the continent, but Garg was known for being a sassy, rude little beast. So when his parents died on a tour of the Hero's Grave--actually an appraisal visit, as they were thinking of purchasing the plot--both sides of his family rebuked him, refusing to give him either shelter or his rightful dues. Had Garg ever had the opportunity to study interregional law as his parents wished, he could have legally obtained what he wanted. Unfortunately, the only skill he had to fall back on was his fascination with larceny plots.

To make a long story short, he underestimated the security of his families' estates, and he never managed to regain a thousandth as much through mischief as he had once lost by it. With what little money he managed to keep, he eventually fell more and more deeply ill with alcoholism, until that fateful day when he invited himself to play follower to Toma's leader.

Gryph Elesian

Author: Claado Shou

Gryph is a man from the 600 A.D. of the Lavos timeline, born in 565 A.D. He grew up as a merchant, trading goods (dangerously) between Guardia and Medina, even though a war between Mystics and humans was breaking out. In 597 A.D. he was arrested by Guardia troops because of his direct violation of the trade ban between the two continents, sentencing him to a harsh prison sentence. He served it well for three years, but during his stay, he began to have delusions that he was the father of a boy from the future, a fatherless single child in 1000 A.D. He even started to remember things they did together, things that never happened, and judged by the wardens in Guardia as mentally unfit to be released, he has stayed there until this day.

Gryph is also a master of the blade, having created his own weapon, the Covenant, a sword he hoped to one day pass onto his son. But at this point, he believes that will never happen.

Hunter Deschain

Author: V Translanka

Living the life of a Demi-Human is hard, but he tries his damnest. He's a drinker and a lover. He enjoys the company of a good woman, but will hardly growl off a bad one. Hunter is a ladies man whom a few have been able to see through. On a bad day (which aren't as few and far between as he'd like), he's a drunken louse who hits on anything that moves.

He works for money, but isn't unable to work for charity, as long as he gets something for it. His favorite prizes include alcohol & sex, but he has never turned down a shiny something-or-other. His pack regularly reflects these things. He has picked up various charms and amulets through his journey as a hired blade. Most recently, he has been forced to work more manual labor jobs including lifting, hauling, and breaking things.

Strong build, long blond hair that he keeps tied back with a black bandanna. He's feral-like, slightly larger incisors, short claws on fingers (he trims his toe-nails to fit into regular boots w/o tearing them), fur around his chin, and a light coating of fur on most of his body (exempting his lower chest region, his palms, bottoms of his feet, most of his face below the brow). The fur is a light yellow color with stripes of brown.

He carries a dagger and a hatchet. He is trained ambidextrous, but naturally a south paw. He normally wears an open cut-off shirt and/or vest, which accents his chest and his arms (tribal markings he made himself mar his biceps). His pants are normally heavy workers material or jeans with brown leather boots on his feet.

Magical Inherency: Fire Elemental Innate: Red

He'll be my BoF3 Rei (not completely of course), mostly just in appearence (but even then...). I don't think I'll make him say "doesn't this just beat all"...but I just might.

Amy Millian

Author: V Translanka

She's basically a pseudo-companion to Hunter.

The busty, whacky, easy-to-upset human woman who's one of a few beautiful women Hunter has gone to far lengths to avoid. For some reason she's got the hots for him (can you say furry luv? demi-fetish?), and normally follows him along whenever he's on a job. But she's not averse to going into her own quests for money or whatever (she's pretty loose with the rewards herself, but for more geniune reasons than Hunter). She's also quite the theif...but has a reputation for stealing after sexual encounters (another reason she may be after Hunter? well...it's at least a reason he tries to stay away from her).

She has long red (obviously a dye job, no red in nature in that shiny mess) hair that she normally ties into a pig-tail or braid for practical purposes. Yellow eyes, tanned skin (possibly islandic), under-cut V necks to show off her clevage, but mostly covered up everywhere else, again, for practical reasons.

She's a long-range kind of person. She has plenty of throwing weapons (stars, darts, dust balls, etc) and she also carries a spear.

Magical Inherency: Shadow Elemental Innate: Black?

I'm not sure exactly how Shadow converts into Elements, but she'll basically have a lot of lower-level different Elemental attacks.

Jack Nova

Author: 1stoftheLast

Jack Nova, even though it doesn't sound like a very tribal name, it is. Jack is an "Earthbound one" from either the distant past of the Keystone timeline or modern day Zeal.

Jack's whole life has been spent with the extended family of his village. No one comes into the village thats not born to it. The endless winter makes travel impossable, the only time anyone travels is when the men make hunting rounds. In fact, most of what the village eats is animal, plant life being very scarce in the tundra. Because of the steady diet of protien, Jack, aloing with the rest of the village, has a very stredy build. Jack is about 5'8 and 230 lbs. Also because of the thousands of years spent in survival mode, jack and his tribe have hieghtened senses, espesscaily smell and taste.

Language isn't well developed in the tribe, people usualy speak to each other only on matters pertaining to day to day life and survival. Because of this Jack wouldn't be quick to understand abstract thought. Women are revered in Jacks tribe because it is through thier cycles that the village can measure extended amounts of time(there is no sky to see the moon becuase of either storm clouds or floating continets, and there are no seasons).

From a tribe that has never known war Jack may be at a dissadvantage but it wouldn't take him long to translate his hunting skills into combat abilities and considering his build he should be able to hold his own. Weapons he carries include knives, harpoons, hatchets, nets. He would think of these more as tools.

Reason for being chosen:

I guess he would get picked the same way the nba drafts players nowadays, purely on potential. I figure the hard life, plus a strong build and heightend senses would make for a good person to have on your team, if you can give them some magic first then let them spend four years back home trying to learn how to use it.

Juan Z. Gerard

Author: ZeaLitY

Race: Human
Age: 23
Weapon of Choice: None
Element: Fire
Tier: Teetering between 1 & 2 (citizen & hero)

Juan Gerard is the son of a Porrean official, meaning his life was destined for comfort and cavorting in the social circles of the aristocratic circles of Porre. However, Juan, who always had an interest in combat, made several painful decisions and dropped out of this life altogether, wanting to devote himself to the art of combat and go soulsearching. Juan believes in several tenets of Bruce Lee's theory; that rigid styles only impose upon the natural fluidity and flow of human beings, and that they ignore the totality of combat. Juan nonetheless is haunted every second by his decision, and this has affected his training; his lifestyle has become poor, and he has currently come to El Nido to sponge off a relative in Termina and walk the beaches pondering his decisions in life -- always fearing regret. He still has far to go in studying combat and adopting what works for him to shape his own expression in combat as a human being, and his physical fitness has suffered due to some malnutrition. Regardless, Juan continues to harbor a dream that he will come to term with his actions, and truly prove that they mean something to him. Above him like a spectre is love -- for he believes that love is something starcrossed, and cannot begin to fantasize about it in his current situation, in which physiological needs are a worry each week. Gaspar will recognize the potential for a magnanimous character and excellent fighter, and will recruit him in the fight against ZEAL to give his life direction and empower him to realize his dreams.

Leyton

Author: Aitrus

Name: Leyton
Gender: Male
Species: Human (Guardian) -- Keystone Timeline
Date of Birth: 996 AD
Eye Color: Blue
Siblings: None
Parents: Unknown
Age: 25
Height: 6 foot
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair Color/Length: black, long but tied back in a queue
Marital Status: Single
Short Term Goals: None
Long Term Goals: Become a singularly focused individual
Likes: Peace, quiet
Dislikes: Anyone who would disturb his meditation, Porreans
Strengths: Speed and agility, force of will
Weaknesses: Quick to anger, especially if he has been unable to meditate
Hobbies/Interests: Reading, pondering the nature of time
Distinguishing Marks: Scar down right cheek from the eye down to the chin
Achievements: None
Disappointments: That he was unable to aid the royal family in their escape after Porre invaded the Kingdom of Guardia

Personal History: Orphaned at a monastery near Medina, the human Leyton was raised at first to be a new Magus, but once the Mystics made peace with Guardia, he was to be the first of a new, more tolerant generation of beings, human and Mystic alike. Leyton learned many fighting styles from the Mystic monks there, along with much about the culture of the Mystics themselves. When Guardia fell, many people from Truce fled to Medina, and some joined the monastery. From them, he learned much about human culture, and about how Porre, once an ally of Guardia, turned against them and effectively stabbed the kingdom in the back. He spent the next 12 years in the monastery trying to attain serenity and get rid of his anger, with some success. He is now able to relegate that anger to the back of his mind, but it still comes through sometimes, and at the worst possible moments.

Rashelle Tujaas

Author: ZeaLitY

Race: Keystone Human
Age: 29
Weapon of Choice: Porre Saber
Element: Fire
Tier: 2 (Keystonian Heroine)

Rashelle, if she were to be summed up in three words, would be a brilliant tactical specialist. She hails from the 15th century A.D. in the Keystone Dimension, a Porrean officer with a Type-A personality, little tolerance for inactivity and slothfulness, and several reinforcing motivators that have led her through the highest military academies and have toned her mind into a battle-computing machine. She doesn't care much for artistic, emotional concepts or things in life, as her military training has repressed these urges and likings. She evokes the utmost fear in her enemies, who are numerous; the 1400s are a tumultuous time for Porre, as the old vanquished states are lobbying from indepence after four centuries of submission. Rashelle is sent on various missions to subdue the more active segments of the dissenters. She grows to be hated with such ferocity that a ludicrous number of fanatical soldiers in a combined army of Chorasians and Mystics throw themselves upon her strike force, eventually getting the upper-hand long enough to kill her before being massacred themselves.

During one of the subplots, Gaspar notices her pure excellence in matters of warfare, and her subsequent death. He extracts her milliseconds before a hail of bullets ravage her fortified position on the plains of Choras.

Sigma

Author: Leebot

Full Name: Prisoner 33-T-Sigma, real name currently unknown
Race: Human
Age: Late teens
Weapon of Choice: Pick
Elemental Proficiency: None (unable to use magic)
Combat Strength: Tier 1, Keystonian Citizen (but see description)

During the Toma Operation, the Zealian agents came across a strange girl wandering around Giant's Claw. She appeared plain, with dirty brown hair in a pony-tail, and in her late teens. One of the agents freaked out, believing she was an agent of some force operating against Zeal's wishes (Note that no such force actually existed at that point. This agent was just overly paranoid). He subsequently attacked her, being sure to knock her out rather than kill her. At the end of the mission, she was captured and brought back to Zeal for interrogation.

Unfortunately for both parties, her brutal capture had caused her to suffer amnesia, so she couldn't remember whether or not she actually was working against Zeal. As the interrogator worked on her, he interpreted her resistance as proof she had been trained by a highly capable organization. Consequently, he increased the intensity of her torture/interrogation. Magic users were brought in to use their specialized talents to get her to speak.

It was at this point that things started to go wrong. At first, it was minor an intermittent. A Fireball failed to find its target and circled around Sigma endlessly; an Ice spell fizzled out with no effect. Then, spells started backfiring. Casters would find themselves at the mercy of their own magic. It eventually reached the point where no spellcasters were willing to even be in the same room as her. Eventually, the interrogator gave up and arranged for her to be put in stasis. The stasis chamber was set up, and the she was placed into it. The spell seemed to work, at least at first. Later, when no one was around, it failed for seemingly no reason, and Sigma was freed. It is here that her story starts.

Note 1: Unlike most characters with amnesia, Sigma holds an uninteresting past. She was just at Giant's Claw out of archaeological curiosity.

Note 2: Her ability to resist magic has nothing to do with her being special or anything. It's just a self-defense mechanism that arose from her ordeal.

Combat: Aside from her unique ability, Sigma is quite unspectacular in combat. With her experience spelunking (which she doesn't even remember), she developed a small proficiency with the pick (a short instrument usable for powerful piercing strikes), along with the muscles in her left arm to support it. Her ability, on the other hand, will turn out to be quite useful. At first, many spells and magical abilities will miss her or fail randomly. As she gains experience, she will be able to turn magic back on its caster, or allow certain spells (healing ones) through her guard.

For others writing her:

First, Sigma is not intended to be overpowered (She's immune to every attack the enemy can throw at her! If they ever try to cast a spell, she'll turn it around and kill them!). Quite the opposite; she's meant to be quite pathetic in combat, with her ability only coming into play on rare, desperate occasions at first (the feeling of desperation being the prime factory). Later on, as she gains experience, she could become quite a nuisance to enemy spellcasters, nullifying or reflecting their attacks back at them (ie. She'll improve like any other character).

Additionally, her ability's effectiveness is limited by the enemy's magical ability, and strengthened by her experience, determination, and desperation. This means that she won't be as resistant to spells of more powerful mages, but, as seen in my first post, she can still pull off a miracle if she's desperate enough.

On her personality: She's generally suspicious, cautious, and quiet, but is prone to outbursts and fits of rage, all due to her ordeal. I expect her to develop a degree of hero-worship towards Argus, assuming he rescues her in the jailbreak. A few of her old traits remain: She's intelligent and clever, but poor in social situations. From time to time, she'll make nearly superhuman leaps of logic, not knowing herself how she comes to her conclusions. As her old personality resurfaces, she'll show herself to be more and more inquisitive, along with talking more.

Combat: She'll try to avoid any form of combat whenever possible, trying to find an alternative way out or to set up a trap for the enemy. If the rest of the party gets engaged in battle, she'll try to stay out of the way and find some alternative way to help out (toss out potions to her allies, look around for environmental factors she could take advantage of, etc.). Once she's become more confident in her ability, she may try to disrupt enemy spellcasters, shield her allies from harmful spells, or turn back spells.

ZEAL

Aias

Author: Aitrus

Name: Aias
Gender: Male
Species: Human (Zealian) -- ZEAL Timeline
Date of Birth: 315 AD (approximate equivalent to Keystone years)
Eye Color: Gold
Siblings: 2, both sisters; one is a sitting member of the Council
Parents: King and Queen Zeal the IV, both still living
Age: 25 (apparent; ~700 years actual)
Height: 5 ft, 10 inches
Weight: 135 lbs
Hair Color/Length: Purple, dyed, and long
Marital Status: Single
Short Term Goals: Learn what he can from the Council itself
Long Term Goals: Overturn the Council and restore Royal rule in Zeal
Likes: Research, books, and the sister not on the Council
Dislikes: the Council and all its supporters
Strengths: Very strong willed, intelligent, 'devious'
Weaknesses: Not strong physically, not incredibly magical
Hobbies/Interests: Keeping track of new research being done by the colleges
Distinguishing Marks: Purple hair, intricate tattoo on back of right hand extending down the wrist and up his forearm
Achievements: Prince of Zeal, heir to the throne; planned the construction of the Council Building on the Royal Mountain below the palace
Disappointments: Lack of magical ability, in stark contrast to his sister on the Council

Personal History: Born as the Prince of Zeal, Aias is the rightful heir of all he surveys. However, he was almost completely without innate magical powers, a genetic flaw that hadn't appeared for several generations within the family. Without the powers that normally came with being a Royal, Aias had to get by on his intelligence, which was more than up to the task. He made sure that he remained 'in the know' on all projects going on in Zeal, but when the Council started conducting experiments in alternate dimensions, he knew that something was strange about it. The Council slowly accumulated power over Zeal, so quietly that Aias almost didn't notice what was happening. It wasn't until his family was reduced to figureheads that he realized what had happened. He has sworn to remove the Council from power and restore his family to what is rightfully theirs, but must be extremely careful about it, lest he suffer an untimely "accident" arranged by the Council.

Naomi Maruyama

Author: Symmetry

Naomi Maruyama, Charm School Reject

Shy, introspective, reserved, and well-mannered; descriptions ill-suited for most enchantresses, yet traits that describe Naomi Maruyama down to the letter. (Although when she does make her feelings clear, she often does so with blistering sarcasm!) Due to her passive personality, she is frequently ridiculed by her peers and would most certainly have chosen another art to study had she realistically been given the chance. (Going to the extent of finding it morally problematic at times.) Naomi's family have long been established as premier enchantresses and enchanters, meaning that she too must continue the proud lineage of her family. Sadly, her mother disappeared shortly after she was born, so Naomi now lives with her aunt - who happens to be the current Provostia of the School of Enchantment, which only serves to bind her further to her current studies. Whenever Naomi has the chance, she secretly escapes her misery by studying the ways of summoning, the school to which her heart belongs.

Age - 21

Appearance - Compared to other Zealians, Naomi doesn't seem quite so attractive, a point her peers frequently and incessantly point out. Still, she's far from being an eyesore. She's short for a Zealian - 5'6", thin, has a fairly peachy skin colour, (Which does nothing to mask the freckles on her face - another point of ridicule.) and well-kept maroonish-red coloured hair that runs midway down her back.

Weapons, Combat Skills - If you have Naomi a weapon, she'd be more of a threat to herself than an enemy. She's not clumsy, but she's not exactly graceful either. Nor is she physically fit enough to possess natural aptitude toward martial arts. Naomi is a subpar enchantress, but given her Zealian arcane capabilities, she could make life difficult for a mere human. She also has secretly obtained a book or two on summoning and studied it extensively, although this does little to foster the skills needed to be a competent summoner.

How other characters see Naomi

On paper, Naomi seems like she might have befriended Sigma - had she been born on the other side of the dimensional fence. She is generally quiet and reserved, refusing to reveal to anyone around her the myriad of fears she holds within. Although she tries her best to appear otherwise, Naomi is very insecure about herself (in all respects) and is constantly plauged by the fear that she will bring dishonour to the family name through her inadiquacies - this often results in her appearing very timid and hesitant to answer personal questions asked of her. Despite all this, Naomi occasionally summons the courage to spill her guts - often through very sarcastic rants - only to crawl back into her shell shortly afterward.

Other Zealians realize Naomi's inadequacies and have a tendency to look down their noses at her. (At least, other aristocrats. Even Gentry don't quite give her the respect they should, although Naomi is far too passive to ever demand it.) Keystonians, however, would not be so quick to judge her - as they fail to see why her peers find her unattractive, subpar in her arcane talents, and socially incompetent.

Being removed from the sources of Naomi's anxieties would probably make her a more self-confident and open person.

In combat scenarios - as many Zealians are - Naomi is somewhat reluctant to engage an enemy out of fear for her life. While she is a subpar enchantress, struggling to successfully pull off basic techniques, and her secret studies of summoning have gotten her nowhere - in the eyes of a Keystonian she is quite useful for her training as a wizard alone. This sense of "feeling needed" would undoubtedly boost her confidence and in turn, her competence in battle. (However, wielding a weapon of any sort is simply out of the question. She's just not that coordinated.)

Given her dislike of the nature of enchanting in general, Naomi is probably one of the few Zealians you would meet that takes little pride in wearing her (pink) subfusc, shedding it whenever possible.

Nasreen Ferdows

Author: ZeaLitY
Race: ZEALian
Age: 20
Weapon of Choice: Simple, magic staff
Element: Shadow
Combat Strength: Tier 3 (Anomaly; genetic mutation gives freakish Shadow harnessing powers, but she avoids combat and confrontation, and has no experience in controlling this ability)

Nasreen, on the exterior, is the posterchild of a proper aristocratic lady in ZEAL. Entered upon the completion of her normal education into the School of Enchantment for her classic beauty, she nonetheless dropped out and received harsh criticism for her family -- composed of parents who numbered among the first to receive the benefits of immortality in 132 A.D. -- and now is nearly an aimless drifter. Viewed by her peers as overly quiet, but acqueising to social demand, few know her true nature -- that of a restful, quiet dreamer, yearning more to sleep upon an Enhasian bed forever than bear the burden of the waking world. She feels that in the grand, supposedly enlightened world of ZEAL, the honest expressions of art and human beings has been stifled by the schools of magic and the class rivalries; that one can hardly be an individual without meeting resistance and being forced to submit. She did not arrive at her current position of sulking and dropping out of society by an active rebellion of the spirit, but rather by sleeping away the days and doing nothing. She regularly can be seen within sunlit parlors, or upon the edges of cliffs in rainy days, gleaning rich poetry from her imaginative mind.

The School of Temporal Magic has beckoned for her through her family in recent weeks; though she feels she has no choice but to heed the call of this elite society, she knows not why she has been chosen, or the life in store for her. Indeed -- if she were not immortal, or kept under a watchful eye by her peers, she may have already plunged to the icy world below, separating herself from this world entirely.

I'm thinking she might be a love interest for my hero, Juan Gerard. She might eventually get dragged into the project somehow or another due to an aberrant, out-of-control gene that enormously boosts her ability in Shadow magic -- a fact hidden by years of passive life.

Roget Parrion

Author: ZeaLitY
Race: ZEALian
Age: 24
Weapon of Choice: Nanashi dagger (only real weapon he has access to and knowledge of)
Element: Water/Cold
Combat Strength: Tier 3 (Temporal Mage)

Roget Parrion will be a general overseer of the dimensional project in ZEAL. Initially, he will mostly serve the purpose of providing technical information and viewing the departure of the ZEAL agents; he may make observations and notations on Gaspar's efforts later in the project. He represents the mass of ZEALians in the project whose scientific curiosity and zealous interest overtake moral issues dealing with ruining other dimensions and timelines. He is somewhat a member of the gentry, though he isn't as aristocratic as he thinks himself to be. Over the course of the project, he will become disillusioned with the project, and may lose his family's status in the gentry due to resignation. He is a member of the directorate of the Primary Construct, due to a talent for impressing his superiors through displays of magic.

Sessimine Chisato Maruyama

Author: Symmetry

Sessimine Chisato Maruyama, Eccentric with a Capital E

If Naomi lacks the traits to be a successful enchantress, then Sessimine possesses them in spades. As Provostia of the School of Enchantment in Najrun, she teaches a number of classes (Naomi being one of her students) while serving as the principal administrator of the academy. Sessimine took Naomi under her wing after the child's mother vanish and loves her dearly, although she frequently expresses her frustration with Naomi's dislike of her studies and constantly pushes the young girl to shine with the intelligence she knows Naomi hides deep down.

Age - Appears to be in her late thirties. Given Sessimine's talents, she is probably far older.

Appearance - Calling Sessimine beautiful would be a bit of an understatement. Although she is capable of changing her appearance at any given moment, (And frequently does) she is naturally black-haired, although wisps of silver-coloured strands are to be found throughout. (Making her look sophisticated, not elderly! Telling Sessimine she looks old should only be done if one has a deathwish they seek to be fulfilled rather quickly!) Other noteable features include naturally long eyelashes, pale-cream-coloured skin, and a figure that naturally looks as if she's wearing a corset.

Weapons, Combat Skills - Sessimine is pretty much in the same boat as Naomi when it comes to physical combat, although she does have an interest in gymnastics and is quite nimble on her toes - however, the chances of ever needing to utilize them in a life-threatening situation are slim, for only the most mentally-resilliant opponent could stand against her spellpower very long. Who needs to fight when you could turn your enemies into friends?

How others see Sessimine

Sessimine is charming with a capital C - and not a cutesy, adorable charming. She's the sophisticated, fascinating sort of charming who has as many talents and reasons to be adored as she does admirers. And while there are obvious reasons to to find Sessimine attractive - her appearance - many more find themselves enamoured by her plethora of artistic and social graces. She is incredibly self-confident (perhaps approaching the point of arrogance), extroverted (perhaps approaching the point of needing others to socialize with), flirtatious (most certainly approaching the point of being a tart), and expressive (without question, a drama queen). Of course, one suspects that much of Sessimine's appeal stems from the fact that she abuses her arcane powers quite liberally.

Its also worth noting that as an instructor, she's a encyclopedia of arcane knowledge - although much to her dismay, she still can't stack up to the book-smart sorcerer in that regard. Sessimine really has a dislike for sorcerers, as she views them a possible rival for attention.

Zealians and Keystonians alike would find themselves captivated by Sessimine - despite the fact that a fair number of Zealians are quite envious of her and Keystonians dislike her for obivious reasons, upon coming face to face with the enchantress once again they find themselves forgetting why they ever disliked her so in the first place.

As one who takes every opportunity to flaunt her talents, Sessimine would have little hesitation to rush into a dangerous situation - never considering that a foe could possibly be her equal. Fortunately for her sake, she's generally right - although a mere bruise or two (god forbid a scar!) would send her crying all the way back to ZEAL and make her think twice about being so hasty in the future. Unlike her daughter, she isn't clumsy and occasionally could be found wielding a fan - although she's hardly strong enough to be able to be anything more than a minor annoyance with one.

Argus Dorian

Author: Radical_Dreamer
Race: ZEALian
Age: While Argus appears to be in his early forties, he as been alive and actively practicing Temporal Magic for centuries
Weapon of Choice: Magic. Argus is not skilled with any physical weapons
Element: Shadow
Combat Strength: Varies. Argus' power is limited by seals on his hands, and it is unknown exactly how much of his power he still has access to, only that his power was great before it was sealed.

Formerly a highly regarded member of ZEAL's dimensional project, Argus turned his back on the project on a recent journey to a dying dimension. For this, his power, which was great amongst Temporal Mages, was sealed and he was thrown in prison. He bears the mark of the Mammon Idol on the backs of his hands, easily identifing him as a convict, and as having his power sealed.

Having lived so long and worked on long lasting projects, Argus can be amazingly patient, but not to the point that he will allow an opportunity to pass by if he thinks it's the right course of action to take.

Magness Alternate Dimension (Dissolved)

Kaeru (Glenn)

Author: V_Translanka

From alt. 600AD. He not only survived the confrontation on Denadoro (and was not turned into a frog at all), but came away from it with not just a wicked blinding slash across his eyes, but also with the defeat of Magus & Ozzie. Although there were losses (aside from his sight): Cyrus is dead, and he blames himself, the Masamune was split in two at the blade. Now the Masamune is closer to dagger in size, with a diagonal blade. He sharpened the blade, and has strapped the broken off tip to his left wrist.

Although he lost his sight, he gained a kind of sixth sense which allows him to see spiritual projections of people and things. In or because of these projections, he has come to find a kind of god. He follows Gil because he believes it is his calling to do so as he has already killed the man, although he knows Gil is not the same, he senses the man he killed somewhere beyond Gil (a detached darker side).

If Glenn were to find out about ZEAL, he would stand up to them because he would think that is why he followed Gil, to stop ZEAL. But even under other circumstances (ie w/o Gil being used) he would also step up to the plate...

He starts off somewhere in the End of Time with the others from Magness. Magically, he is nearly the same as Frog from CT, minus any Frog-related attacks, of course.

Unknown Dimension

Serian Rendath

Author: Claado Shou

Serian is from a dimension in which Lavos and his spawn have begun to reign over the planet in 2300 A.D. He belongs to a group of survivors known as the Tyrans, humans given incredible intuition and slight physical deformities by the magical dust given off during Lavos' eruption, remnants of his shell that fused with their bodies. They live underground and have been secretly fighting a war with the Lavos spawn, and though they have been having great success in their endeavor, supplies are running low. So, the leaders send out Serian, one of their best, to the mainland in order to get supplies.

Serian is a very physically-tone and mentally-sound character, who doesn't have any emotion left over from the genetic changes he and his people went through. His brain is incredibly logical, and in battle, his muscles oftentimes move on their own to escape danger, a side effect of his increased agility and intuition. He cannot use magic, though shards of Lavos' shell, stored by his people and carried by those on important quests, allow him to do certain things that normally would be impossible for humans to accomplish. He wields a single short sword and wears thin body armor, with no greaves or footwear. He is a simple, very intelligent, warrior.

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