Games, all sorts

The second son of the Fujikawa family of the Crane clan. Disinterested in the political games played by the various clans of Masayume, his only concern was perfecting his swordplay, and mastering the art of Iai-jutsu to become the fastest draw in all of Masayume. It was this dedication to his art and general disinterest in the usual concerns of nobility that enamored Xianghua Hiroko. And so when the time came, she chose with her heart instead of her head, a choice she would come to regret. She presented the first circlet to Kazuya rather than Takeo, and the former's memories of his true self were restored. The noble warrior she fell in love with was gone, replaced by a cold, scheming, bastard. Like Angelyn, he would do anything to destroy Barshemoth, and end her obsession with the demon so she could finally take the throne of their former lord that he felt she rightfully earned. He was blase about the countless innocents who were caught in the crossfire of their war, and once he realized Hiroko's feelings, toyed with the poor girl's heart to hopefully swing her to his side. He ultimately failed, and so sought various secret allies to give him an advantage against the self righteous and zealotous Hiroko and Takeo. He recruited several devils, from his loyal Gelugon bodyguard, Shinigami, to the naughty and mischevous Erinyes Kit and Kat, and made deals with Rini and Kern Schatten. It was all for naught, as when Kaz and Shuurai went to stop the ritual to resurrect Ambriel, the former's soul was trapped in a gem, with the latter, as well as Hiroko and Takeo were slain.

Aya was crazy sorceress from Masayume that was very obviously not of Masayuman descent, with bright red hair and red eyes. At 15 years old, Aya was a very childish but a good natured sort, and never overly serious about anything. This flighty and whimsical nature of hers often got on Takeo's nerves despite how patient he usually was, although she got along with Miyoko just fine! (No one really got along with Hiroko, and Kaz was just a thunder-stealing letch!)

She joined the group sometime after Yuki disappeared, and remained with them till the end, when the group as a whole fell to pieces mostly by their own doing. She was the only known survivor of those working together to bring Vrask and Barshemoth down. (oh, and she totally killed that evil high cleric of Vrask dude – the great overgod Chris just got mad that she did so much damage to him with one spell that he cheated and gave the guy some extra hit points, just so Aya wouldn't get to put him on her kill sheet. How rude!)

As a sorceress, Aya had a tendency to favor Forces-related fire spells (even against creatures that resist fire!) and made frequent use of back-firing Space teleportation spells. To aid in the potency of her sorcery, she began to carry elemental boxes with her all the time and everywhere while she was traveling with Angelyn's clan. In fact, she found them so useful and used them so much she even later made it a business venture of hers to mine the elemental fire – whereby she randomly found a seal of divinity and ascended to godhood.

A cleric. Or maybe it was a shugenja. Something to do with the earth element… I think. In any case he was your typical goody goody. Then one day, Kaz (on Angelyn's strict orders) led his companions to the hills overlooking the Valenestian town of Vandaria. It was there that the Might of Barshemoth lay, in a tower of black ice. Following Angelyn's orders to the letter, once they arrived at the hills a good distance from the city, Kaz uttered a phrase. One that caused Kento to subconsciously cast a spell of dire magicks- the Dragonslave. A majority of the town was immolated instantly, thousands of elves losing their lives through the sudden and vicious attack. Better safe than sorry was Angelyn's way when it came to dealing with her most hated enemy. Needless to say, Kento was quite upset at the mass murder he had just unleashed. (“What's the big deal, its not like he knew them!”, said Kaz) So he left in a pout like a whiny little bitch and snuffed his own life by plunging himself into the elemental plane of Earth.

Born a half dark elf, Rini Vriu suffered constant abuse and persecution during her childhood because of her mixed heritage. It was these experiences that ultimately convinced her that she had no one to rely on but herself. She grew up to be an extremely skilled professional thief, selling her skills to the highest bidder. Like the others, she was unaware of her true heritage, and in her first encounter with her former companions, she was actually an antagonist to them, attempting to kidnap a young charge under their protection. She failed, and was enslaved by her employer for her failure. Coincidentally, that employer happened to be Hiroko's sworn enemy. In the course of Hiroko getting her vengeance, the companions rescued Rini, and perhaps it was that underlying but unknown connection between them that caused her to ally herself with them. She did not travel with them, but she did help them from time to time when their paths happened to cross.

Once the fallen angels began remembering their true selves, they realized Rini was one of their number, and took her back to the capital of de anelensti to help her recover her memories and power. Near the end of Angelyn and Barshemoth's conflict, when the group began to fracture, Kaz went to secure her allegiance against the others. Since she was closer in alignment to Kaz than she was to the remaining fallen, and they didn't actually bother trying to secure her loyalty, she needed little convincing. She really had no opinion on the attempted resurrection of Ambriel, but she definitely had no desire to kill herself like Fushidara's daughter wanted them to. Kaz promised once they won, with their power, they could probably carve the world as they see fit. Growing up as she did, she vowed never to be anyone's victim again, and power was the way to achieve this, so she had no qualms about allying with him over the others.

In the end though, the rest of her former companions ended up taking each other out. The battle between the two titans ended soon after that, with both archdevil and demon prince being laid low and Angelyn's daughter leaving Farne for good. At that point, Rini was free to do whatever the hell she wanted. The whole carving out a kingdom for herself plan that Kaz suggested sounded as good a course of action as any. She chose the Congress of Trade States, and quickly rose to power there, eventually ruling it from the shadows.

Miyoko was a priestess of the diety Megumi that traveled with the group during their days serving Angelyn's cause. During their trials, Miyoko ended up ascending to the rank of high priestess of Megumi, while Megumi was being targeted for destruction by the evil powers that be. At this time, Miyoko began carrying the rainbow katana of Megumi with her, and so, the diety was close.

Miyoko was by far the most sensible and tolerable of the group, and quite sad it is, considering she was only an NPC. Oh well. She got along swimmingly with Aya once Aya joined the group, helping to mentor the poor young crazy thing. Hiroko had her own set of crazies to deal with, and Miyoko helped her however she could, although in the end she could not save her.

By the end of days, when Vrask fell, Miyoko burned the priestessly power from herself in order to restore Megumi's dying divinity, returning the power of the rainbow katana to the goddess. Because of this loss of power, she could then no longer serve as Megumi's high priestess, although she remained within her temple to help rebuild Megumi's following as best she could, considering how devastated it had been during the struggle with Vrask and Barshemoth.

Born a bastard to a Masayuman whore, Takeo was taken in and raised by the monks of a Varthian monastery. Once he was of age, he joined the order, and as a follower of Varthine, was known to enjoy self-torture/masochism in life. His first encounter with his former companions was an exciting one, meeting them in the small town of Hirokata. The town was soon besieged by vampires and other undead. Together, they fought off the unliving hordes, and it was only through the intervention of Angelyn that he and the others were able to escape with their lives. Reunited with his former brethren, they could all sense a deep connection between them, and from that day on Takeo would end up traveling with them until the end of his days.

When the companions recovered the first circlet, it fell to Hiroko on who should get it, Kaz or Takeo. Because of her love of him, she chose Kaz, a choice that she would end up regretting for the rest of her life. And so Takeo would have to wait a while before remembering his true self, allowing Kaz to keep his companions in the dark about their heritage so as to keep them under Angelyn's control. Indeed, once Takeo regained his memories, so began the slow dissolution of the group as Kaz and Takeo had vastly different ideas of how the battle between Angelyn and Barshemoth should end.

Unlike Kaz, who was pretty much okay with how things had transpired and using the powers they had gained from being tricked into slaying their lord for his own ends, Takeo sought to restore his master and turn things back to the way they were. In his quest to do this, he regained his true planetar form, which he used to renew worship of his dead master. As an angel walking amongst men, he was able to gather a modest number of followers for his slain Lord, which would be integral in bringing back Ambriel. However, Kaz informed his mistress of Takeo's plan, and she quickly wiped out the nascent following.

Takeo attempted to finish the ritual anyways, and was slain by his own father, Shuurai, the lightning dragon.

The product of a forbidden union between a Masayuman and a Ling Xiaoian, Hiroko was orphaned at an early age. Raised by monks at the Kosguama temple, they instructed her in the martial arts. Despite her young age, she quickly proved herself to be a peerless prodigy with the double edged straight sword. Her ability with the blade increased exponentially as she got older, earning her the nickname “Invincible Sword Goddess”, and she eventually left the temple to use her skills to avenge the death of her family. This quest brought her to Zhou Xi, where she met her best friend Miyoko, as well as the samurai Kaz, who seemed almost as good with the sword as she was. She was quite taken with the latter, challenging him to a friendly sparring match. Despite her obvious intentions, the samurai was quite oblivious.

She eventually got her revenge against House Shosuro, but soon learned that was only part of her mother's story. She would come to learn that her mother was a fallen angel reborn, one who took mortal form to destroy the powerful demon prince Barshemoth. But her mother forsook this task, choosing to live a human life with a man she loved, to raise a family together. But it was not to be, and there was no happily ever after for her. But with her death, her mantle was passed on to her daughter, her angelic power contained within the Blue Dawn sword that Hiroko now carried. Daughter unlocked that power, reluctantly taking up mother's task. Displeased with her new lot in life, she threw herself at it with reckless abandon. Perhaps it was supreme confidence in her skill, or a secret death wish because her life had been basically decided for her. She despised the war between Angelyn and Barshemoth that she had been dragged into, but at the same time, she couldn't suffer the implications of that war on her homeland. For unlike the others in the circle, she was not a fallen angel like them, having been born a true Farnian. So she came up with a plan to resurrect Ambriel, and destroy both Barshemoth and Angelyn and anyone involved with them, including herself. Unfortunately, that plan never came to fruition, stopped at the last minute by Kaz and Shuurai. Ironically, almost every one involved did end up dying or leaving Farne as she wished. Though they still managed to influence the world for centuries to come.

A crazy sorceress from Masayume, great magical power flowed through her veins, though she had little control over it. She met the others on an airship ride that brought the majority of the band of fallen angels together, and after that fateful day traveled with her once companions on a number of adventures. Eventually though, her magick was quickly becoming too much for her, and she accepted Kern Schatten's invitation to study at the magical academy on The Isle of Shadow to master her growing power.

Unbeknown to her companions, she never made it. Traveling alone, she was easy prey for Barshemoth's minions and turned into a vampire working for Vrask, never awakening to her true heritage. She ended up meeting her former allies who were forced to slay her in a dungeon outside of Alestia, where she was protecting funds to bribe people, nations, to favor Vrask's side of the conflict. Takeo attempted to give Yuki's former power to Aya, but he demanded too much of the flighty teenager, so she refused. Since Kaz was unaware of Takeo's stipulations, he was quite incredulous when the young sorceress refused Yuki's power, because who turns down “ultimate power”?!