Leira Marie Orta
Age: 28
Pronouns: She/Her
Height: 5 feet 3 inches
Weight: 155 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Naturally Blonde hair (dyed Black), Blue eyes
Affiliation: Senior Zoologist/Thaumaturge Mammalogist for the Zoological and Ecological Classifications Department of the Archives
Magick: Elemental
Nationality: Procoline - Abaroguian
Family: Cora Madeline Farshawn (maiden) Orta (mother); Ire Orta (brother); Bourne Theodore Orta (father); Bronsan Farshawn (maternal grandfather); Clara Farshawn (maternal grandmother); Fife Orta (paternal grandfather); Foe Orta (paternal grandmother); Francia Orta (paternal aunt)
Languages: Abaroguian is her native language; is fluent in Procolish; is somewhat fluent in Ain-na; has a passing understanding of Wathra but is in no way fluent
Leira Marie Orta was born to Cora and Bourne Orta seven years after her brother, Ire, in the city of Abarogue near the eastern mountains of Procoline Kingdom. Unlike the rest of her family, Leira awakened with Elemental power around age five. Because of Bourne’s dogged ambition to ascend the ranks of the military for more powerful positions, Cora tried to hide Leira’s magickal prowess when it was discovered but was unable. Bourne noticed but when he wasn’t able to convince the little girl to become ambitious like him, Cora did her best to shield Leira from the anger and resentment slowly building in the male side of the family. Even her brother, Ire, who was never close to her because of the age gap, resented her because of her awakening. By the time she was ten, he was headed off to university in the Confederation of Trade.
When she was young, Leira spent much of her time alone or with her mother. She was teased as a child at school because of her poor eyesight, enormous glasses, and crooked teeth. It didn’t help that she was short, stocky, and entirely too fascinated with animals, bugs, and plants. Cora, however, adored her daughter. They would garden, hike the forests and mountains near Abarogue, and take trips to other surrounding towns in search of produce and gardening supplies. Leira fell in love with flora and fauna near and far, a love that only deepened as she got older.
Cora also introduced Leira to the guitar, having, herself, loved and played it most of her life. Leira took it up quickly and the pair would play together on evenings out in the garden. It became something of a passion for Leira and she eventually began writing her own songs. While at school, she met a child named Arlynn Frever in music class. Arlynn, who was originally from Calim, was a gifted singer and the two formed a fast friendship. Outside of school, they met outside of Leira’s home, Cora not wanting Arlynn to be exposed to Leira’s contentious father and brother. Arlynn would sing with the pair while they played guitar, furthering Leira’s love for music and the bonds it could bring.
When Leira was ten, Bourne was given a Lieutenant General position with the Procoline Military, afforded to him by his continued excellence in previous positions. However, with this, the family had to relocate to Jaixia. In Jaixia, while her father spent most of his time at work, Leira found herself alone. Unlike Abarogue, Cora had begun leaving without Leira most days, returning late at night with no explanation. Once or twice, Leira saw a man with a rose tattoo nearby.
Everything came to a head one night when Bourne discovered something that set him off. He never physically touched Cora but yelled at her about betrayal and humiliation. He ordered her to make things right or “there would be consequences.” She collected her things and sat with Leira after Bourne left the house. She explained that she had to go but would write Leira every single day to let her know what was happening.
Shortly after Cora left, Arlynn’s family relocated to Jaixia and they ended up in the same school as Leira. The two friends immediately reconnected. When Arlynn heard Leira attempting to talk without her accent, they urged Leira not to drop it and, with a fair amount of prodding, Leira eventually stopped trying to erase the part of her that was Abaroguian. It didn’t hurt that it also went against everything Bourne would have wanted for her.
When Leira was around 12, her and Arlynn formed a band and started writing tons of songs. They discovered rock and punk music shortly after that and metal a year later. Leira soon became better at guitar than most anyone she knew. With so many stellar melodies and heavy riffs in her pocket, the pair decided to recruit more people into the fold: rhythm guitarist Sadie Cross, bassist Ina Fukuoa, and drummer Sudesh Re’nah. Together, the five were known as Cryptid à Carnivale, a name that Arlynn came up with. Around this time, to fit the look they were going for, Leira started dyeing her hair black.
When Leira was 15, she filed for emancipation from her father and won. Successfully arguing against him, the judge awarded her a government supplied apartment and monthly stipend. She would keep the stipend until she was 21 as long as she pursued higher education. Once emancipated, all trace of Bourne as her father was erased from her records. Legally, she was no longer his daughter and any documentation that established their relationship was null and void. For the world at large, they had never been related.
Leira continued going to school and had regular check-ins with a counselor to make sure she was staying on track in her new apartment. After she graduated high school, she enrolled in the College of Southern Jaixia with a degree in Zoology. She took both in-person and online classes as the band started to get bigger, eventually graduating with a Bachelors in Zoological Studies, solidifying part of what she wanted to do career wise in her early adulthood. When she was 21, she quit the band.
She started working at The Archive in the Zoological and Ecological Classifications Department and was quickly moving up the ladder. Instead of desk work, she would be responsible for venturing across the world, registering, cataloging, and updating the records of Procoline Kingdom regarding various animals. Specifically, she was a Thaumaturge Mammalogist, looking for magickal mammals or magick adjacent creatures. It also allowed her to “search” for her mother, though her inquires would prove fruitless. Still, she looked for her when she could.
In her first few years of the position, she met a junior cataloger named Saul Menfer, a man she formed a fast friendship with. The two started spending time together outside of work and eventually things became romantic. Though Saul tried to convince Leira to date him exclusively, she declined, though, in truth, she wasn’t dating anyone else and she felt strong feelings for Saul.
As time went on, she continued working, looking for her mother when she could, though hopes of finding her dimmed as the years trudged on. She was estranged from both her father and brother. Letters from her mother arrived, newer ones stating a love of the weather in Shehroz. She picked up an assignment that took her to Warukem Sovereignty and, when she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she returned home to redo the calculations.
Ina Fukuoa
Senator Anthony Henrik
Xolani N'go Abraham
Age: 32 (Xolani)
Pronouns: She/Her
Height: 5 feet 9 inches
Weight: 190 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Red Hair, Brown Eyes, Red and Yellow eyebrows
Affiliation: Sworn Blade of the Blades of Oa
Magick: Spiritual
Nationality: Procoline - Opern
Family: Micah Ido, fiancée; Sophie Abraham, Xolani’s little sister
Languages: Procolish and Operash are her native tongues; is partially fluent in Wathra; has a basic understanding of Shehra but doesn’t speak it and isn’t fluent; understands Abaroguian but doesn’t speak it
Xolani doesn’t talk much about her past. Orphaned, she was taken in by the Blades of Oa and learned how to fight with sword and shield. It was intense, rigorous, and unrelenting. When she was five, she was transferred to the Tiger Temple in Warukem Sovereignty. Tiger Temple was Xolani’s home for years. She learned to become a skilled fighter, trained her mind to be a critical thinker, and formed real, lasting friendships. She also came to know about the Clerics of Artifice and the other cleric sects that existed in the world. It was also here where she met Micah Ido, the two forming a fast friendship.
When it was time for her to go out on assignments, she was paired with Micah. Micah’s care-free attitude seemed to lift Xolani from her dour mood. Friendship turned to romance and the two have been together ever since.
When Xolani was twenty-three, a newborn appeared on her doorstep one night. A note in the basket named the child “Sophie” and begged the Blade to take care of her. Despite initial reservations, Xolani decided to raise the child. Instead of telling Sophie she was her mother, she said that they were sisters and their parents had given up on them.
It’s not until Xolani and Micah take the assignment to retrieve Leira Orta that everything begins to unravel.
Micah Ido
Age: 31
Pronouns: They/Them
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Weight: 185 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Dyed Blue hair (naturally black), Green eyes
Affiliation: Sworn Blade of the Blades of Oa
Magick: Spiritual
Nationality: Procoline - Acha
Family: Xolani, fiancée; Sophie, “Sister in Law”
Languages: Procolish is their mother tongue
Micah’s earliest memory was opening their eyes as a baby in an orphanage in Procoline. They were turned over to the care of the Blades of Oa shortly after. When they were old enough, they were relocated to Tiger Temple. They were a vibrant, funny child who talked too much but held knowledge like a steel trap. While at Tiger Temple, they trained daily and excelled at dual bladed weapons. They also met Xolani Abraham at the temple.
When they were of age, they partnered with another Blade for a short period, but it didn’t work out. Micah had the ability to almost photographically remember things they read. Because of this, they retained loads of useless knowledge about subjects they neither studied nor participated in. While useful in some spaces, most people around them found it a little off-putting to have random knowledge shared with them unprompted. Except Xolani Abraham. While at one of the Blades of Oa pilgrimages, the two reconnected and started talking again. They spent the rest of the week hanging out, talking, and training together. Micah learned that Xolani had stepped away from her former partner, which seemed like the perfect opening to see if she would like to go on assignments with Micah. Xolani agreed.
Soon, Micah and Xolani started going on missions together. During one such mission, a stake out of a small group of anti-Elementalists, who they were hoping would lead them to their actual prey, an Elemental who had supposedly stolen from a museum earlier in the week, the two grew very close. After sharing a kiss, things between them quickly blossomed into romance. They were inseparable there after.
Eventually, Micah met Sophie, Xolani’s “sister,” and the family moved in together a year later.
Xavier Sarsa Nib
Age: 34
Pronouns: He/Him
Height: 5 feet 10 inches
Weight: 200 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Orange Brown eyes, Black Hair
Affiliation: Director of Archive Departments
Magick: Non-Magickal
Nationality: Procoline
Family: Unknown
Languages: Fluent in Procolish and Foresen; somewhat fluent in Shehra
While there are a host of Directors for various departments of the Archives, Xavier Nib oversees several, such as the Department for Zoological and Ecological Classification, the department that employs Leira Orta. Xavier is a quick witted, silver-tongued individual who rubs shoulders with many astute people in Procoline and beyond. But one thing he is not is Shehrozan and he will make it known to never associate him with the neighboring kingdom or its citizens.
It’s also apparent that he keeps the company of shape-shifting cats, women who have bodies laid out in their apartments, and throbbing, pulsating doors in dark voids. Who truly is Xavier?
Sudesh Lodanh Re'nah
Age: 28
Pronouns: She/Her
Height: 5 feet 10 inches
Weight: 170 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Brown hair and gray eyes
Affiliation: Cryptologist for the Archive’s Cryptology and Code-Breaking Department
Magick: None
Nationality: Born in Vinemount Province; lives in Jaixia
Family: Reggie Gambiotta, husband; Tilann (son) and Mer’los (daughter)
Languages: Operash is her native language; fluent in Abaroguian; fluent in Procolish; generally uses Operash and Procolish with her children, Procolish with her husband, and Abaroguian with her friends, such as Leira and Sadie
Back during her teenage years, Sudesh Re'nah was the heart beat of a band called Cryptid à Carnivale with her pounding double kick drums and electric snare work. Sudesh's family was originally from Vinemount Province but moved to Jaixia when she was a little girl. They found the community of Glensprings extremely welcoming and enrolled Sudesh in kindergarten. Later, Sudesh met Leira Orta, Arylnn Frever, and Sadie Cross in middle school. Her father had been a drummer in a slew of cultural bands back in Vinemount as well as learning to drum along to some Abaroguian cultural music and she had picked up a knack for it, too. She joined the three right before bassist, Ina Fukuoa showed up.
The five piece crafted song after song. For her part, Sudesh represented the Desert Wisp of Tar-tanna, a cryptid that was said to embody the winds and sands of Shehroz, where, on cold nights, it would swirl into valleys to shield caravans from potential cartel and marauders. Some describe it as a pulsating yellow light that twists and turns until it disappears in a vortex, while others described it as a short, stocky creature of teeth and scales. They played shows and quickly became an underground sensation. Sudesh might appear aloof and stand-offish but she was actually extremely shy. She and Leira would often do crossword puzzles together, something Sudesh was extraordinarily talented at.
When she was in her early 20s and right before they recorded their second album, Leira left the band. Sudesh stayed in the band for a few more years until it dissolved. During her time, however, she had become a skilled cryptographer, showing up on the radar of the Procoline Security Advisory. She was subsequently hired by the Archive in their Cryptology and Code-Breaking department, housed in the building that neighbored the Zoological and Ecological Classifications department, where Leira worked. The two had kept in touch through the years and Leira was excited that they could eat lunch together.
Sudesh also got married and had two children. Her husband, Reggie, was a chipper, effervescent man who talked excitedly and passionately about things he enjoyed. Her children, Tilann and Mer'los, were spitting images of the two of them.
Bourne Theodore Orta
Age: 57
Pronouns: He/Him
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Weight: 260 lbs
Hair and Eyes: Gray hair, blue eyes
Affiliation: General of the Military of Procoline
Magick: Non-Magickal
Nationality: Procoline - Abaroguian (he will deny it)
Family: Ire Orta (son); Cora Madeline Orta (ex-wife); Leira Marie Orta (ex-daughter)
Languages: Fluent in Procolish; Fluent in Abaroguian but refuses to speak it
Confident, direct, capable, General Bourne Orta is the embodiment of ambition. He's also Leira’s estranged father. While many know about his son, Ire, the world at large doesn't know about Leira, who emancipated herself from the General at age fifteen. Still, no one has said anything untoward about Bourne, knowing full well the loyalty the military brass has towards the man. Most know not to provoke the bear, who can just as easily strike down his enemies as he can gain agreement from senators who owe him substantial favors. Yet, no one knows about the secrets he has at his disposal and how ready he is to use them. But they will.
Saul Aba Menfer
Age: 29
Pronouns: He/Him
Saul… a man who’s tale was cut short before its time. I’ll… let you see what happened.
Cleo
Name: Cleo
Age: 22
Pronouns: She/Her
Cleo is a shape-changing ball of wonder who is closely aligned with Xavier Nib. Appearing as a cat, she can shift her form to that of an energetic early 20s woman within a moment’s notice. Unclear where her allegiances lie, it does appear that she’s been watching Leira Orta at home.
Cora Madeline Orta
Age: 56
Pronouns: She/Her
Mother to Leira and Ire Orta and ex-wife to Bourne Orta, Cora lived in Abarogue but left for Shehroz when her husband, Bourne, ascended to General of the Procoline Military. She’s been sending letters to Leira for years, detailing adventures she’s been on out in the world.
Sadie Violeta Cross
Age: 28
Pronouns: She/Her
Back during her teenage years, Sadie Cross was rhythm guitarist of a band called Cryptid à Carnivale. Originally hailing from Jorne, her family moved to Jaixia when she was a teenager, settling in the district of Glensprings. It was there that she met Leira Orta and Arlynn Frever, who she learned were looking to start a band. She had learned to play guitar a few years earlier and quickly joined the pair.
After Cryptid à Carnivale filled out with Sudesh Re'nah on drums and Ina Fukuoa on bass, the five piece crafted song after song. For her part, Sadie represented the Horned Jornerker, a cryptid described as a wild beast with fiery mane and pink body hair that rampaged through the forests in the area. It was also said to make a grunting noise that mimicked a palm muted, down-tuned guitar, something that Sadie loved to do. They played shows and quickly became an underground sensation. Sadie, for her part, was the bubbly and excitable one of the group. She became a fan favorite for how long she spent meeting and greeting those who came to their shows.
When she was in her early 20s and right before they recorded their second album, Leira left the band. Sadie kept in touch with her and when the band eventually went their separate ways after a few more years, she started crafting music for movies and television. She also got married to Roland Morgan, who, coincidentally, was one of CàC's early promoters and cheerleaders. Now the two have several bands they tour with in between Sadie's myriad of projects.
Still... she longs for the day she can play guitar with Leira again. She misses that.
Veronica Smith
Veronica recently started her job as assistant to Xavier Nib. She handles and directs calls to him, files paperwork, and makes sure his job as Director of Archive departments runs smoothly. She’s recently married and planning her honeymoon with her wife.
Senator Ronan Marcus
Age: Unkown
Pronouns: He/Him
Senator Ronan Marcus is an older senator in Jaixia. He called Xavier Nib one night to complain about books on the Celestial Constellation being pulled from the shelves and made the grave mistake of insulting Xavier.
D'enath
Age: Unkown
Pronouns: She/Her
D’enath is a Shehrozan woman who is affiliated with the Bed of Roses. She helped Leira escape the Blades of Oa when the Elemental landed atop her rooftop building late in the night. Her fate is currently unknown.
Mai'gn Far'dn
Age: Unknown
Pronouns: She/Her
Mai’gn Far’dn is a Shehrozan woman who lives in the O’tnoto district of Jaixia. Though much is unknown about her, it is evident she is affiliated with Xavier Nib and knows something about his… activities. She also appears to hold other, more grotesque secrets in her apartment.
Dojin Pai
Age: 35
Pronouns: He/Him
Radio DJ for J-A-I 733, an Abaroguian heavy metal and heavy music radio station with broadcasts that cover the Jaixian region of Procoline Kingdom. He is energetic, fast talking, and colorful with his language. But he is also subversive and plays tracks that radio doesn’t think he should. That’s why Leira actually listens to the radio.
Cariÿo
A young girl heading to Abarogue for the first time with her grandfather. She ran into Leira and they spoke briefly.
Kara Amstir
Chief Provisioner of Zodiac Administrations, it is Kara and her subordinates jobs to publish the Celestial Constellation literature.
Senator Lawrence Trium
Suit of Armor
A suit of armor in Xavier Nib's office that... strangely... responds to his voice.
Bud Buddies
He's GOT to stop smoking with his homeboy because they always end up in some shenanigans.
Ponytail Man
He was just at the Arminville Deep Red Moon Festival when it all went up in flames.
Abeelo
An elderly Abaroguian man who was taking his granddaughter to Abarogue. Ran into Leira Orta heading to their trains and got to speak with both a fellow Abaroguian and Elemental before going their separate ways.