THE CHARACTERS

Born in the envied Night Owl City, a fully functional and self-contained arcology, Caius attended the prestigious Bridgefield Academy by the influence of his parents’ money. After making high scores and showing enough interest, he was set down a path to learn psychomancy, and was sponsored to learn ins and outs of vir by the Mercer-Blackwell corporation, who also happened to lend him a blackbox–he names her Helena.

In a flustered confusion and split second decision, Caius grabs a few things and begins the process of leaving his home city, and enters deadside, a nowhere of more nowheres, fading into a no one of more no ones. Last expecting to run into anyone, Caius finds himself swept into some plan by this stranger to make it to Night Owl City, really no explanation any longer, and it all begins to slip from his fingers.

A set of circumstances playing out through their trek to Night Owl City, and countless sleepless nights later, Caius, Julius, Helena, and Rigel decide to leave the arcology for adventure within the strange city of Nyx. There Caius settles in as a psychomancer once again, although battling with a psychomantic affliction.

A man with a restless curse and a scar running down his chest, Julius seeks out an answer led only by the clue “Mercer-Blackwell”.

While battling with his morality, he decides to venture to Night Owl City as a shot in the dark, last ditch attempt. He is accompanied by his trusty dog Caesar, however, one night pursued by hox, Caesar is fatally injured and Julius comes across one of the hox in the pouring rain, but it seems he has been mistaken.

After evading the hox, he bands together with the stranger, who tries to rob him in the middle of the night, eventually becoming friends while trekking to Night Owl City together.

Unfolding drama refolded eventually, mending friendship, and Julius and Caius end up in the deadside city of Nyx. Through a largely coincidental incident, Julius is finally able to replace his dying heart, and resumes his work as a redtechnician: repairing and upgrading, technology that has been integrated into the human body.

Although, events take a different turn once Caius asks him to be his handler for his psychomantic activities and vir jumps, thus tasked to ensure the safety of all participants, particularly Caius, both outside and inside of a jump, all while staying ex vivo himself.

A simple, humble fish plush that Julius had come across in his travels deadside. Charming enough, and entertaining enough, Julius rescued the stuffed fish and spent careful hours repairing the ripped stitches and open wounds with new patches.

While wandering alone through the ruins and rubble, Beans provided comfort with his presence, giving Julius someone to talk to in all his empty travels.

Caius finds it amusing how adamant Julius is about his friendship with an inanimate object. This has resulted in many thefts in which Caius grabs Beans and runs, almost a hide-and-go-seek. Despite portrayed annoyance, there is something about it that Julius appreciates, and strangely enough Caius always gives Beans back when Julius finally catches up with him.

But either way, it has to be addressed: Beans is endearing, and he is a great listener.

Caius’s Mikita-Hexara blackbox issued by Mercer-Blackwell. She stabilizes the playing field of virtual reality for participants, working specifically with Caius to serve his goals.

After a rough turn of events, and not quite in any way he is able to justify to himself or others, Caius asks the Cloude siblings if they would help him with a task: give Helena sentience by using Nocturna, a virform entity that he had killed, as a template.

Sentience gained, but Helena finds that comes with peace lost. She tries to pull herself together as much as possible, but encounters too many pieces of Caius and his problems stuck in a psyche that almost seems to be hers.

Despite her fragmented identity, she agrees to continue her work with Caius as a blackbox, feeling more and more ghost voices from psyches of each of the jumpers that she hosts, but never actually hears.

Caius’s younger and much more extroverted brother, Rigel took a different path at Bridgefield, studying the elegant harmony of piecing things apart in order to put them together to create functional systems. Alarmed by the sudden disappearance of his brother, he continues his studies and spends alone time pacing down places he knows Caius loved to frequent.

When Caius returns to Night Owl City, and plans to leave not too long after, Rigel agrees to leave their home on his own curious impulse.

And he did, in fact, continually allow his boss to mistakenly refer to him as Nigel for the duration of his association with Alpica Co., a significant corporation in Night Owl City. Laid back and conflict-avoidant, Rigel becomes quick friends with the Cloude siblings and joins in their peculiar adventures. Eventually becoming close enough friends with Nolan that he moved into the official Cloude Nine living quarters.

As Dux’s older twin, and eldest of the Cloude siblings, Quin is mostly know as the quietest one in the room who seeks not only to keep her secrets, but to create more. She retains an air of calm skepticism about everything, and mostly steps away from her sibling’s boisterous adventures. However, she was still enthusiastic about the formation of the Cloude Nine Club, and lends her curiosity and skills to whatever strange missions the Club pursues.

Quin spends large amounts of time perfecting her craft, working softech, including technomancy. A shared fascination with virmantics has led the growth of a strong friendship with Caius.

A former Imperator of the Kraud cult, despite starting his life as the son of a lowly concubine. After Crotalus names him heir, and subjects him to entirely unwelcome transformations and abuses to “make [him] a God”, Ursur oversees a rough patch of his homeland’s history, serving as the one entirely responsible for its bloodshed during his late teens to early adult years.

Eventually, after eating Crotalus’s heart and relishing in all has finally done, he gathers himself and flees the underground temple, settling into Nyx.
Finally able to pursue his dreams, he spends most of his time making music under the name VIVISEXUAL while working at Mr. Priest’s sandwich shop, making sandwiches and weapons deals.

However, dogs will hunt down their prey, and he quickly realizes Crotalus is really not dead at all, and, in fact, looking much more alive than ever, now that they have been reunited and Crotalus has found a way to make that last as long as he can.

Named heir by his grandmother, Crotalus draws some strings in clearing the way to serve as Imperator of Kraud, doing the dirty work with a slanted, smirking grin. He takes a keen interest the son of his uncle’s concubine and befriends the quiet boy, promising him something more than greatness, and giving him unfettered power.

Once Ursur flees, Crotalus leaves Kraud for the hunt, accompanied by his four hellhounds. Very good at playing the long game, and very much enjoying it regardless, he makes a life by hunting bounties until he is bested, but also offered to join the very faction he hunted. Elusive, but successful, he climbs ranks within the formidable Paraselene Syndicate under the name Cerastes.

With everything under his control, he finally, finally makes a small trip to the other side of Nyx, to a shop called Priest’s. He had heard they had good music there.

Ever since he stabbed Crotalus seven times and did those other unspeakable things, Ursur finds himself haunted by Crotalus himself, sacrificial dagger shoved deep in his chest. Maybe it’s the guilt talking into a life of its own. Maybe he just really, really needs some sleep.

When ignoring this manifestation becomes near impossible, and Ursur seems to be left with no other choice, he begins to converse and there is a rapport that is, very clearly, the lesser evil.

Used to this ghost following him almost everywhere, Ursur drags his gaze across the dining area as he sings, bass in hand, but his eyes are drawn back to a figure standing with such a smile, pure elation, with no blood dripping down his body.

Not quite sharing the same lust for power as his older brother Crotalus, Buteo took on a scholarly role within the ruling house of Kraud and preferred to socialize by giving speeches, not making conversation. From a young age he picks up falconry, working with two bird-like pseudforms, and also becomes the best shot out of Kraud by longbow, even better than his older brother.

He befriends Ursur and they spend a good portion of their childhood together, and Buteo agrees to leave Kraud with Ursur, looking more disheveled and frantic than usual. Somewhat disturbed, but not quite resentful, over his older brother’s death, he looks simply to move on with his life and forget the dramatic unfolding and misfoldings of Kraud.

Buteo freelances as a journalist and private investigator, and is quite happy in his piece of nowhere, until he realizes Ursur may have not have been really telling the truth.

Mr. Priest serves as the landlord of the microarc Nil, as well as owner of Priest’s, a sandwich and weapons shop where he also sells handmade kantana.

He is also known for his skateboarding, his parrots, and his disinterested association with the Luciferase cult (in which he is not a priest).

Although he keeps to himself, he does become friends with Nolan. Additionally, he befriends Caius enough to show him bladesmithing basics and let him use his forge.