Janika Nykänen

A Lightning Engineer, Janika changed the future of the world with her revolutionary invention of Ocean Navigating Ships. Designing them with a Steel-Gold Alloy allowed the ships to survive the constantly changing waters of the Oceans of Erina. As they were adopted, Janika became incredibly wealthy from the payment for use of her patent.

Until it all came crashing down.

Rise to Glory

Janika has always been convinced that the Elementals world was far too scared to return to the seas. Critical at the knowledge that has long been squandered in favour of travel via Dragons and Enigma Crystals as forms of travel, she saw an opportunity. Finding some of the few documents regarding ship building left after years of research, she set off to find a material that would work. Performing experiments in her home, and investing much of her own savings. Making up the rest of it by convincing her family and friends to invest her her vision.

After years of trial and error, Janika finally has a working prototype. Without a crew to run it, she set out into the streets to hire those that were willing to take the historic voyage. Met with significant skepticism, she lied and insisted she would pay surviving kin greatly if the worst was to pass, and even more if they returned safely. Because of this, her crew was mostly composed of the desperate, who had so little for their families that they were willing to work with her, even if it was just for what they family would receive in case of their deaths.

This first voyage was a success, and upon her return Janika was showered by companies and investors with Jewels. Able to pay the first sailors their due, which she never could have been able to do so otherwise. But this truth would not be realized for many years.

With her vision accomplished, Janika lived comfortably for the next decade, happy with what she had brought into the world. Fearful for any tarnishing of the legacy she hoped to leave behind, Janika spent much of her time supporting lobbyists to prevent regulation and inspections of the industry that had grown from the Ocean Navigating Ships. For Janika it was more important that any failure be found once she was gone, so that it would be blamed on someone else. She wanted to be remembered as a great visionary. And worried that even the slightest issue may send Elemental society back into their water fearing days again, destroying all her efforts. Nothing, in her mind, was as bad out there as was insisted by those backward minded people that shouted for better inspections on the Ship Building yards and regulations.

Fall From Grace

While Janika coasted through the decade on a fluffy cloud of wealth, with only a small shroud of paranoia following her, people were falling overboard into the depths. Coverups followed, often being partly funded by her riches. When people started getting sick, however, reality all came crashing down on top of her. The Devastation Pandemic started to erupt, starting first with the coastal cities where many of the sailors were from. In response to the disease, travel restrictions were put in place, ships were locked up, and the first unobstructed investigations would start to take place. As those sickened with Devastation Syndrome started to transform into Ravagers, it became obvious that what Janika had done to change the future was not creating a new method of travel, or returning Elementals to the sea, but instead exposed people to a novel, twisted, magical disease only found far out at sea.

While originally this news spurred a swath of lawsuits, the slow disintegration of society under the weight of Commandant's Law smothered the courts. Instead, Janika's wealth was seized by the Toraian government, as they desperately tried to hold back the new threat that had been discovered. Her legacy now 'The disease that split the world', Janika was forced out on the run from the Ravagers, the disease, and the mob of the vengeful at her lack of responsibility over the years. With little help from the overwhelmed Local Forces to protect her from those that preferred to act out their own form of justice.

Of the choices given, the Ravagers that eventually would catch her were probably the easiest end Janika could have asked for.