Our Allies
The first and foremost of our allies would be Crystal Dawn , our benefactor. She is a curious woman, rash and impulsive, and I've never quite understood her sarcasm. However she is a good and gentle soul and a great leader. She soon brought the Spirit Bureau into the fold of the Wayfinder Society, an organization for adventurers which she runs, thus founding the Hidden Archives.
Crystal Dawn has now been appointed the Headmistress of Almahna Academy. Now an old friend of hers, Sera Ariann, has come on as Crystal's second in command in the Wayfinder Society. Since Crystal took over as Headmistress of the Academy, Sera is now managing more of the day to day in the Society, along side her duties as Crystal's vice-headmaster at Almahna Academy.
Sera is a shrewd woman, perhaps more sarcastic than even Crystal, which is saying a lot, but good natured and kind, and fiercely protective of those she cares about, none more so of course than her wife, Fleur Aurora-Ariann
Crystal's two adopted daughters, Kuai Treewatcher and Eira Last, soon came to live with us on Foxhollow Ranch. Kuai is an interesting girl, highly perceptive and wiser than she lets on, while Eira I would sense is very reserved and protective. These two are in a romantic relationship, something I never got to experience myself.
Bifrost was spot on in his assessment of both Kuai and Eira. Kuai for one, I have found that she sees things that others do not, and she may seem to be a naïve girl with the mind of a child, the truth is she knows more than she lets on. Eira's explained to me that Kuai simply has a hard time expressing herself and communicating, so she does it through the flowers she gives people.
Eira on the other hand is yes very reserved. It can take her a while to open up and trust you, and she holds on tight to those she does trust. She and Kuai have now gotten married, and are no longer living on the ranch. They've both since enrolled in Almahna Academy and are living in the dorms there.
We now have an Archive in the subbasement of Almahna Academy where we spend a lot of our time, and Kuai and Eira are always hanging out in there when not in class.
But you should also know of the Red-Haired Witch, namely Luna Astoria, the mother of Eira. She once cast a curse upon us, or so I thought, one that has spread to everyone who has joined the Hidden Archives. But it turns out she was actually a tortured soul, someone tortured by mistakes in her past. And her present. Her greatest mistake being her estranged relationship with her daughter. I hope and wish that they would have somehow mended their relationship.
Eira's relationship with her mother, Luna, is still a little strained, though they have made great strides in repairing things between them. It may still take some time, because some things Luna said to her still weigh on her mind and is still painful for her, even though Luna has for her part apologized numerous times and has tried numerous times to make things right between them, sometimes an apology alone isn't enough. They're getting there though. It will just take time.
Luna has now been elected Council Representative for Almahna's second district, and so she is one of our allies in government who will do what they can to aid us when we need it.
Lastly, there is a man who comes by to visit every now and then, a strange man who seems to be always intoxicated. How he puts away so much alcohol without poisoning himself is very confusing to me. His name is Cain Harbinger, he is a private investigator in his own right, or rather he was. Nowaday he seems to be in the bar more often than not. Why must humans do this to themselves?
I have never met this man personally, but one of ours has, Makoto. She described him a little differently though. He wasn't intoxicated when she met him, but he was trying to flirt with her. Now however, something has happened to him. What, I can't say, for the one person who was with him, the Naeko Cafe owner Agatha, is still in shock and hasn't opened up yet about what she saw. . .
Lastly, there is of course, Kairine Kamuya. She is a wise woman, though seems to be troubled by her past. She keeps a lot close to her chest and is difficult to get to know personally. She is a psion, with immense ability. She is middle-aged, and she has a son, named Hyokune Kamuya who is in a relationship with a girl by the name of Grician Ragnara. I have only met these two briefly. Kairine's relationship with her son also seems strained, like Luna's with her daughter.
Kairine is a mysterious woman for sure, but I feel like I know her pretty well. I am a witch, and my patron once was her mother's spirit. So from that I grew a personal connection with her. She does keep a lot close to her chest, however in the time I've known her I think she has been realizing herself that she needed to open up, especially in regards to her son. And especially in recent months after she was sadly and tragically diagnosed with a life-threatening disease with no cure.
After this, she finally opened up about some things that she has been keeping bottled up for a long time, especially about her husband, Hyokune's father.
Kairine is a complicated woman, to be sure. She is pained and scarred by her past, and keeping things bottled up as she has has strained her relationship with Hyokune even more. She really does try though.
Hyokune and Grician have since gotten engaged and are now married, and they are expecting now. Kairine is going to be a grandmother.
Hyokune himself is also complicated. It seems to run in the family. The reason for a lot of his hard feelings toward his mother is that she left him with a friend of hers when he was an infant, and while he has forgiven her for that, the main source of the complications between them has been Kairine's refusal to speak about his father, something that haunts her deeply. She finally did open up about him, but I could tell that it was heart-wrenching for her to do it. To be honest, I'm not sure Hyokune really understands that, how hard it is for her to talk about.
Kairine once was the Headmistress of Almahna Academy. But since she was elected to the Council as Almahna Representative for the First District, she herself elected Crystal to take her place. She is another of our allies in the government. However now, Kairine has been diagnosed with an unknown disease which could eventually prove fatal. It's held at bay for now. For how long, no one can say.
As mentioned before, new allies have joined the fray since Bifrost's passing. I will describe them to the best of my ability now.
The first of course is Crystal's second in command, Sera Ariann, who I've described briefly. Sera is a Fey woman also haunted by her past, who also has a strained relationship with her family, or at least she did. Things there seem to be improving, though I'm sensing a bit of a pattern. She has been mourning the passing of her sister, Kaeri Ariann, who died in the Battle of Konaset a few years ago, and she still has her moments though she hides them well.
Sera is married to a woman by the name of Fleur Aurora-Ariann, a Gelvaran who keeps a tight leash on her. She really is her better half. Fleur is stern and shrewd, and has been elected to the Council as the Quatrica Islands representative for the First District. She is also a good ally within the government. Of all of the people who I've described who were elected to the Council, she knows politics the best, and she's not afraid to play the 'game' as it were.
I had the fortunate (or misfortune) of meeting a non-binary and spunky individual by the name of Rasha Mardeen. They have a habit of wearing essentially their whole life on their sleeve, and they are very excitable. Be careful, they might rope you into some stupid plans that might get you into trouble.
There is also Aerinel Ariann. She's Sera's estranged cousin, and has been the black sheep of their family for many years. She has a hard edge and an attitude that can take some getting used to. She may call you names, she likes to call Crystal 'Firebreath'. This is just who she is, and she doesn't really mean anything by it. She used to be an assassin. She has since given up that line of work, but she still retains the training she got from it, which she gladly shares when it might help. While Sera is an archer extraordinaire, Aerinel's weapon of choice is a huge greatsword. Aerinel and Rasha are now in a romantic relationship. They are. . . interesting together.
Dcotor Larina Grey showed up a little while ago for assistance in finding her grandfather, Dr. Arty Grey, who wrote the manuscript for Dr. Grey's Guide to the Terrors of the Void and Beyond. He has been missing for sometime, it would seem. Larina is a studious woman and scholar. She also deals with a great deal of trauma from an incident that happened to her. She works in the Archive as well as one of the Runes professors at Almahna Academy, alongside Aime.
Finally there are Deanna Reese and Daphne. Deanna is now Crystal's partner and is an archaeologist with a few quirks. She apparently has a habit of thinking aloud and she has a habit of overexplaining history. But compared to Crystal's hotheadedness and rashness, she is calm, cool, and collected. She thinks things through, often to a fault.
Daphne is a 13 year old girl who once was a Ghostar actually before she was resurrected. She is also mute, and speaks instead in sign language. Before being resurrected, she lived long ago in an orphanage, where the other kids teased and ostracized her and were cruel toward her. Because of this she grew frustrated and retreated into herself. She learned to communicate through illusions, but the other kids still ostracized her, simply for being different. Over time she grew hateful and eventually she took out her anger and frustration on the entire orphanage, and slaughtered all of them. For this she was granted power from the Ancient Ones and she became a lich, one of the Undead Kings, where she called herself Demios.
However, a party of adventurers long ago got through to her and were able to connect with her and redeemed her. She turned away from her anger and hatred. Soon after she was reincarnated as a Ghostar, because she still carried with her a lot of regret and remorse and guilt for all she had done as Demios. When she finally learned to let go of her guilt and to forgive herself, she was granted a second chance at life and resurrected. Afterward, Crystal and Deanna adopted her as their daughter.
Today, she still goes through some of the same difficulties she had in her past life, but the difference now is she is surrounded by people who care for her and support her. She is a happy girl, especially happy with her new parents. She has a habit of using her illusionary powers to create fairy tale characters.
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