Side Characters and Villains
Well, our awesome community has done it again! They’ve submitted incredible characters, and it was super tough to decide which ones will appear in the story, but here we go….
The following will appear as side characters and/or villains in the story:
#1 Flanker
Submitted by Discord user: k9ergrease#5079
Flanker is Eros’ best friend and closest confidant. They came into the Portside Gang together. Where Eros is cold and calculating, Flanker is boisterous and witty. He is the bright, shining beacon of the Gang and Eros’ main means of connecting to people. Through his girlfriend, Flanker introduced Eros to Caspia, who filled Eros with joy.
Flanker is not the fighter that Eros is. He’s no easy prey, mind you, but he didn’t even get invited to the Elite Squad tryouts, let alone get a pair of Angel’s Wings. No, Flanker’s forte is secrets. He may be loud in the Den when the ale is flowing and his gang is gathered round to hear some story of a late-night conquest, but what lies beneath the good-natured conviviality? Is he genuine?
#2 Ka-Mahesa
Submitted by Discord user: TangoLima#8522
She was once a daughter of Wintermoon. Born as Mesha, she was taken when she was 3 during the Great Wintermoon Uprising though she was too little to remember. She received a Kaze education and dark arts training with religious instruction.
Upon graduating she devoted herself to the Kaze gods and took up the mantle as Ka-Mahesa. She is a pious Kaze and highly skilled fighter. A thorn in the Saiba’s side, she serves as The Hand in the House of her boss and secret lover, Vancirius eln Breckenmorgue Dulaque.
She is searching for her daughter Ka-Sahura who ran away after a final serum booster had some unintentional effects. They were only trying to make her stronger. There are conflicting reports but she is convinced Ka-Sahura is somewhere in Wintermoon city. Ka-Mahesa has assigned her best hunter to the search. It won’t be long before Ka-Sahura is found. They need to move quickly before Ka-Sahura manifests her enhancements. She doesn’t know what she is capable of and may not be able to harness it.
Unknown to Ka-Mahesa, Ka-Sahura has become an apostate. Now calling herself Sakura, she is on a quest to uncover their true roots and find out who they once were. Apostasy is a crime punishable by death. Will Ka-Mahesa be able to forgive?
#3 Vancirius eln Breckenmorgue Dulaque
Submitted by Discord user: RudraShiva#0001
118 long years on this planet. Later this year I will hit a century of service to the strongest empire on this wretched planet.
We created the best concept for order and discipline by creating a centralized system with a strict doctrine, a unified world. A world with a singular vision and a singular goal. Eradication of the individual and other naive and outdated ideas. We have progressed past such things.
Humans have this shitty tendency to try and act like they are important. That their highs and lows matter. That they can be anything they want. It is all bullshit. Bullshit that weak annoying people need to tell themselves to validate their traumas and mediocre decisions. Bad life choices, low IQ, and lack of common sense got you losers where you are, not destiny. Not the universe. You and your faults.
I have been a part of the Kaze Collective Imperial Forces since I was 18. I was deployed to this shithole Wintermoon after my promotion to Fleet Admiral 10 years later and I must say, to carpet bomb a bunch of backward peasants like these roaches was a beautiful first operation as Fleet Admiral.
Cleansing is a perfectly appropriate way to jump-start the progress of a nation or society. Everyone denies it but it is true. It is probably the best tactic that the KCIF implements for subjugation. 40% decrease in population and the loss of loved ones will break the will of any revolutionary.
“Fleet Admiral Vance, your 9 o clock has arrived and brought you a gift.”
“Bring them in” Vance replied without turning away from the window. The view from the penthouse of The Servo has become quite mundane.
6 more Kaze have died this month. These insurgent brats are getting obnoxious. I think it is time to remind them just how little we value their lives. Kaze Collective run half the planet and we do not even need a mother and father to procreate. We are built with the best of the best genes. These stupid humping rats wouldn’t know a damn thing about the progress we have made, no matter how long you explained it to them. This is why explaining isn’t necessary. Just force. The most universal language.
“Fleet Admiral Vancirius eln Breckenmorgue Dulaque, I apologize for being tardy and I hope to..”
“Do you have what I asked you for? It has been two months. You test my patience, but I suppose bounty hunters are always like that. Answer.”
“Yes, one of the Angels has indeed fallen.” The bounty hunter known as Vertigo stayed in the bowed position and did not dare to look up from the Fleet Admiral’s impressive boots. Vertigo then placed a golden box on the floor that expanded rapidly into a pair of golden wings.
Vancirius eln Breckenmorgue Dulaque, still facing the window, glanced quickly over his shoulder at the kneeling bounty hunter, chuckled, and finished his whiskey. “They will learn to respect me. Next is Eros. Faster this time.”
#4 Drek
Submitted by Discord user: SiddFinch#7214
Drek is a burly junkyard owner in the Industrial district. He’s a middle-aged, kind-hearted man known for his hearty laugh and sense of humor, and he cares deeply about the plight of the Saiba. But beneath his pleasant exterior lies his true, troubled self, and a past he has kept hidden in shame.
Many years ago, he was known by his given name, Hugo. He lived in a quiet part of portside with his wife and son. Hugo knew only life under the rule of the Kaze, and led his family the same way his father led his: Live simply, keep your head down, and try to remain unnoticed by the Kaze.
Unfortunately, everything changed in one fateful evening. A repugnant, drunken Kaze Guardsman and his men came through town, harassing each family and extorting them for “protection” costs. Realizing quickly that Hugo had nothing to offer, the Guard turned his attention to his wife, Pria…
“She’s coming with me,” the Guard said, grabbing her by the hair. Hugo watched on as his wife was dragged away from him. Years of conditioning had made him virtually unable to act, resigned only to accept this as his fate.
A young man, however, refused to sit and watch. It was Hugo’s son, Zee. He drew a small dagger from his side and approached the Guard. He turned back to his father with a look of disgust
“How can you sit there and do NOTHING?!”
“No!” Hugo cried. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Listen to your father, boy,” sneered the Guard.
Zee’s choice was already made. He lunged toward the Guard, catching him in the cheek and leaving him scarred in the process.
Though startled, the Guard’s combat prowess soon proved to be too much. He withdrew his sword, disarmed Zee, and stabbed him through the heart. He reached a hand to his own bleeding face. “All this fuss over you?”
He looked at Pria, then back at Hugo. “Hardly seems worth it.” With a smirk, he drove his sword through Pria.
“No!” Hugo hurried over to his dying wife and son.
“Well?” the guard taunted. “Planning to challenge me next?”
Hugo just sat, motionless, defeated.
“Didn’t think so,” the guard and his men moved on, likely never giving it a second thought.
News of Zee’s heroics spread quickly, serving as inspiration for many in Portside and especially among the Saiba Gang, who would tag Kaze walls with Zee’s name to honor his resistance to their rule, proving their will was not broken.
News spread, too, of Hugo’s cowardice. He left his village in shame, took on the assumed name of Drek, and vowed that he would support the Saiba Gang however he could, no questions asked. He feels a responsibility and a kinship to them, like a father. And if he ever finds the Kaze who took away his family, he vows that he will settle the score.
#5 Dr. Daku
Submitted by Discord user: Salohcin#2018
Once a Kaze scientist, now the head of Kaze operations and surveillance, Dr. Daku (dark) is the most feared and ruthless of all Kaze collective oligarchy. He advanced to Chief of the Kaze Special Investigations Unit. He has one purpose and that is to endlessly hunt the most problematic Saibas and Kaze defectors.
His defining trait lies in the sheer merciless nature of his pursuit. He doesn’t just want to capture and detain but also punish and torture any that oppose the Kaze’s rule.
Backstory and motive: Dr. Daku was among some of the first of the Kaze to land in Wintermoon city after the successful invasion. He was eager to study this new land and its inhabitants. He found that Wintermoon residents were highly tolerant to cybernetics and started the process of seeing how far they could be pushed before ultimately being completely dehumanized.
The Wintermoon city residents would be abducted and delivered to Dr. Daku for experimental cybernetic testing. This went on for years. After seeing the capacity for enhancement the Saiba’s possessed. Dr. Daku convinced the Kaze ruler of Wintermoon to start cybernetic testing on the Kaze themselves. This would require volunteers…
One of the first to be volunteered by her parents was a Kaze girl named Sahura. Dr. Daku grew to despise Sekura as her strong will made every test more difficult than the last. He was gruesomely aggressive with her testing.
One day Daku was administering an IV on Sahura when out of nowhere she drew a blade across his neck and escaped. Sahura assumed he was dead, but he survived.
After recovering from the near-deadly blow, Daku vowed to hunt down Sekura and execute her.
As is known to be the most ruthless of all the Kaze. He would have people executed for just about anything. He once forced one thief to kill his own wife in front of their daughter in order to make an example of them. Daku will stop at nothing on his rage-fueled quest to hunt down his attacker and those like her.
#6 Nottora
Submitted by Discord user: Quesarrito | The Ayudánte#3322
Nottora (Japanese-ish for hijacked/captured/occupied) was a high-ranking Guardian within the Dregs division during the Great Saiba Uprising many years ago. She joined Eros’ father during a failed raid but was captured by the Kaze.
Assumed dead, she was submitted to the KSIU and suffered through years of cybernetic experiments. Her brother, Masashi, has been searching for her for years, but the KSIU have kept the details and identities of their subjects air-tight. Reports indicate that the KSIU plan to release some of these experimental subjects back into Wintermoon City to launch an attack on the Saiba Gang and disrupt an upcoming Initiation. The KSIU are confident that their experimental technology will maintain control over their subjects but is yet untested.
Nottora acted as a mother figure to the poor Wintermoon kids captured by the Kaze. She comforted them, encouraged them, and gave them hope. But very few of them survived. Years of this nearly broke Nottora. Having been captured as an adult with strong mental fortitude, her mind wasn’t as fractured as those of the kids. However, her memory does get hazy and she is increasingly finding unexplainable gaps. She still remembers Di though, one of the few kids who were “successfully” upgraded. They grew close, with a mother/older sister dynamic. But Nottora hasn’t seen Di ever since they completed her “upgrade”.
Nottora has developed a burning hatred for the KSIU scientists, the cries and tears of the tortured children forever etched into her mind. But as she fantasizes about bringing violent justice upon them, she notices that the faces in her mental images shift from Kaze scientists to faces of Saibas unknown. And when the Kaze walk back towards her cell, for a moment, they looked like old friends and yet they spoke with that disgusting Kaze accent. She wonders if she’s finally going mad or if this is a result of their sick experiments. Time will tell. For now, she endures.
How will the Saiba Gang react when/if she returns to Wintermoon? Will Masashi welcome her with open arms or treat her with suspicion? To what extent does this Kaze technology affect her? What are their plans for her? And will the power of memory and community be able to overcome this technology?
#7 OoKami
Submitted by Discord user: brewsucks#6888
OoKami’s background depends on who you ask: some say he is the son of a very wealthy family who were publicly executed during the Kaze Conquest, some say he is just a common street urchin who grinded his way up the ranks, and there is even a tale of him watching his mother getting beaten to death in front of him by other Dregs for sport. Perhaps all are true to some extent.
OoKami deals less in secrets but more in brutality. The Mouth is your man if you are looking for information or something done in the Dregs Den but couldn’t care less about subtlety. He is in charge of the fight rings and only takes orders directly from the Dreg Leader. When not on a job, he can be seen patrolling and partying with Dreg muscle. He is constantly on the move and there isn’t a thing that happens in the Dregs Den that OoKami doesn’t know about or have his hands in. He ensures stability in the Dregs Den, or at least what passes for it in that district.
OoKami joined the Saiba to be a good soldier, as a “means to an end”, and has shown to be an effective leader able to hype his troops up for insane missions. OoKami doesn’t believe any job is too small and is often participating in the fight rings or small raids with his troops, he does this to keep the rust off and to inspire others through his actions and not only his words.
But despite his rowdiness and tough exterior, OoKami has a soft spot for those showing compassion for the vulnerable. He has a fondness for Kay and often sends her protection for his “dog freeing expeditions”. When asked about this his common response is “Dregs help Dregs.” But many wonder what his true reason for helping others like Kay is and what his endgame might be.
#8 The Rats
Submitted by Discord user: TangoLima#8522
The Rats are a trio of misguided Dregs wannabes named Bojio, Lantau and Xin.
Bojio escaped from the mines. His hands seem like they have never been cleaned. Lantau is from an island off-Portside known for distilling the best fishsauce in Wintermoon and the smell of fermenting fish still clings to him. Xin is a small-sized mountain brat that can jump and climb like a monkey.
Bojio is their main influencer. They cross paths with Kenji and Sakura one day. What begins as a friendly encounter soon develops into a rivalry of envy over Kenji’s lava suit and suspicions about Sakura that the Rats have decided to stick their noses into. Bojio doesn’t think that Kenji is worthy to be Saiba as he doesn’t know how Kenji acquired the suit and if that’s not enough, he believes his association with Sakura should disqualify him.
Bojio and the Rats have taken it upon themselves to stop Kenji and Sakura from succeeding in the upcoming Saiba Initiation Trials that they too are planning to take part in. Will they have a change of heart when they learn the truth about Kenji and Sakura’s stories?
