That night they slept in the woods, with no fire to give them away. It was cold and miserable, but they were alive. Not much sleep was had between the two partners, and as they lay awake that sad night, something came to Zeek's attention. Through the thickness of trees, a faint glow sparked up in the distance. Gradually it grew brighter and brighter, until a point of light could be made out on the horizon. But what is it? thought Zeek. And soon it was clear. The supreme inferno was heading straight for he and Nuri. He urged the girl to jump on his back so he could hopefully run her to safety, but she would have none of it. She anchored herself to a tree and gazed at the ball of fire. Zeek begged and pleaded and tried to detached her from her hold, but to no avail. As it came closer and closer, Zeek opted to stay and try his best to protect the girl from the furious flame. To his horror, though, Nuri let go of the tree and began running toward the flame at full speed. She had it in her mind to meet the fire, and she would not be swayed from her purpose. As she and the fire came closer and closer, Zeek cringed and turned away, but to his surprise, nothing happened. There was a great calm as he turned toward the girl to witness the most awesome image he had ever seen. She stood inches from the fireball which had miraculously stopped for her. Nuri gazed into the blue light, the dancing flames, and whispered the words "I know it's you." She reached out to touch the massive inferno, and as her hand approached, Zeek could have sworn he saw the image of the queen dancing in those flames. A moment later the incantation dissolved into nothing. The dreaded fireball was no more.

Realizing what had taken place, Zeek knew that it wouldn't be long before the Swarm would come by to investigate the phenomenon. Grabbing Nuri, he ran like he'd never done before. All night and all day he ran far from the capitol, fueled only by his fear and the adrenaline of what he had just witnessed. He found safety in a small Nathanalese village called Domreck, where he and Nuri stayed to sleep.

He spent the next few days gathering information from escape Vestians on the status of the capitol. With the palace taken over, the capitol was in the hands of the Swarm, and the royal family was, for the time being, out of power. Nathanael changed from a unified country into a disjointed conglomeration of villages and overtaken cities. Domreck, being a rural area, would prove to be of little interest to the Swarm, and for this reason Zeek opted to stay in the small community, mostly for Nuri's sake, as her encounter with the supreme inferno raised suspicions in his mind that she was the royal family member next in line for the title of Warrior of Nathanael. He has raised her in Domreck since that day, working as an inventor and smith to support their humble lifestyle.

PERSONALITY

Nuri, at seventeen years old has grown into a curious and restless individual. Her general disposition is inquisitive and adventurous, out-going but polite, however certain circumstances can cause her to become quite abrasive. She's always been a stubborn and self-determined girl; she dislikes any person who tries to exercise any amount of control over her behaviors and decisions. Of course, Zeek embodies all of these traits and, as her guardian, is the epitome of whom Nuri cannot stand.

Nuri and Zeek are polar opposites. She is a girl with a fiery temper and somewhat of a short fuse (ba-dum-CHING!) Her loyalty lies in her country and she desires nothing more than to see the people of Nathanael rise up and reclaim their nation. Zeek is a calm, controlled individual who very much plays the pacifist and would rather avoid war at all costs. He believes in the powers of love and happiness, and while he dislikes the Swarm very much, he would rather ignore them to live in peace than rise up and allow people die in a revolution. Nuri thinks Zeek is a coward. Zeek thinks Nuri is a fool. They love each other very much.

A more complicating facet of their story is Zeek's growing passion for Nuri. Zeek has played the role of father, brother, and friend to Nuri, and as she has grown, his feelings toward her have as well. In the Nathanaelese culture it is not uncommon for women to marry at the age of fourteen. In light of this, Nuri has been marriage material for quite some time, and this situation has not gone undetected by her guardian. With every passing day Zeek finds himself contemplating more and more a life lived forever next to the girl with whom he has shared so much.

Nuri, in contrast, could hardly feel more different. Her love for Zeek exists only as a love for a family member, a love that exists not out of choice, but out of mutual experience. She and Zeek have been through so much together that an intimate familial relationship is hard to avoid. However, as far as romantic love is concerned, Nuri has established her right to make her own decisions, and in Zeek's case, her decision is decidedly no.

Because of his love for Nuri (as both a daughter and potential spouse), Zeek takes great caution in allowing her any sort of liberty. She is often under his strict supervision, she is not allowed to travel alone outside of the Domreck limits, she is not allowed to speak to strangers, and she is to keep all of her pyrotelekinetic tricks out of sight and out of mind. It is for her own safety, says Zeek. After all, she must maintain a low profile considering her lineage and the people who are looking for her.

Nuri, of course, will not submit to such restrictions, and always finds ways around the rules. Nuri sees Zeek as the shackles that force her into a life of passive neglect of her inherited responsibility (i.e. kick some ass for the honor of Nathanael **winkwinknudgenudge**).

Her most important outlet for her rebellious inclinations over the years has been her growing library of Nathanaelese history. She has recovered whatever texts she can on her country's past, by whatever means necessary. Trading whatever money she makes for the books, she has been known to seek out texts, traveling miles to villages outside of the Domreck limits without Zeek's consent. Nothing is more important to Nuri than knowing her kingdom's history, because with that information she is armed to forge her way to a brighter future. She keeps her books hidden from Zeek, but as she learns more about the history of her nation, her restlessness grows. Slowly she has been putting the clues together, obscure memories from her childhood, stories and histories about ancient warriors, and a growing sentiment embedded in her heart that she must play a significant role in the liberation of her nation.

She has heard of a rebel union forming in Nathanael. It started small, but grows in steadily as the weeks wear on. She hopes to seek it out to find more patriots like herself.

But Zeek will not have it. To him, nothing means so much as she. And to her, no greater oppressor exists than he.

Nuri is bound by the shackles of another's love. Zeek comprehends the power Nuri has, but from past experience, he knows that a fire that burns too bright, too fast, will extinguish itself too quickly.

APPEARANCE

Nuri is an attractive girl by Nathanaelese standards. Not drop-dead gorgeous, she is of average height (5'2") and weight (140 lbs.) for a Nathanaelese woman. Her hips are slightly wider than her bust, and her arms and legs are sturdy and round. Her most engaging features are her eyes, which are slanted and a deep reddish-brown. Her skin is a burnt tan color, but not shiny or glazed. Her hair is a vibrant orange, pulled back into a low pony tail that extends to her knees. One might often find Nathanael's flower decorating her hair, a red five-petaled treasure called a calie (call-ee-ay). Her attire is nothing special, usually a crude shirt and pants, in colors like off-white, olive, or brown. A lot of holes have been burnt in her clothes. Accidents of course. ^_~

Pyralis' appearance is . . . to be decided. Sorry. More info soon, I promise.

POWERS

Nuri, as a Nathanaelese citizen, and especially as heir to the throne, has pyrotelekinetic powers. That is to say that she has to power to light and control fires with her mind. She has more control over this power than do most Nathanaelese people, and can even do neat little tricks like making the fire resemble shapes like people or animals. Comes in handy when you're out of matches.

"For the honor of Nathanael" This is Nuri's transformation sequence. Nuri points her left arm up toward the sky as she shouts her transformation phrase. Everything goes pitch black. Suddenly, a cyclone of fire blazes up from the ground, swallowing Nuri's figure. From inside the cyclone, you can see a black silhouette of Nuri spinning around in the cyclone as her hair rises up into its new form and her hand clasp together high above her head. Her right arm swings around and grasps her "torch" that materializes in front of her torso. Her arms spread apart rapidly, and send the fire of the cyclone blasting away from her. She is left as Pyralis with her torch unlit. She crosses her arm over her chest, blinks, and her weapon flames up immediately. This is her ending pose.

"Flame Spitting" As Pyralis, Nuri's special power is flame spitting. Equipped with a weapon of Zeek's own design, she can spit giant streams of fire at an opponent with great facility. For this attack she uses a "torch" (sparkle stick device, a thin metal rod with a tiny cage on the top. Inside the cage she puts a special type of rock that sparks when ignited). With the torch sparking, she takes a specially crafted canteen off of her belt that has a special, highly flammable liquid. The canteen is kept airtight by a marble in the bottleneck. When Nuri lifts the bottleneck to her lips, she pushes the marble in with her tongue and fills her mouth with the flammable liquid. She then flicks the canteen quickly to secure the marble in its original position, and is ready to spit the liquid through the torch. This attack can cause first and second degree burns, sets clothes on fire easily and can do a lot of damage to anything made out of flammable material.

KINGDOM

(Ancient History [which might be changed for more cohesive symbolism])
As was previously mentioned, the power of fire is a double-edged sword. The ancient Euphorian myths have recognized its duality. In the old days, it was said, Nathanael lived in cold and darkness. The people were afraid of one another, and all lived in savagery and isolation. Then, as a divine gift from the heavens, Angel Nathanael bestowed the gift of fire to a female, pure of mind, pure of soul. She was said to be the first of the line of the Nathanaelese Warriors. With this gift, the female brought warmth and light to the world. The people were attracted to the fire, and around it they discovered community. This idea was the basis upon which Nathanael's society was formed, people brought together and held together by fire. They danced inside its glow, wrapping the flame around their bodies. It was an absolute good, a burn or scar it could not create. However, the flame was a delicate treasure, and as with all treasures, there are those who coveted it. The flame was stolen by a greedy man. He wanted the treasure all to himself. He ran from the community, deep into the woods to hide. To his surprise, however, the flame could not be kept safe so easily. It moved of its own accord, and jumped away from the greedy man. For that man's selfishness, the flame punished the people. It grew hungry and selfish itself, devouring all of the trees, all of the plants, chasing the animals from their homes and leaving the people with nothing to eat. Many starved, many cried, and many cursed this wicked monster they had once been so happy to have.

The female who had been given the flame looked up to the heavens and implored, "Why have you bestowed upon us such a vicious curse?"

The Angel looked down at what had taken place and replied, "A curse for those who choose selfishness and greed. Look at your people. Could you not all be happy to share in the warmth of my fire?"

The female replied, "There are those who could not."

The Angel lamented at this reply, "But those there cannot be. Let the light fill you with love of your fellow man, and your community shall be prosperous. Let it divide you, and your souls shall be consumed by its fury."

The people came together to repent for their sins, and around the fire they prayed for forgiveness. But when they approached the flame to dance as they once had, they recoiled at the new sensation they felt. They experienced pain when they got too close to the fire, so as not to let them forget the flame's awesome power.

Community has since been one of the major foundations of Nathanaelese society. Most Nathanaelese people are very loyal to their nation and many often put the love of their country before all other priorities. This is not to say that it is necessarily right or wrong, it is just what many believe. This is also a reason why Nuri finds Zeeks pacifist tendencies so unappealing.

(Description)
Nathanael was a country governed by hierarchy, and corruption was a very infrequent thing as the Nathanaelese place so much value on being loyal to the country. It's major industries were (and still are) weapon development and manufacturing (due to their access to liquid metals and their research in weapons engineering) and agriculture (Nathanael is a very large country with many regions used for harvesting many different types of crops). It's geography ranges from volcanoes and rivers of molten rock, to deserts, forests, and valleys. It's capital city is Vesta. Uhhh . . . yeah. More info on this place later.

IMAGES

My art