Character Info Here!!
The Nasaru:
Ancient, winged aliens who draw their power from the solar systems around us. Two, or more, are “assigned” to a planet with the task of developing its resident population into a form suitable for transfiguration, a process known as “Choosing”. They, and their Chosen, are tasked with defending the planet from the inevitable invasion by a planet-eating swarm known as the Etu Daku. One will “Become” — tying themselves to the planet in a process of reincarnation that will exponentially increase their strength — while the other will remain with the Chosen as their Judge, an arbiter of justice, a mentor, a teacher to the newly immortal.
INANNA (IN-anna): The Guardian of Earth. Used to have silver wings and black eyes, but after her Becoming, she’s traded her silver Tassen heritage in for Earth-blue, glowing cerulean wings and ocean eyes.
ASHUR (AH-sure): Should have been the Judge, but he fucked that up. Originally had the silver wings of Tassen Chosen, like Inanna, but they bled black for his transition to Judge and never changed back. His eyes are Nasaru-black, with no sclera.
The Chosen:
No longer human — or “Prime” as the Nasaru call them — they’ve gone through the “Choosing” and are now winged immortals, larger, taller, and sharing in the immense power of the Nasaru that made them.
TUMA (TOO-mah): circa 7600 B.C. The First Chosen. An ancient wanderer of African descent, he was Chosen from Tell Ramad, far from his birthplace. Still a wanderer, he makes a point to travel the globe at least once a century, usually visiting the other Chosen on his journeys. He’s imposing even among the Chosen, with gleaming ebony skin and enormous wings the color of a storm cloud.
NEITH (neeth): circa 7300 B.C. One of the few Ashur Chose himself before Inanna left to Become, she was the pampered daughter of a village chief near Nabta Playa, offered to the Nasaru as tribute. A key architect of dynastic Egyptian culture, she lost interest in Prime affairs shortly after the rise of monotheistic culture. She was with Ashur for thousands of years, until suddenly, she was not. Her wings are strawberry, edged in brilliant green with royal blue primaries.
SHAMASH (SHAH-mash): circa 7200 B.C. An ancient Mediterranean warrior, he was Chosen by Inanna after challenging her to battle. Her right hand as well as her lover, he was designated as Judge at the advent of Inanna’s Becoming. As such, he’s the conduit for her power to the Chosen, his wings transformed into the Judge’s midnight black, edged over the millennia of her Becoming in the platinum mark of Inanna’s power.
DEVDAN (DEV-dan): circa 7000 B.C. A scholar and philosopher by nature, he was a bureaucrat by trade from the ancient Birrana civilization of India. Reclusive at best, misanthropic at his worst, he can usually be found in his Temple. His wings are a vibrant teal ombre, bleaching out to white at his primaries.
SARNAI (SAR-nay): circa 6800 B.C. She was fleeing her husband when she ran across Devdan. Their attraction was immediate and electric, and when an altercation ended in the death of her husband, Devdan championed her Choosing. Unbeknownst to her, Ashur agreed with Devdan, resulting in Inanna Choosing her. She’s tiny, her wings a deep espresso.
RYUNG (RYE-ung): circa 6500 B.C. Chosen from Jiahu near the Yellow River. Nominated by his tribe as tribute, he left behind a wife and child. He found the first evidence of the Etu Daku infestation, and he’s been linked to both Shamash and Ashur for centuries. His wings are flames made flesh, vivid yellow at the crest that darken to orange and coral with blood-red primaries.
HEDEON (HEAD-ee-on): circa 6800 B.C. A potter from the late Paleolithic stage, his clan hunted mammoths and reindeer in the Caspian Mountains. One of the first potters in his family, he was Chosen by Inanna unexpectedly, but left behind only his parents when he was Chosen. His temple is an ode to pottery, many of the pieces his own, and he’s a huge collector of blown glass. His wings are the light blue-white of freshly fallen snow.
MENEWA (MEN-eh-wah): circa 6000 B.C. A shaman living in Xaa-yuu-chit, in modern-day California, he was the only survivor of a raid that killed his entire village. His Choosing was done on the blood-soaked ground in front of his house, the bodies of his wife and son burning in the background. Inti grounds him, but Sabine calls to a darker part of him. His wings are mahogany, limned in black.
INTI (IN-tee): circa 5700 B.C. Discovered in the jungle near Monte Alegre, surrounded by the bodies of his enemies, he was the youngest Prime ever Chosen. He’s been with Menewa and Sabine for millennia, but his Choosing didn’t cure the psychosis he was born with and he knows it. His name is a promise fulfilled, his wings a gleaming gold.
BENJAMIN (BEN-jah-min): circa 5300 B.C. Deceased. A middling warrior from the Caspian culture in Northwestern Africa, he was Chosen by Inanna without consulting with Ashur. A tyrant raised too high, he ruled the ancient savannahs of Maghreb with an iron fist. His wings are green like tourmaline, tipped in white.
ELYAS (EE-lie-as): circa 5100 B.C. Deceased. A prince of the upcoming Samarran culture at Tell es-Sawwan in ancient Iran, he was offered as tribute by his father during the Nasaru’s visit. Stubborn, violent, over the years he’s been banned from several of the Chosen’s territories. His wings are a light tan; non-descript and mild, and Inanna has heard complaints about this fact for years.
EBELE (EE-bell): circa 4800 B.C. With both her husband and son dead, this matriarch had lived a long life before being Chosen by Inanna. She’s gained a reputation among the Chosen as a mentor, nurturing but strict, pragmatic but quietly optimistic. Her Wings are vivid cobalt, fading to lilac at the primaries.
ANYLESE (ANN-eh-lees): circa 4600 B.C. A Trypolye refugee from modern-day Southern Europe, she was accepted as a priestess in Neith’s Temple in Luxor. Found there during the winding travels of the Comitatus, she was Chosen by Inanna, her own Temple established in Genoa. Her bright red hair is a vibrant contrast to her wings, whose feathers are palest lilac.
KAIUS (KAI-us): circa 4300 B.C. Another prince of his tribe, his Choosing was at Anylese’s request during her stay with the Nasaru’s Comitatus. His serious mien reflects the pragmatism of his northern heritage, and he was instrumental in developing the Funnelbeaker culture, facilitating their colonization efforts into southern Scandinavia and Poland. His wings are brilliant white, and he is often found in his Temple… or Anylese’s.
TARNI (TAR-nee): circa 4100 B.C. The daughter of an elder from her clan, she was offered as tribute to the Nasaru during their tour of Australia. Inanna surprised Ashur by accepting, and surprised him further by treating the young Chosen — she was only 19 at the time of her Choosing — like a younger sister. Her wings are the colors of the dawn, vivid white and yellow cresting to light blue, her primaries a brighter blue, like a clear afternoon sky.
SABINE (SAY-been): circa 4000 B.C. The second Prime Chosen by Ashur, she was the Wnaktih of her clan in the Vucedol Culture in modern-day Croatia. She’s been with Inti and Menewa from the beginning. Her wings are flame-red, the feathers black at the base with red tips. Except her under-wing, which has gone through a mysterious transformation and is now black as night.
CAMAR (KAY-mar): circa 3300 B.C. Chosen by Ashur after Inanna left to Become to replace Elyas, his Choosing was in part due to his father’s legacy. A legacy of peace and prosperity Ashur tasked Camar with upholding and extending throughout Elyas’ tattered territory. His wings, white with golden primaries, are some of the brightest among the Chosen.
ONI (OH-nee): circa 1200 B.C. An escaped slave, she made her way back to her home only to find a village ravaged by raiders, her family dead. Wandering in the African wilderness, she is eventually Chosen by Ashur, but abandoned soon after to Shamash’s tender care. The only thing she knows of the Nasaru are the stories told by the elder Chosen. Her wings are a painter’s delight of reds and blues and greens.
YUL (youl): circa 1000 B.C. A healer in the Xiongnu Tribal Confederation, he was Chosen by Ashur at the behest of Hedeon after making a pilgrimage to the Northman’s Temple. Theirs was a short-lived affair (for Chosen), and the two parted as friends after only a few centuries. His wings are reddish-orange, with teal primaries.
MEI (may): circa 500 B.C. Saved from certain death at the hands of her husband’s rivals, Mei’s Choosing was the same day as the coup against her husband. His death, as well as the deaths of her two children, has given her a nihilist approach to life, even after the gift of immortality. She hosts a festival every year, and in most recent years the focus has been on anime and video games. Her wings are brilliant crimson.
AMON (AY-mon): circa 300 B.C. A jokester, a trickster… his Choosing by Ashur was a surprise to Shamash. That might be because the darker aspects of that story have never been shared — not by Ashur, and definitely not by Amon. His wings are gray, interspersed with gleaming silver.
SOPHEA (SOH-fee-ah): circa 500 A.D. A widowed freedom fighter, she bargained with Ashur during her Becoming — she wouldn’t stay to wreak havoc on the army invading her lands if he would guarantee the army’s withdrawal. Thoroughly entertained, Ashur agreed, calling in Ryung to handle the monotonous logistics involved. She met Camar during a trip with Tuma and they’ve been together ever since. Her wings are green, with a stripe of lighter green along her coverts.
KARINA (car-REEN-a): circa 620 A.D. A hunter’s daughter, she was Chosen by Ashur after escaping slavers in the forests of modern-day Russia, killing ten in the process. The remaining two were in dogged pursuit, but she managed to evade them — just in time for Ashur to Choose her. Quiet and introspective, she’s often found hanging out with Kauis and Anylese. Her wings are a mottled gray, the underside starting to fade to pitch, similar to Sabine’s.
ANDES (AN-deez): 1086. A midwife during the reign of the Inca’s, Andes was Chosen by Ashur days after her husband’s death in a hunt. In mourning, she doesn’t remember much of that time, but over the centuries, she’s developed a friendship with Sabine, as well as Ebele. Her wings are baby blue with a navy border.
KOA (KOH-ah): 1774. Chosen by Ashur on Hawai’i during the reign of Kamehameha I, he was a boat maker by trade. Still mourning the death of his wife, he didn’t accept Ashur’s offer of immortality lightly. He helps the Nasaru with his investigation using a more… hands-on approach. His wings are navy throughout.
MICHAEL (MY-khal): 1888. A box man, a heel, and an all-around rowdy boy, he was Chosen by Ashur after a failed attempt to steal from the Nasaru in New York. His secret addiction is video games, and Cassandra was right… his tag is Chosenone69. His wings are bottle green — the same as his eyes — and he lives with Ashur and Koa on an island near Cuba that the Nasaru has claimed for his own.
CASSANDRA (cass-AN-drah): 2021. Chosen by Inanna, she was the catalyst to end her Becoming. Abducted by Ashur only a day after her Choosing, she talked him into letting her help investigate the Etu Daku infestation. Taken from Ebele’s aerie, she managed to die again while in the hands of the Primum Frater, and it was only the immense power Ashur dumped into her that brought her back. Her green eyes have a ring of black around them from his power; her wings are stormy periwinkle blue with rose-gold primaries that match her hair.