i'm thinking about things about throwing some ideas around so: xvi potential spoilers for a verse and quick thoughts for two chars under cut
tentative xvi verse for lito at the moment is that he is dominant of alexander, a lost eikon of the empire now known to the world as 'the fallen' and the warden of time. he lives in the nation of rosaria, keeping the knowledge of what he is secret from all except one, as he knew from a young age that were his power to be made public, there would be no peace for him ever again. ( he can range from not knowing clive and jill at all, to being close with them as their kind if cryptic friend. ) of course things change with the empire's coup, and he goes into hiding after the events at phoenix gate alongside seira, to whom he's granted the blessing of alexander. i'm not concrete on the happenings of the game yet, but he does end up alongside cid and co. in the hideout, among the ruins of his ancestor's destroyed kingdom. specializes in time magic (i.e. haste, slow, disable, stop, etc.) and using a sword and shield.
design wise, alexander really leans into the idea of ruin and the effect of the passage of time. it isn't outwardly mechanical though still is within, with the architecture of the fallen being inspired by alexander's rock-like outer facade. the eikon itself is covered in moss to reflect how it hasn't been summoned in ages, with the six stone wings folded against its back. when summoned it stays on "all fours" like xiv alexander does, but when it stands, it gets some biblical angel / "lady justice" sword in one hand and scales in the other kind of appearance as the stone around its wings crumbles and they're freed. i haven't gotten much further with the idea, but. that's him for now
caderyn is another dominant of the fallen, being the dominant of king arthur, thirteenth knight and leader of the knights of the round / the warden(s) of justice. he's a knight of sanbreque, very attentive to the needs of the common folk more than to the needs of the nobility when not grappling the twelve spirits that have attached himself to him. the spirits of the other twelve knights of the round who perished in the fall of the empire by yielding up their lives for caderyn's ancestor haunt him now, with their loyalty extending beyond death, and caderyn being the new holder of their legacy. he alone carries the burden of the knights of the round now, until the other twelve manifest in a bloodline anew.
emyr is the third dominant of the fallen, the dominant of leviathan, warden of retribution and later warden of the waves. a ruthless mercenary, she travels the land of valisthea in search of the dominant of asura, her fated other half. she rages at how her eikon was forgotten while the others lived on, with anger strong enough it threatens to drown all in her wake to punish them for it — unless soothed by the hand of the warden of penance. the blood of the sea remembers and knows her eikon's history as something more once, and she seeks to ensure leviathan will not be forgotten again, whether through great virtue or great destruction.
