#kinahel

[niuttuc]

You know what, it's been a while since I talked about my various planeswalking guys and gals from the focus group, time to see if a portion of the spreadsheet can get people to ask some questions about them. Even basic questions if you don't know them, it's good for me to to restate the facts every so often and I don't expect anyone to know them in advance.

[niuttuc]

Now that March of the Machine story has been fully released I can ask, how did your ocs weather the Phyrexia invasion of the multiverse?

Arnoss: Was on Ocaelum prepared to defend it from an invasion that never came. Now feels bad he did "nothing to help" during it.

Zarunpel: Worked alongside her sisters to keep her home and land safe even after the courts fell. The Alernis territory has the advantage of being closer to the Wilds and their influence, which the Phyrexians had a very hard time dealing with. It doesn't always make sense to Phyrexians which tend to be very scientific about things. Also, with the help of a couple of her sisters and borrowing her mother's sword, she fought @socialpoison's Traenor in his compleated arm and armor, and subsequently cut.

Ysara: She defended the Kaladesh village her home was nearby from. She died in the process, and left to her apprentice/assistant to clean up her skull and bring it to where she was from.

Farell: Heard about the troubles in Paliano, and couldn't resist coming to help Celin, the woman he loves. She was fine, though there was a lot destroyed. Also them being in contact again has led to exchanges about Farell's brother's death that makes everybody involved very sad, because they're living a tragedy.

Dolores: Thankfully her home on New Capenna was in the Mezzio, not on Park Heights. Her partner, @astrisjanus's Inza, stayed back on Capenna to fight the Phyrexians while Dolores herself took advantage of the chaos to go back to her home plane of Ferely. She was aiming to enact a vengeance there unnoticed. She was noticed.

Lhur: Recently consolidated his position on power and prepared his troops when he heard of what may be coming. When it happened, he saw no choice but to climb on his father's throne of shadows to coordinate actions and defense all across his country while channeling his own magic to limit the appearance of branches and portals over it. He emerged from the invasion exhausted, and then came the weeks more of exhausting work to manage the aftermath.

Jaspar: He was on Ikoria, in Indatha, trying to both survive and learn what he could of Nethroi and the Whispers. He fought how he could during the invasion and capped it off by using his magic through his Elderfang and spread over Indatha by Nethroi's whispers to call upon the echoes of Indath and essentially end Phyrexian (and some non Phyrexian) life in the area. He came back to Kaldheim to news of the death of his deity, Koma, and of the very foundation of Kaldheim. He doesn't yet fully accept the truth of that.

Alamir and Nksdv: They had been on New Phyrexia for intel and action for months by the time of the Invasion. Their last contribution to hinder the phyrexians was to remove their anti-planeswalker defense that scattered the assault team, before the Invasion even begun. It turned out to be a compleated planeswalker linked to Realmbreaker, @socialpoison's Ellidus. Alamir removed them and carried them away from the Tree, trying to reason with them and break through Norn's programming. Alamir knew what it was to be made and treated as a weapon and empathized with them. Seeing the planar instability before the end of the planar swap, Nksdv took them back to the Haven, and left Alamir to choose for themselves if they wanted to see the end of their world.

Sezashi: The orochi was fighting on Kamigawa, grown to oppose a compleated mech, and got stabbed by a branch of Realmbreaker in the back. He survived, and Norn's death rendered the oil inert before he could be compleated, though he might have a more metallic scar in his back now. While he was out, he received visions and ideas from the Myojin of Cryptic Dreams, but the Myojin is aptly-named, and he hasn't fully understood them yet.

Nyrhen: Fighting on another plane, then as soon as he got wind of the fact the attack was on every plane, went back to Eldraine to defend his Sanctuary in the Wilds. He killed a lot of Phyrexians that "happened" to find their way towards it.

The Cursetamer: She lost a lot of her collection of Apostates from Ferely on Innistrad and most of her planeswalking agents to compleation, and even she and her wife had trouble getting things under control after that. Her people actually helped her for once instead of the other way around, even if their home gave to Realmbreaker. Her latest Mana Core prototype was also lost, but that one self-destroyed before it could be compleated. Due to its nature, it had more safety features and contingencies than actual functions.

Kinahel: She was on Winrovah, fighting in a corner more desolate than average, in case she needed to use the Worldslayer or lose it into Void and hope for the best. Anything better than letting Phyrexians get their hands on it, even if she had no idea of the potential consequences. She burned herself out fighting and died as soon as she stopped (this is fine, she's a phoenix).

There's more but that's already plenty and I don't want to pollute people's timelines any more than that. If people want to know more about any of those or other characters, either for this arc or in general, you can ask!

[niuttuc]

7, 13, 23, and 29 for Kinahel?

7. Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

Devoted Phoenix Guardian

Errant. Impulsive. Nostalgic.

13. Name one thing their parents taught them.

Kinahel didn't really have parents in the strictest sense, their egg was stolen and they were taken care of by an organization. But the closest thing they had to parents taught them that differences are strengths, for the world and people both. Complements bring compliments.

23. Stability or novelty?

They prefer novelty, of course! They're often experiencing things again for the first time and finding new things is both a delight and a way to progress. However, due to the general lack of it forced upon them by both their mission and their nature, they highly value Stability when they do get to get some of it.

29. What recurring dreams do they have?

Most of their dreams aren't recurring, but they'll sometimes dream of flying alongside all other past versions of themselves, and sometimes others they haven't been. There is rarely any words, just the feeling of being home. Sometimes their native island is there, other times not. Sometimes they meet other phoenixes where it should be, and they themselves are heading a flock, though generally less varied as Kinahel's.

[niuttuc]

Fanwalker friday

It's already Friday here, ask me things today about Kinahel or Anedia Kosel, if you have the time.

[niuttuc]

New character and new card for fanwalker friday! There’s gonna be more thorough talk about the new peeps for @leafdrake-haven‘s fanwalker february, but I’m still open for questions about Kinahel, Zarunpel, Lia and for good measure Anedia and the others today and other days.

[niuttuc]

Kinahell seems cool! I like their immortal ability are they an angel or something else special or do they have magic that helps with that? (This is @leafdrake-haven)

They're a Phoenix-based Aven, so it's part of who they are!

[niuttuc]

Kinahel, Immortal Guardian

Name: Kinahel

Pronouns: Depends on their incarnation. Currently he/him, but will answer to all.

Species: Phoenix Aven

Age: 223 years old/3 months old

Plane of Origin: Zendikar

First Planeswalk: Eldraine

Colors: Red, White

Appearance: Kinahel is (generally) an aven phoenix, the exact look (and bird base, he was a sphinx too at one occasion) of which varies every time he’s reborn. Some features are consistent though, his plumage is dark red to light red on the tips of the feathers, his eyes matching that red. There’s a soft glow coming from behind his feathers, that waxes and wanes with his breathing. When using magic, his eyes and the extremities of his feathers burn, then more as more magic is used until he’s fully burning, then consumed.

Backstory: Kinahel is from an isolated volcanic island in the middle of Zendikar’s ocean. It was ringed by a dense hedron field that isolated it from the rest of the world, and kept the roil within mostly in-check, allowing for more sedentary civilizations to take hold. When the eldrazi stirred a thousand year ago, a particularly big one (not a titan, but one of the larger specimens) was revealed to be trapped under the island. After an intervention from Nahiri, it was put back to sleep, but the inhabitants of the island didn’t forget.

They researched and perfected a weapon over the next centuries along with the rebuilding of their civilization. Eventually, when the weapon was ready, they kidnapped acquired a phoenix egg from the volcano, and modified it to give birth to who was to be the weapon’s wielder, their protective magic not caught up to the task of protecting the one using the weapon from its power. After a couple more decades of being raised in the best way they could, the phoenix champion was sent to slay the monster under the island.

The civilization had underestimated their weapon’s capabilities. Or consequences. It managed to kill the eldrazi even through its stasis, yes. And, unexpectedly, this death ignited the phoenix’s spark, and they were reborn on another plane, more powerful than ever. By the time they figured out a way to come back, the weapon was standing on one of the last pieces of the island still above water… And crumbling. The hedrons stood, unfazed. 

Kinahel took the weapon and its sheath, and left, mourning. They’d considered drowning themselves beyond rebirth, but they didn’t want merfolks from neighboring settlements or treasure hunters to sometimes find it and unleash it once again. They’d been raised right. They took an oath to contain the sacred weapon, the Worldslayer, to make sure it never causes devastation again.

In the two hundred-some years, their guard was bypassed once only, when a thief managed to get the weapon out of its sheath and accidentally use it when Kinahel noticed them, killing them both. The employer of the thief, a planeswalker, then swooped in before Kinahel was reborn. After a lengthy chase, and another death, Kinahel managed to track down the planeswalker to the plane of Mirrodin, already adorned with a few more craters, and defeat them to claim back their burden.

Since then, they flew over countless planes, never settling down for too long, and are still looking for a way to destroy the weapon without more casualties. And preferably without destroying them forever in the process.

Magic, gear and abilities: Kinahel can generate and absorb fire on contact, and control it as long as he stays in contact with part of it. It burns and can heal most mundane wounds and illnesses, however it still burns the area healed, even if it heals the burn at the same time. Areas can be numbed when healing wounds, but illnesses often involve a LOT of pain. 

His magic can be very powerful, but the more he uses it, the more his feathers burn, and past a certain point he can’t extinguish them by himself (plunging him in large bodies of water have been known to do the trick when not exceptionally late) and combusts himself to death… And a new life. As a phoenix, whenever he dies (so far) he’s been reborn by fire into a new body. They keep their memories and personality through rebirths, and are full-grown often in less than a day should they have the necessary food/magic/fuel.

Between his wings, in a special sheath, he carries the Worldslayer on his back, a sword of high destructive potential. He will avoid using it himself in the vast majority of scenarios, so far the War of the Spark is the only time he’s seriously thought about using it in this life. If he’s used it in the past, he died doing so.

Recently, he's started studying the alchemical and magical properties of parts of his body. 

When it comes to fighting, he'll often fashion weapons out of fire, or use talons and flight to his advantage. 

Card: