A character profile for my Rito OC/Ritosona, Rinili. (Check out @3leggedmagpie's art of him!). I'm going to do shortform here and longform under the cut. Rinili first shows up in chapter 6 of The Ballad of Kass and is present throughout the after then and also makes a brief appearance in chapter 10 of Shifting Tides of Fate. (I've tried to make the longform as spoiler free as I can.)
Name: Rinili
Species: Rito (Mixed Ancestry)
Pronouns: He/Him
Sexual Orientation: Gay
Age: ~22 years old [As of first appearance in fic, around 42 by time of series end]
Birthplace: Presumably Sukilin (Sue-key-lin) Lumber Camp, raised in Kariki (Ka-re-key) Village
Height: 180 cm
Build: Moderate
Eye Color: Light Green (Jade)
Plumage Color: Midnight blue above ribs, powder blue below ribs
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Four long ornamental tail feathers
Peafowl like crest
Pluma (“hair”) on top of head
Powder blue wingtips with white band
White banding on legs
Yellow breast patch
No white on underwings
Silver-gray zigzag band around midsection
Mottled silver-gray chevron patterns on upper back
Slightly larger dark spot on beak hook
Kirikaros (UV beak markings): a broken line from the base of his beak to the tip on top and a similar broken line running along where the mandibles meet, as well as several small streaks between the broken lines.
Occupation: Warrior (Ryski [Rye-ski])
Signature Weapons: Three pair of Tyto Axes with blue leather inner handles and spiked buttcaps. Each pair has a different back, only carries one pair at a time. [Eventually wields the Harpy Macuahuitl (moc-wa-weetle) as well.]
Relationship Status: Single
Exes: Gizli, Daklin, Kirlini, Lakson
Family:
Parents:
Biological parents deceased, names unknown
Adoptive mothers: Harli and Milni
Siblings: Sisters: Koli & Vili
Backstory
Rinili is a warrior from Kariki Village, a Rito settlement located on the eastern cliff sides of the Great Scar Canyon, the massive chasm separating Hyrule from the lands to it’s north and west, near the end point of the Tanagar Canyon. He is presumed to have hatched sometime in 55 Era of Rejuvenation, 22 years ago, although the exact date is unknown. He was found by one of his adoptive mothers, Harli, during her time as First Warrior.
Harli, a member of the Orni Tribe with pale red plumage and blond pluma (“hair”) was leading a group scouting the abandoned Sukilin Lumber Camp, northwest of Kariki Village in the forest at the bottom of the Great Scar Canyon, when her party came upon a gruesome sight. Beasts feeding on the corpses of a pair of Rito. After felling the beasts they landed and began investigating the area. The sounds of a crying fledgling attracted Harli to a barrel, where she found the young Rinili, who had just barely fledged, along with two golden armbands adorned with emeralds. She took the young fledgling and tied him to her breast with a bit of cloth and flew back home in the hopes that he wouldn’t be scared by the vision of what was left of his parents.
The scout group found Rinili’s name carved into the lid of the barrel he was hidden in and Harli and her wife Milni (also of the Orni Tribe, with has cream colored plumage and snow white pluma) kept his name and adopted him. They kept the armbands, presumed to be a symbol of Rinili’s parents union, similar to a feather pin or Hylian wedding ring.
While it was hard to tell based on the condition of the bodies, Rinili’s father was of mixed ancestry, Cardu and Cristatta (Cris-tat-ta) Tribes. His mother however, was of an unknown, lost Tribe, with bright yellow feathers, a silvery band on her midsection, and a peafowl-like crest. Harli spent years looking for information about Rinili’s father to no avail.
Unfortunately, Harli’s attempt to shield Rinili from the sight of his parent’s bodies did not prevent him from being scarred by the experience. Years later, he began to have nightmares about what he heard while in the barrel. When his adult plumage began to come in his mothers told him the truth. Rinili decided to become a Warrior in part to prevent others from suffering his or his parent’s fate.
Personality
Rinili keeps to himself for the most part, focusing on his duties as a Warrior. Unusually for Rito, his roost is rather plain and undecorated. He can be a bit gruff and quick to anger, but he as a sarcastic since of humor.
As a Warrior
Rinili is a member of the Ryski, a word often translated into “scout”. However, like many instances of Hylian translations of Rito words this does not quite give the entire picture of the role of the Ryski. While they do scout, they also conduct raids and fight as skirmishers, hitting hard, fast, and silently. Usually felling their foes before they have time to react. Rinili is self described as being rubbish with a bow, so he fights with a pair of Tyto Axes.
In spite of his young age, he quickly proved himself as a capable Warrior and was given permission to wield Tyto Axes with blue leather inner handles. The Tyto Axe is constructed with inner handles for the primary purpose of being wielded with one’s talons in a high speed dive. The inner handles have leather grips instead of the colorful cord wrapped wooden handle that is mainly used while holding it in one’s wing. The type of leather is a symbol of rank or skill among the Rito. The lowest level is simple leather made from the hides of any number of beasts. Next is red leather made from the hide of a red monster. And the highest level is the blue leather made from blue monsters.
In Rinili’s case, his axes were made with the hide of a Blue Moblin he personally slew. In spite of his moderate build, he is unusually physically strong for a Rito. It should be noted that blue monster leather is usually purified by hours long rituals. Black Monster hides are simply too tough to make leather out of, and few dare to fight them unless absolutely necessary.
Rinili also makes use of talon dropped explosive devices when necessary. These provide more destructive power than the popular bomb arrows, but do require flying at lower altitude to effectively use them. Several are carried in a bag, held in one talon and a cord is pulled with the other before dropping them on the target.
[Later on in the story, Rinili recovers his mother’s Harpy Macuahuitl and uses it as well.]
Rinili often escorts merchants and couriers to other Rito Villages and sometimes to Gerudo Territory. Like most Rito living outside of Hyrule, he isn’t terribly fond of Hylians, but he respects the Gerudo for being skilled warriors while also sympathizing with the fact that they too lost one of their important figures during the Great Calamity, Chief Urbosa.
Family, Friends, and Relationships
Rinili refers to Harli as Ma, and Milni as Mum. After Rinili moved into his own roost, the two of them paired up with Taslin, an Orni Tribe courier with olive green plumage, to have their two daughters, Koli & Vili. Koli has pink plumage and is Harli and Taslin’s child, while Vili has yellow plumage and is Milni and Taslin’s child. Taslin visits from time to time, but otherwise Harli and Milni raise the two fledglings.
Since the Great Migration after the events of the Great Calamity, Rito culture has put a strong emphasis on getting married and starting a family as soon as possible. Rinili’s first romantic relationship was with Gizli, a member of Arini Tribe and painter from Suskiri Village. Their plumage is bright scarlet, with verdant tips on their crest, wings, and tail feathers, and a golden breast. Rinili and Gizli had a long-distance relationship for over a year before it fell apart.
He has had relationships with Daklin, Kirlini, and Lakson in the time since but none of these relationships lasted very long. Much to Milni's chagrin, he has not put much effort into serious relationships and has had numerous flings.
Rinili has a few friends among the other Warriors in Kariki Village and a few acquaintances in Gerudo territory. He is cordial with Taslin as he often has to escort him to various villages. He has avoided Vilia since leaving Gizli, as she reminds him of his time with them.
I’m still slowly working through your stuff so a lot of these make sense but hit me with “Mipha’s Awakening”
Thanks for the ask @drsteggy!
"Mipha's Awakening" is the first chapter of Shifting Tides of Fate, the direct sequel to The Amnesiac Hero's Quest. It's a play on Link's Awakening, and ties in with the name of the final chapter of TAHQ. This probably isn't too spoilery since it's in the tags of The Realm Walker series but just in case... (Also going to put a snippet below the cut).
The Champions are still alive, having been possessed and kept alive by Ganon. Each time Link frees a Divine Beast, he also frees its Champion, and they end up in a coma for a while (the amount of time varies for each Champion, with Mipha's being the longest/one of the longest).
So, "Mipha's Awakening" begins with a little dream sequence before she wakes up and continues from there where she states her intention to leave the Domain with Link to free the other Champions.
It's the first time I've written Mipha and the fic alternates between her and Link's POVs, although this first chapter and most of the second one is entirely from her POV.
Snippet time!
Her eyes pick up on a wet trail along the nearby stone path and she follows it until she comes upon a large stone building. This too is of Zora make, a temple! Atop the temple’s domed roof is a large stone carving of three crescents linked together with a circle in each crescent. So, like the Zora Crest, the symbol is of deep significance to Mipha… It’s the crest of the Goddess Nayru!
And as expected, there’s a large statue depicting Nayru in the center of the temple. Like most depictions of her, she appears as a Hylian woman but with ears like the fins of her Zora children. She’s wearing a long flowing blue dress, a golden circlet adorned with a large blue gem. It’s probably not real… No, wait it is! Just where did they find such a large sapphire?!
As with most statues of Nayru in temples, there’s a pool of water around her feet, used by worshipers to bless themselves and ask for Nayru’s favor. Mipha’s eyes are drawn to the golden necklace on the statue, featuring a gemstone shaped like Nayru’s crest. The circles are sapphires, held in place by golden crescent shapes. Zora’s Sapphire, aka the Spiritual Stone of Water, said to be given to the Hero of Time by the Zora princess Ruto so that he could open the Temple of Time…
At first glance it’s your average depiction of the Goddess of Wisdom, though larger and more ostentatious than most. However, this statue is holding two objects, something Mipha’s never seen before. In one hand is a large blue sphere marked with her crest, and judging by the glow, it’s made from a massive Luminous Stone! It can only be one thing, a representation of Nayru’s Pearl, the sacred artifact used by the Hero of Winds to unlock the trials he needed to complete to prove his worth so that he could wield the sword that seals the darkness.
In her other hand is a harp, circular in shape with six strings. One side of the harp is red while the other is blue. At the top is a gold adornment with a blue stone in the center and three spike like protrusions. It’s the Harp of Ages, said to be used by the Oracle of Ages, who shares her name with the Goddess Naryu. If the legends are true then the real deal has a timeshift stone as that blue gem in the center. The blue stone here appears to be an aquamarine, which is rare in Hyrule.
