[AMoG] Sneak Peek - A Murder of Gods Romance Options

Hi, everyone! This comes later than expected (my apologies for that!), but I'll be putting up a number of polls and features prior to the weekly devlog this Saturday. The first item on the list is a character blurb for A Murder of God's romance options, which you'll find below. Following this will be an Arcanist+ poll to determine the order of portraits commissioned for these characters, which will be shown off in a sneak peek for Retainer+, and as a full artwork for Arcanist+. Lastly, I will also be tossing up a poll for the Arcanist+ art rewards for this month. While I'm not completely sure yet that these new pieces will be finished in time for December's update, I have begun commissioning full-body shots for Isha and our new group of villains--if worse comes to worst and the new artworks cannot be finished this month, I hope they'll help to tide you over!

For now--the character blurb for AMoG's ROs. Please note that context regarding AMoG has been deliberately withheld so as to avoid early-game spoilers; all the same, these have been written in a way that hopefully sheds enough light on the universe for the characters to make sense. Without further ado:

A Murder of Gods Romance Options

Satria/Shinta Prasidya (M/F Genderflippable)

Appearance: Solidly built, with a medium dark skin tone. Straight black hair kept short (M) / shoulder-length (F). Piercing red eyes and lips that rest on a permanent scowl, asserting an aura of cold indifference.

About: The newest member of Exagis’s Four Shields is the youngest in history to have attained the esteemed rank, and possesses the formidable skills to match. A master lancer with lightning-fast reflexes and a talented spellcaster besides, they switch seamlessly between the arts to overwhelm their opponents. Their formidable feats and quiet disposition have cultivated a reputation for unapproachability, but the truly observant would notice their desperate, fumbling attempts at caring for those around them. As the child of Aksaran refugees, they were regaled since youth with tales of the vibrant coastal nation, and has developed an almost worshipful attitude for members of the Ksatria.

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Titus/Tana Nielgard (M/F Genderflippable)

Appearance: Ice-blue hair kept in a messy medium cut (M) / slick bob (F). Relatively short and slenderly-built, with pale skin typically seen on northerners. Deep-set turquoise eyes and a slender nose, with lips permanently locked into a very intentional scowl.

About: A warrior hailing from the far north territory of Aelif, which has remained locked in a struggle against the sea god Yehia’s expulse since time immemorial. Having been made a delegate to Exagis to honor an age-old treaty, they are desperate to excel and learn as much as they can from the state such that they can bring back both wisdom and resources to their doomed homeland. The sheer loftiness of their self-imposed burden has caused them to become irritable and sharp-tongued, with a particular disdain for inefficiency. Still, many of their colleagues appreciate their straightforwardness, as well as how they perform their duties with impressive, if single-minded determination.

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Ariel Luthram (M/F Genderflippable)

Appearance: Bright blue eyes under incredibly thick lashes, with a prominent nose and wide, full lips. Elegant, slicked-back white hair kept nape-length (M) / back-length (F). Tall and lanky with a slouching gait. Possesses a deep skin tone marked by an assortment of scars and burns along the length of their arms.

About: A talented loremaster specializing in combat applications, Ariel is the only person in all of Exagis to hold posts as both arcane researcher and field agent. This dubious honor leaves them with an overwhelming amount of responsibilities and not enough time with which to perform them, but the direct field observations it allows for has proven to be an invaluable component of Exagis’s fight against the expulse. The person themself has surprisingly little to say on the topic, having long since resigned themself to their fate, and choosing instead to focus on performing their duties with admirable, if unenthusiastic, competence.

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Cyril/Ciara Schander (M/F Genderflippable)

Appearance: Golden eyes and a prominent jawline, with unkempt brown hair kept medium-length (M) / long and tied into twin braids (F). Olive skin tone inked with an assortment of tattoos. A blinding smile with prominent fangs, and an overbearingly friendly disposition.

About: A free-spirited mercenary who frequently finds themself in Exagis’s employ. Well-traveled and resourceful, their first-hand experience in visiting far-flung locales and vast network of contacts have proven invaluable in assisting the work of Exagis’s loremasters. When not enlisted in these endeavors, they spend their time running a renowned flower shop on Exagis’s main street, where the plethora of exotic flora they’ve gathered from their travels are cultivated and bred with great care. Affable, easygoing, and competent at their work, they enjoy an almost mythical popularity amongst Exagis’s local populace, though they are suspiciously adept at sidestepping propositions for anything deeper than passing flirtation.

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Mori (NB)

Appearance: Slenderly built, with gently sloping features and pale, porcelain skin. Midnight-black eyes that seems to reflect no light, thin lips permanently pulled into a knowing smirk. Long black hair worn in a thin ponytail.

About: Heir to a famed but reclusive clan of spellcasters operating out of the Jieshuang Deadlands. Mori and their forebears are a great mystery to Exagis and Asphodel at large; an increasingly wild list of rumors and intrigue swirl around their mysterious bloodline, which has single-handedly repelled much of the Deadlands’ expulse while stubbornly refusing Exagian aid. The few operatives to have made contact with the reclusive figure have described them to be fickle and enigmatic, though strangely prolific in rescuing Exagian agents stranded in the Deadlands. This—combined with their peerless mastery over the blessings of Erathel, as well as their expansive knowledge of combating the expulse—makes them coveted as an agent by Exagis to this day, despite plentiful evidence that they would sooner toss themself off the Jieshuang Chasm.

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Andrea Handarto (F)

Appearance: Tall and lean, with a medium light skin tone. Black hair tied into a practical ponytail. Serious brows over sharp, intelligent dark eyes, and the gait of a warrior entirely assured of her own strength.

About: A warrior of the Ksatria, the force comprising Aksara’s last line of defense against the fallout of Scionian corruption. Blessed with the power of Vasaria, she ensorcels her blade with purifying flames and burns a path to Aksara’s freedom. Stoic, dutiful, and fiercely protective of her twin brother Jesse, Andrea regularly throws herself into inadvisable situations—often against the Ksatria’s wishes. She engineers a perfect façade of cold, unshakeable calm; even so, those closest to her know that she is more desperate than anyone to see the birth of a free Aksara—and terrified by the prospect of never seeing it come to fruition.

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Jesse Handarto (M)

Appearance: Lanky and waifish, with a medium light skin tone entirely free of scars and blemishes. Unkempt, wavy black hair kept medium-short. An oblong face with sharp, well-defined features, juxtaposed against a warm, compassionate gaze.

About: A warrior of the Ksatria, the force comprising Aksara’s last line of defense against the fallout of Scionan corruption. A prodigal spellcaster blessed with the power of Nemai, allowing him to blanket the battlefield in fogs and poisonous mists. A childhood illness has left him with a weak heart, and he suffers from a low tolerance to exertion as a result; even so, his ability to contain and weaken hordes of expulse remain an invaluable asset to the Ksatria. Gentle and kind to a fault, he is often considered the Ksatria’s beating heart—and though the title’s irony is not lost on him, he happily wears it all the same.

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I hope these characters have been able to pique your interest! I'll be back later in the month with a larger feature on the top-voted character of the bunch, presented with artwork from AMoG's artist, Fulminaire. I hope you'll look forward to it!