Riezal

## Description

Riezal is a blue-white Flicker often referred to as **the Baron of the Open Cluster.** He wears an extravagant set of clothing resembling what a pre-Endor baron might've worn during the old era and a cape featuring a glowing, blue-purple interior dotted with miniature stars. The outside of the cape is a silvery-white, revealing nothing of the other side. While he has no visible wings, but is capable of flight to some extent. When flying, he loses much of his maneuverability in exchange for speed, and most watching from afar mistake him for a shooting star. Unlike the winged Flickers, flight drains his energy the way energy is drained from Flickers when summoning fire, and thus he avoids using that power unless necessary. Riezal's weapon is a flaming white sword that materializes in battle. Similar to a lightsaber, it can shear through most materials with ease, and will not be broken upon contact with a lightsaber or similarly forged weapon. If it is used against flammable material, said material is generally ignited. He can also manipulate wind, similar to Apep and Romano. However, his manipulation tends to be more powerful and uncontrolled, thus making it impractical and dangerous to use for sailing. Like most Flickers, Riezal can also summon and manipulate fire, but he can't direct it as precisely as some Flickers might aim a well-placed fireball or two. Instead, he tends to use both wind and fire in conjunction during battle, whipping the air around him into an accretion disc-like ring of hot material and fire. Depending on whose fire he's manipulating, as well as the speed of the winds, its color may range from orange-yellow to blue. Riezal can "read" minds, but only to a very small extent. Rather than using it to actually decipher thoughts, he uses it more as a form of radar to know who's around him based on whether he can sense their thoughts or not, even if he can't read the thoughts themselves.

## History

He believed that he was to rule the Isles by cosmic decree, and by that belief, he sought out the other Flickers whom were to pledge their allegiance to him. To his dismay, those to the west were already under the reign of the so-called Flicker-King, and the east refused any ruler. And so it was that Riezal, defeated, returned to Starsand to preside over the small isle. Or so he thought. When he returned, the Cygni turned him away, deeming his greed to be too much for his own good. Outraged, he lashed out at their leader, the winged Flicker who was to lead the Cygni, and with that, all of Starsand. While both sides fought ferociously, in the end, Riezal was no match against the combined might of all the Cygni. Deneb bested his adversary, but Riezal was not so easily killed. Seeing that this fight was lost, the ex-lord of Starsand fled, leaving no trace of his existence there other than singed trees and burnt-out holes where grass had once grown. That, too, would fade away in time, as would the memories of all those who remembered his existence in Mirrorflame.

Forsaking the Mirrorflame Flickers' habits of distancing themselves from humans, Riezal gladly used his own power to subjugate and control any humans unfortunate enough to cross paths with him. And yet, that was not enough. For every human he scared into obedience, he was again reminded of his own defeat at the hands of the Cygni, of the other Flickers' refusal to obey, of the self-proclaimed Flicker-King and his successful following. Painstakingly, day by day, hour by hour, Riezal built up his fleet, his temporary empire, which came to be known as the Open Cluster Fleet. In reality, they were nothing more than cannon fodder to the Flicker that he planned to use someday to reclaim what was rightfully his--Starsand, and the loyalty of other Flickers. Stories soon sprang up, in the outskirts of the far east, in the notorious Ring of Kafrene, even in the Hosnian archipelago, of a star-cloaked stranger that would appear at night to steal away unlucky wanderers that lost their paths. Such stories became particularly rampant in an area just northeast of Endor, where rumors had it that something was being constructed, that the deserted isles were no longer so deserted. But those who saw the star-cloaked stranger never got a good look, never got too close or they vanished without a trace, and so the tale of Riezal remained just that--a tale mothers used to keep unruly children in their beds at night.

While the Cygni sat idly on their safe little isle, Riezal had no rest. The Baron-Flicker worked day and night, venturing out from the shadows where the Open Cluster Fleet grew to seek out "new recruits". Surrounded by enemies and hated by all, he has no greater desire than to witness the day when the Flicker-King falls, when the Cygni lose their grip on Starsand at last, and even more, he wants a part in making that day come around. But it was his impatience that had caused his exile in the first place, his unwillingness to observe his enemies before striking at them, and he has no wish to repeat the mistakes of the past. Word has reached Riezal's fleet that perhaps the time is right. They say that the Flicker-King and his followers have been spotted leaving Mirrorflame entirely, taking some of the Cygni with them. They also say that something is hunting the Cygni, picking them off one by one in the dark... But Riezal believes in no such story until he witnesses it himself, refusing to accept the existence of something that could best a Flicker. Perhaps he has not learned from his past mistakes as much as he likes to think he has.