The world of Flame and Claw is filled with oddball misfits, most of whom are not what they seem. That nice young family that moved in down the street? He's a troll, she's a dryad. That angelic man on the TV news? The halo might actually be real.
Immortals are real, and they walk the streets hidden from our eyes. That doesn't mean that everybody's more than meets the eye. Most are just ordinary vanilla Mortals. A few of us are clued in to the presence of legends among humanity, but not many.
The Immortals fall into one of four camps: the Angels, keepers of Light; the Demons, the tenders of the Dark; the Dragon, who oversees the balance between the two; and the Others, beings to whom some piece of the power of the natural world is given to oversee and maintain. At least, that's how it worked until the war began. The Angels sundered the Dragon, and now seven Shards of his essence are all that remain to protect mortal kind from the overwhelming power of light.
The Shards of the Dragon
Mortals whose souls each bear a piece of the Dragon. Shunned by other Immortals, the Shards are Mortalkind's only hopeof avoiding becoming slaves of the Angels.
Sara Osborne, the Claw
Our plucky heroine. Sara is a wandering samurai of the road, but she's about to be drawn into a secret war between Immortals.
Sara is fiercely loyal to her friends and family. For many years, she thought she was destined to be alone. When she found out just how wrong she was it lit a fire within her to protect her new life with everything she is.
Sara bears within her soul the Claw Shard. It allows her to manifest mystical armor that also serves as her primary weapon, as the fingertips end in wickedly sharp claws - which she can change into other bladed weapons at will.
A self-described geek, Sara often quotes lines from movies, tv shows, anime, and books. She summons her armor with the phrase “henshin, yo!,” which means “transform!” in Japanese.
Rock, the Eye
The eldest and leader of the Shards, Rock has secrets older than our civilization. But then again, the crafty old wizard is over ten thousand years old...
The bearer of the Eye Shard, Rock has the ability to see everything as it truly is. This means he can perceive magical energy as it flows about the world, pierce concealment spells, and see the true shape of things. This has given him incredible facility with magic itself. While he isn't the only practitioner int he world, Rock is far and away the most powerful mortal wizard.
Grumpy and irascible at the best of times, Rock's gruff exterior belies the truth. He's a man that's seen everything he loves wither and die. It's left him extremely wary of trusting others, and he often clashes with Sara about the war, his seeming disregard for individual people, everything.
Patrick Fisher, the Wing
Patrick is the kindhearted lawyer with wings and the cool car. Every team of magical heroes needs one, right?
As bearer of the Wing Shard, Patrick can fly and channel wind. He can create anything from a soft gust to a full-blown hurricane force gale and direct it wherever he wants it to go. A blast from Patrick can send his foes tumbling from his path, or crush them against buildings a block away. Unfortunately, when he transforms his wings tear our of his back, which is a great strain on his wardrobe.
He also has preternaturally sharp hearing, as the slightest vibration in the air carries to his ears. He tries not to invade others privacy, but sometimes it's unavoidable.
In his personal life, Patrick has two great loves: the Seattle Mariners baseball team, and his customized Mustang. He's one of Lucy's best customers.
Lucy Okuda, the Heart
Lucy is Rock's sargeant and looks like the epitome of the term 'badass biker chick'. But she's also got a heart of gold, and it's half the size of Texas. She takes care of the Shards, and is the undisputed den mother of the group.
She's especially close with Cam, who she met in foster care when they were both children. The pair are closer than siblings, and are almost always together.
Lucy's shard is the Heart, which gives her the power to perceive the emotions of those around her, and another fascinating power. She can manipulate matter at a molecular level. She can reshape objects around her, or even reduce them to their chemical components, or introduce new ones. Lucy is something of a mad scientist, constantly creating new materials and researching applications of her ability. In battle, she uses her ability to remake vehicles or other large mechanical devices into powered armor suits for herself. Her favorite victim is her own custom motorcycle.
She has a side business customizing cars. Using her powers, she can do in hours what takes most shops months, and as a result she literally rakes in the money. She and Cam live together in a loft over her garage, and they live well.
Cam, the Scale
Cameron “Cam” Williams is both the youngest, and physically strongest member of the team. If his adopted big sister Lucy is the heart of the Shards, then Cam is the strong right (and left) arms.
As bearer of the Scale Shard, Cam's body can become more or less impregnable. This doesn't mean he's invulnerable. He still has to breathe and obey the laws of physics, but bullets ping right off of him like rain drops- a fact he discovered by accident after a few too many drinks.
Cam is driven by a strong love of justice. He's a firm believer in the maxim “with great power comes great responsibility.” In fact, though none of the other Shards know, he often spends his evenings in an old pickup, cruising the downtown Seattle streets and listening to a police scanner for reports of trouble. Yep, Seattle has it's own masked vigilante! The Blue Man is quickly becoming an urban legend.
When he's not patrolling, Cam is usually at home with Lucy. He loves to paint, and often creates artwork for her customers to incorporate into heir custom works.
The Angels, keepers of Light
Gabriel, Lord of the Angels
It was he who began the war between the Immortals. Proud and unyielding, Gabriel firmly believes that the Angels are the pinnacle of all life, and therefore all must serve them. He sees Mortals as a food source, not as living beings.
The only soft spot in his existence, is his love for the half-mad seeress, Zaphkiel.
Michael, commander of all the Angelic armies
Michael is Gabriel's right hand being. A student of war since the dawn of creation, Michael is possibly the most fearsome combatant in the entire world.
Once, he commanded multitudes, now his 'army' is down to this small handfull of Angels. Or, is it?
Azreal, the inky light which dwells in shadow
Also known as the Blackfeather, Azreal is Gabriel's master spy. Slippery and cunning, Azreal is not one to whom you should turn your back. He utterly despises Michael, and the two have vied for their Lord Gabriel's favor since the beginning of knowledge.
Zaphkiel, the mad Seeress
Zaphkiel is gifted, or cursed, with sight into the timestream itself- all of possibility all at once. This overwhelming power means Zaphkiel can see the future, but often cannot communicate what she sees without resorting to metaphor and imagery.
Radueriel
A mysterious being who is key to Gabriel's plans for mortal kind.
The Talons: Lesser Angels who do their lord's dirty work.
Kushiel - Angel of Suffering
Jehoel - Angel of Fire
Nuriel - Angel of Ice
The Demons, stewards of Dark
Demons survive wherever the light does not reach and serve as a vital counter to its searing power.
There are no better examples of of the breed than the trio of beings who rule the Demonic homeland, the Barons of Hell itself: Allocer, Iblis, and Rahum. Each command roughly a third of the dark domain, and each warily eyes the others.
Only lesser Demons have a physical from, the greater are darkness in its purest from. Other beings perceive greater Demons as whatever the Demon wants them to. Allocer often appears as an impish young boy, Iblis as an old man, and Rahum as a beast beyond human description. They often use this psychic projection to place their speech directly into the minds of others, not deigning to communicate openly.
Notable Humans, and maybe some not-so-humans
Nick Osborne, Sara's brother.
Maria Garcia-Flores
Todd
Hector
Carmen
Amy
Melissa
Father Gilbert