User:Kari Inihara

Benji Powell, Systems Implementation Director.

Kari Inihara is one of the creators of the Clouded Horizons series of stories and an administrator of the Clouded Horizons wiki. He is primarily represented by Benji Powell, while his namesake character is the Malakh Kari Inihara.

Basic Information

• Role: Systems Implementation Director
• Alias: Hikari
• Status: Admin
• Gender: Male
• Age: 23

Background

Benji Powell is the Director of Systems Implementation and User Accessibility for Flex Designs, Ltd., and is primarily responsible for the implementation of new major products for the Clouded Horizons series. He works with the Director of the Creative Team, Rubedo Alaberti, in order to help design and flesh out ideas for new projects, and also works with the Director of Quality Assurance and Website Administration, Daniel Rydell, in testing and debugging projects which require it.

As one of the three Founders of the organization, Benji also serves as part of Internal Affairs, a subsection of Flex Designs, Ltd., which serves as the final authority for all outstanding matters within the company.

Benji has been noted for his ability to provide impressive amounts of detail to works, often falling into the role of expanding upon ideas and background information initially created by the other two members of Internal Affairs. He has a weakness with long-term plotting, largely made up for by the superior efforts of Rubedo Alaberti and Daniel Rydell as well as his attention to detail.

As the primary writer for most of the major novelizations within the Clouded Horizons series, he is known for being able to do work consistently and of a high quality, but is prone to writer's block and just plain bad luck on occasion.

Projects

Clouded Horizons

Benji has had a hand in the Clouded Horizons project since before its inception. He was largely responsible for playing the primary protagonist of Dimensional Legend and other background characters, as well as fleshing out the details of the world, planes, and running occasional side-plots to that end.

Realms

• Third Realm - A realm primarily based around religion and technology, as well as the interactions between faith and science. It is Authored by Rashiel.
• Seventh Realm - A realm currently in development. It is Authored by Shailara.
• Tenth Realm - A realm currently in development. It is Authored by Wilhelm.

Major Story Contributions

• Runic Legacy - Provided minor editing and expanded character backstory.

Novelizations

• Destiny's Call - A novelization of the events in Spira during the events of the game Final Fantasy X, as affected by the presence of a teenage boy from Earth, Benji Powell.
• Eternal Requiem - A novelization of the events in Spira during the events of the game Final Fantasy X-2, as affected by the presence of Ben and other characters, such as Darius DeValle.
• Dimensional Legend - A novelization of the events set into motion in the world of Gaia following the events of the game Final Fantasy VIII, focusing on several Planeswalkers of the Eighth Realm.

One-Shot Stories

• Casualties - A short piece of fiction set to music that details a military funeral for a member of the Estharian Presidential Guard.
• Duty - A short piece of fiction detailing the death of Chieko Murakami in a battle during the Ethereal Plane's Harrowing.
• Guardian - A short piece of fiction exploring the thoughts of Benji Powell about his relationship with Rikku Katsuragi.
• Judgment - A short piece of fiction exploring the thoughts of Benji Powell about his training with Etchel Beoulve and his reasons for the training.
• Nature - A short piece of fiction exploring the thoughts of Benji Powell concerning why he continues to fight.
• Shades - A short piece of fiction detailing a conversation between Benji Powell and Manes about the nature of fighting for good or evil.

Works in Progress

• Halcyon - An original story, set in the Clouded Horizons series' Third Realm. Plot details are as-of-yet forthcoming.
• Origins - A novelization set in the Clouded Horizons series' Eighth Realm that details the events before and during the first major war in the Ethereal Plane, the Harrowing.

Products

• Clouded Horizons Attribute Development Utility - Largely handled programming and debugging.
  • V1 - Handled implementation of functionality and programming as well as primary debugging; provided design feedback to Rubedo Alaberti.
  • V2 - Handled implementation of functionality and programming as well as primary debugging; provided design feedback to Rubedo Alaberti.

Metagame

Benji is a contributor to the Metagame, the roleplay that forms the basis of a realms' history and direction, as well as the rudimentary script stories such as Dimensional Legend follow.

Eighth Realm

Primary Characters
Kari Inihara, Malakh	Naoki Ishida, Hume	Kisara, Erudite	Tetsuya Kurabasa, Hume	Yuki Kurabasa, Hume
Manes, Daiesthai	Benji Powell, Hume	Sumiko Remiere, Hume	Hikari Tanaka, Hume	Freya Vanadis, Ancient
Secondary Characters
James Alnon, Hume	85px Uriko Kurabasa, Hume	Daniel Margulis, Hume	85px Seijin Matsumoto, Quincy	Chieko Murakami, Quincy
Odin, Erudite	Saori Oshima, Quincy	85px Kouji Shibara, Quincy	85px Maria Takahashi, Quincy	Xeios, Erudite
		Xeria, Daiesthai
Organizations
Estharian Presidential Guard	Executive Outcomes

Ninth Realm

Primary Characters
Carrie Tremont, Ninja	85px Kei Aliana, White Mage

Tenth Realm

Primary Characters
Lenne Kaibara, Hume	Yuna Kaname, Hume	Rikku Katsuragi, Hume	85px Tidus Kuroda, Hume	85px Shuyin Mishima, Hume
		Paine Zaraki, Hume

On Characters

Eighth Realm

Kari Inihara

• Kari didn't show up until late in the roleplay, during Aizen Sosuke's travels to Hueco Mundo, and is one of the characters that I changed and fleshed out quite a bit after her initial appearance. She started as simply one of the guardians of Hueco Mundo itself, a gatekeeper if you will, but eventually gained much more backstory once the Ethereal Plane's own backstory began to solidify. She acts in a strange mix of casual and serious around most people, a notable exception being Etchel Beoulve, whom she shares a great deal of playful banter with. However, much of this is done to cover up her own pain at her past as the last Captain of the Order of Grim Angels' 5th Division.

Naoki Ishida

• Ah, Naoki - Darius, for some odd reason, thinks he's a neat character, and I'm not going to argue with the first such admission I've ever gotten from him. He's the one that almost never seems to crack under pressure, cool and collected even if an orphanage full of innocent children were to explode in front of him, as is his friend Sumiko to a lesser degree. Part of this comes from being raised in Areyn; his family is one of the more prominent in the village, and they put those members of their family who decide to actively continue the family arts through strict and unyielding training for years in order to ensure they are strong in both mind and body.

Kisara

• Kisara is a character that has been around since the early parts of the roleplay, and was actually my first Ethereal character when the roleplay began. She has a very amiable disposition and seems to act more like an average mortal than an Ethereal being when around mortals, especially in the case of Katanas DeValle, whom she has known for years before the story proper begins. Regardless, she still knows how to assert authority if the situation requires it, and often shows surprising wisdom despite her initial impression on people.

Tetsuya Kurabasa

• Tetsuya started out almost the complete opposite of who he is now - stern, focused, and generally averse to humor. Flash forward to the present time - he's one of the most lighthearted characters I play, always ready with a friendly jab or a joke no matter who he's talking to. Even authority figures don't get away from it - see the story Affinity for more on that. He has a running relationship with Hikari Tanaka that I truly wish I could've gone more in-depth with in the roleplays, mostly because of how different they really are in terms of personality (something I'll get to in her entry).

Yuki Kurabasa

• I almost don't know where to begin with Yuki. Where Darius has Ein Beoulve, I have Yuki, the requisite "innocent, young, and incorruptible" character in fantasy. She's the youngest of my characters by a few years (Carrie Tremont from the Runic Legacy roleplay being the nearest in age), and I try to play that up when I can. She's sweet, shy, and yet remarkably wise for her age, something which stems partly from having to keep her rather brash older brother in check. She doesn't speak often unless she's around Tetsuya, but it's usually important when she does; her relative shyness gives her some difficulty with more social things.

Manes

• I could probably go on for pages about how Manes has gradually changed over time. Manes came about as a result of the first side-plot I ever ran during the Dimensional Legend roleplay, a sort of sentient mental reflection of Ben's own darker feelings as a result of events after Destine's defeat. Much later on, this changed completely as I redid his backstory, turning him into a Daiesthai from the Nether Plane who was entrapped within the Void in the Ethereal Plane following an attack on a Vice-Captain of the Order of Grim Angels. The mental reflection part, however, stayed the same, as Manes was forcefully sealed within Ben's mind near the end of the battle with Destine. His personality varies widely with his mood; sometimes, he's insightful and intelligent, yet sarcastic, and other times, he's sadistic, cunning, and remorseless.

Benji Powell

• Both my hardest and easiest character to play, unsurprisingly. My character started out brash and with very little actual experience, but has shifted over time into someone who knows the ins and outs (or so he thinks) of both combat and diplomacy. Personality-wise, it's been quite hard figuring out how I might've reacted to all of this, but it's also been worth it. Normally, my character is rather calm and serious when dealing with people both in and out of combat, but when Angel (the character) is around, a lot more of the silliness and playing around comes out because of both how the characters and players interact.

Sumiko Remiere

• Sumiko is, in my own words, the "thoughtful one," always ready with a kind word or a comment tailored to whatever situation she finds herself in. She's loyal, trustworthy, and like Naoki, keeps a cool head in almost any situation - something which also makes her a fine tactician. She's also from Areyn, and as such, has gone through many of the same things that Naoki has; they understand each other on a deep level, being friends from early childhood. I've hinted at the two of them being romantically involved, which is certainly a possibility, but have never shown anything of the sort in roleplay or otherwise.

Hikari Tanaka

• Darius hates this character, more than I can ever really detail here, but there are rather valid reasons for it. Hikari is one of my favorite characters to play, mostly because of the type of person she is - on the surface, she acts cold, uncaring, and possibly a bit too dedicated to her job, but on the inside, she has the same feelings as anyone else, but is just better at hiding them. Tetsuya is really the only person who gets to see the other side of her often, which makes for rather glaring contrasts between her public and private persona.

Freya Vanadis

• Freya actually used to be Darius' character, back when Dimensional Legend first began. After the first few times we saw her, he handed the reins over to me, as well as those of the Ethereal Plane in general. Freya has a rather distinctive personality, even among the Ethereal characters I play - she has a very proper manner of speaking, something I've represented in roleplay itself by having her never use contractions in her speech (with one exception, to Hyne, while mildly irritated). She is very polite and yielding, giving a keen ear to her two advisers, Odin and Xeios. However, that facet of her personality works against her often, most notably during the Harrowing, where she refused to step in directly and end things for fear of simply making them worse and risking a repeat occurrence later.

James Alnon

Uriko Kurabasa

• Uriko is one of my characters that is completely playing against type for me. She's loud, brash, rude, prone to mood swings, and sarcastic, all of which (except for the last one) I am not. It gets her into a lot of trouble (the SeeD field exam being one such example), but she refuses to tone it down any more than she has to, having been raised in the Galbadia region where such attitudes seem rather prevalent. Nevertheless, she does show a bit more tact and friendliness around Naoki Ishida and Sumiko Remiere, which is generally the only time anyone ever sees such a thing from her.

Daniel Margulis

• Margulis is one of those characters that doesn't fit his job, but rather makes his job fit him. He's gruff, no-nonsense, and gets straight to the point with everyone, which is reflected in his job as the Division Commander of the Estharian Presidential Guard. If immediate action is needed, he's your go-to guy within the Guard, because he will make sure it gets done with both haste and efficiency. He also has a long-standing friendship with James Alnon, something which seems to date back to even before Margulis joined the Presidential Guard.

Seijin Matsumoto

Chieko Murakami

• Chieko never made an appearance in the roleplay itself, other than perhaps a passing mention, but she will make an appearance in Origins. I envision her to be a kind, but firm leader, willing to do whatever it takes to protect and aid those under her command, but at the same time unwilling to simply let them stay out of danger or coddle them. She believes in "character building through personal effort," that one can only truly improve themselves by their experiences, and that shying away from those experiences is not something that one should do.

Odin

• Odin was Darius' character as well until just recently, when he relinquished the character into my control. The toughest fighter, all things considered, in the entire plane, Odin is very direct and focused in everything he does and possesses a great amount of discipline, making him well-suited to lead the Ethereal Knights. His manner of speaking is akin to Freya's, owing to his position in the plane, but has a rough edge to it that commands respect and obedience in a more straightforward manner than Freya's more demure attitude.

Saori Oshima

Kouji Shibara

Maria Takahashi

Xeios

• Odin's magical counterpart, Xeios looks and acts every part the master mage that he is. He brings unyielding logic to the table that compliments Odin's own thoughts and opinions well, and carefully considers alternatives to decisions in order to get the best effect. He is very intelligent, but is sometimes prone to over-thinking things on occasion, seeking the perfect solution instead of a merely good or adequate one. He is both more casual and more complex in his speech, often speaking more elaborately and with less formality than Freya or Odin.

Xeria

• I never went into great amounts of detail in the actual roleplay about Xeria, but I plan to in the story itself. Initially, she started as just another one of the Overlord's servants in the Nether Plane, albeit a powerful one, and was killed off soon after Aizen discovered a way to enter Hueco Mundo. When things changed regarding Hueco Mundo's backstory, I started toying with Xeria's own, and eventually she wound up as the Novena Espada under Aizen's command - whether she'll die again or not in the story proper, I haven't yet decided. Personality-wise, she's very vain, sarcastic, and self-serving, feeling herself superior to all others despite the presence of not only eight other, more-powerful Espada, but the Overlord as well.

Ninth Realm

Kei Aliana

Carrie Tremont

• Carrie Tremont is, to this very day, still one of my favorite characters to play, solely because of how complex her personality is. Initially, she started off as a carefree girl attempting to learn her family's trade and history, but happened to fall into events much bigger than she ever anticipated after an innocent attempt to see a theater production. Slowly but surely, her personality was warped into a shadow of its former self, as she was tortured physically and psychologically by one of the main villains. As a player, playing Carrie was the most difficult experience I had participated in to date, largely because of how much I had to improvise due to the efforts and intersecting plots of my co-authors. Despite the fact that Carrie is now a rather traumatized individual, she still remains among my top three favorite characters that I've played so far.

Tenth Realm

Lenne Kaibara

Yuna Kaname

Rikku Katsuragi

Tidus Kuroda

Shuyin Mishima

Paine Zaraki