#ish!!!

sai (nanami, formerly)

background is that sai is taken in as an orphan by an international trading company that makes voyages all over. ryusui is also taken in at the same time, so the two grow up in the company together as the only young children, but that's the extent of it (no blood relation, in other words). at some point ryusui takes over the company and he and sai have a falling out that resorts to sai leaving. sai had previously erected dungeons for the company and accompanied them through some of them himself, but the only one who was chosen by a djinn and acquired a metal vessel was ryusui. nonetheless, when he leaves the company, he goes no-contact with everyone involved, essentially severing his connection with his one king's candidate. sai becomes a magi that is largely secluded, and is looked upon from the world at large as a sort of sage or guru that you have to go on a rigorous journey to meet. he accepts everyone who visits him in isolation, and if he's intrigued, will aid in any requests those that make the long journey to visit him have for him. he even has a few king's candidates from those that sought him out in hopes of him raising a dungeon for them, which sai does without question. it's only the ones he likes and sees potential in that he chooses to accompany into the dungeon, so in this sense, he has several king's candidates scattered throughout the world that he monitors from seclusion.

mirai shishio

mirai was first born as an ordinary person to the shishio family, but died young. when she returns to the flow of the rukh, it is with great awe that she finds herself returning to the world of the living with memories of her previous life intact. she reunites with her brother tsukasa when he's made a name for himself as a great warrior, and after they conquer a pair of dungeons together at different points in their lives, he becomes her single king's candidate. mirai is devoted to the ideal nation that tsukasa wishes to see born into the world, and because of her devotion, she can become blinded by her brother's more ruthless actions. she is seen as a magi with a childlike wonder and disposition even as she grows into an adult.

ruri

ruri is originally a magi that has devoted herself not to a person but to a place. she has lived longer than most, being reborn over and over, continuing on the legacy of the nation she helped found several generations in the past. the country is not particularly noteworthy, not in military strength or political power or territory size, but there is a humbleness in something standing strong and far outlasting its neighbors whose borders and power structures are constantly changing. ruri, upon completion of a series of trials, will call forth a dungeon for the nation's chosen subjects to attempt to traverse, but she has never accompanied anyone, as far as the legends go. the nation boasts dungeon conquerors that wield metal vessels, but none of them are a magi's chosen king's candidate. that is, until senku ishigami, whose strength of character ruri finds herself fascinated by. senku's certain breed of intellect, pragmatism, and adherence to a strict set of morals entices ruri, who urges him to complete the trials necessary to enter a dungeon despite him not being a citizen of the country. when he passes with flying colors not with raw strength or speed but by strategy and intelligence, ruri sees fit to guide senku through her raised dungeon herself, offering her assistance to him and his companions when they need help and leaving them be to solve problems on their own when they have the ability to do so. when senku wins over the dungeon's djinn, he leaves as ruri's sole king's candidate and establishes steadfast ties with the nation and its people.

stanley snyder

stanley is the leader of a seafaring group that wanders the world offering their skillset to notable influential people. anyone that can pay the hefty price can make use of their services. at one point, stanley seeks out the magi sai and becomes his king's candidate. sai is intrigued that stanley approaches him having already conquered one of the free-standing dungeons sai erected a while back that those before had failed to traverse. at his behest, sai brings forth a new dungeon for stanley and his compatriots to conquer, and stanley leads a new legacy in being the wielder of two metal vessels. the third time he approaches sai, it's with the intention of the magi accompanying him, this time alone, through yet another dungeon. sai agrees with the caveat that this be the last dungeon stanley be allowed to step into, and at the end of such a task is when stanley officially moves from a wandering dungeon conqueror to a proper king's candidate of considerable strength. stanley's group boasts a good handful of household members (maya, brody, charlotte) and even a magician (luna) and their legacy precedes them worldwide. at the height of the group's notoriety, they're invited to the magician's country by the country's chancellor himself. unable to reject such a request, stanley enters with his sole magician and finds himself accepting a job from chancellor xeno wingfield, who wishes to study the infamous stanley snyder's trio of metal vessels and the various states of their assimilation on his body. while conducting the research as it's central test subject, stanley finds himself residing in the country for a considerable length of time.

hyoga akatsuki

the heir-apparent to a country of knights that adhere to a strict doctrine and are notably wary of outsiders. the country's combat techniques are a well-guarded secret, and so is the fact that hyoga himself is one of the magi sai's king's candidates. hyoga has a very pragmatic view of the world that sai appreciates, especially because it's so different from any of his other king's candidates. although sai is far from being the country's magi, he and hyoga keep on good terms, and it's not exceedingly rare (but still rare, as far as these things go) to find sai within the country's walls without an official invitation.

ryusui nanami

ryusui grows up in the company of a large trade organization and spends his early years on the open sea learning the tools of the trade. he eventually takes over the company and expands its influence until it becomes impossible for someone not to have heard of the nanami group. ryusui is a dungeon conqueror with a metal vessel, but he is not sponsored by a magi. he and sai had a falling out over differing views of the world and the way things should be run, and at the end of such, sai renounces the nanami name and flees. at the height of the nanami group's popularity, ryusui docks in a capital city that boasts one of the magi sai's unconquered dungeons. he hires two notable warriors, moz and kirisame, to accompany him into the dungeon, but while they manage to navigate it to completion, ryusui is unable to convince the djinn to choose him, so they leave empty-handed. as he intended to pay the two with the dungeon's riches, ryusui instead rewards them for the job by making them members of his household, improving their strength in battle tenfold with mastery of their household vessels. the two decide to leave the city and travel with the trading company.

kohaku

a notable military power in the magi ruri's chosen homeland. kohaku has a metal vessel of considerable value and uses its power largely to enrich the country and its people. she is the first to recognize the nomad senku's value and finds him peculiar enough to follow around and learn from. when senku completes the nation's preset trials to enter one of ruri's dungeon, kohaku acknowledges along with her sister what traits senku has that would make a good ruler, and requests to accompany senku and co in the dungeon to observe. at the end of such, kohaku determines that although senku would be a different kind of king compared to her, that there is value in that different approach. this simultaneous acknowledgement of the difference in ideals later allows kohaku to become a member of senku's household and be granted a household vessel after being recognized by senku's djinn while still attaining her own metal vessel. the powers of the two vessels differ wildly, so the situations in which kohaku relies on one or the other are very specific and never manage to overlap. she gains both international acclaim and scorn in equal measure for her decision to retain both household and metal vessels.

tsukasa shishio

a two-time dungeon conqueror of a country that boasts considerable military might. earlier in his life, he led an insurrection of his homeland and worked as a member of a chosen council to reestablish order and peace within said country. after his sister returns as a magi, tsukasa leaves with her to travel to a nation that will be better grounds for her magic training, as their own country knows nothing of magicians. recalling their rough childhood, tsukasa admits to mirai that he seeks to form a nation of his own from the ground up, and mirai vows to stand by him as his magi. the nation they create is idealized by its citizens but feared by those that share its borders. at mirai's insistence, their nation also boasts a particularly impressive environment for magicians, so much so that mirai's former teacher, shamil volkov, settles in the nation and becomes its first magic scholar, establishing sprawling institutions for magicians to train and study from for free, as long as they give back to the country in some way for the exchange of knowledge.

senku ishigami

a nomad with a particular knack for trouble and bad luck in equal measure. senku hails from the ashes of a ruined kingdom and carries the weight of responsibility to atone for the failures of said kingdom. he's always accompanied by two childhood friends who hail from the same former nation, taiju and yuzuriha. while taiju later becomes an impressive member of senku's household, yuzuriha is a born magician who more often than not ends up holding their ragtag group together when they threaten to split. it's a guarded secret that yuzuriha is their trump card when it comes to conflict resolution, since her battle-oriented magic spells are wild and unruly but undoubtedly the most powerful tool in their arsenal. while his companions both boast strength in equal measure, senku's strength comes from his mind - something that the magi ruri takes into account when senku is in her presence. senku never intended to stay in ruri's country nor become her king's candidate, but he can't deny that he feels a sense of duty to protect this country, as if such a thing will atone for not being able to save his homeland. the power of senku's djinn is not suited for direct combat, so the properties of his metal vessel are a little unorthodox. because of this, he ends up seeking the help of stanley snyder for mastery of his djinn's powers.

xeno wingfield