Lilith

Special Week

-part of the Sunday Silence clan and a grandchild of Maruzensky

-knight-in-training in her youth, moved to the central hub of the clan upon seeing her potential as a fighter

-bonded with Silence Suzuka there before Suzuka had to depart to join rebel forces against the Demon King's attempts to invade the capital

-Spe also departed shortly after to do the same but had also done so in the hopes of finding Suzuka again and fulfilling her mothers' wishes

Tsurumaru Tsuyoshi

-child of the Emperor, Symboli Rudolf, and sibling of the former heir to the throne, Tokai Teio

-despite her lifelong illness and unlikely acquisition of the throne as a result, she makes continuous efforts of proving herself to her people through acts of diplomacy

-with the recent attacks of the Demon King on their territories, members of the kingdom had taken to hiring mercenaries to aid their existing armies in pushing back

-Tsuyu herself had taken the opportunity of hiring Spe, El, and Grass to the cause

-the party’s main way of communicating with higher authorities and helpful connections

El Condor Pasa

-born and raised in a different country, El was taught how to fight from an early age, admiring her father’s luchador persona from his days in his home town

-childhood friends with Grass, they spent much of their childhood sparring, as is common with young umamusume, and later went on various quests together

-by the time that forces of the Demon King’s started invading the territories of a neighboring country, the two were hired by Tsuru to team up with Spe

Grass Wonder

-raised in the same village as El, Grass was taught the ways of magic at a young age as well

-other than her usual lessons, she was also educated by a retired warrior from a neighboring country in their style of combat and culture (which she had taken a particular fascination with)

-due to her skills and proficiency in both magic and physical combat, she was a highly regarded warrior alongside El, able to cast powerful bursts of magic in an instant while being able to wield a spear in a pinch

Seiun Sky

-raised in a somewhat secluded village near the edge of the country’s territory, Sky had possessed innate talent in both magic and combat at a young age and was encouraged by her family to further hone her skills

-when the forces of the Demon King started invading her home town, she offered her magic and battle prowess in exchange for their mercy

-betrayed the Demon King shortly after Spe and the gang infiltrated their fortresses, already planned to enact a coup before the encounter (and dragged King with her)

-was cursed to never be able to wield her magic without severely damaging her body in the process after her betrayal

King Halo

-future heir to the Kingdom of Halo, her mother had forbidden her from participating in any sort of actual combat outside of training despite her talent

-when the forces of the Demon King descended upon their kingdom, it fell into a depression and was on the brink of collapse before King offered herself up to them like Sky did

the writing here is so fucking crazy they did such a good job with grass' conflict. her wanting to escape maruzen's shadow so bad and attempting to shatter that perception of her with all her might but then maruzen just off-handedly goes Yeah el is so cute!! She might even be more of a beast's successor than you :)) teehee. and sets grass off so bad she now needs to prove herself worthy of the title she hated like 10 minutes ago. i love her obsession with perception

^ and then she just starts to see all of her friends as obstacles so she can get to surpassing maruzen as soon as she can. like doesn't even pay attention to them when that goal is set in mind. they're so clearly upset she's not paying attention to the present moment and treating them as formidable foes and she just says well everyone's a little strange now. can't think about that too much though i must stay focused on HER

even after maruzen withdraws from the arima kinen she still unconsciously has her eyes set on surpassing her even if she knows that can never happen now. even with the people around her giving it their all she still wants more! nothing is enough! nothing is enough when the person she wanted to beat so badly isn't here! her one-track mind can't fathom her friends not enjoying racing with her anymore because well who cares about them. now that maruzen's forever out of reach nothing will ever match the imagined feeling of being faster than her

also the detail of her fighting so hard against that title that her determination becomes cowardice to be her own self. that one gets me. she was so caught up in the shadow of another she forgot about every other good thing she already had. so caught up in proving herself as someone superior she just became lesser

misc thoughts i kept as screenshots