Duke Michael of House Conteh was a greedy man. He owned one of the largest mining companies in the land. His methods were less than ethical, though. His miners cared not for the natural land, and ravaged it in their pursuit of precious metals and ores. One day, though, the great earth elemental Akash’Bhuta took notice of Duke Michael’s efforts. The spirit bestowed a curse upon the man, granting him a shape that would match his greed — the form of a dragon, although little taller than a horse. When Michael awoke from his metamorphosis, he fled from his manor in horror. He lived in that form in the wilderness for some time, before encountering the minstrel and arcanist Anthony the Argent Adept. Anthony had had experience dealing with Akash’Bhuta’s chaos, and so he helped Michael to master his new bestial state. As his mastery grew, he discovered that he could transform into other beasts as well. Besides the Mighty Dragon, Michael could take the form of the Agile Gryphon, or the shape of the Mystical Unicorn. He also regained the ability to resume his original, human form. Michael’s time in the wild had changed him — in more ways than one. He learned of nature’s suffering, and so resolved to use his newfound power to defend it from those who would do it harm, as he once did.
Kimberly the Sage worked for the Order of Revocation. She was a scholar and a researcher — an expert on all things academic, as well as a dabbler in arcane runes. After the rampaging Allcastle had been defeated by the heroic Fellowship of Freedom and King Aldred X, the Order had assigned her to study its ruins. While there, Kimberly got caught in the crossfire of an altercation betwixt the heroic Watchers of the Darkness and Gabrielle the Witch of Doom, a potent practitioner of luck magic. Gabrielle cast a hex at Kimberly, but the sage ducked behind a fragment of the Allcastle. The spell struck the enchanted stones of the formerly sentient keep, before flowing through them and into Kimberly. After the battle, the sage discovered that the botched luck spell combined with the castle’s ambient magicks had somehow given her the power to see the Strings of Fate, and understand how they were woven. She could use this to divine the near future (although only up to a few minutes), as well as possible futures, seeing how different actions would produce different outcomes. Kimberly returned to her work for the Order of Revocation. But after not long, she discovered corruption within the Order’s ranks, and that they were working with the villainous Baron Ivan. So she left, took up archery, and used that and her fatesight to combat treachery.