The Story of Nariko & Kurai.

Nariko is the daughter of a travelling merchant who was selling and procuring advanced technology and wares along the old pan-Asian trading routes. Her father was a kind man who delighted in passing on his knowledge of composite craftsmanship to his daughter, involving her in tech projects in their spare time.

One of her other passions was learning about and training in various forms of martial arts from teachers she met along the road. Her father was very supportive, proud and confident that she would be prepared for whatever the road might throw at her. One day the road surprised her with a boy her age who would become her best friend, sparring partner and ultimately like a brother. Their life growing up together under the care of her father was good.

It all changed one fateful day when they were passing through a former kingdom that had just been usurped by a local warlord and turned into a thiefdom. Due to an old grudge the warlord held against their father, they were all charged with conspiracy, condemned to death and thrown into prison. Using their wits and some technological tricks they still had up their sleeve, they launched a daring escape attempt in which their father ultimately sacrificed himself so that Nariko and Kurai Harada could save themselves.  

Nariko is famous in the Deep Sky Network for having been the first Glitch to discover a mysterious energy barrier in a strange and barren wasteland. Ever the explorer, she wondered what might lie behind the barrier. To her surprise and with a tremendous thud, her powerful sword cut through the barrier. She collected some of the material that had fallen from the cut for her to study later. Intrigued, she slipped through the barrier but she cannot remember how she got back out. She is convinced that she saw her father, but somehow he was not that happy to see her. The only other thing she remembers is a profound sense of confusion, darkness and despair. Kurai saved her on that day. 


Once back in safety and recovering, Nariko used the material she had collected to build herself an ultra resistant energy shield. Many Glitches have since tried to smash through the barrier with the most potent weapons the Deep Sky has to offer but to no avail! The barrier absorbs the blows, redirects them back at its attacker at a hundred times the original force and heals itself. The only Glitch to ever break through the barrier was Nariko Igarashi.

Are you brave enough to cast a spell on her or charge her in a battle?

Kurai Harada was an orphan growing up in a market town bustling with wares brought in by wealthy merchants and traders from lands far and wide. He had to fend for himself from a young age and joined a gang of street kids to survive. Having a natural ability for misdirection and sleight of hand, he proved himself a very successful thief. For a time Kurai enjoyed his freedom to roam around and do as he pleased. The harsh reality of his surroundings caught up with him eventually, when the wrong crowd heard about his remarkable skills, set out to exploit them and coercively forced him into doing their bidding.

One day he was ordered to steal a rare item from one of the merchants passing through town. Kurai approached the merchant and his daughter very innocently, explaining that his master was looking for some advanced technology gadget. When it was time to trick the pair however, he was caught red-handed by the merchant, a kind but ever observant man. The merchant was very impressed by the skill the boy, who was an orphan, demonstrated and after hearing his story, decided to take him in.

When years later and with great injustice their lives were turned upside down, their shared father murdered and all their wares and belongings confiscated, Kurai and Nariko had no choice but start a new life. They swore to avenge their father, trained for this very end and became very adept at dispatching their enemies. Kurai Harada became a masterful assassin, shrouded in smoke and shadows, dealing deathly blows to anyone unfortunate enough to stand in his way. They were on the hunt for information on the whereabouts of some of the warlord’s operatives inside the Deep Sky Network, when they both glitched. Once they realised they were permanently stuck within the network, they decided to join forces with the Sentinels of Eternity, because their leader impressed them and seemed to be cut from the same cloth as their dearly missed father. 

On the day that Nariko found the barrier and passed through, Kurai had been searching for her and having successfully tracked her, followed her into the barrier. He found her barely alive, surrounded by an eerie shade that even spooked a shadow rogue like him. Using his skills for misdirection and stealth, he managed to take Nariko back to safety on that day just before the barrier healed itself in front of his eyes. Ever since that event Kurai and Nariko have grown even closer. They have become inseparable and there are rumours that they might be a couple.

Do you dare stand in his way? He could be right behind you and you’d never know!