Windrell

Windrell (or Wambdi) is one of the main characters of the first installment of the As The Last Leaf Falls series. He also appears as a supporting character in the second and third installments of the same series, as well as other stories. One of the last Kin, he constantly struggles between taking vengeance and understanding the complicated nature of humans.

Background
Born as Wambdi in one of the settlements on the coasts of Neuer Welt, the young Windrell grew up living the only life the Kin knew: at one with nature, living off the land with people he knew as family. Within the tribe, he was known as a quiet boy, spending most of his time with a couple of close friends. The first, Hehaka, was an active individual who was popular among his peers for his bright personality. Though considering one another as a brother, he and Wambdi were in a silent rivalry because of Kateri, their other close friend who they both had feelings for.

A year of great change came to Neuer Welt just as the tribe was preparing to choose a new cheftain. A race known as humans have arrived from across the sea and have begun to explore near their homes. The Kin intially chose to ignore these foreigners, thinking their visit was a passing one. The choosing went on as planned, with Wambdi and Hehaka chosen by their clans to compete. Both agreed with little hesitation; for them this was a good place as any to settle their differences. When the fight came, Hehaka easily dominated the Wind Kin, but in the end Kateri still chose Wambdi when they mustered the courage to ask.

Though he respected Kateri's decision, Hehaka had subtly started to drift away from the two. Over the months, he gained an interest with the humans who were already settled on the coast for little over a year, frequently disappearing for days on end to observe them up close. Though they were worried, Wambdi and Kateri felt relieved with Hehaka's enthusiasm with his interesting stories. They felt that their friend was slowly accepting their decision, in his own way.

Unfortunately, what they thought was peace returning was not meant to last. One day, Hehaka came back running breathlessly, shouting desperately for everyone to run away. The Kin didn't even have the chance to understand what was going on: left and right, balls of fire came raining down on the settlment, sending the villagers into a panic. It was the first day of their kind's massacre, which historians would hurriedly conceal as a "defensive war against natives".

The three friends managed to escape the village together, but not without incident. Wambdi had sustained a grievous wound in the ensuing chaos, and was in critical condition. When even Kateri's abilities failed to heal his wounds, Hehaka pulled out one of their tribe's greatest artifacts, which had the power to protect anything from death at the cost of stopping their flow of time. Urging them to go on, the two left the wounded Wambdi hidden in foliage as they escaped in the dark of night.

Wambdi eventually recovered enough strength, but had nowhere to return to anymore. Suppressing his grief, he knew that reuniting with his friends was the only choice from then on. He begrudgingly disguised himself as best he could and slowly blended with human society to search for them. It was unbelievably hard for the Kin, as human society was far more complicated than the simple life he knew. Years passed, and the reunion he patiently waited for had come to pass.

Unfortunately, it was in no way the reunion he had hoped.

Hehaka was also living in human society, with Kateri nowhere in sight. But unlike him, he was accepted as a Kin, not a human, and was living an extravagant life amongst them. His confusion quickly turned into seething hatred. He pieced things together fast enough: Hehaka was responsible for their families' deaths, their whole race's destruction.

With the nigh-immortality he was cursed with, Wambdi subtly amassed his fortune and resources for centuries, assuming many personas and names, engaging in a silent war with his former friend. Their secret feud went on, as entire generations passed, and colonies turned into cities; a bitter battle that would only end with the death of the other.

Personality
Windrell has always had a tired, distanced air around him, so much so that most of the characters in the stories would refer to him as an old man or a "stick in the mud". He is aloof, serious, contemplative, and patient, but also quite hard-headed and set in his ways: quite different from what one would expect from one who represents quick, fleeting air. It may be because of the long passing of time, coupled with his harsh experiences that Windrell has generally lost enthusiasm in most things.

Despite his anti-social disposition, Windrell actually carries a vague but sincere sense of sympathy towards humans. This is due to his exposure to their two-faced society: ruthless and efficient, but at the same time riddled with injustices and inequality. He saw firsthand the fate of unfortunate victims to the humans' own system, and understood that they themselves are prisoners to their own weaknesses.

As with all Kin, he has a love for nature, and would usually spend his time in his garden when not wandering off outside the city. Having opened up to a handful of characters throughout the course of the stories, he would eventually bring along Charlotte Walker (or Voir Umbra as a last resort) in his travels.

When facing threats, he opts to use words for as long as possible, but will quickly respond with extreme prejudice when talks fail. He is also not one for insults as he carries with him a very high sense of pride; provocation would likely merit one an immediate, and extremely violent response from the Wind Kin.

Powers and Abilities
A distinguished magician in his own right, Windrell is regarded as one of the most powerful characters in the series, able to hold off, and even defeat demon-level opponents like Rashid and Rakdos. From his Kin heritage, Windrell possesses among other talents a natural ability to manipulate air, albeit at a generally low degree of power. To compensate for this, he has integrated these natural abilties to standard human sorcery. The resulting mix of styles allowed him to perform wind attacks of a grand spell's scale with a Kin's lightning quick speed and superior control.

Also within his arsenal is his longevity and ingenuity. Centuries of experience with honing his skills has allowed Windrell to develop means of overcoming his weaknesses. To make up for his weak physique, Windrell often uses a controlled cloak of air that greatly enhances his battle capabilties. This, coupled with years of training makes Windrell a match for even physically imposing opponents. He also uses a variant of this cloaking technique in a much larger radius, acting as a 360 degree extension of his senses, making ambushes useless.

Perhaps the most fearsome of his weapons is the 8 Sisters, swords of divine origin given to him by Charlotte Walker. He often uses them as remote weapons, slashing away at the opposition from multiple angles while further overwhelming them with wind magic. In addition, Windrell can also focus magical energy into a single sword, awakening their true form and unlocking unique abilties, making it a versatile weapon in various situations.