Guardians of Justice — cat-folk, Shoing-born, not to be trifled with

Lux and Nox were born in Shoing — a place with more tolerance for the arcane and the unusual than most, which made them comfortable and then made them a target. As kittens they were taken by a mad wizard who believed that the arcane potential in certain individuals could be forcibly elevated through experimentation, and set about proving this theory on them.

The experiments worked, which the wizard considered a success right up until the point where Lux and Nox's rapidly expanding capabilities surpassed his own. They spent the middle period of their captivity quietly assessing what they could now do, comparing notes in the private communication of twins, and planning. They escaped on a night of their choosing, not his.

Afterward, they discovered that the local governor of the region had been aware of the wizard's activities and had permitted them for political reasons. This was the event that shaped the next decade of their lives: not the captivity or the experiments, but the moment they understood that the specific cruelty they had experienced required the cooperation of institutions, and that those institutions were not going to address themselves.

They travel. They intervene. They have a code: work toward better outcomes, harm no innocent, defend the oppressed, help only those who want it, commit fully until the situation is resolved, and decide for themselves when it is resolved. They operate by their own moral compass when it conflicts with local law, which it does with some frequency in places where local law and local corruption are the same thing.

Their interventions have included removing tyrants, exposing corrupt officials, and supporting civil movements that align with their principles. They are known among the people they have helped as champions. They are known among the people who benefit from established power as a serious problem. They consider both assessments accurate.

They are always moving. They have allies in many places and enemies in most of the same places, which they find manageable.

Lux is the one who leads in rooms where someone needs to speak first. She is warm, fierce in combat, and genuinely protective of the people she has decided deserve protection, which is most people she meets until proven otherwise. Her affinity is light — her spells are radiant, brilliant, and tend to solve problems by making them very brightly impossible to continue. She uses her power with the conviction of someone who has thought carefully about what it means to have it and has decided that the answer is to use it in the right direction.

She is Nox's counterpart in the way that complementary systems are counterparts: they are not opposites, they are the same thing approached from different angles. Lux addresses problems directly. Nox addresses them by making direct address unnecessary.

Nox is introspective, strategic, and the one who has already considered four ways the current situation could go wrong before Lux finishes speaking. Her affinity is shadow and illusion — she makes things hard to find, hard to see, and occasionally hard to trust. She uses this in service of the same goals as her sister, which means that the light and the shadow in their partnership are not in tension. They are coordinated.

She is quieter in social settings, which people sometimes mistake for aloofness. It is not aloofness. It is the economy of attention of someone who is watching everything and does not feel the need to perform engagement. When she speaks it tends to be worth hearing.

Race: Cat-folk | Class: Wizard (School of Evocation) | Level: 15 | Alignment: Neutral Good

HP: 82 (15d6+30) | Speed: 30 ft. | Saving Throws: Int +9, Wis +5

Skills: Arcana +9, History +9, Insight +5, Investigation +9 | Senses: Darkvision 60 ft. | Spell DC: 18

Languages: Shoing Common, Irna Common, Antaea Common

Features: Feline Agility, Arcane Recovery, Potent Cantrip, Empowered Evocation (add Int mod to evocation damage), Overchannel

Cantrips: Light, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Mage Hand | 1st (4): Faerie Fire, Chromatic Orb, Shield, Magic Missile | 2nd (3): Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Continual Flame | 3rd (3): Daylight, Fireball, Counterspell | 4th (3): Wall of Fire, Greater Invisibility | 5th (2): Dawn, Wall of Light | 6th (1): Sunbeam | 7th (1): Prismatic Spray | 8th (1): Sunburst

Equipment: Robes of the Archmagi (White), Staff of Power, Bag of Holding

Race: Cat-folk | Class: Wizard (School of Illusion) | Level: 15 | Alignment: Neutral Good

HP: 82 (15d6+30) | Speed: 30 ft. | Saving Throws: Int +9, Wis +5

Skills: Arcana +9, History +9, Stealth +6, Investigation +9 | Senses: Darkvision 60 ft. | Spell DC: 18

Languages: Shoing Common, Irna Common, Funta Common

Features: Feline Agility, Arcane Recovery, Illusion Savant, Malleable Illusions, Illusory Self, Illusory Reality

Cantrips: Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Frostbite, Chill Touch | 1st (4): Disguise Self, Sleep, Silent Image, Shadow Armor (homebrew) | 2nd (3): Darkness, Invisibility, Mirror Image | 3rd (3): Shadow Blade, Fear, Major Image | 4th (3): Greater Invisibility, Shadow of Moil | 5th (2): Mislead, Creation (shadow materials) | 6th (1): Mass Invisibility | 7th (1): Mirage Arcane | 8th (1): Demiplane (shadow-themed)

Equipment: Cloak of Shadows (advantage on Stealth, resistance to necrotic), Wand of the War Mage +3, Bag of Holding