Background
Avaset Kulikov is cousin to King Nirian IV and kin-sister to the crown princess Mina Sultana. Through this bloodline, she can trace her lineage directly to Father Magnus. Known for her composure and calm demeanor inside and outside the dueling arena, Avaset is a woman of simple means and rarely—if ever—relies on her royal influce to curry favor. Unlike many within the court, she prefers to clear the path with her own two hands.
The Crown’s influence over the nations of Ozora has waned considerably in the past few hundred years, and as such, Avaset decided that a future of power struggles and never-ending beaurocracy was not for her. With direct rulership over only the Kingdom of Vehenna, to most of the world, King Nirian IV is king in name only. As humble as she may be at times, Avaset has enough pride in her family name that she will fight to make sure her legacy is not further hollowed by political scheming.
Seeking to find her own path, Avaset joined the Order of the Fading light when she was fourteen. Now, she is a member of an ancient sect within the Order known as the Lost Hours Praetorium. At a young age—sometimes as early as 4 years—Lost Hours Acolytes are bonded with the spirit of long-dead champion of the Order. The process, known as life-weaving, is arduous, both for the Acolyte and for those seeking to return. Many aspirants die during the process before ever completing their life-weave, with the spirits they sought to bind being lost to the Dark Eternity. Avaset completed her life-weave some six years later. The champion that answered her call was none other than Volker, first Grand Palatine of the Lost Hours Praetorium—and brother to Father Magnus himself.
Avaset is known as the Voice of the Fading Light partly because of her royal heritage, but mostly because, even at the young age of twenty-two, Avaset commands great respect for her intellect and apparent incorruptibility. In battle as in public, Avaset is accompanied by Volker, whose mere presence can silence a crowd. Together, they a force that few can stand against.
Princess Mina has on many occassions tested Avaset’s loyalty, and has—every time—been reminded of her honor and worth. As Mina has discovered on more than one occasion, Avaset seeks no glory for her deeds and no assertion of her nobility. She seeks simply to re-establish the dignity of her bloodline in service to the Order.
Fighting Style
The fighting style that Avaset pracitices is called Aeverus. It is a modern variation of an ancient martial form first made popular by the warrior monks of the Lost Hours Praetorium. Long ago, this style was practiced exclusively with a straight blade, but with the introduction of the gunsword, Aeverus has evolved into a much more potent fighting style.
Aeverus, like much of the curriculum of the Praetorium, is based around the contemplation of time and the monk’s place within it. With their connection to the spirits of the past through life-weaving, Lost Hours Acolytes see time more as a lake than river. Memories and temporal convergences are easily accessed and manipulated by these Acolytes. No one demonstrates this fact more than Avaset and her constant companion, Volker. With the ability to shift back and forth between forms, Avaset and Volker can make even the savviest foes second-guess their maneuvers.
Favored Weapon
Lightbinder
Duelist Technique: Lifeweave [Volker]
You have two forms: Avaset and Volker. You start the game with Avaset’s form active. When you take Initiative, except for the first turn of each round, you switch forms. When you play a Skill while in Volker’s form, set its base Power to 1. You can’t Block while in Volker’s form and all damage dealt to you is reduced to 1.
When you play a card that has the [Volker] or [Avaset] keywords, you only activate its effects if you are in the appropriate form. Otherwise, the Combo Line or Segment is considered blank.
While you are performing a Skill’s Combo Chain, you may pay 2 Momentum to interrupt to switch forms.
Favored Weapon Technique: Eyes of Judgment
You start the game with 3 Oculus tokens. At the beginning of the match, place each Oculus on any unoccupied space within Queen 1 of you not on the center row.
Each time a foe enters a space with one or more of your Oculi (or vice versa), each Oculus in that space deals 1 Direct damage to that foe.
When you take Initiative, except for the first turn of each round, you may move 1 of your Oculus tokens to an unoccupied space adjacent to any duelist.
Strengths
Avaset has access to some very powerful abilities, many of which have varying effects based on what form she is in—Avaset or Volker. Proper utilization of her 2 forms is key to victory, and her ability to interrupt to switch forms has strategic advantages that can be used to punish out-of-position foes and take advantage of a number of different situations. The most obvious of Avaset’s strengths is her ability to mitigate damage while in Volker’s form. His damage reduction ability can force your opponents to constantly re-evaluate the board state. Heavy hitters like Houlun and Warburton will have to save their high-powered attacks until a different turn, often when they’re in a less strategic position.
While wielding Lightbinder, Avaset is able to zone her foes, applying even more pressure to unsuspecting opponents. Even if the oculus tokens don’t deal damage, they’ve forced your opponent to maneuver in difficult ways, which is often as effective as outright avoiding an attack. The more a player is forced to analyze and re-analyze their Skillset, the more likely they are to make a mistake—a mistake that you can capitalize on. While playing Avaset, don’t be afraid to play aggressively. You want to keep the pressure on so you can turn an opponent’s mistake to your advantage.
Weaknesses
Avaset has two primary weaknesses: the conditional nature of her Skill cards and her inability to block while in Volker’s form. Because several of her Skill cards require her to be in a particular form to execute, determining which card to play can put you in tricky situations. It might be more advantageous to play a particular card now, rather than wait until all of its conditional effects line up properly. This is not an easy evaluation to make, and it can sometimes force you to overanalyze her cards. You will have to play with a few different potential paths in mind in order to maximize her cards’ effectiveness.
Volker’s damage reduction ability can be a blessing and a curse. If you are in Volker’s form at the right time, you can easily brush off even the most powerful attacks. However, if you find yourself low on Health and unable to block while in Volker’s form, that 1 damage can end up being your downfall. If a foe is able to capitalize on that effect with multiple small attacks in a turn, they might be able to turn the tables. With Avaset, it might be more beneficial to block when you can rather than waiting until the late game to turtle-up.
