Favian Illvisarovych Giranenko is one of the members of the Darklight Crusaders. He is a noble of House Giranenko, and is currently Na-Bolt.

Biography

Early Life

As a child, Favian deeply respected the values of the Lunar Collective, the Triad, and the Golden Church. He was a devoted patriot, embracing the ideals of his country and holding his parents in high regard. However, Favian's sheltered upbringing kept him insulated from the world's harsh realities.

It wasn’t until he began learning magic that he finally understood what Lunaria truly was.

Favian's relationship with his brother Demyan strained when their first magic lessons began. Favian was more talented but most importantly found joy in practicing magic. Demyan wasn't so keen, so he struggled, and their mother Bolt Ithila's favoritism began to show.

Favian, however, still felt alone in his lessons. No one around him shared his love for magic, as magic was mostly seen as a tool for power and building weapons. The lessons taught were less experimental and more combat-oriented.

He would occasionally visit his father Illvisar, and they would bond over theory crafting around magic, but his father was often too busy or tired to spend any time with Favian. Ithila would give him extra work, so Favian's and his father's interactions lessened over time.

One day, a servant boy named Yakov was assigned to be Favian's caretaker. He was around his age and always watched Favian during his lessons with a lot of curiosity. Favian noticed this, and when his lessons were over late in the evening (and when Ithila wasn't around), they would go to the back gardens, and Favian would teach him. Yakov's favorite spell was dancing lights- it was a simple spell, but it was beautiful. Yakov had talent, perhaps more so than Favian, and it only made Favian more certain that Yakov deserved a chance at the Academy too. He planned on training Yakov as much as he could, and eventually, he would take him to Illvisar. Yakov's quarters weren't too far from Favian's, and they would communicate via message- connected through magic literally. Demyan noticed Favian always disappearing in the night and decided to follow him one day, and saw him training Yakov and grew even more jealous. He didn't report them but instead confronted Favian about this. However, Favian offered to give extra lessons to Demyan, and the three of them trained together in secrecy. They would often have arguments, Demyan always being condescending and calling Favian's and Yakov's view on magic "childish." Demyan also told Favian it would be quite stupid to even try and challenge the laws of the land and that Yakov would be in a lot of trouble if anyone found out about this. Favian thought both Illvisar and Demyan were alike in that they were a slave to the state and too 'scared' of Ithila.

And he was right. Ithila found it odd for Favian and Demyan to be spending so much time together and pressured Demyan into telling the truth. Demyan lied to her at first but eventually caved in and told her all about Yakov and Favian's relationship. Demyan didn't want to do it, but maybe there was a thought somewhere that he was glad he did. Perhaps now Ithila would favor him over Favian? Favian realized one night that Yakov was not responding to his messages. Ithila told him that Yakov and his family had been 'relocated', and she had also meticulously buried that entire incident so that no rumors would spread. Favian's story of having traitorous thoughts never came to light. But ever since then, Favian had a deep-seated hatred for Lunaria and the laws of the land.

By the time of 3E498, Favian had a lot of free-thinking ideals and a wish to teach magic to the masses. Favian also had the same goals as his mother, but for different reasons. Favian wanted to change the country of Lunaria, and the first step was to allow all citizens access to magic and rebuild the nation. For that, House Giranenko needed to go up the hierarchy. Favian and Bolt Ithila had a give-and-take relationship- Ithila knew Favian disliked her, but as long as he was useful to her, she didn't care. Favian was often her spy and made useful contacts, and his expertise in divination helped him and Ithila keep an eye on their enemies. One day, he was assigned a new 'bodyguard' of sorts, a Ballista of House Zolotov named Gemini, or Dmitri as the soldiers called him. Younger than Favian, Dmitri seemed to almost be a religious zealot who has never been exposed to the free thoughts that Favian had.

The Light of Lunaria

In St. Arbalsburg, Favian and Dmitri Zolotov investigated the mysterious death of Captain Zakhar, leading them to a dangerous encounter with an assassin named Zeene in the woods, who was ultimately subdued before the two got captured and taken to Oly's Keep where they met Ilya and Esfir Vasilieva as well as other prisoners such as Jimjar, Ront, and Muna. With the arrival of Favian and Dmitri, the group planned an escape, eventually clashing with the prison’s warden and releasing the daemonfae Alisa in the process. Fleeing into the snowy wilderness, they made their way to Night's End, the headquarters of the Blackreyne Brotherhood, seeking help to defeat the demon they unwittingly freed. There, they met Headhunter Can Vanadiyin as well as Headscribe Otto Albiker, and learned more about Alisa’s past and reality as a Koshmorha, setting them on a quest to gather resources and allies to end her threat once and for all. Dmitri started to slowly accept new perspectives that differed from his lightwatcher teachings.

The party’s journey led them to the town of Voghnov, where they met a blackreyne slayer named Naigha, who led them to an ancient battleground that was considered to be a 'Wound in Divinity'. They eventually defeated the wyvern that she was hired to hunt down, and also found a cursed golden dagger there. With the necessary ingredients and allies in hand, they moved on to Dobuka via cargo train. Finally in Dobuka, they headed to Greasetown where Esfir lived. In the Rust Bucket, they met another blackreyne hunter, the warforged Viktor, who sought a 'child of the Shadowfell' that Ilya recognised as his brother Zhenya. Despite the mounting dangers, the group prepared for their final confrontation with Alisa in the sewers beneath Dobuka where a few children from the local orphanage had disappeared to. The party faced Alisa in her true form after taking the tea of insomnia and casting private sanctum. With the help of Naigha and Dmitri's divine smite, the party finally overcame the daemonfae, rescuing two surviving children from her grasp and securing a hard-won victory.

After their week of recovery in the Rust Bucket, the group found itself plunged into political and personal turmoil. Ilya’s midnight meeting with his brother Zhenya revealed that he worked with Luka to steal a piece of the 'Dark Scepter'. The next night, Blackreyne hunter Mash arrived alongside Viktor, who accused Ilya and his brother for the murder of Brush, the only witness to Luka's theft. Dmitri took Ilya to Neogathol Prison, where they had a discussion with Viktor. Favian and Esfir were forced by Gordon to work with Mash, and ended up relying on Lady Anwela Neonenko for help. Eventually, Viktor revealed the truth about the Dark Sceptre to the party, and how his secret client had bought the Dark Filial that Luka stole during its journey. He instructed the party to recover it from the Shadowfell, sending Mash alongside them.

As the group ventured toward the Shadowfell, they journeyed to Neosk and the darkening Alphwoods. The mayor of Neosk told the party of the corrupted Father Borys and how the Shadowfell gate opened within the town. The battle with Borys ended with them saving the town, but ending up on the other side of the gate within the Shadowfell. The shadowy realm tested their resolve and abilities, as they faced shadows, mimic creatures, cloud giants, and dangerous Shadar-Kai assassins while traveling to the city of Moonruin with two companions named Oshki and Zuria. The party's arrival at Moonruin introduced Luka, who had become the lord of the city. He and Esfir's former teammates had taken over the city using the Dark Filial. The party ended up capturing the orc Vadim, gaining some information from him before talking to the town's dark priest, Viziel. The priest revealed the origin of Moonruin, telling Favian about his dark-worshiping ancestor who had once teleported St. Arbalsburg to the Shadowfell to escape a siege. He was neutral in their fight against Luka, and introduced them to him where the party pretended to turn to Luka's side, especially after noticing the shadow dragon Mynvokun under his command.

He tested them first by sending them on a treasure hunt in an abandoned prison nearby, where they found a strong artifact that would prevent death. Favian decided to create a replica and present Luka with a fake version of the artifact, which somehow worked and they seemingly gained his trust. Luka and Viziel revealed that the Dark Hunt's invasion is going to happen within the next two years. The party then stole strong artifacts from Luka's treasury, using said artifacts to finally fight him and kill him for good. Esfir ended up killing both Zanasha and Luka in the fight, and Ilya claimed the Dark Filial from Luka. After an argument on what to do and where to take it, the party decided to make a dark pact to prevent betrayal among themselves. With Viziel's help, they bound their souls with that of Mynvokun, the Shadow-Dragon. The Dark Oath made sure that any decisions the party makes had to be voted on, and no one could betray the rest of the party without having Mynvokun consume their souls. They decided to make this pact until the apocalypse of the Dark Hunt is prevented.

They decided to contact Viera Blackreyne, the Archhuntress of the Blackreyne Brotherhood. They warned her of the impending Dark Hunt invasion as well as Viktor's involvement, and she told them to meet her at her mansion in Taltigo. They plane shifted to the Lunar Sea. Meeting Viera in her mansion there, she revealed to them Viktor's history and how she distrusted him. She wouldn't mind if he were to die, even. She told them to ask Lady Lyn for help in locating whoever ordered the Filial to be shipped to them, but warned them not to owe her a favor. Lady Lyn agreed to help the party, and in return they had to travel to Torishu and kill Pirate Waterlord Ozran for her. She sent her daughter Myranda with them on the small ship called The Disgraced Eel. Favian had a dream about a pirate hunting him, and awoke one night to the ghost ship The Lunarian's Revenge chasing him down led by Captain Fabian Grimm. Grimm hated lunar nobles, and wanted Favian dead. Everyone worked to save Favian from dying and vanquished the ghosts.

As the party reached Torishu, they fought off a Shinobi ambush and hid at an onsen. Favian was approached romantically by Myranda, but he refused her advances and then proceeded to mess up things between them. Dmitri had a dream in which he saw the previous Ballista Gemini told him "Find Her". The party then defeated the Waterlord Ozran in combat, and asked his corpse all the information he had about dark artifacts. They learned that whoever had ordered the Filial's shipment already owned one piece of the scepter that they had gotten from Skion. They also learned of a buried treasure Ozran hid away that he had stolen from Xaniv the Whisperer. They uncovered Xaniv's Book of Vile Darkness, and then decided to bury it again after only learning a few spells from the evil book. They said their goodbyes to Myranda at Taltigo, and Esfir named the party 'the Darklight Crusaders'.

Lyn revealed to them that the shipment was meant to be delivered to Akhlezh and was ordered by Ballista Libra of the Golden Church, who was in Kalkipol at the moment. The party discussed their options and decided to have Dmitri sneak into the church to gather intel. Upon making it to Kalkipol however, they were immediately caught and apprehended by Ballista Virgo, who took the Dark Filial from Ilya momentarily. Libra chastized Gemini, and then cut off Dmitri's right hand. Virgo then left, releasing the party from their bounds and dropping the Filial. The party then quickly escaped the Church by breaking a window and disappearing into the dark alleys, having picked the Filial back up. They took shelter in an abandoned warehouse, where they reflected on the true apocalyptic plans of both the light and the dark. The party went to the Sabatcieni warehouse in the city where Ilya met his sister Anya. Favian immediately recognised her as looking extremely similar to Dmitri. After a lot of speculation into their lack of memories, the party came to the conclusion that Anya is likely Dmitri's twin sister, separated through time via the Feywild's time dilation. They were then ambushed by Gold Monks as well as a Gold Inquisitor, leading them to seek out an alliance with House Koporev.

They ended up meeting Bolt Matros Koporeva, and revealed everything to her including the Dark Filial. She hired them as official Kuprum Explorers, and promised to hide the Filial somewhere safe. She then sent them to Skion Labs in Gematirsk to steal information from Ballista Aquarius aka Dr. A under the guise of delivering the Soul-Sacrificial Dagger. She gave them one of her personal airships - the Sokol - as well as one of her personal trusted men, Zurikov. In Gematirsk, they infiltrated Dr A's office within Skion Labs and uncovered information about important people of note as well as communication between him and Kol-Han that revealed the Ballistas' apocalyptic plan. After a fight with Dr. A and Vortex Viktoria Vier, they escaped Gematisk on the Sokol and made their way back to St. Arbalsburg.

Favian enjoyed being home but dreaded what came next. They met his father, Illvisar Isilion first. They ended up telling the complete unabridged truth to him, and he suggested that they should lie to Favian's mother and say that they're working for the Golden Church. He also suggested for them to confess about working for Bolt Matros and engage in a smaller argument. In Bolt Ithila Giranenko's office, the party met her as well as Favian's brother Demyan. After a long argument in which Bolt Ithila demanded to know everything that Favian was up to and how he was hurting the family politically, they ended up telling her that they are working for the Church and that they're trying to locate the three halves of the Dark Sceptre with Bolt Matros. Dmitri convinced Ithila that Favian, if he saves the world, would only elevate House Giranenko. Demyan caused some issues in the argument but was quickly shut down. Ithila was very suspicious and critical of Ilya, especially after they revealed that he was a dark-worshiper who turned against the dark. In the end, she let them stay in GIMA. In their new common room, Favian revealed to Ilya and the others about his backstory in which his mother 'disappeared' a childhood servant friend of his who wanted to learn magic. The party then discussed what to do, and ended up deciding to head to Terros through Dobuka to look for Baron Gideon Huxley, stopping over at the Sabatcieni near Dobuka first. Favian contacted his cousin Dame Ingrid Rennwald, who told them all to come over and discuss.

Before leaving, Favian hugged his father and promised to keep updating him. The party departed with Zurikov and arrived at Boetsk for a short respite where they were attacked by Baba Nadira and then some Dark Hunt Bleed Killers. The party met Gordon and Anya in the Rust Bucket in Dobuka, and then convinced Anya to travel with them for a while for her safety. Over the next few days, they headed towards the terrosi city of Yawrôn to find Gideon after learning from Ingrid that Gideon was in his hometown. At the DoD they finally met Dame Ingrid Rennwald. Ingrid caught up with Favian. As the Darklight Crusaders explained the situation to her and the guildmaster, they agreed to help them out in any way that they can. The next morning, Ingrid led them towards the Mountainfey Ruins, where they finally met Baron Gideon Huxley. After he was briefed on the entire situation, he realized that Anya and Dmitri are linked to the fey in some way. He tried to unlock their memories, returning to them snippets of memories. They then also revealed that Viera was missing, leading to the party heading to Night's End to deal with Viktor once and for all. Favian helped Mash and the other Blackreynes fight against Viktor and his supporters, and after they killed him, Can promised that Night's End is going to be a friendly base of operations for the Darklight Crusaders.

After that, the Darklight Crusaders had a meeting with Can, Otto, Zhalimov, Zurikov, as well as a new diplomat- Raziel of Alsiorion, the Keeper of Secrets. As they told them mostly everything, Raziel asked the party about their plans and their convictions, before revealing that the oracles of Alsorion have determined that the Dark Hunt would attack two years from now, on the Varkosi Arcanos of 3E500. He then revealed to them the location of Markal Zuriel as well as his history, and told them that he awaits them in the heavenly plane of Qaydar. The party then spent many 'months' within the heavenly planes making their way to Markal. When they finally met him, they were attacked by Ballista Aries who they finally ended up killing for good. They then stepped back through her portal and appeared in Sergorod, realizing that 2 years had passed and that they only had one week until Varkosi Arcanos.

They met Zurikov and Bolt Matros who explained that a Lunar Council meeting was happening at the Table, and this would be the best time for them to make their case to the bolts that show up as well as Serebryanitsa Strela. There, Favian reunited with his brother Demyan, who was Na-Bolt now. The party revealed almost everything to the Bolts from the Church's plan to let the world end, Dr. A's letter, as well as what they did to Dmitri. Kol-Han almost convinced the room to be against the party, but Favian's pleas to Na-Bolt Anwela Neonenko worked and she ended up supporting them. Kol-Han attacked each of their characters, but in the end Serebryanitsa Strela ruled to be neutral in this affair. After the successful meeting, the party contacted Anya who told them that Libra and the Church were attacking the Sabatcieni at Rtutiv. They immediately teleported there and killed Ballista Capricorn. After killing Ballista Libra, Anya explained that the three Babas had locked themselves away for months conducting a ritual as well as that Zhenya was now much stronger and essentially leading the Sabatcieni into war.

Ilya and the party finally met Zhenya within the Sabbath, where Zhenya yelled at Ilya for joining the ‘light’. Ilya managed to convince most of the Sabbath that the Dark Hunt would be bad for everyone and that Zhenya is lost. After a decisive fight, Ilya managed to break Zhenya’s hexed strength and bring him down. There, in front of the entire Sabbath, he then executed his brother whose body fell into the ravine de-powered. Afterwards, Esfir and the entire party had a shared vision of the apocalyptic future. Esfir’s patron entity 'Gigarion' then asked each of them if they were willing to give up their lives to make things better, and sacrifice their futures beyond just killing the Babas and Kol-Han. They all vowed to do what they must: Favian vowed to keep working on making Lunaria a better and more equal country. Now that their bonds of trust were unbreakable, Mynvokun’s soul ended their soul-pact prematurely, now that it was no longer needed. 

The party had a fruitful discussion with Bolt Strakh in Rtutiv, but on their way out of the Merkuriyev Fortress, a magical trap tried to pull in Favian. Mash realized this in time and the party was able to follow Favian to the GIMA Bolt’s office, where Ithila and Demyan held Favian paralysed. Ithila refused to listen to reason, and even tried to kill Favian with Power Word Kill which was prevented by Dmitri. She let out their Giranium Golem on the rest of the party, and Favian and Dmitri together managed to convince Demyan to help them instead. The party neutralized Ithila to the best of their ability and took both her and the golem down. Favian made her listen to him, and she reluctantly named him Na-Bolt. Favian had a touching moment with Demyan as the two brothers finally acknowledged each other’s growth.

At midnight when Varkosi Arcanos began, the Dark Hunt invaded Abmarah. The barrier around Babaoga’s hut disappeared, and the party ventured into her demiplane where they finally faced off against Baba Ogafya, Baba Nadira, and Baba Imka. Despite killing the witches, their coven’s magic kept reviving them. Favian managed to disintegrate Baba Nadira before she could pull off Mash’s face, and then they managed to kill Baba Ogafya and Baba Imka together. Ilya had a touching farewell with Imka before she disappeared. The party immediately boarded the Sokol above in the Kosmosi Mountains, and rested while Zurikov piloted them to Sergorod. The crusaders reached Sergorod by sunrise, and rushed up towards the Golden Church as the Dark Hunt waged war against Lunaria and the world as a whole above them. Ballista Leo stopped them, but Markal immediately engaged the fight with the other angel. The party managed to get past Leo’s chronomancy and kill him, before rushing up to meet Kol-Han before his pipe organ. He took them high up into the sky above the city, to a cloudy altar. Chastising Gemini and vowing to destroy them, Kol-Han casted a meteor swarm and almost ended the party at the beginning of the fight. Favian’s simulacrum joined this final fight as well. The fight against the Patriarch was incredibly dire and the party almost did not make it as Kol-Han called the Lightclaw to him. Markal kept the lightclaw from reaching Kol-Han, when Dmitri finally ended him. Kol-Han died unable to reach Lightclaw, gasping for it until his final moment.

Dmitri then attuned to the Lightclaw while Ilya attuned to the now-complete Dark Sceptre. Together, the two resisted the calls to do evil and become gods. Ilya banished the Dark Hunt forever to the Shadowfell, and Dmitri let chaos into the world to end this era of order. However, outside their trance Favian, Mash, and Esfir realized that this was killing the two. They decided to let the two artifacts destroy each other, and using all their magic they forced the artifacts to touch and implode. Dmitri and Ilya were freed, as ripples in the fabric of reality brought the cosmos to a perfect balance. The party went on to all become leaders, as Favian got more responsibilities as Na-Bolt, Dmitri forced the rest of the Ballista and the Golden Church to reform as their new leader, Ilya settled the Sabbath onto a new surface town, Mash became the new Headhunter after Can’s retirement and reconciled with his family, and Esfir became a balance between all of them.

After the Campaign

Bolt Ithila gave more and more of her powers to Na-Bolt Favian. With Dmitri's help as the new Patriarch and his increased political power, Favian allowed the commonfolk of Lunaria to be able to learn magic. He continued to work to make the country a better place.

Timeline

• 3E438 - Favian is born in St. Arbalsburg.

• 3E460 - Favian's lowborn friend, Yakov, is exiled by Ithila Giranenko.

• 3E498 - The events of the The Light of Lunaria begin, with Favian and Dmitri leaving St. Arbalsburg and getting arrested.

• 3E500 - The Darklight Crusaders return to Lunaria after spending two years in the Heavens, leading into the ending of The Light of Lunaria.

Gallery

Favian during Ch. 1 & 2 of TLoL (Credit: Jouweria)

Favian's Spellbook (Credit: Jouweria)

Pixel Favian (Credit: Daibik)

Favian during Ch. 3 & 4 of TLoL (Credit: Jouweria)

Modern AU Favian (Credit: Jouweria)

Favian Mii (Credit: Tomodachi Life)

Favian's Rose (Credit: Jouweria)

Favian Chibi (Credit: Jouweria)

Favian (Bottom Right) with some other characters of Jouweria (Credit: Jouweria)