- Guardian is the main healer, their main ability is to patch up teammates, and prevent damage - their healing is instant and in short bursts, can be cast often. Preventing damage can be done for example by invisibility (partial or full - longer or shorter duration), by exchanging part of health for immunity, and physically moving allies. They have ability to resurrect allies, but it takes time and makes the whole team vulnerable. Their weapon is either a smaller dagger, shortsword, and a catalyst, and they have access to smaller shields.
Sunfall the game
Sunfall is a team sport, often referred to as just a game, where 5-person teams compete in maze-like buildings resembling long dungeons with rooms and corridors and environmental traps. The buildings have a "magical" field in them, allowing the players to gain abilities and weapons. The objective in each arena/map is to obtain the "sun" from the highest floor, and deliver it to any of the exits.
Eliminating occurs when each member is defeated, even a single member running is representative of the team, and counts as active participant. Lightweavers have access to view the entire map, and if a team has only one remaining member, they can see their approximate location
→ The teams consist of two support classes: Guardian and Lightweaver. They are typically wearing a green stash, usually with a healing or supporting symbol on it.
- Lightweaver is supporting healer providing buffs, such as speed, enhancing/adding damage or types of damage and temporary healing - their healing is over time but provides more recovery. They can also buff allies by making them receive more healing, but only from other support or tank. Their speed buff can be movement, but also speed of healing, speed of ability recovery, or casting speed. They are typically the strategist, and has better view of the map and teams. Their weapon is usually only catalyst, able to cast offensive spells if needed.
→ The damage class, Elementalist, is most often recognizable by having an obvious weapon even before entering the arena.
- Elementalist is the most obvious "spell-caster" who slings elemental attacks, and their weapon attacks are enhanced with elemental damage as well. They can combine two main elements into a secondary ones. They have both area of effect, and direct attacks, and both instant higher damage or lower damage over time. Their weapon can be anything, but is longer range or reach most often.
→ The tank classes are Flamewarden and Sentinel. They are recognized by bigger armour or bulkier clothes.
- Flamewarden or just Warden is the damage focused tank, who supports the Elementalist in close combat. They provide elemental resistance to teammates and physical shields. In dire situations, if Elementalist is incapacitated, Flamewarden takes their place as main damage dealer. They have access to leech abilities, draining enemies and giving themselves temporary armour. Has access to colossal weapons and shields.
- Sentinel is a supporting tank, providing physical and weaker elemental temporary armour, which is classified as healing, but not recovery. Their weapon enhancing or spells can provide stun to enemy, and resistance to crowd control to allies. They can create physical barriers and shields. They can weaken enemies (expose weak spots), or silence/jam their abilities for a short duration, and even drain their shields and armor. Access to colossal weapons and shields.
Everyone's abilities and combinations of them are slightly different, to fit with the rest of the team or to the player's playstyle.
Azure Phoenix
Ciarán (they/he) - Guardian
Youngest of the team, barely 20 years old, Ciarán graduated with top medals from fitness university of London where most promising Sunfall players are trained, but his most important years to gain experience with established teams, or create teams within the school, were put in the back as his gender reassignment surgery was approved early, and he spent a lot of months in hospital, or not healed enough to train as much as others.
They understand the theory completely, and have clear understanding of the game, but not much experience. When he was recruited by Azure Flare, Deanne and Adam scouted him out and asked him if he'd be interested, he was unsure but knew he needed the experience./p>
He was a quiet kid, both due to not fitting with other classmates, even the queer ones, and due to neurodivergency he never had diagnosed. They did like studying, both theory and history, and earned very good grades and respect of the teachers.
He was excited, if not showing it outside, to be invited to a group by a very visibly queer person, and thought of Deanne as a big role model. They've heard of Deanne before, read about their recent rise to dominance in tournaments, and admired Adam and their team as well.
They never found out what happened to the team, only that they haven't heard of them in a while, due to them only reading up on winning and successful teams, and their wins were not as consistent with new team, but still admirable. But a few months ago, they lost their Guardian.
Ciarán was flexible, and would work himself twice as hard to accommodate to any role, though he knew his weakness would be flamewarden. He was relieved to be asked to be the *guardian*, though a difficult role that does not get replaced often, reliant and important for the team, he had experience in it, no matter how minimal. He'd dreamed of being lightweaver, but wouldn't dare taking Adam's place, and would throw the dream away knowing if he becomes a Guardian, he could not be anything else. He would not plan to look for any other teams recruiting while Azure Phoenix - new name they chose after they joined.
Ciarán was talented, very skilled, but his cooperation and teamwork were extremely lacking. He would be a star player if the game was solo, but had hard time adjusting to his teammates. They quickly fell out of the major league, and were invited less and less to minor league tournaments. It takes practice, and so Azure Phoenix takes every chance they get to train, and to join in tournaments, to get the experience, to get Ciaran used to them, to get everyone used to and able to rely on him as their guardian.
It was no secret Ciarán admired Deanne, and it was no secret to Ciarán that it wasn't particularly difficult to get xem into bed, and after winning their first minor tournament in this team composition, after celebrating, Ciaran joined Deanne and Nate to their house, and lost their virginity with not one, but two teammates.
They were a bit disappointed to find out Deanne not only was not interested in Ciarán joining the relationship, but to also find out xe did find another partner soon after. He still invited Nate to dates or to go out in evenings, and he accepts everytime, though they would not dare assume anything serious.
Adam (he/him) - Lighweaver
Adam was handpicked by *Mentor* to join Deanne's team, as promising lightweaver whose previous team fell apart after a losing streak, while he excelled and shone through the failures. He was 25 when he joined, and when Ciaran joined the team, he is 29.
He is a very charismatic, outgoing, and well spoken guy. He would conform to Mentor's decision to make Deanne the captain of the team when he joined, not desperate to join a team but eager to try something new and play the game he enjoys. He is the only person from the original Mentor-picked group that stayed in current composition.
He has a pretty big friend group, he's generally very liked and does not spend as much of his free time with his sunfall teammates as others might.
When he joined Azure Flare he dated a girl named Bea, and by the time Azure Phoenix was established, his current girlfriend is Lucy, with whom he has committed relationship.
After Deanne was tasked to let Mentor know they no longer need their assistance, Deanne gave their position of captain to Adam, most often lightweavers are leaders and strategy planners, even if not captains, it made sense for this team.
He's harsh, but forgiving, repeatedly reminds his teammates of strategies, and if it doesn't work out he tries to work with them to figure out the correct pattern. He does not get mad easily, in fact almost never rose his voice or insulted anyone, but he will get the disappointed voice if he's not being listened to before a match.
He seems like a lax, chill person to be around, and while he can be intense and very thoughtful and overthinking, it's generally true to his friends. Not to say his teammates do not see him as friend, only that he has to get their respect and attention more often.
Stephanie (she/her) - Sentinel
Second replacement in Azure Flare's team, she was asked to join by friend who gave her a word that her friend's friend's team was looking for a tank, not knowing that much about Sunfall, but knowing Steph was not happy in her team at the time.
Her previous team, composed mostly by women, one nonbinary person, made it quite shocking to join all boys(and adjacent) team. In her girls team, she tried out to be a sentinel, and enjoyed it, but the girl who was assigned to be lightweaver could not pull it off, and so they switched. She was beyond excited to join Azure Flare as sentinel. She had great synergy with buffing and helping Deanne, Adam and Nate.
Kaleb, still present at the time, did his job but could not care less about Steph joining and working just as great, if not better than Milan after his accident. He was quite sour and eventually left the team a bit after Steph joining, and Azure Flare still dominating tournaments.
Steph is a lesbian, and she was 24 when she joined, 25 when Ciarán joined.
She had a bit of a misfortune in her dating life, and it's debatable whether getting more eyes on her as she joined a top tier team helped or not (in a way. just worse women)
At the beginning of the story, she was dating a girl named Angie, and Deanne remarked some of her previous girlfriends she dated while on the team were not the nicest.
Azure Flare (disbanded)
Kaleb (he/him) - Guardian
The Guardian Mentor picked to join Deanne's team. He would've preferred to be a Lightweaver, but Adam was better suited, and in order to join the legendary Mentor's team, he confronted.
Eventually, after Stephanie joined, he was the last teammate to leave after he had a breakdown and told everyone he hates them as much as he hates Mentor, and hates how popular Deanne is.
Jack (he/him) - Flamewarden
Flamewarden picked by Mentor, he was talented and skilled, but he did not find enjoyment in the game. When Nathan started training as sub, he quickly took it as opportunity to leave and go back to school to study and find job in something he actually enjoys. He was the first to leave the team.
Milan (he/him) - Sentinel
The Sentinel picked up by Mentor, he was a perfect fit, and would've continued to be, if he wasn't in a terrible accident that left his legs paralyzed. He remains friends with Adam.
Cerulean Lightbringer
Sonja (she/her) - Guardian
She joined as permanent team member along with Liz as sub, and she was very busy at first with finishing another school and took it as only hobby, until she was convinced she could make a living from it. Not the most educated person playing Sunfall, not even on their team, but still an outlier.
She had a short thing with John after him and Harry broke up, but decided to stay as friends (sometimes with benefits) as she discovered she is aromantic.
Zora (she/they) - Lightweaver
She was a Guardian in her previous team, and was a bit intimidated by the Lightweaver role, but accepted Harriet's offer, because she would be the captain, not Zora.
She's a positive and genuinely caring and nice person, so much so John would not believe she was friends with Harriet, whom he sees as the opposite. (He tried to hit on her, but she was not interested.)
Harold (he/him) - Elementalist
He met John soon after John moved to London, and his dream was to join a Sunfall team, but could not get into any schools and get contacts and make connections. He could barely train and sub for other teams, so John decided to help him, and apply with him.
He had a bit more connections thanks to his father, and most teams would only take Harry if John would train with them too.
Harry turned out to be talented, powerful and easy to work with, and he simply did not get noticed in world where only people with contacts and people who attended sports universities would be on radar.
After Harriet recruited them, and eventually they got a team together, he proved to be talented and hardworking elementalist.
John was John, however, and while trying to be as loyal in the relationship as he could be, his heart belonged to Harry, but his body didn't. Harry couldn't take sharing him with others, and broke up with him. He soon found solace and companionship with John's best friend, Leonardo. He never played Sunfall, and he could meet with him often enough to talk, while he was forced to meet with John for every training and every tournament. He tried to isolate himself, only really meeting the team for matches, not for fun, and doing his best to keep up the performance.
They remained a successful team, despite the feelings, and sentinel and elementalist are one of the important synergies, but they stayed professional and kept being a great duo in matches.
He's overcome his cocoon phase, and is in good terms with everybody now.