Riona

Riona Khan is a fictional character appearing in the Gaian War universe, a Role Play by fans of the fantasy RPG genre and is a telepathic angel that was previously on Tadyr's side under the name Zira. However after the curse was broken she dedicated her life to protecting others, particulary her friends.

Concept And Creation
Riona's name is an altered version of "Rinoa", a female protagonist from Final Fantasy 8. Her personality and themes are inspired by Beatrix from Final Fantasy 9, in the sense she was previously an antagonist but then became an protagonist. The name Zira, comes from the name of the female antagonist from The Lion King II.

History
Riona was a warrior from a young age, when she was very young, she became friends with Claudandus who proceded to teach her to control her powers, which she was scared of when she was young. When she was older she fought alongside him with the demons, led by Tadyr. In a duel with Tadyr, Claudandus' staff of serenity was destroyed, leaving him at Tadyr's mercy, however Riona lept in and allowed herself to be captured to give Claudandus the chance to escape. She was then brainwashed and transformed into Zira, a demon fiercly loyal to Tadyr and proceded to assist in his campaigns against the angels.

Gaian War I
As Zira, she appears at about the half way point, brought in by Tadyr in an attempt to extact the lore from Cyrie's mind. However Zira starts to sense that the real angel of death, Sayn, is approaching. She starts corrupting his mind with visions of him assisitng Tadyr in destroying the angels. Once Sayn defects, they accompany Tadyr and chase Daedalus and Ashalla. Zira and Sayn are sent after Ashalla and they chase her through a cave before Tadyr catches her. Zira returns to Castle Oblivion and along with Sayn, attacks Daedalus, Sophie and Kehl, during which Kehl destroys the black gem that is keeping Sayn under Tadyr's control. The curse lifted, Sayn turns on Zira and the two battle before Sayn injures Zira, Sayn tries to get Zira to join him but in her loyalty to Tadyr she collapses the room in an attempt to kill both of them. Once the castle starts collapsing Sayn returns to the collapsed room and sees Zira is still alive so he saves her. The kindness he shows to her in doing so lifts the curse on her, revealing she was actually a cursed angel, she starts going by her old name, Riona and leaves with Sophie and Sayn to live in Karamja.

Gaian War II
In the gap between Gaian War I and Gaian War II, Riona has become a member of the angel council at Karamja. When news of Selena's imminent attack on Ardognue reaches the council, Sophie decides to go evacuate the civilians, Sayn is reluctant to let her go until Riona promises that she will protect Sophie. They go to Ardognue and join up with Ragna to battle Selena's army, it goes well until Torran arrives and he manages to injure Riona. Ragna steps in and saves her and brings her to Ashalla, who patches her up. Riona then takes a group of survivors with Claudandus to Port Khazard however a demon horde led by Taydrno attacks, Riona manages to kill Taydrno and the horde retreats. When they reach Khazard, Selena and Torran are already there and another fight breaks out with Claudandus teleporting away when it is clear they cannot overcome the combined might of the two. Riona goes to Karamja, only to find it completely destroyed by the Armagus, Riona goes into a state of grief and doesn't even try to fight back when Vorgax attacks and kidnaps her. Claudandus gives chase and blasts Vorgax down over Shilo where the others are, using Riona as a shield Vorgax retreats but is confronted by Sophie later, the two fight while Riona is still grief striken but when Vorgax is about to kill Sophie she snaps out of it, remembering the promise she made. Together they defeat Vorgax and then Riona assists Claudandus in preparing Shilo for the attack from Torran and Selena. After doing so she leaves with Sayn to find Sophie, she is attacked by Cort who teleports them both back to Shilo, she then leaves with Sayn and together they bring Lucas to a safe place. Afterwards they run into Claudandus, Rayena and Gaise who inform them that the Aramgus has destroyed Shilo and Sophie was in the midst of it when it did, leading Riona to think Sophie is dead. She then accompanies the group head to Chaos Temple and assits in the battles against Tadyr and U-DO. When Gaian War II finishes, she heads back to Shilo.

Gaian War III
Riona first appears after Lucas is attacked by Kai. She picks up his throughts for helps and brings him home. Riona stays with Sophie, Sayn and Lucas until Torran and Selena attack Shilo once more, causing her to leap into action. She tries to help Claudandus fight Nemises but Nemises uses the orb of chaos to extract Riona's darkness and create her negative form, Zira. Zira knocks Riona unconcious before leaving with Nemises. Riona is healed back to health by Claudandus and then decides to go with him to help him take down Nemises.

Weapons and Abilities
Riona wields a halbred named Seven Sins, she can use it effectively and quickly despite it being rather long. Riona, like most angels also posseses powers over the aura to utilise light based spells. Riona's key skills are telepathy and telekenises which allow her to move objects with her mind and also read and send messages to other people's minds. She can also use this ability to sense where people are. Riona is adapt at using her telekenises thanks to Claudandus' training, making her a formidable opponent.

Personality
Riona is a kind and caring person who does everything in her power to protect her friends and the innocent. She has had an extremely rough life but this in turn has hardened her as a warrior and made her compassionate as a person. Riona has no problems endangering her life for her friends, shown when she bravely leaps infront of Claudandus to face Nemises. however, she has shown signs of being emotionally unstable, like when she fell into a grief stricken trance after Karamja was destroyed.

Themes
thumb|300px|left|Riona's Themethumb|300px|right|Zira Vs Sayn thumb|300px|left|Riona's Battle Theme