Guardian Forces

(Version 1.06 - Last Modified: 07/20/2006)


History

Guardian Forces are special supernatural creatures that are scattered around the world. Most of these creatures were once normal creatures or supernatural beings, but a twist in fate forced them to be what they are now, guardian forces that can bond with other beings to imbue them with incredible power.

A Guardian Force exists in a single location and is unable to move from that location. While it is possible for them to move if the area they are attached to is mobile, they cannot physically leave that area once they have become a Guardian Force. The areas that a Guardian Force can attached to can vary widely, such as a natural cavern, a clearing in a forest, or even a statue in the middle of a city.

Some of these creatures enjoy being Guardian Forces and explore the world through the beings they have bonded with, while others resent their confinement and will try to prevent people from bonding with them. Once bonded with a creature, the Guardian Force cannot willingly remove his essence from that creature, but it can be taken by another humanoid, and several Guardian Forces have allies and servants who will steal Guardian Force essences from undeserving people.

Dr. Odine initially discovered Guardian Forces and he did some research into what they are capable of doing. After his initial report was finished, Dr. Odine left the issue to continue his research on other topics. Years later, Cid and Edea Kramer came upon his report and decided to investigate more thoroughly. What they discovered would shock them and give rise to the Gardens and the SeeD Mercenary Organization.

Guardian Forces could be bonded to humanoids and would give the person incredible powers. This much was already in Dr. Odine’s report, but he didn't know or didn't report that the bond grows deeper over time and even the lowliest guardian force can grant amazing powers, even the power to transform into or summon a manifestation of the guardian force. This gave Cid and Edea access to an incredible power, which they wanted to use for the betterment of everyone. Using the orphans from the last Sorceress War as their troops, Cid and Edea built Balamb Garden and the SeeD Mercenary Organization. Cid chose Balamb as the site of his Garden for the simple reason that there were three nearby Guardian Forces that were willing to join with him in his plan.

After founding Balamb Garden, Cid Kramer explored the world in search of more Guardian Forces and rumors of Guardian Forces. By the end of his journey he had catalogued almost all Guardian Forces in the world and had bonded with a good number of them personally. Even his wife, the Sorceress Edea, bonded with several Guardian Forces.

Process of Bonding

To bond with a Guardian Force is to have that Guardian Force place a portion of its power into a humanoid. That person will then possess powers and abilities that they did not have before and they will have the ability to transform into a creature or summon a creature resembling the Guardian Force. This gives a person an incredible ability in combat and many other uses.

A Guardian Force can never be forced to bond with someone and must do so willingly. Most Guardian Forces will only bond with those it feels are worthy. Proving your worth might require successfully completing a quest, defeating the Guardian Force in combat, or merely reaching the Guardian Forces without dying might be enough. Once a guardian force chooses to bond with a person, 24 hours is required before the bonding is complete and the guardian force reaches level 1.

Once a person is bonded with a Guardian Force, the Guardian Force cannot take his power back. But a person can willingly break the bond, and many do so when they retire from adventuring or fighting. Sorceress Edea returned the power of all the Guardian Forces she bonded with except for one and Cid Kramer did the same thing when he retired from adventuring and became the Headmaster of Balamb Garden. However, a bonded person has the ability to steal a guardian force from another bonded person, this process is called Drawing.

Benefits of Bonding to a Guardian Force

  1. Drawing:
  2. Sense Guardian Force:
  3. Sense Bonded Guardian Force:
  4. Magical Affinity:
  5. Junction Abilities and Experience Levels:

Penalties of Bonding to a Guardian Force

  1. Memory Loss:
  2. Supernatural Essence:

Alexander

Alexander

Alexander was the pride and joy of Edea Kramer during her time of searching for guardian forces for the newly completed Balamb Garden. While Cid Kramer became deeply involved in running the school, Edea continued his search for guardian forces. Somewhere on the huge Galbadia continent, Edea encountered Alexander and bonded with it. When other students saw the power that Alexander has given her, they wanted to bond with it as well, but the first challenge in acquiring Alexander was to convince Edea to reveal its location. As of her departure from Balamb Garden, she had never revealed the guardian force's location. During their encounter inside Galbadia Garden on the Centra continent, Alexander was successfully drawn out of Sorceress Edea by Zell Dincht, who decided to continue bonding with Alexander for the rest of the War of the Gardens. Currently the guardian force's original location is unknown. Although Edea never revealed Alexander's location, he is actually located in a large cavern beneath an abandonned train station between Deling, the capital of the Galbadian Republic and Dollet. Alexander believes that his location is so remote and so hard to find, that he will willingly bond with any person of a good alignment that locates him. Unfortunately, he refuses to bond to those of a non-good alignment.

Bahamut

There have only ever been a few dragon guardian forces in the world, and most people believe they are just legends, for little has ever been able to contain or control these powerful beasts. However, this is only partially true. Although difficult, it is not impossible to control a dragon and with the resources of the Galbadia Republic behind you, the task becomes even easier. When the Galbadia Republic decided to experiment with guardian forces, it located a facility in the middle of the ocean, far away from any prying eyes or civilian populations. The Galbadia Military wanted to see if they could create a Guardian Force and so many experiments were devised to reach this goal. One such experiment involved the capture of a dragon and placing it into an energy reactor. The dragon was not too pleased with what the Humans were doing, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the attackers. Once the process was complete, Bahamut was forever altered and he became a guardian force, and as you might expect, he was very mad.

Using all of his powers, Bahamut called a wave of monsters to the research facility. By the time the scientists discovered the connection between Bahamut and the sudden monster attack, it was too late and the defenders were killed by the monsters. With the Humans gone, Bahamut allowed the monsters to leave if they wanted, but a number of creatures decided to stay and make their home in the research facility. Bahamut remained undisturbed in the facility for years before Squall located the facility and investigated it. Weary of killing, Bahamut attempted to frighten Squall into leaving, but when he refused, Bahamut was forced to fight him personally. Upon his defeat, Bahamut agreed to bond with Squall and grant him a part of his strength.

Brothers

During an older age of the world, two minotaur brothers wandered the countryside looking for adventure. One brother was a powerful warlock, while the other was a powerful psychic, but both were incredibly strong and tough in a fight. As they adventured, they came across a tomb from an older era. The ruins of the tomb revealed few details as to who was buried in the tomb, or even how old the tomb was, but the brothers came to love the incredible sense of peace they felt in the area of the tomb.

Before long, other adventures came to the tomb, mostly to see if their was any treasure to plunder. The brothers did not like these grave robbers, so they would attack them and try to chase them away from the tomb. Eventually the brothers completely lost track of time and the will to adventure left them, leaving only the desire to protect the tomb. It was not until an adventurer arrived and defeated the brothers that they realized that they had changed. Although defeated, the brothers did not die, together they had become a guardian force and could not be killed. Having read about the powers of the guardian forces during their years of adventuring, the brothers knew they could bond with anyone they chose to, but starting with the adventurer that had defeated them, the brothers decided to only bond with those that were stronger or better then they were. The only way to demonstrate this strength would be to defeat them in battle.

Carbunkle

Carbunkle

Carbunkle is a unique creature and like many guardian forces, its origins are completely unknown. Somehow, Carbunkle became a guardian force and it is found at the ceremonial arch in Deling, the capital of the Galbadia Republic. Most guardian force scholars believe that Carbunkle was always at the site, but had hidden while Deling grew around it. Whatever its origin, Carbunkle is a very friendly guardian force and will only bond to people with a good alignment, Unfortunately, two very nasty lizards known as iguions took it upon themselves to protect Carbunkle, even from people that the guardian force would willingly bond with. Anyone wishing to bond with Carbunkle must face the iguions in combat and defeat them.

Cerberus

Cerberus

Cerberus began its life as the demonic minion of a powerful sorceress, but after only a few years of loyal service, it betrayed the Sorceress and killed her. After that, Cerberus wandered the world looking for a new place to live and eventually settled in some ruins on the Galbadia continent. At some point after Cerberus settled in the ruins, he became a powerful guardian force, but he refused to bond with anyone. Eventually, the ruins he lived in was converted into Galbadia Garden, but Cerberus remained hidden until Sorceress Edea took direct control of the garden and used it has her personal base. When Galbadia Garden began wondering around the world in search of Ellone, Cerberus revealed his presence and took control of the Garden's central chamber and attacked anyone who entered it. Squall Leonhart and his group were among those attacked by Cerberus, but they were the first to ever defeat him. In exchange for sparing Cerberus's life, the guardian force bonded with Squall and agreed to bond with other Balamb Garden students that defeated him in battle. Squall didn't tell Cerberus that, as a guardian force, he couldn't be killed through simple combat, but by the time Cerberus discovered his immortality, he had grown accustomed to bonding with people that could defeat him, that he continued doing so.

Diablos

Diablos

Diablos was a powerful demon and son of a demon lord; all who knew him trembled at his immense magical powers. The only problem with Diablos was his rather low intelligence and many other demons took advantage of him, often making him the brunt of practical jokes. When Diablos would realize that he was being made fun of, he would fly into a rage and attack all those around him. For those that made fun of him, and ensured they were no where nearby when he went into a rage, the destruction he caused was even funnier then the original jokes.

One day, Diablos was tricked by one of his demonic rivals and was trapped in a magical lamp and thrown into a dimension rift. Diablos was trapped in a small dimensional pocket inside the lamp and he was furious at what had happened to him, but for all of his magical powers, he was unable to break out. From dimension to dimension the magical lamp traveled until it eventually landed near Balamb Garden and was discovered by Edea Kramer. When she tried to examine it magically, she was pulled into the dimensional pocket. Suddenly seeing a new being in the dimensional pocket, Diablos did the one thing that was the most logical, he attacked. At the end of the battle, Diablos, much weakened from his stay in the dimensional pocket, was defeated by the Sorceress Edea. After the battle, Edea explained to Diablos that he had somehow become a guardian force and that he could share his energy with others. In exchange for sparing his life, Diablos agreed to allow special garden students that defeated him in combat to share his power; those that failed to defeat him were killed.

Doomtrain

It had no name and few coherent thoughts, but it was angry. It was also quite dead, which could make anyone angry. It took out its anger on anyone that it could find, but it had no corporeal body, so there was little it could do directly. However, there was one thing that the entity could do well: possess objects. Possessing objects and using them allowed it to vent its anger on those that still lived, but it was never enough. It could rage for centuries, but it would never be enough. In a weird twist of fate, the sheer uselessness of its anger hit the tectonic entity with enough force and truth to give it a moment of clarity. It saw what its anger had done and it was ashamed, for one shining moment, the entity realized that its anger served no purpose and never would. In that one moment, the entity gave up. Possessing the closest object it could find, the entity surrendered and tried to end whatever remained of its life.

But nothing is ever as it seems. The entity did not cease to exist. Instead it gained a new lease on life. It became sentient once again, but it was trapped in the body it had chosen, it was trapped the body of a train. The entity was now a guardian force named Doomtrain. Doomtrain had no idea how it knew it had change, or even what its new name was, it just knew. Doomtrain also realized that being a giant train wasn't the best thing it could be, but it could have chosen a worse body. Unlike most guardian forces that are trapped to a specific area, Doomtrain was only trapped on the train tracks that criss-crossed the Galbadia continent, he could move freely along those tracks. So for many years, Doomtrain simply wondered from place to place and stories began to emerge about a ghost train made of twisted black metal. Anyone that could successfully track down and catch the elusive guardian force was allowed to bond with it; good and evil do not matter very much to Doomtrain, but to atone for its past crimes, Doomtrain refuses to bond with those that it believes want to cause widespread wanton destruction.

Eden

Eden was always an oddity. One of the few, true alien intelligences that was not evil, he had always been shunned by other alien intelligences and mortals alike. The alien intelligences wanted nothing to do with one they considered to be weak and flawed, and the mortals were terrified of Eden's monstrous appearance and always believed that he was lying about his good intentions. So Eden wandered the megaverse, looking for those in need of help and that could look past his outward appearance. During his wanderings, Eden felt something calling him in the direction of a planet that he had never visited before. After arriving, Eden discovered that he was trapped and was unable to leave. Even worse, his body was trapped underneath a mountain range on the Centra continent and was only able to leave by creating a splinter entity, and even the splintered entity was unable to leave the dimension. At first Eden was angry at being trapped, but eventually he accepted his limitations and used what power he had to help the communities on the Centra continent. In fact, he found that he help even more easily then he had before. He was now a guardian force and he could more directly share his power with those he felt were worthy.

Eden sent his splintered entity into the world to track down those that Eden believed were worthy of his power. One such being was a powerful, artificial monster called Ultima Weapon. This creature was created many millenia ago for war, but it had evolved past that and had become a force of good and peace. Powerful in the extreme, Ultima Weapon became even more powerful after it bonded with Eden. Unfortunately, Ultima Weapon was called to an undersea research center by the dragon guardian force Bahamut. In the terrible battle that followed, Ultima Weapon was injured and the constant presence of the monsters slowly twisted its mind. By the time Squall's group encountered Ultima Weapon, the monster had almost completely reverted to its former life of a living weapon.

Eden

Junction Abilities

Griever

Although powerful, Eden is not the most powerful of the Guardian Forces, Griever is. Forged by Squall Leonhart in the years after Time Compression and the defeat of Ultimecia, Griever was given immense power. While Squall took the secret of forging guardian forces with him to his grave, Griever remained as his legacy. From his lair in the mountains of Balamb Island, Griever bonded with only the most exceptional and good warriors, making them even more powerful. However, as the centuries flew past, Griever began to care less and less about the good in people, and came to see only the power. Griever began to bond with anyone with the strength to come close to defeat it, without caring about the intentions of the person. This is how Griever met Ultimecia, the most powerful Sorceress that has ever lived. With Griever as one of her two guardian forces, Tiamat being the other, Ultimecia was virtually stoppable. If not for the amazing courage of Squall and his followers, Ultimecia would have succeeded with her plan to compress time.

When time compression failed, Griever was almost destroyed, but as with Tiamat, Griever's close association with Squall and his group brought the guardian force back through time to the current day. Griever's lair is still in the same location it was when Squall created it, but the geography of Balamb Island changed during the intervening years and Griever's lair is currently buried underground, with an incredibly complex network of caves and caverns connecting it to the surface. Griever fully understands its new situation, but feels no remorse for its role in bringing about Time Compression. Griever will still bond itself to anyone that can challenge it successfully and in an ironic twist of fate, Griever has discovered the secret that Squall used to forge a guardian force. Squall did not actually create Griever, instead he merely destroyed and rebuilt the mind of the Griever that came back from the future. No one, not even Griever or Squall, truly knows where Griever originally came from.

Junction Abilities

Ifrit

Ifrit

Ifrit is a powerful Guardian Force that has power over the element of fire. He grants those he bonds to great strength and the ability to cast several fire-based spells, in addition to the standard abilities common to all Guardian Forces.

His home is located in the Fire Cavern on the Balamb continent, near Balamb Garden. In fact, his home is so close to Balamb Garden that several Faculty members live in and around the Fire Cavern. About thirty-five years ago, Cid Kramer came to Ifrit and made him an offer; if Ifrit would bond to Garden students that came to him, Cid would ensure that only those worthy would get Ifrit’s strength and that Ifrit would never have to worry about his home being in danger. Ifrit agreed on the condition that he was allowed to test the students coming to him by challenging them to combat, Cid readily agreed since it fit perfectly into his plans for his Garden and SeeD mercenaries as long as Ifrit never actually killed any of the students that came to him.

Ifrit was originally a Seraph Spirit of Light, and came to this world completely by accident when he had decided to explore new dimensions in search of evil to destroy. When he arrived in this world, he discovered that somehow he knew that he would have to make a decision: he could stay and become a Guardian Force or he could leave this dimension. Curious as to what a Guardian Force was, he decided to stay and found himself trapped in the Fire Cavern on the continent of Balamb. At first the Seraph was furious at his imprisonment, but soon he learned to live with it and to even embrace it as he learned that he could give a portion of his increased power to humans to make them stronger and they could protect other people where he no longer could. He had been doing this for decades before Cid Kramer arrived and offered Ifrit a chance to help the new Balamb Garden.

Jumbo Cactaur

A strange race of creatures called Cactaurs live on a small isolated island off of the Centra continent. This race of creatures is very elusive, often running from fights as soon as they feel threatened, and generally do not grow to be very large. Sometimes, for no definable reason, a Cactaur will emerge that can grow to extraordinary sizes. One such creature became a guardian force soon in its life and has made it its mission in life to protect the island from outside dangers, which include people that come to island to hunt the PPE rich creatures or that try to bond with it. The guardian force, known simply as Jumbo Cactaur, will only bond with a creature that can defeat it in battle, not an easy task considering its immense size and strength.

Leviathan

Leviathan

Leviathan was an incredibly powerful sea serpent that had been blessed with a high level of intelligence, especially for an animal. It roamed the oceans of the world freely and there was nothing that could stop it or kill it. Leviathan would probably have lived out its life in relative happiness, but a chance encounter with a power far greater then its own changed all that and transformed Leviathan from a highly intelligent sea monster into a guardian force. Leviathan's home was moved from the wide oceans to the relatively small Odel Lake on the Galbadia continent.

Over the years, only a few people have located the reclusive guardian force, among them was Cid Kramer, the headmaster of Balamb Garden. Surprisingly, Norg, the Shumi master of Balamb Garden, chose to bond the guardian force, but it was drawn out of Norg during his fight with Squall Leonhart. Leviathan has no standards for bonding with people and will bond with anyone that locates his lair under Odel Lake. The fact that its lair is underwater deters most people, but anyone persistent enough can find the guardian force.

Pandemonia

The Centra continent is a place of rugged beauty, desolated landscapes, and incredible wind patterns. At home in those air currents is an intelligent air elemental that has been named Pandemonia by the luckless travelers that have been caught in the air storms that the elemental creates for fun and enjoyment. Pandemonia is a guardian force at home in a small corner of the Centra continent and had only been heard of in legends until Fujin, a Balamb Garden student captured it and bonded with it.

Having never been caught before, Pandemonia decided that being captured proved that Fujin should be allowed to bond with the creature. During the course of the Garden Wars, many more Garden students sought to capture Pandemonia, but none succeeded. Unfortunately for Fujin, Pandemonia was drawn out of her by Squall Leonhart during their violent encounter in the city of Balamb. Pandemonia then went on to serve Squall well during the rest of the Garden Wars.

Quezacotl

Quezacotl

Quezacotl began its life as an Ondi Thunderbird, a supernatural spirit that has close relations to the Native Aboriginal tribes from North America. The creature had decided to travel through the dimensions to find new adventure and new people to help, until it came to the Balamb continent, once there it realized that it could make a connection to the planet that would give it the ability to share its powers with others. Believing that this would be more beneficial than its original plan, the spirit chose to become permanently attached to the planet and chose as its home a small glade in the forest adjacent to the Balamb Garden. The spirit then changed its name to Quezacotl, after the Aztec god.

Soon after it had established itself, Quezacotl was visited by Cid Kramer, who wished to form an agreement with the new Guardian Force. The agreement was similar to the one that Cid formed with Ifrit, Quezacotl would share its power with Garden students that come to it, if they proved worthy. For Quezacotl, the test of worth was a challenging mental riddle that would eventually lead the student on a small quest through the forest to find a hidden object. If the student returned with the object, then Quezacotl would bond with him. Like Ifrit, Quezacotl has many Garden faculty members living near and around the glade.

Shiva

Shiva is the last of the three guardian forces that have formed an agreement with Cid Kramer and she is the most mysterious. Not much is known about her except that she was once a Water Elemental that had become trapped in this dimension. How she transformed from a relatively mindless elemental into an intelligent and compassionate guardian force is unknown, and some say that not even Shiva knows the true cause.

No matter what her origins are, Shiva’s home is on a peak of one of the mountains just north of Balamb Garden and she has been there for many centuries and legends tell of her helping travelers survive sudden winter storms. Having heard these legends, Cid came to believe that they may have been caused by a guardian force and after exploring for many months, he eventually stumbled upon the home of Shiva. The two quickly came to an agreement and Shiva agreed to help Cid. Shiva’s only challenge to students that seek to bond with her is simply finding where she lives. Once a student finds her home, Shiva will bond with them.

Siren

Siren

Siren was always a beautiful woman and a powerful wizard and she ensured that her beauty would remain for as long as she lived. She even used her magical powers to increase her life span and took to exploring the world until she found a small clearing outside of the city of Dollet where she was transformed into a guardian force. Through the years, Siren built a log cabin and filled the forest around her home with powerful monsters to create a refuge for rare and magical creatures hunted elsewhere in the world. One day, Siren attempted to leave her home in the forest and discovered that she was trapped. Over the years that she remained virtually unmoving, staring into her full length mirror, she had never realized that being transformed into a guardian force prevented her from leaving her home.

From her home in the forest, Siren witnessed the collapse of the Dollet Empire, the fall from grace that the city of Dollet suffered, and then the invasion of the city by Galbadia troops. After remaining aloof from the world for centuries, Siren decided to fight back against the Galbadia Empire and bonded herself to several powerful monsters in her forest, including a powerful Elnoyle named Elvoret. Unable or unwilling to distinguish between the Galbadian soldiers and the SeeD operatives hired to liberate the city, Elvoret attacked a group led by Squall Leonhart. During the fight, Squall successfully drew Siren out of Elvoret and remained bonded to the guardian force for the rest of the Garden Wars. During the course of the war, Squall returned to the city of Dollet and met with Siren and the two struck a bargain that would allow Garden students to bond with Siren if they could find her home, a daunting task considering the dangers in the woods surrounding her clearing.

Tiamat

Like Bahamut, Tiamat began her life as a normal great horned dragon. Unlike Bahamut, Tiamat chose to become a guardian force, for even though she was trapped in a single location, her power would grow. Tiamat was not too concerned about being trapped, because she believed that she could find a way to work around any limitation. Her decision made, Tiamat joined the ranks of the guardian forces. She quickly made a name for herself, become one of the most famous guardian forces, for both good and evil reasons. Her fame attracted the attention of another powerful being, the sorceress Ultimecia. Always on the lookout for new talent, Ultimecia convinced Tiamat to join her crusade for power. As part of the deal, Ultimecia used her power to move Tiamat to her castle and then hunted down and killed everyone else that was bonded to the dragon guardian force.

Once in Ultimecia's castle, Tiamat joined the ranks of Ultimecia's other protectors, but she was by far, one of the most powerful present. It was not until Squall's group arrived that she was even damaged by any of the numerous attacks on Ultimecia's castle. Unfortunately, Squall's power was too much for her to handle and she was given the choice of bonding with Squall or dieing. She chose the former and Squall users her power to help defeat Ultimecia. However, once the chaos of Time Compression ended, Tiamat found herself flung back in time with Squall. Unfortunately, her new home was in almost the exact same place her lair was in Ultimecia's castle, which in the current time period was a tiny island in the ocean, far off the coast of the Centra continent. Tiamat attacks anyone that approaches her island, but as with her fight against Squall during Time Compression, she will bond to anyone that defeats her in battle.

Tonberry King

Tonberry King

The Tonberries are a race of very powerful magic users and very good merchants. They are known and feared across the entire planet for both of their skills, but following the collapse of the Centra Empire the location of the main concentration of Tonberries was lost. While solitary Tonberries could be encountered anywhere, rumors persisted that a huge tribe of Tomberries existed, but no one knew where it was. It was also rumored that this tribe was controlled by the most powerful Tonberry to ever live. As the centuries passed, the rumors became myths and the myths became bedtime stories or threats told to children who misbehaved. The rumors are true.

The tribe of Tonberries settled in the ruins of the Centra Empire's capital city on the Centra continent. Their leader, known simply as Tonberry King, was a powerful wizard and a very canny merchant. He ruled his people more because no one else wanted the job then any legitimate claim to it. Another thing that made Tonberry King special, and also made him very powerful, was that he was a Guardian Force bound to the Centra ruins. Not especially caring who he bonded with, Tonberry King shares its power with anyone that can fight a large number of Tonberries (17+1D6), although they could spread their fights over any length of time that they chose. Following the defeat of the last Tonberry, Tonberry King will challenge the contender directly, and if he loses, then Tonberry King will bond with the contender.