September, 2016 - [
No Link]
Q: Ben Ten was a hero of the Sho in their early days on Dereth. In The Story of Ben Ten and Yanshi, it is rumored that Ben Ten may be the legendary Sho folk hero Koji from Ispar, but her true identity was a mystery. Later in AC, Ben Ten and Harlune worked together to form the Celestial Hand, an alliance between the Isparians and few remaining Empyreans on Dereth. While you at Turbine, was Ben Ten’s identity decided? Was she actually Koji? Was Koji actually an Empyrean?
A: Ben Ten was Eri Izawa's character well before I was hired, and she always intended her to be Koji. During the "Fiery End of Beta" event, Eri wandered the world as +Ben Ten carrying an admin-edited tachi she named "Koji's Sword." I don't know if anyone noticed.
Koji was an Isparian when I was there. If that later changed, I imagine it was because Koji was a Harlune-like case of a human living abnormally long with no real explanation. In those pre-Live years, there was a vague assumption that Isparians could occasionally gain mastery over death through life magic or philosophical discipline. We moved away from that idea later.
I got the idea for Harlune being Empyrean from fan discussions on the Crossroads of Dereth lore forum. They came up with a great explanation for his lifespan discrepancy, so I used it.
