Xio

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Before coming to Backlund, Xio encountered Marauder-pathway Beyonders who treated harming others as entertainment. Those experiences contribute to her initial distrust of Lorry. She also experienced an incident before arriving in the city that she later recounts as a frightening story, surprising Fors when she explains that it really happened 112 142.

In Backlund, Xio spends years dealing with East Borough gangs and builds a reputation as a bounty hunter. Her work includes mediating a dispute between the Bloodhand Gang and Darkholme, cultivating information brokers, and carrying out commissions for Audrey Hall 22 64 111 364 368.

Her deeper ambition concerns her family’s disgrace. When she finally discusses her past with Fors, she says she would give everything she has to someone capable of uncovering the truth and restoring her family’s honor. She considers the difficulty of that undertaking far beyond what Lorry’s apparent strength can resolve 317.

Her investigation of Williams Street becomes the basis of a preliminary test for the Tarot Club. The Fool subsequently invites her into the gathering, where she adopts Judgment as her code name 418.

After advancing to Interrogator, Xio trains at a police station and uses the interrogation of suspects to digest her potion. She continues undertaking commissions and accumulating merit with MI9, eventually capturing a gang boss connected to Intis spies as she prepares for the next Sequence 487 512 522 529.

Appearance

Xio has a petite build and messy, short blond hair. Her height is a sensitive subject, particularly when Fors and Lorry tease her 66 114 142.

• Hair: Tousled blond hair that Fors frequently rubs or musses 22 64 317. At her first regular Tarot Club gathering, it is described as hanging to her shoulders 427.
• Working clothes: Wears a knight’s training outfit during her tracking work and uses cloaks, veils, and tall boots as parts of her disguises 65 135.
• Disguises: Can alter her presentation quickly, including turning her coat inside out to pose as a vagrant 120.

Personality

Xio is fiercely protective of Fors. Believing that Lorry has taken her friend hostage, she prepares an ambush despite thinking he may be a Mid-Sequence Beyonder. Later, she tries to shield Fors from the news of Raven’s reported death and is visibly pleased when Fors learns he may still be alive 111 112 241 243.

Her independence can make accepting help difficult. She refuses to borrow money for the Sheriff formula because she wants to remain Fors’s equal rather than become dependent on her. Financial pressure nevertheless tempts her into hazardous commissions, including investigating the Bloodhand Gang’s robbed vault and suspected evil-god believers 64 164 191.

Although impulsive, Xio can recognize when a situation exceeds her abilities. She retreats from her first confrontation with Lorry and accepts restrictions on approaching Talin Island’s dangerous woods. Her decision to investigate the island’s disappearances also reflects her commitment to maintaining public order 67 272.

She becomes more willing to acknowledge Lorry’s kindness without losing her irritation with him. After receiving an Interrogator characteristic through his care, she feels embarrassed about continuing to disparage him; later, she tries to warn him when she discovers evidence of a scheme targeting him 290 368.

Xio is competitive about potion digestion, particularly with Albert. Learning that a dog has finished digesting Sheriff before her leaves her dejected; she initially consoles herself that Fors is progressing more slowly, only to discover that Fors has already advanced to Astrologer. She nevertheless explains that her reaction does not mean she is unhappy for her friend 405 406.

Her concern for Fors remains practical and sometimes overbearing. She criticizes Fors’s lack of combat experience despite her higher Sequence, and on another occasion breaks open her bedroom door after receiving no answer to worried calls, only to discover that Fors is safely preparing a ritual behind a Wall of Spirituality 415 467.

She also displays an imaginative, speculative side. After hearing about Parasites at the Tarot Club, she proposes that Lorry might secretly be a demigod presenting himself as a lower-Sequence Beyonder to approach Fors on equal terms. Fors rejects the theory but finds it useful as inspiration for fiction 430 447.

Despite her frequent quarrels with Albert, Xio is unwilling to monopolize the rewards of their joint work. When preparing to obtain the Judge formula, she points out that Albert deserves half the credit for their latest success and chooses an option that can support both their advancements 529.

Her persistent financial difficulties remain a source of frustration after reaching Sequence 7. She complains that she still owns no Mystical Item and must borrow Fors’s equipment for commissions, while even Albert has acquired one. She is also embarrassed by Fors’s increasingly open romantic behavior, fleeing with Albert after walking in on Fors kissing Lorry 512 522.

Abilities & Skills

Sheriff Perception

Her Sheriff abilities support surveillance detection and identifying people 368.

• Detects when someone is deliberately watching her.
• Can firmly remember a target’s appearance after seeing them in person, in a photograph, or in a sketch.
• Gains an additional supernatural sense of a remembered target.
• Uses these perceptions to recognize pursuit and connect an attack with an ongoing investigation 368.
• Continues detecting observation after advancing to Interrogator, immediately noticing Albert eavesdropping from the balcony even with her back turned 530.

Investigation and Information Gathering

Xio draws on years of bounty-hunting experience and contacts among gangs, workers, and information brokers 64 120 276 368.

• Questions people under different identities and pretexts, including impersonating a police officer.
• Uses payments to obtain information.
• Organizes testimony into concise findings, as demonstrated during the Talin Island investigation.
• Can judge to some extent whether someone is speaking sincerely, even without fully mastering the corresponding Beyonder abilities. This does not prevent witnesses from sincerely repeating altered memories 276.
• Uses forged identity documents to rent a private room before attending her first regular Tarot Club gathering 427.
• Compares clothing, physical characteristics, and previous encounters to infer possible identities within the Tarot Club. She notices similarities between Mr. Moon and her Williams Street client 427 447.
• Uses a deep voice as a disguise at Tarot Club gatherings 489.
• Interrogates criminals at the police station to digest her Interrogator potion. On one afternoon, she questions more than a dozen suspects, while Albert observes her techniques disguised as a police dog 512.
• Helps capture a gang boss colluding with Intis spies, earning merit toward the Judge formula 529.

Combat

Her Arbiter pathway gives her practical combat skills, and she carries a triangular military blade during dangerous investigations 66 67 91.

• Reacts immediately to a voice behind her by turning and striking.
• Attempts an armed ambush when she believes Fors needs rescuing.
• Is defeated by Lorry in a sparring match when he uses the Sealed Artifact Warrior’s Glory 67 111 219.
• Can force open a locked bedroom door by punching near its lock 467.

Mysticism Knowledge

Lorry teaches Xio the Acting Method and the Law of Indestructibility of Beyonder Characteristics in exchange for her Arbiter and Sheriff potion formulas 119.

• Swears to keep the knowledge confidential.
• Recognizes that Lorry’s East Borough thefts were part of acting as a Marauder.
• Realizes that an earlier trophy she sold for ten pounds had actually been a Beyonder characteristic.
• Later recognizes characteristics forming on dead Beyonders’ bodies 119 369.
• Learns to contact The Fool by reciting his honorific name after being admitted to his gathering 419.
• Sets up a Wall of Spirituality before Albert’s advancement to prevent the commotion from attracting outside attention 470.
• Concocts an Interrogator potion by adding supplementary ingredients and an Interrogator characteristic; Fors’s divination confirms that the resulting potion has no problem 469.
• Learns from her contact that Sequence 6 of the Arbiter pathway is Judge and that Judges do not need to act at a police station to digest their potions 487.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Bird’s Beak — A Mystical Item bought from Lorry for 680 pounds, with Mr. A witnessing the transaction. It allows scent-based tracking but produces a conspicuous long, pointed beak. Xio uses it to follow Lorry and later resells it for 600 pounds 22 65 66 112.
• Triangular military blade — Carried for close combat and drawn while following Lorry through an alley 66 67 111.
• Shadow Ring — borrowed — Uses its shadow concealment when surrounded by pursuers. On an earlier occasion, its influence tempts her to have Fors and Lorry’s limbs amputated; she resists, but both subsequently urge against letting her use it unnecessarily 271 368 369.
• Arbiter and Sheriff potion formulas — Gives copies to Lorry as payment for valuable mysticism knowledge 119.
• Interrogator Beyonder characteristic — Receives it from Lorry as her share of the spoils. She later prepares to concoct her own potion after Albert’s successful advancement; subsequent accounts confirm that she drank an Interrogator potion and reached Sequence 7 290 394 470 487 522.
• Hunter Beyonder characteristic — Receives it from Gallows Sauron Lorry as payment and hush money after he uses her as bait against Percival’s conspirators 370.
• Interrogator supplementary ingredients — Obtains help sourcing materials through the Tarot Club. Derrick offers Lightning Pattern Black Snake blood and tourmaline; her later potion preparation also includes the companion organism of a Spirit of the Lake 465 469.
• Proposed concealment and hypnosis item — Fors suggests obtaining a Mystical Item with Psychological Invisibility and Hypnosis so Albert can secretly interrogate prisoners. Xio objects to spending several thousand pounds, and the purchase remains pending when Albert later asks about it 487 512.
• Judge formula and characteristic arrangements — Plans to exchange accumulated MI9 merit for the Judge formula rather than a single ready-made potion. Lorry offers to sell her a Judge characteristic after she digests Interrogator; she accepts the arrangement after confirming that Albert has a separate characteristic available 529 530.

As a Sequence 7, Xio explicitly states that she has no Mystical Item of her own and frequently borrows from Fors for commissions 522.

Relationships

• Fors — Best friend and housemate. Xio protects her, handles errands, and worries about her relationship with Lorry. Fors offers financial assistance and promises to support Xio’s efforts to clear her family’s name 64 112 164 317. They discover that they are fellow Tarot Club members when Xio attends her first regular gathering. Fors subsequently helps with divination during the Interrogator potion preparations and is available to assist Xio’s advancement with a Psychiatrist’s Soothing 427 428 469 470. Fors eventually explains that Lorry’s refusal to abandon her during the Mountain Estate catastrophe made her fall in love with him. Xio later accepts a commission to gather old diary pages and other Scribe potion ingredients for Fors 468 530.
• Lorry — Initially the seller of Bird’s Beak and the target of her Bloodhand Gang investigation. Their relationship develops into contentious cooperation involving commissions, mystical instruction, gifts, and frequent teasing 22 67 112 119 220 290. Xio eventually acknowledges that he genuinely cares for Fors, though she remains suspicious of his unusual capabilities. He reassures her about Mid-Sequence advancement and later congratulates her upon learning that she has joined the Tarot Club 415 447 470 471. He subsequently offers her a Judge characteristic for her next advancement and entrusts her with collecting special editions of Young Roselle from the Face Mask Factory for delivery to 81 New Year Road 529 530.
• Audrey Hall — Generous employer and trusted contact. Xio helps investigate Qilingus and Lanevus, passes information to her, and assists with collecting Roselle’s notes 22 32 120 164. Audrey recognizes the new Judgment as likely being Xio from her physical characteristics and Fors’s reaction, then welcomes her at the gathering 427 428. After discussing the Tarot Club with Fors, Xio learns that Audrey is Justice. She is later astonished to discover that Audrey’s golden retriever, Susie, is a Sequence 7 Psychiatrist 487 489.
• Albert — Household companion, sparring partner, and fellow Sheriff. They fight to a draw, bicker over potion digestion, and sometimes cooperate in hiding things from Fors 244 250 344 357 361. He assists her commissions and accompanies her Williams Street surveillance. His faster digestion frustrates her, but he volunteers to take the Interrogator potion first so that she can observe the process before her own attempt 394 405 406 469. After both advance, he accompanies her to the police station disguised as a police dog and studies her interrogation techniques. Xio later credits him with half the merit from capturing a gang boss and seeks the Judge formula with both their future advancements in mind 487 512 529.
• Golden Mask Man — Sells Xio the Sheriff formula and assigns her an investigation into evil-god believers. She continues meeting him privately afterward 94 191 357. By the time of her first regular Tarot Club gathering, Xio and Fors have inferred that he belongs to MI9. Xio hopes to exchange accumulated contributions for an Interrogator potion 394 427. Her contact later explains the Judge Sequence and its acting requirements 487.
• Viscount Glaint — A contact through Audrey. Xio sells him Fors’s Apothecary formula and considers approaching him for a loan toward her Sheriff characteristic 164 186.
• The Fool — Admits her to the Tarot Club after treating the Williams Street surveillance as a preliminary test. Xio initially asks to join partly out of concern for her safety after attracting his attention, then accepts Judgment as her code name and learns how to report to him through prayer 418 419.
• Emlyn White / The Moon — The intermediary behind the Williams Street commission passed to Xio. She later suspects that Mr. Moon is her client after comparing his appearance and clothing with their earlier encounter 407 427 447.
• Derrick Berg / The Sun — Fellow Tarot Club member who offers to supply Lightning Pattern Black Snake blood and tourmaline for her advancement preparations 465.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Bird’s Beak and the Bloodhand Gang Investigation

Xio’s purchase of Bird’s Beak drains her savings and leaves her owing its seller a commission that must remain within her abilities and principles. Despite Fors’s warning, she subsequently pursues the Bloodhand Gang’s 200-pound reward for locating the person who robbed its vault 22 64.

Using the item’s scent tracking, she follows Lorry but is drawn into an alley. He uses concealment and misdirection to appear overwhelmingly powerful, prompting her to flee. Their misunderstanding resurfaces when she sees him with Fors and attempts a rescue, only to crash into a wall after Fors stops her attack. At dinner, Lorry admits that his earlier display was a bluff 65 66 67 111 112.

Audrey’s Commissions and Lanevus

Xio and Fors help Audrey search for Qilingus and later arrange the Intis ambassador’s assassination through Mr. A. Xio also handles the remaining payment after Fors leaves for a literary salon 32 77 94.

While investigating Lanevus, Xio questions workers and poses as a vagrant outside the Dockworkers’ Union. She spots a man she suspects is Lanevus and leaves to pass the information to Audrey for confirmation. Lorry secretly follows her investigation using Psychological Invisibility 119 120.

Sheriff Advancement and Dangerous Commissions

Xio’s search for advancement is constrained by money. She initially refuses Fors’s financial assistance, then considers borrowing from Audrey or Glaint when a Sheriff characteristic becomes available. Her desire to repay debts also contributes to her accepting an investigation into evil-god believers 164 186 191.

After the Factory District crisis, Lorry hires her to investigate the actress playing Juliet’s maid, whom he suspects is connected to the catastrophe’s mastermind. Her work eventually identifies Ms. Beyoncé’s residence at 81 New Year Road 210 219 220 246.

Raven’s Reported Death and Departure from Backlund

When newspapers announce Raven’s death, Xio attempts to keep Fors from discovering the report. Fors follows her outside and overhears the news, forcing Xio to explain. After Albert delivers Lorry’s gifts, Xio notices the dog repeatedly watching the window and suggests that Lorry may still be nearby 241 243 244.

Lorry later persuades Xio to leave Backlund with him and Fors by exploiting her reluctance to leave them alone together. She correctly suspects that another disaster is approaching, but he refuses to explain it to her. The group subsequently celebrates the New Year in Desi Bay 250 266.

Talin Island Disappearances

Xio notices that a blond boy is missing from a family returning from the woods, while the remaining family members behave as though he never existed. She chooses to investigate, considering it part of maintaining public order, and agrees to remain on the outskirts unless Lorry permits otherwise 271 272.

Her inquiries establish that locals know of no missing tourists and that the inn was built two years earlier. Lorry concludes that an Elder Tree is targeting outsiders and interfering with memories 276.

Nail Collection and Percival’s Revenge

Lorry hires Xio to obtain nail fragments for potion ingredients. She initially refuses, then remains silent as he raises his offer from 200 to 300 pounds, admitting that she wanted to see how high he would go 360.

When one of the sellers is murdered, Xio investigates and discovers that she is being followed. She tries to warn Lorry but is surrounded by attackers, forcing her to use Fors’s Shadow Ring. Afterward, she learns that Gallows Sauron Lorry deliberately used her as bait while secretly protecting her through a parasitized member of the conspirators’ group 368 369 370.

Lorry gives her a Hunter characteristic as compensation and directs her toward the murdered vagrant’s brother in the workhouse 370.

Williams Street and Admission to the Tarot Club

Xio continues a Williams Street monitoring commission with Albert while seeking a way to accelerate her Sheriff potion digestion. After learning how quickly Fors advanced, she asks her friend to write to Lorry for advice. Lorry recommends greater attention to Williams Street, privately recognizing that maintaining order there could create an exceptional digestion opportunity 406 415.

The commission originally passes through Emlyn to Xio. Klein subsequently decides to use her involvement as a test for admission to the Tarot Club 407 418.

While Xio is riding in a hired carriage, crimson light brings her above the gray fog. The Fool explains that she has passed a preliminary test and confirms that the Williams Street surveillance was commissioned by a gathering member. Xio asks to join and draws Judgment as her code name after The Fool removes The Lovers card, which he says belongs to one of his Blessed 418.

She accepts a further task to arrange for the Williams Street anomalies to be reported to the Two Churches. Although surprised that a member of such a secret gathering would turn to the churches, she plans to use trusted acquaintances to make the report indirectly 419.

Before her first regular gathering, Xio tells Fors that she is going to meet her MI9 contact, then rents an inn room under a forged identity to attend privately. Fors recognizes her despite the gray fog, and Xio in turn begins recognizing her housemate. Audrey greets the newcomer, who introduces herself as Judgment 427 428.

Suspicions About Lorry’s Strength

During a Tarot Club discussion of Parasites and Worms of Time, Xio recalls Lorry’s explanation of how he secretly protected her during Percival’s revenge scheme. She realizes that she had accepted his use of a Sequence 4 ability without questioning how an apparent Sequence 7 Beyonder could perform it 430.

Afterward, she asks Fors whether the claim that Lorry is secretly a demigod might be true. She points to his abilities beyond his stated Sequence and his ability to produce enormous sums of money, suggesting that his apparent potion advancements could instead be a Parasite replenishing Worms of Time. Her proposed motive is that he wants to approach Fors as someone of similar standing. Fors rejects the interpretation but takes inspiration from it for a novel 447.

While preparing the Interrogator potion, Xio overhears Lorry explain that his seemingly demigod-level feats, including defeating the King of Immortality, relied on Mystical Items. She also hears his discussion with Fors about his impending departure from the Golden Dream and Flower Bow Tie’s increased bounty 469.

Interrogator Advancement Preparations

Xio seeks supplementary ingredients through the Tarot Club, receiving an offer of Lightning Pattern Black Snake blood and tourmaline from The Sun 465.

At home, she concocts the first Interrogator potion using supplementary ingredients and the characteristic Lorry supplies from his spoils from Capim’s protector, Berris. Albert volunteers to drink first so that she can observe the process, while Fors checks the potion’s safety through divination 469.

Watching Albert’s painful transformation makes Xio anxious about her own Mid-Sequence advancement. Lorry explains that Interrogator is among the more painful potions to withstand and reassures her that Fors can help with a Psychiatrist’s Soothing. After Albert successfully advances, Xio agrees to begin her own attempt and turns to concoct her potion. Lorry leaves Fors the White Bone Ring and goes out with Albert, promising to bring the women drinks 470.

Her successful advancement is confirmed afterward when Fors refers to the Interrogator potions both she and Albert drank. Xio subsequently works on digesting the potion at a police station and explicitly identifies herself as Sequence 7 487 512 522.

Police Training and Interrogator Digestion

Xio trains at a police station where six other Beyonders work: three Arbiters, two Sheriffs, and one Interrogator. Albert asks her to let him interrogate prisoners there to digest his own potion, but she refuses because exposing a Beyonder dog would endanger them both 487.

Fors proposes finding an item with Psychological Invisibility and Hypnosis that would allow Albert to enter and interrogate prisoners unnoticed. Xio initially objects to the expense, but Fors points out that Xio will eventually advance beyond Interrogator and suggests that they could later resell the item to Audrey for Susie’s use. Learning that Susie is already a Sequence 7 Psychiatrist again leaves Xio astonished by the Beyonder animals around her 487.

While the purchase remains pending, Albert accompanies Xio disguised as a police dog and observes her interrogations to learn the necessary techniques. Xio continues digesting her potion through questioning suspects and tells him to keep helping with commissions until they can afford the item 512.

Judge Preparations and New Commissions

Xio and Albert capture a gang boss colluding with Intis spies. Combined with her previous merit, the reward should allow Xio to exchange for the Judge formula through MI9. She tells Lorry in advance so he will not spend money buying another copy 529.

Although Lorry notes that directly obtaining a potion would be cheaper, Xio explains that requesting two Judge potions would arouse suspicion and that Albert deserves half the credit for their work. Lorry then offers to sell her a Judge characteristic once she finishes digesting Interrogator 529.

Before accepting, Xio asks whether the offered characteristic was originally intended for Albert. Lorry reassures her that Albert has one of his own. She agrees to the arrangement and to settle her remaining debt to Fors 530.

As Fors and Lorry prepare to travel, Xio accepts Fors’s commission to find old diary pages and other ingredients for a Scribe potion. Lorry also arranges for special editions of Young Roselle to be sent to the Face Mask Factory for Xio to collect and deliver to 81 New Year Road 530.

Notable Quotes

“I’m staying to investigate. In a sense, this counts as maintaining public order.” 272

“If someone could help uncover the truth of what happened back then and restore my father’s and my family’s honor, hehe, I’d be willing to give everything I have.” 317

“I just wanted to see how high he’d go.” 360

“That fellow really does care about you.” 415

“That fellow might want to get close to you as someone of roughly the same standing.” 447

“I’m already sequence 7, and I don’t have a single Mystical Item.” 522

“Besides, Albert deserves half the credit for what happened today. I can’t keep the reward all to myself.” 529

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