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Description
Background
...She was not of Sejou.
The creatures that roamed that world might have considered her the daughter of their own mothering spirit, if not for the pained look that seemed etched into her face, the rigid posture, the ears that never lifted forward. And she would not--could not seem to stay still, would hardly lie down to rest before she would get anxiously to her feet again, roam desolately through the trees once more. She was searching for something, an endless search, one that could only signify that no place in that vast world could ever be called home...
Her call sounded like 'Ao,' but it was choking, as if cut off too soon. And thus it was that which named her.

Ao is a mother-spirit, a creature crafted by God to serve as the heart of nature itself. Many worlds with living things possess at least one, and Ao was the matron of a world that was especially blessed in terms of nature. Crops seemed to tend themselves, flowers burst into bloom during even the coldest days of the dark months, and towering forests stretched throughout the globe. However, the people of that land were not content. United under one tongue, their power knew no limits, and despising the useless frivolity of nature, they promptly set about enslaving it. Spitting on the gift the Lord had granted them, all of the wilderness was broken and shackled to their demands; the gardens which had once grown free and strong under the sun were caged in prisons of glass, the flowers were extinguished, and the proud woods were replaced with meek, tamed rows of trees that served either to yield fruit or create housing. Any animal that did not behave as a pet or make a suitable meat was slain into extinction without care.
Driven into madness by the countless abuses of slavery, Ao vanished from that world before her life could fully wither away. And much to her astonishment, she found herself in the green expanses of Sejou.
As time passed, she returned to a filtered version of her former self, although the strength and beauty she had once known would never again be hers. But nature breathed again here, and in that she found some peace... until the tournament began.
Alarmed by the appearance of strangers in her refuge, her fury only rose as she discovered their purpose there: to battle for the right to unite the world under their own tongue. She had seen the violence of beings who had no barrier of language to check them, and she was determined to prevent the folly of Sejou's own spirit from desecrating the last haven she knew...
They hoped to unite, but she would see them war amongst each other, because whatever damage factions could inflict against nature in their squabbles was nothing compared to the misery they could unleash if they stood as one.

Powers
In her own world, Ao was capable of unleashing natural disasters or miraculous blessings, of taking on the appearance of any aspect of her domain, of bending the earth itself to her will. However, Sejou is not her true home, and as such many of her powers have worn away. The only strength she has left remaining is the ability to take on the countenance of animals and plants that bear resemblance to those of her own home--those which dwell in the forests.
Her ability to transform into other forms of life, such as those in marine or desert habitats, is quite limited.

Purpose
Ao is by no means an integral part of the tournament. As with many of the other NPCs, she serves merely as a device for entrants to use if they so desire, and to ignore if they have their own designs in mind. Ao in particular was designed for two reasons: wishing to turn entrants against each other in order to prevent unification under one language, she will use trickery to turn people against one another if she can, allowing for potential conflict to occur in places where both parties might otherwise have simply befriended each other. If this effort fails, she is not above attempting to finish off entrants herself. Both these aspects combined provide another answer for the question of how to get mute entrants to interact--either by fighting amongst each other or uniting against a bestial attacker.

On another, lesser note, Ao might also cause an entrant to pause, and consider the question of the damage that might be unleashed if, indeed, they were able to unite the world beneath a single language...

Background: [link]

Description
Background
...She was not of Sejou.
The creatures that roamed that world might have considered her the daughter of their own mothering spirit, if not for the pained look that seemed etched into her face, the rigid posture, the ears that never lifted forward. And she would not--could not seem to stay still, would hardly lie down to rest before she would get anxiously to her feet again, roam desolately through the trees once more. She was searching for something, an endless search, one that could only signify that no place in that vast world could ever be called home...
Her call sounded like 'Ao,' but it was choking, as if cut off too soon. And thus it was that which named her.

Ao is a mother-spirit, a creature crafted by God to serve as the heart of nature itself. Many worlds with living things possess at least one, and Ao was the matron of a world that was especially blessed in terms of nature. Crops seemed to tend themselves, flowers burst into bloom during even the coldest days of the dark months, and towering forests stretched throughout the globe. However, the people of that land were not content. United under one tongue, their power knew no limits, and despising the useless frivolity of nature, they promptly set about enslaving it. Spitting on the gift the Lord had granted them, all of the wilderness was broken and shackled to their demands; the gardens which had once grown free and strong under the sun were caged in prisons of glass, the flowers were extinguished, and the proud woods were replaced with meek, tamed rows of trees that served either to yield fruit or create housing. Any animal that did not behave as a pet or make a suitable meat was slain into extinction without care.
Driven into madness by the countless abuses of slavery, Ao vanished from that world before her life could fully wither away. And much to her astonishment, she found herself in the green expanses of Sejou.
As time passed, she returned to a filtered version of her former self, although the strength and beauty she had once known would never again be hers. But nature breathed again here, and in that she found some peace... until the tournament began.
Alarmed by the appearance of strangers in her refuge, her fury only rose as she discovered their purpose there: to battle for the right to unite the world under their own tongue. She had seen the violence of beings who had no barrier of language to check them, and she was determined to prevent the folly of Sejou's own spirit from desecrating the last haven she knew...
They hoped to unite, but she would see them war amongst each other, because whatever damage factions could inflict against nature in their squabbles was nothing compared to the misery they could unleash if they stood as one.

Powers
In her own world, Ao was capable of unleashing natural disasters or miraculous blessings, of taking on the appearance of any aspect of her domain, of bending the earth itself to her will. However, Sejou is not her true home, and as such many of her powers have worn away. The only strength she has left remaining is the ability to take on the countenance of animals and plants that bear resemblance to those of her own home--those which dwell in the forests.
Her ability to transform into other forms of life, such as those in marine or desert habitats, is quite limited.

Purpose
Ao is by no means an integral part of the tournament. As with many of the other NPCs, she serves merely as a device for entrants to use if they so desire, and to ignore if they have their own designs in mind. Ao in particular was designed for two reasons: wishing to turn entrants against each other in order to prevent unification under one language, she will use trickery to turn people against one another if she can, allowing for potential conflict to occur in places where both parties might otherwise have simply befriended each other. If this effort fails, she is not above attempting to finish off entrants herself. Both these aspects combined provide another answer for the question of how to get mute entrants to interact--either by fighting amongst each other or uniting against a bestial attacker.

On another, lesser note, Ao might also cause an entrant to pause, and consider the question of the damage that might be unleashed if, indeed, they were able to unite the world beneath a single language...

Background: [link]