Name: Darren Mason

Realm of Origin: Sukata, in the village of Kari

Also Known As: Natalie's Running Buddy

He's a hard worker, possesses a strong work ethic, and if he lived on Earth, would probably listen to country music. That's Darren.

Still waters run the deepest, and while Darren didn't say much, there was usually something going on in the young man's mind. Like Natalie, he lost his family (father and sister) when Grendel and his minions laid claim to the Fire Gem in their village years ago. While he wanted to regain some semblance of normalcy in his life after coming to Haven, he was pleased beyond words to see Natalie again, relishing the thought of traveling the world with his childhood friend. There's more I can say about Darren, but you could probably learn more by reading his Realmwalkers profile.

Darren wouldn't have played second fiddle to Natalie forever. In fact things were due to pick up for him right around the time Natalie and Eliza Marlowe met up again. It should be noted that there were a few more faces from Kari traveling along with that mercenary company, and long story short is that at least one of them still had some issues with the young man.

Go Ahead And Ask: Were Darren and Natalie more than just friends? At the particular moment where things ended in the RPG, no, however, I debated long about playing around with their feelings for each other. There might have been a moment or two of closeness, but they more than likely would have just remained friends.

Random Sidenote: Back while I was still fleshing ideas out for Realmwalkers, I spent a lot of time trying to decide who my main character would be. I had a dream one night that seemed very Final Fantasy in origin, and in it were four characters that just sort of stuck with me. These characters would go on to be named Natalie, Darren, Kevin, and Danny (Natalie's cousin, mentioned briefly in Natalie 0 and in her profile, but who probably would have showed up down the line). A lot of the mythology and events surrounding the characters came from that dream as well, including the episode where they were playing in the woods while the village was destroyed.

The Future: You know, after writing this thing, I'm getting a bit anxious to do some more Realmwalkers stuff :) Darren has his own history that I'd like to explore, so I'm sure we'll see he and Natalie's exploits again soon enough.