The less obvious meanings/references in hero names

[komfyrion]

I've come to gather that all hero names in FaB are either a literal pun or are referencing something. Kayo is a respelling of KO (knockout), Kano is short for volcano, Bravo is a circus performer who makes his audience say "bravo!", Rhinar looks like a Rhinocerous and Uzuri is reference to usury, since she is a crime boss and is probably engaging in moneylending with interest.

Still, there are a few that stump me. What are these names referencing/making a pun out of?

• Kavdaen, Trader of Skins
• Viserai
• Dorinthea
• Fai
• Jarl Vetrei∂i
• Kassai
• Katsu
• Lexi
• Riptide
• Teklovossen
• Vynnset
• Yoji, Royal Protector
• Valda Brightaxe
• Shiyana
• Levia
• Dromai

[U_Mage]

Viserai -> Viscera
Dorinthea -> don't think there's a joke/reference outside of it being JW's grandmother's name
Levia -> Leviathan (you'll hear staff say her name the same as the first part)
Riptide -> strong undercurrent that drags people down
Jarl -> idk if last name is a reference to anything but phonetically it's similar to "betray thee", and jarl is a title for, like, norse clan royalty
katsu -> supposedly "cuts you"
Lexi -> fLexible?

[typh]

fai is like fire
katsu also means "to win"
lexi is like, kinda sorta similar to electric. e-lexi-tric, lol
valda might be a reference to an old norse word valda, which can mean to wield? kind of a stretch, might just be a more direct reference to a famous valda lol

i don't think every single name is a pun or reference, it's just what they lean towards, for better or worse

[komfyrion]

@U_Mage Jarl always seemed weird to me since his full name just looks like totally plausible regular fantasy name. Maybe you're right about "betray thee". Maybe there's a betrayal in the lore I don't know about, or it will happen at some point. It could also be something something "raidy"..?

Is Dromai a play on "I'm hoping to draw my good cards" or something?

[komfyrion]

Or are the dragons illusions drawn with ash? "I draw my dragons"

[Sawyer]

I thought of Dromai "Dromaius", a genus of birds in the order Casuariiformes. But ironical these are flightless birds.

[U_Mage]

@komfyrion "betray thee" is also pulled from LSS instructions on how to say the ∂ as a soft th so his name is "like betray thee but with a V instead of a B". And his name is just literally Jarl which could just be the one joke/reference

[2Riptide2]

@komfyrion Kavdaen is likely referencing cadaver as someone who I dunno, deals in skin or something...