Hess' Eight Sages

Hess' Eight Sages (ヘスの8賢者, Hesu no 8 kenja) or Hess' Eight Philosophers is an organization in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius comprised of the lieutenants of Hess' army, standing in direct opposition against the Sworn Eight of Paladia and their leader Aldore in the war of Paladia. They appear towards the end of the first season and serve as the main antagonists from that point onwards.

Unlike the Sworn Eight, their membership is not fixated on an elemental motif, and most of their members so far revealed are not even human.

Story
The Sages are presumed to be inhabitants from the world of Paladia. When Hess attempted to claim independence from the rest of Paladia through the use of Visionary Magic, this was rejected by Aldore who believed the magic to be too dangerous. This caused the world to be split into two factions, those loyal to Aldore who venerated science, and those loyal to Hess who prefered Magic, which made the world fall into war between the two factions.

Although generally considered the weaker faction at first, Hess was joined by Dark Fina and in time, was able to put together eight individuals together (Fina included) to serve as the faction's pillars, thus allowing them to stand in equal footing against Aldore's faction. Dark Fina would become one of the faction's most infamous lieutenants, earning the monicker "Demon of Hess".

As the war progressed both sides began to incur in heavy losses which became worse as time passed. Veritas of the Dark, leader of the Sworn Eight, thus devised a plan to end the war quick so as to prevent further bloodshed, which involved sealing the Eight Sages inside Crystals so that Hess' faction would be left without strength, giving Aldore a significant advantage over Hess. However the Sworn Eight would then force the leaders of the Aldore faction to negotiate Hess' independence, threatening to side with Hess should they attempt any further use of force on the faction, thus using the leverage of turning the war results around to coerce them into resolving the conflict peacefully.

The Eight Sworn eventually succeed in their plan of sealing the Sages in Crystals, so as to force negotiations, but unexpectedly for them, Aldore began to fear the Sworn Eight's power and betrayed them, causing them and the Eight Sages sealed in Crystal to be transported into the world of Lapis.

The Sworn Eight, bitter at their leader's betrayal then decided to enact their act of vengeance. They would destroy the Crystals which in turn would release the Sages, as an act of defiance against their former leader. However during the course of their plan, Veritas of the Dark and Veritas of the Bolt, would defect the group in favour of peaceful lives in Lapis, causing the remaining members of the Sworn Eight to reform under the leadership of a new Veritas of the Dark as the Sworn Six of Paladia.

During this time, Dark Fina would remain in contact with Raegen in peaceful terms, and being aware of his son Rain and the power he gained through touching a Crystal, which would be sealed away so as to protect the young boy.

As Veritas of the Dark destroys the Earth Crystal he makes his way towards Grandshelt Castle. There he attacks Rain and Lasswell but their attack is blocked by Fina who is encased in Crystal, releasing her, albeit with no memory of her past. The Sworn Six declare their names and leave satisfied with their goal, while continuing their agenda of destroying each Crystal.

After the Fire Crystal in the Zoldaad Empire is destroyed by Jake the Dragon King, Bahamut is released. Fina reveals to the party that he is the strongest of all Espers but whether he will pose a threat to the world or not is unknown. Bahamut is witness to the Invincible being used by Dr. Lazarov. Seeing the airship being awakened and claiming it carries "his heart", the Dragon King decides to challenge the flying weapon, unleashing its Megaflare attack on the ship. The attack severely damages the Invincible forcing Lazarov to hide in order to repair it. Bahamut then leaves.

Members
Sol Dark Fina (defected) Dark Elf Behemoth · K Bahamut