Character Sketch: Ivy

A mysterious amnesiac entrusted to Tatyana, Ivy is at first curious but helpless in the maelstrom of events unfolding around her.  

Full Name: Unknown ( Goes by Ivy)

Born: Unknown (She appears a to be late in her adolescence)

Skin: Pale

Hair: Dyed black with light blonde roots

Eyes: Green

Height: 165 cm (5’5”)

Weight: 56 kg (124 lbs.)

Physique: Fragile, scarred

Posture: Astute

Without having to memories to relate to us, Ivy is driven by two things: A thirst to discover her past, and a startling compassion for all other human beings. She derives her name from the numeric designation engraved into her skin. A razor thin set of markings reading "IV" etched into her hand mark her as something other than an ordinary person. Her blank past gives her all sorts of fascinating takes on life, she actively acknowledges the beauty and darkness of Shaar with unprecedented serenity. It's evidently in her nature to be caring and nurturing despite her initially overwhelming situation. Waking up with a "fresh start" is how she put it, and while she's able to rationalize away her predicament of amnesia relatively quickly, her compassionate nature and new role as Tatyana's protege win her a new set of challenges right away.

With her I'm sure to spend a great deal researching amnesia and possibly first-aid. The thing about Ivy is she, with her "fresh start" and generally positive attitude, is bound to be a first person narrator for the other characters throughout her chapters, which makes sense. I think she'll provide an unbiased or at least optimistic outside perspective on the war and Aaron and Zayra's relationship, among other things. But at the same time, I want to take her higher than this. She is, after all, another individual, and even without memories she experiences and learns and acts on impulse or emotion like we all do. I'm challenging myself to see how much I can develop her character while preserving her starting innocence and curiosity. Going over the first six characters in my head all week, I think Ivy's going to be rather popular, once you see her in action.

Character Sketch: Alexei Rykov

   Sworn to carry out the darkest deeds of the Deltoran royal family, Alex should be by all rights a very formidable antagonist. A cold, cunning spymaster with nothing to gain by sparing his latest targets... And yet...

Full Name: Alexei Vladimir Rykov

Born: Herak 8th, 5990

Skin: Pale (scared)

Hair: Silver

Eyes: Dark-Blue

Height: 187 cm (6’2”)

Weight: 89 kg (197 lbs.)

Physique: Muscular

Posture: Unassuming

Veteran agent of the Okhrana (the Deltoran Imperial Secret Police) and current director of the Special External Affairs Ministry, Alexei is no innocent youth like our other characters. Make no mistake, this man has deceived and destroyed countless people all in the interests of treacherous leaders and imperial expansion. Little is know of his past before the Deltoran Civil war, and his service record before being appointed head of the SEAM is remarkably hard to find. We do know that he spent a great deal of his life as a field agent before working for the secret police and becoming spymaster. As an accomplished and naturally powerful wizard, it's often speculated that he's entered into a contract with a secretive demon, although this remains a rumor among the few that are close enough to the throne to even know of him.

Although sworn to obey the commands of the Queen, by the start of Overture we find Alexei freshly inspired to begin taking his own course of action to ensure the survival of his nation. During his assignment to the Okhrana he once held a lengthy conversation with the adolescent princess of Deltora, Ashley Voltacore. While he hides his emotions and motivations from the world extremely well, it's clear that afterward an uncharacteristic notion of purpose had formed in his heart.

Distanced and hardened to the world, he only appears as what he wants to be seen as at first sight. A charming negotiator, a brutal murderer, and stealthy shadow. In front of his superiors he manages to be equally unreadable, seemingly loyal and treacherous at the same time. "A born spy, with no concern for his own life" in the words of Queen Elaine. Certainly a frightening character to comprehend, he's gone about his line of work killing and lying without a second though for decades. Oblivious to the weight of his sins, he's now almost naively drawn into some new ideal, although damned if I know what he's up to. By the time the Queen dispatches his to investigate an Egalitarian terrorist leader's return to Greater Shaar, it's already clear enough that the cogs of conspiracy are in motion in his mind. But does he seek revenge, redemption, or reform? And although his methods may be far more mystic and murderous than Tatyana's he's faced with the same problem in his wild schemes: What can one man accomplish?

As a character I wanted to try to tap into the viewpoint of an evil henchmen but it certainly got away from me. He plots against his masters and makes secret vows to people he once knew, and what can I do to stop him? At the very least, things will certainly become more interesting. Just because he's secretly devising rebellion doesn't mean he'll get along with our Egalitarian friends or separatist princess any better than you'd expect.

Character Sketch... Tatyana Vermeer

a deviation from the traditional badass mentor figure, she’s cursed with epilepsy and often physically vulnerable despite all her skill and knowledge.

Full Name: Tatyana Akira Vermeer

Born: Novalion 12th, 5992

Skin: Light

Hair: Dark Red (dyed)

Eyes: black

Height: 162 cm (5’4”)

Weight: 54.88 kg (121 lbs.)

Physique: Athletic

Posture: Relaxed

For her, the struggle is real, but not her own. Born of two sorcerer parents into an affluent noble family, she left her stable life behind after a short-lived tragic romance with a lowborn wizard. Although not a witch, and infact very weak due to her neurological condition, she’s taken it upon herself to spearhead the revolution for equality on shaar, and devoted her entire life to it. After years of debating and studying among the magic elite she rose to become a noted public speaker and writer, and when her speeches took on a distinct note of disdain for the traditional social structure on shaar she went underground, becoming a blacklisted name in academia, but a household name for the oppressed masses. Drawing crowds of followers and idealists to her cause she realized she had become a symbol of hope and change.

Barely into her thirties she was recognized as one of the key figures of global revolution, and began meeting with other infamous leaders and intellectuals who opposed the magic elite. After brutal attacks on her students and several attempts on her life she fled for one of the few politically neutral nations for asylum. In Krago’Shaar, she rose in the ranks of the revolutionaries, who still planned their uprising in exile. Ten years after her first speech about equality in front of a crowd of students in Blackheart, she finally returned to Greater Shaar upon the invitation of the president of Xeri’Shaar, a fragile egalitarian republic on the verge of collapse.

Her own plans were also coming to fruition and while being entrusted with a fragile amnesiac initially seemed a great inconvenience, she’s quick to realizing how her strange new acquaintances may forward her cause on Shaar. Well educated and an expert negotiator, she’s known to use disguise, deception, and bluff to single handedly infiltrate and tear down the establishment among the kingdoms of greater Shaar. Labeled an anarchist terrorist by countless governments, she travels light, and alone, intending to sow the seeds rebellion wherever she goes before enacting her master plan to change the world.

It’s unclear how she attained such a masterful and manipulative personality, but her vast knowledge and wisdom are patiently extended her to immediate circle of...lets call them friends... and they often come to her in times of need, seeing as she’s already taken control by default anyway. I want her character to resemble one of the omniscient Shakespearean mentors, avoiding physical conflict through wit, and hiding her weakness behind jest and wry confidence. She may even ramble at times but has a very clever solution to most situations and a knack for schemes and control.

Character Sketch... Ashley Voltacore

A blonde revenge-driven princess. Hopefully not at all cliched.

Full Name: Velikaya Knyazhna Anastasiya Ashelika Oneysa Voltacore (Aka Ashley)

Born: Regios 7th, 6000

Skin: Fair

Hair: Golden Blonde

Eyes: Ice Blue

Height: 172 cm (5’8”)

Weight: 63 kg (140 lbs.)

Physique: Amazonian (With curves)

Posture: Elegant (She’s Royalty)

Despite the death of her parents, she’s had the entire world at her feet from a very young age. It wasn’t until the eve of her coronation on her ninth (equivalent to her eighteenth) birthday that she realized the true potential danger and treachery of her adoptive mother Tsarina Elaine. In the year afterward, she found herself alienated by her step-brothers and ostracized by all other contenders for the throne of Deltora, and honed her magic skills and gained the respect and loyalty of her own personal division of the armed forces. Generally beloved and admired by the military she feels powerless to stop the waves of fascism and imperialism sweeping her country to war, and is constantly concerned about the true extent of her subject’s loyalty to her.

As a witch, she’s bound by tradition to lead her own army into battle on behalf of her mother’s interests, and gets promptly swept aside and conveniently away from the intrigue and politics of Blackheart. She sees the war as just another bout of sabre rattling at first, but quickly comes to realize the apocalyptic potential once she meets Tatyana and comes to grip with the implications of the prophecy. She’s a skilled and graceful fighter, but hardly a bloodthirsty person, despite her naturally reserved personality she’s cordial and level-headed, even charming at times, and very aware of her physical beauty and intimidating status.

She’s had a hard time coming to terms with her harsh reality in the last few years, but has had to evolve fast to stay alive. She unfortunately is quick to judge and hard to read, letting few people, if anyone, know her inner thoughts. Around the time she meets Aaron her goal is initially to secure the throne of Deltora and thereby restore her birthright. As the war becomes an issue of global importance and the prophecy becomes real to her, she has to consider her responsibility to the human race if she’s to become a true ruler. She’ll always remain fiercely loyal to her homeland and the ideals of her father, who was a fair and just ruler, and is terrified by how hated Deltora is by its neighbors and enemies.

The only member of the royal family to abstain from supporting the Nexus party, she cites her father’s old fashioned morals and traditions as reason for avoiding corporate fascism. Despite her charitable nature and influence among the military and lower classes, this leaves her at odds with the more important members of Deltoran society, particularly the predominantly Nexus controlled parliament and the corporate class. It’s really a losing battle she’s fighting, but she’s yet to come to realize that the support of her few allies is hardly enough in the face of the the wave of the madness sweeping the nation. Call it naive, call it stubborn, but from any perspective but hers, it’s a miracle she’s still alive, and politically speaking, and even if she manages to subdue her rivals for the throne, she’d have no leverage over the massive Nexus party and it’s throngs of devotees in the general populace, who rely on the royal family simply to reinforce the party’s economic and political decisions.

Careful and cunning, Ashley represents the dream of stability and order in a mad world, and has the aura of a true leader, despite her age. She secretly wishes to pass the burden of her fate, and be a normal teenage girl for once. Her storytelling brings to mind Joan of Arc infused with Brunhilda.

Character Sketch... Zayra Delacroix

Why does she have a french last name? I may end up shaping her native culture all around this just to keep the artist name theme.

Full Name: Desiree “Zayra” Delacroix
Born: Rumir 14th, 6001
Skin: Olive
Hair: Black
Eyes: Red-Brown
Height: 167 cm (5’5”) 
Weight: 57.3 kg (127 lbs.)
Physique: Slender (malnourished)
Posture: Proud (Defensive)

Zayra always felt helpless and angry with life. Born into slavery in the factories of the Church of Ulanazar, she developed a deep hatred for the Magic Elite of Shaar and her surroundings. When she was seven (around fifteen in our years), her mother tried to offer her as more than a sweatshop worker to one of their masters. Unbeknownst to Zayra until the moment she struck her would-be  assailant in the chest, she had the ability to eliminate any sorcerers natural use of magic with a single touch. Although she escaped her captors unscathed, she was enraged at her mother’s betrayal and disgusted by her naive intentions to try and uplift Zayra to a “higher” tier of slavery. She lived as an outcast for the next two years, eventually inspired to devote her powers to ridding the world of magic in a farfetched crusade she hoped to undertake. She returned home to announce  this to her mother and sisters, only to find them dead after a fire in the factory where they lived. Zayra was her younger sister’s name. She’s bitter and confused about how she feels about her family, and has a huge complex about their fates. On the one hand, she wants closure, even though everyone who ever wronged her has died in that fire, she still feels consumed with the need for personal vengeance and a longing for an innocence she never had as well. On the other hand, she feels the need to suppress all of that personal vendetta nonsense and fulfill the lofty dreams of crushing the powers that be with her newfound talent.

She vows to kill every sorcerer she comes across but can’t bring herself to do it after sapping the powers from several sorcerers and attracting the attention of the Nexus Corporation. She’s very much a fugitive and entirely unguided until she meets Tatyana. Despite this, she’ll always act like she’s certain and determined. She’s gone off the deep end, like Aaron, but doesn’t dare show it, instead she’s very aggressive and impatient. She hopes nobody sees through this, but it never takes long for anyone that’s been around her to tell that she’s just as scared and unsure of the future. Either way, she manages to maintain a fierce aura and keep pace with everyone she encounters, despite lacking a education and proper nutrition throughout most of her life, she’s learnt to speak Deltoran very well and is more physically fit than Aaron by the time they meet. She learnt of the prophecy about the end of magic listening to apocalyptic scriptures out of curiosity at a Ulanazarul mass. she only knows about half the whole prophecy before meeting Tatyana but still believes in inciting a global uprising against the magic elite afterwards. Well aware of the ideals of countries where wizards and humans live as equals, she sides with a more radical theory of cleansing the world of all magic use and it’s effects, rather than egalitarianism and peace. She keeps this to herself, however, as she intends to enlist anyone willing to help in the rebellion against the status quo. She’s forced herself to view the war as nothing more than an opportunity to ignite change. If anything she believes the horrors of a global war should open the eyes of the masses and goad them into action. Twisted and insecure, she’s a living struggle between light and dark- her past and present are all viewed at a distance from herself, her life feels unreal. Her storytelling perspective is reminiscent of  A Thousand and One Nights.

Thrilled as ever,
No.55

Character Sketch... Aaron Wyeth

Initially a classic “insert self here” protagonist, I hope to give a least a slight twist to Aaron’s character. 

Full Name: Aaron Wyeth II 
Born: Gamelion 13th, 6001
Skin: Pale (subterranean)
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 180 cm (5’11”) 
Weight: 68.03 kg (150 lbs.)
Physique: Lanky
Posture: Slouched 

Out of all the characters outlined thus far, Aaron might be the most relatable. After being orphaned by two very unlucky parents (father died in the mines, mother died of a heart condition) he grew up under utterly unexciting circumstances in a state-run orphanage. His hometown, Deepzeal, is one of the few egalitarian city-states on Shaar. Under a harsh collectivist government (think: communist dictatorship) concepts like money and class structure are supposedly removed. In reality a corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy inconveniences the industrious mining town and leaves Aaron particularly jaded to rhetoric and propaganda. He’s fairly educated, but with few books to read and hours of mind numbing boredom in the orphanage his main concern at the start of Overture is what his course of action will be once he’s ineligible for shelter provided by the state. 
His looming adulthood and lack of ambition lead him to wander the streets at night in his few free hours between work and school. Virtually oblivious to the war before it comes right to this front door, he debates in his mind whether to follow his friends into the mines or chase after the disant dream of becoming an aviator. When presented with the ordeal of the war and meeting Zayra, respectively, his primary objective becomes survival. Once the dust settles however, he’s quick to try and become relevant to his alien situation, but largely gets swept along due to blind luck (or misfortune) and gradually, grudgingly, becomes indispensable to his companions. There’s not much to reveal for now, at least not without spoiling anything. I want to explore his disillusionment with adolescence and of course show the power of infatuation in the face of dire circumstances, and I think Aaron’s more the type to let a situation take control of him, rather than the other way around. In terms of narrative style I want his chapters to sound as contemporary as possible without ruining the cultural setting of Shaar, I look to the great gatsby or more likely mark twain for inspiration on how to narrate for a misguided adolescent male.

An advanced copy goes to whoever comments explaining my name first,
No.55