Character Profiling: The Truth about Heroes

In the interest of sharing, I remembered the character profiles I originally made for my first series and decided it might make for a good niche post, both for writers to evaluate and fans to enjoy. I'll try to avoid the spoiler type things and stick to the aesthetics and a basic introduction. I'll stick to the basic characters, since they already comprise a sizeable roster.

RIENNA

Hair: Chestnut

Eyes: Smokey Grey

Short Intro: Mother died when she was very young, father is the Commander of the Royal Army of Merschenez in Ersenais. She's a headstrong, sometimes confrontational, young woman that deals with the stigma of wanting to prove herself capable despite the odds. Despite a rather sheltered upbringing, she's not wholly unprepared to deal with the world nor too trusting and naive. She is driven by a single-minded revenge at first, but finds salvation in self-belief and friendship.

First appears: Merschenez Castle in Ersenais

KROSE
Hair: Violet Brown
Eyes: Forest Green

Short Intro: The younger brother of Seije (Captain of the Guard under Rienna's father) grew up in the Hargreaves Orphanage with his brother. When his brother joined the Royal Army, he had taken to sneaking out causing mischief, leading to a life of thievery, a direct contrast to his responsible older brother. Nevertheless, they maintain contact, however brief and distant. His best friend is Dinsch and when Rienna meets him, he desperately needs to bail his friend out of a bad situation.

First appears: Haveshing Mark, a tavern in Neibelung City

DINSCH

Hair: White

Eyes: Red

Short Intro: A rabbit-human hybrid (called the Bryfolk), borrowing his features from albinism in rabbits. He's self-conscious of his large feet and appears cheerful, nervous and impulsive, wearing his heart of his sleeve. Like most Bryfolk, he's not shy in the slightest, either in terms of personality or body confidence. He has a sentimental side that can be charming. Claims he isn't very smart, but he's more clever than he seems.

First appears: Scryshaw Caverns

ASHE

Hair: White

Eyes: Blue

Short Intro: A young man with a wicked scar on his head and tattoos on his body with no memory of how he got either, although it points to his link with the destroyed Suleika tribe. When he gets a letter from an unknown source claiming to know of his past, he leaves his happy-go-lucky existence to uncover a brutal past that was better off forgotten. He is intuitive and optimistic. He fights using curved swords attached to silk scarves, a fighting form that is both rare and of unknown origin.

First appears: Guileford, where his best friend works

NIGHT

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue-violet

Short Intro: Something of a notorious playboy, he was a foundling raised by a traveling circus, who first draws Ashe's attention by using the same sword skills he possesses but for the purpose of entertainment. He has a somber and conflicted side that dark forces seem to weaken in him. He is protective of Freesia, another 'foundling' with a disjointed past.

First appears: Harmonea, an entertainment city

FREESIA

Hair: Auburn

Eyes: Violet

Short Intro: When she is found after barely surviving a brutal attack, the ringmaster's wife puts Night in charge of her welfare, a move that stuns him. Freesia has no wish to just tag along, even if that just means selling tickets, but she shows an interest and a talent for tightrope dancing. Having finally shedding her reservations about belonging, an attack on the city they are performing in leaves her untethered once more, only Night's jests giving her the ability to mask the vulnerabilities she doesn't want to show.

First appears: Harmonea

FINN 

Hair: Black

Eyes: Blue

Short Intro: One of the Reishefolk, a bird-human hybrid (his being a blue falcon), he starts on a drunken quest sparked by the Bryfolk's Summer Festival that ends rather badly on a desperate flight to get away with his life. When he meet up with Rienna, Dinsch, and Krose again, he decides they're probably better company than he's used to. He also has a complicated past involving the prostitute mother that sold him and the sympathetic mob boss that sends him to live with a foster family.

First appears: The Burrows, a Bryfolk city

PIERAIT

Hair: Sky Blue

Eyes: Golden Yellow

Short Intro: Pierait is a strange young man; one of the Soulless, a human born with no elemental affinity and no magic but possesses a void and a terrible fate. His kind are imprinted with a Purpose, a goal they must achieve to reach true death. Failing to meet that Purpose comes with terrible consequences. Because of how dangerous that Purpose could be in the wrong hands, the Soulless are united under a shaman to receive a purer existence. Pierait is an exception, his own mother breaking the rules to send him on a quest to gain the impossible: a soul.

First appears: Morgaze, the Magic City

LYRIA

Hair: Deep Brown

Eyes: Green

Short Intro: A barmaid working in her stepfather's inn in Maharyjab, she wears gloves despite the desert heat. She has a secret that her mother traveled over two continents to protect her from but still ended up dying when it caught up to her. Content to spend her days living her simple, peaceful life, she is stunned when Pierait insists he needs her skills on his quest. He is able to discern she has the ability of Touch, reading minds on skin contact.

First appears: Maharyjab

VERITY

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Short Intro: It was her destiny to be a shaman of her village, heiress of the Mirage gifts. When she disappoints her people by not inheriting the power, they whisper it as an omen. However, like most girls with no exceptional destiny, she is betrothed to a young man who turns out to be a dream come true and they have two beautiful children and a fairy tale romance-- at least until the omen proves to come to pass, leaving her with nothing but the delayed and unwanted onset of the Mirage power. Only the will of this magic leads her to a life where salvation is possible.

First appears: Dreana, a lush city on the edge of the desert

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I avoided discussing any of their elemental affinities since that concept is muddy with some spoilers that might ruin the fun. I think I was able to nail some of their key past and present points without cutting too deep. Summarizing has never been my strong suit, but I work on it.

There are some more pivotal and interesting characters, but each of them stem from one of the base characters. It probably seems like an overwhelming cast, but I didn't linger much or do a lot of leading to get right to the story. I'm told that, at first, it's 'telling', but I intended for the intro to do that rather than poke around at the set-up. I needed to both set up the first character's structural back story and NOT draw it out.  You get her life in frantic clips of memory all centered around why she is there on the day her whole world changes. It's more of a prologue that I just didn't attach that sort of formal title to. It's not a pace that sets a tone for the entire book, let alone the trilogy or the series as a whole. I often experiment with pacing, story, character dialogue and interpersonal relationships. I would not have published if I didn't feel I did it sufficient justice.

Character building can be a lot of fun, but the length I went to for my first series is not one that I feel is the best method for every story. For my second series, discovery as I wrote was crucial. I definitely plotted the story with a stronger backbone but I gave up some of my control on the way the reader sees the characters. One thing I do consistently avoid is moral bias. I don't ever persuade you to see anything as good or bad, only what the characters did and some insight into that rationale. I always want to leave that judgement to the reader. My opinions have zero place in the story.

Revisiting character profiles in my other two trilogies is on the list, but I'll save that for a later post. Three in one day; I'm already overachieving. I'll probably end up getting to those posts within the week.

I'd like to note that this series doesn't establish my 'brand' of storytelling. Leave that to the bestsellers. It's always been my intention to just pound out a library true to my storytelling goals before any sort of demand could persuade me to pound out a 'brand.' It's a word I never quite took to in my graphic design discipline. In so many ways, I've seen brands as needy and generic rather than cohesive or even a reliable guarantee. I wouldn't say that it's never going to tempt me, but I also didn't want to rush past the chance to see what I can do on my own before any such collaborative or persuasive efforts are involved.

Hope you enjoyed a little more insight into what my series and my characters have to offer. I'd like to note once more that it IS an adult series. It's not whimsy and fairies and elves, but it's not pounding you with the ills of human nature constantly either. It does however take on some violent and sexual arcs. I didn't give much thought to people's sensibilities, but I promise it's not going to be dark web sort of 'I want to unsee this!' sort of shock jerk garbage either. There's only so far I will go before I see zero value in the 'authenticity' of a concept. I'm not sure I want the two people that actually like those things to feel the need to contact/stalk me. I'm already a bit of a magnet for misfortune and I'm not looking to make a habit of it. 

Hope you enjoyed the quick peek into the basic profiles. These are characters that still invade my dreams and may have more appearances yet. I still play with the idea of writing some prequels, but this won't be anytime soon. There are other stories demanding to be told more.