Very old and barely cleaned up art of the majority of the main cast of my unfinished fantasy novel, because I realized that these are all trapped over on my old compromised blog and I'd like to have them over here.
Tsh'ander Clan West | Verrim kil Hadir vi Amalathae | Myn
Relia Eidanri | Asforahl | Marashac
Riv | Tyalaskr | The Meli
Deidric Carnelian-19 | Cieni *high whistle/click sound* | Kortha VI
This is roughly the order of introduction, if I'm remembering correctly, although it gets a little muddied after Tyalaskr.
Random nonsense about these freaks under the cut.
Verrim was born missing one arm and about 30% of either lung in a deal his mother made with their patron god to make sure he inherited a specific magic that only presents in Amalathae women, without which he would have been taken from her at birth and raised up elsewhere.
Myn and Riv are members of a species born from the energetic aftershocks of the creation of the planet. They have a static population—when one dies, another is born to take their place and carry the energy that creates their equivalent of a soul. This is referred to as a "changeover," not reincarnation.
Asforahl and Marashac are the last survivors of the first generation born after the First made the planet and a manufactured species to populate it.
Tyalaskr is the result of a complex breeding experiment involving the murder of one of Riv and Myn's people, the changeover of which led to the birth of Riv. Tyal and Riv are best friends and share a birthday.
The Meli was accidentally created in a magical splicing accident that resulted in a couple people and at least one large feline getting fused together into a single living thing. It has two hearts, several extra ribs, too many vertebrae, and telescoping legs.
Deidric comes from a culture where hair color defines a person's role in society. She is, unfortunately, a genetic aberration who was born to parents with white hair (commoners, ~90% of the population) while she has black hair (nonperson labor, ~9.9% of the population); her teacher is a white-haired man who was born to black-haired parents ~50 year prior. Their culture is in shambles.
What would constitute the closest thing Cieni has to a surname is a series of sounds that literally can't be produced by most spoken or any written language, so that's what you get.
Three members of the main cast from my book, only one of whom has a written introduction at the moment. Right to left, this is Relia, Deidric and Cieni. Maybe I’ll color them someday, but I’d like to get through drawing all the key players in the story first.
Considering the scale of the story, the cast is pretty large, but I’ll work my way through eventually.
Deidric -- What is a soul but a burdensome thing, all full of indecision and heartache? Be grateful that you'll never feel the weight of a soul in your chest; thank the stars you'll never know what it is to drown in sorrow. Relia -- The golden daughter of the gilded leader of a city carved from alabaster and bone, does she ever feel the pressure of a world's worth of expectations fighting to bury her alive? Tsh'ander -- Such work you've done, struggling through the woods into the world outside, taking everything and everyone with you. You've worked so hard, we love you, and we will never be more ashamed. Verrim -- When the sun reached down with all its hands and he only had one with which to reach back, is that when the light withdrew and left him to wade through the fire of foresight alone? Myn -- It's only in those private moments, when she closes her eyes and the world is reflected back through vision that has never seen the long road of forever. She settles, stills, sleeps. She never wants to be alone. Tyalaskr -- You've been out of place so long, perhaps you never had a place to begin with. There's no doubt it would have been so much better if this--if you--had never come to pass. Riv -- What have you done? You must return it to the cycle, return it to the heavens, remove it before the blackening reaches the coil of creation buried in your breath.
