3 & 17 for cain? or holly burn if its too spoiler-y
cain may be the rarest pull i've gotten in these asks so far so it must be him
3.What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?
role in the story... there had to be 1. a more senior weapon wielder and 2. a reason why he was still alive and hadn't been hunted down or killed like the others. i think cain's arc is a pretty natural extension of those storytelling needs. depressed nihilistic old man was the obvious answer (as it is for many different applications)
17.Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?
TVM spoiler
So obviously the kingfisher is the go-to symbol. when picking the animals for the weapons i think des was the third one i made and the first one where the association was kinda. obvious. it's a bird that sits still on a branch all day, waiting, except when it shoots itself like a spear at some fish. Cain carries a lot of this in him and it's not just Des's influence. He spent many years stagnant, waiting for the right moment to do something that might be considered redemptive (in his eyes at least)... but he often waited too long, and didn't strike soon enough ... by the time of the trilogy he is entirely friendless and has betrayed all the people closest to him by his inaction! oh well
um his name, 'Cain', as mentioned somewhere else this was a placeholder name i just never changed, obviously it's the biblical Cain story, the weapon wielder who was the first to turn on all the others. yeowch
and his tarot card is The Hanged Man. now i illustrated my hanged man inver tarot with félix because at the time i had only written stbh (final draft anyway) and tvm was still in its janky first draft from 2020 and even though Cain's moment of being Dangled On A Rope is much more impactful, imo, and more central to his character, i didn't illustrate it because at the time because i thought that if i just drew some random old guy, it would be a less accessible piece of art than félix version which can be aesthetically fun because all his skin's gone and he looks more fantasy-ish. that was the reasoning (i had not planned to ever release the books so the spoilers aspect was not a concern to me)
but anyway yes Cain is my Hanged Man (although he was a tower master, he is NOT associated with The Tower card, because, obviously, that one is for Jean-Baptiste) and that comes across in well the re-do of the card i must eventually draw, and his actions until tvm are pretty bang on in line with the card's reversed meanings; waiting, stalling, 'tied up', trapped, indecisive, etc. the thing that actually jolts him out of this trapped and strung-up state is Des itself when it actually hangs him for real. the ability of his weapon is pretty unique in that it can shoot, but also recall and reel back in whatever it's caught, which allows Des to also be the only one able to move itself under its own power and affect the world in a very meaningful way, again, by hanging Cain. in that way Des can be seen to take the upright hanged man meanings lol. yes all my major arcana and some minor arcanas are all figured out no i categorically do not believe in the power of tarot i just like the symbolism
