Original Fic Fest - Day 1 - Characters
Alright! After a very busy weekend I’m finally ready to sit down and play catch up with @originalficfest .
Day 1 is characters. I’ve put the two protagonists for each story above the cut and the rest of my mains are below the cut. You can click on their names to be taken to their tag pages. I’ve also included a brief intro for my side characters, for those of you who’ve already been following me.
Liam is the protagonist of Keeping Secrets. He’s a 21 year old college student who left his small town for school and hasn’t been back to visit in over two years. He’s gay and out at college, but is not out in his home town. Rather than face the potential disappointment of his family Liam enlists Jess to come home with him and fake a relationship for the holidays.
Jess is the secondary protagonist in Keeping Secrets. She’s 20 years old, and Liam’s best friend at college. Always one to look out for the underdog, Jess readily agrees to Liam’s plan knowing that he was bullied in junior high and high school. She hopes that coming home with him will allow her to help defend him against Greg’s bullying, only to find that the situation isn’t quite as one-sided as she believed.
Khiar is a Deity who’s abandoned his position. As the son of the God of Death, he was never meant to be born. His father bent and broke the rules, made deals and killed another child, all to have him. It wasn’t something he asked for, but the accountability seem to have fallen to his shoulders. Tired of being judged for his father’s actions and choices, and disappointed by his position as the God of Mourning (a position he sees as a penance for his father’s actions) Khiar fled his home and has since been living among mortals.
Frustrated and bitter towards many Deities, Khiar uses his ability to see spiritual energy to identify the talisman of other Deities and steal them. He then sells them on the black market. It’s proven lucrative, and Khiar has started to make a name for himself, so when a client seeks him out with a job to steal an ancient talisman that belongs to a sleeping goddess he thinks nothing of it.
Little does he know that stealing this talisman will put the entire pantheon in danger.
Visadelle despises the Deities. As the last born child to the God of the Ocean, she stands to inherit his Godhood should she die, and this has painted a target on her back. A deal struck between the Goddess of the Moon and the God of Death, was meant to see her dead at birth. The only reason she was spared was so that her fate could be bound to his son’s and she would die in Khiar’s stead.
Angry over the callous meddling in her life and countless others, she’s turned to the old ways, and prays to the long slumbering Goddess, Tam, who is the original Deity that created the world. Wanting nothing more than to live the years she has in peace, she’s gone into hiding and spends her days guarding the ruins of one of Tam’s temples. However, when Khiar washes up onto her island and then makes off with a dangerous sacrificial talisman she’s forced to make a choice. Continue to keep herself safe, or go after him and retrieve the talisman before it’s used to kill others.
Keeping Secrets - Mains Continued
Greg is technically an antagonist, but not all is as it seems. He’s 21 year’s old and is Liam’s step-brother. When Liam returns home initially it seems like everything is the same as it always was, but we’re quick to learn that while Liam is still stuck in the way things were, Greg wants to make amends. After seven years of animosity it’s hard for Liam to believe he’s changed, and old habits die hard, but a lot can happen in two years and Greg is determined to proved he’s not the same person he used to be.
Derek is Liam’s love interest. He’s 19 years old, transgender, and out about being gay and it’s made life in his small town hard, but he refuses to hide who he is. He and Liam them met online, after Derek went searching for people to talk to and share experiences with. Realizing Liam was born in a town right near his he reached out to form a connection. Despite Liam insisting he’s not interested in having a relationship with anyone from the area, they have gotten closer over the last year and things have started heating up. Derek is hoping that Liam returning home and agreeing to meet are signs of a change of heart.
Christine is Liam and Victoria’s mom, and Greg’s step mother.
Scott is Greg’s dad, and Liam and Victoria’s step father.
Victoria is Liam’s older sister.
Zack is Jess’s older brother.
Winter’s Mourning - Mains Continued
Nashari - Goddess of Wild Fire
Nashari is Khiar’s partner in crime. Having only recently come into her Godhood, after her father’s death she struggles to control her powers. Khiar agreed to help her with her control in exchange for her helping him get on his feet when he first left home. She taught him about life on the streets and selling things on the black market, and was the one who provided the contacts to have the talisman sold.
Having been an orphan from the age of twelve, Nashari is living it up now that she and Khiar are making money. She feels an immense sense of gratitude towards him, even though she refuses to admit it, and when push comes to shove would stand by him at all costs.
Arisu - Goddess of Navigation
Arisu has been watching over Khiar since he left home. It’s a fact Khiar has been aware of and tolerates, believing that she does so for his mother. The truth is Arisu is actually serving Qual. Initially charged with keeping Khiar away from Visadelle, Arisu has had an easy time doing her job, and has developed a soft spot for both Khiar and Nashari. However her loyalty is about to be put to the test, when their latest job takes them directly to the island Visadelle is staying on.
Talas is one of the few Deities Khiar has kept in touch with, after all he’s never had room to judge, since it was his mother that asked for the girl’s death. Caught between his parents struggle for power and vengeance, Talas yearns to follow in Khiar’s footsteps and abandon it all. Only he could never disappoint his parents like that. But when Khiar asks him for help with his latest job, Talas jumps at the chance, considering it a small act of rebellion. Little does he know he’s about to get swept up in a plot that could easily see him dead.
Satu is Arisu’s first official follower. When Arisu returned her youngest sister to her family, Satu offered her devotion as reward. She has since followed Arisu and acts as a means of contact to other Deities for the group.
Tigua is the main antagonist to the series. She’s young demi goddess whose been wronged by the Deities and is tired of the way they stray further and further from their responsibilities and instead use their powers for selfish means. Sick of being the victim, she’s decided to take matters into her own hands and fix the problem.
Qual is Myr’s oldest child, and one of the first demigods to attain Godhood. When he found out that one of his favourite followers was pregnant with his father’s child, he knew her life and the baby’s would be in danger. After failing to save Neria, Qual took Visadelle in and has watched over her since. He’s determined to keep her safe no matter what the cost.
Khiar’s father and one of the two oldest created Deities. He always followed the rules and respected his position, but after dozens of failed pregnancies, he couldn’t bear to watch the love of his life loose another child. He abandoned his principles and morals, knowing there would be dire consequences for doing so. He’s just waiting for those consequences to catch up with him.
Aylin - Goddess of the Moon and Fertility
Aylin’s relationship with Myr has been a long and complicated one. There was a time when she loved him, but over the millennia that love has corroded and died. For her the only good thing to come of it was her son, a son who stands to inherit his father’s powers, and rule his father’s nation provided she can kill him before he produces another heir.
Moiral is one of the oldest Deities in existence, and like Ereb has been loyal to Tam’s rules for all their life. However with Tam long gone and more and more Deities cropping up who care more about their self interest than caring for their followers, Moiral finds themself struggling to help maintain the balance of the world. They know the mortals are questioning the Deities place in the world, and it’s only a matter of time before things boil over. They only hope the pieces they’ve put into play will be enough to balance the scales before the entire pantheon is destroyed.
Tam - The All Mother, Goddess of Life
The original Goddess. Tam created the world, the people and six original deities eons ago. She charged them with caring for the world and maintaining the balance she’d struck. Only over the centuries her powers waned, as more and more life populated the world. As her children gained favour her own followers dwindled until her power could do nothing more than sustain the world she built. For Millenia she’s slept and no one has been able to wake her.
Father to Qual, Talas, and Visadelle. He not only is a God, but he rules over the people of The Hook.
A sailor on the ship Khiar and the others use to book passage that ends up getting dragged along for the ride.
Khione - Goddess of Winter
Khiar’s mother. Khione has spent much of her time since Khiar has left trying to keep tabs on her son and attempting to find a way to reconcile him with his father before it’s too late
