Author Archive: illishar

Once upon a time a sci-fi author married a costumer and had four children. I am the youngest of those children. Enough said

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#30 – The Tri-Iko

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Tri-Iko are the guardians of Rykiki, a wild and mountainous land whose few inhabitants suffer frequent attacks by dragons, ogres, giants, and all sorts of other dangerous predators.  At least it did – generations ago.  Today it’s a mostly peaceful land thanks to the original guardian who passed the sacred duty down through his family.  But as the years passed and no knew threats came the need for the guardians died out and now the Tri-Ikos are the last of the family line and are determined to bring back the guardian tradition and fulfill the sacred duty of their family.

The villagers and government view them as eccentric idiots or children playing a game and no one takes them seriously.  Of course all that changes when their land is threatened by a terrifying force no one can understand – a teenage high school student from a futuristic world in an alternate dimension.  When they share this information with the locals they are finally taken seriously – as in “you kids seriously need help”, and they’re thrown in what passes for a mental institution, which is pretty much like a prison, only worse.

The future girl – named Karen – rescues them and seeks their help searching for an important clue to a mysterious and almost forgotten landmark, and warns them that she’s been followed by people who are actually dangerous (she really isn’t).  Eager to uphold their sacred duty they join her in fighting foes far more dangerous than dragons or giants and discovering the secret to a long forgotten treasure trove of scientific technology.

Riko is the oldest and is the leader of the trio.  He is a good leader and a great fighter, but he’s impulsive and often acts without thinking.  Niko is the middle-child and she is very intelligent, specializing in strategy.  Although she may seem arrogant and unsocial at first it’s just her way of dealing with being shy and not wanting to be laughed at anymore.  Miko is the youngest and is the builder, creating all kinds of weapons that she co-designs with Niko.  She also loves to cook and is generally in charge of the domestic stuff like cooking, sewing, and laundry, which she enjoys doing. Her nickname is “Little Mother”.

Their father died before they were born and their mother died when they were 12, 10, and 9 respectively, leaving them for fend for themselves.  They were raised in the run-down gatehouse on the grounds of the ancestral home – a crumbled and decaying castle that was accidentally burned to the ground a hundred years ago.

#29 – Aiko Ushiba

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Aiko is the youngest of three children and the only girl.  She was born into an old Japanese sorcerer clan living in Tokyo.  She was always a quiet child and once she learned to talk everyone learned why: she could see the future or past of anyone or anything she touched.  She revealed this ability when her parents tried to leave her with a babysitter who was a silent and unknown witness to a gang murder.  She flipped out, not knowing what to make of the images she could see in her mind but knowing they came from the sitter.  It took a long time for her parents to calm her down.

When they finally did they realized that Aiko was a Tacta seer, and a very powerful one to have such an experience at the age of three.  They helped the sitter and used their power and influence to protect her from harm when she agreed to tell the authorities what she had seen, to help Aiko as well as herself since they had basically both experienced it and both needed closure.

They family was surprised at Aiko’s abilities because even though they were a well-established sorcerer clan with a long and proud tradition in Japan’s history, there were never any known seers among the ancestors. This led to a genealogical search which uncovered a dark family secret.  Aiko is the last to be found of the Pleiatic seers and does not have much time to learn about what it is she will soon be going through.  However she is very intelligent and a very fast learner, though she doesn’t talk much and rarely smiles.

One word to describe her:  Intelligent.

Image created at smalldressup.com and dolldivine.com

#28 – Wakanda Fulton

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Wakanda was born the only child to a loving couple with a relationship straight out of a romance novel.  Her father is the wealthy and powerful mayors of a small town in Northern Canada.  He was a billionaire from the US who fell in love with the librarian and local historian of a small town in Alberta he tried to buy in order to uncover a secret buried in the snow by a famous sorcerer over a thousand years before.

When Wakanda, nicknamed Wanda, was born the couple sensed there was something special about her.  By the age of three it became obvious that she was the rarest type of seer – an Odorata, one who can tell the future through smell and taste.  Such seers are rarely discovered because they don’t live past childhood.  She can taste the death of any animal whose meat she eats, and know the victim, murderer, and circumstances of a crime just by smelling dried blood on the pavement.  It’s an overwhelming ability but luckily her parents are caring, understanding, and rich so they moved up north as far from civilization as they could without living alone in the wilderness.

Being surrounded by cold and snow keeps overwhelming odors at bay, and she has a carefully prepared vegetarian diet of all natural foods…and Twinkies, which have no past or future.  No Ordorata seer as ever lived past thirty so they do what they can to make her life happy without spoiling her.  The result is a shy, clever girl with a deep understanding of the seriousness of her responsibilities and the life ahead of her.  She is in many ways very innocent and in other ways very mature.  She is a daydreamer who writes books and is home schooled, who lives in the snow and cherishes the sun.

One word to describe her: Wistful.

Image created at smalldressup.com and dolldivine.com

#27 – Iris Starshine

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Iris is a third generation hippie.  She’s a new age neo-pagan, sun-worshipping, vegetarian, enviromentally conscious, yoga-enthusiast.  Her father is the owner of a small business that makes surfboards from recycled materials, and she’s graphic artist who designs most of the board artwork.  Her mother was a sorceress who had a brief romance with her father before realizing she liked material goods to much to give them for love.  She returned only to give him the option of raising of Iris or turning her over to an adoption agency.  Despite the harsh reality of her mother’s selfishness, Iris feels very lucky to have such a wonderful father and doesn’t hold a grudge.  She’s does her own thing and doesn’t care what anyone says.  She may seem annoying at first but her warm smile and sense of humor can win over almost everyone.

One word to describe her: Carefree

Image created at dolldivine.com

#26 – Eztli Ortiz

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Eztli, or Ezzi, is a descendent of the Royal House of Tezcatlipoca – a secret sorcerer’s clan that rose during the Toltec period and migrated to the most powerful nation at the time, which is how they ended up as Aztecs.  They were conquered by the Quetzalcoatl Clan, a sorcerer family that had flown from the country centuries before and had vowed to return and seek revenge.  They all used to be friends, but a drunken party led to a family feud that would destroy several nations.

Ezzi was raised knowing her family’s history and their long tradition as Blood Oracles.  Although many Sanguas are tempted by the darkness of their medium, she is grounded in the worlds of tradition, philosophy, history, and mythology.  She knows her path, her purpose, the dangers that lurk there, and is determined to uphold the family honor without reducing the truth of her powers to bad plot in a gory B-movie.

She is calm, level-headed, and very intelligent, as compassionate as she is wise.

One word to describe her: Grounded.

Image created at dolldivine.com

#25 – Priya Chopra

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

The Chopra Sorcerer Clan of Delhi has been marrying the men off to seers for generations in the hopes that one of the descendants would be a Pleiatic seer.  Any girl in the last two generations who seemed a likely candidate was carefully trained and kept as a sacred seer until she turned fifty since that’s over the age of any Pleiatic seer. Then, with no real world experience or livelihood and with no chance to have children and an unlikely chance to marry, they were basically thrown out into the world to sink or swim.  All of this is because the last two Pleiatic Prophesies had a Chopra seer and that earned the family a thousand years of wealth and fame in the sorcerer’s world.

Knowing all this Priya tried to keep her powers a secret as long as she could.  When her abilities were revealed her family tried to treat her like a priceless porcelain doll, a role that carried no freedom.  She refused, ran away, and hid, using an assumed name and quietly training to be a doctor.  When she reached her goal she revealed herself to the Indian Seers and went back to her family on the condition that she still be allowed to work part time as a doctor.  They were furious with her, but it became obvious that she was a true seer and so when the International Seers United started searching they naturally went to the Chopras first and found Priya, who agreed only if the wealth went to charities and universities instead of her family.

One word to describe her: Determined.

Image created at dolldivine.com

#24 – Nakimera Somersby

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Naki is the second oldest and the third to be discovered, at age 33.  She was born in Nigeria to a woman who was raped by a local sorcerer.  There was a distant history of powerful seers but none recently.  Naki’s mother, Kia, was saved from humiliation and exile by a kind-hearted gay peace-corps man who married her and took them both to America.  He and Kia both hid their “shame” from the world until they came to the mutual realization that there was nothing be ashamed of for either of them. The strength they found in each other they passed on to Naki who became a Civil Rights Activist.  When her powers became obvious her parents searched for someone to teach her how to use them.

When the magic world became alive with the news of the Pleiona having been found, her mentor demanded she be tested and that’s how she was chosen.

One word to describe her: Unafraid

Image created at dolldivine.com

#23 – Sheridan McDonnell

| November 30, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

The Pleiatic Seers are a group of the seven most powerful and pure oracles in the world.  Once every thousand years seven seers are chosen to be part of the creation of a set of prophesies for the next one thousand years. The gathering is called the Prophesy of the Whole and is held on the summer solstice.  The ruling constellation of the ceremony is the Pleiades for mythological reasons (the original seers were the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, hence the name Pleiatic Seers.)  The event is signaled by the birth of a child that contains all seven of the oracle powers – Sight, Touch, Smell, Head, Heart, Spirit-Light, and Blood, who is known as the Pleiona (the mother of the Pleiades in the myth) who is in charge of choosing and gathering all the seers together.  It can take years to find the right ones and then wait for the ages to align corrects – each seer must be a virgin woman between the ages of 7 and 49 (7 years apart each), with a single, specific, and powerful oracle ability.

Sherri is the oldest of the Pleiatic Seers, but she was not the first to be found.  Sherri was discovered by a distant relative when she was 44. The relative was from an Irish sorcerer family that moved to America in the 1840s.  The girl was tracing her roots and met up with Sheridan and realized that this woman was a pure Sensa and, although the girl had been hoping to become a Pleiatic seer herself, she put Sheridan in touch with Seers United in the USA who sent Cece to meet her.

At first glance Sheridan is a nice, older lady who grows herbs and makes candles.  She is the local midwife and comes from a long line of women with the “second sight.”  She is a strange mix of sweet and sour, being both kind and gentle at times, but also being harsh and short temptered at times.  She tries hard to be eccentric and is good enough at all that she does that she can get away with it.

One word to describe her:  Contradiction.

#22 – Kavikeen/Kevin Keene

| November 23, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Kavikeen is the mysterious hermit who lives in a cave deep inside the Crovan Forest.  Princess Catherine gets lost in the woods one day and accidentally meets him, seeking shelter in his cave when it starts pouring rain.  He appears to be a kind old man who still knows and practices the ancient lost art of magic which he offers to teach to her.  He likes her bravery and intelligence, so he says, and wants to make sure someone knows the magic secrets before he dies and it gets lost forever. He is an old man, with all the traditional looks of a kindly old wizard – long white beard, white hair, long robe, etc.

Kevin Keene is the bookstore owner who suggests the book about the Lost Kingdom of Acmara to Kathrina.  Once Catherine has switched places she meets Kevin Keene in the library and she asks him about a book on a paper she has to write.  They get to know each other and he reminds her of Kavikeen.  He introduces her to the new world once he discovers that she switched places with Kathrina and he says he wants to know more about Acmara.  Unlike his alter ego, Kevin is younger – about thirty – and has wavy white-blond hair and glasses.  He’s not traditionally handsome, but he’s got a strange sort of appeal to him and Catherine thinks she could love him.

Of course he betrays her before that happens.  Turns out he’s a total bastard who’s only goal is to destroy the land of Acmara in order to fulfill an ancient prophesy/curse he placed on the kingdom centuries before.  He is the physical form of an ancient water demon that has lived deep in the earth, beneath the mountains of Crovan forest since the dawn of time. He plans to sink the whole kingdom and drag it back beneath the waves, into his domain.  In order to achieve this he needs a massive amount of energy and a crack in time.  Switching the girls created the crack that continues to grow and as it grows it absorbs elemental energy until it will eventually have enough energy that he can use it to sink the island.

He’s a very cunning and deceptive villain, appearing to be nice and kind and sweet and harmless while manipulating everything to work out according to his plans.  He’s patiently waited for this day when worlds collide and everything he’s wanted comes to him completely.

#21 – Prince Aidric

| November 23, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Adric is the prince of Hannerfief – a small island kingdom off the coast of Norway.  He is handsome, charming, and everything a woman could want – on the surface at least.  But he suffers from the worst of 16th century world views.  To him women are inferior and unintelligent, only meant to bear and raise children and smile pretty for handsome men.  They are easily courted with flattery and easily won with expensive gifts.  He also has disdain for everyone beneath his station – which is most people, and does not care what happens to ordinary people.  He was spoiled as the only son and heir and grew up to believe whatever his father told him because after all he was the king.

He doesn’t love Catherine or care how she feels because it’s an arranged, political marriage for both of them.  He just assumes that Catherine knows that and won’t try to interfere with his private life, letting him bed whoever he wants and do as he pleases.  Women are easy to control, right?  When he meets Princess Catherine – who is actually Kathrina – he slowly discovers that the marriage he expected won’t be the one he gets. He tries to dominate her intellectually, but he doesn’t stand a chance since he never expected her to be smart and she is.

Her initial flirtations and indications of falling in love with him suddenly turn to disdain when he tells her what to expect from the marriage.  They are forced to be together since the marriage is still going ahead – neither one has the power to stop it.  The more time he spends with her the more he starts to respect her and actually starts to enjoy having an intelligent woman beside him.  She’s not bitchy or mean, but she does stand up to his insults and helps him see that a lot of the ideas he’s been raised with aren’t the only ideas out there.  He starts to fall in love with her.

But all hell breaks loose when he discovers the switched princesses.  In the end he and the real Catherine discover they have a lot more in common than they ever expected and both decide to face the challenges of saving the kingdom together without getting married, but of course they eventually do.

#20 – Jasper Black

| November 23, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Sir Jasper of Blackhaven (aka Jasper Black) is the captain of the royal guards in charge of protecting Princess Catherine.  He is extremely intelligent, but he was born into his position and chose to honor his father’s wish by becoming a royal guard. He’s a little more than a servant, a soldier with no hope of glory in war, reduced to babysitting a royal brat.  The royal family doesn’t really notice him except as a muscle man who is supposed to keep track of the wild Catherine and stop her from doing something stupid.  Catherine who sees him as a little too arrogant for his station and enjoys teasing him, taunting him, and flirting with him just to see if he’ll respond.  She’s very beautiful and gets a lot of men to fall for her meaningless flirtations, but not Jasper.  He can’t stand her.

Her spoiled streak angers him, because he thinks she’s stupid and selfish and she is.  When she starts visiting the wizard he tries to stop her but she insults him and commands him not to tell on her and he’s just kind of like “okay bitch, go get into major trouble – see if I care.”

He is the first to figure out that Princess Catherine has been switched with a double because although Kathrina looks exactly like her, personality wise they’re night and day.  She tries to play the snobbish princess but isn’t convincing.  To most people it’s refreshing for the princess to be quiet for once, or since she’s a woman they don’t really pay her much attention, but Jasper does.  He’s with her a lot and knows her so well that he sees the difference right away.  He confronts her and she tells him the truth, but rather than thinking she’s crazy – which she expects – he demands they switch back – it’s his duty to protect the real Catherine after all.  Kathrina refuses to go back and there’s a lot of tension between them but as reality sets in for her, she starts to realize just how different he is from the other men, and he realizes how different she is.  He sees her intelligence and they become friends, than fall in love.  When she can’t take the past anymore he takes her to confront the wizard to send her home, promising to go with her.  The wizard sends switches the girls, but Jasper is forced to stay in his own time.

Jasper seems to be cold, arrogant, and easily annoyed at first, but as Kathrina gets to know him, she sees that he is really just trying to hide his intelligence and keep his job for the sake of his family. He’s brave and brilliant, determined and loyal, but he’s not that handsome.  He’s okay looking but nothing special, and he doesn’t really care about being handsome.  He isn’t married because he hasn’t found a woman who’s smart enough for him basically.  Most of the women around him appear docile, except Catherine who’s just a shrew.

#19 – Kathrina Baker

| November 19, 2011 | 0 Comments

Kathrina Baker is a brilliant but shy seventeen year old who’s intelligence and determination landed her with a full scholarship and early admission to a prestigious college. But her freshman year is turning out to be a little overwhelming and she hides herself is fairy tales, romances, and fantastical legends.  One day she’s browsing through an old, half-hidden used bookstore and the storekeeper helps her find an interesting old book about the legend of Acmara, the Lost Kingdom.

The book changes her life and within days she is contacted by an old wizard and a princess who looks just like her offers to trade places with her, sending her back into the romantic times of 16th century where she gets to be a wealthy princess and marry a handsome prince.  To Kathrina it’s a dream come true.

Of course once she gets there the realities quickly set in with no modern convinces like electricity and indoor plumbing.  The prince is very handsome and charming at first, but she quickly realizes that he’s actually rather vain and selfish, and that women have no voice in 1511.  Her intelligence, which has always been her saving grace is worthless in a woman and her future husband insists she “stop thinking” when they get married.  Men think, women breed.  Men protect women and women take care of men.  Once she realizes how miserable her life would be if she stayed there and got married, she tries to get Catherine to switch back, but Catherine is having too much fun to leave the future.

With no hope of returning she decides to make the best of things and ends up discovering the most intelligent person is actually her bodyguard, Jasper Brown.  He figures out she isn’t Catherine very quickly and helps her navigate the through the deceptions and dangers of life at a royal court.  He becomes her best friend, they respect each other, and actually start to fall in love (of course).  In the end she has to fight to save the kingdom she’s actually started to like from disappearing into the mists of time and becoming forever lost.

#18 – Princess Catherine

| November 19, 2011 | 0 Comments

Princess Catherine is the youngest child and only daughter of the King and Queen of Acmara, an island kingdom far off the coasts of Ireland. The island sits on the center of where three Ley Lines intersect and the island is said to be full of strange magic.  That might have been true once, but only ancient ruins remain by Catherine’s time and the old magic is long forgotten except by an old hermit wizard that befriends the princess and tells her stories of a magical world far different from their day.

When she learns that her parents are trying to marry her off to a prince from a distant kingdom, she defies them and refuses, running to her friend for help.  He convinces her that she must find a look alike to take her place if she is to have any freedom.  He finds one for her in the Land Across Time and they convince the young woman to trade places with Catherine, promising her wealth, royalty, and marriage to a handsome prince.  Catherine becomes a college student in 2011 and Kathrina becomes a princess of a legendary kingdom in 1511.

At first Catherine seems spirited and feisty, enjoying life and curious about the magical world.  But once she lands in the future we see her as she really is – a spoiled selfish brat who is used to being coddled and having her own way.  At first she goes crazy with freedom – cutting and dying her hair, spending all Kathrina’s money without realizing how limited it is.  Kathrina doesn’t really have friends and the one or two she does have, Catherine disregards as commoners.

She is forced to take care of herself in a world that becomes less exciting every minute she stays there.  But when she tries to return home to take back her rightful place she finds the old wizard isn’t so kind and won’t let her go home.

#18 – Elowyn

| November 17, 2011 | 0 Comments

Eirwyn is the oldest of the Seasons, second only to her twin sister who was born a few minutes before her.  She’s been alive for more than six hundred years.  It’s extremely rare for a Season to live so long, but she and her twin sister were chosen to lead the Seasons and train the new ones in their powers.

She is the Winter Queen of the North Pole and is friends with Santa Claus.  She only ventures south for the four-year summit of the Seasons.  Any person who becomes a season is sent to the North Pole for training and education.

When the Seasons start disappearing from North America she and her sister officially appoint Kaydi to lead the search for them.

She is gentle and kind, despite the chill of her season.  She is soft snow and warm fires on a cold night.

#17 – Eirwyn

| November 16, 2011 | 0 Comments

Eirwyn is the oldest of the Seasons, having been alive for more than six hundred years.  It’s extremely rare for a Season to live so long, but she and her twin sister were chosen to lead the Seasons and train the new ones in their powers.

She is the Winter Queen of the South Pole and rules Antarctica.  She only ventures north for the four-year summit of the Seasons.  Any person born a Season is sent to her for training.

When the Seasons start disappearing from North America she and her sister officially appoint Kaydi to lead the search for them.

She is the elder of the sisters and is strict and cold, but can be compassionate given a good enough reason to be.  She is  freezing wind, frost on windows, and ice.

#16 – Lulu Columba

| November 15, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

Lulu is a bird shape-shifter (a were-dove).  She is the oldest of four girls whose parents are both dead.  They’re raised by their uncle with their twin male cousins.  Lulu has the difficult task of keeping all the children out of trouble, which is not easy in the magical community on the shores on Lake Michigan.  She was raised in Chicago, in a small magical community that spanned three blocks, and the wide wilderness of Upper Shores is both frightening and exhilarating.

She is twenty-two and should have been married by now, but she is too attached to the other children.  To make additional money she is a private tutor to the rich families in the area, which is how she meets Matilda.  When her sister and one of the nephews disappear there is a great commotion in Upper Shores and she asks Matilda to help her solve the mystery and reunite the lost children with their family.

Lulu is a bright, intelligent, brave, and capable woman.  She is has a kind and gentle side, but can also be strict when the situation calls for it.  She loves learning and teaching and has no plans to marry, but does hope to be come a teacher at the Upper Shore Academy someday.

#14 – Aleda Liddle

| November 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

Aleda is a young feline shape-shifter (a were-cat).  She is the youngest daughter of a long and illustrious line of American Short-Hair Shifters, specifically the Liddle branch, which settled in the area long before other pioneers came to Michigan.  She’s only seven years old when she runs away from home during a bitter family feud over the theft and inheritance rights of a powerful heirloom, in order to escape the stress of the situation.  She discovers the world is a harsh and strange place, having only known the security of a small sheltered shape-shifting community on the remote shores of Lake Michigan.

She is desperate to get home and in her search she meets Matilda Madison who not only helps her find her way home, but also solves the mystery of who took the heirloom and who it really belongs to.  After that she and Matilda become best friends, despite the six-year age difference.  Aleda helps Matilda navigate through the world of magic that’s hidden in plain sight all around.

Aleda, or Ally as she’s known to her friends, is small, even for her age, but she is very brave and loyal.  She is endlessly curious and is always asking questions and trying new things that are sometimes dangerous, but luckily her friends tend to save her from herself.  She can be both impulsive and impetuous.  Even in her human form she tends to hiss and growl when she gets angry, and if she’s angry or scared her hair puffs up like a cat’s tail does. Also in human form she is very agile and dexterous, able to jump, climb, and contort like a cat.  She also likes shiny things and always wears the black necklace/collar her mother gave after she ran away and came home again.

#13 – Kaydi Kariff

| November 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

Kaydi is one of the Four Seasons – Autumn – and lives in Vermont, working as a substitute teacher whenever she has the time.  She loves teaching elementary school children about history and English, math and science –and especially about nature.

There are fifty Seasons across the world – 12 of each on each continent except the North and South poles where a Winter Queen rules each one.  They have control of the weather during their season and are generally responsible for making sure the change occurs and helping all the animals, plants, and people get ready for the next season (all in an omniscient way of course).  They all gather together once every four years on February 29.

It’s during this reunion one year that some of the Seasons don’t show up.  They discover that someone is kidnapping Seasons and taking away their powers in order to have dominion over North America. Kaydi, along with three seasons goes to find help and eventually Kaydi ends up kidnapped as well.  She manages to pass her powers to another before she is grabbed and ends up becoming a full time teacher in her beloved small town in Vermont and is actually quite happy to no longer have the responsibility of a Season.

#12 – Shemyava

| November 14, 2011 | 0 Comments

Shemyava is the wife of Adar, the leader of the Woodland Zvarocan Tribe.  They have spent their lives wandering through the forests of Liliya, and entertaining in various towns to earn any money they need.  They are famous carpenters and herbalists as well as musicians and dancers.

She is as wise and brave as she is beautiful and she is nurturing and compassionate, taking care of strangers as she would her family and friends.  She and Adar have two daughters – Telana and Melantha – and they are her pride and joy.  One day while wandering through woods near the Grand Palace they encountered a group of bandits attacking a young girl.  The tribe attacked the bandits and Shemyava swept into the fray and rescued the little girl then sent the girl with her own to daughters to run and hide until it was safe to come out.

Unfortunately the tribe was slaughtered by the bandits – killing most in the process though, and in the end only two bandits were left alive and they were captured and killed by the royal guards of Liliya.  The girl turned out to be the princess of Liliya and the Queen took Shemyava’s daughters into her care and protection and the sisters became best friends with the princess.  Shemyava and the others gave their lives to save them.

 

#11 – Vaulomia

| November 14, 2011 | 0 Comments

Vaulomia is the daughter of Veauca and Lonauis and has royal blood from both sides of her family.  However her mother is a dragon and her father is a fairy so both their families kicked them out for mating with each other.  Vaulomia – or Mia as most people call her – is the only dragon-fairy hybrid in existence.

Her mother died within days of giving birth to her, leaving her father to raise her on his own.  There are many out there who want to harm her – dragons and fairies who see her as an abomination that needs to be destroyed, or sorcerers and others who seek to gain her unique powers by draining and drinking her blood.  Her father protects her with the help of Belatee, the Goddess of Fate, who took in her parents when they had nowhere to go and now gives Mia and her father sanctuary.

Mia grew up in Belatee’s palace, but she was sometimes picked on by visitors.  So Belatee had a mini-mansion built on sacred land for them that requires a password to enter, and personally selected three companions to serve and teach Mia as she grows up.

Belatee insists on protecting her because Mia is one day going to save both her parents’ species when the dragons wake and the magic world goes to war with the science of mortal who are trying to rid the world of magic. Mia and other mixed race creatures similar to her (including Erion) will unite the First Race and make peace possible.  Mia has a very important role to play and must be protected for that reason alone.

Unlike both her parents she cannot shift form.  She was born a human and can only take human form – however she can change her size from gigantic to tiny, and can sprout either dragon wings or fairy wings depending on what size she is at the time.  She is very sweet and gentle, and loves to learn new things.  She’s curious and intelligent and although its rare that she gets mad, when she does she breaths fire – literally.  She also glows when she gets scared.

#9 & 10 – Veauca & Lonauis

| November 9, 2011 | 0 Comments

Veauca is a dragon of the Vorchoveks clan, and the granddaughter of Rastok, the ancient patriarch of the clan.  She used to be his favorite, but one day she committed a terrible crime and was banished from her home and clan forever.  She fell in love with a fairy prince and became pregnant with his child.  Never before – or since – has a dragon mated with a fairy, because they are on opposite ends of the magical spectrum.  Dragons are one of the most powerful creatures of the First Race and are at the top of the food chain, fairies are the weakest creatures of the First Race and are basically snack food to all the other creatures.  For a dragon to mate with a fairy is like a human mating with a piece of popcorn – it’s pretty much impossible.

But Veauca met Lonauis when they were both wandering the earth in human form.  Veauca wanted to see the sunny islands of the sea and Lonauis wanted to see what cold and snow were like since the Fairy Lands are always green and sunny.  They fell in love, not realizing at first what they other was and when they discovered the truth they no longer cared.  They were both ostracized from their families and homes. Eventually they were taken in by Belatee, the Goddess of Fate, who married them in a quiet ceremony shortly before the child was due.

Both dragons and fairies lay eggs, but since they mated in human form the child was born in human form.  Veauca died shortly after giving birth to a daughter they named Vaulomia.  Lonauis was left to raise their only child and protect her from the those who seek to destroy her because they think she is an abomination or who wish to steal her powers for themselves.

Veauca and Lonauis are both wise, brave, gentle and kind. They are also passionate and impulsive which lead to their downfall, but neither would have traded the love of the other for anything in the world.

#8 – Ramla Byrne

| November 8, 2011 | 0 Comments

Ramla is the oldest of three daughters born to Justin and Mirabeth Byrne – the Midwestern leaders of the Byrne Clan, prestigious sorcerers in the American magical community.  Ramla is a 4th generation Seer and is more powerful then her ancestors.  She is a Head seer (she can see the future and past in dreams and visions, use telepathy and telekinesis) and has spent the majority of her twenty-six years training to become a pure and powerful Head seer so that she may be chosen as one of the seven seers to fulfill the Prophesy for the Whole.

Spoiled, bossy, and arrogant, Ramla is as obsessed with power as any of the Byrnes and sees this as her way to make the world see how special she is.  However, she can only be chosen if she is destined to be one of the seven and the only one who can decide that is the mysterious Peiona, the “mother” seer.

#7 – Hanae

| November 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

 

Hanae is a shape shifter, like many in the unseen magical world, but instead of changing from a human to an animal she is sort of a were-tree.  She can shift between being a Cherry Blossom tree, a human, or the in between state of a human-blossom, basically a blossom fairy, though she cannot sustain that form for very long since the in-between state takes a lot of energy to remain in that form.

Hanae is very sweet, kind and gentle.  She is tall and willowy with pale pink hair in her human form.  She was transplanted a seedling from Japan and is over a hundred years old.  She spends the autumn and winter in a hibernation state and is only awake for about six-seven months in the year.  Her biggest obstacle is the sheer boredom of being a tree, so she takes human form as much as possible.

#6 – Rastok

| November 6, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

 

Rastok is the patriarch of an ancient race of dragons known as the Vorchoveks who lived deep in the icy caverns of the Traldonian Mountains.  Although everyone in Traldon thinks they are merely legends and fantasy they eventually discover that Rastok and his clan did exist and they never died out, they were simply in one of their millennia-long hibernation cycles.   Rastok is very old and very wise, but is also arrogant and thinks humans are little more than annoying ants with long metal sticks.

#5 – Matilda Madison

| November 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

 

Matilda is the youngest child and only daughter of Gustav and Susanna Wever.  Her father is one of the richest men in Victorian Chicago (it’s 1898).  Although he is fanatically devoted to his wife and loves her above even his massive wealth, he is ashamed of Matilda and wants to be with her as little as possible.  The only reason he let Susanna keep Matilda instead of anonymously abandoning her to an orphanage is because Susanna would never forgive him and threatened to kill herself if he tried to do it. Why would he be so cruel?  Because he’s a bigoted jerk who cares about appearances more than (almost) anything else.

Matilda is an albino.  With white hair, white skin, red eyes and all the trademarks of albinism including ocular diseases and sensitive skin, she often wears specially made “sun-spectacles”, wide brimmed hats, shawls and a parasol to protect her from the harmful rays of the sun.

To Gustav (and many others) she is a freak of nature.  He allows Susanna to keep her, but insists they relocate to a mansion he builds them far away from the city.  He tells everyone that his daughter died in childbirth and swears the rest to secrecy. Matilda is raised separated from everyone else, schooled by private tutors and never expected to do anything other than take care of her parents – mostly mother – when they get older.  She has two brothers – the oldest follows his father’s example and ignores her, but her other brother loves her dearly and tries to make her feel like more than a pariah.

She is extremely clever, however, with a genius IQ.  Matilda considers herself blessed and not cursed, because she looks like a freak she can easily tell friends from foes by how they react to her appearance.  She adores Sherlock Holmes novels and other mysteries and dreams of becoming a detective herself.  She solves her first mystery – involving a ghost, a secret treasure, and a long forgotten graveyard near their house – when she was 12.  It opened her eyes to the reality of the world around her – that in an age of reason and industry there is magic everywhere, real magic.  As she grows older she discovers that her dreams of being a private detective can come true if she accepts and abnormal clientele – magic folk.  Once she assists a lost were kitten finding her way home (and then getting embroiled in a family battle over the theft and inheritance rights of a powerful heirloom), magic folk have come to her to help her solve mysteries they know the Normies (normal people) can’t handle.

She tends to work at night, slipping out of the house when most of the others are asleep, and sleep during the day – given her sensitivity to sunlight that schedule usually works best.  Her older brother is suspicious of her night rambles and follows her one night, discovering the other world for himself and after that he becomes a mixture of a Watson-like sidekick and a bodyguard.

#4 – Sabille

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

 

Sabille is the fairy guardian of Menesia, Empress of Akaya.  Menesia is the daughter (and only child) of Belatee, the Goddess of Fate, so the fairy chosen to be her closest companion and protector had to be very special.  Although Sabby, as she’s known to her friends, isn’t the oldest or most powerful fairy (she’s midrange in both aspects being just under the fifteen hundred year age mark), she’s one of the most clever.

Not just wise or intelligent, Sabille has a quick, clever mind that allows her to plan ahead for almost every possible situation, so the likelihood of her ward even getting into trouble is slim and her being in some trouble that Sabille can’t get her out of quickly is practically impossible.

She’s also witty and funny, as well as exceptionally brave.  Her biggest problem is that she knows she’s clever and can be arrogant at times.  Being outwitted is one of the most humiliating things that can happen to her and whenever Belatee feels Sabby is getting too arrogant and egotistical she makes sure to send someone to put Sabby back in her place.

#3 – Haruto

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

Haruto is one of the magical creatures that inhabit Lalahlahki, the Celestial Kingdom of the Princess of the Sun, Heir to the Throne of Heaven.  Evil is forbidden to enter the kingdom and it most worlds it is known as a place of great healing and purity, a Garden of Eden without the snake.  Haruto is the youngest of the Celestial Sentinels, and although most of the Sentinels are ancient, wise, and kind they are also kind of boring.  He has bigger dreams.

Time has no meaning in the kingdom and the days, years, and centuries blend into mere moments of peace, tranquility, and for a young stallion – boredom.  He longs to explore the worlds beyond Lalahlahki, have adventures and see for himself what evil is so he knows how to fight it if the Sacred Barrier protecting the kingdom ever falls.  This longing for more makes him unique among the Sentinels and among his family.

When the Princess brings a young man, barely more than a boy, to the kingdom one day to serve as one of her bodyguards, known as the Warriors of the Light – he sees his chance.  He and the boy, Koyo, become fast friends and the princess declares that Haruto become Koyo’s steed when they travel to other worlds.

The Sentinels have sacred names that only the princess knows and that cannot be spoken or it will remove their power, so each one adopts a nickname.  Haruto’s nickname was Colt – because he was the youngest – and he did not like that name so he asked Koyo to give him a new one.  Koyo named him Haruto, which means both “sunlight” and “soar”.

Haruto is brave, loyal, adventurous, and determined to become the best Sentinel he can be.

#2 – Eudora

| November 2, 2011 | 1 Comment

Eudora Vanders, nicknamed “Dora”, is the daughter of Cline and Thomasine Vanders.  With her mother being a statue most of her life and her father always busy with work she developed a bit of an abandonment issue, but she has struggled all her life to come to terms with her strange and powerful parents and her unusual upbringing.  Also her father has several other children, she is the only legitimate child and is very clearly his favorite, which caused a lot of rivalry with her half-siblings.

She inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s brilliant mind – graduating from high school at 16.  Even though her father has tried to spoil her with everything money can buy, she rebelled against his wealth when she was a teenager, got to know the god of Poverty, and lived homeless for several months to understand what it was like to have nothing.

She is now 19 years old, happily enrolled in college and planning to become a social worker.  Unfortunately her life is cut short in a car accident with a drunk driver and her wandering soul is captured by a notorious Ghost Hunter.

#1 – Thomasine

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

Thomasine is the wife of Cline Vanders, also known as Wealth.  He’s a sorcerer who was promoted to the office of God of Wealth, and although he loves his job and can be a pretty nasty guy (and is over 900 years old), he is head over heels in love with Thomasine, his soul mate.

In the 16th century, before he met her, she was known as the most beautiful woman in a wizarding town near Essex, England.  An evil sorcerer fell madly in love with her and when she refused him he cursed her by turning her into a statue.  He made a magical necklace that would transform her back into a woman for three days once a year.  Thomasine’s family eventually discovered what he had done with her and they killed him in revenge.  Before they could kill him he hid the magic necklace in a far corner of the world, forcing her to stay a stone statue for centuries.

Eventually Cline acquired the statue, not knowing the story behind it, but became so entranced by the statue’s beauty that he searched to find the woman she was modeled from.  His search lead him to discover the truth and once he learned about the necklace he used all his power to find it.  Once found he brought her to life for the first time in 300 years, and they fell in love.  In the end they were married, but can only be together for three days a year.

They wanted to have children, but it was impossible until modern technology became advanced enough to use a surrogate.  After two hundred years of married life they finally had a daughter.  Cline continues to search for a way to break the curse, but the sorcerer took the secret to his grave.