Character Sketch: Henrik Niestrom

Following a disastrous alchemic accident which caused an entire district of the Rhevisean capitol to fall ill, authorities charged 15-year-old botanist Henrik with attempted mass murder. His conviction brought shame to House Niestrom and he was subsequently disowned. Henrik sought refuge in an orphanage and continued his study of plants and mixtures as he awaited trial. While his disrepute across the empire came as no surprise, he had not expected anyone to admire his crude, archaic skills.

 

Soliessen, guildmaster to a group of assassins, thieves and spies, aimed to make use of the young alchemist's potential. After striking a deal with Henrik, she agreed to purchase his freedom using her wealth and political influence in exchange for his services. As Soliessen's most expensive human asset, Henrik assumed the role of poisonmaster and supplied the guild with deadly concoctions. For months his conscience remained unshaken, never witnessing the end result of his work. But with the arrival of a new recruit named Yamini, Henrik finds his moral horizons suddenly broadened and begins to reevaluate his loyalties--an act that may cost him his life...

Character Sketch: Azsherade Altairus

After adopting her at the age of ten, Azsherade trains Yamini in the arts of reading and writing so that she may become a righteous scribe and guide Rhevise into revolution. But just after her first year of apprenticeship, Councilman Shahid declares any and all handwritten communication to be a direct act of treason against the Rhevisean Empire. Scribes across the territories are ordered to cease and desist their practices. With his profession destroyed and his own daughter presumed dead, Azsherade shifts his focus to political affairs.

Using his knowledge of the territories to his advantage, Azsherade's reputation spreads quickly as he ascends the political ladder. After three years he achieves the rank of Alderman and gains significant influence within Rhevise. Though his public statements and decrees appear fair (almost too fair) for the majority of the population, his true motives remain unknown. While largely operating behind the scenes in recent months, leaving his associates to do most of his public work, several of Azsherade's decisions are questioned by the Council. Some believe that the former scribe went mad with the loss of his daughter, and now intends to assume control of the territory by circumventing or eliminating the Council altogether in order to employ his own philosophies of order.

When his name finally appears on the ballot for councilman, Azsherade earns more attention than he bargained for. Fearing what he could do with such power, the Aikon Brothers commission an infamous rogue, Soliessen, to assassinate the former scribe. Sensing that some would be out to claim his life, Azsherade holes himself up in his estate, biding time until the election. The ploy might have worked, if not for Soliessen's unsuspecting protege...

Progress...of a different kind

I have been away from this blog for far too long, but more ashamed am I of the time I've spent away from the pages of my story. It has been weeks, nigh months, since Yamini has had any action. I can't blame writer's block, because I know exactly what is to be written. I can only blame my motivation. Lack of sleep. Lack of initiative. And lack of inspiration. I need to crawl out of this funk, and ASAP!

Of course, I know the only way to get back into the groove of things is to start putting words down on the screen and stop caring (temporarily, mind you) how pretty or perfect they are. Well, a very large part of me still fights this philosophy of "putting down crap and cleaning it up later" so I've taken a different tack. Character mapping! Probably more exciting than it actually sounds, and way more beneficial to me than any standard outline formatting. I've never been one for outlines, timelines, ANY kind of lines, really. They're too restrictive, too concrete. I liked to color outside them as a kid. Not because I didn't possess the coordination to stay within them, but rather...because I didn't always like where they were placed. My stories are no exception.

The character maps provide me with a deeper insight to the characters, their motivations, their progressions in the story, where significant events overlapped, and the ultimate goals or endgames of each. What I have been focusing on these last two weeks is essentially each character's (sub characters included) entire story, beginning with the start of the book until the end of it, summarizing the whole of their importance, explaining their motives, and drawing a vague idea of how they will accomplish or fail their purpose. It is an interesting strategy, one I've never before employed. And despite the time it is consuming, I am finding it both fun and helpful. Several plot issues--aspects of the story that up until just days ago were question marks even to me!--are being resolved and fundamentally fleshed out so that when the time comes to reveal a twist or hidden motive or some such thing, I will at least know which way the story will go from there.

Perhaps these ramblings sound like that of a poor writer. I can imagine the commentary. "This guy doesn't even know what he's writing half the time!" Well, I don't. Half the time, the things that come out of my characters' mouths or their actions are just as surprising to me as they are to the readers. THIS is what keeps the writing process fun for me. Experiencing the story myself as the reader must. Being surprised. Not being quite sure what will happen, how, or when. Most of the time I'm in the mystery with my own writing, my own characters. But the way I see it...if I can fool myself, then I must succeed, in part or in whole, in tricking out the masses. I consider that a victory as an author.

Now, it wouldn't be right for me to post the character maps I'm creating, for there would be spoilers abound and practically give away the entire story! I can, however, provide a brief bio of each, similar to the character sketches found in video game manuals. The purpose in the game books is to get the players interested in the characters said game has to offer by giving their background and letting the player decide who to be, who to care about, who to trust and who not to. Video games have been such a big inspiration of mine thus far. I see no reason not to continue the trend.

That said, look for these bios to come one at a time in the near future.