Characters & Fantastical Creatures

Name - Pronunciation

Eisa - (ay-sah)  Eisa is the middle of three children, elder to brother Luca, and junior to elder brother Hunter.  Eisa's father, Henri, is a goods merchant in Shale.  Eisa is strong willed and fiercely protective of her younger brother.

Luca - (loo-kah)  Eisa's little brother.  Luca is like so many other little boys.  He plays, he fights, and he slays invisible monsters with the small oak sword his father gave him.

Hunter - (hon-ter)  Hunter is elder to Eisa by several seasons, and never shies away from reminding his sister of that fact.  Hunter is strong and capable, and has matured in the past seasons, thanks to his father's regular absences.  He provides discipline and tutoring for his younger brother, if not for the occasional teasing.

Roman - (row-man) Roman is a bit of a paradox.  His mother died during childbirth, and his father a number of seasons later.  He lived with Garon and Greta Olfson for a time after his father passed, which only added to his sense of isolation.  He struggles with the void created by his lost parents, and yearns for an understanding of who they were, to understand who he is supposed to become.

Julian - (jew-lee-an)  Julian is the only child of a fairly prominent family.  Hailing from the capitol, he grew up a child of luxury and security.  When he came of age, Julian became an initiate in the illustrious Silver Guard, Denoril's elite royal guard.  His initiation forced him away from home, to advance his training as a warrior, and forge his independence as a man.

Dennah - (den-ah)  Dennah was born into a very modest home in Yarborough.  Being the youngest, and only girl of seven siblings, she spent her formative years rough-housing, exploring, and fighting with her six older brothers.  When Dennah's parents came up short, the Council's tax collectors presented her parents with two options, a jail cell and forced labor, or two, they pledged their only daughter into their provincial Lord's service.

Tusk - (tusk)  Oh furry bane of pigs.  Roman found Tusk while hunting boar north of Bardstown.  He is a sizable, and adequately shaggy hound, who has retained some of his puppy boisterousness, despite his age.  Tusk is loyal, and fiercely protective.  Roman considers him to be more than just a companion, but family. 

Balin - (bay-lin)  Balin is a creature of the shadows.  He grew up in the gutter, fighting against others like him to survive.  Over the winter thaws he has amassed an impressive array of skills.  As an adult he quickly learned that if he was to survive, he needed to obtain favor from those in power, and use any means possible to keep it.

Frenin - (fren-in)  Frenin is the town elder of Bardstown.  As an aged man, he can count the wisdom of his many winter thaws as his greatest asset.  He as taken great interest in Roman's well-being, and served as a paternal figure, if only from a distance.

Banus - (ban-us)  Banus would never be mistaken for brave, or chivalrous.  He was forced into Lord Thatcher's service after he was thrown into the stocks for his vicious behavior.  He now operates under the protection of their provincial Lord, protecting and escorting the tax collection caravans.  He is unsavory, and worse, unpredictable.

Brother Dalman - (doll-man)  Brother Dahlman appears before Councilman Gladeus DuChamp in Ban Turin to argue against the Council's stifling edicts.  He is a poised, articulate figure.  One that shows considerably more life than his aged appearance might suggest.

Herja - (her-sha) Herja is a mysterious figure. She appears to Henri several times in Within, but only momentarily. Sometimes in the guise of a glimmering, armor clad warrior, and at others, a giant, fear-inspiring bird. Her purpose is as mysterious as the land itself.

The Crow - (krow) Roman and Dennah encounter the Crow at Fort Falksgraad. He is a dark figure, used by the lord constable to see through to a person's true nature. And yet, like Roman, there might be more to him.

Rat - Rat is a boy. A gentle flicker of light trapped in a wretched, dark place. He is but a boy, and represents innocence to Roman. Something he wishes to protect at all cost.

Haybear - (Hey-bear) Haybear is an eccentric, rambling old man. He often speaks in riddles, and favorites odd stories. And yet, there is more to the old man than first appears.

Cassida - (Kasida) Luca first encounters the withered old woman in the waterside markets in Pinehall. She is peculiar in both appearance and behavior, and seems to know more about the crippled, amnesiac little boy than seems possible. Luca will have to decide quickly if he can trust the old woman, and the wild tales and promises she spins.

Gaston - Julian first learns of the half-blood dwarf from the shamed Silver Guard blacksmith. He lives far up Mt. Bahlman, in the remnants of an abandoned dwarf mining community. His presence, and Tanea's disappearance are more than a coincidence.

Emma - (Em-muh) Emma works as a servant in the Pinehall Manite Chapterhouse, where Luca spent time after leaving Captain Tovy's boat, the Kingfisher. Emma and Luca strike up an easy friendship.

Lord Geoffrey Thatcher - (Jeff-ray Thach-ur) Geoffrey Thatcher is the eldest son in his family, and the seated Earl of Karnell Province. He resides in Castle Astralen, and is widely known to be a fair and honest man.

Creatures

Gnarls - Gnarls are a savage race.  Although their origins are a mystery, their ambitions are not.  Clustered together in primitive tribes, gnarls are motivated by power, and greed.  They are unpredictable creatures that will attack from the shadows, but cower before strength.  They are a likely pawn for those who know how to bend and manipulate.

Drakin - Drakin dominated the landscape when Denoril's first settlers reached its shores, but now they are a fading memory.  Thought to be a threat to livestock and settler alike, Liege Lords placed a gold bounty on them.  Hunters took more than sport in their destruction, and many a man laden his pockets with provincial gold at their expense.  There are rumored to be few of the slippery, scaled beasts left now, prowling the dark, untamed expanses of the wilds.

Bardaqs - A minescule goblinoid creature, no larger than a sewer rat.  Bardaqs cluster together in damp, dark places, and prefer to swarm their prey by overwhelming numbers.  Their teeth are as sharp as sewing needles, and their bite is poisonous.  Woe to any who set out unawares, for the biggest of threats may come from the smallest of beasts.

Trolls - Trolls are a vile, bastardization of nature.  They live only in bogs and burned out forests, and can mask their appearance.  There are those that say the only meal a troll will not consider is the one it cannot fit into its mouth, but there are others that would disagree.  Perhaps it is only those meals that they cannot catch.

Durjj - Little is known about the durjj.  Perhaps that is because any who has been unfortunate enough to meet one, doesn't live to speak of it.  They are a subterranean race, and can move with absolute grace in utter darkness.  They have no rival above ground, or below, in strength and tenacity, yet their greatest asset might just be their cunning.

Deathfisher - There are few predators that exist in the world that are as efficient hunters and trappers as deathfishers.  They weave a sticky and almost invisible web across trails, between trees, and over cave entrances, and wait.  They can grow to the size of a respectable dog, and are strong enough to lift a grown deer into a tree.  Pity the traveler that mistakes them for a spider.

Strangers - They see, they hear, they hunt.  Settlers call them strangers because they defy understanding.  They can move like a man, but also like a beast.  You will never see them coming, and if you hear them, it is already too late.  Some think that they were men once, lost to the wilds. Perhaps lost to themselves.

Skinsmiths - These figures used to be working men, mostly blacksmiths, until the Nymradic twisted them into something not quite human, and yet, not quite beast either. They mold people, cutting and fusing them into new shapes and forms, re-purposing them to serve the Nymradics' cause.

Mire Ghost - More legend than anything, the mire ghost is a slippery predator that inhabits deep bogs and mires. They are rumored to pull people and animals into the bog that creep too close to the edge, and drag them kicking and screaming, into the stinking dark.