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MEET THE CHARACTERS

CHARACTERS

Gabriel

Orphaned at birth, Gabriel serves for years in Adon's castle until he is discovered and appointed as the squire to the Grand Warden Macallan. After several years of servitude and Macallan's tutelage, Gabriel develops into quite an impressive physical specimen, so it is not a surprise that he rescues Violet. But his promotion to Wardenhood and the princess' affections are, because he is common born and only recently has he received any formal education or exposure to social situations. In other words, Gabriel lacks refinement.

But he does gain favor with the princess, in part, because he is a handsome young man with jutting spikes of blond hair. Yet she also sees what many others see in him, that while he will suffer indignities on his own accord because of his lack of stature, he is quick to defend those who are being treated unfairly.

Much of what Gabriel knows about his parents is a mystery. As a young boy he learned his mother sought refuge in Adon, dying during childbirth. As for his father, all he knows is that the man never made the journey, so once his mother passed, it left him in the care of the city's constable. Gabriel feels his former caretaker knows the identity of his father and the details about his mother, but will not reveal it to him. Later, after Violet's rescue, his discovery of his mother's heritage and her true nature creates significant uncertainty about his destiny. This confusion about his own identity is what drives him.

What is clear is that Gabriel is Macallan's most trusted squire, attending him everywhere. Though the situation rarely calls for it, Macallan trusts Gabriel in battle, but most of his work consists of prepping armor, weapons and running errands for Macallan. Constantly traveling, Gabriel has little chance to make many friends. He spends much of his time with the younger squire William, who outside of Macallan, is Gabriel's only confidant.

Before his promotion, Gabriel constantly forgets people's names, but the great personal sacrifice he makes during the Cirri Children quest changes everything and he develops an uncanny ability to remember both faces and names.

Macallan

This stocky man is perhaps the finest of the elite order of protectors known as the Grand Wardens. Fiery for his age, the deep lines in the sage man's face shows his years, but his long red hair braided into a ponytail belies it, no grey streaks visible. To match his top, Macallan's red beard creeps just above the dragon's crest sculpted into his blue gelmail, a plasmic putty-like armor.

Despite his jovial demeanor and his achievements, Macallan's life has been marked with personal loss. His only love was killed because of a failure early in his service and in recent years, his best friend and fellow Grand Warden Hale has gone missing. As a result, he has few meaningful relationships beyond his mentorship of Gabriel so he treats his duty to Nydimm as if it were one.

Macallan is a legendary figure in Nydimm, his two-headed mace a well-known symbol of heroism, but as Gabriel's mentor, he carries several burdens that are beyond even his skill. His arrival in Adon, as well as his tutelage of Gabriel are no accident, yet part of long-kept promise to Gabriel's father, a promise that ultimately may cost Macallan his life.

Elizabeth

The fair-skinned High Priestess to the King of Nydimm. At some point, the two carried on a relationship beyond professional service, but to what extent? And is this the reason for the King's uncompromising trust in her?

Her past is as murky as her raven hair, and the history about their relationship may be the key to unraveling her true feelings for the King and her intentions in challenging Gabriel's origins and loyalty to Nydimm, as well as her motivation for leading the Grand Wardens on the quest to save the Cirri Children.

Violet

The princess of Nydimm and one of the Cirri Children, prophets with a gemstone birthmark of royalty, Violet is unique from the other children in that her Cirri Diamond was mysteriously separated from her body when she was very young, though she has been convinced it was the product of an accident.

Despite her nobel upbringing and physical beauty--with her fair skin and delicate features framed by ink ribbons of hair--Violet is no china doll. She is Mithinquisitive, daring, and above everything else committed to Gabriel and her Cirri brethren. Because of this connection and in spite of her father's attempts to keep her out of harm's way, she makes every effort to assist Gabriel when times get tough and research the dubious story surrounding the separation of her Cirri Diamond, believing there is a connection with the Cirri kidnappings.

Mith

The newborn is the last of the current Cirri children to be born--only twelve children are capable of living at any given time, which in itself is a rare occurrence. And even though the Cirri Children are far from ordinary, he is exceptional in ways even the Cirri Children can't understand. Mith is not the boy's birth name, but the name the scholars have given to the child, reserved for the heir of the legendary wizard Lord Feraj and the individual who is destined to be the savior of Nydimm.

When the boy's mother is killed during a Sundu invasion, the scholars orchestrate Mith's rescue and solve the boy's mysterious origins, confirming him as Hale's son and a Feraj heir. This fact puts him in great danger, so the scholars finalize their plan to deliver him safely to relatives in another world, presumably out of reach from the Sundu who wish him harm.

Range

One of the Skuhies, a race of upright Nordic dogs who serve as loyal operatives for the Genizah Scholars, Range is chosen to be the boy's sole guardian in Mith's journey out of Nydimm.

For a Skuhy--see, most only have a tolerable demeanor--Range is the most conscientious and cautious of the lot and this fact makes him reluctant, if not terrified, to accept the responsibility of caring for Mith.

The task is obviously of great importance, but this is an assignment his fellow Skuhies would relish more, for Range considers himself more historian than adventurer and the task will require him to postpone the search of his true passion: the Staff of Ignedya, an artifact believed to be the key in saving the cultural mecca of Solgrave from devastation.

Every Skuhy is gifted with heightened senses. But when Mith arrives at Genizah, Range's acuity turns more reflective as he detects that he is drawn in some way toward the child. Already aware that this could be the greatest task assigned to a Skuhy, the bond he feels with the boy tips the scale and he decides to accept his destiny. But will the bond withstand a face-to-face encounter with his greatest temptation?

Lord Janus

Not much else is known about the past of Lord Janus except that he was once a young Genizah Scholar. Now the venerable man with pre-mature white hair, a long, spirally nose and closely-set, pin-prick eyes is the current Union keeper. As the guardian to the gateway of worlds, Lord Janus is graced with many special abilities, but it also comes with a significant burden, as he is literally fixed within a certain proximity and specified time of the portal--current location.

Having seen and heard many things from the across the worlds, he is a motley sort of fellow in several aspects of his life. Clearly not articles of clothing from Nydimm, his black top hat and cloak look out of place with his wooden staff and, while relatively wise and sophisticated in his demeanor, he has a quirky, almost impish way about him, particularly in the mixed dialect he uses in presenting his many open-ended riddles.

Somewhere, wherever the Union is, Lord Janus waits with his slender dexterous hands perched together for Macallan to deliver on his promise. If kept, it could free him of his burden to the Union.

Hale

The son of the legendary wizard Lord Feraj Hale has made his own name by becoming a well-recognized Grand Warden and personal guardian to the King of Nydimm and Violet.

Through his service, he met and eventually married Illyana Metskaia, a duchess of the Gaerup province. Though uncommon for Grand Wardens to marry, not of any law per se, but because of the rigors of service, Hale marriage was possible in some part because he saw less field duty and more special assignments, no doubt a product of his lineage.

It was during a special assignment in the Ural Mountains when Hale went missing. With Hale's lineage, it was quite possible Hale passed through the Union to another world. In fact, he spent nearly half of his life in various parts outside of Nydimm, presumably in his homeworld. But Lord Janus had no record of his crossing any time near the point he went missing.

Once the discovery was made that Hale was lost, several Grand Wardens, including his best friend Macallan, searched for months to locate their comrade. Eventually most gave up hope and he was declared dead. During the time of the search, a controversy began brewing. Illyana discovered she was pregnant, and by all accounts the child was conceived in the months after Hale went missing. Illyana vowed she had no affairs. But her vindication would come only after her death, when Genizah confirmed Mith--though still at a loss for how he was conceived-- as Hale's son.