The DragonShadowed Series

Who are the ‘Main Cast’ of the Dragonshadowed Series? What are their backstories? What makes them ‘tick’? Every story, novel, or series needs one or more characters to engage the reader, drive the plot, and provide a touchstone from the familiar to the world of imagination. Poor, one-dimensional characters are acceptable only for those incidental persons who form part of the background like a store clerk or a baker. The main characters interact in a natural fashion and go their way. These background characters are no different than the physical description of the immediate surroundings. Their contribution may be summarized in a word or two. Main characters, such as the protagonist and antagonist, must be complex individuals. They need a back story, hopes, fears, and motivation to be interesting and compel some level of understanding, and even encourage identification in order to engage the reader. I endeavor to provide a ‘thumbnail sketch’ of various characters at the beginning of each of my books to provide the reader with a handy reference. Aside from the main cast, this includes important minor characters—the supporting cast. Fortunately, the budding writer or author can refer to a myriad of articles and books for guidance. I recommend the books by K. M. Welland. Before discussing the specifics of Tamsin Satori or the other five main characters, it’s important to understand her placement in the overall culture of Valdain. She’s a product of a Dark Ages/Medieval mindset which is very different from our 21st century environment. She and her companions readily accept the reality that the ‘gods’ manifest real intervention in the mortal world. Justice is a vague concept, decided by the authority of a sword. Life is often messy, brutal and short. They view combat, or even death as an everyday event, although the same situation would be a traumatic incident for us. It’s also a magical world, so simple spells are common place to ease mundane workloads. Powerful magic is possible only for the most adept, such as archmages. The human folk of Valdain know their world is populated by other races such as dwarves, gnomes and goblins with whom they may trade, fight and coexist. Monsters are real. As a final note, readers should be aware that each novel takes place within a short period of time. As a result, the characters don’t change much from book to book. Real change as in a ‘character arc’ doesn’t happen in a few days, even if a character experiences a traumatic event. This is also true of the characters of the Dragonshadowed series. I’ll discuss the other main characters in later blogs. Tamsin Satori Tamsin is a child of nobility, benefiting from a high social standing in the human lands of Valdain. As she is politically astute, she often assumes leadership and is able to influence most interactions in her favor. She is the most educated character as she has been tutored through her childhood as the senior daughter of a count. Later, she received instruction from the clerics of the great temple of Melqart in Eboracum. She is proficient in many languages and has a grasp of history, geography, natural and magical phenomena, and philosophy. Although the god, Melqart, is responsible for wisdom, healing and warfare, Tamsin struggles with the aspect of wisdom and is prone to making serious mistakes when she is rushed. Her early childhood was spent with the children of the small folk of her castle, until she wandered into the forbidden dungeon on a dare. She was disciplined and required to associate only with others of comparable status. This humiliation restricted her playmates to the company of her siblings and the occasional visit from the families of vassal nobles. In practice, she endured the rebukes of her cruel elder brothers, or spent periods of boredom with her mother and younger sister as they practised embroidery and music in the solar. She enjoyed the company of her tutor, or reading books as her father worked in his study. Although Tamsin’s early life seemed idyllic, betrayal marred most of her life. Aside from the childhood spite of her brothers, she was informed at age twelve that she was betrothed to a foreign duke. She knew nothing of this man, other than he was ‘old’. She felt her parents had betrayed her in the worst possible way. She might have given into despair, but decided to rebel and escape. She ran to the only boy who had shown her kindness, the second son of a loyal baron. Eathen agreed to help, and the pair disappeared into exile. Hiding within the kingdom of Powys was too dangerous, so they travelled to the opposing kingdom of Rhydychen, and eventually made their way to the great city of Eboracum. Exhausted and destitute, they petitioned the temple of Melqart for aid, and were admitted as a novice cleric and holy warrior. Years passed, and they attracted a small circle of friends. This group was given missions of increasing importance by the temple elders. Disaster struck when their emotions were manipulated so that a mission failed badly. Some friends were killed, other permanently maimed. Tamsin and Gyrfalcon vowed revenge, but were sent on a mission to the far land of Chiardim before they could act. Betrayed again. It was much later before Tamsin realized that exile had saved their lives. This disaster had one other, long-term effect. Tamsin had grown close to Gyrfalcon. They vowed that they would never allow another to use their feelings against them and lead them to destruction. They would be comrades and stifle future romance. For Tamsin, only Eathen, or Gyrfalcon as he came to be called, was her only constant companion.  Later in her travels, she was joined by a winged cat in the elven kingdom of Telphyne. Shadowcatcher has white fur and pale blue wings, and is able to camouflage herself in flight to become almost invisible. Initially, the cat seemed no more than an exotic pet. Readers will come to understand that she is much more as her role expands. In later books, Tamsin’s pride becomes an issue, and leads her to inadvertently abuse her friends. Repentance comes hard, and she and her friends gain a new appreciation of the subtle practitioners of the pantheon of Diversity. Valdain is a dangerous world.

The genre of epic high fantasy requires any designer to sketch the background of their world. A significant consideration should be how—or if—dragons fit into that worldview. Ultimately your decisions will have an expanding impact upon how your game campaign or novel(s) will unfold. The simplest approach is to ‘just go with’ whatever is commercially available through products such as Dungeons & Dragons © or Pathfinder ©. It’s easy, but your world creation will be much more predictable, and ultimately less interesting. You might also consider making dragons just another (very powerful) monster. This approach is prevalent in modern literature. The novels and dramatic productions of J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series, and George R. R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones are well known examples. Martin goes so far as to remove the forelegs of his dragons, making them much less powerful. The other approach is to base your dragons on the books of J. R. R. Tolkien, who in turn bases his descriptions on the myths and legends of Nordic and Teutonic culture. These are mighty creatures possessing intelligence and insight far beyond the abilities of his heroes. Glaurung, Ancalagon and Smaug are much more terrifying adversaries as a result. For the world of Valdain, I have opted to take Tolkien’s approach and make my dragons terrifying creatures of absolute destruction. They are alpha-predators capable of eliminating the most powerful and determined heroes if annoyed. So why haven’t these dragons wiped out everything in Valdain? Let’s explore that question as I endeavor to entertain you with ‘my take’ on dragons, and hopefully provide grist for your own creations. If dragons destroy at will, it’s a boring world or novel. Even the most powerful predators have checks. It could be argued humans are the alpha-predators of our mundane world, in which case we are held in check by other humans. This is also true of dragons. In Valdain, dragons are a ‘race’ of beings, in the same manner as humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins and other assorted races. They’re different because of their power, but are also immortal reptiles rather than mortal mammals. This basic understanding shapes the way a dragon interacts with the rest of their world. When a dragon hatches, that dragon and their clutch-mates are relatively helpless. They remain weak for the first fifty to one hundred years of their lives. Depending on their parents, they may be protected, fed, and educated; or ignored to fend for themselves. This is the period in which most dragons are killed by accident, misadventure, or other dragons. If a young dragon is lucky enough to hatch into an established dragon clan, they may grow and join that clan as part of a family. Most clans are no larger than twenty individuals of various ages. A clan is ruled by the largest and most aged dragon, or sometimes a mated pair. Young, especially new born dragons hatch hungry. If left without a food supply, they will turn against and devour their clutch-mates until the lone survivor is forced to emerge from the lair in search of more food. Dragons are cannibalistic as is the case of most reptiles. I don’t emphasize this aspect in my books as I want to maintain a ‘G’ rating. So, aside from other dragons, what does a dragon eat? The simple answer regarding a dragon’s diet is they’ll devour just about anything. But if a large number of hungry alpha-predators ravaged a world, that world would quickly become barren. Prey meat can’t be the whole answer. As my dragons live in a magical world, and most become spell casters, these same dragons subsist upon a lot of magical energy. They still require a certain amount of physical sustenance, but not what would be required to feed hundreds of multi-ton flying monsters with flesh. This approach to a dragon’s diet also provides an answer to why there is relatively little magical equipment made from enchanted dragon parts available to the average adventurer. The dragon either eats any dragon they defeat (a preferred meal), or disposes of the remains if not hungry. After all, an intelligent being won’t leave the instruments of their future demise lying about. Let the heroes earn their own kill! About those pesky heroes. Why don’t dragons interfere and terrorize the general population? My reason is best answered with another question: ‘Why don’t humans knock over every ant hill?’ The answer is ants are unimportant and beneath us, unless they become pests. That’s how adult dragons see insignificant ground dwellers. They’re literally beneath a soaring dragon, and far too stupid to be a real threat. Young dragons, like children, see humans and other ground beings differently. They will ‘muck about on an ant hill’ only to gather treasure, as treasure enhances their status in the estimation of other dragons. Of course, the risk to a young dragon is their victims may choose to fight, increasing their mortality rate. Adult dragons should be treated much differently than a predictable immature dragon. They’ve had a century or more to learn and develop many successful survival strategies. The destructive power of fangs and claws is obvious. Combined with overwhelming strength, dragons easily destroy walls and carve caverns in stone. One blow from a dragon should be more than enough to pulverize any foes not protected by considerable magic. Most dragons prefer to attack well beyond the reach of adversaries using their breath weapon, but can also create great gusts of wind with their wings. The resulting gale lifts blinding clouds of grit and dust, or potentially knocks down smaller targets. Temporary blindness can allow the dragon to strike from an unexpected direction using their tail. As dragons are enchanted monsters, they are adept at using a variety of spells to gather information, defend, and attack. Older dragons will combine spells with their breath weapons in unexpected combinations, such as embedding boulders in fire, or lightning within acid. Many will change their breath weapon, so that a red-scaled dragon may breathe cold, acid, lightning, or any number of unusual energy types rather than the fire most people associate with the ‘red’ color. This brings me to another, important point. The color of a dragon’s scales are not a reliable guide to determining their breath weapon or vulnerabilities. Most dragons, especially as they age, will display a variety of scale colors. While a specific ‘clan’ of dragons may exhibit the same general color scheme, this is no different than might be expected of a racial group on our Earth. Finally, dragons don’t rely only upon their own considerable physical and magical powers. This is especially true when protecting their lairs. Aside from establishing multiple enchanted alarms, they will ensorcel local rodents and birds to act as their eyes and ears to provide warning of approaching adversaries. The alerted dragon will have plenty of time to wake, observe, and prepare for the invaders. Even if adversaries are protected from scrying, these small creatures can observe naturally and relay information. A typical outer lair is saturated with a magic aura, so that it is impossible to determine a controlled minion or enchanted trap from anything else. Stronger minions, whether coerced or invited to serve are also valuable. No dragon expects these lesser creatures to stop or kill invaders, but they can serve to weaken attackers and force those attackers to expose their abilities and tactics. The dragon can decide who is most dangerous and how to destroy them, or if the attackers withdraw, plan an ambush when they’re weakest. Dragons will include any number of tricks and traps in their lairs, both magic and mechanical. They will include one or more areas designed to maximize their breath weapon, so that invaders have no place to dodge (no saves). A long corridor to contain lightning—and allow for bounce-back, or a tight cone to contain fire are excellent examples.  No dragon will permit direct access to their treasure and sleeping chamber. Rather, all important passages will be sealed. Open passages will lead to one or more alternate treasure chambers or hazardous areas. The first treasures will include a little real gold and many trapped or cursed items. Perhaps include one magic item of moderate value that offers no threat to the dragon if utilized by the treasure seekers. Many items will be marked so that the dragon can find those items easily. Done properly, attacking a dragon or a dragon’s lair should fill the attackers with a sense of fatalistic doom. ‘We’re all gonna die—even if we succeed and escape.’ I have a lot more to say on the subject of dragons, so here’s my shameless plug: Buy my novella ‘Dragon Flight’ and prepare to be amazed as you learn more about the dragons of Valdain. All that, and you get an action-adventure yarn too!