email: dragonshadowed@shaw.ca
While many scenes in the Dragonshadowed Series are written from the perspective of Tamsin Satori, the other five main characters are just as important. Their interactions reveal motivations while advancing the story. Each serves a purpose in their companionship.
Many scenes are written as experienced by the knight and temple warrior, Gyrfalcon. He is the group’s combat leader. Writing from his perspective lets the reader understand decisions as a tactical military evaluation.
Handsome and charismatic, Gyrfalcon has a quick wit. He is a "temple warrior of Melqart," or the equivalent of a paladin in role-playing terms. He is highly skilled with a lance, sword, and shield and is a proficient jouster.
As a character, Gyrfalcon is driven to "see justice done." His idea of justice is learned from books and temple instruction. Small folk and the weak are granted considerable grace. His talents and sword enforce his will against tyrants and brigands. This often means he serves as the sole judge, jury, and executioner with immediate results. Those he deems villains are fortunate to be released to other authorities for punishment.
When relaxing, Gyrfalcon is the most philosophical of the fellowship. He has memorized a host of Valdainian proverbs and may quote an applicable passage to his friends or bystanders.
Gyrfalcon wasn’t always "Gyrfalcon." The name literally means "great falcon," as represented by the house crest of Tyryn—a great white or grey falcon in flight over a blue background. The name is also an honorific, passed from father to son, along with the enchanted shield Jalenor and the baronial ring, which bear the same device upon their face.
Eathen was the second son of his father and thought unlikely to inherit. That advantage would be conferred upon his elder brother, who would also be "the Gyrfalcon" upon receiving his father’s blessing.
Young Eathen’s choices were limited to becoming a landless knight or joining a religious order as a priest. As a "knight errant," he’d be forced to sell his services or fight until his reputation came to the attention of a lord who needed a new vassal to govern a castle or other holding. In a land of many desperate men, the chances of one inexperienced man were slim.
The boy resolved to prepare for the future in every way possible. He practiced with weapons, studied, learned fieldcraft with huntsmen, and traveled in the company of his father. His journeys to visit the count at Castle Bendelaine were treasured. There, he was able to spar against new opponents and listen to the lessons of a sage. He read many new volumes in the count’s library. It was here that he met the eldest daughter of the count, Tamsin.
Tamsin was studious with a pronounced wild streak. Eathen discarded any notion of forming a match, knowing he had few prospects. The daughter of a powerful count was destined for a greater life. As children, they had much in common and became friends. The boy took many blows from her older brothers in her defense. He determined to be a "good" knight and always act for justice.
At the age of ten winters, the boy was considered an adult and took on adult responsibilities. In other households, he would have been sent to serve another noble. But the barony of Tyryn was relatively poor, on the border of County Satori, and in need of men. The baron, Eathen’s father, allowed his second son to serve as a vassal fighter after conferring with his mother. At fourteen winters, Eathen served his elder brother as a page and realized that he had little else to expect for his future.
One night, a message arrived from Tamsin to meet in the stables. The tear-streaked girl informed Eathen of her parents’ order to marry the "old duke." The young man understood the injustice of the situation and vowed to protect the fledgling countess by aiding her escape.
Remaining within the borders of Satori was impossible, so the pair traveled away from the county, duchy, and eventually the kingdom to the comparative safety of the opposing land of Rhydychen. Destitute and desperate, they petitioned the Temple of Melqart in the great city of Eboracum to grant refuge. They were taken in as an apprentice temple warrior and priestess.
The fledgling knight immersed himself in the ways of a temple warrior and flourished. He learned new skills and rudimentary spells. His natural talent to influence others gathered a small following of friends. The temple elders took notice and provided the youngsters with tasks of increasing importance.
News from Satori reached the temple. Tamsin’s brother, Ganis, was the new count. He appointed a new Baron of Tyryn.
To Eathen, this could only mean that his father and elder brother were either deposed or dead, most likely the latter. Tamsin was the first to observe that he was now "the Gyrfalcon," although unrecognized by his sire and bereft of the family heirlooms. Only one of his bloodline might claim and wield these enchanted items, but returning to his family holding to make a claim was impossible. He was bound by temple duties and would be imprisoned or killed by the new lords should he return.
Later, he learned both he and Tamsin had been declared dead. Freed from the last vestiges of their former social responsibilities, they began their first romance.
When the temple buzzed with speculation of an unknown threat, Gyrfalcon asked Tamsin to petition the leadership to allow them to investigate. Reluctant permission was granted under the strict understanding that they were to do no more than gather information.
At first, the mission proceeded well with the assistance of their friends. They learned that a strange mage had arrived, practicing spells of unusual potency. After conferring, the companions decided to rout the mage before any evil could take root.
That mage was aware of the clumsy efforts of Gyrfalcon’s group. They were divided, then led to understand the others were in peril. Predictably, each rushed to rescue, and disaster resulted when a trap was sprung.
Many friends were killed, others badly hurt. Only Gyrfalcon and Tamsin escaped relatively unharmed after Gyrfalcon struck Tamsin unconscious and carried her from the fray. Months passed before Tamsin forgave her friend. They vowed never to allow their personal feelings to compromise a mission. They would be comrades-in-arms, nothing more. Privately, Gyrfalcon suspected they had escaped because the mage wanted to deliver a stern message to the temple: “Meddle with me at your hazard.”
Burning for vengeance, Gyrfalcon and Tamsin plotted to gather another band and return to destroy the mage.
The temple eldership recognized that any return would be suicidal and intervened to send them on a new mission. The high king of Chiardim had sent a missive asking for the establishment of temples to Melqart throughout his land. Gyrfalcon and Tamsin were to be among the first to answer this call. The task was too important to refuse, but the friends understood a different lesson. Exile was the price of their failure.
The reluctant pair sailed to Chiardim, where they established themselves among the suspicious population after years of labor, drifting into service at the court of the high king. They were nearby when the archmage selected them to accompany him on a mission to a far land.
Many adventures later, this new group of companions comprises the fellowship of the Dragonshadowed Series.