email: dragonshadowed@shaw.ca
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.