Character Conflicts:

Carolia's Chosen:

Sidney:

• While his homosexuality is a block to him under normal societal situation, his role as a jester causes most people to ignore this as simply one of his eccentricies. His real struggle against soecietal norms is defined through his parents--his strict father & passive mother.
• His perceptions of lust & love grow, quickly, evolving from simple attractions & crushes to an all encompassing passion for people. This is fueled strongly by his empathy.
• He will have a hard time balancing his joyous outlook on life with the atrocities he witnesses as a member of the special forces, as the pain others feel will constantly cripple him at key moments.
• His own untimely death will lead him into the Hells, where he must either succumb to torments & become an ender, or absorb the torment around him & be the spark of hope that protects those without hope--returning to Shem a Messiah.
• He will be forced to understand the role of leader, which will be hard for him when he mut balance the conflicting personalities in the group.
• In the end, he will understand that his role is not to kill Avagen--Avagen's choices have already doomed him--but to carry out the will of the universe, giving it a chance to mend itself. When he strikes Avagen's death blow, it will be the most merciful thing he has ever done, & it will break his heart.

Balkis:

• Her distrust of others will cripple her with the special forces, creating conflicts within the crews on her missions. This will be resolved when she is on her own & able to say who travels with her & who doesn't.
• Her fear of imprisonment will drive her to extremes, disrupting the mission on multiple occassions, & endangering others. It will also be impetus for her desire to see the gods freed & her refusal to use Gifts that control.
• Her inability to see & understand Rakesh's overall strategy with the Keys, or his reasons for seeking them, will drive her out of the special forces & on her own.
• Her inability to do anything against the might of even a shade of Deserel in the Nightmare Realm will drive her to seek power enough to destroy the Dark Goddess.
• Her perceived need of the Sword of Swords will drive Django to extreme measures, ultimately forcing him simply to accompany her in order to retrieve it as his rightful possession. This will be resolved when she feels her need for it is over.
• She will repeatedly meet male felinians & similar races who attract her on an animalistic level, but despite a brief interest in Tamar (which ends with his death, as it proves irrevocably she was greater than he), she will not find anyone who at all interests her until she meets Jarikir himself, who will offer to take her on as consort. She will struggle with the decision to join him or not, eventually accepting when she realizes he is the only one who would never be weaker than she was.

Elliott:

• His age will play a more significant role this time through, being balanced between his substandard strength & his gnomish exuberance.
• His lack of a love life until he meets Clothilda will be because of his long duty to Tara'hin. Her presence will make him question his assumptions on the importance of that duty vs. the importance of his affection for her.
• His open dislike of Vesturians will be challenged when he realizes that many of them simply are pawns of the machinations of their government--including the thousands of soldiers his machines kill. He will resolve this in his own mind by distinguishing clinically between the two.
• His main contributions to the crews will be spurred by his creative use of his Gift, but when facing Avagen, he will find it useless in his presence, forcing him to other methods of making himself useful.
• In the end, he will be the one who realizes that to defeat chaos, one must use chaos. He will seek out the masters of the chaos faith to resolve this.

Omar:

• Omar's outcast status in the Desert of Winds will be a source of shame for him in the wake of his departure, but he will resolve this when he returns as a Prophet.
• He will constantly fight conservatism & cronyism within the church, from the Abbott of the Sands to the watcher's neutral status. Eventually, he will lead a purge of the church, removing those who manipulate it for their own power, & he will come to understand the purpose of the watchers.
• He will eventually find proof of the watchers, which he will see as proof that not all aspects of the divine were sealed off from Shem. He will take this to be evidence that the divine & mortal can coincide, & use it to convince the Emperor of the righteousness of his wish to free the gods.
• He will eagerly release the gods using the Sword of Freedom, but will regret some of the consequences of doing so. He will question whether he should use his powers over time to affect some of these. This will be resolved when he does alter history, only to find that the opposing forces of fate, luck, chaos, order, & cosmos all oppose him in it, & that he must ultimately sacrifice his own watcher in order to truly change history. His moment of clarity will be the realization that though he is now a warden of history, he is not its equal.

Lydia:

• She will struggle to understand what the implications of her vision of Ashariel means, especially in regards to her duties toward her Goddess.
• She will struggle against the treacherous nature of her upbringing/race & her sense of honor. She will also question whether her anger over what happened has clouded her judgment.
• Her main struggle, though, will be against the corrupting influences of undeath. Until the gods are freed, Ashariel's influence over her will be weak, unable to force out some of the damage the death knight did to her. She will be unable to face undeath for much time after that, refusing to go to Kael'Ras, for instance. When the gods are freed, her willingness to fold into Ashariel's arms saves her, letting herself be a vessel for the Mother of Life. When ultimately, Ashariel must let her go so as not to break the Law, Lydia will be forced to once again face her own mortality, coming to terms with it when she defeats Sir Aganado by sealing the Sword of Frost.

Virgil:

• Initially, Virgil will cling tightly to an old children's book, only exhibiting his powers over magic when that is threatened. Others will interact with him as they would a madman, unable to understand why nothing helps him.
• Eventually, through conflicts with others, Faustus' connection to Virgil will become clear, & there will be a struggle between the two that ends when Faustus, in a moment of insight, cures Virgil's madness. Virgil will then expel Faustus momentarily.
• Later, Faustus will face Virgil again with the Sword of Binding, forcing Virgil to share Faustus's fate, but also, combining the might of their magic.
• Finally, the two will be forced to work in tandem to help bring down Deserel, entering the Hells afterward to stop Raithev, & ultimately, Virgil will seal the Sword of Hope & become an eternal beacon for the damned.

Kateri:

• Her inability to take things seriously will be a source of conflict within the crews, but also, a source of relief. Her pranks will be the most obvious example of this. Paralaxyl's inability to enter her mind will infuriate him.
• Her meeting with her father will be a source of discomfort for her. He is extremely irresponsible, a quality she herself struggles with, but ultimately, they will be reconciled when they must join the faerie legions in the Dream Realm.
• The fact that she is part mortal will cause conflict amongst the faerie legions, but her worth will quickly be proven when she saves the faerie queen's life. Furthermore, Edelbrot will reveal a prophecy that it will be a changeling that slays the Master of the Wild Hunt eventually, causing those in power to begin to take interest in changelings.
• This interest will almost drive her away from the faerie legions, but ultimately, she will prove that she is not the faerie in the prophecy, or she will do something to cause the faeries to believe the prophecy has been nullified.

Rook/Reina:

• His dual identity as Reina/Rook will be the central conflict--hiding & balancing this oddity will force him to keep secrets from the crews, creating distrust.
• This distrust will be furthered by Reina's completely separate identity & nature as a thief.
• The struggle for separate lives will eventually drive him to endanger the party, but he will resolve this when she, as Reina, starts to fight like Rook, or when he, as Rook, uses her superb skills as a thief, to save the party.
• Ultimately, s/he will face his identity struggles when, as Rook, he realizes he has feelings for the young deckhand Lindsey Marley. He will seek to spend more or less time as Reina, but will eventually realize that his feelings for Lindsey are those of a strong friendship when he is male, but this same affection mingles with lust as Reina, & his understanding of love is brought into question.
• As he questions love, he will come into possession of the Heartcatcher Neclace, which will quickly help him to understand.
• Finally, s/he will truly face hardship when Avagen (or Carnalia?) separates him into both identities. He will at first take this as a blessing, an answer to all his problems, but eventually, s/he will realize he cannot operate without the duality.

Paralaxyl:

• His instincts for secrecy will be his initial issue. He will have to overcome his tendency to only tell others what he thinks they need to know to be an effective member of the crews.
• His sarcastic nature will create intense conflicts between him & almost every other member of the crews, especially those he views as less than himself.
• His frustrations of the limitations of his more public role will lead him to some extreme behaviors, & his encounters with chaos will exacerbate this.
• His willingness to commit atrocities to get the job done will create divisions in the crews. Some will refuse to work with him.
• Ultimately, he will use his powers to reach into chaos itself, & he will step out a madman. Briefly, this will cause him to see clearly the universe for a single moment, & realize that in order to defeat chaos, he will have to use chaos.
• Unlike Elliott, he will not reveal this understanding to the crews, but will split off (partly forced to by his extreme actions in the midst of his madness), & he will create the Cult of the Mouth.
• Before he leaves, though, his past will come back at him in full force in the form of the vampiric Anton Lukin, but he will be unphased by it.

Zada:

• Her struggle will not, as one might expect, be the wish for being rea, but the wish for understanding & the thirst for knowledge. The legnths she goes to to gain knowledge & understanding will shock others, but she will be shocked by their lack of curiosity, of which she has in abundance.
• However, part of this will be seeking the understanding of how to fit in in normal society, & she will strive hard to gain this. This struggle will be resolved when she finally realizes that there is no one answer except to do as she has been doing--adapting while remaining true to her inner self.
• Her fear of void will be the only area where she fails to be driven by curiosity or duty, & she will eventually have to face this when defeating Glontuul.
• Ultimately, she will choose to accept the divine offer of being given a soul in order to complete her understanding of living.

Saito:

• Initially, he will be involved in the clan wars of Tenzanai, helping his father/master to attain unification of the small island. He will be the balance of war & peace, offering both his skill in battle & his skill with people.
• He will be on Unbuloo when the crews try to obtain the Key of the World, & he will quickly learn that there is much, much more to the world than his tiny island or its xenophobic neighbor. He will return to his father/master with a request to be allowed to see the world. His father/master will accept this on the condition he return one day a wiser, greater man & use that to help Tenzanai become the great empire it is destined to be.
• When he first leaves Tenzanai/Unbuloo, he will experience severe culture shock, but his friendly nature will quickly overcome it. The language barrier will erode quickly as well, & his musical ability will be his best friend, next to his stealth.
• When he comes to understand the greater conflicts of the world, he will quickly choose a side & seek out a place to help.
• Ultimately, he will be the Smoke--that which is seen but not seen. He will be a balance to the covert dealings of Klaus, Raithev, Sezoram, etc. in that he will affect events in a subtle way while being seen as nothing more than a stranger. More than anyone, he will embody Carolia's methods, while being almost completely dissasociated with her.
• When he finally joins the Chosen, it will be because they have to seek him out. It will be the first time he is made aware of them, but he will quickly assimilate into the group, becoming a secondary leader to Sidney.

Tahir:

• Initially, he will work entirely for the benefit of the People of the Wind or his own lust. These two will quickly come into conflict when he realizes he is developing a crush on the woman Emperor Rakesh is in love with. It will resolve when he leaves the court to evade the inevitable affair.
• Upon leaving court, he will find that court life has lost its flavor, & he will request assignment from his father in a soldierly position. His father will combine the two & send Tahir to Tara'hin as a leader of the small force of Windkin supporting the Tara'hinian armies. Tahir will try his best to evade Rakesh or Iranya.
• As a member of the forces, Tahir will prove to be a quick friend to Kateri & Sidney, & a clash with Omar (who he sees as the outcast he is). His respect for Omar will grow quickly as he comes in when Omar is attaining Prophethood, however.
• All of his irresponsible ways will come crashing down on him when he meets Talia. Talia will be a child kidnapped by the Black Annis, rescued by the party, & recognized by Tahir as his own daughter when either Lydia or Omar use their powers to determine the children's histories. Tahir will take her as his own, since her mother will be dead, & give up his decadence.
• He will return once more to the People of the Wind, this time with his daughter, who he will train to be a true Princess of the Wind. With her as his driving force, he will become the leader his father wishes him to be, & he will ultimately lead the People of the Wind as the Great Wind-Leader.

Rakesh:

• Initially, his conflicts will be finding a proper wife, keeping Vesturia in check, questioning whether to use the Sword of Crowns, & understanding the Prophecies.
• When he first learns of Vesturia's new Gifts (the Ender Gifts), he will be horrified. He will redouble his efforts to stockpile armaments for Tara'hin, but he will quickly realize this isn't the way. He will seek intelligence on the matter, but will be reluctant to try to recruit the gods or free them, as Ferali is a major influence in the world & in Rakesh's life.
• Between Balkis's departure, Omar's insistence on using the Sword of Freedom, the ugliness of Paralxyl's methods, the urging of Edelbrot, James, Gerard, & Blake, Klaus's intelligence reports, & his own experiences, Rakesh will eventually realize he is wrong to delay the freeing of the gods.
• In the aftermath of their release, Rakesh will find there are more evil things than even Vesturia, & he will rethink his outlook to become broader, encompassing all the systems that drive the world. In this light, he will come to realize that who he matters, ultimately, should be the person who best supports him, as he will be the one to fix the political hiccups it causes.
• This same realization will be what helps him understand when to use his Sword, until he loses it to Thereken himself.
• And the key top unlocking the Prophecies will lie in this viewpoint, for it is the closest viewpoint a mortal can have to that of a god. He will use this to accept that what happens cannot be changed, but what has not happened can be--fate exists to make things happen, history is the story of fate, & chance & chaos & hope are the three sources of free will, which is what makes fate significant.
• Ultimately, Rakesh will make peace with his role as the one who commands, not the one who does, & will even step aside for Sidney when he becomes a Messiah.

Takhuk:

• Takhuk is the bedrock of the stories. He is not unchanging, but he is not going to be shaken. His conflicts will be with Nina, mostly.
• Initially, he will view Nina as a sweet girl who might be in over her head, but this will quickly change as he realizes that this feeling is more than his usual "big brother" role exerting itself.
• He will be there for any character who needs a simple assurance, a gruff reproach, or a simple view of things, & he will be the unstoppable force when Sidney dies, when Paralaxyl snaps, when anyone fails or is on the brink of death.
• Takhuk will also be the voice of experience to the crews. He understands working as a unit, tactics, duty, loyalty, the bounds of behavior for the special forces, & the rougher ways of life.

Blake:

• Blake will be the strangest of the Chosen. His role as a Gift Finder means he deals with divine power almost everyday, & this has greatly affected him. He is conflicted on the idea of returning the gods, but ultimately, he knows it's not his decision.
• Blake's accent indicates that he is completely foreign, from somewhere not on any known continent. His "family" is from Taggarus, though he doesn't know it, he is the only person in the story to have been there, other than Ferali. He will sometimes ponder his own past, which is hidden from him due to the memory-weakening affects of the Sword of Stealth. His assumption is that his long experience has given him an offkilter Dhunic accent.
• Blake's experience surpasses any other special forces member, even Takhuk, & his interactions will reflect that. He is easygoing, friendly, & ruthless. He's also very powerful, though his powers manifest in strange ways.
• There will even be questions as to his racial make up. It will be suggested that while he seems human, he will also feel... off. This won't be explained, but he is actually the only Echo on First Shem, the First Echo, & an Immortal child of Xracao. Not even he knows this.
• Instead of being driven by his conflicts, entirely, Blake will be a mystery for the reader to constantly question, an intriguing, unexplained character whose methods, motives, & mysteries simply add a bit of wonder to the story.

Klaus:

• My goal with Klaus is to break things up: each of his "chapters" will start from the perspective of someone near him. It will switch in the middle to his own perspective, fusing together the information the reader has learned from the perspective & adding to it.
• In each snippet of Klaus, there will be reference to his agents, some information he has received that seems unrelated but will ultimately be meaningful to the overarching plot, & he will perhaps shift identities in the midst of the snippet.
• His conflicts are simple: he spends most of his time as someone else, & he has no idea who he really is. His real name isn't even known to him anymore.
• He is completely loyal to Tara'hin. While his position as spymaster allows him to advise & even counterguess the Emperor's orders, he only does so when his duty impels him to do so on behalf of Tara'hin itself.
• His reasons for loyalty stem from his long history of seeing the evils & fallibilities of other nations, & knowing that as spymaster, he can stop this from happening in his home nation. Adding to this the noble nature of Tara'hin's Emperors, & Klaus's loyalty is unchallenged.
• When Tara'hin is overrun, Klaus will briefly consider retiring/killing himself for his failure, but will be brought around by Rakesh, Blake, Takhuk, or Sidney.

Ashli:

• Balkis's foil, Ashli's status as a werecat gives her a similar perspective to Balkis, but her triple nature also allows her to understand the more flexible position of humans & the pure animalistic nature of cats.
• Ashli's conflicts will come from her uncertainty on whether she is manipulating Balkis or empowering her. Ultimately, she will realize it is the latter, but for a long time, she will hesitate to use her knowledge or her suggestive skill to guide her friend.
• She will find herself falling for Kre'en, but will be hesitant to engage him in a relationship in the midst of the turmoil of the war.
• She will also find herself often stuck between Django's wrath & the small group Balkis has with her, keeping the peace between the faithful & the rude bard.
• She will come into the story late, a much younger character, only appearing after the gods return, due to her coming into the story as a direct acolyte of Carolia.

Kre'en:

• He will at first have to accustom himself to being a monk of the Dragon God. His first conflict will be the loyal acolytes trying to shave his head & face. This will be resolved when they get him drunk & shave him anyay.
• His second conflict will be getting the soft brothers to respect & obey him. This will get bloody at times, but never fatal. This will be resolved when he effects a miracle of Dragon Faith.
• His third conflict will be in synthesizing the superstitions of the mountain people with the beliefs of the Dragon Temple. This will be resolved when he realizes that they are all just traditions & ceremonies designed to guide his thinking & help him interact with the divine for the benefit of himself & others.
• His fourth conflict will be with the dragons themselves, who treat him as an inferior, for the most part, until he meets Hutyra & gains Ernogemous's favor. The dragonfriend charm he receives causes most dragons to view him as a danger or a being of respect, erasing their prejudices or making them irrelevant.
• His fifth conflict will be when he must choose between Ernogemous's wishes & his duties at the Temple. This will resolve when he realizes the wishes are for the best of the Temple. He gives the leadership to the acolytes, much to the chagrin of the soft brothers.
• His sixth conflict is Balkis's hard headedness. At times, her goals conflict with what he feels is sensible, & he must strive against extreme odds to keep her & others alive.
• His seventh conflict is getting past Ashli's reticence to engage him in a relationship beyond friendship. His solid inner discipline keeps him from worrying that such would distract him, but her own newness to faith & life keeps her from following suit. He must struggle against physical impatience.

Quothram:

• While his long life & uniqueness would make for interesting conflicts, he's so far into each, they would long ago have been resolved. These will crop up in his reminisces, but will not be driving forces for Quothram.
• His initial conflicts will be reconciling his practical outlook with the impractical Donna, whose wealth has given her a whimsical nature.
• He will show a loyalty to the gods, & will be a proponent for their release in the public debates that grow from the rumors that begin to spread in the world. He will write a treatise that gains favor amongst intellectuals, which will get him invited to Magenia.
• In Magenia, his outlandish outlook & experience will be a source of consternation to the conservative mages. However, they will come around when his powers & experience destroy the fallen angel Raymond Geflyan releases. Between him & his strongest ally Asprocious Caldonum, they convince the Archmage to lend his power to Tara'hin.
• When Tara'hin falls, Quothram will return there, seeking to do his part to help resist Vesturia. He will end up taking contracts as a conjuror while keeping his eyes & ears open. This will lead to some almost comically bumbling attempts at subterfuge.
• Finally, he will meet Raithev, who will kill him& make him his undead servant. He will struggle against this as best he can, until finally, Donna makes a deal with Carolia, & he is released.
• After this, he will dedicate part of his life to Carolia, fashioning works of wonder & power to help her fight. His struggle will be to make meaningful creations, culminating when he helps Elliott fashion Illaria's Bane.

Moira:

• Moira is a completely fool. She runs away to see the world, & has no idea what lies beyond her farm. As such, she will be a vehicle for showing Shem through the eyes of a complete stranger, one who takes in every scene with awe & wonder.
• Moira's family's past will be a source of intrigue, ultimately revealed to be descended of the Lady in the Lake. This history will be why the forces of evil are interested in her--she is the embodiment of choice.
• Her naivetae come into conflict with actuality rather quickly, as she is often manipulated, tricked, or taken advantage of, often without her knowing it. Eventually, she ends up being tricked into going to Merukis, where someone intends to sell her as a slave. Once there, she is almost raped, but saved by a Tara'hinian special forces crew.
• From there, she is subject to suspicion from Paralaxyl, curiosity from Zada, & acceptance from most of the others. Through Paralaxyl & Zada, she becomes subject to questions of her past.
• Eventually, she will be captured by Avagen's Chosen, who will try to sway her through seduction, torture, & other means. She wil resist all of them, until their attempts at manipulation become empowerment, & she realizes that to defeat them, she must pose as one of them.
• In the end, she chooses to sacrifice herself to allow the Messiah his opportunity.

Carolia:

• Attempting to draw the line between manipulation & empowerment.
• Attempting to help mortality defeat Avagen, Deserel, & what must come after.

Avagen's Chosen:

Carnalia:

• Carnalia is the embodiment of mad devotion.
• Her struggle will be to bring the church of chaos to heel, a contradiction.

Azath:

• Azath is the gray side of the dark pantheon.
• His struggle will ultimately be choosing sides.

Sir Trevor:

• Sir Trevor is a foil for the Knights of Tara'hin.
• His struggle will be one of evil devotion against good devotion.

Martukh:

• Martukh is brutality personified.
• His struggle will be that of almost animal viciousness against the heroes.

Jeremy:

• Jeremy is evil in hiding, posing as a merchant, a traveler, etc.
• His struggle will be one of wits against the heroes.

Penelope:

• Penelope is female seduction & pain.
• Her struggle will be to corrupt & punish the heroes.

Glontuul:

• Glontuul is cold, callous logic taken to its extreme, experimentation gone too far.
• His struggle is void vs. magic; himself vs. Zada.

Dreselo:

• Dreselo is a master necromancer, mad control & corruption.
• His struggle is as his role as unseelie court adviser against the seelie courts; necromancer vs. master sender; illusion vs. truth; control vs. freedom; corruption vs. purity.

Sezoram:

• Sezoram is male seduction & horrific punishment, illusion, & destruction.
• His struggle will be as a spymaster, a seducer, an illusionist, & a destroyer vs. the heroes.

Avagen:

• Avagen is manipulation through trickery & deceit.

The Guardians of Mortality:

Ferali:

• Ferali fears the gods & their power. He feels they are not accountable for their actions, & that they threaten the order he upholds. His main conflict is with understanding that the gods are natural forces, part of the system of the world, & not outsiders. This is never resolved in his mind, as he is killed by the Lich Queen when his faith in his Gifts betrays him to her clever machinations.
• One of his inner conflicts will be the hypocrisy of using Gifts while rejecting the gods. This, too, he will never resolve. He, in fact, will rely more & more on his Gifts, & flashbacks will reveal that he has used them in increasing frequency since he first became a Guardian.
• Ferali has a distinct arrogance that is part of anyone who thinks they are better without gods. This often causes conflicts with others.

Django:

• Django views the Gifts objectively, simply as tools. He does not rely on them, but he knows the other Guardians do, & knows that he will never take the mantle of Last Guardian without the Sword of Swords. This will lead to his conflict with Balkis.
• His rejection of the gods is based on his belief that mortality owes them nothing. Existence is neither a reward nor a punishment, & thus, their existence requires neither tribute nor payback to the gods. He accepts that they made the original mortals, but rejects that this has any meaning, especially so many millenia after it first occurred. His anti-faith is stronger & more pure than Ferali's, not based on his upbringing or on emotional reactions to the gods, but his own reasoning. This brings him into conflict with the other Guardians, in that he does not wish to hurt the gods, either.
• Django also bears the Guardian's cross of arrogance, but he hides it better than the others, under a veneer of charm & artistic talent. This does, however, bring him into conflict with others on occassion.

Flair:

• Flair is the oldest of the Guardians, but not the one who has been a Guardian longest. This makes him resentful of Ferali for his senior position, but he hides it well.
• Flair is greedy, evil, & wasteful. His position as the most feared reever on the Reever Sea makes him a target for Rochar & Sather, each who goes after him for their own reasons. His draconic arrogance is his weakness, & his downfall.

Disme:

• Disme ruled the city of Jesumein on Palhur. He runs the city with strict anti-faith laws. This leads to some conflict within the city, but it also makes it the only spot on the continent not subject to God-Emperor Atmet.
• His purpose is simply to give the heroes a somewhat reasonable point of reference on Palhur when they arrive.

Heroes:

Willifred:

• Willifred is the balance between faith & pragmatism in the face of war. He must balance Sir Garris's unbendable honor with Sir Aglemort's perfect practicality. He is the leader of the knights.
• His main struggles are to keep the knights balanced & focused, but his secondary struggle is to keep his squire alive & trained. This will be resolved when Dagus has to fend for himself & proves himself in Willifred's eyes.
• He is, of course, a warrior, & much of his struggles come from the war at hand. When the Empire is overrun, he takes it hard, & he is unaccustomed to covert operations. He & the other knights become knights errant at that point, going their own ways until an Empire exists again. On his private journey, Willifred fights for the oppressed, eventually leading the provinces in rebellion, rallying them out of their fear or handicaps.
• When the Emperor recalls his knights, Willifred is the first to return, with a greater understanding of how to be a leader & ironically, of life during peacetime. He then becomes a knight-general & leads entire armies.

Garris:

• Garris is the most devout of the knights, his faith & honor legendary. He has never broken his code of honor. His main struggle will be in facing those who have no code of honor, & his need to protect those who also have no code. His opponents will be ruthless, but the innocents he protects will merely be desperate. This will be resolved when he is forced to break his code to protect an innocent--to follow his code, he must break it.
• Garris will welcome his knight errancy in the wake of his dishonor, & he will seek redemption, but will instead find depression. He will fight this as best he can, but in the end, he will find no answer in his blind faith. This will be resolved when he comes to understand that he does not have to be perfect, he simply has to strive against imperfection. He will then be able to accept his failure & face the darkness again.
• When he returns to the Emperor, he will gladly follow Willifred into battle.

Romero:

• Romero is the youngest of the knights. If Willifred is Arthur, Garris Lancelot, then Romero is Galahad. Romero's struggles are that of purity vs. corruption. He is a pure, holy warrior being pursued by the darkness. Constantly, he is tempted by darkness. The sad truth is, purity cannot be maintained in the face of corruption--it is either tainted or it evolves into morality. Romero must choose between the two.
• As a knight errant, he will continue to face corruptive influences, but these will be more direct, & if he has not fallen, he will fight them with the strength of moral character. If he has fallen, he will fall further.
• When the Emperor calls his knights back, Romero will either return a paragon of moral virtue, like Garris once was, or he will return a villain with a Mastered Sword of Light.

Aglemort:

• Aglemort is a non-paladin amongst paladins. He provides the counterpoint to the three holy knights, & his conflicts are mystical in nature. He combines magic & war, & he is very good at it. His elven heritage often makes him seem pretentious or strange to the other knights, but experience has taught them to trust him. He has to constantly work to maintain his mystical edge, or the magical foes the knights face will use his failure against him.
• As a knight errant, Aglemort tries his hand at covert operations, but he soon realizes he is unsuited to it when he gets captured & tormented in Tara'hin's own Black Chamber--but by the more dangerous Vesturians.
• When the Emperor calls in his knights, Aglemort does not return, & the others soon discover he where he was last seen. He will live through the torture, but he will be crippled for it, coming out of it blind & missing an arm, ruined legs, & no tongue. He will retire honorably.

Evernus:

• At first, Evernus is Ellerus, drow elf runaway who wanted to be a merrymaker. He has always wanted to make others laugh, but there was absolutely no place in drow society for that--humor, to drow, is sadistic. So he left, slipping away to Tara'hin more than two centuries ago. At first, he tried to be a bard, but prejudice & lack of skill kept him back. He was rejected from the Guild of Fools. So he eventually joined the circus. His struggles are against prejudices against his race, his own dark faith (which has lingered for centuries), & his shame at being a clown.
• Evernus eventually finds hope faith, losing dark faith entirely. This makes him more capable of dealing with himself & the prejudices of others. He takes a new identity (Evernus, as opposed to Ellerus), & he creates a niche for himself as a follower of Sidney.

Nina:

• Nina is new to the special forces. Her biggest struggles are against sexual harrassment, sexism, racism, & her own naivetae & inexperience. A minor struggle is her convincing herself that Takhuk's feelings for her are genuine, & not merely her racial abilities charming him.
• Nina will find that the open sexual harrassment within the forces & such vanishes when she is seen to be with Takhuk, but strangers, especially in rough areas, still try things with her. She fights these as they come, however, & eventually resigns herself to being unable to change the world instantly.
• She will find that sexism in general is lessened as she proves herself, though being female, she often has to prove herself twice as much as others. She eventually realizes that the general view toward women is nothing she can change, but individuals is another matter, & if she can influence those around her, she has done her part. Being a nymph, racism & sexism are synonymous with her.
• Her own inexperience & naivetae are things she grows out of naturally, learning as she goes, & training, & studying. She eventually proves herself amongst the forces on a solo mission to retrieve another Tome.

Tamar:

• Tamar is Balkis's first love interest, & being a tom, he feels he must try to protect her when the circus is attacked. This leads to his being kidnapped & put on the dragonships, & his eventual tainting by enders & the loss of his tongue. When he is rescued, Balkis stops having a thing for him, but his affections do not end. She becomes irritated, especially when he tries to join the special forces with her.
• Tamar will eventually die trying to help Balkis, having quit the circus & joined the regular army, volunteering to act as an extra soldier on one of her missions. His unrequited love will lead him to his death, & shape Balkis's interactions with future men.

Amon:

• Amon is a juggler in the circus, & a ka'ar, but he is discontent with it. His fiery abilities come in handy when rescuing the other circus members in Vesturia, & he is amongst those who are invited for special training. His struggles are against his own society's rigid caste system (seeking the secret of Carhash Elhakim) & against his own ingrained politeness.
• Amon trains as an assassin & becomes an exceptional one, killing his inner honor for the honor of the Empire.
• Ultimately, Amon will be distracted by his personal quest during an Imperial mission & die for it, leaving a key Vesturian alive, causing the invasion of Tara'hin to succeed when it should not have.

Sallanan:

• Sallanan is the daughter of the Night Emperor of Vesturia who fights politically for change within the Empire. She is betrayed by her brother, Deseran, & given to the Ender Corps as a prize.
• Her first struggle is against her upbringing & her family, a political struggle to bring goodness to Vesturia. This will fail when she is betrayed.
• Her second struggle is to survive & escape, one that is brutal & harsh. She does so, reaching the relative safety of Occupied Tara'hin, & eventually, the anonymity of the Aeridan Mountains, where she is found by Balkis.
• Her third struggle is the choice of keeping her ender son or not. Through long consideration, she eventually decides she will have the child & see if she can raise it to be good.
• Her fourth struggle is the difficult pregnancy & birth, in the chambers of Ernogemous, which she does not survive.

Villains:

Rochar:

• Rochar's primary struggle is a deeply rooted feeling that the world is not big enough for him. He struggles to be free of its cage, sailing the seas, ever seeking more power & wealth, seeking to be untethered. This will be resolved when he finds a way to actually leave Shem for space.
• Rochar's minor struggles are against others in his never ending war against any who dare sail his seas. While he never encounters Rook, he often faces Captain Flair & others, & his interactions with Sather lead him to open conflict with the thief.
• Rochar also has a need to prove his own worth as a warrior, leading him eventually to the planes, where he bests the Wielder in a one on one contest.

Raithev:

• Raithev's conflict is that he has been betrayed by Vesturia, & he seeks revenge. Furthermore, this triggers in him a deeply rooted sense of paranoia, which overcomes him slowly as the power of the Wraith's Eye erodes his soul.
• In Vesturia, his researches lead him to an understanding of the dark arts, both magical & scientific. He learns, before he escapes, of the Grey Witch in the Vesturian marshes, & he seeks her out, offering her a deal she can't refuse. He gains the Wraith's Eye, & must there on out struggle with the erosion of his soul.
• He is meticulous. He plans, patiently, for years, but when a perfect opportunity presents itself, he does not say no. He hates Erasmo Kruebbe, & takes the opportunity to kill him in occupied Tara'hin.
• Raithev eventually comes to the attention of Avagen, who is desperately seeking the prophecies. He promises rulership of the world in exchange for them, & Raithev agrees to the bargain. Thus, he must quest for the prophecies.
• However, he reads them, & realizes he has an opportunity to become a God if he follows them, though it risks much if a single thread of the web is broken. Thus, his biggest struggle is maintaining the web required to make him a god. This is resolved into an inevitability when Balkis kills him within the Hells--making his undead soul available to Quilia.

Saratan:

• The Night Emperor of Vesturia wields the Sword of Damnation, & has long since lost his own soul. He has a sharp mind, but his emotions are dulled, his appetites lessened. He is left with an empty shell, & he loathes the world. He must steal the souls of others for sensation, & he does so often. This has deeply warped his mind. He has become a puppet emperor, with his son Deseran & daughter Arizan really running the show.

Arizan:

• Arizan is clever, evil, & powerful. She orchetrated the dragonship attack & stole the Sword of Luck. Her main struggles are against Deseran for power, & against the heroes to keep Vesturia powerful.
• She hates her sister Sallanan & applauds when Deseran has her defeated. However, she beats Deseran to making a deal with the evil gods once the are free, leveraging this into control of the Vesturian churches, though this creates the new struggle of keeping the priests in line.
• She eventually becomes the personal tormentor of Moira, taking great delight in playing games with the girl while she is a slave in the Vesturian court.

Deseran:

• Deseran is clever, evil, & powerful. He orchestrates the defeat of Sallanan within court, & steals his father's Sword. He eventually kills his father & declares himself Emperor after Arizan dies with Avagen.
• He keeps in the background, working as a political schemer & warlord, not a direct fighter or player. He never goes to Occupied Tara'hin, like his sister, but remains in the Vesturian court. He plays games to control the nobles & keeps the generals happy with their wars.
• His main struggle is with Arizan for power. He gambles on secular instead of temple powers & wins, but not for long.

Faustus:

• Faustus knows as much as Raithev does, if not more, but he lacks the other's patience. He seeks shortcuts to the power Raithev will eventually get. He knows that with Virgil, he can attain that power quicker, but at greater risk. Were Virgil the one to slay Raithev (with the Sword of Hope), Raithev would never return, but since Virgil focused on Faustus, Faustus doomed himself.
• Faustus's struggle is with Virgil, in that he feels incomplete without his brother, but risks everything by binding himself to him. If he wins, he will be a god, but if he loses, he will be forever sealed in the Hells.

Preacher:

• A mercenary hill giant dedicated to hatred, he has no tongue, having once been a Vesturian slave. He is vengeful, brutal, & mad. Vesturians killed his entire family, & in doing so, they made him as monstrous as they are.
• Preacher struggles with his lust for vengeance, his inability to speak, the mockery of his peers, & the brink of madness. In the end, he must choose between fighting evil or fighting everyone, & this destroys him.

Carus:

• Carus is Rakesh's cousin, next in line after Calyon for the throne should Rakesh have no children. He is lured to treason by Arizan with promises of the Occupied Throne, & he eventually gets it.
• Carus is jealous of his cousin's power, & he spends much time politicking to undermine it. He is the worst of the nobles, decadent & greedy, but he hides it from Rakesh.
• His struggles are first for power, then against the horrors he is responsible for.

Chomalien:

• Being a demon, Chomalien's struggles are heavily one-sided: they are for his own power. He seeks to become favored by Deserel by helping Avagen defeat the Chosen.

Aganado:

• Aganado was once a holy paladin, but in life, he betrayed his goddess, & ended up a knight of the damned in death. He is sent by Deseran to break up the Icelundic alliances, & does so through the Idylwyn family, killing off Lydia's coterie & nearly destroying her.
• He becomes obsessed with Lydia when she speaks the name Ashariel, knowing it means his own doom, but he cannot stop himself. The very word made him feel, for an instant, alive again. He cannot bring himself to say it, so he seeks her out, hunting her down, until she stands to face him.

Camarian:

• The Marshall of the Enders, he wears the Gifts of the Enders. He is an unstoppable force of evil that it takes a siege weapon to destroy. His motives are to cause suffering, enjoy the pain of others, & serve Deserel.
• His struggles are seen through his Ender Corps, which becomes the enforcers of Vesturian laws in Occupied Tara'hin as well as the shock troops of the Vesturian army.

Daxus:

• Daxus is an example of an evil Gift corrupting a venal individual. He becomes maddened when he wields the Crossbow of Oblivion, & seeks to sink Merukis.

Leonid:

• The Doctor of Death, Leonid Savin's goals are to extract the weaknesses of every known "good" race on Shem, & write them down for the benefit of others.
• His struggles are with the prisoners in the concentration camps, who he experiments on, & eventually, with the heroes, who move to destroy him. He is truly mad in that he believes what he does is for the best.
• He is the master of the Vesturian torturors as well, & he eventually comes face to face with his own evil against Paralaxyl.

Anton:

• Once a Vesturian agent, now a vicious vampire, Anton is a clever, dangerous individual whose loyalty was once to the dark empire, but is now to the dark goddess. He seeks his revenge on Paralaxyl, but finds that torturing the torturor has no effect when he meets him. His lust for revenge & attempt to disrupt the Chosen fails.

Erasmo:

• A counterpoint to Leonid, Erasmo is a frothing, raving lunatic who wishes to know what makes anyone tick. He is an archtypical mad scientist, right down to the laugh. His conflicts are with his own madness, & with Raithev.

Atmet:

• The God-Emperor of V'honia rules an entire continent, but his power is dwindling as the population lessens. He struggles to maintain followers, but the vast stretches of the continent are eroding to empty plains & mountains.
• He has long since lost his humanity/mortality, & is now an empty vessel of divine force. He wears the Armor of the Gods, wields the Sword of the Gods, & is completely psychotic. The last speck of his humanity wants desperately to die.
• He holds the true gods in contempt & wishes to replace them all. In order to pull the neutral gods into the war, the good gods arrange their heroes to take Atmet down.

In Between:

Sather:

• His main struggle is with his own greed, which leads him into desperate situations, including facing Rochar in a life or death situation, & a very dangerous encounter with Captain Flair.
• He is also traumatized by revels, & clowns, & the circus. His fears of these never quite goes away, but adds to his quirky nature.
• He is a bit cynical, which makes him an odd companion, & he is extremely mercenary, considering even his faith part of a business transaction. This leads to some very tricky situations for him.
• He eventually joins Balkis for the opportunity to gain more Gifts, which for the most part, works out for him.
• His eventual establishment of an apprentice comes much later. However, he does come into conflict with the Thieves' Guild often.

Dmitri:

• An honorable thief, he struggles often with his own territorialism, his honor vs. his life as a thief, his lackluster apprentices, & his protective instincts vs. his ruthless flock.
• Dmitri believes strongly in misdirection & illusions used to protect his flock, but is not above violence, though it is always the last resort. This leads to some itneresting encounters.
• His protectiveness leads him into conflict with Raithev when his apprentice ends up in the same area as the Webweaver is in, both stealing Gifts.
• Ultimately, he tries to deal with Raithev the demigod, only to be misled himself, & eventually, damned for his misguidedness.

Vanhulle:

• The Master Sender abhors undeath, hunting it down & destroying it where it exists. However, he is also an assassin, sent to take on mortal beings as well. He is completely devoted to his church, which makes him a very terrifying figure even to those who have nothing to fear from him.
• Vanhulle struggles with his racial make up, being a venomir when once he was an empath. He traded his race to the Father of Pestilence for the ability to poison others. He regrets this decision at times, but has learned to live with it.

Purpose of Minor Characters:

Merukis:

Wilder:

• Comedic relief; symbol of the law in Merukis; exposition on Merukis.

Diane:

• Symbol of the law on Merukis.

Lucius:

• The voice of the Merukisi streets, catalyst for random events, chaos. Comedic relief & plot point.

Agnu:

• Represents the brutality of Merukis.

Pookie:

• Plot point in Merukis, useful source of items, ultimately, where Paralaxyl gets his tongue.

Silas:

• A foil to Rochar's cruelty, a sacrifice to Rochar's brutality.

Mages:

Geoffrey:

• The ruthless nature of academia, a counterpoint to both the evil mages & the good mages, as he is strictly opportunistic & neutral.

Gavin:

• An example of a nerd, basically, an abrasive but good intentioned academic.

Asprocious:

• A virtuous academic, the voice of righteous use of intelligence.

Darwin:

• Offbeat, has no place in academia. Thinks outside of the box, but his ideas don't often make sense. Viewed as a madman, but his ideas ultimately have a grain of truth. Dies fighting the fallen angel when the other mages hold back.

Carrie:

• Fighting for her place in academia, she ultimately has to leave due to the nature of the old men who run it. She ultimately finds that the methods of academia have little use in the face of absolute evil, but she also finds that absolute evil does not always spawn absolute evil--her son Roland is the redemption of the enders.

Donna:

• Foil for Quothram's experience, a way to have him serve as a tool for exposition; a tool to get him free of vampirism. Plot point & exposition.

Tara'hin:

Iranya:

• Balances Rakesh's dark moments with tenderness, brings out his tenderness, & is ultimately his strength.

Calyon:

• An balance between a decadent noble, an idealistic one, & a practical one. She is Rakesh's go between with the other nobles.

Gerard:

• A tool for explaining Gifts, mostly, & a little comedic relief.

Lyone:

• Her affection for Sidney sits on the border between a crush & outright worship. Her death hurts him deeply.

Josiah:

• Ultimately, replaces Paralaxyl in the Black Chamber. A resource for explaining dark magicks without using a villain.

Oravuk:

• The master of the Black Chamber, a blemish on Tara'hin's fight against undeath, & a source for information on the same.

Dagus:

• Foil for the knights' experience.

Yancy:

• Innocence struck down in its prime, a symbol of the hardships of war.

Michal:

• Uncertain.

Denzer:

• Exposition tool for explaining beholders in Colesh Forest.

Lindsey:

• Reina's love interest/Rook's friend; tool for exploring the dual identity.

Myanaxi:

• Source of exposition for the moons; outlandish engineering sidekick.

James:

• Tool for exposition through prophecy; example of one whose Gift does him no favors.

Vincenzo:

• The dirty side of the special forces; criminal connection.

Brianna:

• A source of wonder, basically.

Graurhak:

• Introduction on minotaurs.

Emanus:

• Source of exposition on the drow.

Stanton:

• Source of exposition on the palace.

Ward:

• Unknown.

*Sal*':

• Possibly just not used.

Balkis:

Hutyra:

• Ernogemous's go between with the world.

Ernogemous:

• Undeniable power, a guide for Balkis, strength.

Patrick:

• He helps Balkis understand the aspects of faith, as well as helps her determine truth in a sea of lies.

High Priests:

Ariana:

• The establishment, power, & goodness. The method by which Sidney's status as Messiah is ultimately recognized, & a guiding force toward Hope for all.

Elizabeth:

• "Remember, [insert name here], thou art mortal." [Esp. Rochar, response being "For now"]
• Connection to the Death Church.

Families:

Clothilda:

• Ultimately, the source for Elliott's inner youth.

Kara:

• Balkis's past.

Harold & Soleil:

• Sidney's past/his fight for acceptance.

Warner:

• Carrie's husband; her emotional support.

Talia:

• Tahir's growing up.

Arburn:

• A foil & embarrassment for Kateri, a source of comedic relief, & a connection to the faerie court.

Vanna:

• Uncertain. Link to Kateri's past.

Circus:

Edelbrot:

• Source for explaining many aspects of the faeries; exposition through prophecy; comedic relief; touching scene when she regains her name.

Trudi:

• Source of exposition on wild talents.

Marla:

• Unknown; werecreature.

Samuel Green:

• Former Dhunic noble/outcast; source of exposition on Dhun.

Bryan Gray, Vlad & Vassily, Belkan & Darren, Roald:

• Sources for exposition on the circus.

Vansuvius the Magnificent:

• Comedic relief. Exposition on magic vs. illusion.

Jungles:

Maya, Kar'rn, Rathur:

• Characterization for Balkis; allies against Vesturia.

Minor Villains:

Kyaru:

• Mad power, influence of Vesturians.

Argath:

• Replacing one evil with another; ruthless; force the special forces to get their hands dirty.

Wort & Boyle:

• Comedic relief.

Raymond:

• Source of conflict in Magenia.

Faeries:

Roshii:

• Connection to the Unicorn; member of the fae court.

Other:

Garret:

• Law independent of state; a minor inconvenience for Raithev.

Jonathan:

• Foil for exposition from Dmitri; example of a greedy thief; tool to get Dmitri drawn into the fight against Raithev.

Tara:

• Exposition on time faith; follower of Omar; hope for Omar.

Sallir?

Eric?

Sonn?

Ervin?