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I think I’m going to throw something creative out there. I haven’t done an origin in a while, so I’m going into ‘The Elysium Saga’ for this one. This series won’t be touched for a long time since it comes after Luke, Clyde, Darwin, and part of Sin. Still, it’s fun to reveal things that are in the pipeline.
When I ran my first D&D game, two characters showed up out of the five. One was an angry, bitter Drow monk. The other was a sorceress named Reese Kestrel, who was a blackmailing whore. Great heroic origin on that one, huh? She had a mouthy, sarcastic owl that she was always tempted to fry. Eventually, she developed draconic powers to keep up with the abilities of the others, but I’m going to be finding something else for her to get in the book. The character was amazingly unfazed by disaster and trauma, taking a ‘whatever’ approach to most things. She was also a character that quickly fell out of place, but not really out of place.
You see, Reese was kind of the main hero because most of the initial, main plot events revolved around her. All the other characters had their own issues to handle, but Reese had the main event. The problem is that she kind of fell by the wayside due to not being a heroic personality and the other characters being more hands-on. She still cast spells and threw out snarky comments to everyone. By the end of the game, she didn’t have much reason to be there. She had gained a great life, so the road shouldn’t have called to her. It leaves me with a central character that should disappear halfway through the series. Yet, I’ve spent years looking at the others and they can’t take her place. There is something odd about Reese that makes me not want to get rid of her.
Bring us to present day where I still don’t know how to up her powers, but I think I’m coming up with an idea. Thinking of making her a shapeshifter (maybe a partial shifter) due to constant exposure to creation energy. I have to leave it at that. Anyway, I think I know what to do with her. Many people have that friend, who is loyal and fun to be with, but they’re also a sarcastic, insulting jackass. They have an ego that needs to be stroked and it’s typically done by insulting friends. Well, that’s going to be Reese. Forget making her heroic from the start or even at all. She’s going to be a jerk involved in something that she doesn’t want to do, but she’s going to have a heavy sense of loyalty and responsibility. She continues on because she feels like she has to and not because she wants to. Maybe she’ll evolve by the end or maybe she’ll get fed up with adventuring. All I know is that it comes down to a scene in a later book:
The others are heading off to finish the mess that they started. Reese decides to stay with her new life until she is convinced by a supporting character to continue. I just see her returning to the others and saying, “I’m in charge, morons. I want this done, so I can go back to my life. Let’s get this crap over with, so I don’t have to so any of you ever again.”
For some reason, a scene like that feels right for this character. I’m still going to give her a test of loyalty, but with an attitude like this, I think I’ve found a way for her to stay and keep the lead ‘hero’ role. Maybe she’ll smooth out when I get to the actual writing, but for now, I like this approach.
Legends of Windemere 
So.. I’m such a geek. I know that that picture is Polgara the Sorceress. Better watch out, she can be kind of cranky 😉
Hmm, interesting character conundrum. I have never been involved in such a large project to hit something like this. If she doesn’t take that much longer to write and adds a bit of humour I see no reason why not to keep her.
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I was wondering who that was, but I couldn’t find a name. She was the only clothed sorceress with an owl that I could find.
I really do have to keep her due to how the game worked out. As I tried explaining to the Drow monk (the wife), every other character had more involvement in a subplot while Reese was ALL main plot. She just didn’t step up to it, which puts me in the position of figuring out how to make the character step into being a hero while not losing what made her special. Always up for that challenge.
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Sounds good, I am sure that you’ll figure out, in how to proceed with the character Reese. From the brief description in your post, she’s interesting. Worth keeping her around. Writing has a way of expanding, evolving, taking other routes.
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It really does. I have faith in her to rise to the occasion and prove that she belongs there.
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I’ve had characters like that who refuse to be stuck in a drawer or killed off. It sounds like Reese has a hold on you and wants more of her story told. And I dunno. There’s something about “a mouthy, sarcastic owl” that makes me deeply happy.
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The owl was fun for me to play. She was always insulting the other heroes, so the owl tried to keep her ego in check. She could deliver spells through him too, but there were a few times he refused. My favorite was a battle with a hell beast and he just looked at her going ‘You really are a stupid whore, aren’t you?’ It was a very crass owl because the master wasn’t any better. Reese might have to be one of my few cursing characters.
Reese is definitely necessary to the plot. I just don’t want her to be that hero who is always in the background. She could do so much more.
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Love to see how characters are born and how they develope…
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I agree. Even as the author, I like seeing where these people will go.
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🙂
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excellent. Just my oppinion, Charles, but I wouldn’t smooth-out this character, she sounds great as she is. some good concepts I’m reading tonight (well, this morning, its 3 am here, almost time to go. 🙂
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I’m heading out in a bit too. The character is great, but she kind of hit a point where she didn’t really serve a purpose. Everything revolved around the other characters, so I have to improve her role in the plot.
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I have characters like that, I always shelve anything I can’t use immediately and they always come back to be useful later. I have a few surprises in store for my mythology, supposed NPC’s that recurringly appear and become important later (I use the D&D term for ‘sub-characters’, never remember the correct term!). Reese is a nifty character, pal, I am certain you’ll find somewhere relevant for her to live up to her potential. I believe in you.
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Thanks. It’s going to be a lot of work. Never had a central character that stayed in the background before. I’ve already got a few ideas for her.
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