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With the looming debut of Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune in late February or early March, I’m going to introduce some of the new cast.  A big part of this story is the introduction of 2 new main heroes and the revelation that changes the entire history of another character.  One of the new heroes is Timoran Wrath who I’ve mentioned before and the other one is . . . to be revealed during Hype Week.  Though, you have already met this character in passing.

Today, I’m going to mention a supporting character who became one of my favorites by accident.  I never planned for him to return beyond a cameo after the events of Hero’s Gate in Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  For those who read the book, you might remember Lord Highrider the half-orc knight.  The guy who led the attack on the orc bandits and wields a big hammer.  Well, he gets a lot of development and page time in the 4th book.  I can’t go into details just yet, but he’s gotten a promotion and is one of the top allies of our heroes while they try to fix Nyx’s mess.

In the game, he was a nameless knight who might not have even been in there.  I tossed a name on him when I started planning the series and he stuck around.  Lord Highrider (first name a secret of the 4th book) proved to be a wise and oddly witty character.  I think he plays off the heroes very well in the 4th book because he takes a ‘I am very curious, but probably should not know’ approach to their actions.  Yet, he has his own moments of cunning trickery when he manipulates one pivotal event.  A reason I find this intriguing is because he’s a half-orc.

Traditionally, anyone with orc blood in a fantasy setting is slow-witted and brutish.  All mixed breeds were created by orc bandits raping women of other races.  The existence of Lord Highrider throws that out the window because he came from a marriage between an orc man and a human woman.  He is also not an idiot.  Sure, he loves battle, but one could say that about Nyx.  It’s really his job to fight, so he takes enjoyment out of it.  The key part with him is that he’s living proof that orcs in Windemere are different than most other fantasy stories.

He also helps me develop the knight system of Serab and lock in some structure to the government of Hero’s Gate.  Both of these areas are very important to my series, so having established political figures helps give them depth.  Most importantly, Lord Highrider and Duke Solomon work to show that this isn’t a world where every political figure or knight is some power-hungry, conniving bastard that will betray the heroes.  Truthfully, I want to limit my use of the corrupt politician, so one showing up has more heft.  Almost like they’re a rarity instead of the norm.

Will Lord Highrider continue after Family of the Tri-Rune?  I’m sure he’ll appear from time to time.  He’s a regional character, so I can only use him when the heroes are around Hero’s Gate.  Same thing with Duke Solomon, Alyssa Goldheart, Daniel Skyblade, and all political characters.  Such at type is hard to have travel outside their realm of influence.