Everyone has been so great to me and my Kickstarter as I dive
deeper into the world of The Evenarian.
It is day 26 of the Kickstarter campaign and we have reached
$5,159. That 103% of our goal. I’m overjoyed with the early progress of this project. In fact, the campaign has done so well that I have created a stretch goal of $7,000 to reach in the last 4 days.
As a
thank you to everyone that has helped get me this far, I wanted to give all of my fan-supporters a glimpse of some of the characters that are in my book. I hope you find them and the world I’ve crafted just as
gripping as I do.
Turo:
The story's narrator and age 18 when The Evenarian begins. Turo was the youngest son born to a well-off textile merchant. He grew up in a
small town outside the northern capital.
Though the town lies along major trade routes, Turo has rarely ventured beyond the town limits.
Unlike his older brothers who showed an interest in warfare or taking up
their father's trade, Turo has always been meek, quiet and bookish.
He has an excellent memory and a talent for facts and figures. Afraid that he would be forced to become a clerk in his father's warehouse, Turo decided to join the local cloister and become a student of
magic (AKA a Seeker of Truth).
While other young seekers aspired to greatness, Turo only wanted to be left alone with his studies. His life of contemplation and study is disrupted in the late summer of
his 18th year when he stumbles upon a stranger man wandering in the
woods near the cloister.
Short and a bit overweight, Turo is used to being overlooked by other and is generally subdued and withdrawn. But the stranger's revelations, coupled with his own knowledge of history
and prophecy, spur Turo in to action for the first time in his life.
Josh:
A stranger from parts unknown, Josh is discovered wandering in the woods. He is likely in his mid-20s. Taller than most northern men
and apparently unable to speak, Josh briefly becomes an object of fascination in Turo's small cloister.
He is dressed unusually and
has a large, strange-looking bag slung over his shoulders. Over the
course of one afternoon, Josh miraculously regains the ability to speak and
soon begins asking odd questions and make even odder statements that mark him as a foreigner, and perhaps something more.
He insists that he needs to go to the capitol to see the northern king. Meanwhile, Turo's fellow seekers argue amongst themselves: is this man trustworthy, or is he a charlatan trying to pull off an elaborate ruse?
Turo comes to believe that Josh is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy—that mages from magic's earliest days went into an
enchanted sleep and would reawaken when the world needed them—and decides to help him. Josh also displays an impressive array of magical
abilities, which help him and Turo on their journey, but also brings them a
good deal of unwanted attention.
He never claims to be a mage, or
anything else for that matter, allowing other people to cast aspersions on
him. As Josh becomes more comfortable in his new surroundings, he shows himself to be arrogant, harsh, pushy and single-minded in his quest
to assassinate a shadowy figure known as the Evenarian.
Elena:
A young woman from the southern republic of Sone, Elena is a
diplomat sent to the northern capital to negotiate a trade agreement. Although Sone and the northern Kingsrealm made peace many years ago, tensions remain between the cultures.
Like most northerners, Turo
was raised to be suspicious of Sonans and only accepts Elena's help
under duress. She is not conventionally attractive by Turo's northern standards, having a dark complexion, short hair and a commanding, confident manner.
Turo and Josh meet her on their journey to the northern capital. She sees a certain potential in Josh and
eventually ropes the two young men into her entourage under the pretense that Josh is a mage from the unexplored “lands beyond the map.”
Elena is somewhat two-faced. She is capable of massaging the thorniest sovereign’s ego. But in her private life, she is fond of gossip, especially scandalous tales of the northern kingdom's leadership,
and has a sharp tongue and scheming nature, both of which she seems to delight in. She firmly believes that history is written by the
victors
and intends to be on that winning side.
If you can't tell, I love crafting unique, interesting characters. I'll roll out some chapter excerpts in the near future. Stay tuned! And if you haven't already, consider pledging to the Kickstarter so you can find out what happens to The Evenarian's characters.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section and share this with any literature-loving friends so I can reach my stretch goal too!!!
