Chronicla/Characters (Lorica)

=Characters (Main Story)=


 * Qura Auria A 13-year old girl (17 according to the Lorican calendar), an only child, and the story's protagonist. Qura is extremely attractive, causing many people to desire her and going to lengths to get her. She also possesses a perfect voice and loves to sing and dance. Blessed with beautiful dreams of a better and brighter future world in which magic pervades society, the intelligent and extremely attractive Qura is unsatisfied with the life of a wife which she knows is in store for her in her village of Aeutaril. She wants to run away from her parents and learn magic (channeling). However, she doesn’t want to suffer the hardships that an adventurer’s life entails, and she is helpless at melee. This weakness enables others to take advantage of her; to compensate, she learns channeling and then true magic. There is some sort of schism between her waking self and the "alter ego" she lives as within her dreams. The story periodically jumps between the narration of Qura's adventuresome quest in her waking hours and the seemingly just as real, though perhaps out of order, dream narrative. After discovering that her dreams contain factual information, she begins to rely on it to further her knowledge as her true self. Tyl later convinces her that she should pursue true magic. For much of the Chronicle she believes that her element is air, since it has to do with aspirations and dreams, but as the Chronicle progresses the focus shifts more toward science, research, and discovery. (Glass)


 * Tyl Loira A pretty 15-year old girl (19 Lorican years), also from Aeutaril. Tyl acts as Qura's mother-figure during their adventures, in Qura's mind replacing her real mother Sara. Tyl urges Qura to escape the confines of femininity and explore the wide world as an adventurer, then urges Qura to constantly seek ways of improving herself and her knowledge. Before the beginning of Book One, Tyl was accosted by a stranger who used magic to take absolute control over her body for a month, raping and devastating her, before dropping her. Ever since, she has had the drive to seek out anything magic-related; she has survived her embarrassment and trauma so that she may one day exact revenge on her captor. During this period of helplessness, she also developed a Magic Eye, allowing her to see moieta directly, and constantly strives to improve its acuity. During this time, people know that she’s done some strange things, but no one really knew exactly what was going on. She leaves Aeutaril in the hope of developing high magic which she knows exists and has seen the power of. She is also very cheery and encourages people to continue despite setbacks. After she dies the party continues on, always preserving her memory in their thoughts and deeds, including as a warning of the dangers of pursuing the elusive art of magic. (Air)


 * Andar Phoenica A young gentleman of 15 (20 Lorican years), unremarkable in appearance, Andar is a coarse tramp living in XXX whose parents have disowned him several years ago when he was framed for a murder and only escaped because of his lockpicking skills. From this he realizes the importance of making sure he knows the whole truth before taking any action, premeditating all of his actions, and strategizing without putting his emotions in the way – qualities decisive in a leader – as well as the need to make allies. The need to survive out on the city streets means that he has become mature and self-sufficient. He has already assembled a ring of gangsters around him by the outset of Book One, and this White Wolf Gang vies for control of the XXX underworld. After saving a damsel in distress (Qura) in their first encounter, he is enchanted by her longing to discover magic and thus joins in with her and Tyl's quest for magic. Andar isn’t interested in Qura, and so is cold toward her flirting, nor is he outstanding or strong, and yet Qura is always there to slavishly care for him, like a divine gift. Gradually, he realizes Qura’s pure heart and is taken by her loving actions. Andar is skilled with the longbow, is modest in long-sword melee combat (a third sword), requiring a buckler and some armor to fight well. He is also a jack-of-all-trades, which allows the party to be partially self-reliant. He is the party's informal leader, making rules for the group and meting out fair justice, as well as the party's philosopher and ethicist. In a sense he is the ultimate winner at the end of Book Six, and his lineage becomes the future royal Phoenica line. (Earth)


 * Yuna Selena A lithe 14-year-old orphan maiden (18 Lorican years) skilled in martial arts as a second sword with a moderate Motion Eye, and knows techniques to deflect channeling and even basic high magic. Unlike Andar, Yuna's sole battle armament is the long sword. Her entire village was destroyed by a rampaging mage, leaving only a few survivors. She was then trained as an assassin under the Order of the Dancing Blade, graduating near the top of her class, which focuses on this style of combat as well as hunting down true-magic magi (corrupt or otherwise), and goes across the world hunting for them but helping non-magi in need of aid. Many of her victims, in their dying words, were adamant that she was in the wrong, over time causing her to wonder why. In Book One she sees that Qura's party isn't quite as corrupt as her teachers had insinuated, comes to see their noble goals, and thus renounces her former allegiance to join the party in their adventures. She also has to overcome the ingrained prejudice against magi (the belief that their ways are cultist instead of scientific). Soon the Order dispatches assassins to kill Yuna, at first forcing her into qualms and then alienating her. Soon her goal becomes to prove to the Order that not all magi are bad, complicated by the fact that other first swords are after her head. Yuna falls in love with Elysian YYY. In times of tranquility, Yuna loves to play the flute, to sing, and to dance (which is made easy by the fact that it is also her fighting style). (Water?)


 * Maya Coronae The youngest of the team, Maya is a rather cute, timid 13-year-old orphan girl (16 Lorican years). Many years ago she was visited by a senile mage who wanted to leave a legacy, bestowing upon her an aegis aura. Because of her timidity, people often try to pick on her, but any who try to do so invariably are destroyed by impossibly bad luck through no effort of her own, making for quite a scene, whether it be they hurting themselves or Maya accidentally hurting them. Before long this had become evident, and people kept away from her for fear of incurring this bad luck. As a result she has nearly no friends and is mistrustful of everyone, preferring to be with animals and plants instead. Recently she has developed another level of the aegis aura, conjuring an impenetrable shield against all harm. When she realized this, she began attacking the village like a sociopath, and as no one was able to stop her, they all fled, and she was branded as an outlaw. Assassins sent to kill her met their fates but they did manage to kill the rest of her family. Traumatized, she has shut off her mind to this, believing instead that her parents simply left and forgot about her. She wanders the countryside in the vain hope of finding them. The party, however, doesn’t view her as a target, and so they befriend each other, particularly when she realizes that Yuna’s past was in a way similar. Thereafter she relies on the party for comfort and so journeys with them. A biologist by hobby, she is attracted to all kinds of new species that the party encounters in the wilderness, writing down her observations and catching smaller faera. Maya's collection comes in handy when the party tries to cast spells.


 * Elysian Avalon The oldest member of the team and very handsome at 18 Earth years (24 Lorican years), Elysian is a first sword (formidable melee warrior) like Yuna, but even better. He is born into a noble family but is second born and thus can’t inherit the family estate. Highly inquisitive, he has always had an endless desire to learn everything and anything which, coupled with a good memory, enabled him to graduate at the top of his class with flying colors. Years of training to remember things he see has allowed him to develop a super-acute Memory Eye, which allows him to perfectly remember everything and apply it flawlessly. He uses this to learn otherwise incredibly difficult techniques, learning fighting moves from his opponents (originally, bullies at his school), while training his own physique to be able to fully use those abilities. His combat training has opened up an acute Motion Eye as well. His style of combat is startlingly unique, involving standing still and unarmed, and lightning fast movements; no manner of fast speeds can escape his notice. He is able to "tap" body-points to stun people, confuse people into fighting each other, blast wind with his palms, and when using his prized weapon (a golden silk folding fan) is able to deflect arrows. He is a decorated colonel in the battle against the undead in Book One. Although he is as powerful as any fighter can get, he defers to Andar's justice system and only intervenes when necessary. He desires Qura and goes to great lengths to get her attention, and is awed by how she cares only for the mediocre Andar. (Fire?)


 * Teal Auria Qura's father and a farmer. A strict head of the household, Teal tolerates no disobedience from his daughter and only child Qura, often having to resort to whips to get her in line. At the outset of Book One, he arranges Qura's marriage with Intael (who is incidentally her best friend's brother), much to Qura's dislike. Although sometimes his and Sara's interests clash, Sara is actually home often while Teal is out working the family farm. His force of will and paternalistic control means that his interests always supercede Sara's in the long run, however. After Qura disappears, Teal joins in with several others in trying to hunt her down, but don't fully appreciate just how large and developed a party he will one day be running into.
 * Sara Auria Qura's mother. Like Qura's father, Sara is intent on having her daughter become a proper wife, having been bred that way and knowing no viable alternative, which has strained their relationship for quite a while. Sara truly cares for Qura's future, but believes (as most people do in society) that a woman's place is with her husband (like 99% of women at the time), and not with a band of rogue adventurers. As such, her hours are frequently spent in the house, cooking and weaving, while Qura is often alone in her own room (and doing things Sara doesn't really care about). At the beginning of Book One, they constantly get into arguments about what is more desirable, having a stable but boring life or living an interesting but perhaps dangerous one.
 * Judicad Loira Tyl's father, trader, and the person with which Teal arranges Qura's marriage to Intael through. Because Judicad's work brings him daily to a market stall some distance from his home, but must keep most of his wares secure at home, Tyl finds this a great opportunity to steal some traveling essentials. After Qura disappears, Judicad is enraged and demands that Teal come with him to hunt down his wayward daughter or else forfeit the bride-price he has already paid the Auria family. The two and several other friends then embark on a wild chase for their justice.
 * Intael Loira A 15-year old boy with whom Qura is forced to marry. He is not a bad person, and is at first accommodating to Qura's free spirit, but Qura just doesn't want to be a wife in general so they inevitably get antagonistic, ending with Qura running away from the Loira household, along with Tyl, whose allegiance is more to Qura than to her own family honor. Intael then joins in Judicad's chase.


 * Real Loira Tyl's toddler of a brother and the kid Qura is forced to teach during her brideshow.
 * Charmel Clara (lit. Clear charm) Leader of the Black Bear Gang.
 * Ceratel Arta (lit. Artistic thought) The old man who gives the White Wolves combat potions.

=Characters (Dreamscape)=


 * Qura Phoenica (lit. Phoenix remedy) This is Qura's dream alter ego, also 14-year old and in many ways just like Qura is in her real life: beautiful, smart, with the same parents and friends, and with the same desire for freedom. However, the dream is set centuries into the future when magic has become much more open and government controlled, and shortly after the dreams begin Qura has already been made a princess, complete with all the magical power that such a position implies (and dropping her maiden name Auria). In her dreams, and through her alter ego, Qura learns about magic and that is one major way she develops her magic. However, the overpowered ability to control Loricae that this Qura possesses are something the real Qura can only dream of - in more ways than one. While Qura is aware of the dream self, the opposite is not true. The dreams may even be out of order at times.
 * Altair Phoenica At 16 (20), Altair is the prince who falls in love with Qura in the dream reality. He often acts as her dream mentor, teaching her rudimentary magic in her dreams, which she then attempts to use in reality with varying degrees of success. Qura gradually falls in love with Altair - provided their relationship doesn't get in the way of her free spirit. Altair is intelligent, wise, and skilled in the highly developed magic of the dream story. He doesn't really want to uncover the mystery of whether Renin is actually corrupt, because they're rather good friends, even though he is duty-bound to expose any official who he finds to be corrupt.
 * Renin Digita In the dream story, the empire's more trusted prelate (level 1 official), who holds much more sway than the only other prelate. This is the highest position one can get and still not be in the royal family. Renin is benign and sweet-talking on the surface but is actually a kleptocrat who uses his position and his magic to improve his life and those of his family. Some time after Qura meets with Renin, she realizes what Renin really is up to and thereafter constantly tries to expose him. However, Renin is incredibly smart and wise, with high level magic to boot, and so swiftly realizes what Qura is up to and thereafter keeps his secrets from being conclusively exposed to Qura. While the two are at odds, everyone else soon comes to know this and they are effectively at a constant stalemate, with neither side able to harm or expose the other.


 * Da Phoenica The Emperor of Saphrona and Altair's father. At the outset of Qura's dreamscape, Da Phoenica is very annoyed that his eldest son, prince Altair, still hasn't found a suitable wife despite having spent months searching. As Emperor he effectively controls all magic in the dreamscape world that the real Qura experiences while asleep, including being able to grant/deny access to certain Loricae spells to anyone he wishes, and like other members of the royal family, are just about immune to rogue magic. He is quite distant from what Qura and Altair do, though he does take a liking to Qura and trusts in Altair's word. The Empire he represents is also a true portrayal of society and magic centuries into the future, after Andar launches the great worldspell Loricae I at the end of Book Six.


 * Darryl Jurmena A local official of Aeutaril, a kleptocrat and a womanizer. In Qura's first immersion into her dreamscape, she is tasked with providing company for this "important" person at the restaurant she works in, and ends up with some knowledge of what it would be like to live such a high life.
 * Aria Luma (lit. Light of achievement) An air channeling teacher at Invara in Qura's dream world.
 * Nuba Lustra (lit. Lustery cloud) The principal at Invara Academy.