A few notable characters that may be worked in

This section may change. I will try to not contradict any chapters added by others. but check refer here for updated info if you want to write about a recommended character.

Characters

Main Character (Emid)- A young adult man who is not of noble status. However, his mother was a great administrator of the patrols and was moved to the castle when he was young. His father’s whereabouts are unknown. He and his two older sisters basically grew up in the castle. His oldest sister was sent to a border village (Enor) to aid in organizing the defense since she took up her mother’s profession and this is her first post in a leadership position. His middle sister is an apprentice at the physician’s office. Emid is an apprentice of the court guard. This is a mostly ceremonial guard that selects those who have done very well in academic course and passed basic combat proficiency. Although Emid is not physically large or imposing, he has passed basic proficiency by being able to assess the situation and choose moments for maximum effectiveness. The current leadership felt the guard could use more brains as they had plenty of brawn already. The captain, Fani, threw a fit and objected but was ultimately overruled. Fani’s mother is the Queen and personally approved the lieutenants request over her daughter’s objection.

Royals of Banpa-

King is powerful and demanding. He is concerned with his lands and wants to treat his family well but does not. He is skeptical of the SoS, but his wife is very assertive and insists they need the support of the church to keep sentiment over Nantia.

Queen is dominating, but self-centered person. She mostly oversees their many daughters. She knows her husband is disappointed there is no male heir, but she maintains dominance in the castle to protect herself and also because she enjoys humiliation and fear.

Daughters of the royals- Sari is the oldest and is an academic type. She was meant to marry a royal relative of the Nantian king when she was 20. She made a scenes at the banquet to announce they were engaged (they had never met). This was a huge embarrassment to many nobles of Banpa and the royal family. High society in Banpa largely blames her for the failure to secure peace and extend influence and trade. This was 4 years before the start of the story and the king is now experiencing slightly declining health. The royals need a male heir (by marriage is acceptable) to take over as king and securing the new king is Sari's duty. She is often caught trying to escape. She has no idea what she will do when she gets out. Due to her academic nature, she is not very strong or brave and is terrified of punishment. She has dark hair and fairly tan skin. Fani is the middle child. To achieve acceptance, she has become the captain of the guard. She knows she is unlikely to ascend to the throne, but since she is tall and muscular, she trained with the guard. Despite the disciplined instruction of the guard, she succeeded and became respected. She ascended to being in charge of the counter offensive against Nantia. The youngest is Vivi and she has been **** to study magic. She is nearly finished but doesn’t care much about her studies. Her parents want her to be prepared to counter the folks of crater isle if needed. However, she is far more interested in flirting with the knights and nobles.

A large number of folks including staff and guards live in the castle. The staff in the castle is screened to be the highest performing in their field and there is heavy noble traffic into the castle every day to seek services. The servants are expected to have high performance. Staff views on the rigidity of castle life vary, but they are all aware of the expectations. Prior to the King’s ascension and his marriage to the Queen, the lives of most staff was much more relaxed. However, the Queen has made it a hobby of inflicting humiliating and painful punishments to gain compliance. One may learn more about these characters as they explore.

Deno Noble family-

Has a single daughter. The patriarch recently died and his wife is under suspicion. His wife, Cyni, knows she did not kill him and suspects he was poisoned by a witch from the mysterious isle to cause panic. She knows folks will suspect her and acts extra assertive to make up for the suspicion. She has one daughter who lives a pretty carefree life, although her mother is attempting to teach her about running the estate and finding a husband of proper birth. Cyni grew up in Jinpla and was part of a noble family their marriage was diplomatic.

Benfar Noble family-

The Benfar patriarch, Chup, spends his time at court winning influences in Benpa. His wife loves the castle festivities and is aggressive, pushing Chup to advance. Chup’s wife is named Fari and is very active in socializing to advance her husband’s position. While Chup is and advisor to the King, his wife is very close with the Queen and is often able to arrange private or near-private meetings with the royals rather than regular attendance at the advisory council meetings.

Saints of the Sun (SoS) notables-

Saint Mother- Located in Nantia and is well known among royalty and high nobles. Primarily collects funds and steers the church. Little interaction with the public.

Persus- Right hand of the Saint Mother. To the commoners, he is the face of the church. He often handles non-financial diplomatic affairs. Many other church officials are upset about his meteoric rise to power.

Saint of Banpa (SoB)- Head of the Banpa church. Has a large public following and the Royals leave him alone. The king thinks a closer relationship with the church will aid morale for the looming conflicts to the North and South. The Benfars (Chup and Fari) are very close with the SoB and advocate the king builds a stronger image of royal unity with the church. The Queen does not trust the church.

Saint of Finfar- Large public following but little acceptance from the heads of the banks. The royals have limited support for the church since they are more concerned with the banks. The royals do fund the church, but are careful not to upset the financial institutions.

Prefect of Enor- Has very devout followers in the rural region. The region is basically ruled by the prefect. The recent arrival of the garrison, including Emid's oldest sister, has caused friction since there are many questions of authority and jurisdiction.

Royals of Nantia-

Have a great amount of wealth since their port facilitates most of the trade with Finfar and Quam. They also enjoy the profit off goods travelling to Jinpla. This port has a docking fee and tax on goods docked there. Audits are done at random to make sure the goods are properly taxed. This tax has made the burden on their citizens very low and has inspired a great deal of loyalty and imperialist sentiment to expand their kingdom since they have less land for farming and hunting than many of their neighboring kingdoms. The royals are well-liked and have good relations with Quam and Finfar. The feud between the witches of Crater Isle and Benpa has left an opportunity for Nantia to expand their lands at a relatively low cost. The king is pleased with the expansion. Little is known about the Queen although she is always well received by nobles and other royalty at functions where her presence is expected. They have twin children, a boy and a girl who are both adults. Due to the tensions arising from border expansion, their children are often sent with a handful of soldiers to reinforce the disputed areas through a combination of **** and incentives. They bring gifts to the peasants like newly built large farm equipment that will benefit the entire settlement to win favor. However, for those more resistant, they do have the soldiers to help convince those folks.

Notables of Jinpla-

There are trade guilds that hold a lot of power but work well with the king to help the land continue to improve. There are several types of security due to high paranoia among the guilds and royalty that Frefa and Finfar are turning folks to spy against Jinpla authorities. Finfar is viewed as a friendly rival and uses the Southern Islands to facilitate trade when direct agreement cannot be reached. There is actually a mutual defense agreement regarding the Southern Islands in which Finfar and Jinpla are both obligated to protect the islands since their economies work together on the islands, there is a lot of wealth parked there and little centralized defense it is mutual interest to protect the **** investments. Jinpla sees Frefa as a much larger threat. This perception is driven almost entirely by paranoia. Frefa has little contact outside their kingdom but are advanced. Their advancements and fear of the unknown drives authorities in Jinpla to suspect there are spies among them.

Cyni Deno comes from a noble family in Jinpla Her family had a sizeable estate on the edge of the capital. Her mother was a noble wife whose role was to advance her social standing. Her father was a chair of the agricultural guild. He mostly had administrative duties. Cyni had several siblings and often their family and the captain of the city guard’s family were combined since they spent time together due to the friendship between the two men. The group of children were basically raised by both sets of parents and their maids until there was a falling out between the two families. Cyni was not sure what caused it, but her mother was publicly disgraced after being accused of being a spy for Frefa. Cyni was there for the trial, but had already married Sir Deno and soon had to return to Benpa. She maintains contact with her aunt, but her father seems to have disappeared and her mother has become a prisoner serving her sentence as a servant for one of the administrators of a joint Finfar-Jinpla endeavor on the Southern Islands. Cyni is proud of her homeland and thinks many of their practices could find a place in Benpa and has tried to pass them to her daughter and staff. However, talking about her family’s downfall is painful. The loss of family status means she depends solely on the resources of the Deno estate.