Hello there!
Since it’s Mother’s Day today in the United States, time for a themed post!
My last post about the trial of the query trenches was a bit of a downer, I know. But this time we’re trying something fun. In celebration of Mother’s Day, I’m introducing you, dear readers, to the mothers in my epic fantasy world.
Introducing: Sarinelle Isabella Najjar al’Calhir
Sarinelle, Sarin for short, is the Queen of one of the major world powers in my novel, Calhirath. As Queen, she has a full plate juggling court duties and the tempestuous dynamics of her family. Sarin was not born to court life, and many women thrust into her position might have floundered when faced with the pressures and attention her crown brings. She is the pillar of her family; a calm, level-headed contrast to her husband, who often lets his temper get the best of him. As for the rest of her family, she has two children, a son, Tristrian, next in line for the throne, and a daughter, Alianne. The two are close, but often compete with one another. Peace and quite are rare in the Najjar household.
As such, Sarin’s favorite pastime is walking the expansive gardens surrounding the palace. She’ll often find a quiet nook to sit in with a mug of lavender tea to watch the sun rise or set, or as an escape from a hectic day at court. She loves and misses the mountains she was born among, and does sometimes feel cloistered by her role as Queen.
Sarin also has her secrets. Ones that could tear her family and kingdom apart.
Notes on appearance: Sarin is a POV character, so I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted her to look like. I often imagine her hair intricately braided and in an up-do befitting a queen, but the creator I used didn’t have hairstyles like that as an option. Overall I love the portrait! I wasn’t really sure what color her eyes were: I went with blue, but didn’t have any character notes for their specific color.
Introducing: Trae Saldae
Trae lives in the other world power in my novel, the mostly desert nation of Achivaldera, separated from Calhirath by an ocean. Trae runs a tavern and inn named The Dreaming Dragon with her husband in Achivaldera’s capital city. Their inn is a modest but well-established refuge from the hustle of the city. Trae is head chef and manages the kitchen, while her husband runs the bar manages the the inn. Her specialty dish is a curried stew that draws dinner crowds from all districts of the city.
Though she has no biological children, Trae and her husband adopted their daughter Brooke as a baby, orphaned on their doorstep. Her adopted daughter has a penchant for stealing and has brought no end of trouble to her small household.
When the last customer has left for the evening and the kitchen is finally clean, Trae relishes the simple pleasures like playing a game of cards with her husband. Market days are her favorite, when she can sample ingredients and spices to dream up new dishes for the kitchen.
Notes on appearance: Trae is a secondary character, and to be honest, I imagined her more as an embodiment of her personality: caring, direct, joyful, down-to-earth. I knew I wanted her to have a full figure, but outside of that I hadn’t thought of her facial features, skin tone, or hair. After playing around in the character creator for awhile, I landed on this, and it felt right and has brought new life to her in my mind.
How I Made These Portraits
When I had the idea for this blog post, I knew I’d want pictures to go along with the descriptions, but I’m not an artist. While searching the interwebz for character creators, I stumbled across MetaHuman Creator, from Epic Games. It is a cloud-based, browser-based, application that places a top-tier role-playing-game style character creator in your hands. For FREE. It’s in early access right now, and you can apply here.
Full disclosure: this is not in any way sponsored! When I applied for early access I thought I’d never get an invite since I’m not a digital artist or in the video games industry; but after a day I got an invite to use MetaHuman Creator, and here we are!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to two of the mothers in my fantasy world. Hopefully one day you’ll be able to read about them on the page.
A very happy mother’s day to all the moms out there!
Until next time,
-M