Who's who in Horizons of the Heart

Printer-friendly version

Author: 

Blog About: 

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

Since I have several main characters in my novel "Horizons of the Heart", it might be a good idea to present them to you outside their work-environment.

Without further ado, here's who they are!

Jaden Tarasov
Nicknames: Jay, little brother (by Stann)

Jaden is a young man of medium height and average build, with glossy black hair hanging down well past his shoulders. He usually ties it back to keep out of his face, and his light brown eyes. Naturally pale from growing up in a cloudy mountain region, he has only recently begun to get some colour. A distinguishing mark is his pointy ears and slender features that makes people assume he is an elf, or at least of elven blood.
He enjoys taking long walks down mountains, arguing with Oleander, and being himself.

Oleander
Nicknames: Red, Ollie (by Jaden), little fox (by Kellen), Lea (by children), Oleander Lockless (by some), Stop Her! (by many)

Oleander is a woman in her early twenties slightly below average height, with short red hair barely reaching her cheeks. She has raincloud grey eyes, and a ready smile. She is slim and athletic, and much prefers to outwit rather than fight her way through the world. She was born in a small town in the kingdom of Olmar, a country covered mostly with large plains and gentle hills.
She enjoys finding things, debating morality, and letting other people touch cursed artefacts first.

Mirena Kaladon
Nicknames: Rena (by her friends), Lady Kaladon (by her peers)

Mirena is a tall woman with long, chestnut brown hair she takes very good care of, and amazingly green eyes. She is in her late twenties, and hides surprising strength of both arms and character underneath a gentle exterior. Mirena is an anointed knight of the temple, in the service of Telum, the Sword of Heaven. She grew up in the free city of Tier, born into a very wealthy merchant family.
Mirena enjoys smiting evil, making up complex strategies, and wearing fine gowns when not smiting evil.

Stann Winterheart
Nickname: Bear

Stann is a classic blonde and blue-eyed, tall and strong Northman of roughly thirty years of age. He keeps his beard nice and trimmed, his hair long, and his sword sharp. There are a couple of visible scars that shows how many fights he’s been in. He usually dress in sleeveless tunics, heavy wool trousers or chain mail armour, as the occasion requires. Helmet and shield are optional, depending on the impression he wants to make. There’s a tattoo of a bear on his upper right arm.
Stann enjoys a good joke, a large family, and elven barmaids.

Kellen Winterheart
Nickname: Kel

Kellen keeps his blonde hair short, a neat goatee with a slightly larger moustache. The older cousin of Stann is even taller and more muscled, despite not even carrying a sword. He eschews the traditional robes of a magician in favour of the everyday clothes of a Northman, simple wool trousers and tunic. He keeps a large selection of magical runes that gives him the power to control stone and water.
Kellen enjoys fishing in peace by a gentle brook, crushing responsibility, and suffering from vertigo.

Rhyce
Nickname: Rhyce (by friends), Deadeye (other people)

Rhyce looks, from a distance, like a normal borderlander man with unruly dark blonde (or maybe light brown) hair, and deep brown eyes. He’s seldom seen without his unique longbow made from some strangely dark wood, and a hooded leather outfit with metal studs. He is in his mid-thirties, and takes better care of animals than he does with the feelings of people.
Rhyce enjoys giving cryptic advice, knowing things he really shouldn’t be able to, and staring grimly into the night.

Comments

Oleander is a female name? I

Oleander is a female name? I totally thought it was a male one. That explains some of my confusion in the story...

Ooop!

Melange's picture

Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, she's a girl.

Oleander is a flower (well, a flowering shrub, really), and you traditionally give plant-y names to girls. At least to my knowledge, but I can be wrong :)

Also, the Oleander is mildly poisonous - much like the mouth on our favourite redhead!

EDIT: Double ooop. Seems like it really IS a boy's name. Oh, well! Luckily she's a bit of a tomboy, so it should be alright. Thanks for pointing it out to me - I hadn't thought about the confusion it might cause :)

Traditionally: Male

Puddintane's picture

But (and a very large one) the (2002) film "White Oleander" memorably starred Michelle Pfeiffer, Alison Lohman, and Robin Wright, so some people might think of her more easily than they do the fact that the oleander is one of the most poisonous plants commonly found in gardens, and in fact this lethal quality plays a prominent part in the story (based on a Janet Fitch novel of the same name). It was at one time commonly referred to as the South Sea Rose, in reference to where the original British collectors found it. The film is very memorable, and not at all Ms Pfeiffer's usual type of role.

white-oleander.jpg

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Oh!

Melange's picture

That was a nice bit of toxic trivia :) I may have to watch that film now, just because!