This mostly will function as a reference for myself or anyone who’s interested in my characters. Since we’re now being encouraged to use stock characters for WriteOn! to avoid complications with intellectual property and whatnot (and I do still hope to be published at some point), I’ve made a few for myself to show off the various settings I’ve worked on. New ones will be added as I come up with them. I’ve organized them by setting below:
ERATHON
A medieval fantasy setting I’ve been working on for ages. The dominant power on the southern continent is a Roman-inspired empire, but the world is far more diverse that just the empire alone. The world is a big one with almost all its peoples on a single megacontinent, the only land on the world as far as they know. Stock characters:
- Marie and Renard de Bengarre: Renard is the firstborn child of the mayor of Carconne; Marie is the fourthborn child of the Duke of Valis. After losing a bet to the mayor, the duke agreed to wed his daughter to the mayor’s son. Unfortunately, this forces both into a life they don’t want: Marie dreamt of being a knight, and Renard wanted to stay at home tending a garden and studying healing magic and alchemy. Struck by their similar builds, the two have made a pact: to make the best of their plight by trading places! Marie lives publicly as her husband, managing a military life while hiding the truth from her comrades in arms while Renard is stuck handling courtly affairs as a debutante in the noble courts with a dangerous secret, the most dangerous kind in palace intrigue!
- The Scarwood Sellswords: a group of seasoned adventurers, including the veteran legionary Cyrus, the ratfolk Skizvig, the priestess Vilnia, the orc wizard Borgra, and the “expert treasure finder” Borith. The group are well known throughout Nafpola as heroes for hire, and their lifestyles are notoriously lavish and exciting. The youths Alazar and Elmina, a pair of cousins eager to leave behind the boring home life, recently ran off with the sellswords to try their hand at adventuring.
- Fawkes, a lone survivor from a destroyed village leading a band of fighters to resist the steady advance of the Dead Lords, the immortal creatures that now rule the blasted and fouled lands of the old Nemian Empire.
THE TERRAN INTERSTELLAR UNION
My sci-fi setting is set a couple hundred years into the future, where humanity has emerged from a tough time dealing with climate crises, economic turmoil from late-stage capitalism, and global instability into a burgeoning interstellar power. United in our desire to explore the stars and learn, and by the realization we are not alone and some of our neighbors are dangerous, humanity is at a crossroads for our civilization’s future.
And what better way to see it than by getting something to eat?
For now, the only group here is the crew of Mama’s Cucina Stelle, the interstellar equivalent of a food truck, serving good old fashion Earth Italian cooking to the hungriest residents in the various corners of the galaxy. The blue collar world is a rough one, as is life on a small ship, so when both come together it requires a tough and unique bunch to make it work.
The crew are:
- Rose “Mama” Pitzalatto, a Homeworlder who converted an old Western Astronautics C67 “Comet” into a food truck she named the “Cucina Stelle”, mainly as a way for her to see the galaxy on a cook’s budget. A life working in the food industry has made her hard as the high-carbon steel of her knives and just as razor sharp...but try the penne arrabbiatta if you get a chance. It’s to die for.
- Denno Carson, former street urchin from Nova Arabia’s Port Quartz, who started as a gofer after going from ship to ship asking for work and passage off-world. He doesn’t talk much about his past or family, and has risen through the ranks to be her saute cook, right hand, and first mate.
-Tollen, legally changed his name to his extranet handle a few years ago, and refuses to explain why. Denno’s theory is he was a very boring child and is trying to create an aura of mystery as he finds himself and doesn’t want anyone to look up his past and learn the truth. Tollen’s counter-theory is that Denno can fuck himself. He’s the ship’s pilot, and the grill cook.
- Vega Morales, the ship’s engineer and security. A retired mechanic from the TIU’s armed forces, he enjoys bouncing around the galaxy and keeping the crew out of mischief. It’s an open secret Mama hired him because she thinks he’s attractive AND useful, a rare combo in her world. If Vega knows it, he plays it cool. For him even the most dangerous port of call is a relief from the combat experience he’s had.
- Quorlan of Kobaria is a young giransh, a monogender humanoid with pale purple skin and no body hair; their blood uses a copper based version of hemoglobin, hemocyanin, resulting in the blueish hue and a blue-green color to it when exposed to air. Their species has fallen in love with human cuisine, and Quorlan is something of a gourmand. Their home country is a theocratic republic with a very insular attitude: their people are shy and reluctant to explore or leave home, making their decision to join a human food ship and travel the galaxy sight-seeing and learning to cook a very strange one. They hope to return home one day and open a human cuisine restaurant. As the newest member of the crew, they are something of a dogsbody and fills in at whatever tasks they are given, which they try their best to do to perfection to prove they are ready to learn more.