#opiatus

The Death of Kings a.k.a And Still We Await The Death of Kings. First of all, a little bit of context: there are four lands (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) and each of these lands have a God, who has a physical form. This story is, essentially, about the crown prince of the Winter-lands befriending the God thereof and getting dragged into some serious shit as a result.

Ilhan, my protagonist, is ten years old when the story begins. He is born with the power of Sight, though he cannot see everything. He can’t See any of the Gods or things related to said Gods. He also tends to randomly know things other people don’t or expect him not to know. He does know a lot of things, but in his ten years he’s learnt that not all things are worth being said. Aside from the Sight, he can also cast simple spells and create objects from ice. He’s better at the latter, really. Generally, the nobles and so are uncomfortable with the idea of him, not only because he is a Seer, but also (more importantly) because he is illegitimate. Not only that, he is Queen Yseult’s son with a prince of the Spring-lands. There’s a whole story behind that that will probably take forever to tell, but what it comes down to is that the Spring-lands and the Winter-lands don’t like each other much. To make matters worse, Ilhan sticks out like a sore thumb because he has auburn hair and green eyes, whereas everyone else has blonde hair and blue or grey eyes. He prizes his family and friends above everything else, including himself.

Iskander is Ilhan’s younger half-brother. At the start, he’s seven years old and the sweetest cutiepie ever. He’s also the least magical of the kids and sometimes he’s a bit envious but he also thinks that having Ilhan’s powers is a bit frightening so in the end he doesn’t mind as much. He’s much more accepted in general, despite the circumstances of his conception (he’s the result of a rape), because he’s actually legitimate (his mother was married at the time, his genitor was a complete jerk). He and Ilhan are nigh inseparable, first because Iskander is very much in awe of his brother, later because someone needs to at least pretend to watch Ilhan’s back when he’s spacing out.

Iordana is the youngest. At the beginning she’s a baby, but even then she shows some potential as a sorceress. Her ability to see the future isn’t as great as Ilhan’s, but she can cast more powerful spells and teases him about it whenever she can. She’s closer to Ilhan than to Iskander, but the difference isn’t so great; it’s merely that Ilhan can understand her better some times (because a. he always knows things and b. he’s as much of an outcast as she is). At other times, she and Iskander can be exasperated at Ilhan together.

Vetur is the God of the Winter-lands, whom Ilhan befriends. misterlutece and I pretty much agree that he’s a fool that needs to be hit with a book. Most of it has to do with the fact that Vetur has these three oracles (brazen heads, literal heads) that he can hear all the time but rarely listens to and then he gets himself into trouble. [cue everyone being extremely exasperated].