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Alinora Mynerva - Personal Timeline

(2) Alinora is named as the next monarch.

(4) Alinora’s older sister, Aishlynn, is claimed as a Slaeyr, and leaves Mynera.

(5) Alinora is discovered to have no magic. People get to work on implementations that will ensure she’s able to get around Mynera on her own when she gets older.

(6) Alinora meets her future best friends, Rivana and Liera.

(7) Alinora begins self-defense lessons with Oreyn.

(10) Alinora gets to pick out her da’lia—a deerlike mount. Getting to choose one is a coming of age custom in Mynera. On Alinora’s visit to the ranch, she picks out the sole black-furred da’lia in Mynera. She insists on having it even after being told it could be an omen. She names her Ezzi.

(13) Alinora confirms the identity of her father as her mother’s spymaster, Oreyn. She also finds out about his history as a Black Swans assassin. He gives her his Swans figurine and tells her that, during her pilgrimage, she could use it to find aid if she was ever in trouble.

(14) Alinora shares her first kiss with Rivana.

(15) Alinora begins privately courting Liera, despite knowing both of them are already betrothed.

(17) It’s revealed that Liera and Alinora are betrothed to each other.

(18) Two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, Alinora loses her home, family, etc. and is forced to flee before she’s captured and brought before Kai’os. Shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she reaches Verdani, where she shows Ellis the Swans’ figurine and convinces him to take her on as an apprentice.

(20) Alinora earns Ellis’s trust and is finally taken to Mharani, an underground city populated entirely by Swans assassins and their agents. She meets Ellis’s friend Rolfe (who was also a friend of her fathers) and also meets his students. His students are initially suspicious of her, but eventually adopt her as one of their own—despite her attempts to distance herself from them.

(22) Alinora graduates from her training and becomes a full-fledged member of the Swans… after taking her first contract.

(24) Alinora foils an attempt to assassinate the grandmaster. He begins taking an interest in her.

(25) The grandmaster makes her his eyes and ears around the base. His personal spy, meant to watch out for traitors to the Swans and assassination attempts against him.

(27) Alinora learns that she was never meant to exist, and that because of that, she must defeat Fate. This begins The Martyr Queen, which ends shortly after she turns 28.

Aishlynn Mynerva - Personal Timeline

(6) Aishlynn is taken to officially meet her peers. She doesn’t fit in well with the children her age, however. Most of the kids only let her play with them because she’s the queen’s daughter. Aishlynn spends most of her time with her father.

(7) Aishlynn’s father begins training her in self-defense.

(10) Aishlynn’s father goes on a mission. He doesn’t come home, and is presumed dead. One of his generals takes over her lessons. Aishlynn is further ostracized from her peers when her reaction to her father’s death isn’t what people think it should be. (She doesn’t cry.)

(12) Aishlynn’s sister is born. Aishlynn is distraught, because it means her mother is moved on. A rift grows between them.

(16) Aishlynn is claimed as a Slaeyr and leaves Mynera. She is taken to Kai’os’s clan. She presents as a spirit elemental Slaeyr.

(17) Aishlynn has been unofficially adopted by Kai’os, but also by Kaltain. She really feels like she belongs somewhere, for the first time since her father died.

(18) Kai’os confides in her about his plans for the world. She is wary at first, but his charisma and fervent belief eventually sway her.

(22) Aishlynn kills someone for the first time, and absorbs their aura under Kai’os’s instruction. It feels horrible, but Kai’os assures her it’s all for a worthy cause.

(24) Kai’os decides it’s time to infiltrate his sister’s clan, as she is the leader of the Slaeyr. He chooses Aishlynn for the job, as she is among the most trustworthy members. Aishlynn goes, posing as the last survivor of a clan that Kai’os’s tribe had attacked days before. Lys’tria welcomes her into the tribe, and she meets Lyr, Ava, and eventually, Talitha.

(27) Over the three years that she’s lived in the tribe, Aishlynn develops a close bond with Lys’tria. She loves her dearly, and can longer remain silent about Kai’os’s plans. She reveals everything. Lys’tria reveals that she had already been suspicious. Aishlynn becomes a double agent for her, and they begin planning.

(28) Aishlynn gets the word from Kai’os to enact the plan. She reports to Lys, who realizes that they have run out of time. She comes up with a plan anyway. (No one likes the plan.)

(29) Against Aishlynn’s wishes, Lys sacrifices herself to stave off Kai’os. Aishlynn returns home, hoping to save her mother and sister… and finds that Mynera has already fallen. She decides to help form the resistance.

(31) Aishlynn goes out on a mission for the resistance, and in the process, is fatally wounded. Asa manages to pull her back from the brink with his healing abilities, but her hair is turned forever white in the process. She convinces him to join the resistance.

(32) Aishlynn is reunited with Talitha and (reluctantly) convinces her to join the resistance as well.

(38) Elaena visits the resistance. She tells them that Lyr and Ava (though she doesn’t mention them by name) are close to finding a way to defeat Kai’os. She also mentions a secret weapon of the gods…

(39) Aishlynn gets the word from Elaena for her and Talitha to set out. When they reach port, they reunite with Lyr and Ava… but Aishlynn is also reunited with her sister, Alinora Mynerva. And so begins Aishlynn’s part in The Martyr Queen.

Ava Inerra - Personal Timeline

(3) Ava is discovered to be an earth elemental Slaeyr. / It is also discovered that the twins are soul-bonded, and that they discover a telepathic bond.

(5) Ava leaves Illuminara with her mother and her twin, to join their clan in a nomadic lifestyle.

(6) Ava meets her uncle Kai’os, as well as her cousins.

(7) They return to Illuminara for the winter rest, as they will do every other year.

(8) Ava starts growing flowers in her hair.

(10) Ava begins training as a ranger.

(11) Had to cut her hair after an unfortunate accident involving mud and honey. She cried the entire time it was cut, and hasn’t cut her hair since.

(12) Ava goes out on her first solo hunt, and brings back her first kill for the tribe.

(13) Nursed a bluebird back to health, and had it follow her around for the rest of that spring. It did eventually go its own way, though.

(14) Ava has her first kiss with another girl in the clan. Lyr teases her about it until she puts a (harmless) snake in his bedroll.

(20) Ava and Lyr’s mother sacrifices herself to stall Kai’os so that the twins can escape. She charges them with finding a way to stop Kai’os.

(24) Ava and her brother are contacted by Elaena, who begins helping them search for a way to defeat Kai’os.

(29) Ava and Lyr find documentation of an enchanted sword said to be capable of killing anything. Elaena directs them to meet up with Alinora.

Lyr Inerra - Personal Timeline

(0) Lyr is born, alongside his twin sister. Two weeks later, his future best friend, Talitha is born.

(3) It is discovered that Lyr’s element is water. It is also discovered that the twins are soul-bonded, and share a telepathic bond.

(5) The twins leave Illuminara with their mother to rejoing their clan, and begin a nomadic lifestyle.

(6) Lyr meets his uncle Kai’os, as well as his cousins.

(7) Lyr and Ava return to Illuminara for their winter rest, as they will every other year from now until their mother’s death.

(10) Lyr begins training as a clan guardsman, and also how to fight various magical creatures and beasts in Eldora.

(11) Lyr and Talitha successfully enchant a journal that allows them to communicate even when they’re miles apart. / He also jumped out a tree after Talitha dared him to and broke his leg. It healed quickly, though.

(12) Lyr goes out on his first job with a group of experienced fighters. He doesn’t get many blows in, but it’s a formative experience.

(13) Lyr and Talitha have their first kiss with each other. / Talitha taught him to dance, because “if she had to learn, then so did he.”

(14) Lyr decided it was a good idea to challenge a nesting gryphon. He didn’t know it was nesting at the time, though, and ended up with a nasty scar for his efforts.

(15) Lyr and Talitha decide to have sex, just to see what it’s like.

(20) Their mother sacrifices herself to stall Kai’os so that Lyr and Ava can escape. They begin looking for a way to kill Kai’os. Lyr’s enchanted journal is lost in his escape.

(24) Lyr and his sister are contacted by Elaena, who begins helping them search for a way to defeat Kai’os.

(29) Lyr and Ava discover the existence of an enchanted sword, capable of killing anything. They report this to Elaena, who then directs them to meet up with Alinora. And so begins The Martyr Queen.

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As always, asked to be added or removed!! :)

Talitha Jade - Personal Timeline

(0) Talitha is born, two weeks after her future best friend.

(2) Talitha’s younger sister, Lynette, is born.

(5) The twins are forced to leave her and rejoin their clan. It’s a very tearful goodbye.

(7) Talitha teaches herself an invisibility spell—a notoriously difficult spell—and begins ducking out of tutoring. Her friends return for the winter, as well, and she’s overjoyed.

(8) Talitha successfully copies her teacher’s lesson plan and begins teaching herself in the library. Occasionally using her invisibility spell, of course, to ensure that she won’t be dragged back to lessons.

(9) Talitha’s parents give up on dragging her back to lessons and give her leave to teach herself in the library so long as she passes annual tests. (She does.)

(11) Talitha and Lyr successfully enchant a journal, allowing them to communicate over great distances.

(12) Talitha applies to the Magus College, takes the entrance exam, and is accepted.

(13) Talitha’s mother begins traveling more, and so Talitha takes more responsibility for her younger sister. She also has her first kiss.

(15) Talitha decides to have sex with Lyr, just to see what it’s like. They decide not to pursue a relationship, as they know it’s just not possible. They do, however, decide to keep fooling around when he’s there for the winter. This is also the year she meets Aishlynn.

(16) Talitha graduates from the Magus College with a degree in Magical Theory. She begins publishing papers and crafting her own spells.

(17) Talitha’s father decides it’s time for her to get married. However, all of the marriageable candidates he brings before her are sorcerers—practitioners of forbidden magic. She stays vigilant… until her father also decides to have Lynette look among them for a suitor. Then, she takes her sister, and runs. She secures passage on a ship, the Captive Queen, and finds the captain to be an irredeemable asshole… so she helps the crew plan a mutiny and takes over his ship.

(18) The Captive Queen is sunk. Talitha saves her sister… at the price of a crewmate. She and what’s left of the crew are stranded on a deserted island, until Talitha uses magic to build them a new ship. They name it the Crimson River.

(19) Talitha meets a bandit named James while studying an Anarian ruin. She helps him escape from the pirates who brought he and his people there, after they betray him. Lynette takes an instance shine to him.

(20) Talitha meets someone from the Guild of Secrets, and begins a mutually beneficial relationship. / Talitha loses contact with her best friends, then hears word that Kai’os has betrayed the Slaeyr. She believes that they are dead.

(21) Talitha’s sister gets married to James. Not long after their marriage, Lynette gets pregnant, and eventually gives birth to a son, whom they name Thomas—Tommy. Talitha adores him and spoils him rotten.

(22) Talitha joins the Myneran resistance and reunites with Aishlynn.

(26) Talitha’s nephew falls ill with a slow-killing disease. She begins searching for a cure.

(27) Lynette writes Talitha to tell her that she’s found a cure. Talitha attempts to advise her that the cure sounds too good to be true, but Lynette doesn’t listen. She goes after it—and when Talitha catches up, she finds her brother-in-law, sister, and nephew dead. Someone managed to take out a few of their attackers though, and Talitha recognizes the insignia as her father’s crownguard. She returns to Illuminara and takes it back from her father. Once he’s been executed, she disowns the rest of her family; gives up all of her rights to Illuminara and the college to her half-brother; and leaves.

(28) Elaena visits the resistance. Talitha learns that someone is looking for a way to kill Kai’os. They’re close to finding it, but once they do, there’s still the matter of the gods “secret weapon.” Talitha and Aishlynn are told to prepare for the day when they’ll be needed to meet the weapon and these people.

(29) Talitha is reunited with Lyr and Ava towards the beginning of The Martyr Queen. She meets Alinora, and eventually comes into possession of Weaver’s Bane.

Ava is the oldest character!! (followed by Viv, followed by Lyr)

The newest,,, that would be Aishlynn, i think.

09: Something that frightens your character

Ava is terrified of losing her brother. She’s also scared of heights.

Aishlynn is terrified of failure/not being good enough. And she’s not a big fan of spiders, but she’d never admit to being scared of them.

oooh good question!

01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded?

According to google---

Talitha is an uncommon feminine name meaning "little girl" in Aramaic.

I had Talitha on a list of names that I liked, which I’ve since lost by moving computers & not copying that file to my USB drive. I forgot the meaning some time ago, so I really just picked it for her because I liked the sound!

13. What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker?

Talitha is a medium sleeper. Once she gets to sleep it’s not easy to wake her, but it isn’t hard, either. She usually kicks all of her blankets off, actually, and sprawls across the bed. Unless, of course, she’s got a bed partner, in which case she wraps around them like an octopus.

She doesn’t sleep walk, though if you talk to her sometimes she might sleep talk at you. She doesn’t snore, either. She does have a habit of waking up in the early hours of the morning in “a fit of fevered inspiration” (her words) and will spend an hour or two scrawling words, that may or may not make sense, before conking out in bed again.

Thank you for asking!!

ooooooh these are super fun to answer for Alinora :o

43. Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self?

Alinora absolutely does have different aspects that she dons based on who she’s around! Growing up she had different ways of acting around her mother; her instructors; Myneran nobles; her friends... The only one who got to see Alinora’s true self were her two best friends, Rivana and Liera! (Liera also being her girlfriend / fiancee!)

After the fall of Mynera, she put on new masks. A hardened, grumpy one meant to keep people away, but also to make it easier for her to assume the life of an assassin. Occasionally, vulnerability slipped through, usually around her ‘friends’ (in quotes because she won’t admit they’re her friends). She also had a slightly softer / less confrontational version of that mask she used around the grandmaster.

When she joins the others, she keeps that softer mask? She’s still very protective of that marshmallow center of hers, and doesn’t want to get close to anyone... but she also knows that she does need their help and doesn’t want to push them away too hard. Talitha ends up getting the most looks at what goes on beneath that mask, though, but the others get a couple of shots.

And then during Pirate’s Bane, she’s just finished spending five years training with Elaena---and come to the realization that Elaena was watching over her for her whole life---and thus dispenses with any posturing or masks around her. Most of the time.

Eventually, I want to get her to the point where she’s using almost no masks around any of the main characters & definitely none around Talitha, but we’ll see :D

49. What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood?

Ooof.

So my girl cannot stand sleeping because of her nightmares, so she definitely gets them, and with disturbing frequency. Her most frequent nightmares center around the fall of Mynera---a heavy dose of survivor’s guilt and blaming herself causing her to see visions where it was her fault that Mynera fell; to have her loved ones blame her for their deaths; etc.

She also has nightmares about some of the stuff she did with the assassins? Like, some of the jobs she went out on she was able to rationalize and some she wasn’t, but they were all necessary to keep her cover. She considered leaving several times... but she felt safe there, and she didn’t want to lose that.

Thank you for asking!! These were fun to answer :D