Tamauro, elemental guide to Beliza, the main character of the Dark Allies Dark Adversaries (Book 1 - The Katalonan Chronicles).
He is very close to my heart as he reminds me of the same being I dream about now and again. My own gabay.
The concept of having elemental guide or guides is core to the culture and beliefs of Filipinos. They are sentient energies found in nature. As the name suggests, they can provide one guidance. Or in some cases, a lure to perdition.
However, Tamauro is not one of the common ones one mentioned by people. His kind is not known for choosing humans as an alaga, or a ward, because they are a warrior class in Hiwagaan, the ethereal realm.
Tamauro is a sarangay. These noble elementals are attached to the gems they wear. It is connected to their existence. The pair represents passion and reason. And if one is stolen, it results in lethal consequences for the thief, for a sarangay cannot be parted from their gems forever.
His personality was drawn from many of my mentors in life. Although none of them were this muscular, they were all, in essence, mighty warriors in their own field. Tamauro's wit and wisdom, in my opinion, was his best weapon.
He has a very mysterious backstory — one that demands a chapter or two, but that will not be until book 3. (Book 2 is under editing/revision process at the moment).
Our artist, Boyet Abrenica, drew him very well. He got the image, the facial expression of Tamauro very accurately. Impressive feat since his only basis was the books. He gets both Sol and I really well. We are now exploring collaborating on the graphic novels based on the series.
There are at least 9 elemental guides that appeared in this book, each unique and quirky.
And if you are interested in magical creatures, both mainstream and unique, the rich fantasy of the Philippine lore will provide you with so much variety, it is crazy. Read more of them in our book and the succeeding volumes in this series.
(We don't know yet how many books there will be, but we are leaning on 5).
Dark Allies, Dark Adversaries by Oz Mari G., S.J. Powell
