Pawns and Queens--Dramatis Personae

[Evie]

The House of Haldane


King Uthyr III (Uthyr Michael Kelson Rhys Haldane) of Gwynedd--late King of Gwynedd


Queen Soraya Ilseveta Amalia d'Auxerre di Fianna Haldane, Queen Mother of Gwynedd, Dowager queen to King Uthyr


King Cinhil III (Cinhil Alroy Nigel Jashan Haldane)--King of Gwynedd as of 15 December 1463


Queen Alixa Xandrina Éloïse Buyenne-Furstán Haldane, aka Alixa of Joux--Cinhil's consort


Prince Nicholas Richard Brion Alexander Haldane ("Colin"), Duke of Carthmoor


Queen Miranda Araxelle Renata Evaine Haldane von Horthy, eldest daughter to Uthyr and Soraya, Queen of Orsal and Tralia


Prince Camber Malcolm Blaine Uthyr, aka Father Camber


Princess Richeldis Anastasia Michaela Eliana Haldane


Princess Elisa Marise Alexandra Meraude Haldane


Lady Titivillus, Prince Camber's cat, Royal Mouser and Fur Distributor, Destroyer of Cushions

The Northwodes


Lady Melisande ("Mellie") de Northwode, daughter to the late Sir Edward Northwode, former ward of King Uthyr, longtime paramour of Prince Nicholas


Balian de Northwode--son to Prince Nicholas and Lady Melisande


Anneke de Northwode--eldest daughter to Prince Nicholas and Lady Melisande


Emmeline ("Emmie") de Northwode--younger daughter to Prince Nicholas and Lady Melisande

The House of Morgan


Duke Joscelin ("Joss") Morgan, Duke of Corwyn, the King's Champion


Lady Gabrielle Morgan, younger sister to Duke Joscelin and lady-in-waiting to Princesses Richeldis and Elisa

The House of McLain


Donal McLain, Duke of Cassan


Arabella McLain, Duchess of Cassan, second wife to Donal


David McLain, Earl of Kierney (son of the Duke of Cassan by his first wife)


Noella MacArdry McLain, Countess of Kierney


Devyn Miles McLain, aka Devyn FitzCassan, illegitimate firstborn son of the Duke of Cassan, born prior to his marriage to his first wife

Other People of Gwynedd


Master Hugh Whytacre, night watchman in the City of Rhemuth


The fair Rosaline, barmaid at The Gold Lion pub near Market Square, City of Rhemuth

The House of Vastouni


Mikhail Da'ud Reyhan Severin Vastouni, King of Andelon and Sultan of the Bhuttayriah


Queen Noora, born a Nabila of Nur Hallaj, Queen to King Mikhail of Andelon and Sultana of the Bhuttayriah


Princess Catalina Sofiana Richenda Maria Vastouni, Princess Royal of Andelon and Sultana of the Bhuttayriah

Three additional princesses (Esmeralda, Leonor, Isabella) and the Heir to Andelon (Reyhan) not pictured.

The House of Auxerre


King Arnaud III d'Auxerre of Fianna (Older brother to Queen Soraya of Gwynedd)

Queen Soraya d'Auxerre Haldane (See House of Haldane)


Prince Périgord d'Auxerre, younger brother to Queen Soraya of Gwynedd

The House of Buyenne-Furstán


King Renier Buyenne-Furstán of Joux

Princess Alixa of Joux (see House of Haldane)


Prince Rémy of Joux


Princess Cécile of Joux


Princess Marthe of Joux

The Royal House of Eistenmarcke


Queen Ingrid Ylva Ørnensdatter, Konungamóðir (King's Mother) of Eistenmarcke, regent for King Haakon and widow to the late King Sigmund. Seið-kona ("Seether-mage") of the ancient Norse magical tradition.


King Haakon Sigmundsson, twelve-year-old King of Eistenmarcke

The House of Hjort-Furstán


King Torval Nikolaj Ragnarrson Hjort-Furstan of Nördmarcke

The House O'Shiele


Cormac O'Shiele, Ard-Tiarna of Llyr


Aoife O'Shiele, Banoidhre of Llyr, the oldest of Cormac's sisters (see Camberian Council)



Saoirse Catriona O'Shiele, Banfhlaith of Llyr, one of three younger sisters of Cormac and Aoife, former protegee of Lord Geoffrey Arilan and former foster sister to Sebastian Arilan. Intelligencer (trained), field medic (trained), and Healer (mostly self-taught)


Cillian of Llyr--Saoirse's male guise

The House of MacFaolan-Gruffud


King Dafydd MacFaolan-Gruffud of the United Kingdoms of Llannedd, Howicce, and Connait

The House of Furstán d'Arjenol


Prince Alarikos Furstán d'Arjenol, Heir to Beldouria

The House of Faucon


Prince Philippe Faucon de Besançon, second son to the King of Bremagne

The Arilans


Lord Geoffrey Arilan, Laird of Tre-Arilan, His Majesty's Chief Intelligencer, also Camberian Council coadjutor.


Lord Sebastian Arilan, son and heir of Lord Geoffrey, senior squire to Prince Nicholas, intelligencer in training

The Camberian Council

Lord Geoffrey Arilan (See "The Arilans")
King Mikhail Vastouni (See "The House of Vastouni")


Lord Alexei Petrovich, Kingdom of Beldouria, younger brother to the Patriach of Beldour


Lady Emmanuelle de la Flamme, courtesan at the Court of Fallon


Gräfin Violette de Rhupen, Principality of Thuria. Sister to Rupert, Prince of Thuria.


Lord (Nabil) Da'ud ibn Yussuf al-Quarrah, from the Anvil of the Lord, Free City of Kharthat. Señor Don Salim's older brother.


Banoidhre Aoife O'Shiele of Llyr, hereditary heiress to Llyr, sister to the Ard-Tiarna Cormac of Llyr and Banfhlaith Saoirse

Princess Catalina's Andelonian entourage


Doña Amina bint Nasir al-Zahra, duenna (chaperone) and camarera (Lady of the Bedchamber) to Princess Catalina


 Señor Don Riordan ibn Ronan al-Liryah, a Caballero in the Andelonian Royal Household, Princess Catalina's former tutor, currently her personal intelligencer and her trusted amanuensis


Señor Don Salim ibn Yussuf al-Qarrah, Princess Catalina's weapons master and head of her personal guard. Nabil Da'ud's younger brother.

Plus additional ladies-in-waiting: Rosalita, Consuelo, Maria, Felipa, Ana, Sarita, Emanuela, Beatriz, and Leonor (not pictured)

The Healers


Master Berthelot Vivien Jordanet, Healer to His Majesty Renier of Joux


Master James Bannatyne, Royal Court Healer to His Majesty Cinhil of Gwynedd

Banfhlaith Saoirse Catriona O'Shiele, mostly self-taught Healer and trained field medic from Llyr (See House O'Shiele)

[Evie]

This post will receive updates as new characters appear in the story. (If I forget, remind me! I have pics of at least most of the main characters.) Certain portraits may also change later in the story as those characters evolve.

[DerynifanK]

Love this list of Dramatis Personae. Will help keep the characters straight. Where did you find such great pictures? A very handsome lot.

[Jerusha]

My goodness, Evie. This is amazing.

[Evie]

Love this list of Dramatis Personae. Will help keep the characters straight. Where did you find such great pictures? A very handsome lot.

I used an image generator at Openart.ai to create them. I would use keyword prompts such as "Medieval prince, age 26, black hair, gray eyes, wearing crimson" or whatever.  Sometimes if I needed related people, I would use the same basic keywords but just change the age, sex, hair length, or other detail of that sort to get someone else who looked similar enough to be family, yet recognizably different. On occasion I also had to use a few other photo editing apps to fine tune some details, because for instance, my Arilans had almost neon violet eyes when I first generated them, and for some reason the website sometimes tries to match the eye color to the clothing color even when you specify otherwise, so I needed to tweak Miranda's eyes back to a more Haldane gray rather than  the sea green shade of the Hort of Orsal's colors. The site has its drawbacks--for instance, unless you are very careful with your keywords, it has a tendency to give all middle-aged kings or all young mid-20s princesses a case of "same face syndrome," but I tried to counter that by using a few other sites as well. This one did the best job of putting them in clothing that seemed at least reasonably appropriate for the period, though, given that this is historical fantasy rather than straight history. Some of the other sites would clothe them in more obviously Victorian clothing or, worse, the Gunne Sax fashions popular in the 1980s, even if I specified 15th Century.  (Nothing against Gunne Sax gowns, they're just not very medieval looking!)

[Evie]

My goodness, Evie. This is amazing.

Thank you! I find that having inspiration photos of my characters really helps me with keeping their descriptions consistent, so someone doesn't have green eyes in chapter 3 and brown eyes in chapter 15, which I tend not to notice when I'm writing, but which will jump out at me and annoy me to no end once I read it all back later. Plus it helps make up for me being a frustrated character artist and illustrator at heart, with the actual artistic capability that will only allow me to draw stick figures! 

[DoctorM]

The images are wonderful!

My goodness, Evie. This is amazing.

Thank you! I find that having inspiration photos of my characters really helps me with keeping their descriptions consistent, so someone doesn't have green eyes in chapter 3 and brown eyes in chapter 15, which I tend not to notice when I'm writing, but which will jump out at me and annoy me to no end once I read it all back later. Plus it helps make up for me being a frustrated character artist and illustrator at heart, with the actual artistic capability that will only allow me to draw stick figures! 

[Evie]

Chapter Two characters have just been added to this thread.

[Evie]

Chapter Three updates added.

[DesertRose]

Catalina's mother's name is the Arabic version of mine, and her own name is the Spanish version of my SCA name, lol, and Don Salim bears a better than passing resemblance to my son-in-law!  (Should they decide to do so, he and the Pod-Child stand to make very pretty babies!)

[Evie]

Catalina's mother's name is the Arabic version of mine, and her own name is the Spanish version of my SCA name, lol, and Don Salim bears a better than passing resemblance to my son-in-law!  (Should they decide to do so, he and the Pod-Child stand to make very pretty babies!)

Oh heavens, don't let @revanne know your SIL looks anything like Salim! If you dress him in desert robes for your next SCA event, you're likely to find revanne and your Pod-Child facing off in a Duel Arcane over him! 

[revanne]

@DesertRose I remember from the wedding pics that your S-i-L is gorgeous. But your DD is in no danger as I would be content to admire from afar.

Were I 40 years younger it might be a different story but alas I ain't!.

[DesertRose]

Catalina's mother's name is the Arabic version of mine, and her own name is the Spanish version of my SCA name, lol, and Don Salim bears a better than passing resemblance to my son-in-law!  (Should they decide to do so, he and the Pod-Child stand to make very pretty babies!)

Oh heavens, don't let @revanne know your SIL looks anything like Salim! If you dress him in desert robes for your next SCA event, you're likely to find revanne and your Pod-Child facing off in a Duel Arcane over him! 

No, if we end up making him his own garb (the one event he's attended, we cobbled together a medieval-ish outfit out of her and my garb wardrobe), he's likely to go for Egyptian.

Which honestly doesn't do much to fend off admirers, since men's Egyptian leaves his upper body bare, with a loincloth and long kilt-type garment on his lower body. 🤣🤣

And sandals and a crap load of sunblock, because his skin color means he'll burn slightly slower than the Pod-Child and me, but since the two of us burn in about a nanosecond, that ain't saying much!

He's in the milk-and-cookies age bracket for us ladies anyway. He's only three months older than Kiddo, which means he is still literally young enough to be my son in body rather than merely in-law.

But should I get grandchildren in addition to granddogs and -cats, they will be the beautifullest babies!

And he could rock the Moorish garb, for sure!

(Be fun to explain Pod-Child's 15th C Irish persona having a Moorish or Egyptian husband, but that's why it's the Society for Creative Anachronism. 😝)

[Evie]

Chapter Five additions:

King Arnaud III d'Auxerre of Fianna
The House of Buyenne-Furstan of Joux

[DerynifanK]

King Reiner even looks scary. I am sure his intentions are very dishonorable